A/N: For some reason I can't upload new photos for my cover images, so to know what the cover for this story is, go on YouTube and search 'Always Beth Crowley Nightcore'. The cover is the closeup picture of Lily and Snape in the snow.

Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling owns everything Harry Potter, I only own the plot.

...

I used to love you from afar

As we all decided who we are

But you were never mine to have

But still I loved you to the last

'Cause you were my

You are my

Always

— "Always" by Beth Crowley

...

Lily Evans was not a fan of show-offs.

Or, more specifically, James Potter.

Yes, she knew that he liked her. Yes, she knew that he was never mean to her directly. But that didn't mean, of course, that she liked him. Least of all as friends.

It made Lily angry and upset to see James bully Severus for being different and for associating himself with the "bad kids" of Hogwarts. Of course, that didn't excuse Severus either, being as he's so impressionable and shy. Of course, that didn't give James the right to pick on him. But some people, like James, just didn't understand that. Which is precisely why Lily didn't like him.

...

"Lily!" Severus called after her as the Gryffindors and Slytherins were leaving the dungeons after Double Potions one Friday afternoon.

Lily turned around to her friend, her long scarlet hair nearly whipping her in the face as she did so. "Yeah, Sev?"

"Look!" Severus waved a paper in her face, beaming.

Lily took it and read. It was their fifth year Potions test, and like always, Severus had gotten a perfect score. "Good for you, Sev," Lily said dryly, handing the test back to her friend. She tried not to think about her own score, which was just below perfect.

"Well," she said curtly (she hadn't completely forgiven him for calling her a Mudblood), "seeing as we're not in the same House, I guess I'll go back to Gryffindor Tower."

She had only walked a few steps though when she felt a firm yet gentle hand close around her wrist. Severus spun her around again to look at him. "I want to show you something."

Lily cocked her head. "What is it?"

Severus smirked. "Meet me by the Black Lake at midnight. Exactly."

Lily raised a skeptic eyebrow but didn't say anything in reply nonetheless.
Letting go of her, Severus sent her a smile over his shoulder as he followed his House-mates down to the Slytherin Common Room.

Lily watched him for a moment, then, knowing that she had nothing to loose, decided to do as Severus requested and headed back up to her own Common Room.

...

Beep, beep, bee—

Lily slapped her hand down on top of her alarm clock and sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes. She glanced over at the time. 11:55. Yikes, that meant she only had five minutes to get dressed and get down to the grounds!

She jumped out of bed and quickly threw on a thin long-sleeved shirt, skinny jeans, and a pair of sneakers.

She looked around at the other girls in the dormitory. Thankfully they were still sound asleep.

Quiet as a mouse, she crept out of the dorm, down the stairs, and across the Common Room. Silently she pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and slid out, tiptoeing down the corridors with the stealth as one of the school ghosts.

Lily entered into the moonlit courtyard and checked her watch. Two minutes till midnight. Breaking out into a light jog, Lily made her way from the courtyard to the grassy grounds, the Forbidden Forest standing out starkly against the deep indigo sky.

One minute till midnight.

As she came up on a small hill, she could just make out a lanky figure near the bank of the Black Lake. Grinning slightly, she allowed gravity to take her down the slope and used the momentum to run the rest of the way to where Severus stood.

"Sev!" she called when she was a few yards away.

Severus looked over his shoulder at her and grinned broadly. "Lily! Come on!"

Lily stopped running and walked up alongside her best friend.

Severus checked his watch. "Twenty-seven seconds to spare!" He looked over at the spirited redhead and smirked. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up."

"Well, I did," Lily responded coolly.

Severus's face fell a bit. She still hadn't forgiven him. Figures.

There was a bit of awkward tension between the two for a moment. Suddenly, Severus inhaled a sharp breath. "It's starting."

Lily glanced at him uncertainly, but seeing that his eyes were firmly fixed on the lake, decided to fix hers there as well. Again, there was silence for another second. Then the moon came out from behind a cloud, and the spectacle began.

It started as an undertone of humming. Just beneath the surface, a whitish-greenish glow was coming closer and closer.

A white-haired head broke through the water, a portion of the eerily beautiful light coming with it. Then more heads popped up out of the lake, and the water surrounding them was illuminated with the ghostly glow. They lifted their faces up to the sky, the melodious, mysterious, ancient mermaid song drifting up to the heavens, in a language no one could understand. The moon shone down upon their long hair so that they resembled fallen stars, singing praises to their Maker.

It was the most wondrous thing Lily had ever seen.

"It's beautiful," she breathed, her awed eyes on the mermaids' performance.

Severus glanced at her with a look full of affection, but unfortunately, she didn't catch it. Her mouth was agape and she was unblinking, not wanting to miss a single second of the glorious sight before her.

Severus felt the back of her hand brush against his, and before he could stop himself, he grasped it in his own, lacing his fingers through hers. She didn't pull away.

They had been standing lakeside for several long minutes, maybe an hour. The harmonious carol started to grow quieter and quieter. Before long, only one mermaid was left singing, and as the last note faded into the night, he too dove back under the water and the green-white light disappeared with him.

Lily and Severus stood for some minutes longer, just silently gazing across the lake, as if still transfixed by the secretive beauty and song of the mermaids.

"Oh, Severus," Lily said finally in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Did you like it?" asked Severus hopefully.

Lily turned to look at him with a dazzling smile. It was the biggest Severus had seen her smile in months. "I loved it! How did you know?"

"I heard them one night," Severus replied simply. "The Slytherin Common Room is underground, remember, in the Black Lake. It wasn't that hard."

"Thank you," Lily said softly.

Severus looked into Lily's face, into her gorgeous green eyes. How he wanted to kiss her right now. How he wanted to tell her how much he truly loved her.

Impulsively he lifted his hand up to the side of her face, preparing to bring her forward and close the distance between them. But he faltered. He blinked, as if he had been in a trance. To cover up the gesture, he awkwardly tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear instead.

Lily continued to smile at him, and, still holding hands, the two strolled back up to the castle, silently understanding that this was to be their own magical secret.

Severus walked Lily back up to Gryffindor Tower, and reluctantly they knew they had to part ways for the night.

"Severus, thank you so, so much for showing me this tonight. I haven't seen anything so spectacular in all my life!" Lily gushed.

Severus smiled shyly. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I knew you would." He looked down at his feet and mumbled quickly, "Iloveyou."

Lily blinked. "What?"

Severus blushed deeply. "Nothing."

"No," Lily said softly, stepping closer and lightly sliding her arms around her friend's neck, "it wasn't nothing. I love you too, Severus."

Severus looked down at her, completely conscious of their close proximity. Shakily he placed his hands on her waist. "You do?"

Lily nodded. "I always have." She drew closer.

Severus could feel his heart pounding against his ribs. This was happening. This was actually happening.

Bending lower to Lily's level, Severus pursed his lips together, preparing for the moment he had dreamed about for so long. But Lily didn't meet his lips with her own. Severus exhaled awkwardly as Lily placed a lingering, gentle kiss on his cheek.

She drew back, not seeming to notice Severus's disappointment. "Goodnight, Sev," she said, letting her hands fall slowly from Severus's chest and back down to her sides.

Severus lowered his hands from her waist and shoved them in his pockets. "Goodnight, Lily. I'll see you tomorrow."

"That's the beauty of Hogwarts," Lily said with a smile. "Even though we're in deprecate Houses, we get to see each other everyday."

Severus smiled back, and before he could change his mind, leaned forward, and pecked Lily lightly on the cheek. Lily blinked again, a little stunned.

Severus smiled wider. "Bye."

"Bye," Lily said, watching Severus walk back to his Common Room, and turned and entered her own.

She crept back up to the girls' dormitory and slipped on her pajamas again. She slid back into bed and pulled the covers up to her shoulders, gazing out the window and out to the lake where her and her now-boyfriend stood just twenty minutes before, witnessing a rare, magical event. It was something she would never forget as long as she lived.

That night, Lily Evens fell asleep with a smile on her face, as she would do again ten years later when she accepted Severus Snape's marriage proposal.