Author's Note: This is for the Kissing in the Rain Challenge. I didn't pick these characters, they were given to me because I've never written them before, so I don't know how well I've done with them, but here it is :). Reviews appreciated!

Of Pellets of Water and Kisses

Severus ducks his head in a vain attempt to avoid the rain. He's never liked rain, and he tries to quickly walk to the Herbology greenhouses without getting utterly soaked.

He pauses, of course, when he hears the familiar voice shouting his name. He turns around and a genuine smile crosses his face when he sees Lily hurrying towards him, her vibrant red hair plastered to her face. "Better hurry," he says once she has reached him. "We're getting soaked."

Lily lithely dances around him, grinning. "If I was worried about getting soaked, I'd've used a water-repellant charm, or something," she teases. "The rain's fun!"

Severus looks at her skeptically. "It's pellets of water hurtling down from the sky. How is that fun?"

Lily makes a face. "Sev, that's the most unromantic explanation of rain I have ever heard in my life."

"There's a romantic explanation of rain?" Severus asks, smirking.

Lily sticks her tongue out at him. "Not really an explanation, per se. But you know, rain itself is just a happy occurrence, and yes, I think it's romantic."

"I don't really see how," Severus says dryly, which manages to be an incredible feat, he thinks to himself, as he is getting quite wet.

"Oh, you know," Lily says dreamily. "Kissing in the rain, and all that."

Severus frowns. "Seems wet and rather unpleasant."

Lily lightly hits him on the arm. "Is not," she retorts, laughing. "Well, I've never tried it myself, but it always looks so romantic."

Severus snorts doubtfully. "If you say so."

Lily pauses for a second, and then leans up, lightly kissing Severus on the lips. The rain pours down around them, and Severus tentatively touches her wet hair, inhaling her scent mixed in with the rainwater.

After a moment, Lily pulls away and smiles, looking slightly confused. She pushes her hair back behind her ears and looks up, as if she's just noticed that it's pouring. "Sorry," she says awkwardly. "I just wanted to try it."

Severus takes a deep breath and smiles at her. "Don't apologize," he says quickly. "It's okay. I wanted to try too. It was…nice. Not as unpleasant as I thought." It was actually nicer than he could have ever imagined, and a memory he can see himself cherishing for the rest of his life, as pathetic as that might be, but he decides to not disclose this to Lily. He can tell from the guarded look in her brilliantly green eyes that it did not mean to her what it did to him.

Lily smiles slightly, and the look on her face confirms Severus' thoughts. "It was nice. We should probably…get to class. It's really wet."

Severus nods, rather jerkily. "Right," he says. "Never much liked the rain."

Ten minutes ago, that was the truth, but now, he can't see why. The rain pours down upon him as he slowly walks behind Lily, who is running through the rain, and he smiles.