AN: This is from the Snapeloveposts a few months back from tumblr. Hope you enjoy!
They were seven and Lily wondered about the window that was always open across her bedroom. She has seen glimpses of a small boy with black hair leave the old house with a woman with equally black hair. They've been there for as long as Lily could remember but not once did she saw the boy playing in the playground during weekends. Petunia said that the Snape's lived next door, and that they were no good people and Lily should stay away from them especially the boy.
Lily obviously did the opposite of what Petunia said.
It happened on a lazy afternoon. She was bored with her toys and Petunia didn't want to play. She sat up from her bed and decided to go color when her eyes saw movement from the window. It was the boy. Maybe this is her chance to have a new friend! She neared the window and watch him walk about his room. "Hey!" She yelled, waving her arms outside of her open window to grab her attention. He startled and looked at her. "Hello!" She yelled once more and he ran towards his window, his fingers coming to his lips to shush her, waving his arms wildly. She cocked her head, he didn't want to speak to her? How rude. She pouted, if he didn't want to play then fine.
"Wait!" The boy yelled, he flinched and looked behind him. Lily crossed her arms and waited.
The boy mimed sleeping and Lily smiled. Of course! It must have been naptime. The boy would be in trouble if his mum found out he wasn't sleeping.
The boy held out a palm, wait here.
Lily watched him disappear and leaned her head on her arms. Did he actually went for a nap? What's taking him so long? Her mind suddenly thought of the games they'd play tomorrow, and the other day, and the other day and t-
A paper airplane flew past her head and snapped he from her thoughts. It landed near her bed and she glanced at the other window. The boy was looking at her shyly. She squinted at him. He sighed and mimed unwrapping something. Oh! She grabbed the paper airplane and went back to the window.
'My name is Severus Snape. Dad's asleep so I can't be too noisy. Who are you?" Lily could barely understand his handwriting, it took a few moments to decipher the scrawl.
She grinned at him and grabbed her crayons.
"I'm Lily! Nice to meet you, want to be friends?"
She made it into a paper airplane and threw it at him. It landed gracelessly on the side of their house by the fence. Lily wanted to scream. Severus smiled at her and mimed crumpling up the paper and throwing it. Lily re-wrote the note and crumpled it into a ball, she was about to throw it when she felt a soft breeze hit he face.
If she threw this paper, it would just miss again. It was too light.
Lily grabbed the object nearest to her: a white crayon she never uses. She wrapped the crayon with the note and did her best to aim. The force of her throw seemed too little and she was beginning to mourn her useless white crayon but Severus miraculously caught the note in his hands, nearly falling off his window in the process.
It was the beginning of their friendship.
Lily met Severus in the park every few days. They played, and talked, and had many great adventures. Severus told the best stories, stories about magic, dragons, potions that can make steam come out your ears, mermaids who swam in a great lake, and a castle that had everything you wished for.
"The castle was big, bigger than anything you've seen before. There are elves who prepare any food you like, there are unicorns by the forest and mermaids in the lake!"
Lily often wondered how Severus could make up such stories and how they felt so real. It wasn't all good though. There were times when Severus had to come home early and Lily would have a fit. Severus sometimes stayed but Lily wouldn't see him for days afterwards, she learned to be more considerate of her friend because of that.
Lily sometimes invited Sev over for lunch or dinner but Sev would always have some excuses for not coming.
"It's fine Lily, mum might get upset if I don't eat what she prepared."
They would always have their conversations via airplanes and crumpled paper though. She still hadn't figured out how to throw an airplane properly. Her system of hurling small objects wrapped in paper resulted in many missing crayons but Severus would throw them back to her when he was about to cut off their chats.
There was no word from Severus during Christmas, Lily chalked it up to them having some family time. She woke with a paper plane by her window greeting her and an apology saying he wouldn't be back for a few weeks.
She glanced at his present, wrapped neatly sitting by the window and sighed.
He looked a little pale when he got back, wrapped tightly in an oversized-coat. It made him look smaller.
"It's really cold."
She presented his present and he insisted she keep it because he hadn't been able to get her anything, she shook her head crossed her arms. Severus didn't stand a chance.
She dragged him to her house and her parents got some left-overs and made him eat. They had a pleasant lunch filled with laughter and stories. Severus stayed quiet but he had a smile on at least, that was a gift enough for Lily.
Lily was ashamed it took a year before she found out when Severus' birthday was.
"I'm a capricorn."
"Just tell me when your birthday is and I'll stop poking you with this stick."
Their birthdays were so close to each other and she couldn't remember if they did anything special for his birthday the previous year. She remembered that he got her a small cupcake with a tiny candle on it. It was barely enough for one but she insisted on sharing it with him or not eating it at all.
"It's your cupcake Lily, you eat it."
"Severus."
"Fine, fine. You don't have to glare that hard."
She was more determined now to make his day special to make up for last year.
She bought two balloons and held them in place with a rock, a picnic blanket was splayed on the ground and a cupcake big enough for two. Lily was not meant for the kitchen, her mother said, but she insisted on baking the cupcake. With all the failed attempts it would have been cheaper to buy a real cake.
She waited and waited and waited but he never showed. She was upset.
She left the balloons and stuck the cupcakes in the fridge and the blanket in the laundry. Her parents shared a look and tried to cheer her up saying that they'd ask Mrs. Snape for Severus next evening if he didn't show tomorrow.
Severus was wrapped in his over-grown coat the next day, slightly uneven in his feet, spouting apologies and begging forgiveness. Lily sighed and led him to the table.
"I'm really sorry Lily. Dad was home and, well-"
"It's fine, Severus."
She placed the cupcakes in front of him, declaring she made it herself. She wondered if it were tears in his yes or if he was just really tired from his birthday yesterday.
By the time they finished their cupcakes, all was forgiven and they were once again the best of friends.
Severus once broke his arm falling down the stairs. Lily never knew him to be clumsy but she has seen him trip over his two feet once in the playground. She didn't see Severus for a whole week once but she always woke to find a new message for her every morning in form of a paper airplane.
"Have a nice day, sorry I couldn't make it."
"Something came up and I couldn't leave."
"Mum made something and dad insisted on spending time together."
She began to practice throwing paper airplanes because hurling things towards Severus might hurt him. Severus laughed at her reasoning but began to coach her.
When she grew frustrated and made an airplane fly without throwing it, she didn't tell Severus.
When she told Petunia and she called her a freak and threatened to tell their parents, she ran to the park.
When Severus approached her and said her parents were getting worried she cried harder.
When he hugged her for the first time she told him what happened.
He grinned at her. "You're a witch!". She pushed him away. He grabbed her arm and let go immediately, "I meant you're a real witch, Lily. You can do magic!"
She was skeptical and he told her that all his stories weren't made-up. That there was a place called Hogwarts where they will learn magic and have adventures. She told him how he had a bout of accidental magic a few weeks ago, the time when he fell down the stairs.
He told her parents and Mrs. Snape reluctantly went over and explained things, holding a stick and making things float.
It was the best day of Lily's life.
When they got their Hogwarts Letters everything seemed so real. Stories about Dementors, Aurors, and the Ministry still felt a bit absurd even after Mrs. Snape's demonstration. The letter was proof, and they made plans on what to do once they went to Diagon Alley.
A week before they left for Diagon Allley, Lily finally had the courage to ask Severus her question.
"Sev, what's your dad like. Does he like magic?"
"He doesn't like anything much."
It wasn't a very courageous move but Lily decided to Give Severus some space. She wish she hadn't though.
That night, Lily couldn't sleep so she laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She heard a loud noise next door and her heart jumped. It wasn't uncommon for the Snapes to be a little loud during the night, Severus once had to insist that Lily doesn't check up on him those nights because it would just lead to more trouble.
This night was different though. 'Severus?' She wrote and folded it into a plane. She learned how to throw it properly and this was her chance to show it off. She smiled and silently cheered when it smoothly sailed towards his room. She waited, and waited. She was almost headed to her bed when something made a thumping noise.
Her breath stuck to her throat. Severus never does this, she was the one who wrapped the paper and hurled it into the window. Maybe he was just teasing her?
She unwrapped the note and ran downstairs, screaming for help. Clutched in her hand was the white crayon she tossed years before, her note returned with nothing but bloody fingerprints on it.
She yelled and screamed and refused to believe it.
She cried at the unfairness of life. Mrs. Snape had magic, why didn't she protect Severus and herself from Tobias? Why wasn't magic enough to save her from the glass shards embedded on her head? Why wasn't Severus protected from all the years of abuse of beatings.
Why didn't Lily say anything all those years ago?
She saw how he flinched, she saw how he shied away from adults, she saw the bruises and the cuts and the fear.
"It's not your fault, sweetie," Her mum hugged her and Lily cried. "You didn't know."
It wasn't fair.
During that night, Lily screamed for her parents that Severus was in danger. That he needed help. She didn't know what happened but she felt a tugging in her navel that made her want to vomit but suddenly she was stood there with Severus.
He was laying by the window, slumped as if it took all his strength to throw back the crayon with her note. Maybe it did. She held his hands and felt joy when he squeezed back.
"Help is on the way, Sev. Just hang in there."
"We were going to Hogwarts, remember? You insist on getting three pewter couldrons just to be sure. You and I were going to get our robes next week."
She babbled at him, talking to him to keep him awake because that's what people do, right?
She saw crumpled papers under the bed and knew it was all their notes through the years. She had a similar stack inside a box under her bed. A yellowed paper-airplane sat on top of the pile.
"I learned how to throw paper airplanes, Sev. I don't have to hit your face with crayons anymore!"
"Remember telling me about Dumbledore? He's the strongest wizard right? He'll get you out of here and protect you properly."
"Severus?
After what seemed like forever, sirens could be heard and her dad broke the door open. She held tightly to Severus but they took him away. Maybe it was because how dark the room had been, maybe it was all the panic she felt, but she never realized how much blood stained her clothes that night.
"Please don't leave."
The authorities took Tobias away.
Tobias took her best friend away from her and she would never forgive him.
A bloodied and crumpled piece of paper would always be tucked somewhere in her robes.