AN: This revising thing is hard work. I honestly hope it pays.
Well, it's necessary.
Have fun!
Love, Annabeth 3

Love

Different
'No – listen, I didn't mean –'
'- to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?'
He struggled on the verge of speech, but with a contemptuous look she turned and climbed through the portrait hole…

And then, just before she was gone Severus seemed to regain full use of his voice and called after Lily, "You're different." He waited as she stopped, completely tense, obviously warring with herself.
"How?" It almost sounded as if Lily Evans was afraid of an answer. Almost.
Severus restrained a small sigh of relief then asked very softly, "Could you please turn around so I can say this to your face?"
Lily was never sure if it was the fact that he'd spoken up at all or the desperate pleading as he said she was different or the fearful hope as he asked her to turn around.
She looked at his nose because she couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes.
"You're different" Severus took a deep breath, "because I love you."

Lily's Reaction
"You what!" Lily asked, searching his face. She wasn't sure what was looking for or what she wanted to find.
She was so focused on Severus' expression that she jumped violently when the Fat Lady said behind her, "He loves you, silly girl. It's not like he's very good at hiding that." followed by shrill giggling. From the corner of her eye Lily could see Severus flinch at the sound. She turned her back to the Fat Lady to look at him. This time she met his eyes. "Really?" Wow, she thought slightly dazed, the last time my voice trembled like this I was fighting with Tuney about my friendship with Sev. Everything somehow goes back to him.
The young man in question was nodding, seemingly astonished at his own admission. "I don't love you." He said as if to himself and it hurt far worse than Lily had expected. "I'm in love with you." Severus would never be attractive the way Potter and Black were (in the privacy of her own mind and her diary Lily could admit that) but in that moment, so fierce and honest he was beautiful to her.
A mental image, so vivid she nearly gasped, of a white piece of paper someone had gone over with a wet paintbrush and then dropped ink onto, creating a complex and unique patter of black lines that reminded Lily of veins. The word left her lips before she even finished thinking it. "Beautiful." And now it was Severus who looked at her as if she had three heads. Lily flushed. "Sorry. I think you shut off the thinking-before-speaking function in my brain." Severus smiled tentatively.
"I really am sorry, you know?" Funny, Lily thought, that such softly spoken words can slam me back into reality with such blinding force.
She lifted her hand as if to touch his arm or his face and instead only brushed her hair behind her ear. "I- we should go to bed, Sev." His face fell. "I mean… we can, you know, talk. Tomorrow… that is, if you want?" She trailed off uncertainly but she could already see the hope on Severus' face.
The agreed to meet by that lake after classes let out the next day, spent some minutes awkwardly repeating 'Goodnights' before Severus finally started to leave. Lily stared after him a long time after he was gone from sight.
On different ends of the castle two very different people went to sleep with lighter hearts. In Gryffindor tower a girl with red hair and green eyes fell asleep thinking of what the future might hold. In the Slytherin dungeons a boy with inky black hair and eyes fell asleep thinking of all that had happened in the past.
Up in the sitting room behind his office, the Headmaster sat in a comfortable armchair in front of the fireplace, nursing a cup of tea, and smiled. Two souls had found one another.

Elaborate Explanation
Severus was already waiting when Lily arrived outside the next day. He was leaning against a tree with an open book in his lap.
Lily sat down beside him and he looked up, startled. "Hey, how are you?" she nudged him.
"I'm fine. Actually, I'm better than fine. I'm relieved. Telling you that I'm in love with you felt like a huge weight was lifted off my chest. How are you?"
"Fine. Just a bit confused. I mean, why should I believe you?" Lily asked looking at Severus. She took a bite of the sandwich she'd brought with her as she waited for him to answer.
Severus looked at her in surprise for a moment then turned to stare out over the lake.
After a few minutes of silent contemplation, just as Lily was getting impatient, he said, "Because I would keep on living for you." He shot her a glance. "Only you."
Lily wasn't sure what to feel. She was confused, flattered, angry, surprised and slightly incredulous at his answer. "Would you elaborate on that statement?"
Severus turned to face her with a small gentle smile. "Under normal circumstances I might have said I'd die for you, which of course is still true. However, the circumstances could hardly be described as normal. In times like these dying is not very hard. Living on the other hand is one the most difficult things I've ever attempted. Let's say, for the sake of the argument that you die. I'd long to follow you and possibly attempt to drag you back and die in the process. But I'd keep living; keep fighting because you'd want me to. I think that living is one of the greatest sacrifices a person can make for someone else. Elaborate enough?" Severus raised an eyebrow all the while trying to suppress laughter at Lily's stunned expression.

Summer Love
They spent the summer dancing around each other. Severus avoided going home whenever he could so he and Lily were together nearly every waking moment.
Severus' sixteenth birthday passed by unacknowledged by the Snapes. Mrs. Evans on the other hand had a cake ready when Severus came to visit Lily on July 26th.
It occurred to Lily one day that things between them had changed. She began to notice little things that hadn't been obvious before. Brushing away a strand of hair, a small touch to get the other's attention, a kiss on her cheek each time Severus said goodbye. Slowly, she realized she as in love with her best friend.