Disclaimer: I own nothing, obviously. I just tinker with J.K. Rowling's characters, and bend them to my will. Muwahahaha…
For the first time in years, he saw her. Flaming red hair, framing her delicate, round face, which matched so perfectly with those emerald eyes – eyes that held so much disgust and contempt as she looked at his masked face, her wand pointed directly at his chest, as she cast a leg-locking curse in his direction, which he easily blocked.
This was something he'd always feared – facing her. But, it wasn't that harming her scared him. He'd rather not hurt her, but she was a rather talented witch, and could stand her ground. No, it was the prospect that he might act without thinking, and, Merlin forbid, he might try to protect her.
There were several Death Eaters around them, and Snape did not wish to have his cover blown, not so soon, especially when he was starting to gain access to the Dark Lord's inner circle, and thus, valuable information that would help him fully earn Dumbledore's trust.
They were on the same side, but only he and Dumbledore knew that. To her, he was Death Eater scum. To him, she was the most beautiful creature he'd ever laid eyes on, and having her suddenly re-appear in his life, under less-than-ideal circumstances, had momentarily caught him off-guard.
From what he could tell, only Black, Potter, Alice and Frank Longbottom, a few others he did not know the names of, and, of course, Lily, had shown up in the middle of their raid in a worn-down, old muggle neighborhood. Unsurprising, considering that he had been the one to inform Dumbledore of tonight's raid a few days prior.
He would never have to harm her as long as they never directly faced each other, and not being near her would ensure that he would be less tempted to do something stupid, so he tried to get away from her, trying to be subtle in his movements. However, he was not that lucky.
Lily, determined as always, was not letting him escape. "Reducto!" she shouted, her curse hitting the top of the brick building behind him, and Snape conjured a quick shield charm, deflecting the bricks that landed on him.
Lily suddenly turned around, as another Death Eater tried to curse her from behind, but she quickly cast a well-placed Protego, the shield absorbing the Death Eater's spell.
The distraction is just what Snape needed to quickly distance himself from her, and he turned around, intending on getting away as far as possible, and found himself face-to-face with non-other than Potter himself, who had successfully fought off two Death Eaters, one of them immobilized, and the other unconscious, his wand pointed inches away from Snape's face.
"Stupefy!" He shouted, and Snape was flung backward, landing hard on the ground with a thud.
Before Snape had time to get up, he felt his entire body go rigid as Potter shouted, "Petrificus totalus!" before collapsing on the ground, stiff as a board, unable to move, silently furious at himself for being caught off-guard by Potter, no less.
A nearby Death Eater, noticing Snape on the ground and unmoving, pointed his wand at Potter and shouted, "Crucio!"
Potter fell to the ground, screaming in agony, and Snape could feel the effects of the curse starting to wear off, and he got up, stumbling slightly, and quickly dodged another curse, by Black, it seemed, bright red and hot, missing the left side of his face by an inch.
Black rounded on him again, firing curses and hexes, and Snape, who quickly dodged several of those curses while firing curses of his own, could see bodies on the ground, most of them Death Eaters.
'Impressive,' Snape mused, as he dodged yet another curse, and noticed that the only himself, Malfoy, and two newly recruited young men, having been Death Eater's for no longer than a few weeks, were the only one's still standing, while only a few Order members, whose faces he did not recognize, were on the ground, unmoving.
They had out-numbered the Order by at least a dozen Death Eaters, although it seems the table has turned, and Snape found that they were out-numbered - six to four.
Suddenly, a flash of light erupted, and Snape noticed one of the young recruits, whose name Snape had learned to be Demetri Banhoff, fall to the ground, unconscious, and Snape only had moments to procure a shield charm as the remaining members of the Order simultaneously fired a string of hexes and curses in their direction, and soon, the sky was filled with bright lights as each side fired their own spells, which were whizzing in each direction.
Lucius pointed his wand at Frank, and shouted, "Incarcerous!" as ropes bound his arms and legs together, and he fell to the ground, unable to move. Alice raised her wand, a curse on the tip of her tongue, but Lucius was quicker, and he disarmed her, and cast a simple Flipendo jinx, causing her to flip and hit the ground with a sickening crack, and her eyes rolled back into her head, while blood gushed from a wound on the side of her temple.
Another Death Eater fell, bleeding profusely from several cuts on his chest and abdomen, and Snape smirked behind his mask, pleased to know that Dumbledore had, in fact, taught the Order spells of his own making, knowing that, as of now, an effective counter-curse was known by only himself and, he supposed, the Order.
"Sectumsempra!" he heard Potter call out, and Snape's smirk was wiped off his face when he felt a small, but deep, cut form on his right arm, the spell not hitting him entirely, and Snape could feel anger growing inside him.
'How dare Potter use my own spell against me!' Snape thought, fuming, reminded of the fateful day by the lake where Potter had done much the same, hanging Snape in the air with another one of his inventions, humiliating him in front of the entire school.
Snape could feel his blood boil in rage, and he cast a powerful blasting curse in Potter's direction, knocking him off his feet, and into a nearby wall, rendering him unconscious.
He noticed that it was just him and Lucius left, the latter having sustained severe damage, and he knew it was a losing battle. Tired of blocking curses, Snape rounded his wand on Black, who was, besides Lily, the only Order member left that was still standing.
With a snarl, Snape shouted, "Immobulus!" and Black, not being quick enough to block Snape's spell, completely froze in place, before gracelessly falling over, face-first into the ground.
Snape heard a distinctive 'pop', and saw that Lucius had disapparated, and Snape knew that he should follow suit, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from the woman in front of him, her wand up, her face scratched and covered in dirt, fiery red locks blowing in the wind, her breathing heavy as she looked at him, looking like she was ready to cast a hex in his direction at any moment. He thought she was beautiful.
Against his better judgment, Snape slowly lowered his wand. It was foolish of him, but there were no other Death Eaters around, so he could let his guard down, if only for a second.
Lily appeared shocked at his actions, her mouth slightly open, as if she would say something, but she gave him a curious look, as if she noticed something strange about him – something familiar. The way he carried himself, how he fought. She thought she smelled cloves. It was so familiar to her, but she couldn't figure it out.
'No,' she thought to herself. 'It can't be,' she gasped, unable to believe what she was thinking.
She had heard rumors, but never had them confirmed. Surely this masked man in front of her couldn't be her childhood friend. She gasped, as all the pieces fell into place.
He never cursed her. He never deliberately attacked her, even when he had the chance. It was as if he was avoiding her, and she couldn't believe what she was thinking. No other Death Eater would act this way.
Carefully, she eyed him, before whispering, "… Severus?"
Snape stared at her, feeling a painful sensation in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to beg for her forgiveness, to let her know how sorry he was, and that he was a fool, and that he would do anything for her.
He stared at her once last time, drinking in the sight of her form, her green eyes, her brilliant red hair, and how, for the first time in years, her eyes didn't look at him in revulsion, but rather, a curious mix of emotions, before apparating, a bittersweet smile on his face. One she couldn't see.
Lily stood there, thoroughly confused, unable to grasp what was happening.
Snape was a Death Eater.
And he had just let her go.
She had never been more perplexed in her life.
END.