Can you see me now?: A LESS-is-More Ficlet

A/Note: This story is based off of a song by T.a.t.u. (Tatu) called "Clowns", so if you listen to that song you might better understand this ficlet. As always, enjoy, and remember: LESS is more! (LE/SS: Lily Evans, Severus Snape)

-----------------------Less-------------------is---------------more----------------------------

He was invisible. Surely someone as perfect as Lily Evans would never notice him. That had been his constant thought since he was eight years old, and now he knew it was true. What a snake of a boy, a viper, repulsive and shadowed, not nearly worthy of her attention.

He wished more than anything that she would see him.

They had been friends, but he had ruined it, just as ruined everything in his miserable life. Just as he ruined his parents' marriage, their love for him, and his chances at being a somebody in life. In his dreams, he was falling, reaching for something that was light and beautiful, but he always tripped and fell far out of its reach.

He couldn't bear it anymore. He had to make her see him. He had to at least try. So he did something no self-respecting Slytherin would ever attempt. Not that he was a self-respecting Slytherin. He loathed himself, and loathed everything in his torturous existence. Everything except Lily.

So he snuck into the Gryffindor Common Room.

It was surprisingly easy. He just waited for the fool Pettigrew to stumble into a dark corridor without the vile Black or the Pot-head, and confronted him with a flask of Veritaserum.

"What is the password into the Gryffindor Common Room?" He pressed the rat-like head into the column behind him, until he was writhing for breath and finally gasped out, "Fraisia Merellus!"

And, with an unspoken Memory Charm, Snape released him, glaring at his retreating form.

And he went back to his room to wait, conjuring up a plan.

"Hello Lily, my darling, you're looking-- Not nearly good enough."

"Good evening, Lily, light of my life. No, so stupid!" He sighed, a long, morose sound in the quiet of the boys dorm.

"Lily, I love you more than you could imagine. If you would consider being my friend again, I would treasure you like no one else." He smacked himself on the forehead. It was so hopeless.

"Lily, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He breathed each sentence like his life depended on it, because in truth, so much more than life was at stake.

----------------------Less---------------is------------------More-----------------------------

Lily Evans returned from dinner, feeling horrible. She hadn't been properly happy since the day she lost her best friend, as the phrase goes, and her face showed it. She politely excused herself, detangling her two best friends and urging them to go to the party without her, since she felt sick. No, no, they didn't need to come back with her, she would be fine, but she needed sleep.

So she mounted the stairs to her dormitory, pale as a ghost and just as lifelike.

Completely unaware of a dark-haired boy crouching under the staircase, holding his breath as he watched her, in a trance.

Lily sat on her bed, barely awake. She needed to cry, it was evident in how she breathed: one long gasp after another, her gorgeous eyes fragmented as stained glass.

Then she noticed the flowers.

Lilies—bunches of them, resting peacefully on her bedside table.

And the tears flowed uncontrollably.

She picked up the note, and rubbed her eyes to be able to read it.

"Lily,

I'm sorry. I wish I could say more, but…

Please let me talk to you. Please, see me!

-Sev"

And all of it was too much for the fiery Gryffindor. Lily Evans fell out, fainted. She didn't dramatically pass out; she was just exhausted and confused to the point of being unbearable.

Only, her head never hit the bed. She was cradled in his arms, and he treated her like something made of crystal She was that rare to him, and he made to effort to revive her. His invisibility spell would wear off soon. Let it, he didn't care.

She was stirring. He saw her eyes flutter. Another tear slipped out. He wiped it away. His touch on her skin, she awakened. He was afraid, sweating, and she could feel it.

"Lily, I can explain." But she raised a finger to his lips.

"You don't need to." He could only look mystified, and she simply replied,

"I can see you now."