Disclaimer: I do NOT own the characters and setting. I DO own the story/plot.
Severus and Lily: A Day in Hogsmeade
It was the day before the first hogsmeade trip of the year and Severus was planning on asking Lily Evans if she would like to spend the day with him, visiting the many shops and having a butter beer at the three broomsticks. As he walked down the staircase to the third floor he practiced what he had already prepared to say to Lily under his breath, seeming mad to all who passed without trying very hard. However, once he reached the bottom of the stairs he wasn't prepared for the sight that he was met with: James Potter was talking to Lily Evans a few feet away. He paused on the last step and just stood there, staring at the two and hearing everything they said loud and clear, even above all the chatter that was going on around them.
"Lily, would you like to spend the day with me in Hogsmeade tomorrow?" James asked with a smile, only slightly nervous as he looked Lily directly in her beautiful green eyes.
"Are you trying to be serious, Potter? Because whatever you're doing is not funny in the least bit." Lily raised an eyebrow at James's behavior, very suspicious about why he was doing this and about what his ulterior motive was.
"Oh, Evans. I'm being as serious about this as Snivellus is about studying and doing well in class. And anyways it's not supposed to be funny." James smirked at the nickname that he and his friends always called Severus. "So, what do say, Evans? Want to spend the day with me in Hogsmeade tomorrow?"
Lily thought over James's proposal for a few minutes before finally deciding that she should at least give him a chance, but only one chance and nothing more. "Fine. But….if you do anything to mess this up I won't give you a second chance, no matter how much you beg and plead for me to go out with you again."
"You have yourself a date then, Lily. See you tomorrow morning then?" James gave Lily a quick wink before turning back to his friends with a wide smile.
"Sure thing." Lily began to head off in the direction of the library, still feeling quite doubtful about spending the day in Hogsmeade with James the next day.
Severus stood at the bottom of the stairs for several more minutes after the conversation ended before heading back the way he had come, a look of dejection and sadness on his face as he did so.
The following day was sunny and beautiful for everyone, except for Severus who felt like the day was miserable and dark. When he entered the room in front of the Great Hall, having come up from the Slytherin common room down in the dungeons, he noticed James and Lily standing to the side of the crowd of students, talking to each other awkwardly and quietly. As he continued to watch them his anger and jealousy began to boil and he soon decided that he would follow the two around Hogsmeade, getting the slightest gut feeling that something would go horrible wrong during the day and he would be there to witness it.
Minutes passed, allowing ample time for everyone with permission slips to arrive downstairs, before Professor McGonagall motioned for silence and for all the students to line up in a single file line in front of her. "Get your signed permission slips out and ready. Filch and I will be coming around to collect them from you and once they are all collected you will all exit through the front doors in an orderly fashion. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Professor McGonagall," all of the students responded in unison, a few snickering in the background.
Professor McGonagall and Filch then proceeded to make their way down the line of students, collecting permission slips and reminding all of the students that they were to follow orders until they all arrived in Hogsmeade, then they would be on their own for the day.
As all this was occurring Severus couldn't help but to watch James and Lily with envy and jealousy as the two continued their awkward conversation from earlier. Suddenly he was snapped out of his trance-like state by Professor McGonagall standing to the side of him with her hand out to collect his signed permission slip. He quickly gave her his permission slip before going back to watching Lily and James, who were now beginning to talk more comfortably with each other. The next time that he was suddenly brought out of his trance-like watch was when the single file line began to move forward a few moments later, exiting the through the front doors and going off in the direction of Hogsmeade. He slowly began to follow, the slight gut feeling of something going wrong returning from the previous day.
Upon entering Hogsmeade the line of students dissipated and everyone either scattered off on their own or with a group of friends. Severus watched James and Lily go off in the direction of the shops. He continued to watch them for a few more minutes before quietly beginning to follow them, being careful to not look too suspicious and to not get caught. He followed them until they entered Honey dukes, where he opted to stand outside and wait for them to come back out, instead of trying to follow them around inside the shop where he could easily lose them or be caught.
Severus followed them around Hogsmeade all day, waiting patiently while they entered each shop and checked them out for a few minutes, doing his best to not be caught by either of them.
Eventually James and Lily had visited every shop and bar in Hogsmeade, leaving the Shrieking Shack as the only place that they had yet to actually go to.
Severus watched them debate about whether or not to go to Shrieking Shack for a few minutes before finally agreeing upon visiting the Shrieking Shack, but not going inside. He then watched them walk off and waited until they were a safe distance away before following after them, his gut feeling from earlier making a reappearance.
Severus stumbled into clearing in front of the Shrieking Shack, cursing after having to pull his sleeve free from a snagged branch and possibly being caught. Suddenly he heard two voices coming from over by the chain link fence in front of the Shrieking Shack. He quietly moved to a hiding spot upon recognizing the voices as belonging to James and Lily and seeing them begin to move in his direction. Once he was fully hidden he looked around him, hoping to not get caught listening in on their conversation.
"You've heard the stories about the Shrieking Shack, right, Lily?" James asked, his gaze seeming to focus on the deserted shack located beyond the padlocked fence.
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything, James?" Lily looked at James with a questioning look. She had been feeling skeptical the whole day and right now that feeling was starting to get stronger with every passing second.
"Huh? Oh….Nothing. I was just wondering is all." James moved his gaze from the Shrieking Shack and back to Lily. He then smiled at her with what he hoped was a reassuring smile, even though his eyes seemed to convey that something just wasn't right about the situation as a whole.
"Okay. What are we doing here then?" Lily arched an eyebrow at James, detecting that something about the situation was off, which in turn caused her skeptical feeling to become even stronger.
"It's the only place that we haven't been to yet. I just thought that you might still like to check it out while we're here," James said, his smiling becoming the slightest bit more genuine and reassuring, but not nearly convincing enough to make Lily believe it.
"Listen, James, something's seemed off all day. Now, tell me what's going on. Starting with the true reason for you asking me out yesterday." Lily glared at James, letting him know that his plan hadn't gone unnoticed and that she was now acting on pure instinct and distrust towards him.
"Okay. Okay. The truth is that I asked you out on a dare that I was forced to do by Sirius," James confessed, his smile slipping away and leaving a small smirk in its place.
"I knew it. I knew that there was some ulterior motive for you asking me out, but I went along with it anyways and said yes in hopes that my gut feeling about you was wrong. But it looks like I was right to doubt your intentions and be skeptical this whole time." Lily's glare at James hardened, causing him to back away from her a few steps, his smirk beginning to slip.
"I can explain, Lily. I-" James began to explain about everything, but only got one word out before getting slapped and interrupted by a very pissed off Lily.
"No, James! Don't bother explaining yourself because I don't want to hear any of it," Lily snarled at James, causing him to back up a few more steps. "Just leave, Potter! And don't you ever ask me out on another date ever again!"
James stared, wide-eyed and in shock, at Lily for a few seconds before turning around quickly and leaving her alone, scared by all the horrible situations that would've played out had he stayed.
Severus watched James walk away, leaving Lily alone in front of the Shrieking Shack. He then waited a few minutes, allowing Lily time to cool down a little, before quietly stepping out from his hiding spot and slowly approaching her. "Lily?"
"What?" Lily snapped, abruptly turning around at the sound of a voice that wasn't James's calling her name. She then calmed down a little more upon noticing that it was only Severus who had called her name as he approached her. "Oh. It's just you, Severus. How much of that did you actually hear?"
"A-all of it," Severus stammered out, a light blush beginning to creep across his cheeks as soon as he noticed how close to Lily he was standing.
"Oh. I'm sorry that you had to hear that. Guys like Potter just tend to frustrate me when they pull things like this," Lily quickly apologized, a light blush creeping up her face as she too noticed how close Severus was standing to her.
"I-It's okay. Really. No n-need to apologize. If anything I should be the one to apologize." Severus smiled a small reassuring smile at Lily, letting her know that it was okay.
"Okay. If you're sure. Why would you need to apologize though?" Lily smiled back, seeming much happier than she was moments ago, albeit a bit more confused.
"Well…through out today I was…kind of….following you and James around Hogsmeade." Severus paused for a moment in hesitation before continuing on with an encouraging nod from Lily. "Lily, can I try something with you?"
"Sure, Severus." Lily looked at Severus a little more confused and curious now, wondering why Severus had told her what he had before asking her a question.
Severus leaned in and lightly kissed Lily on the lips for a few seconds before pulling away and blushing a dark red.
"What was that for?" Lily asked, a little shocked by the abrupt kiss, but also a little pleased that Severus was able to take the initiative for something like that.
"I really like you is all, Lily. Sorry for kissing you and making you uncomfortable," Severus apologized quickly before turning around and beginning to leave the clearing and Lily.
"Severus, wait!" Lily exclaimed, causing him to stop and turn around to watch as she hurried over to him. Once she reached him she stood there and looked up at him with a smile. "I really like you too." She then leaned up a little and captured Severus's lips in a deep and passionate kiss.
Severus kissed her back, a smile of his own spreading across his face as he did so, glad that he had confessed to Lily, even after her situation with James.
The two of them stood there kissing for a few minutes before breaking apart and heading back to Hogsmeade together, holding hands the entire time.
A/N: Here's the Severus/Lily one-shot for hello-nurse2005, who was the first to correctly guess the book title and chapter name of Snape/Lily: Bully. Hope that you enjoy it. :D