Control.

Control was the one of the few qualities Severus Snape cherished above all others. Control meant safety, control meant power, and with so little in his life he could control, he latched onto as much as he could; so he mastered his spells, his potion-making; he got excellent marks in all of his classes. He also silently celebrated every victory he had over those pesky Marauders.

So when he could not even control his own body, it began to be a little infuriating.

He knew puberty was supposed to be unpleasant, but it wasn't just that. He hated it. He hated the sudden mood swings, the general awkwardness of well… everything, and most of all he hated the clumsiness. The first two he could hide from his fellow schoolmates, at least, but his arms and legs were growing so fast that his brain simply couldn't keep up. It seemed he was tripping over nothing at least once a day.

He'd tripped with books in his hands, and when carrying food back to the Slytherin common room, once he even tripped while holding potion ingredients that had singed bits of his robes off and even created a hole in his desk, which Slughorn punished him for.

It was miserable, and he was already ostracized by most of his classmates as it was. The worst times were when he had unfortunately fallen in the sights of James Potter or Sirius Black, who of course escalated the unbearableness of it all.

"Thanks, Snivellus, for the first laugh of the day. Would you mind tripping for us again? I could use another laugh before my Charms test this morning," Sirius guffawed one morning in the Great Hall.

"You're lucky Dumbledore's here to protect you from me jinxing that ugly smile off your face, Black," Severus retorted, eyeing the headmaster enjoying his breakfast at the teacher's table. He was using every amount of restraint he had to not pull his wand out from his pocket.

At the very least he had Lily who was always his support when no one else was.

"It's natural, Sev," Lily told him when breakfast ended that morning and they were headed to Transfiguration. "Lots of teenagers go through this. You'll grow out of it soon enough."

"I know, Lily. But you just don't understand…" he paused before continuing in a whisper. "How embarrassing it is."

"I know how hard it's been for you. Don't let that stupid James Potter and his friends get to you, getting you riled up is exactly what they want."

"Yes, well, I just don't –" But he was interrupted by his legs betraying him just as they rounded the last corner that leads to the Transfiguration classroom. And as he tripped, he took Lily with him.

Seconds later, the two were at the mercy of gravity. Lily let out a grunt of pain as Severus's body toppled them over, causing her back to smack against the hard castle floor. The moment happened so fast that a few seconds were needed before either of them realized the awkward position they were now in.

"Bloody hell, Lily, I'm so sorry," Severus said, blushing profusely. He had her pinned underneath his body. Their heads were so close together they were nearly kissing. Severus had no idea what to do with his hands.

Once he figured it out, he realized that it sounded like that really hurt when Lily had fallen, and Severus wasn't sure if she would be angry or if she might need to have Madame Pomfrey take a look at her.

Instead, her lips stretched into a smile.

"That's the second time this morning you've tripped, Sev," she said, teasing him with a giggle. Her fingers briefly touched his forearm.

Severus's eyes flickered to her hand for half a second. He breathed a sigh of relief. "I told you this is becoming a problem."

"Okay, I believe you now."

"So you're all right, then?"

Being so close to Severus had her blushing already as it was, but the concern in his eyes as he inquired about her wellbeing caused her face to become even hotter. "Yes, but I would appreciate if you would let me get up so we can get to Transfiguration on time."

Severus shifted his gaze from Lily to their bodies on the floor. It was almost as if he had forgotten that this wasn't supposed to be kind of exciting.

"Right." The next moment, he got off his best friend the least awkward way he possibly could (which was still very awkward). Once Severus was back on his feet, he extended his right hand to Lily, helping her up.

"Sorry about that. Again," Severus mumbled, scratching the back of his head. He was sure his face was red as a cherry; he could barely look her in the eye now. Had he looked, though, he would have seen that her face was still as red as her hair.

As he replayed the event over and over and over in his mind; his body fired off a thousand different responses that made him feel both anxious and elated. Another mood swing, he thought to himself. But this time, he wasn't actually sure if he completely loathed this one.

"Don't worry about it. C'mon, McGonagall's gonna kill us if we're late." Lily tugged on his arm to urge him in the direction of the classroom.

During Transfiguration, daydreaming instead of listening, Severus came to the conclusion that he wouldn't mind tripping over Lily Evans again.