Submitted for Round 8 of The International Wizarding School Championship.

School: Durmstrang

Year: 1

Theme: Highschool Muggles

Main prompt: [Pairing] write a pairing picked by a team mate—Severus/Lily

Optional prompts: [Action] standing under an umbrella, and [job] teacher.

Word count: 1,378

Author's Note: A what if AU of sorts. Nothing too special but if you happen to like it leave some feedback. If not, then carry on.

Rainy Days and Mondays

Lily framed the empty stage with her fingers as she contemplated how best approach the backdrop for the upcoming performance of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing that the senior drama club had decided to put on.

It was a good play and an often overlooked one from Shakespeare's screenplay portfolio, but she also knew that it would require more scene changes than A Midsummer's Night Dream. But, she did so love a good challenge.

Angling her fingers just so she hummed as she envisioned the various backdrops. Yes, it could and would work out splendidly. She would just have to encourage the students in charge of sets to not hold back any.

Satisfied with her visual rehearsal for the purposed play she gathered her notes into her briefcase and closed it. A quick walkthrough of the empty theater assured her that no stowaways were hiding in the shadows. With her briefcase and keys in hand, she locked the backstage door as she exited out onto the covered walkway that encircled the sprawling campus of Hogwarts High School.

"Rain," she sighed as she noticed the constant downpour that had overtaken the nearly empty school while she had been enclosed within the quiet walls of her own Fortress of Solitude. Lily enjoyed the rain, as a rule, but she had foolishly believed the news broadcaster that the sunny bright day of this morning would continue onto the night. Clearly, he had been wrong.

Pulling her coat together she mentally fortified herself for the imminent dash through the rain to her car.

"Lily, one moment."

Lily stilled and looked behind her. A smile breaking out as she saw her longtime friend and fellow teacher, albeit he had pursued chemistry instead of the dramatic arts as she had done, hurriedly walking her way. The ends of his long black woolen coat swaying and billowing around his black leather shoes. She had to remind herself to breathe as he soon joined her. She did so enjoy his dramatic entrances. Too bad he had never seen her as anything more than a friend.

"I have more than enough room under my umbrella. Allow me to escort you to your car."

Lily smiled and nodded as she hooked her arm through his. "Onward my good man. The wizard waits for no one."

Severus cocked his eyebrow as he affixed the umbrella over them. "Wizard?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "I was alluding to the Wizard of Oz, of course."

"Ah, yes, of course." Severus chuckled as he guided them out into the storm.

Sneaking a sideways glance Lily decided that today would be the day that she finally embraced her bravely and kiss Severus. It would be a simple one just shared between here in the shared and dry sanctuary of the umbrella.

"I heard that you and your students will be putting on Much Ado About Nothing." Severus stated as they stepped down onto the parking lot.

Lily hummed and tightened her hold on Severus. Only seven more meters and they would be at her car.

"You will of course save me a ticket."

Lily hummed again. Five meters to go.

"Lily?" Severus asked as he brought them to stop and turned to look at her. "Is anything the matter?"

Yes, but she dared not say that she wanted to snog him senseless. Had for the last three years, really.

"Actually," she tentatively ran her tongue over her dry lips. "would you ever consider, um, us dating?"

There she had said it.

She had clearly lost her mind.

All she needed to do now was check herself into bedlam and be done with it.

Severus eyes, however, took on a tender, yet heated look as he brought his hand to her cheek. His thumb wiping away some moisture that fallen onto her face. (It was a raindrop, wasn't it? She couldn't have been crying or had she been?)

"Look at me, Lily." He commanded as he guided her face upwards. Their eyes met, each searching the other for something as they stood huddled together under the umbrella for what felt like an eternity.

"I'm looking. Have been looking, Severus, for so long." Lily confused as she toyed with one of his lapels. "But have you been looking at me?"

Severus groaned and tightened his hold on her as he brushed a wisp of hair behind her ear. His dark eyes glowered with black heat. "I've only looked at you, Lily. Only you."

Lily gasped. Had she been the blind one all along? She had played the fool! Not only longer.

Gripping his lapels she straightened and stood on her toes. Their lips only centimeters apart, she breathed, "Kiss me then, Scarecrow."

"And good morning, it is top of the hour on this bright and glorious Monday…"

Lily sat up in her bed and looked around. No signs that what she had just dreamt had happened. No shirts or that certain black coat…

Sighing she slammed the her alarm clock off just as the opening bars of The Power of Love began to play. She was not in the mood for Huey Lewis and the News.

No, she mused as she got up and slipped on her robe, she was more in the mindset for some Carpenters.

Lily unsheathed the desired record and turned on her record player as she set up her electric kettle to brew. The first bars of the song drifted across her flat as she softly sang in time to Karen:

"Talkin' to myself and feelin' old. Sometimes I'd like to quit."

Yes, today was very much a Rainy Days and Mondays type a day.

Meanwhile, Severus Snape awoke to the closing bars of that annoying song, The Power of Love as he forcefully silenced his alarm clock. He had had another one of those dreams. One which he and Lily finally kiss.

It was the third such dream he had dreamt in the past month. Although, unlike the previous ones Lily had asked him to kiss her instead of him initializing it.

His lips stilled tingled from the dream-kiss as he raked his fingers through his tangled hair. He was past twenty-one, quickly approaching thirty actually, he knew he needed to stop this silly long-time crush he had been nursing on Lily since they first met back in secondary school. She would never see him as anything more than a friend and who could blame her, really? He knew that he was no catch or prize.

Severus curled his lip in a sneer as he checked his reflection in the mirror. He looked too much like a Greek Harpy with his beak of a nose and shallow cheekbones, a gift from his mother.

Still sneering at his mirrored reflection he lathered his face and began to shave. At least they were friends. He could live with that.

He sighed and washed his razor.

Where was his courage?

"Where it has always been," he muttered as he finished shaving his face. "locked away within my psyche."

Giving himself one more look in the mirror he told himself that today would be the day that he would tell Lily his feelings. His true feelings towards her.

Then after her rejection he will simply sweep up the bits of broken heart and carry on.

He smirked.

Yeah, lift your head high and carry on for your British that's what British men do.

Later as Severus was fashioning his coat he paused and looked at the umbrella standing in the corner of his flat. It was sunny out and would be way into the night. That had been the exact words of the weatherman on the wireless that morning, and yet...

Huffing a sigh, Severus grabbed the umbrella and hooked it around his arm. It wouldn't hurt to be prepared and John Steed always carried his. Granted he didn't end up with Mrs. Peel but at least they had had something between them-too much chemistry between the two fictional characters for them not to have shared a heated embrace or two sometime between saving the world.

The End