A teenage boy of 16 years walked up the cheery pathway of a modest cream-panelled, two-story house. He carried a heavy looking trunk beside as he trudged his way to the front door.
School had let out a month before and things weren't going so well at home. Screaming father, alcoholic mother but hey, you get use to it after awhile. But he really needed to get out of that house. Finally his opportunity came and he just hoped his friend would let him in.
Knocking on the door, the boy waited patiently before it opened a revealed a slim, matronly figure. Her short red hair was cut in a bob around her oval-shaped face. "Good afternoon, who are you?" the woman asked politely.
The boy answered, "Good afternoon, Mrs. Evans, I am a friend of your daughter's. May I speak with her please."
Taken aback by his politeness she quietly asked, "Which one?"
"Umm… Lily"
"Hang on, I'll go get her. Please come inside."
The woman allowed the boy into her home as she called up the stairs to her daughter, "Lily, someone's here to see you." At the matron's request, the boy took a seat in the living room of the household.
He saw an odd looking box in one corner with what looked like a small woman inside it, cooking something. The woman watched him and said, "I'm learning how to make Chicken Bombay."
Not really understanding but wanting to be polite, the boy replied, "That's good to hear."
Saved from having to add anything else to what would be an awkward conversation, a figure came from the staircase above and into the entrance hall of the house. When her gaze landed on the person in her living room, she promptly ran over to him, arms outstretched. The boy got up to meet her.
"How did you get here?" the crimson haired female cried, almost knocking over her companion as she embraced him.
A puff of air escaped the lanky teenage boy before he replied, "Calm down woman and let me breathe."
Blushingly the small girl let go of the boy and asked again, "How did you get here Severus?"
Dusting off his clothes, the boy trained his dark eyes onto the smaller girl and said, "My parents are currently out of town. I was supposed to go with them but backed out at the last minute. None to say, they weren't very pleased." He absentmindedly rubbed his forearms as he said that last statement. "So they left me and I thought why not visit a dear friend."
"Great!" the girl exclaimed. "Come on upstairs. Let me show my room." She grabbed the boy's hand and pulled him from the living room. He grabbed his trunk quickly as she dragged up the stairs.
On the floor above, they passed an open door, loud music blaring from inside. Severus looked into the room and recognized the dirty blonde haired girl there, pretending to sing into her hairbrush along to the song. What was here name again, Violet? Rose?
"Hold on, I just want to watch this for awhile." Lily stopped by the doorway, hidden partly by the ajar door. Bewildered, Severus looked from one girl to the next: one in obvious amusement and one oblivious to persons outside her little bubble. Lily let out a few giggles at times when the girl struck an odd pose and Severus continued to stare unfazed. As long as Lily was happy and from the grin on her face, clearly she was.
The song soon ended and the girl inside shouted, "Thank you London, good night!" while trusting her hands into the air. Lily burst out laughing now and the blonde haired turned to her doorway. She stormed over to the doorway, grabbed the door, shouted "Freaks!" before slamming it in their faces.
Lily was now rolling on the floor, tears spilling from her eyes with glee. Severus stared at her prone form, a small smile gracing his face. Maybe to her, that sight was funny, apparently extremely funny. She slowly got up off the floor, small laugh coming out occasionally before she dragged Severus into the room next to the singing girl's.
It was decorated in lilacs and soft yellows. A desk was on the far wall, under a window which overlooked the home's backyard. Her bedspread was cream coloured as well as the carpets. Lily sat on her bed, while Severus, being the gentleman, grabbed the chair by the desk and sat on it backwards.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence, small giggles still escaping the girl before Severus asked the first question that popped into his mind, "Who was that girl?"
Lily laughed a little louder at this, the memory still fresh before she said, "Oh that's my sister, Petunia. A right pain in the you know where she is, but ever so funny" she ended in a fake lady-like accent.
A snort escaped the boy as he said, "Oh ya. I remember her. She is a pain."
Lily nodded and then asked, while pointing, "What's with the trunk?"
Sheepishly, Severus glanced over at the trunk, not meeting her eyes as he said, "I was supposed to mention this earlier. I was wondering if I could stay with you?" He stole a swift glimpse at her face, which was a mixture of shock and disbelief. He regretted his question. Waving his hands defensively, he added, "Only for tonight. I mean, you don't have to… I can always go back home but…"
Lily smiled again. "Sure you can Sev." The girl replied happily. Severus let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding.
"You have everything you need in there?"
"Yes" he replied, immensely relieved at her approval. "You can put your trunk in the guest room. It's across from Pet's room. I'll just go tell my mum."
The girl ran from the room as Severus went over to the guest room she told him about. It had light blue walls and carpeting. A bed with blue striped sheets was in the middle of the room, flanked by two oak bedside tables, decorated with ornate lamps. Putting his trunk at the foot of the bed, Severus walked out and returned to Lily's room. She must still be downstairs with her mother.
Severus stood in the middle of the room and began to look around. The more he looked, the more he began to admire this room. Clearly it was occupied by a girl, as stated by the nail polish and makeup that dotted her dresser, but Severus noted she didn't have much.
He walked over to the dresser and picked up a picture frame. The picture showed Lily with her parents, under an umbrella on a hot, white, sandy beach. Petunia wasn't there, probably because she was the one taking the picture.
He spied another picture stuck into the side of the mirror, sporting a young Lily and Petunia, maybe only 8 or 9. Severus remembered those times. He often wondered how muggles lived so primitively: motionless pictures?! Stupid muggles. But Severus never said any of this within earshot of dear Ms. Evans. He found out the dire consequences of that blunder the hard way.
The walls were also decorated with posters of muggle celebrities, like Michael Jackson, who ever he was. But Severus didn't spare them a second glance as he walked over to Lily's desk. It was littered with parchment, quills, paper and… an ink-holding stick (muggles). One of the pieces of parchment was covered in words, which Severus found out was the beginning of a letter to one of Lily's Gryffindor girl friends.
Everything in this room just oozed Lily and he loved it. After drinking in her essence and feeling a bit satisfied, Severus stalked out of the room and down the stairs. There he saw Lily setting the table.
"I was going to come get you after I was finished with this," she said, looking at him for a second before going back to the task at hand. "Dinner will be ready soon." She put the last fork down and walked into the living room, Severus trailing silently behind her.
She sat down on the couch and Severus sat beside her nervously. Outwardly, he still looked calm and collected but he kept his arms and legs to himself. Lily did not notice this as she said, "Mum said you can stay here. She seems to be taken with your manners, Mr. Snape." Lily teased, pushing Severus lightly.
He cringed at her touch but recovered and said, "I have a way with the ladies, Ms. Evans," in the smoothest voice he could muster. L
ily snorted which Severus found adorable, "Ya, old married ladies."
Severus had the decency to look shocked but before he could defend his honour, Mrs. Evans called out, "Dinner's ready! Petunia, come downstairs!"
Severus got up, grinning evilly at Lily. "Wait till your mum hears what you called her."
Lily got up, ready to pounce on him, to plead for him not to say anything but Severus was too quick. He ran from her grasp and into the Evans' downstairs bathroom. He leaned on the door as Lily banged on it, calling for him but soon she gave up.
He washed up and then sat down at the table for dinner. It smelled great: the chicken thing Mrs. Evans was talking about, mashed potatoes, corn and a plate of vegetables. It had nothing on Hogwarts but was much better than his house. Petunia sat across from him, scowling at him and Lily, who was sitting beside him. Mr. and Mrs. Evans sat at the ends of the table, oblivious to the silent battle between the teens.
"Good evening, Mr. Evans. Mrs. Evans, thank you for allowing me to stay here tonight."
"Nonsense," she replied putting a kind hand on Severus' shoulder, "We couldn't have you staying all by yourself, Right dear?" She looked across the table at her husband, who was sporting a grin that didn't meet his eyes, "Yes boy, it was our pleasure." Mrs. Evans continued, "But before we eat, Severus, we must say grace."
She held out her palms, which all the Evans' soon did and joined them in a circle. Severus sat there blankly looking at them, with their eyes closed, Lily's exposed hand on his left, Mrs. Evans' on his right. Petunia peaked through her eyelid and giggled at him.
Lily also peaked and muttered out the side of her mouth, "Take my mum's hand before you make a fool of yourself."
He quickly grabbed their hands, melting at the feeling of smooth silk that was Lily's palm, as Mrs. Evans said in a solemn tone, "Thank you for this wonderful meal we are about to eat. Watch over us for all our days, on this earth and in your kingdom. Amen"
They all suddenly dropped their hands, Severus being the last, half out of the abruptness of the action and the other half for just a few more bliss seconds of holding Lily's hand. "You can get let go now," she said giggling. He quickly dropped their hands, ignoring the odd look that passed between mother and daughter. Mrs. Evans spoke up, "You may eat."
Dinner was light with small conversation. Slowly, Mr. Evans' happy expression seemed more genuine as he got to know Severus. They asked of his parents and Severus told them the same story he told Lily.
Soon the meal was finished. Severus helped Lily and Mrs. Evans clean up the dishes. Ever polite, Severus said, "That was a wonderful dinner, Mrs. Evans". Giggling, she replied, "Please call me Daisy."
Severus then followed Lily up the stairs. He went to his room, into his trunk and got his night clothes and bath things. He quickly located the bathroom on the second floor and got in. Stripping off his clothes, he got into the shower and washed himself. He put on his nightclothes (a black short-sleeved shirt and long grey pants) and exited the bathroom.
He went into Lily's room, which she exited with her clothes in hand before going into the bathroom herself. He walked over to where she kept her books and took out his favourite Advanced Potion Making, before sitting back on the desk chair.
While reading for maybe the 20th time about the properties of wormwood, Lily reappeared in the doorway, wearing a tight spaghetti-strap red shirt and black shorts. He couldn't help ogling her body but she didn't notice as her eyes were closed while drying her wet hair.
Blindly, she jokingly asked, "Don't you get enough of potions at school," while walking into the room and sitting at the end of the bed.
Snapping his eyes and thoughts back to reality, Severus eloquently replied, "Huh?"
"Nevermind," she sighed, tossing the wet towel over the back of her chair.
She lay back on her side facing him, causing her shirt to rise a bit up her stomach. "So how was dinner?"
Focusing on his book and not her exposed mid-section, Severus buried his head and replied, "Nice, though your father is kinda weird."
"Oh don't mind him," she said, waving it off, "he just didn't trust you at first but you seem to have grown on him"
"Hmm…" Severus replied, not interested in pursuing the matter.
Silence…
"So why didn't you go with your parents?", Lily's voice said. She had sat back up and looked toward Severus.
Staring harder at the pages of the book, not really reading, he offhandedly said, "Didn't feel like it. Needed a break from them."
"Don't you get one during the year," Lily asked cutely. Severus loved her for her innocence.
"A month is more than enough of them at one time. Trust me."
"I notice you didn't tell Daisy I called her old," Lily said.
Severus looked her grinning face and replied, "It completely slipped my mind. I'll tell her tomorrow."
Not sure if he was joking, but hoping, Lily said, "You'll forget in the morning."
"I never forget anything, Ms. Evans," he said. Especially dreams about you but you don't need to know that, he thought.
"Is that so Mr. Snape. So when's my birthday?", she asked teasingly.
"Actually your birthday was 2 days ago. I sent you a letter remember."
With a look of shock, Lily said, "You did? With all the letters I got from Potter, I don't remember getting yours." Angry that that prat upstaged his birthday blessing, a scowl appeared on his face. Then Lily giggled and gave him a light push, "I'm joking Severus. I put up yours already and burned all of those things. You'd think he'd give up by now."
With disdain, he said shortly, "Yeah, well Saint Potter hasn't been known to give up easily."
"Yea but 6 years?!" "He's waiting on a miracle?" Severus said, more like a statement than a question.
Lily rolled her eyes saying, "Ya, a great life changing miracle."
Boredly, Lily's eyes roamed his body just taking in his form. He seemed uncomfortable like he was hiding something. Her gaze then landed on his arms. "Hey wait a minute!" Lily cried.
She sat up on the mattress and grabbed Severus' hands, examining his forearm. Severus tried to look indifferent to her discovery but on the inside, he was sweating bullets. Lily continued to stare at the offending limb, wordlessly tracing the lines of bruises and scars with her fingers. Severus flinched as she touched each one.
The moment seemed to stretch on for hours, neither saying a word, just staring at the marred limb. It was finally broken by Lily asking, "What do they do to you?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Severus said, pulling his arm back, fear slowly leaking from his pores.
"Severus, answer me!" Lily shouted.
"It's nothing." He could not meet her eyes.
"This is not nothing," Lily cried, holding her hands towards his arm.
"Well," Severus started, distancing himself from her, "since it's not nothing, then you obviously already know what it is," he ended smartly.
"How can you let them do this to you?" the girl cried in disbelief.
"You think I ask them to do this? 'Oh Mum, can I get some long scratches on my arms? Girls think they're really cool, battle scars and all that.', " he said sarcastically.
"So you haven't told anyone?"
"Who's there to tell?" he shouted in frustration.
"You could have told me!" the girl screamed in hysterics, getting up and holding onto his arm.
Severus pushed her off him, "No one was supposed to find out."
"Why not?! This is serious."
"All wizarding families use this as punishment for their children. It's tradition. A mudblood like you would never understand."
The words left his mouth without thinking and he instantly wanted to take them back. This is just like what happened last time.
"Yeah a mudblood like me," the girl said quietly and her eyes looked down to the floor.
"I'm so sorry," Severus pleaded. He moved to embrace her. "I didn't mean to-"
Her head snapped up and she focused her eyes on him. "Ya, you didn't mean anything to a mudblood," Lily said, her voice slowly rising.
"Don't say that. It's not true."
"Of course it's not true. Lies spout out of your mouth like a fountain whenever you talk to a mudblood!.", she spat back.
"Don't call yourself that."
"Why not? You do and I'm sure you even think it sometimes!"
"Lily, listen to me . I…"
"Hey freaks! Quiet down in there!" a voice called from the next room.
Ignoring Petunia, Lily's voice turned icy cold. "Get out!" "Lily…" "GET OUT!"
She pushed him out into the hall, her face red with anger and slammed the door behind him. He stood there, staring at the wood, until he spun and headed to the guest room. He sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands, consumed by his guilt.
"Wow, You've gotten on her nerves. What'd you do?" The blonde girl, Petunia was standing in her doorframe. She was wearing a long white T-shirt with the words, Manchester United, on the front. Scowling at her, he wordlessly walked over to the door and closed it; the last he heard was her laughing at his distress and going back to her room.
Feeling like a fool, Severus sprawled across the guest bed, staring at the ceiling. This night was not going as he planned, not that he had planned anything. He came over with complete innocent, good intentions. But this was turning out to be a huge mistake. Why couldn't he learn from his mistakes. Obviously he should have just kept his big mouth shut. He grabbed one of the pillows and held it over his face in frustration.
He had to set things right. Now. He went over to his trunk and pulled out his present to her. He had not mailed it like initially planned but since he was staying over, he brought it with him in case.
Getting it out, he got up from the bed and walked over to Lily's door. Thankfully Petunia was still inside her room. Thank god for small miracles. He couldn't do this if Lily didn't let him in and he had to have the conversation with the door while the elder girl was mocking him.
Getting some courage - How Gryffindor of me - Severus knocked on her door. It was silent then he heard footsteps. They stopped just on the other side of the door.
"Who is it?" Lily called, a bit muffled by the 2-inch thick piece of wood separating them.
"Severus," he calls, hoping that she'll let him in.
"And?" So much for that hope.
"Please Lily, just listen to me."
"I've already listened to you enough for a lifetime."
"Please Lily?" he pleaded, practically begged. What's happening to me? I'm acting like bloody Saint Potter.
He heard a sigh escape the girl and inwardly rejoiced as the door swung in. "Come on in." she said, not meeting his eyes. Just happy to have gotten this far, Severus stepped over the threshold, hiding his present behind his back.
He sat on the end of her bed, as she stood in front of him, arms akimbo. "So start talking," she commanded tight-lipped.
Fumbling slightly with his thoughts, he started, "I know I can't tell you that I didn't mean it. You already don't believe me. But listen, it's not my fault. I-"
"Of course it's your fault, it's your mouth," she interrupted hotly.
"Maybe but it is how I am, how I was raised. You've seen the marks so you can imagine what sort of people they are. And I've already described the general pureblood mentality. All purebloods are raised like, to despise muggleborns and muggles. Even with only one pureblood parent. From our first hours, we hear such disgust for the rest of the human and wizard population. Its just our nature. I did not mean to use it on you, my dear Lily." He pleaded with her, with his eyes and his words, for forgiveness of his unthoughtful actions.
She stared at him, obviously thinking, he could see the gears moving in her head, then she turned away again saying, "That doesn't excuse what you said." Man, was she difficult.
"I've already said I was sorry for that."
"Sorry doesn't cut it."
"Obviously not," he retorted, voice rising. Trying to calm himself down before another argument erupted, he took a deep breath and said, "I don't know how else to show that I'm sorry, I really am. Why won't you believe me?"
"I know you're sorry but this has happened before. I can't just keep forgiving you every time you say that," she said, taking a seat beside him on the bed.
"I won't say it again."
"How do you know for sure?" she asked thoughtfully, already knowing the answer. Severus could not say anything and refused to meet her gaze.
Feeling slightly mean for making him suffer so long, she said, "Can you promise you won't say it for a long, long time at least, as long as Severus-ly possible?"
He snorted at her word and said, "Yes, I can do that" She embraced him, drinking in his scent, as he did hers.
Suddenly he remembered his plan-B. "Lily, hold on." He took out the present from behind his back. "Happy Birthday." It was a tan-coloured pillow, decorated with 2 stitched-on does. A small raven flitted back and forth, landing on one doe to the next. It was incredibly soft and he handed it to her smiling. Her face lit up with glee and excitement as took it from it, feeling its texture against her palms and face.
"I made it this month using my mom's old sewing machine. Got some really nasty pin pricks from it and had to borrow her wand for a few things but I think it…" Lily put the pillow behind her and threw her arms around him in delight, kissing his cheek numerously.
It all happened so fast. Severus was enjoying every minute of Lily showing her gratification for his thoughtful gift. She was overflowing with mirth, so much that he turned his face slightly, accidentally capturing her lips with his. A quick thought flitted through his mind - I bet Saint Potter wishes he was me now. If only he knew.
He felt Lily tense up at first but soon she relaxed in his arms. Severus was sweet, kind, he made her laugh and he had been her first true friend outside of this world. Save for his pureblood tendencies, he was the perfect guy. Sure he was no James Potter in the looks department, she knew Potter was attractive, but he also had his own allure. She was in her own world now, hers and Severus', and she was happy.
"Hey, she killed you yet? I heard screaming and… You freaks! What do you think you're doing!?" So much for their perfect moment.