[All characters belong to J.K Rowling, I own nothing. Severus/Lily, Age: 11, Enjoy!]
Despite being sorted into Slytherin, Severus was always by Lily's side. She was his only friend and he wanted to be as close to her as he could get. He was even her partner for Potions class (even if he was going against his Professor's wishes). Lily was horrible at Potions and Severus was always quite gifted in it. Severus' favorite class was DADA and Lily's was Charms, but that was because she loved the Professor who taught it. Lily was having trouble with the Potions homework and needed to ask Severus to help, but he was in the Slytherin common room and she couldn't talk to him. Instead of sitting in her common room, acting like she knew what she was doing, she walked down the corridors, waiting for Severus to show up. He was finishing up his homework, he sat alone in the corner of the common room. Not even the Slytherins liked to be around him, they always pushed him away because of Lily and because of his looks. He learned to ignore them and to be on his own when he had to be. Once his homework was done he grabbed his bag and left the common room to find Lily. She walked around the corner and bumped into him.
"Severus!"
"Hi, Lily."
She grabbed his hand and pulled him outside, she was running quicker than he could. He stumbled a bit and made sure his bag wouldn't tear. She dragged him to the lake and sat down below a nearby tree. He sat next to her and smiled.
"Why are we over here?"
"I like it here, and I need help with Potions."
Severus gave a slight nod and pulled his Potions book from his bag. He set it in front of them and opened it to the chapter they were studying.
"What do you need help with?"
"I forgot what is in that potion."
She pointed to a picture and smiled.
"Oh, that one's easy. How could you forget, we've been going over it in class every day for almost a week!"
Lily smiles and shoved him slightly, making him have to push himself back into balance with his hand.
"Don't ask me! My brain blanks out when I'm in potions!"
Severus smiled slightly and started to explain every ingredient, what to do to them, when to use it and what it does once put in the potion. Lily stared at him, fully interested in every word he said, taking in all the information.
"Got it?"
"Got it! Why can I focus when you say it but not focus in class?"
"Maybe you just needed someone to explain it differently."
"You mean better?"
"I guess."
Lily smiled and hugged Severus, he smiled slightly and closed the book. Once Lily let go he knew something was wrong. He looked up slightly and saw a new, shiny brown pair of school shoes. They smelled of polish and leather. He knew who was standing in front of him. The new robes stopped right above his ankles, the pants were the perfect length and it was probably their first time being worn this school year.
"What do you want James?"
"That's none of your business, Evans."
Severus didn't look up, he quietly picked up his book as James spit out insult after insult. Severus was used to this by now, he'd heard it all. His hair was a greasy mess, his robes were faded, old and worn, his shoes were a size too small and he looked like he hadn't showered in a year. It didn't bother him anymore, but it bothered Lily. He had tried to tell her it was fine, but she was stubborn. She'd always tell them:
"Severus is perfect the way he is, it isn't his fault!"
"Shut it, Evans!"
Severus had heard enough, Lily was yelling and James was insulting her. He could take insults to himself, but not to Lily. He stood up and looked at James.
"Don't you have somewhere to be, Potter?"
"Why do you care, Snape?"
Severus glared and James noticed this immediately, he swung his fist into Severus' cheek. Severus stumbled back and reached for his wand, Lily grabbed his wrist and yelled:
"No! You'll get in trouble if you do that!"
Severus nodded and gave in to Lily. He let go of the wand and grabbed his books. He and Lily walked away back to the castle, they went sit in the Library so they couldn't be bothered by James.
"He'll never come in here, Severus. He's not smart enough."
Lily giggled and Severus nodded once again. He didn't say much the rest of the day because of the pain in his cheek. He rubbed the bruise repeatedly; Lily kept grabbing his hand and telling him to stop. He couldn't help that it hurt. He tried not to but she couldn't do anything about it when he was in his common room. The next day Professor Dumbledore noticed Severus' cheek.
"Severus, may I ask what happened?"
"Professor, it's not important."
"Very well, but if you want to tell me, feel free to."
Snape was about to reply when Lily stood up, her face was red, like her hair was. She was clearly angry. She pointed to James, who was glaring at her for ratting him out.
"James Potter hurt Severus!"
Professor Dumbledore looked at James and shook his head.
"Miss Evans, I cannot punish him without Severus saying who it was."
Lily looked at Severus and he shook his head, he mouthed to her:
"I don't want to be punched again, Lily."
She sat back down and pouted, class went on rather normally, James threw crumpled pieces of parchment at Severus while Professor Dumbledore wasn't looking and Lily was turning redder with each piece that his Severus's head. After class, Lily pulled Severus out the classroom and looked at him.
"Why didn't you tell him!"
"I didn't think it was worth another punch."
Lily sighed and hugged Severus, he smiles and hugged her back.
"You are dumb, Severus Snape."
"And you are hot-tempered, Lily Evans."
She giggled and he started to laugh at their words. She grabbed his hand and they walked to their next class together like they always did. Both were glad that they were friends. Neither cared that their houses were rivals. They only cared about each other, and if that meant they would be each other's only friend, it was worth it.
