Lily meets Severus
The chains creaked under her minimal weight as her feet soared higher. She tilted her head back and the sun beamed through her bright auburn hair. Long strands of her hair soared behind her as she rose up into the air. The swing came rushing back down. Her hair engulfed her face as she blew out a harsh breath to try to clear her vision.
Lily was a stereotypical ginger with her bright red hair, pale skin, a plethora of freckles and big blue eyes. She was also one of the sweetest children one could hope to meet. Her smile radiated and was contagious to all of those around her. With one exception, her sister, Petunia. No one quite understood how the two girls could possibly be related. Petunia was a wilting flower compared to the bright and colorful Lily. The two were as opposite as they could be.
Petunia had straight flat brown hair which hung limply down her back. She wore a permanent scowl that expressed her disdain for everyone around her. Several of her parents' friends mentioned how unhappy of a child she was. Petunia glared across the top of the hill at a group of girls her age. They were laughing and braiding each other's hair. They never let Petunia join them. Upon the few times she had tried they told her that her hair was to flat. It wasn't wavy enough to braid. One had even remarked that her hair was as flat as she was and that she lacked a personality all together. It was one of the more embarrassing things that she had ever endured. She just wanted friends and to fit in. Lily never seemed to have a problem making friends, of that she was envious. She almost hated her for it. At least this is why Lily thought that Petunia harbored so much anger for her.
Lily noticed Petunia gathering her bag and sketch book. This was the usual signal that it was time to leave. Since Lily was the younger of the two her parents didn't want her staying out by herself. It made sense to her. She kicked her feet out hard so that she could sail higher into the air. The swing rushed back down towards the ground. She waited until her feet almost touched the ground then she jumped. She landed on her feet like always and started skipping towards Petunia.
Severus ducked his head back into the shadows to keep the ginger girl from noticing that he had been watching her. He sank down behind the huge tree. The shade of the tree was cool and inviting. Much more inviting than the other children were. He decided he would stay in the shadows for the time being. Who needed friends anyways? As he buried his face into another book his dark hair fell around his face. It was a stark contrast to his almost white skin. Even though he spent a large portion of his time outdoors, it was never actually spent in the sun. He preferred the cool shade opposed to the burning sun.
It confused Lily that the boy with the dark hair never played. He was always behind the tree. She enjoyed reading too but she enjoyed her swing as well. She loved the feeling of soaring higher and higher. Still, she couldn't fault him for spending him time with books. They were a wonderful break from reality. She glanced back towards the tree once more as she reached Petunia.
"You shouldn't be worrying after that little freak. Heavens knows what the other girls will think if they see you staring at him. You don't want people thinking you're a freak too, do you?"
"Don't call him that! Just because someone is different doesn't make them a freak," Lily dropped her eyes to the ground.
Her sister wasn't the most understanding person. She didn't have to look at Petunia to know that she was glaring at her. She straightened her skirt. It was still wrinkled from the swing. She chewed the inside of her cheek as Petunia started down the hill, back towards their home.
"Wait for me!" Lily ran after her.
Petunia was stomping through the field of flowers down the hill.
"You're going to crush them all!" Lily bent down and grabbed up a flower her sister had just stomped on. Petunia never had respect for flowers. She couldn't figure out why. They were so pretty, but this one was now dead. A wave of sadness hit Lily. Her hands felt warm. She looked down as her hands tingled.
Petunia turned around to see what Lily was making such a fuss over. Her hands looked different. Brighter. She watched as her sister opened her hands and the small flower glowed. It looked like it had just bloomed all over again. The small fragile petals that were torn were now whole.
"I'm telling Mom!" Petunia turned and ran back towards their home. "FREAK!" she yelled back over her shoulder at her sister.
"There is nothing wrong with being a freak, being normal by their standards, however, is quite another story," the boy with the dark hair was standing behind her.
Lily spun around and looked at him. "I'm not a freak! I am normal," she was trying not to panic. Her eyes started to tear. She really wasn't a freak. She was special, perhaps, but not a freak. "Who are you anyway?" she asked as she rubbed a sleeve across her eyes.
"Severus Snape," the boy didn't look particularly convinced.
"Severus? That's an unusual name." Lily smiled at him finally. "A family name I suppose?"
"Something like that," Snape let his scowl fall away. "Who was that girl? Your sister? You two don't look anything alike," he knew he was being a little rude. The girl with the dark hair always glared at him. He didn't think very much of her either. She was obviously a muggle. Only a muggle could be so blind to everything around them.
"That was Petunia. She is my sister. I'm Lily," she thrust out her hand to make the introduction more formal. At least she finally knew his name. She had seen him lurking behind that tree for the past several months.
Severus looked down at her hand with an eyebrow arched. He slowly took her hand and shook it. "Pleasure, I'm sure." As long as she was nothing like her sister she couldn't be that bad. "Aren't you going home now? You always leave when she does," he had seen her here almost every day for the past few months. She always left when her sister did. That was part of the reason he had never had the opportunity to speak with her.
"No, I'm not going with her. She's only going to try to get me in trouble," Lily set her jaw and looked back towards the swings. "Come swing with me. No one else ever swings," she started back towards the top of the hill without waiting for a response. Her mother would be her to check on her soon. Her mother knew how nasty Petunia could be. She was always being scolded to not call other children names.
Severus stood still for a moment. He watched as Lily made her way back up to the swings. She looked over her shoulder at him from the top of the hill. He had nothing better to do. His parents wouldn't expect to be home for at least a couple more hours.
"Coming," he shrugged his shoulders to try to make it seem nonchalant. It wasn't like he had been waiting for an opportunity to speak with her. It wasn't like his heart was pounding at the prospect of having an actual friend. It wasn't anything at all. He had learned not to get his hopes up about making friends. He wasn't supposed to discuss the wizarding world with other children and he wasn't quite sure what muggles even did.
They had spent at least an hour swinging the day before. Now Severus waited patiently at the swings Lily usually played on. There was a light breeze that kept blowing his hair back from his face. He pursed his lips and he kicked his feet against the ground. His swing slowly moved backwards and forwards. He didn't kick hard enough for his feet to leave the ground. He drug them in the dirt and let the sand cover the tips of his shoes. He could feel the warmth coming from the sand. It was really getting hotter outside. There were tiny beads of sweat forming at his hairline. He hated the feeling. It made him feel like he was be smothered. Finally his patience wore out. Obviously Lily was not coming today. For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that it was Petunia's fault.
Lily and her annoyance of a sister normally came from the edge of the woods up the hill. There was only one house on the other side of the woods. It wouldn't hurt to take a longer way home than usual. If he happened to see Lily he could say hi. If he didn't that would be fine too. It wasn't like he was going out of his way to see her. He was pretty sure she was muggle born after all. That made any chance of a friendship between them complicated. He couldn't discuss anything in front of her. What would even be the point in having her around if he couldn't talk to her?
Today had been dreadful. Petunia refused to go to the playground and Lily wasn't allowed to go by herself. Every time Lily walked by her sister's open door she heard Petunia whisper "freak." It wasn't fair for her to be treated this way. It wasn't fair at all. So she sat alone in the yard. Even if she couldn't go to the playground she could still come sit outside. She laid back on the grass and closed her eyes. The sun felt so warm against her cool skin. Her fingers closed around a clump of grass. The dew from this morning was now gone. The grass even felt warm. She smiled as a breeze blew over her face and tickled her nose.
There she was! Severus walked slowly down the road. He stayed close to the white fence. He didn't want it to seem like he was staring at Lily but why were her eyes closed? Why would anyone lay outside on the ground? Muggles were so unusual. No wonder there was an entire department of the Ministry dedicated to studying them. The loose gravel crunched under his feet.
Lily sat upright at the sound. She looked all around and noticed Severus by the fence. "Hi there!" she called as she stood up. "Do you live around here too?" She had never noticed Severus away from the small playground. Maybe he was actually her neighbor. That would be nice. Then she could still have a friend even if Petunia refused to take her to the swings.
"No. I don't," Severus regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "What were you doing lying in the grass? Are you ill?"
She giggled at such a question. "Of course I'm not ill. Why would I be outside if I were ill?" Laying outside in the grass was such a normal concept to her. She had always enjoyed being outside. One of her favorite things to do was to read her books in her mother's garden.
"I don't know, why do muggles do half the things they do?" He swept a look across the yard. It was well kept. There were flowers in a small bed along the front porch. They had a lot of flowers. Maybe her parents enjoyed growing things.
"What is a muggle?" Lily gave Severus a questioning look.
"Nothing. Forget I said that," he turned and started towards the gate.
"Don't go! Wait!" Lily rushed after him. "I really don't know what that means, besides, I have no one to talk to. Mother and Father are away at Grandmother's and Petunia keeps calling me a freak. Stay for a little while?" she was tired of sitting by herself. Her parents were great and she loved Petunia but she wanted someone to talk to. She knew her parents wouldn't be back for a few more hours. Her grandmother had fallen and they were taking her to see a doctor. It always seemed to take forever when they went to see the doctor.
Severus looked down at her over a scrunched nose. He thought this over carefully. He knew she wasn't like her sister but that didn't mean he could trust her. On the hand, if she knew what he was then she couldn't just not be his friend. He didn't have any friends. If she didn't keep his secret though, he could get into trouble.
"Okay, I'll stay for a minute or so," he looked towards a tree casting an area of shade and walked over to it. Lily was right behind him of course. "Why is your sister calling you a freak?" He jumped straight to the point. He didn't have siblings but it was a strange concept to be so rude to your younger sister.
Lily dropped her gaze down to the grass. She sat down and began to twirl grass blades around her fingers. "Because she's mean and she thinks I'm different," she answered at last.
"Different how? You have the same family, how can you be so different?" He narrowed his eyes. Something was off here.
"Sometimes I can do things that she can't. It's not that big of a deal but Petunia makes it seem much worse. Mother told her not to call me that, but she still does." Lily glanced up to see Severus' expression.
"What can you do that she can't?" Lily had really peaked his curiosity. What could a muggle do that was so bad? He couldn't think of anything that would warrant that kind of behavior.
"This," Lily took a small flower and crushed it. She cupped her hands around it and closed her eyes. Her hands felt warm. They started tingling. There was a warm feeling spreading up her arms. She opened her eyes and her hands. The small flower was glowing but it was whole. The petals were whole again, as was the stem.
"You aren't a muggle. You're just muggle born!" Severus grinned for the first time at Lily. They could be friends. They could go to Hogwarts together. This was great news.
"You still haven't told me what a muggle is," Lily reminded him.
He pursed his lips. She did have a right to know. It wasn't exactly breaking any rules to tell a witch that she was a witch. She wasn't a muggle, so why shouldn't he tell her?
"A muggle is someone who has no magical capabilities. They are born as muggles. You are not a muggle," he might as well get that out of the way.
"Magical capabilities? Like pulling a bunny from a hat? I can't do that. I can't make anything disappear either," Lily was thoroughly confused.
"No! There is no pulling a rabbit from a hat. There is, however, transfiguring a rabbit into a hat. You're not thinking of actual magic. What you did the other day with the flower was real magic. That was how I knew you were a witch. That means that you're special," he regarded her with a solemn expression when she laughed in disbelief.
"I'm not a witch. Those aren't real. The flower was just..." she paused as she tried to think of a way to explain it. "It was nothing."
Severus smirked, "Nothing? Your sister called you a freak over nothing? I don't think so. No, you're a witch and that's fine. There is nothing wrong with being a witch. It means that you'll be able to come to Hogwarts with me and meet plenty of other witches and wizards just like you."
"Hogwarts? Where is that?" she had clearly never heard of Hogwarts. Maybe he was making it all up.
"Hogwarts is the best school of witchcraft and wizardry. We should get our letters in a couple of months actually," he was ready to go now.
The sound of crunching gravel got their attention. A black car was pulling up into the drive. Lily's parents weren't paying attention thankfully. She wasn't sure if company would be allowed since she stayed at the playground without Petunia the day before. She was still in trouble for that.
"I'll see you later," Severus got up and walked through the woods behind the tree. She wasn't sure where he lived. Hopefully it wasn't a long walk. It would be getting dark soon and she hated the idea of walking anywhere in the dark. Especially by herself. Severus was a lot braver than her.
She started towards her front door. She couldn't help thinking about him calling her a witch. Could she really be a witch? The thing with the flower was odd, yes, but that didn't make her a witch. Did it?