*No one besides J.K. Rowling owns anything related to the Harry Potter universe and of course I'm no exception. Here's a snily fic. My first fic ever...actually... So yes it will probably be a little rough. Yes it's a work in progress and YES I appreciate anything you have to say. Thank you!*

Chapter One: "Freckles"

Severus Snape stood alone in King's Cross Station as his fellow students ran through the seemingly solid barrier dividing Platforms Nine and Ten. The desire to board the Hogwarts Express had diminished ever since he had experienced the greatest tragedy of his life; and yet despite his misery he still waited to catch the same start-of-term glimpse of Lily Evans that he'd been sneaking ever since his first year. The previous September was the first time he had to conceal himself and avert her gaze, and for the start of his final school year he wore muggle-style clothing to the station in hopes that he would appear to be just another face in the crowd. While it's true that the only attention he welcomed came from Lily Evans, the fact of the matter was that ever since the latter part of their fifth year, she pretended he didn't exist. If for some nonsensical reason she actually did notice him watching her, she'd simply assume the worst of him; most likely believing that he was spying on her—or worse—that he was some sort of creepy and obsessed stalker. His thin lips curled up into the smallest smile imaginable and his brow relaxed at realization that in all seriousness, he really was all of those things when it came to Lily.

His thoughts were immediately interrupted, however, when the most loathed sound in all of existence echoed throughout the station.

"Evans! You foxy devil, come'ere and confess your love for me before we get on the train! You have to so that when our future children ask about our anniversary, we can say that each year on the day they go away to school it's bittersweet for us because even though they're leaving, you and I are also celebrating our love for one another and the promises we made to—"

"Honestly James…people are staring!" Lily whined as she tried desperately to hide her face from view. James then pressed his hands against each of Lily's cheeks so that she appeared to have fish lips and carefully shook her head back and forth as he continued on.

"Well of course they're staring!" He cooed, "They know it's only a matter of moments before I'm no longer single and their dreams are shattered!" With that Lily managed to break free and quickly rubbed her cheeks.

"Everyone's dreams? Including the men?" She teased.

"Especially the men," James growled with a devilish Grin.

Severus turned his back to them in disgust and his face contorted into a grotesque sneer. How can Lily even tolerate that childish imbecile? He thought to himself. To him it seemed like only yesterday Lily was pretending that James was the one who didn't exist, and she was laughing at all of his own jokes, as terrible and forced as they were.

"Hello stranger." Lily said softly. Her voice had emitted a tone of love and comfort and at that moment Severus remembered that he actually had a heart. He immediately turned around, anxious to greet her in return, when suddenly his rediscovered heart fell to the floor and shattered.

"Enjoy your holiday, Evans?" Remus asked as he approached her with a kind smile on his face and shopping bags in his hands. Peter came running up behind him, saying nothing as he managed to nod in acknowledgment towards Lily before nearly collapsing on the station floor. "Poor fool…I promised him a snack if he'd be able to keep up with me and now look what's happened."

"I'd say he's earned a treat then, Moony" said James in between short bursts of his signature laughter.

"Right you are Prongs," said Remus as he reached into one of the bags, "Here you are mate, a nice crisp carrot!"

"Oy! That's not a treat! What gives Remus? I swear you're mental…Just a couple weeks away from school and now here you are acting just like James! When we meet Sirius on the train I'm sure he'll at least have the decency to treat his best friend to a chocolate frog or two!" Peter protested as he searched through the bag the carrot was in. "Hey! There's nothing in here but vegetables!"

"And this one only has fruit in it so if you don't mind could you please stop critiquing my food preference?" Remus chuckled. Lily and James couldn't help but join in and the standing trio laughed merrily at their expense of their stout friend.

As pathetic as the Marauders—or as Severus called them, the "Morons"—were, he was able to ignore them for the most part and instead focused again on Lily. This last holiday they had never actually been very far apart seeing as how they lived so close to one another; and yet it seemed as though they'd been living in different universes for an eternity. It amazed him how people like Potter and his lackeys never seemed to change and yet others like Lily managed to become even more beautiful in just a matter of months. She had let her dark crimson hair grow down to her mid back and had it styled so that it curled at the ends. It bounced every timed she laughed and accentuated the colors of her Gryffindor attire in a very attractive fashion. Severus also took note of how she was wearing light makeup which brightened her emerald eyes even more but also covered up most of her freckles. Upon realizing this, Severus clenched his fists and through his pale skin blue veins protruded and became visible like frozen rivers along a snowy landscape. As his head slumped forward, oily strands of black hair dangled in front of his face and concealed his dismal gaze. His mind then wandered back to a time when he and Lily were children and Severus would entertain her with the little magic he knew and make up stories about what life might be like once they started school together.

"Tell me again about Quidditch, Sev! And Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest!"

"We're both going to be on the Slytherin Quidditch team, we're both going to drink butterbeer in Hogsmeade when we're old enough to go and students obviously aren't allowed in the Forbidden Forrest. Lily, promise me that if you decide you have to go there, for whatever stupid reason…That you'll let me go with you so you don't get hurt."

"Sev you crack me up! Why on Earth would I want to go into the Forbidden Forest? Besides, even if I wanted to, you know I wouldn't go without you!"

Severus smiled and rested on the grass next to where Lily stood. He propped himself up onto his elbows and watched as she walked into the shallow waters of the mossy pond.

"Slimey green moss for the silvery-green Slytherins!" Lily cheered as she kicked at the murky water. "I'm so excited! I've never really had friends…But now I've met you and we get to go to school together and make even more friends who are just like us! I can't wait!"

"Lily…" Severus sighed as he sat upright and crossed his legs. "There'll be other witches and wizards, but we're different. They might not like us, and we should be happy just having each other."

"Sev! Don't be silly, we're gonna make lots of friends! You're the greatest person I know. Honest! If I like you then I know everyone else will too," Lily assured him as she walked past. She then sat down so their backs rested against one another and banged the back of her head against his. "So get that through your thick skull OK?"

"Lily, don't ever change" whispered Severus. He brought his knees up to his chest, closed his eyes and rested his head.

"Can't do that," Lily giggled, "Everyone changes, Sev. At least a little…"

"Then try your hardest to change as little as possible, you hopeless twit…"

"Sticks and stones, Sevvy! But I'll tell you what…How about we each promise to keep one thing about us the same, for the rest of forever?"

"Do you know how silly that sounds? 'The rest of forever?' What do you even mean?"

"SEV!" shouted Lily, leaving Severus stunned and silent. "Promise me you'll never change your hair!"

"My hair? Why my hair?" Severus asked, genuinely confused. "If I promise not to change my hair then does that mean I can change my nose?"

"Sev!" Lily squealed, "No new hairstyles or nose jobs!" She grinned and reached for his face with her arms outstretched over her head. "Promise?"

"Not fair, Lily. You picked twice." He countered as he grabbed her flailing hands and held them in his own up in the air.

"Fine then, I owe you one." Lily pouted. Then Severus released his grip.

"Right then. I swear that I'll never change the way my hair looks, or my ugly nose if you promise to stop being so worried about your freckles."

"But Sev, I hate my freckles! More than I hate war and artichokes and—"

"Lily…what's the one thing Petunia says that always gets to you?"

"Every freckle on your face is a kiss from an angel in outer space…"

"What's funny about that Lily is that even though I hate your sister, that's the one thing she says that I actually agree with."

"You mean that in the wizarding world there are SPACE ANGELS?"

"No! What I meant is that your freckles are beautiful and it only makes sense that you're stuck wearing permanent angel lipstick marks all over your face!"

"Sev!" Lily squealed as she turned onto her knees and squeezed him from behind, "I always knew you had a sense of humor! Even if it is sorta dark sometimes!"

"Lily, even though that was funny, I'm being very serious…" Severus said as his tone gradually became more quiet and austere.

"Fine then, Mister Snape, I promise never to use magic or anything else to get rid of my freckles, for as long as I live, for longer than forever!" Both Lily and Severus laughed and at that moment when the clouds parted and the sun shone down on them, Severus was content and truly happy to be with his truest friend—his only friend.

"Mister Snape" He thought to himself. "How delightfully formal, Mister Snape..."

"Mister Snape…Mister Snape…Excuse me Mister Snape but you really must come to your senses now! Train's just about to leave and you're not on it!" Snape's head sprung up in an instant and he grabbed the man who addressed him by the shoulders.

"How do you know my name and how much time is there?" Snape asked as he firmly shook the man who he had finally recognized was the station guard for Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

"Hold your hippogriffs now, Lad! I'd received word from a group of rowdy and might I add, very excited boys that a Mr. Snivellus Snape hadn't made his way onto the train and it's my job to see that everyone makes it to the school! Seeing as how your trunk says, 'S.S.' and even has 'S. Snape' scratched into it in some places I just made the assumption that you're the missing student. Sorry if there's a mistake, but might I add that you've still got two minutes to spare and it takes less than one to go through the platform and get on the train! I'll roll your luggage behind you and make sure no one sees you if you just get a move on!" And with that Severus released his grip on the guard and jolted through the platform unconcerned about the fact that dozens of muggles could have easily witnessed the spectacle. In less than an instant he saw the Hogwarts Express and sprinted towards magical steam engine. As smoke and the sounds of various whistles filled the air, Severus stepped aboard, held onto a brass handle and turned one last time towards the platform guard who had managed to appear with his luggage.

"You'll see to it that if my possessions don't make it on the train, that I'll be reunited with them at the school?"

"Of course Lad…But you best hurry and find a seat! Oh and if I were you, I'd change into my uniform! Muggle clothes aren't the most popular attire as I'm sure you know and they're not allowed during the Welcoming Feast…At least they weren't when I was a student!" And with that the train slowly began to inch its way forward towards the late-morning sun. Severus instinctively shadowed his face with his hand and turned again towards the guard.

"As surprising as this may seem, Sir, I fear it's too late to be worried about popularity as far as I'm concerned. Thank you, however, for your assistance."

"Right you are Lad!" shouted the Guard who had left the luggage behind so that he could jog alongside the train. "Still, it wouldn't hurt if you try to enjoy the rest of the school year! Popular or not, anything can happen!" He then slowed his pace and even after he had come to a complete stop he continued to wave until Severus could no longer see him in the distance. He flung his head to one side so that the wind blew his hair out of his face and for a moment he revered the piercing whistle of the wind. Still holding onto the brass handle, he slowly sat himself down on the uppermost step of the compartment's entryway and took comfort in his familiar solitude. His head suddenly shot up one last time during yet another shocking revelation:

"It would appear…" he whispered to himself, "that I've left my robe in my trunk…"