Legal disclaimer: The characters in this fanfiction belong to J.K. Rowling from her original Harry Potter series.
Author's Note: This is my first attempt at writing a fanfiction piece. I had long thought about writing one and finally felt inspired to do it as part of a class assignment. All direct quotations are italicized to give credit to the works of J.K. Rowling. Paragraphs that are italicized are reimagined and based upon scenes described in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry and the Deathly Hallows.
Severus and Lily's Happily Ever After
A tall, thin man with pallid skin and a slightly hooked nose peered intently, yet with a hint of caution, so as not to cause the sleeping infant to stir from his peaceful slumber. He still could not believe he and his one true love, Lily, could have created something as perfect as their son, even though six months had passed since his son's birth. He had to remind himself often that he was a father, because, in the end, he had been the one to win Lily's heart with his caring, determined, resilient demeanor. It was because of Lily's kindness and her ability to love him for who he was that he never turned to the Dark Arts seeking solace as one of the Dark Lord's followers. As Harry's breathing evened out, Severus crept noiselessly towards his and Lily's room in search of his personal Pensieve. Finding it at last in the depths of his wardrobe, he raised his wand to his left temple and allowed his thoughts to return to his adolescent school years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry once more as he entered the now swirling basin of his memories. He watched and remembered reflectively how everyone had teased him mercilessly about his close friendship with the young girl called Lily Evans, his childhood friend, who had provided him with a source of warmth and refuge from his father's drunken tyranny.
He continued to watch his relationship with Lily develop during their time at Hogwarts. He recalled how she wouldn't become his Lily until much later after many years had passed, and their time at Hogwarts was coming to a close. Many people, through his adolescent years, Gryffindor and Slytherin students alike, told him repeatedly that he was barmy, that Lily saw him as just a friend and that nothing would ever happen between them for he was a snake while she had the heart of a lion who could never fully accept or even relate to his eccentricities. But in the end, they, his peers, had been proven wrong because it was Lily's unconditional platonic love for Severus that taught him how to fully commit to their relationship and to love her back.
Over the years, his love for Lily gradually shifted from a platonically shared love to a romantic one that Severus once believed would be forever unrequited. For a long time, he bottled up his feelings to save face and developed self-preservation skills he had learned from experiencing a troubled childhood. Eventually he became distant and cold toward everyone, including Lily, so no one, especially Lily, would ever suspect how much he loved her. This continued for weeks, which turned into years with both of them now no longer speaking to one another except when absolutely necessary. Outside of class, Severus locked himself away from the rest of the world and refocused his efforts on his other passion, potions.
It was during this time in Severus' life that he began his journey, although inadvertently, to become a master Occlumens. This journey of mastering Occlumency began because of his need to protect himself and show indifference towards all so no one would find out his true emotions regarding how he felt about Lily. During this time, she was understandably upset. Being the good-natured, empathetic, friend she was, she assumed mistakenly it was her own fault that she and Severus were no longer friends. She felt it must have been something she had done to drive Severus away from her. In the beginning she tried to reach out to Severus, but as each day passed with more of the same stony silence from him, she began to move on and find other friends.
However, as their O.W.L. examinations drew closer and closer, both of them spent increasing amounts of time and effort preparing for their upcoming exams since both of them placed a great emphasis on doing their best work in their educational endeavors. Both Lily and Severus spent countless evenings reviewing both the theories and the practicalities of the magic in which they would soon be tested since their exams would feature both written and performance components. She studied with friends in front of the Gryffindor common room fireplace in a cushy armchair while he studied alone in the depths of the dungeons.
Finally, their examination date had arrived and both felt as prepared as they could be but still felt jittery all the same. Being two of the more punctual students in Hogwarts when it came to attending classes, they crossed paths as they both entered the Great Hall at the same time. Severus looked at Lily and gave her a curt nod. Lily, in return, gave him a soft, lonely smile to show how much she missed their camaraderie. But as she opened her mouth to greet him, Severus suddenly turned his back to her and slipped silently through the doors, leaving Lily even more confused and lonely in the wake of his indifference.
After their examinations had concluded, both Lily and Severus found themselves outdoors on opposite sides of one of the Hogwarts' courtyards. Lily sat with her friends chatting amicably and comparing answers to the more difficult questions that had appeared on their exams. Severus, on the other hand, sat alone on a bench, reflecting on how well he performed as he read a book. Both of them were unaware that trouble was brewing; Adjacent from the courtyard, the four Marauders, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter, sat under the shade of a large oak tree when they spotted Severus from afar and decided to have some "fun" with him. Severus decided it was time for him to retire back down to the dungeons safe inside his common room as he noticed two of the Marauders making their way towards him. He quickly stowed his belongings inside his book bag and headed towards the front doors of the castle but found his way blocked by James Potter and Sirius Black. "All right, Snivellus?" said James loudly.Severus tried to defend himself, as he knew this was about to become contentious, and he brandished his wand, but James was too quick for him, and he found himself disarmed and jinxed. The two Marauders towered over him as he lay on the grass and began to tease him. As their taunts grew louder in volume, more people began to join the fray as they laughed at Severus. A loud, clear voice boomed out,"Leave him ALONE!" Lily strode across the courtyard with purpose in her stride, and her green eyes flashed with determination. James immediately turned around to face her and pleasantly greeted her, but Lily repeated, "Leave him alone. What's he done to you?" James began to defend himself in a jovial fashion causing more raucous laughter from their audience to ensue. As their conversation continued, Severus began to be able to move again, and he reached silently for his wand in order to catch James off guard, but again he was too slow, and he felt his body jerked upside down and rose into the air. He did manage to send a hex James' way. Lily, angrier than ever, demanded, "Let him down!" Severus landed hard on the ground, and began to rise, but was jinxed once more, this time by Sirius, and he lay defenseless, motionless on the ground. Lily jumped to his aid once more, and James and Sirius backed off, this time undoing the hexes they had thrown at him, but continued to make nasty jibes in hopes of provoking him. It worked. "I don't need help from little Mudbloods like her," Severus spat. Lily, deeply offended, responded coldly towards both him and James, and walked away, leaving Severus at the mercy of his tormentors.
Later that evening, Severus found himself cautiously climbing the stairs all the way to the sixth floor in an attempt to apologize to the girl who was once his best friend. He approached the Fat Lady slowly and began to call out through the portrait to Lily begging her for a chance of redemption. Eventually, Lily left the Gryffindor common room and stood with her arms crossed in front of him, waiting for him to speak. "I'm sorry," Severus began, but Lily coldly interjected, "I'm not interested. Save your breath." For the second time that day, she turned away from him and then slammed the door in his face. Severus retreated back down to his own common room, saddened, but unsurprised Lily hadn't given him the chance to explain his actions. He knew he didn't deserve her forgiveness, but he was still determined to win her back all the same.
For the next two weeks, Severus spent much of his free time in the herbology greenhouses concocting his plan to earn Lily's forgiveness and friendship back. Every night as Lily retired to her dormitory, she heard a soft knock at the door, and one of her friends entered with a knowing smile carrying a small bouquet of water lilies in an emerald green vase, which matched Lily's eyes perfectly. There was always a hand-written note attached in Severus' spiky penmanship. In each of these notes, he apologized for what he had said, and he explained that the indifference and aloofness she had felt from him for the last two years was not because of dislike or anything she had done, but rather because he realized he was falling in love with her and knew she would never feel the same way he did about her. At the bottom of each note, there was a postscript that read, "To activate, press your wand tip on top of my signature." When Lily did this, the writing on the parchment immediately changed into an elegant cursive script. After a few moments of silence, Severus's voice would surround her in the darkness as if he was there with her in her room reading the notes professing his love aloud to her.
On the last night of these romantically enchanting evenings, Severus' note requested for her to come meet him outside of the Gryffindor common room. He stood with sweating palms and a racing heart with the last of the bouquets of flowers waiting for her to appear. Finally, he heard the quiet click as the Fat Lady's Portrait swung forward revealing Lily in her deep blue dressing gown. He opened his mouth to speak, but she distracted him as all thoughts left his head as she stood on tiptoe, wrapping her arms around his neck and whispering softly into his ear, "I feel the same." Taken aback because he still expected nothing but rejection, Severus whispered back to her, "After all this time? After everything I've done?" To which she responded, "Always."