Nostalgia
What I would love is a one-shot about Severus's perfect day with Lily set in their childhood; a day that adult Severus often thought of, that to this day powers his doe Patronus.
-o-O-o-
Even when they were young, when they were children, when they were best friends, Severus rarely spent time in the company of Lily's parents. Though, the fault did not lie with them. The Evans, if anything, often seemed to like it when he followed Lily home from the park. They'd smile at him and ask him all kinds of questions about himself. What he liked to eat, what his favorite subject in school was, what he wanted to be when he grew up, and if his parents were doing alright (he suspected – knew – they knew just what kind of house he lived in). They'd feed him too, first helpings, second helpings, and, sometimes, even send leftovers home with him.
They were always kind. The kindest adults he knew growing up. Despite this, or, perhaps, because, of it, he tried not to be around them too much. He knew then he was already an inferior. He was dirty where they were clean, his clothes ill-matched and poorly sized to his frame, where theirs fit them like gloves and always looked like something right out of a home catalog instead of a charity shop. They were good. And Severus… Severus was bad. Always. He did mean things like kick cats and get in fights with neighbor children and upset Lily by calling Petunia things like "Just a Muggle."
Even as a little boy of ten, he knew he oughtn't to poison them with his presence. He was what ruined his parents' marriage (sometimes, he wondered, if he'd been a squib, would things have been different? Would it have pleased his father to have a normal son?). But, despite his best attempts, Severus couldn't always avoid them.
One particular moment involving him, one of Lily's parents, and Lily stuck out, however, even years and years later.
It had been a late August afternoon. He and Lily were at the park, like normal, trying to get to the top bar of the swingset by climbing the chains of a swing. Unlike normal, Lily's had father pulled up in front of the park in his car.
"Hey!" he yelled out.
Lily and Severus had frozen in place, afraid her father would scold them for doing something so "dangerous". But, instead, he shouted, "You kids want to get some ice cream?"
They shared a look. Lily grinned as he frowned. Hopping off the swing, she grabbed his hand and dragged him down to her side. "It'll be fun," she said.
He doubted her, but followed nonetheless. When it came to Lily, he rarely regretted not listening to the voice inside him that said to hold back. Together they hopped into the back of Mr. Evans car. He twisted around in his seat and smiled at them. "You kids excited?"
"Yes!" Lily exclaimed while Severus bobbed his head up and down eagerly.
The man laughed once before turning back to the steering wheel.
-O-
Licking a dribble of chocolate vanilla swirl from his knuckle, Severus smiled with his eyes up at Lily's father when he ruffled his hair. "How do you like it, Severus?" he asked.
"Very much, Sir," he answered. Severus rarely got such a wonderful treat. Never for free, either. The last ice cream cone he had Severus had to save up for a couple of months in advance. Mum tried to give him allowances, but his dad loathed the idea and often berated Mum if he caught her giving him money. So, it was, more often than not, given to him sporadically and only in small amounts that hardly counted as pittances. It made saving up for even just a lollypop a month-long wait, sometimes.
Drumming her heels against the grill of her father's car, Lily turned her head and remarked, "This is the best day ever, don't you think, Sev?"
Severus had considered that comment with great gravity, he recalled. Was it really the best day ever? Looking at her, then at the ice cream in his hand, and finally the hopeful face of Mr. Evans, Severus had decided quite decisively, that, yes, today was the best day ever.
"Yes, it really is," he said.
This drew an even wider grin from Lily as her father chuckled and gave Severus's back a friendly pat. "Good lad!" he praised.
He hadn't been able to help himself. Severus beamed at the man, feeling as if he'd just been blessed by the pope himself. Mr. Evans, a good man, thought Severus was good too – even when everything pointed to the contrary. He was the first man to see Severus as more than a dirty Spinner's End boy, to see he wasn't all naughtiness and ugliness, and, because of that, he would always hold a special place in Severus's heart.
It would be that moment, that afternoon, that day, years and years later Severus would always remember when he said, "Expecto Patronum."
This one-shot was written for xxxLeanniexxx for being the 155th reviewer on my fanfic They Didn't Know We Were Seeds. I hope you liked it, Leannie! I tried a number of different scenes before deciding on this one.
Thank you so much everyone for reading and I hope you enjoyed this little piece too :)