The idea for this story kind of popped in my head out of nowhere, and I love Snape and Lily and their relationship so much, I just had to write it.

Lily had always liked the summer; it was warm, fun, relaxing. She and Petunia loved going to the nearby park and have competitions to see who could go higher on the swings. Her family often had barbeques and her parents would invite the neighbors while their children ran around playing games like tag or hide-and-seek. There was no school or tests or homework to worry about. Summer was simply magical for Lily Evans, she absolutely loved it.

Severus Snape, on the other hand, did not.

Frankly, Severus didn't prefer any season of the year. He was almost always at home with his abusive father and his withdrawn mother. Whenever possible, he would try to get out of the house, away from all the pain and yelling and loneliness. Ever since he turned eleven in January, he counted down the days until he could attend Hogwarts. He could learn magic there, make new friends, and most importantly, be as far away from the hellhole called a "home" as possible. It was nearing the end of August and he could already feel the weights lifting off his shoulders. Only a few more weeks…

His father had been especially cruel this summer in particular; he believed magic was appalling, sinful, unnatural. Knowing his only son would be going to a place filled with others like his kind; practicing magic, disgusted him. He would shout at and insult Severus and his mother; sometimes he would even lay a hand on them if he had been drinking that night.

The only thing that made summer bearable was being with Lily. Severus had only befriended her a few weeks ago and he could not stop thinking about her. She was the kindest and smartest girl he had ever met; she didn't judge him for being different. For the first time in a long time, Severus began to feel happy.

While his mother was taking a nap, and his dad was out, Severus slipped out of his house and headed towards a nearby pond just outside his neighborhood. Not many people went there, so Lily and he made it into their own little meeting place.

Severus saw the pond in sight, gleaming under the sunlight, along with a red-headed girl sitting on the grass between two large trees, staring out at the body of water. He lit up when he saw her; Lily had been waiting for him. His pace picked up slightly.

Lily heard footsteps on the grass; she turned her head and smiled when she saw her friend accompanying her. "Severus!" she waved.

When he reached her, Severus sat on Lily's left. "Sorry I'm late," he apologized.

"Don't worry about it. Hey, I have a question about Hogwarts. I've been thinking stuff."

"Yeah?" Severus smiled a little; he loved it when she asked him questions. He plucked a blade of grass and started tearing it.

"Why's it called that?"

Severus looked up from his blade of grass, "Why is what called that?"

Lily looked annoyed for a second. "Why is the school called Hogwarts? It's such a silly name."

He shrugged, "I dunno." He looked down and plucked another grass blade.

She furrowed her brow and pursed her lips slightly. She did that when she was thinking hard or was confused. "I thought you said you knew everything about magic."

Severus chuckled, "Okay, maybe I lied."

Lily closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him. He mimicked her. Lily busted laughing after trying to outlast him. The boy merely smiled.

Lily asked more about wizards and magic; she seemed to never run out of questions to ask, Severus often thought. He never minded it, she always asked interesting things. Occasionally, he would ask her questions about school. Most children before going to Hogwarts would be homeschooled basic math and literature, so the thought of Muggle schools absolutely puzzled him. Both came from very different worlds. After countless questions and silly conversations, Lily suddenly shrieked.

Severus looked at her with wide eyes, alarmed, "What? What is it?"

The young, terrified girl scooted back a few inches and pointed at something in the grass a few feet in front of her. She tried explaining what it was that scared her, but her words came out jumbled and incoherent. Severus spotted the thing she was mumbling about. It was a swamp green, slimy frog. Severus stood up and scooped the creature up in his hands.

"Severus!" Lily shouted, "What are you doing? Put it back in the water!" she scooted even farther away.

The alarmed look on Lily's face and the way she overreacted towards the small creature made Severus laugh.

"Hey!" Lily huffed. Severus continued to laugh despite her protest. "Hey, Sev, it's not funny!"

The green animal croaked and suddenly leaped out of the boy's hands to land on the grass mere inches from where Lily's hand was placed. She jerked it back and shrieked again.

Severus rolled his eyes and stepped to where the frog landed. "Oh come on," he said as he leaned down and scooped it up into his hands again. "It's only a frog."

"I don't like them. They're slimy. Frogs are gross." Lily defended.

Severus sat down again and stroked the top of animal lightly. Lily was right, frogs are slimy, but he didn't mind. It quietly sat as he stroked it. Lily leaned back and tensed in case the animal decided to jump again.

The boy looked at Lily and saw how she was positioned and the disgusted look on her face. He sighed. "Come on, Lily, just pet the thing." He moved his cupped hands closer to her, and she tentatively moved her hand over the frog and pet it with one finger.

Lily became less tense as she pet the frog. "You know," she looked up at him and smiled, "it's actually kind of cute."

She drew back her hand, and not a second later, the animal leaped again, this time landing in Lily's hair. Lily shrieked instinctively, but then she started to giggle. This caught Severus off-guard, he quirked an eyebrow. Severus had to admit the situation was funny and he began to laugh as well. His dark hair fell in his face.

"Sev," Lily said between giggles, "Sev can you," another giggle, "Can you take it out of my hair?" more giggles.

Severus nodded his head, but made no effort to move because he was laughing so hard. After an annoyed "Sev." he leaned forward and took the slimy frog out of the girl's crimson hair.

"Do you want to put it back in the water?" Severus asked, frog in his cupped hands once again.

"Okay," Lily nodded. Both stood up. The two children walked a few steps and they reached the shore of the pond. The two stood on muddy grass and could see tiny tadpoles swimming about.

"Wait!" Lily called out.

"What?"

"Let's give it a name." she beamed at her friend.

Severus looked at Lily in disbelief, "A name?"

Lily nodded. "Yes."

Severus could tell that Lily was being serious; her green eyes pierced his black ones, he couldn't refuse her, no matter how silly she was being. Whenever he looked into those eyes, he couldn't do anything but say yes to her.

"Alright, what do you want to call it?" Severus said after a few moments of staring, he momentarily forgot what they were talking about.

After a few moments of silence, Lily shouted, "Phillip!"

"Phillip? That's what you want to call it?" Lily nodded happily. Severus looked at her with disbelief again.

"Phil for short."

Severus shrugged. "Okay. Bye, Phillip."

"Bye, Phil." Lily said sweetly.

Severus crouched down and lowered his hands to the surface of the water. The frog jumped out of his hands and into the murky pond water, the two friends watched in silence as Phillip swam away.

After the frog vanished from sight, Lily broke the silence, "It's getting dark; I think I should go home."

Severus nodded, "Me too. Hey, Lily."

"Yeah?"

"I can't believe you were afraid of frogs," the boy taunted.

"Shut up." Lily closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out the way she did earlier. Severus mimicked her silly action again. Both laughed trying to last longer than the other, then headed back home.

Lily definitely loved the summer, especially when she spent her time with Severus. And in Severus's mind, he admitted to himself, maybe he liked it too.