Hey guy, did you miss me? ;)

I have been playing with this little idea for a while now and am not quite sure, if I will leave it to a simple one-shot or make it a new story!
So I decided, I'd just throw it out to you and see what happens ;)
Please review to tell me what you think and if I should make a story out of it!

I own nothing, but my OC's and make no money from it, etc...

Hope you enjoy,
Lots of Love, Jez

It would probably be the last warm day of the year. The leaves were already showing all different kinds of autumn colours and the sunbeams have become lazy.
A girl about seven sat cross-legged in the grass, a sunflower in hands.
The sunlight highlighted the sharp features of her face. Although she was a child her face offered almost no softness. That was except for her eyes.
They were a smooth sea blue, warm and bright.

The girl flinched when something behind her cracked. She spun around, her hands on the ground, grasping the sunflower, and was about to sprint away, when she recognized the boy in front of her. She relaxed visibly and turned around again.

The boy sat down beside her and pointed at the flower, which she was still holding in a tight grasp: "Where did you get this?"

"Mrs Dollywood's garden", she said matter-of-factly.

The boy smirked: "You remember, what she said last time she caught you? That she would go to your mother?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders: "Doesn't matter. I get into trouble anyways."

He looked at her unsure of what to do as she avoided his eye. Finally he laid his arm around her shoulder, staring at the ground. She leaned into the embrace.

"Severus?", she whispered.

"Hmhm", he hummed.

"Would you promise me something?", she looked up at him.

"Of course, Aerwyna", he looked down at her, the corners of his mouth twitching.

"Would you promise to never leave me?", her voice was soft, quiet.
The boy stared down at her for a moment. Finally he answered: "I promise."

"Aerwyna!", a harsh voice cut through the air.

"Oh oh", the girl sighed and jumped to her feet.

"Severus!", a deeper but no less harsh voice followed.

"Double oh oh", the boy rolled his eyes and got to his feet.

The children exchanged a look.
The boy's father was the first to find them.

"There you are! I found them, Sophie", he yelled the last words across his shoulder.

He grabbed the boy by his shirt and hissed: "It's far past one, what did I tell you last time you missed lunch?"

But he didn't wait for an answer. Instead he dragged the boy behind him as he strode.

As the girl watched the tall man almost carry his son away, she didn't notice her mother until she felt a hand tighten around her upper arm. The girl let out a sharp breath, then turned around to face her mother's cold eyes.

"Do you embarrass me on purpose?", the woman growled and the girl saw her shooting one of the looks at the leaving man's back.

"No, mum", she tried to keep her voice as steady as possible.

"Let's go. No more wandering about for you", her mother stated, straightened herself and made an attempt to drag her daughter along, just like the boy's father had done before her.

But then she turned again and nodded to the flower in the little girl's hand:

"You don't think I will let you take this home, do you?"

The girl looked down at the sunflower, tears trying to whelm.
She let it drop to the floor. When she followed her mother, she threw a glance back at the bright yellow.

Three Years Later

Aerwyna ran down the little hill that was situated between the house she lived in with her mother and Spinner's End. She slowed her pace as soon as Severus' place came into view.

She laid her hands on one of the window sills and pushed herself up to glance through the glass.
Severus was sitting on his bed, his nose buried in a book.
Aerwyna grinned to herself and tapped the glass lightly. Severus' head shot up immediately.

The corners of his mouth twitched lightly when he got off his bed and opened the window.
She let herself drop to the ground and looked up at him. She was still short for her age.

"Ey, Wyna, did nobody ever tell you not to stare through windows?", he smirked.

Aerwyna could hear loud voices coming from the next room.

"Come out here!", she commanded. He bit his lip, threw a glance back, but then he climbed out and landed on the ground beside her.

"There's somebody I need to introduce you to!", his eyes were gleaming with excitement that was completely new to her.

"Who is it?", she asked slightly suspicious.

"I… met her while you were at your father's", he said.

She cocked her head and forced a smile: "You sound excited."

"She is great!", now a real grin spread on his face.

Aerwyna bit her lip, but nodded and both started to make their way to the playground.

"So how was it at your father's?", Severus asked and looked at her profile.

"Oh, fine. Not particularly thrilling. I met my cousins though. That was fun", she answered.

"How was getting back?", he asked carefully.

Her face froze. The question might seem strange to any other person, but for the two of them, it was an essential one.

"Like every other time. She's happy for two hours to 'have me back', as she calls it, but then she gets all the same again."

Severus said nothing.
They remained silent for a few more minutes.

As soon as the playground came into view she saw his eyes lighting up.

"She said, she would be here in around half an hour", he smiled.

"When did she say that?", Aerwyna asked as she sat down on one of the swings.

"Yesterday", he said.

"So you meet every day?"

"Almost. Whenever I make it to sneak away."

Aerwyna bit her lip again. She would rather swallow a broomstick than admit it to him, but she felt jealousy grasp her heart.

"What do you think, will you get an owl for birthday?", she asked and smiled weakly.

"No, my dad said, he wouldn't be able to cope with the noise", Severus sighed.

"Sevvie", she said and grinned when he grimaced at her nickname for him, "Wanna play tag?"

But her question did go unheard as Severus jumped from his swing and yelled: "Lily!"

Aerwyna saw shining red hear and piercing green eyes. She pressed her lips together and stood up herself.

The girl smiled unsure at her: "Hi, I'm Lily."

"My name's Aerwyna", she answered.

"Oh, another weird name!", Lily blurted out.

Aerwyna's eyes narrowed, the girl blushed immediately.

"S-Sorry, I didn't mean to… uh", she stuttered.

"It's fine", Aerwyna said coldly.

"So… You parents are magical, I guess?", Lily asked and tried a smile.

Aerwyna spun around and glared at Severus: "You told her?"

"It's alright. She's a witch herself. Her parents are muggles though", he answered and rolled his eyes at her reaction.

She turned and stared at the girl. After a few moments she said: "My father's a wizard, my mother's muggle. I am living with her, because they got divorced, when I was five."

"Oh, I-I'm sorry", Lily blushed deeper.

"It's not your fault is it?", Aerwyna spat.

"Wyna", Severus cut in.

She threw a glare at him. As neither him nor the redhead spoke, she approached the swing again and sat down. Nearly immediately Severus began babbling.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched the other girl's hair wave in the soft breeze.
She grabbed a strand of her own hair and stared at the dark brown colour for a moment.

The girl was laughing and she beamed with something, Aerwyna knew she would always lack. Lily was confident and warm in the most natural way.
Aerwyna knew, that if she would be spending more time with her, the girl would grow dear to her heart.
She however was a girl, whose mother neglected most of the time, because she was not the man's child her mother was in love with since years.