A/N: For Mi High Lover's "Cross House Dating" competition. I was given the pairing Lily/Severus, and the prompt "dragons."
They were sitting in the dark and dank potions classroom, which Severus was rather fond of. He felt most comfortable in this room—perhaps in part because he'd grown up in dark places, between home and the dungeons, but also because this was where he best excelled. Potions were his passion. The simmering and the subtlety, the allowance for innovation and creativity, the necessity of understanding the various intricacies of the art… It allured him—ensnared him.
Unfortunately this comfort was marred by several factors. Professor Slughorn was marching authoritatively from table to table, overlooking the work of his dubiously-gifted minions. The noise that arose as the sound of his footsteps and comments mingled with the bubbling of the cauldrons, the inane chatter, and the occasional bout of cursing, was distracting to say the least. Then there was the smell. The aromas evoked in the process of brewing were always intriguing, but at the moment the scent in the air was fairly atrocious and Severus was scanning the classroom in search of the idiot who had added the feathers before the moonstone.
"Davis. Who else?" Lily laughed, noting his wandering gaze.
Sure enough, the boy was fervently cursing and doing very little of actual use as he danced away from his overflowing cauldron. Severus rolled his eyes.
"'What a dunderhead,' I know," she interjected before he could get the words out himself. "And you know my response—'Not everyone can be as distinguished at potions as you, Sev.'"
He couldn't help the grin that crossed his face, erasing the smirk he'd tried to keep there. Lily smiled back before returning her eyes to the parchment before her, her pencil flowing easily across the surface. They had finished their own potion nearly half an hour ago, and Lily liked to pass the time with sketches. Tendrils of smoke skated over the table, obscuring her work for a moment and she paused once more.
"What're you drawing now?" Severus asked, blowing gently at the smoke, clearing it from her artwork.
He watched her eyes light with enthusiasm as she dove into an explanation of the different dragons she'd set upon the page—an entire story behind each one. The desire to reach out and take her hand in his was nearly overwhelming, and it was in that moment that he realized, suddenly, that he was in love with her. The thought crashed into him, leaving him breathless.
"Sev? You okay?" she asked softly, concerned.
He took a shaky breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine," his words came out hoarsely, "Go on."
She looked at him discerningly for a moment, and then, apparently deciding he'd be alright, launched back into her explanation of Tempest the Chinese Fireball who had fought in such and such a battle and received such and such a scar. Usually he hung onto her every word in these moments, but his thoughts had scattered, the only clear one being, She must never know.
He couldn't quite decide why she couldn't know. Only that it was absolutely necessary. His heart was beating strangely—in fear, but somehow also excitement—, and he found himself feeling quite thankful for the fact that he was sitting down as it all finally settled in. I'm in love with Lily Evans. I'm in love with Lily. He felt, deep down, that it was the furthest thing from good that had ever happened to him, but a smile spread across his face nonetheless, and he felt a silly urge to laugh.
"You think it's silly, don't you?" Lily pouted in jest.
Severus dragged himself back to reality, forcing his new-found knowledge to the deepest, darkest chambers of his heart, where it might be safe. "Everything you do is silly," he scoffed, eliciting a laugh.
"This is true! And you're hardly ever silly, so it's a darned good thing you've got me, Severus Snape."
He nodded pensively as she charmed her dragons to move across the parchment, instantly falling into a tussle with each other. "I suppose it must be," he replied wryly.