"I'm sorry."

"I'm not interested."

"I'm sorry!"

"Save your breath."

He groaned inwardly at her stubbornness as she stood with her arms folded in front of him. What would it take for her to forgive him? Although, he had to admit, it was a miracle she would even speak to him after what had happened. He had shouted at her, in his humiliation and his fury at that James Potter, the unforgivable word: "Mudblood."

"I only came out because Mary told me you were threatening to sleep here."

"I was. I would have done. I never meant to call you Mudblood, it just-"

"Slipped out?" Her voice was cold and unforgiving. 'It's too late. I've made excuses for you for years. None of my friends can even understand why I even talk to you. You and your precious Death Eater friends – you see, you don't even deny it! You don't even deny that's what you're all aiming to be! You can't wait to join You-Know-Who, can you?"

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. They would be useless anyway.

"I can't pretend any more. You've chosen your way, I've chosen mine."

"No – listen, I didn't mean -"

"– to call me Mudblood? But you call everyone of my birth Mudblood, Severus. Why should I be any different?"

He struggled on the verge of speech, but with a contemptuous look she turned to climb back through the portrait hole, until she heard him whisper softly, "Because I love you."

She whipped her head back. "What did you say?"

A shade of pink was coming over his pale cheeks, yet he seemed to gain a bit of confidence after having said what he was thinking, and his voice was slightly firmer when he spoke again. "Because I love you, Lily Evans. That's why you're different from the others."

The young Gryffindor's lips quivered slightly. "Severus, I -"

"Look, the reason why I don't like James Potter so much is because I know he fancies you! James Potter fancies you! And I'm, well, just a bit jealous…"

She raised an eyebrow. "A bit…?"

"Okay, so I am jealous! Because you seem to like him better than me, because he's in the same house as you, and I'm not, and you spend more time with him than you do with me, and…" his voice trailed off.

Lily stared incredulously at him for a moment, then her expression grew haughty. "Well, I did tell you before that I think James Potter's an arrogant toerag. But you, Severus, you've become worse than him. What you once felt for me doesn't matter anymore. As far as I'm concerned, we're done." And she turned to leave again.

"No, wait!" Before he knew what he was doing, the boy with jet-black hair had snatched his friend's hand, pulled her towards him, and pressed his lips on hers. It only lasted for two seconds, and then he pulled back, trembling slightly. Before she could say anything more, he had run away from the dark corridor, his cheeks turning redder than the house colors of Gryffindor.

…

The Potions master watched the Boy Who Lived walk across the school courtyard with his friends distastefully. That little brat was living proof of James and Lily's union, something that had always come to bite him over the years. As he turned away from the window, however, a tiny grin appeared on his face as he remembered that the person who had claimed Lily Evans' first kiss was none other than himself.

…

"But this is touching, Severus. Have you grown to care for the boy, after all?"

"For him? Expecto patronum!"

A silver doe sprang from the tip of his wand and cantered around the Headmaster's office before soaring out the window.

"… After all this time?"

"Always."

A/N: Okay, so this is my first Harry Potter fanfic, and the characters may seem to be a bit OC (I tend to make that mistake) but anyway I hope you enjoyed it at least, and if you can do drop me a review telling me where I need to improve. Thanks!