Chapter 1

Caught!

Every day Severus climbed the hill up to the playground and watched Lily play. Sometimes she was alone, and other times she was with her older sister, Petunia. During his watches, he witnessed, several times, Lily do something that couldn't be explained. For instance, she would be swinging and jump out while still fairly high. Instead of falling straight to the ground, she gently floated and landed on her feet. Her sister would always chide her for it, but Lily didn't understand why. Severus, however, knew the answer. Ms. Lily Evans was, in fact, a witch whereas her sister was not. Severus knew that the Hogwarts letters would be arriving soon, for they were in the last week of July. His mother said that any new first year students would receive their letters in August since term began in September. Severus had wanted so badly to talk to Lily, but was terrified of what she might think of him. After all he had been watching her from afar for some two months and had not once gotten the courage up to speak to her, however, he feared of what she thought of his physical appearance as well.

Severus stared down at his shabby coat. The only reason he wore the damn thing was because it didn't look quite as bad as the oversized shirt and too small jeans he wore beneath it.

"Tunie, Tunie watch this!"

Severus darted his gaze back to Lily and watched as she jumped out of the swing and gently land on her feet. He looked at Petunia and chuckled to himself. She looked angry, but he could see in her eyes how she longed to do that too.

"Lily Mummy told you not to do that!" she hissed.

Lily looked at her sister.

"But she's not here, and neither is nobody else!" she exclaimed.

Petunia shook her head and grabbed her younger sister's wrist.

"We should go back home, just in case."

Before Lily could reply, Severus accidentally brushed up against the bush he hid behind. It made enough noise to get the girls' attention, which is something he didn't want.

"Who's there?" Petunia asked.

Severus closed his eyes and sighed. There was no point in trying to hide it. He slowly emerged from behind the bush, face flushing in embarrassment. Petunia narrowed her eyes.

"What were you doing behind there? Spying on us?" she asked, her voice riddled with disapproval.

Severus shook his head.

"N-No! Why would I want to spy on a Muggle like you?"

Petunia looked affronted. She released Lily's wrist and put her hands on her hips.

"What did you just call me?" she asked.

Severus blinked.

"A Muggle, a non-magic person." He said matter-of-factly.

Lily furrowed her brow.

"Magic?" she asked softly.

Severus turned to her.

"That's right. You can jump out of that swing and land so easily because you're a witch."

Now Lily looked affronted.

"That's not a very nice thing to call me!" she said defensively.

Severus rolled his eyes.

"No that's not what I meant. You're a witch which means you're magical. Just like me. I'm a wizard."

Petunia shrieked with laughter. Severus and Lily both looked at her. She was laughing so hard, she was holding her side. Once she finally regained her breath, she said,

"Please! If you're so magical, why don't you conjure up some decent clothing?"

Severus looked at his feet, his face flushing that didn't have anything to do with the heat.

"I know you; you're that boy that lives at Spinner's End. Well, we don't associate with that lot. Come on Lily, let's go."

Petunia began walking away, but Lily did not follow her. Instead, she remained next to Severus. She lightly touched his arm which caused him to lift his head. Through his hair, he studied her face. Lily gave him a small, kind smile, something he had not received from any child his age.

"Don't listen to her…she can be mean at times." She said softly.

Severus nodded in reply.

"I'm Lily by the way, Lily Evans."

"Severus Snape." He murmured.

Lily bit her lip and lightly squeezed his arm. Snape now looked at her full in the face, and was lost in her eyes.

"Petunia won't be coming with me tomorrow, if you want to meet me here…you could tell me more about magic!" she stated.

Severus lightly smiled and nodded.

"Okay." He replied.

Lily smiled. She turned to walk away, but paused and looked over her shoulder. Severus stared at her, a twisting feeling forming in his stomach.

"I don't think you're clothes look bad. I…I think you're cute." She said softly.

Severus thought he would fall to the ground. No one ever said that to him, not even in his own family…except for his mother but she didn't count. He felt his face burn as Lily turned back around and darted after her sister. Severus continued to stare after her until she was over the hill. He smiled to himself and slowly walked back to his house, counting the hours before he would see her again.