After their study session, Severus and the Ravenclaw named Auren found themselves spending much more time together. Severus would be waiting outside of Lily's class to carry her books... but when she walked passed him and Auren strode out after he found himself walking with the raven haired Ravenclaw instead.
He sat outside every day for lunch and waited for Lily to join him under their favorite tree... but when it was Auren that found him waiting in the snow for someone that had not come for months, he could not refuse her a place at his side. Severus took little notice of the girl, and assumed only that she had as few other companions as he did.
Usually Auren would talk, and Severus would feign a listening ear. The girl tended to ramble, but Severus couldn't bring himself to mind it. It was better than listening to only the soft wind, or the chuckling of students mocking him from a distance. Spending time together became routine as Auren seemed to find every place he sat to wait for Lily... Except one.
Every afternoon that it rained, Severus would creep to the owlery and sit on the wall of the tower. He would hang his legs off the edge and wait. Lily would forget many things, and he would never reprimand her for it... but she never forgot to watch the rain. It was the only place on the school where there was no James, no Auren... no school.
Every day that it rained Lily would show up in the tower and stand at his side on the balcony. Sometimes they spoke about their weeks, sometimes she told him about James... but his favorite days were when they silently watched the rain together. They had done it every rainy day since they had arrived at the school.
At first Severus had been disgusted by the smell of wet owl feathers... but after a few years he came to see the greater purpose of choosing the owlery over any other tower. When the rain began it filled the air with the musky scent of wet feathers, dust, and owl droppings... but as the rain cascaded downward it carried the stench with it.
Somehow, the direct change from filthy to fresh let him recognize a scent of renewal that he had never noticed before. He could quite literally smell the rain. The scent of clean, the scent of the earth being born again as every drop of hate was washed away. The first time he had followed her their special spot, he had asked her why she came here.
"I want to watch the sky cry." She said in a wistful voice... and ever since then Severus had looked at the rain differently. It wasn't just water. It was the sky pouring out its sorrow on the world so that new life could be born from sadness. The way Lily put it, it was the worlds trust example of tears turning into laughter.
"How can a person possibly hope to understand true joy, without first knowing true sorrow." She whispered, her voice almost completely swallowed up by the pitter-patter of the rain. Sometimes he wasn't even sure if she noticed he was there with her... that even if he had never followed her to begin with that she would still come to this place and watch the sky cry.
