Author's Note: Thank you to AnoGal for her lovely review. Even one review makes my day (nudge, wink). And thanks again to my very patient beta, aberrantstrain, who keeps reminding me to insert adjective here. For those that are wondering about the pace of updates, I think I will stick to around twice a week for now. How does that sound?

Chapter 2: Paper Cups

Severus stood beneath the shelter of an enormous old weathered Oak as the wind whistled through its naked branches. The tree — their tree — stood at the edge of the park in which Lily and Severus had first met. The park lay halfway between their homes — between the rows of red-brick terraced houses in the West and the semi-detached council houses with manicured gardens in the East. It had been their meeting spot ever since they were children, two unruly eight year olds gambolling about in its shade. In fact, this was the same tree that Severus had caught Petunia spying in, before accidentally snapping a branch of it off above her head. Severus had feared that day to be the end of their friendship, but here they now were, years later, still going strong. Better than strong, Severus mused, casting his mind back to Christmas…kissing amid the magicked flurries… It had finally snowed for real the day before, and the muddy downfall now crunched underneath his boots as he shifted from foot to foot, trying to get warm. The air was crisp, and he could see the outline of his breath hang in front of him as he exhaled.

"Is this any good?" Severus heard Lily's bright voice call from behind him, and he whirled around to see her holding a large bottle of sparkling wine in her mittened hand. She wore a white hip-length coat with white fur cuffs and collar. A wide fabric belt emphasized her slender waist. Atop her head she wore a matching white fur hat, her red hair flowing out from underneath it. She had on blue denims, and they were tucked neatly into brown suede boots. Brown suede mittens pulled together the outfit. Severus was not generally given over to women's fashions (or any fashions, really, as much as Lily prattled on to him about the latest trends), but something about how put together Lily looked really did it for him in that moment. He wanted to pick her up…shrink her, and put her in his pocket to carry around Cokeworth with him.

"Well?" she said. Severus realized that he had been staring at her with a dopey smile on his face. He quickly schooled his features into a neutral expression, clearing his throat to break the awkward silence. He reached to take the bottle from her hand, examining the label carefully. He didn't know much about wine, but he was pretty sure that any bottle with French on the label was a bottle that would be missed.

"Good?! Lily, do you have any idea how much this bottle is worth? I bet they've been saving it for a special occasion!"

"But…this is a special occasion. It's our first New Year's together. You know, together together." She gave a nervous little giggle as she acknowledged out loud for the first time the changing nature of their relationship. It surprised him how good it felt to hear her say it.

"I agree it's a special occasion, but I doubt your parents will see it that way."

"Oh come on, Sev, don't you want to?" Her voice had taken on a different tone now. He had noticed it ever since their kiss on Christmas. If he didn't know better, he'd think she was flirting with him.

"Of course I want to drink your parents' very expensive champagne! I just don't want you to get into trouble, that's all."

"Se-ev." Again that whine that, to his intense mortification, he found endearing rather than irritating. It was her pout, with the ever so slight biting of her bottom lip that completely undid him. She was quickly learning exactly how to push his buttons. God help him…but he couldn't be arsed to care at this very moment.

"Alright, give it here then," he said, rolling his eyes. She handed him the bottle, beaming in a way that seemed to light up the entire snowy clearing. Yes, God help him, she had him wrapped around her little finger and she knew it too, the little minx! He placed the bottle against his hip and popped the cork. Evidently the bottle had been agitated on Lily's walk over here, for his arm was immediately drenched in a torrent of foam. Lily giggled uncontrollably at the sight and he scowled at her. She produced two paper cups from her bag, and he filled both before setting the bottle aside on a nearby moss-covered log, and taking a seat there himself. Lily joined him on the log, the bottle still fizzing slightly between them. "We're drinking champagne out of paper cups. This is so classy," he said with a smirk.

"Hey, it could be worse. We could be swigging it straight from the bottle!" She took an inglorious gulp, and Severus thought it blasphemy that they were drinking such a fine champagne in such an undignified manner. But Lily seemed to be having a grand old time, and ultimately that was all that mattered to him. They continued to drink in silence, sneaking glances at each other out of the corners of their eyes. An owl hooted off in the distance. It was a magnificent night, and the wildlife seemed to have come out to celebrate with them. At one point, Lily pointed excitedly at a grey squirrel, sloshing a bit of her drink onto her pristine coat as she bounced in her seat. She pouted adorably when she went to take another sip and realized there was none left. He poured them another two cups, and Lily made quick work of that too. It occurred to Severus that he had never seen her drunk before. Oh, she had indulged in some eggnog at Christmas, of course, and he had seen her have the standard red wine with dinner. But she wasn't much for the taste of alcohol, so she typically sipped those slowly, and he would sometimes catch her grimacing in a downright hilarious way at the strong taste. But the bubbles seemed to make it go down much easier for her. She had just finished her second cup, and now reached for the bottle, bringing it up to her lips, apparently having disposed with the nicety of the paper cups.

"Slow down, Lily," he said, grabbing the bottle out of her hand. "I don't want to have to carry you all the way home." She reached out for the bottle again, nearly toppling off the log in the process, but he held it out of her way.

"You can't get pissed off of champagne, Sev," she slurred. He raised an eyebrow, attempting to glower at her sternly, but the corners of his lips twitched upward despite himself, as they always seemed to do around Lily these days.

"Yeah, you can, and you're halfway there already," he gently admonished her, setting the bottle on the ground. "We should get you home." He stood in front of the log, holding his hands, chapped from the cold, out to her.

Lily took his hands, hauling herself to her feet before letting go. "Okay," she smiled cheekily at him, "but only if you agree to stay with me tonight."

Severus did not allow his jaw to drop, and instead reached inside his coat pocket for the pack of five Park Drive cigarettes he had bought just the day before. He usually smoked Player's No. 6, but between Christmas shopping and saving for Lily's birthday present, he'd been a little scint. He lit one, then held the pack out to Lily. She shook her head. "Won't your parents have something to say about that?" he asked amid a puff of acrid smoke.

"They won't," she said, looking immensely pleased with herself.

Severus raised an eyebrow at her. "How's that?"

"They're at some posh party in London, tonight. Friend of a friend's or something like that. Petunia and I weren't invited."

"So they just left the two of you alone on New Year's? That doesn't sound like the Mr and Mrs Evans I know."

"We convinced them it was the perfect opportunity for us to bond as sisters," said Lily with a sly smile.

"And why," asked Severus, voice laced with suspicion, "would dear old Petunia go along with a thing like that?"

Lily grinned. "Oh, she's at her friend Linda's tonight. She's sweet on Linda's older brother but don't tell her I told you that."

He picked up the Champagne bottle and they started heading back to Lily's, their boots leaving footprints in the snow side by side. "I can't believe you managed to get the house to yourself on New Year's Eve. Where is this new cunning side of you coming from?"

"You're a bad influence, Severus Snape," she said lightly, filching the fag from between his fingers and taking a long drag. She didn't cough, and these fags weren't even filtered. Maybe he was a bad influence on her. They walked the rest of the way to her house, passing the fag back and forth between them. Then again, maybe she was a bad influence on him.