Chapter 3

Survival

POV: Severus Snape

The rest of the day was spent indoors, as the rain had come shortly after we had gotten back from the playground. The house was filled with the strange sensation of night during the day that always came with the darkness of rain, and the sounds outside only aided in making the silence inside more unbearable.

"We could play cards." Lily suggested quietly from her place on my bed, flipping a page in one of my old, ratty books. I glanced over at her from my perch by the window. I loved that window. I hated having it closed. I always felt like I couldn't breathe at all if I wasn't breathing the fresh air beyond my dreary room. The rain was always nice, though. It washed the dirty streets and made them shine for a day or two before they would become covered in filth again.

I sighed silently, propping my chin on my fist.

"Sev'?"

I startled, nearly losing my balance and looked over at her again.

"Cards?"

I shook my head slowly. Cards were fun… but it had become dull from the many times we had played it before. I wanted to do something new and interesting. My mind needed stimulation. More importantly, my body needed stimulation. But any games we could play to appease both my mind and my body would be too noisy to play indoors.

On a suddenly irrepressible whim, I moved from the window and climbed onto the bed beside her, ignoring the curious look she gave me as I pushed her onto her back, climbing over top of her.

"Severus, what are you doing?" I could tell I had made her nervous not by the waver in her voice, but simply because she hadn't called me 'Sev'.

I smiled down at her, raising a finger to my lips to tell her to be quiet. I knew I was being selfish, taking out my boredom on Lily, but I needed to know if she felt the same way about me. If she didn't, well then… chances were she would be mad at me for a while after this.

I leaned down, closing the distance between our faces and ever so gently brushed my lips against hers. She stiffened, trying to push me back. "Sev-." I silenced her with a kiss. Maybe just one more kiss, and she would feel the electricity I was feeling. Just one more kiss and she would know we were made for each other...

And then there was a gentle tap on the door, making me break our contact immediately for fear of getting caught. Disappointed, I climbed off the bed and moved to the door, opening it to find my mother standing there with a tray of snacks. Any other time, I would have been delighted to partake in mother's special-occasions-only treats, but now I was annoyed at the interruption.

Lily had sat up on my bed, cheeks still flushed and a deer-in-the-headlights expression still lingering in her eyes. "Thank you missus Snape." She murmured, taking some grapes from the tray that mother set down on the bedside.

"Not a worry, dears." Mother murmured, pecking my cheek and making me blush before heading out and closing the door behind her.

I glanced at Lily awkwardly to find that she was busily stuffing her face with the snacks. Sensing she was only doing this to preoccupy her mouth I felt my hopes deflate. I wanted to ask her if she was mad, but there was no way in hell I was going to start a written conversation with her. The only safe way to get rid of the papers afterwards was to burn them until they were completely gone or eat them. So instead I simply sat down on the edge of the bed and popped a grape into my mouth.

…

Any other time Lily stayed with me she would sleep next to me on my little bed. Tonight, however, she elected to sleep on the floor with my pillow and blanket, and refused to be persuaded otherwise. At first, I was tempted to crawl down on the floor beside her, if not to simply sleep next to her, but perhaps to chase her up onto the bed so I could sleep on the floor and she could have the bed. However, chances were the floor was more comfortable than the bed.

I sighed and rolled over, propping my head against my fist and stared down at her as she lay there. I knew she wasn't asleep. I reached down and poked her shoulder. She didn't move. I poked her again and she turned to me with a sigh.

"What, Severus?"

I raised my hand as if to ask 'what'?

Her lips twitched. "You took advantage of me." She murmured, staring me right in the eyes.

I felt my heart drop. Had I ruined our friendship? All for what, a split second of feeling her lips against mine?

"I'm not mad." Lily finally murmured, watching my deflated expression.

There were so many things I wanted to say to her, but I simply couldn't. I didn't know how. I slid to the floor beside her, eyes pleading with her to let me stay, to stay with me.

She stared back, licked her lips, then leaned forward and kissed me delicately. She pulled away quickly, but didn't scramble away as I thought she might. Instead, she turned around, took my arms and pulled them around her, forcing me to snuggle up against her back, and fall asleep.

…

"Sev'! Severus, wake up!"

I blinked blearily, waking to Lily shaking me insistently.

"Severus, someone broke into the house! We need to hide!" Lily whispered desperately, and it was only then that I noticed the muffled crashing coming from downstairs.

I scrambled to my feet, instantly alert. I wildly searched the tiny room for places to hide, but panicked and gave up when I heard thundering footsepts on the stairs. Grabbing Lily's hand, I pulled her to the window. I pried it open as far as it would go, the wind blowing rain into the room, thunder shaking the shingles on the sloped roof. I glanced back at the door, which was being kicked open, then I shoved Lily forward, diving after her.

Lily slid down the wet metal roof and I caught her hand, keeping her from falling off as I clung to the gutter. Cursing inwardly, I searched frantically with my eyes to find a safe way down, eyes stinging as we were pelted with freezing rain.

"Sev! Sev-er-rus…" Lily stuttered, and I could see the panic and fear in her eyes. I desperately wanted to consol her, tell her it would be alright. I had to duck when the glass of my window was broken as a large item was thrown out. I swung Lily and she screamed, just barely missing being hit by it.

I grunted, shifting my hold on the gutter and feeling my fingers slip on the wet metal.

"Severus, let go… it's not a long drop!" Lily cried and I squinted down at her, now thoroughly soaked to the bone. I couldn't see the ground. Therefore it was too much of a risk to drop her. I merely tightened my grip on her hand, sliding down more and more, very slowly.

"Oi! Boss, lookit the kids're gettin' away!"

I looked up to see someone leaning precariously from my window, aiming a gun right at me. Eyes wide, I let go of the gutter just as he shot, the blast hitting right where I had been a split second before.

Lily screamed as we fell and I twisted it around so she landed on top of me, sufficiently knocking the air from my lungs.

"Severus, are you okay?" She cried, shaking me.

I grunted, letting her pull me to my feet. We didn't have much time to recover, however, as the front door was kicked open and two men ran out after us.

I snatched Lily's hand and raced off down the street, praying our feet wouldn't slip on the drenched streets as we heard the gunshots behind us slowly fade to the distance. They weren't following us.

"Wait!" Lily suddenly cried, digging her feet into the ground so suddenly I lost my balance and toppled over. "Sev'! What about your parents?" Lily cried, glancing back desperately in the direction we'd come from.

I shook my head, pulling her forward. There was nothing we could do about them.

She pulled back. "We can't leave them!"

Flustered, I snatched her hand and began dragging her with me. I knew my mum would be fine. She was a witch. As for whether or not she decided to save father… that was up to her. But this was exactly the kind of thing I had been waiting for. A chance to escape without my mum knowing that I had run away. For all she knew, after all this, I was kidnapped by those people and carried off to be some sex slave or whatever those kinds of people did to hostages. Now I was free, and she wouldn't have a clue where to look for me.

"Severus!" Lily cried, pulling back.

The only problem I faced now, was convincing Lily to come with me. Impatient, I turned and grabbed her, throwing her over my shoulder and taking the fastest way out of the dreary old town, running to the woods to hide. Suddenly I was glad for the thunder. It sufficiently out-gunned Lily's vocal capacity as she screamed for me to put her down.

POV: Lily Evans

What with Severus acting so strangely the last few days, touching me and kissing me and undressing me with his eyes. And how he was refusing to put me down now, I was absolutely terrified that he may try to harm me in ways he absolutely shouldn't. I hated myself for suddenly fearing that he would even dream of doing such things to me, but fear is a fickle friend. It can keep you from doing stupid things, but it can also cause you to think stupid thoughts. I knew deep down Severus would never hurt me. But part of me despaired that he might, that the obviously loneliness behind his eyes would cause him to do things he normally wouldn't.

"Put me down, Severus, put me down, put me down put me down!" I screamed for the hundredth time. I heard him panting, knowing he wasn't very strong he would have to put me down soon. I briefly contemplated whether or not I would run when he did.

He stumbled, setting me down as gently as he could while he tried to keep his balance.

I jumped up, huffing as I watched him slump down into a puddle, chest rising and falling madly. I couldn't leave him now, I realized. Not that I dreamt of wandering into the woods alone, it was dark, and rainy and cold and I would end up in a ditch somewhere for sure. Not that Severus knew any better than I about surviving in the wild under such harsh conditions, but if I ran off, chances were I'd never see him again. One, if not both of us, would end up dead. We had better chances of surviving if we stayed together.

"Severus Snape! Why did you do that? Your parents could be in danger, and now we are in danger! Where the bloody hell are we, anyway?" Not that I expected him to answer, but as I turned round and round in the woods, eyes trying to see through the rain, I was disappointed by the silence.

I turned back to him, walking straight up to him, ignoring the feeling of mud splashing up my legs. "Severus, I know I've never questioned that you legitimately can't talk, but if you can't, then you have to have some way to communicate with me other than charades. If we're going to survive out here, we have to be able to communicate." I stared him dead in the eye, not fooling around in the slightest. If he was in some kind of fairy-tail state of mind, thinking we would be able to grow up in the woods together, it was up to me to snap him out of it.

He pushed me away, pulling himself to his feet. The look behind his eyes told me how hurt he was that I even suggested that he wasn't legitimately mute. He shoved my shoulder as he walked past, making me fall back into the mud.

"Severus, wait!" I called, watching as he marched into the woods, body stiff with anger. He was quickly out of sight due to the thick branches and the torrential rain. I slipped trying to go after him. "Severus! Come back!" I screamed. "Sev'!"

It was for naught. If he heard me, he didn't stop.

AN: Unexpected plot twist? SO MUCH HELL YES. Who do you think those people were? Will Sev' and Lily still go to Hogwarts as normal? Will they survive? EHEHE. Review? :D