Author's Note: Please leave a review so I know what you think. Even if it is just a few words. I know people are reading, but I don't know what they are thinking!

Thank you to my beta, aberrantstrain, who graciously lets me use her instead of a thesaurus.

Chapter 3: Girl with a Plan

They stumbled into Lily's room, and she flicked on the light. Lily's room was all white wood furniture with colourful teen girl accents. A large desk stood next to the door, although its surface was so littered with scraps of parchment that it was barely visible. A twin bed lay length wise against the wall opposite the door, the right hand wall acting as a headboard of sorts. The window overlooking the bed was adorned with a garishly patterned floral curtain. The bedside table held a lava lamp.

The opposite corner of the room was taken up entirely by an enormous, faux-fur beanbag chair in a frighteningly bright shade of fuchsia. Both Sev and Tuney hated that monstrosity of a thing with an equal passion, and that was the only reason that Lily refused to get rid of it. The all over effect of the room was one of violently clashing colours and patterns, and Lily couldn't love it more.

As much as she had insisted earlier that she couldn't possibly be drunk, Lily could feel the champagne hitting her hard, especially now that she was indoors without the cold wind whipping against her face to sober her up. But Lily could tell from Sev's heavy footfalls as he made his way over to her bed that he was feeling it too.

Gone were his customary grace and economy of movement, and he even flailed a bit as he climbed onto her bed. He reached for a back issue of NME that was lying haphazardly on her floor, overbalancing as he did so, and had to put his right arm out to avoid landing flat on his face. Lily stifled her giggle as he recovered, magazine triumphantly in hand, and sat himself horizontally upon the end of her bed, with his back against the wall and his legs crossed. He flipped idly through the mag as Lily took her place at the head of the bed, her legs stretched out before her. His hair was windswept, and his cheeks and hands were still ruddy from the cold. He was wearing classic blue denims, worn at the knees, and the black and gold Led Zeppelin tee shirt that Lily had bought him the Christmas before last, when they saw the band in London on their '72 tour.

She bumped Sev's left knee with her right foot to get his attention. He remained engrossed in the album reviews, however, so she kicked him with her heel. Lightening fast, he grabbed her right foot in his left hand, while his right hand turned the page and his eyes stayed glued to the article. Sod it. Even slowed by the alcohol, his reflexes were still superhuman.

"Se-ev," Lily whined, in that way that she suspected Sev secretly liked. "Pay attention to me!" Lily tried to wrench her foot out of Sev's grip, but he held on tight.

"I'm listening to you," he replied, still refusing to spare her even the slightest glance.

"No! Look at me." Lily was starting to get frustrated now, and she couldn't keep the hint of hurt out of her voice. She had been like this ever since she was a little girl, demanding Sev's undivided attention, and throwing a strop whenever she didn't get it. Severus picked up on her building frustration and flung the magazine aside with a sigh, finally turning his head to give her a mock glare.

"Fine, I'm looking at you. Happy?" he huffed in an annoyed tone, but it didn't have any bite to it. Lily was caught up for a moment in Sev's sloe-eyed gaze, and didn't answer. Suddenly, she felt something swoop queerly in her chest, and she became acutely aware of his hand gripping her foot.

Lily wasn't entirely sure how to proceed from here. Ever since Christmas Eve, she had been all out of sorts, careening wildly between sheer giddiness as she replayed their kiss in her mind and agonized anticipation of a repeat performance. Sev had spent Christmas Day with his mum and dad, but came over in the evening to watch Top of the Pops on the telly with her and Tuney (ABBA was on with "Waterloo"). Lily had rested her hand next to his on the sofa, and though they were nearly touching, he never took her hand in his. This was entirely understandable of course, given that her parents and her sister had been in the room with them, too. But on Boxing Day, they had taken the bus into Manchester to catch the opening of James Bond: Man with the Golden Gun.

They had shared a bag of popcorn and a bottle of Coca-cola between them, as was their custom, but even away from prying eyes in the dark theatre, Sev left her hand unmolested on the armrest between them. She tried hard to hide her disappointment after the film, but it must have bled through her shields, because Sev spent the bus ride back casting her anxious side-long glances while they rode in uneasy silence. They had spent the intervening days apart, and the uncertainty of their relationship status was slowly driving Lily 'round the twist.

After much rumination, she had hatched a plan involving Severus, a bottle of her parents' champagne, and an empty house, and here they now were. She was certainly feeling less inhibited than usual; she could only hope that Sev was feeling similarly bold. She looked over at him, sat all the way at the other end of the bed, head bowed low over that magazine once again, hair shutting out the world around him.

Perhaps it was time to take matters into her own hands. After all, Sev had made the first move, maybe it was on her to make the second?

She snuggled under the duvet, leaning back against the far wall, then flipped back the duvet in invitation. Lily's house, unlike Spinner's End, had central heating, but it was still cold in the room. She kicked him again to get his attention. Severus hesitated momentarily, but Lily smiled in triumph when he clambered over, gratefully pulling the duvet over them both. They sat side by side in awkward silence, neither seeming to know what to do or say. Lily became keenly aware of the weight of Severus' leg against her own.

Just as the tension started to become unbearable, he yawned wide. "I'm dead knackered."

"Me too," she said, catching his yawn with relief.

When Lily made to get out of bed a moment later, Severus lay a questioning hand on her arm.

"The light," Lily explained, "I forgot to get it."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Come on Lily, you hardly need a wand to get the light." Lily closed her eyes in concentration, repeating Nox…Nox…Nox… in her head. The light fixture overhead flickered momentarily, but the room remained as bright as before. She smiled sheepishly at Severus, "Some of us still rely on all that foolish wand waving, you know."

Severus snapped the fingers of his left hand, and both the overhead light and the lava lamp immediately went out, the only illumination now coming from the street lamps outside.

"Show off," she whispered in his ear, and was surprised at how breathy her voice sounded. They snuggled down further under the covers, he on his back and she on her tummy, face and legs turned toward him. She took up most of the bed, so that he was nearly squashed between her and the wall. Sev smelled of sweat and smoke and nothing so much as boy.

They were not quite touching, but she could feel him warming the air next to her in bed, like a living radiator. It was surprising how hot he always was to the touch, although he always complained of being cold, particularly after a meal. Perhaps he gave off so much heat to his surroundings that there was never any left to keep himself warm.

They used to sleep together like this, every night. That was before Hogwarts, when Sev would climb in through Lily's window and stay until dawn broke through the early morning mists. It started because eight year old Lily was afraid of the dark, and it went on because after a year of co-sleeping, neither of them could fall asleep without the other beside them. Hogwarts had been a rough transition, of course. Lily had cried herself to sleep every night the first week there, not because she missed Tuney or mum and dad, but because she felt Sev's nightly absence in her bed like an acute stomachache. They went home for Christmas three months later, and that first night back in Cokeworth, Lily waited up for Sev until sunrise, shivering with her window cracked open for him, but he never came.

When she had confronted him in tears the next morning, he had blushed beet red and mumbled something about these new dreams he was having. Lily had dropped the issue, assuming he was having night terrors and that being a typical boy, he was needlessly but steadfastly embarrassed about it. This would be their first time sleeping in the same bed together since they were eleven.

She tossed and turned but her mind wouldn't quiet down. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the fact that it was New Year's Eve, but something inside her wanted to bring things to a head. She wanted Something between them to happen tonight.

"Sev?" she whispered in the dark. "Why did you kiss me?" He was silent for a long moment. Had he fallen asleep already?

Then, his voice, so quiet that she could barely make it out: "I think you know why."

"Is it because…Sev, do you fancy me?" she held her breath, her heart pounding a staccato against her ribcage as the silence stretched between them.

"…Yeah," he admitted, finally. She heard him draw in a deep breath, as if gathering up his courage, before he asked, "What about you?"

"I— I like you too," she admitted.

"You like me as a friend? Or as more than a friend?" She could just make out his eyes; the slate grey irises smoldering black in the low light from the window.

"More than a friend," she said, and he rewarded her with a radiant smile, the likes of which she hadn't seen on Sev's face since before Hogwarts.

Finally admitting their feelings to each other out loud filled Lily with a warm glow of contentment. No longer would they need to tiptoe around one another. It was out in the open at last! But why hadn't he kissed her since Christmas? They were in bed together, faces inches apart, and yet he still hadn't made a move to close the distance between them. It made her uneasy. She didn't have the courage to meet his lips with her own, so instead she shimmied a bit closer to him and flung her left arm over his chest. If Sev was surprised, he didn't show it. After all, they used to cuddle like this all the time, but that had gone the way of the shared bed, unfortunately.

They were still remarkably physically affectionate with each other: she would walk down the halls of Hogwarts clinging onto his arm, and he was often seen giving her an impromptu neck message in the courtyard during break. It was a source of much rumour and teasing at school. Their parents were used to the unusual closeness: they accepted it as a matter of fact. Lily's parents even referred to them as if they were a single unit. Ever since they were eight years old, it was SevandLily this and SevandLily that, and even Tuney didn't bat an eye at that anymore.

Lily was amazed at how different cuddling together felt now that they were older. Whereas before it was comforting and mindless in its familiarity, tonight she was hyper aware of every point where their bodies met, every subtle sound and movement from Severus, and her stomach flip flopped pleasantly. But Sev had turned his head back toward the ceiling, and it seemed as if he would go to sleep without giving her so much as a peck on the forehead. Her stomach dropped as the disappointment washed over her.

"Could you kiss me again?" she blurted, before she could stop herself. Thankfully he wouldn't be able to make out the red tinting her cheeks. She felt him tense in her arms, but just as she had resigned herself to rejection, she felt his hand lifting her chin before he brushed his lips to hers momentarily.

"How was that?" he asked after he pulled back.

"It was nice. Can we try it again, but with tongue?"

Lily had never French kissed before, and she was sure that she was Sev's first kiss, so that meant that he mustn't have either. As Severus's lips descended on hers once again, Lily quietly thanked her subscription to Cosmo. What was she supposed to do again? She felt Severus's tongue swipe hesitantly at her bottom lip. Oh, right. She parted her lips and brushed the underside of his tongue with the tip of hers, then somewhat clumsily sucked it into her mouth. It was wet and felt a bit peculiar, but Sev seemed to like it, going by his low groan. She repeated the motion a few times, before switching and exploring his mouth. Severus's hand was clutching her shoulder hard enough to bruise and she swore she heard him whimper. For her part, however, Lily didn't get what all the fuss was about. It wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't exactly pleasurable either. But she felt herself getting aroused from Severus's reaction all the same.

After several more minutes of kissing, however, Lily started to feel a bit nauseated and pulled back, resting her head on Sev's shoulder. He was breathing hard, and she could feel the rise and fall of his chest and the hammer of his heart beneath her hand.

"Sev?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad you're here."

"Me too." He pressed a kiss to the side of her forehead, and wound his left arm around her waist. They stayed that way until Lily felt herself drifting off to sleep, utterly content in his arms.