Lily woke up the next morning with a sore neck; she had slept on it funny. As she rubbed it with the heel of her hand, the events of the night before began to swim into her memory. She remembered the way Severus had tensed against her as she hugged him, as if he'd never been hugged before, and how he had awkwardly and hesitatingly put his arms around her, as if he hadn't known what to do with his arms.
She stretched as she sat up in bed. It was early in the morning, before the break of dawn, and her fellow Gryffindors were all asleep.
Lily knew that Severus had never gotten along with his family, ever since he was born. He had not given her details about his childhood, except that his parents fought almost every night about every topic that came up. Lily also knew that a serpent's heart was not one that accepted love very easily; they only knew how to except power. But in the back of her mind was the nagging thought, Maybe if he'd had a choice about his parents loving him, he wouldn't be in Slytherin now. Maybe if the Slytherin's had been loved by their parents, as most of the Gryffindors had, there would be no such thing as Slytherin.
She knew this was an obscure thought, and a generalization that none of the Slytherins had ever been loved by their parents, but she couldn't help but wonder. And the fact that she liked Severus so much certainly added to her hope that it wasn't his fault he was in Slytherin.
She sighed and slowly got out of bed, her head pounding in protest. For an eleven-year-old, staying out until midnight is bound to make you tired the next morning, and she knew that, but she had needed to talk to Severus and could not have said what was on her mind in front of other students. Lily quietly descended the stairs into the Gryffindor common room, and headed toward the portrait hole. It swung forward to let her out. She went through it and started walking down the corridor.
"Oi! What are you doing up at this hour?" screamed the Fat Lady after her.
"I don't know! But once I wake up in the morning, there's no chance of falling back asleep, so I thought I'd take a walk." said Lily, turning around to face the old-fashioned-looking, rather large woman in the portrait behind her.
"Well, you know what they say about early birds," said the Fat Lady ominously. Lily, having been raised by muggles, knew exactly what they say about early birds.
"Early birds get the worm?" she asked, confused.
"No, silly girl! Early birds at Hogwarts get dragged to the dungeons by their ears, where a drunken Filch will be waiting with a cactus and a croquet mallet!" she said as if it were obvious. Lily scowled as she thought of the old caretaker, holding his cat Mrs. Norris, with his jowls aquiver.
"Well, then I'll just have to avoid him! See you later!" she said, and she started on her way again.
She walked aimlessly through the corridors, wondering what her first day of classes was going to be like, and how many of the classes she would have with Severus. She was a little bit nervous, and she started biting her nails as she walked, looking down at the ancient floor. Suddenly she felt something bump into her, and she stumbled backward. It was Severus.
"Sev! Bloody Hell, you gave me a fright!" Lily said, completely shocked. After all, it was four o'clock in the morning, and she never expected to run into another student this early, especially not her best friend. Severus looked just as surprised as Lily; his black eyes had widened and his jaw had dropped at the sight of her. The fact that she had swore added to the shock. His hair was untidy and sticking up everywhere, but he was already wearing his school robes, with his Slytherin pin shining dully in the morning light now streaming through the windows.
"Sorry, I...What are you doing up?" he asked her.
"I might ask you the same question!" she said back. They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds, both of them remembering their recent dreams and thoughts.
"I'm nervous." Lily finally said, breaking the ice. Severus gave her a weird look. "About our first day of classes, I mean," she finished hastily.
"I am too. That's why I'm up right now. I can never go back to sleep after I wake up," Severus said, and together they fell into step. They began walking down the second floor corridor.
"That's me, too. Especially on a morning like this one! It's so stressful!" Lily said, wringing her hands.
"I hope we have some classes together."
"I'm sure we will. Gryffindors and Slytherins have Potions and Herbology together, don't they?"
"Did Dumbledore say that last night at the feast?"
"Yes, I think so. Maybe I wasn't listening correctly, though. After all, I was putting a lot of concentration into sitting as far away from Sirius Black as possible, even though he was next to me at the table." Lily said, annoyed. Severus laughed, half amused and half relieved that she didn't fancy Sirius Black, like every other girl at Hogwarts did.
The two walked a while longer before everyone started waking up, and then it was time for breakfast. Lily had stopped in Gryffindor tower--Severus waited outside the portrait hole--to throw her school robes on over her pajamas; she would have time to change into her clothes after breakfast. Then they walked down the moving staircases to the Great Hall. When they were almost there, Lily noticed two boys walking back towards them. One was slightly fat with a dumbfounded look on his face, and the other was explaining something to him. She recognized them to be the boys called Crabbe and Goyle.
"No, I told you, the big one with the bushy beard is Dumbledore. The old guy with the hat on is Hagrid,"
Goyle was saying to Crabbe.
"No! That's wrong! Hagrid is a witch! She's the one who was sitting at the far end of the table!" Crabbe retorted. Lily stifled a giggle, and she could see Severus smirking out of the corner of her eye. When they passed each other, Crabbe and Goyle looked up from their intense conversation and yelled out together, "Oh, hey Snape!" They bumped into each other as they did so. Severus just nodded at them and they kept walking. When they were out of earshot, Lily let out her giggle and said,
"Those two are pretty thick, aren't they?"
"Yeah, they're like dogs. They follow Lucius Malfoy around all day and do whatever he wants. Lucius told me at the feast last night." Severus answered.
He must be the creepy one with the blonde hair and the gray eyes...I'll be avoiding him, Lily thought as they entered the Great Hall.
"I guess we'll go our separate ways then, at least until classes start." Severus said to her as they headed toward their house tables.
"Yeah, okay. See you, Sev!" She smiled at him, and he grinned back happily. Then they went to sit down, one with the lions and one with the serpents.