I'm so sorry for the long wait, mmy schedule was much worse than I anticipated! Next chappie should be up in a couple of days. Thank you to reviewers Alex and Kat, it means a lot. Alex, your opion is always apreciated, you've brought up several interesting points!
They traisped down the street, Severus trailing behind nervously. Seeing this, the girls slowed to match paces with him.
"What's wrong Sev?" Asked Lily.
He looked embarrassed, scanning the houses and walking stiffly. "Nothing." They passed a house with a large fountain in the garden, and he kept his eyes on it as they walked by.
"Sev..." Said Petunia worriedly.
"Nothing, really!" He saw their expressions and sighed. "Sorry. It's just that… none of the houses in my neighborhood are like this. This pretty."
Lily grinned. "Thanks! But why not?" Severus shook his head, and she shrugged. "I guess people like different things. C'mon!" She called, speeding up once more.
Petunia hung back with Severus. "Where do you live?"
"Spinners End." He said, looking like the words tasted foul.
"Oh." She said, shooting him a look.
He bristled, and a sneer crept onto his face. "There's nothing wrong with it."
"Really?" Petunia seemed surprised, almost disappointed. "But I always heard that Spinners End was-"
"We're here!" Lily said, skipping over to them. "Oh gosh, am I excited! Mom and Dad are going to find out!" She took hold of Severus' arm, and he smiled happily at her.
Looking up, Severus examined the brick house before him. It was two stories he noted, and the garden was huge. The porch had an old swinging chair on it, and they clambered up the two steps leading to it. A dog barked at them from the backyard, and the two girls groaned. "Hush Dusty!" They yelled in unison.
Severus fidgeted, feeling ridiculously out of place. The whole idea suddenly seemed very silly to him. Just as he opened his mouth to make an excuse and leave, the door swung open.
"There you two are!" Said the cheerful woman who stood in the doorway. "And who might this be?"
Severus looked at her. Her brown hair was hanging loosely, and he saw Lily's green eyes peering from behind it. She wiped floury hands off on the apron tied around her waist, and smiled at him.
"I'm Severus." He said quietly, breaking eye contact and looking down. "Severus Snape."
"Well it's nice to meet you Severus! You must be the boy Lily and Petunia have been talking about."
He looked up again, clearly startled. "Nice to meet you too Mrs. Evans."
"Can he stay for lunch Mom?" Asked Lily.
"Of course he can! Come in, come in." She stepped inside, and motioned for them to follow. "Lunch is almost ready."
"Can we show Sev our room?" Asked Petunia, closing the door behind her.
"As long as you leave the door open."
The girls rolled their eyes. "Yes mom."
Petunia sprinted up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Severus and Lily followed at a quick pace, but she beat them easily. When they came to the top of the carpeted steps, she turned to face them.
"What took you so long?"
Severus just shook his head, and Lily glared playfully. "Just because you made the track team..."
"First race is next week!" Said Petunia happily. "Anyway, let's go in."
They walked through the doorway, and Severus scanned the room.
A bunk bed was tucked into a corner, the foot of the bed nearly touching the windowsill. The walls were decorated with flowers, and the one made bed boasted blankets with a matching pattern. Petunia hopped onto the made bed, and Lily scrambled up to the top bunk. Severus sat on the reading chair opposite the bed, and looked around some more.
"It's very… floral." He said at last.
Lily made a face. "Mom decided to make it fit our names." She picked up a book lying on her bed, and began to flip through it quietly, searching for her place Severus presumed.
"It's horrid." Said Petunia. "And put the book down Lils, we have a guest."
Lily sighed, and tossed the book back onto the bed. She picked up her pillow, and swung it beneath her bed toward Petunia's head.
"Hey!" She ducked and squealed, and Severus chuckled.
He waited for them to stop bickering, and attempted to continue the conversation.
"So you don't like the flowers you're named after?"
They shook their heads.
"After years of getting Petunia themed gifts you get sick of it." Petunia explained, while Lily nodded emphatically. "I actually like roses, but everyone gets me Petunias!"
"I like Daisies, and no one even thinks of those for me." Lily added.
"So what's your favorite color?" Asked Petunia, looking at Severus.
"It used to be black, but green's good too." He accidentally made eye contact with Lily at this point, and looked away quickly.
"Mine's blue." Lily said.
"Yellow." Chimed in Petunia.
Severus snickered, and quickly explained before he was bombarded with questions. "Yellow, blue, and green. All Hogwarts house colours. Yellow and black are Hufflepuff, blue and bronze are Ravenclaw, and green and silver are Slytherin. I guess no one likes Gryffindor, red and gold."
Lily made a face. "Who would like Gryffindor? They're known for being heros. If all people can say about you is that you rush into things without thinking, that's not good."
Severus grinned at that. "Personally I'd like Slytherin. Known for being cunning, ambitious, and resourceful. That's something I could respect."
Petunia sighed. "I don't know… Slytherin seems okay, but you said that mostly purebloods get sorted into it. I guess Ravenclaw would be good, intelligence and wit, right?" Severus nodded.
"Oh I just can't wait!" cried Lily, throwing her pillow in the air. "How much longer until we can go shopping?"
"We'll go sometime during summer break." Petunia said, rolling her eyes. "Do you think you'll be able to come with us Severus?"
"I don't know… My parents probably won't care, so it's a safe bet."
Lily nodded. "So anyway, we will get the same house when we're sorted, right?"
"Right." Said Petunia. "I'm not facing a school of magic without you guys helping me."
"Hopefully. But we won't know until then." Severus added.
"Yeah…." Lily trailed off. "Hey, Tuney, what's for lunch anyway?"
Petunia wrinkled her nose, trying to remember. "Ah… Chocolate chip cookies obviously, I could smell them the second we walked in. As for actual food? Probably ham and cheese sandwiches again."
"Ugh, that'd be like the millionth time! Doesn't she realize we take those every day for lunch at school?"
"You take those you mean. I alternate between peanut butter and jelly and that."
"Big difference."
"There is! You get sweet one day and savory the next! And you always take the same chips and candy too!"
"It's not my fault I have favorites!"
Severus watched the exchange with fascination. No one in his family could converse this easily, arguing in such a teasing way. He hadn't seen anything like it, and he promised himself that one day he would be a part of something like this.
Even as he thought that, Petunia looked at him. "Don't you agree with me Sev? Obviously alternating is the smart thing to do in this case!"
He held out his hands in helplessness. "I'm homeschooled, don't look at me."
"Lucky!" exclaimed Lily. "Then you could eat whatever for lunch! I'm so tired of brown bag lunches. Do we do that at Hogwarts?"
"No, the House-elves make three meals a day, we eat lots of different things."
Petunia nodded. "Good, then Miss 'I'm tired of sandwiches' will stop complaining."
"But it's months until then!" Groaned Lily, as Petunia laughed.
Just then, they heard Mrs. Evans voice from downstairs. "Children, it's time to eat!"
Petunia leapt out of her bed, and Lily slid down the ladder to hers. Severus stood, and once again trailed behind as they stampeded down the stairs, shrieking with laughter.
Mrs. Evans was placing the last of three plates on the table, along with a platter of cookies and three glasses of milk. "Now then, they're fresh out of the oven, so they might be a little hot."
Petunia sat down, and shot Lily a pitying look. "Ham and cheese sandwiches, your favorite Lils!"
Lily sat down with a groan, and the three began to eat.