Severus Snape had always wanted Lily to be in his house, but in the back of his mind he knew, since before they even go to Hogwarts, that she never could be. She was to selfless, it was no surprise she gave her life for her son. She had always defended the 'underdog', she was the kind of person who would give you the shirt off her back. Syltherin's naturally looked out for their own best interests above anyone else's, Lily put everyone else's personal safety above her's. The girls in his house were no were nothing like her; the Black sisters (Andromeda the exception, for the most part), Millicent Bulstrode, Pansy Parkinson, Tracey Davis, the Greengrass sisters, and even his mother, none held a warmth in them the way she did, they were cold in a way, some bordering upon frigid. He doubted any one of them ever did anything kind for someone with out having an ulterior motive, or at the the very least, the thought of how it could benefit themselves crossing their mind. Even as Lily Evens told him of her 'Slytherin-esque' plan, he couldn't see her being like any of those girls, even Andromeda. No. Lily was far to good.
"Petunia was god awful this summer." Lily began, breaking him out of his thoughts. "Worse then usual I think. Maybe I was just around more, or it was because she delighted in the fact that we were no longer friends but what ever the reason, she was unbearable." The Potions Master didn't say any thing, but he didn't have to. Lily knew he understood what she was saying and that he was listening. "She never missed an opportunity to remind me that I didn't have a best friend any more while she did." In her most shrill voice she intimated her sister. "How does it feel to know that not only are you a freak here, but in that by their standards you're a freak, in the freak world?"
"You know it's nice not having that little cretin around here. Do you know how embarrassing it is to be the girl who's sister is always seen with that greasy guttersnipe from Spinner's End?" "Sister dear, it's not healthy to spend so much time alone in your room. Why don't you go down to the park with Sever… oh thats right I almost forgot, silly me. You don't have any friends any more."
Petunia's words were harsh and he could tell that they cut Lily deep. In all the years since it happened, he had never once really thought of how Lily felt that summer. He figured that she spent it with her other friends, she was popular and he had doubted she even missed him. From what she just told him it sounded like her summer was a lot like his though. Severus's summer was spent locked away in his tiny decaying room with nothing but the spiders and the flies caught in their webs for company. He never remembered being more miserable in his life then he was that summer. He was heart broken and alone.
His parents never paid much attention to him even when he was a young child, to busy trying to make ends meet or fighting with each other to notice their only son most of the time. When he was very young, his mother of course paid attention to him but as he grew older and could do more and more on his own, she paid less and less attention to him. By the time he was sixteen she could go days without noticing he was even around. His father wasn't much better, in fact he was probably worse. The man didn't like much of anything (including Severus) and had a temper worse then his son's. Wether he noticed he was around or not didn't really matter because he hardly spoke to him anyway. The only times Tobias ever really said anything to him was to tell him to do something; "Severus, get off your arse and go help your mother." , "Take this and pick me up a pack of fags. Bring back my change, I'll be countin' it boy!" , " If yer told to do something don't be lettin' me hear ya didn't do it. I didn't raise no son, to have 'im disobeying me. You hear me boy? Answer me!"
Severus could remember being taken aback when his father questioned him as to why he seemed more miserable then usual.
He had been heading from the bathroom back to his bedroom when Tobias stopped him; "Severus you've spent every day of yer summer in yer room lookin' like some one died. Where's that red headed friend o' yours, whats her name, Daisy? The two of you have a fallin' out?" Severus was taken by such surprise that his father even knew Lily existed, let alone notice that he wasn't spending time with her that all he could manage to say was "Lily, her name is Lily." before his feet brought him back to his room so he could sit on his bed and stare at his wall while he replayed every moment of his friendship with the girl in question in his head, again, like he did every day. It was the most fatherly thing Severus could remember him ever saying.
He wasn't sure if know, at the time, that Lily spent her summer the same way he did would have made him feel better or worse, but it didn't matter now.
"Eventually," Lily said, continuing, "I couldn't take it anymore and told her if she mentioned you or something related to you one more time that the restriction on underage magic could damn its self because I knew a curse that would make her look like you, to which I may or may not know the counter curse to, and I'd love to use it on her. Her face was priceless."
Snape knew although what she said could be take as an insult, he had over the years become so used to the things people said about him that he hardly even noticed anymore. "I'll take it that she did not call your bluff then." he stated rather then asked in his typical board sounding tone.
The corners of her lip curled up slightly as she said "Well, I really wouldn't call it a curse. More of a jinx really. Its not as if you are a hag Severus."
Severus grunted as if to disagree " Undoubtedly invented by Potter and Black as yet another way to mock me."
Lily's gaze quickly shifted down to her lap and a rosy color began to creep onto her cheeks. "Uhm… well actually… no. I did…" risking it, she took a glance at Snape who's only visible reaction was the raising of his eyebrows. "But no to mock you. I swear. And since then I've added to it. I've turned it into more of a charm that changes your appearance. You know, kinda the way a metamorphmagus can change." She added hastily.
"Well then… I'm quite curious as to how such a jinx would work. Do demonstrate." His tone much like the one he used when speaking with his Slytherin's, not that it was a pleasant tone… not in the least bit. Nodding, Lily did as she was told. Taking her wand she tapped the part of her hair, holding the wand tip on her scalp of a second. It looked as though someone had spilled black ink on her head. Starting at her roots, her shiny red hair tuned to greasy black. Following this, she took her wand and traced it down the length of her nose. For a second, the facial feature scrunched up as like someone about to sneeze but instead in grew longer, protruding from her face more, a bump formed in the bridge. It was very odd to watch, Lily's small, pretty, straight nose turning into his large, crooked, hooked nose that he would bet was just as greasy as the hair.
How in Merlin's name does he stand his hair feeling like this all the time. It's been less then a minute and I already want to wash it.
The new feature settled onto her face, still looking pretty, not quite a pretty as she usually did but still attractive none the less. The spell was very well done, with some spells that changed appearance the transformed feature looked a little off, as if it had been stuck on as an after thought, but not in this case. If some one had never seen Lily before they would never be able to guess that it wasn't the nose she was born with.
It was honestly quiet shocking for him to see the combination of his hair and nose looking so natural on Lily's face. He found himself comparing her charmed face to the face of Harry Potter and wondering if, he (Severus) and Lily were to have had a child together, would she look like Lily did at the moment? Shaking sad and frivolous thoughts from his head Professor Snape clapped his hands in a slow sarcastic manner. "Impressive." At this Lily, in a perfect imitation of his teenage self scowled and shot him a glare. "You are not the only one who can invent spell you know, Professor Snape. Incase you have forgotten, I am very talented in the area of Charms, quite similarly to the way you surpass everyone in your talent in Potions"
"Yes, I see. Now enlighten me Ms. Evens as to how this could be used in any other way then to mock me?" If his tone was less then friendly she took no notice, she was one of the very few people, like Dumbledore who were immune to his sharp tongue.
"Well I will have you know I invented it because people mock you. Trust me. None of the Gryffindor girls dared to say anything about you after I unleashed this." Lily told him, flicking a clump of greasy hair out of her face.
"Yes I am sure they were terrified of looking like Snivellus."
"The week before Easter break, fourth year, all of us third and fourth year girls got together in one of our rooms for a sleep over." Severus resisted the urge go sneer. What would one of his students say if they were to see their feared potions master sitting hear, listening to stories about a slumber party!
"We were all sitting around taking about guys… and well of course they wanted to know why I said no to Potter. I honestly wasn't in the mood to tell them all the reasons I couldn't stand the sight of him, so i told them I fancied someone else. It was partially true… Anyway they were trying to guess who because I wasn't telling, and joking around Alice suggested that it was you. Well my cheeks must have turned red or something because they all started giggling."
More like laughing and then staring like they just witnessed a train wreck.
"So Dorcas Meadows says; "You like Snape? Snivellus Snape! But he's… he's… a Slytherin! A Slytherin, Lily, and not even a good looking one at that. You are the prettiest girl in fourth year and a Gryffindor, all the boys are crazy about you and you fancy Snivellus, how is it even possible? I mean I know you're friends with him but he's so…so creepy, I couldn't imagine anyone finding him attractive. What with that greasy hair of his, it makes you wonder if he's ever heard of shampoo, oh and that nose! Lil his nose is so awful, I mean come on it's huge and probably oily enough to fix a squeaky wheel or hinge or something! Please tell us you're joking…" Well I wasn't joking and I told her "His name is Severus he is my best friend, and I don't give a damn what house he is in. If you have nothing nice to say, then don't say anything at all." I never really like her that much, she was always saying nasty things about people." Lily's voice had gradually taken on an aggressive tone as she spoke she had grabbed the edge of the desk beneath her so tightly the her knuckles were turning white.
" A few hours latter we all went to go to bed, I pretended to fall asleep and then waited till everyone else did. Once the all were out I got up and," She brandished her wand and flicked it around for effect accentuating each word "Bibbity bobbity boo! When she woke up it was priceless, she screamed so loud I wouldn't be surprised if you could hear it down here. It was great."
To this day the first thing she does when she wakes up is feel her nose, serves her right stuck up little...
"I guess she could have told McGonagall and gotten me in trouble but she was so horrified she refused to leave our room the whole day!" Lily looked quite smug, getting revenge on the girl who made fun of her best friend. Even when he wasn't around she stood up for him.
"I have a feeling Minerva would be quite impressed with you transfiguration skills considering individual body parts require more precise work. She would have gone easy on you." If he was please that she defended him against one of her room mates he gave nothing away.
"You call her by her first name?" She asked incredulously, as nice as the woman was she was stern and Lily highly doubted she take kindly to being called by her first name.
"She has been my colleague for more then fifteen years."
"Right." Tapping her hair the greasy black coating sucked its self back toward her roots before completely disappearing, a second latter she taped her transfigured nose and it too returned to it's original state.
"It's wonderful that you did something good with your life instead of becoming one of them. I'll admit I'd never believe someone if they told me that you would become a professor. You have such little tolerance. You could barely stand me asking you questions in potions, should I feel bad for your students?"
"If you are asking, am I a well liked professor then I see I have put to much faith in your intelligence, I am a professor, I care not if these idiotic children like me, I simply care if they can brew. In my tenure I have yet to have one serious injury occur. I do this not because I enjoy teaching, but because I have a job to do. It fits my cause." the professor's face hardened, clearly it was not something he wished to take about, not that Lily cared.
And just what is your cause
Something in his voice caught her attention, she was curious now and she was confident if she tried she could get it out of him, or part of it at least.
"And your cause would be what Severus? The Snarky Slytherins for the misery making of unsuspecting students?" Her joke did not go unregistered by the professor "Not quite. That is just a…bonus."
The conversation in the dungeon office was beginning to take a darker turn. Figuring that she wasn't going to get any where just yet she decided to change subject and return to what she wanted later. Lily was determined to find out just what Severus's cause was.
Good luck getting anything out of him. He wont be so easy to fool, he's not James, he's a Slytherin, sly and cunning are what they do best.
A/N: So just a little insight into their past, little things may be important later ;) . For some reason I feel like my writing is getting worse…hope I didn't disappoint.
Anyway just a little fun fact for you all; When I was writing this I accidentally wrote Guttersnape instead of Guttersnipe and for some reason the memory of that scene in AVPS where Snape is drunk came to mind. :D