A/N: Well, first off, sorry I haven't updated in nearly two weeks! Life's been kind of busy, and I was so excited for Deathly Hallows that I spent all my free time re-reading the book! Well, that's over now and it was an amazing movie! Hope you all liked it too! I, myself, can't wait to see it again :)

Enough talk about the movie, which I could go on and on about the good and the bad for days! Anywho, this is a continuation of where the last chapter left off. It goes into some memories which I hope doesn't confuse you too much. If it does, I will re-write it. I'm not exactly entirely proud of this chapter myself. Blahh, I'm not happy with my writing in it, but oh well.

A/N: Another note regarding a flame I received from the last chapter. I just want to clear things up so I don't offend anyone. It had to do with the summary of this story in the first chapter. In it, I put that adultery was one of the lowest sins of mankind. The flame pointed this out to me and I'm sorry if it has offended anyone. That is not my personal opinion nor did I say it was anyone else's. I meant that to be in Severus's opinion, seeing as the rest of the story is in his point of view. Yes, you could argue there are a lot worse sins than adultery, but to me, it has to do with personal opinion. In my story, Severus has committed a lot of sins (killing, cruelty on others,etc.), but it is the sin of adultery than makes him lose respect for himself and not recognize the man he was becoming, as will be shown in later chapters. So, sorry if I offended anyone with that line. I think Im going to go change it now as we speak :)

~9~

Remember

I followed Lily up the path through the bushes that led to the wide field. Her hand still laid wrapped in mine as she guided me in the darkness. I watched the gentle, smooth motion her hips made as they swung back and forth underneath her sun dress. The main of red hair flowed down her back, the moon and the stars sending glints of light down to dance on it and her ivory skin.

My eyes drew back from the breathtaking image of her to wander over to the playground we passed on the right. All of it was still the same. I could see the metal slide I used to glide down as a child; Lily shoving me down first and then hopping on it herself.

In the far corner of the playground, beyond the slide and the teeter totter, the most memorable part of this place stood out to me. The gentle breeze blew them back and forth, the chains that held them up creaking in the silent night air. The memories coursed through me of Lily swinging on those swings the first time I met her, and one of me, sitting on them sadly in the night air when Lily had first approached me and decided to be my friend. For the first time in almost a decade, that memory crept out of the locked drawer I had hidden it in, and came back to me:

I sat on the swings in the playground, wallowing in my own misery. It was deserted as usual and my face was to the ground, watching my feet make patterns in the sand as I swished my body back and forth on the swing. It was dusk and I knew that I had to get going home soon, even though I would have much rather stayed on the swing set all night. It was silent, but I didn't hear the quiet footsteps approach me until they were only inches from mine in my field of view.

"Is it true?" asked the familiar sweet voice, holding nothing but gentleness and genuine curiosity.

I looked up and saw the face of Lily looking down on me. She wasn't smiling, but instead had a look of worry and nervousness on her face. The sun was setting behind her in the distance, casting and orange glow around her whole body, accenting the bright green eyes. Her appearance was enough to take my breath away and I felt butterflies creep back into my stomach again.

"Is what true?" I barely managed to choke out.

"What you said," she replied almost instantly, "Am I really…a…a…a witch?"

"Yes, you are," I muttered back quietly, afraid as to whether she would be insulted again, but there was no anger etched on her face, only peace. It seemed as if she had been debating my confessions to her for the whole week since my outburst had happened, and now felt satisfied with my answer.

"How…how do you know?" she stammered.

I hesitated for a moment, deliberating what to say and looked down to the ground again before answering. "I've been watching you for a while and you've been able to do things that people without magic can't. My mum's a witch and I'm a wizard, so I know the signs."

She didn't say anything for a moment and I thought that she had walked away, but when I looked back up, she was sitting on the swing next to me, smiling innocently.

"I'm Lily Evans," she said, her voice friendly and full of happiness that was infectious. Her green eyes and bright smile made me want to smile too.

"I'm Severus Snape," I stammered back nervously, feeling redness swarm up to the surface of my cheeks.

"It's nice to meet you, Severus," she answered jubilantly, her smile growing brighter and warmer as the sun set and she swung higher and higher into the sky.

The older, but still as sweet and beautiful voice of Lily brought me out of my haze of the memory. "Remember all the times we used to play on those swings, Sev?"

She pointed her hand that wasn't interlocked with mine to the yonder swing set. I felt my heart skip a beat as I heard her say the old nickname she used for me. No one else had ever called me that, and if they had, I would have blasted them with a hex that would have cut their legs off and knocked them senseless. Lily was the only one allowed to call me by that name, and my heart gave a flutter at hearing the sweet voice say it again after so long.

"Yes," I muttered back dazed, my mind still engaged in those memories, "I remember."

She kept tugging me forward down the path and my heart was overcome with such warmth and peace at just the sight of her combined with my memories that I was lucky I could even walk. Finally, we broke through the brush and into the wide field, empty except for long tall grass, waving in the breeze.

Lily just stood with a serene look on her face, staring off in the distance while my eyes raked around the whole scene, taking in all the familiarities from my childhood. My eyes stopped on a thicket of trees I spotted across the way. I stared off at the small canopy made up of six trees, giving the perfect amount of shade from the sunlight during those hot summer days. For a moment, I thought I even caught a glimpse of my younger self, along with Lily's, sitting under that thicket, books in hand.

I looked over at Lily, and sure enough, she was staring across the field at the thicket too. I saw those green eyes reflect back to me the same memories I was seeing in my mind, and I knew, she was remembering them too. Without hesitation, she dropped my hand and began to walk across the clearing, a smile playing on her lips, and I could not help but follow her.

Once at the thicket, I watched ahead as she knelt down onto the grass underneath the canopy of trees, her dress spreading around her. I approached from behind her, but kept standing, simply gazing down at her.

"Remember all the times we used to sit under here?" she asked sweetly, looking up through the trees.

"Yes," I replied gently, "I remember."

"Remember all the times we'd hide under here and you'd tell me what life would be like at Hogwarts? How much better it would be than here?" she asked again.

"Yes, I remember." It was like we were both stuck in a trance of all our memories, both of our voices filled with a passion that I had never heard before. I didn't know where my logical or rational mind had gone. All I could do was simply stare at her, not even being able to move lips and talk. All I could do was gaze at her perfect, beautiful figure and the serene atmosphere around us. All I could do was let my breath be taken away in exchange for all those memories now flooding my head.

"Remember when we used to tell each other everything, right under this spot?" she cooed sweetly again, her face till inclined toward the trees.

I gulped, trying to find my voice to speak. "Yes," I stammered, "I remember." Another memory broke through the brick walls inside my skull, revealing the ones where I told her my deepest, darkest secrets, from the hurt I felt over my parents to the dreams I had always wanted to come true, but that never did.

I was overcome with an emotion I hadn't felt in so long, maybe not ever. I was as cold and cruel as a stone before, never daring to unlock the parts of my brain that would reveal my weakness, my vulnerabilities. I locked up all those memories that contained the secrets from my existence, never daring to hurt or care anymore.

But now, this new emotion of love was coursing through me, in a way that I had never felt before. I had never loved anyone but Lily, but the love I felt for this woman now was different than the one I felt as a child. Now, I was doomed and there was no getting out. The love I now felt for Lily would be the reason of my existence and the key to my ruin and end.

Her body began to lift itself off the ground, breaking the gaze she still held with the canopy of trees. She brought her face around to look at mine, still stuck in a peaceful trance. She gave me a reassuring smile as she walked to where I was standing.

"Remember how we used to always run around on this field playing tag and I'd always beat you?" she asked, still smiling. Her voice seemed to have come out of her trance and was now fully conscious of the scene around us.

"Yes," I stuttered, slowly coming out of it myself, "I remember…vaguely."

She trilled a slight giggle before stepping closer to me. "Well then," she muttered playfully, "Tag, you're it." And before I knew it, she had swatted my shoulder and took off running across the field.

It took me a few seconds to become conscious of what she was doing. My so long adult brain didn't seem to register the childish acts I had not thought of since I was eleven. "Lily!" I shouted to her, "What in Merlin's name are you doing?'

"You're it Sev!" she said, slowing her pace to turn around and yell at me, "You have to try and catch me."

Whether it was because of the way she sounded when she called my name or because my brain was still flooded with memories, I took off after her in a hesitant walk that slowly turned into a slight jog. The humiliation coursed through me and I wished to stop before I embarrassed myself more, but I couldn't find the will power to break free of it. She was pulling me closer to her and all I could do was chase after her, the way I hadn't when our friendship had ended so many years before. Now, I was making up for it, pushing myself harder so I did not lose her again.

I was coming closer to her and the adrenaline hit me hard. She looked back at me, the smile still spreading across her face. I reached out my arm and took her hand, but suddenly, my fleeting moment of endurance came crashing down abruptly when the reality of my inept athletic ability caught up with me and I tripped over my own cloak, falling to the ground on my back, dragging Lily down with me.

I landed on my back with a groan, and Lily landed right next to me, my hand still clutching onto her wrist. She was still smiling as she lifted herself up and rolled over, perching her body on top of my chest. One hand was still held in mine, while the other, lay flat on the other side of my body, holding her stable as she loomed over me. As I met her eyes, I was reminded of yet another memory:

I felt movements and heard panting where I lay and I opened my eyes to see Lily's face only inches away from me. She was squatting on the grass, trying to catch her breath from the run she had just had as she leaned over me.

"Am I too fast for you, Sev?" she asked panting.

Startled at our close proximity, the only coherent thing I was able to mumble was, "Yeah."

Now, my body felt frozen from underneath hers, but slowly the warmth pulsing out of her own body began to wrap itself around me, comforting me and relaxing my muscles.

"I thought you had forgotten," Lily's tired voice muttered softly, through her pants, "I thought you had forgotten all the times we spent together, everything we did."

I looked up into her sparkling eyes, allowing myself to sink into the warmth her body spread across mine, allowing the tingling and fluttering sensations to spread over the surface of my skin. Just as before, the love I felt for her hit me, just from looking up into her eyes and feeling her pressed onto me.

"I never forgot," I stammered in reply, still struggling to catch my breath. A smile immediately broke out onto her lips, sparking one onto mine.

In an instant, however, that smile was gone. In replace, was a blank expression I had never seen before. She gazed down at me, but I could see the emotion and passion firing through her. Without thinking, she was bringing her face down closer to mine and I was bringing mine up to hers. I didn't register what she was doing. I felt so helpless and vulnerable, a way I never usually felt. The world only started to become real to me when those soft lips descended upon mine, their landing causing a spark to shoot through me.

I felt absolute heaven and bliss pulse from my heart to the rest of my bloodstream. A moment was beginning to unfold that I hoped and prayed for for so long. I could do nothing but part my lips to accept hers in return, letting the slow gentle kiss take place. My conscious mind was gone. The alarms and warnings it sent to me were buried somewhere in the back of my head. Now, I only wished to experience the dreams and the passions I felt, guided to me by my heart.

Almost too soon however, our lips broke away from each other abruptly. I felt her exhale sharply, and in a moment, that warm body was off of mine. My mind was still reveling in the bliss that it did not realize what was happening. I didn't hear any sounds, only a silent crack that my conscious mind would have told me was the noise of dissapparation.

When I opened my eyes to the darkness, my body still laying flat on the ground, she was nowhere in sight. She was gone…

Well, I hope you liked it! Thanks to all of you that reviewed, even the flame! Criticism can be a good thing, no matter how much we think otherwise. Thanks to silvermoony and Harley who review everytime!

And to Harley (my respond to your review):

Haha, I'm glad you like the bits of humor I "attempt" to slip in. I'm also glad that you don't think it's too much or uncalled for. Thank you very much for letting me know I have good balance in my stories as well! I'm kind of paranoid about that. I always think I should put more narrative in to equal the amoutn of dialogue, but I'm glad you like the way it's going!

Also, I think you should try and publish some of your stories. I can tell from your reviews that you'd make a fabulous writer. You really know what you're talking abotu when it comes to writing and what a good story should consist of. I hope you continue reading this story more and liked this chapter (I'm not all that thrilled with it, but I hope you like it).

Thanks a billion for reading and reviewing Harley and everyone else!

~Ellaurora :) x

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