This chapter is entirely Severus/Lily interaction based as its set before the rest of the story, just a warning for those wanting Jily! I'll get another chapter up soon which you may appreciate more ;)

Summer 1975: Cokeworth

Summer homework was not something Lily approved of, even if it came in the form of simply reading her textbooks.

"But you'd read them anyway," Severus said to her.

"That would be out of choice though!" Lily exclaimed, "maybe I like reading about magic sometimes, but telling me I have to do it? That ruins the fun!"

The two were hauled up in Lily's bedroom, textbooks all around them. Severus had obviously progressed further with his work than Lily had. Lily was even sure he would have been far more efficient on his own, but it wasn't as if he would ever turn down an opportunity to escape the confines of his family home.

"Well you suggested we do this today," Severus shrugged, clearly not minding the situation at all.

Lily didn't really have anything to say to that. The truth was she had invited Severus round to work with her because she had wanted to see him. Maybe they could have just hung out without the work, but Lily had felt a distance building between her and Severus all year at school. He didn't appear to always have time for her the way he had in years gone by. Part of Lily knew she should be glad of this development. Had she not always had other friends since starting at Hogwarts? Why should Sev be at her constant beck and call? It wasn't healthy for him to just wait around for her all the time.

Yet the people who Severus was deciding to associate with these days were questionable to say the least. Walter Mulciber and Ralph Avery had never really had much to do with Severus in their first two years at Hogwarts. Up to that point Lily didn't really take much note of the rumours that Severus knew dark magic, she had even taken the time to tell her Gryffindor friends that she knew him much better than they did. It was true Severus had been taken under the wing of Lucius Malfoy when he had first been sorted into Slytherin, but there was a limit to their connection. Lily had known that Severus looked up to the older boy from the first time he had mentioned him with that look of revere she had never seen on his face since, but Malfoy was much older so it wasn't as if the two always were together. Besides, 11-year-old Lily hadn't known anything about the Malfoy family. Now things were different. Upon realising what a benefit Severus would be when it came to creating spells his dorm mates had welcomed him into their clique. This left Lily feeling like she would always come second best now he had other friends to hang around with.

She feared it would make her seem like a spoilt brat to express all of this to him. Truthfully, even she felt she was being a spoilt brat. The inability to confide in him had itself caused a wedge between them, at least from Lily's point of view. However, there was also the issue that she was worried they would no longer have anything to talk about. Even she could no longer deny that Severus seemed to radiate a darkness now, regardless whether she still saw her childhood friend. What if he found her boring? What if he wanted to talk about things that disgusted her? Much safer to do school work and pretend things were okay, it had worked last year and they had ended up closer during that summer than they had been for a while. It was only when they returned to Hogwarts the divide reformed, and studying became their only hang out activity.

"Well, I figured you would be a good influence on me," she said instead grinning at him and receiving a small smile in return, "go on then boy genius, teach me about defence against the dark arts, and then pretend you need me to teach you about potions so I don't feel shit,".

Just as they had the previous summer the study sessions appeared to break the ice between the two teenagers. Lily even managed to drag him to some tribute night for The Beatles which was happening at her local pub. She considered it a solid victory that he only briefly protested her choice before relenting and allowing her to pick out something for him to wear. If she could convince him to do muggle activities with her maybe things would look up after all.

The barman was notorious for allowing pretty young girls to drink underage, so Lily was the one to go to the bar while Severus was left skulking in a corner looking majorly out of his element. A few sweet smiles later and Lily came back carrying two pints feeling extremely proud of herself. That was until she saw how sourly Severus was looking over at the bar.

"What's your problem?" Lily asked, nudging him with the pint glass.

"Nothing," he simply said, taking a deep drink.

"Aren't you going to congratulate me on getting us both a drink?"

"Yeah, well done batting your eyes at some older bloke,"

"Oh don't be so sour," Lily scoffed, "I've got to use my feminine advantage somehow! At least now you can drink and you won't hate the music so much, maybe you'll even dance with me"

He actually chuckled at that, "There's not enough alcohol in the world,"

Lily loved when she occasionally managed to make him laugh. It wasn't something which came naturally to Severus, in truth Lily didn't think she'd seen him laugh in the way that made his eyes light up with anyone but her. There was some pride in that.

"Ahh I'll make a Beatles fan out of you yet Severus Snape, just you wait! You'll pine for their records at Hogwarts as much as I do,".

While she hadn't managed to get him dancing it was around three pints later and ten songs in that Lily noticed Severus looking at her, with an expression she could only describe as adoration as she loudly sung along with the band. She didn't imagine there was anything particularly admirable about her out of time head bopping and out of tune singing so she couldn't really come up with a reasoning for this development. He looked away a little too late, though Lily was happy to pretend it never happened as he clearly looked embarrassed. Still though, it made her think of something Marlene believed; regarding how Severus felt about Lily. But that was nonsense wasn't it?

Although, remember how he reacted to your potential dates, a part of her mused.

This train of thought became impossible to ignore, however, after the band finished playing and the young drummer decided to have a drink sent over to Lily. A flattered Lily simply smiled over at him. He was fairly cute actually, but it wasn't like she was with her girlfriends, she couldn't simply go over to him while she was with Severus.

A glance at aforementioned friend's face actually went a long way towards confirming Marlene's suspicions. He looked enraged, and his hand had closed around the wand she knew was in his pocket.

"What is it, Sev?" She asked tentatively, maybe there was another explanation, maybe she was seeing jealousy when really it was another emotion. She'd always prided herself on being able to read Severus, but perhaps she was wrong in this case. That would make more sense than completely missing that Severus fancied her.

He did not put her suspicions to rest though. He jumped at her voice as if he had been caught doing something terrible. He leapt up, muttering something about needing fresh air, and skulked out. Lily just sat stock still for a moment. Did Severus fancy her? She came to her senses after a little while and considered the fact that he obviously upset friend had walked off and she was doing nothing to help him. Whether he did have deeper feelings for her or not shouldn't change anything if she didn't allow it to. Their relationship certainly didn't need to be made more awkward.

She found in sat on a wall. Smoking. Well that was also a new development. Lily couldn't help thinking it suited him somehow, gave him an air of sophistication.

"Chuck us one won't you?" she sat down next to him. Not looking at her he dutifully offered her the packet and his lighter. Struggling to get the lighter to hold the flame long enough to light the cig was Lily's first embarrassment, a smirking Severus eventually did it for her. The second was coughing and spluttering the moment the smoke hit the back of her throat. Yet she successfully made Severus laugh so she didn't worry about it too much, even if it was at her and not with her. Her second attempt was better anyway.

"What happened to your friend?" Severus eventually asked, with badly disguised venom on the final word.

"I don't know," said Lily as casually as possible, "I came out here to find you didn't I?"

He nodded and seemed to relax a fair amount at her words.

"Why did you leave?" Lily approached the topic tentatively.

He shrugged, "just wanted some fresh air, and I didn't want you to think I was getting in the way or something,"

Lily watched him carefully. He was lying, that much she could tell, but it was obvious he didn't want to talk about the situation. So Lily made the decision to leave the conversation there. At least for the moment. She attempted to put her new belief regarding his feelings for her out of mind. If he wanted to talk about such matters he could come to her.

"Oh, it's for you! The owl must've tracked you here," Lily handed the letter to Severus which had just been brought in through her bedroom window.

Severus looked surprised initially, but Lily could tell he was pleased as he read through. It was when he simply folded it up without saying who it was from that she grew curious. From what he had told her in the past he didn't receive letters that much, "Boys don't just write for no reason," he had said. So who was writing to him now?

The two lay sprawled out on Lily's bedroom floor drinking cider she had 'borrowed' from her dad's alcohol collection. Severus had refused to listen to any of her records, despite her wide variety of choice, but as the alcohol flowed he had indulged her in a childish game of eye spy, which had become increasingly silly as time went on. Now though he went quiet, thoughtful. So it was when he excused himself for the bathroom that Lily took the opportunity to quickly sneak a look at the letter he had left on the floor. A quick scan made the phrase "welcome to come and stay" stand out, and when she found the name Walter Mulciber at the bottom her blood ran cold. Summer was her time for Severus. The two had been doing so well together. She quickly folded it up and put it in the exact same position when she heard the toilet flush. Couldn't let him know she had snooped.

"So, I spy with my little eye, something beginning with… f," she immediately said upon his arrival back in the room.

He followed where her eyes had drifted to as he always did and said, "flobberworm,". He pointed at the jar which sat on her desk with potions ingredients. He'd won every game; Lily was beginning to think maybe she wasn't good at subtlety. Still, maybe she'd gotten away with reading his note.

"You read my letter didn't you?"

Damn.

"Err, I may have glanced at it," there was no point lying to Severus, he saw right through her, "I just got curious why you hadn't said anything,".

He shrugged, "just didn't seem important for you to know,"

Lily nodded, "So… you thinking of going?"

"I may do, depends if you'd prefer me to stay with you I suppose," he looked slightly embarrassed at this admittance. Lily's heart clenched at the declaration. From him that may as well have been a highly emotional declaration that he cared.

"I don't mind you having other friends, Sev," she said, wishing it was completely honest, "I can always invite Marlene here- she said she was free- or just spend a few days in a row with mum and dad if you're away."

He nodded. Why was Lily left with the feeling that she had said the wrong thing?

"Do you want to see them?" she pressed.

"I suppose I want to be able to do magic more," he replied, "in a pureblood house I'd be able to do spells,"

"Hmm, I'm sure you'd learn some new interesting spells at the Mulciber household," she let the disgust creep in a little at the end. Or a lot, whatever. He gave her a strange look, "I'll stay here," he said firmly, "I live with him for the majority of the year anyway."

Lily practically beamed. She really had been enjoying the summer with him, but it would have been unreasonable to demand that he couldn't see other people too. Even if they were particularly unpleasant people in Lily's opinion. She reached over and gave him a hug. After a moment, where he seemed incredibly surprised, he wrapped his arms around her too, and rested his head on her shoulder.

Their final opportunity to hang out properly came a couple of days before the return to Hogwarts. Lily's mum had offered to take Severus to King's Cross station with the Evans family but it wouldn't be the same when her family was there, and on the train Lily was sure they would end up parting ways. The thought made her stomach clench. Having Severus around once again had made her realise just how much she missed him at Hogwarts, and with that thought she decided she would be more assertive this year. She would ensure they spent time together; and not only to do homework. She was determined that she would also make a point of pointing out how awful his friends were, if nothing else she wanted to get that through to him.

For now, she was determined to enjoy the time she had left with him. So as they both sat on her bed, listening to The Rolling Stones blasting out of her record player, she turned to him and said, "what do you want to do this evening?".

"Oh? Erm, I don't mind?"

"Ah come on Sev. Pick whatever you want, I feel like we've just been doing what I want all summer."

"Well you're usually the one who wants to go out, I'm happy just not being at mine,"

She felt her heart break a little for him. She had never really got the whole story about what happened in his home, but she suspected things were worse than he let on. In the early days of their friendship he had simply told her that his parents fought a lot. Her own happy life had meant that at the age of 10 she didn't know that much about abusive homes; though her own dad had told her that based on rumours he didn't think Mr Snape was a good father. Now she could look back and think of the mismatched clothes, the lack of presents on Severus's birthday, Tobias Snape's constant drinking, and know that something was extremely wrong. Of course, she had only been to the Snape household once, and that had been for all of about 10 minutes. So it wasn't as if she really knew everything.

"But there must be somewhere you want to go!" she pressed.

He just shrugged, and Lily narrowed her eyes. Maybe it was because she was sat so close to him, and looking at him so intently, but Lily was sure she saw a tinge of colour appear on his cheekbones. He looked down at his lap, and Lily looked down at her own. The room felt strangely confined all of a sudden, and she wasn't sure whether she wanted to move away from him or not.

"We could take a walk, if you want, down to the field we used to go to," he said finally, it appeared forced from him.

Lily brightened and felt her heart leap, she definitely hadn't expected him to choose something so nostalgic, "That's a great idea Sev! Come on, I wanna be able to spend some time there before it gets dark,".

The sunset even made the factory dominated Cokeworth skyline look appealing. Lily had never really appreciated how pretty the sun could be until she went to Hogwarts. Watching it rise over the forbidden forest and reflect onto the lake had shown her a beauty she had never known existed while living in Cokeworth. Yet Lily felt maybe she overlooked the prettiness which could be found in her hometown. The correct lighting could even beautify a place which was essentially one big concrete block.

Severus was watching her. She had been aware of it for a while, but hadn't looked at him to acknowledge it. She had spent the past half hour stretched out on the grass, watching the sky slowly change colour above the canopy. Severus sat next to her. The positioning was so reminiscent of the times they spent here as children- when Severus would tell her of Hogwarts- that it had brought out further longing in Lily to not lose him.

"Are you excited to go back to Hogwarts?" She asked, still looking upwards.

"For some things," he said.

She looked at him then. She caught the greedy glint in his eye before he quickly glanced away with a flushed face. This time Lily was the one left watching her friend.

"What aren't you looking forward to?" she asked him, barely more than a whisper.

He shrugged, but said, "Well I'm not excited about seeing most of the students, especially not Potter and his friends,"

Lily rolled her eyes, "are you really thinking about them now?"

When he didn't say anything she pressed, "you know it wouldn't be too hard for you to keep away from them. I know that you're the one to initiate the fights half the time,".

He just frowned. Lily really wanted to sigh but held off, "anything you'll miss about here?"

The initial grimace which came to his face slid off quickly when he glanced around at her. Yet he didn't say what she hoped he would.

Wanting to break the awkward silence which followed Lily asked, "We'll make time for each other this year, right?"

He looked round at her, a strange expression had clouded his features. Lily had no idea what to make of it.

"Yeah," he breathed, "as long as you want us to,".
Lily wasn't sure why he thought she might not want to, but gave him a smile. He returned it with one of his own. The pair stayed there for a little longer, just enjoying the quiet, until Lily decided she was feeling cold.

"Come on, you can walk me home," she smiled at him.

Without really knowing why, Lily offered her hand to Sev to pull him up off the grass, he looked down at it, confused for a moment before taking it with his own. For such a skinny person he turned out to actually be fairly heavy, and he smirked as Lily tried to lift him. When he suddenly stopped resisting and allowed her to move him, she was not prepared and would have fallen over had Severus not caught her. This left them in an extremely close position, and as a laughing Lily looked up into his eyes she felt a strange twisting in her stomach. She noticed his black eyes were extremely hopeful, and she saw his throat move as he gulped.

Lily considered leaning in. She wasn't sure what had brought it on, maybe it was the knowledge that Severus definitely considered her as more than a friend. Maybe she really was curious about kissing him.

However, she stopped herself, and moved away. She indicated they should go, and attempted to ignore the look of disappointment on Severus's face. She did the sensible thing, in her opinion. There was no way she could consider anything with Sev right now, not when she wasn't sure he would even act like he was her friend in a week or two. His actions over the next few months would be the indication as to whether she should even consider the possibility of her childhood friend as anything more.