"Forbidden Relationships"
Summary: "For you? I'd always come when you need me, Lily."
Prompt(s): A dark character/light character relationship
Rating: T, Genre: Romance, Tragedy, Characters: Severus Snape, Lily Evans, World: Pre-Hogwats, Hogwarts
Word Count: 1,285
Beta: TheNextFolchart
Lily of the Hill
There was a slight popping sound, and the next instant a man was standing on the corner of the empty street. The colour of his black robes matched his eyes and the filthy hair hanging off his head, and contrasted the sallow skin of his hooked nose. The man looked around as if to make sure no one had seen before stalking off, making his way through the streets as if he'd lived there all his life.
Finally he came to a hill, which overlooked a coffee shop that had once been a park where children had played years ago. Everything had changed here since he was a child, and the Muggles only seemed to pollute the place more with every passing year. They build factories that pumped chemicals into the sky to clog it with smoke and dumped waste into the river to taint the water. They hadn't touched this hill, though, and the glades of grass were a glorious shade of emerald green. Just like her eyes.
There was a copse of trees at the top, a thicket with some wildflowers and a large oak tree. The man sighed as he reached the tree and placed a hand on it; its branches overhead cast a refreshing patch of shade from the intense summer sunlight. He sat down in the grass, just as he had as a child, and leaned back against the tree, his eyelids feeling heavy…
"Severus?"
Severus leapt up from the ground and turned to see the most beautiful woman he'd ever laid eyes on standing in front of him. Her dark red hair fell to her shoulders in waves as she looked at him with those bright green almond-shaped eyes he loved so much. He loved her so much, and had for so long.
"I was afraid you wouldn't come," she admitted and he felt his face harden as he remembered where they each stood in the war.
"For you? I'd always come when you need me, Lily." Severus folded his arms. He wanted so badly to hold her.
"It's dangerous for you."
"We'll keep this short, then. What did you call me here for?"
"I came…I came because…well…" Lily twiddled her thumbs nervously and stared at her shoes before her eyes starting bubbling over with tears. "I came because I love you."
"Love me?" Severus repeated, unable to stop himself from starting in shock while she wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "But you're married to Potter?"
"Potter? Please." Lily spat the name angrily. "He's an arrogant toe rag who only cares about his ego." She sighed. "Things aren't good between us, Sev, they haven't been good for a long time."
"Oh. I didn't know."
"He just wants me to be a housewife, bear him a son. He doesn't really care about me. I don't think he ever did." Lily's expression saddened before she looked back up and caught his eyes in her own. "You're the only one, Sev, the only one who ever did. Back when we used to be friends—best friends—those were the best days of my life, the days I treasure above all. I regret that we let something as silly as a word come between us."
"So…you're saying you want us to be friends again?" Severus asked, refusing to let himself hope.
"I'm saying—" She took a step to close the gap between them and reached out a warm hand to caress his face. Shivers of anticipation swept down his spine. "—that I want us to be more than friends."
"I… I want that too," Severus whispered, and he leaned down as she leaned up, their eyes closing as their lips locked. For that one brief moment everything faded away: the light, the dark, the good, the bad. He was aware of nothing but the feeling of her soft lips pressed against his and the happy feeling sweeping through him, and for one brief moment his life was perfect. As he pulled away, he realized with some shock that he was crying. He put his arms around her and held her close. "I love you, Lily, I love you more than anything else in this world, I love you. And I'm sorry, I'm so sorry—"
"Shh." Lily pressed her finger to his lips to silence him while her other hand caressed his cheek gently. His tears fell against the smooth skin of her palm. "I know, Sev, I know. It's alright. It's all alright now."
"It's not," he said. "We still can't be together. If the Death Eaters find out I'm with a—well, with you—they'll kill me."
Somehow, she was smiling. "The war has to end at some point, Sev, then you'll be free and I'll leave James. We'll be together then."
"But we'll still see each other in the meantime? If we meet in secret? We could always meet here. This can be our spot."
"I don't think I could endure being married to that prick otherwise." Lily pressed her lips against his once more, this time more passionately…
They pulled apart to draw breath and the crowd cheered. They were still in the same place, except this time they weren't alone: an officiant stood behind them and a cluster of guests stood in front of them. Lily was now dressed in frilly white dress with a green trim to match her eyes and he was in dress robes. His hair was pristine clean and his skin had a healthy hue to it, although of course he was nothing compared to Lily.
"Did you ever think this day would come, Sev?" Lily asked as they locked arms, walking down the hill together. "When the war would finally end and we could walk down this hill as husband and wife?"
"No," Severus admitted before he frowned; how had the war ended? He tried to push that thought aside. It didn't matter how. "I was thinking, when we get back from our honeymoon, we should buy a house somewhere far away from here. I always hated this place."
"We can live anywhere you like, sweetheart." Lily squeezed his hand gently. "Anywhere but Godric's Hollow."
"Godric's Hollow?" Severus repeated, stopping dead while Lily walked on without him; a wave of sorrow swept over him as he recalled how he knew that place. Tears pricked his eyes. "This isn't real, is it?"
Lily laughed sweetly. "Of course it's not, Sev." She glanced back to him with a smile; his eyes widened as he saw her face was now charred and her eyes were just empty sockets. "How could I ever love you?"
Severus jolted awake with a start. He looked around in panic and realized he was still sitting under the tree, very much alone. He must've just fallen asleep. He rubbed his eyes, angry with his mind for crafting such a dream and with his eyes for threatening to leak. There was no wedding, no affair, no love. Lily was gone, and she had died protecting the child of another man.
Bitterly, he shifted around to kneel facing the tree and pulled out his wand. With a flick of his wrist, flowers sprouted amongst the roots. Lilies. He couldn't stand to visit her grave and see Potter carved into her headstone, so instead he came here, where they'd played as children, back before Houses and blood and wars had divided them.
"Happy birthday, Lily," he whispered.
Only silence replied.
