*Cleaning up my chapters, but this is not the newly edited version yet so may still have a few typos/errors.

Thanks to The Wilde Rose, Narutonarutolove, HughSoSexy, Sassymagpie, Smile-thebestthingintheworld, Gyoro and Ururun, AlgophobianSadist,MarissaRosee,Jordina,Shinywhiteboards, Twichild369, Ujemaima, and Darkprince31 for the nice reviews. I really appreciate everyone's encouraging comments. I try to answer everyone's questions as I can. If I don't answer your question I either: Forgot and I apologize honestly for that or I can't do so without telling you what will happen.

Congratulations to Ujemaima. You were the 250th reviewer!

Twichild369 and others who are curious: Yes, Harry will like Sirius more as he gets a bit older. Will Severus and Sirius ever get along? Yes, they will be able to keep the peace between each other and grow up, but they'll never be friends here. Will Severus ever come to love Harry (father-son type love)? I can't answer this without giving away too much.

Narutonarutolove and curious others: Lily hasn't exactly fallen in love with him yet. She may have a felt something slightly above friendship in their intimate situation, but it was little more than attraction. She was indeed attracted to him, but it wasn't love. At least not yet anyway.

Finally uploaded. I wasn't sure if I was going to get it up tonight. Some storms rolled in and my internet has been in and out.

Credit to Ranma's Girl1 for some of the ideas for this chapter.

Chapter 21: Of Sickness and Snakes

Severus woke up feeling not feeling any better than the previous day. If fact, he felt much worse. He put his hand to his head. He was going to have to call in sick today. He turned over and though his body protested, he managed to get up from the bed. That's when he noticed Lily was still there. She was sound asleep on the floor.

He didn't want to wake her up. He got to his feet unsteadily and grabbed the side table. In doing so, the lamp fell over and rocked back and forth. Lily stirred, but didn't wake up. He let go and slowly headed for the door.

"Where are you going?"

He turned back, gripping door frame. He opened his mouth to talk, but found himself unable to do so. Great, Severus thought. He still had laryngitis. Severus just pointed down the hallway.

She sighed. "Okay. You can manage that yourself, I hope." He raised an eyebrow before leaving the room.

Lily got up once he left and headed for her room. She got herself dressed and headed back to Severus's bedroom. He was crawling back into bed when she entered.

"Do you need anything?"

He nodded and started to get out of bed. She shook her head.

"You need to stay in bed. Would you like something to drink?" He nodded. "Okay. I'll be back." She left and went downstairs to get something to drink.

Severus hated feeling helpless. When she came back, he was sitting up in bed. She handed him a glass of juice with ice in it. He took it graciously and chugged it down. She turned the transfigured mattress back into a chair and sat down.

"Harry isn't here. He's staying with Lupin for a couple days. It's better for him to stay away from the flu. At his age, it could be bad. Lupin is great with him so Harry will be fine. I'm sure Sirius will be over there and they will hype him up with junk food and wear him out. Sirius is basically a kid himself so, they'll have fun I'm sure."

Severus smiled at her calling Sirius a child. Lily poured him some more juice and took his temperature. He did not like her treating him like a sick child, but what else could he do. "About 39. Not good, but not as bad as last night." She poured some potions and handed them to him. He took them and laid back down.

"I already sent a letter of sick leave for work. They granted it, but aren't happy. They want you to stay away until you are well. I guess they want you to keep your illness here."

Severus nodded and pulled the covers tighter around him, feeling cold with fever. Lily brushed the hair out of his face with the back of her hand. "I think you should try and go back to sleep. Rest will help you get better faster." She smiled. "I am going to go downstairs and see if I can work that new color TV the neighbors gave us. Let me know if you need anything."

He shut his eyes and fell asleep. He drifted in and out of sleep the entire day. His muscles ached too much to move around. He drank plenty of fluids per her request, but barely ate anything.

Severus was still sick the next day, but his voice had come back and he had started to fuss about the attention she was giving him. To Lily, this meant he was feeling a little better. He still wasn't eating much, which troubled her a little, but she figured he would get his appetite back soon. She decided to sleep in her room that night since his fever had remained stable and he appeared to be fighting off the bug well.

Lily woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. She wasn't sure what woke her up. She looked over at the alarm clock. It was three-fifteen in the morning. As she started to shut her eyes, she decided to get up and check on Severus. She went to his bedroom and looked in on him, assuming he was fine. She was wrong. He was shivering violently and his face was flushed heavily with fever.

She ran to him. "Sev, wake up."

"I didn't do it. Don't hurt me."

"Sev, wake up."

Severus jolted awake to see Lily looking at him with concern.

"Hey, I wanted to make sure you were alright. You look like you have gotten worse." She ran her wand over him. "40.6! You're burning up!"

"Cold." He said as his body trembled.

"I know. I'm going to go get you something cold to drink, okay." She left. He pulled more covers over himself, but couldn't get warm. She came back in a few minutes later and handed him a glass. He took a few sips and set it on the table. He shut his eyes, too tired to stay awake and rested. Lily got some lukewarm cloths and tried to cool him down as his temperature rose. She had no idea why his fever had suddenly spiked so high.

"I didn't take it." He said out of nowhere.

Lily raised her eyebrow. "What?" She didn't know what he was talking about.

"I just hid it from him."

She knew his fever had spiked up rather high and she had a bad feeling he was delirious and probably having a nightmare of some sort. "What did you hide?"

"The money. I need the books."

"Books?" She asked. He was answering the questions, she thought. He must not be completely asleep.

"For school."

"Oh."

"He'd just spend it at the pub."

Lily swallowed hard. She wondered if he was dreaming or whether he was remembering his past. She had a feeling it was the latter. Lily knew his father had been a heavy drinker who preferred to spend his money at the pub instead of caring for his wife and child. She also knew his parents argued a lot and that his childhood had been far from happy as a result.

Severus suddenly woke back up as Lily took his arm and touched his hot skin with a rag. He hardly knew what he was doing as he cupped his hand on her face. She smiled.

"Am I dying?"

"Not today."

"Your hair is like a candle flame. It makes you look beautiful."

Lily felt herself blush. James had told her that her hair looked like fire sometimes. She smiled. "Um, thanks." She wanted to laugh at his sudden, flirtatious bravado. He was definitely out of it. The Sev she knew would never say something like that, even if he thought it. The only thing she didn't know was if he saying that because he was delirious with fever or if he really thought that.

It wasn't too long before his chills stopped and she noticed he was sweating. It was sign his fever had broken so she went back to bed. The next morning, he was still weak, but he felt much better. She did not tell him what he had said to her in his delirium. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know the truth just yet.

0o0o0o

Mid-March 1982

It was early in the morning. Severus was reading The Daily Prophet and drinking some coffee. He felt secure here. It was peaceful being in a muggle neighborhood. Minus the neighbor's yapping little mutts and the screaming kids up the street, that is. It surprised him to think that he wouldn't mind living among muggles since he always hated it before. He figured it had to do with the knowledge that they were hidden from harm here. No one knew where he lived now, not even the Malfoys. No one in the Order knew besides Lupin, Dumbledore and to Severus's dismay: Sirius.

Harry was playing with one his toys on the floor. "The cat says meow. The cow says moo. The horse says neigh." The toy spoke.

Lily had gone upstairs to take a shower. The neighborhood children were all off at school and the adults were at work. A few nosey women eyed their new neighbors strangely. Lily and Severus had opted not to wear their robes in favor of muggle clothing so they would blend in. Lily eagerly talked to the women. Severus preferred to avoid the interaction and glares he got.

Lily stepped into the shower. As she wet her hair down before lathering it, she felt something slid over her shoulder. She froze and looked over. She saw a small snake slithering over her toward the floor and screamed in shock. The snake fell to the tub floor and hissed at her. She threw back the shower curtain, nearly tripping over the tub's edge as she hurried away from where the snake was. She grabbed her towel and ran out of the bathroom.

As Severus read about the capture of Rodolpus Lestrange, he heard a scream. He realized it was Lily. He jumped up from his chair and ran up the stairs with his wand out. Lily was standing in the hallway at her bedroom door. "What happened? What's the matter?"

Lily looked over at him. "A snake! There's a snake in the shower! It landed on me!" She was soaking wet and her hair was dripping water on the carpet. She was only wearing a towel. He had to look away.

"A snake? Are you sure?" He cleared his throat quietly.

"Yes, it's in the shower." Severus sighed and went into the bathroom. He pulled back the shower curtain and found a strange orange and red snake curled up at the edge of the tub. Sun was shining through the small window and was dripped over the small snake. The snake was sunbathing. Water still poured from the showerhead. Severus pointed his wand at the snake.

"Don't kill it!" She shouted. He sighed.

"Fine. I'll make it go to sleep and set outside. Will that make you happy?" He turned to her. She nodded. He looked away and said a spell at the snake. The snake grew limp. He picked it up and took it out of the house and out into the yard.

"It seems too early for snakes. I figured they would be hibernating. I wonder how it got in here." Lily asked.

"I have no idea. I don't recognize it as a normal snake around England. I wonder if-" They looked at each other.

"Mr. Macmillian." They said at the same time.

"I bet he's a missing one of his pets." Severus grumbled.

"Yes, maybe you should go over and ask him about it."

Severus nodded to her. He could not help but notice that her ivory skin seemed so smooth and her hair glistened like fire in the sunlight despite being wet. He felt his heart beat fast. He always thought she was beautiful, but he never realized just how attractive she was to him. No, no, he wasn't thinking these things. He was not checking her out. He looked away quickly. No matter what he thought, she certainly would not feel the same.

"I think I'll just go finish taking a shower now so we can head into town." She said, turning away, remembering she was only wearing a towel. Now that she had calmed down, she realized the situation was a bit awkward. She was still unsure what she had seen in him a couple weeks before. If it wasn't all delirium from the high fever and he did like her as more than a friend, well, she was only making that worse. Even if he didn't like her as more than a friend, he was still a heterosexual male and would probably be uncomfortable seeing her with barely anything on. She left the room and headed back upstairs.

Harry was watching them as if confused. Severus sat down. He had to push these thoughts about Lily out of his mind. He knew she was too far out of his league despite what he thought he saw back when he had the flu. He was delirious then. He'd seen other young men checking her out, though she was always rather annoyed by it, especially when any of them tried a pick-up line or attempted to get her number. She claimed she did not want to date anyone right now.

Severus was normally a confident person. He could fool one of the most powerful wizards out there, yet when it came to Lily, a simple young woman, he was dumbfounded. She had a way of seeping through his emotional shell and shattering his cool demeanor. He knew he liked her, but he figured he would fine with all this. It was a lot harder than he thought it would be. Living with the person you are attracted to was far from simple, especially when you cannot tell them so. It was growing harder and harder for him to pretend he didn't like her as more than a friend.

She came back down shortly after in a pair of jeans and a sweater. They left the house and headed into town.

"Can you take Harry while I try these on?"

"Sure."

"Don't let him out of your sight. He'll disappear."

"I won't let him disappear." Lily left for the dressing room. Harry tried to climb a bench in the corner. He got on and off the bench several times. It was apparently entertaining to him. When Lily left the dressing room, she was stopped by a young man not much older than she was.

"Hey, if I told you look beautiful in that shirt, would you hold that against me?" He was smiling.

"Maybe."

"Are you in a relationship?"

"Not currently, but-"

"So can I get your number?" Lily frowned. "We can go straight to it and make like peanut butter and jelly if you want." Lily looked disgusted.

"That's probably the corniest way of asking me to sleep with you that I have ever heard."

"I know what I want. You look lonely and I figured you'd want the same." She scoffed in disgust and walked away, but not before taking out her wand and causing the man to trip with the shoe-lace jinx. The jinx tied his shoelaces together, caused the person to trip and tied themselves back.

Severus saw her do this, a bit surprised she would do that to someone. As she worked toward him, he could tell she was aggravated.

"What's wrong?"

"The nerve of some men, I swear. Asking me to sleep with them as if I am some sort of whore. Do I look like a whore?"

"No." He said honestly.

"That's all they ever want. That's all they think about, isn't it?"

"Well-" He started.

"Don't answer that."

He gave her a tiny smile as they headed to the children's department.

"Can you believe he would ask for my number and then ask to make love with me at the same time? I don't get it. This is the third time recently I have been both asked out and asked to be slept with from a guy. Why do they think I would just hop in bed with them? I don't understand." She huffed in frustration. He didn't say a word. "I don't understand why they even ask me. I don't think I am that pretty. It makes no sense to me. You are a guy, what do you think? Am I attractive?"

He looked at her. She seemed like she wanted an answer, but he didn't have one. What could he say? If he said no, he would be lying and it would probably upset her. If he said yes, he would be admitting he found her attractive and that would lead to more pressing questions he didn't want to answer. He would love to tell her yes, that she was the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on, but he could not do that. Severus didn't want to scare her off.

"You really don't expect me to answer that question, do you?" She looked at him and smiled.

"Yea, you're right. I shouldn't ask you that." She let out a small laugh. "I didn't mean to put you on the spot."

"It's alright." He said, rubbing his sweaty palms on his pants. She didn't seem to notice his nervousness. Severus liked that she hated the other young men hitting on her, but it made him slightly jealous. He did not really want her to like someone else. He wanted her to like him no matter how far-fetched it seemed. It bothered him though that she didn't understand why they would hit on her. He never understood why she didn't think she was pretty. Since most of them tended to just want to get her to bed, Lily clearly assumed they thought she was some kind of a hooker. He wished she felt as beautiful as he thought she was.

"I'm just not willing to go out with someone so quick and I am not going to hop into bed with someone just like that. That is disgusting. I'd rather be friends with someone first and let the romance develop that way." Lily grabbed a shoe box. "These look nice. I'll see if they fit him. Harry is growing like a weed."

He smiled to himself as Lily put a pair of shoes on Harry. Perhaps he did have a chance with her. He could still dream, couldn't he?

A/N: 40.6 degrees Celsius =105 degrees Fahrenheit for the fellow Americans who don't feel up to trying to convert the numbers. I understand. I'm not a math person either.

I don't know when I'll get the next chapter up. This week will be busy. I have to clear up an issue with the financial aid department at school because nothing can ever just go smoothly, ever. I also have some doctor appointments because my family doctor keeps giving me the run around and I get nowhere. I also need to get my car into the shop and get some new tires because the old ones are wearing out and I don't wish for one of them to blow while driving 70mph on the interstate. That would be bad and potentially dangerous. So, be patient.

Also, if you notice little errors such as week for weak, my computer has been automatically fixing these after my edits. I think I finally got them all fixed, but do not hesitate to pm me and let me know otherwise. Thanks!