Thanks to MistressXofXCastleXOblivion, Squirrely-Butt, Dancestar101, PssBecca, VerySmallProphet, Tricorvus, Blazen, Sab756, Girlylinnea, Ravenclawbabe, Lightningstormzero, Darkprince31, Twichild369, Narutonarutolove, Ujemaima, Reader AZ, Tinithor, Gyoro and Ururun and xXLegilimenXx for the reviews.

I am feeling just fine to those who asked. I had a couple tests done for my health concerns, but they showed nothing wrong. I have to wait on the blood work. So, I am not dying anyway. At least not right now anyway and hopefully not any time soon. Lots of working and school work this week. Things have gotten rather busy. Had a couple tests and a few papers to do this week. Updates will likely be spaced out more until the semester ends.

I got a pm about parchment and figured I should explain in case someone else wondered about it too. Technically, parchment is paper. It's just fancier, more expensive paper. And since he wrote the first letter in the summer, he would be home and probably would have written it on regular paper. It's just easier to say paper than parchments and paper. That's why I did it that way.

Reader AZ-because I can't pm you to help understand your confusion with dates: Harry is not mentioned until August 1980 in the letters and he was a newborn then. He was born in July of that year. Was it the fact that she was pregnant in 1978 that confused you? I had her pregnant then, but she miscarried.

Chapter 36: Mistletoe

Lily pulled her coat tighter against her body, trying to keep the biting wind out. Severus put his arm around her as they walked through the park. They could hear carolers while they walked.

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. From now on, our troubles will be out of sight."

As Lily listened, she thought the song fit their circumstances. Last year, they were anticipating a better future. This year, their troubles were indeed out of sight. Life was going great for both of them. The burdens they held last Christmas were not a concern this year. Voldemort was gone without a trace, Severus's dark mark was now replaced by a scar, the reporters were no longer hounding them, far more focused on the trials of Death Eaters. Severus had been indicted, but did not have to go to trial, thankfully. Dumbledore had vouched for him rather quickly and the Minister had decided to believe him and let it go. Lily was grateful for that. It was hardly a problem, but she had been afraid he would be sent to prison for the rest of his life despite his repentance. To her great relief that never happened. Right now, there was a sense of peace.

"Are you getting too cold?"

She shrugged. "I'll be fine. There's no rush to get back. It's only a little after eight."

"Lupin won't have Harry home until nine. If you are too cold, we can go home and enjoy time to ourselves if you want."

She smiled at him and gave a nod. "Okay. I would like to get warmed up."

They apparated back to their neighborhood and headed home. Severus closed the front door, shutting out the frigid air.

Lily took off her coat as Severus pointed his wand at the fireplace and lit a fire. "Is that better?"

She smiled at him as he removed his coat. "It's better."

She looked up at the ceiling and gave a coy smile. He looked up to see what she had seen and felt a smile form on his lips. The green leaves of a mistletoe plant hung directly above them. He looked back at her and into her emerald eyes. She bore her eyes into his coal-colored irises. They leaned in to each other and pressed their lips together. Lily caressed his back as his lips embraced hers.

Severus stroked her spine intimately, enjoying her soft lips against his own. Damn, he did not want the night to end. The fates had always been against him. What changed their mind? Did they finally think he'd had enough and let him finally win at something? Not that Lily was a prize. She was definitely not, but he could not help but feel like he had succeeded at something. Maybe at chance for a decent life?

Lily smiled at his touch and felt passion for him soar through her body. Damn, why did it have to feel this good with him? Her life had been full of struggles and pain and grief the past few years. It was as if the fates had decided to let her finally get the life she wanted. Deep down though, fear still loomed over her. What if something happened and she lost him too? She didn't know if she could bear it, but she could not be afraid to love someone for fear of losing them. If she did that, she would never love at all. Being hurt was something she was used to and she just expected it to not work out. The fact that it was working made her more nervous. She was used to things going well for a period of time and then having them suddenly crash down over her.

She found herself gripping his shirt as the thought of losing him. Severus felt her grip tighten suddenly on him, almost fearfully. She was clutching his shirt tightly and he felt her fingers trembling.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw him looking at her with confusion. Concern played on his face and she realized he had asked her something and seemed to be waiting for answer. "Lily?"

"Sorry, what?"

"Are you okay?"

Lily eased her firm grip a little. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, fine. I was just thinking, that's all."

"Anything you want to share?"

She sighed. "Everything seems so good right now. I'm afraid it will end."

He understood her feelings and often wondered the same thing. How long could it last? "We can't think about that right now. We'll drive ourselves mad that way."

"I know." She affectionately stroked his back. She needed to think about something else and not worry about a future she had no control over. Lily wanted to get back into the moment and forget about the unknown. She laid her head against his chest. He rubbed her back as she stroked his.

"Sev?"

"Hmm?"

"You remember our first kiss?"

Severus grinned. He definitely remembered. "How could I forget?"

"It was awkward." She laughed. "But we didn't know what we were doing."

"We were kids. We were only 12."

"Yes, but it is something you always remember." She smiled at him.

"Though we were young and unsure of what we were doing, it was our first."

Lily sighed inwardly, suddenly feeling a little guilty, though she didn't know why. She would not change her life because it was what it was. She only hoped that things would be better this time around and there would not be as many issues between her and Severus as there were between her and James. No, Severus was much different and that was why she had managed to fall in love with him. She sighed, her smile getting bigger. "Our first kiss together was wonderful, even if it was inexperienced. I can't forget it."

"Well, we practiced it a few times."

"We shared a lot of firsts together and a lot of fun times."

"Yes, we did. They don't have to end."

"I hoped they never do end." Lily smirked. "You were the first boy I had in my bed too." She joked.

He stifled a laugh. That was true. "Yes, I guess we did sleep together first. Too bad were nine and ten at the time."

She sighed, remembering her childhood friendship with him. "We would stay up late, listening to the broadcasts on my parents' radio."

"And hide under the bedcovers with flashlights to read even though we were supposed to be asleep."

"And you would tell me stories about what the other world was like. A world neither of us had seen nor experienced, but it was our world. No one around Cokeworth was like us. No one at school was like us. I loved hearing stories about it this amazing world beyond our own."

"Especially about the giant squid. You always wanted me to talk about him."

She grinned even brighter. She loved the squid. "I loved the stories and believed you, but it seemed so unreal. When I got my letter, I still felt like it was a dream. Everything seemed like a dream until I got settled into Hogwarts."

"It always seemed like a dream to me too even though my mother was a witch. I would hear her talking about this other world. Sometimes she would tell me about it and say I would be a part of it one day. I think she wanted me to get out and wanted me to think about being somewhere else. I'm not sure to this day if it was because she cared enough that she did not want me to end up like her or if she just wanted me out of the house for ten months of the year until I could leave for good." His jaw clenched after he admitted this to her.

Lily felt her stomach tighten as he saw his jaw clench. She knew his home life growing up was not at all pleasant and she knew his family did not have much money. What could she say? She wanted to change the conversation. He did not like to talk about his home life much and never told anyone about it besides her. She figured Dumbledore might know some things, but that Severus probably did not say much to him either besides the obvious. The fact that he was even willing to admit his thoughts or feelings on his home life was a big deal.

"You remember when we had our kissing experiment in the park until Petunia caught us in the act."

He smirked. "I think she almost had a heart attack."

"Tuney got really mad and said she was supposed to kiss a boy first. I didn't know she hadn't gotten her first kiss yet. She told me she had kissed a boy from school a year before. I guess she lied to sound more mature. She got her first kiss soon after that, but she was very mad at me, saying I was always trying to one-up her."

"She was always mad at you." Severus suppressed the urge to roll his eyes thinking about Petunia. One of the worst muggles he had ever met. Lily's parents were kind muggles. How they managed to raise a child like Petunia, he never knew.

"Yes." Lily said sadly. "I recall her running home and telling my mum what I had done with that boy. She made it sound like we had done something else. I think her words were "Mum, Lily was with that Snape boy. They were doing inappropriate stuff with each other in the park by the river. I saw them doing it together." And yes, my mum's mind went there. She panicked and sat me down after dinner, ready to drill into me the consequences of the birds and the bees."

Severus felt himself smirk again. "Figures Petunia would make a childhood kiss into something else." He had not heard this story before.

"I had to explain that we did not do that and that we just had a kiss. We wanted to see what it was like, that was all. I never even thought about sleeping with you. We were kids, but I guess because we were at the start of adolescence and puberty, she thought our hormones might be ahead of your brains. Her words, not mine. Mum realized we weren't doing anything inappropriate though and she did not care that I had kissed you at all. She thought it was cute actually and assumed this meant we were boyfriend and girlfriend. Mum thought I had a crush on you and it was rather embarrassing."

Severus looked at Lily a little surprised. "She thought that you had a crush on me?"

"Well," Lily shrugged, looking guilty. "I kind of did."

He was surprised before, he was shocked now. "You did?"

"A little bit of one, yes. You were my first male best friend and I liked you. We went to the same school and hung around each other all the time. I thought you were cute, even if no one else saw what I saw."

"I can't believe you never told me this."

"I was way too embarrassed to tell you the truth. You never told me you had a crush on me all along either."

"Maybe I should have."

"Maybe." She sighed. "So many little things that could have changed everything. Do you ever think about how different life would be if we had just admitted our crush to one another?"

"Sometimes, but I don't think we should think that way. We can't change anything."

"You mean Harry? He's why I don't allow myself to think about too much. Still, I can't help but wonder sometimes."

Severus nodded. "I wonder about it also, but he's a good kid, really. He gets that from you. He is your son completely. Harry just had the unfortunate problem of looking like his father."

Lily heaved a sigh, deciding to let it go. At least Severus did not hate him like he probably did when they first arrived. He had grown much softer and more caring toward Harry. Part of that probably had to do with Harry being a toddler and not being old enough to have been affected by his upbringing.

"He does have my eyes, you know? He's not all James."

"Yes, indeed he does have your beautiful emerald colored eyes."

"Well, in many ways he does look like James, but he isn't James. He is Harry. If we ever decide to have a child, he or she would not either one of us. They would their own person. He or she will probably look like you, but they would not be you, would they?"

"I would hope any child I have would not look like me." He mumbled to himself. He would not want that. Lily was the only person who thought he was attractive. No one else did. He certainly did not want his child to suffer over greasy hair and pale faces.

Lily heard him and was surprised. "Really? I hope any child we would have would look like you and since darker genes are far more dominant, they most likely would take after you."

"No need to be mean to the kid." He joked half-heartedly. He would prefer if they ever did have a child, said child would take after Lily.

She laughed. "They will now look you, you know. Just because you don't want them too."

"Fine, but if they would have the unfortunate genes and look like me they best have your beautiful green eyes to make up for it."

"They are not unfortunate genes. I like your dark hair, but deal, your looks, my eyes."

"And they share our intelligence as a witch or wizard, whichever they may be."

"They could be a squib."

"Not a chance."

They kissed each other's lips again. Severus and Lily did not want this moment to end and did not let it cease. They caressed each other's backs intimately. Steeped into their passion toward one another, they paid no attention to anything else nor did they hear the front door open.

A wolf whistle startled both of them and they quickly broke apart. "Would you look at that, Harry? Your mum and Severus are have some love time."

"Remus." Lily cleared her throat and touched her lips. "You are back already."

"I'm sorry to interrupt your private time, but I was told to have Harry back by nine. It's nine o one."

"It's fine. We just lost track of time." Lily said.

"Clearly." Remus laughed. "I'd be careful though, get much more intimate and Harry may end up with a new sibling." Remus joked.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Very funny."

"You have lipstick on your neck, Severus."

Severus touched his neck and cleared his throat. "Harry behave for you?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Of course. He's a good kid. He used the potty for me even."

"That's great. I'm working on it with him. He's getting better, but still struggles a bit."

"He'll get there."

"Not soon enough."

"Mama, look! look! I colored it." Harry said, interrupting Remus in his excitement. He held up a finger painting.

"It is lovely. I will have to put it on the refrigerator with your other drawings."

"I let him play with some paints and we played out in the snow, didn't we Harry?"

"We did snowmans."

"Sort of, the snow wasn't really good for that. It was powdery, but we tried."

"At least you got him out of the house for awhile."

"So, how was your quiet evening out?" Remus asked as Harry settled down to play with some of his toys.

"It was good. We got too cold though and decided to head home early." Severus answered. .

"It was very lovely dinner. We took a stroll in the park nearby afterwards before coming home."

"You all just wanted some private alone time. Nothing wrong with that though."

Lily decided to move the subject away from intimacy. "Thanks for watching him, Remus. I always appreciate it."

"It's no trouble at all. I better get home. Sirius is having a dinner tomorrow."

"Which we will not be attending." Severus added quickly.

"After last year's fiasco, we want a quiet dinner here." Lily chimed in.

"Understandable. Well, I will see you two later. Happy Christmas, Lily. Severus." Remus turned to Harry. "Happy Christmas, Harry."

"Tell Remus Happy Christmas, Harry."

"Happy Christmas."

"Night." Remus said as he headed out the door.

"Night." Lily said back as the front door closed.

Lily turned to Severus. "I did get lipstick on your neck." She laughed, licked her thumb and tried to wipe it off.

He did not push her away as she continued to lick her thumb to rub off her lipstick marks. He smiled instead. "May as well use your tongue if you intend to keep putting your saliva all over my neck."

She just smiled. "Maybe I will after I put Harry to bed. Come on, Harry, time for bed." She turned to find Harry asleep on the floor. "Well, I guess Remus wore him out, didn't he?" She picked Harry up and started to carry him upstairs.

She turned to Severus once her feet hit the landing on the steps. "Aren't you coming?"

"To put Harry to bed?"

"I was actually thinking we could enjoy some time to ourselves up here since we were cut short earlier."

He raised his eyebrow. How intimate does she plan on getting? He wondered. Probably not as intimate as he would like, but still, he would not complain. As long as he was with Lily, nothing else seemed to matter.

A/N: About Lily having a crush on Severus. It was not a canon mention, but it seemed unlikely she never once even had a little bit of feelings for him past friendship. They were friends for seven years during the height of puberty and not once would she have even a brief crush on her best friend, who was of the opposite sex? It could happen, but it seemed very unlikely. I tend to think that if he had never chosen the path of the Death Eaters, there was very good chance they would ended up together. Of course, then there would be no Harry Potter. Lots of people like to experiment with their first kiss around the age of 12 or so just to see what it is like as they hit the beginning of adolescence. So I made that happen between Severus and Lily, just as an experiment and not puppy love. Lily may have had a crush on him then and he certainly had one on her, but neither would admit it. First kisses are remembered vividly, even if they are silly or childish and not very good.

Also, I apologize if you see a mix up of it's and its, my computer is clearly confused of the differences and kept correcting me incorrectly. I think I corrected all of them.

I have to admit that it is a pet peeve of mine that every time it snows in movies/television and even most books, it's always perfect for snow balls and making snowpersons. Most snowfalls are powdery or fluffy and are terrible for compacting. At least in my experience anyway.

Song: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", by Hugh Martin and Ralph Bane. I used Frank Sinatra's version because the original focuses on anticipation of a brighter future whereas Sinatra's changed version focuses on happiness currently. The original version is a bit depressing imo. Sinatra's version came out in 1957.