His Greatest Wish, by AndromedaMarine

Quidditch

He didn't care for it, really. The only reason he ever went to any games to begin with had to do with the fact that he was head of Slytherin House and was obliged to attend. Sometimes he'd managed to find an excuse to not join in with the crowd and the ridiculous obsession with the sport, but maybe he could give it a chance this time. Maybe.

The first weekend of November had come with surprising swiftness, bringing with it the traditional driving winds and fierce rain that accompanied the usual first Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin. Lily's excitement somewhat rubbed off on him, and Severus couldn't help but be drawn into the frivolity that went with the game. As they descended the staircases to breakfast, Lily couldn't contain her enthusiasm and unleashed it by practically crushing the life out of Sev's hand. He winced as he flexed his fingers, trying to get her to ease up the pressure.

"Lil," he finally said, turning to her as they started down the final steps. "Lil, I can't feel my hand."

She quickly released him, her face turning bright pink. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Gently Sev retook it. "You don't have to quit holding it," he said without looking at her. "I just meant for you to loosen your grip a little."

She didn't move it again, but remained a little tense. "My roommates are starting to ignore me because of how much time I spend with you," she said softly, right before they entered the Great Hall. Sev stopped cold and glanced around, the raucous noises coming from the Gryffindor and Slytherin tables dampening his enthusiasm to go in. Instead he went down a side corridor off the staircase and stopped at a tapestry.

"What do you mean?" he asked without preamble.

She wouldn't meet his gaze. "They resent you," she managed, before summoning her Gryffindor courage to stare him right in the eyes.

"All of them?" he asked softly. "Even Alice?" He knew Alice Nelson to be a relatively quiet, patient and shy girl who caught Frank's attention in third year because of a swift hex on her part to diffuse some Slytherins picking on first years.

Lily shook her head. "Not Alice. But the rest of them are exactly what I've said! The only ones they can stand are James and Sirius, and that's because they actually spend enough time in the common room with the rest of my roommates, and they're getting noticed."

Severus's jaw dropped. "Noticed? Lily, why on earth do you think you have to be noticed? Is it not enough that you have friends in me, Frank, Remus, and Peter?" Lily didn't have to answer for it to dawn on him. His voice softened. "You miss Petunia, don't you?"

She sniffed. "Not Tuney, Sev. I miss my mum and dad, and, well, before I met you I had a few girlfriends, and then..." she trailed off, and began picking at the threads on the tapestry. "And then I met you and I realized that you'd be the only one who could really understand me. But now that I've met other girls who are witches, like me...oh, I don't know. I thought that I could be friends with the girls, too, but instead I've attracted a study group of boys, and apparently that intimidates them."

Severus couldn't help but think that Lily sounded childish. "Why haven't you asked Alice to study with us?"

Lily smiled. "I'd thought about it, but didn't know what the rest of you boys would think. I mean, another girl. Isn't one enough for you all to handle?" The smile appeared, but her eyes didn't sparkle. There was no joking timbre in her voice.

Sev frowned. "Lily, you do realize that we don't see it as 'handling' you? You're our friend—my best friend—and a bloody talented witch to boot! You don't have to have an entire fan club, here, Lily. Being who you are is what matters the most." To me. "I...I honestly don't know what I would do if I didn't have you in my life," he finished quietly, willing his eyes to remain locked with hers.

Her cheeks reddened, but she didn't break the gaze. "You're very honest, Sev, aren't you?" she asked before her eyes started to flit.

He steeled himself. "I try to be, Lily, mostly for the people I care about."

"We're eleven!" she exclaimed, and quite frankly, it startled him.

"Eleven—Lily, we'll be twelve in two months! It's not as though we're children anymore, not really! We can't afford to lose any kind of relationship, Lily, not when there's a war brewing out there." He'd said it. More, possibly, than he should have. "Don't worry yourself with your roommates, because if they resent your friends, they're not worth your time."

"Why do you always talk like you know so much, Sev? Honestly, it's quite infuriating, to hear you say these deep, powerful things that I'm supposed to understand. You have to explain, Sev—I don't know what's going on in the Wizarding world because I only ever got my news from you...and now, now it just seems like you're talking in riddles!"

The word made Severus's spine prickle uncomfortably and a niggling beginning of a headache arise near his temple. "That's exactly who's out there," he said slowly, as if afraid to continue. But he did. "Tom Riddle."

"Tom who?"

"Tom Riddle. He styles himself as Lord Voldemort." Lily's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her free hand. "And he's the one who's out there, Lily. He's the one who's causing trouble right and left for the Ministry, the source of disappearances that have been happening for the past two years. This coming war is accounted because of him."

The silence that descended over them grew weighty and undisturbed. Lily and Severus stood there, barely a foot apart, still holding hands, looking straight into one another's eyes without flinching or wavering. Several moments later, Lily blinked.

"You told me about You-Know-Who," she started, "but you've never been this worked up about it."

"I never had a reason to before," he countered swiftly, thinking fast.

Her eyebrows pinched together. "And you do now?"

It was his turn to look around their surroundings for an answer. "It's complicated to explain," he tried, "and I know you think I'm keeping things from you, because I can see it in your eyes. I promise I'll tell you, one day, but you have to trust me when I say that right now is the worst of times."

Lily Evans turned her eyes to the stones beneath her feet. "If we're being honest, Sev, I feel like you don't trust me."

Sev felt the icy tear of his heart ripping. Before he could stop himself he reached out and lifted her chin, leveling their gazes until he could search her eyes. "Have I ever, ever, lied to you? Believe me. I trust you with my life, Lily. I trust you with my wand." He wasn't sure if she knew it, but to trust someone with your wand meant literally and willingly placing your lifeline, your only source of defense, in another's hands. To Wizardkind, it signified the ultimate trust.

He really didn't want her to cry, Merlin how he wanted her not to cry...but he felt a great relief at voicing his trust to her, and if that overwhelmed her, so be it. Merlin knows that Frank and the rest would inquire about her red rimmed eyes, and the girls of her dormitory would probably glare at Sev, thinking things they shouldn't. He saw the first tear fall, and he couldn't bear to see her standing there, looking vulnerable and confused. He wrapped his arms around her and marveled at the natural feeling of it—no awkwardness remained between them. Suddenly very grateful that the rest of the school was currently enjoying breakfast, Sev tightened the hug for a few moments before relaxing, and allowed her to totter backwards.

She looked up at him, her green eyes still shimmering a little. "Laura Kingsley will insist you made me cry," she said with a waver in her voice. "Oh goodness...can you imagine, if you were in Slytherin...? You'd be in danger of being hexed for no reason at all!"

Severus felt the eerie prickle again. When will this stop happening? Will it ever? What happened to the spitfire Lily I knew so long ago? "Breakfast is almost over," he said gently. We should bring some toast with us to the pitch for the match."

The Quidditch stands were half full by the time Lily and Severus found seats with Remus, Peter, and Frank. A short ways down from them were Sirius and James, surrounded by a group of second year boys who were apparently outcasts among their own year. Severus's attention was drawn from Potter and Black as the announcer listed first the Gryffindor players and then the Slytherin players. He watched as the Quaffle was thrown into the air...and the game began.

For the first time in years he watched the game with complete interest, following the movement of the Quaffle between the Gryffindor Chasers, who scored a goal within the first minute of the game. He cheered along with the rest of the Gryffindors, feeling himself lighter than during the events of that morning. Frank bumped him with his elbow.

"Spectacular goal, that!" he yelled above the din.

Sev could only grin at the young boy, and he watched with a hint of disappointment as the Slytherin Chasers seized the Quaffle and proceeded to gain fifty points over Gryffindor.

It was with great relief that half an hour later, when Slytherin led Gryffindor a hundred and twenty to sixty, Lily saw the Gryffindor Seeker go into a dive. She shrieked, "Look! Look! Young has seen the Snitch!"

And so he had. Cyrus Young, the Gryffindor Seeker, had seen the elusive Snitch and fell into a hard dive, pulling out of it barely three feet from the grass. The Slytherin Seeker hadn't even had time to react, and flew in circles high over Young's position, scowling and spouting colorful curse words. Gideon and Fabian Prewett, the Gryffindor Beaters, could be seen with enormous grins on their faces as they cheered the win.

Lily was so complete in her excitement that she completely forgot herself and kissed Severus on the cheek. Apparently no one but him noticed: Remus and Frank were whooping and Peter was swinging a Gryffindor pennant wildly through the air, occasionally whacking some fourth years in the arms, and James and Sirius were busy screaming victory. Sev's hand instinctively found hers, and he squeezed her fingers gently and smiled, beside himself that Lily could show affection in the midst of a large crowd. She hadn't been like that before.

Her cheeks were bathed pink with cold, the rain had soaked her hair and neck, and she just now began to notice how cold it really was. She looked up at Sev and saw his wet, stringy hair plastered around the frame of his face, his own nose and cheeks pink from the howling wind. They had only been outside for three quarters of an hour, but the majority of the students were already slowly emptying the stands, until Lily and Sev were among the last to head towards the exit. Sev heard the distinctive laughter of Black and Potter as they left behind them.

"I'll be Chaser, yeah," James was saying loudly to Sirius. "Bloody ridiculous that first years can't even try out for House teams."

Sev snorted and Lily watched him curiously. He shook his head, his wet hair catapulting drops of water into Lily's already-wet face and hair. The irony, Sev couldn't help but think, that your son managed to get Seeker in his first year, without knowing squat about Quidditch. Jealous, in a way, of your own child.

It was mid-morning; Cyrus Young's swift catching of the Snitch had led to an early end, and now their Saturday was free to be spent in leisure. Sev and Lily had yet to tell the rest of their circle of friends about the Room of Requirement. Full moon had been on that Tuesday, and Remus missed all his classes the next day, still suffering the after-effects of transforming. His absence was, again, not missed.

Sev and Lily burst into the Entrance Hall, soaked through to the skin because of how long they'd taken to traverse the grounds from the Quidditch Pitch to the castle: Lily had become quite distracted by a grouping of plants just outside the greenhouses and forced Sev to accompany her in her enthusiasm, also she wanted to avoid Potter and Black, which pleased Sev to no end. "Their talk about Quidditch was, quite honestly, a little annoying," she was saying as they tried in vain to get most of the water from their hair once back inside the castle.

"But you enjoyed the match?"

"Oh, yes!" she exclaimed, giving up on her hair and peeling off her cloak instead. They started up the staircases together, cloaks slung over their arms and dripping. "The match itself is exciting and all the buildup to it is as well, I suppose, but discussing it afterwards and suggesting tactics or whatever seems to take the fun out of it. Besides, did you hear how put-out Potter was about first years not being allowed on the teams?"

Sev suppressed a chuckle. "I heard. In fact I think I heard him mutter something to Sirius about having his father step in."

This time, Lily snorted. "Potter's father, stepping in at Hogwarts just so his son can have a go on the Quidditch team? That's ridiculous!" She started laughing, and soon Sev couldn't keep his mirth restrained either.

Before they knew it they were in front of the Fat Lady. "Mountain troll," Lily said between giggles.

"Trountain Moll!" The Fat Lady hiccupped, and Sev saw that the guardian to Gryffindor Tower was already deep drunk on Firewhiskey. When the portrait swung open the incredibly noisy sounds of celebration echoed out into the seventh floor corridors, and Lily clapped her hands over her ears.

She reached to her tip toes and grasped Sev's shoulders so she wouldn't fall over, and leaned in so she could yell into his ear. "Let's change into some dry clothes and go find someplace quieter!"

Sev thought it prudent to avoid yelling back, as she had already released him and dove into the maze of wild Gryffindors on her quest to the girls' staircase. He was accosted halfway in by Remus and Frank, both holding Butterbeer and discoursing loudly on the tactic Cyrus had used to achieve victory over Slytherin.

"You're not crashing, are you?" Frank yelled above the noise. "Come on, join the festivities! The Prewett twins nicked loads from the kitchens! Where did Lily disappear to? Why are you all wet?" The future Auror didn't let Sev even answer all these questions, and before he even knew it, Frank had gone off to find Peter, and Remus shrugged, smiling. Sev gave him a half smile and managed to find the staircase to the boys' dormitories, where the noise diffused and melted mostly away. The first year room was the last down the corridor, and farthest from the common room.

For a moment he thought about using the absolute solitude to test his Animagus form, but he had barely pulled a dry jumper over his head when the door banged open and admitted Lily.

"Merlin's beard, Lily!" he exclaimed, tugging his jumper down self-consciously.

"Well, you're dressed, aren't you?" she said, one eyebrow going up. She seemed to have picked up the habit from him. "Hurry up, then. Let's go to the Room of Requirement, where we won't have our eardrums ripped to shreds by the awful sounds coming from the Wireless downstairs."

"The Weird Sisters are as popular in the Wizarding world as the Beatles are in the Muggle world," Severus said conversationally as he followed her out the door and back towards the common room. "Though you'd perhaps prefer Celestina Warbeck."

"Who's that?" she asked over her shoulder.

"A famous witch who writes and sings love songs," he said nonchalantly.

Lily ignored him as they wended through the partying Gryffindors and pushed open the portrait. As it closed the Fat Lady hiccupped at them, slurring, "Not joining in the fes...the festi...vestif...the fun, are you?"

"We've got better things to do than lose our hearing," Lily answered cheerfully before purposefully grabbing Sev's hand and speed-walking to the proper tapestry.

"Better things to do, Lily? What exactly did you want to do?"

She stopped in front of the rapidly-appearing door, waited for it to solidify, and then wrenched the handle. Once inside, she closed it and faced him, her eyes positively glowing. "I've been bursting to tell you this, Sev... I wrote Mum a few days ago and she told me it's entirely up to me what I want to do for the holidays. I do want to see them, but Tuney would be either breathing down my neck about you or giving me the 'you don't exist' treatment, neither of which I care to endure for two weeks at Christmas." Sev's heart was pounding, excitement flooded his veins...could it be? "I want to stay here, at Hogwarts, over Christmas, Sev...if you are."

His jaw dropped. She was serious. "You were serious? Back on Platform 9¾, you meant it? You want to stay at Hogwarts?"

She nodded vehemently. "I've been having so much fun—so much more fun than I've ever had at home! And this castle is so enormous, that it would take years to explore if we went home at every possible break. Besides," she blushed a little, "you seem a bit different than when we first met, when we were nine. I don't exactly have you to myself a lot anymore, not with our constant group of friends."

Severus Snape grinned. It was possibly the widest grin Lily had seen on him, and it made her want to smile as well.

"I know it's still over a month away, but both mum and dad seem to have agreed, and if all is well, I'll see them at the end of June, when we go home for summer."

Suddenly Sev remembered something, something that had angered him and completely forgot to tell Lily. "Oh! You know how Professor McGonagall held me back at the end of Transfiguration on Friday?"

Lily nodded. "Yes, I wondered why she wouldn't let me stay, I mean we're in practically everything together." Her brows pinched together. "You came out looking pretty tense."

Severus nodded tersely. "Dumbledore has taken an interest in me...my abilities. I think he wants to recruit me, eventually. Maybe both of us."

For some reason he didn't like the look of awe that spread across her face. "That's wonderful, Sev, isn't it?"

He looked away, at one of the bookshelves. "I'm not so sure."

"Why don't you like Dumbledore?" she asked innocently.

He had seen the error of Albus Dumbledore's ways a very long time ago. But he had also known the love Albus held for Harry, the downfall, the Achilles Heel of the great wizard...the weaknesses...the "greater good." "It's not that I don't like him," he said, trying to sound like an eleven year old, "it's that he reminds me of those people who only befriend others to help their own agenda. Everyone knows he's heading the league against You-Know-Who."

"I thought you wanted to fight You-Know-Who," Lily said quietly, staring into his eyes. For the first time, she noticed that they were not black—they were a very dark hazel, a color that looked black only because of the paleness of his skin and the smooth ebony of his hair.

For a split second, Severus panicked. "Of course I want to fight Voldemort, Lily! But I get the feeling Dumbledore doesn't care how many people die as long as they take down Voldemort with them." Even to his own ears, it sounded lame and childish. The silence descended, but only for a moment. "But maybe I'm wrong." This time.

Lily sat down at the table and scratched the surface with her fingernail. "How is he interested? I mean, what exactly did McGonagall say to you?"

"All she told me was that the Headmaster has taken an interest in my skill as a wizard and will be 'in touch.' Whatever that means." But he did know. He would be required to be in the same room as Albus Dumbledore, alone, perhaps forced to use Occlumency and block the old wizard from gaining access to his wealth of knowledge. He didn't want that.

"Are you staying here for the holiday?" she asked as she watched him sit down across from her.

"I had never planned on going back to Spinner's End for Christmas, if that's what you mean," he replied. "My mother and I sort of had an unspoken agreement that all school holidays except summer would be spent here."

He had never spoken about his family like that with Lily. The most she knew was that things were less than ideal, but in a relatively well-off household like the Evans home, Lily couldn't imagine just what 'less than ideal' meant if it meant Severus had to avoid his house during the day.

Maybe...maybe this outspoken, less-reserved Sev would be willing to share! He had to know that she would always be his friend, no matter what, didn't he? She tentatively met his eyes, searching the near-blackness for some spark of emotion that might give him away. "Why?" she asked softly.

A flash of pain shot through his eyes, and Lily saw it. He broke the gaze and turned his eyes to the table. He found a rough carving and traced it with his index finger. "My father is an abusive drunk," he whispered shakily, still not quite ready to admit it to Lily even after twenty six years. "I don't go home if I can avoid it. That's how I found you," he ended.

Lily surprised him yet again. "I was acting silly before," she announced. "I don't need all the girlfriends in the world as long as I've got you as my best friend." Her voice dropped and she reached out her hand to lay it across his. "I'm sorry about your father," she whispered. "That's awful. Nobody should have to deal with that... I'm glad we're friends, Sev. Sometimes I wish we had more free time to just sit and talk, like right now. Honestly every moment since coming here has been full steam ahead, busy beyond belief...so magical. In more ways than one. I've never had so many friends before." She quirked her lips into a smile.

He frowned. "You haven't?"

Lily shook her head, her eyes locked with his. "You know...Sev...my parents... I think they suspect about your...home...situation," she finished unsurely. "I've heard them talking about how seedy Spinner's End is, but it can't be all that bad if you're a normal kid, right?" she asked hopefully.

Sev's eyes grew dark. He could still remember the sting of Tobias's belt buckle hitting his back, slicing into his flesh, leaving scars...the worst weren't there yet, but he still had enough from the first eleven years of life. Hogwarts had been his first and strongest reprieve. He couldn't remember exactly when Tobias died, or Eileen, but he remembered the association of pain with that house, and didn't want to spend more time than he had to there.

"Whatever your parents think, they're probably right," he said baldly. "You say I'm normal—well, normal by our standards, I suppose... I escaped it. I have escaped it. It's...it's not a place I want to return to if I can help it. I didn't exactly inherit this nose."

He saw the beginnings of tears in Lily's eyes. He had to give her that—her overwhelming compassion, her empathy... "Mum told me to tell you that you're always welcome to spend the summer with us," she offered. "We have a guest room and Tuney's already made plans to spend most of the summer with her schoolmates, which would leave us plenty of space from her."

Is she inviting me to spend the summer, already? As well as staying here for Christmas?

"I wouldn't want to impose," he said softly.

"Oh, stop being noble!" she huffed, clenching her fingers over his hand. "You wouldn't be imposing, and you know it! What if I asked you properly? Would you spend the summer with my family?"

Making plans in November, for summer... For all Sev knew, Alice could invite Lily to spend a week or a month with her. "You wouldn't be able to accept any vacation invitations from your friends if I did," he explained.

"Even if I did get invited to go someplace with my other friends, I'll have a ready excuse: that I'm already spending the summer with you."

Severus's love for Lily grew tenfold in a heartbeat.