His Greatest Wish, by AndromedaMarine

A/N: |Begin fangirl moment| OH MY GOD. My friend got me advance tickets to the midnight premiere of the final film. Alan Rickman totally owned each scene, and his emotion was spot on. Alan (if not David Yates, who could've included more during the memory sequence) did Severus Snape justice. I think I hyperventilated a little there. |End fangirl moment| On an unrelated note, I broke my rib last week but that didn't seem to do much for writing Fanfiction. Rats.

Valentine's Day

When Severus Prince, on his way between Ancient Runes and Defense Against the Dark Arts (the first of which he'd decided to take while Lily hadn't), accidentally ran into and tripped over a small, second-year Ravenclaw, the first thing he wondered was why he hadn't even seen the boy. The tiny Ravenclaw had yellow, straw-colored hair and eyes that didn't appear as bright as a Ravenclaw's should, but when Severus stared at the twelve-year-old's face for a few moments a jolt of realization hit him.

"S-s-sorry," the boy mumbled nervously up to Sev. The Gryffindor had to be at least two heads taller than the Ravenclaw.

Sev realized he must be looking rather ruffled after nearly colliding with the cold flagstones of the corridor. "It was just an accident…er…" he trailed off so as to prompt the kid into introducing himself.

"Barty Crouch," Barty Crouch Junior whispered, his sunken eyes darting a little.

Sev held out his hand. "Severus Prince. It's my fault, Barty, I didn't see you."

The younger Crouch wore an expression that clearly said he was absolutely terrified of being spoken to by an older student, much less one who looked as shrewd and unapproachable as Sev usually did if Lily, the Circle, or other acquaintances weren't around. The creases around Sev's eyes softened as he hitched his bag more securely over his shoulder.

"Look, I didn't mean to scare you, Barty," Sev continued, examining the Ravenclaw with some interest. Maybe this is another case I can help turn around. Maybe if I interfere…he won't go over to Voldemort's side. Of course, with Bellatrix and the Lestrange brothers dead…he hardly has any future with what's left of the Death Eaters anyway… "I'll see you around, then, yeah?"

Barty Crouch Junior stared at Sev. "Oh—s-sure," he replied, unblinking. He stooped down to pick up his own bag, which had fallen in the unexpected collision, and when he looked back up Sev was on his way down the corridor towards Defense.

Sev slid into his seat next to Lily only a moment before the bell rang to signal the start of class. Lily hissed, "You were almost late! What happened?" Indeed, Severus was usually in his seat before Lily even got to the classroom from her Divination class, which halfway through the first term of third year she'd regretted signing up for. Unfortunately for her she couldn't drop it until sixth year.

"I accidentally tripped over a Ravenclaw," Sev whispered back, regretting his wording almost instantly and giving her a look when she seemed about to laugh. "I'll—I'll tell you later, Lil, we've got to pay attention." He indicated the teacher at the front of the class. He tried to listen to what the professor was telling them about curses, but it was all incredibly boring to him since he already knew all the curses in the fourth year DADA curriculum and their nuances and counter-curses, not to mention the curses he wasn't supposed to know to begin with. He opened his textbook and idly scribbled in the margins, earning himself a sharp poke in the ribs from Alice, who was sitting on his other side.

For some reasons Sev kept going over Lily's question in his mind—the one about whether Remus would ever find someone who loved him despite his furry little problem. With a jolt he remembered that Nymphadora Tonks had been a Hufflepuff seventh year during Harry's first, and (doing some quick math in his head) realized Tonks had been born just the previous year. He looked over at Remus in the next row with Sirius (Frank and Peter were in the row behind them), satisfactorily glad that everyone in the room—except, perhaps, for the poor Defense teacher up front—was relatively safe from death for the time being. But even as Professor Ernest MacKenzie (former Auror, slightly mad) assigned a foot-long essay on exactly why the Unforgivable Curses would result in a one-way ticket to Azkaban, Sev couldn't help but think that it wouldn't be fair if some things didn't turn out the same.

Alice, however, had gotten fed up with Sev's distraction and pinched his forearm.

Although he felt it was warranted, he resisted hissing at her because Potter had just turned around in his seat a few rows up and shot a glance at Lily and Sev. All he did was stare for several seconds, unblinking, anger etched in the creases around his eyes and the corners of his mouth. Losing Lily to Sev had cut a deep wound in James, but as far as Sev was concerned…turnabout was fair play.

Professor MacKenzie snapped at James to pay attention, and Sev felt a trickle of satisfaction go down his spine. "Mr. Potter! If you can successfully demonstrate in practice what I have been teaching to you for the past week, you will avoid a detention! As it stands, yours is the least-proficient shield charm I have ever seen. Stand."

"Worse than Cordon Diggory's?" Lily whispered to Sev as she watched the scene unfold. It was a mark of Peter's determined friends that his Defense work was now up-to-scratch, and that Professor McGonagall had stopped admonishing him in Transfiguration that his was the worst spellwork she'd ever seen. At least now he'd have a better chance on all his O.W.L.s.

James got shakily to his feet. His wand gripped tightly in his hand he faced the professor, who regarded him for a moment before lifting his wand.

"Protego!" James yelled as MacKenzie cast a Jelly-Legs Jinx at him. The invisible shield just barely repelled the professor's jinx; it slighted off and was absorbed into the stone wall instead.

A small smile crossed the professor's face. "Good, but weak. If you came across You-Know-Who himself, that shield would have collapsed instantly. Toughen up, boy, and PAY ATTENTION!"

"Saturday's a Hogsmeade weekend," Alice was telling Lily when Sev and Sirius joined them at breakfast the next morning. The two girls turned a bit pink when the boys sat down, but Lily didn't act any differently than usual. "I've been dropping Frank hints for ages, but it's not had any effect—"

Alice suddenly stopped talking and turned bright red when she realized that Frank and Remus had just entered earshot and heard the whole thing. Frank stared at Alice for a second or two before sitting down in the seat beside her. "How about it, then, Nelson? Go to Hogsmeade with me?"

Alice was blushing too hard at her plate full of kippers to answer. Lily caught Frank's eye and nodded vigorously. "Of course she will," she whispered loudly. Remus and Sirius cracked identical grins and Sev simply shook his head. Peter joined them a few minutes later and Regulus stopped by on his way to Care of Magical Creatures to thoroughly tease everyone with as much snark as he could muster.

"Lily," Sev said lowly from across the table, "would you come to Hogsmeade with me?"

Lily looked up at him, startled. "Of course, Sev, we always go together." She continued looking at him and a smile grew across her features. "Oh, you mean on a Valentine's Day date?"

Sev's cheeks heated up when Sirius, Remus, and Peter all turned to look at him with grins plastered on. "Yes."

"Well, in that case…definitely."

Although Valentine's Day did not occur on the Saturday of the Hogsmeade visit, it was the Friday after. Sev had been thinking about Valentine's Day for quite some time, though he wouldn't readily admit it, and he wanted Lily to remember the fourteenth forever.

On Friday night he could hardly get to sleep. For some reason he felt incredibly nervous, and despite having been officially Lily's boyfriend for just over three months, he wasn't entirely sure if he could pull off being as romantic as he knew others could be. Fortunately, he knew more about Lily Evans than almost anyone else.

Saturday morning dawned with clouds and a misty haze covering the grounds. Hogsmeade couldn't be seen through the light fog stretching from the castle to the village, but despite the gloomy atmosphere provided by the surrounding Scottish mountains, it did not look like rain. He met Lily in the common room early, so that he wouldn't run into James. The rest of the Circle was well aware that this was a day for Lily and Sev to spend together, and besides, Alice was going with Frank, and Sirius had snagged a date with a Ravenclaw.

Lily knew Sev wouldn't be at all pleased if she dragged him into Madam Puddifoot's tea shop, and was thankful for her decision when she saw several girls from her year and up crammed inside with boys who didn't seem to want to be there. The other options were the Hog's Head (which Lily had never expressed any interest in entering) and The Three Broomsticks.

"Let's go up High Street," Sev suggested when Lily made to turn into The Three Broomsticks. Her arm was linked through his so he could steer them.

"How about we get a couple of Butterbeer first? Bring it with us?"

Sev complied with this suggestion considering the nipping wind and the overcast sky. Mist hung in the air, but Sev found that he preferred the mist to anything else. Since they were early to Hogsmeade and because it was Valentine's and Madam Puddifoot's was the full shop, the usual cramped pub was relatively empty, and Sev had no trouble getting two bottles of Butterbeer from Madam Rosmerta. They popped the corks and sipped them as they strolled up High Street through the cool mist, pausing every now and then to look through a shop window.

Soon, though, they reached the end of the village and came to a fence that blocked further wanderings. The view, however, was breathtaking despite the hazy mist. They could just make out the distant, snowcapped mountains and the castle, the tiny pinpricks of light in the distance. The cloud cover had lifted a little, and the fog had dissipated. Sev turned around and hoisted himself to sit on the fence, facing the view of the mountains. Lily climbed up next to him, wasting no time in eliminating the space between them. Her head rested gently on his shoulder and his arm went around her body.

Sev flicked his wand into his hand and said, "Orchideous." A bouquet of orchids burst from the tip and Sev caught them, and handed them to Lily. "Your favorite," he said quietly as Lily took the bouquet from him. "I got you something else as well," he whispered into her hair. Reaching deep into the folds of his cloak he produced a long black box, and handed it to her.

"What's this?" she asked as her small hand took it from Sev's. Their fingers touched momentarily as the box transferred hands.

"Just a gift," he replied, although he shifted his body and arm to have her more securely against him. "A Valentine's Day present, if you want it to be."

Lily opened the box and was met with a beautiful pendant necklace, a golden phoenix with its wings draped down to the bottom point with a January garnet between the tips. Her breath caught. "Oh, Sev…it's beautiful!" She jumped off the fence and faced him. "Clasp it for me, will you?" She shot him a grin and watched as he got off the fence. Lily held the necklace out to him.

"Aren't you going to turn around?" he asked. Lily shook her head. She put just half a foot between them and Sev lifted his hands and spoke as he gently clasped the necklace together. "It's an enchanted necklace. The garnet will glow if you're ever in danger, and if you squeeze the gem you'll be brought to my side, no matter where I am. I've got a matching stone here." He touched his chest where his own garnet was hidden beneath his robes.

"Oh, Sev…that's brilliant and thoughtful and romantic all at the same time!"

Before he stepped backwards he smiled at her and briefly contemplated kissing her, except that he glanced over her head and, with a hot, sinking feeling, saw James Potter wending his way towards them.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding," he moaned, letting his head drop forward so their foreheads touched.

"What? What is it, Sev?" Lily asked, concerned by his abrupt turn in behavior.

"I swear he must not have a shred of common sense. Potter." Quickly he kissed her forehead (unknowingly sending a delightful tingle down her spine) and they faced the approaching James Potter, who was alone.

James swaggered up to them, his eyes a little glazed. Immediately Severus knew something wasn't right.

"Potter? What are you doing here?"

"It's a Hogsmeade weekend, isn't it?" James replied. His eyes slid into sharper focus and he seemed to remember something, because he clumsily conjured a single, wilting lily with his wand and held it out to her. "Hey Lily, wanna come get some Butterbeer with me?"

Lily looked positively disgusted.

Sev drew his wand and held it slightly pointed towards the ground. Lily didn't stop him when he raised it to point at James, and James himself was too out of it to notice Severus Prince pointing a wand at him. "Finite incantatum," he said with a deep power behind his voice, and watched as whatever spell had been affecting James lifted.

James stumbled a little and shook his head to clear the fog, dropping the unwelcome flower in the process. "Lily? Se-Severus?" he coughed out Sev's name. "What happened? What am I—" He seemed to realize he'd been under the effect of a spell, and narrowed his eyes at Sev. "What did you do to me?" The lily lay forgotten on the cold ground.

"Sev didn't do anything but lift whatever spell was addling your already-addled brains, Potter," Lily said acidly as she stepped in front of Sev. But even in her anger she felt some concern. Who would bewitch James to act stranger and more disrespectful than usual? What reason did someone have to attempt getting Lily alone with James? "Now, if you don't mind, I was having a rather lovely time before you showed up."

"Hey, I don't even know how I got here, let alone why I came to find you. I thought I'd been leaving you alone after I hexed Sirius."

Lily and Severus exchanged a significant glance.

Sev looked back at James. "Back in December? If that's the case why have you been tottering after us all the time?"

James stared at his two fellow Gryffindors. "What?" he said weakly.

Lily stood on her tip-toes to whisper into Sev's ear. "Do you think this might have something to do with why Laura's been acting strangely? I've been catching her looking at me funny in the dormitories and during classes."

James leaned in a little to eavesdrop, but stopped when Sev shot him a glare. Sev moved so he could speak directly into her ear and whispered back, "Anything's possible. We should take him to Professor McGonagall, tell her what happened."

Lily nodded her assent and they turned back to James. "We think we should go to McGonagall. It's not good if you're suddenly finding yourself in Hogsmeade without remembering how you got here," she rattled off.

James appeared slightly worried on his own behalf but stiffly agreed. Without any further words he turned on his heel and marched down High Street towards the castle, Sev and Lily following him although they wanted nothing more than to stay in the village and enjoy their visit.

They were halfway to the castle when Lily spoke quietly to Sev, so that James couldn't hear them. "He really seems to think he's been leaving us alone since December." Sev didn't want to agree with her, but he had to.

He was unmistakably under the effect of a curse, perhaps even a weakly-performed Imperius curse…

"Miss Evans, Mr. Prince…you can't be serious!" Professor McGonagall expounded after hearing their story. "Who would wish to exacerbate Mr. Potter's fancy for Miss Evans if he has already removed himself from the situation?"

"That's just it, Professor…we're not sure. But I think it's coming from within Gryffindor." She did not mention the strange behavior of Laura, as though she was determined to find that out on her own. Sev disagreed with her silent decision.

"We've noticed that Laura's been acting strangely," he said, ignoring Lily's quick look at him.

McGonagall wore a flabbergasted expression. "Well, from you two I have little doubt that this is some sort of…practical joke…Miss Evans, Mr. Prince...you are dismissed. I wish to speak with Mr. Potter alone."

Sev and Lily retreated, quite unsure of what would go on inside McGonagall's office. They gave it little further thought, however, and were able to make it back to Hogsmeade for lunch with the Circle and Regulus—Frank and Alice acting decidedly cozier than before.

Another week had gone by before Severus knew it had, with no word from McGonagall. James threw himself into schoolwork, ignoring Lily, Severus, and even the Prewetts in an attempt to right his ruffled feathers over his odd behavior. The real Valentine's Day was upon Hogwarts, and Sev felt very grateful that Gilderoy Lockhart wasn't present to organize some sort of sick card-delivery system involving disgruntled dwarves in cupid costumes. After lessons had ceased for the day during mid-afternoon on Friday the fourteenth, Sev and Lily found each other in the rush of students exiting classes and wordlessly the two fifteen year olds descended the staircases to the Entrance Hall and out the front doors.

The weather cooperated over the past week, giving Hogwarts sunny days and surprisingly dry grounds. A week like this was meant to be enjoyed, and Sev couldn't think of a more perfect day to spend with Lily, especially when he harbored a feeling in his gut that it would happen today. They still wore their cloaks but the abnormal weather was such that they hardly needed them. In fact, Sev was thinking about removing his even before they got to their spot beneath the oak tree.

Lily reached the tree first but merely stood there waiting for Sev. She unclasped her cloak and carelessly threw it down, her eyes staying on her boyfriend, the phoenix and garnet necklace catching the sunlight. If he felt curious as to why she simply stood there he didn't voice it; instead he undid his own cloak and cast it down next to hers. Wordlessly Lily moved forward and wrapped her arms around his lean, Quidditch-hardened body, holding him tightly as if she was afraid she might lose him. One of his arms went around her waist and the other wove into her hair.

Lily was the boldest and bravest Gryffindor he knew. So it should have come as no surprise when she suddenly shifted, slid her hands up to grip his shoulders, and leaned back a little so she could see his face. She didn't say anything, not even when Severus extracted his hand from her hair and brushed it over her cheek before resting on her neck. He moved his head closer to hers, their noses now almost touching.

He could feel the electricity in the air, the palpable tension in the miniscule distance between them, the flapping wings of Snitches beating desperately against the walls of his stomach.

"Sev," she breathed, her eyes locked with his in an incredibly powerful connection. "Why haven't you kissed me yet?"

He swallowed. "I was waiting for the perfect moment."

She let a smile touch the corners of her lips. "It's always the perfect moment." Always.

Though her eyes kept darting between his and his lips, he never looked away from her vibrant green eyes. She grinned, the smile reaching and illuminating her eyes. He leaned down further, their lips now mere centimeters apart. He glanced down at her lips just once before letting every wall behind his eyes collapse, and just before their lips met he breathed, "I love it when you smile."

Sev kissed Lily smoothly, gently, tenderly. It was a fierce kiss, full of passion and now-satisfied longing, years of emotion, but mostly joy and absolute, unwavering love. She responded immediately, moving against him and gripping his shoulders so fiercely he knew he'd have bruises the next day. His hand left her neck and wrapped around her waist and suddenly his back hit the oak tree before he even realized he was walking them backwards. He vaguely noticed her weaving her fingers through his own long, fine black hair, the feel of her weight against his intensifying everything he felt. It was better than he'd imagined. Better, because it wasn't a fantasy, it was real, real that Lily Evans was kissing him and the only thing keeping him anchored to any tiny bit of reality was the feel of the hard bark of the tree behind him.

Lily pulled back for oxygen, her lips swollen and her eyes wide and sparkling. Kissing Sev was better than she had ever dreamed, and her dreams on the topic were extensive since midway through their second year. Her knees were weak and the only things legitimately holding her up were Sev's arms. "Merlin," she whispered, and without warning went back for more. Lily didn't know how to describe him, and so she didn't try, instead letting herself become blissfully unaware of their surroundings.

He was gentle when he broke the kiss and drew her into a tight, unyielding embrace, his nose pressed to the flesh of her neck and her chin hooked comfortably over his shoulder. She shifted a little and brushed his hair back, before placing a soft kiss to the hollow below his ear. "Happy Valentine's Day, Sev," she murmured. There was no doubt for her anymore; she knew she loved him but she daren't yet say it aloud. She knew for certain his feelings for her because she'd asked him, and he'd confirmed…but never had she heard the three significant words leave his mouth with direction to her. It wouldn't be fair to say it now, not when she knew he was still struggling with the amalgamation of his old, old memories and the new ones. Even now, four and a half years in, it was still far too soon.

But she felt she had to say something. "I…" she began again, and trailed off, searching for some way to say it without really saying it. "I—"

In her second attempt he cut her off with a gentle whisper against her skin. "I know," he breathed, his voice fragile and choked with emotion, his heart light but pounding, his head barely recovered from the elation caused by her kisses. "I know."

And he kissed her again.