Lana
They had one month. One month to act as if tomorrow would never come; one month to pretend it would last forever, until reality set in. They didn't have forever; they had 30 days to live out a life of a married couple. Once the morning of January 25th came, to the rest of the world they were through. They spent not one night apart, and fortunately Severus' disappearances were not questioned by his roommates, nor was the ring around his finger – a sign of marriage for a man. Severus doubted they even noticed; Lucius Malfoy, Matthew Crabbe, and Marshall Goyle were part of a tight-knit group he was allowed to enter, but never really felt welcome to join.
Once classes started, Severus and Lily only saw each other afterwards, at night, and in Transfiguration. They spent every spare moment together, not wanting to waste a minute of their limited time.
January 24th was their last night together, and the two were determined to make it special. Dumbledore arranged for three house elves to set up a table in the middle of Lily's room with a small feast, along with flowers and candles arranged all around the room. Set on Lily's desk was a large record player with a stack of about fifty records to choose from, including Muggle albums Severus had never seen.
"Shall we?" Lily was dressed in the silk dress she received for Christmas. Severus smiled and took her arm, leading her to the table. For the first five minutes, they ate in silence, not knowing what to say to each other. Music from the records was playing in the background, setting the mood.
"You know, as of midnight, we're officially an unknown, unregistered marriage." Severus smiled at the irony.
Lily nodded, "Yeah, we are… Severus, I have something to tell you."
His eyes widened a bit, expecting the worst. "You're not pregnant again, are you? Because if you are, that'd be really hard to explain."
Lily laughed, "No, I'm not. Sev, I promised James if anything happened to you and me I'd go back to him. Even if I hadn't said anything, he would have expected it."
Severus' eyes were now downcast, "Your grandfather said we had to do everything in our power to make things seem normal. If you believe it's required of you to go back to James, then do so. It's for the best… The less we're together, the less suspicious everyone will be."
Lily tried to look Severus in the eyes, but was unable to meet his gaze. Finally, she reached over the table and touched his cheek. He then raised his head up to meet her eyes.
"You know I love you, Sev. You know I do."
"I know Lil, right now you do… But what about 5 years in the future? What's going to happen then?"
"By then, Voldemort will be defeated and I would have left James. Our relationship will be out in the open and we'll have at least two babies by then."
"That's terrible optimistic of you."
"It's terrible pessimistic of you to think otherwise… It's 1978, Severus. Voldemort has control of nearly a quarter of the witches and wizards out there. What else can we do but hope?"
Severus become quiet for a moment, listening to the beginnings of one of the Muggle songs. He got up and offered his hand to Lily, "May I have this dance?"
Lily smiled and took his hand graciously and allowed him to lead her to a small clearing near the secret door.
Go on and close the curtains cause all we need
is candlelight
You and me and a bottle of wine
Gonna hold you tonight
"What if Voldemort is never defeated and we can never be together again?" Lily asked, laying her head on Severus' shoulder.
"He'll be defeated, I promise."
Well we know I'm going away and how I wish,
I wish it weren't so
So take this wine and drink with me
Let's delay our misery
"If you could turn back time, would you still talk to me when you found me in the prefect's bathroom the first night we talked?" she asked, dropping her voice to barely above a whisper.
"Not only would I have talked to you, I would sweep you off your feet in a moment's time and run away with you."
"You mean it?"
"As much as I'm alive."
Save tonight and fight the break of dawn
Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone
Save tonight and fight the break of dawn
Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone…
The two continued to dance as flames danced in the fireplace beside them, creating their silhouette among the scarlet coloured walls.
There's a log on the fire and it burns like me for
you
Tomorrow comes with one desire
To take me away, it's true
"Promise me, when this is all over you'll still
remember me." Lily murmured, burying her face in his neck.
"As long as I'm alive, I'll love you, and don't you ever forget that."
It ain't easy to say goodbye
Darling please, don't start to cry
Cause girl you know I got to go, oh
And lord I wish it wasn't so
"I'm going to help Papa with his group… I'll make sure James is a part of it also, we could use all the help we can get."
"So then we'll be able to see each other a lot without it being questioned."
"At least not by our side."
Save tonight and fight the break of dawn
Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone
Save tonight and fight the break of dawn
Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone…
"I won't let anything happen to you, not so long as Voldemort trusts me. When you get out of here, I want you to lay low… Don't let any of the Death Eaters know your presence."
"I won't."
Tomorrow comes to take me away
I wish that I, that I could stay
Girl you know I've got to go, oh
And lord I wish it wasn't so
"When all this is over with, we're going to have a real wedding, with a dress and organs and family… and a cake." Lily smiled, kissing his neck.
"Of course, love."
"And we're going to have a song… A real song we can tell people about and listen to when it plays in some musty club when we least expect it."
"A song?"
"You know, something we can dance to."
Save tonight and fight the break of dawn
Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone
Save tonight and fight the break of dawn
Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone…
"Like this one?"
"No, this one's much too sad… One we can be happy about, one we can tell our gazillion babies about…"
"Still a gazillion? Are you sure you won't settle for a thousand or so?"
Save tonight and fight the break of dawn
Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone
Save tonight and fight the break of dawn
Come tomorrow, tomorrow I'll be gone…
"Sev, you're gonna love me forever, right?"
"Lil, I promise you… There will never be anyone else."
"And no matter how goo-goo I act around James, I promise the whole time I'm thinking of you and only you."
"Even during the sex?"
"Especially during the sex."
Tomorrow I'll be gone…
Tomorrow I'll be gone…
Tomorrow I'll be gone…
Save tonight…
Save tonight…
Save tonight…*
* - "Save Tonight", Eagle Eye Cherry