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I love you
She visited me every two weeks, the max amount of time allowed by the prison. She would tell me about her life and the world in general both muggle and magical. After returning to England she decided not to go back to the wizarding world but back to school, completing her education at a muggle University.
"You should have seen my sister when I told her." She laughed.
"You would have thought I'd grown another head."
Petunia was far from pleasant to be around and was often quite vocal about how she loathed magic and all of its freakishness. It stemmed from jealously, Lily and I both new that but there was no point in arguing it with her. Petunia would deny it until she was blue in the face. The eldest Evans sister was bitter and hateful and I seriously doubted she would ever change.
"She said that leaving James and getting a 'normal' education were the best things I had ever done. Well, I agree with her about leaving James, but the rest…it's not like I stopped using my magic, nor would I ever."
Lily had been going to school to become a librarian, which fit her in some ways, but not in others. Yes, she loved to read and was always quick to learn soaking up knowledge like a sponge, but she was far from a stereotypical librarian who hated noise and had an unhealthy obsession with the books in their care. She was currently volunteering at a local library reading to kids and the elderly while she finished her degree.
It wasn't that Lily didn't love the wizarding world, she just sometimes found the limitations frustrating. "I wish they had public libraries in the wizarding world," she once brought up after telling me about a new mystery novel she had recently finished reading. "After Hogwarts, if you really want to read a book you have to buy them and not everyone can afford to purchase every book that catches their fancy."
She had a very valid point.
Lily was usually the one who talked during her visits but I was always happy to listen. Sitting in a tiny cell surrounded by soul-sucking monsters I didn't really have much to say that would have made a good topic of conversation anyway. Besides I much preferred listening to the sound of her voice, then my own.
It was her visits that kept me sane. While those around me stepped into the brink of madness and some beyond I focused on my Lily; when the Dementors floated by I would place a piece of chocolate into my mouth and think of her.
Her smile.
Her laugh.
Her touch.
It was because of Lily I survived my ten years in that hellish prison, because of her I was able to block out the anguish and craziness that surrounded me; because of her kindness, support and love I was able to look past the moment and look forward to a real future, one free from the darkness and decay of Azkaban Prison.
When the day finally came for my release she was there. After changing into the set of clean clothes she had brought me and being given back my wand, she took my hand and together we stepped into the boat which took us two hundred meters into the sea, and past the anti-apperation wards.
As badly as I wanted to get as far away from Azkaban as wizardly possibly I knew I couldn't do it alone. "Lily. I-I don't…I may be too weak to…"
She put a finger to my lips to silence my stuttering. "I can take you side-along."
In an instant I found myself whisked away from the cold crashing waves of the black sea. Still weak, I nearly lost my balance as we landed.
"Easy." She steadied me, carefully helping me to the couch, a couch that wasn't the stained, thread bore one that currently rested in my own sitting room. I had requested she take me to Spinners End, but looking around I was not in the dark and musty home I grew up in but a bright, cozy room filled with light colors and comfortable furnishings.
"Lily where are we?"
"My flat. You will be staying with me until you recover."
I immediately shook my head. I will not be her burden. It was because of her I survived that place at all, I am not her obligation.
"I won't take no for an answer," she stated matter-a-factly. "You need to recover; it will be a while before you are your normal self again. You will be staying here and that is that."
Once again I shook my head to protest.
"Lily I-
I tried to argue but she silenced me yet again, this time with a kiss on the cheek.
"You are mine to take care of, Sev," She whispered in my ear, "for as long as you need it."
I found it impossible to argue with her after that.
Every morning she would make me breakfast, see that I had taken my nutritional potions and then head to work. When she returned home she would cook me dinner and check my vitals. It was all very motherly, at least at first.
One day, a few months after my release, I had complained about a stiff neck. I had simply planned to brew a muscle relaxant to help with the tension. Lily, however insisted on giving me a massage.
I closed my eyes as her soft hands worked the soreness from my bare shoulders and neck.
"Feel nice?" She whispered in my ear, sending delightful shivers throughout my body.
"Very."
"What about this?" She then replaced her hands with her lips.
My eyes shot open at the contact of her soft, pliable lips against my pale skin. She was kissing my neck. Oh Merlin, Lily was she kissing my neck!
"Sev." She breathed into my ear. "I'm going to tell you something. Something I've wanted to tell you for years."
"Yes." I breathed my reply, it was so soft I hardly heard my own words. Could it really be possible, that she has feelings for me, feelings of more than friendship. I wanted to believe it, it was all I ever hoped for, but why would she? I had nothing to offer her. I was a scrawny, big-nosed, ex-convict. I had no job, no prospects- nothing. The only thing I could give her was my heart. But maybe, just maybe, that was enough.
"I love you." Her breath tickled my neck as those three amazing, life changing, unbelievable words came from her perfect lips.
I closed my eyes and I knew when I opened them, there would be no Lily. That I would still be in Azkaban, rotting into madness, because Lily Evans could never feel that way about me. She could never love me. I wasn't worthy. I wasn't good enough for her.
"Sev." As I slowly opened my eyes, she moved to sit beside me. Her angelic face that only moment ago confessed her love for me was suddenly filled with such sadness and misery, but why? "I'm sorry, I thought…when you look at me…I thought you felt the same way." Her emerald eyes fell to the floor.
I had paused to long and she misread me. Oh my sweet Lily, how could you not know how I feel about you?
Taking her hand into mine, I brought it to my lips, "Oh Lily I do. You have no idea how much I do."
Her eyes move back to me, her lips turned into a soft smile. "You do?"
"Lily, I love you beyond words and I have for a very, very long time."
I then took her into my arms and did something I had wanted to for years. I kiss her!
A/N: There you are, chapter 3, short but most of the chapters will be. Sev is out of Azkaban and they declare their love to each other. Awwww. I hope you enjoyed it.
