Disclaimer: All of the characters belong to J. K. Rowling.
Warning: I am not an English native speaker, so I apologize for any grammar or vocabulary mistake you may find.
Chapter 1:
This was one of those rare nights in which Professor Snape could actually allow himself to focus his thoughts in some other theme unrelated to the school, the papers, the meetings, and overall: the burdensome responsibility of his position as Head of the Slytherin house. It was more usual than rare for his door to be knocked down with the one and only purpose of telling on some of his students, how he hated those snitchers… reason why he groaned at the sound of his door being softly knocked. Yes, he should have retired when he had the chance.
"Uuugh…" both his hands covered his face, waiting for the sound to not repeat, allowing him to ignore it for the rest of the night, he checked the hour, perhaps he could pretend he was already asleep.
Sadly, the sound happened a second time, and with the posture of someone who is about to murder he marched to the door. Currently praying for one of the Slytherins to actually have died, it would be one less of a problem.
He opened the door with much annoyance and his best despicable demeanor, hoping this would discourage whoever was in the other side of the door and cause them to leave.
But then, he saw her. With a startled look caused by the enraged movement, and a heavy breathing consequence of the step back avoiding a hit, he beheld with much shock, right in front of his eyes the one person who he could have never expected to see… because it was simply impossible; Lily Evans. Or Potter for such a matter.
The woman looked somehow younger than he remembered, the bright red hair falling almost straight down her shoulders, an outstanding complexion and full lips; yet, there was something that stayed exactly the same, the one thing that made her unmistakably the one and only Lily Evans; her eyes. Those beautiful green orbs looked up at him, trying to calm down after his savage greeting.
"What a way to welcome me, Severus." He didn't answer, he couldn't answer. As a matter of fact, he couldn't even move, completely petrified by the shock, the fear and the confusion. After what felt as eternity he finally moved, but only to carefully reach a hand towards her face, causing her to step back, once again startled. "What are- wait, wait a sec- Severus, wait." Trying to avoid the touch, the woman had grabbed his hand, causing him to immediately retreat and hide it behind his back, as if he had been seriously burnt.
"Lily…?"
"Yes, Severus?" His eyes moved around the place, circling the corridor and then his own office, his left hand supported his weight in the threshold as everything seemed to crumble around him.
"Is this a dream?" The question got the woman by surprise, whose eyebrows furrowed for a minute, only to immediately relax into a smile.
"Yes, it is." He limited himself to nod in acknowledgement. The temperature gave the feeling of dropping while they both waited for the next movement.
"That being the case… would you like to come in?" The Gryffindor took a few seconds to answer, with her expression shifting from insecurity to delight.
"I would love to, thank you." Snape moved from the door so the younger woman, at least in appearance, could walk in. Once inside she took a look around, glimpsing every corner, to finally comment "This is a nice office you have here."
Instead of actually thanking her back, the man finished closing the door behind them and turned to stare at her in silence, still cautious.
"It's…" she started, hesitantly. "It's been a long time."
"A long time, indeed."
Both her hands met and she played with her own fingers, trying to divert the attention, and having second thoughts about accepting his offer to come inside. Finally, he spoke, finding his own voice hidden somewhere deep in his throat.
"I am…" he swallowed "I am not used to this, what are we- I mean" his eyes rolled to the ceiling, together with his hands "This does not feel like a dream, but it clearly is, so… mind giving me a bit of context? Are we having a conversation, are we physically interacting, or is James Potter going to jump in scene riding a centaur while waving the Gryffindor sword any minute? Because dreams are not usually this…" he waited, with his eyes scrutinizing the room, expecting for a storm to happen "… calm."
The woman, who had tensed and stiffened at the mention of physical contact suddenly burst out in laughter for the last part. She had been so nervous, completely not expecting that comment.
"Severus! You haven't changed a bit." she finally recovered herself from the impact of hearing those words.
"I could say the same about you, as a fact, because whilst time has clearly sent me to the dogs you look…" something unknown caught his voice in his throat, self preservation probably.
"Thank you" Understanding his message, she decided to not pressure him, it was unnecessary "I guess these are the perks of, you know…" unsure if to refer to herself as dead she decided to change the topic. "I am actually here to talk, if that is what you wanted to know."
"A pity." Lily's cheeks turned almost the color of her hair, understanding by the raw tone of his voice a hidden meaning.
"I- hum- I am here because…" he waited with his hands pressed behind his back, solemnly listening to the woman of his devotion, accompanied only by the tic toc sound of the clock. "Thank you."
"Thank me?"
"Yes, I am here to thank you for all those years taking care of Harry, I know how hard you worked to keep him safe, and you have no idea how important that is for me. You may not know it, but he is also really thankful to you." He offered her a half smile.
"Lily… dear Lily." She blushed, a bit unsettled and embarrassed. "After all these years, mind me asking why you would come to my dreams to thank me now? Is this some wicked way of my brain to tell me that the war is finally over and I can once and for all take a break of looking after your child and companionship?"
"Yes, I think the three of them are finally ready to go on with their lives and… and so should you." She waited a few seconds with her hands intertwined in front of her "How is your wound?"
"It is… well, it is just as fine as it can be after being sliced and attacked several times by a giant snake;" just when Lily thought he had finished, he added "People say I am lucky for having survived such a gruesome death, but… that is up to discussion. Thank you for asking." He nodded politely, though the woman found it rather unsettling.
"I heard it was…" then a sound alike an alarm set off in the room. "Time to wake up, Severus, I have to go." the woman rushed from her place to the door, opening it quick and turning around with the intention of saying good bye, but she couldn't, her hand got softly caught by him.
"Wait, I know this is a dream, but-" he hesitated, and the red-hair noticed how his face disarranged victim of the anxiety and nervousness. "You must know as a former death eater nightmares are a daily basis and this is…" she considered pulling apart, but the sentence was clearly missing an ending and so she waited just a few seconds for the continuation… but it did not come. No. What actually happened got her by surprise. Snape grabbed her by the hair in a not so delicate way and pulled her into a kiss. With her right arm being still caught by his left and the pressure of his lips against hers she found herself almost unable to resist or fight back, trapped in the kiss, and not just by his physical strength, noticeably greater than hers, but because he was being both; tender and firm, in a way she ended up surrendering to his embrace.
Were all kisses supposed to be like this? Slow and patient, but at the same time hungry and passionate? She felt his tongue slightly press against her lips and much to her surprise she granted him access, closing her eyes and allowing herself to feel all of the sweet caresses provided, not just by his mouth, but his hands, around her head and waist. Then, he pulled apart and opened his eyes to the woman he had seen die seventeen years ago.
"Good night, Lily."
It was now her time to stay frozen, paralyzed by the sensations she was completely ignorant she could feel, trying to keep with her the still moist feeling of his lips, she felt as the man closed the door almost in her face. Then, and only then she opened her eyes, and all the new and wild feelings that she had been overwhelmed with a few minutes ago suddenly left her, both her hands flew to her mouth and remained in there with her pace increasing with every step she took out of the dungeons, past the first set of stairs, almost running across the empty corridors and for the moments her feet were too numb and tired to continue their path… her hair had stopped looking red.
In the middle of the pitch black hallway, alone with her heart pounding in her ears and her knees trembling for all of the possible reasons the girl tried to collect herself. She stayed in there for half an hour, with her hands still pressed against her mouth, her face covered in red, her shaking knees and her emotions menacing to burst. The girl only dared to move from her position after reaching for a lock of her own hair with trembling hands and double checking it was most definitely back to being brown and completely messy. She was positively and most definitely back to being Hermione Granger.