Disclaimer: I claim no ownership of the characters, spells, and world of Harry Potter.

Once Lily shut the door to the bathroom, she fell back against it, panting heavily as panic and fright took shape in her eyes..

"What the hell was that?!" she stammered internally, echoing a similar sentiment to the one Severus had made before her almost flirtatious departure. Instantly, amidst her short, nervous, slightly aroused breaths, a whirlwind of questions had begun to form.

What had caused her to become so fearless, so adamant that she had to kiss him?

Why so passionate a kiss and not just a more innocent, quick one?

Why had it been okay with her that one kiss turned into a full-on make-out session?

How in Merlin's name was Severus such an amazing kisser without any prior experience?

How far would they have gone if Lily's mother hadn't interrupted them?

Why did she seem so flustered and angry that they HAD been interrupted?

Perhaps the question that resounded most of all…

"When can I kiss him again..?"

Shaking herself out of her stupor, Lily turned on the faucet, letting the water pour out before rotating the diverter to activate the shower head. A cold shower was all that seemed to pierce through her haze of heat as she peeled off her sweat-dampened nightgown and stepped inside the tub to take her place under the torrent of water.

Even though the chill was able to give her the clarity to think without her hormones doing it for her, she still had no idea where to even begin.

Lily was by no means an active flirt, despite what her talk with Severus might have conveyed, but at the same time, she wasn't a prude like her best friend had been for years. Her first kiss had been with Fabian Prewett, a fellow Gryffindor who was two years her senior, and had just graduated at the end of the year.

Fabian, and his twin brother, Gideon, had in a lot of ways been the original Marauders during her time at Hogwarts. When she arrived, they had already been legends with their pranks throughout the school, though none of them were nearly as malevolent as some of the things that James and Sirius had done, especially in regards to Severus. Rather, the Prewetts seemed obsessed with bringing a smile to everyone in the school, and the fun had often occurred at their own expense, knowing they would get caught. This was in stark contrast to the Marauders, who had James' invisibility cloak and their Map to make sure that they could avoid detection during their nightly escapades.

The fact that Lily had ended up with James Potter during Severus' first life wouldn't have surprised her so much if he weren't ten times more hurtful in his pranking than Fabian was, as there were so many parallels between the two. As it was, she was frustrated in her attraction to him, as he reminded her a lot of Fabian, who had been her first crush at Hogwarts.

It happened during a party following Gryffindor's Quidditch victory over Slytherin in her fourth year. Fabian had smashed one of the Bludgers into the Slytherin Seeker, Regulus Black, moments before the Snitch had been caught, and to say he was the hero of the house that day would have been an understatement. Emotions were running high with everyone in Gryffindor; Butterbeer had been smuggled in by the keg, and after a few drinks of the slightly alcoholic beverage, Lily had gathered the courage to pull Fabian to the side of the common room. The kiss that followed was one that Lily often fantasized about, though nothing had really come of it besides a few private snogging sessions throughout the year and one date at Hogsmeade in the Spring.

Whatever embers she had for the older boy honestly died once she became a Prefect the following year, as he and his brother made her life a living hell from all of the clean-up work she had to assist in. But that first kiss had been one of her most cherished memories as it proved to her that she wasn't just some really studious girl with no time for fun or pleasure. More importantly, the kiss had signified to her that she wasn't some outsider of Muggle heritage. She belonged in the Wizarding World as much as any pureblood did.

Severus had single-handedly annihilated Fabian's kiss. It wasn't just in his natural technique. It was the passion, the emotions that he let out, the way he held her, as if she was truly the only thing that he ever desired. For all the times that Lily had reflected upon the memory of Dumbledore using the word 'love' to describe Severus' feelings for her (and Merlin help her, she had reflected on it dozens of times in the few days it had been), she wasn't sure if she believed it.

That kiss had swept away any question in Lily's mind as to whether Dumbledore had misinterpreted the Slytherin's feelings. Severus was hopelessly in love with her, and ONLY her.

The intense blushing returned to her cheeks, and the young witch was still overcome by warmth all over her body, despite the icy cold water pouring out of the shower.

"Why did I kiss him that way…?" Lily asked herself once more, furrowing her brow as she began to wash her hair.

On the surface, it might have seemed like the reason Lily kissed Severus was pity. Sadness for the years of peril and danger he put himself in, the misery that he endured. Such a thought would no-doubt have offended Severus, who it seemed never asked for an ounce of acknowledgement or pity from anyone, instead opting to keep himself bottled up. The fact that she had cried so much every time she learned something new about him probably did his pride no favors either.

"No…" Lily thought, a thin smile coming to her lips as the pieces began to connect themselves. All of the tears she had shed on behalf of her beloved friend. It was more than any person should have to endure, yes, but Severus had never broken, not once. She would have felt sympathy for him if he'd been a prisoner. He could have defected back to Voldemort once she had died if his motivations had been as self-serving as the rest of the Death Eaters, or escaped and fled the country if he was truly afraid of what he was going into.

He had chosen to continue to stay on the path of light, with no mind for personal gain, even at the expense of his own reputation among the people that trusted him and thought him a traitor.

Lily had not cried tears of sorrow. No. She had been undeniably proud of him. He had proven himself to be every bit the wonderful person she knew him to be when they were children. For all of the darkness that had followed him during their previous, tumultuous two years in school, despite the fact that in a moment of weakness, he uttered a slur that made him lose her forever, and throughout the years of horror that followed, he never lost that spark of true goodness that had drawn her to him in the first place.

That was why she had kissed him.

Her smile and blush only continued to widen at that realization as her mind wandered back to their kiss again. Once more, she felt the tight, protective sensation of his arms around her. Her neck shivered with goosebumps when she recalled what happened next. His gentle fingertips ran teasingly down her spine.

For the second time, Lily shivered and shook her head, trying to bring herself back into the moment, but it was no use. Every time she closed her eyes, she thought back to what it was like to be in his arms, waking up peacefully at his side that morning, the armor that was Severus Snape shielding her from the world. His strength, his experience, his unwavering, adult confidence wrapped around her.

Was it any wonder that he had chased her nightmares away?

In an ironic sort of way, Lily's original goal had been to awaken Severus' selfishness, to make him want and desire things for his own reasons again and not be so callous towards his own needs as a person.

Instead, something entirely unexpected had blossomed.

She wanted him.

"Merlin...I'm in trouble…" she shuddered to herself as she turned off the knobs to the shower.

Author's Note: Admittedly, a shorter chapter, but I wanted to have one chapter devoted entirely to Lily's perspective following the abrupt kiss that occurred during the previous chapter. Most of this story has invested itself on Severus' perspective with bits and pieces of Lily here and there, but I want there to be a more equal balance of them as time goes on, and I thought this would be a good opportunity for it.

This chapter is in a very different style to what I usually do since the entirety of it happens across maybe ten minutes and it's all internal development as Lily combs through her thoughts and rapidly growing feelings for Sev.

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