"Severus!" Lily cried, face bright with undisguised delight as she ran toward him, waving something over her head in a way that would have been ridiculous if she had been any less overjoyed, "I got one! I got one!"

Though the young boy was clearly trying to play it cool, half rolling his eyes as he said, "I toldja you would," as she all but pounced on him his smile rivaled hers.

Suddenly, however, she pulled back, looking at him in concern before blurting, "You did get one too, right, Sev?"

He looked vaugely insulted before saying "Course I did-" but as she leapt on him even more strongly than before he gound it was impossible to remain offended as they both fell to the ground in a heap.

"It's going to be so great, don't you think so?" she babbled, rolling onto her side and not seeming to care that they were on the ground as her grin almost split her face.

"Yes," he said, looking at her with intensity she didn't fully understand before smiling hesitantly. "I think so."

--

"Ow!" Lily exclaimed as she stumbled, falling with a graceless thud onto Severus's bedroom floor, having caught her foot on the windowsill.

The young boy quickly sat bolt upright in bed, looking around him in something resembling fear before questioning uncertainly, "Lily?"

"Hi," she whispered, getting to her feet even as he hissed,

"What are you doing here? My dad would be so mad-"

"Then we should probably be quiet," she hissed back, but her eyes were teasing as they reflected the light of the moon and he shook his head disbelievingly, muttering,

"Only you-"

"Only I want?" she whispered, cheeky smile on her face as she seemed to decide the time was right to step forward, and with a little hop landed unceremoniously next to him on the bed.

"You're crazy," he said with a disbelieving shake of his head, but despite himself he was smiling as she shrugged, seeming to agree.

"I just had to come see you," she said, voice light, but a small furrow appeared on her brow as she said it and his expression swiftly changed to one of concern as he asked quickly,

"Are you okay?"

"I- yeah," she said, chewing on her lower lip, her normal, confident demeanor replaced by something almost like insecurity before she blurted, "We're still gonna be friends, right?"

He looked at her in total confusion before saying the only thing that seemed to make sense under the circumstances. "What?"

"I mean," she said, and even in the darkness it was obvious that she was turning redder, "even if Hogwarts isn't what it's cracked up to be, we can still hang out and stuff, can't we?"

Severus opened his mouth, then shut it again, causing Lily's worry to increase as, though he definitley didn't talk much, she had never actually seen her friend speechless-

But after a moment he replied, voice somehow hoarse even as he averted his gaze, "Lily- I mean, we have to. You're my best friend."

Within seconds her small frown had been replaced by a smile as she grabbed his hand, squeeying it just once before saying softly, "You're mine, too, Sev."

Hi everyone! I cannot thank you enough for reading and for all the nice reviews that I have received so far :-) I hope you are continuing to enjoy the short and fluffy vignettes! Any comments are treasured.