Severus spun around from the chalkboard after explaining yet another Potions lesson. He'd hated the first day of school. So much explaining. So much reviewing. He shuddered at the thought of the rest of the day.
He never paid any attention during the sorting of houses, so that was why he was shocked when he saw Harry James Potter. Oh yes, of course he knew that he'd be attending this year. A celebrity in his class! A legend! The boy who lived! But when he spun around from the board, staring into his own, were the eyes of Lily.
They were so exact; Snape had to examine the rest of the boy's face to see that it wasn't Lily. Lily's hair was long, and flowed down to the small of her back, like a waterfall of scarlet. And her face was like that of a doe, wide-eyed and innocent. The boy had James' ruddy black hair and similar wiry glasses. Sans the chubby features that all children have, he was a mirror image of James. He felt a fire grow in his stomach. It raged through his organs, fast and burning. He could feel the fire rising in his cheeks. James Potter.
But then he saw the eyes. Perched above James' nose and under a mop of James' hair was Lily. The perfect shade of green, not light like celery or too dark like moss. But more like, well, a lilypad. He chuckled at the memory.
He and Lily had been sitting on the grass, she was leaning into his shoulder and therefore filling the shoulder with about as much joy as a shoulder could feel. They were just sitting, talking.
"Sev, you have nice eyes," she'd said. She wasn't afraid of embarrassing herself. She wasn't afraid of anything. God, he was in love.
"Erm, thanks."
"No, really they look like chocolate, all dark and shiny," she laughed at herself. Oh, her laugh was better than anything. He was sure he'd sat in bed staring at the ceiling, replaying her laugh so many times that he could tell it in a crowd of a thousand people. She went on, "people like my eyes. And by people I mean James. Geez that kid is obsessed. Anyways, I think mine are so boring. Green. Blech. Yours are all dark and mysterious."
Dark, mysterious? Him? According to Lily? He must be day-dreaming. That's it. He was really drooling over his Transfiguration notes next to some bloke who kept trying to wake him up with the end of his quill. Ha! Nice try, but you were not waking him from this anytime soon.
"Lily," this was it. He had to tell her. He had to do it now. And then he wouldn't even let her answer. He'd lean in and kiss her square on that perfect, bow shaped mouth of hers.
"And the combination of the green and my name sparks the worst nicknames. For the first ten- ten! - years of my life my father would not call me anything but Lilypad. 'Lilypad run to the drugstore would you?' 'Lilypad, help your sister with dinner' 'Lilypad, eat your eggplant, it's good!'" She mimicked in a manly tone.
He laughed at this. She was so cute and funny and perfect. He could lean in right now…
Severous stopped himself and cheekily grinned at her, wishing he'd taken that moment.
"I'm going to call you that from now on," he teased.
"No!"
"Yep. Lilypad it is."
She lightly punched him on the arm. He pretended to rub it with his other hand. This was it, he decided.
"Lilypad," he said leaning in. He got closer and closer. He could see every freckle on her porcelain face.
Yes! She was leaning in too! Just one more second and…
A laugh roared from behind them.
"Oi! Lily! What're you doing?" James Potter asked her with a snort.
"Dammnit James, stop stalking me for a minute would you?" Lily shouted at him from over her shoulder.
"Sev, what's the matter, cat got your tongue? Or did you lose it down Lily's throat?" He laughed even louder this time.
Severus shook his head and looked down at his trainers. Lily, on the other hand, wasted no time. She marched up to James and, essentially, told him to stay the hell away from her. There was more, but Severus tuned the arguing out. He'd missed his chance. The lilypad was floating down the stream now, its elegant pink flower going with it.
Severus snapped out of the memory and anxiously waited for class to be over. After cleaning up a few mishaps and restacking the heavily worn and dusty textbooks, he took a walk.
It may have taken him a little while to get there but when he was finally standing in front of it, he was filled with a form off indescribable happiness. That feeling people get right before they kiss the bride. When they find out they've just had a healthy child. It may seem stupid to most, but for Severus this was the only place he could get that feeling.
In front of the Mirror of Erised, he stood.
"Hello, Lilypad." He whispered.
And then, he got what he'd wanted for so long: a kiss from his Lilypad.