Chapter Two: The First Conversation

Two weeks, five sightings, and three magical incidents later Severus had finally decided to muster up the courage to talk to Lily; It was something he had longed to do from the first moment he had seen her.

Every night, after a supper mainly consisting of overcooked cabbage and a few smacks from his father, Severus would curl up on his bed underneath his ratty, grey blanket and dream of Lily. He would play out scenes in his head where he would appear in the park, walk right up to her and tell her about her magical powers. He would plan every word, every smile and sigh, and would confidently watch as Lily's eyes would fill with amazement, then curiosity, excitement and finally, admiration. For two whole weeks Severus would dream these fantasies whenever he could until he realized that unless he acted upon them they would never come true.

The night he realized this Severus couldn't sleep. He wanted to dream of Lily but knew dreaming wasn't enough. As he lay in his bed, staring up at the cracked and peeling ceiling, Severus once again planned their meeting; This time, however, he was determined to make it true. He would smoothly say 'Lily, you're a witch.' and she with surprise before fawning over his brilliance. It never occurred to Severus that Lily's reaction would be anything short of pure joy, so the next morning when he entered the park dressed in his best clothes he was completely confident.

Walking down the path to the park, Severus could hear that Lily and the muggle were already there. Rather than entering the playground by way of the gate, Severus walked around to the back and hid behind a large flowering bush on the edge of the small wood that partially surrounded the it. Although he later told himself that he wanted to make a dramatic entrance, Severus really just had a bad case of the nerves; though he may have denied it, he wanted to watch Lily from the safety of the shadows before actually confronting her.

Carefully peering over the bush, Severus saw the two girls on the swing set. Ignoring the muggle, Severus stared at Lily, intently watching as her brilliant red hair flew about her face. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, with her bright eyes full of delight as she swung high above the ground. The higher she went, the more beautiful she became, until Severus was snapped out of his trance by a rather shrill shriek.

"Lily, don't do it!"

But it was it was too late. Lily had already leaped from the swing with her face full of laughter, soaring like an eagle through the cloudless sky, landing lightly on her feet a great distance away.

"Mummy told you not to!" The muggle has stopped swinging, her face in an ugly scowl. "Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!"

"But I'm fine," Lily said with a giggle, "Tuney, look at this. Watch what I can do."

Lily ran to the bush that Severus was hidden behind. He quickly dropped to the ground, listening hard and peaking through the bush's lower branches. Once he realized that Lily did not know he was there, Severus chanced a glance around the bush. Lily had a small pink flower in her palm which she offered to the curious muggle. Though the muggle screamed when she saw that the flower was opening and closing its petals, Severus' heart exploded.

"Stop it!"

Lily's smile faltered. "It's not hurting you." She said as she closed her fingers about the blossom before tipping her hand and letting it drift to the ground. The muggle stood there, staring first at the fallen flower and then at Lily.

"It's not right," she whispered, "How do you do it?"

Severus could not stay hidden any longer. Bursting forward from the bushes he stumbled over a root before catching himself. Adrenaline pumping through his veins, Severus stared right into those bright green eyes.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" He said, his voice full of excitement. His appearance has startled the muggle, who had ran to the safety of the swing set, but Lily stood her ground.

"What's obvious?" She curiously asked. Severus' heart was beating so quickly he thought it would jump out of his throat. His head was full of jumbled thoughts, and before he could reply he realized that his cheeks were hot with embarrassment. Glancing from the muggle to Lily, however, gave him a small push of confidence, and lowering his voice to a nervous whisper he said "I know what you are."

"What do you mean?"

Severus lowered his voice even more, and shaking slightly he breathed "You're... You're a witch."

One look at Lily's face told Severus that he had said something very wrong.

"That's not a very nice thing to say to somebody." She said before marching away toward her sister. Severus' heart sunk from his throat to the very bottom of his stomach.

"No!" he called to her, reaching out as if he could make her return to him. After a second he ran after her, his large black coat flapping at his sides. When he arrived at the swing set he stopped in front of Lily, ignoring the disapproving glares of her and her sister.

"You are", He insisted, "You are a witch. I've been watching you for a while." His heart skipped a beat as he admitted this, but he continued despite the fact that his cheeks were growing increasingly hotter. "My mum's one, and I'm a wizard."

Severus stared earnestly into Lily's face, silently begging her to understand, needing her to understand. The muggle laughed at his words, high, shrill and cold.

"Wizard! I know who you are! You're that Snape boy! They live down Spinner's End by the river," she pointed from Severus to the giant chimney in the skyline behind her. He could tell that this muggle thought very little of Spinner's End.

"Why have you been spying on us?" She demanded.

"Haven't been spying," Severus said as he pushed a lock of too-long, dirty black hair behind his ear. The more the muggle spoke the more Severus hated her; she had made him seem a fool in front of Lily, and he couldn't stand it.

"Wouldn't spy on you, anyway" He spat back at her, "You're a muggle."

Severus knew that she would have no idea what a muggle was, but he said it with such venom that she knew it was insulting.

"Lily, come on, we're leaving!" the muggle cried as a faint trace of magenta appeared on her cheeks. She turned at once and marched out of the playground, Lily in her angry wake. As Lily turned turned out of the gate she shot Severus a look of pure dislike before disappearing behind the hedge.

Severus stood there for quite some time, staring at the place where Lily had disappeared as if his gaze would bring her back. His face was no longer red and hot, but rather cold and pale. The rejection was worse than any of his father's beatings, and it filled hurt him so much that Severus suddenly found himself swaying slowly on the spot, shaking slightly, with thick tears streaming down his cheeks. He ran away from the playground and his disappointment, away from all of the bitter, raw feelings inside of him only to find that, unlike his father's abuse, this pain had no escape route.

Nevertheless, he ran into the woods and only stopped when he stumbled into a very small clearing. It was surrounded by thick-trunked trees and large, leafy brambles. Severus flopped to the ground, breathing in the earthy smell of grass and dirt, sniffing as he dried his eyes on his sleeve. When he calmed down, Severus sat up; brushing his greasy hair out of his eyes, he stared up into the canopy of leaves above him; he could barely see the sky, that bright blue wonder.

This clearing was Severus' getaway, the only place where he could go to be alone. There was no place such as this at his house, not even his bedroom, because being there meant being around his father. With a deep sigh Severus turned his gaze downward. The disappointment was still raw, as if he had ripped off a piece of his own skin. He crawled to the nearest tree and leaned against it, his legs sprawled out in front of him. Everything with Lily, all of his plans and dreams seemed hopeless now. That muggle ruined everything for you, Severus sadly thought. You haven't got a chance now.

Severus absentmindedly picked up a fallen twig and began twirling it in his fingers. Hoping that it would take his mind off of Lily he began to shape the little stick into a doll, tying on smaller twigs as arms and legs with long bits of grass and jamming a fallen walnut on for a head. Before he knew it Severus had a small stick boy laying on the palm of his hand. SInce he was unable to clear his mind of Lily, Severus gave into temptation and made another little stick doll, this one a girl with a leaf skirt and onion grass hair.

He looked around to make sure that he was quite alone as his body filled with magical power. Sitting up so that he was cross-legged, Severus placed the dolls next to each other on the ground; he slowly let the magic escape his body, focusing the energy onto the dolls before him. As he made the figures rise from the ground of their own accord, Severus couldn't help but laugh. The boy bowed as the girl curtsied; Then, straightening up, they began to dance.

A small balloon of happiness filled Severus' stomach as he watched the little dancers twirl around, dancing some kind of waltz to music that only they could hear. He watched them for a long time, and became so absorbed in their steps and movements that he didn't even notice the small girl watching him from behind a large tree, a small girl with long, red hair. Her eyes first found Severus, and she curiously followed his gaze to the little couple. When she saw them she let out a gasp so loud that it drew Severus out of his trance.

Severus blushed right to the roots of his greasy black hair as his eyes met hers, feeling embarrassed that he had not noticed her before. Lily blushed too and dropped her eyes to the ground. Severus kept his eyes upon her face in amazement, completely forgetting about his magical creation. After a long, awkward silence, Lily looked up and walked into the clearing, seeming to muster every bit of courage so possessed. As she stopped in front of Severus she took a deep breath.

"H-how did you do that?" She hesitantly asked, shyly pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"What? Oh- this!" Severus replied, eyes wide with excitement. He couldn't believe that Lily had found him, that she had seen him do magic. "I did it the same way you made that flower move, or how you managed to jump so far from the swing."

She slowly sat down in front of him, crossing her legs as she picked up the small twig girl. Nervously she said, "So- so it's true then. Everything that you said in the park." Her spicy green eyes found his black ones and locked onto them. "You're really a wizard?"

"Yeah, and you're really a witch." Severus looked down at his dirty hands. "I wasn't trying to insult you, honest, that's just what you are. I never thought- I didn't realize- Are witches bad in the muggle world, your world?" He looked at her face again as he said these last words.

Lily's brow furrowed. "Witches are really ugly, with green skin and warts, aren't they? Haven't you ever seen The Wizard of Oz?"

Severus laughed, "I don't know who the wizard of Oz is, but he's got it all wrong. Witches aren't like that at all! I mean, look at you, you're a witch, I'm sure of it! And your skin isn't green, you haven't got any warts, and you're definitely not ugly." He blushed again. "That sounds more like a hag, with the warts and skin anyway." He quickly added.

"Oh." Lily swiftly tore her eyes from his, pressing her lips together as she stared at the doll in her hands.

"I'm Lily, by the way." She said after a moment, "Lily Evans."

Severus gulped and stared at her pale face. Lily Evans. He thought it was the most beautiful name in the world.

"I'm Severus. Severus Snape."

"Severus..." Lily said with a smile, letting the name roll off of her tongue. "I'm glad to have met you."

Severus' heart exploded as he was filled with hot, bubbling confidence. All of his feelings of insecurity and insignificance vanished the instant Lily smile at him, for him, because of him.

She seemed to sense this change in Severus and, moving a little closer him she said "So, what exactly is a hag anyway?"