CHAPTER: Growing Pains

Severus pushed open the glass door of the dessert parlour where Lily worked and strolled in. The store was not that busy and he was let off to lunch early so he went to meet Lily. He saw her beyond the counter and she flashed him a smile, all the while turning pink around the ears. He had never managed to make a girl blush before, just by showing up. He waved at her and took a seat on one of the vacant chairs.

"I'll take my lunch now," Lily said to her supervisor. She disappeared to the back room, then remerged with her apron and hat off and came out form behind the counter.

"Hi," she said when she approached him.

"Hello," he replied, standing up. They hadn't really spoken about the incident. In the morning they sat quietly on the bus only just looking at each other. He had no idea what she thought about what happened between them the night before.

"Are you ready to go?" She asked. He nodded and they walked out of the store and into the busy high street.

-o-

They sat in a small fast food restaurant waiting for their orders. The air had been completely stiff and neither of them knew what to say. 'What do you say to a girl who was playing with your privates the night before' he thought to himself.

"So is the store quite busy?" she asked him.

He was very thankful that she started to talk because it was becoming a bit unbearable. "Ah not at all, we were all just lazing around talking."

"Taking, what you guys talking about."

He unconsciously let his hand travel over the spot on his neck where the hickey was. "This and that."

"You didn't tell them what... happened last night." She looked panicked and shocked. "I mean I never did anything like that before... I don't know what got into me."

"No never, I just said that you were my... girlfriend." He shouldn't have started that sentence; Lily never said that she wanted to be his girlfriend. She must have thought that he was jumping the gun. Just because they had a rather heated incident that one night, didn't mean that they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

"Okay," she said passing her hand through her hair and biting her bottom lip. "I thought you told them that I..."

He shook his head. He knew that his face was now as red as hers. "No, I just told them about the kissing, left out the rest."

"Good," she said avoiding his eyes.

He would have never thought that he would be having this conversation with Lily Evans, he hoped and prayed but never in a million years did he think it would happen. Since he started having a friendship with her, he wanted to be around her all time, she was just addictive. Every time she touched him it was a new experience, some new part of his body would tingle and he enjoyed the feeling. But most of all he wanted to know that it was only him, that he was not just another one of the many guys who had fallen hopelessly for her. "Does this mean that you fancy me," he asked looking down at the salt shaker on the table.

"I thought that was sort of obvious," she whispered. "Do you fancy me?"

"I thought you would have noticed it or at least felt it last night."

-o-o-o-o-o-

Severus hated that he had to go home, he would have liked to stay at Lily's place but he had run out of clothes. He walked through the door in the afternoon to hear the TV on. This would usually mean that his father was home but it sounded like the soap opera was on which meant his mother was watching Coronation Street. He dumped his bag by the door and went into the living room. He slumped on the chair.

"Severus, how long have you been home?" she asked not taking her eyes off the TV.

"I just got here."

"So how was your stay?"

Fantastic, awesome, unbelievable. "It was okay," he said.

"Just okay, trouble in paradise already."

He snorted. "No, far from it." She went back to watching the television set intently, she seemed amused by what was on the TV and was OHHing and AHHHing at every word. "Lily says soap operas are for housewives and housewives in training. She says that she will never watch one because it may doom her to become a housewife locked up in a house all day."

His mother turned to him and smile. "You seem to think the world of Lily, you think she is smarter than your mother, how is she at school?"

He sat up straight. "She great at school, one of the brightest."

"Is she brighter than you, I taught you everything you know."

He thought about it. "In some aspects she is, but in some aspects I am better than her."

His mother now seemed very interested. She got up form the couch and took off the TV. "And has she asked you for help in anything."

"No," he said. He couldn't understand why she would think that Lily was asking him for help in school, she didn't need his help.

"And the book, did you tell her about the book."

He shook his head. "Why would I tell her about the book?" He frowned to himself. He was starting to think that his mother thought that Lily wanted something form him. "Do you think that she can't like me because she actually likes me?"

She put her hands over her mouth. "Oh no Severus, please don't think that I don't think it possible, it's just that young girls these day are so smart and deceptive, especially the pretty ones."

He resented that statement. "Lily does not want anything from me except ... and she is not deceptive."

"You're young Severus, I have been in this world much longer than you."

He rolled his eyes. "And I guess you had guys rushing at your feet and that's why you choose to marry that drunk." She looked extremely shocked by his words, he could tell that he hut her feelings but he didn't care because she didn't seem to care to spear his. "I'll never take relationship advice form you, you're marriage is a mess." He walked out of the room, took his back and ran up the stairs and slammed the bedroom door shot.

-o-o-o-

"Severus, come down for dinner," he heard her shout from the stairs about two hours later. He had every intention of ignoring her. How dare her criticize his relationship with Lily, she never even met her, how could she just go about saying all those things about her, insinuating that she wanted something other than his affection from him. Lily never asked him for anything, in fact it was him who was taking from her. She always gave him free deserts when ever he wanted, she let him stay at her house and inconvenience her family, she let him sleep in her bed and use her owl. His mother was wrong, she was not using him.

He could hear the stairs creaking and he knew she was on her way up the stairs. He turned his head away from the bedroom door to face the plain white concrete wall. There was a soft knock on the door. "Serverus dinner is ready?"

"I'm not hungry?" he shouted. That was a lie, he was starving.

She pushed the door open. He could not lock the door because his father had removed it years ago. "Are you sure," she asked

He spoke. "I think I can tell when I am hungry, or do you not trust my judgement with that either?"

She moved from the door way and into the room. She looked at the night counter and saw that a picture of her she had place there had been turned down. "Severus, I never meant to hurt your feelings."

"Who said my feelings were hurt," he replied facing the wall.

She patted him on the back. "It's just that the way you spoke about the children in school in the past... I was just trying to protect you." He was silent. "And I guess it's hard for me as a mother to see that her only son no longer things she is the most amazing woman in the world. I guess I'm afraid that you will run off with your girlfriend and forget your dear old mother."

He turned around for the first time and looked at her. That explained the sudden change in heart that she had. She was so happy for him before but now she was acting paranoid. " Firstly," he said, "I don't need anyone to look out for me, I'm sixteen years old. Secondly, I still think your one of the smartest women I have ever met cause you did teach me almost everything I know and thirdly, I will never run off and forget you, in fact if I am to marry I will buy a big house where you can have your own room and a dozen house elves at your call."

She smiled appreciatively. "And what about your father, can't he come to?"

He rolled his eyes. "No he'll have to stay here, no muggles allowed. Well except for her family, maybe not the sister though."

"Oh she's muggle born?" his mother asked shocked. He nodded. "And how do her parents feel about her being a witch?"

"They love her, everyone loves her."

"That's nice dear." He could tell from the look on her face that she was thinking about something.

"So you see mom, she can't be using me because she has everything already, she is everything already. I'm just an incredibly lucky guy to get her because all the guys at school want her."

"And is it normal for you to want what everyone else wants."

He shook his head and sat up. "No, I like her for my own reasons but I never showed it, everyone thought I hated her but the truth was I just thought that I never had a chance so acted like I did."

"So who was she dating before?"

"No one, she has never had a boyfriend before me and James Potter asks her out all the time and she always turns him down. I'm starting to think that she was waiting for me to ask her out. So she can't be insincere, she really does fancy me."

She got up and smiled. "Well she certainly has done quite a number on you. I should like to meet her some day." She took up his bag where his dirty clothes was and threw it over her shoulder. "I'm going to wash these for you. I'll put your food away so you can eat when you're hungry."

"I change my mind, I'm hungry now." He jumped off the bed and followed her out of the bedroom.

-o-o-o-o-

" SEVERUS SNAPE GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE THIS INSTANT"

He jumped off the seat and ran into the laundry room that was really a garage. Why was his mother bellowing his name like that? She had a stern look on face.

"What is this?" she asked holding up a square shaped piece of plastic that enclosed something circular.

His initial thought was to run and hide but for some reason he thought he could lie his way out of this one. "It's just a piece of plastic." He heart was beating so fast. She looked even angrier than she was before.

"Don't lie to me, I know what it is."

"Then why did you ask?" he said reaching to her and trying to snatch it from her hands.

"Because I want to know what you are doing with it?" She moved it out of his reach.

"The guys at work gave it to me."

"Then you should have told them that you have no use for this muggle wrapping device. You are too young to be entertaining those ideas in your head."

"I'm sixteen, I'll be of age in six months."

"And even then you will still be too young, didn't I told you that only married and rich wizards play that game."

That was the analogy she used when she told him about sex when he was about seven and started to wonder where he came from and if he could trade in his father. "Then there are a lot of married seven years in school."

"It doesn't matter what those kids are doing, I told you not until you are married. I will be throwing this away," she said holding up the condom. "I don't want any kids in my house until you are well over the age of twenty."

"Well don't give it back and you will have children by next year."

Her jaw dropped in shock . "Youngman I am going to tell your father about this."

He rolled his eyes, he suddenly felt quite daring. "You will not tell father because you know he will blame you." A frown came on her face which meant she also knew this to be the truth. "I can do whatever I want with my girlfriend because I am sixteen years old."

"Just because you are sixteen and started to grow hair doesn't make you a man Severus, you know nothing of responsibility. And I don't know what I can say of a young woman who's going to so far at such a young age, when I was sixteen that was the last thing on my mind, I was quite content with playing gobstones."

"Don't talk about Lily, you don't even know her."

"Then I should meet with her, have a chat."

"No you will not."

"You see," she said holding the condom firm in her hand. "I believe you are ashamed of her and the kind of girl she is so you don't want your mother to meet her."

He laughed at it. "No I'm not. I'm ashamed of you and the kind of woman you are so I don't want you to meet her. And don't even get me started on father; I think if she meets him we will be done for sure."

Her expression remained one of shock but in her eyes he saw a sadness linger there as well. She turned away from him and left his clothes on the floor. "You can wash your own clothes Severus, since you don't seem to want me as a mother anymore." She walked out the room and he could swear he saw tear drop fall from her cheeks.

NOTE: Okay I tried to get some humour in there. Yes I think Severus is a teenager now.

Oh and I should probably tell you guys that I always update on Mondays and Wednesdays.