By the first class that morning the dream had been forgotten. He busied himself in charm notes (he was never good at charms, bunch of foolish wand-waving if you asked him) eyeing the elegant Lily Evans at regular intervals. She looked oddly strained today- her hair, which was normally gorgeous and tended to, had hastily been made into a messy bun. Her makeup was askew in places, and her clothes more rumpled. He caught her sometimes, staring into space instead of taking her usual, tedious notes.

After class, they were usually always the last ones out of the classroom. Lily always took a long time putting her books away and Severus usually waited for her. They made a routine at the beginning of the year where he would walk her to her next class. He tried to hide his actual concern for her in a loud greeting. "All right, Evans?" He asked.

She turned to him, her lipstick was smeared on her bottom lip as she smiled. "No need to be so formal, Severus."

Severus… she said it so smoothly. It was warm and welcoming, like soft sunshine on a summer's afternoon. He rarely heard anyone call him by his first name and it made him feel like a cat being petted for the first time. He couldn't resist stretching his lips and smiling softly.

She remained deep in thought as the walked out of the classroom, "I had a dream about you last night," she confessed finally.

"You did?"

"It was more like a nightmare," she didn't look at him.

The blood ran from his face. He felt his stomach drop. "Oh," he turned to walk in the other direction.

"No, I didn't mean it like that," she said, grabbing his sleeve, green eyes full of concern, "It was just… you were all bloodied up and… and wounded and everything. It was so scary. It had something to do with the Whomping Willow."

"Perhaps you're subconscious wants to kill me for some strange reason…" he mused.

"No," the arm that had been clutching at his sleeve suddenly wrapped around him, " I was really scared."

He felt the blood run back into his face as she put her other arm around him, squeezing his cold body softly. He patted her back awkwardly. He rarely received hugs even as a child and hardly knew what to do. "I'd better not let myself get whomped then, hadn't I?" she giggled in relief. When they pulled out of the embrace he couldn't help but admit, "I had a dream about you too… well sort of… you and that prick Potter…"

"Potter's not a prick. He's just… a terribly misguided individual," she supposed.

"A misguided individual! The man tries to hex me every time he sees me!" he snapped.

She frowned, "I guess he is kind of a prick to you…"

"I wish you would exercise some restraint on him."

"What do you mean?"

"Most of the stupid things he does are done just to impress you."

To Snape's surprise, and displeasure, she looked oddly pleased by this news. She smirked in the same way she would if she got the best grade in the class. He felt an explosion of jealously that hid behind his stoic face. "You think so, do you? Remus thinks so too."

"Well, I'm not Remus. I didn't mean it like a complement the way he did," and to explain further, he added, "I'm not funny like he is."

"What do you mean 'funny'?" she raised an eyebrow.

He sneered; he didn't want to talk about Remus Lupin. Surely he wasn't as hate-able as those ignorant jocks Potter and Black, but something about him was always a bit… off. Why would someone just sit around pretend to read when his friends were beating on an innocent bystander?

He remembered that day by the lake, and how he just sat there. Remus was supposed to be a prefect, a protector other students but he conveniently stuck his nose in a book while his idiot jock friends hung him upside-down in the air. The bastard just sat. He had no dignity at all.

He remembered in frustration calling Lily a 'mudblood' and apologizing the next day explaining that he had been taught at a young age that women, and muggles, were weak and to receive help from them was a sign of weakness. She refused to talk to him for a few days, until an argument broke out the following week: "Not all muggles are evil and weak, Snape," Lily had assured himHe had given her a skeptical look. "You think we're all bad people when the only muggle you know of is your father…Do you really think I'm a weak person?" No, he didn't, he realized some days later. Lily was, in many ways, far stronger than he was… and braver too. Not a coward, he thought reflexively.

Now she was looking to him with expectation. Her face becoming more contorted with frustration as time went on. Severus gave the only explanation he could think of. He had read into his motions, and learned simply that Remus Lupin was not like other people. "Not funny-haha… funny-queer."

Her gorgeous green eyes widened so that he could see the dark rim around her irises. "Who told you Remus was gay?" she had forbidding tone in her voice, like she had caught him eating cookies before dinner.

"No one. I guessed."

"Oh my… you're very intuitive aren't you…"

Apparently she knew too, "So that means he is gay, then?" he drawled, smirking.

"Oh my God, Severus, don't tell anyone, I promised to keep it a secret!" She was pleading now, begging. He didn't like to see her begging… he would give her anything she asked.

"Well, alright. I was going to keep it to myself anyways," he promised.

"Thank you," she said, hugging his arm as they strolled around the perimeter of the courtyard. He was beginning to feel very gentlemanly, as he promenaded with Lily Evans holding his arm in the late morning sunlight. "Tell me more about your dream," she asked. How could he refuse a gaze like that?

"Well," he stuttered, "I-It was… kind of weird. Potter had you're eyes… and you're nose and… he had this big silver sword… he was fighting… someone…"

"He was fighting evil," Lily stated as if she knew.

"It was weird…"

"James is weird…"

"Yes… he called me a coward."

"Do you think that he and I would make a good couple?" She asked, playing with a lock of her rose-red hair.

His body reacted as if he had been whipped. He stopped in his tracts and took her by the shoulders, "Evans, stop toying around! I hate James Potter and I hate that you like him and hate that you talk to me like I'm another queer friend! And I hate that you just ignore my feelings…" but once he had gotten all that out he immediately regretted it. Instead of being taken aback, Lily Evans was smiling at him, coyly.

"And what are your feelings, Severus?"

He blushed crimson, "I… I already told you. I don't want to hear you're boy-crazy talk about James Potter… because…"

"…because it makes you jealous?" her grin was widening now.

She had him. She always had him. But now she knew she had him.

Snape could do nothing but blush and stammer, even as she flipped her hair out of her bun and strolled away. She knew his eyes were following her legs' motion and yet she kept walking in that sexy way.

"See you tomorrow, Severus…"