Three Years Later...
The sound of muffled voices grew louder and louder in Severus' ears as he crept toward the playground, and he soon recognized them. One was soft and excited, and the other was frightened and a little bit bossy-sounding. Both were females.
"Mummy told you not to!" said the bossy sounding voice belonging to Petunia Evans. "Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!" she said scornfully to her younger sister, Lily. Lily turned to face her sister and a sheet of red hair flew through the air as she did so.
Severus had crouched down behind a stubby bush and was now watching the two girls intently, especially Lily. His heart began to pound as the girl hopped over right next to the bush, bent over, and picked up a small pink flower from the ground. She began to show Petunia a trick she could do with the flower, and before he knew what he was doing, Snape jumped out of the bush and said,
"It's obvious isn't it?"
And that was the beginning of Severus and Lily's relationship. From that day on, Severus began to tell Lily everything he had learned about magic by eavesdropping on his parents and occasionally getting up the nerve to ask his mother a question. The two would meet every other day in the small forest in the corner of their neighborhood, and they would discuss everything from Muggles to Dementors to where they would be attending school together for the next seven years, Hogwarts. During this time, Lily had gotten over her initial fear of Severus, because she realized that she was just like him. In fact, she had begun to consider him a close friend. Severus had always known from the moment he saw Lily that he would like her company--she was pretty, smart, and kind, and Severus wasn't used to those three traits in a person. The two children were an odd match, but as they say, opposites attract.