Chapter 2

August, 1976

The summer's day was uncommonly hot beyond any record in years. The sullen teenage boy wandered the park aimlessly, kicking up parched dust under his thread-worn trainers. His parents' latest row had driven him from the house, not that there was any air-conditioning to keep him there. It was far too hot to do anything but try to get as far from home as his weary legs could carry him and hope to find a cool spot.

Again, Severus wished it had not been school holiday. In school he could have used magic to summon a breeze, or a minor icing spell to cool his sunburned neck. Only a few more months, he told himself, and he would be of age and he could Apparate as far away Spinner's End as possible. And he would never have to deal with his father's drunken beatings or his mother's ceaseless complaints or those bullying boys at school. He'd be free at last.

He stopped by the little park he had liked to play at when he had been a boy. It was in the rich part of town where he used to imagine that he was one of those happy, privileged children with a nice home and caring parents. Severus took a long drink from the fountain before throwing himself down on to the nearest swing. The trees created a canopy overhead and provided enough shade to make the heat tolerable. He reached into his rucksack and selected a book to read.

Some time later he noticed a teenage girl stop to drink at the same fountain. Her hair was long and dark red and she was very pretty. She looked over at him and he could see her eyes were green and kind. He quickly returned to his reading and hoped that she would move along.

The sound of chains squeaking told him that the girl had sat down on the swing next to him. He looked down to see her pink painted toenails drawing circles in the dirt. After a while he risked a peek at her over the rim of his book. He was surprised to find her staring directly at him. She smiled and waved. Severus blushed and hid behind his book again.

"Pardon me, but have we met before?"

"Sorry?" He was almost too shocked to answer. Girls never spoke to him. They took one look at his hand-me-down clothes and over larger nose and they walked on, giggling into their hands.

"You seem so familiar to me. You go to Hogwarts, right?"

"Yeah, I do," he said.

"That's it. You're in Slytherin house. Snape, right?"

"Yes. And you're the Gryffindor prefect."

"Lily Evans." She held out her hand.

Severus felt sparks shoot through his body the moment he touched her hand. He gasped a bit and let go.

"Just don't have a go at my name, alright? I hate that."

"I… what?" he asked.

"You know. 'Lily of the Valley. Easter Lily. Pretty as a flower.' I hate when everybody has a go at my name. They even send me nothing but lilies, for every occasion. Now I can't stand the ruddy things. Mental."

He shrugged. "At least your mum didn't name you Severus."

Lily chuckled. "Yes, I suppose it could be worse. After all, my sister's name is Petunia."

"Ouch. She wins."

Lily laughed out loud. "So, you're not seventeen yet either? Still stuck in this hell hole because of the dumb Underage Restriction laws?" He nodded. "What have you been doing to beat the heat, Sev?"

He liked the way she said his name. Not in a teasing, cruel sort of way, but with genuine affection. It felt as if they had been friends forever. "I read."

"What about? Come on, give over." She deftly reached out and plucked the book from his hands. "How To Survive The Worst-Case Scenario In The Wizarding World. I say, this is rather unusual." Se flipped through its pages. "Expecting to run into a charging Erumpent any time soon?"

He smiled and turned his head o the side. "One never knows. How about this one?" He handed her another book from his bag.

"Stars, Moons and their Secrets by Cassandra Vablatsky. I wouldn't figure you for a Divination fan. Very wooly subject."

"Dumbledore says the centaurs can read the future in the stars. They are an ancient race but do not give up their knowledge. There must be something to it all, I suppose."

Lily clapped her hands together. "How about a midnight picnic? Here. Tonight. I can bring some sandwiches and drinks. You bring a blanket and the book and we can read the stars together, see if we can find our future."

He goggled at her. "You want to meet me in a park? After dark?"

"Sure, why not? You're not a nutter rapist, are you?"

"No."

"Would you tell me the truth if you were one?"

"I don't know. Probably."

"That's exactly something a rapist would say to avoid suspicion."

He shook his head. This girl was a looney. "You're the one who suggested we meet."

Lily laughed brightly. "I know. I'm just making sure. Besides, the Ministry of Magic allows for magic under desperate measures and I cast a pretty mean Bat Bogey Hex."

He eyed where her hand touched the wand in her pocket. "Fair enough. You won't get in trouble?"

"Nah, I'll sneak out. Done it loads of times. You?"

His mum and dad would probably be too drunk to even notice he was gone. "No problem."

"So, it's a date, then?" She said brightly.

Severus swallowed hard. "Yeah. Sure. A date."

xXx

Lily returned home skipping and humming a tune to herself for no apparent reason. When she got back to her room an owl was waiting for her. It had delivered yet another bouquet of trumpeting lilies from James.

She rolled her eyes and stomped on the flowers until they quit that annoying caterwauling. The owl hooted at her in indignation.

"Don't look at me like that," she said. "I can't get a wink of sleep with all that noise all the time. And don't hang around here expecting a return letter. I don't want any more bloody gifts, all right?"

The owl made a disgusted sound and flew out the window. Lily shut it with a bang.

Later when she was sure the rest of the house was fast asleep, Lily fetched her picnic basket, slipped out her bedroom window and headed for the park. For a moment it looked as if the boy had not bothered to show up and she feared that her bold manner of speaking had frightened him off. She knew she should ought not to have spoken to him in such a familiar way, but he had been so terribly flustered when she sat down next to him, trying to hide his face under all that messy hair so she wouldn't see him blush. He was so cute.

Relieved, Lily found Severus in the field behind the playground. He was sitting on a blanket and shyly waved her over. She joined him and his whole face seemed to light up before he checked himself and looked away. Lily felt her heart beat faster.

"So," she said. "What are the stars saying tonight?"

They lay back on the blanket and gazed up into the sky. Severus began a long recital from famous wizard books about the theory of star constellations and how the meanings changed due to the time of year, their position in the sky and what the observer had eaten for dinner that night.

Lily listened to the sound of his voice. True, Severus was not a terribly handsome boy, but his voice was like honey and his eyes were deep and clever. And, more than anything else, Lily liked boys that had a great… big… brain.

She noticed that every time she sifted her legs or arms he'd cough and twitch his fingers in a nervous way. Lily had the urge to tickle him just to hear him yelp. He was so shy, so unlike all those bragging, loud-mouthed boys in school who never gave her a moment's peace.

"And those two are the Magic Twin stars," he said as he pointed into the sky. "Sometimes they appear together and sometimes not but they always find one another again. No one can explain this phenomenon."

"Where? I can't see."

"Right there." He took her hand and directed it at the said stars. His hand felt warm against hers and she could feel sparks running up her arm. She shivered.

He let go quickly and she had to bit back the sudden cold she felt.

"It's a great feeling, don't you agree?" she said. "Just lying here watching the world pass by all around us. I could lie like this for days."

He twitched again. "You could? You wouldn't find this rather… tedious?"

"Relaxing is tedious to you?"

"There are just so many things I could be doing. Studying, preparing for exams, thinking about a career after Hogwarts, if I'm going to work in London or maybe go abroad."

"You think about those things all the time?"

"There's nothing wrong with being prepared."

"Like that book. You expect the worst in things and think you can control them."

"I'm not trying to control things. I have to work hard everyday of my life to be the best in my year. And that doesn't cover half the prejudice I have to fight being in Slytherin. If I falter, if I slip then my grades will drop and it may be the only thing that keeps me from getting the right job." He bristled with anger at her grin. "Don't make fun. Other boys in school find it more engaging to waste their time playing games. They may have endless leisure time at their disposal but I plan on doing something with my abilities. I should have known better than to discuss such matters with a Gryffindor."

Rather than taking offense at his—she could only describe it as snarkiness—Lily found him intriguing. At their first meeting she had assumed that he was an intelligent man. Now she was sure of it.

"What are you planning on doing outside of school?" she asked. "Tell me."

The irritation drained out of him. "I… well, I've been asking Professor Slughorn about becoming a Mediwizard."

"Really?" She propped her head on her palm to face him. "That's a really tough career. You'd need straight O's or at the very least E's in Potions, Charms, Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts to be accepted into the Healing program. Plus you'd need years more of school."

"You've looked into this."

She blushed. "I thought about it. I really like Potions. It's my favorite subject. Professor Slughorn says I'm the best in this class."

"Really? Funny because he's said the same thing about me."

"Being nice, I suppose. Anyway, I've thought about becoming an Apothecary. Or maybe working in Muggle Relations. People like my parents would love to know so much more about our world, and think of all the things we would do for them. Think of all the lives a Mediwizard could save at a muggle hospital, if not for that stupid decree."

He was smiling now. "You sound like you'd rather be a muggle-rights activist and take on the Ministry."

"It would be a lot of time and trouble, I know. That's why I like to lie here and look at the sky. It makes me feel small and insignificant in a great big world, and that's not such a bad thing. You can just drift and forget everything for a while. You should try it."

"I don't think—"

"Just for one moment. Force yourself! Look up at the sky and don't think at all. Just tell me what you're thinking."

Severus looked like he was debating with himself whether to speak or not. "I… if I tell you you'll either think I'm pathetic or a nutter."

"Now I really have to know. Go on. I won't tell anyone. Promise."

He sighed. "I feel… happy. Happier than I can remember being in a long time. I'm happy to be here in this place with you. It feels… right."

"Sev," she whispered and rolled over to rest her head against his chest. Her fingers toyed with his hair, which was not as greasy as it looked, and so soft too. "That's how I feel. Like I've known you my whole life."

"I know the feeling."

Later, Severus walked her home, his hand desperately trying not to tremble in hers. He was so nervous that she had taken the initiative to lean forward and kiss him goodnight. They both blushed a deep red.

"Meet me tomorrow?" she asked. "We can go down to the shore. Escape this heat."

He agreed and Lily watched him walk back down the road before climbing back into her bedroom. Another owl was sitting on her bed with three more bouquets.

"Out!" she spat. "Out and take those things with you! No more bloody lilies!"

She sat at her desk and took a few deep breaths to calm down. James was really getting on her last nerve. She decided to write him a long letter about it. Later. Right now Lily took out her journal and wrote about how she'd just had a lovely date with a boy.