A Second Chance
Chapter 2: A New Beginning

Severus couldn't help it, he had to cross off the name – that would NOT happen again. He would stop it from happening at all costs. Satisfied, he put the pen down only to pick it back up again and quickly scrawled under the two lists 'I LOVE LILY DAWN EVANS!' "Okay, that was a little ridiculous perhaps, but. . ." he said and suddenly yawned. My, he was getting sleepy! "Maybe a quick nap." He muttered and closed his eyes, immediately asleep. Well, today HAD been pretty stressful – it wasn't every day that you died and were given a second chance after all. . .

"Severus, wake your lazy butt up right this moment!" called a VERY familiar voice and he opened his eyes to see the woman he'd dreamed about since he had met her – and then he remembered that terrible night and his nightmares returned, giving him a haunted look.
Lily had been about to say something when she was suddenly yanked down and pulled into a tight hug while Severus sobbed into the crook of her neck. "W-what's wrong Severus? Did you have another nightmare? Sev, it isn't real, everything's okay. I promise." She said and put her arms around him. Poor Severus, she thought and hugged him.

"Yeah – I had a really bad dream." He said as he opened his eyes – it was a lie, he knew, but it was a safe lie. But then he smiled – she was here, and she was in his arms right now. Everything felt better now. Then he felt the weight of the journal and he looked down at the open page – most of his hand was covering the two lists, and what was visible was the last thing he'd written 'I LOVE LILY DAWN EVANS!'.
'Oh god, I hope she didn't see that. . .' he thought when Lily suddenly piped up. "What's this?" she asked, parting from their hug. She saw the writing and her eyes widened slightly, then her face went a bit pink. What should he do? He decided to do the prudent thing and shut it quickly. "Ha ha, sorry about that – must have been writing in my sleep." He said with a bright flush on his face.

It was then that Lily's mother called out for the pair of them. It was the day before school after all, and they had invited Severus to go out for ice cream with them. Not that Severus was partial to ice cream of course, but he was to Lily. He would follow her anywhere she wanted him to. "Come on Sev, we'd better go." Lily said and held her hand out to him to help him stand. Needless to say, he took her hand in his, but didn't let it go until they were nearly at her house.

They both got into the back seat – the car ride was short and rather uneventful until they stopped at 'Patterson's Ice Cream Shoppe'. Severus got out first and ran over to help Lily with her door. He saw that her father was smiling at him. He had a feeling that the old man knew that he loved Lily – would do anything to make Lily happy. Inside, Lily's mother Rose asked what they would like – luckily Tuney wasn't here, he thought, and then remembered briefly that she had been visiting a friend's house for that summer – to avoid him and Lily, he supposed.

"I want strawberry mom! What kind do you want Sev?" she asked him, distracting him from his thoughts. He took a look at the different kinds and decided on a chocolate that had strawberries in it. "That sounds good actually. Can I change mine?" Lily asked but the man had made hers already. "It's okay Lil, I'll share mine." He said with a rare smile. She was the only one that could make him smile like this – not even his own mother could make him smile like Lily could.

"Okay!" she said and beamed at him. "Then I'll share mine with you too." She said and they took a seat at a nearby table – he and Lily took one while her parents took the one in front. Two small bowls were handed to the children and Severus put half of his in a bowl for Lily, while she did the same with her ice cream. "That's not a bad idea, eh Rose?" said Lily's father and Rose chuckled.

Lily beamed at him and started eating her ice cream. Severus noticed that she was eating it a bit faster than what was wise, and put a hand on her own, which immediately caused him to flush. "Careful Lily, you're going to get –" he started to say when she suddenly winced and interrupted him with an "Oww!"
"Brain freeze." He added, though not without a little snort of amusement. Bloody girl, she was really a Gryffindor, wasn't she? He rolled his eyes at her and she frowned at him. "Sev, that's mean!" she said when he raised a brow.

She stuck her tongue out at him which caused the surprised Severus to blink and lean just a little too far back in his chair – the chair ended up going backwards on him – in that split moment, Lily saw him fall backwards, the look on his face made Lily do the same thing, giggling madly.

Rose and Thomas (Don't know his real name) started and immediately got up to see if they were okay, but then sat back down when Lily and Sev started laughing. "Lily Dawn Evans, I'm going to strangle you. Oww. . ." he complained, holding his side. "It's your fault Severus. Snape." She said and stuck her tongue at him again. "You just looked so surprised, I couldn't help but laugh."

He groaned but smirked all the same. "You're going to be the death of me Lily." He joked and stood up, offering his hand to her, like she had done for him earlier. She took it and got to her feet. "I am so excited about going to Hogwarts tomorrow, aren't you Sev?" she asked as they threw their paper bowls away and Severus nodded. He really did miss the school, come to think of it. But then a dark thought entered Severus' mind – James Potter, and following behind was the marauders.

"What's wrong Severus?" she asked and poked him. "Come on, mom and dad's heading to the car." she said, waking Sev from his thoughts. Hmm, this was good – her parents were outside, and he had Lily all to himself at the moment. "Hey Lily, will you always be my best friend?" he asked and watched Lily as she rolled her beautiful green eyes and slapped his arm. "Of course I will silly! No matter what, we're friends forever and ever!"
He grinned. That was what he wanted to hear. "We'd better hurry, your parents are looking for us." He said and grinned at the most beautiful woman in the world. His Lily. . . And this time, he'd be sure to make her his beloved Lily. Starting tomorrow, he decided as they left for home . . .

"Severus! Wake up, time to go!" said a voice the next morning that seemed to echo in his ears. It was his mother's voice. "I'm up mother." He said and got ready. "Lily's mom and dad said I could ride with them." He explained and quickly got dressed in some muggle clothes he owned – they were a bit too small, but it didn't matter – he would be wearing his Hogwarts uniform after they got onto the train.

He was about to float his trunk out the door when he remembered that he shouldn't know how to use magic. So he had to rely on his mother and him lifting it to quietly carry it out of the house – once they nearly dropped it in front of a sleeping Tobias – he was passed out on the couch and snored when he heard his ink for the school year hit the side of his trunk.

Finally outside, he waved goodbye to his mother and took out his wand. Making sure no one was looking, he caused it to float just a little – it wasn't easily noticeable since it skimmed the grass. Now that he'd solved the problem of the heavy case, he pulled it in the direction of his beloved's house: Lily. . .

She was already outside, and she beamed when she saw him there. "Hey Sev! Come on, I'll help you with your trunk." She said but he shook his head. "It's ok, I've got it. Ready?" he asked and she nodded. "Yep, my trunk is in the car." She said, beaming. Thomas helped Severus with his trunk and they got into the car for the ride to King's Cross.

Through the trip, Lily asked him all about Hogwarts, and he grinned as he told her about the boat ride, and the giant squid that sometimes saved kids that fell into the lake. Her eyes got even bigger when he told her about the house elves that cooked at Hogwarts, and that there was a secret way to get into the kitchens.

"Wow Sev, it sounds like you know everything about Hogwarts! Did your mom tell you this stuff?" she asked in awe. He nodded. It was a lie, he knew, but it was a white lie, and it was useful not to blow his cover. After all, this was his second chance. But it was funny – he couldn't remember much about dying anymore.

And then he remembered that in that white place that had turned into King's Cross that the memories of his old life would start to fade. Hmm, he'd have to write what he remembered, so that he could be prepared for the near future – but then again, everything this time would be different – of that he vowed.

"Hey silly, come on, we're here. Gosh, you sure do like to get lost in your thoughts, don't you?" asked Lily and Severus turned a pale pink. "Sorry, I have a lot on my mind now these days." He admitted and hopped out of the car. He smirked at her and grasped her slender hand. "I hear it's easier to run straight through." He supplied before he felt his face heat up again.

"Okay Sev. We can do it on three then." She said nervously, looking from him to the solid brick wall, and then back to him before she licked her lips nervously. She was so cute, he thought, even when she was nervous. "Okay." He answered, and she started counting down. "One. . . two. . . THREE!" she yelped and the two ran straight through to the other side of the platform.

Severus cracked an eye open to see her reaction and grinned at her. "Told you." He said as her parents came through. "Let's find a compartment." He mentioned and she nodded. He searched all of them and found one that was almost empty – it had Remus Lupin sitting there, looking through a book on defense against the dark arts when he felt their presence.

"Oh, hello. Looking for a compartment? You can join mine." He added and Severus had a bad feeling about this – if Lupin was here, then Potter, Black and Pettigrew would be along too. The word Pettigrew caused Severus to start. Pettigrew! He had betrayed James and Lily – there was no way that he would let it happen again!

"I'm Remus Lupin, first year." He said introducing himself. "Hi! I'm Lily Evans, and this is Severus Snape." Lily said, introducing them. Severus simply nodded his head at Remus. After all, they might not have to be enemies this time around – he had only hated Remus because he had been part of the Marauders, Potter's group. "We're first years too." He heard Lily say and saw her sit down in front of Remus. Severus quickly joined her. That's when the door opened. . . and James Potter the bastard himself walked in . . .