Title: Blue October, Volume One – Chapter Seven.

Author: Woodland Goddess.

Rated: M

Author's Note: On with this chapter, this magical number 7. Some content of this chapter will be familiar, because I'm wrapping this story around the scenes that were shown to us in the books, so I did take direct quotes (namely dialogue) from The Prince's Tale, though I did make some changes. There'll also be some actions and feelings that weren't mentioned in the book, which I decided to add. I don't own the content from the books, nor am I making a profit. Don't sue me, please.

Chapter Seven: Time Flies, Temperatures Rise

Severus did not see hide or hair of Lily or Tuney Evans for the two years that followed that unpleasant encounter with the girl in the Pharmacy – quite a long time by his reckoning, but it had flown because of the hours he had spent at the Pharmacy with Mr Evans. He was both relieved and disgruntled by this knowledge. He did not want to encounter Tuney again, but Lily was quite another story. He wanted to meet her again, but he was not fortunate enough to do so. Luck seemed to be constantly going against him in that regard. He wondered how much the girl had changed over the course of those two years.

Severus, himself, had changed quite a bit during those twenty-four months. His nose was more prominent now and slightly bent from a botched healing after Tobias had slammed his face down on the kitchen table for talking back to him last winter. His hair was longer, coming down to brush against his shoulders. Eileen would have to try to cut it soon, since they could not afford to take him to a barber. Due to the intake of nutrients when he would eat lunch with Mr Evans, he had also stretched like a weed – the only problem was that he did not get enough food the rest of the time, for his body to fill out properly.

The dark-haired boy could not help but stand in front of a mirror, some mornings, and glower at his reflection. He could not stand the pasty colour of his skin, the lifeless quality of his hair, the way his ribs were visible. The only feature he vaguely favoured about himself was his eyes, but they could never distract anyone from the rest of him...at least, not while he was still a nine year old boy. Perhaps, one day, he could put so much life in his eyes that the rest of him would be forgotten.

That day would be a long time in coming, however. For now, Severus would have to make do with the way he was now. Sighing in frustration, he left Spinner's End, shutting the front door with the slightest hint of a temper. As the months passed, he had grown more moody whenever he had to spend time at home. To avoid an altercation, he figured it would be best to vent his frustration at the playground. It was a lovely day outside and Mr Evans had given him the day off. He did not know whether he was pleased or disappointed about that.

He loved learning and reading books, but he had also been hoping to spend a day in the sunshine. He supposed he would just have to make the most of it and thank Mr Evans for letting him have the day off the next time he saw him. Stuffing his hands into the holey pockets of his jeans, Severus walked over to the playground, head down and shoulders slightly hunched, so that he could avoid looking at people. He hated walking passed people; they would always look at him as if he were some sort of cockroach or slug or any other vile thing they would have no problem standing on.

Their looks were especially nasty when they noticed his clothes and that day would be no different. He had been forced to wear jeans that were too short, a smock-like shirt and a shabby large coat that used to belong to his father. His clothes were despicable and people would naturally assume that he was despicable, just because he happened to be wearing them at the time. Merlin, he did not know why people had to be so judgemental; it was not as though he could control how many times he got new clothes. He could only get them when his parents could afford them, which was hardly ever.

When he neared the playground, he was forced to stop in his tracks. Lily and her elder sister were passing through the kissing gate. Severus' abdomen filled with the butterflies of discomfort. While he wanted to enjoy the day in the playground, he did not want to be seen by Tuney. The girl would only belittle him, just like she had that day in the Pharmacy. It would be worse, now, though, because of the incident with the medicine. It was pretty clear she did not like it when others used magic, even if it was by accident.

Standing there for a moment, he quickly came to a decision. He moved away from the playground, slipping down a side street, manouevering his way around to the other side. He moved through the copse of trees and briars, careful not to get himself snagged on them, coming close to the fence, but remaining in the shadows. He watched the way the two girls interacted and felt a pang of jealousy. Part of him wished that he had a sibling, to share the warmth of the sun with and the love of books with...but another part of him was glad he did not. He was glad he was the only child suffering at Tobias' hands.

A smile slowly spread across Lily's rather pretty face as Tuney chased her around the playground. They were laughing and shouting back and forth at each other. It looked as if they were having...fun. Severus found himself wondering what that felt like. He did not really count reading and learning and writing as fun, though it was often enjoyable. It was a rather different breed of enjoyment, he thought. Lily's green eyes – so much like her father's that it took Severus' breath away – were sparkling with joy.

The two girls played tag for some time, before finally slowing down, their chests heaving and their faces flushed from the exertion. Still laughing, Lily made her way over to the swing and sat down, clutching the chains tightly. She looked at Tuney expectantly and the blonde girl snorted in amusement, shaking her head fractionally. "You're not four anymore, Lily; you can move the swing by yourself!" Lily looked back over her shoulder and Severus saw the briefest flash of a pout, before a winning smile took over as Tuney finally caved to the auburn-haired girl's wishes.

Severus watched, an amused smirk playing across his thin lips, as Tuney pandered to her younger sister's simple desires. The blonde girl seemed such a marshmallow, when it came to her younger sibling. Severus supposed that was the result of love. He could not imagine being such a person, himself, however. The thought was absolutely ridiculous. He would never condone being walked over by a girl – especially if she were younger than him, like Lily was, compared to Tuney.

Eventually, her arms getting tired, Tuney gave up pushing the swing for Lily, but it hardly mattered at that point. Now that the ball was rolling, Lily had no problem swinging to her heart's content and did not really care what her older sister decided to do to amuse herself. The girl leaned her head back as a serene smile pulled at the corners of her mouth. As she swung through the air, Lily's red hair fanned out behind her like a brilliant banner of fire. Watching her, Severus wondered if Tuney was envious of her sister's natural beauty.

Eventually, Tuney joined her sister on the swing set. She must have regained some of her energy by now. With renewed vigour, Tuney sat down, took hold of the chains and kicked away from the ground, easing into a good swing. It was not long at all until the two sisters were both swinging at the same pace, hitting the same height, their hair fanning out behind them. It quickly became a competition, but Lily seemed incapable of keeping it friendly as she drove her swing higher and higher, hurtling past her sister at alarming speeds.

Severus realized what Lily was going to do at the same moment that Tuney did. His abdomen tightened in a split second and he briefly wondered if the girl was going to use magic, but he had little time to think about it. "Lily," cried the elder girl, "don't do it!" It was clear that Tuney, however much she disliked the use of Magic against her, loved her sister dearly and was extremely concerned in that moment. Severus had a fleeting day-dream of what it would be like to have someone care about him that much.

Laughing exuberantly, Lily ignored her sibling's admonition and leapt off the swing, launching herself into the air. She went far too high and lingered far too long, her hair and skirts flaring around her. When she landed upon the ground, there was no stumble; there was no spraining of her ankle. She landed with the grace of a ballerina, as if she had barely moved off the ground, let alone fall from at least eleven feet in the air. There was a smile of pure delight on the girl's face.

"Mummy told you not to!" Tuney exclaimed, digging the heels of her sandals into the ground, forcing the swing to a stop. The blonde girl launched herself off the swing, coming to stand not too far away from Lily, her hands on her hips. Tuney was as much her mother's daughter as Lily would be one day, with that single gesture. "Mummy said you weren't allowed, Lily!" It was quite obvious that the girl had more to say, but Lily – seemingly stubborn girl that she was – would have absolutely none of it.

"But I'm fine," the red-haired girl said sharply, though another giggle did bubble up from her. She bent down and picked up a flower that had drifted over on a breeze – it had clearly fallen from the tree beside which Severus was standing. The blonde looked around surreptitiously as Lily continued speaking to her. "Tuney," she said, holding her hand out towards her older sister, "look at this. Watch what I can do!" It was clear the green-eyed girl was endlessly excited about what she was going to show her sister and it left Severus with little doubt that she was a Witch. A talented one, he would wager.

His gaze sharpening, Severus watched intently as Tuney came even closer to her sister, eyeing Lily's open palm with modicum of trepidation. But she was also inherently curious, if she was to be judged by the lively spark in her brown eyes. Tuney peered closer and then suddenly recoiled. "Stop it," the girl cried in fright, taking a step backwards. That was when Severus noticed it; the petals of the flower were opening and closing. It looked both bizarre and magnificent. The girl had such control over the action! It was really quite wonderful; Severus could tell she would be brilliant at Hogwarts.

A soft sigh of disappointment could be heard. "It's not hurting you," Lily said, a tinge of sadness clinging to her words. She had obviously been hoping her sister would accept her gift. She closed her hand around the flower – Severus thought she meant to crush it against her palm, but instead she released it and it fluttered down to the ground at her feet.

"It's not right," Tuney snapped, making the sign of the cross with a quick gesture of her hand. Severus almost laughed at the sight. As if something so ridiculous could ward off magic, he thought, amusement rolling off him. The blonde girl eyed the flower on the ground for a moment, glanced around briefly, and looked down at it again. "How did you do it?" she asked after a long moment. There was definitely a hint of longing in her voice. Ha, Severus thought with a grin, the girl's jealous! And so she should be!

"Isn't it obvious?" Severus asked, stepping through the fence, unable to contain himself. It was such a golden opportunity to speak to another magical child his age; he simply could not pass it up. Tuney let out a shout of surprise and backpedalled towards the swings in record time. Severus did not mind; she was a mean-spirited girl when it came to him. Lily whirled around and her eyes landed upon him. She was startled, but she was not frightened enough to flee from him. She really had no reason to be afraid of him. Disturbed, yes, but not frightened.

Severus flushed under the intensity of her gaze. It was clear she was taking in everything about him. He was certain she would soon write him off as a vagabond. It was what everyone did – he doubted she would be much different, but he had to try. If he tried and failed to strike the beginnings of a friendship with this girl, then he could settle back into his solitude without having known the benefits of having a friend. But there was always a chance, even if it was extremely slim. He held onto that chance.

"What's obvious?" Lily asked, one brow rising towards her hairline as if by its own volition.

Severus swallowed nervously and glanced towards her sister, before bringing his dark gaze right back to the auburn-haired girl in front of him. He leaned forward slightly on the balls of his feet and lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I know what you are," he told her eagerly.

"What do you mean?" the green-eyed girl demanded, her shoulders tensing, though, facially, she seemed almost as eager as he was.

"You're..." he began, the word coming out high-pitched due to his nerves. He coughed to clear his throat and tried again. "You're a witch," he finished in a rather pleasant tone, gracing the girl with a closed-mouth smile, in the hopes that she would see his sincerity regarding the whole matter.

Lily recoiled away from him, her face contorting as she took umbrage to his remark. Severus' stomach fell and his heart pounded furiously against his ribcage. He had approached the topic horribly and regretted not thinking it through immediately. "That's not a very nice thing to say to somebody!" With her nose held indignantly in the air, Lily turned away and stormed off, heading towards the swing set, where her sister was waiting for her, eyebrows knitting together with an emotion that was half-concern and half-anger.

"No," Severus said earnestly, hurrying after her, his blush darkening with the power of his embarrassment. The clothes he was wearing did not make him look any better when he moved faster. In fact, they made him look even more horrendous. The sight was no doubt comical to the two girls before him, but they had the good grace not to laugh at that moment. "I'm being quite serious! You are," he said to her as she gripped the swing pole, glowering at him as he continued to come closer. "You are a Witch."

He swallowed thickly and pointed over to where he had been standing earlier. "I arrived at the playground not too long after you did, by some luck, but I made sure you didn't notice me because I wanted to think about how to approach you. I...I've been watching you for a while – not on purpose, I mean. The first time was by accident, too. I was in the playground that day, two years ago, when those kids were chasing you...you hit that Peter boy in the shoulder with a rock, but your aim was excellent! I thought...I thought you did it with the help of magic."

Lily and Tuney stared at him, stunned into silence. Severus continued, pleased by their silence because it meant he would have free reign...at least for a little while. "You most definitely are a Witch." At the sound of the offensive word, the two girls started to get angry again, but he quickly went on, holding his hand up briefly. "But there's nothing wrong with that. My mum's one...and I'm a Wizard." He said this last part with a swell of pride, his thin chest puffing out marginally with the strength of his pride as he raised his head, jutting his chin out slightly.

Tuney let out a sudden bark of laughter, the sound of it landing on Severus like a large bucket, filled to the brim with ice cold water. It deflated his pride and wounded him quite seriously. "Wizard," the girl yelled, having quickly recovered from her shock. Severus took a number of steps away from her as she raised her arm, pointing viciously at him, stabbing the air with every word of her next sentence. "I know who you are, Severus!" She definitely remembered him from that day at the Pharmacy and still held a grudge, clearly.

"You're that Snape boy who lives down Spinner's End, by the river." Her tone was evidence that she considered the address to be an abysmal excuse for domestic accommodation. "Now, you answer me this or so help me, I will kick you back to where you came from, gutter rat! Why have you been spying on us?"

Severus glared at her and, though it was not quite the sinister one he would have in years to come, it was not something to be overlooked. "I haven't been spying," he retorted sharply, though hints of discomfort laced his words. He was growing exceptionally hot under the collar under her verbal assault. But she clearly had not been listening to his earlier words and, if he was honest, he was not the least bit surprised by that notion. "And I wouldn't spy on you, anyway," he added spitefully as anger slowly began to take over. "You're a Muggle!"

Being so ordinary, Tuney would have no idea what the word was, but his tone left little room for doubt. He meant it as an insult, but normally he would not use it as one. The blonde grabbed Lily's arm in a vice-like grip. "Lily, come on, we're leaving!" Her words were shrill, but the anger and pain in her voice were obvious. Lily threw him a dirty look over her shoulder as the two of them marched away and Severus found himself torn between guilt and satisfaction. The moment had not gone as planned but he blamed it on Tuney's presence...

To Be Continued.

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