Title: Blue October, Volume One – Chapter Nine.

Author: Woodland Goddess.

Rated: M

Author's Notes: Hope you guys enjoyed the last chapter and I'll hope you'll like this one too.

Chapter Nine: Small Steps, Bubble and Squeak

There were only eleven more days left in July now and Severus had spent every passing day in Lily's company. She would come to the Pharmacy after school and would do her homework in the backroom – an extra desk had been added since Severus and Lily had first started spending time together. He found they worked well together, especially when it came to English, History and Science. When their work was done, the two of them would go to the playground and spend some time on the swings, before returning to their mutual comfort of reading. He would then walk her home.

That was what it had been like at the start, at least. On the sixteenth, the routine had changed dramatically. Instead of heading to the playground after their studies, Lily brought him home with her. While both Mrs Evans and Petunia had a distinct problem with this, due to the state of his clothes, Mr Evans would put his foot down and say that if Petunia could bring her friends to the house, then Lily could as well; it was only fair. Mr Evans also thought it was cruel to deprive him of something many other children would experience.

The Apollo 11 mission was not something one could brush under a rug; it would be the talk of the world, not just their town of Cokeworth. BBC1, BBC2 and ITV, the United Kingdom's three television channels were providing extensive coverage. The programmes entitled Apollo 11 were broadcast from Lime Grove Studios in London and the BBC2 sections were broadcast in colour, while BBC1 was in black and white. Cliff Michelmore was the main presenter of the programme, while James Burke and Patricia Moore concentrated on scientific and technical explanations and analysis.

Severus was struck dumb by the entire thing. He could hardly believe that Muggles could do something as astounding as travel through space and land on the moon. He was simply unable to fathom the idea. It was not that he thought Muggles were stupid – Merlin knew there was plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise – it was that he could not imagine them being able to do things that were more wonderful than what a Wizard could do with Magic. He supposed, eventually, that since they did not have Magic, Muggles were forced to make up for it with intelligence – though some Muggles did not have that, either.

It was the twentieth of July and it found Severus and Lily curled up together on the floor of the living room, next to Mr Evans' legs. The room was tastefully furnished and had a lovely homey atmosphere that Spinner's End lacked. On the mantel above the fireplace, there was an antique spring-driven clock. Severus wondered how many men it had passed down from, since its creation. There was no doubt in his mind that it had come from Mr Evans' side of the family. For as long as Severus had known him, Mr Evans had been in love with history and antiquated items.

Mrs Evans had not cooked dinner yet, but Severus was not surprised by it. He and the Evans family and a number of their neighbours, were all packed into the living room, watching the television avidly. Tonight was the night, they said and the viewers could barely stand the wait. They had been watching But What if it's Made of Green Cheese earlier and found they were all hungry for the next Mission Broadcast, now. However, several hours passed and it had still not aired on the television.

Severus and Lily started to doze off, both of them leaning against Mr Evans' legs, at around ten that night. The blonde man ordered them – and Petunia – to go upstairs for some sleep. There was a storm of protestations, even from Petunia who normally did exactly as her parents told her, but the three of them grudgingly agreed to do as he said, after several promises to wake them up when it was time for the broadcast of the landing. The three of them stomped up the stairs, grumbling about how unfair it all was.

Petunia and Lily both had their own rooms, which relieved Severus. He was not sure he could share a room with Petunia, however briefly, and survive the ordeal. Lily led Severus into her room and took a moment to show him her library case, which filled him with envy. He forced himself to squash the feeling down and survey the room, while he could. The room, while not the biggest in the house, was certainly bigger than Severus' room at Spinner's End. It was furnished very much the way Severus had expected it to be; light wood surfaces and the colour of pink in numerous places. "Nice room," he commented, though he would have much preferred a room decked out in the colour green.

He loved the colour green, but he supposed that had a lot to do with the day he had met the Evans family when he was a younger boy. Mr Evans had influenced him in a number of ways, since they had first met on that fateful day. Green would always remind him of the kindness Mr Evans had shown him, though the man had not known him in those early days. Those reminders were what kept him sane when everything around him seemed absolutely hopeless; he was convinced of that.

Shaking his head, he pulled away from those darker thoughts even as the red-haired girl thanked him for complimenting her room. Lily smiled broadly at him and climbed into her bed, which had a number of teddies sitting at the end of it. "Come on," she said, knocking several of her teddies off the bed so that she could place a pillow in their stead. "I can tell by those bags under your eyes that you're as tired as I am. There's no point hanging about – especially if you want to be awake for the landing later!"

He conceded her point and hesitantly approached the bed, but stopped before getting in. He looked over his shoulder and then down at the floor, his cheeks tinged with the faintest blush. "I'm a boy."

"Well-spotted," Lily replied with a laugh.

"I should sleep on the floor," he continued, blatantly ignoring her response, looking up to the ceiling briefly before eyeing her carefully. "All I need is a pillow and a blanket."

The girl snorted loudly and shook her head. "Don't be daft, Severus! Dad would kill me and you know it. I'm supposed to take care of you."

Severus scowled severely at her and his cheeks darkened with both anger and embarrassment. His hands curled into fists at his sides, just as they always did when he was angry and mortified. "I don't need you to take care of me, Lily." The words had rushed out of him, sounding almost like a growl. Lily's hand clenched her blanket in a vice-like grip and she stared at him in utter surprise as a little gasp escaped her. He had clearly started her. He let a breath rush out of him and he stared down at the floor. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I didn't...it wasn't...I never meant it the way it sounded..."

Lily tentatively reached out and touched his arm, causing his gaze to jerk back up towards her, his eyes getting trapped by her emerald ones. "It's okay," she said quietly, earnestly, "everyone gets angry sometimes. The Lord knows I do it all the time and usually someone gets hit with a flying book when that happens. You're more than likely right, anyway. You probably don't need me to take care of you...but that doesn't mean I'm not going to do it. I'm your friend; it's my job to do it, even if you don't need me to...or want me to."

She smiled then and the sight of it almost took Severus' breath away. "Is that what we are?" he asked, forcing himself to look down at the floor. "Are we friends? I've never had a friend before..." Severus trailed off and grimaced, almost painfully, at the admission.

Lily laughed warmly. "To tell you the truth, Sev, neither have I. Now, come on." She grabbed his arm with both of her hands and gave it a hard tug, clearly determined to make him share the bed with her, despite his earlier protests. Struck dumb by the diminutive version of his name, Severus complied and climbed on to the bed, settling down at the other end of the bed. The blankets were warm and soft, pleasant against the skin of his hands and chin. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering which one of them would eventually cave and go turn the light off.

Lily hummed softly and the bedroom light went off. Severus snorted, finally knowing the answer to his question, but could not stop the small smile that tugged at his mouth. "You are so lazy."

"Don't I know it," she agreed, the bed shaking in the darkness because of her girlish giggles. After a while, the two of them fell into silence, but it was not awkward in the slightest. Severus and Lily had grown quite comfortable around each other, the more time they spent together. He was glad; he did not like feeling like a gooseberry.

After some time passed, while he was thinking over the conversation, a question occurred to him. He pushed himself up on his elbows and peered at Lily through the darkness. "Who's the Lord?"

If she was surprised that he was asking, it did not show. "The Lord is our God," she said simply, as if she truly believed it. "Now hush up; it's sleepy time." Severus had to restrain himself from snorting, both in disdain and amusement, and laid back down. Silence reigned once more. The darkness strengthened around him as his eyes drifted closed. It was not long at all until the pair of them slipped into slumber, their snores answering each other, as if they were conversing even in their sleep.

It was twenty minutes after three in the morning when Severus found himself being violently shaken from the land of nod. "Severus, Lily; you both need to walk up. The next broadcast will be on at any moment!" The sound of Mr Evans' voice, filled with quiet excitement, so close to Severus' head caused the boy to jerk awake, sitting up with surprising vigour. The top of his head almost collided with the man's strong chin. Mr Evans headed out of the room ahead of them, even as Severus and Lily practically fell out of the bed in their haste to get downstairs.

The two of them raced into the living room, reclaiming their previous seats, nestling against Mr Evans' legs. The room was as full as it had been earlier and everyone was staring at the television with an obvious hunger. The minutes trickled past, the viewers growing more and more impatient and, when the broadcast finally aired, a collective sigh of relief and pleasure could be heard. Apollo 11 was going to land on the moon at any moment; they could see the silvery surface of it growing closer and closer.

Severus could not take his eyes off the television screen, even though Lily had grabbed his hand and was squeezing it tightly. He simply could not believe it was really happening; mankind had landed on the moon! They had accomplished a feat the world had dreamt about for centuries. But more than that...Severus had had the chance to witness such a historically important event, all because he had happened to wander out of the house when he was a four year old boy with a distinct lack of potential.

The pinnacle of the night, however, for all of them, was when Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the moon for the first time. The living room exploded with cheers and claps, despite the fact that it was so late – Severus was certain other families were doing the same. Petunia squealed with delight as she clapped her hands rapidly and Lily hugged Severus exuberantly, grinning like a mad-hatter. Mr Evans was embracing his wife and laughing and wiping a tear from his cheek – the blonde man was in his personal heaven, witnessing such a wonderful moment of his world's history.

Severus was quiet – evidently still in shock – though a pleased smirk did manage to make its way onto his face. "I'm starving," Mr Evans announced loudly, catching peoples' attention as he got to his feet. "Anyone else hungry?" An array of hands shot up into the air, including those of Lily, Severus and Petunia. Snorting in amusement, Mr Evans shook his head and disappeared into the kitchen with his wife. The two of them were clearly prepared to cook some food for those currently invading their living room. Petunia went after them, offering her services.

Lily let out a happy sigh and rested against Severus' shoulder. He glanced down at the crimson head on his new-found friend, his cheeks tinged with pink, just as they had been up in Lily's room. "It's amazing, isn't it?" she asked breathlessly. "The power of intellect brought mankind to the moon! Just think about all the wonderful things you and I will do in the future, Sev!" She laughed then, a cheerful sound that made Severus's heart swell. People did not normally laugh in his presence.

"You think I'm smart?" His tone was clearly surprised.

"Do you think you're stupid?"

"No," he bit out, "of course not."

"Well, there you go, then; two clever people," she said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm sure we'll both do brilliant things one day, once our schooling's done! Dad will be so proud of us, I bet." This was said so brightly, it left little room for doubt. Severus found that he wished he could have just a glimmer of her endless confidence. If he did, maybe he would find the strength to truly stand for himself against people like his father...against people like Petunia...against people who would look at him for barely a moment, before deciding he would never be worth their time.

He glared down at his worn shoes, which were a half-size too small, and continued to mull over everything about their friendship that could possibly improve them both. He assumed that was the way friendships worked; from constant exposure to one another good traits would be cultivated, while bad traits would be dampened. He wondered what kind of man he would be in the future, following Lily's influence on his life and personality traits. He hoped he would be a man Mr Evans could be proud of, one day.

"When all of this moon-landing business is over," Lily said with a smile, "you'll have to tell me about that future school of ours, you know. I want to know absolutely everything! I don't want to be left in the dust on my first day, considering none of my parents are...like your mum." Severus could tell that she had almost said 'Witch,' but she had saved them from trouble with the adults in the room at the last possible moment. Lily giggled happily, the sound ringing in Severus' ears rather pleasantly.

Some time later plates laden with Bubble and Squeak were being handed out by Petunia, who smiled at everyone except Severus, whom she glared at. Severus glared right back, even as he thanked her. "Your sister hates me," Severus grumbled once the blonde girl had moved away.

"She'll get over it," his friend replied, though she did wear a sympathetic smile. "One day she'll see how amazing you are and she'll apologize for all the mean things she said to you and all the nasty looks she's given you." Lily pushed a lock of red-hair – still tangled from her slumber – behind her ear and picked up her fork. Nudging Severus playfully, she cajoled him into eating with her. The meal, Bubble and Squeak, consisted of fried potatoes, mixed up with an array of meats that had been leftovers from meals.

Severus found that he liked the taste and texture of everything on the plate. He ate it hungrily, though he tried his best to appear civilized in front of everyone in the living room. As he ate, he realized that people would not change their opinions of him over night. He would have to guide them by acting and thinking like someone they could respect and slowly the people around him would eventually realize that, while he was not perfect, he was not entirely bad either. Neil Armstrong would not be the only person to take small steps in the near future...

To Be Continued.

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