Title: Blue October, Volume One, Chapter Eleven

Author: Woodland Goddess

Rated: M

Author's Notes: Aw, Poor Severus in the last chapter. I always feel so bad for him when Lily jumps to conclusions about him... Thanks for the reviews and patience, guys! I greatly appreciate them!

Chapter Eleven: Encounters of the Distasteful Kind

The days following the branch incident at the playground were some of the worst for Severus. He could not help but feel utterly miserable that he did not have as much control over his magic – or his emotions – as Lily did. She seemed to be a singularly gifted Witch and he had been lucky to become friends with her, but now all of that was ruined; simply because he could not reign in his temper. Of course, he did not blame himself entirely. Petunia was also at fault; she was so insistent on deriding him whenever she saw him, for whatever reason.

After the incident Lily did not once set foot inside the Pharmacy and Mr Evans never brought her up, though he treated Severus no different than he usually did. Severus was immensely grateful for that. He could not bear it if two sources of warmth, affection and kindness turned against him. Outside of his family, they were all that he had. One might not think it was much, but they were definitely a hundred times more than he could ever ask for or deserve. He just hoped that one day they could think of him like that, in return...but he doubted that day would come.

On the seventh day following Lily's flight from him, Severus headed to the playground. He had done so every day since the incident, but today he was particularly miserable. He wanted tell Lily how truly sorry he was that Petunia had been hurt, even if she had started it. He wanted to hug her tightly and never let go. He wanted to curl up in a ball at her feet and weep. He wanted to tell her to take the log out of Petunia's eye, before ripping the stick from his. But he did none of these things, despite remembering, clearly, the route to her house.

Severus might not have much, but he had some measure of pride, buried deep within his heart. Swallowing thickly, he slipped through the kissing gate, into the playground; the place that held some of his most cherished memories. He went over to the swings and sat down heavily, a sigh of boundless misery escaping him. Gripping the chains, he glared down at the ground, wishing Petunia had never come to spy on them. Not only had she contributed to the ending of his friendship with Lily, she had learned things that Muggles were not supposed to know.

If the Ministry ever found out what she had learned from him...well, it was safe to say it would be doubtful that Severus would reach Hogwarts at the age of eleven. Even at his age, Wizarding children knew not to speak of their world around Muggles. If anyone learned that Petunia knew about the Wizarding World, he would be in very deep trouble and that was not something that he liked to think about. If he could have obliviated the entire incident from his mind, he most certainly would have.

Growling softly, Severus pushed off the ground, easing himself into a steady swinging rhythm. It was cathartic, but did not erase all trace of his troubles from his mind. The tiniest portion of it still niggled at the back of his mind, irritating him, causing his body to tense up. The rigidity of his body did not allow him to bend and flow to create kinetic energy for the swing. Letting out a frustrated noise that sounded vaguely reminiscent of a gargle, Severus dragged his feet, forcing the swing to a stop.

He hated it when he had something on his mind; it hardly ever allowed him to have peace. If anything, peace of mind was one thing he hoped he would find when he reached Hogwarts. There was always something bothering him, niggling away at his mind. He rubbed his hand down his cheek, slightly pulling at the flesh beneath his eye. He squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, muttering to himself about the mess he and Petunia had put him in. He rose from the seat of the swing and turned to leave the playground; he would find no peace there.

Severus stopped in his tracks, however. There was a boy coming into the playground, squeezing – with some difficulty – through the kissing gate. He was short and round, with watery eyes. Severus knew who the boy was, of course; he recognised him easily. It was none other than Peter, one of the children who had been hunting Lily down two years earlier. He was the boy that Severus had unceremoniously tripped, in an effort to aid Lily from behind the scenes. The clothes the boy was wearing were well-made and seemingly new, indicating his family had some bit of money.

Severus eyed him, his gaze narrowed. There was something unpleasant about the way the boy was looking at him, like he was some new animal that he could hunt for sport. Severus flicked his gaze around, checking for the boy's friends. He thought of the word loosely; the group seemed to be more like a gang of miniature hooligans. He would not be surprised in the slightest if they grew up to be criminals, if he was being utterly honest. Severus straightened as the boy approached, keeping his head held high with what little pride in himself that he had.

"I've seen you with Evans," Peter said without preamble, watery blue eyes locked on Severus.

"I could care less," Severus replied, a hint of sarcasm lacing his tone. He used sarcasm quite regularly, though he had no idea that he did so. Severus did not know sarcasm existed, let alone that he used it.

Peter smiled up at him – he was almost a head shorter than Severus – but the smile was not the least bit kind. "You should," he said, scratching his button nose absently. "Care, that is; I know what you are."

"Congratulations. Being able to tell the difference between a human being and a rock is a fantastic achievement; your mother must be so proud," Severus retorted with a sneer that would, one day, become his trademark expression, but as much as Severus did not want to admit it; he was afraid. Could Peter really deduce that he was a Wizard, by mere association to Lily? It seemed ridiculous and yet there was a knowing gleam in the short boy's eyes, a telling lift to his mouth. It was quite clear the boy thought he knew something about Severus – something he obviously thought to be a dirty little secret.

Peter's face turned red and his eyes almost bulged out of his head at the slight, but a moment later he shook it off and laughed; it was a horrendous sound, like the human equivalent of a rat's squeak. Severus glared down the length of his nose at him, shoulders tense, while his hands gripped each other behind his back. He did not like this boy at all. "Use that tone all you like, Snape, but I can see it in your eyes; you're scared! Of course, you have good reason. Like I said, I know what you are."

"Oh, and what do you think I am?" Severus demanded, deciding to play along for the sake of finding out exactly what Peter thought.

"I don't think –"

"Pity," Severus said sardonically, tilting his head to the side.

"I know," Peter said firmly in an attempt to assure Severus. "You're like Lily; an abomination."

"How dare you?!" The shocked and enraged exclamation was uttered by a familiar voice, but it took Severus completely by surprise. He had neither seen nor heard Lily approaching, yet there she was, standing behind Peter. The boy whirled around so fast he almost over-balanced. Severus, his cheeks flushed with red – having a girl come to his rescue wounded his pride rather spectacularly – stared at Lily. The girl's hands were curled into fists and her eyes were alive with a fire that Severus rarely saw directed at him.

Her gaze gave Peter a proper roasting as she stood there, tendrils of her crimson hair blowing in the wind. Even at the tender age of nine, she was a sight to behold. "How dare you say such a thing to him?! He hasn't done anything, but be my friend and you call him that? For what?! And what does it matter to you, whether he's like me or not? What we are or aren't is none of your business!" She strode forward, drawing her hand back; she clearly meant to strike the unpleasant boy.

Peter let out an undignified squeak and fled before she could land a hit. Coward, Severus thought with derision. The pair of them watched the boy run away in silence, before turning to look at each other. The faced each other awkwardly, neither of them sure where to go from that point. Severus rubbed the back of his neck, while Lily scratched at her right arm, looking down at the ground. "Thank you," Severus said hesitantly, breaking a silence that had lasted for several minutes. His cheeks were still stained red. "I'd be grateful if you'd never do that again, though..."

"What?" Lily asked, looking up in surprise, her arm forgotten.

"Rescue me," Severus said, looking off to the side. "It's embarrassing enough being unable to afford things that kids like you take for granted; I don't need someone else to fight my battles for me. Let me have what little pride I can have. Promise me you won't try to rescue me like that, ever again." His tone was full of quiet pleading for her to understand. "Please." For a long time, Lily said nothing and he was beginning to wonder if she had left, but he was too nervous and embarrassed to look.

He startled when Lily took his hand in hers. Severus whipped his head around to face her, staring at the girl who had come to his aid, even though they had parted on bad terms. She smiled sweetly at him. "If it makes you feel better, then I promise," she said firmly, nodding her head, her auburn locks bobbing with the motion. The corners of Severus' mouth pulled upwards into a crooked smile, one that he rarely showed anyone. Normally, he allowed his eyes to express his feelings for him. She continued with a smile that turned a little sad. "I'm sorry about last week...for blowing up at you."

"I...no...it's...it's okay."

"It isn't! It isn't okay! I blew up at you, even though you didn't deserve it! I've been thinking about that day all week! Petunia was insulting you and you were upset, just like I got upset when she called me a freak once. You just...you lost control...even I do that sometimes...and it was really mean of me to take my worry for Petunia out on you." Severus' cheeks flushed an even deeper red as she pointed out his failings, but he mumbled his gratitude for her apology and his acceptance of it. After a fashion, he enquired about her sister. "Oh...well..." Lily hesitated, scuffing the ground with her shoe. "Her collarbone's broken."

"Oh."

"Yeah..."

"I hope she'll feel better soon," Severus said, the words tumbling from his lips awkwardly. Lily's smile brightened immeasurably at that, causing Severus to tentatively smile at her in return. "Do you want to play some...uh...?" Severus spent several moments searching for the name of an appropriate game, but none came to mind. He was not used to playing games; he and Lily usually sat on the ground and cloud-gazed or spoke to each other in quiet voices. Hopefully, this would be his first experience with playing games.

"Chase?" Lily asked, grinning, a happy giggle escaping her. "I'd love to, Severus!" She shoved him rather roughly with her hand. "Tag; you're it!" Lily took off, skirts whirling around her swiftly moving legs. Her hair streamed behind her, that familiar banner that took Severus' breath away. It took several moments of gaping at her retreating back for him to realise he was meant to run after her. When he finally did so, he stumbled in his haste to follow after her. He chased her in endless circles around the playground, trying a multitude of tactics in an attempt to get his hands on her.

He finally did manage to catch her, when he tricked into thinking he was circling the slide in one direction, but had actually turned right around and head the other way. She collided with him roughly and both of them went sprawling backwards, impacting harshly with the ground. A burst of laughter of escaped the pair of them. "You're it," he said, forcing the words out between laughs. Lily kicked his foot from her spread-eagled position, as if that gesture alone meant she had caught him.

Severus snorted, partly amused and partly deriding. "You're so lazy." It was a comment that escaped him almost every day, when he was in Lily's presence. She was particularly lazy; she would run if she had to, but typically preferred to lounge around, rather like a cat, soaking up whatever heat there was to be found. Lily lifted her head and poked her tongue out at him, before resting her head on the ground again. She pushed her arms under her head, allowing them to act as a form of cushion.

"Am I really an abomination?" Lily asked. Her voice shook. It was clear she had been strongly affected by Peter's words.

"No," Severus snapped; it was obvious to him that she should believe his word over that boy's. Severus was her friend, after all. "Peter's a moron; he doesn't have the slightest clue what he's talking about. If anyone's an abomination it's him; he looks more like a rat than any person I've ever seen."

"That's mean, Severus," Lily replied, but there was laughter in her voice. Obviously, it was not so mean that she was unable to find any humour in Severus' comment about the boy. This pleased him greatly; he did not want to alienate her because of a silly comment about a boy that seemed to be nothing more than a cowardly bully, tagging along with groups that could protect him and fleeing when he was outnumbered or intimidated – even when the intimidator in question was a pretty girl.

"Well, he was being mean to me first; it's nothing more than his just desserts!"

"I guess you're right," Lily said with a small sigh and then she shifted, coming over to lie beside Severus. "I'm glad I found you." The words were quietly spoken, barely more than a whisper, but Severus heard them, his ears disentangling them from the breeze blowing through the playground around them. Impulsively, Severus took her hand in his and squeezed lightly, trying to convey that he very much felt the same way. They had both been in need of a friend when they found each other and good friends, Severus hoped, would be what they would be one day.

Their friendship had barely started and had plenty of time to be nurtured and grown before they turned eleven and received their Hogwarts letters. By then, Severus was certain that they would be almost inseparable. Lily and Severus would be friends, no matter what trials and tribulations would await them in the future. Lily tilted her head slightly, resting it lightly against Severus' shoulder. "Who do you think will come to explain everything to my parents?" she asked suddenly, evidently curious.

"I have no idea," Severus answered, his eyebrows knitting together as he frowned up at the sky. "It's usually one of the Professors, according to my Mum, but sometimes one of the Governors from the Board can do it. It really depends on what the situation calls for, I think."

"What else has your Mum told you about?"

Severus' eyes flashed with contentment and the corner of his mouth quirked upwards. "Quite a bit, actually. I think she enjoys nattering on about the Wizarding World; she doesn't normally get the chance to talk about it, so she pounces on the few times that she can, like a cat when it has a mouse in its sight."

"Ah. Well, feel free to talk about anything; even if it ends up getting covered when we go to school!" Severus did exactly as she asked. He started talking about the subtle science and exact art of brewing Potions. He spoke of the different kinds of herbs, animals, powders and fluids that could be used when brewing and how different combinations can lead to disaster. Lily found all of this rather exciting, judging by gasps and sighs of longing. It was quite clear to Severus that she desperately wanted to try it.

Severus felt a swell of happiness in his heart. It was wonderful being able to talk about Potions with her. He could not imagine how horrifying it would be, if she had not been magical. The thought of having to keep secrets from her, it gave him cold shivers and goose bumps. Fortunately, lady luck seemed to be in his favour of late. Silently, he vowed not to do anything too wild or say anything too harsh; he did not want to experience another week without contact with Lily. She was the only friend he had in the world and she meant everything to him, even at such an early stage in their relationship.

"I can't wait until we go to Hogwarts," Lily said breathlessly, sitting up so that she could look down at him. The setting sun exploded off her auburn strands of hair, glowing against her skin, causing her eyes to stand out even more. She was absolutely radiant and for several moments her beauty was all he could see.

To Be Continued

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