A/N: I don't own Harry Potter. This was written for Tangooooo14's challenge, "The Album Challenge".

Severus Snape POV:

The first few days of school were pretty standard. I spoke to Lucius in passing a few more times. It was nothing more than a polite "Good morning" and "How are you", though. There were no conversations of consequence between the two of us.

This group of boys that had been tormenting me since the beginning of first year kept up their old ways. They called themselves The Marauders, a crowd that consisted of Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew and, the worst of them all, James Potter. I can't say that I hadn't expected their taunting from the beginning of the year since they had done so for the past two of our years at school. Even so, it still hurt nonetheless. Each cruel word from their mouth was like a needle into my skin. It sent shivers down my spine, made me lay in bed awake at night, wondering what they had in store for me the next day. Some things in this life, though, are as they are, and there's no use trying to change the inevitable.

On this particular morning, it was about three weeks into the first term of the year. I was sitting underneath this big weeping willow tree that I had grown fond of over the years. It was an old tree, decades if not centuries old. I don't know, it may be silly of me to grow attached to just an old tree, but this one felt special. It was one of the rare constants in my life; something I could count on to be there for always, and wouldn't just get up and dance away randomly.

I was reading over a transfiguration essay that was due the next day, making sure it was as good as I could make it. There were students milling about outside, enjoying the sunlight and fresh air. It was all-around quite peaceful. Usually, the courtyard is loud, with too many people around making way too much noise. But now, it was just right. The perfect balance between it being not so many people that I can't think, and not too little so I feel alone.

Suddenly, I heard a sound that disrupted my peaceful reverie. There was the sound of a girl crying softly, as if she didn't want anyone to notice her. I looked up from my parchment to see a familiar flash of red hair running towards me.

Lily approached me, wiping tears from her red and blotchy eyes. I jumped up immediately, ready to comfort her. "What's wrong?" I ask, walking over to where the girl stood. Whoever made her cry, I swear I would make them pay.

"It's nothing," she said, although it was obviously something.

"No, come here." I led her over to my tree and sat her down in the shade before sitting down next to her. "Tell me what happened." My voice sounded surprisingly stern and angry, and I didn't mean for it to.

"Well, you know the Marauders?" she sniffled, rubbing her eyes furiously as if she was embarrassed to let me see her tears.

My jaw clenched and my fists balled. Of course it was them, ruining everyone's day. "Yes…" I said slowly.

"It's just, they take it too far sometimes. It's like, like-" she couldn't go on, a new wave of tears washing over her face.

I watched her cry for a second, a gnawing sensation in my gut. Then, tentatively, I reached out my arm and wrapped it around her hunched over form. When she made no move to retreat, to move away from my repulsiveness, I slowly inched towards her, until my side was against hers. "It will be okay." I murmured, stroking her hair. "Everything's going to be alright."

Then, something happened that startled me. She leaned in towards me, and put her head on my shoulder, still covering her face with her arm. I looked at her for a moment, just watching her. A blazing phoenix amidst clouds of despair. I cautiously reached my other arm around her, until I was full on embracing the girl. I could feel the warmth radiating from her petite body. The long, shuddering breaths she was drawing.

It was pretty shocking to me, to see her like this. Lily was always so strong, so cheery and optimistic. But to see her break down like this, it was like seeing an animal return to the wild, breaking down into its most primitive form, and showing all the weakness that was bottled up inside. Each teardrop that dripped from her eye was like a small gift to me. It showed that she trusted me to see what she really was like. To break down the barriers that she kept between herself and the world. Seeing her like this, it nearly brought me to tears as well. But no. I needed to be strong for her, to show that I'm a person who could withstand the burden that she places on my shoulders, the burden of not caving into my inner emotions and giving her what she needs right now. And that would be strength.

With a quivering breath, she looked up at me and said, "I'm sorry. About this, I mean." Her eyes were red and puffy still, but I thought that she was done crying for the most part.

"No, no. It's completely fine. Don't be sorry." I told her, meaning every word.

She kind of smiled and looked out at the students around us, none of which paid us any heed. "You're a really great guy, Severus. Did you know that?"

I peered at her curiously. I wanted so badly to ask why she thought that because I thought the exact opposite of myself, but I thought it might be rude. "Come with me. I know a place where you can tell me everything about what happened."

Her face fell, as if she was hoping I wouldn't want to know what happened between herself and the Marauders. "Oh, okay." she said.

"Well if you don't want to tell me, that's fine too." I quickly countered, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

"Well, I don't know. Maybe later. Is that alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, that's fine. Whatever makes you happy."

"Thanks, Severus. You're the best." She gave me a sad smile, a few flyaway hairs falling from her otherwise neat braid, hanging into her face. Feeling a bit daring, I quickly brushed the hair back behind her ear before bringing my arm back down to my side. "Um, do you mind if I just stay with you for a while? I don't really feel ready to face the world quite yet."

"No, I don't mind at all. Where would you like to go?" I stood up, and reached out my hand towards her. She giggled and took my hand, pulling herself up from the ground and brushing off her skirt.

"Well," she pursed her lips, thinking, "How about the library? No, that's too boring. Um, what about the Great Hall? Wait no, too many people will be there." Suddenly, her face brightened. "I know. Let's go on an adventure. It would be so much fun! We could go explore places we've never been before, and find like a secret hideout or something. There are so many parts of the castle I've never been before. What do you think, Severus?" She looked up at me, her face instantly so much brighter than it had been minutes ago.

"Well if that's what you want, then let's go for it. That could be pretty fun, actually." I said, thinking over all of the abandoned corridors and unused classrooms that I knew about. Being nearly friendless had its perks. For one, I had a lot of time alone to spend around the castle doing as I pleased, which included looking for new rooms and hallways long forgotten about.

Lily beamed at me as she slowly made her transformation into the girl that the rest of the world saw: smiling, positive, ready to take anything life throws at her. She began to walk away towards the castle, and after a few feet she stopped and turned expectantly towards me. I realized that she wanted me to follow her, and then ran after the third-year girl.

When we were walking towards Hogwarts, I couldn't help but stare at the back of her head. There was something about the way she walked, the way she smiled, that made me crazy for her. When I was in her presence, it was like an aura of calmness washed over me. But every second I'm near the girl, I feel a bit more insane. Like I could do something rash that I would later regret. That doesn't make me want to stop seeing her, of course. It just intensifies my hunger for her presence. I don't know, maybe I'm going crazy. I don't know.