Phatic: denoting speech used to create an atmosphere of goodwill.
May 19, 1976
"What do you think? I reckon I could pull off the gothic look. Dye my hair black, get some eyeliner… Sev? Are you listening?"
Severus Snape snapped his gaze to the redhead in front of him giving him an impatient look.
"Hm?"
"I've decided to cut my hair off and dye it black. Any reaction?" Lily asked, raising a thin eyebrow. Her homework, spread between them on the library table, was long forgotten. "We could pass as twins," she mused, smirking at her companion and his curtain of lank, night-black hair.
"Er…" Snape mumbled something indistinct before retreating into his potions book, which made Lily laugh.
She leaned forward, propping her chin on the palm of her hand, demanding his attention with those luminescent green eyes. "Do you know what Reg Cattermole told me the other day?..."
It might have been like the old days, back when they were each other's sole confidant. Back when it had seemed like they two against the world and both had believed they were on the winning side. Lily chattered away, and Snape listened with interest masked poorly by boredom. It might have been a scene unchanged in five years.
But they both were acutely aware of the group huddled round a table in the shadowy corner of the library behind Lily, of the dark looks it cast in their direction. And they were both aware of the other pretending not to have noticed.
Lily scarcely cared what she was saying. The words tripped from her mouth now as a means of simply keeping confrontation at bay. It was a charade now. What had once been a refuge had turned into a show. They both knew it, but for some reason they kept it going. Lily wondered why, suddenly, as she recounted the meaningless happenings of her day simply for something pleasant to fill the silence.
But the answer was simple enough: objects in motion tend to stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.
A/N: a glimpse at the fading friendship of Lily Evans and Severus Snape. I don't think I've gotten around to them… I find them fascinating. Maybe I'll find something more interesting for them later… :)