Snape peered from around the tree he was hiding behind, staring at the two young girls with keen interest. The smaller of the girls had bright orange hair, from what he could tell she was slightly pale, her back was facing him but he could still see that she was trying to show the other girl something. The second girl was the taller of the two, possibly older than her but not by much. She had mud brown hair and her nose looked slightly too long for her face.

"You're a freak!" Snape was shocked at the girl's words, wondering what on earth could have happened to make her feel like that. "I'm telling Mummy that you're a freak!" And with that the girl with brown hair ran off towards a couple who were sitting on a bench nearby. He pondered for a moment if he should approach her or not, but what would he say? I was just watching you from behind this tree. That would come off as too creepy. He took a step back, unsure on whether he should approach her or not but as he stepped back his foot made contact with a branch which then snapped. He froze in place as the girl turned around, meeting his gaze. Snape's eyes lowered to what was in her hand. She held a small daisy in the palm of her hand, but it wasn't just sitting there. It was hovering as if it was being held up by an imaginary piece of string. He realised then that the girl who ran off was afraid

Afraid of the magic that this girl held.

Snape smiled slightly at her, trying to tell her not to be afraid, he pulled a few leaves from the branch just above his head and held his hand out to her, allowing the leaves to fly gently towards her and falling in the palm of her hand.

Lily looked down in surprise, she hadn't meant for the boy to see what she was doing, she had just been so hurt and annoyed at Petunia's reaction that when she heard a noise behind her it took her by surprise. But seeing the leaves fall in her hand gave her a sense of warmth and relief. Relief at the fact that maybe she wasn't a freak and that she wasn't the only one with these powers. After a few moments the young boy, who appeared to be the same age as her, finally approached her, an apprehensive smile on his face.

"Hello, I'm Severus. Severus Snape"

"Lily. Lily Evans"

Lily smiled at him and outstretched her hand, with no hesitation Snape shook it. Something about this girl didn't make him feel afraid, the kindness she was showing him was better than anything he could ever ask for. "Sorry about your friend" He shoved his hands in his pockets, starting to walk towards the lake in the hope that she would follow, and to his surprise, she did.

"Oh, you saw that" Lily sighed, holding the daisy close to her chest. "That was my sister, Petunia. She doesn't like it when I do stuff like that but..."

"You can't help it" Snape finished, flashing a caring smile towards her. "I understand, I do. I know what it feels like to be thought of as a freak. But you're not a freak. And you're sister, she doesn't understand. She's jealous, because she's ordinary and you're special"

"That's mean Severus" But Lily smiled anyway, it felt nice to be called special. Even by a young boy she barely even knew.

Snape shrugged, "It's the truth. You'll learn all about it in time, and I'm sure we'll both be attending Hogwarts together. It would be nice to have someone there I know"

Lily's eyebrows furrowed, "Hogwarts? What's that?"

Snape glanced at her, feeling confused himself. "You don't know what Hogwarts is?"

Lily shook her head, "I'm the only witch in the family, at least I think so. My Mum and Dad had no idea I had powers until the day I accidentally locked Petunia in a dog's house at my Aunt's house" She giggled at the memory, from what she could remember was that Petunia had been annoying her very much that day, and she couldn't bare to take it anymore. She had clenched her fists and next thing she knew was that Petunia was stuck in the dog house. Her father had to break the dog house apart and rebuild it again after they got her out.

"Oh, you must be muggle born then" Snape sighed and glanced towards the lake again, it wasn't that he had anything against muggleborns. It had never met one before, but his father made them out to be horrid people that wanted to steal the magic from the pure blood wizard families.

"What's a muggle born?"

Snape couldn't help but laugh at her curiosity, she was so intriguing. "You'll find out soon enough, and about Hogwarts too. I don't know how it works for you, getting the letter and everything. But Dumbledore will find a way" He smiled, "Dumbledore is the Headmaster of Hogwarts" Snape chuckled again, after he finished his sentence he had practically seen the cogs turning in her head and just knew it was a matter of time before she asked another question.

"Oh, okay then"

With that they fell into a nice silence, neither of them felt the urge to speak for a while until they got to the lake. The sun was getting lower in the sky so it was casting a nice hue of colours in the sky, a mix of orange and pink. It was Lily who broke the silence first.

"Thank you for making me feel better Severus" Lily smiled, holding out the daisy for him to take

Snape glanced at it for a moment before taking it into his own palm, "You don't need to take me. Friends are here to make you feel better, always"

"Always" Lily agreed, "And do you think of us as friends Severus?"

"I think we will be. I'd like to get to know you more Lily" Snape smiled, for the first time in his life he felt like he belonged and that he had a purpose. Someone was finally willing to be his friend. He just hoped that it would last. He wanted to fit in and maybe with Lily she could help him do that.

"Good, I think so too" Lily grinned.

"Lily! Come on dear, we're going now!" Lily glanced back up to where her father now stood, with Petunia by his side who was glaring at the two young friends with disdain and disgust.

Lily sighed, looking back at Snape with a sad look in her eyes. "I'm sorry, I have to get going now. But it was nice to meet you Severus, can we meet here again sometime?"

Snape nodded in excitement, hoping that he didn't seem too eager to meet up with her again. "I would like that Lily, next time I can bring some of my books so you can see what we'll be learning"

"Then its a plan to me! Tomorrow, at noon. Right here?"

"Tomorrow at noon" Snape agreed

"See you then, Severus. Goodbye!" Lily waved him at before running back up the hill towards her father.

Snape clutched the small daisy in his hand, sighing in content that he had finally managed to make one friend. And it didn't hurt that she was also pretty, very pretty. "Goodbye Lily" Snape smiled to himself as he walked home, not even the thought of returning home to his father could ruin his happiness. For once, Snape could truly say he was happy.