Chapter 25: Ch 25 The First Date
IMPORTANT NOTE: hi people it's been a long time since I posted any kind of note and I am requesting you help to support me on P_A_T_R_E_O_N. i know it may be too much to ask but as you all know I have not been able to upload for a few months, it's because of my college and that makes it much hard for me to upload new chapters and I really hope to get some support from u guys because it would be really helpful to me and in the P_A_T_R_E_O_N you guys can also vote which novel should I post next or help me in noval editing works and stuff, I will also do my best to upload at least two chapters a day of any novel which i am uploading, so please support me guys thank you guys 🙂.
https://www.patreon.com/Tony_stark_3000?fan_landing=true&view_as=public
This is my P_A_T_R_E_O_N link please support me.thank you guys
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"You know, Lily, I don't think that this is a particularly good idea."
"Oh come on Severus, it's a great idea. My mom wouldn't have a problem bringing you home, I'm sure."
The summer sun was bright in the sky overhead at King's Cross station, the bustling crowd pressing in on those exiting.
Severus and Lily were among them, because Severus lacked a parent who would pick him up and Lily's mom said that she'd be late, due to traffic.
"I still cannot bring myself to agree, Lily. Your mom is going to attempt bodily harm upon my person the moment I get into the car, really." Severus was following Lily, quite recalcitrant as he pushed along his luggage.
"Oh come on, Severus. My mom isn't that bad. I'm sure you're blowing it all out of proportion. She won't mind you riding with us, I promise." Alright, Lily did know that her mom probably wouldn't be too thrilled to find out the identity of her new boyfriend, but that didn't mean that Severus should go hiding from the woman or anything.
She knew that Severus knew she was right, even if he didn't want to admit it. Besides, she just didn't want to leave Severus' side right then-their relationship had been kept quiet since it started, neither wanting to deal with their bothersome housemates' meddling, at least not so early on in their relationship.
A rather dry voice spoke, "I don't know. Your mum was quite the spitfire the one time I saw her. I can see why he'd be worried." It was Mary, dressed in an expensive, soft-looking orange sundress.
Severus nodded, eyeing her distrustfully. "Hello, MacDonald. What are you doing here?"
"Severus, don't be rude," admonished Lily.
"It's alright," said Mary with a shrug. "Hey Lily, where will you be doing your Apparition test this summer?"
"Apparition test?" Lily frowned. "I thought that wasn't until seventh year."
Severus smirked, even as Mary let out a small chuckle, saying, "Seventeen, it's when you're seventeen, not seventh year. You haven't thought about it yet, have you?"
Lily's face heated up, but Severus smoothly cut in, "Lily and I will both be going to the one out in Hogsmeade, next Tuesday."
Mary frowned. "That's no good, I was planning to go to the one north of Bristol. Hmm..." She glanced back and forth at the two of them. "Are you guys going to be in London for a while?"
Lily shook her head. "I'm sorry, my mom's going to be picking us up soon. It won't be more than ten minutes I bet."
"I see..."
Seeing disappointment flash across her friend's face, Lily felt rather prat-like. She had been spending an awful lot of time with Severus of late, and in hindsight had rather neglected her friends. Feeling inadequate, she said, "I'm sorry, Mary. Maybe we can meet together later this summer?"
"Maybe," replied Mary dubiously.
There was a guilty silence, then Severus spoke up, "There's a Wizarding pub out by Bristol. Lily and I could Floo up there instead. The Ministry isn't exactly strict about who tests where, so long as they do it."
Mary looked at him strangely, then smiled. "That...that would be excellent."
Lily whispered a quick 'thank you' in Severus' ear, before saying, "It'll be fun doing it together...although I hope we can get it all done in one day. I heard Apparition was rather rough."
Severus shrugged. "They assume that most of those taking the test will be receiving instruction from their parents as well. Most Muggleborns need one or two tries I'm afraid."
"Well, that's not very fair," replied Lily unhappily.
Mary spoke up, disgruntled, "I heard that Dumbledore's trying to make it so a Ministry wizard will stop by once or twice in the middle of the school year, but that'll be two or three years before the Ministry decides."
"Great, so maybe in two or three years, but right now..."
Mary nodded her head absentmindedly, glancing up at a clock. Grimacing, she said, "I've got to meet Sabrina in five minutes in Diagon Alley. You're sure you guys have to go?"
"Unfortunately," replied Severus. "Mrs. Evans has always proven herself to be punctual. We won't have time, I'm sure."
Mary shrugged. "Very well, I'll see you guys next Tuesday then." Bidding the two of them fare well, Mary turned to leave...
Severus then spoke up, sounding embarrassed, "Ah...Miss MacDonald, I wanted to say thank you for the assistance you provided on my Patronus charm. It was quite helpful, and I meant to thank you earlier, but..." he vaguely gestured with his hands. "Thank you."
Mary paused, before turning and grinning back at him. "You're welcome, Severus."
"R-right." Severus nodded quickly.
"Let's all keep in touch, alright?" said Mary, practically tripping over her words as she spoke. "I don't think you have an owl, right? Well, we can use mine. Anyway, I have to go. Hope you and Lily have fun!"
As she walked away, Lily fought the urge to laugh.
Walking up to Severus, she put an arm around his waist and grinned up at him. "Why Sev, I think you made a friend."
Severus looked back at Lily with a slightly frightened expression. "I suppose I did. Thank you, Lily."
"You're welcome." replied Lily, giving him a little wink and a hug. "Not that I did all that much. That was all on you. I could have kissed you when you mentioned the Floo network."
"R-right." stuttered Severus, who swallowed before saying again, "Right, well...she did help me, after all."
"Mmhmm." Lily smiled faintly, as she noticed his fingers almost absentmindedly tracing the back of her hand. She leaned a bit closer into him.
"Yes..." Severus shifted awkwardly, looking around the parking lot.
There was a moment of silence, then Lily said, holding his hand tightly, "You know, there was no expiration date on that offered kiss."
"Oh, I see. Well..." Flushing, even as pleasure flashed across his face, Severus bent down and gave Lily a kiss, just grazing the edge of her lips.
Lily shook her head, smiling slightly she pressed her turned her head, pressing her lips against his own as she pulled him closer, relishing the heady feeling it gave her.
She heard a quiet groan coming from Severus, feeling one of his arms feeling its way up her side.
Shutting her eyes, she opened her mouth and gave him a deeper kiss, which he returned eagerly, their tongues waging a brief, determined battle...
With a deep breath, Lily then withdrew, panting slightly. "We'd...we'd better stop."
Breathing roughly himself, Severus nodded glumly. "Yeah, your mum should be here any-"
A beeping noise interrupted them both. They hadn't been a moment too soon, as Lily's mother had arrived in the family car.
The unhappy look on her face had Lily wondering, red-faced, just how much she had seen.
"So, Severus, are you looking forward to our date tomorrow?"
"...Yes."
"Ha ha, so am I." Lily allowed her voice to lapse into awkward silence, much like Severus.
Holding tightly to Severus' hand in order to support herself, Lily looked down at her feet, red in the face.
Her mother, Marigold Evans, hadn't been unkind or anything, and had seemed alright with the knowledge that her daughter and her daughter's best friend were dating. It was just...awkward, both Lily and Severus feeling the tension as it sizzled in the air.
Several minutes passed, no-one speaking.
"Well, we're here," said Marigold, allowing their car to coast to a stop.
A shadow seemed to cross Severus' face as they arrived at his home over in Spinner's End, but he gave Marigold a polite thank you, before pecking Lily on the cheek. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Lily?"
"Three o'clock," confirmed Lily with a smile. It would be their first date ever...well, their first real date anyway. "Have you thought about what we're going to do, Sev?"
"Ah, I was thinking that perhaps you'd like to get some ice cream?" said Severus, after several seconds of thought. "The weather shouldn't be bad, and the nearest parlour is only a couple of miles from your house."
"Sure, sounds excellent. It's not exactly a common dessert at Hogwarts, either." Lily thought for a moment-it sounded like an awfully short date. She wanted to spend more time with him. "And then maybe we walk around town? Ooh, or maybe we could go to a theatre and see what's playing."
Out of the corner of her eyes, Lily saw Marigold shaking her head.
Severus' eyebrows creased in thought. "I think...that perhaps just going for a walk and ice cream would be best."
"Alright, I'll see you then, Sev!" Giving him a peck on the cheek, she allowed him to let go of her hand and exit the car, making his way to his house where, with a final glance at her, he vanished inside.
Lily sighed, a smile forming on her face.
"That was rather insensitive of you, Lily," commented her mother with a trace of disapproval in her voice.
"Huh?"
"Asking the boy to treat you to both ice cream and the theatre?" Marigold frowned at her. "He likely has difficulty making ends meet as it is. I doubt he could afford the price of watching a film."
Remembering this herself, Lily felt as if she were about two inches tall. "I didn't really think about it..." she replied lamely. "Maybe I should pay for our date tomorrow, then?"
"No, just make sure you're careful not to make that mistake again, Lily."
They began to drive home, the car making little popping noises periodically, Lily sitting quietly in the back seat, thinking about Severus' money problems...which reminded her of another problem on the horizon.
Opening her mouth, Lily asked hesitantly, "So, is there anything we can do about, you know, the whole Europe thing?
"Lily, it's a great opportunity, once in a lifetime really. You're going to see Paris, Milan, Madrid-a whole host of beautiful places and sights. It'll be the best two weeks of your life, I'm sure," replied her mother with an odd smile.
"I know it'll be fun," said Lily half-heartedly. "I was just hoping that I could spend this summer with Severus. I know it's a great opportunity, but do I really have to go?"
Her mother sighed. "Yes, Lily, you have to go."
"But I didn't want to go to begin with!" retorted Lily. "I thought if I asked you, you'd say 'no'."
"Well, then you should have simply told James 'no' yourself," said Marigold, her eyes narrowed. "Mr. Potter's family has already paid for the trip, and when I saw how much it was... Well, it was more than I could get for this car if I sold it, and that's only because I convinced them to drop it from two months to two weeks."
Stopping the car at a traffic light, she turned around and gave Lily a stubborn look, saying, "I'm not going to let you waste several hundred pounds of someone else's money because you want to spend the summer with your boyfriend, especially when you told them you would go."
Lily grimaced, but nodded reluctantly. "Yes, mother."
Marigold returned her attention to the road. Several seconds passed, then she smiled wistfully. "You know, your father and I were planning to go to Paris next summer, once you and Petunia were out of the house. He promised me that we'd get to walk in the streets, see the Eiffel tower...eat those snails the French love so much. It would have been so romantic."
There were tears in her eyes as she spoke, "I miss him so much..."
Lily felt a lump in her throat, feeling guilty that she had been so busy being worried about Severus this year that even her father's death had fallen by the wayside. "I'm so sorry, mum..."
"Me too, Lily, me too."
The next day, Lily spent what seemed like hours getting herself ready for her date. Although she would never tell Severus, she had probably tried on something like twenty or thirty outfits before settling on an old standby-a short, black dress that skirted the edge of being too revealing, both in the chest and the legs. Wearing just enough make-up to accentuate her eyes, the young red-head felt physically ready for their date.
Mentally was a different story though, and the date itself was the least of her worries. Although she knew she had to tell Severus about her going to Europe with James, she wasn't looking forward to it.
Rather glad that they hadn't learned Apparition just yet, Lily walked to Severus' house, grateful for her last-minute decision not to wear heels. This gave her more time to focus on how to tell him.
She could just blurt it out and explain of course. However, that seemed likely to result in a Severus who was hurt and utterly pissed off and not a very good first date.
On the other hand, she could try letting him know gently, and easing him into the news...but that would require a sense of subtlety and tact that Lily had some issues with.
She just wanted to have their first date go well. Was that too much to ask?
At Severus' house though, Lily was distracted by a rather odd sight-a woman, perhaps a year or two older than her, walking up the path to the front door. Dressed in robes of indigo and keeping what could be nothing other than a wand jammed through the bun in her hair, she was obviously a witch, and one who made but the barest attempt at keeping the Statute of Secrecy.
Curious, both about her appearance and presence at her friend's house, Lily called out a cheery hello.
The woman turned, revealing her face, a lovely, heart-shaped one with straw-blond hair pulled into the bun Lily had noticed before. "Yes, what is it?"
"Just wondering, by any chance are you here to see Severus Snape?" asked Lily, drawing closer as she spoke, the woman unmoving from her position before the door. "I'm his girlfriend you see, and I don't believe he has mentioned you to me before."
"That is hardly a surprise," said the woman simply, her tone sounding rather aggravated as she continued, "as he hasn't met me yet, Miss...?"
"Evans, sorry, Lily Evans. It's nice to meet you." Lily smiled politely. "I'm sorry to be a bother, it's just that Severus doesn't get that many visitors."
"Trust me," muttered the woman, "I'd be elsewhere if I could help it." Catching sight of Lily's darkening visage, she hastened to say, "Nothing against either of you, it's just that I had plans for the afternoon before this happened."
"What sort of plans? What's going on?" asked Lily in confusion.
"Well, I have been-"
"Hello, Evans."
Lily turned, her lip curling in recognition of the voice she heard. "Hello, Matthews. What brings you here?"
"Why, I'm here to talk to my friend about something," replied Evelyn with a shrug, dressed in a blue t-shirt and a miniskirt, obviously having no problem dressing in the Muggle style.
"Well, he's going to be rather busy, I'm afraid," said Lily tartly. "We're going on a date, so I doubt he will be able to speak with you much."
"Don't worry, it shouldn't take long." Evelyn started to chuckle, her blue eyes dancing with mirth. "There shouldn't be any conflicts with this date of yours."
"Hmm, alright." Deciding to ignore her and her laughing eyes, Lily returned her attention to the other woman, who raised her eyebrows with an expression of boredom upon her face.
Lily's face heated in embarrassment. This couldn't have been too great of an impression to leave on the woman. Trying to salvage some vestige of dignity, Lily changed the subject. "So...I didn't catch your name either, Miss...?"
The look she gave Lily indicated that she was seriously debating whether to answer or not, but in the end she muttered, "Katrina Gort."
"And what are you doing here?" asked Lily, frowning. "Are you here with Evelyn?"
"Yes, I am." And with that, the woman's look of distaste grew more pronounced. Rapping at the door, she muttered, "I'm here on behalf of her father, to make it official."
"Uh...official? What are you-" Lily's question was cut short by the door opening, revealing Severus in a grey button-up shirt over slacks, fiddling with his collar buttons.
"Sorry, stupid Muggle shirts keep...Uh, hello." Severus raised his eyebrows, before frowning. "I knew we had a date, Lily, but I thought it was just the two of us. This seems...a bit much."
"Apparently, Evelyn and Miss Gort would like to meet with you about...something," said Lily, shaking her head as she glanced at the rather severe-looking woman beside her. "Something official, or what not."
"Official?" asked Severus, visibly confused.
Evelyn coughed, grinning before saying formally, "Mr. Severus Snape, my father, Potions Master Robert Matthews, would like to extend to you a former offer of apprenticeship, for a period consisting of this summer, and the two years after you graduate, concluding with your instatement as a Potions Master."
There was a shocked silence, punctuated only by a sigh coming from Katrina, then Severus spoke, stammering out, "I...what?" He stared at Evelyn as if she had grown a second head. "I thought...you don't need to do that. I forgave you, remember?"
Evelyn shrugged, smirking. "Hey, you could use something to do, right? Sitting around all summer gets boring. Plus, you need money, right? My dad will pay for everything you need over the summer, so you don't need to use what you've been saving."
Lily just stood there gobsmacked, not sure what to say as Severus stuttered out, "I...I don't know...I...thank you. I need to think about it, but...thank you."
"You're welcome." Evelyn's grin widened. "Take your time and think it over. But when you are ready to say yes, just toss me a quick Floo." She smirked at Lily. "Have fun on your little date."
Severus blushed. "Thanks."
Evelyn chuckled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an Apparition class to get to."
She glanced at Katrina, who sighed, then said, "I look forward to working with you, Mr. Snape."
And with that, they left Lily, still stunned into silence. Turning to look at Severus, she saw a quiet smile on his face, even as his eyebrows knit in thought.
Something in her stomach tightened.
By the time they made it to the ice cream parlour, telling Severus about James and Europe had completely left her mind, as both of them were stewing over what Evelyn had said, neither having said a word.
"Well, we're here," said Lily as the two of them entered the dingy joint, a rather forced cheer to her voice as she tried to break the ice. "I don't know about you, but I've been looking forward to this almost the whole week. So...let's just take some time to focus on us, you know?"
Severus glanced at her, before quirking a slight smile, "You're right. Well, in this at least."
"Hey, I'll have you know that I'm right about a lot of things, Mr. Snape," said Lily in mock anger, crossing her arms over her chest."Besides, the two of us have some ice cream, ever so delicious, frozen goodness to savor."
Severus raised an eyebrow, saying sardonically, "And here I thought it was eggs and rashers you were all weird over."
Lily snorted, glad that he had started talking again. "Severus, you may be familiar with the delicacies of of pumpkin juice, and all those other Wizarding foods, but I'm going to remind you of certain Muggle delicacies, too! Why my dad loves ice-"
The silence returned, Severus staring down at the table between the two of them while Lily looked away, her eyes upon the counter on the other side of the parlour. It brought back memories, wonderful, painful memories of times spent with her dear father. Away from the bustle of Hogwarts and the confusion of the past few months, they seemed to surround her.
A quiet voice interrupted her thoughts, as Severus said softly, looking up at her with an air of timidity, "My mother...never cared for ice cream. She always thought it was just for Muggles... It was strange to me growing up-she married one and had a kid with him...but hated the idea of eating Muggle food." He paused, glancing at her, then asked, "What was his favorite flavor?"
Lily frowned, thinking hard. "I think it was...orange sherbert? Yeah, that sounds about right, although he certainly didn't mind chocolate either." She chuckled. "Must have been part of the reason he got that gut of his. Mom didn't care much for that, although she didn't say much to him at the time."
Severus said nothing, a small smile on his face as Lily continued to talk.
"If he were here now...well, he'd be sitting beside you eating a giant bowl of the stuff. He ate what he liked, and lived like he liked." Lily smiled herself, a warm feeling creeping into her as she recalled the nostalgic past. "He rather liked you, you know."
"Indeed," said Severus, a far-away look in his dark eyes. "I was rather fond of him as well. He taught me how to ride a bike, did you know that?"
Lily shook her head. "Actually, I don't think I did. Neither of you ever mentioned it. When was this?"
Severus paused, furrowing his brow in thought before saying, "It was the summer after first year. You were busy shopping with your mum that day, if I recall. I stopped by, hoping you could come hang out, but when you couldn't, I was about to go home when I noticed the strange contraption he was cleaning. I was curious, so I asked him about it... One thing led to another, and soon he was showing me to ride the thing."
There was an odd look on Severus' face as he said this in Lily's opinion, bittersweet if anyone asked her. Cautiously, she asked, "Did you have fun?"
"Yeah, I did...well, at the time anyway." His eyes seemed to look past her, seeing something she couldn't. Not nostalgic, but regretful. "My mother wasn't particularly pleased when I told her, and my father was displeased that she was displeased. It was quite a mess."
"Did you enjoy it though?" asked Lily, watching him. "Riding the bike, I mean."
"I did, although not the aftermath," said Severus. "My mother didn't feel that it was proper of me to ride a bicycle, not when there were broomsticks and spells to get me from place to place. Of course, she didn't exactly want to admit to herself that we couldn't afford a broomstick, not with what my father was making." He paused, watching Lily as he said carefully, "She would have been very proud of me getting an apprenticeship at such a young age."
Lily looked at him, a strange tightness in her stomach again at the thought of him spending most of summer away from her and with...Evelyn. It was bad enough that she had cocked up the whole Potter thing, but for him to be away so long... It just wasn't fair, not when he had just agreed to become her boyfriend.
But Lily swallowed her objection before it could even touch her tongue. As her mother had reminded her, Severus badly needed this opportunity. Even with what he had earned tutoring, there was no way he could make it through the summer without getting some form of job, and an apprenticeship... "You know, Severus, I think you should take this."
"Really?" asked Severus, caution audible in his voice.
Lily nodded. "Yeah, it really is an amazing opportunity, and I'm pretty sure that it will be a lot easier for us to keep in touch once we can Apparate. Even if it's a few hours away by driving, it'll be just a couple of seconds, right? And we can write every day."
"That sounds-"
"Are you kids ready to order?" The waitress had come by, a forced smile on her face as she held the pad of paper ready for their order.
Giving said order to the harried teen, a random thought struck the redhead: when was the last time that Severus had mentioned his parents, other than to mention how he felt about his mother's suicide? She couldn't remember, not that he had ever mentioned them much to begin with.
As the girl left though, Severus said, "As I was saying, that sounds like it would be alright, but I was thinking of another idea. We both know that you're as skilled as me in Potions, so why not see if you could apprentice under him as well?"
Lily shook her head, something nagging her from the back of her mind as she said, "Well, if he'll say yes, but it's rather unlikely. I mean, we're both equally skilled, but you're good friends with his daughter, while she...I'm pretty sure that she tolerates me at best..." '...and more likely hates my guts.'
Severus winced. "That may be true... It shouldn't go too badly though as long as the two of you remain civil. She owes me that, after all the times she went all...dunderheaded over her latest beau."
'Her latest sex toy, you mean' thought Lily disparagingly. Never the less, she said, "I don't care much for her, but I can certainly be civil, and I hope she promises the same."
The waitress came back, giving each of them their ice cream-chocolate for Lily and vanilla for Severus.
"Alright, I'll tell her I accept and see if you can come to...although you're going to want to let your family know ahead of time. I don't know how thrilled your mom will be if you're going to be gone most of the summer." Severus gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry you're not going to be able to spend too much time with them."
"Well, given that she seems to be quite happy with the idea of me spending two weeks in bloody Europe with James Potter, I doubt she'll mind," groused Lily, shoving a spoonful of the tasty treat into her mouth. "Yum..."
"Europe with...Potter?" said Severus, his voice quiet, but dangerous. "What do you mean, 'Europe with Potter'?"
"Uh..."
Severus' voice turned ice-cold. "Explain. Now."
Lily sucked in her breath, then said, "Well, you see, Severus, it's like this..." Words failed her, in the face of Severus' clear fury.
"What happened?" said Severus, his eyes narrowed at her and hands balled into fists. "What did you do!"
Lily instinctively backed away, staring at him.
Slowly, his eyes widened with a strange horror as the blood drained from his face. He sat back down, having stood up without either of them noticing. Carefully, he said, his voice quiet, "Please explain."
She did, her eyes on Severus the whole time.
He listened, asked questions, mostly to clarify the chain of events, and generally paid attention. However, Lily noticed that his eyes seemed to seek his lap, staring down at his hands folded there.
At the end of her explanation, he nodded, then stood up. A rather pensive look upon his face, he said in a distant voice, "I'm sorry, Lily, but I have to get going. There's something I need to...consider."
Still worried that he might break up with her or something drastic like that, Lily apologized once more, "Severus, again I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner...hell, I should have made sure to say I wasn't interested before things got so far. I just-"
"It's not your fault that Potter is a disgusting, manipulative git," said Severus in a quiet, controlled tone of voice. "I don't blame you, not really."
Even though Lily knew this wasn't the time for this, that arguing right now was a bad idea, she found herself saying nonetheless, "James isn't manipulative, he just does things without thinking sometimes, being reckless you see-"
"Lily," said Severus quietly, shaking his head. "Potter is a manipulative git. Don't blind yourself-he knew exactly what he was doing. He always has,and I'm not sure if you're just refusing to notice it or being a giant hypocrite. Regardless," he cleared his throat uncomfortably, looking away from her. "I'll see you tomorrow. I thank you for the date."
With that, he made to leave, his untouched ice cream a puddle of glop in his bowl.
"Wait, Severus. Please don't go!" cried out Lily, as her companion opened the door. "I'm sorry about James, really I am! I...please don't go..."
Slowly, Severus turned around, an odd look on his face. He then said, his dark eyes on her own, "Lily, I'm not that angry at you. I just..."
"Then why are you leaving!" shouted Lily, doing her best to ignore how everyone else in the parlor was now staring at them.
Severus noticed though, his eyes sweeping the building as his face turned more and more pink. He muttered, barely audible, "Come with me. We're making a scene."
Lily blushed, but nodded reluctantly, following Severus as he walked out the door.
As soon as they were outside, Lily glowered at him, jabbing a finger into his arm, "If you're not angry, then what was that about?"
Severus looked down at his feet, avoiding her eyes again. "I was mad at first. I nearl...needed time to think."
"You needed time to think..." said Lily skeptically.
Severus continued avoiding her gaze as they continued walking, the sun low in the darkening sky, casting growing shadows in the still-familiar streets.
He then spoke, his voice quiet, "Lily, I don't think there's any way Evelyn's father will accept you as an apprentice if you're going to be missing two or more weeks running around Europe."
Liky knew he was trying to change the subject, but nodded nonetheless. "Yeah, you're probably right. That sucks."
"It sucks that I am right?" said Severus with a small smirk.
"You know perfectly well that's not what I meant," replied Lily, unable to suppress a nervous giggle. "I meant...ooh, you know what I meant."
"Yes," allowed Severus, before continuing morosely, "We're going to be apart for most of the summer, aren't we?"
"Seems like it, and we just had our first date too," said Lily, shivering slightly, and not from the cold. "What a fiasco tonight has been."
Severus said nothing, but continued forward, Lily at his side as they made their way towards her house.
It wasn't for several more minutes that he spoke, "Lily, there will be other nights, other dates. Just because tonight didn't go so badly, doesn't mean that they all will."
"Will those dates be with you though, Severus?" asked Lily, a nervous note in her voice.
As they made their way up the steps to Lily's front door, Severus quirked a smile, "As long as you'll have me, Lily."
"Then there will be many more, I wager."
Nodding, Severus gently pulled Lily closer, giving her a light kiss on the lips. It lasted a second, maybe two, before he pulled away.
Turning to go, he began to walk into the deepening gloom, saying simply,"I'll see you tomorrow, Lily."
"You too, Sev. You too."
Lily knew that there was still something Severus wasn't telling her, but for now, this was enough.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone