A Snape By Any Other Name, Chapter 2
Title: A Snape By Any Other Name
Chapter: 2/??
Summary: The tumultuous relationship between Severus Snape and Lily Evans, set in Fifth Year.
Characters/Pairings: Lily Evans, Severus Snape, Marauders. Hints of unrequited Lily/Snape, and as-yet-unrealized Lily/James.
Genre: Angst
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Word Count: 1101
Chapters:
One
Severus meets up with Lily as she heads out of the castle to read under the tree she had chosen during second year when she had fallen unceremoniously from its branches. He is nervous, almost skittish around her, and she frowns as she watches him fidget. For a boy who prides himself on hiding his innermost feelings, he fails consistently to do so about some of his more pressing issues.
Sighing, she turns to face him, his hair in his face. "Out with it, Sev, what's wrong today?"
Lily tries to keep her tone light, but she is frustrated. Ever since the summer, Severus has been cautious and guarded around her. His eyes dart nervously around, and she imagines he is checking for spies and eavesdroppers, no doubt following them for the express purpose of making his life miserable. Her frown deepens because she realizes that is what he is doing. Crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently, she glares at him.
"Well, Lily, you see, it's just that... It's just that..." He glances sideways at Parkinson and Nott, milling about the campus grounds.
She sees where his eyes roam and lets out an exasperated sigh. "Oh right, you're afraid that the other Slytherins might see me ... stealing your magic, the way Mudbloods do," she says, loudly.
"Shh, please," he pleads, under his breath, "that's not funny. Some people really think that, and when you say things like that, they believe you."
It was the wrong thing to say. "People who think that are tosspots and full of rubbish," she seethes, green eyes flashing dangerously. "Or don't you tell them that, Severus? Don't you stand up for me the way I stand up for you?"
She glares at him for one hot second, and then throws her hands in the air. "Oh bother, of course you don't, you Snakes are a passive-aggressive lot, you have to wait to air your grievances until somebody expressly brings them up first. So if somebody says something about me to your face you might be inclined to say something, that is, unless you're practicing keeping your indifferent mask on while you burn to death at the stake. I don't know why I deal with this, Severus."
Severus blushes hotly and runs after her, half embarrassed that she's making a spectacle, and half upset because she is angry at him. His stomach clenches obnoxiously as his mind whirls about how to fix this situation. He wishes, fervently so, that her temper was something that could be controlled. Even so, he is fairly certain that by the time they reach the tree, the storm cloud will have dissipated, so he stays quiet.
As expected, the afternoon passes without any further incident.
----
After class on a Tuesday, Lily rushes to Severus with all the subtlety of a polar bear in the desert, her thick red hair captured in a bright yellow kerchief. He does not understand how a professor has not admonished her for the uniform breach she's happy to commit in broad daylight.
"Hey Sev," she says brightly, her mouth quirking into a smile. Severus internally cringes; she is so pretty but she is so loud, so unabashedly Muggle sometimes. He knows immediately that his housemates will never let the kerchief go, but as it goes with his feelings towards Lily Evans, he both does and does not care.
"With all the spells available at your disposal, you couldn't manage a simple spell to handle your hair?" He never means it as insulting as it sounds.
"I didn't realize that you were a fashion expert," Lily says, flippantly, choosing not to react to this comment. "Do you ever think that maybe our friendship is so difficult because of your bizarre standards? I don't particularly care what Slytherins think of me, nor do I care what Gryffindors think of our friendship."
Even as she says that, she knows that it is a lie. She cares, more now than ever before, as the chasm seems to grow between herself and her House. Instead of mending those bridges, she spends half of her time angry at something Severus said or did in regards to her choices. The other half of her time is split between homework, Prefect duties, and thwarting James Potter's attempts at wooing her with everything under the sun.
"I didn't realize our friendship was difficult," Severus answers petulantly, at last. He spends half of his time worrying that the Slytherins will never accept his friendship with her, and half of his time worrying about the mortally stupid thing he's said to make her face turn red and her lower lip tremble. He thinks he'd understand her better if she was just less explosive. Maybe also less intuitive, too; half of the fights start because he cannot hide anything from her, except what she has chosen not to see.
As it stands at that moment, he thinks that being friends with a Gryffindor, particularly somebody as staunchly Gryffindor as Lily Evans, while trying to be accepted in Slytherin is exceedingly, overwhelmingly, difficult. Even so, there are 37 freckles on her left cheek alone that make it prudent to keep trying. This is what he thinks, most of the time, and wonders why she's chosen not to see the reason he hasn't run away long ago.
---
"... and he got down on one knee and read me some poetry, can you believe that? I mean, who does he think he is? What kind of girl does he think I am? His head is the size of a hippogryff, it's a wonder he can even walk through the Common Room," Lily sputters, hands on her hips, as she recounts a tale about James Potter.
Usually, Severus cherishes every insult she tosses Potter's way, listens with rapt attention, daydreams a bit about her hatred pushing her further from the ridiculous mass of Gryffindors she associates with as a result of the confounded Sorting Hat's misstatement. He bites his lip. She is Gryffindor, though, and to his chagrin he cannot imagine her in any other house though she exhibits characteristics from each. Except Slytherin, the same evil little voice whispers, and he involuntarily shivers in the waning autumn heat.
"Are you even listening to me?"
Her question snaps him from his disturbing chain of thoughts and he smiles at her. "Of course. It is astounding how much you're made to put up with by mere House association with that... toerag."
Severus pretends he didn't notice the small furrow of her brow when he insulted Potter.
Chapter: 2/??
Summary: The tumultuous relationship between Severus Snape and Lily Evans, set in Fifth Year.
Characters/Pairings: Lily Evans, Severus Snape, Marauders. Hints of unrequited Lily/Snape, and as-yet-unrealized Lily/James.
Genre: Angst
Rating/Warnings: PG-13
Word Count: 1101
Chapters:
One
Severus meets up with Lily as she heads out of the castle to read under the tree she had chosen during second year when she had fallen unceremoniously from its branches. He is nervous, almost skittish around her, and she frowns as she watches him fidget. For a boy who prides himself on hiding his innermost feelings, he fails consistently to do so about some of his more pressing issues.
Sighing, she turns to face him, his hair in his face. "Out with it, Sev, what's wrong today?"
Lily tries to keep her tone light, but she is frustrated. Ever since the summer, Severus has been cautious and guarded around her. His eyes dart nervously around, and she imagines he is checking for spies and eavesdroppers, no doubt following them for the express purpose of making his life miserable. Her frown deepens because she realizes that is what he is doing. Crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently, she glares at him.
"Well, Lily, you see, it's just that... It's just that..." He glances sideways at Parkinson and Nott, milling about the campus grounds.
She sees where his eyes roam and lets out an exasperated sigh. "Oh right, you're afraid that the other Slytherins might see me ... stealing your magic, the way Mudbloods do," she says, loudly.
"Shh, please," he pleads, under his breath, "that's not funny. Some people really think that, and when you say things like that, they believe you."
It was the wrong thing to say. "People who think that are tosspots and full of rubbish," she seethes, green eyes flashing dangerously. "Or don't you tell them that, Severus? Don't you stand up for me the way I stand up for you?"
She glares at him for one hot second, and then throws her hands in the air. "Oh bother, of course you don't, you Snakes are a passive-aggressive lot, you have to wait to air your grievances until somebody expressly brings them up first. So if somebody says something about me to your face you might be inclined to say something, that is, unless you're practicing keeping your indifferent mask on while you burn to death at the stake. I don't know why I deal with this, Severus."
Severus blushes hotly and runs after her, half embarrassed that she's making a spectacle, and half upset because she is angry at him. His stomach clenches obnoxiously as his mind whirls about how to fix this situation. He wishes, fervently so, that her temper was something that could be controlled. Even so, he is fairly certain that by the time they reach the tree, the storm cloud will have dissipated, so he stays quiet.
As expected, the afternoon passes without any further incident.
----
After class on a Tuesday, Lily rushes to Severus with all the subtlety of a polar bear in the desert, her thick red hair captured in a bright yellow kerchief. He does not understand how a professor has not admonished her for the uniform breach she's happy to commit in broad daylight.
"Hey Sev," she says brightly, her mouth quirking into a smile. Severus internally cringes; she is so pretty but she is so loud, so unabashedly Muggle sometimes. He knows immediately that his housemates will never let the kerchief go, but as it goes with his feelings towards Lily Evans, he both does and does not care.
"With all the spells available at your disposal, you couldn't manage a simple spell to handle your hair?" He never means it as insulting as it sounds.
"I didn't realize that you were a fashion expert," Lily says, flippantly, choosing not to react to this comment. "Do you ever think that maybe our friendship is so difficult because of your bizarre standards? I don't particularly care what Slytherins think of me, nor do I care what Gryffindors think of our friendship."
Even as she says that, she knows that it is a lie. She cares, more now than ever before, as the chasm seems to grow between herself and her House. Instead of mending those bridges, she spends half of her time angry at something Severus said or did in regards to her choices. The other half of her time is split between homework, Prefect duties, and thwarting James Potter's attempts at wooing her with everything under the sun.
"I didn't realize our friendship was difficult," Severus answers petulantly, at last. He spends half of his time worrying that the Slytherins will never accept his friendship with her, and half of his time worrying about the mortally stupid thing he's said to make her face turn red and her lower lip tremble. He thinks he'd understand her better if she was just less explosive. Maybe also less intuitive, too; half of the fights start because he cannot hide anything from her, except what she has chosen not to see.
As it stands at that moment, he thinks that being friends with a Gryffindor, particularly somebody as staunchly Gryffindor as Lily Evans, while trying to be accepted in Slytherin is exceedingly, overwhelmingly, difficult. Even so, there are 37 freckles on her left cheek alone that make it prudent to keep trying. This is what he thinks, most of the time, and wonders why she's chosen not to see the reason he hasn't run away long ago.
---
"... and he got down on one knee and read me some poetry, can you believe that? I mean, who does he think he is? What kind of girl does he think I am? His head is the size of a hippogryff, it's a wonder he can even walk through the Common Room," Lily sputters, hands on her hips, as she recounts a tale about James Potter.
Usually, Severus cherishes every insult she tosses Potter's way, listens with rapt attention, daydreams a bit about her hatred pushing her further from the ridiculous mass of Gryffindors she associates with as a result of the confounded Sorting Hat's misstatement. He bites his lip. She is Gryffindor, though, and to his chagrin he cannot imagine her in any other house though she exhibits characteristics from each. Except Slytherin, the same evil little voice whispers, and he involuntarily shivers in the waning autumn heat.
"Are you even listening to me?"
Her question snaps him from his disturbing chain of thoughts and he smiles at her. "Of course. It is astounding how much you're made to put up with by mere House association with that... toerag."
Severus pretends he didn't notice the small furrow of her brow when he insulted Potter.