Taking Down the Sunrise

"Hey," Lily said, tapping him on the shoulder before she turned away to go and sit with her house. His eyes followed her across the room until she sat down next to him and then he quickly looked away. He took a deep breath. Sometimes he wished that she could just sit down with him.

"Snap out of it," Avery hissed, slapping Severus lightly on the arm. He glanced over his shoulder at Lily and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "How you can even stand to look at that Mudblood is beyond me. The fact that you're friends with her? That's unbelievable."

"Don't call her that," Severus mumbled. He was angry on the inside but didn't want to show it in front of Avery. The only reason he had even said anything was because Mulciber wasn't there yet and he was not yet outnumbered.

Avery rolled his eyes, "Why? Are you denying that's what she is, Severus?" He shook his head and grabbed a roll from the plate in front of him. "That Evans girl is not our kind of people. How often have I told you that?" He glanced up as Mulciber joined them at the table, "How often have we told you that?"

"Oh, are we talking about that Evans bitch again?" Mulciber sighed as he glared at Snape, "She's a Mudblood. Now, I know your blood's not all that pure but maybe you should set your standards just a little bit higher. You don't want your kids to be quarter-bloods or whatever the hell they would be if you fucked her."

"Shut up," Severus snapped at them. They both looked taken aback. He grabbed his plate before either of them could hit him or draw their wands. He headed straight over to where Lily was sitting and slid into the spot beside her.

She looked mildly surprised but smiled at him anyways. Turning away from James, much to his displeasure, she said, "Severus, I am so bored here. Do you want to just grab a bunch of fruit and eat in the courtyard? It's still warm enough, I think."

Just seeing the far-off, longing look in her eyes made him say yes.

***

It was not warm enough, to say the least. The cold September winds buffeted them from every side, making shelter near impossible to find. Sunshine bathed the ground almost mockingly as if it had purposefully dragged them out into the cold just to torture them. Both Lily and Severus had tried to conjure up heat with their wands, but it did not work as well as either of them would have liked.

"Well, I guess I was wrong about the temperature," Lily said matter-of-factly. That was one of the best things about her, Severus had decided, she never giggled when she was wrong. She just told the truth about the situation, "But it's so terribly stuffy in the Great Hall... is it so wrong to want to stay out here in the cold of autumn?"

Severus's immediate answer would have been yes. It was in fact, completely insane to want to sit outside in the cold, with a plateful of warm food and eat outside. They would be so cold they would have to huddle close together under some large tree, trying desperately to keep themselves warm by using the others body heat. This thought is what changed Severus's initial reply.

"No, it's not wrong at all," He concluded, smiling at her. He took her hand in a friendly way and led her over to an oak tree that grew beside the lake. They were saved from most of the wind at this spot, but the ruthless chill was still there. He sat down, dropping her hand, and took a bite of the apple on his plate.

In seconds Lily was huddled up beside him, her robe wrapped tightly around her body, and she was nibbling at her waffles like a rabbit. It was all Severus could do not to laugh at her. Her red hair fell over his shoulder in such a natural way that it made him shiver. Her casualness at being so close to him had always bothered him. When he was close to her all he wanted to do was kiss her.

"You know, it occurs to me that we've never done this before," She said once a few minutes had passed, "I mean, we've done a lot of odd things, but we've never had breakfast outside in September before. Why not?"

"Because it sounds stupid when you say it like that," He answered simply. Wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him, he whispered, "It was the look in your eyes when you said it that made me say yes. If anyone else would have suggested it, I would have probably sent them to the Hospital Wing."

Was it his imagination, or did she blush? She definitely covered her cheeks with her hands and turned away for a second. She shuffled from his grasp, her silence replacing the giggles any other girl would have let out. A minute passed in silence and then she turned back to him, smiling, "So you do think I'm crazy then? You're just merely humouring me?”

"Of course not," He said the words with such a finality that she did not ask for an explanation. They finished their breakfast in a whirlwind of laughter and deep conversation. They both stood up at the exact same time and headed down to the kitchens together to drop off their plates.

When the bell rang to signal that they should be heading to class, they hugged and went their separate ways. But as they walked, the same thought was beating through both of their minds.

Are we really just friends? Is a hug all I'm ever going to get?