Taking Down the Sunrise

“Lily, what are you doing tonight?” Severus asked as he matched her pace in the hallway after class.

She glanced at him doubtfully, “You’re kidding me, right?”

He glanced around the hallway and then looked back at her, “I don’t think I am. Why the hostility, Lils?”

“You hit James in the face,” Lily said firmly, “It was simply barbaric!”

“Let me ask you something,” Severus said, as if he was about to change the subject, “If there wasn’t such a thing as magic, if you still lived in that world you loved before you were ten, and I was there and James was there and he was hitting on you... what would you expect me to do?”

“Ignore it.”

Severus gave her a look like she had grown a second head, “You obviously don’t understand how the male brain works.”

“You obviously don’t understand how the female brain works.”

“I bet I can understand the female mind faster than you understand the male mind.” He said playfully.

Lily laughed, “You’re kidding, right? I would crush you.”

“Then you’ve got nothing to lose.”

She met his gaze with an exasperated silence as he raised one eyebrow questioningly. Slowly, she nodded, “I’ll accept your challenge, but what are we betting?”

Shrugging, he suggested, “Bragging rights.”

“Underwear.”

Severus blanched at the suggestion. For once he was glad that he was mostly anonymous in the school hallways and that no one seemed to be listening to them. Clearing his throat, he repeated nervously, “Underwear?”

“Problem?”

“No, it’s just umm... I’m not wearing any,” He bluffed as he felt the heat rising in his cheeks at the thought.

Lily let out a short, but loud laugh and patted him gently on the shoulder, “What’s our time limit here?”

“A week?” Severus said, “And how do we prove it?”

“It’s Monday... so how about we both have to set up a date for the other based on the inner workings of the opposite gender’s mind?”

“One of us will have more time.”

She smirked at him, “You can have Sunday and I’ll take Saturday. God knows the female mind is much more elusive than the male mind.”

“That’s what you think.”

“Food, sex and cars, what else is there?”

Severus laughed and took her hand in his. He brought it up to his lips, kissed it gently and whispered, “You have so much to learn, darling.”

“Not nearly as much as you,” She murmured, kissing him on the cheek.

She crossed in front of him and headed up the staircase. Severus stared after her, watching her hair move, imagining her all-knowing smile and sighed to himself. She was far from a mystery, but girls in general... that was a harder mark to hit. As she turned to take another staircase, she looked down at him and he waved. It was hard to tell from so far away, but he could have sworn she had blushed before rushing on to the next staircase before it moved away.

He smiled to himself and blew a kiss after her retreating figure. No matter who won, he knew this would be the mark of a big step for the two of them and he didn’t want to push her away this time.