After All This Time and Always
Ch. 2
The great hall was crowded and hot, too many people were opening and shutting their big mouths too much. Snape uncomfortably yanked at his collar as he scanned the crowd for Lily, catching her with a raven-haired girl as they ate fried eggs and biscuits. She carefully kept her ocean blue eyes averted from the general direction of the Slytherin table.
It was like a battle of the wills: the will to ignore emanating from Lily and the will to discuss and act protruding profusely from Snape. One would be surprised the Great Hall didn’t spontaneously combust with the two wizards mentally battling it out: who had the stronger will?
The answer to that would be Lily. She calmly stood up and walked away, her back to her best friend as if he had just murdered her husband. Inside his own head, Snape thought, “I told you not to read it. I told you! And you didn’t listen. Now you won’t even talk to me, like it’s all my fault!” The words were bitter, they filled his mouth and tasted bright and sour, like pennies and lemonade but he didn’t let them fall out. He swallowed the bitterness and anger and did as she did, calmly went back to his common room to be bitter and angry in peace.
***
There was a nice, cool breeze coming in off the lake, the untrimmed grass blades brushing against Snape’s pants as he calmly walked to his usual study spot under a shady tree. He had pulled his long black hair back and tucked it behind his ears, trying to keep the greasy black strands from his eyes.
He kept his books tucked under his arms and his head down, trying to avoid the wandering eye of the Gryffindor gossips. Everyone pointed and giggled, snickering to themselves as he sat under the tree and pulled out his nightly assignments. He heard the sound of far away giggling, and tried to tune it out.
Eventually his self consciousness got the best of him and he looked up, meeting the ocean deep eyes of Lily as she bent down, her eyes wide with curiosity. “Snape?” she asked cheerily.
It was like a battle of the wills: the will to ignore emanating from Lily and the will to discuss and act protruding profusely from Snape. One would be surprised the Great Hall didn’t spontaneously combust with the two wizards mentally battling it out: who had the stronger will?
The answer to that would be Lily. She calmly stood up and walked away, her back to her best friend as if he had just murdered her husband. Inside his own head, Snape thought, “I told you not to read it. I told you! And you didn’t listen. Now you won’t even talk to me, like it’s all my fault!” The words were bitter, they filled his mouth and tasted bright and sour, like pennies and lemonade but he didn’t let them fall out. He swallowed the bitterness and anger and did as she did, calmly went back to his common room to be bitter and angry in peace.
***
There was a nice, cool breeze coming in off the lake, the untrimmed grass blades brushing against Snape’s pants as he calmly walked to his usual study spot under a shady tree. He had pulled his long black hair back and tucked it behind his ears, trying to keep the greasy black strands from his eyes.
He kept his books tucked under his arms and his head down, trying to avoid the wandering eye of the Gryffindor gossips. Everyone pointed and giggled, snickering to themselves as he sat under the tree and pulled out his nightly assignments. He heard the sound of far away giggling, and tried to tune it out.
Eventually his self consciousness got the best of him and he looked up, meeting the ocean deep eyes of Lily as she bent down, her eyes wide with curiosity. “Snape?” she asked cheerily.