Black and Red[Lily]

[severus snape]

Sev was lingering in the agreed meeting point, he wouldn't want to keep Lily waiting. Especially not when he had some really great things to show her.
He'd been working on some adaptations they could make to a Cramping Concoction. He'd been itching to share his findings with her all day. He was fiddling, twiddling his thumbs, waiting for her.

He'd already set two cauldron's up and laid out all the ingredients and equipment necessary. There were two sets of knives and cutting boards. Two ladles, two sets of aprons, everything was ready. He'd spoken to Slughorn, who had been only too eager to allow his two best students to use the spare laboratory. Severus was sure that it had been Lily's name that had clinched the deal. He wasn't complaining though.

BRewing on his own waws alright, but with Lily it was so much better. Sometimes she'd smile triumphantly at some new development, her eyes were bright and alive and she seemed to exude an energy of joie de vivre that made him want to kiss her. But he mustn't do that. Because that would ruin their friendship. He didn't want to lose her, and He was probably a bad kisser anyway. He wouldn't want her to have anything less than the best.

He blushed a little that the turn his thoughts were taking was far more than that of a best friend. He quickly banished such thoughts and waited for the stunning...for the friendly redhead.

[lauren]

Lily made her way down to the dungeons to meet Severus. She was glad to be spending time with him again, alone that is. She was noticing the people he was hanging around with and none of them could stand Lily. In fact they were the type of people who wanted to get 'rid of' Lily. They were the kind of people who didn't like muggleborns. How Severus could even willingly want to hang out with them, she didn't know. Okay granted they were his house mates and that had to count for something, but still Lily didn't understand it.

Lily smiled when she spotted him. "Sev!" she said happily, calling him what she usually called him. She went up and gave her best friend a hug. She hadn't seen him in quite awhile and it's true she hated some of his new friends. She hated his new friends just as much as she hated fighting with him, which was another reason she was glad to see him right now. It had been too long since it was just the two of them and they weren't fighting, or when things were just plain rocky in general.

She smiled up at him. "I'm sorry I just missed hanging out with you. It's felt like forever since we last hung out" she said, after she pulled away from the hug she'd given him. "So what potion is it this time?" she asked curiously. Lily loved potions it was one of her favorite subject and she enjoyed it even more when she did it with someone else who not only enjoyed potions, but enjoyed her company.

[severus snape]

There was a flash of red at the corner of his vision, and he turned in time to see the very girl he'd been thinking of approaching at a mildly alarming speed. "Hi, Lily." He smiled a little shyly. This was one of the only occassions that he would be shy like this. She always seemed so happy to see him and he knew he didn't deserve her. When she hugged him, he half hugged, half draped his arms on her shoulders, because he was never sure how tight one was allowed to squeeze, and he didn't want to hurt her, and he never knew where to put his hands, because he didn't want to accidentally molest her.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "uh...That's okay, I'm happy to see you too." His dark dark brown eyes held nothing but honesty to her, for her they were always open and never gurarded. "I think you're going to like this. I managed to make a few adaptations to that Cramping Concotion we worked on last month that on paper should work out. I'm not entirely sure if they will in practice though." He shrugged with a small private smile, reserved just for Lily.

He walked in and started putting on his apron, rolling his sleevs back a small way to uncover his wrists only. "I was looking at the stirring instructions and I realsied that it fitted the criteria for a figure of eight stir as well as a clockwise and anticlockwise alternate stir. I thought if we each tried one and compared notes afterwards, we might find out if one was quicker?" THere was the hint of a question, checking that she didn't mind. And that he wasn't too boring for her. He didn't really know why she spent so much time with him. But he was glad of it. He couldn't think of a better way to spend his free periods than with his best friend and the brightest witch he knew. It might have helped a little that she was also quiet stunning now that she'd been through puberty.

[lauren]

Lily smiled back, when Severus greeted her. She nodded listening to what her friend was saying. If he said she'd like it, chances are she would. He knew her pretty well after all. Besides Potions was one of her favorite classes and not just because Slughorn liked her. Like Severus, she was very very good at it. Not only that she enjoyed it, which was a plus.

Okay so Lily wasn't exactly as obssesed as Severus sometimes got, in fact sometimes Lily even had a hard time understanding what Severus was trying to say. "You know sometimes even i have a hard time understanding you" she said with a laugh, trying to joke around with him. Theres no way most people would understand what he's trying to say. They'd have to be extremely good..

Lily was a smart girl, so to stump her or confuse her.....well it didn't happen often. Lily pulled her hair back, with her hair tie currently on her wrist. She always liked to keep one there just in case. You never really know when you need one and Lily liked to be prepared. She then made her way over to where Severus was standing and put on an apron herself. If she wasn't in her school uniform at the moment, she probably wouldn't bother with putting one on depending on what she was wearing. Her unifrom though was something she didn't exactly want to damage. Potions could be a bit dangerous after all, so one would have to be very careful.

[severus snape]

He felt that strange thrill run through him when she smiled back. Only Lily, and his contwntment after finishing a successful potion. A faint flush ran down his neck, reddening his shoulders and neck where it disappeared beneath his collar.

Lily gave him such a feeling of worth. His friends in Slytherin made him feel worth his usefulness as an ally, but she made him feel like a worthy friend. Like someone who deserved the unconditional attention she paid him.

Even if that had been waning this year. He knew they were drifting apart. And he knew it was because he had other friends. But he didn't tell her who to be friends with, or resent her for having friends who weren't him. But it felt a lot like Lily didn't want him to make friends with anyone else. Even when she knew, as she must, how hard it was and is for him to make friends.

He frowned, he'd got over excited again and talked to her as if it was only a day after the lesson and she'd been with him while he researched and calculated. The blush, just beginning to fade away into the old sallow tone, returned full-force. Lily had other things to think about. He should never expect that she would hold onto each little meeting they had in the same way he did, waiting until the next one fervently.

He watched as she pulled back her red hair, smiling to himself as he turned away to don his own apron. Technically he should probably have tied his hair back as well, but he wasn't going to. He'd just push it aside to make sure it didn't get in the way or obscur his vision.

He decided to slow things all the way down from his excited over-emthusiastic outburst and the rambling that came after it.
"I Think we can make the brewing process for Cramping Concoctions more efficient. If you want to we could each try out different stirring patterns? Or we could try one together?" it was allways we with Lily. Severus Snape and Lily Evans. He liked to think that: You couldn't have one without the other. Of at least, that's how he felt..

She nodded liste stump her or confuse her.....well probably wouldn't bother with putting one on depending on what she was wearing. Her unifrom though was something she didn't exactly want

[lauren]

Lily smiled again, at him. "Together of course" she replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She really didn't care either way how they went about things, but they always, for the most part did things like this together, especialy when it comes to potions. Potions was just well 'their thing' Lily and Severus would spend hours and hours correcting Sev's Text book to make the potions in their better, sometimes even faster. They both loved potions and more importantly it was something they loved doing together. Heck even in class they always did it together, then again Slughorn loved Lily, meaning she could pair herself with whoever she wanted and Slughorn wouldn't care. Then again he probably liked the house Unity, a Slytehrin working with A Gryffindor. That wasn't something you seen everyday, well unless your in Lily and Sev's class that is.

She thought for a second and shrugged a little bit. "Unless you want to try it the other way, either way is fine with me" she replied. It was just so easy to do things together. She brushed a strand of hair out of her way, and tucked it behind her ear. It was a strand of hair that didn't make it into the pony tail, it was too short to fit in there with the rest of her hair. "I mean if we did do it the other way we'd still be doing it together, just using different stirring patterns" she said with a laugh. They would still be standing next to one another as they brewed the potion.


The bottom line was, that Lily just loved spending time with him. It didn't matter what they did and sure she wished he had other friends then her. She didn't want to hold him back, but she just didn't like the people he was hanging around now. They were the type of people who would do anything to 'get rid of' her. They would never accept her being Friends with Sev, all because of her blood status. They weren't the type of people that most people would want for a friend.

[severus snape]

God...He loved it when she smiled. He couldn't return it quite as brightly, but he tried his best for Lily.
"Together...." He nodded. He liked that. Liked working next to her and his hand brushing against hers, liked casting furtive glances her way andsmiling if ever she caught him. She turned him into the worst Slytherin ever. But he didn't mind.

Sometimes he wished he'd been sorted into Gryffindor with her. But would that have made Potter and his gang worse? The constant contact would surely have driven him mad by now. But maybe, just maybe...she could have kept him sane.

"no..no." He smiled at her again. "Together's fine." More to himself he murmured. "together's fantastic." He watched her hand move and almost wanted to do that for her. But that would be a huge giveaway and everyone, even the socially and emotionally stunted slytherin with sallow skin knew that you categorically did not tell the object of your affections that you fancied her.

Severus knew it was stupid, but he wanted to impress her somewhat so he cast a vanishing charm on the water in the second cauldron and levitated it over to the pile. He could have just picked it up, but Lily used to love magic, and he hoped she still did...the same way she used to care about him.

A small shy smile snuck onto his face as he pushed back some of his own unkempt fringe, "so...ready?"