There’s nothing you can know that isn’t known.
Nothing you can see that isn’t shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.

When Severus Snape arrived at Spinner’s End, he welcomed its stillness, the layers of dust, the fraying curtains, and the faded carpet in the sitting room. He glanced at the yellowed wall, and his eyes landed on the familiar radio.

He was glad to be finally away from Hogwarts and a certain old, eccentric, meddling wizard who wore half-moon spectacles over his twinkling eyes and had a nasty habit of offering sweets to students and staff members at apparent random.

Then again, he thought, looks could be deceiving. The esteemed Hogwarts headmaster might be an old coot who was getting on years, but Severus knew better than to underestimate one of the greatest wizards known to the wizarding world.

Nonetheless, tonight’s conversation with the headmaster had left him unsettled to where he found himself wishing he could poke a liquorice wand up the headmaster’s crooked nose. Then again, maybe not. Knowing Albus, he’d enjoy the wand up there and make a comment such as, “Now it makes perfect sense why this sweet is long and thin!”

Severus rolled his eyes as his mind wandered back to the conversation he’d had earlier. In fact, he could not believe it was already a decade since that year, the year he’d failed to protect her . . .

At the end of summer, at the start of the new term, Severus would see him. The thought of it left him feeling rattled. He wondered if he had any of her traits, along with her green eyes.

Stifling another sigh, he threw himself on a chair. Next to him was the Muggle radio, the same radio he used to listen as a child. He stared at the thick layer of dust and spelled it away. Then he slowly reached out to flick it on.

First the radio spewed out static noises and indecipherable words. Severus fiddled with the knobs until he could hear something akin to music pour out of the speakers.

It was a song he hadn’t thought of for years; a song he had never quite liked because of its silly melody and lyrics. His fingers twitched, wanting to turn the radio off, but the dreadful song seeped into his mind.

“In the town where I was born, lived a man who sailed to sea. And he told us of his life, in the land of sub–”

The sound of water, the sea crashing against an unknown shore, a captain’s voice, and a brass band filled his sitting room.

Then, in his mind, another voice began to sing.

Severus stilled his hand.

“In the town where I was born, lived a man who sailed to sea. And he told us of his life, in the land of sub–”

“Lily!” Severus yelled, holding his hands against his ears for protection. “Stop!”

She ignored Severus and continued to sing, her voice loud and off-key. “–marines. So we sailed on to the sun, till we found the sea of green. And we lived beneath the waves, in our yellow submarine!”

Severus groaned and kept his hands on his ears, eyeing the back door of Lily’s house, hoping Mrs Evans would come out and tell Lily to stop her horrible singing.

Nobody came, so Severus was condemned to suffer until the song had ended. When she had — finally! — finished, Severus brought his hands down. She turned to Severus and said, “Come on! Sing with me!”

Severus recoiled in horror. “No! I am not going to sing!”

“Aw,” Lily said, her green eyes opened wide. “Why not? We’ll sing your favourite.”

“My favourite?” Severus stared at her, wondering if she had lost her mind. “I don’t have a favourite Beatles song.”

“Yes, you do.” Lily grinned and tossed her long red hair. “I heard you sing it before when I snuck up on you once. And stop glaring! You’re going to have a pinched forehead like Petunia if you constantly frown like that. Now come on. Sing! You say yes, I say no . . . ”

Severus gave a resigned sigh, and in a very monotone voice, completely the opposite from Lily’s belting vocals, he sang, “You say stop, and I say go, go, go.” That was what he did for the next hour. Lily would urge him to sing with her, and he’d sing, all flat and on one note, but that didn’t deter Lily. She just continued to sing happily and — unfortunately for Severus — horribly.

He didn’t mind, though. Not as much as he pretended to anyway.

He’d rather put up with Lily’s awful singing than listening to the daily arguments of his parents. Compared to their screaming and arguing, he found Lily’s voice beautiful . . . when she wasn’t singing.

Later, when he finally couldn’t postpone going home, he wondered if he should see if there were any potions that would improve someone’s singing quality. Better yet, he thought, maybe he could find some magical earplugs that were invisible when worn and that would block out someone’s off-key singing, but allowed the wearer to still hear everything else.

This idea had come to him last year when Lily suddenly had become interested with this band, but Severus had never acted on it because he didn’t mind Lily having fun with these awful songs. Mostly. He just hoped that she would improve one day.

“Hello, Severus.” Mrs Evans smiled. “Lily’s in the back. Do you want a jam tart before you go?”

He looked at the mouth-watering treats, something he’d never find in his own home. His pride made him decline them. “No, thank you. I’m still full from lunch.” He hurried away before she could insist and ignored his empty stomach’s protest.

Outside, he scanned the yard for Lily. She sat cross-legged under her favourite tree, where the afternoon sunlight peeked through the leaves above, creating a shadowy pattern. In her lap was a book, and she was smiling. Severus frowned slightly, realising that the smile on her face was different from her usual ones.

She smiled shyly when meeting someone for the first time. She had a polite, courteous smile that she always smiled (in fact it was hard to catch her not smiling). When she knew someone better, her smile was a bit more mischievous. When she had an idea, her smile grew knowing, secretive. And when she was with Severus, her whole face lit up.

The smile she had now was wide, and her eyes looked dreamy. That expression unnerved him; it was an expression he’d seen before, but he couldn’t remember where.

When he got closer, he saw it wasn’t a book but a magazine. He stopped in front of her, looked down, and stared at the gigantic pin-up poster of John Lennon. Lily was humming something, a very familiar tune that always made his stomach clench in disgust. Of all the Beatles songs, he found himself hating “Can’t Buy Me Love” most, and hearing her humming it made his ears hurt. As he tried his best to block out that tune, he glanced at Lily’s face once more, and that was when he realised where he’d seen that expression before. He’d seen it on Petunia when she’d been in love with that neighbourhood boy down the street.

Now Lily wore that same look. Did that mean she was in love with John Lennon?

Severus made a face at that thought. He hoped she hadn’t turned into a girl, like Petunia!

Lily looked up, finally noticing him, and asked, “What’s wrong with your face? Are you sick?”

“No, but what’s that?” He pointed at the magazine.

“A magazine.” Lily smirked at her answer as Severus resisted rolling his eyes. “Daddy got this for me. This has a lot of stuff about the Beatles. A lot of articles and posters. See? Look at this poster of John Lennon when he was younger! See that mop-top? I think that suits him waaaaay better than what he looks like now.”

He studied the two pictures, studied how different the Beatles had looked in the early 1960s compared to now. He could see that they had looked a lot cleaner when they had been younger, and then as they had grown older, they had turned into these messy people. He could not figure out who was who except for John Lennon, because of his glasses. “Do all grown-ups become this messy when they get older?”

“Maybe?” Lily shrugged as she went back to staring at the huge John Lennon poster. “He still looks good, though. I wish I could meet him one day. I wish I could go to their concert. I’m trying to convince Daddy and Mummy to let me go when I turn eleven. I’ll be all grown up by then, so they have to let me go! Do you think they’ll ever come here and perform?”

“I don’t know.”

“If they come here or any nearby cities, I’m going to go. Let’s go together, okay?”

Severus grimaced and took a step back. “I don’t think so,” he said fiercely.

“Aw, why not? I don’t want to go by myself. If you come with me, you can be my bodyguard! You already like wearing black, so you can wear that and protect me.”

Severus tried to figure out just what black had to do with bodyguards, but before he could ask, she stood up, set the magazine aside, and started singing a new song.

“Oh, please, say to me, you’ll let me be your man. And please, say to me, you’ll let me hold your hand!” Lily danced as she grabbed Severus’ hand. “Sing with me! We have to practise for when they come!”

“What do you mean practise?!” Severus asked as she yanked him around the yard.

“At the concert! When they sing, we have to sing along with them. So we need to memorise the lyrics and all.” She laughed and skipped around the yard, still holding Severus’ hand, and continued to sing, “Now let me hold your hand! I want to hold your hand!”

Once again, thanks to Lily’s convincing attitude, Severus found himself singing along with her off-key performance. Thank goodness she didn’t mind his flat singing, he thought. He didn’t fancy the idea of receiving singing lessons on top of all these Beatles songs.

It was cold when Severus woke up on the last day of the year. He blearily rubbed his eyes, and he sat up with a large yawn. He winced as he heard something crashing downstairs, followed by his father’s deep shouting and his mother’s softer sobs.

Already numb from the coldness in his room, he pulled his threadbare blanket tighter around him and lay back down on his lumpy mattress, curling himself into a foetal position and pulling the blanket over his head to block out the noises from below. Despite all his efforts, though, he could still hear everything through the thin walls. He heard his father’s cruel voice as he continued to yell at his mother. He heard the all familiar threats of him leaving them, and his mother begging him not to.

Unable to withstand it any longer, he got off his bed, stopped by the loo to do his business, and went to change into a pair of frayed jeans and an old but clean shirt. He slipped his feet into a pair of socks that had holes and into ratty-looking trainers which had once been white. Finally, he pulled on his coat, quietly crept through the house, and went outside.

He walked down the road, enjoying the blissful silence and trying to ignore the frosty winds that swept all over him. He pulled his coat’s collar up around his neck and ears and stuffed his hands deep into his pocket. In one of the side alley streets, away from the prying eyes of his neighbours, he jumped up and down and ran around in circles until he could feel himself getting warm.

Still, it was too cold to linger around, so he decided to go visit Lily and see if she wanted to play. He ran all the way to Lily’s house, and when he arrived, he could see his breath coming out in pants. Swallowing hard, he forced his breathing to slow down before he rang the doorbell.

Mrs Evans opened the door. Severus noticed that she appeared sad instead of her usual cheery self. “Oh, hello, Severus. You look chilled to your bones. Come on in!”

Inside, he quickly turned down her offers of tea and crumpets. “Thank you, but maybe later. Is Lily around?”

Sighing loudly, her face turned sad again. “She’s out in the back. I just checked on her five minutes ago, and she’s not ready to come back in yet. She’s quite . . . upset. Thank goodness she’s bundled up, at least. Go see her, love. Perhaps you can knock some sense into her so she’ll brood inside the house instead.”

“All right. I’ll–” Severus was cut off when Mrs Evans wrapped a fluffy muffler around his neck.

“There. We mustn’t let you catch your death of cold.” She finished tying the muffler and stepped back with a smile. “Go and bring her in soon. Otherwise, I’ll dig out my rubber crowbar and yank you two inside the house.”

Severus thanked her quickly, and he went outside. Just like that one time when she’d been fascinated by the magazine, he found her under the tree. Unlike last time, she didn’t have a silly smile on her face; instead, there were tears in her eyes. Worried, he wondered what had upset her. Quietly, he took a seat next to her on the hard ground.

“Hullo,” she said, pulling her knees closer to her chest and wrapping her thin arms around her legs.

“Hi,” he responded softly. “What’s wrong?”

Lily kept quiet, but her bottom lip began to quiver.

“Did Petunia do something to you?” he asked, alarmed.

She shook her head. “No. Not Petunia. It’s . . . it’s . . . ” She lost her control, and she burst into tears. She buried her face in her arms. Her shoulders heaved and shook.

Awkwardly, Severus put an arm around her shoulder, but barely touching her, afraid to upset her further. Then, without warnings, Lily turned and leaned into him, sobbing into his chest. His eyes now wide open, he slowly hugged her very stiffly.

They stayed like that for a few minutes as Lily’s sob subsided. Soon, she was only sniffling. He asked again, “What’s wrong?”

“Thebeebmamdumedinagoo.”

“The Bee Man made dinner goo?”

“No!” Lily pulled away from him and giggled before she remembered her pain and turned sombre again. “The Beatles are breaking up for good.”

He blinked. “For good?”

“Back in April, Paul McCartney had left the group. So I was waiting for Paul to realise how he was being silly and needed to come back to the group, but now . . . ” Her bottom lip began to quiver again. “I always thought they would stay together forever.”

Severus was slightly dismayed. He knew she really liked the band, but he didn’t think their break up would affect her this much. He couldn’t understand why she was so upset, but he didn’t want to see her so miserable.

“Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,” he began to sing the first song that came into his mind. “And I say it’s all right!”

She stared at him, open-mouthed. He continued to belt out the song, not caring that he sounded worse than she usually did. “Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter. Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here. Here comes the sun, here comes the sun . . . ”

“And I say it’s all right!” Lily finished in a shaky voice. They smiled at each other and continued to sing. It was one of their worst attempts at singing Beatles songs, and they most likely butchered the song to where Severus would have definitely preferred an earplug or three . . . but he didn’t care. Lily wasn’t crying, and that was more important than his ears.

Together they finished the rest of the song.

“Will you promise me something?”

They were back in Lily’s house, in the sitting room, eating and drinking Mrs Evans’ wonderful tea and crumpets. Severus was going to soak in all the warmth here before he had to return to his cold home and celebrate New Year’s Eve with his parents, hoping they wouldn’t fight for once, hoping they’d call a truce for tonight and perhaps even fight less in the New Year.

He looked into her serious green eyes, the same eyes he’d looked into for years. But now they appeared different. “What is it?”

“Promise me that we’ll always be friends, no matter what. Promise me that we’ll never break up like the Beatles.”

Severus slowly grinned. “I promise.” Lily was his true friend; he would always be loyal to her.

She smiled back, her green eyes becoming brighter. She grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together before saying, “Friends forever.”

He nodded and looked at their intertwined fingers and echoed her, “Friends forever.”

When the song ended, Severus finally turned the radio off. He leaned heavily against his chair and stared at the wall in front of him; an image of Lily, so beautiful with her long red hair and her endearing green eyes smiling at him, came to his mind.

He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he saw her holding up a baby up to her bosom.

He had broken his promise.

Yet, maybe, there was another chance.

Make sure it was not in vain. Help me protect Lily’s son.

As Albus’ voice drifted away, Severus smiled sadly. “Friends forever,” he whispered. Lily looked at him and mouthed a single word.

Pools of sorrow, waves of joy
Are drifting through my open mind
Possessing and caressing me.

Severus rushed away from Spinner’s End, eager to get to the little clearing in the woods. It was a quiet clearing, surrounded by tall trees, currently covered with snow. This little clearing was a special place that he and Lily played in, both considering it their secret hideout.

As he walked down the snow-covered streets, he brought his cold hands up to blow at them, trying to warm them up. He shoved his hands into his pockets. The wind stung his cheeks, and he ducked his head down to avoid it. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the Christmas decorations still on some people’s houses, unlike his own dark, undecorated dwelling, and he was glad that Christmas was over.

When he reached the entrance of the clearing, he shoved the branches away and slipped past them, ignoring the snow that had fallen on his head, and he saw Lily already there, smiling. As usual, she had on a colourful matching set of hat, mittens, and a scarf. Her bright green eyes gleaming, she waved one of her mitten-clad hands. “Hi, Severus!”

He smiled back, but he didn’t wave, keeping his hands still in his pockets. “Hi, Lily. Did you have a good Christmas?”

“The best! How about you? Did you get some nice presents?”

He nodded briskly. “It was fine.” It wasn’t, but he had no intention of telling her that or that her little gift — a book about the Arthurian legends — was the only gift he’d received for the holidays. Quickly, he changed the subject. “I looked through one of my mum’s old books a couple of days ago. I discovered something called frostyworms. Apparently they are magical worms, some kind of flobberworm, and they can be found in snow. My mum said they can be found around here.”

That was before his father had started yelling at his mum. It was one of the worst fights he’d seen his parents have, and he could still hear the shouts and screams. He didn’t want to think of it, though, and he only thought about finding the frostyworms because he wanted to try the Snowflake Potion. He’d read that if it was poured onto an object, the potion would transform into snow for a while. Even though there was a lot of snow around him, he still wanted to try it since it would be quite handy to have in the summer. “Want to help look for them?” he asked, hoping she’d agreed. He knew how girls were about worms and bugs. He’d seen Petunia scream over spiders, cockroaches, and worms all the time.

“Sure!” Lily said enthusiastically, which surprised him. “Are they potions ingredients, too? You want to find them and practise potions, right? We’ll be turning eleven in another year or so.” She bit her bottom lip. “Do you really think I’ll get a Hogwarts letter, too?”

Severus nodded hard. He knew she was a witch, and he could tell she would be a good one. Last year, before they’d first talked, he had been watching Lily and Petunia from behind some bushes. Apparently Petunia did something to annoy Lily, and to his and Petunia’s amazement, Lily’s annoyance had made her do some wandless magic. Interestingly enough, Lily had made real petunias sprout out on top of Petunia’s head. Severus would never forget the look of horror on Petunia’s face, and now that he knew Petunia, he thought that was a fitting punishment for her! “You will. And we’ll go to Hogwarts together. I’m going to make the Snowflake Potion, and I’ll show you how it’s done.”

“That’d be great! But we have to dig for them, right? We’ll need shovels or something.”

Severus’ brows furrowed together. “Yeah.” He’d forgotten about that. Then again, his family didn’t have any shovels.

“We have two at my house! Let’s go get them.” Lily grabbed Severus’ wrist, tugging so his hand slipped out of his pocket. With his hand in her mitten-covered one, they walked out of the clearing and went towards her house. As they walked, he couldn’t help but revel in the fact that his hand felt warmer in Lily’s as opposed to in his pocket. It was strange because his pocket was usually much warmer. He shrugged, though, and let himself be dragged along by Lily’s enthusiasm.

“Oof!” Lily said, throwing a pile of snow over her shoulder. “Snow’s sure heavy.”

Severus grunted in agreement. “I can’t wait until we can legally do magic. It’d be easier to Accio these frostyworms.”

“That’s the summoning or another spell, right? It’d be easier, I agree, but I think this is more fun. And this is exercise — ah-ha!” Lily exclaimed. She pointed at something in the snow. “Is that your frostyworm?”

Severus looked at the wriggling worm. It was blue, fat, and squishy, and it looked rather . . . disgusting. More disgusting than the picture in his mum’s book. “I’m not touching that!”

Lily took off one of her mittens, stuffed it into her pocket, and reached out to grab the frostyworm. She picked it up gingerly between two fingers and brought the frostyworm close to her face and studied it. “I think it looks cute.”

Severus shook his head emphatically and made a face.

Lily giggled and stepped closer to Severus and practically shoved the frostyworm into his face. “Look at it.”

“Lily!” Severus shrieked and backed away. Shuddering he said, “I don’t want it near me!”

Rolling her eyes, she set the worm down on her other hand, watching it crawl around the woollen material. “How are you going to be a Potions master if you can’t stand the sight of your own ingredients?”

“How come you’re not like other girls who squeal when they see bugs and other creepy stuff?” Severus retorted.

“Please. I’m not like Petunia! I like this stuff. Maybe I should become a Potions master if I go to Hogwarts. Or should that be Potions mistress? No, that doesn’t sound quite right . . . ”

While she pondered on that, Severus pouted. Lily did have a point — he would have to get used to handling disgusting potions ingredients. And if Lily — a girl — could touch a frostyworm and not get sick, then by all means, so could he!

Determinedly, he pushed his disgust deep inside, and he reached out to touch the frostyworm in Lily’s hand. It did feel slimy and cold, but he repeatedly reminded himself that it wouldn’t hurt him, that it was a harmless little bug that he could overpower; after all, he was larger than the frostyworm!

He quickly got used to it, and eventually, he had the entire thing in his own hand.

Lily gave him a smug look. “See? It’s not bad.”

Snortling, he said, “Yeah, you’re right. It’s not so bad.”

“Good. Now, go make that potion!”

Severus came to the clearing first. Waiting for Lily, he sat on his haunches and he found a stick and drew random doodles in the snow. However, he had to stop every few minutes to warm his hands up. Whether he blew on them, put them in his pocket, or pulled his sleeves over them, it didn’t work. His hands were too cold.

When Lily finally arrived, he stood up and threw the stick aside. “Hi.”

“Hi. I had to do chores with Petunia, but she was too busy complaining and whining. Honestly. She’s older than me, but I feel like I’m more mature than her!” Lily grabbed the stick he had thrown, and she continued his drawing. “You’re lucky you’re an only child.”

Severus agreed and disagreed with her statement. He thought about how lonely it was to be an only child, but if he had to have a sibling like Petunia — who was not only a cow, but an evil, soul-sucking cow — he’d rather eat dirt! “I guess,” he said noncommittally.

“How’s your potion?”

“It’s kind of hard,” he admitted, “but it’s just that my hands get too cold at home. Our house’s heating system has its good and bad days.” Truthfully, his house had no heat since his father hadn’t paid the bills for this month, but he decided not to tell Lily the entire truth. He bit his lip. He didn’t like talking about his home situation with her.

“Oh, I see.” She looked thoughtful. “Well, I’m in a mood for hot chocolate. Plus, Mummy made raspberry tarts. Mummy knows you like her tarts. Let’s go to my place and get some.”

Hot chocolate and raspberry tarts . . . things he didn’t have at his house. And there was also the fact that Lily’s house was heated, and Severus longed for that warmth. Something his own home lacked in more ways than one. Trying not to appear too eager, he said, “All right.”

Hand in hand, one in mitten and one in nothing, they walked down the snow-covered streets to Lily’s house.

Severus was bored. And cold. And sick of staying in his house. Then there were his parents. He could tell that both of them were in bad moods, so another one of their famous fights would happen soon. Sighing, he decided to go see if Lily was free.

He walked through the cold streets, and he saw that the blasted Christmas decorations were still up on some people’s houses. It was almost New Year’s. Why did these people not take down the cheerful decorations? Seeing them only reminded him of his home life and what he lacked. All his life, his family had never decorated for Christmas. No wreath, no stockings, no nothing. His place was always cheerless.

At the next intersection, he turned at the corner of Lily’s street, and there he saw Lily running towards her house.

“Lily!” he called out.

She stopped and smiled. “Hi!”

“Want to play?” he asked hopefully.

She frowned slightly. “Oh, I want to, but I can’t today. I’ve got stuff to do.”

“Oh.” Awkwardly, he shuffled his feet. “Maybe later then?”

“Sure! I’ll see you.” She waved and dashed off.

Forlornly, he stared at Lily’s retreating figure, and he let out a sigh. Well, he thought, he could always go to the public library nearby. That was surely a better idea than standing around in the cold. In the opposite direction, he walked slowly to the library, wishing Lily was there to accompany him.

“Oh, Seveeeeerus.”

Severus stifled back a groan and bit his tongue from going on a rampage at the annoying voice that called out to him. Even though his back was turned to the person, he knew exactly who it was. There was only one person who had that annoyingly high-pitched, screeching voice, and the person was none other than Petunia Evans.

Taking a deep breath, he turned around to face Petunia with a blank expression. “Yes?”

Her smile, which looked fake and ugly on that long face of hers, grew wider as she said, “Why are you alone? Do you have no one else to play with now that Lily has a new friend?”

“Friend?” Severus’ eye widened. “What friend?”

“Oh, she didn’t tell you?” Petunia looked surprised. “Well, she’s so occupied, so I guess it’s not surprising she wouldn’t make the time to tell you.”

Even though he was upset, he decided he didn’t want Petunia to know that her words had upset and surprised him. “Oh, right, that friend. I know. So?”

She snorted, which reminded him of a horse. Then again, her face was indeed long, so he could definitely see the resemblance. “You’re a terrible liar. But whatever. It won’t be long before Lily realises that her new friend’s a lot better than you.” With that, she flounced off.

Severus, at that moment, had never hated anyone this much. “You’re the liar. Lily would tell me if she’s got a new friend!” he snapped at the empty street. He stomped in the opposite direction. He was furious — not only at Petunia’s words, but he was also miffed for showing his weakness to her. He remembered reading about Occlumency, and he decided he’d master that when he turned older, and he’d also learn how to mask his face from showing any emotions that would give him away. He would never let anybody like Petunia mock him again!

Severus managed to catch Lily outside her house a few days later. He grabbed her hand, which was in her richly coloured mitten as usual, and he noticed his pale hand contrasting against the vibrant material. “Lily, can we talk?”

“Hmm?” She glanced down at her watch. “Not now. I’ve got a meeting with someone today! An important meeting.”

He stepped back and let go of her hand as if he’d been slapped. “I see . . . ” Maybe Petunia was telling the truth. “Well,” he continued blandly, “have fun.” He turned around and ran off, ignoring her calls of “Severus, wait!”

He ran and ran until his stomach cramped, and when he came to their secret hideout, he fell down on top of the snow, not caring that his clothes would get wet. Hot tears came down his face, and he muffled his sobs by stuffing his hand into his mouth. Sod it all, he thought. If Lily had found a new friend and chose that person over him, then forget her! He didn’t need her or his parents! He only needed himself. At least, that was what he tried to convince himself for the rest of the day. Whether he succeeded or not, he didn’t care too much on that. Deep inside, more than anything, he only wanted Lily’s friendship.

But it looked like even his friendship with Lily was deteriorating. He miserably realised that with his birthday around the corner, this was the worst present he could ever receive.

A few days later, his birthday came. His mother had wished him a happy birthday while his father just ignored him. But Severus did not feel happy. Instead, he moped around his room in the morning. He’d stared at the blank walls and studied its cracks. That got boring, so he went to his hideout to mope and stare at the tree’s trunks, its branches, and all the snow around him. It wasn’t much better than his room, but at least he could get some peace and quiet here instead of listening to his parents arguing.

Like before, he found a stick, and he crouched to the ground and drew in the snow without really thinking about what he was drawing. When he finished he stood up and saw that he’d drawn Lily. In the drawing, her hair was down, and she was smiling that friendly smile of hers. He felt a pang in his heart, and he let out a loud sigh. “What am I doing?” he muttered to himself.

Throwing the stick, he was about to erase the drawing, but he froze when he heard a noise behind him. He blinked when he saw Lily coming into the clearing, and he gave her a wary look.

“Hi,” she said.

“Hi,” he repeated.

“I, er, wanted to wish you a happy birthday.”

He didn’t say anything. He only stared down at his feet with a scowl.

“And to apologise.” His head snapped up and he stared at her. She gave him a small smile. “I found out what Petunia said to you. What she made you believe is all a lie. I . . . I didn’t make a new friend. But it is true I had an important meeting . . . but it was with my aunt!” She made a face. “I was doing something with her.”

“Oh . . . ” Severus now shifted uncomfortably. “It . . . it’s okay. I didn’t believe her anyway.”

Lily cocked her head and stared at him. Her green eyes were intense, and he almost could feel them burning into her, but he refused to blush and show her that she was right. Thankfully, she only nodded. When he saw her arms move, he realised that they’d been behind her back this entire time. “Here,” she said, revealing a wrapped package. “It’s your birthday present.”

This time he couldn’t hide his emotion. His eyebrows shot up, and his mouth dropped opened. “What?”

She beamed. “This was why I hadn’t played with you lately. I had to finish this in time for your birthday! Take it!” She nudged the package, and he accepted it. “Now, open it!”

“T-thank you.” The words almost didn’t come out from his clogged up throat. Slowly, he unwrapped the green-coloured paper, and he peeked inside. What he saw were mittens. Rainbow-coloured mittens. He looked at her.

“My aunt taught me how to knit those.”

He looked down at the mittens and studied them closer. He saw that the thumb coverings were a bit on the wide side. He could see small holes and tangled up yarn in some places. One mitten was slightly bigger than the other. The colours blinded him. Honestly, it was probably the worst pair of mittens he’d ever seen.

But he didn’t care.

This was the first time anyone had ever made him something.

All sorts of emotions flooded over him, and Severus ducked his head to hide the tears that threatened to spill. He blinked them away, and he said softly, “Thank you. They’re brilliant.” Shoving the wrappings into his pockets, he slipped the mittens on his hands. As soon as his hands were encased in the imperfectly made mittens, he felt them grow instantly warm.

“Oh, I’m glad they fit!” Lily squealed, clapping her hands. “And I know you like black, but I decided to knit you a rainbow pair. You need more colour in your life, Severus! Being in black all the time is utterly depressing!”

“But I like black.”

“You’re hopeless,” she joked. “Just like your drawing skills. Since when do I have gigantic lips?”

Severus gave her a mock glare. “You’re the one to talk. You can’t even draw period!”

“Hey! Not nice!” She quickly bent over and made a snowball.

Before Severus could stop her, the snowball hit his face. “Payback time!” He made his own snowball, and he was pleased to see that his hands stayed warm as he threw it at her.

Laughter rang out in the small clearing, and snow went flying all over the place as they both tried to snow each other out. Severus’ drawing of Lily disappeared, and the two of them shrieked and yelled as they chased each other all over.

It wasn’t long before they both leaned against a tree and panted from their chase. “That was fun,” she said, her eyes twinkling.

“Yes,” Severus agreed. Staring up at the trees, he could see sunlight coming through the branches. The warmth he felt from the sun and from running around with his best friend made him smile wider. “It was fun.”

“Let’s end today with some hot chocolate at my place. And cake.” She grabbed his hand, no longer naked and cold. “I helped make it! Don’t worry. Petunia didn’t go anywhere near the cake. So it won’t have salt or any other disgusting thing in it. I swear, she can’t cook anything!”

Again, his throat tightened, and he could only nod. She gently tugged him, and hand in hand, they walked down the street.

“Tomorrow, let’s go look for more frostyworms. We’ve got to cure you of your bug-and-other-crawly-stuff-phobia.” Lily grinned. “I’ll make sure you become the best Potions master in the world.”

Finding his voice, Severus answered, “Deal. You can be my partner-in-crime as we come up with new potions that will change the world!”

“And,” she added, “I’ll get you to wear more colours.”

Severus groaned. “Whatever.”

“Watch me!”

When they entered Lily’s warm house, Severus said to himself, “You already have me in colours.” He looked at their entwined hands. “I am in colour now.”