Differences

It was only a few days after the Defense OWL that they saw each other again, passing each other in the halls. He caught her eyes, and she nodded, and that was that. They would meet each other that night in their usual place.

She was already sitting at the table when he approached, reading in the candlelight, and he stopped to admire the way the light flickered in her hair, and how a hand would gracefully come up to sweep the hair behind her ears, only for it to fall forward again a few minutes later.

"You don't need to just stand there," she said, not turning to face him. Maybe she was angry, about what he'd said...he wouldn't blame her. He hadn't wanted to say it, not really, but he had anyway. She should be angry about it.

"I'm not angry," she said, surprising him yet again with her ability to know what he was thinking. "Come and sit down." She turned a page, and shoved her hair behind her ears again.

He sat down across from her, hesitantly. He waited a few moments, for her to look up and notice him, and then she picked up a bookmark and marked her place, finally raising her head to gaze at him with those brilliant, deep eyes.

She was the first to speak. "Severus," she said, her tone neutral, and Severus couldn't glean any of what she thought from it.

"Lily," he answered. He swallowed. Even if she wasn't angry, he had to... "Lily, I'm sorry. I just--"

Her eyes flashed. "Don't apologize," she interrupted. "You have nothing to apologize for."

"But I called you--" he protested, and she shook her head sharply.

"Don't," she said. "I know what you called me. I also know that you had to. We each have our parts to play in this world, Severus. You did what was expected of you, and I did what was expected of me."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it," he muttered, rebelliously, and she laughed, a clear, tinkling sound, even if quiet, to save them from librarian's wrath.

"No," she agreed, her eyes smiling at him. "But I think you would have liked it less if you'd done the unexpected. Or would you like Potter to know about us?"

"No," he said firmly, "most definitely not. Though, I would like to see his face at the news..." He trailed off speculatively, and she laughed again.

"It would be a sight to see," she said, bright green eyes dancing. Severus swallowed. He could make her laugh, make her smile, like this. None of the other boys who wanted to could, especially not Potter. Severus had something that Potter didn't, that Potter wanted so much and couldn't get, and that knowledge was almost as good as Lily herself. Almost.

"But," she continued, more quiet now, "he'd make your life a misery, more than he does even now. Heaven knows why, but the stupid berk fancies himself in love with me, and has somehow decided that I'm to love him back, soon, and completely regardless of my feelings on the matter. And if he knew that you, who he hates, was with me like this..."

She frowned, annoyed at the absent Potter, and her hair fell forward into her face again. Severus leaned forward and pushed it gently behind her ears before she could. She smiled at him.

"Forget about him," Severus said. "He's not worth the breath wasted on cursing him."

Her smile turned mischievous. "You seem to waste an awful lot of breath, then," she pointed out.

Severus scowled slightly. She knew that he hated being teased, but sometimes she just couldn't seem to resist.

"But that's different," he said, for what seemed the hundredth time. "When he curses me first, I have to defend myself."

She nodded, then moved out of her seat and slipped into one close enough to him that she could take his hand. "I know," she said. "And I know that I should just ignore him too. It's just hard, sometimes, when something he says can just make my blood boil so easily."

Severus offered her a dry smile of his own, and squeezed her hand. "We seem to have the same problem, in regards to Potter," he said, "but let's not talk about him anymore. There's better things to think about, aren't there?"

She grinned and leaned closer to him. "There are," she agreed, and kissed him. He returned it eagerly, sliding his chair closer to hers, angling their heads so he could kiss her better.

The kiss went on for several moments, their lips moving against each other, hands threading in each other's hair and holding. When they separated, it was only to look at each other better. Her eyes smiled at him. Her eyes never smiled for anyone else this way, especially not Potter. Severus smiled at her.

"Come to my house this summer," she said, her breath washing gently over him. "Come meet my family. I've told them about you, in letters, and they want to meet you."

Severus blinked. "Meet...your family?" he repeated, just to be sure. She nodded.

"They'll like you, I'm sure they will," she said. Was that a touch of anxiety he could hear in her voice? "You're exactly the kind of boy my father will like--intellectual, and clever. They'll love you, I know they will."

"Er," he said. Meet her family? But...they were Muggles, and he didn't know any Muggles. He'd never met any before. What if he made some dreadful mistake, and they laughed at him?

Lily's eyes looked at him worriedly. "You do want to meet my family, don't you?" she asked. Her hands moved from his hair to rest lightly on his shoulders, and he could hear something in her voice...disappointment? It was times like these that Severus cursed his utter clumsiness with most emotions.

"I do! I do, it's just--I don't," he fumbled. How did one say this kind of thing? "I've never met any Muggles," he finished lamely. "I don't--want to offend them." He closed his eyes, and waited for her mocking laughter.

She did laugh, but it wasn't mocking or condemning or anything like that. It was almost...relieved, maybe. Relieved about what? That he wasn't like most of his Slytherin housemates, who wouldn't want to visit a Muggle family because of notions of superiority, rather than fear of offense?

"Oh, Severus, you're a treasure," she breathed, laughter lurking still below her voice. He flushed. A treasure? No one had ever said anything like that to him before. Maybe it was a good thing, if he flushed like this every time someone did. Blushing was embarrassing. "I don't think you have anything to fear," she continued, squeezing his shoulders comfortingly. "It's just my family--they're as human as you and I. Treat them as such, and you won't have anything to worry about, I guarantee."

He smiled, and leaned his forehead against hers. "Thank you for the invitation, then," he said softly, and she smiled again, and kissed him swiftly on the mouth.

"Just...stay as much away from my sister if you can, all right?" she asked. "She's not the most accepting person there is, and I think she's rather jealous that I got a Hogwarts letter and she didn't..."

He put a finger on her lips. "I'm sure it will be fine," he said, and offered a quick smile. "And I'd rather you not make me more nervous than I already am..."

She laughed.

*

What am I doing here? he wondered briefly, standing outside the door of the address that Lily had given him, waiting for it to open. It hadn't been that hard to get here, in this Muggle neighborhood in Surrey. His parents never seemed to care what he did during his summer holidays as long as he didn't get himself arrested, so all he'd had to do was just catch the Knight Bus and have it take him here, dropping him off in an alley close to the street Lily lived on.

The door opened, and a girl who was obviously not Lily looked out. Severus shifted nervously. Was this the sister Lily had warned him about? With plain brown hair and brown eyes, she didn't look anything like Lily, but there was something in the tilt of the head...

He cleared his throat. "Hello," he said, hoping his voice didn't break from nerves. That was the last thing he needed. "I'm looking for Lily Evans."

The neutral expression on the girl's face shattered. "Oh," she said flatly, almost rudely. Severus swallowed--he could see why Lily had warned him against her. "I'll go get her, then. Who shall I say is asking?" She seemed to make even the polite phrases into something demeaning, contemptuous.

"Severus Snape," he answered, glad that he'd at least taken the time to venture into Muggle London by way of Diagon Alley in order to get proper Muggle clothing. At least this sister couldn't judge him based on that. "And thank you," he added, wanting to be more polite than her, if nothing else.

The sister--did Lily mention her name? If so, Severus didn't remember it--said nothing in response, just turning around and disappearing into the house, leaving Severus waiting on the doorstep.

"Petunia!" a voice from inside the house shouted. "Petunia, don't leave guests standing on the doorstep!" A man appeared at the door and grinned apologetically at Severus. "Sorry about Petunia," he said, holding out a hand for Severus to shake. "She...prefers to stay away from Lily's friends. Are you the Severus Snape she told us about?"

"I am," he answered quietly, shaking the man's hand. "You're her father, I presume?"

"Thomas Evans, at your service," he said agreeably. He stepped back from the door, holding it open. "Won't you come inside? Lily should be right down."

"Severus!" exclaimed a voice from inside the house, and a familiar form hurtled down the stairs, red hair flying behind her like a banner, and flew into his arms. "You did come!" Lily grinned happily, and gave him a swift kiss on the mouth.

"Ahem." Thomas Evans gazed at them in amusement as he shut the door behind them. Severus's face burned, but Lily stuck her tongue out at her father unrepentantly, and he laughed. "I'll just leave you two alone for a moment, shall I?" Mr Evans said with a wink, and sauntered into the kitchen, whistling some tune Severus didn't recognize.

Lily hugged him again, then stepped back. "I was afraid you weren't going to come," she said frankly. "You never seemed comfortable with the idea of meeting my family." Then she grinned again. "But you came!"

"I said I would," he told her softly, and couldn't help smiling slightly at her in return. That grin of hers was infectious. "I don't break promises."

Lily merely smiled at him in response, but it was enough to set his heart pounding. She was so vividly alive, and made him feel so pale by comparison...

"Come," she said, taking his hand and tugging it lightly. "You've met my dad and my sister, but you've got to meet my mum too. She should be in the kitchen making supper now."

"Is it all right to interrupt her?" Severus asked hesitantly, allowing himself to be tugged. He looked around at the inside of Lily's house with wide eyes. It was so different from his own--there were pictures on the walls of Lily's family, and they weren't moving! There didn't seem to be portraits of old family members anywhere, but if there were, Severus was willing to bet that they wouldn't talk or move either.

"Don't worry about it," Lily said. "We always go in and out of the kitchen when Mum's cooking, and I think she'd like to meet you before supper."

"All right," Severus acquiesced. Lily was more likely to know what her own mother would tolerate, after all. Severus's mother would never let someone interrupt her at preparing supper, but no one else was Severus's mother.

"Mum!" Lily said as she and Severus entered the kitchen. A short smiling woman with her daughter's auburn hair turned around, picking up a dish towel and wiping her hands with it. "Mum, this is Severus. Severus Snape. I told you about him, remember? And Severus, this is my mum, Elizabeth Evans."

"Nice to meet you," Severus said softly, shaking the hand the Mrs Evans held out to him.

"You as well," Mrs Evans replied, smiling. "Especially after how much Lily has talked about you." She gave him one last smile, then turned back to the salad she was making.

"Come on," Lily said, tugging him through the kitchen and into another room. "You said you've never seen a telly, so I want to show you ours."

Severus followed, intrigued in spite of himself. A box with continuous moving pictures--it seemed almost impossible when Lily described it, and now he wanted a chance to see it for himself.

In the next room, the telly was already on, Mr Evans sitting on the sofa in front of it. Two Muggles in suits were sitting behind a desk, talking about mysterious disappearances. Once they got close enough, Severus could see the worried look on Mr Evans's face before he turned to face his daughter with a smile. It was obvious, though, that the smile was just a cover up.

"Come to show Severus the workings of the telly?" he asked, and Lily smiled.

"He's never seen one before," she explained. "Wizarding households don't have them, and Severus didn't believe me when I first told him they existed."

Severus said nothing, and Mr Evans raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that so?" he said. "I'll leave you to show him what it's like then." Mr Evans stood up and kissed his daughter on the cheek before joining his wife in the kitchen.

Lily had just shown Severus some strange programme where a whistling mouse wearing trousers was driving a steamboat--only there was no sound or color, and why was a mouse whistling and wearing trousers in the first places? Lily had no proper answer--when Mrs Evans stuck a head in the room and announced that supper was ready.

It was awkward, sitting around the table with Lily's family. Her sister Petunia refused to even look at either of them, only passing around the vegetables and roast chicken when spoken to sharply by her parents. Mr and Mrs Evans were engaged in a discussion about something that was happening with Mr Evans's job, but Severus had no idea what they were talking about, and didn't really pay attention.

It was only after supper was over and Mrs Evans had recruited Lily into helping her clean up--Severus mystified as to why they didn't just use magic before he remember they were Muggles and had to do things the hard way--that the most interesting thing that night happened.

"Severus," Mr Evans said in a low tone, apparently trying not to attract the attention of his wife and Lily. "Could I have a word with you, please?"

Feeling slightly apprehensive, Severus followed Mr Evans out into the hallway, and into another room that looked like a study. Mr Evans took a seat, and then gestured towards Severus to do the same, and he gingerly sat in a leather-upholstered chair in front of the room's desk.

"Lily often doesn't tell me what's going on," Mr Evans began, "but I know that you--your world--is in the middle of a war. And I hear about these mysterious disappearances on the news, and when I ask Lily if it's anything to do with this war, she just looks at me and doesn't answer." Mr Evans looked at him, hard, and Severus met his gaze. "I want to know what's going on, Severus," Mr Evans said. "This is a world that my daughter's growing up in, that she'll eventually really be living in, and that I won't be able to protect her from. But I want to know what I can expect. Lily's not telling me, so I have to ask you, and hope that you give me a straight answer. What's going on?"

Severus cleared his throat delicately. "A lot is going on, actually," he said cautiously. "There's this wizard who has been declaring all Muggles and Muggleborn witches and wizards as unworthy of living, and he's got enough power and people behind him to start doing something about his views. He's the one behind those disappearances, like as not. Headmaster Dumbledore's opposing him, but..." Severus shrugged. "Who knows what's going to happen?"

Mr Evans looked at him. He was biting his lip and didn't seem to notice. "So Lily's in danger from this wizard?" he asked. "She's Muggleborn--her mother and I are Muggles. Petunia is too. Lily and Petunia are in danger?"

"Everyone's in danger," Severus said softly. "A lot of people share this wizard's view, that Muggles are below them because you don't have magic. And the Ministry of Magic is starting to panic, so there's danger on our side too. The Ministry's throwing all sorts of people in Azkaban for all sorts of allegations."

"What's Azkaban?" Mr Evans demanded. "Is that some sort of wizard prison?"

Severus nodded. "The worst," he said. "People die or go mad in there--Azkaban's guardians and prison wardens are called Dementors." Involuntarily, Severus shuddered at the cold the very thought brought. "Dementors are...hideous beings. They feed on a person's happy thoughts and memories, and force them to relive their worst memories and nightmares."

Mr Evans was looking pale, and Severus decided not to go into the Dementor's Kiss. It shouldn't be important, anyway. "Your government is just throwing people to these...monsters?" he whispered. "On nothing more than allegations?"

"They're scared," Severus replied. "This wizard is killing so many people, and everyone is scared. They want it to stop, and don't know what else to do."

Mr Evans shook his head, though Severus could tell that he believed it. "That's horrible," a new voice said from the door, and both Mr Evans and Severus turned to see Petunia leaning against the frame, her eyes narrowed.

"It's terrible," she continued. "Your government, the people in charge of you, throwing people to these monsters on nothing more than accusations? It's the most disgusting thing I've ever heard of." Her voice was full of contempt, and at the moment, Severus couldn't blame her. Put that way, the Ministry did sound awful...

Petunia shook her head. "This kind of thing...this is why I hate them!" she shot at her father. "They're so callous! They aren't like us, Dad, and it's not exactly a good difference, with things like this!" And before anything else could be said, Petunia turned on her heel and walked away.

Mr Evans slowly sank back into his seat. "Sorry about Petunia," he said, his voice shaken, though his eyes were looking somewhere off in the distance. "The differences aren't that pronounced, or that bad." He looked at Severus, and trudged up a smile. Severus returned it, though his mind was not on Mr Evans. Petunia...what Petunia said was so like what this rising Dark Lord said sometimes...They aren't like us and they're not good differences...

"Severus!" Lily's voice called. "Where did you go?"

Severus stood up, and looked at Mr Evans, who remained seated. "Thank you for telling me," Mr Evans said softly, and Severus nodded. Then he left the room, Mr Evans deep in thought behind him.

"There you are," Lily said, walking towards him down the hallway. "Was my dad grilling you?" She grinned, and Severus nodded, glad she didn't ask him what her father had been grilling him about. She laughed. "Don't pay attention if he's being the overprotective father," she said. "I can take care of myself, you know."

"I know," Severus told her, and she smiled dazzlingly, one that coaxed a smile from him in return, but his mind was still on his discussion with Mr Evans. Lily could take care of herself, he knew, but...these were dangerous times...

Which was why living was so important now.

Severus kissed Lily suddenly, swiftly, and it wasn't long before she got over her surprise at him being the one to initiate--he usually didn't--and began to kiss him back, her hands twining behind his neck, her body pressing closer. He kissed her, and, in kissing her, knew why so many people were fighting this war. Because of Lily. Because of people like Lily, people so brightly and vibrantly alive, and whose lives made the world more bright and vibrant in return. With Lily in his arms, Severus knew what he would be fighting for, and as long as he had her, everything was sure to be all right.