Fire

[Mercury]

A/N: My first Female story, I hope it’s turned out okay (even though it's unedited). Enjoy

Fire

There were examination right around the corner, and Hogwarts was a flurry of activity. The study tables in the library were packed full of student, and the table surfaces were covered in multiple layers of books. The fire was burning in the west wing of the hall, so the students were packing themselves around those tables closest to the warmth.

Lily Evans was wearing a burnt orange turtleneck, which somehow seemed to both clash and compliment her hair, and had managed to grab a seat where she could just feel the flame’s heat. The side facing the flames felt like it was glowing and sunburnt, while the other felt too cold.

She sniffled and pulled a damp tissue from her sleeve and held it to her nose so she could keep her head down over her text book. She heard a small noise and a shuffling of pages, so Lily looked up to see the blonde boy sitting opposite her quickly look away from her gaze, with a disgusted look on his face.

She blushed, sniffed again, and returned to her books. The blonde had been doing that for the past hour. It wasn’t her fault she was sick! Did he think she did it deliberately, right before exams, just to annoy him?

“Hisshhew!”

The wet, feminine sneeze drew the attention of the surrounding tables. Lily removed the tissue from her nose to mouth ‘sorry’ to the people sitting closest. She wiped her nose on the rapidly disintegrating tissue, earning another repulsed look from the guy opposite her. She blushed a bright red and fished a fresh tissue from the pocket of her jeans before rising from her seat. She moved her book-bag from the floor to the chair, to indicate someone was sitting there, and weaved her way through the tables towards the shelves in a brisk stride.

She kept the tissues held to her nose and her red curls in front of her face with her head down. She wanted to rub the goosebumps from her arms, which were gathering the further away she got from the fireplaces. She managed to get behind the history section of the bookshelves before muffing several sneezes into her tissue;

“Hih’Isshhh! Hisshhh! Isshhew!” Lily swapped the tissue for another fresh one and cupped it around her nose. She blew gently, only worrying about making too much noise and disrupting people’s study, but had to pause midway to dig through her pockets for another durable tissue. Couching into her sleeve, Lily stuffed her used tissue into the pocket she had designated for that purpose, and moved from the book shelves and back to the study area.

However as Lily approached her table she saw her bag on the ground, her personal items scattered around on the floor and a Ravenclaw sitting in the chair she had just been sitting in.

“Excuse me, that’s my seat, and that,” she pointed to the bag on the floor, “is my stuff.”

The Ravenclaw blinked up at her, “the seat was vacant,” he turned to the blonde who had been sitting opposite Lily for the past two hours, “right?”

“Yep,” The blonde guy agreed, “You left.”

“But I...” she trailed off, a throb in her head cutting her off. She pinched the bridge of her nose as another tickle started building. “Hih’Kichhii”she tried to strangle. She tried to stifle a cough in her mouth.

Lily sniffled to try and control her runny nose, before blinking the water from her eyes. When she looked at the faces of the Ravenclaws she sighed and muttered “forget it”, feeling far too tired to fight them. While they weren’t as vicious as Slytherins, it was never wise to get between a Ravenclaw and their studies.

The Gryffindor redhead got down on her knees and started collecting her quills, parchments and trinkets from the floor and started shoving them haphazardly into her bag. Her eyes started to water again, and she silently scolded herself for being silly; as unfair as it was warm seats were in high demand, and her cold was probably making her overreact. After straightening and throwing her full satchel over his shoulder, Lily searched in her pockets for another clean tissue but came up empty.

She shivered, and cuddled herself as she walked. She hadn’t been able to get much studying done, and going back to the common room was not an option, as the Frustrating Four were bound to be there causing havoc, so she wandered further away from the fire and around to the divination section, where the books were quietist. A few students had spread themselves around the aisle, to the point where it looked almost impossible to pass through them.

Lily rubbed at her nose with the back of her wrist and sniffed, trying to stop another sneeze; “Hih... Hisshhew!”

One of the people sitting on the floor nearest to her looked up at the sound. “Bless you. Do you need something?” She gestured vaguely to the shelves.

“I was jusd looking for a blace to study. Excuse be,” She sniffed, and reached into her sleeve for her backup stash of tissues to wipe her nose and give it a quick half-blow. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. There should be some room in the potions section if you can stand it.”

Lily nodded and thanked the girl. She wouldn’t have thought of going into the potion’s section, no one ever did as the many stains on the books sent a strange smell around the shelves, but with her cold it was a non-issue. Occasionally dabbing at her nose, Lily crossed the extensive library to the darkest corner where the potion books were kept.

As she’d hoped, there was more than enough room for her to sit, with only one student there, curled up in a corner surrounded by books. She felt bad for disturbing him so she approached cautiously and stood before him. Then realization dawned;

“Severus?”

He looked up; “Lily!” He quickly got to his feet, towering over her in a not-so-intimidating manner. “I, Err, didn’t see you at breakfast.” He blushed slightly, and she smiled, knowing she was the only one he would show a blush to.

“I overslept. Do you mind if I sit here too?”

“Not at all.”

Severus returned to his spot on the floor and gestured for her to sit next to him, which she did, but a bit further away than was comfortable. He frowned at her, and was about to query it, when she stopped him;

“I’m coming down with something, and I don’t want you to get it, Sev.”

“I hope you get better by exams.”

“I hope so too. It ihiihh... hih... Hit’chew! Hisshhh! Hih’Itchew! Hih’ISSHHII!” Lily scrounged for another tissue and blew her nose thoroughly, not caring about embarrassing himself in front of Severus; he was her best friend after all.

She felt an arm slide around her shoulders, and Lily looked up at his warm, dark eyes. She didn’t realize how much she was shivering until he draped his Slytherin robe over her and rubbed her arms to warm them.

“Excuse be.”

“Bless you.” Severus brushed a strand of hair from Lily’s forehead before placing a hand there. “You’ve got a fever.”

“Stop it.” Lily battered his hand away, “It’s fi... hihh... fide.” She turned away and pulled another tissue from her sleeve, “Hih’Yissew! Itchhh! Hih’Essshhh! Hih’Itcchh!” Lily pulled the tissue away from her nose and quickly replaced it with one which was less destroyed. Her running nose was still tickling, but it seemed to be sated for now, as long as she didn’t do anything to aggravate it. She cleaned her nose up as much as she could, coughing thick harsh coughs as she did.

“Lily?”

“I’b sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry; be healthy”

Lily smiled and turned back to him, tissue still bunched at her nose. He had schooled his features into something casual, but by no means uncaring. He went and brushed her hair again, but instead of feeling her forehead Severus tucked a red strand behind her ear. She lowered her tissue and rested her head on his narrow shoulders.

“I’b drying do... Heshhhew,” she quickly re-raised the tissue, “bud Botter and Blagk hab taked ober the cobbond roob.” She sniffed and scrubbed at her nose. She dug into her sleaves, but couldn’t find any more tissues there, so she stuck her hand down her robe and delved into her bra. With a new tissue in hand she looked at Severus, who had averted his eyes.

“Severus?”

Hesitantly, he raised his eyes to look at her again, but there was something in them Lily didn’t like. It looked like a similar disgust that the blonde had been shooting her. She blew her nose wetly, before pulling herself together and standing up, leaving her best friend sitting on the floor.

“I’b sorry, I’ll go... I dod’t wadt to ger by gerbs on you.” She felt her eyes prickling again, and she gripped the strap of her shoulder bag and she started to walk away. However, she didn’t get far before she started to feel dizzy and had to lean on the bookshelves. “HIH’ISSHHEW! HASSSHHEW!” she sneezed openly, directing it towards the floor, just wanted to get out of the library; studying be damned.

Then she felt an arm around her waist.

“Lily, you get like this every time you get a fever. You become this...” he spluttered slightly, and Lily turned to look at him, “weak, timid little dormat; so self-conscious about everything. That’s not you, Lily,” he took a deep breath, “Where’s that stubbornness gone?”

Lily opened and closed her mouth a few times. She hadn’t noticed any change in her behaviour, other than being a little more tired and taking into account peoples’ feelings regarding being around her. Blinking, she looked into Severus’s eyes and smiled, a gesture he returned in full, transforming his entire face. She was so glad he was here looking out for her.

“I bust have sneezed it oud.”

He laughed and dug into his pockets, bringing out a deep green handkerchief, which she accepted off him. He then pulled his wand from his robe and ran it across her forehead, muttering a few words and leaving a cooling sensation across her skin. “There. Now; blow your nose and go reclaim your common room. I’m sure once Potter sees how sick you are he’ll fall at your feet begging to kiss you better.”

Lily ducked her head and blew her nose into his handkerchief. “Thank you, Severus.” She gave him a small smile in lieu of kissing him on the cheek, and turned to walk away, ready to put her fiery red-headed temper to good use.

[glowstick03]

Ooh, very good job...and a Lily story is pretty uncommon! I wasn't sure what I'd think of it, but I really like it

[Balmora]

That's really well written, and I agree with glowstick - I wasn't sure about a Lily story, since you don't hear much of her in the books, but you really pulled it off. The blond dickhead could have been Lucius, I think...

I love Lily. Red-headed, fiery, stubborn - just the kind of person you LONG to catch a cold to see an altered personality. You did Severus pretty well too.

[count tiszula]

Wonderful! A very nice burst of female sneezing, and as a longtime GoodSnaper, I really enjoyed his role here... Just a shame the sneezes weren't magic; but there's always time for that....

[musiclover90]

I love HP stories and this is great so far. Please continue.

[Dusty15]

Lovely ! Thanks for sharing I'm always happy to see HP fic!

[stargazer]

I'm not one for Lily fics, but I really loved this. And Snape was an added bonus!

[frolicking periwinkle]

I really liked seeing that side of Snape