Revising Relationships

[gothic rose]

This started out as a plot bunny, that morphed from a drabble, to a ficlet, to a full-fleged one-shot. Hope you enjoy!

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Title: Revising Relationships

Author: Gothic Rose (or L)

Disclaimer: I wish I had written Harry Potter, but alas, I am not nearly that creative. This fic is set in the Marauder Era, and follows canon.

Summary: With OWLs approaching, Lily Evens finds herself stuck in the library with her best friend.

There are many things that set Hogwarts apart from your typical school: flying classes, house elves, and moving staircases to name a few. However, whether you found yourself in a magical or a muggle school, one thing that never seemed to change was the need to study. It is for this reason that Lily Evans found herself cramped into a small cluttered corner of the library during what was supposed to be her winter break.

Surrounded by books, the red haired Gryffindor, let out an exasperated sigh as she turned yet another dusty page on the Herbology text that lay in front of her. The Professors warned the students not to put off their OWL revisions until the last minute, and Lily could now see why. Did they really expect her to be able to remember everything that she learned in the last five years?!

If it had seemed like a daunting task before, it seemed nearly impossible now that she had all of her text books laid out in front of her. Frustrated, she flipped the page again. Really, when was she ever going to have to know how to harvest a…

“Hi-Nxxght”

Jumping a little at the sudden sound, Lily rolled her eyes before glancing at the boy sitting across from her.

Black hair obscuring his face, Severus Snape sat hunched over a very large leather bound book. A roll of parchment to his right, one hand was busy scribbling notes while the other was perched covering his overlarge nose.

“hihh…hih…HIH’NNXGT”

Pitching forward with another stifled sneeze, Snape rubbed at his nose slightly before dropping his hand to let it rest on the table.

Lily glared at him a moment, lips pinched shut in disapproval, before she returned her attention to her own book. Ten minutes past and Lily was pretty sure she knew all she ever needed to know about Puffapods before she was wretched from her studies once again.

“H’TNNXT…H’TNXT”

“Will you shut up!” Slamming her hand down on the table, Lily spoke in a harsh whisper as to not attract attention from Madam Pince.

Startled, Snape’s head snapped up from his book, hair flying back to revel his face. His swallow skin was slightly flushed, whether it was from fever or embarrassment Lily did not know. Black eyes locked with green, hurt evident in their depths, before breaking contact once again.

“I believe the traditional response is ‘Bless you’” He muttered, slightly taken aback at the sudden outburst.

Lily wavered slightly, but before she could respond she watched as the Slytherin twisted away from the table and stifled yet another sneeze in between pinched fingers.

“HIH’tnxxt”

“Severus you’ve sneezed at least twenty times since we got here, I think you’re a little bit beyond ‘Bless you’” Annoyed, Lily pulled her text book closer to her to continue studying, but thought better of it.

“Honestly, how am I supposed to remember the seven properties of bubtopus if you keep distracting me?”

Across from her, Snape was momentarily stunned by the outburst, than, in one quick movement he rose from the table, knocking his chair back in the process. Feeling her annoyance abate, Lily bit her lip as she watched her best friend gather his books and shove them into his worn rucksack. Without a word, he turned to leave.

“Sev ,wait!” Lily exclaimed, louder then she intended. From across the room, she could feel Madam Pince’s glare at her from behind her desk. Lowering her voice, she tried again.

“Severus, please I’m sorry, just sit down.”

Taking a moment to way his options, Snape turned and sat back down at the table, his rucksack making a loud bang as it dropped to the ground. They both rolled their eyes as they heard Madam Pince shush them across the room.

Lily ran a hand through her hair as she starred at the figure in front of her. Snape sat, arms folded and shoulders hunched, staring at the table top. While his hair was still covering his face, Lily could see that his dark eyes looked slightly watery, and his nose had a reddish tinge, especially around his long nostrils. As she studied him, she was suddenly aware that his watery eyes were staring straight at her, hurt evident in their depths. She took a deep breath.

“I’m sorry I snapped.” He continued to stare at her. “It’s just I didn’t think this was going to be that overwhelming, but seeing it all in front of me…” She gestured to the stacks of books, “It’s so much.”

The only response Snape gave was to raise his eyebrows at her.

“I know, I know, you told me to start revising sooner, and I should have listened to you. But, I didn’t, and now it’s all…” She groaned in frustration, and dropped her head on her open book, her voice muffled by the pages. “I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”

When she didn’t hear a response, Lily lifted her head to find that the Slytherin’s lips were turned upward, the git was smirking at her.

“I’m glad you find all this amusing.” She fell back against her chair, groaning again.

“I’m just thinking of the best way to say I told you so.” Snape’s smirk grew as he rubbed absentmindedly at his nose.

Lily rolled her eyes, “Git.”

“It’s not my fault. I warned you, you said it yourself.” Snape said, as he researched down towards his bag. However, as he grabbed his book, Lily heard his breath hitch. She watched as he quickly placed his book on the table before grabbing his nose between two long fingers. As his eye lids fluttered shut, Lily could see his nostrils twitching against his fingers.

“Huh…huhh-HUH’NXXNNT” Snape pitched forward with the force of the stifled sneeze, his body tensing with the sudden movement. Eyes now tightly closed, his breath wavered again.

“huh…huhhHUHH…HUH’NGXXGHT...HUH’NXNT…ughhh” Keeping his nose firmly clenched in his fingers, Snape reached into his bag and snatched a crumbled handkerchief. Bringing the cloth to his nose, which had started to run, Snape gave a soft blow as to not attract attention from Madam Pince. Meeting his eyes over the handkerchief, it was Lily’s turn to raise her eyebrows.

“You know, you could at least go to Madame Pomfrey and get some pepper-up.”

Severus wiped at his nose, “I-“

The red head cut him off, “Sev, you’re clearly ill, don’t try to deny it.”

“I’m not –“

“I don’t understand your aversion to the hospital wing. I’m sure Madame Pomfrey can brew potions just as well as you can, especially healing potions, and no one would judge you if they saw you with a bit of steam coming out your ears.”

“Lily, I’m trying to –“

“It’s not like no one here as ever not seen someone after they’ve taken Pepper-Up. I think I’ve –“

“Lily!” Exasperated, Snape raised his voice, only to shushed once again by Madame Pince. Despite the negative attention from the librarian, his raised tone had gotten the attention of Lily.

“What?” She said, leaning in closer so that they could both lower their voices to appease Pince.

Pushing his hair behind his ear, Snape leaned in as well. “I’ve been trying to tell you that I’ve been to see Madame Pomfrey. I went last night.” He gave a wet sniff, and rubbed a long finger under his nose.

“Oh?” Lily started, almost surprised by the news. “Then why are still…? Didn’t she give you a potion?”

“She did. And I did take it.” He added, anticipating the next question. “It helped. Honestly, I feel fine. A lot better than I did yesterday at least.” His nose twitched, causing him to rub at it a little more forcefully.

“But you’re still sneezing.” Lily looked puzzled, she had never heard of Pepperup not clearing up everything before.

As though reading her mind, Snape replied “Sometimes stubborn symptoms take a couple of doses before they go away completely.”

“And you can only take one dose in a twenty four hour period.” Lily filled in the blank.

Snape smirked, “See, you’ll pass you OWLs.”

Lily rolled her eyes, “I hardly think either one of us should be concerned for potions.”

“I hardly think you need to be concerned for any of it.” Snape spoke, and then looked quickly down at the table, face flushed.

Lily gave him an odd look, not quite sure how to respond to the blatant flattery. Deciding to down play it, she replied “Potions and Charms maybe, I’m bollocks in Transfiguration.”

Snape looked up at her, biting his lip. “Me too. We could…I mean, if you wanted too…we could meet a few times a week to study together. At least until OWLs are over, that is.”

Lily could see a certain eagerness in his eyes that usually accompanied spending time together. Lately, she had been starting to get a sense that her best friend wanted to be sometime more with her then just friends. And truthfully, she didn’t know how to react. She loved Sev, as a friend. But could she love him as more? If she was being honest with herself, the thought had crossed her mind once or twice, but she was so confused over it. Although, at the end of the day, he still was her best friend, and even if she was confused by their feelings toward each other, she still valued their time spent together.

“I’d like that, Sev.” She smiled slightly as she saw his face light up. “How far have you gotten in your revisions?”

He spoke in great detail, describing to her his color coded system of studying. It appears as though he had organized each subject by difficulty, and then by the likelihood that something was going to appear on the test. Having started studying for their exams last year, he was already leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else in their year.

“So after going over 4^th year Arithmancy, I figured that I would have huh have to huhhuh…”

Lily, who had been half day dreaming during his diatribe, regained focus as she realized that her friend had traveled off.

“You would have to what?” She asked, looking at him curiously. He sat across from her, rubbing his hooked nose roughly. After a minute, he put his hand down and continued, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Sorry, I thought I was going to sneeze again.” Exasperated he spoke as he gave a small sniff threw his nose, “It’s getting pretty irritating.”

“When can you go back to hospital wing?” She looked at him, a small ounce of pity in her eyes.

“Not until after dinner.” He paused, his nose twitched once, twice, and then nothing. “What I was saying before was that I figured that I would have to go back and review 3^rd year Ancient Runes before I could focus on Arthimancy since the two chapters seem interconnected. Then, I’ll huh-have, have to re-huhHUH…have to sneeze HuuHHH…HUH-NXXGTT, hih’NXGHT, ’NXXNGHTahhh”

The stifled sneezes seemed to take a lot out of him and Lily watched as Snape slouched back in his chair, blowing his nose, as the urge faded.

“Bless you.” She said, feeling a little guilty for her earlier refusal too. “Are you sure you feel -?”

“I’m fine.” He snapped, but immediately back tracked. “Sorry. Yes, I’m fine. I just wish that I could stop sneezing.” He looked at her tiredly. “I assure you, I find them even more annoying than you do.” He stole a glance at Madam Pince who was glaring in the direction of the students. “Although, apparently not as annoying as she finds it.” He added bitterly.

“Well she can sod off.” Lily said, glaring straight back at the librarian. “It’s not like anyone else is even in the library. She’s probably scared you’ll sneeze on one of her precious books.”

“Let her be, than. The old hag’s hated me ever since she found me writing in one of my textbook. You would have thought I personally murdered her mother or something.” Snape rolled his eyes and tried to return to studying.

Lily, distracted by her lack of desire to study and sensing her friends growing agitation towards the librarian and his nose, found her mind wandering from her own book. She wondered if he could convince Sev to ditch the books, and go for a walk with her before dinner? However, when she voiced her idea, the Slytherin adamantly refused.

“The OWLs are a few months away, we need to study.” He replied, before rubbing yet again as his nose which looked as though it had started to tease him with future sneezes.

Lily frowned, it looked as though the only way she was going to get Sev out of the library would be if he was kicked out. Suddenly, Lily had an idea.

“Sev, give me your hands.” She said as she reached over the table, tightly grabbing both of his wrists.

“What for?” He didn’t fight against her, he would never dare fight against her, but he was clearly confused.

“I need to practice Divination.” She looked at him, almost willing for his nose to twitch.

“With both my hands?” He sounded skeptical.

“Yes, with both. You’d know if you took the class.” In reality, it was a total lie, but he didn’t need to know that. “Now shut up, and let me concentrate.”

It didn’t take more than a minute for Lily’s plan to spring into action. Hearing her friends hitching breath, she stole a look at his nose which was twitching around his face.

“Huhhh…Lily huhhh…Lily I need huhhHuhh…I huhh-think I’m HUHH…going to huhh snehuhh sneeze huhuhHUHHH” She could tell her was desperately fighting the oncoming sneeze, as he tried to urgently tug against her grasps. However, she had a firm hold on his wrists, which only got tighter as he fought against her.

“Just a minute Sev, I’m almost done.” His eyes were closed now, mouth hanging open. She was surprised he had lasted this long, as it looked like the sneeze was literally burning his in his sinuses.

“Li-hihh-Lily HIHHHH…I can’t HAHHHH…HuHUHHH- huuhhhuHUSHSHOO” Hastily Snape turned his head to the left in order to direct the sneeze unto his arm. Despite the effort, he was unable to smother the sneeze and the sound echoed across the near empty library.

Still holding Snape’s wrists, Lily watched as the black haired boy kept his head buried in his shoulder, face red in embarrassment, as he built up for another sneeze.

“huhh…Huhhh…Huh-ISHSHOO, ISHSHOO”

Finally after the last sneeze, Lily let go of his wrists.

“What did you do that for? Snape sniffed wetly as he tried to find were he had put his handkerchief.

“Bless you!” Lily smiled sweetly, only to be glared at by Snape. The, out of the corner of her eye, she saw what she had hoped been hoping for.

“I’ve had enough. Get out, both of you!” Madam Pince loomed from behind Severus, her sudden appearance causing him to jump.

“But Madame Pince, OWLs are only –“ Snape exclaimed, clearly panicked by the prospect of getting kicked out of the library.

“But nothing Mr. Snape, this is a library and I will not have it disrespected by unruly students. Now, get out!”

Quickly, the two students gathered out their belongings, shoving everything into their rucksacks as Madame Pince looked down at them from over her hawk-like nose. When they had everything, Lily followed Severus as the later stormed out the library doors and into the corridor. Once outside, he turned on her, annoyance evident on his face.

“This is your fault.” The remark, which might at one point have been seen as intimidating, impact was lessened by the constant sniffling that accompanied it. Clearly, the boy had been unable to find his handkerchief before being forced to vacate their table.

Lily smiled sheepishly, “Look on the bright side, at least we can do something a little more entertaining now.”

Severus sniffled wetly, “What we need to be doing is studying.”

Lily sighed, “Tomorrow, I promise, we can spend all morning with our heads buried in books. But even you have to take a break once and awhile.” Lily looked up at Snape, her green eyes pleading with him.

Snape held her gaze for a moment before relenting. “Fine, but first thing –“

Excited, Lily jumped at him, pulling him into a tight hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

Feeling Severus’ body stiffen under her embrace, Lily pulled away quickly, fully aware of the tension that had just arisen between them. She looked at Severus who was now looking at the ground, rubbing his sleeve against his nose. Lily bit her lip lightly, Sev was confusing. Love was confusing! It was times like this when a relationship with Sev didn’t seem so…but she wouldn’t worry about that now! Right now, she would focus on spending a few hours with her best friend, and then she would seriously start focusing on her OWLs. And after the OWLs? After the OWLs she would focus on Sev, and the possibility of something more.

END

[FireandFlames]

Why hasn't anyone commented on this amazing fic yet? While I've never been much of a Snape fangirl, this is... amazing. I loved your characterization, your descriptions... GAH. Now I need to delve into the stories section to see what else you've written...

[VividBubbles!]

Hehehe. Adorable Snape.

I hope to see some more stories from you soon!

BYE!