InsaneJournal

Happy Holidays, Karasu_hime


Gift For: For the wonderful and talented karasu_hime. Request listed at end of story.
Title: Why Must I be a Teenager in Love?
Author:
Pairing(s): Severus/Lily, Severus/Remus, Lily/James
Rating: PG
A/N: Beta'd by the fantastic and ever wonderful arionrhod. Any and all remaining errors are mine.
Summary: Teenager in Love
“One day I feel so happy, next day I feel so sad
I guess I'll learn to take the good with the bad
Each night I ask the stars up above
Why must I be a teenager in love?”



Severus gently touched his lips as he watched Lily make her way through the students rushing to their next class.

Her bright green eyes and cherry lips would always be burned in his mind, and added to the collection of memories he valued over everything. The way she looked when they were playing on the swings. Playfully teasing him about his need to understand how everything worked. The look of concentration on her face when they were studying together.

He’d dreamed of this moment, thought of it at the most inopportune times even. And now she had kissed him. Standing still in the hallway, Severus breathed slowly and allowed himself a small smile. She had kissed him. They had been alone, and he had been talking about his latest experiment, and she had leaned over and kissed him. And then smiled.

The halls flooded with students, and it didn’t matter that he was being jostled.

She had kissed him.

He leisurely made his way to Transfigurations with the Ravenclaws, and for the first time in his life, didn’t take notice of anything around him. All he saw was Lily.

***

Remus noticed.

He didn’t always keep quiet, didn’t always sit still. But he always noticed how Severus’ inky hair would fall over his eyes when he was bent over a text or over his parchment. He noticed the way his hands were precise and deliberate in their movement when in Potions.

The way he touched his lips after Lily had...

His chance was over. He’d thought there was something between them, the way that their conversations sometimes lingered, and the way that they would sit quietly next to one another reading. He’d never really had a chance, Remus realized, his stomach feeling tight.

Sirius and James came up, muttering about his head in the moon, and dragged him to class.

Remus wondered if his friends ever felt this way. Then he looked at James, and the way that he was throwing himself at Lily. And the way that Lily was looking back at him, as if she hadn’t been smiling at Severus. She obviously never felt this way.

He didn’t think he liked her much anymore.

***

Lily was having a good day. She received an "O" on her Arithmancy homework, she was almost done with her Transfigurations paper, and her topic for Defense Against the Dark Arts was shaping up. Her favourite marmalade was served for breakfast. She managed to get Severus to smile. James was actually funny today.

She almost didn’t notice the peculiar looks Remus was giving her, and while normally she would have called herself paranoid, the venom in his eyes was so unusual and unexpected that she didn’t know what to think. He wasn’t prone to fits of anger the way Sirius was, and he wasn’t the sulky sort like Peter. Even when mischievous it wasn’t as intense as James. And he certainly never glared at anyone. He was friendly with everyone, even some of the Slytherins, and...

She managed to get Severus to smile.

Oh, bugger.

***

He was going to see Lily again in less than a minute. All through class, well, after he’d completed the work and the extra questions, he thought about how he should greet her. Grab her by the waist and bend her over for a long kiss? Get down on one knee and recite poetry about her flaming hair and jewelled eyes?

Er, no.

When he caught sight of her, he suddenly noticed his palms were sweaty. And he couldn’t breathe. He was going to make an idiot of himself, wasn’t he.

“Severus, we need to talk.”

Agreeing, he took her hand to lead her to the courtyard. Maybe he should recite poetry to her. Did he know any poetry to recite?

Her warm hand was clasped in his, and he started to smile at the odd looks the other students were giving him. But then Severus realized that she wasn’t following him, that she was trying to pull out of his grasp.

“Severus,” she said, and for the first time he noticed that she was having trouble looking him in the eye.

***

Remus felt like punching a wall.

It had been all over the school within hours – how Severus had completely lost it in the hallways, and had apparently thought he’d had a chance with Lily Evans. No one had known about the kiss that she had given him, and Lily certainly wasn’t saying anything. She just kept crying, comforted by some of the girls in their class, glaring at anyone trying to get too close.

Sirius and James stepped up their torment of Snape.

And Severus himself listlessly wandered the hallways, no longer paying attention in class. After a few days, he came to class, his gaze stony, his answers even more curt then they’d already been. Remus saw Lily look over at him, tears blurring in her eyes.

He’d had enough.

***

“She doesn’t deserve you,” Lily overheard Remus say as he stalked up to Severus. Ducking behind some bushes, she surreptitiously cast a hear-you-better charm as she watched them.

Severus ignored Remus, not looking up from his book. His back was against a tree, his long legs stretched out.

“I said-“

“I heard you,” Severus said quietly.

They stared at each other, and Remus’ shoulders sagged. Kneeling down, he repeated what he stated.

“She doesn’t deserve you,” he said softer this time.

“Why do you care?” Severus replied curtly.

Remus looked down at the ground, pushing a pebble with his finger.

“If this is another prank, it’s not a very good one,” Severus said, looking around.

Remus straightened up again, placed his hands on Severus’ neck, and kissed him. Finally, when Severus started kissing him back, Lily smiled.

---

karasu_hime’s request: 1. Awkward first time kiss for Severus. He's not sure if he likes kissing Lily or Remus better.