Snapedom

The intensity of his gaze made her blush....

(...)

she LIKES being the focus of his intense attention.

it's an interesting point - but could it not be that being seen as a sexual being by someone you regard as a friend is an embarrassing experience?

it's merely personal experience i quote from but as teenager i was embarrased by the sudden hormonal reaction of my male friends. not flattered - it was uncomfortable.

severus has been her friend for such a long time - no matter how close their friendship was or not - and it might have just made her feel uncomfortable to be confronted with the fact, that severus, too, was a sexual being.

maybe she liked him as a friend (or merely tolerated him) but wasn't interested sexually in him at all. i'm aware that makes her sound shallow, but i don't know so many teenage girls who are wise enough to not be blinded by broad shoulders and white teeth in that age and alpha male behaviour ...

(on a fanfic level though i do wish she had fancied severus though ... )

as a teenage girl, as a teenager in general one might generally be confused about oneself. - at all times, we happen to unintentionally hurt others, but as a teenager one is especially prone to it (in this light severus insult in swm is merely a typical teenage reaction ...) not because teenagers are less compassionate, but they are so much more vulnerable.

the fifteen year old lily was not a mature person who was in control of her emotions, who made grown-up, rational decisions. she was a child growing into womanhood, finding out that others regarded her in a sexual way, something that must have scared her, but also in a way made her aware of a power that she hadn't before.