Sighing heavily, Snape emerged from the woods under the umbrella of dusk after he had apparated to Little Whinging. He didn't know how to explain it anymore. It was either out of guilt or longing that he found himself walking down Privet Drive towards the Dursley residence. He had attempted to ignore the feelings for a week. Whatever it was that lived deep within his gut, though, only became worse as time passed. On this night, he was nearly ill from it.

Raising a fist a moment later, he quietly rapped his knuckle against the front door. He then took a step back. Clearly, this was going to get him into trouble, with the Dursleys, the Dark Lord, or even Dumbledore. He wasn't sure which one would be more upset. But then again, he didn't really give a flying hippogriff what those bastards thought. He needed to see Lily for reasons unknown even to him.

When the door was thrown open suddenly, he found himself face to face with Petunia. She clearly looked out of sorts as if she had just been running a marathon or something. He decided he wasn't going to ask. He really didn't want to know anything about that bitch's life.

"What do you want?" she snapped, sneering at him.

"I wish to speak with your sister, Tuney."

"She's not in."

He immediately recognized her signs of lying. Her lip curled as her left eye twitched. He didn't think it was possible, but Petunia always became uglier when she told a lie.

"You're lying," he replied, leaning towards her.

"Am not," she quickly sputtered. "That little tramp decided she needed—"

He drew in a deep breath, inhaling the rich floral smell. Lily obviously had heard her older sister. He waited and slowly smirked when he saw the youngest Evans girl. Lily's lovely green eyes were in slits and her fists shook in hidden fury as she stormed towards them.

"What are you smirking about, Snape?" Petunia snapped. Her eyes then widened in outrage, realizing something in her twisted mind. Her hands flew to her blouse, pulling it closer to her.

"As if I wanted to contract some disease from you, Petunia," he replied nastily.

"Why? Does it remind you of the poorhouses, Snape?"

"Shut it, Tuney!" Lily yelled, glaring daggers at her sister. "Just shut it about Severus."

"Poor Snape," Petunia sneered. "His father was a drunk, and his mother was a w—"

"I'm warning you, Tuney!" Lily growled, stepping closer.

Snape glared at the spiteful shrew. Luckily for her, his Occlumency kept him from murdering her. She hadn't changed whatsoever. She was still as cruel as ever. However, he knew exactly how to make the horrid woman shut her mouth.

"Oh, I know all about your kind, Snape," Petunia snarled with a sneer. She then forces out a harsh laugh. "You think now because my sister is back that she's going to run her hands—"

"Petunia!" shouted Lily.

"—all over your greasy self and jump into your flea-ridden bed," the shrew hissed.

"Shut. It. Now," Lily roared.

"But she didn't love you, Snape! She was more than happy to find herself in Potter's—" Petunia's voice suddenly vanished. Her eyes then darkened before she leapt towards him. However, she only managed to hit the wall after he quickly sidestepped her.

"How dare you!" Lily's eyes were a dark green as she glared at her sister. She then held a hand against Petunia's chest to pin her to the wall. "How dare you speak to Sev like that." She then scoffed, shaking her head angrily. Her long red hair flared out behind her. "If I were you, Tuney, I'd keep my mouth shut. I'm not as naïve as you think." She then took a step closer. "Now listen to me closely. Whose bed I jump into is not any of your concern, considering whose bed I know you're jumping into in addition to your husband's."

Releasing her older sister, Lily whirled around and grabbed her jacket before heading out the opened door. She heard Severus quietly following behind her. How dare Petunia say such filth about Sev. Oh, if she had her magic, she would have scrubbed Tuney's mouth out. Sure, there had always been hatred between Tuney and Sev. And Lily knew it stemmed from her being a witch. Tuney clearly was still jealous about that fact. After all this time, her older sister was still jealous that Lily was a witch.

"Are you all right?" Snape asked quietly, walking beside her.

"I will be now," she responded, giving him a soft smile. "I'm sorry about her, Sev."

"No. It's not your fault, Lil." He then glanced away, kicking a loose rock towards the curb.

"Well, it's not really yours either." When he scoffed, her eyes narrowed on him. Gently, she laid a hand on his arm to stop him. "Sev, really, it's not your fault."

"It is, though, Lil," he answered, keeping his eyes on the asphalt.

"Oh? And just how is it your fault, Sev? Did you make me a witch?"

His head shot up, and he stared at her in momentary confusion. "No. Lil, that's not what I'm referring to." He then sighed, glancing back down. When her hand slowly pushed his chin back up, his eyes slowly flickered towards her. "I'm sorry, Lil."

"For what, Sev?" she asked, not understanding the hurt she saw in his eyes. "What did you do?"

"For calling you that wretched name," he replied, shutting his eyes. "For taking the Dark Mark, for then letting that darkness consume me, for informing the Dark Lord about the prophecy concerning your son, for not protecting you from him, for begging the Dark Lord and Dumbledore for your life and not giving a damn about Potter and your son, for being the reason you died," he said with a sigh. "Name it, Lil, and I'm sorry for it."

She stared at him for half a moment before glancing away. He had been the reason the Dark Lord was after her and James? She didn't want to believe it. She couldn't believe it. This was Sev, her Sev. Sure, she knew he had taken the Dark Mark. She hadn't been blind. She saw him lose himself bit by bit to the dark magic. However, she thought it had been too late after he called her 'Mudblood' that day by the lake. What if it hadn't been too late to save him? What if her not forgiving him was the reason he had taken the Mark? Then she shared the blame, didn't she?

Oh, didn't she just say that she forgave him that day when he begged for her forgiveness? She knew that he hadn't meant to say it. Sev was angry and hurt, which was justifiable considering that James and his friends had removed Sev's trousers in front of an audience—in front of her. Why didn't she just absolve him of his guilt? Why had she turned her back on her best friend since they were nine?

She didn't know the answer. There wasn't any right one at least that she knew. Turning back to him, she caught his hurt-filled eyes again. Sure, Sev was famous for locking his emotions up and hiding them from others, but she always could read him like a book when they were together. Perhaps words weren't necessary in this case.

Licking her lips nervously, she then went up on her tiptoes and gently brushed her lips over his. She felt his surprise immediately as he attempted to jerk back from her, but she wrapped her arms around him and held him there. She smiled against his lips a moment later as she felt him start to kiss her back. He was a hell of a kisser. She'd give him that. And if she was a kiss-and-tell type of girl, she'd likely have stroked his ego a bit by telling him that his kiss was ten times better than James'. And that wasn't a lie in the least. Sev was the perfect kisser.

"What-what was that for?" he asked, pulling back from her a moment later.

"Consider it my weak apology, Sev," she replied with a nervous laugh. "I should have forgiven you that day when you came to me and apologized for the day by the lake. Deep down, I knew you didn't mean it. You weren't that type of guy."

"I am now," he pointed out solemnly.

"Well, then we're going to have to fix that, aren't we, Sev?" She smiled softly, linking arms with him. "I suppose I understand why you didn't care that much about Harry and James." She felt him tense for a second. "James made your life a living hell when we were kids. I knew that." She then scoffed, shaking her head. "And I married the son of a bitch."

"Don't," he quietly replied. "Don't apologize for that. I understand."

"You shouldn't understand it, though, Sev. I mean, you should be furious with me for marrying him. He used his harassment and bullying of you as part of his charm. Any idiot could see that. And I fell for him. What does that make me?"

"Let's not talk about this." He then turned around to head back to the Dursleys.

"Sev—"

"Please, Lil, I don't want to talk about this right now."

"Fine," she responded with a sigh. "What do you want to talk about?"

"How was your trip to Gringotts? Did they allow you to access to your husband's vault?"

"No," Lily replied with a scoff. "The goblins still refuse to accept me as James' wife. You see, I'm supposedly buried in the cemetery at Godric's Hollow. So the goblins say that they can't and won't give me access. The head goblin in fact stated that the vault is in Harry's name, not mine, and that it's too much work for them to change the access back to me." She shook her head. "It's a matter of trust, and quite frankly they don't trust me."

"You could speak with Albus—"

"No, it's all right. A little hard work won't kill me." She then sighed. "It certainly keeps my mind off certain things." She glanced towards him and noticed his confusion. "I'm still coming to terms with James' death, you know." She watched him nod slowly.

"I take it then that your sessions with the mind healer aren't going well?"

"They are, but it just takes time. Everything takes time." They continued walking in silence for a bit before she glanced towards him. "I have an interview next week at a diner in Manchester."

"What happened to the other waitressing job?" he asked, staring at her oddly.

"I kept upsetting the customers so I was let go. Clearly being the mother of the Boy-Who-Lived has made me quite recognizable by the public. So when they come in and see that the supposed dead mother is in fact alive, well, it caused quite the uproar."

"I could assist—"

"No, Sev, thank you but no," Lily replied, gently resting a hand on his arm. "I couldn't take your money. Harry and I will be fine. I just have to go somewhere that people don't know me. That's why I think this job at the diner should be fine. It's full of Muggles, and you know them." She then sighed, glancing away. "You know I didn't want to be burden to anyone. And I know I am one to Tuney. I mean, it's practically every day we argue anymore. She has made it very clear that if I am to live with them, then I have to contribute something." She then shrugged. "I'm just tired of this damn arguing."

"If you need anything, I'm right here, Lily," he spoke, staring into her eyes.

"I know, Sev. I know." She then glanced up and sighed. He had brought her back to the front step of her sister's house. "If it, well, um, Sev, I think, well…"

"What is it, Lily?"

"If it isn't too much trouble for you, do you think we could maybe visit Godric's Hollow sometime soon. Call me crazy, but I want to see it." She then sighed. "Sometimes when I close my eyes, it's as if I'm there again, Sev. I can see James sitting next to me with Harry in the middle. And then I wake up and realize that my husband is dead." She shook her head. "I think I just want to make it feel real that he's really gone and that he's not coming back. I mean, everyone has had so much time to grieve and move on. But I mean, I just came back not too long ago, and it still feels like that day thirteen years ago." Her arms wrapped around herself protectively.

"Whenever you wish to go, just contact me. It is the least I can do, Lil," he replied quietly. Frowning, he sighed and caught her gaze. "I'm sorry, Lily. I truly am."

"Sev, you don't have anything to apologize for, though. I gave up on you. No matter how you spin it, that's what I did. I gave up on you, not the other way around." Inhaling slowly, she stared back at him. "We all make mistakes, Sev. You accidentally lashed out at me, and I gave up on you because of it. You know, sometimes at night, I'll wake up and wish that I could go back to that day and stand beside you." She then closed her eyes before sighing. "But then I awake up and realize that I can't. Good night, Sev." Kissing him on the cheek, she said her goodbye before walking into the house.

Upstairs in his room, Harry watched the scene outside in disdain. His mother and Snape had gone out for a walk. He didn't think there was anything to worry about. It wasn't as if his mother liked the nasty git. He then sighed. Then again, he had heard stories of how perfect she was from everyone. If she was so perfect, then why couldn't she hold down a job like most people? So it was entirely possible that she'd start to date the nasty bat of the dungeons, wasn't it? Gritting his teeth, he growled. Tomorrow morning wasn't soon enough to go back to Hogwarts in his opinion. He was already tired of this love fest, and it hadn't even begun yet. Why couldn't he just have a normal and happy life with his mother?