“Now Jacob loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours.”

-Genesis 37:3

A Coat of Many Colours

The platform Nine and Three-Quarters was packed full of excited students headed home for the holidays. Wrapped in school coloured scarves, friends waved good-bye to each other with promises of owls and presents. Severus Snape stood alone.

He usually would’ve stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas, but Lily had talked him into coming home to Spinnerton this year. Her parents were having a big Christmas party and Lily had told him that if he didn’t come she would be bored to the point of throwing herself off the roof. So he had come home.

Black eyes scanned the crowd through a curtain of black hair looking for Lily Evans. Lily had set it up so her parents would bring him home, but he had yet to find her. Lily was rather popular and was saying goodbye to some Gryffindor pals. She waved at him to come over as soon as his eyes found her.

“Hey! Are you ready to go?”

“Yeah. Are you finished saying good-bye to the platform?”

Lily rolled her eyes and gave Severus a push toward the barrier into King’s Cross. Their way was impeded by James Potter.

“Alright, Evans?”

“Potter, move out of the way or I’ll run you over.”

“Oh, really Evans? Something tells me that deep down you really wouldn’t hurt me.”

“No, but Severus will. You’ll run the prat over for me won’t you?”

Severus smirked at Potter. “Anything for the lady.”

Potter glared, but spoke to Lily. “So, you’re back on speaking terms, even after what he called you last year?”

It was Lily’s turn to glare now. “Yes, Potter, I forgave him. Move, would you? We’re meeting my parents.”

Potter looked confused, probably not a very uncommon look on him, Severus speculated. “You’re taking the Greaseball home with you?”

Lily looked exasperated in her turn, also not uncommon. “Yes, you prat. We live in the same village. Now MOVE OR I WILL MOVE YOU MYSELF!”

Potter finally got out of the way and Severus and Lily passed into King’s Cross but her parents hadn’t arrived yet. They sat down on a bench to wait and Lily waved at passing classmates while Severus tried to be invisible.

“Why do you do that? People would like you more if you put up some effort.”

“I don’t need people to like me. Besides, if James Potter doesn’t like you, you just aren’t likeable to anyone. The boy has far too much power for his own good.”

“You know, I can’t even remember what started all of this…I remember meeting him on the train on the way to school that first year, but after that…. Why do you two hate each other so much?”

Severus snorted lightly. “He doesn’t like any Slytherins and I happen to be the only Slytherin with no friends to stand behind me.”

“You have me.”

“Yes, well, thanks for the efforts, but you saw what happened last year…”

Lily sighed. “I know. But that can’t be the only reason.”

“Okay, look at it this way…If there was a magic mirror that showed you who your opposite was James Potter would see me and I would see him.”

“Maybe not. You have more in common than you think…. Invented any amusing jinxes lately?”

Severus nodded ruefully. “Point taken.”

They sat in silence for a few moments, but Severus broke it when James Potter came out from the barrier.

“Lily, you see Mr. and Mrs. Potter?”

“Yeah. Gosh, they’re a bit old aren’t they?”

“Yeah. The Potters are a very rich family. Mr. Potter was the last in the line and for years it was believed that the family would die out for lack of heirs. Then there was a son. He’s been spoiled rotten his whole life. Lily, you’ve never been to church, have you?”

She shook her head. “No, Mum and Dad never took us. Why?”

“In the Bible there’s a story about a man named Jacob who had a lot of sons, but his favorite son was the one born to him in his old age. His name was Joseph, and Jacob made him a coat of many colours and favoured him to no end. Always reminded me of Potter some how.”

Lily glanced at Severus and he could tell that she was getting his point without him actually having to say it. Potter was everything he wasn’t and had everything he didn’t; jealousy was a wicked thing.

The Evanses showed up moments later, after Severus and Lily had switched to talking about Potions. The ride home was long but Severus didn’t mind; he was comfortably squished between Lily and the car door. Lily was sitting between him and Petunia, Lily’s elder sister who disliked Severus with as much passion as did Potter.

Severus didn’t want to get out of the car when it pulled to a stop in front of the old house on Spinner’s End, but he thanked Mr. and Mrs. Evans for the ride and waved bye to Lily as the car drove away. Sighing heavily, he began the trudge up to the house that wasn’t his home.

****
Christmas morning dawned cold and uninviting. Severus glanced toward the end of his bed. There wasn’t much there at first glance. A new sweater from his grandmother, a used book on the Dark Arts from his mother, a box of Honeyduke’s Chocolates from Potter and his friends (probably poisoned in some way, he would keep these and give them to an unsuspecting Slytherin or Pettigrew if the boy proved to be so thick to forget his idols’ most recent prank), a surprise from his father; a battered watch that had belonged to Tobias’s father, Tobias, and now was Severus’s, an envelope from Lily saying he would get his gift tonight at the party, and a bag containing twenty Galleons from Lucius Malfoy along with a note saying he needed Veritaserum.

Malfoy always did that; he would have Severus the Potions Genius brew any illegal or Ministry-controlled potions or poisons he needed, providing Severus with plenty of money in return that no questions were asked. Severus knew that he should have some morals concerning this, but he did rather like having all this money and Malfoy may prove useful one day when Severus was looking for a job.

After the present opening, Severus got out of bed and got dressed, putting on his grandmother’s sweater over a t-shirt and fastening the watch on his thin wrist. It fit him fine; he supposed all Snapes had thin wrists.

When Severus went downstairs into the kitchen it was to find Tobias Snape reading the paper alone at the table. He looked up as his son entered the room.

“Yer mother left to buy some groceries to make a cake for the party tonight. Yer goin’, yeah?”

Severus nodded; he had learnt as a child that it was safest to stay quiet around his father.

“Good. Their daughter, the Evans girl, she’s a friend o’ yer’s?”

Severus nodded again, but decided to speak. “Yeah, Lily.”

Tobias grunted. “Decent family. You want to keep up with a girl like that, son.”

Severus nodded again. “Yes, sir.”

He moved over to the Muggle refrigerator to find something to eat for breakfast. While he rummaged, Tobias noted the watch.

“Yer mother told me that tradition is for a boy to get a watch on his comin’ o’ age. Seventeen fer wizards, apparently. That’s yer birthday present then. Been in the family fer ages. Take good care of it, son.”

Severus felt a rare surge of affection towards the man at the table. He was actually acting like a father for a change.

“Thank you, sir. I will.”

****
The party proved crowded and uncomfortable. The only people he knew there were his own parents and the Evanses. Finding Lily proved to be a sort of Herculean effort; she didn’t appear to be able to stay in one spot for more than a few moments.

He finally cornered her in the kitchen. She led him away from the party and upstairs to her bed room. Her trunk stood open at the end of her bed, and she brought out a large brown parcel from it.

“I think you’ll like it; it was a spur of the moment thing, and it took me a while to finish it. It wasn’t done this morning, and so I didn’t want to send it to you, obviously…”

Severus couldn’t help but to laugh. The present must be a big deal; Lily only rambled when she was nervous.

“Oh, fine, open it….”

Ripping off the brown paper, Severus found a black coat. It was long and looked very warm.

“Thanks, Lily. This is nice….”

“Look at the lining inside,” she ordered, interrupting him.

Looking at the inside, Severus suddenly felt very warm. Where a normal coat would’ve had a silk or flannel lining, Lily had removed it and put in a new one. The new lining was made of various sized and shaped patches of fabric. He got the reference immediately.

“Your very own coat of many colours,” Lily said, sounding pleased with her self. “A reminder that James Potter doesn’t have everything.”

Severus looked quizzically at her. She looked as though the answer was obvious.

“He doesn’t have a coat of many colours, but you do. A real one, made by someone you cares for you.” Severus felt the blood rush to his face suddenly. “And you have me, something else Potter doesn’t have.”

Severus shook his head. “You aren’t something to own, Lily.”

She crossed her arms. “No, but if I were, you would have me and James Potter would most certainly not.”

He looked back down at the coat. “Thanks, Lily. This…it means a lot.”

Lily smiled at him and gave him a hug, causing the blood to flow back to his face again. She did this every year, Severus thought he should be used to it by now. He reluctantly returned the hug, still holding the coat.

Lily leaned back, but was still holding on to him. “I’m glad you like it, Sev.”

He chuckled despite his discomfort at the situation. “I feel bad now; all I got you was that book on Antidotes. I’m going to have to make up for it.”

At his words, Lily suddenly got a look in her eye that Severus had never seen before, but he recognized it. He had seen it countless times in the eyes of young girls on dates in Hogsmeade, leaning against a wall in front of a shop, looking up at their dates just before….

Severus wasn’t quite sure how it happened, but the next thing he knew, he was kissing Lily. His best friend Lily who had known for what seemed like for ever. The best friend he had been in love with since day one. The best friend that had made him a coat of many colours….

Severus broke away rather quickly, Lily doing the same. No words were spoken and no words were needed. They both knew that it couldn’t happen, but that didn’t seem to interrupt the tears growing in Lily’s eyes. Severus stepped a bit closer to her and wiped the tear that had run down her cheek. Lily chuckled, “I think Potter would kill you if he ever found out about this.”

Severus grinned ruefully, but didn’t miss the request. Neither of them would ever breathe a word of this. He put his arms around her shoulders and together the two friends walked back to the party.