It was early May. The past few months had been cold and damp, due to Dementors and their spawning, but finally, after days of rain, the sun broke through and shed its warmth onto the school below.
Severus Snape walked across the Hogwarts grounds towards the castle. He’d recently been in the forest collecting some potion-making supplies. Hagrid had performed this chore for him in the past, but since the great oaf had gone into hiding after his “Support Harry Potter Party,” Snape had been forced to go into the forest himself several times. It was not a task that he particularly enjoyed, though it was a necessary one.
A splash of brightness against the ground caught his eye, and he stopped short. It was a daisy, its creamy white petals reaching eagerly for the sun. Snape knelt, reaching down to brush his fingers against the delicate petals. The little flower, so bright and full of life, reminded him of another May in another place, and the girl who’d reached out to him when no one else had.
* * *
Severus woke suddenly. At first he wasn’t sure what had awoken him, and he groggily turned over, pulling his thin pillow over his head to shield his face from the bright light coming through his window. Wait a moment…bright light?
He sat bolt upright in bed, rubbing furiously at the sleep in his eyes. Brilliant yellow beams were pouring through his window onto his face, and he smiled. It was probably the first time he’d smiled in several weeks. It had been raining for days, and his mum had forbidden him to leave the house, for fear he’d catch cold. But today…today he was sure he could go out.
She was bound to be at the playground today, the first clear morning after weeks of rain. Lily, the little red-haired girl he had befriended in the past few months. The girl who’d be going to Hogwarts with him in September.
He smiled again.
Severus pulled on his clothes and ran downstairs, where his mother was busy in the kitchen.
“Mum! Mum!” He whispered loudly, remembering just in time that his father didn’t like loud noises in the mornings. Surprised, his mother turned, holding a bowl in her hands. She smiled at his obvious excitement, wincing slightly from the pain of the bruises on her face.
“Yes, Severus?” she asked.
“Mum, can I go to the playground today? It’s not raining, see!” He pointed at the square of blue that could be seen out of the kitchen window, just in case his mum hadn’t seen it yet. She chuckled. It was the happiest sound he’d heard her make in weeks.
“Yes, darling, I see. Of course you can go, just eat something before you leave. And remember to bring your coat!”
He winced as he nodded. He hated that awful coat. It made him feel like a bat, one whose wings flapped awkwardly around him. Maybe, if he managed to go while she was busy, he could claim he forgot it later. He grabbed a piece of bread from the counter and slipped out the door as his mum turned back to her cooking, a worried frown back on her face.
The short walk to the playground seemed to take even less time than it usually did. Everything seemed brighter, maybe because the days of rain had washed everything clean for the sun to shine on. All the flowers were coming out, too, now that the rain had stopped trying to pound them into the ground. They drank in the sun greedily, and he thought about picking a few to give to Lily when he saw her.
However, he quickly dismissed that idea. She probably wouldn’t want them anyway, and besides, she deserved beautiful flowers, the kind that grew in fancy gardens, like roses. Not common weeds that grew on the side of the road.
He couldn’t stop the huge grin that broke over his face when he rounded the street corner and saw her laughing on the swings. They were still wet from the rain, and puddles of muddy water lay beneath them, but that hadn’t stopped Lily. She had taken off her sandals, and was kicking the water every time she swung past, making huge glittering sprays shoot into the air. Severus’ hard black eyes softened as he watched, changing from pebbles of onyx to pieces of velvet. She made everything beautiful, even mud puddles!
His smile grew even wider when he realized her annoying Muggle sister wasn’t there. He’d have her all to himself, without that stupid girl butting in!
Severus almost broke into a run as he neared the swings, but he restrained himself so he’d at least seem a little dignified. Lily, however, apparently didn’t give a jot about dignity, and waved frantically at him. She leaped off the swings and swiftly covered the short distance between them, laughing delightedly. She threw her arms around him as soon as she reached him. The sudden movement almost knocked him off-balance, and he staggered, his arms automatically going around her waist in an effort to keep them both from falling.
“Severus!” she squealed, hugging him so tightly he almost couldn’t breathe. “I missed you so much! It’s been ages and ages since I’ve seen you!”
He coughed and patted her awkwardly on the back as she loosened her grip and grinned at him.
“I’ve “ I’ve missed you, too,” he stammered, and coughed again to hide his stutter. He could feel a flush beginning at the base of his neck. Why did this always happen? He could never seem to talk right around her, never! His words always tripped over each other, or came out sounding completely different than he wanted them to.
Lily’s eyes grew concerned as she looked at him. “Why are you coughing? Are you all right?” she asked in a worried tone, and reached up to feel his forehead. “Are you sick? Your face feels a little warm.”
Severus pulled back slightly from her touch, fully aware that his cheeks were warm.
“No,” he mumbled. “I’m fine. Do you want to go back on the swings?”
She shook her head. “No, I’ve been on them for a while. Why don’t we sit over here and you can tell me more about witches and wizards. I have so many questions!”
She took his hand before he could protest and pulled him over to a little knoll by the merry-go-round. The ground was drier there, though still a bit damp, and there wasn’t very much mud. Lily sat cross-legged, and pulled him down next to her. He almost toppled as he sat down, ending up in a rather awkward pile of elbows and knees. Lily giggled.
“You’ve got dirt on your nose now,” she said.
He scowled. “Don’t laugh! It was an accident!”
Lily sobered instantly, though a faint smile still danced around her lips. “I’m sorry,” she said, and it sounded sincere as she reached up and wiped the smudges from his face. “You just looked funny, that’s all. But not in a bad way!”
He snorted, trying to stay angry, but failing miserably. He could never seem to stay angry with her. The corners of his mouth turned up reluctantly as he stared at the grass between them. It was covered in wildflowers, the same kinds he’d seen on the road to the playground. There were clovers, dandelions, daisies, and violets growing in a riot of color around them, as if the flowers were trying to make up for the dullness of the winter that had just ended.
Severus picked the flowers around him nervously as he answered Lily’s questions about wizards, not realizing what he was doing. If they had been leaves of grass he would’ve done the same thing; his hands needed something to do.
“What about flowers? Do wizards have flowers in their gardens, like us, er, Muggles?” she asked, unconsciously mirroring his actions and picking a daisy. She twirled it idly in her fingers as he answered her.
“Oh, we have some of the same kinds of flowers as Muggles, but there are lots of magical plants, too. My mum has a few in her garden; we’ll be studying some of them in school, she told me.” He nodded wisely as she gaped at him, his hands full of color.
Soon, he had a pile of stems in front of him, and he started weaving them together deftly, his long, clever fingers dancing over the petals. In a moment, it was clear that he was making a flower circlet, though one more intricate and detailed than most.
“Severus! That’s lovely! Where did you learn to do that?” Lily asked in amazement when she realized what he was doing. “None of the boys I know can do anything like that!”
He looked up from the flowers in his hands, a shadow falling over his face as he remembered a long-ago summer’s day, when he’d been happy, and his mother had taught him to make frivolous flower crowns. His father had thrown them in the fire when he’d shown them to him. Then he’d shouted at his wife, something about turning his son into a “nancy boy.” She hadn’t spoken at all that night, and her face had been wet when she kissed him good night.
“My mum taught me, last summer,” he mumbled. “I can show you how, if you like.”
Lily nodded and reached out to pull the now finished circlet out of his hands.
“It’s so pretty,” she murmured as she turned it over in her hands, then looked at him and gave him a rueful smile. “I’ve never been able to make anything like this. My flower crowns always break and fall apart.”
“Oh,” Severus said uncertainly, before reaching for the circlet. It wasn’t really anything special; he didn’t see what was so great about it. It was just a bunch of common wildflowers. Lily gave it back to him reluctantly, her fingers lingering on its petals. The crown dangled in his hands for a moment, and then he finally came to a decision.
“You can have this one,” he said nervously, holding it out to her. “I mean, if you want it.”
She reached for it, her face lighting up, but as her fingers touched it, he changed his mind and raised it above her hands to place it on her head. The moment it touched her hair, swirls of light and color burst from it and started dancing around her. They both jumped up in surprise at first, but then Lily laughed delightedly and began spinning in circles.
Severus grinned and scuffed at the grass with one foot, stealing glances at her as she twirled.
“You look like a princess,” he mumbled. “Or a queen.” He looked up and gave her a sudden, brilliant smile. “The Queen of May. Maybe you brought the sunshine and the flowers back, like in the stories.”
She turned pink. “Oh, Severus, you’re so sweet!” she exclaimed, and hugged him for the second time that day, surprising him a little. He wasn’t used to such gestures; his father didn’t like them, and Severus had learned very quickly not to show affection to either of his parents when his father was around. He could feel himself flushing again, and tried not to look at her so she wouldn’t see. Then he felt her lips brush his cheek, and his eyes widened. Lily Evans had kissed him! On the cheek!
His surprise must have been evident in his face, because it was over almost as soon as it had happened. His hand flew to his face, his fingers tracing the place that her lips had just touched, and his mouth opened and closed soundlessly as he struggled to find something to say.
But before he could say anything, Lily grabbed both his hands, startling him. He tried to protest as she swung him around and around in circles, but soon he was laughing, too, until they grew so dizzy that they collapsed next to each other on the grass, flushed and panting.
* * *
“Snape!”
He jerked back to the present as Amycus’ rough voice broke into his thoughts. He stood fluidly as the Death Eater approached, plastering the sneer that he normally wore over his features.
“Is there a problem, Amycus?”
“There’s a problem, all right!” he growled. “That old bedlam, McGonagall’s trying to interfere with me and Alecto again. Thinks she owns the school, she does!”
“I will see to it,” Snape said smoothly. “Do not concern yourself.”
“You’d better see to it!” Amycus snarled, stepping closer to Snape and poking him in the chest. “Or there’ll be hell to pay!” He turned clumsily and lumbered off, grumbling to himself, and Snape moved to follow him.
The daisy at his feet caught his eye, and he frowned. Its petals were crumpled and its stem broken, crushed by Amycus’ heavy foot. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to grieve anew for Lily, but only for a moment. When he opened his eyes, his features had hardened, and he stalked back up to the castle. He didn’t have the luxury for such weaknesses anymore.
The Queen of May by Chaser921
Chapter Notes: Many thanks to my wonderful beta, yemeron, and my good friend Chelsea, who gave me lots of good advice and helped improve my story.
Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. I only hope I'll be as famous as she is someday, though I seriously doubt I will be.