It had been raining the entire day, Severus knew. The grounds outside, where he usually lay his head to read under the old oak tree, were soaked and muddy, and would ruin Severus’ robes - like the ruddy weather had ruined his study session with Lily - if he were to sit on them.
Their...truce of sorts had been going surprisingly well. Severus constantly waited for the other trainer to drop, Lily turning on him once more (-- that’s not how it went, Severus) and following Potter’s orders blindly to leave him behind. Lately, Lily no longer had a quad of young men practically hanging off of her shoulders. Potter and Black having home troubles again, Sev presumed. But he was not one to look that gift horse in the mouth, no matter how it made Lily’s mouth turn down at the sides.
A group of students entered the Slytherin’s common room, Miss Evans following in behind them. A wave from Abbott as they parted, Severus felt an inkling of jealousy that Lily got along with people from all houses. Slytherins were not trusting by nature, and while she still gathered a few looks from other witches and wizards around the common room, her presence was relatively accepted as a whole. “Miss Evans,” Voice just a low mumble, it was nearly cast aside by the roar of the fire across the room and the clicking of overly-expensive shoes across the stone floors.
She came prepared, he saw, for the chill of the Slytherin’s ‘lair’ with a soft looking cashmere sweater. The green wool made her eyes shine even more beautifully than usual. Her red-and-gold tie did nothing for her appearance - she looked much better in Slytherin Green.
Greeting him as well, although much warmer and with a soft ‘It’s Lily, Severus. Come now,’ they began their studying. Soon though, each of the other Slytherins parted way and they were left along in the large room.
Lily eyed the couches with a devious grin, picking her things up and quickly making her way to the medium-sized one in the corner of the room, relatively close to the fireplace.
Severus began to protest, but it died out without much conviction when he realized that Lily would not take ‘no’ for an answer. With a sigh, Severus grabbed his Charms book and sat on the opposite end of the couch, leaving Lily her space. Not much longer after that, Severus found himself pulled from his readings when Lily stretched herself out and set her Charms book down. She commented on the fact that she could hear the rain through the bricks of Hogwarts despite the fact that they were underground, and Severus told her of a charm they’d learned quite some time ago to give that effect.
Makes me quite tired, she had said. Severus knew where her mind was headed, his cheeks heating at the thought of it. When he nodded his consent, Lily laughed happily, her long, pale fingers curling around a decorative throw pillow, grabbing the lightweight duvet and throwing it around herself.
Severus’ skin tingled as soon as Lily lay her head onto the pillow, now covering his lap. This was... far closer than he’d anticipated being to Lily any time in the near future, especially this particular study-session. Someone could walk in on them, he reminded. She gave no response, and Severus was reminded of a conversation they’d had about not caring what others thought of them, so he let it go. Why fight a losing war.
“How will you study like this?”
Charmingly, she just smiled and burrowed further under the knit of her duvet and allowed him to make the choice. He, of course, knew what he would choose from the very beginning:
Whatever would make her happy.
Once, she had told him that she liked the sound of his voice -- his vibrato, the deep hum lurking beneath his diaphragm. He would use that to his advantage. Maybe someday she would tell him that she liked more about him.
“Chapter Sixteen, the reversion of one state to another is often...”
After a quarter of an hour, Lily was fast asleep in his arms. His words kept tumbling out, and he thought it was perhaps a way to distract himself from stroking her soft cheek with the palm of chemical-stained hands. He kept reading, even as other students filtered in and out of the common room.
