The man who loved

Chapter 3

'What is wrong Sev?' asked Lily with a worried face. Severus couldn't tell her about him being a wizard – not now. He thought about a fake story or just talk about another topic. 'When is your birthday?' What a stupid question he thought, but it was the best one he could think of. 'Why are you ignoring my question? What is so wrong about your taste in books? It is great that you're interested in it. Most people our age can't even read proper enough. So, be proud' Be proud – A sentence he has never heard anyone say before. He knew Lily for a couple of hours, but he already knew that she was something special. He would love to tell Lily about his identity, but he couldn't. 'Can we just go home?' asked Severus. He felt bad for her. She wanted to see the city, feel welcomed at this new place and he ruined it just because he wasn't careful enough. He regretted going into that bookstore in the first place. Lily's face expressed a lot of sadness and disappointment – it was recognizable for him. His father always had that look on his face when Severus did something which was not good enough for him.

Lily and Severus went straight home. 'You know Sev. You are the weirdest person I've ever met. Most of the people I've come across are energetic and fun' Lily knew she said something wrong. 'I, I don't mean that you are the opposite. But you are different. You are very focused, and you seem calm. Please don't take that the wrong way' Severus knew exactly what she meant. It's a description he also got by his English teacher at his first day at school. Her name was Mrs. Relious. An older woman with long grey hair with a black strand. She was always wearing black dresses and a green pin which said prefect. Severus once asked his mother what this word could have meant, and she told him that Mrs. Relious must have been a Slytherin prefect at Hogwarts. That was the moment Severus knew that she was one of him. The same 'weirdo' he got named by every classmate ever since he came to school. She was the first person who was empathic towards him and tried to understand him. He was only 6 years old when he has met her, but they shared a lot of similarities. She passed away a year ago. She died of lung cancer. Severus didn't tell Lily about Mrs. Relious. He's never spoken of her ever since and he wasn't about to do that now.

'Well, I have to admit that you are the only person who was ever nice to me and you seem the complete opposite of me, Lily' Severus looked at her and gave her a small smile. And suddenly he felt some warmth in his chest – like a candle calmly lighting up the room.

'I have to show you something' said Severus and walked a little bit faster. Lily didn't say anything and followed him. She trusted him completely. As soon as they arrived the beginning of Lilys neighbourhood Severus took the left turn into a forest. 'Ehm... Sev where are we going?' asked Lily with a scared tone. 'Don't worry. We have to go through the forest to arrive at the actual spot I want to show you' Lily just nodded and walked behind Severus, still with a lot of fear inside her. The forest was very dark with some left-over snow on the ground that was shining like a diamond. Still, it was only January, but they were able to hear some birds singing like it was spring. Lilys fear quickly disappeared as soon as she saw the light at the end of the forest. But at the same time, she was amazed by that breathtaking nature and she felt like back home in Ireland.

'There we are' said Severus as they left the forest and stared at a large Willow tree surrounded by the lake Severus was always throwing stones into. Lily was amazed and speechless. It looked magnificent. 'Wow, Sev. What an amazing place. Do you come here often?' 'I come here every day' answered Severus with such pride. It was clear that this place was the place he felt at home. He showed her around and told her about the nature, his skills he had with throwing stones and his inspiration to do his homework. 'You are very concentrated here and no one knows about this place. No one except us' Lily was very happy. 'I'm impressed Sev. That's what I meant with you being focused and calm. And this represents it in the best way. But what else do you do here? It seems like you spend lots of hours here and there isn't that much to do here' Severus knew she wanted to know the whole truth in relation to the book he just bought today. She wanted to know his secret. 'There is something about me that differs me from other kids. That's the reason why I am like I am. But I can't tell you. Not yet. I really hope you can accept that.'' Lily looked at him with such confusion. Did he say something wrong? She might think he's some weirdo with a dark secret – maybe a killer? Even kids can go crazy not only adults.

'I mean, I can't say anything against it. We just met and if you don't trust me it is totally understandable then. So, yes. I can accept that' Severus felt such a relief and was very thankful for her understanding. As the hours passed, Lily wanted to go home because her parents might be worried about her. They left the place and went through the forest again. It was strange because the sun was almost gone but the forest was lighted the same way it was when they arrived this noon. Like it was some kind of magic. Lily was discombobulated and couldn't explain what she just saw as soon as she arrived home and told Petunia about her day.

'Severus is not the boy you thought he would be, Petunia' said Lily. 'I can't believe mom and dad allowed you to go into the city with a stranger. Something is odd about him and I swear I will find out. You can be glad that I haven't told Dad about his little action the other night. He was creeping on us and I saw it with my own eyes! How dare you believe this greasy boy instead of your own sister!'' Petunia was super mad but for Lily it seemed like that she was just jealous. She didn't want to argue with her sister, and she didn't tell her about the incident at the bookstore, because she knew that this would freak her out even more.

Petunia was 4 years older than Lily and she acted like a mother. She was a rational thinker and didn't like unrealistic things such as stories about magical creatures or wizards and witches. She thought it was a waste of time to think about stuff like this when it's not reality. She was more like their dad and wanted a normal life with, in Lily's opinion, a boring job at the office. She wanted to step into Dad's footsteps. Lily was the complete opposite. She loved reading stories about unicorns and dreaming about magical worlds. She also loved art and liked to paint a lot. She wanted to be a painter in the future. She felt most drawn to stories about witches. She felt a weird connection with them, like she was one of them. She knew that Petunia was right, that Witches and Wizards do not exist, but she did like the thought about it that they might be real in another world.

As soon as Severus opened the front door of their house, he saw his father standing in the hall. 'Good evening, Severus' said his father with such an anger in his voice. He was probably angry about Severus coming home that late. 'Where have you been?' he asked. Severus thought about that question and that he could've asked his father the same. But he didn't say anything. 'I was in the city' answered Severus with a scared tone. His father looked at him and grimaced his face. 'I'M SO DISAPPOINTED! DID YOU THINK ABOUT YOUR MOTHER AND HOW WORRIED SHE WAS??' he screamed and came closer to Severus as he looked at the floor with such shame. 'GO TO YOUR ROOM. I DO NOT WANT TO SEE YOU TONIGHT!' and Severus ran upstairs into his room – closed the door and started sobbing. And as soon as the door was closed, he heard his father screaming again but this time at his mother. 'HOW DARE YOU LET HIM OUTSIDE AND INTO THE CITY ALONE?' Severus shut his ears and started crying. His sight started to blur due to his tears in his eyes. He wanted to leave as soon as possible. He thought about Lily and how easy her life must have been. Without any conflict and with loving parents. Severus wanted to be eleven and leave for Hogwarts – but there were two more years ahead of him.