If a Great Wave Shall Fall (Severus Snape & Lily Evans)

Chapter Twenty-One

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Somehow, Severus and Lily had managed to sneak out after curfew and not get caught by the Prefects or teachers (Severus having an easier time than Lily). She was already waiting for him by the time he had gotten there, "Hey Sev," she called to him from the beige tweed couch that was facing the fireplace in the particular setting that the Room had decided to set up for them.

He smiled as he shut the door and said in his quiet voice, "Hello love, how's your day been?"

"Come sit down and I'll tell you," she said, smiling widely as he came and sat next to her, and he deciding to be obnoxious for once and sprawled across her with his head barely resting on her lap. "Sev!" she laughed, "You great goof, what are you doing?"

He shrugged and said, "Relaxing, what's it look like?"

Lily laughed and said, "More like you're asking for a Stinging Hex up your arse."

Severus chuckled and then asked, "How was your day then?"

She sighed and began carding her fingers through his hair and then said, "Woke up a little late, so I almost missed the train, and then I just about tore apart the whole thing looking for you after it set off. About that - what happened to you, Sev? Last night you said something about sleeping for hours on end."

He let out a long wind of air, wondering where to start, "First tell me what you know."

"Alright," Lily said, the air about them slowly losing its bantering feel. "I had called Dobby to me before Dumbledore sent his bloody burning bird," Severus laughed then. "What? That's all a phoenix is! A bloody burning bird!"

"Whatever you say," Severus answered cheekily, and then said, "But do go on."

She stuck her tongue out at him and then continued, "Dobby told me that Voldemort had paid you a visit, and after the monster left he went and go Dumbledore for you. Then the message that phoenix brought just told me in a really roundabout way that you were already here and you had been taken care of."

Severus rolled his eyes and said, "Typical Albus, always talking in riddles. Anyways, that about sums up what happened to me. The Dark Lord came and visited, asked me to look after something, never gave whatever it was to me, then shot a spell at me. Next thing I knew I was in the hospital wing. When I was talking with about half of the staff, I got the feeling that Albus knew what was wrong, but he didn't say..."

Lily was quiet for a moment, but she had yet to stop running her fingers through his hair, "That is strange... but you have no idea what it could be then? Pomfrey's scans came up with nothing?"

"Nothing other than my magical reserves were low, so taking a wild gander, the spell drained my core." Severus said sarcastically.

Lily laughed and said, "You're such an arse!"

He shrugged and said, "I actually woke up to them having a go at each other about whether there was such a spell that could detect dark spells. And there isn't, not now. Especially not with the kinds of spells the Dark Lord is having Rowle come up with. I'll have to get together with the Ravenclaws and see what we can come up with to counter those..."

Lily made a noncommittal noise and continued playing with his hair, then said slowly, "Severus?"

He instantly looked up at her and asked, "What is it Lily?"

Her hand stilled and she asked, "What do you think of McKinnon?"

He furrowed his brows and said, "Not much. She's popular and smart, which is a rare combination in a Ravenclaw. And she's not a sore to the eyes, but wouldn't make me look twice - why?"