Turning Time (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

The Hate Potion, pt. 2

“Oh. Er, if you only had a day to live, what would you do?” 

Severus looked down. “I’d tell off everyone I didn’t like, because there wouldn’t be consequences. I’d go somewhere, too, I suppose.” 

The group was silent, thoughtful. 

Everyone but Lily, Harry realized, had some sort of secret that would affect their final day on Earth: Severus loved Lily, Harry was from a different time, and Raven loved Severus. And, maybe Lily didn’t hate James as much as she had before? 

Severus unraveled his fingers from Raven’s. They both wiped her hands on their pajama pants. Raven tried to exchange a glance with Severus, but he had looked away, to Lily.

“Truth or Dare,” Severus said quietly.

“Truth.” 

“What is your least favorite thing about me?”

“Oh, Sev, I don’t want to answer that…”

“But I want you to.”

“Besides you hanging out with the Slytherins? I mean, sometimes you can be a little intense, and clingy…” Lily looked guilty, but shrugged as if to say, “You wanted to know.” Not wanting to meet Severus’ empty eyes, she decided on Harry. “Jacob, truth or—” 

“Truth.”

“Hm…Have you ever lied?”

“Yeah.” Harry was relieved. It didn’t reveal anything about himself; he saw all of his friends lie daily, with little stretches of the truth.

“Wait, no, how about, what’s the biggest lie you’ve told in the past month? No, year?” 

“I can’t remember anything specific.” 

And then he felt it. The space in front of him felt cooler, thinner. It was merely a flicker, but it was enough to cause a slight shift in Severus’ eyebrows. The appearance-changing spells had weakened again. But why? 

“C’mon, it’s just us.”

“I told my mom I didn’t know where her purse was, when I actually stole it.” 

Harry felt normal again, but Severus still stared. 

The next morning, Harry groggily opened his eyes, awakened by Severus’ hand on his shoulder. It took him a moment to realize what day it was.

“What’s the matter?” Harry sat up.

Severus’ mouth was ajar in shock.

“What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?” 

Severus shook his head, blinked a few times, and sat back down on his mattress. Harry leaned against the wall and looked at Severus, waiting for a reply. 

“I couldn’t sleep. I keep thinking…well, what if Lily doesn’t like my gift?” Severus’ voice cracked slightly.

Harry’s eyes had adjusted better to the darkness; he saw Severus pressing his hands together.

“Of course she’ll like your gift; it’s from you.” It seemed as though that wasn’t what Severus was really wondering about.

Harry wondered if Severus expected him to know how he felt about Lily, or if he believed he was doing a good job of hiding his feelings and didn’t want Harry to know. 

“I suppose…” Severus lay back down and fixed his gaze on the ceiling. 

“Lily still cares about you,” Harry said quietly.