Author's Note: I apologise for the delay in getting this next chapter up, but life got in the way with its love for exams and other such things... Anyway, I think this one is longer than usual, so I hope you enjoy it!

13. Valentine.

"Wake up, Sev."

Severus simply moaned and rolled over, burying his face behind his long hair and revelling in the warmth of the bed covers. Lily muttered something unintelligible and Severus suddenly found himself soaking wet on a bed without warmth.

"Ah, good, you're up."

"That was unnecessarily cruel," he sputtered.

"No, what I did to the rangy mutt was cruel – what I did to you was just damn funny."

Severus smirked. "I must thank you yet again for giving him his just desserts after he tried to beat me up on the Quidditch pitch." A lazy flick of his hand, and he was dry.

"He won't ever be having any children, if I remember correctly."

Severus snorted. "The most effective way of keeping the population down, in my opinion – unless of course the bumbling idiot manages to reverse it."

Lily rolled her eyes, sending the sheets whizzing back to the bed now that Severus was up. "Don't get too happy Sev; you know that he'll probably go running to Albus and it'll get taken off."

He felt himself go cold, but forced his expression to remain amused. "The old man is losing his touch," he breathed, gliding towards her silently until they were inches apart, "if he cannot even manage to keep the Snapes in line."

Lily gave him an answering smile, leaning in to kiss him while at the same time yanking his pyjama top open.

He broke away in surprise. "Isn't it a bit early in the day for this?"

"It was a signal to get dressed, you dunderhead-"

"I believe that I am the only authorised user of that insult."

"-or," she continued, ignoring him completely, "we'll be late for Albus' Valentine's Day feast."

Severus groaned, fastening up the last of the buttons on his teaching robes. "I just got over the shock of the decorations from our last year."

"At least this time you'll be in more of a position to rant about it," Lily teased. "If of course we get there in time," she added pointedly.

Muttering under his breath, Severus threw open the door to their quarters – and promptly found himself showered in something decidedly wet.

"What the bloody-"

"You should look where you're going, Snape," a voice announced, sounding annoyingly smug.

"Potter," Severus spat. "What are you doing here? The Great Hall is in the other direction."

"I came here to give you both your Valentine's Day gifts-"

"Both?" Lily demanded at the same time as Severus snapped, "gifts?"

"Since you're already wearing yours, Snape, I'll just give Lily hers." He dug around inside his robe pockets before producing a miniature bunch of flowers, which he enlarged and then presented with a ridiculously smarmy smile.

Lily just stared at him in disbelief.

"Lilies," Severus sneered. "How original. It must have taken you all of two minutes to think of that."

"And I suppose you bought her something better, you penniless-"

"Of course I did," he interrupted. "I am not so juvenile as to give a woman something which dies after a few days."

Potter just ignored him, frowning instead at Lily. "Aren't you going to take them?"

Something akin to guilt and pity flashed briefly in her eyes. "I'm sorry, James, but did you really think that I'd ever accept inappropriate gifts from the childhood bully of my husband?"

Potter's crushed expression would have been so much sweeter if Lily hadn't looked so damned guilty.

"I'll change your mind yet-"

"I'm married, James. Nothing you can do will ever change my mind."

"But-"

"Now," Severus cut in, "if you don't mind, Potter, we were on our way to breakfast."

Potter's angry and hurt expression followed them down the corridor, and Severus felt yet another wave of contempt for the man come crashing down upon him.

"Pathetic."

"Sev," Lily said gently, clearly unsure whether or not to disturb him from his thoughts, "you're still soaking wet."

He angrily dried himself, but the scent of the gunk that Potter had doused him with lingered. He tried a freshening charm, but it refused to budge.

Lily had by now gone bright pink. "Sev, you uh…you need to get rid of that smell."

"I would if I could," he growled, "but apparently it's impossible."

"He must have been planning this prank for ages," Lily stammered, still bright pink. "I never knew that Amortentia could smell so strong."

Severus stopped walking immediately as a thought struck him. "The fool must have had help."

"Or a lot of determination."

"There is no possible chance that he made this by himself – he is abysmal at Potions."

Lily coughed, by now visibly scarlet. "Yes, well, up until now he was abysmal."

"Lupin."

"What?"

"Lupin," he repeated through gritted teeth, "is the only one of those reprobates even remotely capable of brewing this potion."

"Remus would never do anything like-"

"No," he hissed, "but he sat back and blinded himself to it often enough-"

"James could have bought it," Lily interrupted.

"Why are you defending James all of a sudden?"

"I'm not – I'm being logical, Sev. Merlin, for all we know, Albus himself could have been behind this!" She was breathing heavily now, looking flustered. "Now," she sighed, visibly trying to keep her composure, "I'm going to breakfast before Albus sends out a search party."

Severus stayed rooted to the spot, mind whirring.

Lily stopped, looking at him curiously. "Aren't you coming?"

"I'm not hungry."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You were just a minute ago."

He waved an arm at the hideous doilies and floating miniature cupids. "Albus' sense of decoration has made me nauseous," he said shortly, whirling around and stalking back to the dungeons before she could reply.

Above the door to their quarters a large, empty, dripping container with a suspiciously strong smell mocked him. Turning his back on it deliberately, he stalked into his office and began to mentally prepare himself for the next class.

Belatedly remembering the state he was in, he rushed to his wardrobe and changed his clothes, noting with frustration that, while the effects were greatly reduced, the smell was strong enough to cling to his skin and hair.

Realising with a jolt that he was late for his first class, Severus braced himself for the inevitable and stormed into his classroom with more enthusiasm than usual, breezing to a stop in front of his desk.

The students in the front row, he noted with disgust, had turned red and seemed to be trying to hold their breath. One of them even had the audacity to start sniggering at him.

"Twenty points from Hufflepuff," Severus snapped.

"But-"

"And another ten points, you witless-"

He interrupted himself. Said student was practically hyperventilating, bent double over her desk and shaking.

"Is something amusing?"

"I'm – sorry-" with an almighty gasp, the student tried to pull herself together again, but soon dissolved back into hysterics.

Her lab partner looked mortified, apparently having deduced what had happened even while many more students remained clueless.

"Sorry, Professor," the Ravenclaw friend muttered. "I think Hannah's had a bit too much sugar…"

"At breakfast?"

"Well," the Ravenclaw replied, "she is a sweet tooth, so she tends to sneak sugar around everywhere normally, even if we tell her not to, and with the Headmaster's extravagant taste in food, especially today, she usually gets away with it-"

"Yes, that is quite enough, Hitchcock-"

The Hufflepuff, who had gradually begun to quieten during her friend's monologue, actually started cackling. Hitchcock turned scarlet and Severus sighed, only barely stopping himself from towering over the hysterical girl. It most certainly would not help his situation, after all.

"Out, Watson. If you cannot restrain yourself for two minutes, you are clearly in no fit state to brew. You will have detention with Mr Filch for two weeks, at eight o'clock."

That sobered her up. "Two weeks?"

Severus sneered at her. "While after that display I am in doubt of your mental faculties, Watson, I do not possess the same misgivings about your hearing. Two weeks, Mr Filch, eight o'clock," he barked. "Now get out."

"I-"

Severus raised an eyebrow.

The reply was utter silence and a blushing girl running from the room, leaving her belongings behind. Muttering about idiots, Severus bewitched her schoolbag to pack itself and sent it flying after her. He studiously ignored the telltale shriek and thud of the happy reunion between bag and owner, instead slamming the door shut and glaring at the stunned class.

"Now," he said in a quiet, deadly voice, "does anyone else find this situation amusing?"

Silence.

"Good," he snarled. "If there are no further interruptions, perhaps we can get started on the lesson – you will all be brewing Polyjuice potion." He stalked over to the board and flicked his wand at it. "For those of you routinely incapable of finding the correct page, the instructions are on the board. You have the rest of the lesson." He gave them one last look before pointedly and silently standing there, watching them expectantly.

Thrown by the lack of his customary 'begin', the class gaped back at him before a few brave Ravenclaws made a move for the ingredients cabinet. The rest quickly followed, and Severus began to make his rounds, trying to ignore the effects of Potter's practical joke.

The class was abysmal. Even the Ravenclaws appeared to have difficulty concentrating on their potions, and several easily preventable explosions occurred. Needless to say, he was in a foul mood by the time he dismissed his second class and followed them up to the Great Hall.

"Ooooh."

He raised an eyebrow at that, wondering if yet another student in the crowd was about to gawk at him and turn bright red, but after it repeated itself, slightly higher pitched and with a hint of a giggle this time, he realised that it was coming from the alcove behind him.

He turned around just in time to see a particularly long 'snog fest' (as the students called it) dissolve into a gasping tickle fight.

He cleared his throat. Nothing happened.

He glided over. Still, nothing happened.

"I love your new perfume," the boy purred as he leaned in for yet another kiss.

"I'm not wearing any." The girl sniffed the air. "Are you sure it's not yours?"

The boy snorted, looking up. "Boys don't wear – oh, Merlin."

"I don't think he wore any either."

"Professor Snape," the boy hissed.

The girl, still addled by her hormones and facing the wrong way, laughed harder. "The Greasy Git? He doesn't look like he even washes, let alone-"

"Do not finish that sentence," Severus growled, making the girl jump, "if you value your currently detention-free school life."

The girl shrieked in surprise and turned around, mouth opening and closing like a fish. "It's you-"

"Now that the little 'perfume' mystery is over," Severus snapped, interrupting her, "you can both mourn the loss of twenty points each and detention for the next week."

With that, he stalked off, belatedly realising that he had not told them when or where to turn up for detention. Well, if they were too stupid to ask, he could hardly be blamed for doling out extra punishment…

"So," a voice suddenly chimed in his ear, snapping him out of his reverie, "good day so far? Oh, did I make you jump?"

"You wish, Potter. You could not even succeed at making a kangaroo jump."

"You really should stop insulting people every five minutes, Snape. People might start to get hurt feelings."

"Who set you up to this, Potter?"

"I have no idea what you mean."

"What I mean," Severus sneered, "is that the entire but admittedly limited brainpower of your little gang of 'Marauders' could never hope to brew that potion without help."

"Maybe we're just really dedicated to the good name of pranking. Even you have to admit that the results are worth it."

"Who, Potter?"

"Nobody," the other man snapped back. "It might surprise you to know this, Snape, but we found a book at Grimmauld Place-"

"Are you trying to tell me that one of the darkest wizarding households in Britain has a book about love potions?"

Potter shrugged. "Love can be dangerous." His lips twisted into a smile. "You should know that, after the amount of hormone caused explosions from your last lesson."

Severus' eyes narrowed. "You-"

A warm, friendly hand clapped onto his shoulder and he whipped his head around to see Albus smiling inanely back at him. "We missed you at breakfast, my boy."

Potter snorted. "He was probably scrubbing himself raw."

Severus noted that Albus' eyes twinkled in amusement. "You knew about this?"

"The grapevine travels inhumanely quickly here, as I am sure you are aware, Severus."

He snorted, but let the matter drop as Albus gently guided him into the gaudily decorated Great Hall. At the sight of a giant, floating love heart above the seat of the staff table that burst periodically into song, Severus lost his appetite for the second time that day.

The only redeeming feature of the whole pink fiasco was the fact that Lily was sitting in her usual spot, smiling up at him as he walked over to her.

"Bad day?" she asked sympathetically as he pulverised the potato on his plate.

He grunted.

"Mine was fine, thanks."

He grunted again.

"No, I didn't have any mishaps – I gave them a deliberately easy lesson. I know how distracted students get at this time of year."

"How can you understand that cave man language?" Potter interjected from where he was sat next to Severus.

"With the company you keep, I could ask you the same question."

"Prickly today, aren't we?"

"We're trying to eat in peace, James," Lily said pointedly.

Potter's fork paused halfway into his mouth, his eyes wide as he stared at Lily in shock.

"Well done," Severus whispered sincerely as he returned to his decimated potato.

oOo

The many candles set up around their personal rooms flickered lazily in the evening light as Severus put the finishing touches on the table in their kitchen. One quick check on the food in their limited kitchen showed that it was ready to be taken out, and he carried it over to the table, splitting it into two portions and spreading it out evenly. A bottle of Lily's favourite wine sat open beside the food, waiting to be sampled.

Severus himself was now stood off to the side in his teacher's outfit – the best one he could afford to have – minus the voluminous robes. Although his clothes were starting to get looser, they still showed off his slim physique and accentuated his dark eyes. Unfortunately, he thought with some chagrin, his hair remained as limp as ever though he had given it a quick wash.

Hidden in shadow, he watched as the door opened and Lily walked in, right on time, looking a mixture of confused and irritated.

"Sev? I'm sorry I'm late, but Filius kept trying to talk to me about charms – he's just let me go."

She stepped further into the room, into the ring of light around the table, gazing at it with a smile on her face.

"So," he said quietly, revealing himself with a step forwards, "Filius played his part well then."

"Sev! I never knew you had this all planned!"

"Of course not," he snorted. "That was the point."

"It's wonderful! But..." she glanced down at herself, "I'm hardly dressed for what you have planned."

He raised an eyebrow. "I am slightly over-dressed myself, but I believe we shall be able to rectify that later."

"Alright," she said, grinning madly as she took off her outer robes, revealing her light business clothes underneath. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

Severus rolled his eyes. "You could be dressed like a goblin for all I care. Now, are you going to eat the food I cooked, or should we both just stand here and wait until it goes off?"

She rolled her eyes back and sat down, taking a sip of the soup he had prepared as he sat opposite her, watching anxiously.

"So," she announced, grinning, "Potions really is like cooking, or you wouldn't be so good at both."

"Your analogy flatters me," he snorted, taking his own first sip and frowning slightly. "Though I added too much-"

"It's perfect, Sev. Put your Potions nose away."

"And have you sit opposite a pale, nose-less monster?"

"Well," she considered, "when you put it that way..."

He chuckled and tucked into his soup, feeling real hunger for the first time in several months and willingly succumbing to it. He finished before she was even halfway through.

"What did you do, Sev, inhale your soup?" she teased, slowly finishing off her own.

"I am an extraordinarily good cook."

"Modest, too," she muttered, finishing the last mouthful.

He collected the empty bowls and moved them over to the counter by the small sink, returning with the next course and putting it in front of Lily with a mock bow, which she grinned at.

"I have to admit, this is much better than whatever Albus was planning."

"Good. I'd hate to think that my entertaining skills are worse than a badly taught school choir singing off key as we eat what amounts to sugary pink confetti."

She almost choked on her food at that. "I can actually picture it happening," she gasped.

As he continued to eat, Severus found himself filling up uncomfortably quickly, and was forced to leave a third of his portion behind. Fortunately, this went unnoticed.

Lily made an appreciative sound and speared one of Severus' vegetables, popping it onto her plate. "You don't mind, do you?"

"You ask me that every time; I see no reason why the answer should change now. Especially because I have no choice anyway."

"Just checking," she said cheerfully, ignoring his last comment and stealing his remaining food.

"I'll be back in a moment."

"Whr 'oo goin'?" She asked inelegantly through a mouthful of food.

He fought the urge to laugh. "If I tell you, the surprise will be ruined."

"There's more? Sev, you really didn't have to-"

"I wanted to," he interrupted. "I'll be just a minute."

Leaving her smiling after him, he slipped out of their rooms and into his office, unwarding the drawer where the gift was hidden. Putting the wards back up, he glided back to Lily, allowing a true, unguarded smile to remain on his face.

"I love it when you smile like that," Lily remarked, her own widening. "I just wish you'd do it more often."

"I save it for special occasions," he reminded her, handing her the gift wrapped box. "Open it."

"Yes sir," she quipped. A few minutes passed while she struggled with the wrapping paper ("you did this on purpose, didn't you?"), but she finally got it open.

"It's...but – how-" she looked up at him in astonishment, the gold (and unbelievably expensive) necklace dangling from her fingers.

"A lot of planning," he explained, a sly grin on his lips.

She stood up then and he joined her, putting the jewellery carefully around her neck and fastening it. She fingered it lovingly, her eyes slightly misty.

"Sev, you didn't have to."

"I wanted to, Lily."

"In that case, come and see what I got you."

She grabbed him by the hand and led him to their bedroom door, then put both hands over his eyes so that he couldn't see.

"Is this really necessary?"

"Yep. Now open the door."

She led him into the bedroom and instructed him to open the drawer to her bedside table, inside which he felt something fairly large and square, badly wrapped.

"You never did learn the masterful art of gift wrapping, did you?"

"Just open it," she laughed, taking her hands away from his eyes.

Inside the paper was a Potions journal for which Severus had been searching – he could not even remember how long he had been looking for it. Needless to say, it was very hard to find.

It must have cost a fortune.

"Lily..."

"Don't tell me I didn't have to, because that would make you a hypocrite."

He smiled a real smile for the second time that night. "Thank you," he said, sincerely.

And for the first time in what felt like years, the smile did not stray far from his face.