Lily didn't say anything for a very long time after that, just sitting that way and breathing and trying not to cry. She didn't want to cry in front of him, not right now, even though the emotions were right there in her throat, choking her.

She wanted... She didn't know what she wanted. She did know that Severus had let her do this, had placed his hand on her head, and she didn't know what to do for a moment. Finally she lifted a hand to take off her glasses and lift her head, looking at him properly without them for the first time since she'd come outside.

She knew his tone too and she bit her lip a moment before lifting onto her knees to lean in and give him a light peck on the lips - barely there, something sweet and chaste and sorry. Then she looked away, a little overwhelmed.

"It was like cutting off my right arm and trying to keep living without it."