Disclaimer: I only applied my limited creativity to JK Rowling's amazing characters.

The Watcher

He couldn't help but watch her whenever he had the opportunity.

At meals he would eat slowly, usually only his ears paying attention to the Slytherin table conversation. His eyes would flicker between his food, the occasional Slytherin, and the object of his obsession, Lily. He would slouch in his seat, remaining aloof unless someone spoke directly to him, or he found a topic of conversation particularly interesting. Whenever he would speak it was as little as possible, using an eloquent tongue that was overlaid with an evident sneer. Though his word was usually final on any topic (any further argument would be met with an air of disdain, if he acknowledged the challenge at all), he rarely participated in the insolent, petty arguments of the table.

Instead, he concentrated the majority of his attention on Lily. He soaked in every aspect of her that he could. He watched her through countless meals in the Great Hall, and could pick out her favorite foods, drinks, and people to sit next to. Sometimes she used mealtimes as study periods, especially during exam time. She would barely eat as she read through her notes or textbooks one last time. Other times she laughed and chatted merrily with her friends, particularly at dinner. Of course any mealtime could be broken by angry outbursts at the despicable 'Marauders', the four most arrogant, idiotic Gryffindor boys to ever exist, at least in Severus' eyes.

She was not usually a picky eater, nor was she at all peckish. She ate fairly quickly; it was only when it was one of her most favorite menu items that she would slow her pace and revel in the taste and texture of her food. Those few times she spoke less as well, more content to enjoy her meal and let those around her carry the conversation. The only other time she was quiet or not eating to her usual standards was when she was clearly stressed or trying to study.

At breakfast she was one of the most awake students in the entire Great Hall. She would arrive as if she had slept well. She was chipper and polite, looking well put together. Rare were the times she arrived disheveled; in fact he had only seen it happen once or twice a year, except for in fifth year, during OWLs. It was only on those few occasions that she was ever scarfing down food in order to arrive on time to class or an exam.

In comparison, the main daily goal of the majority of other Hogwarts students seemed to be to stay up as late as possible, get the most sleep in that limited time, and stuff as much food as they could at breakfast before rushing off to class. Lily was not quite so ill-refined. She did not squander her breakfast time, but she was not rudely shoving food into her mouth like some of her fellows. She would usually choose some toast and fruit, or sometimes some eggs, then wait, sipping her juice, for her late-arriving friends to gulp down what food they could. Then the group would traverse to their respective classrooms. She was not as vocal at breakfast, though he supposed that may have been out of respect for her bleary-eyed friends.

At lunch she usually had a simple meal, and while she was not as quiet as at breakfast, she was not as rambunctious as her peers usually were. She frequently seemed to be contemplating her homework or latest grades or some other thought. She ate more quickly at this meal, as it was the shortest, and she did not want to be late for class.

At dinner, she was at her liveliest, laughing and talking almost constantly. Sometimes her conversations were loud enough for him to hear - usually those were joking debates (or true arguments if the Marauders were involved). He always loved it when she argued - she was so vibrant, whether in jest or not. Her green eyes held this glittering edge to them, a challenge. It was enticing. He would always turn to watch her if she was arguing, and continue his stare long after he normally would. He was in no danger of being caught, as she and her friends, such typical Gryffindors, were so wrapped up with what was happening in front of them that they would not notice.

Even outside of mealtimes, he would watch her. They had several classes together - potions, for one. That was his favorite class by far. It came so naturally to both of them, and Professor Slughorn adored them for it, and often exclaimed over both of their works. The Professor would use their names frequently in the same sentence, giving Severus a small thrill each and every time this happened. Almost better that that however, was that Potter was rubbish at Potions, or at least nowhere near as talented as he, Severus, and Lily were.

Severus would always sit near her, usually a table or so away, directly behind her (if he could manage it without appearing obvious). That way he could pretend to watch the Professor or the board when really it was her that held his attention. He rarely read instructions anyways, just listened once and added his own twist with the knowledge he had gained from other books and experiments.

He would prepare his potion quickly, but with finesse, sneaking glances at the red-headed girl do the same. He might twist his mouth into a gloating, nasty thing that could not really even be called a smile if he saw one of the 'perfect' Marauder boys do something wrong.

He would nod at Slughorn's praise, and brush off any attempts to bring himself and Lily to worktogether, though, as mentioned, those such comparisons and hints made him glad.

He would walk out behind her, usually the last to leave. Normally Potter would take this opportunity to pester her, and he always enjoyed the vindictive satisfaction that occurred when Lily flatly refused him. On the better days she even got angry at him and hexed him.

There were no more classes for him to watch her in, not this year, though in the past he had watched her in Transfiguration (her hardest class) and Charms (her best). Well, they also had History of Magic together, but everyone slept in that class anyways. All he could do was watch the back of her head and the occasional scribble of notes she managed to make as she tried to fight the urge to succumb to the curse of Professor Binns - boredom, that is. She had always managed to take the best notes and resisted the urge to sleep the most successfully out of anyone. (not that many others even tried).

He also often saw her in the library. He would go there, sometimes to work, sometimes just to watch her. The library was her second home. She was there, studying, at least a few times a week. She would crouch over her parchment, biting her lip or chewing on a Sugar Quill, with piles of books surrounding her. Occasionally she'd venture into the shelves until she had found some tome that she thought would hold the answers she pursued. Her written work was neat, with few things crossed out. She thought out her words before she put them in ink, and her essays were always slightly more than the requirement - she never used the cheat of writing large to reduce her workload either.

He would sometimes catch her in the corridor walking to class, usually looking preoccupied. Sometimes she was alone, other times not. Rarely would he pass her by elsewhere, though it did happen.

No matter where he saw her, he made sure to ignore her presence. He was very careful in his observation of her - he chose an out-of-the-way location, timing his glances perfectly. If he saw her in the corridor, he walked past her without any flicker of acknowledgement. She did the same, and those were the moments that tore him apart worse than anything that had happened in his life.

He saw that she was happy, if sometimes stressed. She was intelligent, helpful, and tried to be a positive influence. Sometimes she lost her temper, particularly if it concerned Potter or Muggle-hating. That was the only time she would ever look at him, the burn of disappointment evident in her gaze. Half of him never wanted to be caught because he feared her scorn, but half of him wanted to be caught by her, because that was the one time she truly looked at him.

Since they couldn't be friends, let alone something more, he would watch her instead. Wishing, wanting, watching.

AN: Thanks for reading, next chapter will be up soon. =)
I ship Lily/James, but I love writing this angsty Severus/Lily. I have no idea why. I start writing something Lily/James and it always seems to end up featuring Severus and his unrequited love or something. Oh well.