A/N: I am so extremely sorry for the gap inbetween updates. I've started counseling for depression and I haven't felt up to doing much of anything really. I'm trying, I promise, and I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again. Also, I've gotten a few reviews asking about the origin of Lily's pet name for Severus being 'Russy'. This mainly comes from me reading a load of fanfiction before starting to write this and being overloaded by 'Sev'.

As Severus and Lily entered the store, it proved to be rather empty. A few shoppers were milling about, and one sales clerk walking by nodded hello to them.

"If you go down to that very last aisle," Severus said gesturing, "and pick up the largest shaker of cinnamon you can find, I'll grab everything else and we can get going a lot quicker. Okay?"

"Alright," said Lily. "But I still don't see why you won't tell me where we're going next."

"It's a surprise," he insisted, turning off towards the produce section. Lily sighed behind him but he heard her footsteps lead away.

When Lily returned, cinnamon in hand, Severus was holding more than just strawberries. He now held a basket filled with sweets and a very large chocolate bar.

"What's all this?" she asked.

"Oh nothing, just thought they'd be nice to have around the house. These are your favorites, right?" Severus inquired, pointing at a bag of butterscotch discs.

"Mm, you would be right," Lily's voice trailed off as she followed Severus' gaze. He stood in front of a book rack and was examining one title in particular.

"Russy, we can't pick that up! Then people will know!" she exclaimed.

"Lil, you're forgetting we're in a Muggle super market. No one here can tell anyone in our world," rationalized Severus.

"Well, I guess it could maybe be good to have."

"Just what I was thinking," he said, sliding What to Expect When You're Expecting into his basket.

They bought their items and walked out into the sunlight. "Can I know where we're going know?" Lily asked.

"Why should I tell you when we're going there now?" Severus took her hand and turned on the spot.

Lily opened her eyes and gasped.

"Do you like your surprise?" Severus said nervously.

"Of course!" She hugged him and then pulled away to closer examine their surroundings. "This place really hasn't changed, has it?"

"Nothing but the people."

Lily was astounded by how familiar the park was after so long. The old tree had a few more dead branches and the stream had dwindled a bit, but everything else was the same. The swingset was just as rusty, the slide seemed just as dangerous with it's randomly welded together parts, and small flowers were still sprouting everywhere. Indeed, the only thing that was obviously different were the people. A set of black-haired triplets were fighting on the stairs of the slide, and a small boy with mousy brown hair was slowly walking towards them.

"Hi, Mr. Snape!" the little boy said, smiling.

"Hi, Max. I've got something for you," Severus replied, pulling the large chocolate bar out of the basket he still held in his hand.

The boy called Max hesitantly reached out to take it. "You really didn't have to Mr. Snape."

"Oh, but I wanted to. How have your parents been lately?" A look of concern covered Severus' face.

"They... they were fighting last night. But it's been worse." Max had averted his eyes and was staring at the ground.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Severus said frowning.

"It's okay, really." The boy checked his watch. "I-I really have to go now, Mr. Snape. Maybe I'll see you soon?"

"Soon enough, I promise. I'll try and bring you something else too."

"You really don't have too, I've told you that before. But.. if you insist. One more thing," he motioned for Severus to come closer and whispered into his ear. Severus whispered back and rose as the boy ran off.

Lily squeezed Severus' hand and he took his attention from the small boy growing farther away. "What was that last bit?"

"He said you were pretty," Severus smirked.

"And what did you say back?" she asked sincerely.

"I said you were the prettiest girl I know."

Lily blushed, but continued talking. "What about the rest of your little talk?"

"I come here to think," Severus admitted. "One day I found him crying by our tree and I had to ask what was wrong. Turns out his parents are a bit like mine were. I try to visit him once every couple weeks, just to make sure he's still okay."

"That's awfully nice of you," Lily said smiling.

"He reminds me a lot of me, but he doesn't have someone like you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well once I met you, things started getting a lot better for me. But Max, he doesn't have any friends really, so I'm trying to help him as best I can. For him, there's no nice girl living relatively nearby," he explained.

Lily glanced around the park, letting the silence fall between them. In their childhood, their visits to this place had become less and less frequent, especially after he had moved in with her family right before their third year.

"I really am sorry for everything you had to put up with as a kid. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know, Severus said. "But if you think about it, would we have been so close?"

"Probably not."

The silence fell between them again, as they both remembered the events leading up to Severus' moving in.

A/N: Sorry for the short, low quality chapter but I explained before that things aren't the best for me right now. I'll try to write again soon. Next chapter's a flashback to their childhood. Yay!