Snape's heart ached as he watched Lily and James walk away hand in hand, oblivious to his presence. It was early June, the sun was shining brightly and a lot of students had decided to take a walk. Lily and James were heading towards the lake, laughing and joking, so painfully happy. Snape stood half-hidden behind a tree, without really knowing why he was staring at them as it was so painful. Maybe, he reflected, it was because of the way Lily's red hair shone under the sun.
"You didn't! Oh, James, that was so adorable of you!" Lily was saying, beaming.
Maybe it was because of how happy she sounded and looked, and, although it was heart-breaking to see that James Potter, of all people, made her happy, a part of him managed to be happy for her. He had to face the truth: even if she had not been with Potter, he could never have had her. The only good thing about it was that nobody knew he was in love with Lily, not even the girl herself. That was one of the wonderful things about Lily: she was so modest she had never even thought that he could love her, could not even see why James Potter was so crazy about her. Snape could.
"I know, I can't help being adorable," James chuckled.
It seemed to Snape that his every part of his body ached horribly as Lily kissed James. He looked away as if his eyes had been burnt.
"I hate you, James Potter," Snape spat.
They were too far away now for him to hear their voices. He felt terribly alone, and knew that he would always be on his own. The only way for him to feel accepted and to stop being rejected was to hang out with his fellow Slytherins. Maybe the Dark Lord would accept him and treat him the way he should be treated. He despised all the Gryffindors except for Lily, the whole lot of them. They had rejected him right from the start, had hated him. Just like his father had.
Snape suddenly realized that an offensive tear was rolling down his cheek. He angrily wiped it out; crying was no use. Crying was for weak persons, and he certainly wasn't weak. With that thought, Snape turned away from the lake, away from James Potter and Lily Evans, away from the happiness that he knew he would never find.