I hurried down the hall with my head down, knowing full well that bloody Potter and Black would be lurking somewhere in the castles corners waiting to torment me once again. It was rather pathetic actually; they thought they had the element of surprise when they jumped out at me but they were wrong. Oh sure, it is true that I never once knew exactly when or where they were going to be. However after five years of being picked on by that nauseating group of four, I had come to expect them at every single corner.

They were fools, each and every one of them and extremely petty, at that. Potter was an arrogant animal who leered at Lily every time she passed him. I felt extremely sorry for her that he showed her so much attention. She was worse off than I was. And then there was Black who, though not as arrogant as Potter, thought himself to be very witty and the best at everything. But he wasn't. I was better than him at Potions. Lily and I were the best in the class by far. Merlin, we had a brilliant time together. It's laughable how James always tries to get her attention and how she just ignores him and keeps chatting away to me. We always have our cauldrons together: every single lesson. It's easily my favourite class. And Lupin. Cowardly Lupin who was only made prefect as to keep Black and Potter in line. He never did stand up to them though, which made him as bad as they were. Although if Lupin was a coward then I don't suppose I have any words low enough for Pettigrew. Merlin alone knows why the other three put up with him. To torment, I suppose, for when I'm not around.

As soon as I turned the next corner all of my quills and the pieces of parchment I was holding flew out of my arms, twirling everywhere like clumsy autumn leaves.

"Hey, Snivellus! You dropped your stuff!" Potters voice called out.

I could hear Black laughing and Pettigrew joining a second too late. Then I saw them all, with Lupin trying to pretend like he hadn't seen anything. They were all so utterly pathetic.

I whipped my wand out to put a curse on him.

"You two!" Professor McGonagall came rushing down the hallway when she saw us, her many layers of skirt swishing loudly as if struggling to keep up with her. "Lower your wands," she ordered us, menacingly.

I looked at Potter, waiting for him to go move first. Apparently he was doing the same and neither of us moved. Seconds ticked by.

"For goodness sake, put them down!" shrieked the professor.

I angrily stuffed mine up my sleeve, looking at Potter in a rage. I hated him. I bloody well hated him.

McGonagall let out a quick breathe. "Now. Help Snape pick his things up. "

Again, no one moved.

"Don't make me say it again, "she threatened.

All five of us scrambled to collect the bits of parchment and freshly broken quills.

I heard Black quietly remark, "Bloody hell, these are greasy. What does he do, soak them oil overnight?"

"Nah, he just has to touch them, that's all," replied Potter.

They both sniggered until McGonagall smartly told them to be quiet.

Upon handing me back my things, Potter whispered, "I'll get you good, Snivellus. Just you wait."

I stared at him furiously through narrowed eyes, unable to come up with something to say in return. I knew that one day I would invent a spell just for him. Just to get him back. I absolutely loathed him.

"On your way now, boys. I know you have classes to attend to."

With my jaw clenched, I hurried past them trying to get to Potions before they did. Being as perfect as she was, Lily always got to Potions early and every time Potter arrived before me, he would try to sit near her. In my seat.

I let out a huff when I sat down in the row behind Lily. I never sat next to her, of course. She was Gryffindor, I was Slytherin, and her immature friends hated me.

She immediately spun around to talk to me. "Hey Sev, is something wrong?"

I was about to reply when my four least favourite people walked into the room. Lily understood straightaway. As Potter sauntered over to sit at the desk in front of Lily's, he winked at her. This only succeeded in making her glare at him even more to which a look of feigned hurt crossed Potter's face.

"Alright, Evans? What's with the glare? Sorry I still haven't sent you roses after our date last night." He grinned and then looked at me maliciously before turning back around to face Professor Slughorn.

Throughout the entire lesson, I just sat at the back absolutely fuming. Why the hell would Lily go out on a date with Potter? I was hardly able to take more than four pages worth of notes, which was nothing compared to the amount I usually took in Potions. By the end of the lesson, I had pictured myself killing Potter in about eight different ways. My favourite way was making him bleed all over the place which, in my mind, made Black faint from all the gore. I reckoned he probably would do that; he was all talk. All the girls seemed to be in love with him but I knew better. He was a coward, just like the rest of his mates.

I tried to make my way out of the room as quickly as I could. I didn't want to speak to Lily. How could she do that to me? She knows I hold Potter with the utmost abhorrence.

"See you soon, Evans," I heard Potter say.

Lily replied, "Wait."

I clenched my jaw and started walking even faster to escape from the classroom.

"Sev, I said wait!"

Automatically, I stopped dead in my tracks. With her books in one arm, she skipped up to me and linked her free arm through mine. I tried to suppress a mad grin. I knew Potter would be furious.

I dared to look at her, knowing full well that as soon I did, my anger would wash away. She was just so beautiful.

"We need to talk," Lily announced. She led me up a quieter corridor and sat down on the window ledge. I tried to not feel disappointed that she had let go of my arms so quickly but completely failed. I joined her on the ledge and braced myself for the bad news.