It was a sunny day at Hogwarts, perfect for Quidditch practice. James knew this, so as soon as his last class ended, he raced up to his room, grabbed his broom, and ran down to the Quidditch pitch. He was certain that, like always, he would be the first one on the field. Problem was, he wasn't.

As James neared the field, he could make out a green robe flying around the pitch. Upon closer inspection, he found that the person wearing the robe had long, greasy black hair; a little closer, and he saw an elongated nose and an unusually determined face. James laughed and got on his broom; taking off, he stopped right in the Slytherin's path, so that he had to slam on his brakes to avoid hitting James. James' wish came true, as the rider flew over the front of his broom and landed on his back; luckily for him, the fall was only a few feet. James rode over to the fallen Slytherin and jumped off his broom.

"How are you there, Snivellus? You took quite the fall there…"

Severus looked up at James, a look of pure loathing on his face. "You know damn well why I fell, James."

Feigning surprise, James replied, "Whatever do you mean?"

Snape reached for his wand, but as soon as he had it out, James calmly said "Expelliarmus", and Snape's wand flew out of his hand and onto the grass beside him. "So tell me, Snivellus," James began, "what would someone like you be doing on a Quidditch pitch, not to mention-" he eyed Severus' old broom "riding around on something like that."

"You know good and well I want nothing else, " replied Severus. "And for your information, I want to get on the Slytherin Quidditch team next year."

James looked at Severus for a moment, as if wanting him to say he was just joking; when the affirmation never came, he simply burst into laughter.

"You, play Quidditch?" asked James tauntingly. "Like they'd ever let you on the team. The Slytherin Quidditch team, as much as it pains me to admit it, is an extremely good team. They wouldn't let someone like you join if you were the last Slytherin in the school."

Just then, James heard a voice behind him: "That's funny, Potter; I thought people were saying just that about you before you joined the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

James didn't even have to look to identify whose voice that was. "Oh, look," James retorted, "little Lucius has come to save Severus' life once again."

Lucius looked at James coolly. "I'll tell you this, Potter: you're mistaken if you think that Severus will not make it very far in life. He will grow up to do great things, as will I, as will everyone you continually put down. And you… it pains me to think of what will happen to you."

The smile had long since faded from James' face. "What does Slytherin have that Gryffindor doesn't?" he asked. Noticing that Severus had left, James laughed. "Its members can't even stand a regular banter."

Lucius smiled. "That is one thing that Slytherins have that you will never see a true Gryffindor have: the ability to pick ones battles." Grinning evilly, Lucius walked off the pitch.

"Good riddance, to the both of you," muttered James, as he re-mounted his broom and began to practice.

As James was practicing, Severus was sitting on a hill overlooking the pitch. "Who does James think he is, all prideful and arrogant like that?" he asked himself. "I do wish, though, that Lucius would let me win my own arguments for a change…" He heard someone sit down beside him, but he took no notice of… whoever it was- until she said, "That's a first, Sev. You didn't even notice me."

Sev jerked his head up. "Oh, hey Lily. I was just… thinking about stuff."

"Like what?" Lily asked.

Snape hung his head and pointed to the pitch; Lily understood immediately. "James getting to you again?"

Severus nodded. "I was out there practicing to get on the Slytherin Quidditch team next year, when old Airhead comes along and pretends my dreams are nothing because they're not his own…"

"He does get way too wound up about Quidditch," replied Lily, her face hardening. "I mean, he's an okay guy and all, but his ego's just too much for me to bear sometimes. Not like you, Sev."

Severus looked up in surprise. "How so?" he asked.

Lily smiled. "You don't seem to take much of anything too seriously; the only think I've seen you obsess over is your studies, and that's something James can do to obsess over a little more." She laughed.

Severus just stared at her for awhile, thinking about how beautiful she was. "You know," he said, "I don't think I've ever told you before, but you have a beautiful laugh."

Lily looked at Sev funny. "Are you kidding? Everyone says it's really annoying…"

Sev smiled. "Don't listen to them. I like it a lot."

Lily blushed slightly. "Thanks, Sev…" Just then, she heard a voice from behind her. "Oi, Lily." She turned around to see Remus walking towards them.

"Good afternoon, Remus," said Lily.

"Good afternoon, Lily," Remus replied. Seeing Severus beside her, he inclined his head in his direction and said, "And a good afternoon to you also, Severus."

Severus looked a bit shocked, then he smiled. "Good afternoon, Remus. I guess not all Gryffindors are airheads…" Lily laughed.

Remus turned to Lily. "Did you forget?" he asked. "We were supposed to study today for our Defense against the Dark Arts O.W.L."

Lily gasped. "I did forget." She turned to Severus. "Well, I guess this ends our little playdate," she said, and the three of them laughed. "I'll see you around," Lily said to Severus; she leaned over and kissed him, then walked off with Remus. Severus was in too much of a shock to hear Remus ask Lily, "You really do like Severus, don't you?", and to hear Lily reply, "Yeah, I do, Remus. It's a tad bit obvious, too."

Severus sat down again and for a moment, considered asking James for Quidditch pointers; his ego got the best of him, though, and he simply pulled out a picture, one that he'd had for ages.

"Why not, Lily?" he asked the girl in the picture. "Why won't you go out with me? Is it because you're a Gryffindor, and I'm a Slytherin?" He looked at James with hateful eyes. "Or is it because you really love that dunderhead James more than you love me?" Getting up, Severus picked up his bag and began the walk to the Slytherin common room.

As Severus arrived at his room, someone asked him, "Do you feel alright, Severus?" He turned to the source of the voice and found it was Avery who had spoken to him.

"Yeah, Avery, I'm fine," replied Severus.

"You don't look alright," said Avery. "Is there something wrong with you and Lily?"

Severus was once again amazed at Avery's ability to figure out what was bothering people. "Yeah, it is," he said. "I just get the feeling that she loves that idiot James Potter more than she loves me, her best friend since we were kids…"

He looked at Severus. "Oh, come on, mate," he said, "we can't all get what we want." Severus glared at him; no matter how much of a mindreader he was, he wasn't much at all when it came to words of comfort.

"Listen, " said Avery, "I need to run to the library to get something; I'll meet you at dinner." He left, leaving Severus with only his thoughts. "If only there was some way I could tell Lily how I really feel about her… how I can't even stand to be away from her, much less see her loving someone else…" He tried to push Lily out of his mind, and pointed his wand at his trunk, saying, "Accio trunk." It zoomed towards him, and he stopped it with his foot. He took out a spare pair of pants and, putting them on, he headed down to the Great Hall for dinner.

As Severus came down to the Great Hall, he realized that he would have to pass the Gryffindor table, and that Potter would have told all his friends by now about seeing him on the Quidditch field. He steeled his nerves and walked past their table; sure enough, the catcalls came.

'Hey, Snivellus, do you really think that you could make it onto Slytherin's Quidditch team?"

"Someone remove that Confundus charm!"

Just then, he heard one voice he never expected to hear: Lily's. "Come on, y'all, leave Sev alone." Theit eyes met, and Lily blushed. Sev smiled. "I appreciate it, Lily," he said, and with a bit of a swagger, he finished walking to the Slytherin table.

He had just attacked a chicken leg when he heard someone say, "What the hell was that, Severus?"

Severus looked to see that Avery had said that. "Why would you let Lily finish your battles?" he asked. Snape flashed him a look of venomous hatred, and he cringed. "Sorry I asked," he muttered, and went back to his ham.

Severus took a few more bites, then stood up. "Where are you going?" he asked.

Severus muttered something that sounded like "Not hungry," then walked out of the Great Hall. He had gone about a yard out when he felt someone's hand take his; he closed his own hand around whosever that was, then looked to see who had tried to comfort him. He smiled when he saw who it was. "Thanks, for… what you did back there, Lily."

Lily smiled. "It was my pleasure, Sev. I hate that all the other Gryffindors have to pick on you like that, simply because they don't think you can do something as good as they can…"

"It'd be so much better not to fight," remarked Severus. Lily looked up at him. "My thoughts exactly."

Severus then realized he couldn't wait any longer; he gazed into Lily's eyes and said, "Lily… no matter what… I love you."

Lily's eyes filled with tears and she lunged at Severus, kissing him. Severus kissed her back, and the two simply stood there in the hallway, passionately kissing. After some time (how long it was, neither of them knew), they broke apart, and Lily said, "Oh, Sev… I was waiting so long for you to say that!" She kissed him again, this time backing him up against the wall; he ran his fingers through her hair, and her arm looped around his waist. Just then, they heard the Hall door open; they tried to break apart in time, but it was not to be.

James stood there, stunned. "But… Lily…" he began.

Lily interrupted him. "Since when have you cared about anything but Quidditch, Potter?" James was about to say something, but the words escaped him, so he settled for flashing a very rude gesture towards Severus, then storming back into the Great Hall.

Severus turned to Lily. "Could you ever love someone like that?"

Lily thought for a moment. "No… no, I don't suppose I could." She smiled. "Now, someone like you, on the other hand…" What the rest of the sentence was, Severus would never find out, because he leaned in and kissed her; she returned it, and the two knew, as their bodies pressed up against each others, that this was what it was like to be truly happy.