A young boy sat lazily in his chair, trying, unsuccessfully, to resist yawning as he listened to his History of Magic teacher, Professor Binns. The boy had midnight black, greasy hair which hung on his head in strands, framing him unusually pale face. His dark eyes searched the classroom for something interesting to help him pass the time, when his gaze suddenly fell on her. She sat a few rows in front of him, whispering to her neighbor.
Severus Snape remembered the first time he had set eyes upon this angel. It was his first day at Hogwarts and he had just been sorted into Slytherin. He sat at his house table, watching the remaining first years. Each of them looked scared, weak, helpless; but then Professor McGonagall called the last first year, "Vrale, Jezebel." A young girl walked proudly to the stool in the center of the Great Hall, and confidently placed the Sorting Hat onto her divine head. Her hair fell about her shoulders in golden locks. Her blue eyes shone brightly, seemingly illuminating the world around her. Her complexion was almost as pale as Snape's, but unlike his, her pale skin gave her an innocent, fragile quality, resembling that of a porcelain doll. As Snape watched Jezebel waiting to be sorted, he knew that this was love at first sight. But his love was one sided. He reveled in her beauty, never daring to approach her, touch her, talk to her. He knew she would never return his love, his undying devotion, for she was an angel, the epitome of human perfection, and he was a slimy oddball up to his nose in the dark arts. Even if he were handsome, their love was doomed before it even begun, for she was placed in Gryffindor and it was common knowledge that a Gryffindor could not like, let alone love, a Slytherin. So for six years, Snape watched Jezebel from afar, just as he was doing now in their seventh and final year at Hogwarts.
He sat watching her for what seemed like an eternity, when a large amount of ice cold water suddenly poured itself onto his head.
"What the hell?!" he hissed, turning abruptly in his seat. He did not have to look far for the source of this attack: James Potter and his three friends, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew, sat in a corner trying, with little success, to suppress their laughter. Sirius had apparently summoned a glass of water with a summoning charm and emptied it onto Snape's head. Snape cursed under his breath and threw the glared at the group, silently letting them know that they would pay. He turned back towards the front of the classroom just in time to see Jezebel give him a slight sympathetic smile. His heart quickened its pace and his stomach did a summersault. She had looked at him; no, she didn't just look at him, she even smiled at him! That meant she knew he existed, maybe she even cared about him. Snape suddenly forgot about James, Sirius, and the water; the only thing he could think about was that fleeting smile.
The bell signaling the end of class finally rang and Snape began to pack up his books. He felt a crude blow in his shoulder and heard a familiar voice say,
"Hey Snivellus, was it raining inside, 'cause you're soaking wet!" This worthless excuse for a joke was followed by group laughter.
"Shut up, Potty! You know you and your goonies are going to pay for that!" retorted Snape.
"What are you going to do, Snivellus? Wipe your nose on us?" said Sirius amidst fits of more laughter.
"Hey, I bet we got off easy this time, didn't we Snivellus? Lucky for us you were to busy goggling over Jezebel over there." Smirked James.
"Jezebel? Jezebel Vrale? C'mon Snivellus, even you aren't that thick! You don't have a chance in the world with her, she would never like a greasy git like you!" said Sirius. Snape shot Sirius a warning look and pulled out his wand, ready for battle. Snape, however, did not get the opportunity to hex Sirius as at that very moment Professor Binns floated over to them and ushered them out of the room.
Once outside in the hallway, Snape shoved his wand in Sirius' face and sneered, "This isn't over Black! Meet me today after classes by the lake and we'll finish out little duel then. Oh yeah, and bring your goons along too, I could take all four of you with one hand tied behind my back!" Snape pushed Sirius out of the way and stormed off down the hall with his robes billowing behind him.
Still fuming with rage, Snape entered his next class, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and tried to clear his head. Luckily, the Slytherins did not have this class with the Gryffindors, so Potter and his gang couldn't bother him. But this also meant that Jezebel wasn't there either. Snape sat brooding for a while, when he suddenly realized what had just happened. "What have I gotten myself into?" he thought, "They're going to murder me out there. I could take on one of them easily, but not all four!" Snape became grumpier at this thought and began to dread the end of class when he would have to face the marauders.