Ok, this is just one of those things that popped into my mind and refused to go away. As I said before, this is one of those fics that tell us why Snape is so cold and such. Rating for language. I know it's a short chapter, but it's 4 AM and I'm tired. I'll write more some other time if people will actually like it. I'm open for suggestions if you have any.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, not one bit… Ok, I own the girl, but I swear no one else.

**

I'm going to kill that little git, Severus thought darkly.

Another day had come to the magical school of Hogwarts, and with it had come another childish—but embarrassing—prank from the (in his opinion) notorious Marauders.

And Severus Snape was once again the poor, unfortunate victim.

Severus mustered all his hate, all his anger, and all his strength to cast a considerably more vicious glare at the four fools laughing their heads off: Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and the worst of all, James Potter.

Now while his glower did nothing to lessen the glee sparkling in their eyes, their laughter did stop, albeit not entirely.

Now all he had to do was await the rest of the class to shut their mouths and life could go on once more.

Severus glared daggers at those unfortunate enough to be within the vicinity of his range of sight, which only caused more laughter to erupt. Apparently, that dolt Pettigrew had cast another spell on Severus while his attention was elsewhere, which caused his glare to resemble that of a cross-eyed buffoon.

So, Pettigrew does have a pair of balls. Pity he'll never use them again...

That said, Severus reached into his black robes and retrieved his wand. Muttering a curse, he took his aim…

"MR. SNAPE, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?"

Severus groaned internally; of course, Potter casts one hundred spells, and he gets off scotch-free. Severus, on the other hand, barely finishes an incantation and gets busted.

And the fact that it was by Professor McGonagall made it that much more frustrating.

"Now, now, Mr. Snape, what reason would there to be to attempt to castrate Mr. Pettigrew? Surely you didn't mean…"

At this point, Severus completely tuned out her mindless chattering. Ignoring the titters from his classmates and the open laughter from four idiots in particular, he cast his glance about the room.

It was then that he noticed that, amidst the endless chuckles, there was one person that did not even wear a smile on her face. Instead, she looked at him with…

Pity?

Severus now turned his full attention to her.

She had black hair and black eyes, much like Severus' own: but she lacked the greasy roots, and while his eyes were cold and hard, hers reflected a great weariness in her dark depths. As of now, though, they shone with sympathy.

Of all the things that Severus had ever expected to see coming his way, sympathy was not one of them, not even close. He'd always assumed that the person would have had to be a fool to ever pity him. But looking at the girl, he could not see how she could ever resemble a fool. Even though they were separated by half a room and an angry McGonagall—who, by the way, was still under the impression that Severus was actually listening to her—he could see that she was different.

Bloody hell, maybe there is intelligence in this school after all.

Severus smirked, earning him a slightly confused look from the professor in front of him, and continued to stare at the strange girl, who, surprisingly enough, held his gaze strongly.

At this point, Severus all but forgot the rest of the world.

She flashed him a weak, sort of tired little smile, and turned her head to Potter. Something stirred in her eyes then, and she shook her head slightly. Potter stopped laughing and elbowed Black in the ribs, who gave a surprised grunt. Potter looked at her with a questioning gaze, but she gave him no answer, dropping her eyes to the floor instead.

After witnessing this odd display, Severus looked back into the eyes of Professor McGonagall, who seemed quite finished with her meaningless lecture.

"Well, then Mr. Snape, you will join me tonight, in my office, at 8:00 sharp. Have a good day."

She then subtracted 10 points from Slytherin House, and turned around to resume her lesson.

Have a good day, my ass.

He dropped back into his seat, and stared ahead at some point above McGonagall's head; giving him the impression that he was listening to whatever the woman was saying.

Which, of course, he was not.

His mind kept retreating to the girl with black hair. Her face was the only one in the entire room who was not stretched into a smile (or anger, like the Slytherins). He kept seeing those dark eyes shining with sympathy, and how they seemed to know how he was feeling.

Without realizing it, his gaze had now settled on the girl. Severus blinked, and turned to make sure no one had seen his gawking, lest he feed them another excuse for more insults.

Once he was entirely sure that he was safe for the time being, he once more took up the activity of studying the girl sitting six seats over. Working intently on her work which McGonagall had just assigned—and Severus had failed to hear—he realized that he had never noticed her before. In all his school years, this was the first time he had ever laid eyes upon the girl. Frowning in confusion, Severus failed to see the odd gestures coming from the direction where Sirius Black and James Potter were sitting…