This is my first attempt at fan fiction, so please leave a review if you wish and let me know what you think. This is just the beginning, more chapters to come!
Severus Snape was coming up to his 20th year of teaching at Hogwarts as the Potions Teacher. For the most part, the last ten years had been relatively quiet compared to the horrors and heartache he had experienced in the first ten. He hadn't always been as cold and unfeeling as he was now, but the disappointments in his life, the things that were never to be, weighed heavily on his mind, on this, the anniversary of his employment.
Snape had become a respected Professor at Hogwarts but his respect had only been won through fear and intimidation. Students loathed him and fellow teachers knew his past, which usually made any self-respecting wizard steer clear of him. Being a reformed Death Eater wasn't something that would win many friends. Only the Headmaster, Professor Dumbledore, knew some of the torment that had twisted him into the dark, brooding Professor Snape.
Even though everyone imagined him to be heartless, he wasn't completely devoid of feeling. If they had known all that had transpired they might look differently on him, perhaps treat him with compassion rather than ridicule. But Snape was above needing their sympathy, for no amount of good-will could bring back what he had lost, what he had desired for most of his life.
Severus's private thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of students flooding the hallway outside his office with their chatter and energy. Looking at his clock he realised that it was almost time for the Sorting Ceremony. This year's ceremony was going to be more depressing than usual. Seeing all the young wizards, so young and unaffected by the world around them, made Severus mourn what his life had become, yet this year was made worse because of the arrival of Harry Potter.
For years he had torn himself in two, remembering the love he bore for Harry's mother Lily, a woman he would have died for but who was never to be his. His heart still faltered when he thought of her and no matter how hard he tried, the ache in his heart would never leave him be. The conflict he felt was in the remembrance of Harry's father, James Potter. James had bullied him and belittled him, but Severus could have withstood all of it if James hadn't won the heart of Lily. And now their orphaned son was beginning his schooling at Hogwarts. What would he see when he looked at Lily and James's son? Would there be anything of Lily in him? And even if there was, could he look at Harry without seeing the father, the man who destroyed all his hopes of happiness?
Severus stood up abruptly and tried to clear his mind of such gloomy thoughts, his head was already full of misery and darkness that he hardly needed to add more. Pushing the heavy wooden door to his office open, Severus stepped out into the hall and the rowdy students instinctively stepped back towards the walls. After giving them a disdainful glance, Severus strode down the hall towards the Great Hall, his black robes billowing behind him.
The Great Hall was brightly lit by the floating candles that were hovering above the long tables. Severus was seated at the top table, with all the other teachers, impatiently waiting for this ordeal to be over. As the last few stragglers made their way into the hall Severus noticed a tall woman enter the hall. Her hair was long, straight and white blonde, much like the hair of one of his old friends, Lucius Malfoy. However, he had never seen this witch before, for he would have remembered her because as she came closer he saw her eyes, green as emeralds, just like Lily's.
This witch seemed to glide down the hall, oblivious to all the sniggering and comments that were made by all the young wizards who had also noticed her beauty. She sat down at the far end of the top table and calmly looked down the length of the table, finally resting her eyes on Snape. For a moment Severus thought he was looking into Lily's eyes, he almost lost himself in a feeling he hadn't felt for years, he would have stared at this woman all night if he thought no one would notice. He hoped no one noticed the feelings that stirred within him; this green-eyed witch had filled him with such desire, mixed with almost intolerable pain. However it was another pair of emerald green eyes that drew his attention away from the beguiling blonde witch, Harry Potter was making his way towards Professor McGonagall who held the sorting hat in her hand.
The eyes that Snape was now staring at were indeed those of Lily's, but they were masked by a pair of round glasses and almost hidden by a mass of unkempt black hair. There was no mistaking that this was James and Lily Potter's son, thankfully this pair of green eyes didn't illicit further sadness and longing from Severus, instead he was intensely angry and envious. Angry, because he had been so unsettled by this new witch, and envious because the boy standing before him was Lily and James's son, not Lily and his.