Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Potterverse. Enjoy.

And the World Keeps Spinning

To say that Severus Snape was feeling irritated would be putting it lightly.

For one to suggest he was upset would be to state it mildly.

He was feeling more along the lines of how you would describe an internal combustion.

At the fervently repeated and heavily stressed request of his roommates, Severus took to pacing the dungeon halls and classrooms instead of his bedroom. When he wasn't pacing, he was brewing. If there was one upside to this whole affair, it was that he was brewing the most potent of potions that he had ever brewed.

Ah yes, he often mused. If I would guess, it would appear that the most celebrated scholars are usually the loneliest.

Technically, he pondered, he was not completely alone. Severus was constantly pestered by his classmates, so much so he took to holing himself up in empty classrooms just to gain moments of solitude. Ever since his fellow Slytherins had discovered his penchant for the dark arts and his academic aptitude, he was routinely bothered for answers to tests, hints for essays, and most often approach nervously by young and older students alike inquiring about dark magic.

No, he was not technically alone... but to suggest that he wasn't lonely would be a complete farce.

Severus knew what lonely was. He had been lonely for the majority of his existence. Even when Lily Evans had been a huge part of his life, Severus still felt quite removed from the rest of the world. She had made things infinitely easier to bare at times, but it just added another aspect of grave disappointment to his life when it was taken away from him.

Severus toyed with this idea of loss as he slowly unpacked his potion's kit in the corner of the dungeon, out of sight from the door. Was Lily ever really his to lose? Yes, she had considered him a close, even best friend, but had it ever been anything more for her?

Severus had assumed that there was never a chance for Lily to return his feelings. He made sure to constantly keep her at arm's length, never betraying his true intentions lest she be repulsed and have it ruin their friendship. He frowned as he tipped doxy eyes into the cauldron below him. I wish I were enough for you, she had said, tears spilling from her beautiful eyes. What did that mean...?

He scowled. She had most likely meant that her friendship should suffice en lieu of the strange accompaniment of his Slytherin mates as of late. It wasn't that they were friends, per say, it was more of a convenience for Severus. Ducking through corridors away from Potter and his goons was much easier when you were surrounded by a group of large and block-like boys.

Potter, Snape thought darkly. He will likely revel in the news that Lily and I are no longer friends. He stirred forcefully, letting the potion come to a boil. He'll probably ask her to marry him and she'll acquiesce and they'll have Potter-shaped babies and live in a gingerbread house...

The doors to the dungeon were thrown open. Severus was momentarily distracted and stole a glance down at his potion. He had been so lost in his fury that he had forgotten to stop stirring when the potion turned a light blue. It now resembled an angry, bubbling navy blue mess. He frowned and emptied it with a quick wave of his wand. How embarrassing.

A loud bang echoed from the corner of the dungeon room. Severus' head reflexively snapped to survey the source. It appeared that the intruder had not noticed him in the corner brewing, but had taken to levitating desks and then dropping them heavily onto the stone floor.

He watched, mildly intrigued, as James Potter then grew tired of floating desks (for he supposed it was not violent enough) and began to feverishly blast them to pieces. Severus was contemplating just how he would extract himself from the dungeon without being seen by the seemingly mad Potter, but found he needn't have bothered thinking, as at that exact moment said boy whirled around and pointed his wand menacingly at him.

Snape started, but kept his face impassive. He would not let Potter see he was unsettled.

"What are you doing here?" James demanded in a low voice, panting slightly. "Why are you spying on me, you greasy git?"

Snape rolled his eyes. Typical. "Your brawn clearly outweighs your brainpower, Potter, seeing how if I was spying on you that would require me following you to this particular dungeon room and walking through the doors in front of your desk-massacre display."

As the angry boy continued to glare at him and did not lower his wand, Snape gestured vaguely to the cauldron in front of him. "I was here first, Potter."

James hesitated and lowered his wand slightly. Severus threw him a dirty look, and began packing up his things. He knew he could easily take Potter down in a duel, he was slightly worried about his instability at the moment.

He should get out before Potter was joined by his cronies...

Severus had just reached the threshold of the doors when Potter spoke from behind him in a loud voice.

"I heard she rejected you."

Severus froze. The grip on his spellbooks became white-knuckled. He tried to react as little as possible. He could not turn around.

"I don't know what you're referring to, but I assure you that your sources are wrong."

James gave a short, hollow laugh. "I heard she rejected you, and you cried."

Severus began to shake. How did he...

"I knew she considered you an acquaintance of some kind," Potter spoke coldly, "but I never really took the time to realize you were lusting after her too."

Snape whirled around so quickly that he dropped his books. "That's not true."

Potter was seated on the only remaining desk in the classroom, his wand rested on his knee. He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it?"

Severus scowled darkly and stooped to retrieve his books that had fallen in his haste. He would not let Potter get to him. "She means nothing to me." He stood and glared coldly at the smirking boy.

James' eyes flashed angrily. "Don't lie to me, you filthy scum." His smirk vanished and was replaced with a look of disgust. "I see the way you stare at her when she's not looking. I've watched you follow her around the castle these past few weeks... lurking behind statues and suits of armor." He stood and raised his wand. "If you lay a single, slimy hand on her, I swear I'll hex you into oblivion."

Severus' jaw was clenched so tightly he swore he felt a tooth crack. How dare Potter tell him these things, make it sound like what he felt for Lily was wrong and dirty. How dare he suggest he never had Lily's best intentions at heart. He knew nothing.

Though his rage could rival that of an active volcano, Snape calmly placed his books down on a ledge beside him, and slowly raised his wand.

James gave a darkly triumphant smirk as he realized he had finally broken through Snape's barriers. "How does it feel, Snape, to lose the one thing that kept you human?"

A muscle in Severus' jaw twitched. His hand was shaking slightly on his wand. He said nothing, but picked his way through the debris on the ground. The boys began to circle each other.

"How does it feel," James enunciated each word very slowly, kicking over the wooden remains of a desk in his way. "To hear the person you care most about tell you they don't want you?"

Severus snarled, sparks shooting out of his wand. "I could ask you that same question."

James' smirk faltered slightly. He gripped his wand tighter.

Sensing a weak spot, Snape struck. "You think you're so damn marvelous, Potter." He spat. "But clearly, even with your stupid glasses you are blind. Blind to the fact that even though you've been cutting me down for years because you've convinced yourself that you are somehow better than me, the object of your obsession has remained my loyal friend through it all."

Severus paused, revelling at the fury brewing in Potter's expression.

"And guess what, Potter?" Severus hissed through his clenched teeth. "I called her a filthy Mudblood in front of the entire school and she still spends nights crying over me." He raised his wand and pointed it directly between Potter's eyes. "And what, exactly, has she ever given you, the bloody Gryffindor hero?"

Something in James snapped, as he furiously slashed the air in front of him with his wand. The spell landed hard, but missed, creating a crater in the wall behind Snape's head. From his position on the floor Severus shot a thick stream of glass shards at James, who howled in pain as they sunk into his broad shoulder.

James grasped his shoulder firmly with one hand to stem to blood flow and sent a hex hurling at Snape with the other. Severus ducked behind his cauldron just in time. The cauldron split in two under the sheer power behind the spell.

"You won't win, Potter." Severus shouted over the din, reflecting one of his spells. and firing it back at him with returned fervor. "You're lacking the back up that makes you oh-so-magnificent."

James grunted as he barely blocked Snape's hex with a shield charm. "I, on the other hand, have learnt to fight my own battles, which puts you..." Snape brandished his wand like a sword and slashed at the air. The empty classroom sounded with James' yells of pain. "At an extreme disadvantage."

The spell Snape had cast left James with a gash from his bottom lip to his chest. Bloody and panting, James glared at Severus with a look of deepest loathing. "You fight your own battles because you are completely alone." He spat blood on the floor. "Nobody comes to your aid because you have no one. Lily was the one person in your miserable life that pitied you enough to maintain a friendship, and you blew it."

James lowered his wand, but Severus kept his trained between his eyes.

"Trust me, Snape." James said, his glare intensifying. "As Merlin is my witness, I will marry that girl one day and be surrounded by friends, while you..." He shook his head.

"You will die alone."

Snape faltered for a moment, outraged etched in every line of his face. His mind whirled.

"Sectums-"

But James had taken advantage of his hesitation and had already raised his wand. "Expelliarmus!" Snape's wand flew across the room, where James caught it neatly with his uninjured arm.

Severus had tripped over his robes in an effort to prevent his disarming. He landed hard on his knees, throwing his hands out to prevent his face from smashing into the floor. He remained on all fours, breathing hard and staring between his hands at the cold stone.

James dropped Snape's wand and kicked it to the opposite side of the dungeon. He said nothing as Severus heard his disjointed footsteps echo out of the classroom and into the hall.

He remained frozen on all fours, breathing heavily.

You will die alone...