Travel to my thoughts and back...
Picture Snape. The way you see him everyday, look at him and ask yourself: What do I think of this man? Ask anyone that question. Anyone. And watch them….
Professor McGonnagall's lips will become a thin line and she will say: "He's a fine man and I'm sure we're all glad to have such a good potion master as him."
Hagrid will most likely frown, look at you in an lopsided way and say: "He's a good teacher, one of the best, I think. Just be carefall who yer are around him."
Ron will simply give you a look and say: "He's a jerk. He's unfair, always on the side of Slytherin, and I hate him. I just wish he's crawl back into the hole he came from."
You will probably agree with Ron. I guess it depends on who you are. But always bear in mind that for every person there is a reason for who or what they are. Mostly their reason lies in their story.
Watch...
Picture two babies, lying sleeping in their cots. They are both one day old. And through a freak accident, both their mothers have just died, like so many others in this time.
Both of the babies are now 6. Both of them have been brought up by a nurse, and for both it is now time to say goodbye to them. In one part of the country, one of the children is staring at his nurse, who is packing. He knows that she is going, he might even know the reason, but he doesn't want it to happen. He will stand beside his father in the doorway, watching his nurse leave in the coach. Even as the coach passes through the gate, the boy cannot suppress a tear. He is now crying and clutching his father, who strokes his hair in an comforting way, glances once more at the leaving coach and, holding his son tightly to his chest, goes inside.
In another part of the country, one of the children is staring at his nurse, who is packing. He knows that she is going, he might even know the reason, but he doesn't want it to happen. He will stand alone in the doorway watching his nurse leave in the coach. Even as it passes through the gate, the nurse waving and waving, the boy cannot suppress a tear. He is standing alone in the doorway, crying.
Let us not name these boys yet. Let simply refer to calling the second boy 'our boy'. One boy has his fathers love. Our boy has not.
The two boys are sitting on their trunks on platform 9 and ¾, clutching their ticket tightly. One sees our boy and smiles. Our boy smiles back. Then he sees the other boy's father standing behind him, and his smile fades. The father is standing behind that boy, smiling as proud as a father can smile on their son's first day of school. Now he is looking down at his son, and ruffles his hair. His son looks up and smiles back at him. They look into each others eyes, each look one of understanding. Our boy looks away. His father did not come to the station.
The sorting ceremony is now over. Our boy has been sorted into Slytherin. He is a model student, hard working and always found studying. In a way he's quite happy in his little world. One day he makes friends with another boy of Slytherin, a pale boy who finds it hard to laugh in the company of others.
The other boy has been sorted into Gryffindor. He is clever and hardworking, but doesn't bury himself in his work like our boy does. He likes to spend a lot of time in the company of his best friend, a dark-haired boy like himself, roaming around the castle doing mischief. He is very popular.
Let us do a small jump forward in time.
The boys have now both reached the age of 15. And, as if an ironic wink of fate, they have both fallen in love with the same girl. She has fair hair, blue eyes and a beautiful figure. Her best friends are now these boys. She loves them both. If someone would ask her who to chose, she wouldn't know.
Our boy is deeply in love. He is also becoming very jealous. You can see it in his face, his eyes. Every time he sees the girl laughing with the other boy, sees her smile at him... it is eating him up. Just now he had a thought. It is an ugly, pathetic thought, but then our boy has not had much in his life. Now, he thinks, it's time for someone else to suffer. From now on he is watching the other boy.
Very closely.
The other boy has now a lot of friends. His first friend remains his best, but he also has two new friends. One of them is always absent on certain days. Sick. Our boy notices that he is sick in regular ways. He also notices that this is always on full moon. Our boy is suspecting something.
One day, he catches the dark- haired boy throwing a dung-bomb in the library. The other boy's record is quite bad, and appareantly he fears he will be expelled if found out, for he swears he will tell our boy a secret if our boy doesn't tell on him. He tells our boy about a secret passageway behind the whomping willow at the back garden. He tells him that the other boy goes there, the one that is always ill. He tells him to touch a root of the tree with a stick, and the tree will freeze. Then he leaves. Our boy looks after him, smiling. Perhaps his future is looking up...
It is night. No one knows where the 'sick' boy is. Guided by the full moon, our boy runs to the whomping willow tree. Our boy touches the root with a stick, just like the dark- haired boy said. Our boy starts walking down the tunnel, when he suddenly hears a sound infront of him. He turns the corner, only to stare in the yellow eyes of an beast, a few yards away from him. Our boy freezes, his mouth open. He now knows the sickness of the other boy : The other boy is a werewolf! The beast crouches down as if to leap...
...our boy closes his eyes...
Suddenly he hears a cry behind him. A burning torch in his hand, the boy from the station, the rival, is shouting at our boy to run. Our boy stumbles out along the tunnel, the other boy fending off the wolf as he runs along. But the flame of the torch is getting smaller, soon it will go out...
... the boys see the opening of the tunnel ahead of them...
... the wolf gets ready to pounce once more...
... at that moment, voices come from the tunnel's end. Shouts, a flock of people, pointing their wands at the wolf, pushing the boys into the safety outside...
And then everything happens to fast...our boy sees the other boy, his rival, in the girl's arms... the girl he is in love with... he sees her giving his rival a kiss... our boy screams... the shock... faces... everything becomes blurred... going... gone...
Our boy has fainted.
It is a week later. Our boy is sitting alone in the library, trying to concentrate on his potions homework. But he can't. Too clear are the images of the night, that night, when he lost his pride, the girl he loves, everything. It makes him bitter. His father has written him a letter, of which a word hangs in his mind...
Failure.
Then the other boy comes. We have to talk, he says, but our boy only snarls at him to go away. He won't talk to a person who's friend is a werewolf...
The boys become bitter enemies.
Maybe it is now time for you to learn the names of the boys. Most likely you already know them. One boy is called James. James Potter. Our boy's name is Severus. Severus Snape. The girl's name is Lily, she and James marry later. The werewolf is called Remus Lupin. He stays James's friend.
Severus stays to become a teacher at his school. Potion master, one subject he is very good at. He is no more a failure.
The story I've just told you is the story of Snape, the very teacher that Harry Potter hates with all his might. Maybe, though you've been in sympathy with Snape during the story, you will now lean back, close your eyes and think: Yeah, well, but Snape is still horrible person. And how right you are. But while you're reading, or in real life, while you are judging characters or people, always bear in mind that every person has his story. And for every person there is a reason for who or what they are. Mostly their reason lies in their story. But that, I think, is for you to decide.
Author's note: ::breaths out:: Looks like I've finally managed to post this story on fanfiction.net... that is, if the html thing worked. ::grins:: Ok, now for some 'clear-ups': Snape is not my favourite character, (Fred and George rule!!!) but I believe that people who are, lets face it, a little horrible are shaped that way, not born with it. (My school has many examples of that.) This those not excuse many things, though! But one does wonder what would have happened if Hitler would have been born into a caring family... although probably somebody else would have come along, and the same thing would have happened anyway...::sighs::
Lets see... please review! Comments, suggestions, flames... or email me at werewolflover737@hotmail.com, I love getting email!
As a dedication... this goes to all Draco and Snape lovers out there who have told me why they like them! (::grins at Alsia:: Remember the dance! Remember the dance! ::coughs::)
And most specially I dedicate this to all people who think before they flame someone and to all those people that accept people the way they are...
If everyone would be like that, how much easier would the world be.
~Saskia 
