Warning: Graphic depiction of domestic violence, verbal lashes, curses, uxoricide(is this right spelling?), and perhaps adult materials like sexual intercourse that is happening between m/m, former enemies turned lovers, OoC, because of course some level of distortion in their characteristic is required to make nemesis to love each other, I'm not native English speaker, this fiction will come up only once in a while when I'm feeling like writing it.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this fiction, this is purely for my entertainment and hopefully yours as well. I do not gain any money out of this.
It always starts with the trivial. Severus would try to avoid encountering his father or his mother, or both of them but in the process of avoidance he ends up encountering them. Then, there would be small details that bother his father, followed by his mother's reprehension and subsequent arguments.
His father does not like to be argued.
The end is always with violence. The old, gangly man would raise his tough hand and strike her down. For such a skinny, unfed man, his blow hurts quite a lot.
Severus, for all his despise and disappointment towards his mother, would try to get between his parents, willing the man to step aside. And fail, miserably. And all that is left of them would be covered in black and blue, sometimes red as well. Well, not sometime. Everytime.
The youngster hates his house, hates his family, hates his life.
All he knew about life consisted of bitterness and pain, and hatred. Eleven years, such short span of life has taught the dark-haired boy nothing but bleakness and sordidness. The villainy his life has educated him was all that he was aware of.
Until he was introduced to a girl.
A red haired girl with bright green eyes. Such vibrant colors were so unfamiliar that they almost stung his eyes. She was beautiful, joyful and compassionate.
Compassionate.
A difficult concept to comprehend for the bleak boy.
But she was compassionate. She was compassionate enough to care about him, enough to stay with the boy even after every other friend had left him in disgust. The red-haired girl never laughed at his ridiculously filthy, ugly appearance. Never. Instead, she would feel sorry for him whenever he was hurt, whenever he was lonely and scared.
She would comfort him, allow him to lie next to her, bask in the sight of her.
The single beautiful memory the gloomy boy ever had.
But one thing life has taught him was unfairness. That life is never fair, never justice. Severus knew that of course, but each time he has the sharp reminder of the lesson he was hurt greatly.
That was when James Potter entered into their little companionship. Hogwarts, which was supposed to be his escape, his savior, his new life, was painted with bleak and dark colors when Potter was introduced.
It was just too much for him to take.
To be stolen of what little happiness he tasted was too much painful for him to take.
It was not that Potter found it amusing to throw some hexes at him, not that the dunderhead ganged up around him to mock and humiliate that made his life at Hogwarts difficult.
Mockery and humiliation are something he was well acquainted of.
But to be stolen of the girl he cherished, loved, worshiped… That was something he could not endure. So here he was, lost amidst his own misery, wondering the eerie castle astray. He didn't know what to do with his life, what to expect from his life.
His initial response to Lily's attraction towards Potter was to gain power enough pull her back. Gain something more than the empty-headed boy possesses due to a good fortune.
But every time he tries exactly that, every time he thought he has earned something James Potter can't have, Severus was forced to face the truth that none of it mattered. None of the things he gained mattered to his dear flower.
All Lily sees, all that Lily perceives was just him: James, the golden boy of Gryffindor.
He was just not good enough. No, he was just not him. That was it. That's the problem: he was not James Potter.
The realisation hurt. It hurt.
Severus could no longer bear the pain of it.
"..."
Perhaps he should just stop… trying. Stop pretending to believe that everything he does will finally make a difference. Perhaps he already knew it all along that nothing he could do would make his life different.
A cold breeze brushed his thin figure, chill creeping up his spine. Severus shivered. He had not realised he was outside of the castle, wondering alongside the lake. The still water was reflecting the round, pale moon. Beyond the lake was the dark, foreboding forest which reminded him of a monster's large gaping mouth.
For a moment, he actually thought he saw something move inside the dark forest. Something dangerous. But it couldn't be. He was still quite close to the castle and whatever lives inside the forbidden forest was forbidden to come out. They never come close to the castle.
Brushing off the thought, as he rationalized himself, Severus took one more glance at the lake before turning back to Hogwarts. He might be getting himself into troubles by encountering the caretaker. He never liked the skinny old man who brews unhealthy amount of affections towards a red-eyed cat.
Then, the sound came. The horrible, frightening sound of something rushing towards him. Ragged breaths, thuds of pounding foots, an animalistic growl and snarl, all of those terrible feeling crept up to him when a giant fur-coated beast leaped toward him.
"What-...!"
Even before he could scream, the thing was in mid-air, bearing his razor-sharp teeth, its amber eyes glowing dangerously in the dark air. He should've run, he should've pulled out his wand to… to do what?
An inscription he read from countless books crossed his shocked mind.
A werewolf.
There was nothing he can do to a werewolf at this close distance. Even if he could, the Slytherin boy was paralyzed in shock to react.
He was done.
It was his end, and he was sure of it. In the millisecond of him realising his end, Severus could see no one but Lily. If only he could say goodbye to the redhead…
"Stop Moony!"
A hasty cry pierced his grief-clouded head, forcing his attention to the origin of the voice. And there he was, the golden boy of Gryffindor, the one who gave Severus such devastation that he absentmindedly roamed around the castle in the middle of night. But he was too late. The wolf was too close. Severus tried to move himself but his legs were frozen on the ground, one step back and he stumbled onto the ground.
Severus yelped in pain, wincing as his head and back collided with the hard ground.
He squeezed his eyes shut, fearing his own end, expecting the worst. Snarling and growling noises were so terrifying.
When nothing he expected came, he slowly opened his lids. The sight in front of him was absolutely terrifying. A large wolf and a black dog were clashing with each other, clawing and biting. Snarling noises accompanied with pained growls were so loud that he wondered for a brief moment how come no one awakes at the sound of them.
Then something touched him, nudging him to stand up. Severus peered and found out it was a large, handsome stag with magnificent antlers. With its black nose, the stag hurriedly nudged him, poking him to stand. The bewildered boy forced himself to control his shaky legs and up himself. The large, gracefully curved antlers gently pushed him away from the canine fights.
When Severus was fully up and started to run away from the beasts, the stag followed him into the castle, where it turned into a human form.
Severus nearly fell to the ground again at the sight of the bespectacled Gryffindor boy.
"-you…!"
"There's no time, Snape, you've got to move!"
"Pott…!'
Severus couldn't force himself out of James Potter's grasp on his arm, pulling him towards the inside of the castle. The taller boy did not stop until they were inside, hidden in the dark corridor.
Panting hard, the Slytherin boy tried to catch breaths. He couldn't believe what just happened. He was out in the lake and was attacked by a werewolf and then saw Potter… There was a dog, large enough to fight wolves and a stag… which was Potter?
Was Potter a stag? No, no, that's not the word. Severus mentally chastised himself for stupidity. Animagus. That was it.
Potter was an animagus.
He looked up to the taller boy. Potter was wiping sweats off of his brows, frowning and muttering something incoherent.
"You're an animagus?" the question was out of his mouth before he could stop.
The Gryffindor boy peered down from his glasses, eyes a bit widened. Then, he muttered profanities, hands ruffling his stupid hair.
"You just saw, Snivelly, do you need an explanation too?" Potter said, resolutely.
Severus ignored his insults, too much in shock to care about it.
Potter was an animagus and the werewolf… that must be Lupin, Severus remembered the pet name the dunderheads use, Moony. And if that is so… that large black dog must be Black. Sirius Black.
Piecing the pieces together, Severus figured out what he just saw.
They were the Marauders. He just witnessed the Marauders in their other forms. Well, he couldn't remember seeing Peter Pettigrew but still.
Trying desperately to compose himself, Severus met the hazel eyes. He could see the hint of fear and bewilderment adorning them. Potter was fearing Severus might rattle. And sure, why wouldn't he? He was just attacked by one of the most dangerous dark creatures and learned that said dark creature is the friend of his tormentor.
But something hindered him from going straight to the headmaster. Well, the partiality the old wizard displays is one thing but there was more…
Severus couldn't believe or think that he was grateful to the enemy who constantly inflicted pain - not necessarily a physical one, just because he saved him from his own deadly friend.
"Hey, I know that this is all freaking weird but you can't tell anyone," hurriedly Potter said, interjecting Severus' thoughts, "I know that this freaked you out, but you can't."
Severus had no response to that.
Potter frowned deeper.
"I'm dead serious, Snape. Just don't," warned the taller boy.
When that didn't give the response he wanted, James closed the distance between them, towering the skinny boy.
"I just saved your life, I mean, we just saved your life so don't go thinking that you might get us into troubles for this. Even you wouldn't be so shameless."
But nothing came.
James frowned, wondering if the usually spiteful boy gotten so scared that he might actually faint upright. Just when he was about to poke his finger at him to make sure, Severus gave a short nod.
"I won't tell anyone."
Whispering his fragile answer, the Slytherin boy distanced himself from James and walked away. The bespectacled boy tilted his head to a side, one eyebrow shot through the head, dumbstruck at the unexpected yet pliant response he hoped to receive.
An Imperius curse? Or there might have been some sort of accident during potion class that perhaps changed his personality.
A suspicious look adorned his handsome features, eyeing the twitchy little spider-like boy.
Was there a curse that changes personality? Or perhaps the essence of one's soul?
But then there was a squeal from behind, letting him know that Peter got really scared, and he turned away to help his friends.
Yet the look on Snape's face was so unfamiliar, so unusual that it lingered on his mind even long afterward.
Hey, I'm back with a James x Severus fiction.
Hope this will be fun for you!
Thanks for reading.