A/N: Basically, I was bored and decided that I wanted to write a drabble, and this little piece came to be. It's short, but that's what drabbles are, right? R&R if you wish; let me know if it's any good!
Disclaimer: Characters not mine.
They weren't supposed to be together, really. If you'd read the story books, you'd know. The girl falls in love with the best friend, not the guy who bullies the best friend. You know, the guy she's been friends with since she was a little girl? The guy who's always loved her, even since they were that young. You know, that guy who was friends with her even when she was put into different classes and made different friends at school. If you're going by the book, that's the guy who should get the girl, right?
Well, fairy tales don't always happen now, do they? All relationships have troubles, right? But in those story books, those dreaded romance novels and princess stories, the girl and guy can always work it out. Maybe the girl can't bring herself to forgive the guy. Maybe the guy can't bring himself to change. Maybe he doesn't want to change. And maybe he won't realize what a mistake he's made until it's far too late.
But even if the guy and the girl who were destined to be don't get their happy ending, why should the arrogant bully get the girl? Did Gaston get Belle in the muggle tale of Beauty and the Beast? Then why should James get Lily in this story? He was a big-headed, bullying fool. He treated Severus like dirt. How on earth did he deserve the beautiful Lily? That wasn't how the story was supposed to go. Well, maybe the stories didn't count on the "villain" changing his ways in order to win over the girl's heart.
The villain isn't supposed to change. He's supposed to be evil forever. That's the way the story goes, isn't it? But the story doesn't count on the villain and the hero changing places, does it? Maybe the so-called hero, the best friend, the one who was supposed to win the girl's heart, made a mistake. Maybe he sold out for power, out of fear. Maybe he doesn't realize how very wrong he is. And maybe he's joined forces with the real villain, the supreme villain. The one who has gone far beyond schoolyard bullying.
And as for the bully, our former "villain?" Maybe he finally got his head screwed on straight. Maybe he finally realized what a prat he'd been for all those years. Maybe he discovered the way to the girl's heart. Maybe underneath the teasing was a good heart, noble, loyal, and true. He was a Gryffindor, after all. And even though it's not how the story was supposed to go, maybe in the end, he gets the girl.
But even the "villain-turned-hero", James Potter, didn't get his happy ending with Lily Evans Potter. They were killed by the "supreme villain", Lord Voldemort, partially on information given to them by the "hero-turned-villain", Severus Snape. His mistakes came back to haunt him. The girl he had always loved, the girl anyone would think he was destined to be with from the beginning, had not only chosen his enemy over him, but she had also ended up killed by the very man that had inadvertently caused him to lose her as a friend in the first place.
However much he wanted to blame Voldemort, or that wretched Potter boy, Severus couldn't lie: it was his own mistakes that had gotten him here. Had he been able to see clearly, past the glamour of violence and power, been able to stand up to his fears, had he been able to steer clear of the peer pressure, he would've probably ended up with her, wouldn't he have? He, Severus, the best friend, would have won her over before James Potter even had a chance to see the error in his ways. That's the way the story was supposed to go. That's the way it would've gone, in a real fairy tale. But just because there's magic involved doesn't mean there's going to be a happy ending, and Severus Snape learned that the hard way.
A/N: That was…interesting, short, and slightly depressing. I personally am a shipper of JamesxLily, but I thought it might be interesting to look at it from this point of view. Let me know what you thought, just don't flame too badly. :)