I'm screwed up. Completely. So don't give me your pity. Trust me, I'll survive. I mean, I'm good at surviving. For the most part.

Everyone has some part of them that doesn't survive from childhood. Most people would call it my niceness. Ha. Nice? It was my foolishness. As a boy, I was hopeless. I was nothing. No one bothered with me. Not my parents. Not the girl I loved.

Don't worry. This isn't a poor little Snape-a-thon. She didn't deserve me. Maybe the other way around. It can get confusing.

In fact, I'm glad she ignored me. I'm glad she didn't try. 'Cause that would have changed everything. Probably would've just been in some dinky little apartment with no money, no life. Just a girl.

Well I'm pretty damn well off. I have money, power, respect. Except for the stupid Potter boy. God damn him. Perfect Potter. Same way when I was in school. Oh, everyone says those days were great. Yeah, I bet.. Yeah, life was bad then. Better now. Not much better.

Everyone loved James then. Who could blame them? Great at Quidditch, great at school. Would be a teacher's pet, but he was too popular. God, I can't stand those teacher's pets. Granger. That's the one.

So, don't think I'm doing this for pity. I'm good at surviving. For the most part.