Severus's fork hung poised above his bacon, forgotten as he glared across the Great Hall. His eyes were locked spitefully onto the figure of a black-haired girl, who was smiling as she listened intently to the blue-eyed boy beside her.
She could be his. She should be his. Even with his parents, his lineage demanded far greater respect and privilege than he received.
He would have her.
Across the hall, the girl began to laugh.
Severus threw down his fork. Standing abruptly, he turned and swept from the hall.
*****
Striding angrily through the corridors, Severus searched for a bathroom. On the second floor he found one- the Ravenclaw prefects bathroom, to be precise. The fact that he was neither a prefect nor a Ravenclaw didn't bother him.
He walked into the bathroom, locked the door, and began searching. He located the potions he was looking for- one a pearlescent green, the other transparent pink- and that morning, Severus Snape did something he had not done since before the term started.
He washed his hair.
Scrubbing vigorously, he fantasised about what he'd like to do to Black once the girl was on his side.
By the time he rinsed out the conditioner, Severus was smiling. Even when the prefects began thumping on the door, he hardly noticed. He threw the towel onto the tiles, opened the door and swept past the astonished prefects. He nearly laughed.
Nothing could spoil this day.
Severus had a plan.
*****
On Saturday morning, Severus made his move.
"Hello Rigella."
The girl looked up from her Herbology assignment.
"Severus Snape," he told her in the same soft voice. He offered a hand, which she took, standing slowly from her seat in the library.
He smiled slightly. "Pardon me, but I couldn't help noticing that you seem to rather excel at Potions."
"I wouldn't put it quite like that," she laughed, "It's just one of my strong subjects."
Severus smiled. Flattery would get you everywhere. "Listen, I was wondering if you got the notes on the Skewif Solution from yesterday…"
Severus had to stop himself from laughing out loud as they sat down. Flattery never failed. This was going to be easier than he thought.
*****
Sirius wandered casually into the library just after breakfast on Monday. Stuffed full of sausages and pancakes, he picked absently at his teeth as he searched uninterestedly through the shelves, looking for a spare copy of the Transfiguration set text.
He rounded the end of the aisle and stopped dead.
Severus Snape was standing by a table at one end of the library, leaning on it as though fascinated by the books spread out before him. He wasn't alone, though.
Rigella sat in the chair in front of Sirius, twisting around to face Snape, her hair falling around her face and shoulders like silk as she smiled up at him.
Snape was leaning in towards her, his hair, looking clean for once, hanging like a dark shroud across his face.
Their eyes seemed to lock. His fingers brushed hers, and he stared into her eyes in a way that was too familiar.
Suddenly someone's watch beeped and the school bell rang. Looking slightly embarrassed, the two began hastily packing away their books and parchment.
Sirius felt some hot emotion begin to build inside him. Rage, hate and- jealousy? Impossible. He never had and never would have any reason to be jealous of Snape! But it was there.
As they finally stood to leave, Rigella turned to Snape.
"So… tomorrow, then?"
"Tomorrow," Snape said softly, reaching out to brush a strand of hair from her face. Rigella's expression was unreadable.
As soon as Rigella had left the library, Sirius began to run towards Snape. His heart was pounding so hard it seemed to be trying to punch a hole in his chest.
He caught up with Snape as the boy reached the corridor, and he didn't waste time with wands. Instead, Sirius grabbed the front of Snape's robes and slammed him against the wall.
"You bastard," he hissed. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!?"
A slow smile crept across Snape's face. "Remedial Potions," he said greasily.
The smile disappeared as Sirius rammed him against the wall so hard his head bounced.
"You think this is funny, Snivillus? You think you can use her until you get bored, and then just throw her away? She's above you, Snape, you slimy git!"
"Or is she above you?" Snape seemed completely unperturbed by the fact that Sirius face was only an inch from his. "The way I see it, the great Sirius Black can't cope with the knowledge that someone else can achieve what he can't. That I have what he wants."
Sirius howled in fury as his fist connected with Snape's jaw. Over and over he hit him; he wanted to hit him until he cried, hit him until he took it all back. He wanted to-
"SIRIUS!!!"
The world slowly came back into focus. The corridor was full of students on their way to class, all of whom had stopped to stare as Sirius satiated his rage. He turned back to Snape, wanting to kill him, not caring whether people saw or not, and realised why he had stopped.
Holding him back were not only Peter, Remus and James, but Ravenclaw seventh year Elijah Nickles, and Tobias Chang, a grey-eyed sixth year from the Gryffindor Quidditch team.
"Sirius, you've got to stop! I don't know what he said, but at any moment Madame Pince is going to come and find out what the noise is all about. If they find you, you'll have detention for a month!" Remus's face was anxious and strained from the effort of holding him back. "Please, Sirius."
Sirius struggled for a moment, and then sagged weakly against the others.
"Ok," he panted, "ok…"
Slowly, to boys let him go.
Sirius turned back to Snape, who was huddled on the floor nursing a split lip.
"You touch her," he hissed dangerously, stabbing the air with a finger as though hoping to impale the cowering boy with it, "one more time, and I will kill you."
Shaking off James's hand, he turned and stormed away.
*****
Disclaimer: we all know the drill, I'm not JK, got it? Good. Umm… yeah…Thanks to everyone who actually bothers to read and review this. If you read it, but don't review it… um… please review! Bring the feedback! lol! Thanks!
LOL (Lots Of Love, not laughs out loud, in case you're interested)
Rigel!
