AN: Ok, the only thing I own is a rather strange sense of humor, so sue me if you can.

The Love Letter

Severus sat in a corner of the Slyterin Common Room. He was clutching tightly his Potions book, his heart beating fast. Would he finally dare to do it? He had woken up earlier than everyone that Saturday, so the Great Hall would most likely be empty. But how would that help him? He couldn't know where they were going to sit, and there was no chance of them being early for breakfast, especially on a Saturday. That lazy good for nothing Potter would definitely make sure he would arrive fashionably late, and the rest would only come if he did. Severus frowned.

Minutes crawled by, and Severus was still there, his mind on the precious piece of parchment, carefully concealed between the pages of his book. He was going to do it. He had to do it. He had kept the secret for too long. Hands trembling, he opened the Potions book again, just to make sure the piece of parchment was still there. He sighed in relief as his gaze fell on it. That was it, the big day. He had composed the letter weeks ago, and ever since he had spent every morning eyeing the Gryffindor table, wondering when and if he'll get a chance to deliver his letter. But last night he decided the waiting was over. He was going to deliver the letter, even in front of the whole school.

An hour later, noises reached him, from the boy's dormitories. Severus made a quick run to drop off his book and, carefully hiding the parchment in his robes, he made his way down to breakfast. The Hall was almost empty, except for a few overzealous Ravenclaws and a couple of sleepy looking Hufflepuffs. The food had already appeared on the table, but he couldn't swallow a thing. He just waited there, looking even more pale than usual, his gaze fixed on the Gryffindor table.

Almost another hour later, a small group made their way into the Great Hall. Lily Evans accompanied by two Gryffindor girls from her year and, as usual, right after them came James Potter, ruffling his hair, Sirius Black, the usual smile on his face, Remus Lupin, with his face buried in a book and Peter Petigrew, moving his gaze from James to Lily to Sirius, as if he expected something to happen. They all sat at their table, James immediately occupying the seat next to Lily, who decided to ignore him. Peter sat next to him, watching them both intensely. Remus and Sirius had taken the seats right in front of their two friends.

Sirius was just saying, exasperated "Seriously, Moony, do you ever do anything else BESIDES reading?" When Severus had gotten up from his seat and was walking toward their table, taking out the letter. Sweat covered his forehead and his feet seemed to tremble. He was steps away from them as Remus had retorted something about Sirius reading too little, and the fact showing on his marks, but Severus was too tense to make out exactly what he had said. Unfortunately, James noticed him before anyone else,

"Snivellus alert!" He snorted, then he noticed that the Slytherin was holding something. Not bothering to keep his voice down, he continued: "Hey, Evans, I think he wrote you a love letter!"

Pettigrew was howling with laughter, Sirius was grinning and Remus was back to his precious book.

"I fail to see what makes that your business." She snapped back, not looking at either of the two.

But Severus had stopped right behind Sirius. "Here you go, Black!" he muttered, and immediately started walking towards the exit of the Great Hall.

Surprised, the four Marauders leaned forward to read the letter. Surely, none of them were expecting what met their eyes.

Dear Sirius,

I know this may come as a surprise to you, but I must confess that which has taken me 6 years to accept. I knew it the moment I laid eyes on you, and I am certain that you must have felt something too. Your feelings are clear to me, since it wasn't hard for me to realize this was the reason behind your permanent attempts to spend time with me. I know that was the real reason why you started all those fights with me, although sadly they would always end with us cursing each other.

I hope you were not discouraged by that. I must confess, what has kept me from admitting my feelings for you was you close relationship with Potter. My jealousy has tortured me for too long, so I decided to give you this letter, with the purpose of assuring you that I fully return your feelings. Let us hide and deny the truth no longer!

I love you, now and forever!

Sincerely, Severus Snape

Moments rolled by and the four students couldn't lift their eyes from the parchment. The first to recover his voice was Sirius.

"What the…" he muttered, throwing a quick look around, but Severus had already left the room.

"He thinks you're…" But James didn't finish his sentence, being overtaken by a roar of laughter, accompanied by Peter.

Remus still sat dumbstruck, unable to articulate a word.

Before nightfall, the whole castle was flooded with copies of the letter. Many were glued to the walls and almost every student in the school had received one…