A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in so long! Hopefully you're all still interested in this.
Anyway, this chapter and the next one were requested by Nobody'sGirl101. Once again, I'm sorry it took so long for me to get to this, and I hope it was worth the wait! This is kind of similar to the last chapter, but takes place beforehand. And I tried to include a few different elements.
Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed. It means a lot. Keep it up!
Insecurities I
James Potter.
Severus could barely stand to even think the name of that arrogant git. And yet everyone else seemed to love him! How, Severus wondered, could people be so shallow? Where were they finding these redeeming qualities in him?
The teachers shouldn't like him. He was a notorious trouble maker, breaking rules left and right. And yet they all gave him that smile. The one that said, "You're full of yourself and don't give a damn about whatever anyone tells you to do, but you're so charming that I'll just have to let you get away with it." It was infuriating. Whenever Severus put even a toe out of line, he would be reprimanded immediately. No one would listen to an explanation. No one would even give a second thought to that week's worth of detentions scrubbing toilets. And yet James Potter could blow up half the Great Hall and get off with lines.
The other students adored him. He would open his mouth and say something that wasn't even witty, but he would have everyone laughing as if it was the funniest thing that they had ever heard. He could ask anyone for a favor, and they would do it. Anything to please James Potter. He had girls dropping at his feet. Any boy who was friends with him automatically developed a condescending attitude, thinking that they were such hot shit when Potter said two words to them.
Why? Severus still couldn't wrap his head around it. What could possibly be so great about him? Sure, he supposedly had nice hair, although Severus didn't agree. Having it all messed up like that just looked sloppy. He played Quidditch, but so did plenty of people. It wasn't such a bit deal. And her got decent marks in his classes…but so did Severus, and he definitely didn't have the same kind of popularity.
Severus decided that there was nothing good about James Potter. He didn't know why the whole school was so obsessed with him, and he didn't want to care. But the fact was that he did. He cared, because he was afraid. Afraid that, sooner or later, Lily would stop tiring of James' constant attempts to ask her out and start agreeing with everyone else. And then it would be too late.