Making it into the top ten is a man whose loyalties were questioned and ultimately proved after his horrific death, Professor Severus Snape. His early childhood was full of unknown horror, fear and loss, and his teenage and adult lives appear to have followed the same pattern. Born to a witch, Eileen Prince, and a Muggle, Tobias Snape, Severus was a shy child who didn't have many friends, he did, however, befriend a young girl who lived close to his family, Lily Evans, more famously known as Lily Potter. The friendship between the two began with Snape revealing to Lily that she was a witch, and continued on into their Hogwarts years, despite being sorted into Slytherin and Gryffindor respectively.

"Severus was a smart student. He did all the work he was set." Professor McGonagall recalls fondly. "He and Lily were very close friends, and remained as such despite being sorted into Slytherin and Gryffindor."

"Severus was excellent at Potions from the beginning," says Professor Horace Slughorn, Potions Master and Head of Slytherin House. "He was a bright boy and I was proud to have him in my house."

Despite the praise of his teachers and the friendship of Lily Evans, Severus was bullied by many of his fellow students, mainly the Gryffindor boys James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. The hostility between the boys began as soon as they started Hogwarts and lasted right up until graduation.

"They never got along," remembers Arthur Weasley, a sixth year when Severus began Hogwarts. "I'm not sure why, though. I think that they just really, really didn't like each other. But perhaps it went deeper than that. I know that Severus was jealous of the four of them for various reasons, and I reckon his hatred of them stemmed from that jealousy."

"The amount of times that I or another teacher had to break up a fight between them, or stop them torturing Severus, was unbelievable," sighs Professor Flitwick, Charms professor and Head of Ravenclaw. "Mostly it was James and Sirius who did the… torturing but Peter would usually join in. Remus was probably the only one who didn't pick a fight with him or attack him for no reason, but at the same time he didn't stop them."

"The fights were always bad and it wasn't easy for the teachers to stop them," says Anne Downham, a Gryffindor student in the same year as the boys. "I remember that Lily could always stop the fights, but that was because Snape didn't like upsetting her, and James liked pleasing her. I reckon that Snape started creating his own spells just so that he could get the upper hand in their fights. But, of course, the Marauders caught up with him quickly. They were all evenly matched."

Throughout his years at Hogwarts, Severus was close friends with Lily Evans until one fateful day in their fifth year, just after their Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL exam. James Potter and Sirius Black were once again messing around with Severus when Lily came to his rescue. Severus, in the heat of the moment, called his best friend a 'Mudblood' and everything came crashing down.

"After that Lily started ignoring him, as much as it pained her to do, and James got more confident around her," says Professor McGonagall. "It broke Severus' heart to lose her as his dearest friend, but Lily just couldn't forgive him for that."

It was after this that Severus decided to join the Death Eaters,. He very quickly rose through the ranks of the Death Eaters until You Know Who trusted him completely.

"The Dark Lord trusted Snape without a doubt," claims a Death Eater whose name has been withheld at his request. "The Dark Lord believed that Snape was a valuable asset to us but in the end, he wasn't."

When the now famous prophecy about Harry Potter became known and You Know Who assumed that it meant the Potters, Severus attempted to save Lily by begging for her life. You Know Who agreed to spare her life so long as she didn't get in the way.

"He begged for my mother's life because he loved her," says Harry Potter. "Severus loved her and he didn't want her killed, and so he begged for her. Severus didn't care if me and my father were killed, just so long as my mother wasn't harmed. Of course, this didn't happen and Severus lost complete faith in Voldemort and turned to Dumbledore, who gave him a job and trusted him."

After the downfall of You Know Who, Severus took the job of Potions Master and Head of Slytherin house at Hogwarts and began to build a new life. When You Know Who once again rose to power Severus did the unthinkable. He became a double agent: he spied on You Know Who for Dumbledore, while pretending to spy on Dumbledore for You Know Who.

"Severus was incredibly brave doing what he did," says Harry Potter. "He knew what he was doing and he knew what would happen to him should Voldemort ever find out. He was the bravest man I have ever known."

Many people agree with Harry Potter's opinion on Severus despite Severus murdering Professor Albus Dumbledore.

"Severus had to kill him," states Harry Potter. "Dumbledore had made him swear it and he Severus kept his promises. Dumbledore was dying all throughout that year and he didn't want to force a boy to kill him. And so he asked a man he trusted with his life to take it away from him and to, in Dumbledore's words, save him."

Severus Snape was, after that incident, shunned by everyone in the Order of the Phoenix. He was made Headmaster of Hogwarts and had to deal with rebellion from almost every student. Most notably Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood.

"We had no idea that he was actually on our side," says Ginny Weasley. "We believed, as did everyone else, that he was a Death Eater and that he had killed Dumbledore. Of course, he really did kill Dumbledore but he was no Death Eater."

"If we had known at the time that Snape was on our side we probably would have left him alone and concentrated on annoying the Slytherins," says Neville Longbottom. "He had always been a bit scary and mean but he was, in the end, on our side and I'm sorry that we tormented him. I just wish that we had known."

"I always liked him." Luna Lovegood states simply and claims that she has nothing else to say because then she'd just be repeating Ginny and Neville.

When the Battle at Hogwarts began Severus left the castle and joined up with You Know Who in the Shrieking Shack. It was there in the dilapidated old house that Severus Snape was killed.

"Voldemort believed that Snape was the master of the Elder Wand and killed him in the most horrible way. Voldemort allowed his snake, Nagini, to attack and fatally wound Severus, and then left him there to die. I was with him when he died, and he just looked so broken and empty." Harry Potter blinks rapidly to get rid of the tears in his eyes. "All his life Severus had believed that he was worthless, but really he was absolutely incredible. We didn't exactly get along but despite that he was a good teacher and he did teach me and everyone else a lot of things. He was the bravest man and he didn't deserve to die in such a horrible way. I'm just glad that he's finally found some peace."

I'm sorry! It's been ages since I last updated! *hides behind the lounge* Please be nice to me... please... :)

I just got really stuck on what to write for Snape because he's such a complex character and people's opinions on him changed dramatically. I hope I did him justice.

Reviews make me type faster! Hint, hint :D