It seemed as if Transfiguration class had gone on forever. It had taken Lily nearly an hour to turn her goblet of water to wine, especially with obnoxious James Potter and his friends teasing her at the table behind her. Sev, who only needed about five minutes to turn the clear liquid to a deep red, stayed silent for the rest of the period, glaring at his books as he tried to ignore the sneers of Potter.

When they were finally let out for the passing period, James shouted over his shoulder, "Bye Evans, Snivellus!" as he slung an arm around his current girlfriend, Laura Wellington. She laughed along with him, as did Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Remus Lupin, who seemed to be ignoring the situation, shook his head, and stuck his head in a book.

"He's going to push me over the edge," Sev snarled, as he furiously threw his bag down under a tree down by the lake, "and when that happens, he's going to need more than his cocky cronies!"

Sev looked round at Lily, who was staring at Potter tickling the giant squid across the lake a few meters away. She was glaring at him, but those green eyes didn't seem to be holding anger. She was looking at him with a certain curious expression, as if she was studying his actions. However, Sev didn't think she was angry enough about Potter's mockery; how could she being looking at him with such softness when he just spent an hour and a half mercilessly teasing the both of them?

Without thinking, he lashed out. "How can you look at him like that? Why would you fancy him after all that he's done to you?"

Lily's green eyes snapped off of Potter and narrowed on Sev. "What are you talking about? I don't fancy Potter; he's a slimy git!"

"Then why were you looking at him like that?" snapped Sev viciously, causing her to turn a light pink.

"I – I wasn't looking at him in any kind of way!" she stammered angrily. "Why – " She stared at him in the same curious way she had done to Potter just a few moments ago and realization crossed her face.

"Merlin, Sev. You're jealous."

Sev felt the heat rise to all regions of his body as he tried to look away from those piercingly beautiful green eyes. "No, I'm not! I just don't think you should get involved with Potter, of all people! He's been mocking us since the day we arrived at this school!"

"Sev," she grabbed his hand, squeezing it gently as she met his eyes. "I promise you, I don't have any kind of romantic feelings toward Potter. The only strong feelings I have toward him is hatred." She looked back at Potter, but this time, her eyes were full of resentment. Sev felt a bit better, but he still didn't fully believe her.

And why shouldn't she like Potter? Other than the fact that he was an arrogant prat, he actually possessed a great number of friends. Many of the girls in their year would kill to have a chance to go out with him. He had top grades, one of the best in their year, and many of the professors admired him for it. And on top of all that, he was Chaser for the Gryffindor Quidditch Team.

"Sev?"

Sev was thrust out of his thoughts and found Lily staring at him once more. "Do you understand me? I need you to know that it won't matter how many times Potter asks me out, I'll never give him a chance." She smiled at him, and squeezed his hand once more, looking back at Potter, who had an arm around Laura Wellington once again.

"Besides, it seems like he's finally found someone who can tolerate him," said Lily. "Merlin, I thought Laura was at least remotely clever…"

Sev gave her a small smile at her sneer toward Potter, feeling less rejected and more hopeful.

They stood up and rushed up the hill back to the school as the bell rang once more. Sev looked back on Potter and his friends for a last time, and then at Lily in front of him. He smiled a bit bigger, finally realizing he had something Potter didn't.