Title: Fool
Author: Ligeia
Pairing: SS/LP
Rating: G
Word Count: 248
Summary: "Why should I be any different?"
A/N: Contains spoilers for Deathly Hallows
All characters in the Harry Potter universe belong to JK Rowling. I'm just a devoted fan with an overactive imagination.
Severus Snape was in detention. Filch had caught him standing in front of the entrance to Gryffindor Tower past bedtime and had been only too happy to report him to his Head of House. Who, on the other hand, hadn't been happy at all: after turning a blind eye on Snape's night trip to the Whomping Willow just a few weeks before, he had expected a more respectful behaviour.
So now he was in the Potions classroom, polishing cauldrons while all the other students were probably outside enjoying the sunny afternoon.
Bits of conversation from the previous night kept popping up in his mind. He tried to push them away, but one was more insistent than the others.
"Why should I be any different?"
The words he had never managed to say were still stuck in his throat.
Because I lo-
He pressed his lips firmly together and went on scrubbing. He didn't need a Mudblood friend. This obsession had to stop. But even as he repeated that over and over in his head, images of Lily materialised in front of him. Her long red hair that sometimes got stuck under the strap of her bag. Her brilliant smile, a sight that could brighten up even the worst of his days. Her eyes. Her beautiful green eyes, the only ones that had never looked at him with pity.
He slumped forward, his hooked nose barely an inch from the wooden surface of the table.
He was a fool.
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July 2007