Chapter 2
James POV
For some reason that James couldn't explain, he felt bad for what he was about to do to Snape. Surely this was going too far, right? He was about to let Snape go, but looking around at the crowd, at his boyfriends’ faces… he had to make them laugh. He had to. That’s his job.
Laughing loudly, trying to cover up his guilt, he dropped Snape’s trousers, the boy’s face going completely red. He dropped him to the ground, as gently as he could without it seeming odd and fell into the crowd with Remus’ arm coming to settle on his back. He knew something was up.
Lily, furious, threatened the crowd with detention for a month if they didn’t leave. She could be scary when she was angry. Even so, Sirius still yelled over the crowd, spitting insults at Snape whilst Lily yelled back at him. James felt very, very uncomfortable. He couldn’t even begin to imagine how awful Snape felt..
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As the evening went on, James tried his best to keep up with Sirius’ energy, but he noticed that Snape was absent from the Great Hall at dinner. No one else seemed to notice.
“Hey moony, can I borrow the map?” James whispered to Remus, making sure Sirius wasn't listening.
“Yeah sure, what's up?” Remus looked at him worriedly.
“Nothing, just need to check something…”
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With the map tucked in his back pocket, James made his way up to the astronomy tower, trying to be quick, but not caught. He didn’t want people staring at him, wondering if he was up to his usual pranking tendencies.
When he reached the door, he opened it slightly, just enough to see Snape sat on the edge staring at the grounds beneath them. As quietly as he could, he entered the tower, trying his hardest to not disturb the peaceful boy.
Clearly, his efforts didn’t work very well. Snape looked up at him, glaring at him through those beautiful eyes. Wait. Beautiful? Where did that thought come from…
“Piss of Potter, I can’t stand looking at you right now.” Snape spat at him. James noticed his eyes were red and puffy, he’d obviously been crying.
“I just wanted to apologise, I know I went a bit too far.” James walked towards him slowly, trying not to spook him.
“I don’t want your apology, I want you to leave me alone!” Snape snapped back, his hand reaching for his wand. Instead of reacting, he just continued to walk towards him, prepared for whatever it was that Snape was going to throw at him. He knew he deserved it.
It happened too quickly, one second Snape was perched on the edge of the tower, the next he was stood and James was dangling over the edge, only being supported by the magic from Snape’s wand. Fear spread through him, his glasses threatening to fall off his face.
“What the fuck? Snape what the fuck!?”
“You don’t understand how hard you’ve made it for me, Potter. What happened today was just the tip of the iceberg. They hate me! All day I see them, whispering, laughing, throwing things at me! You don’t understand what that’s like! You don’t get it!”
“Snape I’m sorry! I’m so sorry but please- please let me up!”
Snape just laughed. “Let you back up? Really? Begging isn’t going to do anything Potter, it just makes you look pathetic!”
James didn’t know why, maybe it was due to the fear of him falling, but those words did something to him.. Something that could potentially be rather embarrassing. As Snape went to say more, the door to the tower burst open again and James' saviour, Remus Lupin barged through.