Nightmare
In the strangest days of his life, Severus Snape couldn't quite pinpoint how he felt, but it was definitely odd. Everything was odd, and he felt odd too. Lying back in his comfortable, soft bed, he successfully ignored the ramblings of Black, who was nestled next to him, and reviewed the facts at hand: Lily, the only person who had ever shown him any closeness, the magnificent creature he was hopelessly in love with, was now dating Potter. It meant that Lily had never really valued him; at best, she had pitied him. Why else would someone date the sworn enemy of a friend they supposedly cared about? Severus knew he wouldn't do it. Or would he? He didn't know; he'd never had a friend whose loss he feared. Moreover, dwelling on this point was pointless. If Lily had been afraid of losing him, she wouldn't have sought to separate over ridiculous reasons. So, it must be about Potter. Lily loved him and thought Severus was in the way. She had taken the smallest outburst as an excuse to cut ties and hadn't softened her stance. What a painful realization! Snape felt his heart constricting and racing with pain. He was so immersed in his agony that he didn't hear Black asking, "What’s up, Prongs? What's bothering you?" The thought of losing Lily, especially to Potter, was enough to crush him. If it had been someone else, maybe. But Potter? If she wanted Potter, she could have him. He wouldn't beg for a girl who neither wanted nor loved him. He had his pride. He would join the Dark Lord and become the most powerful. Then, no one would mock him. Those spoiled, arrogant kids would treat him with the respect and fear he deserved. If they didn't love him, then let them fear him!
He shook his head in denial, continuing to analyze his situation. There was a girl, Carmen. she was attracted to him. Now, that was interesting! What had she found appealing in him? She was indeed very beautiful. Yet, as if it wasn’t enough for Potter to take Lily away from him, he had also spouted nonsense to Carmen, driving her away. In truth, he didn’t care about her beauty or her feelings. However, he had enjoyed that a girl Black liked had shown interest in him. She could save him from being a wallflower at dances. But he dismissed this thought too. Dances could be a concern for another time. He doubted Carmen Cypress would want to see him again anyway.
While Black continued to prattle happily beside him, he heard words like ‘Moony’, ‘when Peter returns’, ‘as the full moon approaches’, and kept thinking. There was also the strange situation he found himself in. He had swapped places with Potter. Naturally, if he didn’t want to be expelled from school, he couldn’t tell anyone about this situation, nor did he have any idea how to escape it. Being in Potter’s guise, he was technically dating Lily. However, this situation was far from pleasing. He didn’t want to see Lily. No, even if she came back saying, ‘Severus, please forgive me. Let’s get married,’ it wouldn’t change anything. She had betrayed him! The only person he trusted and loved throughout his life had favoured Potter, his constant tormentor. This was unforgivable! Despite the heartache, he would not return to her, not even look at her face. But if he could manage, he would separate them. He wouldn’t watch snot-nosed Potter’s happiness while he suffered in misery. Being in Potter’s guise could work to his advantage in this situation. On the other hand, Potter was now with his family, who knew what chaos he was causing. He had seen how Severus lived and the state of his life. Once things went back to normal, he could tell the whole school about his wretched situation and humiliate him. No, he must forget James Potter for now. He was far away, at Spinner's End, and had to fend for himself. Anyway, his relationship with his family couldn’t get worse than it already was in reality.
Let's come to the present... Where was he? In the magnificent house, no, rather in the manors of the Potters. Lying in Potter's magnificent bed, in his magnificent room, he was trying to soothe his pains while examining everything around him. Everyone was fussing over him, everything was at his service. Actually, the only things not magnificent here were the miserable Black sitting beside him and the unnecessary Gryffindor posters on the walls. Gold and red, such effeminate colours! Just perfect for Potter. How should he feel? Happy and peaceful, or wretched and gloomy? After all, he had taken Potter's place. None of these preparations were for him. The preparations likely made for him would probably involve a nice ass beating from Tobias Snape and ingeniously crafted insults. Should he be happy now? Should he relish this moment? Was his only shortfall compared to Potter not being able to fly well enough on a broom? Was all the terrible treatment he had endured throughout his life because of this? They might not have been rich, but he also deserved that love, that attention. More than Potter. He was better, smarter than that conceited little brat. Really, what was so special about him? He scrunched his face. His head ached. Biting his tongue to stop himself from yelling 'SHUT UP!' at Black, who was still rambling about something.
***
Nightmare! Yes, this had to be a nightmare! Surely it was a nightmare! Nightmare, nightmare! Definitely a nightmare! Merlin! In the name of Merlin's chubby cheeks! Even in the name of Merlin's sagging eye bags! What was he doing here? Here, in Snivellus's house?
The woman hadn't even paused once to ask, 'my child, what's wrong with you?' No, she had mumbled, or rather grumbled something like 'upstairs, now!' That disgusting woman, except for her nose and eyebrows, was the spitting image of Snape. This alone was reason enough to hate her, but she had also locked him in this dreadful, moldy, nearly furniture-less room, taking away his wand and all his books. And she locked the door with a key, not with a spell! James had seen these things at Lily's house, they were used to lock doors, they were Muggle things. But the woman was a witch, why was she using a key? Just to infuriate him even more?
To rest his aching body, he moved towards the only piece of furniture in the room, a couch that looked like it could collapse at any moment. But it was so filthy that he recoiled at the thought of lying down on it. Now, he was perched awkwardly at the very edge of the couch. He was extremely angry. Why was he locked up? And without his wand, no less! The windows were also barred with huge grills. There was no way out of the room. James didn't like being trapped. James Potter meant freedom. He felt like he was suffocating.
This feeling of suffocation dissipated hours later with a loud noise coming from downstairs. James immediately ran to the door and pressed his ear against it, trying to catch as much sound as he could. He could hear a man and Eileen Snape shouting, surprised that Mrs. Snape could make noises other than grumbling. It was impossible to understand what they were saying. The man's voice – whom James suspected was Mr. Snape – sounded more like roaring than talking or arguing. The intermittent thuds, bangs, and crashes suggested either the man was breaking everything in sight, or – and this was a dreadful thought – he might be beating the woman! Nightmare, nightmare! Merlin, what have I gotten into? Nightmare, nightmare…