Not the Same(James Potter Fanfiction)

Chapter 3- Skipping Stones

          I sat in the common room, pondering my newest "issue" of sorts. Why is it that Potter picks on Severus? Is it because of Lily? Because I can not imagine bullying someone for six years because of a crush, then again I can't even imagine having a crush for that long. As I wonder, my sympathy towards Severus deepens. He and I were friends, just not extraordinarily close, and even so I worry for him often. I honestly believe Potters non-stop assitry affects him more than even he knows. The only reason I don't hate Evans is because I can see how much she's trying to stop Potter. But I'm not sure Potter will stop. I've been to the Potter christmas parties, and from what I can see, he's blessed. His parents adore him and they have substantial amount of wealth. Not to say I'm not blessed, but I have a good idea of what Severus goes through at Hogwarts.
I walked through the school. I'm not quite sure when I started walking, but I didn't stop. I was a bit too worried about Severus's situation, but was quickly brought back to earth by none other than the Gideon Prewett.
"My, my, what's got the Viper all fluster today?"
"Nothing more than a friends toxic situation." I replied to the tall ginger.
"Is that so? Who in this world has the absolute honor of taking up your time?" Gideon continued to mock me as we walked through the school's entrance, into the courtyard.
"Considering your history of picking on the weak, I'm not necessarily inclined to tell you."
"Aw, come on now, this may be hard to believe, but I'm not trying to hurt anybody."
"Oh really? Then I guess it must just come naturally to you."
"I can't really argue with you on that one." He shrugged it off, "But honestly, I'd really appreciate if you'd tell me. I don't want to make anyones life harder than it already is. I really am just trying to make a few people laugh in hard times." At his little speech, I sighed.
"I know that, it isn't actually you or your brother, I just decided to give you a hard time." By know we had began a stroll around the Black Lake. It went silent for a bit, until we made it to about a hundred yards from the dock of the lake. I stopped walking, and started attempting to skip rocks. I'm not good or even remotely decent at it, but it calms me. "It's Severus," I broke the silence, as Gideon watched me, intently awaiting my continuation, "what the Marauders do to him, by this point, is majorly unprovoked and loathsome. I can't always be with Severus, so I can't protect him, and I certainly can't convince the Marauders to stop. And the worst part about it is-" I stopped, wondering if I should continue. "Gideon, I'll slaughter you if you tell anyone I said this, and that's not a joke."
"Tell anyone you said what?"
I wait for a moment, weighing his trustworthiness. On one hand, this is my second time ever talking to him, on the other hand, I really need to let out my suspicions.
"Okay," I begin, having already decided, "understand everything I am about to say is baseless, unconfirmed, and as a result, not necessarily true. But, I think he may be abused at home."
Gideon's eyes widen at this, as he begins to sputter out, "W-what? W-why would you think that?"
I sighed once again, and bent down to pick up a particularly smooth and flat rock, and try to skip it, only for it to quickly sink through the surface of the water. "I really don't have any solid proof, and I'm not about to take away his possible solace at this school, and away from them, by bringing it up. But at the very least, it's an unhealthy relationship. I've never met Severus's parents, so I can't be sure, but that's part of why. I've never actually seen them. He's also never gone home for Christmas. And he doesn't talk about them openly, but I've heard him make comments here and there. Actually, wait, he went back for Christmas once. It was year two, and he came back the day before Christmas Eve and I didn't see any visible marks, I don't think. But I remember thinking he was moving funny, I can't remember what he did that made me think that, but I felt scared for him that day." After my word vomit, Gideon just stood there, stunned. After a long silence, filled with the plopping sound of rocks entering the water, he spoke out.
"I don't understand why you noticed him so much." He remarked.
"I used to like him in years one through three."
"Really?"
"Is it that shocking?"
"Well, I mean he's-"
"Kind" I cut him off, while throwing another stone. "He's kind."
"Are you blind?" He questioned, incredulously.
I just rolled my eyes at that, "I never said he was conventionally kind. Nor that he's kind to everyone. Then, I'd be blind. He's a bit anti-social as well, but you can see when he cares for someone, he really cares. Six years he's been bullied for liking Lily, and unlike all other males at this school, that didn't stop him from pursuing her. He's braver than you give him credit for. Consistently and constantly being attacked because of who he likes, and not wavering. He treats Lily well too, you can tell when they interact that he doesn't want to hurt her. And from half way through year one, to a quarter of the way through year four, I mindlessly and idiotically stared after him, wishing he'd look my way. That's why I liked him. I saw him treat Lily a way I used to wish people would treat me. I wanted to be someone's princess, for lack of a better term."
"You wanted to be treated like a princess?"
"Yes, Gideon," I reply, unimpressed, "believe it or not, despite the fact that I can whoop ass, I do want to be treasured, in a way."
"That's... surprising."
"Why?"
"I'm not sure why I didn't think of it, the thought just never came up. Is there a reason why you want to e cherished so badly?"
"That's for another time, dinner is about to start."
Gideon nodded and we began to make our way back to the castle. "By the way, how did you do on the potions test?"
"Well, I went in knowing a totally of three things we learned this chapter, and left with a low Outstanding. So I got really lucky." Gideon laughed at this, and in a somewhat comforting way, his laugh echoed through the empty entrance hall.