Please

Confrontation

    "Severus!" James Potter calls out, practically running toward the Slytherin. He turns on his heel quickly, and walks out of the Great Hall briskly. Stupid Potter has been trying to talk to him for a month now, since the Hallowe'en incident, but Severus has mostly been successful in avoiding him and Remus. Every now and then one of them will spot him and try to catch him to talk, like now, but he always slips away. Until now, apparently. "Severus Snape, you get back here right now! I need to talk to you!" He quickens his pace, but a determined Gryffindor is nothing compared to his speed. It's only a matter of moments before Potter grabs his wrist tightly. He yanks his arms away, but James doesn't release him. "Severus."
"Let go of me. Now." He spits out venomously.
"No. This is the only way you will pay any attention to me. I'm sorry, but we really need to talk."
"We don't need to talk, Potter." Severus notices James flinch ever so slightly at the use of his last name, but he ignores it. "Your best mate is an asshole, Remus is helplessly in love with him, and Pettigrew misses having your attention. Things should just go back to how they were. That includes the pranks."
"I'm not going to go back to pranking you, Severus! And that's not only because of Dumbledore's new rule. You're a good person. It was stupid of me to ever hurt you like that. I got so caught up in Lily, it didn't cross my mind that you could be hurting. And if I had known about your father, I never would have started. Sirius wouldn't have either!" The Slytherin pulls out his wand and aims it at James's throat in one swift movement.
"Stop acting like you care! It's messing with my head! At least when you were constantly toying with me, I knew how you felt about me! Now I have no idea! You're James Potter, a Gryffindor, so obviously you still hate me, but you act like you don't! And it's maddening! I don't think I can keep my sanity if you continue all of this kindness! So just leave me be, okay!?" He attempts to yank his arm away again, and the hazel-eyed boy is so shocked he releases him easily. Severus's bottom lip trembles once, and he brings his hand up to wipe away the tears threatening to fall. He turns and just runs, not caring where he's going or where he'll wind up. He can hear footfalls behind him, but he doesn't turn his head to see who it is. It's probably Potter, anyway. He doesn't stop until he practically slams into the entrance to the Slytherin common room. He mumbles out the password, and slips in before Potter can catch up with him. Or, so he thought. A hand reaches out and grabs a handful of his robes, stopping his fleeing. "Let go of me! Why can't you stop being stubborn for a single moment in your life!? I want to be left alone!" He flails about, and manages to wiggle out of his robes in a matter of seconds. He runs for his dorm room, not caring that his past tormentor now has his wand and a way to force him to talk if he wants either of his things back.
"Severus! You shouldn't be al-" the door closes in Potter's face, cutting him off. The Slytherin doesn't stop moving until he is on his bed, hugging his pillow to his chest tightly. He lets out a shaky noise, and he can't tell if it's a laugh or a sob.
"Stupid stubborn Gryffindor." He closes his eyes tightly, deciding class is the last thing he wants to do today. It isn't long before he's drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

"Ow, what the hell?" Severus grumbles as he is rudely woken up by an owl pecking at his forehead. He sighs when he recognizes James's handwriting on the parcel, reading 'At least eat something. It's been a month since I've seen you in the Great Hall. I can only hope the House Elves have been feeding you.' He closes his eyes and rubs his temples, shaking his head. There's two rolls of parchment as well; one is the daily apology, that he's sure of. It's the second one he doesn't want to know the contents of. He carefully takes the items, and opens the parcel to reveal a breakfast meal. He can't help but laugh bitterly. There's definitely too much for him to eat, which is really, obnoxiously sweet. He gives the owl some of the bacon, and tells him to wait. He writes out a quick note thanking him for the over abundance of food, and explaining that he doesn't feel mentally well at the moment, so he apologizes for not having read either note, but he will. Eventually. He ties it to the owl's leg, thanks him, and sends him off with more bacon.
He stares at the food for a long moment. He's being ridiculous, not wanting to eat it when Potter went through the trouble to send it to him. He decides to eat a little bit as he writes a short letter to the headmaster. A little bit turns into half of it, which turns into most of it, then into all of it. He groans when he realizes he ate all of it, and internally curses at himself for being unable to resist James's charm, even when he's not there. His eyes fall on the two rolls of parchment on his pillow. "No, Severus. You're not ready to read the mystery one. You're not. Don't open either of them. You have no idea which is which," he mumbles to himself, forcing himself to look away. He'll read them later. For now, he needs to send his letter to Dumbledore. He stands and stretches, then grabs the parchment. He reads it over quickly, making sure he put down the information that he will be unable to attend classes until further notice, and requesting he be allowed to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, instead of going to the Potter's. He nods when he's sure that's how he wants it worded, and rushes out to get to the owlery before classes are dismissed.