James/Severus conflict

[joeblackish at yahoo.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 30532


I realize that the topic of what could have caused such intense enmity 
between James/MWP and Severus has been covered quite thoroughly on 
this list, but as far as I know, this suggestion has not been brought 
up yet -

Rather than imagining the source of the problems be a fight over a 
girl, does anyone think it could have something to do with jealousy of 
another sort?

Let me explain...what if James and Severus were childhood playmates 
whose friendship ended badly when then came to Hogwarts and were 
sorted into different houses.  Or maybe they met on the Hogwarts 
Express and enjoyed a friendly spare time aquaintance during their 
first year/few months/whatever at Hogwarts until James made new 
friends with some kids in his house.

I could see Severus being so hurt by James's abandonment that he would 
spend an incredible amount of energy dwelling on his hatred for 
James's new friends.  

I think this fits.  Severus's intense feelings of disgust towards MWPP 
could be perfectly well explained by jealousy over a lost friendship.  
His hatred for Sirius Black suggests a grudge carried over from 
childhood, and while I think that the almost-killing-him is enough to 
cause that grudge, I have always gotten the feeling that there was a 
lot more to it than that.  Can't you just see Severus hating Sirius 
with such a passion all those years in Hogwarts because he stole his 
best friend?

Abandoning old friends when new ones come along is typical behavior 
for children of this age, and it would be especially natural for 
childhood wizard friends to drift apart once they come to Hogwarts 
considering the amount of time they all seem to spend with their 
houses.  

This would also explain why Sirius, although he clearly doesn't like 
Snape, does not seem to mirror the passionate hatred Snape displays 
for him.  Snape to him is just an annoyance, not an object of 
jealousy.

And Harry, looking so much like James, would be a constant reminded of 
that first good friend who betrayed him.  Now Snape has a chance to 
get back at him, to torture the child James in his memory, to make him 
feel just as awful as James made he himself feel as a child by 
torturing poor Harry in class.  It's his first chance at vengance.  

But then at the same time, although he resents James so much, he has 
not totally let go of his affections for him, and that is why he goes 
so far out of his way to protect Harry all the time.  He could not 
bear to