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#also I was going to end this with Lily seeing Snape
startanewdream · 2 years
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Hey, a guy who suggested that Snape's reactions to Sirius/Lily bond here😅. First of all, THANK YOU so much😭, I'm sure this is going to be an excellent and very satisfying content to read, simply can't wait!
But since you mentioned you don't have all yet, I'd like to suggest one if you don't mind - please include a one where Order members come back from some mission (somewhen around OotP) and Sirius and Lily clean each other's wounds. But since they're too tired for magic they do it old fashioned way which means Lily is touching Sirius' bare chest and Sirius is touching Lily's upper body which has only bra on it.
Of course it's completely platonic for Sirius and Lily because they're completely comfortable with each other (and too worried about each other to think about stuff like this) but OH MY GOD, Snape's reaction at the sight and his inner thoughts would be PURE GOLD.
I know I promise more scenes but I just wanted to post this one sooner because this prompt was far too brilliant (and the other scenes are far less troubled — I think I'm done writing from Snape's pov truly). Fair warning that Snape's POV here is very biased and he doesn't handle it well 😏
Rated M for some cursing. 2k words of something.
***
Lily Potter was hurt.
He shouldn’t have gone to Grimmauld Place. Severus had done his part already; he’d translated Potter’s yells to the Order, had let them know that the brat somehow got in his mind the idea that Sirius Black (Padfoot, his friends had called him, thinking they were so clever with childish nicknames) had been captured by the Dark Lord, and had warned them when the kid had ran off dragging his stupid friends. That was all that was required of him.
He couldn’t know there would be a battle, couldn’t know that Lily Evans would be there fighting a Dark Lord that mostly wanted her dead, and yet—yet Dumbledore had told him, almost challenging to see how he still felt about her, that in the following battle Lily Potter had been hurt.
Dumbledore always called her Lily Potter, an unnecessary reminder that still stung. She wasn’t truly a Potter — she had lived more of her life as Lily Evans than she had ever been married to James Potter.
And if she were hurt—he had never told her how he felt, the lengths he had undergone to prove her his worth, how everything was about her. Lily should know, she deserved to know.
Grimmauld Place was quiet when he entered it. Snape hated that house, that gloomy place that Black owned as the spoiled pureblood he pretended he wasn’t; how hard it must have been, Severus always thought, to grow up with a house-elf tending to your needs, between richness and luxury, knowing his place on society, the eldest son of a noble family—
And probably because he had let his thoughts stray too near Sirius Fucking Black, he heard his loud laugh.
It was enough for the portrait of Walburga Black start screaming. Snape retreated hastily to the first room he found, just as he heard the sound of someone running the stairs.
“SHUT UP!” Yelled Black; there was a flash of light and the sound of the portrait’s screams died.
Snape peaked through the door; Black was still in the stairs, facing the other direction. He was panting, and if for anger or for running down the stairs, Snape could only guess. He wasn’t wearing any shirt, revealing muscled shoulders and back of someone who clearly had too much time to exercise and too little to do; then Black turned around—and of course he was fit, perfect biceps and torso, everything firmly shaped and did he shave his chest or—
And then a grim satisfaction broke through the acid that was bubbling inside him, because Black’s shapely chest was marked with purple bruises, giant spots that had probably hurt him when he had been hit, and how good was that—
“Sirius!”
Black turned again, following the same direction that Snape was now looking at, but from his angle he couldn’t see Lily. She sounded so disturbed…
“Come on! You won’t get away with this.”
Black sighed, shaking his head, but he climbed the stairs again. Severus hesitated for a moment before casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself; it wasn’t his best work, and if anyone would look directly in his direction, they might notice it, but he had to risk it, had to make sure that Lily Evans was fine…
Any worry they might notice him vanished from his mind when he reached the second floor. Black had entered one of the rooms of the house, and Lily was there, pulling him down to sit in the only bed of the room. She didn’t look hurt, though there was dried blood splattered in her jacket.
Snape looked at her, searching in her face for some sign of injury, or maybe that she was under pain, but there was only concern and it was directed straightly at the man that she was making sure was resting comfortable against the pillows of the bed.
“I am fine,” Black insisted, when Lily pulled a cauldron to the bedrest. 
“Of course you are,” she answered, flashing him a smile that made Snape’s inside churm. Black wasn’t fine, he couldn’t be with those injuries, and yet he was clearly pretending to look brave for Lily as if she was going to fall for this act—she had to see through him… “If you were good to go argue with that portrait.”
“I hate her more than I hate Death Eaters—and that’s a lot.”
She chuckled; it was a teasing laugh, one that made Black’s lips twitch as if he wanted to laugh as well.
“I mean it,” he insisted, sounding like a petulant child. Snape waited for Lily’s spurn; it never came. “She wasn’t one, but she supported them well enough, raised all properly Black Death Eaters—”
“Not you.” Lily’s voice was shimmering with warmth. “She could never break you.”
Black smiled. “I had a good influence,” he whispered, and then Lily turned her head to look at him. Snape couldn’t see the expression on her face, but he could see how Black’s eyes were shining, standing her gaze; Black looked greedy, demanding. There were only a few inches between their faces. 
Snape grabbed his wand, knowing he wouldn’t be able to help himself if Black threw himself over her, but after a moment Lily turned , moving away to bring the cauldron closer; Snape was glad that there was trouble in Lily’s green eyes now. She hadn’t felt comfortable with Black’s presence, she was repulsed by him…
“Lay back,” she told Black, and he did what was asked, laying still as Lily sat by his side, swirling the content of the cauldron. She grabbed a spoonful of the potion, a transparent almost-pasty liquid, and placed a few drops over the purple spots on Black’s chest.
He knew that Lily had always been an excellent potion maker, but still he wished that she had mistaken something, that the potion would burn through Black’s skin, melting his abs, unshaping his body, thinning him into nothing—
And for a brief moment, it seemed Snape’s wishes were granted.
“Ouch!” Black twisted in the bed, looking uncomfortable. “This burns.”
“Stop being a child,” answered Lily at once. Her words were scolding, but she sounded more fond than anything. “It will be better in a minute,” she assured, and then, without hesitation, as if that was the most normal thing in the world, she leaned closer, supporting her weight in the bed with one hand and caressing Black’s chest with the other hand.
No, it wasn’t a caress, she was just spreading the potion over his chest, and yet—her fingers were moving softly, smoothly, dancing over his skin. There was a smile on her lips that didn’t belong there; Black sighed contentedly, sinking his head into the pillows and closing his eyes.
“Fuck, this feels good,” he moaned.
“Oh, no more pretending this wasn’t hurting as hell?” She teased, amused.
“Not hell.” Her hand stopped moving for a moment, watching him. Black opened an eye, full of mischief. “Fine, but not a ninth-circle of Hell pain. Maybe a second-circle pain.”
Lily resumed her movement. “You could be in Heaven bliss if you haven’t acted all noble.”
Black opened both of his eyes now, but Lily didn’t meet his gaze; there was a severe frown on her forehead now. Black’s expression softened.
“I had to protect you,” he whispered.
That didn’t appease her. “It’s not your job, Sirius. I can take care of myself.”
“Of course you can, but—” He took her hand, intertwining their fingers, waiting until Lily looked him in the eyes. “I would never forgive myself if anything happened to you.”
There was a long moment of silence. Lily bit her lip and lowered her head, her hair creating a curtain over her face; Snape couldn’t see her expression, but he could see Black’s, and once again, over a thin layer of fondness, Black’s eyes were greedy, lustful, as they moved over Lily’s face, admiring her, desiring her. 
That was wrong, repulsive, and Snape wasn’t surprised when Lily hesitated: “Sirius—”
But Black ignored her. “Your turn,” he said, sitting on the bed, and pulling the cauldron to himself.
“I’m—”
“Let me guess, you are fine?” He winked at her. “I saw you wincing there. Left shoulder?”
Lily pulled away from him, crossing her arms; she looked annoyed, lips set in a thin line as if she was just considering not answering at all, but after a moment she sighed.
“Right,” she said, defeated, turning his back to him.
For a moment Snape thought she was staring directly at him, and he didn’t dare moving, but Lily’s eyes moved past him without noticing anything. She raised her hands to remove her jacket, but Black stopped her.
“Let me,” he offered. Lily nodded, just extending her arms to help him. Underneath her jacket, her shirt was soaked with blood.  Black hissed. “Fuck, Lils,” and he ripped her shirt, exposing her skin and the black bra she wore beneath it. 
She shivered, but made no movement to cover herself, standing half-naked with her bare back to Black. On her right side, from her neck to her shoulder, there was a long scarlet cut, dried blood around it. Sectumsempra, Snape realized with a sudden rush of fury; it had been misfired, luckily, or she would have bleed out by now, but still he promised he would find whoever had done it, not Lily—
And then his gaze fell, following the light of the necklace she wore, to the golden ring that was swinging over her chest. The ring shone, but he forgot it quickly; her skin was cream-coloured, with freckles splattered over her bosom, soft to look; her bra marked her curves, lifted her tits, and how he had dreamed of seeing her like this, of sliding down the strap of her bra to reveal all her beauty to him.
Once again it seemed his wishes were granted, for there was a hand carefully moving the strap of her bra down to the middle of her arm, revealing more of her skin, and something stirred inside him, blood rushing—then the rage renewed, for Black was touching her skin now, applying the potion over her cut, his fingers treading over her skin with far too much intimacy.
“Oh, god,” she mumbled, closing her eyes and arching her neck to give him better access. “I am an amazing potion maker.”
Black snorted; that brought a smile to her lips as if she had expected that reaction. Snape closed his fits, hatred filling him, even though he couldn’t take his eyes off the scene, of how Black’s hand was massaging her shoulder, his finger brushing over her chest, almost touching the exposed top of her tit.
“I would rather you were an amazing dueler,” said Black, voice barely repreensive. 
“I am.”
“And how did you get hurt?”
Lily hesitated for a moment. “Bellatrix,” she admitted at last. “Your cousin is a nasty piece.”
“I was dueling her.”
“Yeah, well.”
“Lily…”
She shivered. “She was aiming at your back, you were too close to the Death Veil and—I didn’t think, I had to do something, I—” And then she broke, turning around to face him, her lips trembling. “You nearly died, Sirius.”
“Who acted all noble now?” He asked softly, caressing her arms. “Such a Gryffindor of you.”
“Stupid and reckless?”
“And brave,” he assured, and Lily smiled nervously in answer. “Just don’t die on my account, I could never explain this.”
“No one would blame you,” she assured him, turning around again to allow him to finish applying the potion. "He wouldn't," she added, her voice so low that Snape almost thought he had imagined it.
Sirius sighed. “I know,” he admitted in a low voice. Then he shook his head, a devilish grin taking control of his features as he moved the cauldron back. “Do you remember what you used to do when Harry scraped his knees?”
Lily frowned, thoughtful. “I kissed—” And then Black placed a kiss on her bare shoulder, over her cut. “Sirius!”
Snape waited for a reprimand, an unquestionable reproval of Black’s lack of limits, but Lily was giggling. “This is disgusting,” she said, nothing in her voice betraying any hint of disgust as she brushed the potion out of his lips with the back of her hand.
“You love me,” Black said easily, surely, confidently, and Snape decided he couldn’t hear her confirmation, couldn’t deal with even the possibility that Lily Evans had fallen for Black—somehow that was worse than seeing her with Potter, not him, not Black—
He brushed something on his way out, the sound waking up Walburga Black’s portrait again, and he welcomed the yells, hoping it was enough to dwindle any other sound he might hear in that house again.
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seriousbrat · 4 months
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this says a lot about Snape's character development for me. There are many parallels drawn throughout the series between Harry and Snape; obviously, they're very different characters but there are similarities too.
I think here Snape is talking about himself. The teenaged Snape we see in the Pensieve is very much like this- emotional, heart on his sleeve, easily provoked, a definite wallower in sad memories... weak. Adult Snape, though he retains some of these characteristics that do emerge in stressful moments (in PoA we see how angrily he reacts to Sirius's escape, for instance) on the whole is a great deal more thoughtful, reserved, calculating, measured.
I think that Snape at some point had to force himself to become this. I think he actually relates to Harry here, and is giving him advice based on personal experience. In my fic he begins to learn to control his emotions partially out of a desire to protect Lily; he's fully aware that she's his weakness (or really, his strength, viewed a different way) and that openly displaying any sort of emotion towards her at all makes her vulnerable to the likes of Avery and Mulciber, who will have the perfect weapon to get to him if they want to.
Severus doesn't have the advantages of his peers, he's not pureblood, he wasn't born into money. If he wants to join the Death Eaters and rise in their ranks, he needs to be subtle, cunning, careful. he can't afford to be careless and entitled like mulciber or bellatrix or even sirius. what he's got to offer isn't his name or his money, it's his sheer talent and cleverness. moving on:
When Voldemort decides to go after Lily this becomes even more important. Imo the reason why Voldemort believes that Snape only "desired" Lily is because that's what Snape told him. He lied to Voldemort's face and told him something probably disgusting tbh because that's the only way Voldemort would accept it and agree, if it was a selfish, callous request that Voldemort could understand. We can see evidence of this here:
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Asking Voldemort to spare a mudblood because he was in love with her would likely not have gone over well- and as we know, Voldemort actually bore his request in mind, though obv didn't give enough of a fuck about Snape to follow through. Because although asking voldemort to spare her must have taken serious balls, Snape's mistake here was trusting someone inherently selfish to do something selfless for him.
Clearly he immediately realises this and goes to Dumbledore, which is when controlling his emotions becomes of paramount importance, because now he's working against perhaps the most highly accomplished legilimens of all time.
It's also interesting to me that Snape in this conversation is probably the character who is most forthright and informative with Harry in the whole of OotP until Dumbledore at the end; Harry actually learns a lot in this conversation. And Snape also kind of gives him credit which is interesting too:
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like for Snape that's high praise lmao. A shame because if he wasn't so bitter (i.e. didn't wear his heart on his sleeve so much around harry) then he might have actually been pretty helpful to Harry and a decent teacher. Again, during the Occlumency lessons his unrestrained emotion brought up by memories of James is a hindrance. He defies Dumbledore's orders to teach Harry Occlumency because of his emotional response to SWM, as well as honestly doing kind of a shit job before that (by not being empathetic and teaching Harry in a way that would've been actually productive.)
At this point Dumbledore believes that Harry learning Occlumency and controlling his emotions is of vital importance; he turns out to be wrong about this. In Harry's case, it turns out to be his emotional nature that saves him- unlike Snape, who is the opposite. Snape's journey is about learning that some things are more important than his selfish need to give into his own emotions.
By DH Snape's learned this lesson fully; his old hatred for James doesn't stop him from doing what has to be done, from giving Harry the tools he needs. Even in the final moments of his life, he can look past James and see Lily in Harry- and, by giving Harry the information that leads to his self-sacrifice, he can let her go.
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wowzah2nd · 2 months
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A Not So Secret Relationship
Severus Snape x reader
Word count: 2k
after years of a not so secret relationship a student catches then sharing a loving kiss. Which cause rumours to spiral around the school, whats going on with professor Snape and professor L/N?
You had been working at hogwarts since you were 20 which was the youngest the school had seen to teach muggle studies since you were muggleborn. 2 years later your dear friend severus snape joined you to teach as well but was offered potion professor and not defence against the dark arts professor. Even though you were very different, you being a gryffindor and him being a slytherin you got along very well. You actually didn’t become friends till both your last years at Hogwarts. You always saw him alone or being bullied by the same gryffindor as James Potter, Sirius black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew also called the marauders and one day you decided to stand up for him seeing how cruel it was.
Flashback
It was a normal day at Hogwarts. You were walking around the hall when you heard a commotion coming from around the corner. You'd decided to take a peak and see what was happening and you could see the marauders bullying someone and hanging him upside down. As soon as you saw that you made a run for it towards James who was the one casting the spell as you went near him you pushed him to lose focus luckily the boy wasn’t too high up when he fell.
Y/N: what is wrong with you lot doing that to someone that is just cruel and mean
James: well he deserved it y/n you know what he called lilly, he called her a mudblood
I paused for a second looking between them the boy was no sat against the wall but i still thought what he did was cruel
Y/N: still doesn't give you the right to treat someone so cruelly, if he did say something like then your the one that's supposed to be better and not do things so idiotic you head boy after all lead my example
The group stared at me in surprised that i would defend a slytherin
James: come on boy let's get out of here
Before they were fully out of ear shot i heard them call me a traitor to my house but i didn't care no one deserved such cruel treatment
As soon as I couldn't see them I turned to the boy that got bullied. He was a little hurt getting a scratch on his head from being dropped. Which was my fault, maybe I should have made me put him down slowly instead of pushing him. I crouched down to his level grabbing my handkerchief from my school bag to wipe the little blood on his head
As i was wiping his head he decided to finally speak
Boy: their telling the truth you know
Y/N:I know
He finally looked at me and look surprised
Boy: then why did you help me aren’t you a muggleborn too
I gave out a long sigh
Y/N: I am, but no one ever deserves to be treated less than anything human also how did you know i was a muggleborn
Boy: i was friends with lily before i called that name and she mentioned you a couple times
Y/N: oh did she now i didn’t really think we were friends we barely talk
Boy: yeah she talks about how smart and nice you were apparently you helped her out a few time and she felt grateful for. You are really nice by the way
I giggle at his comment it seemed he was shy when saying it
Y/N: well thank you…
Severus: snape, Severus Snape
Y/N: well snape, can i call you severus instead
Severus: only my friends call me that
I gave him a big smile
Y/N: well wanna be friends then
It took awhile to get him to agree to being friends but it was a great friendship even if people thought it was weird me being friends with him but i never let it bother me and over time i started to develop feelings for him but never got to tell him at school
Flashback ended
It had been 2 years since I graduated and I had become a muggle studies teacher here after Dumbledore gave me the offer and I gladly accepted . another year passed when a new teacher can when i found out it was severus when i saw him in the staff room i ran to him and gave him a big hug.
He was a bit taken aback from the hug and luckily no one else was in the staff room to see
Y/N: i miss you so much severus why did you ever write me
I started to let out all my suppressed emotions that i didn’t realise i was holding in. he let out a sigh before speaking
Severus: I had my reasons that i can’t tell you just yet but i will say that i have missed you too and i was actually scared yo see you
Y/N: why were you scared to see me
Severus: well that because… i wanted to confess something to you..
I was looking hopeful at him now had he been feeling the same way about me like i have about him
Severus: i have liked you for so long and every day that ive thought about you that feeling has grown and developed into love. Even though its been years since i last saw you i finally realised that i love you and wanna be with you. So if youd allows me can i take you in a date
I immediately jumped him and gave him a bear crushing hug
Y/N: of course severus you can and i love you too i loved you every since we started to be friends
He gave out a sigh of relief at my answer
Severus: you have no idea how happy i am right now
Ever since that day you have started to date everyone knew but ever brought it up since it wasn’t their business but what they saw warmed their heart. Seeing the one cold and withdrawn severus actually turn happy when you walked into a room or were in the area. But of course he still tried to hid that side of it since they thought only you deserved to see that side of him but he could not always hide it. Few years later after dating you'd gotten married it was a big ceremony it was a small one of just you and him just how you always wanted
And that now brings us to the year 1993 10 years after being married you still loved teaching at that school mainly because you also wanted to be close to Severus and he never complained. But only complained about harry potter it was the boys third year and as alway severus did really like him since he was a reminder of his youth and i would never blame him
Y/N: hello severus how are you this morning my love
I made my way into in classroom due to not seeing him during breakfast
Severus: not so good if im honest
I placed down a small plate of food he can eat since i know he didnt grab anything before heading back to the classroom
Y/N: and why is that love
Severus: well it’s because i'm teaching potters class
I let out a sigh
Y/N: you know he’s not his father right so please cut the boy a little bit of slack and the rest of the kids they have me later in the day and they still complain
Severus: i know his not his father but he remind me so much like him
Y/N: he won’t be like him the school will teach him better
Severus let out a sigh before grabbing my hand to say come sit with me, so i sit on his lap as we continue our conversation
Severus: your right, but i still won’t go easy on him or the student they need to learn one wrong move they’ll all end up like mister finnigan
I giggle at all the memories i had over the years that id seen the boy come in my class with missing eyebrows
Y/N: give the poor boy some slack he’s not very good at potions it's a hard subject for him
Severus: your beautiful when you smile you know…also i'll never stop loving you laugh it just brings be joy every time
At those comments i started to blush
Y/N: severus stop you're embarrassing me
Severus: i'm just trying to tell my dear wife how much i think she's beautiful and how much i love her presence
Y/N: well Mr snape i love you too
Severus: well Mrs snape i love you more
He cupped my cheek before he leaned in for a long passionate kiss, but without realising it students had filed into the class a a few had saw that kiss both. One of the student decided to get our attention and we both broke away from the kiss in surprise
Student: u-um excuse us professors
Y/N; o-oh im so sorry i should let you teach severus
I got up from his lap and made my way out of the class
Y/N: bye severus see you later
That potion class was a even bad one for those students since any student who tried to ask about what they saw would question it
After morning classes it was lunchtime and whispers and rumours already spread around the school about Severus and you. Causing severus to be annoyed he hated when people talked about you but it made you giggle more than anything since the amount of theories people thought of
Class had resumed and you had the third years first and you knew they were gonna ask questions but you didn;t mind telling them the truth it really surprised you though not more people new about you and severus marriage you neve had your affection but severus did always acted indifferent to it but you knew deep down he loved and didn't want people to see
As everyone was making their way into class you could sense they had questions but decided to ask later. As the class went one you decided that taking a 10 min break would be good for them since that class can be boring
Y/N: okay that's enough for now let's take a 10 min break ok
After saying that it was a que for students to start asking questions
Y/N: yes mister Weasley
Ron: is it true what they’re saying
Y/N: you'll need to be specific mister weasley
He looked a bit nervous to ask the question but the whole class was looking at him to ask it. Seems like everyone else wanted to know to
Ron: is it true you kissed professor snape i hear from some slytherin’s who went into the classroom they saw you
I gave out a long sigh i might as well be honest or else they may go wild with the rumours
Y/N: not that its anyone's business but yes it’s true we did kiss
Everyone was shocked and all started to talk either saying “ i told you so” or “ how can that be”
Then one of the slytherin’s asked a questions
Blaise: but miss aren't you a gryffindor and mister snape a slytherin
I was disappointed at that statement i hated house rivalries they always went to far
Y/N: yes its true mister Zabini but house should never matter when it come to love
That made the commotion even louder they didn’t think love was involved yet, most likely think this was a new occurrence
Then some one in the class decided to ask a smart question to finally put the pieces together
Hermione: Professor L/N what your relationship with Professor Snape
I gave a smile finally someone had maye notice i never really talked about my relationship unless asked same with severus so getting this question was a little bit exciting to me
Y/N: well miss granger good question my relationship with Professor snape is actually a simple question to answer
I paused for dramatic effect looking at all the anticipated face of the students giving them a sweet smile
Y/N: were actually Husband and Wife
Everyone was shocked giving out surprised gasps at the very thought
Student 1 : no way that can’t be true
Student 2 : why are you married to snape
Student 3: how long have you been married ?
Student 4: unbelievable
I decided to hush the class to explain this was such a big surprise to all of them apparently
Y/N; 1 it is true me and severus have been together for a few years now and quite happily married we’ve known each other since out student days, 2 severus is a very kind person and i would not appreciate you all bad mouthing my husband around me and 3 it very believable
After answering all their question classes resumed and it was finally finished the day went on as normal but you next classes were pretty much the same as the third years asking questions and being very shock at a gryffindor and slytherin were together
Classes were now done and it was time for dinner as you were waiting for dinner to start you waited for Severus but it seemed like he was a bit late, probably marking. But after a few minutes he had finally arrive while dinner was in full swing.
Y/N: hello love how were classes today
He seemed very grumpy probably due to the students constant questions
Severus: no very good student don’t know how to keep questions to them seleves
As he said that i look towards to student seeing them looking at our interactions, and a plan came into my head it could anger him a little bit or maybe help
So i decided while everyone was looking at us and he was talking, to give him a kiss on the cheek and i did
He froze for a sec but then relaxed guess the kiss worked and for a moment he ignore everyone around us and cupped my cheek to give me a quick kiss on the lips
Severus; i love you, i really do my darling wife
I smile at him i was so in love with this man
Y/N: i love you too my darling husband
After that everyone said awwww in the great hall which cause severus to snape out of it and go cold once again i slid my hand under the table to hold his hand to make sure he was okay and he squeezed back telling him he was fine then i brought it to my lips to give it a kiss causing everyone to awww once again
And to this day people say they could have sworn they saw professor snape blush
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Snape Headcanons
He's bad at geography. Sure, he knows this super rare, obscure potion ingredient can only be found in this one area in Laos, but ask him to find Laos on a map he won't have a clue. There was a time he dreamed about seeing world, but he quickly realized he would never get the opportunity and so doesn't see any purpose in learning geography.
A lot of the Marauders' claims about him, like knowing curses as a first year, are exaggerated, but the one thing they're right about is Snape was very nosy. Part of it was because it was useful; knowledge is power, after all. He could trade gossip with his fellow Slytherins, or use it to keep one step ahead of the Marauders (or taunt them with it). But most of it is just his natural curiosity. He's a people watcher. He doesn't often understand people, is bad at human interaction, so he watches from a distance.
Severus knows half the first years think he's some sort of vampire and he revels in it. He knows exactly the kind of image he creates, dressing up in those long black, swishing robes, the spooky dungeons with the jars full of animal body parts. His taste is 33% Mad-Scientist-Run-Amuck, 33% Sad-Victorian-Boy-Dying-of-Tuberculosis, 33% Tacky-Post-Halloween-Discounted-Decor, and 1% Lucius's-Increasing-Despair-to-Make-Severus-Into-a-Functional-Human-Being.
In addition to potions and reading, Severus also does a lot of writing. He's been working on-and-off on a novel since he was fifteen. At this point, it's almost 500,000 words long. One of the few ways he's able to express his thoughts and feelings is through fiction. The main character was heavily based on Lily, especially in the early stages when they were still friends, but as he grew older he put more of himself into the character and now she's become the version of himself he wishes he could be. The night before he kills Dumbledore he burns the entire thing.
Severus knows the DADA position is cursed. Everyone knows it's cursed. He still asks to teach it every year because he also knows that it's the only way he can escape Hogwarts, and he's willing to risk death to do it.
His feelings for Lily have gone through the entire spectrum. At times, she was a sister to him, especially the years before Hogwarts. He used to be incredibly jealous of Petunia, wished he could be Lily's sibling and live in their house and have their parents. It became romantic as a young teenager, especially since she was the only person he felt safe enough with for his pubescent mind to fixate on and explore his budding sexuality. Later, as he became friends with the other Slytherins in his year, it was strictly platonic but nonetheless a very deep friendship. They were both trying to control the other, and Severus was especially worried that Lily would end up like Eileen if she gave into Potter's charms. After his failed apology, he grew angry and resentful and he tried very much to hate her (but he couldn't, not even after she married Potter). And then, after her death, it circled back around to brotherly. He liked to remember those early years best of all, and his devotion to a better cause after her death parallels that of Dumbledore's after Ariana died.
Look I know there's a lot of confusion about godparents, and HP didn't help by being coy about religion, but a godparent isn't a legally appointed guardian. Like, they definitely can be if the parents want that (as it appears to be the case with Sirius Black), but that's not the default. A godparent sponsors a child's baptism and is in charge of their spiritual upbringing, making sure they know their catechism, etc (hence the god part of godparent, its a Catholic/Anglican thing). And the most widespread religion in HP does seem to be Christianity with Christmas being celebrated and whatnot (though I do headcanon the purebloods have their own Druidic/Christian hybrid religion going on). With that being said-- Severus Snape is Draco's godfather. He's also Merula Snyde's godfather. And Pansy Parkinson's godfather. And, like, the godfather of 10 other kids of former Death Eaters. Severus Snape climbed the Death Eater ladder; he was one of Voldemort's favourites during the First War and these other Death Eaters were like, "Damn. I got to get on his good side. Please sponsor my child's baptism."
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serpenera · 8 months
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One of the things that most irks me in the HP, and especially Snape discourse, is the misinterpretation of the meaning of the patronus. The general consensus seems to be that the shape of the patronus indicates one’s true love but that is a massive oversimplification that creates numerous inconsistencies. In other words, when we look at it like that, the patronus makes NO SENSE. Except the patronus makes PERFECT SENSE. Just let me explain.
The patronus, as we know, is a charm that repels Dementors - an anthropomorphized representation of clinical depression. Keep that in mind as this is important. You conjure it by focusing on a happy memory or should I rather say a happy thought.
Memory is the word Lupin uses when he first explains the patronus to Harry and I’d argue this is the reason why Harry initially fails at conjuring one. He remembers his first time on a broom and winning the house cup. Both happy memories to doubt but “not powerful enough” as Lupin puts it. So what makes a powerful memory?
Harry tries again and succeeds by focusing on the memory of finding out he was a wizard and would be leaving the Dursleys and going to Hogwarts. What makes this memory different than the other two is that it wasn’t just that of a fleeting moment of glee but of an event that marked a major change in Harry’s life, a change for the better. Yes, it was a moment from the PAST but one that influenced Harry’s PRESENT and FUTURE.
See, this is the key to understanding the patronus. The trick is not to remember a happy past long gone, it’s to find something in the past that gives you a reason to move forward. Anyone, who’s ever been depressed to the point of wanting to off themselves will know what I’m talking about here. And those who don’t, good for you.
Anyway, back to Harry. When he conjures his first fully corporeal patronus at the end of PoA, he thinks of going to live with Sirius. And when he uses the spell again in GoF he thinks of celebrating the end of the Tournament with Ron and Hermione. In both cases, he doesn’t even recall an event of the past but projects into the future. And note that regardless of whom or what he thinks of (and not once does he think of his dad), his patronus stays a stag. Even after his love and admiration for James falters due to the discovery of SWM, his patronus stays a stag. This is because the stag, while visually traceable back to James, does not represent James as a person but rather a concept that James himself is a representation of. The stag stands for family, legacy, and a sense of belonging. What keeps Harry moving forward despite all the obstacles is not the mere memory of having had a dad once, it’s the realization that he’s not alone in the world, that he has friends who care about him, and that he’s part of a community.
If we look at the patronus through this lens we can logically explain the shape and origin of all the major ones present in the books.
Snape is often accused of being a stalker incel and whatnot because (apparently) his doe patronus is the same as Lily’s.
First of all, did you pull that information out of your ass? ‘Cause I checked and nowhere in the book(s) does it say what shape her patronus was. The same goes for James. He was a stag animagus. We don’t know what shape his patronus was. That, assuming they both even knew the charm. Although, as Order members, they probably did. If they hadn’t learned it at school, Dumbledore or another Order member would’ve taught them.
Okay, for the sake of this argument, let’s assume that James’ patronus was in fact a stag and Lily’s was a doe and also that the animals represent them respectively. People will argue that the fact the patronuses match (they don’t actually cause they’re two different species of deer but never mind) implies they were each other’s soulmates. To back that argument they will cite Tonks’ patronus which changed into a wolf after she fell in love with Lupin. At the same time, they will argue that Snape’s doe indicates an unhealthy obsession with Lily. Can you spot the issue with this reasoning?
Snape’s and Tonks’ cases are analog: their patronuses turn into animals related to the other person. And yet in Snape’s case, it’s obsession, and in Tonks’, it’s love?
Lily/James and Tonks’ cases are opposite: Lily/James patronuses turn into animals related to themselves while Tonks’ turns into one related to her love interest. But in both cases, it’s true love?
If Snape’s obsessed with Lily then Tonks is obsessed with Lupin and Lily and James are just obsessed with themselves. Contrarily, if Tonks loves Lupin then Snape loves Lily, and Lily and James, again, just love themselves respectively. Moreover, if you follow either logic, Harry is obsessed / in love with James and Dumbledore with Fawkes.
See how none of that makes ANY SENSE whatsoever? Also, no, it’s not a plothole. Y’all are just looking at it wrong. Now let’s rewind and analyze all of these the same way we did with Harry’s at the beginning of this rant.
James’ case is very straightforward. Similarly to Harry, James finds meaning in the traditional idea of family, clan legacy, and belonging. Remember how on the train to Hogwarts he says he wants to be a Gryffindor just like his dad? That, in my opinion, is already very telling, and considering that right after school James marries the girl he decided would be the future mother of his children and promptly gets her pregnant we can easily deduce what he values and what he believes his higher purpose to be. When facing a Dementor and being consumed by despair, perhaps remembering the loss of his parents and perceived betrayal of his best friends, in order to push through he certainly focuses on his wife and especially his son.
Lily’s doe patronus has nothing to do with Snape. Or with James for that matter. Instead, it has everything to do with Harry. See, many real-life women who find themselves at the edge of despair for one reason or another declare they only push forward because of their children. I think Lily is no different. I mean, she did die trying to protect her child. So I think that facing a Dementor, she thinks of Harry. Her wish to be there for her son and protect him is what keeps her going forward despite everything. She has to be strong because she is needed and that is what her doe stands for.
The doe and the stag, somewhat complementary animals, both symbolize family-related but very different concepts. The stag carries a distinctly masculine meaning, that of the passing of legacy and prolonging the bloodline. The doe has a more feminine feel, that of nurturing and protecting.
Snape’s patronus is the same animal as Lily not because he loves her or is obsessed or even just friends with her. It’s the same because both these characters find purpose in the same thing: being needed.
While for Lily this mindset seems to stem from her motherhood, for Snape it seems to have always been there and for very a different reason. The severe neglect he experienced in his early childhood conditioned him to always seek external validation. It’s as if he couldn’t find value in himself unless someone else found it in him. This is why he was trying so hard to be useful to Lily when they first became friends. This is why he got himself groomed by the Death Eaters. This is also why he was so easily manipulated by Dumbledore.
Speaking of Dumbledore, he has to have taught Snape the patronus charm and it must have happened sometime between his defection and the Potters’ death. Now imagine what that might have looked like.
Dumbledore explains how the patronus works. Snape tries, recalling one of his happy childhood moments with Lily, and fails. He chooses another memory and fails again. Dumbledore tells him it has to be something really powerful. Snape is out of ideas, the only happy memories he has are of his childhood friendship with Lily but that friendship is over, it has been for a while, she’s married to his bully and having his child, and on top of that, she’s being targeted by Voldemort and it’s all his fault. Reminiscing their past together is nowhere near enough to fuel the patronus. Then Snape projects into the future in which thanks to him, Lily is safe, she forgives him for his past mistakes and they make up. This time he successfully conjures his trademark doe.
I imagine that, after Lily died, Snape would have had trouble producing a patronus. That would be until Dumbledore pointed out how even in death she still needed him to protect her child. He would then focus on a future in which Voldemort is defeated, Harry is safe, his debt with Lily is paid and his sins are redeemed.
Dumbledore knows that Snape’s doe patronus is related to Lily but it’s probably because he taught him the charm himself and in doing so he learned that it was thoughts and memories of her that fueled it. Not because it was (presumably, mind you) the same shape as hers.
That said, I’m firmly convinced that if Snape had survived the war he would again have had trouble producing a proper patronus, not because of any change in his feelings towards Lily but rather because with Harry safe and Voldemort gone, he’d find himself lacking a purpose. If, for example, he got himself involved with someone else, someone who would make him feel needed, he might be able to produce a patronus again but it would most certainly remain a doe.
Tonks’ patronus is an interesting one because it actually changes its shape in the course of the narrative. We know it became a wolf after Tonks fell in love with and started dating Lupin.
Yes, it’d be easy to assume that the wolf represents the character whose name is literally Wolfy McWolf and who’s also a werewolf but that would be both shallow and inaccurate.
Tonks’ wolf, not unlike Lily and James’ stag and dear, is symbolically tied to the concept of family and friendship. We don’t know what drove Tonks forward before she became involved with Lupin but we can easily deduce that what drives her afterward is the thought of being with him. When she conjures her patronus, she probably thinks of a future in which they have a proper relationship or perhaps start a family. When Snape makes a dab at her patronus he isn’t just being mean. Knowing Lupin, he probably expects him not to take responsibility for his actions towards Tonks and wiggle out of the relationship the moment things get a little bit too serious for his liking. In saying her patronus is weak he’s trying to warn her not to put her faith in Lupin.
In the end, I’d like to mention Dumbledore’s patronus. Just like a phoenix is reborn from its ashes, Dumbledore rises up from the pit of his troubled youth. When in the vicinity of a Dementor, he must be plagued by thoughts of his misplaced aspirations, of Ariana’s death, and his fall out with Grindelwald. The thought I believe he focuses on in those moments is that of having rehabilitated himself in the eyes of society, and having ultimately become a champion of the light.
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casurlaub · 28 days
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Things fanon and I don't agree on #2
Fanon: James openly pursuing Lily for YEARS, crushing on her since second year or sth, asking her out repeatedly.
Canon: ??? Based on what we know about James and Lily, the fanon depiction doesn't seem too likely to me
That's what happened in "Snape's Worst Memory":
'I will, if you go out with me, Evans,' said James quickly. 'Go on… go out with me and I’ll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again.' 'I wouldn’t go out with you if  it was a choice between you and the giant squid,' said Lily.
[...]
'I don’t want you to make him apologize,' Lily shouted, rounding on James. 'You’re as bad as he is.'
'What?." yelped James. 'I’d never call you a - you-know-what!'
'Messing up your hair, because you think it’s cool to look like you’ve just got off your broomstick, shoving off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can - I’m surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK.'
[...]
'What is it with her?,' said James, trying and failing to look as though this was a throwaway question of no real importance to him. 
'Reading between the lines, I’d say she thinks you’re a bit conceited, mate,' said Sirius. 
'Right,' said James, who looked furious now, 'right-'
There was another flash of light and Snape was once again hanging upside down in the air. 
'Who wants to see me take off Snivelly’s pants?' 
I take two things from that:
James was surprised by Lily's rejection. Now I fully agree that he has a huge ego and although smart (yes, he and Sirius were described as exceptionally talented more than once) I don't think he's necessarily too good at reading other people's emotions (I mean, it's obviously not super smart to bully her friend in front of her and expect it to turn out in his favor). But if she had turned him down repeatedly over the years already her reaction wouldn't have come as such a surprise to him. But he obviously is surprised ('What's it with her?'/'Right... right')
He doesn't react well to rejection. She turns him down and he escalates ('Who wants to see me take off Snivelly’s pants?'). He isn't used to rejection. Everybody thinks he and Sirius are 'the height of cool' (Remus's words). He has been doted to by his parents and is super popular at school. And then she dares bruise his ego and he escalates. He doesn't strike me as the type of guy who would've just swallowed this humiliation and tried again and again. I think he really needed to mature first to have a few realizations - before he tried again.
And, another thing: In 'The Prince's Tale' we see a memory of Snape talking to Lily: 'I didn't mean - I just don't want to see you made a fool of - he fancies you, James Potter fancies you!' The words seemed wrenched from him against hs will. 'And he's not... Everyone thinks... Big Quidditch hero-' Snape's bitterness and dislike were rendering him incoherent, and Lily's eyebrows were traveling further and further up her forehead.
Snape might be driven by his desperation and his own feelings for Lily, pointing out something that she had already realized herself (because he just needs her to realize). But to me him saying that ('He fancies you, James Potter fancies you') doesn't make much sense if James had been asking her out repeatedly. If he had, him fancying Lily would be common knowledge. I don't think Snape would say it if James was this level of obvious about his feelings. Snape respects Lily, he doesn't think she's stupid.
Also I, personally, don't think Lily would have taken well to his persistent advances. That's just my opinion and my personal read on the matter, though. I know it's all fiction and in the end people can do what they want.
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kalkaros-is-the-boss · 4 months
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So I made recently a post on my main (hannaxjo) about the ages of the marauders era characters in the movies, which led to me creating this side account. But I should’ve known better than to think about their canon ages in the books, because I noticed something that doesn’t make sense to me, and I can’t stop thinking about it. That is the timeline between Severus hearing the prophecy and Voldemort killing James and Lily. What the fuck happened between that?
So, in the prophecy is this line: the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies. Meaning, that at that time, Harry has not been born yet. Which means, at the very least over a year is going to play out before that Halloween.
And that does not make sense to me. How can it take over a year, after this? In that (unspecific) time, the following things happen; Voldemort decides that the prophecy is talking about the Potter’s baby. Severus deflects, and begins spying on Voldemort. Due to Severus’ warning, Potter’s go into hiding. Dumbledore suggests a fidelius charm. Instead of Sirius, Peter is made into the secret keeper. Peter reveals the location to Voldemort and Voldemort kills Lily and James.
These things happen like a domino. There cannot be that much time between each of these actions. Severus isn’t going to wait around to defect once he knows Voldemort is targeting the Potter, because Voldemort is definitely not going to wait around to kill them. And I don’t think it took over a year for Voldemort to decide who the prophecy was talking about. Isn’t he supposed to be smart? Like I can buy him only deciding after Harry’d been born, but it still takes over a year after that for him to kill James and Lily.
But okay, let's say Voldemort was just really slow, and couldn’t make his mind. That would make the time between Severus’ deflection and the death of Lily and James incredibly short, and that makes no sense either. Because I don’t see Dumbledore trusting Severus after such a short while. And when would he then have had the time to spy on Voldemort? In the Goblet of Fire, when Harry goes into the pencieve he sees the trial of Karkaroff. And he lists the names of Death Eaters, one of those names being Severus Snape. Dumbledore then says, that he himself has witnessed for Severus’, and he tells that Snape joined them prior to Voldemorts downfall and that he risked his life spying on him. That means that Severus had to be a spy for at least a while.
So what the hell was happening while Severus was spying? Did they not use the fidelius as fast as possible? How did Voldemort not find them? See it would make sense if Sirius was the secret keeper for a while, and then they switched it, but Sirius was never the secret keeper. So did Peter actually keep the secret for months? Because that also seems unlikely. Then, there’s the letter Lily wrote to Sirius that Harry finds in Deathly Hallows. In that letter Lily mentions that ‘James is getting a bit frustrated shut up here’, so they must be already hiding. And they must be already under the fidelius because they must be in Godric’s Hollow because why else would Bathilda have visited. She also mentions that Wormy had seemed down, which I assumed was actually because he is going to/has betrayed them. That letter was about Harry’s one-year birthday! It was written in July/beginning of August. Voldemort didn’t attack until Halloween. What happened? Did Peter not betray them until October? Or had he already told Voldemort and Voldy just wasn’t feeling it. Was he waiting until Halloween for aesthetics?
Honestly, I have no point here, except that I don’t understand the timeline. Did I miss something? If you know how this timeline goes, please tell me, because I think about this too much. Istg if I’m gonna end up re-reading the books again just because this bothers me...
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casasupernovas · 1 year
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i am still not overjoyed with child severus snape being described to look at lily 'hungrily' or with 'undisguised greed' on his face. but i think i forgot about how jo was very very poor before she got her break with harry potter.
so if you read these moments with poverty in mind, 'greed' and 'hunger' come across a bit different now don't they? severus snape reeks of desperation and it makes me think of 'parasite' when thinking of 'greed.' it doesn't seem fair to describe him like that because someone wishing to change his situation and desiring something else isn't a bad thing. but it makes me think of the sentiment of the lengths people will go to just survive, hence 'greed'. it's all messy and nasty but that's what poverty does.
it's really easy to just view these words in a purely sexual way but it's a very thin reading and, honestly, lazy. i think severus snape ultimately showcases the uglier side to what really bad circumstance can do to a person. he's not palatable at all, so everyone short circuits when trying to understand his pov.
so it is fitting that harry is the person who ends up understanding. after all, we read book after book of harry wanting something so desperately. to have his parents. to escape privet drive. that's a craving. that's a hunger. harry himself is described to look at his family in the mirror of erised 'hungrily.' and when he sees lily using the deathly hallows, she looks at him 'hungrily' also.
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sarahkrolokfan · 9 months
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I hate fanon-ization of Lily, James, Regulus and Barty (Evan, Dorcas, Marlene etc. are literally only mentioned in the books, there is nothing to mis-characterize)
Lily is side-lined for a non-existent, non-sensical ship (yeah, I hate jegulus), her Muggle origin is overlooked even though it played a MAJOR role in her life (heck the entire Marauders era takes place during the war against a wizard-supremacist, Muggle-hater and his racist followers). Her relationship with Snape and how his words and newly found ideologies affected is completely overlooked when he was her only magical friend during her entire childhood. Her relationship to her son? (yk, that one thing that set the entire series in motion...) - pfft, don't be silly, she is just a surrogate to James and Regulus.
James is portrayed as a ray of sunshine, good boy whose biggest sin was being a bit sarcastic. No, he WAS an arrogant asshole who mercilessly bullied another student simply for his own enjoyment. Yet he was also incredibly loyal man who didn't hesitate to share his home with his friend after he ran away from home and who grew out of his arrogant phase and changed himself for better because of a woman he loved (loved so much he died protecting her and their son later).
Regulus is portrayed as an edgy yet kind-hearted little aristocrat boy whose parents forced him into being a Death Eater - no, he wasn't pressured into becoming anything, Regulus for the longest part of his life WAS a Voldemort supporter. He collected newspaper articles about Voldemort, he talked to Kreacher about how great Voldemort is and how great his ideas were - yes, he realized later he was wrong but it doesn't suddenly mean he was pressured into anything.
Barty is portrayed as a silly little babygirl who has an IQ of goldfish. No, he was one of the smartest characters with multiple talents but was also a mentaly-unstable young man (Azkaban/Dementors have horrific influence on everyone but while other Death Eaters managed to last 10+ years there he was already on his death-bed in a year and started to scream for him mother the same day he was brought in) who went completely insane and evil by the end and craved for father figure so deeply he was ready to become a murderer/torturer to get one. His manipulativeness and sadism? Non-existent in fanon...
In the end... I truly dislike the overall state of "Marauders era" fandom - like, they are a generation impacted by war and ever-changing politics who essentially needed to choose a side while they were still children, some betraying their families and loved ones - and then you try seeing stuff in Marauders fandom and they are turned into edgy teens who all wear crop-tops and black nail polish, listen to Taylor, go to Starbucks and talk in a Tik-Tok slang....
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saintsenara · 2 months
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Opinions on Tonks/Snape?
thank you very much for the ask, anon!
here's where i confess that i've got quite a soft spot for stonks as a ship - and not just because of that ship name - because it's a great vehicle for one of my favourite post-war questions: how the hell do you put a life together in peacetime if you never expected to have survived the final battle?
that this would apply to snape is obvious - it's pretty clear in canon that [much like harry] his experience of the entire period 1981-1998 is that he's following a script written for him by dumbledore which he believes [and, i suspect, hopes] will end in his own annihilation. while i don't think he imagines dying in the exact way he does [and while a hill i will die on is that dumbledore tried as best as he could to arrange things so that snape would survive], i think the only post-war survival scenario he envisions for himself is a lifetime rotting in azkaban, continuing to punish himself and consider himself unworthy of absolution for his role in lily's death.
but - perhaps more controversially - i also think that this can be said to apply to tonks. while i would absolutely reject the suggestion that she would have imagined herself dying because she was a bad mother, i think that several things she says in deathly hallows - above all her recognition that she's locked into a battle to the death with bellatrix - would lead to her sharing the view lupin's shade expresses to harry when he summons him with the resurrection stone: that the greatest act of love she can show her son is to die for a world in which he can live freely.
[and i also think - indeed i am convinced of it - that she also thinks it's her duty to die trying to off bellatrix because her decision to join the order means that andromeda and ted's safety in the first war - something voldemort can be plausibly said to grant at bellatrix's request on the proviso that they keep their heads down and their mouths shut - is forfeit in the second.]
the post-war tonks - a widow at twenty-five, navigating life as a single mother to a tiny baby, dealing with her own cavernous grief over the loss of her father and her mother's grief over the loss of her husband - can be written about really interestingly as someone who's unmoored within her new life and looking for something - anything - to anchor herself.
and a snape who survives nagini is a really interesting tool in all sorts of post-war ships [snarry and snack chief among them] in how he serves as a connection to a lost generation. and, in this case, he is the only person tonks will know who - no matter how negative his assessment of him - actually knew lupin well.
and it's so clear that tonks' relationship with lupin in canon was shaped by her searching for answers about him which he kept hidden behind the mask of his own self-loathing. i can absolutely see her being devastated at the knowledge that his death means that she finds herself with no chance of ever actually uncovering the reality of him, and i can see this leading her to snape's hospital bedside out of a desire to grasp at someone - anyone - who might help her fill in those gaps.
but tonks is also clearly very bolshy and very brave - two traits you need to help you survive grieving the loss of one love and still have room to chase after another.
she's also clearly very curious and very kind. and so i think she's the order member - other than harry - who would be most able to accept the fact that snape was on their side all along and to believe that he should be pardoned. i think snape would find that show of trust in him terrifying - obviously - and i think he'd go out of his way to push her away as a result. but she's got plenty of prior experience at dealing with emotionally constipated men...
and i think you can make a very credible case for the idea that snape must genuinely quite like tonks. i think it's often overlooked just how clever she must be to be admitted as an auror, and how one of the areas in which she would have been required to be clever was potions. she's also clearly one of the youngest people in the role, and her position as a junior auror who ends up doing far more for the war effort than many of her seniors mirrors snape's experience as the youngest teacher at hogwarts. i also think her shock at just how horrible to her snape is in half-blood prince when he mocks her new patronus can be read as evidence that, during the order of the phoenix timeline, she and snape had a cordial relationship. and cordial for snape is transcendentally fond for anyone else...
[plus, his disappointment in her being interested in lupin is clearly because she's someone he respects - if he didn't think she was far too good for lupin, he wouldn't have bothered saying anything.]
i genuinely think you can do something lovely with the two of them initially coming together because they view the other as a life raft in a world they don't think really belongs to them, but then something which looks a lot like dry - and stable - land coming into view as they realise they have more than that in common.
snape's terrified, obviously, but tonks is a woman who understands how to go with the flow. she'll follow love where it takes her - no matter the obstacles she finds in the way - and he's going to have no choice but to come along for the ride.
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Does anyone want to scream about Lily Evans and her relationship with Snape with me? I'm writing a longfic and I'm struggling a little with my characterisation.
Okay, actually. I'll start:
Lily fascinates me because we know so little, and what we do know often contradicts in very interesting ways. Who Harry’s parents were is presented as a mystery that Hary solves throughout the books. Lily appears to be even more obscured than James; he has a group of friends to tell Harry all about who he was. People seem much more hesitant to talk about Lily (the marauders mostly bring her up to talk about her green eyes. That part where Lupin talks about being close with her is movie-only), and her closest friend and family actively withhold information. There are never any Griffendor women who talk to Harry about being close to his mom. It leads me to assume that Lily, a known muggle-born from a poor town in the middle of nowhere and a known associate of Severus Snape, wasn’t quite as popular as Slughorn suggested in Hbp
I’m also going to go out on a limb and say she wasn’t quite as put together as you’d assume; she had a baby at 19 or 20, in the middle of a war. I’m really trying to put what I’ve seen happen first-hand with super young parents aside. But even when I accept that Lily was able to be a good mum at such a young age, I can’t pretend that this was a mature decision. A war was happening, and Lily and James were both prominent soldiers in it. Surely she realised how much danger they both were in.
The big bombshell is, of course, her friendship with Snape. We know they became friends at eight years old, considered each other ‘best friends' at one point, that their relationship started crumbling in the fifth year and that she officially cut him off after he called her mud blood at the lake. Other posts have already masterfully illustrated how they were torn apart because they were fundamentally unable to see things from each other's point of view. Severus talks about being bullied, then dismisses the bullying other Slytherins were doing (when Lily tells him about Mulciber using dark magic on a student he waves her off. “That was just a laugh.”). Lily, on her end, seems very eager to believe Griffendor's gossip over her supposed best friend when it comes to the shrieking shack incident. They’re both hypocrites. Completely ignoring each other's issues while blaming the other for not acknowledging their own. So one thing leads to another, Snape yells a slur and Lily decided that enough is enough. Which makes sense, it’s not her responsibility to fix him if he’s starting to get radicalised. There’s a certain tragedy in baby Sneeple being thrown in the dungeon with a bunch of wannabe-death eaters at eleven, but again, that was not for her to fix.
But I’m still completely baffled by the fact that she laughed. Whywhywhy did Joanne(derogatory) write that. That’s your best friend being publically humiliated and borderline sexually assaulted, what in the hell are you smiling for. I’ve tried to argue that she’s not laughing at Snape, she’s getting flustered by James’ antics. But no, that doesn’t make sense either. At that point, she’s still very turned off by him, and she calls him a toerag only a few lines later. His show-off is precisely what she dislikes about him. This would not be charming to her even if she already had a crush.
One explanation I’ve seen is that the friendship was one-sided from Snape’s end. She pitied him when they were kids, got sick of him at Hogwarts and then dragged this dead horse of a friendship around for five years before finding a way out. Meaning that she laughed because she genuinely thought Snape being bullied was funny. And to be honest, I hate this interpretation. It’s just sad, but not in an interesting way. There’s no tragedy there. It reminds me of those fanfics on Wattpad where the love interest was only fake-dating Y/N as a joke.
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It’s wildly unrealistic, renders Snape’s sacrifice kind of meaningless, makes him seem like a total idiot and her like an evil harpy. I’m rejecting it on principle.
So… then what? Lily just has a lack of empathy? Demonic possession? Honestly, it seems as likely that Joanne(derogatory) had not quite figured out what their relationship was supposed to be. Because it makes perfect sense if they don’t really know each other, doesn’t it? The smile emphasises that Snape is socially ostracised. The fact that she composes herself emphasises that Lily is a moral figure and does not approve of James’ conduct.
If you have another interpretation that makes sense, please tell me! I’d love to know how others are reading this scene because I feel it’s essential to her characterisation but I’m just not quite able to get there yet.
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thebestofoneshots · 1 month
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WOLFSTAR X READER SERIES
Gilded Constellations | THE INTERLUDE Part 2
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Summary: You meet Sirius and Regulus at a family vacation in the Caribbean, but things don't go as planned and you end up losing contact once the trip is over. Years later your family moves to England and you get accepted at Hogwarts where you finally see Sirius once again, along with all of his friends. One of them with a mysterious secret, that you'll uncover as you embark on your own Hogwarts adventure. Mostly canon-compliant. This IS a wolfstar x reader fic, but it's incredibly slow burn. They won't start all dating each other until we're very deep into the story, but I promise the long wait will be worth it.
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Series Masterlist | Previous episode | The first Interlude
You guys know I wanted to make another interlude, but upon lack of time, and because I don't want to have you wait another week to read the next chapter (darling @aremuslupinsimp for sure needs someone to vent about the absolute rollercoaster of emotions that it is) I've decided to make it a WEEKL-LONG EVENT!
But Lilly, What does that mean? It means you can send as many questions as you might have and I'll try to address all of them within the week. Including anything related to last week, this week's, and the next week's chapter (although I will not spoil that one).
Adding a few questions here, just as a start:
Have you always known where the story is going or have you kind of figured it out along the way? do you have the ending planned?
Hey love! I do have a base idea of where GC is going. I've had these big plot points thought out from the very beginning to the part where they all start dating. Having said that, a lot of things that happen in the story, and that are in between those points, are just me letting my imagination soar, and a lot of those chapters end up being some of my favourites.
I wanted to end the story either before they end school or before 1981, but now that I've gotten so attached to the characters, I've honestly thought of writing past that, and "fixing" some of the things that happen in canon. But who knows, that's like a whole other fic just on how much plot it would have.
SoIi can’t really remeber if the ‘prank’ that Sirius pulled on Snape had already happened in Gilded Constellations, if it hasn’t will it be happening or will it just get skipped over?
It's happened already (in 5th year). That's the reason Snape is weary about leaving Vixen in the Shack in "Bad Moon Rising". He knew she would be in danger because there was a werewolf inside. He couldn't say anything to them because of the young twisting charm Dumbledore put on him, and he's never been brave enough to stand up to the other Slytherins, so he went straight to Lily and told her Vix was in danger.
That's why Lily knew about Vixen being in danger when Sirius showed up with a fox in his hands and was livid about it.
Tu penses prévoir combien de chapitre pour GC si tu sais sinon si tu sais pas une estimation de chapitre que tu aimerais écrire pour GC ?
I'm terrible with estimations, originally it was going to be a short 5 chapter-long series. And then I wanted to end it at thirty, and then at forty. So far I've written 55 chapters, but I'm thinking of ending before chapter 70. (That's IF I don't get carried away).
Do we get to know if Sirus ever got that necklace back from the first few chapters?
Oh, the necklace is still on Vix's neck and it's going to be HUGE in the next couple of chapters. I've been building on is for a while and I'm really excited about it finally happening.
How is it going with Remus' and reader's fireworms?
They are amazing! They've implemented a whole system that helps them get fed automatically. They're probably going to ace that test.
Are we seeing more to Nina?
Definitely.
After they come back from winter break will the study group start again?
I mean, there're going to be a LOT of things happening after the Winter Break, but I assume yes. Also the reading club, the reading club is going to happen.
How long do we have to wait 'till Remus, Reader and Sirius go out?
I think I'm about one or two chapters away from writing that, but I'm a few chapters ahead. But it's waaay less than before.
Does Nina have a little crush on Reader or is it just me?
I mean, there's a reason why the ribbon she tied on her quidditch gear was enough to defend Vix from Barty's spell. And why, more than once, Nina's love has proven to be a strong protective spell over the reader.
Are we getting more lessons like some of the first chapters?
Yup, not very soon, since the next few chapters will all be happening over the winter break, but once they're back in school, certainly.
Further questions will be answered directly on asks as they come.
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I'm really excited about the questions I might get, also a bit terrified about the questions I'll get after Chapter 44, but of well, the show must go on.
Love ya lots, Lils xx
Series Masterlist | First Interlude
Taglist: @rayrlupin @callmelovergirl @warcelia @ireneop @endversewinchester @moonyunebi @smuttysluttybitch @mazzymoons @drugs-for-memes @sofiacblair @vmpir3lvr @remuslupinisbae @rabluver @willgrahamisalesbi4n @thatobsessedreader  @itskailey24 @hell0-kittie @belovedmoony @blacksgarden @loving-and-dreaming @cassie-love20 @starchaser-lily @zucchini-queenie @springflwer07 @sseleniaa @cometsghost @orkwardx0 @imdoingbetternow  @sbrewer21 @remuslupinsbae @maxinehufflepuffprincess @wifiatthetrainstation @unstablereader @msblacklupin @oliversaurus @jaylienpotter @remussbitch @hermionelove @izuoyarmin @themarauderswife7 @keira-kaz2y5 @lampthemacarenagod @bugg06 @a-n-1-m-3-f-r-3-4-k @darlingeels @kissmeunicornbaobei @xluansstuff @boo8008 @angelmixer @voteforintensedreams @allons-y-molly @aremuslupinsimp @imaginexred @writingshae @nyanwyn @poetrypirate @crazyhorseforgot @saturnhas82moons @ryeyeyer @mothraantics @maqqiekwon @desikudisworld @pastelorangeskies
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seriousbrat · 23 days
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you said james changed but did he? no apology in sight... still tricking lily and going behind her back to hex snape.. leaving his wife and newborn alone in their secret hiding spot to mess with muggles..
genuinely lol what is this 'leaving their hiding spot to mess with muggles' thing, I think you're the second anon who has claimed something like that recently and it's like.... where lmao. when did that happen? who r these muggles? 😭
if you're referring to the prequel, that was almost certainly, like 100% certainly, before harry was born when lily and james were fighting for the Order along with the rest of the Marauders and not in hiding. This is what Lily says, years later, in her letter to Sirius:
James is getting a bit frustrated shut up here, he tries not to show it but I can tell -- also, Dumbledore's still got his Invisibility Cloak, so no chance of little excursions. If you could visit, it would cheer him up so much.
doesn't that imply he wasn't sneaking out? and if he had left the hiding spot in the past it was "little excursions" with Lily's full knowledge and approval, with the safety of the cloak. I don't see the big deal, and it's possible that Lily was leaving the house on occasion too when they had the cloak.
people are so determined to see things in the worst possible light it's kind of funny. It's not enough that James was a dickhead and a bully in canon, he has to be this insidious abusive master manipulator guy who somehow conned Lily "you make me SICK" Evans into marrying her and having a kid with him. Like, no offence but it's just not that deep.
We don't see how he changed because the story isn't about him, it's about his son, but there's plenty of evidence that he did, a BIG example being that a girl who couldn't stand the sight of him and was extremely vocal about the fact ended up marrying him. Something changed, and it's just highly unlikely that James, a fictional character, constructed an elaborate ruse behind the scenes that we see no evidence for to trick Lily, and every other character, into thinking he was an entirely different person. If that had been the author's intent for these characters who, btw, do not exist outside the text we're given, there would be proof of it. Rather, we're given evidence he 'deflated his head' and that lily fell in love with him and that they were happy together.
I've already said it but I don't think James not telling her about fighting with Snape (who, let it be said, at that point was also instigating) is a good thing. Obviously. It's dishonest and he should have told her. But I also think a likely reason he didn't tell her was not wanting to hurt her. That doesn't make it okay, but there can be problems and slip-ups and things to work through in a relationship without it being some big evil insidious manipulation.
Sev hid all sorts of things from her too, important things like "I'm thinking about joining the Death Eaters btw lol". People lie and hide things, especially teens. Maybe the simplest explanation here, rather than this weird jamespiracy thing, is that a seventeen year old boy was kind of shit sometimes but ultimately dedicated his life to protecting others, fought bravely in a war, grew tf up, and sacrificed himself to save his wife and child.
idk like to me it's not that deep, and it's continually bonkers to me that some snape fans will have wildly different standards for their innocent baby boy (idk him) than they do for every other character. bro did way worse stuff than not telling his gf he was getting into fights, james did worse stuff, and yet I still love them both and u wont convince me not to
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soup-of-the-daisies · 7 months
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so here’s part 2 of my james potter hcs bc this shitbag lives in my head rent free :))
(part 1 for those interested)
his prescription isn’t really heavy and he can technically get around without his glasses, but he gets really bad headaches if he doesn’t wear them
tried muggle contacts for a bit but got an eye infection after a month, went back to glasses permanently
can get really, really mean in the blink of an eye if he sees or hears something he doesn’t appreciate—something as innocent as feeling jealous or something as bad as blatant bigotry, doesn’t really matter. fandom may say that he was sirius’ moral compass but ohhh boy
“imagine sirius black having to reel you in” - overheard in the hospital wing by a random hufflepuff after a group of wannabe death eaters got hexed so badly for terrorising some muggleborn students they had to stay there for two days
can argue himself out of any sticky situation by being passionate and arrogant (like only getting a month’s worth of detention for hexing said group of wannabe death eaters into a two-day stay at the hospital wing)
did not relentlessly pursue lily, actually. he didn’t ask her out until their fifth year and stopped entirely after the slur-incident
did form a relentless (at times one-sided) rivalry that often went way too far with severus snape though, i’ll give you that
he’s got hazel eyes with a bit of green thank you
his nose isn’t longer than harry’s (he’s got a ‘hidung pesek’, like my mum would say). his nosebridge can’t hold up european glasses and it’s a struggle
sirius looks physically like his father which means james does, shamefully, find orion black handsome in a purely aesthetic way. he’ll take this tidbit to the grave with him though as sirius would have an aneurysm if he found out that james thinks orion is a bit of a dilf
james has tackled peter multiple times. most notably, that one time it was over the last digestive in the biscuit tin that hope lupin sent remus
peter broke his nose and james cried because he felt so bad
he’s got a dab hand at healing spells and sirius is good at cleaning spells so it was fine in the end
also ugly crier james 2k23. that man can WEEP
gives the BEST hugs. you’ll feel so safe. he just presses your face against his chest and you’ve got to take it, because it’ll relax your entire body
“it’s like i’ve been reborn” - peter pettigrew after The James Hug following the orange marmalade incident of 1975
will never talk about the orange marmalade incident of 1975 because peter asked him nicely
great secret keeper!! should’ve been his own secret keeper, actually!!
big beatles fan and really cringy about it: he even considers getting a mop top for a bit.
thinks george harrison looks like sirius (but not as handsome) and therefore george is his favourite
same james
ALSO he would be so flattered that some parts of this fandom see him as ATJ’s john lennon i swear lmao
would kill for sirius and has considered killing for sirius on multiple occasions
harry’s ‘trouble usually finds me’ gene comes from him and he has been face to face with acromantulas on multiple occasions purely by accident
harry’s ‘there’s no need to call me sir, professor’ gene is a mix of lily’s sass and james’ smart-assery. part of the reason jily started dating is bc they could match each other’s quips so well
good at practical magic with several seemingly random interests in the theoretical background of certain types of magic. will go off on a tangent on the Braach’s Sixteen Laws of Weight when someone offhandedly mentions a featherlight charm
created the runic sequences of the Map that ground the spellwork woven into the object to ambient magic all by himself and was SO proud of himself that severus was valid in saying james strutted around like he owned the place
human embodiment of the following emoticon= >:3
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When we were up to no good
Hello,
I’m a canon-compliant Marauder fanfic writer, currently working on a long fic from 1971-1981 called: When we were up to no good.
I do like non-compliant stuff too (I’m especially here for Prongsfoot) - in case that needed saying!
I wanted to write a story where:
Sirius and James are best friends, inseparable and extremely talented
Remus and James have a solid friendship; not just Remus and Sirius
While Sirius and Peter take a bit of time to become close, Sirius ends up closer to Peter than Remus (at the latest) by the later stages of the war. But get this, they are all best friends!
Peter is very much part of the Marauders, and there’s nothing obvious to suggest he does a 180. Nevertheless, as readers who know what happens, we can see the small stuff that lays the foundation for the betrayal
James and Sirius are bullies! This isn’t a story trying to ignore their bad sides
Remus’ personality is affected by his lycanthropy - he has three great friends and that’s it: James, Sirius and Peter. He does not stand up to his friends (much) as he cannot afford to lose them
Lily struggles to adjust to the wizarding world given her blood status and she struggles with her friendship with Snape. She loves him so much but she’s not blind to his friends and the path he’s being led down
James and Lily have arcs that both make us understand why she disliked James so much, but also understand how the two are rather similar in their own way. The relationship, when it happens, should feel solid and lasting.
James does not go around declaring his love for Lily at every opportunity. It doesn’t fit with the canon
Not every OOTP member are in the same year as the Marauders. In my story, Marlene is 10 years older (and Molly’s best friend), Frank and Gideon are 6 years older; Alice and Fabian are 5 years older; and Dorcas is long gone from school
Frank and Alice starts dating after Hogwarts (not everyone has to start dating at school)
There's lots of (hopefully canon-compliant) plot and character development. And it’s a long story! I want to make justice to their story and not rush it (but I don't want it to feel dragged out)
There is as much fun and fluff and comfort and hurt as I can get away with while feeling I can call it canon-compliant
There are plenty of Easter eggs and things we know happened in the canon, such as: Bertha Jorkins as a source of Hogwarts gossip; the Whomping Willow becoming off-limit, the newly built abandoned Hogsmeade house slowly becoming known as the Shrieking Shack, Mundungus Fletcher finding himself banned from the Hogs Head ca 1975; the 1974 World Cup and more.
That’s the ambition. I’m not by any means an experienced writer and I’m learning as I go. If this is something that interests you, then cool! Absolutely engage as much or little as you’d like with the story! I love geeking out over canon and writing!
I post extracts on here quite often! You might call it self-promotion - I call it oversharing - something I do in all aspects of my life! 😂
I don’t support JKR’s views, just because I’m obsessed with the canon and I am writing a canon-compliant interpretation of the Marauders. I regularly question whether I should just abandon the fandom because of her (and I have in the past), but then again, I discovered a lot about my own gender fluidity through the fandom, so it’s all very complicated.
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hamliet · 8 months
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So, Harry Potter ask here:
This one might sound a bit controversial to comment on, I hope it doesn't bother you. What is your opinion about the narrative redeeming Snape, a former Death Eater (the blood supremacists guys), just because of his guilt and love for Harry’s mother. I see a lot of discussions on this topic (Snape himself is already a controversial character, so I guess it's no surprise there are so many discussions around him), remembering you I got curious to know what your thoughts on this subject.
No worries!
I see Snape as a character who is far and away the most complex character of Harry Potter. Now, HP's a fairy tale in principle, so most of its characters are not overly complex. But Snape is (and so is Dumbledore). But I think some people can have trouble processing complex characters inside fairly straightfoward, simple stories, which isn't necessarily the fault of the story.
While She Who Must Not Be Named has had a lot of "..." takes to her own works (and horrid takes elsewise), I do think she's not wrong about her statement on Snape: that he was a hero, and he was a bully, both at the same time. He just was. There's no excusing his treatment of his students. His heroism and sacrifice without any guarantee that he would be remembered as anything other than a traitor was brave.
So, not only is Snape complex, but he embodies the old adage "hurting people hurt people." His childhood is also extremely hard to read about--it sounds agonizing. Snape does grow up to bully others because he was himself bullied horribly--not just by his peers, but at home, where his father abused both him and his mother.
Another potential stumbling block for Snape's "redemption" is that it gets to the heart of what a redemption is. Is it actually a change in character? Or is it a change in how the reader perceives the character? Because technically, in universe, Snape's been redeemed since before Harry was born. It's just that our reactions to him change after the reveal in the last book. And, he was still hurting people while being a hero. (Antihero?) So, how should we feel about him?
I'm going to say that's exactly the question we're supposed to be asking, actually.
And to determine what asking that question gets us, let's look at Snape as a foil to other characters. Snape is a very good foil for Dumbledore, Harry, and Voldemort. Actually, these four all foil each other quite a bit, and it's in their foilings that we come to an understanding of the story's themes.
Like Dumbledore, Snape is somewhat morally gray. We're meant to ask the complicated questions at the end of the last book, which was all about wrestling with the legacy of heroes who turned out to be very flawed. Snape is cruel to Harry, but is ultimately determined to keep him alive no matter what because that is what Lily would have wanted. Dumbledore is loving and a good mentor to Harry, but does all of this while knowing that Harry would have to die in the end. Snape even calls Dumbledore out on this. Dumbledore also allows Harry to stay in two abusive situations--the Dursleys and Snape--for the ultimate benefit of protecting him... so he can eventually sacrifice himself.
If someone is horrible to you but ultimately determined to keep you alive no matter what, are they a worse person to you than someone who is nice to you and believes you must die, even if they are devastated by this?
This is why I really roll my eyes at people not understanding the purpose of "Albus Severus Potter" at the end. It's so dismissed and derided, but it's narratively perfect. (Especially in! A! Fairy tale!)
The names aren't about Harry and how he feels about these men. They are names that are significant symbolically for showing how Harry has reconciled these two complicated legacies, and will keep reconciling with them because their legacies are literally alive and living on (and the weight of having legacies and the question of whether you're seen as yourself is exactly what The Cursed Child explores.)
In the end, both Snape and Dumbledore achieved their goals: Harry is alive, and he died to vanquish Voldemort. All is well. Their legacies live on in a literal new life, who gets to decide for himself what his own legacy will be in TCC. Meaning, even if Harry acknowledges their flaws, he chooses to appreciate their lives. Instead of being kept in the dark, ignorant about his endgame and ignorant of his mother's history, he sees, and he gets to determine how he feels about it all. It's empowerment, not capitulation. It's maturity, embodying the macrocosm (appreciating the big picture) in the microcosm (a single person). (Also, yes, Dumbledore's "the greater good" struggles with Gindelwald tie into this idea, wherein via Snape and Dumbledore's opposite approaches/reasoning to protecting Harry, we see that the greater good vs the individual is not necessarily a dichotomy after all. So having a character literally embody both in the end is--perfect.)
Snape, Harry, and Voldemort all grew up unloved. The difference is that Harry is able to find himself surrounded by loving friends at a point. Snape is able to find one person to love. Tom Riddle isn't able to find anyone, and hence he becomes Voldemort. That shred of love inside Snape saves not just himself spiritually, but Harry physically. Because love is like that. It's the most powerful magic, after all.
As for the whole idea of showing Snape as redeemable thanks to love--I mean, listen, as someone raised in a cult, people need to realize that people inside these cults--even extremist, evil ones--need someone or something to motivate them to leave. They were a person before their joined the cult (unless you were brought up in it) and they're still a person. Giving someone ties to the outside is exactly how most of them will come to realize they have options. No, not everyone has to forgive them or be willing to extend a hand. We can't be everything to everyone. But if someone can, that doesn't mean they're excusing the inexcusable. They're just recognizing the humanity inside them. And even if no one does, the person in the cult can decide to love someone and leave. It's hopeful. It's a fairy tale, and love wins.
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