Theory: Snape/James Connections

[Heather Moore]

No: HPFGUIDX 29510

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Calypso8604 at a... wrote:


> 
> 
> Hmm...I've just realized that every character in MWPP is an only child in my 
> fic. I wonder if any of them had/have siblings. I tend to make characters an 
> only child -- Perhaps from envy! ^_~
> 
> ~ Calypso
>  

It would not entirely shock me if Jo has up her sleeve some degree of a feuding first or second degree cousin relationship between Severus and James (and thus Harry). 

I know it gets told out that the Dursleys were Harry's only relatives, but were I Dumbledore, I'd certainly wouldn't put Baby Harry anywhere *near* Snape's care for a lot of reasons.

  a) Snape is, to begin with, not the nurturing type (to put it mildly).
  b) As a "turncoat" to the Death Eaters, Snape would have immediately drawn attention to himself as Harry's guardian.
  c) One could imagine that James Potter had a clause in his will about the raising of his children should anything happen to him. It probably didn't specify "my wife's horrible sister," but I can easily see it saying, "Uh, not Severus, for god's sake, man!"

  Some bad-blooded family connection between Sev and Jim could easily account for the intense friction between them and Severus' bitter competition/failure issues at school, even if they barely knew each other growing up. It could also account for James' making such a point of saving Severus from Sirius' dangerous prank, and Sev's burning resentment about that. It would play an otherwise unaccounted-for role in Sev carrying over that intense prejudice to his relationship with Harry. 

 (This eliminates any "need" to assume Snape had a torch for Lily Potter; with prior resentment, it becomes enough that James won the heart of the most popular, pretty-princess girl in school. ESPECIALLY given that Perfect Princess Lily Evans is Muggle-born, if the rift between the Potters and the Snapes happened because some Potter woman in a previous generation had been disowned and treated cruelly by the Potter family for having married the "wrong sort." (Most likely this would be Jame's great-aunt and Snape's grandfather, under this theory - and that "wrong sort" not necessarily meaning "muggle." Here's a bone to chew: maybe Snape's grandfather was a dhampire, if you like to take the vampire imagery seriously. That would make Snape an octoroon, of sorts. Maybe Snape has a teensy bit of giant in his background. Maybe grandpa Snape (or Grandpa whatever-his-name-is) was just a no-account Curses specialist.... Discuss, discuss!) 
 
There *is* a minor resemblance between Harry and Snape (both pale-skinned, both have unmanageable black hair....).

There *is* something important about the Snape-vs-James dynamic which Dumbledore and those in-the-know are holding back from Harry as yet. (A known relationship would be very dangerous for both Severus *and* Harry.)

It would add another layer to Severus' complete loss of his logical faculties in regard to Sirius Black and Dumbledore's allowing contact between him and Harry. (Not only does Snape *with ample reason, remember* regard Sirius as a person of bad character what with the rules breaking and the trying to kill Severus and the being framed for a heinous murder -- he's NOT EVEN RELATED TO HARRY, and yet he is Harry's godfather. As little love as Sev has for Harry, that would have to stick in his craw.)

Severus may delight in his own bitter, ultrastrict daily campaign to make Harry miserable, but he is *also* right spot on top of protecting the kid. He doesn't seem to follow the pop-culture conception of Harry as some mystical magical messiah, and it's hard to picture him being so much "Dumbledore's bitch" that he'd go out of his way to look out Joe Q. Random Wizard Kid who Dumbledore happens to have taken a fancy to, for *no particular reason.* Nor does he seem to bear any swallowed down resentment toward D, which we might expect if D is emotionally blackmailing Sev into jumping onto the "Save Harris" (couldn't resist) bandwagon when he could frankly give a shit about the little shit.

In short, he apparently feels responsible for Harry on a personal level. Very GRUDGINGLY, it seems, but you still get that sense of obligation.

Which to me, again, is suggesting that he's actually related to him, under the table.

Note, this is *not* "I *am* your father, Luke." I doubt any of our principals are related to Tom Riddle. 

And I have no illusions about Severus ever wanting to cultivate a *familial relationship* with Harry; he'd be much more likely to just get over his issues with Sirius's relationship with the boy. BUT, I do think that if this bears out, we'd see a Major Scene in which Sev and Harry have to work together, and in which Severus could likely end up sacrificing himself to save Harry.    
Dissect, discuss, throw tomatoes at will. Do not be shy in telling me I'm a genius. Or a moron.

 -- Heather