Godparents and Half-Brothers

[stellablue571]

No: HPFGUIDX 110282

Justine:
<< Firstly, there was no question about Sirius's marital status. 
> As far as I know, godparents do not have to be married ... >>

Rita <catlady at w...> wrote:
> I *think* she meant that, if Sirius had been married, his wife would
> have been with him so they could have rushed over *together* to the
> Potters, so there would have been a woman (Mrs. Sirius) present when
> they did this emergency 'christening', so she could have been
> godmother. 


Stella says:
Yes, I think that's EXACTLY what she meant! 


> Luckdragon wrote in
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/110182 :
> 
> << The idea of Sirius and Severus being half brothers is interesting
> and certainly resolves the enmity issue between them. It does,
> however, bring two thoughts to mind.
> 1) Snape would then possibly (legally) be entitled to the Black 
> family fortune and home.
> 2) Phineas Nigelus when told of Sirius's death say's "the last of 
> the Blacks is dead"? >>

Rita:
> As an OUT-OF-WEDLOCK child, Snape would not be entitled to any
> inheritance from his father and his father's family, and would not 
> be entitled to use his father's surname. Thus Phineas Nigellus would 
> not consider him a Black. 

 
Stella says:

I'm surprised no one has ever referenced Snape's memory from Ootp. 
(or maybe they have? If so, sorry...)
But the scene where Harry gets a glimpse of Snape's thoughts (not in 
the pensieve) describes Snape as a child, crying in the corner, while 
a "hook-nosed" man was screaming at a cowering woman.  Now we can 
assume that these are Snape's parents, and obviously he has his 
father's nose.  (And apparently his temperament, also?!)  This 
exchange suggests that he knew his father from a young age, and the 
image I get is of an unhappy childhood with parents who were 
(unhappily) married to each other.  

I know this could also be interpreted other ways, because we are 
given so little actual information in that particular memory.  
Perhaps it was Mr. Black paying a visit to threaten Ms. Snape to keep 
her mouth shut about little Severus's true paternity, but I don't 
think so.  I really think that Snape wouldn't be so vocal about 
bloodlines if he were actually illegitimate, and there is nothing in 
canon to suggest any resemblance between Snape and Sirius other than 
the dark coloring.  In real genetics, facial structures of even half-
siblings have similarities. I see nothing in  the ever-so-good-
looking Sirius that suggests he would be the brother of the ever-not-
so-good-looking Snape!  Even if he was lucky enough t get his 
mother's nose, Sirius would still, surely bear SOME resemblance to 
his brother?

Sorry, but while it's not impossible, I find it highly unlikely that 
these two are brothers.  If there is really more to the hatred than 
we've learned, it remains to be seen.

Regards,
Stella