A thought popped in my head one night...

[Alex Boyd]

No: HPFGUIDX 112469

Yb summarised most of the recent Snape/Lily "Worst Memory" scene posts
and suggested: 

> But, what if LILY had some feelings for SNAPE? Maybe she's sticking 
> up for him not because he's helpless and outnumbered (he has enough 
> talent to take on the Marauders at least one on one), but maybe she 
> tried to be friends with him, or even had a little crush on him at 
> one time. 

This seems, IMHO, just as plausible based on canonical evidence as a
one-sided Snape/Lily crush going the other way.

Each book has presented us with a slightly revised, slightly more
complicated picture of the relationships between Snape and Harry's
parents and their associates.  I'm sure we're not meant to be able to
grasp the whole picture from this scene--the ambiguity is deliberate.

I wouldn't rule out a "special" relationship between Lily and Snape
based on this scene (or any other canonical evidence), but I also
wouldn't see one as being in any way confirmed.  Lily is cast in the
series as an embodiment of maternal love.  Given that, it seems
entirely plausible that she, like many of the people on this list,
would regard Snape as deserving of compassion *in this particular
scene*, regardless of his behaviour towards her/the Potter gang in
other contexts.  

I have another thought about the *other* controversy relating to this
scene (forgive me if this topic has been talked to death; I've only
been reading this list for a few days), that is, why is *this* Snape's
worst memory, as opposed to, say, almost getting eaten by a werewolf?
   (Or, if you resist the chapter-title characterization of the scene
as Snape's worst memory, why is it the memory he particularly desires
to keep Harry from finding out about?)  Sure, this memory is
especially embarassing, likely to appeal to the sense of humor of an
adolescent boy, and, as it involves Harry's parents, especially likely
to be of interest to him.  But I would also suggest that Snape himself
could be ashamed of his own behavior in this scene.  In the Shrieking
Shack Incident, he can, with ample justification (having poor personal
hygeine and being unpleasant to be around is not a death-penalty
offense, even in the wizarding world), view himself entirely as a
wronged party.  In the Worst Memory, he *was* a wronged party, but he
also acted like a complete and utter jerk to someone who was trying
(for some reason known only to herself) to be nice to him. 

As a teenager, he was probably focused on the humiliation he'd
suffered.  But as an adult, he may recognize that his own behavior was
not something to be proud of.  The scene reveals that his injured
dignity and hurt feelings led him to some thoroughly rotten behaviour,
and *that*--his realization that, although he was humiliated by Potter
and Co., he also humiliated *himself* by skipping right past
descending to their level and insulting someone who was trying to
help.  So this scene vexes Snape for the same reasons it vexes
us--because it presents him in an entirely unflattering but highly
ambiguous light. 

Alex, new to the list.