Did Snape have a choice or not? Levels and contradictions in JKR's writing

[ceridwennight]

No: HPFGUIDX 138618

> Jen: He has emotional control during the scene, but look where he 
> ended up! On the floor, kneeling in front of Narcissa and sealing 
> his doom. What in the world would make him do that? He doesn't need 
> to prove himself to either of these women if Voldemort trusts him 
as 
> much as Snape says he does. He can look out for Draco without an 
UV. 
> Something motivated him to make this huge error and I'm just 
> searching for what that could possibly be. 

Ceridwen:
I can buy a Snape who had a crush on Narcissa during school.  She was 
(still is?) pretty, girlie, Pureblood, Slytherin, rich.  Everything 
Snape would, just by reading the books, want.

I did feel a tension there, but nothing overt.  Something 
underlying.  If Snape had a crush on Narcissa, that was in the past.  
He may have transformed that now-unsuitable feeling into a different 
sort of affection.  A lot of rejected people do.  But, he may also 
have seen Lucius's sudden trip to Azkaban as a foot in an old and, 
until that moment closed, door.  He is certainly being used as a 
surrogate 'man to the rescue' by Narcissa in this scene.  Otherwise, 
it would have been her and a free Lucius discussing what to do.

Narcissa probably wasn't blind to the crushes boys had on her in 
school.  Just her name brings a fragile beauty to mind.  And, I'll 
bet she thought it was no more than her due.  So, playing off both 
the flower and Narcissus in mythology.  As a Slytherin, she would use 
these old feelings to advantage, and like beauties might, she may not 
have closed all doors completely (to old beaux feelings, not 
suggesting Adulterous!Narcissa here), so she would have advantage 
when she needed to use her former suitors/crushers.  Or, it could 
just be that she turned on the charm when she went to Spinner's End.  
That is definitely a beautiful woman's most powerful and assured 
weapon.

Ceridwen.