Harry's story , NOT Snape's (was Re: "An old man's mistakes")

[Ceridwen]

No: HPFGUIDX 139043

Merry Kinsella wrote:
> You know, really good point, and I kind of missed it
> myself when JKR said it.  Snape could well be on the
> side of good without being a healthy or viable
> romantic interest at this point.

Ceridwen:
I never thought of that either (thx, MsBeadsley!).  Putting that 
together with what someone else said farther back, maybe JKR is 
speaking *as of the moment* with the characters, and not as how 
they'll end up.  Interesting take.

> Merry:
> Anyhow, the "love story" that mosts interests me where
> Snape is concerned is what I perceive to be his
> platonic love with Dumbledore.  Possibly the only
> healthy experience of love in his life, and a mere
> first step toward any other kind.  Sort of a parental
> need fulfilled, late in life.

Ceridwen:
Yes.  Not all love is either romantic or familial.  Friends love each 
other without wanting sex; students love teachers/mentors, mentors 
love their students, almost as children and parents, but at some 
remove on one level, a bit closer on another.  Different functions: 
friends v. family, mentor v. parents, so a slightly different 
relationship, but still love.

> Merry:
> *(snip)*  When I
> consider the myriad romantic Snape fanon out there, I
> sometimes think about some noble woman patiently
> engaging Snape and convincing him she loves him, only
> to have him say "No thanks."  And mean it.  Not
> because he feels unworthy, or can't trust.  But
> because whoever it is doesn't meet his standards.

Ceridwen:
Reminds me of a story I read in a New Agey sort of self help book:  
the guy kept on rejecting women because they weren't good enough, 
didn't meet his standards.  Finally found a woman he thought was good 
enough.  He made overtures, but she rejected him.  He wasn't up to 
*her* standards.

Which of course gets the flights of fanfic fantasy going: did Snape 
(or anyone in the series - Sirius, Narcissa [rejecting Snape?]...) 
reject someone they thought to be inferior, only to change their mind 
later on, when it was too late?  If I had been shot down like that, I 
think I could find that a comforting thought on a cold night.

Ceridwen, who likes romance, but can definitely get too much of it.