Why not kill Lily?

[zehms at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 142876

Ginny343:
I'm wondering about the statement Voldemort made to Harry about, "Your 
mother needn't have died".  That seems out-of-character for Voldemort -
seeing as one of his big things is pure bloodedness (even though he 
is not).  He has obviously killed a large number of people, why on 
earth would he decide to kill James, little Harry, and spare muggle-
born Lily?  Some time ago I read various theories about this, but I 
can't imagine any reason why Voldemort would intentionally consider 
not killing Lily.  Any ideas?



szehms:
When JKR first refused to comment about the answer to the question "why not 
kill Lily?' or "Why did LV give Lily the choice to live?' I believed  some 
theories surrounding Harry's ancestory; some argued that Lily's green eyes were 
symbolic of a connection to Slytherin, perhaps she was distantly related to 
Salazar, therefore I thought perhaps LV chose to spare her as she and he shared 
the same lineage.
However, JKR quickly dispelled these theories, telling fans that Harry is 
neither an heir of Slytherin or Gryffindor, and his parents ancestory is of no 
importance to the series, and obviously with HBP we all learned that Tom Riddle 
is the last remaining heir of Slytherin.

So why let Lily live?

I am begining to think that the answer lies with Snape...... that Snape 
manipulated Voldemort to believe that Lily needn't be killed, that Snape attempted 
to save Lily's life.  This ties in neatly with my belief that Snape's 
repentence to DD is because of his feelings for Lily, that when he realized that his 
actions would bring about her death, I think he became a double agent for the 
Order.
JKR would of course be silent about this information as it would reveal too 
much about the plot she is saving for book 7, the connection between Snape and 
Lily and the reason why DD always trusted Snape.

Any other thoughts?

szehms