Redemptive pattern or Snape in love???

[Richard]

No: HPFGUIDX 139865

juli17 at a... wrote:
<snip>  
> Book 7 isn't going to reveal a redemptive pattern in Snape, as that
> pattern has been obvious throughout the books (and the interviewer
> states it as if it's a fact already in evidence). I think Book 7 is  
going
> to reveal a Snape not "falling in love" but a Snape who has  *been*
> in love before, thus JKR's stunned reaction that someone would 
> have considered the Snape in love concept. (And I know JKR said
> "Who would want Snape in love with them?", which is a valid point.
> Probably no one, but that doesn't mean Snape couldn't love--or have
> loved--someone unrequitedly.)
>  
> Julie 
> (who votes for Lily as love interest, since Narcissa as love interest
> adds nothing to the plot--unless Draco is a love child  ;-)

Richard here:

Let's open up the doors here with a little rank speculation ...

Let us suppose for a minute that Draco, whose birthday is given as 
June 5, was premature.  I'm not saying just shy of two months 
premature, but say, oh, better than a month.  We know that bad 
outcomes are possible for births in the WW, thanks to Merope's tale, 
and it is conceivable that an acute problem in a pregnancy might still 
be result in a birth before St. Mungo's could be reached, or that it 
might be most effectively handled by allowing or forcing a premature 
birth.

We don't know EXACTLY what Voldemort was told about the prophecy, 
except that it was the first part, rather than all of it.  So, it is 
at least conceivable that Voldemort might hold ANY pregnancy that 
might result in a birth "as July dies" as suspect.  Even if he knows 
the birth is to some couple that has defied him three times, we don't 
necessarily know what Voldemort would consider defiance.  He might 
well regard ANY hesitation or questioning of his commands defiance.  
So, I think it conceivable that Narcissa's pregnancy might well have 
been held suspect by Voldemort, and that Voldemort might well have 
decided (and it became known to Snape) that Narcissa's and Lucius' 
scion was on the tentative hit list.

Given this (rank speculation), if Snape's eye were more directed 
toward Narcissa than Lily (or, for you slash/fiction fans, Lucius, 
rather than Lily), it is still conceivable that Snape was taken aback 
by Voldemort's interpretation of and response to the prophecy, without 
any attachment on Snape's part to Lily.

Richard, who likes to speculate, but doesn't take his own speculations 
all that seriously.