How will Snape come back?

[wynnleaf]

No: HPFGUIDX 162620

> Carol responds:
> I think you've covered all the bases here. ;-) Or maybe you haven't.
> Maybe an Order member or a student witnesses Snape doing something
> that can only be explained by his being on their side--healing Luna,
> for example. Surely, Snape's healing skills will resurface in Book 7.

wynnleaf,
If Dumbledore knew ahead of time that Snape was likely to have to AK
him and go deep into cover as a full-fledged (supposedly) Death Eater,
then it would make sense for Dumbledore to have already arranged a
trusted individual to be aware of Snape's status.  Most likely, that
would be an Order member.

> Carol:
> But Lupin? What makes you think that Snape, who tied Lupin up in the
> Shrieking Shack when he thought he was the murderer Black's
> accomplice, and has the upper hand over him by being able to make a
> potion Lupin can't make for himself, is afraid of Lupin? IMO, Lupin
> (assuming that Pippin is wrong about his being ESE!) is the very
> person most likely to figure out that the AK that sent DD over the
> wall wasn't a normal AK and start asking questions. 

wynnleaf,
If Dumbledore did not tell anyone else what Snape might be called on
to do, and instead someone on the Order's side figures it out on their
on, then you're right that Lupin (IF he's not the 7th book traitor,
which sorry, but he's perfectly positioned to become), could be a good
candidate to start adding things up and realizing that Snape might
have followed Dumbledore's order.

Carol
Another possibility
> is Arthur Weasley, who reacts to Dumbledore's death and to Greyback's
> attack on his oldest son but doesn't say a word about Snape. 

wynnleaf
If Dumbledore let anyone else in the Order know the position that
Snape might find himself in, the best person would probably be Arthur.
  Arthur is trusted by both many Ministry officials and Order members.
 He could therefore take information from Snape to select Ministry
officials, who could assume it came via the Order.  He could take
information from Snape to the Order who would assume Arthur got it
through Ministry contacts.  Snape has no reason to distrust Arthur --
no bad past (like with Lupin or possibly with Aurors).  

More interesting are two scenes in HBP.  When Harry talked to Arthur
about Draco and Snape at Christmas, Arthur gave a brief answer on why
Snape might have done spoken as he did to Draco.  Lupin jumped into
the conversation and talked a lot about why he trusted Snape.  But if
you look at how the characters were physically positioned in the
scene, Arthur never left that conversation, he simply stayed silent
until he finally stood up and called everyone's attention to something
else.  Arthur isn't the really quiet type.  But he let Lupin take over
the conversation and didn't add anything else for quite some time
while Lupin went on about Snape.  That could be coincidental.  But it
also could be the action of a person who knows a great deal more than
they want to say and so leaves the topic of "why to trust Snape" to
someone else who won't be in danger of revealing anything.

Then in the hospital wing after Dumbledore had been AK'd, Arthur
seemed the least distressed of practically anyone there.  And he
didn't say anything about being shocked about Snape.  Later, when I
started thinking who in the Order could be in on some plan, Arthur
seemed the most likely.

Best reason for Arthur -- everyone else in the Order, including Harry,
trusts him.

> Carol:
 As for Snape reaching Hermione, I suppose
> there's some hope. She alone of the Trio believed Dumbledore that he
> was trustworthy, and (very oddly, given her year-long antagonism to
> the HBP) she tells Harry after learning his identity that "evil is a
> strong word" to describe the teenage inventor of Sectumsempra who grew
> up to kill Dumbledore. I don't think that Snape will contact Hermione,
> but she may start thinking about him and trying to get Harry to
> understand his motivations. Maybe he'll send a changed Patronus and
> she'll figure out whose it is and send him a message using her own. 

wynnleaf
I agree. I don't think Snape would contact Hermione.  Fan fics aside,
I just don't think Snape would willingly place his future in the hands
of one of the Trio, including the "know-it-all" (Snape's opinion)
Hermione.  But Hermione could figure out that Snape was possibly
following Dumbledore's order, and could help Harry in coming to terms
with a loyal Snape.

> Carol:
> Or in LOTR? I think a Boromir-style repentance scene is what many fans
> are expecting. I very much doubt that JKR will give us one.
> Personally, I hope she finds a way to save Snape. But I don't doubt
> for a moment that he'll be instrumental in the Horcrux hunt, as well
> as in betraying Voldemrot to Harry at the last moment.

wynnleaf
I think Harry will have to get over his hatred for Snape *before* JKR
lets him use that "power the Dark Lord knows not of" to defeat
Voldemort.  That would mean that Harry would have to deal with his
hatred of Snape and forgive him before a final confrontation -- not
because of it.

wynnleaf, who very much hopes Harry has to deal with the tougher
forgiveness of someone he'll have to work with and trust; not the
"easier" forgiveness of someone who is dead and out of his life.