Snape Loved or In-Love with Lily?

[Tonks]

No: HPFGUIDX 148366

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboyminn at ...> wrote:
> 
> The idea that Snape loved Lily Evans-Potter comes up often, and 
within a certain context, I'm not buying it. At least, I'm not 
buying the 'in love' part. 
> 
> I think Snape had a deep abiding non-sexual fondness for Lily. 
Despite the fact that he never expressed it outwardly, he felt 
deeply grateful for the kindness and respect that Lily had shown him 
over their school careers together. I suspect that in the Potions 
Lab, away from the prying eyes of other students, there relationship 
was very friendly, even to the point of warm and (superficially) 
affectionate. 
> 

Tonks_op
I agree with you that Snape may have had respect and admiration for 
Lily as a human being. I am in more of the Snape loved Narcissa camp 
than the Snape loved Lily camp.  

I also think that (as I have said here before) the reason Snape did 
not want LV to go to the Potters was the life debt that he had to 
James.  If you are directly or indirectly responsible for the death 
of someone to whom you have a life debt that must be a really, 
really bad thing and something that you would want very much to 
avoid. This would be very bad magic/karma indeed.  So Snape tried to 
save his own soul by trying to warn James and James did not listen. 
It would be something like the unbreakable vow, in that there must 
be really bad consequences to being in any way responsible for the 
death of someone to whom you had the duty of a life debit. 

Tonks_op