seeds of betrayal: Why was Snape upset about the Pottters' deaths?

[lunamk03]

No: HPFGUIDX 149683

Zgirnius wrote: 
Snip
> And my conclusion is that the Prank, and `Snape's Grudge' may well 
> serve as red herrings, to explain Snape's otherwise inexplicable 
> behavior to the reader in PoA without leading us to suspect things 
> which will later become important. This is not to say that Snape 
> has no resentment of the Marauders left over from his school days. 
> In fact, I think Snape's view of Lupin in particular does reflect 
> his view of Lupin's actions as a schoolboy.
snip 
> However, HBP has hinted at a possible alternative reason for Snape 
> to be so murderously angry with Sirius. We now know that Snape was 
> the eavesdropper who reported the Prophecy to Voldemort. And, 
> Dumbledore believes that Snape felt great remorse about this when 
> he realized the Potters were Voldemort's targets-which would mean 
> that he now feels a great deal of guilt for the Potters' deaths. If
> the Potter's Secret Keeper had not betrayed them, they might still 
> be alive and Snape would not have that burden of guilt. So, it is 
> certainly possible that in PoA, Snape blames Sirius for causing the 
> death of the Potters even while Snape was trying to make up for his 
> initial reporting of the prophecy.
>snip
> Snape would appreciate not having a Kiss for Sirius on his 
> conscience. (As he deeply regrets his involvement in James's death,
> perhaps?)


Luna: 
Excellent analysis! I agree that the prank was indeed a red herring.

But somehow I don't find Snape as naive as to report the prophecy to 
Voldemort and expect that no one will be harmed. Now, my questions 
are:
- Would Snape be as upset if it was the Longbottoms the ones who got 
killed instead of the Potters? Why wasn't he upset about Voldemort 
disappearance after killing the Potters? After all, he was his 
master. 

I posted before my theory, but reading this post, I find this could 
be new evidence to what I think is at the heart of Snape's desire 
for revenge and remorse for the Potters' deaths: Snape was in love 
with Lily.

Somehow, I don't see Snape upset about James dying; after all, it is 
evident from book 1 that Snape utterly despised James. Why should he 
be upset to see the man who gave him his worst memory in life being 
killed? I have 2 possible explanations:

1-	Life debt: this, I also view as red herring, but it is 
possible that he was upset because he couldn't repay James for 
saving his life. Then again, James' son was left alive, he still has 
Harry to repay his debt. So James is death, big deal, he can still 
save Harry.
2-	Snape loved Lily: as horrible the idea of Snape in love 
could be, I think this is the direction that the books seem to be 
pointing at.

Snape desire for vengeance is fiery, as we see in POA. He hated 
Sirius for "betraying the Potters" and hates Voldemort for killing 
them. Snape wants to be close to Voldemort to kill him, not to serve 
him. This is why he killed DD: DD was the only thing standing 
between Snape and his revenge.

Clues in the books and JKR Interviews:
-	Snape's worst memory is him being ridiculed in the presence 
of Lily.
-	Lily was the best Potion maker of her year, she probably 
was helping Snape in potions. It is evident that Lily went to 
Sirius aid because she feels compelled to defend him. Why? Don't get 
me wrong, I don't think that she was actually in love with Snape. I 
think she wanted to be friends with him, maybe pitied him for being 
a kind of outsider and wanted to help him. Maybe she saw he was 
brilliant too and felt attracted to that part of Snape.
-	Voldemort asked Lily to step aside instead of killing her. 
Why would Voldemort do that? Maybe because Snape begged him not to 
kill her as a reward for the info he gave him?
-	JKR's interview in Mugglenet:

"ES: Was James the only one who had romantic feelings for Lily?
JKR: No. [Pause.] She was like Ginny, she was a popular girl.
MA: Snape?
JKR: That is a theory that's been put to me repeatedly. 
ES: What about Lupin?
JKR: I can answer either one.
ES: How about both? One at a time.
JKR: I can't answer, can I, really?
ES: Can you give us any clue, without misleading us [Emerson 
misspoke; he meant 'without giving too much away'] --?
JKR: I've never, to my knowledge, lied when posed a question about 
the books. To my knowledge. You can imagine, I've now been asked 
hundreds of questions; it's perfectly possible at some point I 
misspoke or I gave a misleading answer unintentionally, or I may 
have answered truthfully at the time and then changed my mind in a 
subsequent book. That makes me cagey about answering some questions 
in too much detail because I have to have some leeway to get there 
and do it my way, but never on a major plot point. 
Lupin was very fond of Lily, we'll put it like that, but I wouldn't 
want anyone to run around thinking that he competed with James for 
her. She was a popular girl, and that is relevant. But I think 
you've seen that already. She was a bit of a catch."

Now, this also answers another question about Lupin: Why did James 
and Sirius suspected Lupin of being the "double agent?" Did James 
felt threatened by Lupins's feelings for Lily?

To me, these notions of Lupin and Snape having more than friendly 
feelings for popular Lily answer a lot of questions.