Clues to Snape's Loyalties

[julie]

No: HPFGUIDX 170799


> 
> Sherry:
> And I can't bear for *Harry* the actual hero of the story to be 
wrong again.
> It's time he was right.  He was right about Malfoy in HBP, and I 
want Harry
> to be right about Snape in the end, even if Snape suffers remorse 
and does
> something to try to redeem himself in the last book.  Neither 
Dumbledore nor
> Snape are the ones the books are about.  They are Harry's story.  

Julie:
Your choice of words brought something to mind. If Harry is wrong
about Snape, would he really be wrong "again"? I think he's been
wrong about Snape all along. Just as Snape has been wrong about
Harry all along. To Snape, Harry is Clone!James. Snape can't 
abandon his old grudges and misperceptions of Harry's behavior
as a mirror of his father's to see who Harry really is.

As for Harry, he has never trusted Snape. Even during the
periods of grudgingly accepting Snape's status as an Order 
member he's held fast to his mistrust (suspecting Snape was 
opening his mind further to Voldemort, for instance). For all
the counsel Harry's beloved mentor has given, the one piece
Harry has soundly rejected from the beginning is that Snape
is trustworthy. 

So has Harry been right all along? Or has he seen Snape
through his own misperceptions, and perhaps on some level
through Snape's own misdirections? (Don't freak, I am NOT
saying Snape has been faking it, only that he has never 
disabused Harry of any conclusions Harry has made--"That's
your job, isn't it?!" "Yes, Potter, it is.")

In any case, I don't think there's any *again* about it.
Either Harry and Snape have both been wrong about each
other from the beginning, or only Snape has been wrong
about Harry. For me, a pairing always makes for a much more 
interesting story ;-)  

Julie