Did Snape Love Lily?

[thestral]

i sorta see both sides, i'm undecided right now until i've re-read HBP (which my brother STILL has...) so for the moment i'm sitting on the fence, where it's nice and safe

[Tanuki]

*shakes the fence*

No fair, pick a side!

[Un'Anima Persa]

I'd advise you to actually read all those clever theories posted in this forum, and you'll see that Snape being truly evil is as obvious as Harry and Hermione being destined for each other.

I resent that.


I think snape may have had a short crush on lily, because she helped him out, but i dont think he was in love with her, nor do i think he's evil (but i still resent the above.

[Tanuki]

Why is it so hard to accept that Harry was right about him? what has he done to warrent such loyalty? It certainly isn't his charisma or people skills.

[cokeboy99]

Muhahahahaha!

*sharpens knives*

No, honestly, I guess the reason I get so emotional about the Snape/Lily connection and the question of Snape's loyalities is that I so badly want to convince myself...because I'm far from sure about them. Hm...actually, I could rather live with SuperEvilBabyEatingDeathEater!Snape who gets finished off by Neville than with Snape having loved Lily. Urgh! But honestly, wouldn't things be boring the way they seem now?

Voldemort: Killed Harry's parents, he and Harry have a score to settle in book 7. Official.

Bellatrix: Killed Harry's godfather, she and Harry have a score to settle in book 7. Also official.

Snape: Killed Harry's mentor, he and Harry have a score to settle in book 7. WTF?

Apart from that, in one of the interviews JKR has recently given, she talked about the subject of love in the HP books. She said she didn't want to stick to that old rule saying that in criminal story (for HP is written with the structure of a criminal story), love has no place other than serving as a red herring. But still, she certainly enjoys using love as a distraction as she did with Tonks and Lupin. I guess the now over-obvious hints at Snape/Lily are most likely such a red herring, anything else would be cheap.

*wow, that was the worst structured post I've ever made, hehe*

Neville could finish off Bellatrix, she's the one who tortured his parents and caused them to end up in St. Mungo's permanently.....I'd like to see that happen, personally....

[Dutchess42]

Okay. If Snape is not evil and truly was hugely remorseful for the deaths of James and Lily then why was he so remorseful?

[gadfly22]

Okay. If Snape is not evil and truly was hugely remorseful for the deaths of James and Lily then why was he so remorseful?

This goes back to the original question: did Snape love Lily?

Because if he did -- even if he was willing to live with the death of James -- he may have been promised by Voldemort that Lily would be his (or at least that James would be out of the way). But then Voldy killed Lily, and Snape felt (1) betrayed by Voldemort's lies and (2) guilt for having brought about Lily's death.

And Dumbledore believes in the sincerity of Snape's remorse and desire to make amends, and he therefore trusts Snape. But Voldy doesn't understand love, and so is perfectly willing to believe that Snape is OK with Lily's death and still remains loyal to him.

[Froggs]

I don't know...the Snape loves Lilly thing is kinda hokey, don't you think?

[gadfly22]

the Snape loves Lilly thing is kinda hokey, don't you think?

My view: more tragic than hokey.

Harry has learned about the love between friends (e.g., Harry, Ron, Hermione or lupin, James and Sirius), between parent and child (e.g., Lily for Harry) and a child's puppy love (e.g., Harry for Cho).

But he hasn't yet addressed real grown-up romantic love. Since the 7th book will be about Harry's formal coming of age at 17, I think it will also include more about that grown-up romantic love -- and how sometimes it doesn't work out.

Snape's unrequited love for Lily -- leading inadvertently and tragically to her death and his subsequent guilt -- fits that pattern nicely.

[Dutchess42]

That's what I mean.

I'm not married to the Snape/Lily thing but -

I'm sure there are other reasons why Snape might have felt such powerful remorse, but I can't think of any at the moment. So ... what would some other reasons be?

[Aislyn Lestrange]

To tell you the truth, I don't know. *shrugs* I mean.. Lily could've just been a nice person and an excellent witch. Maybe that was also why Voldemort wanted to spare her. Pure talent.

[Athena Appleton]

I don't think Snape had loving feelings for Lily, at least not in the form of something he'd recognize as love. I think Lily had a great intolorance for injustice. That's what provoked her to stand up to James and Sirius to defend Snape, but it's also what probably kept her from getting closer to Snape.

This was touched on, and I was wondering if anyone else caught it: in P/SS, Ollivander tells Harry that James's wand was good for Transfiguration (which we later found out he excelled in in PoA), and that Lily's did great work in Charms. Slughorn says that Lily had a flair for Potions. Was there anything this girl couldn't do?

[Tanuki]

Was there anything this girl couldn't do?

Survive Aveda Kedaveda apparently

[aGs!]

Hi, first of all I am new in this forum, and I am from Argentina, so exuse me if I make some mistakes while writing [or if I sound funny, heh].

First of all: I love Snape, I believe he is good, and I dont now whether the theory I am about to say is true or not, but have some interesting points..

1st: Harry's eyes have an important role, said by JKR herself. Then, evryone who has met Harry's parents [Lupin, Sirius, Dumbledore..] remark on how similar Harry is of his dad, *except* his eyes, which are almost identical to Lily's. At the same time, JKR didn't want to answer once about Snape loves and his love history because it was important in the plot. So therefore.. if Snape loved Lily, and Harry's eyes are so important, and his eyes are so like Lily's .. .. .. own conclusions. There might be something in there.

I know its all messed up, but anyway.. believe what you want

Agus..

[Athena Appleton]

Welcome to B&O! Don't worry about how you sound. We're from all over the place!

I personally think people who still hold to the thought that Snape is good are grasping at straws (much like people who believed Sirius would be revived after OotP), but hey... to each his (or her) own. I have my own pet theories that probably wouldn't pan out, too.

I totally missed what your Lily's eyes theory was... was it that Snape couldn't stand seeing someone who looked as much like James Potter as Harry does looking at him through Lily's eyes?