for the Snape ask 22, 25, 27 💖
Hi there anon! Thanks for the asks! (I do so love these ask games!) (And I especially love Severus!)
22.) Do you think Lily was a good friend to Severus?
I'm so glad you asked this one! I'm curious about a lot of people's answer to this, actually.
I don't think Lily was a bad friend. I also don't think she was the epitome of friendship, either. And with Lily being such an idealized character in so many respects...it's as if she's seen as perfect. And if a flaw is spotted...it's this terrible sin. The marring of what was once perfection. A greater sin than had you been flawless from the start.
Lily was a person just like everyone else; but she had the misfortune of being idolized in so many people's eyes. James was smitten from the start; saw her as a prize to be won. To Severus, she was his first friend, his first real connection to magic outside of his mother. Both were drawn to her, and built her up in their heads; and their love blinded them, in ways.
She was charming, popular, pretty; of course Lily drew people to her. She was part of the Slug Club (quite the honor, right? LOL.) She also had a sense of right and wrong; a sense of justice and honor and bravery. She was part of the Order.
And worst of all (for her image), she sacrificed herself for her son. And that sacrifice protected him. Not bad, of course, but another strike against her humanity. Lily was a Lover, a Martyr, a Mother, a Saint.
Okay I've rambled about Lily, so let's wrap it back around to the point: for all that people saw her as being other, as being above, she was truly only human. She was just a girl.
Again: Lily was charming, popular, and pretty. And she befriended a boy who was the opposite of those things. Severus was poor and strange. Petunia didn't like him. (Further separation from her sister.) Their classmates didn't like him. (Outright despised him, in case of the Marauders.)
Lily was young. Young people can be ignorant, insecure, and selfish. She could have steered clear of that awful Snape boy. She could have judged him for being poor and strange, or been worried that people would judge her for associating with him. Not that it would be right, but it could be understood.
Surely she was judged for their friendship. Maybe Lily's "greatness" was enough to maintain her status in spite of this. That doesn't mean it would be easy to hear.
She stuck by him for a long time. Meeting up at Cokeworth. They clearly hung out at school some. In spite of Petunia's snobbery, in spite of her peers' opinions, in spite of their separation into Gryffindor and Slytherin. She put up with his questionable acquaintances for a while, too.
To me, Lily valued loyalty and friendship. People mattered to her. Doing what was right mattered to her. And she valued Severus. Her first magical friend. She could appreciate his intelligence and his curiosity; I think part of her even liked his intensity. I like to think she saw the good in him, too, buried under the bitterness and darkness. She respected his loyalty, his dedication, his hard work. They delighted in magic today, in learning and practicing.
But again...Lily was just a girl. I think she could be self-righteous a bit, and arrogant; maybe a part of her, one she didn't acknowledge, but deep down she saw herself as above and better. She had a stable family and home life, she had more money and resources, she had her looks and her charm. And maybe part of her liked being above him in that way. Especially if she saw him as being above her in others; more intelligent, more skilled, more powerful. And the farther they go, and the more he falls into the wrong crowd, the more that self-righteousness comes through. Her privilege bleeding out, however much she fought against it, and to be better than that.
I think she was self-absorbed, too, in ways; between her youth and her privilege, how could she not be? Caught up in her own woes, her own drama, her own brilliance. Delighting in Severus' attention. She respected his loyalty and love, yes, but she also enjoyed what it gave her personally. And perhaps his attention felt safer, more comfortable, than James Potter's.
Perhaps there was resentment, too, over blood status. Severus might be a half-blood, but Lily was Muggle-born. So, perhaps some level of envy that Severus had connection to a magical family. And half-blood was surely a step up from Muggle-born, in the eyes of blood purists. Maybe she resented all of her good qualities being tainted by her birth: "she's so pretty for a Muggle-born, so gifted for a Muggle-born, so smart for a Muggle-born!" Resentment that grew when Severus began falling in with the wrong people.
Lily was spirited. Bold, and honest. She may have been direct with Severus in ways that he needed to hear, but other times...maybe too brutally honest. They probably butted heads at times. And maybe she was prone to getting her way. Maybe she knew Severus wouldn't really argue with her over much, and maybe she took advantage of that without meaning to. Maybe she made mistakes. Said and did the wrong things.
But I think her heart was in the right place. I think she tried. I think she loved him, truly. That she was a genuine friend to him, however imperfect she may have been. I think when he called her "Mudblood" it was the straw that broke the camel's back. I think it broke her heart.
So...yes. I think she was a good friend, between her values (of friendship, loyalty, compassion, kindness) and her love for him (his mind, his heart, his soul.) I think she tried to do her best by him. And I think she failed sometimes, as all people do. Between Severus' baggage, and her own. She wasn't perfect. She wasn't the best friend who ever existed. She was just a human person, trying her best, living and learning as she went.
25.) Is there any other character you love as much as Snape? Do you think they'll get along?
Harry friggin' Potter. I adore that boy. What a precious ray of sunshine, what a delightful little mess.
Do they get along? Absolutely not. Not at first, anyway. Except...they're soulmates. Hate turns to love, or hate exists alongside love, and it's an explosive and scorching and powerful force to be reckoned with.
They're angry, and bitter. They're good, and brave, and strong. They're intense, and obsessive. They're curious. They have trauma. They have history. They have love. And dedication. They're stubborn. They'll butt heads and challenge each other. They'll hit each other where it hurts. But once they find their way together, they'll never give up on each other, no matter how hard life gets. No matter how difficult the other can be.
For more of my very passionate Snarry feels you can read Why I Ship Snarry and/or Snarry Synastry: the Astrology of Love.
27.) Do you think Snape was close to his mother?
I have very strong, very specific headcanons about Eileen and her relationship with Severus.
In my mind, Eileen is a pureblood witch. She's from a pureblood family who had fallen on hard times. Eileen felt trapped and weighed down by expectation. Her family hoped to marry her off to improve their standing, on top of general pureblood beliefs and she suffocated on them. She couldn't make her family proud. She was shy and quiet. Her great love was Gobstones. And she harbored dreams of escaping and rebelling that she never actually expected would happen.
Until she met Tobias. Tobias was a Muggle and he swept her off her feet. I see Tobias a a musician with visions of grandeur that are never realized. All of his passion and his hopes draw Eileen to him. He's intense, charismatic, possessive. And Eileen is a bit strange, and not very pretty, but Tobias finds her to be mysterious and intriguing. They have a whirlwind romance. They marry. And everything goes to hell.
Eileen and Severus love each other, but they also resent each other.
Had Severus not been born...maybe Tobias would still love her. Maybe Tobias' dreams would have come true. But they had a family to take care of. Responsibilities. Tobias' dream died. And when Severus showed signs of magic, and Eileen had to break the news to him, Tobias' love died, too.
As for how Severus feels about Eileen...well, it's her fault he's trapped in Cokeworth. She chose to give him a Muggle for a father. He grew up poor. He grew up away from magic. He grew up with his magic being hated by his father. He grew up in violence; whether just witnessing it, or being a target himself.
Between seeds of resentment towards her son, and the horror of what her husband put her through, Eileen couldn't be a proper, good mum. She tried, but she often failed. She was depressed. Abused. She tried to make the best of her circumstances, but she never left. She still loved her husband. And she did love her son, in her own way. She was stubborn. She was determined to make it work. She also had nowhere else to go. She had been disowned by her family. All she had was Tobias, and Severus.
Also...I often see people who headcanon Eileen teaching Severus all she knew about potions, but I don't care for that myself. I don't really jive with the idea of interests being passed down the family line, and I like the idea of this subject being Severus', and Severus' alone.
Instead, I like to think part of the problem is...Severus is too dang smart for both of his parents. Not that Eileen and Tobias are dumb, but Severus is just...he has a voracious appetite for knowledge that puzzles them at times, and threatens them other times. How do you handle your child being so dang brilliant?? How do you handle a child that makes you feel like a total idiot? Not only does he thirst for knowledge, but he picks up information and skills very quickly.
Any strain caused by circumstances is further exacerbated by the fact that there is so little for the family to connect on.
So no, I don't think Severus was close to either of his parents, though I think he was closer to Eileen than Tobias. He went to her to ask questions about magic, and questions about her family. He went to her for protection from Tobias, until he learned she couldn't protect him. Eileen is who he went to to sign permission slips for Hogwarts. Maybe on a good day he would proudly tell her of his accomplishments.
And Eileen was terribly confused by her brilliant son, but also insanely proud.
And scared, I think. Because she sees a lot of Tobias' intensity in him. She sees his darkness and his bitterness. And she isn't surprised when he becomes a Death Eater, but she is disappointed.
All this to say: it's complicated. There is love there, deep down. There were good moments between them. But were they close? Not at all.
