Beautiful one-shot. I feel for Severus. Now he has nobody in this world anymore. Very sad.

Love this. And you wrote it *before* DH? You're cluey. Very good.

Well done for guessing correctly that Dumbledore's death was all planned between them!

I especially like the "coward" reference - yes, Harry was incredibly mistaken there. And much as I dislike the Epilogue of book 7, that one line where Harry calls Snape the bravest man he ever knew really had me in tears. It must have been so, so hard for Snape to have to endure Harry calling him a coward, and it is really, really understandable why Snape could never bring himself to like Harry as a person!

Huch, diese Geschichte ist mir "damals" entgangen! Auch wenn sie mittlerweile vom Canon quasi überholt worden ist, finde ich sie sehr gut. Sehr atmosphärisch... Am besten gefällt mir die "Coward"-Zeile. Dankeschön!

Ich überlege schon, ob ich nicht gewisse Dinge des letzten Buchs geistig irgendwie ausblenden sollte.

This was awesome, and is the only logical thing to have happened if JKR does intend for Snape to really be one of the good guys in the end. Otherwise there were too many inexplicable wasted opportunities to do Harry in in previous years, and especially at the end of HBP.

I agree with most you said. Only one thing I see different. i think that Snape really knew what was asked of Draco. Perhaps he knew for a long time that he would be forced to do it one day or another (Severus, you know what I must ask of you. If you are ready, if you are prepared) Perhaps even then? Maybe Voldemort had been gloating over that fact the minute he sent him to spy on Dumbledore, all those years ago.

Ich hoffe, es ist in Ordnung, wenn ich deutsch reviewe, aber auf Englisch wäre es irgendwie albern...

Ich kannte diese Theorie schon, also dass Dumbledore Severus gebeten, geradezu überredet hat, ihn zu töten, aber trotzdem war da ein gewisser Wow-Effekt. Severus' Gefühle sind einfach unglaublich treffend beschrieben, sehr einfühlsam, aber auch bildlich dargestellt.

Die Geschichte hat mir wirklich seit längerer Zeit wieder richtig Lust auf den letzten Band gemacht und die Hoffnung aufgefrischt, dass er richtig, richtig gut werden könnte. *g*

Liebe Grüße,

Andra

Very nice job! I, too, am in the 'Snape is a really good guy! Really, I swear!' camp. I really liked how were able to get across how much agony Snape was in. Good work!

Firstly, Jedi Knight Bus sent me, just so you know, lol.

Secondly, this was EXTREMELY interesting. Immediately after the book, I was convinced Snape was/is the scum of the universe, never was good, etc etc. I still can't believe the "Snape is good and had to do it b/c blah blah" argument until I read it book 7, but this story was very, very well done. You almst converted me, lol, which other people have been trying to do for months.

This was very good and definitely believable. Awesome job.

~Red Bess Rackham

Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic writing. You've captured Severus' pridicament perfectly, and it's a lovely study of the possible happenings between the two.

"What better way for you to gain Voldemort’s trust completely than to kill me?" - this is my favourite line in the whole fic and to me it sums up HBP perfectly.

Agreed on your thesis. I don't think he will be left all alone though...hope not anyhow!

Beautifully written, and utterly convincing. I especially like the way you zeroed in on the reason for the expression of hatred and revulsion that Harry observed - Snape would certainly hate himself AND Dumbledore at such a moment. The exchange between Snape and Dumbledore seems just right.

"He smiled mirthlessly, bitterly..." Just what he would do! To me, Snape's reaction to Harry's calling him coward is the single most convincing piece of evidence that there's more to the "betrayal" than meets the eye. My reasoning is not psychological, but structural. If Snape is EvilAllAlong!Snape, then his outcry of "Don't call me coward" is fueled by nothing more than wounded pride and spite, and that is a shabby emotional load for such a point in the plot. But if he has just walked into hell for the sake of the light - as you put it, becoming "utterly alone" - then his cry acquires an extraordinary impact.

Now I need to read the rest of your stories, and your faves!

I totally agree with your theory, and I love this one-shot. Snape's one of my favorite characters, and he is so complex... there's so much about him we don't know. Great job- this is how I've pictured Snape in my head.

I totally agree with you.

ABSOLUTELY.

Yep, I'm definitely setting up a like to this on my Gaia account. Not exactly how I saw everything happening, but so close as to be only different in a few minor details. A definite link. Bwahahaha.