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rj_andersonFinally getting around to doing this for the Darkness and Light trilogy...
40 Things About [My] Snape
1. When he got his Hogwarts letter, he was living on the streets of Manchester, parentless, filthy and near-starving, and so poor he couldn't afford his school supplies.
2. He got the money together eventually, but it took several weeks of scrounging, conniving and stealing to do it.
3. He also performed odd jobs whenever he could find or make himself an opportunity: one of the oddest was singing treble solo in a boys' choir (but the story involves a Silencing Hex, a major concert and a choirmaster driven nearly mad with anxiety, and is too long to relate here).
4. Snape rather enjoyed the latter experience, and was even a bit sorry to lose his crystalline treble to puberty (though he was never such a fool as to admit it in front of his schoolmates, or even let on to them that he could sing at all.)
5. When he boarded the Hogwarts train, he hadn't bathed properly in weeks, and his unkempt appearance earned him a number of pointed comments -- most of them from Sirius Black, who meant well but whose opinions always were stronger than his tact.
6. Snape's pride flared up at being lectured on hygiene by a boy no older than himself, and he resolved that he wouldn't give Sirius an ounce of satisfaction on the subject -- even if it meant never washing again.
7. He did get into the bathing habit eventually, but only because he realized that his lack of hygiene was contaminating his Potions projects.
8. And even then he deliberately greased his hair and left it long and unkempt to prove that he was still his own master, and no smart-mouthed Gryffindor would tell him how to look or behave.
9. Eventually his prodigious skill with Potions won him acceptance among the more powerful and influential Slytherins, some of whom were children of Death Eaters.
10. Still, he would never have considered any of the Slytherin gang he ran with "friends", and he secretly envied the easy camaraderie of the Marauders.
11. Even though he couldn't help thinking that they trusted each other far too readily, and their naivete would come back to haunt them one day.
12. He was, for the record, never in love with Lily Evans.
13. In fact, as it turned out, she was a relative (a fact he discovered with considerable alarm, and never disclosed to his Slytherin cronies).
14. He did have a lot of respect for Lily, however, and was convinced James Potter wasn't good enough for her.
15. Unfortunately, Snape's tenuous connection to Lily was all but severed after Sirirus's prank, when he refused to give James thanks or credit for saving his life -- but in Snape's opinion, being friends with a homicidal maniac and a werewolf made James just as guilty as they were.
16. The offer to join the Death Eaters came in the middle of his seventh year, and Snape took it without hesitation.
17. His ambition was to make himself a reputation, and be feared and admired by others; he also wanted free rein to use Dark ingredients and methods whenever he deemed it necessary, and develop potions that would make him a legend.
18. Unlike many of his fellow DE's Snape had no personal vendetta against Muggles, nor did he particularly care about the purity of blood -- but he could see no advantage in opposing Voldemort on those issues, either.
19. His sin, in that respect, was not bloodthirstiness but callous indifference.
20. Most of Snape's work for Voldemort was carried out in the laboratory.
21. Occasionally he was also called upon to perform interrogations and assassinations, but only when an extra touch of subtlety was called for.
22. Still, he knows that he was at least indirectly responsible for the deaths of many good and innocent people, and the knowledge still haunts him.
23. He really slept much better when he didn't have a conscience.
24. When he celebrated his forty-second birthday, he was still a virgin.
25. This was not because of any religious or moral scruples, but because his unpleasant appearance and manner repelled most women, and the few who were not dissuaded were (in his opinion) idiots; furthermore, he had always made a habit of sneering at his fellow Death Eaters who bought sex or took it by force, and he wasn't about to make himself a hypocrite by doing likewise.
26. He did, however, go through periods where he threw himself fanatically into his work, and was even more vicious and short-tempered than usual.
27. When Maud came into his life he was faced for the first time with both desire and opportunity, but between her uncle's fierce warnings and Maud's own convictions on the subject, not to mention the purely practical considerations, he resigned himself to being celibate a while longer.
28. He was not always sure it would be worth the wait, but in the end, it was.
29. He finds Maud's idealism amusing, but admirable -- even if in most cases he can't share it.
30. To his mind, she has always believed him to be a better man than he actually is -- his job, then, is to live up to her expectations.
31. Occasionally he resents this, but most of the time he rather enjoys the challenge.
32. There are, after all, some pretty impressive compensations...
33. Though it still baffles him that a woman so skilled at potion-making and reasonably competent at Charms can't cook.
34. He is aware that he owes both Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom, among others, a large and grovelling apology.
35. Unfortunately, he has still not been able to bring himself to do it.
36. He knows this is going to come back to haunt him one day.
37. In fact, looking at his own youngest son, he suspects that it already has.
38. He is still not fully reconciled to the idea of himself as a husband and father.
39. But then, he finds it hard to think of himself as Headmaster of Hogwarts, either.
40. And on the whole he considers himself more fortunate than a man with his past sins and present faults has any right to deserve.
Of course, in six days' time at least half of this is probably going to go down Moaning Myrtle's toilet, but since I'm planning to finish the Margot fic anyway, no matter how flagrantly AU it might turn out to be, it should at least be good for that one...
40 Things About [My] Snape
1. When he got his Hogwarts letter, he was living on the streets of Manchester, parentless, filthy and near-starving, and so poor he couldn't afford his school supplies.
2. He got the money together eventually, but it took several weeks of scrounging, conniving and stealing to do it.
3. He also performed odd jobs whenever he could find or make himself an opportunity: one of the oddest was singing treble solo in a boys' choir (but the story involves a Silencing Hex, a major concert and a choirmaster driven nearly mad with anxiety, and is too long to relate here).
4. Snape rather enjoyed the latter experience, and was even a bit sorry to lose his crystalline treble to puberty (though he was never such a fool as to admit it in front of his schoolmates, or even let on to them that he could sing at all.)
5. When he boarded the Hogwarts train, he hadn't bathed properly in weeks, and his unkempt appearance earned him a number of pointed comments -- most of them from Sirius Black, who meant well but whose opinions always were stronger than his tact.
6. Snape's pride flared up at being lectured on hygiene by a boy no older than himself, and he resolved that he wouldn't give Sirius an ounce of satisfaction on the subject -- even if it meant never washing again.
7. He did get into the bathing habit eventually, but only because he realized that his lack of hygiene was contaminating his Potions projects.
8. And even then he deliberately greased his hair and left it long and unkempt to prove that he was still his own master, and no smart-mouthed Gryffindor would tell him how to look or behave.
9. Eventually his prodigious skill with Potions won him acceptance among the more powerful and influential Slytherins, some of whom were children of Death Eaters.
10. Still, he would never have considered any of the Slytherin gang he ran with "friends", and he secretly envied the easy camaraderie of the Marauders.
11. Even though he couldn't help thinking that they trusted each other far too readily, and their naivete would come back to haunt them one day.
12. He was, for the record, never in love with Lily Evans.
13. In fact, as it turned out, she was a relative (a fact he discovered with considerable alarm, and never disclosed to his Slytherin cronies).
14. He did have a lot of respect for Lily, however, and was convinced James Potter wasn't good enough for her.
15. Unfortunately, Snape's tenuous connection to Lily was all but severed after Sirirus's prank, when he refused to give James thanks or credit for saving his life -- but in Snape's opinion, being friends with a homicidal maniac and a werewolf made James just as guilty as they were.
16. The offer to join the Death Eaters came in the middle of his seventh year, and Snape took it without hesitation.
17. His ambition was to make himself a reputation, and be feared and admired by others; he also wanted free rein to use Dark ingredients and methods whenever he deemed it necessary, and develop potions that would make him a legend.
18. Unlike many of his fellow DE's Snape had no personal vendetta against Muggles, nor did he particularly care about the purity of blood -- but he could see no advantage in opposing Voldemort on those issues, either.
19. His sin, in that respect, was not bloodthirstiness but callous indifference.
20. Most of Snape's work for Voldemort was carried out in the laboratory.
21. Occasionally he was also called upon to perform interrogations and assassinations, but only when an extra touch of subtlety was called for.
22. Still, he knows that he was at least indirectly responsible for the deaths of many good and innocent people, and the knowledge still haunts him.
23. He really slept much better when he didn't have a conscience.
24. When he celebrated his forty-second birthday, he was still a virgin.
25. This was not because of any religious or moral scruples, but because his unpleasant appearance and manner repelled most women, and the few who were not dissuaded were (in his opinion) idiots; furthermore, he had always made a habit of sneering at his fellow Death Eaters who bought sex or took it by force, and he wasn't about to make himself a hypocrite by doing likewise.
26. He did, however, go through periods where he threw himself fanatically into his work, and was even more vicious and short-tempered than usual.
27. When Maud came into his life he was faced for the first time with both desire and opportunity, but between her uncle's fierce warnings and Maud's own convictions on the subject, not to mention the purely practical considerations, he resigned himself to being celibate a while longer.
28. He was not always sure it would be worth the wait, but in the end, it was.
29. He finds Maud's idealism amusing, but admirable -- even if in most cases he can't share it.
30. To his mind, she has always believed him to be a better man than he actually is -- his job, then, is to live up to her expectations.
31. Occasionally he resents this, but most of the time he rather enjoys the challenge.
32. There are, after all, some pretty impressive compensations...
33. Though it still baffles him that a woman so skilled at potion-making and reasonably competent at Charms can't cook.
34. He is aware that he owes both Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom, among others, a large and grovelling apology.
35. Unfortunately, he has still not been able to bring himself to do it.
36. He knows this is going to come back to haunt him one day.
37. In fact, looking at his own youngest son, he suspects that it already has.
38. He is still not fully reconciled to the idea of himself as a husband and father.
39. But then, he finds it hard to think of himself as Headmaster of Hogwarts, either.
40. And on the whole he considers himself more fortunate than a man with his past sins and present faults has any right to deserve.
Of course, in six days' time at least half of this is probably going to go down Moaning Myrtle's toilet, but since I'm planning to finish the Margot fic anyway, no matter how flagrantly AU it might turn out to be, it should at least be good for that one...
Tags:
- characters,
- d&l,
- fanfic,
- memes,
- snape
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no subject
Date: 2003-06-14 12:06 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-14 12:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-14 12:28 pm (UTC)BTW I'm glad you approved of My letter to Maud for the Unexpected task at the SQ.
Re:
Date: 2003-06-15 07:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-14 12:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-06-14 02:15 pm (UTC)8. And even then he deliberately greased his hair and left it long and unkempt to prove that he was still his own master, and no smart-mouthed Gryffindor would tell him how to look or behave.
*snorts* Lovely. Perfect blend of pragmatism and Go To Hell, you idiot Gryffindor.
34. He is aware that he owes both Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom, among others, a large and grovelling apology.
35. Unfortunately, he has still not been able to bring himself to do it.
36. He knows this is going to come back to haunt him one day.
37. In fact, looking at his own youngest son, he suspects that it already has.
Ah, this is where your Snape and mine definitely diverge. No *possible* way my boy would admit such a thing, even to himself.
no subject
Date: 2003-06-19 06:00 am (UTC)Always wondered about this. Ha! I like it.
~Chresimos