I read Spinner's End and thought that maybe Snape had once had a thing for Narcissa (the way he acted, the way she played it). But this works every bit as well, without the problem of someone burning a candle for seventeen years or more.
I can almost see it, where Snape is the kid allowed to play with Pureblood Regulus, like all those children we just don't know in the news reels, being invited to Shirley Temple's birthday parties. A playmate for the scion, a privilege and some fun for the disadvantaged friend. And, as the closest thing the WW has for aristocracy, the Blacks showing that 'noblesse oblige'. Maybe the Blacks had some sort of Protector/Obliged relationship with the Prince family? I keep on thinking of an article by Red Hen about the old system of family retainers here.
It's definitely something to chew on. Snape's revamped himself into something more than a poor kid with poor speech habits. He may have been eager to step into a role as 'companion' or 'retainer' to someone a cut above by birth. He gets the benefits without overstepping his place. And he does strike me as the sort of person who is rigidly set into that sort of system.
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Date: 2005-09-08 01:29 am (UTC)I read Spinner's End and thought that maybe Snape had once had a thing for Narcissa (the way he acted, the way she played it). But this works every bit as well, without the problem of someone burning a candle for seventeen years or more.
I can almost see it, where Snape is the kid allowed to play with Pureblood Regulus, like all those children we just don't know in the news reels, being invited to Shirley Temple's birthday parties. A playmate for the scion, a privilege and some fun for the disadvantaged friend. And, as the closest thing the WW has for aristocracy, the Blacks showing that 'noblesse oblige'. Maybe the Blacks had some sort of Protector/Obliged relationship with the Prince family? I keep on thinking of an article by Red Hen about the old system of family retainers here.
It's definitely something to chew on. Snape's revamped himself into something more than a poor kid with poor speech habits. He may have been eager to step into a role as 'companion' or 'retainer' to someone a cut above by birth. He gets the benefits without overstepping his place. And he does strike me as the sort of person who is rigidly set into that sort of system.