Well, this is where I'm having such a deeply conflicted reaction to how Snape's story ultimately unfolded. Because I've no doubt that we're supposed to view his conduct as heroic and that he really changed, etc., because after all, Harry Potter wouldn't name his kid after someone who was anything less than noble and true and good and yet ... what we're *shown* of Snape doesn't strike me as particularly noble or heroic.

I'm not so sure. Apparently JKR did an interview on the Today show this morning where she seems to be agreeing with our view that Snape really wasn't heroic. I didn't see it and am just hearing this second hand, but when asked if she "always intended Snape to be a hero" she said "Is he a hero? I don't see Snape as a hero... he's very brave, but..." "Would he have protected Harry if he hadn't loved Lily?" "No, not at all."

So it seems like she's clamping down pretty easily on more lofty ideas about Snape, which doesn't surprise me given the way she seemed to be doing that throughout the book. I don't think it made him a very honorable or decent person--in fact, he seemed to continue to make the same bad choices he always had. It's not like, for instance, he uses his time in the Order to get himself some good relationships. On the contrary, he continues to focus only on Lily. He really was alone, not wanting friendship with the good side, but having made the choice to let his "own" side go down as they might. Even the high regard he seemed to have among Slytherin students seemed to be an opportunity wasted. Or maybe they're all just incapable of having healthy relationships at all.