Wednesday, June 30, 2010

My Love Letter to Severus Snape

The lovely Frankie Diane is hosting a blogfest today! Yes, that's right, today is the Love Letters to Literary Crushes blogfest, where we all chime in to share the love about our favorite literary guy or gal and take the attention off Edward and Jacob('s abs) for a change. And my literary crush is certainly unconventional.

*Waits patiently while every double and triple checks the title of this post.*

Yes, folks, that's right, my literary crush is one Mr. Severus Snape. (I don't think I need to warn you that the rest of this post will be absolutely rife with spoilers for the entire Harry Potter series, particularly the seventh book, so if you happen to be someone who hasn't read the Harry Potter books, may I suggest that you stop reading this post immediately and run to your nearest bookstore, library, Kindle store, or online purveyor of goods and pick them up immediately? Thank you.)

I know what you're thinking. Snape is...a weird choice. But I think all you have to do is read my letter to him to discover why Snape - who is, I think, my favorite character from literature probably ever  - is someone truly worthy of love.



Dear Severus,

Can I call you Severus? I hope that's OK. I just feel like I know you, and Professor Snape seems to formal, and Snape is too mean, so Severus it is.

I would like to take this moment to declare my undying love for you. OK, maybe you need a shower - greasy hair isn't really the best thing for anyone. And perhaps you have some skeletons in your closet...or tattooed on your arm. But who doesn't love a bad boy, particularly if that bad boy comes with his own ultimate bad-ass tattoo? The truth is, I much prefer to imagine you, my dear Severus, looking like this:

Vulnerable. Mysterious. Rickman.

Than this:
 Angry. Hateful. Eyebrows.

But, no matter what you look like, it's really your heart that matters. And I've seen your heart, Severus. You're part of the greatest love story never told. Even though your rash decisions and loyalty to the wizarding world's biggest bully killed the only person you ever truly loved, you did everything you could to stop it. And when it happened anyway, you continued to love her, to protect the things that she couldn't, even though it also meant protecting your enemy's child.

Despite everything you went through, your upbringing, your pureblood mania, in the end you changed it all for a girl you fell in love with on a playground. Your whole life revolved around her, nearly every decision you made. You were loyal to her even when it meant losing everything else. You risked your life daily to protect the thing your love died to save, even as every single person around you questioned your motives.
That, Severus, is love.

And so, Severus Snape, tonight I express my love for you, a love that I believe Lily never lost, even if you did say hurtful things to her. No one who can think of someone else with their last breath could possibly be hateful. There is so much love in your heart, Severus, if only you had room in it for me. But, alas, I know your heart belongs only to Lily Evans. And so I'll leave you, my dearest Severus, forgiving you for the mistakes you made, knowing that the torture you put yourself through is more than enough penance - though for you, you will never believe it to be.
Always,
Heather

20 comments:

  1. I'm not going to lie. This gave me a tear.

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  2. Severus Snape is my favourite fictional character, hence why my cat's name is Severus and he is 10 years old.

    I love his sharp tongue and quick, sarcastic wit. Ever since J.K. Rowling instilled such intrigue into his character in the first book, I've been obsessed. In fact, I was just thinking about this all on the metro today. I think about Severus every day...both character and cat.

    You probably know by now that I don't like the Harry Potter films and although Alan Rickman is a fine actor he is too old to play the character (old enough to play Tobias Snape maybe), his wig is too short and the way he acts is far too benevolent for a character who instills such conflict in the novels. He seems just to be there. More of an annoyance than an antagonist.

    I love Severus as he appears in the novels which to me is all the character really is, everything else is just outside interpretation.

    I think my love letter to him would go, "Severus, I would love you even if you had tried to slit Harry's throat, as long as it fit your character and motivations because I know J.K could never write you wrong, love Keri."

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  3. Awww! I always loved Snape. The whole way through the series I kept thinking, "Please be good. Please be good" and he was!

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  4. Love this, Heather! He is indeed a deeply heroic guy, and it says a lot about you that you can see it and admire it.

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  5. ooooh Snape. Good crush.
    i'll always remember him looking into Harry's eyes, because they were the same as Lily's

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  6. Jess, Snape always gives me a tear. I <3 him.

    Keri, I too love Snape's quick wit and sharp tongue! I should have mentioned that. That's another thing that makes him wonderful. And while I do agree that Alan Rickman is about 20 years too old to play him, I still think he does a wonderful job. They also have Lupin and Sirius as older actors, so they still all look like they could have been at school together. And I think the fact that he's "just there" is more due to poor screenwriting than poor acting. I'm eager to see how he's handled in the last film, when the emotional conflict of this character will hopefully be brought out.

    Jade, I always hoped he was good too!

    Laural, thanks! I love a flawed man.

    Falen, best. moment. ever.

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  7. *sniffle* I came THIS close to crying, Heather, you evil wench. I hated Snape throughout the first six books. It was only when he died that my hate turned to complete love. <3 Now I can't read the books without knowing that he's the most epic bad guy ever because he's NOT a bad guy. :)

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  8. Loved it! I have to say I almost had a tear.
    Nice job!

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  9. I must say that this letter just had me tearing up in ways that I did not expect for Severus. I understand your love and support it wholeheartedly!

    Wonderful letter!

    Visit My Kingdom Anytime

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  10. Great person to write too! Snape is awesome (as in the actor who plays him). I never would have picked him to have a crush on, but your letter totally changed my opinion that! Well done.

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  11. Such a great letter! Snape is such a complex, heroic, flawed character, and definitely needs more love.

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  12. Oh no, not weird at all! Severus is my favorite guy in the Harry Potter series -- and would be my favorite character as well if it weren't for Hermione. :)

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  13. I believe Severus was doing an incredible difficult and honorable (and thankless) task agreed to in advance with Dumbledore. Admiring him is admiring some one willing to face great pain and do terrible things for the honor and commitment they have to a friend.

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  14. I guess we all can't help but love Severus. My big HP crush goes to Sirius, but Severus is definitely up there.

    The thing is, I think a big part of the reason we love him is because he is fictional, and, of course, extremely well written. Honestly, if you knew a real person who acted like Severus, who was his nasty, snarky, greasy, biased self to everyone, would you like him, even if you did know about his brave, loving, conflicted, self sacrificial... um... self? That's why he misses out on my top spot. After all he's been through, all he's lost, he's still a jerk. A sympathetic jerk, but a jerk nonetheless.

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  15. This was so full of win. Beautiful really.

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  16. Interesting article dear, i really loved it, keep up the good work. Cheers!


    Love Letters

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