...Always

Severus Snape shows off his patronus and it is a silver doe...same as Lily's. Dumbledore turns to Snape and asks "After all these years?". Snape answers "Always". He loved Lily. Always did.

The scene in the movie where Snape reaches Godric's hollow after Voldemort has killed Lily and James is one of the most heartbreaking scenes ever. Snape wandering through the ruins of the home to find Lily sprawled dead on the floor. He falls down besides her, hugs her and cries. A Snape most people never imagined could have existed, but somehow I knew it before Rowling revealed. And that is why I love Snape. Always.

People saw what he let them see. He was a skilled Occlumen. Greasy black hair, black robes, crooked nose, fewer words, head of Slytherin, a death eater once who was never trusted by anyone other than Dumbledore, loathed by students and other Professors alike. He chose never to reveal his side of the story to anyone other than Dumbledore. He forbade Dumbledore from ever revealing it to Harry. "I will never reveal the best of you" Dumbledore gave his word to Snape. Perhaps it was Snape's way of remorse for the fact that he once allied with the man who killed the only woman he ever loved.

His death shocked me. Not even Dumbledore's death had that effect. I loved the scene in the movie where Harry reaches out to a dying Snape and Snape, for the first time, looks Harry in the eye and says "You have your mother's eyes". I loved the fact that Harry, years later, names his son Albus Severus Potter and tells him "You were named after two headmasters of Hogwarts. One of them was a Slytherin and he was the bravest man I ever knew."

His story is depicted beautifully in the books and the movie. I love his courage and his unfaltering love. He lived all his life knowing that no one knows him for what he truly was. He lived his life knowing he could never share it with anyone. He wanted people to hate him as much as he hated himself. He hated that people thought him to be a coward. A killer. A man who killed Dumbledore. Rowling wrote "Severus, please" as Dumbledore's last words. People believed it to be "Severus, please save me" when they meant "Severus, please kill me". He promised Dumbledore once that he would do anything for Lily. He did everything for Lily.

I came across a comment about Snape which said "He was a Slytherin who died like a Gryffindor". He lived like a Gryffindor. Brave at heart. And he had a wonderful heart.