OMG *sobs* This is so much full of emotions, mostly hidden below the surface. Wow, I can't find the words. It was already beautiful in its everyday drama, but with this final twist it became a truly chatartic, but somehow very peaceful and accepted tragedy. That ending forces the reader to re-evaluate the entire relationship between Harry and Snape, giving new meaning of each word, to decisions, to time itself. Ah, this is pure painful pleasure. *still sobs* What might have happened if circumstances were different? thanks for this beautiful story. *and Still sobs*