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'Snape's child' is all the rage right now between the prompt at ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif)
snape100 and the fabulously popular gen snarry_games entry What I did on my Summer Vacation.
So for this week, talk about Snape as a father. Would he have been as strict as he was as a teacher or would his daughter have him wrapped around her finger? Would he make sure not be like his parents or would he fall into the trap of becoming his father? Would he have wanted children at all? A brood or an only child?
snape100 and the fabulously popular gen snarry_games entry What I did on my Summer Vacation. So for this week, talk about Snape as a father. Would he have been as strict as he was as a teacher or would his daughter have him wrapped around her finger? Would he make sure not be like his parents or would he fall into the trap of becoming his father? Would he have wanted children at all? A brood or an only child?
Snape as a father
Having known several men who were of highly Snapish personalities, I think it's more likely Snape would be like we see him in canon. He's very protective of students, especially their physical well-being. And he's concerned about his Slytherins. Note how he has Crabbe and Goyle doing extra studying in HBP, since they didn't pass enough OWLs. I think it's Pansy in GOF who only makes faces at Hermione from *behind* Snape's back and Draco flashes his anti-Potter badge in GOF only when Snape's back is turned. So Draco and Pansy clearly felt they needed to hide this behavior from Snape.
But on the other hand, Snape really *isn't* all that harsh in his punishments, and he's always making over-the-top threats that any student who's been around more than a couple of years should have learned are empty threats, although all the Gryffindors seem convinced that Snape really will poison them, kill their pet, or whatever.
The guys I've known in real life did the same thing and the over-the-top threats were quickly identified by their kids as threats only. And beyond that, the kids were usually able to talk those dads into all sorts of indulgences.
I tend to think Snape would be the same. I imagine he'd be so enamored by the fact that his children actually *loved* him -- unconditionally at first, the way little children do -- that I think he'd do anything for them.
Re: Snape as a father
I don't think he would want children, initially. I think he'd feel afraid of being like his own father, and also perhaps unworthy of being a father at all. But he'd fall in love instantly once his child(ren) was (were) born. I tend to see him having a small family, simply because he'd be starting late, and I don't see him having a wife much younger than he is (Sorry, Snape/Hermione shippers). I think he'd be looking for his match - an equal, and a partner. So he'd marry a woman near his age - and it would take him a couple of years to accept the idea of a family. Learning to be a good father would be a steady and constant battle. But he would learn. The hardest thing, for him, would be to let his children make their own mistakes and decisions. He'd have to learn how to let go, and that would be a real struggle.
Just my two cents! But I think we can all agree he'd be seriously overprotective.
Re: Snape as a father
I'm picturing the poor young man who has to pass Snape's inspection before his daughter can go on her first date - just imagine him catching them in the rosebushes! -- Hwyla
I am one of those "freaks" (MPreg lover) that imagines he would be a fantastic child-bearer.
I certainly want to believe that he had a close watch on the first year students in his house, and would subtly support his Slytherins all seven years.
Enjoy! (I hope)
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3832087/1/I
Alison
I wrote an essay on lupin_snape last year about why I like Snupin adoption fics, and at the time, I said: "I have a hard time picturing Snape dealing with midnight feedings and diaper changes...I also feel like Snape would be impatient with a squalling, messy infant, and would have an easier time relating to a child who's old enough to carry on an intelligent conversation."
However, now that I think about it, we do get a glimpse of a gentler Snape in HBP--first in the Spinner's End scene with Narcissa, and later when he heals Draco with a spell that sounds almost like a song. The latter makes it a little easier to imagine Snape singing a lullaby to calm a crying baby. ^_^
Getting back to the adoption idea, perhaps he might adopt a Slytherin who was orphaned during the war. As I mentioned above, I think Snape would relate a little better to an older child, particularly one that he had something in common with, for example, a talented Potions student. However, an adopted child might have a little more trouble seeing past the stern exterior to the loving parent beneath. In my Snupin series, Snape adopts Theodore Nott after his parents are killed during the war, and there are some misunderstandings along the way. Snape loves his foster son, but doesn't quite know how to express his feelings, and although Snape is more bark than bite, Theodore sometimes isn't sure when Snape is really angry and when he's just bantering with Lupin. Eventually things work out, but it takes awhile for the two to come to understand each other.
While he'd be strict with his children, whether biological or adopted, I also think that Snape would be very proud of their accomplishments--proudly declaring that his little daughter is a budding Potions Mistress, or loudly and enthusiastically rooting for his son during a Quidditch match (playing for Slytherin, of course!)
I think initially, he would be hesitant to have children, maybe thinking that he doesn't know how to be a good father, or not wanting to saddle a child with the burden of a father who is a former Death Eater and an outcast in society. (Depending on how you think Snape would be viewed post-war if he lived.) However, after being in a stable, loving relationship for a time, maybe he would change his mind, particularly if his partner wanted children. Or he might not have a choice--he might feel an obligation to take in the children of Death Eaters who were killed in the final battle, or in the case of Snupin fics, his lover already has a child, making Snape an instant stepfather. I do think that once he became a father, however that happened, he'd be a very good one.
Would he want a brood or an only child? Initially, I think he would think that one child was already a big responsibility, and maybe since he was a neglected child, he'd want to have only one or two children, so that he could be sure he'd be able to devote enough attention to them. (Btw, I'm not saying that parents can't adequately love and care for a large brood, just that Snape might be worried that he couldn't.) However, after time has passed and he's comfortable being a father to his first child, he might be willing to have more.
Or he might get saddled with a large brood from the start, as in Those I Can Save, a Snupin fic in which Snape becomes the guardian of four Slytherin children after their parents die. (And Lupin has his own adopted brood, which makes the family even bigger when the two of them join forces.) While Snape might feel unequal to the task at first, I have no doubt that he would rise to the challenge and much to his surprise, become a good parent.
Here's the link for anyone who might be interested:
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3811011/1/B
Alison
I think that almost certainly, he would not want a child. His own experience appears to have been very unpleasant, and while he is able to keep from doing too much damage to his students, I suspect he would be a little more cautious when the child was his own and he had to discipline them in matters unrelated to school. A father can't put his kid in detention and have that be that, and I think he would struggle with finding ways of disciplining a child that is effective while not going into the methods his own family used, which seem to have been neglectful and/or abusive.
If he wasn't in a committed relationship with someone and they became pregnant, say a brief liason or a one-time thing (hey, sometimes those happen!) I think he'd encourage the mother to put the child up for adoption. But if she chose to keep it, I do think he would make an effort to be involved in the child's life, because unless the entire responsibility was being given to another couple, I think he'd see it as his duty to assist in raising the child. As we all know, Severus doesn't run away from his responsibilities the way some characters try to (For shame, Remus!)
If he was in a committed relationship, I think it would be very difficult to convince him to try to have a child, but if that did happen/his partner became pregnant unexpectedly, he would certainly be involved in the childrearing process, again because I think he'd see it as his responsibility. I think he would be petrified at first of making a mistake that might somehow scar the child for life, but I do think that as he went along he would become more comfortable in the situation. As other people said, the child would love him unconditionally when it was small and I think that would provide a level of comfort that would make him feel more confident and would encourage him to be involved in the child's life. I think that the child loving him would make the experience very rewarding in a way he doesn't seem to experience with other children. Like people say, it's different when it's your own child.
Definitely his protectiveness of the children in his care would apply to his own child. In the books he is very protective of the physical safety even of children he personally dislikes, as a discussion recently talked about ("acts of love" in the Severus vs Sirius essay), and I think that would only increase for a child that he loved and was raising. I also think that if he had one child and found it a positive experience, he could potentially be willing to have more, though I don't think that initially he would consider that an option.
However, I'm sure when the child reached adolescence they would be very irritated at how protective he would probably be, especially once they started engaging in dating. I imagine he would be extremely paranoid over his daughter's virtue or the status of his son's heart. His heartbreak with Lily would, I think, make him more sympathetic to any son he might have. Although I really can't see him sitting down and talking about that with any child he had, I think he'd know more than anyone that boys can have their heart broken as easily as girls do, no matter what macho Gryffindor culture might try to say, lol.
Here via daily_snitch, I think.
I'm a little more skeptical about him jumping onto the paternal bandwagon in the other scenarios, though. I'm not sure he would particularly care if a casual partner accidentally conceived, nor that he would contribute anything except, perhaps, money.
With a hypothetical long-term partner... I think Snape is cynical enough that, first, keeping it wouldn't be his first thought, and second, that he wouldn't expect it to be "the most rewarding job EVER!!one". (But then, I don't believe in "it's different when it's your own", myself.) I also don't really see him being Healed by the Power of a Child's Unconditional Love, though I do agree that he'd be a protective parent once he got over the shock.
At least till they hit the annoying stage (and I suspect that's a lot earlier than "teenager') and started testing the limits -- he never had a good paternal role model, so he'd be basically making it up as he went along, and would screw up sometimes because that's what happens when you're flying blind. Given that Snape has, canonically, an inability to forgive that's pretty fierce, I think there'd be some spectacular blow-ups in the Snape household! If the kid was anything like him it would be perpetual stalemate -- both sides angry and neither one willing to admit they were in the wrong and move on.
Actually, my general thoughts on Snape and fatherhood are pretty much explained by a hilarious piece of fanart I found years ago; I wish I could remember the artist. (If you're on here, hi! I love your art! And we have a similar sense of humour.)
In short:
Re: Here via daily_snitch, I think.
I've found that there are two zodiac signs that predominate in the teaching and child care area where I work: Leos and Capricorns. Which makes for some very interesting situations, seeing as both those signs are diametrically opposed in just about everything, from discipine to play.
However, I'm a Leo (31st July, like a minor character in the Snape novel series ... ) while my husband is Capricorn. He's an excellent father, although far more of a disciplinarian than I am, who am a softie. Like most Caps, he takes his responibilities seriously. And unlike that problematic relationship between Potter and Snape, we've been married for 22 years and still going strong, so it *can* work. Although when a couple of my Leo friends found out I was dating a Capi, I was warned against it: they'd both been married before to the Goat, and been divorced. They are difficult to live with sometimes, but if you can rub the sharp edges of them, they are wonderful!
Alison
Re: Here via daily_snitch, I think.
Alison
Re: Here via daily_snitch, I think.
Re: Here via daily_snitch, I think.
Re: Here via daily_snitch, I think.
Virgin Territory [NC-17]
Alison
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3843843/1/J
Alison
and some of you may not have seen it, here is my first attempt at writing Snape as a dad. Terri and I had a really interesting discussion in the comments - she basically agreed with me, but encouraged me to clear up my language and thus my thinking! (Thanks, Terri!)
Anyway, for those few who haven't seen it, here's the link to Legos
http://mary-j-59.livejournal.com/3571.h