Well, you already know I love you, so my saying it again will come as no surprise, but, be that as it may, I love you. This is terrific! And worth whatever struggle you had to birth it. What a great and unique way to show how Snape had changed over the years. I'm impressed by how you managed to invest chilling creepiness into a story written in an essentially light-hearted style. Gah, I suck at reviews! Um, then there's my complete jealousy of your ability to imbue a (relatively) short fic with so much feeling and depth. And a re-read brought out even more wonderful stuff: that Snape's teenage wish included the life of Cynthia Haynes and that she became a healer is so um, tender without being mucky; the odd sort of foreshadowing inherent in referring to Moon and Sixpence; there was at least one other thing I particularly wanted to comment on, but it escapes me at the moment. I was amused by Harry realizing the trouble he gets into by not having a real plan in place and then going ahead with rescuing Snape without a plan. I'm am also amused by my own interpretation of what happens next, which is that Snape refuses to let Harry choose him and thereby forcing him into the same sort of wrong, wish-fulfilling choice that Snape had just escaped. Yeah, I'm not a fan of The Epilogue.
I've been waiting anxiously for your fic to go up because I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. In case I haven't made it abundantly clear, I love this, Beth, and I thank you for writing it.