Thank you for picking out some of the things you especially enjoyed, it's nice to be told that. In writing this it seemed to me I had to take Harry's whole abusive background seriously, and get him to address the limitations of the ways he had handled that abuse, to see that it's an insufficient repertoire for an adult. They both recognise that if he can resist Snape's provocations, he should be able to handle anything else. (Same goes for Snape, of course; Harry could always drive him nuts). Glad you enjoyed the afterglow!