This is such a beautiful comment. It's everything I could ask for in a reader's response. All my dismay and heartbreak at the way canon ended burst out here and the strands became emotionally entangled. Dealing with both the past and the future made it possible to envision a different outcome, one that included forgiveness. And that scene with Snape on his knees - it's where he always expects to end up, I think. But what compelled me about this even more was that here was a chance to show Harry, who is neither particularly clever nor self-aware, capable even so of intuitively understanding the right thing to do. I wanted him to act with humility and acceptance toward Snape, his former enemy, because Harry's supposed to be able to think with his heart, yet he fails to do so in the books, to follow through on that promise.
And Tom - well, yes. I just couldn't leave it at that. I couldn't leave that deformed baby shaking and trembling under a chair in a train station. Because I hated the implication that the child was unsalvageable and deserved to suffer alone due to its evil nature.
Thank you again for these lovely words and for the rec. It makes me very happy to know how much you loved the story.