And thank you again, I loved it. So full of delicious plottiness, from the ingenious story of Snape's survival to Harry's disintegrating relationship with Ginny -I felt sorry for her, really. Hurrah for great characterization in general! Everyone acts in a perfectly real and believable way, like human beings who pretty much try to do their best but can't help but screw up and be inadequate most of the time. Tobias was fabulous, just Snape-like enough to make the 'transition' to Snape perfectly natural, but just different enough to fool Harry (and this reader).
I couldn't help but feel as if Snape was acting out the kind of man he wished his father had become. The whole thing was incredibly sad, in a way. Thank god Harry was there to fix things and then help Snape land on his feet. It was wonderful to see their relationship develop. I must say the shed scene was a rather perfect finale ;)
At the risk of sounding repetitive -thank you, mystery author, for a deliciously long and plotty and beautiful and generally awesome story! *loves*