You had me completely at Mei-Ping. I was won over well before that of course with the wonderful story-telling, but anyone who writes Snape with a pet dragon has me completely and irrevocably won over. It didn't matter that it was two in the morning, by god I couldn't tear my eyes away from the screen!
Merlin! Had Snape smiled like that at the young Harry Potter, that boy would have followed him anywhere.
This line made me sniffle a bit, and hope that with a bit more application, the older Harry would as well. Had the circumstances been different, I'm sure he would have.
I was truly enchanted by this Snape. I honestly had toddler fists of glee at several points while reading this, and that's not something I generally find in a Snarry, especially with regard to Snape.
By the end of the story I was truly sniffling and holding back tears, but a smile was back on my face with the reappearance of Mei-Ping and Blaise.
This was masterfully written and a story I will return to time and again for the depth and range of emotion that I felt while reading. This is what storytelling is about.