I'm sorry about the lateness of my comment - I was putting off reading your fic, because I wanted to make sure I would not be called away once I started. THEN I finished your story, and immediately had to go do something else; I was so overwhelmed that I could not possibly have thought up a coherent comment. It would have read along the lines of: Guh. Oh. OH. Worships. Weeps.
Now I'm a little bit more under control, so I will simply say: this story was masterful. Every character, even Voldemort, seemed so realistic and believable and completely faithful to canon. I usually roll my eyes a bit at the 'Snape makes friend with animal' stories, but your snidget was a complete delight. And Snape's pov, and the bleakness of his world and situation, and the way Harry kept needing to touch him to feel something familiar - argh, it was all brilliant. Thank you for this. One of the best I've ever read.