I had so much fun writing that. I don't remember if I knew at that point that Snape would be dying in the Battle of Hogwarts -- I think I might have, but even if I hadn't, I knew it would be coming soon. (The "I confess I am looking forward to seeing those things built" was soooo painful.)
(I also love "And I suppose I love you too, you meddlesome beast", from that same thread, because that's Snape for "you are one of my dearest friends and I love you fiercely", and by that point Alice knows enough about him to know that.)
But yes! Snape cared deeply about Nev. In canon, I think it wasn't just that he saw Neville as someone who should have been the Boy-Who-Lived so Lily didn't have to die; part of it was that he only interacted with Neville in Potions class, and I talked elsewhere about how much Snape hated teaching beginners and people who couldn't keep up with him, and he saw Neville as not caring/not making the effort, which infuriated him. (Also, it didn't help that he had to be on edge all the time watching Neville's every move to prevent an incredibly dangerous explosion!)
In Alternity, Snape was still Neville's teacher, but at a subject (Occlumency) that Neville was a) highly, highly motivated to learn and b) fairly decent at. Seeing Neville working so hard at it short-circuited a lot of that frustration.
no subject
(I also love "And I suppose I love you too, you meddlesome beast", from that same thread, because that's Snape for "you are one of my dearest friends and I love you fiercely", and by that point Alice knows enough about him to know that.)
But yes! Snape cared deeply about Nev. In canon, I think it wasn't just that he saw Neville as someone who should have been the Boy-Who-Lived so Lily didn't have to die; part of it was that he only interacted with Neville in Potions class, and I talked elsewhere about how much Snape hated teaching beginners and people who couldn't keep up with him, and he saw Neville as not caring/not making the effort, which infuriated him. (Also, it didn't help that he had to be on edge all the time watching Neville's every move to prevent an incredibly dangerous explosion!)
In Alternity, Snape was still Neville's teacher, but at a subject (Occlumency) that Neville was a) highly, highly motivated to learn and b) fairly decent at. Seeing Neville working so hard at it short-circuited a lot of that frustration.