What I really love about Snily is that even after Snape realizes his romantic feelings for Lily, he doesn’t fake the friendship! I think that’s what makes their friendship so genuine!! Just wanna share some thought about Snily with Snily shipper haha
I love asks sm, so thank you for sharing this with me. 🥹 Especially a Snily one, be still my traumatized heart!
I love this point. I think what makes their dynamic so compelling, among a million things, is that Severus always loved Lily in one form or another. Love is not, nor does it need to be, inherently romantic. It is the first hand that reaches for you when you have never known gentleness. It is someone standing in your defense, even when you are not there to hear it. It is the unshakable sense that one, single person sees you clearly in a world that asks you to remain invisible.
The very first person who ever showed him true kindness was Lily. His romantic feelings for her never cheapened their friendship because the friendship was always the root of their relationship. The basis of care and gentleness came long before the longing!
It’s also important to note that, as a character and in the context of Snily, Severus isn’t transactional. He didn’t love her for what she might become to him but for who she already was, and for what she represented in his life when everything else seemed determined to tear him apart.
That’s also part of why their story feels so tragic. He treasures that bond so sincerely that when it shatters, it isn’t just “unrequited love” he loses, it is the one person who ever offered him unconditional kindness. You could argue that Albus cared for him, but even that was care with conditions, rooted in everything he could gain from Severus.
For me, that’s what makes Snily such a beautiful ship to explore. The tragedy, yes, but more than that the way their friendship and love are intertwined, never one diminishing the other. 🥹🥺
