Deceptively simple and effective writing. Well told.

Very good. The dream sequences were very evocative of Roethke's poetry. I loved this line in particular: "With quiet deliberation, devoid of guilt or fear, he turned away from the dream, from her, from the lingering stain of the past . . ."

Neat.

That was absolutely gorgeous. So moving. The writing had a dreamlike quality, the poetry was amazing, and every dream was beautifully comforting and quiet. Thanks so much for writing this! I thought it was so sad when he allowed himself to doubt his love for her when he realized that she made him want to be a better person, to change the mistakes of his past -- only a Slytherin would approach such a noble impulse with cautious suspicion -- shades of grey, indeed :) But his love for her was certainly a powerful force of transformation in his life, and I think it was all the stronger and truer because of that! She brought out the best in him, and it was lovely in the end to see that he had found in himself that sense of strength and sureness that was always confined to his dreams before. In the end, he was ready. Thanks so much for writing this!

How sweet! It's a very touching story. I know we were all speculating about what was going through Snape's mind just before he died. Very good job!

A very impressive piece of writing, and it would be nice to think that Lily got wisdom and forgiveness in dying, instead of still being as harsh as we see her be in life.

And yes, I think the branch fell because of an involuntary pulse of wandless magic when he felt hurt and attacked - just the same as the way Harry accidentally inflated his bullying aunt.

Minor anomaly - why would he be sleeping in a Hogwarts guest room after Lily's death? Judging from what he tells Umbridge, he started teaching two months before Lily died, so he would presumably already have had his own quarters.

Nearly a year elapsed between his warning Dumbledore that the Potters were in danger and their actual deaths, during which he became a teacher, as well as a spy. We know this because they died at the end of October, and the last two weeks in October and first week in November is the peak time for viewing autumn trees in Scotland. In the scene where he warns Dumbledore that Tom is targetting the Potters, the trees are bare, although there are still some leaves blowing around: so it is late November or December.

Very sad and very good. Lily is right, he could not have controlled his magic enough to break of the branch on purpose. Well written.