Short Stories: Utter Darkness

Slytherins are all obsessive. When they love something, they love it for life, whether it's the Dark Arts or another person.

He lived by Slytherin's vow: We come from the mud. We crave power. We are ambitious. We are strong and composed. We are elegant and self-possessed. We never regret. We are Slytherin.

He was a Slytherin of the deepest darkness, not a savior, not a philanthropist, not a sage, and certainly not a romantic hero.

Severus Snape does not need anyone to redeem him. Perhaps we want him to be happy, and in our fanfiction we invariably wish him a beautiful, bright future. But the truth is, he cannot simply give everything up. Lily and the Dark Arts are both things he must protect. We cannot make him change from the start just because his ending was unhappy.

Slytherins never regret. He is focused, obsessive, stubborn, serious, restrained, and steadfast to the end. He belongs to Slytherin alone, born in the mud, yet still noble. This is the man I love.

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