Thanks. I hadn't thought about that necessarily-- I thought just the pull of life itself might have been drawing him in, but your reaction makes me wonder if part of it is seeing a kid like David who really is beloved (yeah, the name is more than alliterative)-- how cool must that be for Snape to see what a childhood ought to be like, and to see it happening for someone he's grown to care about, in his own limited way.

I also kind of wanted to get across there that Snape is still in the habit of denying that he wants or needs anything-- it seems to be a kind of underpinning for the character.

I'm glad you had this response, and that you shared it. Thanks again for reading and commenting.