It's down / down to the wire...
I got this done just barely in time to beat the OotP rush. I suspect that if I'd waited to do it until after the book came out, it would probably never have been posted at all. But upon request, and for whatever it may be worth, here it is:
40 Things About Maud
1. Her memory of the night she lost her parents and her sight is nearly Pensieve-quality vivid.
2. Part of this is because of the trauma involved -- like many others affected by the cruelties of war, she is subject to flashbacks -- but another reason is that those events were the last thing she saw with her own eyes.
3. For two years afterward, she was completely blind, without even a seeing-eye owl to help her.
4. She has almost no memories of those two years.
5. She is deeply grateful for Athena, and considers herself very fortunate to have had the little owl's assistance; but even the events she witnessed through Athena's eyes, compared to those seen with her own, always seemed to lack clarity in retrospect.
6. Her other senses were always keen, however, and many of her childhood memories are of sounds, smells, and tastes that particularly affected her.
7. When she met Snape she knew he had to be at least partly exaggerating the unpleasantness of his appearance, because he smelled so much cleaner than he looked, and the grease in his hair had a faintly herbal scent.
8. And if she had to analyse her first attraction to him, she would have to admit that it was the sound of his voice and the touch of his hands that drew her, more than anything else.
9. Like Snape, she spent most of her life touch-deprived (Uncle Alastor, while undeniably kind, was not as a rule demonstrative) and craving that rare intimacy.
10. But also like Snape, she was wary of her own vulnerability, and therefore tended to avoid touching or being touched by people unless they had her absolute trust.
11. She was abjectly miserable the whole six years she spent at Durmstrang.
12. Her fear of being discovered and unmasked as a spy, as well as her reservations about pursuing greater knowledge of the Dark Arts, kept her from getting close to any of the other students.
13. And her inability to appreciate or play Quidditch isolated her even more.
14. There were many nights she cried herself to sleep, and wished that she had gone to Hogwarts instead.
15. The only thing that kept her going was the conviction that she was doing something worthwhile, and that the information she sent back to her uncle might turn out to be important one day.
16. Looking back, however, she realizes that most of her spying career was irrelevant, and most of her reports redundant.
17. She tries not to think about this too much.
18. Especially since she knows it was her own stubbornness and misguided zeal that forced Uncle Alastor to come up with the idea of Durmstrang in the first place.
19. And that she can't even blame him for sending her there, because it was her decision.
20. When she finally got to Hogwarts, she was still trying to keep up the cool spygirl facade.
21. It wasn't until she came face to face with a real spy -- Snape -- that she realized what a complete amateur she was.
22. The realization hurt, and it took her some time to accept it; but once she did, it felt amazingly like relief.
23. It took her a bit longer to realize that she wasn't meant to be an Auror any more than a spy, but in the end that was a relief, too.
24. If the Sorting Hat had been put on her head at that point, it would probably have put her in Ravenclaw.
25. She is pretty sure that Snape knows this.
26. In many ways, after all, he knows her better than anyone.
27. Though he does not always know her as well as he thinks.
28. Nor does he realize that she sees his faults more clearly than he gives her credit for.
29. But she knows he finds it easier to believe that she is blind to his failings than to accept that she could love him in spite of them, so she generally keeps her mouth shut.
30. It seems only fair, since she knows he thinks of her as a better person than she actually is.
31. Sometimes she misses her parents, and the life she might have had with them, deeply.
32. Especially when she looks at Malcolm, who is so much like his grandfather in personality, if not in looks.
33. She often feels guilty that the closeness she has with Malcolm is not something she shares with her other children.
34. But whenever she tries to get closer to Albion, he seems politely uninterested.
35. And Margot, who dislikes being seen through and knows that Maud is one of the few people who does see her truly, is somewhat less polite about it.
36. But Malcolm was always open and honest and loving toward her, and ready to accept and appreciate her love in return, so it's hard for her not to feel closest to him.
37. And it grieves her that Severus has such difficulty relating to Malcolm, the one child who most needs and yearns for a relationship with his father.
38. She hopes the two of them will eventually work something out.
39. After all, even when she thinks Snape is wrong or blinded or acting unwisely, she still loves him.
40. And she knows that he still loves her, too.
It'll be interesting to see exactly how much of this does turn out to be erroneous or irrelevant once OotP hits the shelves. It will definitely be worth a rueful chuckle if Snape turns out to have a wife tucked away somewhere. (Though given JKR's stated opinion on the subject of Snape and romance, I doubt it.)
40 Things About Maud
1. Her memory of the night she lost her parents and her sight is nearly Pensieve-quality vivid.
2. Part of this is because of the trauma involved -- like many others affected by the cruelties of war, she is subject to flashbacks -- but another reason is that those events were the last thing she saw with her own eyes.
3. For two years afterward, she was completely blind, without even a seeing-eye owl to help her.
4. She has almost no memories of those two years.
5. She is deeply grateful for Athena, and considers herself very fortunate to have had the little owl's assistance; but even the events she witnessed through Athena's eyes, compared to those seen with her own, always seemed to lack clarity in retrospect.
6. Her other senses were always keen, however, and many of her childhood memories are of sounds, smells, and tastes that particularly affected her.
7. When she met Snape she knew he had to be at least partly exaggerating the unpleasantness of his appearance, because he smelled so much cleaner than he looked, and the grease in his hair had a faintly herbal scent.
8. And if she had to analyse her first attraction to him, she would have to admit that it was the sound of his voice and the touch of his hands that drew her, more than anything else.
9. Like Snape, she spent most of her life touch-deprived (Uncle Alastor, while undeniably kind, was not as a rule demonstrative) and craving that rare intimacy.
10. But also like Snape, she was wary of her own vulnerability, and therefore tended to avoid touching or being touched by people unless they had her absolute trust.
11. She was abjectly miserable the whole six years she spent at Durmstrang.
12. Her fear of being discovered and unmasked as a spy, as well as her reservations about pursuing greater knowledge of the Dark Arts, kept her from getting close to any of the other students.
13. And her inability to appreciate or play Quidditch isolated her even more.
14. There were many nights she cried herself to sleep, and wished that she had gone to Hogwarts instead.
15. The only thing that kept her going was the conviction that she was doing something worthwhile, and that the information she sent back to her uncle might turn out to be important one day.
16. Looking back, however, she realizes that most of her spying career was irrelevant, and most of her reports redundant.
17. She tries not to think about this too much.
18. Especially since she knows it was her own stubbornness and misguided zeal that forced Uncle Alastor to come up with the idea of Durmstrang in the first place.
19. And that she can't even blame him for sending her there, because it was her decision.
20. When she finally got to Hogwarts, she was still trying to keep up the cool spygirl facade.
21. It wasn't until she came face to face with a real spy -- Snape -- that she realized what a complete amateur she was.
22. The realization hurt, and it took her some time to accept it; but once she did, it felt amazingly like relief.
23. It took her a bit longer to realize that she wasn't meant to be an Auror any more than a spy, but in the end that was a relief, too.
24. If the Sorting Hat had been put on her head at that point, it would probably have put her in Ravenclaw.
25. She is pretty sure that Snape knows this.
26. In many ways, after all, he knows her better than anyone.
27. Though he does not always know her as well as he thinks.
28. Nor does he realize that she sees his faults more clearly than he gives her credit for.
29. But she knows he finds it easier to believe that she is blind to his failings than to accept that she could love him in spite of them, so she generally keeps her mouth shut.
30. It seems only fair, since she knows he thinks of her as a better person than she actually is.
31. Sometimes she misses her parents, and the life she might have had with them, deeply.
32. Especially when she looks at Malcolm, who is so much like his grandfather in personality, if not in looks.
33. She often feels guilty that the closeness she has with Malcolm is not something she shares with her other children.
34. But whenever she tries to get closer to Albion, he seems politely uninterested.
35. And Margot, who dislikes being seen through and knows that Maud is one of the few people who does see her truly, is somewhat less polite about it.
36. But Malcolm was always open and honest and loving toward her, and ready to accept and appreciate her love in return, so it's hard for her not to feel closest to him.
37. And it grieves her that Severus has such difficulty relating to Malcolm, the one child who most needs and yearns for a relationship with his father.
38. She hopes the two of them will eventually work something out.
39. After all, even when she thinks Snape is wrong or blinded or acting unwisely, she still loves him.
40. And she knows that he still loves her, too.
It'll be interesting to see exactly how much of this does turn out to be erroneous or irrelevant once OotP hits the shelves. It will definitely be worth a rueful chuckle if Snape turns out to have a wife tucked away somewhere. (Though given JKR's stated opinion on the subject of Snape and romance, I doubt it.)