Snape being nasty is OOC. He treats women with a modicum of civility? I don't remember that. He treats Minerva as a colleague but his interactions with her are very stiff and just barely civil. He is very nasty to Tonks about the change in her Patronus, and apart from interactions with female students, whom he is just as foul to as he is the males...Hermione specifically, there are only two other instances I can think of where he interacts with women. Don't get the movie Snape, who is nowhere near as nasty a he is portrayed in the books, mixed up with his canon self.

The scene with Bella and Narcissa. Yes, he is reasonable, but he is also acting, pretending that he is on their side. Open aggression would hardly convey solidarity. And he is still not exactly pleasant.

And then there are the childhood scenes where he is not only nasty, but actually hurts Petunia. Lily is the only female he makes an effort with and even then, he finds it difficult to remain pleasant

As for Erin...he is particularly nasty because he is attracted to her and is doing everything he can to dispell this impression as he cannot imagine that his attraction would ever be reciprocated.

It is interesting to see people's different takes on Snape.

Thanks for you review Donna. Hope to hear from you again.

Lesley