Thank you--I enjoyed imagining the backstory and then writing in parts of it as another layer to what's happening in the present.

As for Snape's reaction-- he can fly off the handle in a second, or he can have complete emotional control.  My interpretation is that he loses control when he feels it's safe to do so, but maintains emotional control when he's in unsafe or unfamiliar territory.  I also think Lily is a hot button where he cannot always control himself. 

On being likable: I tried to keep him as close to canon as possible (in the canon world) while enabling the reader to understand what he's thinking and feeling.  Allowing access to a person's motivations naturally makes them more sympathetic, even if you don't change their behavior at all.  For example, compare:

"Potter," Snape said, beckoning him closer.  He leaned close to Harry's face, hissing, "I'll make sure this detention is particularly unpleasant."

With:

"Potter," Snape said, beckoning him closer.  He could see those perfect green eyes now: her eyes.  A testament to what he could have had, if he hadn't been so blind.  And that scar--a constant reminder that he had killed the one person who had loved him.  Rage boiled in him, and he leaned close to Potter's face, hissing, " I'll make sure this detention is particularly unpleasant."

Thank you!  I'm happy that Aspen recommended it. 

Sorry for the long delay in my reply.  I usually try to split my time between writing and responding to reviews, but the chapter work was taking quite a large amount of time. 

I've heard that complaint about AU fics before.  I felt the need to spend some time on an explanation, as there might be readers who had never encountered the concept of AU before.  But it's like starting a story about a car chase by explaining how a combustion engine works.  It's relevant, if the reader is not familiar with cars, but get to the chase already!

I know; I'm sorry.  It was never my intention for the updates to be this far apart.  I originally saw my completed original draft as nearly perfect as-is, and thought I could post each chapter with a minimum of fuss.  But the process of editing, reading books on writing, and thinking about reader comments have helped me to become a better writer.  Now I can see that the next few chapters require complete re-writes so that the story can be at its best.  I'm working on the editing of the next chapter now, and I will squeeze every bit of free time I can into getting it posted ASAP.