Yes!  I always thought Severus Snape as a dad would be such a push over.  Oh, there would be grumbling and grousing, but he would be so squishy on the inside.  I always see him as a man who has had little love in his life. Even though Eileen loves him, her way of showing it is his way also, with harsh words that mask tender feelings.  A young Harry, with his great capacity to love and his real need to give an receive it would be the best thing for such a man. 

As for the dragon plushie, I decided that with all that happened to him that day, he really needed something to confide to and to hug.  That's why police officers (at least in this state) carry stuffed animals in the trunks of their cars. They hand them out in emergency situations to children who need it.  The toys do seem to calm them down, and give them something to hug when they are frightened.

Petunia.  Don't get me started on that woman.  She's as bad as Umbridge and dealt more damage to both Harry and Dudley than Umbridge ever could.  

Thanks for the thoughtful and kind review.  I really appreciate it.

Heh.  That is all.

No, really, thanks for your review. I have started the next chapter and it lookis like it is going to be REALLY fun to write.  Woot!

While Lily is not my favorite character, I think she is also fairly desperate to keep her child from two fairly bad knowns.  Petunia she knows is vindictive and just a big ol' witch, and not the magical kind, and Sirius is extremely reckless, as we all see from his actions after the Potters were killed.  Is it fair that Lily wants Snape to be her child's guardian, the very child she created after dumping him for his enemey? No, not at all, but for the reasons I've given, I think she has a valid concern.  Also, it wouldn't be much of a Sevitis if Snape didn't end up with Harry, would it.  ;)

Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far.

Thanks for the review.  I don't know that I meant that as an author insertion.  It's Severus' stream of conciousness that I'm portraying. It's just hard to do that without actually breaking out the italics and such. I'll go back and re-read it to see if I need to revise it.

I could actually see Lily taking on the same amount of guilt for Snape's later actions as Severus did for Voldemort's actions with the Potter family.  I think it's human nature to assume some guilt in the face of tragedy.  These two do seem to be alike in that sense, at least in my take on them.

Aw, thanks LZ.  I really appreciate your kindness.  I have never actually been to Tesco's.  There is never a need for that store when you're a tourist.  I did, however, surf the web and imaginary shopped there.