How do I love thee?

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...

Professor Snape... Yes... This would have to be my favorite character in Harry Potter. My love for him is rivalled only by my adoration of Remus Lupin. I have often pondered why I like this character so much. He's mean, infuriating, unfair, bad tempered, and completely biased towards his Slytherins. He's definitely not the prettiest man to ever walk the earth. So why do I like him?

I usually end my musings with the conclusion that this is just another instance where my wacked brain has attached itself to a random character and refused to let go. But there is more to it than that. Severus Snape I think... is the type of character I slmost always fall for. He kinda sorta reminds me a bit of my first obsession, Saitou Hajime from Rurouni Kenshin, who, despite his incessant smoking, beat out Hiko-sama for my favorite character from that series. They are the pseudo-villains (or pseudo-heroes depending on how you look at it). They make you think they're evil, but then they turn out to be good. I don't know... I think Sushi said it best when she was explaining why she liked Snape. "He's 'good' without being nice."