Oh, oh, oh! While going on with my re-reading, I found the hole I had spotted in Chapter 2!! I had spotted it the first time around, it had convinced me that Snape is on the good side, and then, reading on, I forgot all about it. (I'll blame it to JKR's talent of twisting everything and making you doubt even who you are.)
I don't think I've seen it mentioned here, so I'll go on with it:
From Book 6, Chapter 2, Snape and Bellatrix discussing about the fight in the Ministry from Book 5:
... "There is no point apportioning blame," said Snape smoothly. "What is done, is done."
"But not by you!" said Bellatrix furiously. "No, you were once again absent while the rest of us ran dangers, were you not, Snape?"
"My orders were to remain behind," said Snape. "Perhaps you disagree with the Dark Lord, perhaps you think that Dumbledore would not have noticed if I had joined forces with the Death Eaters to fight the Order of the Phoenix? And — forgive me — you speak of dangers... you were facing six teenagers, were you not?"
"They were joined, as you very well know, by half of the Order before long!" snarled Bellatrix. "And, while we are on the subject of the Order, you still claim you cannot reveal the whereabouts of their headquarters, don't you?" ...
She does not insist on how come the six teenagers were joined by half of the Order... which means she cannot imagine what we know:
From Book 5, Chapter 37, Dumbledore speaking:
‘Harry, you know Professor Snape had no choice but to pretend not to take you seriously in front of Dolores Umbridge,' said Dumbledore steadily, ‘but as I have explained, he informed the Order as soon as possible about what you had said. It was he who deduced where you had gone when you did not return from the Forest. It was he, too, who gave Professor Umbridge fake Veritaserum when she was attempting to force you to tell her Sirius's whereabouts.'
Does Voldemort, or any Death Eater know about this? I don't think so, for two reasons:
a)Had Voldemort found out, I don't think Snape could have come up with a plausible explanation. "I alerted the Order in case Potter spoke to Dumbledore about what he told me"? No, no, no. He could have simply claimed he didn't know who Padfoot was - how could he? They weren't friends or something. Dumbledore, on the other hand... is not suspecting, or assuming. He *knows*.
b) Assume Snape *has* an explanation about all this. Wouldn't he give both the facts and the explanation to Bellatrix? Okay, so he has Voldemort's trust and everything, but he seems so willing to explain his motives to her (probably wanting to finish this once and for all), so why leave this aside? I don't think he could resist seeing the humiliated look in her face
So, the way I see it, when it came down to choosing who to help - Harry or the Death Eaters - he chose Harry.
Feel free to share your opinions on my theory (if you care enough to read it, that is).
See ya,
AnnaBtG.
EDITED TO ADD:From Book 6, Chapter 2, Snape speaking:
I am pleased to say, however, that Dumbledore is growing old. The duel with the Dark Lord last month shook him. He has since sustained a serious injury because his reactions are slower than they once were.
Very conveniently forgetting how this injury was related to destroying one of Voldemort's Horcruxes and how you helped Dumbledore escape death, aren't you, Snapey?
I wonder if you at least mentioned it to your Master... (My guess is a big, fat NO.)
