JK Rowling has said that she always knew Snake would be redeemed - she even told Alan Rickman about it, when he was preparing to play Snape for the first time. No one else knew about Snape's secret back then, as the seventh book had not yet been released. However, she revealed the secret to Alan Rickman so that he would have that information available to him, and he later spoke about how it influenced his performance. I can remember reading the whole story somewhere, though I don't remember where. 🤔

I have heard Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog before - it is SO catchy. 😂😂 Thanks for reminding me about it!