Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling says that Alan Rickman knew about Snape’s love for Lily before anyone else.

A fan asked Jo on Twitter this morning if she would finally unveil the much-publicized secret about Snape she had bequeathed to Alan Rickman, which the actor had kept secret for as long as he had known it.

When Alan would be asked what that secret was in the years following the release of the Deathly Hallows film, the actor always objected, saying that he didn’t want to spoil it for those who hadn’t read the books.

“She gave me one tiny, little, left of field piece of information that helped me think that he was more complicated and that the story was not going to be as straight down the line as everybody thought,” Rickman told various media outlets while promoting the Harry Potter movies (these particular comments are from a 2011 interview with Hitfix). “If you remember when I did the first film she’d only written three or four books, so nobody knew where it was really going except her. And it was important for her that I know something, but she only gave me a tiny piece of information which helped me think it was a more ambiguous route.”

So that tiny little piece of information? It was the meaning behind “always,” Jo said today:

This means that Jo clued Alan Rickman in on Snape’s undying love for Lily — feelings that Severus held until the very end of his life. As far as we know, Alan was one of very, very few people who knew this secret prior to the release of the Deathly Hallows book.

By knowing this piece of information far in advance of readers and viewers, Alan was able to subtly add Snape’s true feelings toward Lily and Harry into the movies. Of course, none of us knew that truth until the end of the story.

One fan admitted that this made her “extremely emotional,” and the Harry Potter author agreed:

It’s time to re-watch this critical scene from Deathly Hallows in which we learn the truth:

Rickman died last week at the age of 69.