#snarryrecs

I don’t usually just rec stuff out of the blue. And I’m not reccing this only because it was gifted to me, but because I think it deserves far more attention than it has received so far, and far more praise.

This is such a beautiful piece, with such a vivid mood behind it. There is something so intrinsically poetic about it, a fairy tale sort of ambiance filled with mystery and expectations, and very lovely prose. 

Hagrid is the gentle giant we all know, and Harry is absolutely incredible in his candidness and his pure heart. Severus is heart-wrenching and so real. The ending leaves a lump in your throat, but also a lingering feeling of lightness.

There have been some rather nice entries in the Snape-Potter First Time Fest, but this one really stood out for me. 

Standing on the Shoreline (NC-17, 20k, postwar)

I think one of the reasons that I come back to Snape/Harry as a pairing is that so many of the very best stories are about growing older and living with one's mistakes, and still finding a purpose in life - passions, love, and all those things that we tend to think are the sole purview of the young. In this lovely, literary story, Snape has inconveniently survived the war and retired alone to Cokeworth, where he distills and sells (illegal) alcohol by day, and cross-dresses in pursuit of anonymous sex on the weekends. During one of his nights out, he comes across Harry Potter, who slowly begins to weave his way into Snape's Muggle life. It's a common enough trajectory for a Snarry story, but what really soars here is Snape's internal dialogue - the way he reluctantly begins to give himself over to vaguely terrifying feelings for Harry that the young man clearly returns - as well as a lovely Harry who's himself less poster-boy than just an adult version of the haphazard hero he's always been. 

Books are also an integral part of the story; interwoven into character exposition and growth rather than just an accessory, and they're the icing on this really exquisite exploration of a tentative romance between erstwhile enemies.

He leaves Potter clearing away the last of their strange mid-afternoon meal. In the living room, Our Lady of the Flowers is lying on the sofa. Severus picks it up, stares at it—it must have been the book in Potter's hands when they fought earlier. He wonders if Potter opened it, read anything Severus wrote in it, or if he just wanted something in his hands.  While he couldn't say what's in every book he's ever written in, this one stands out regrettably clearly. He is torn between hiding it under the sofa and throwing it in Potter's face. Don't you dare make excuses for me. I know what I am. What I've been. "I didn't quite mean what I said earlier," Potter says from behind him. Severus turns. Potter is standing in the doorway, hands in his pockets. He's looking straight at Severus now, no avoidance. "Which particular bit?" Severus asks. "I seem to recall your saying all sorts of things." "I do kind of care who you sleep with," Potter says. Shrugs. "But it's not exactly a moral thing. It's just that I'd like to keep having sex with you." "What a deeply romantic proposal." Potter laughs. "Oh, because romance is exactly what you look for in a person." "And you'd know, I suppose." "Well," Potter says, "I have a few theories I'd like to test, anyway." Severus considers this. He hasn't looked for an intimate relationship with another person in decades, hasn't longed for someone to come along and sweep him away, can't imagine romantic dinner dates or blushing declarations of love. But sex. A few theories. Some more cups of tea. Would it really be so bad? He is still holding Genet.  "I am not pleasant," he says, feels the solid truth of the words as he speaks them, though they are also wholly inadequate.  "You think I don't know what you're like by now," Potter says with a lopsided smile.  The book between Severus' hands is a celebration of sorts. Genet's, and his own added to it, 1977, 1978. One of the only Muggle books he touched those years. It is entirely vile. Potter thinks he knows. He really believes it. And Severus could probably let him believe it; who would contradict him now? The list of people who even remember that time has grown incredibly short. "Here," Severus says, and tosses the book in Potter's direction. Potter's reflexes are still good; he snatches it easily from the air, flips it over to stare at the cover. Opens it, perhaps noting ancient library stamps, the last dates. He never bought his books in those days, and never got them stamped out by librarians either; took furtively, considering Muggle literature in general inherently pornographic, impossible to show another person. In this case, not entirely incorrect. "Homework. Come back when you're done."

Pairing: SS/HP

Rating: NC-17

This is so beautiful. I'm a sucker for mature!Harry Snarry. And Snarry with Harry's canon children. This is both in one! Without spoiling the story, let's just say, life becomes a little confusing when somebody comes back from the dead. This is beautifully written. As is it's sequel. The writer achieves beautiful imagery, and it will resonate with you. There's also some interesting magical theory woven in! Definitely recommend you read this if you ship snarry!

Sleeping in the Light, by anonymous (R, 5k)

Yet another really exquisite entry in the 2013 Snarry-a-Thon, in which Snape tries to pick up the pieces of his life after three years passed in Azkaban. Harry, with whom he has shared a fledgling relationship prior to his incarceration, is waiting for him on the other end and takes him to a house held under Fidelius in Mexico. There, the two men are forced to face the changes that have happened in them both - an almost heartbreaking dance of disappointments and setbacks. But because this is Harry, whose devotion to Snape remains even in the face of Snape's strange lassitude, and Snape, who clings, however tenuously, to a hope that he may be roused to life once again, they muddle through the days and nights until a glimmer of better days to come lights the way for them both. Simply a lovely, bittersweet story of wonderful quietude.

A taste:

Harry walks up to him and presses his face into Severus’ shoulder. Severus silently strokes Harry’s bare back, draws him into an embrace. They are quiet for a while.  “I didn’t know it’d be like this,” Severus says finally.  “Do you want to leave?” Harry asks. Severus doesn’t reply right away. He continues to hold Harry close, thinking that he really should leave. Because Merlin knows, this is ridiculous. They’re trying to recapture what they once had, and they just aren’t making it. There’s only awkwardness, and not knowing what to say to each other, and fragments of conversations of the two strangers who used to know each other in some other lifetime.  “Severus?” Harry’s voice breaks ever so slightly. Severus presses a kiss to his forehead and answers: “I don’t know what the future holds. I really don’t know anything. But –it’s only been a week. If you’re willing, we can give it more time. Keep trying. If nothing works in a month, or two, or three – then we can revisit this conversation.” 

The 2013 Snarry-a-Thon is off and running, and here is a story that is wonderfully understated and just... beautiful.

All Who Wander, by anonymous (17k, NC-17)

If you love AUs, this is the story for you. If not... read it anyway, because it's simply exquisite. Taking the setting and sparsity of Brokeback Mountain as inspiration, this fic tells the story of laconic English transplant and wizard Severus Snape and his encounter with Harry Potter, a young newlywed who's been felled in an accident and requires healing at Snape's hands. A dose of Pepper Up potion reveals that Potter is a wizard, but this is news to the young man, who latches on to his new identity with alacrity. Snape takes on the task of seeing Potter healed and educated in at least rudimentary magic, and over the course of long days and nights spent together on the open trail of the American Southwest, the two men slowly come to appreciate one another - first as mentor and student, and later as men.

As one commenter on LJ eloquently noted, this is a story in which sex is secondary to the friendship that develops between Harry and Snape. They're people in their own right who find that they have unimagined affinities that draw them together, and when their understated romance comes alive it feels like a well-deserved stopping point in the trajectory of their relationship. Both Snape and Harry are utterly recognizable here; relieved of the tension that marks their canonical relationship, they're free here to understand and love one another fully.

A taste:

“Mr. Snape, tell me about magic,” Harry said. And Severus did. He found that he could talk about magic from morning to night. From sunset to sunrise. He breathed it. He lived it. It was his constant companion on his lonely road. It was not something he used, but something he was. He had never had this opportunity before, to introduce magic to a wizard kept in the dark.  Severus was a quiet man. Cautious and reserved. Sharp-eyed, sharp-witted, sharp-tongued. His edges were hard. He was efficient, not gentle. Subdued, not taciturn. Sarcastic, not witty. He seldom smiled, rarely laughed. The things that brought joy to his life did so in a quiet way, affecting him with their beauty, or their strength, or their grandeur.  He lived alone, but he was not lonely. Magic was his companion. It tied him to the world, yet kept him separate from it. He could walk in shadows, skirting the edges, observing the movement of people and animals and clouds and stars, then melt back into his refuge. He touched the edges, outlined the action.  He had a rapt pupil in Harry Potter. He was a prophet to the young man, delivering a surprising but welcome sermon. The words Severus Snape spoke filled in the cracks in his life, formed the missing pieces, cemented the fragments together.

I'm back! As is Snarry (although, truthfully, I'm woefully behind. I actually have a backlog of stories to read, if you can believe it! It's a good place to be). So, I'm kicking off my Return to Reccing with this wonderful little thing by the lovely starcrossedgirl.

Sleeping Beauty, by starcrossedgirl (PG-13, 3k)

Harry has a problem, and Snape is the only one in all of Hogwarts who's in a position to help him, as everyone else - and I mean everyone else - is... otherwise occupied. The reasons for Harry's distress and Snape's subsequent bemusement are revealed in fairly short order; as you can imagine, they involve magic going horribly, horribly wrong. What's lovely about this is starcrossedgirl's always-gorgeous prose; I'm such a huge fan of her Harry - always a bit befuddled, but never stupid - and her Snape, while typically dry and sardonic, holds his own tender hopes for the future so close that you almost ache for him. A charming little quick fic for when you just need to put a smile on your face.

A Taste:

Another theory tested and confirmed in the span of a sigh as Potter startled beneath his mouth and then gave, flowing like silk towards Severus, opening up. Yes, Potter’s lips were just as soft as they looked, his mouth just as warm and wet as Severus had wondered at, in all those stolen moments when he ought not to have wondered at all. He kissed with the same brash honesty that had cut a path into Severus’s life just as surely as the mark burned once burned into his forearm, now faded to ashes: all impatient tongue and teeth and reaching hands which pulled them even closer in the tight confines of the cupboard.

Pairing: SS/HP 

Rating: NC-17

Another forced marriage fic :] Hehehehehehe. This story is AU, basically after GOF I think, in a world where Voldemort is gone but the Death Eaters remain fighting against the Light side, headed by Harry. Poor Harry has lost everyone, except his general, Kingsley, and in order to formulate a plan of peace, marries Severus. The story recounts how Harry accepts being married to man and finds love :] Fluff and romance XD You'll love it.

Pairing: Harry Potter/Severus Snape

Rating: PG-13

I love stories with a hiding-in-plain-sight Harry. This is one is written very well with numerous characters, none of which are OOC, a wonderful development of special (and rare to fandom) friendships for Harry. Romance is not overt, which is especially nice, but there and blazing in its subtlety. You're going to sit there and be like, now will they figure it out, now, now??