#ifarted231

[timeaussnape]

Hii, I saw your post asking for Severitus recs and I have quite a few!

- O Mine Enemy by Kirby Lane

This one is my absolute favorite, and I never miss an opportunity to sing its praises. The characterization is one of the most canon compliant and on point I’ve ever seen in the fandom; the author has a way of working WITH the characters’ canon versions instead of going against them or finding ways around them, so the whole thing reads like a natural progression of where they stand in the source material. And it’s not just Snape and Harry, either. Kirby’s Dumbledore is the most believable I’ve ever seen in any Severitus work. And the development of their relationship is SO satisfying (it’s one of those slow burn stories that make you feel like you fought tooth and nail for and earned every tender moment and every step forward, but it also doesn’t feel dragged out), and the plot is GREAT as well. Everything feels so high-stakes and so intimate at the same time. It’s got everything: Seer!Harry, alternative Horcrux lore, Dursley family bashing, kidnapping and rescue missions, arcs that progress beautifully and come full circle in more ways than one, and of course the parental/protective Snape of our dreams. The first few chapters are good but won’t blow your mind at first or anything, but the story finds its footing pretty quickly and then you won’t be able to put it down. I swear.

- The Chivalry series (The Guiltless and The Poor of God) by branwyn

I haven’t seen this one mentioned in rec lists nearly enough. The Guiltless is mostly setup, as it is all about Snape’s initial discovery of Harry’s home life. The second installment is where the story really begins to shine for me. The writing is almost lyrical at times and the plot is pretty original, as far as Severitus works go; Harry and Sev establish a tentative (and adorable) correspondence until a Potions mishap offers the most glorious excuse for angst and hurt/comfort I’ve ever seen (to give you an idea, iirc the exploding potion in question was named the draught of waking nightmares). The story also focuses quite a lot on Harry’s recovery from the Dursleys’ abuse, and Luna features prominently as well. Fair warning tho, the epilogue is a tearjerker (the happy kind of tearjerker, I promise).

- Time Left Today by gzdacz

Road trip AU (does being on the run from the cops count as a road trip?) , set immediately after Year One, in which Harry and Snape have to go on the run from the Ministry after Quirrell’s death (a journey which takes them all across Europe, and the author builds each setting beautifully). Snape’s POV here would probably be considered a bit OOC by most of the fandom, but his outer persona and dialogue was sufficiently Snape-ish to make the story feel like an organic continuation of the first book (and his inner life is constructed so well and so subtly that for once I found myself not minding the deviation from his canon harshness). Also, this little Harry is absolutely adorable and one of the most believable portrayals of a child I’ve seen in fanfic. The Lily/Sev flashbacks are yet another highlight; gzdacz’s Lily is my favorite EVER, and I desperately DESPERATELY wish there was even one Snily/Lily-centric story out there that portrayed this version of the character.

- Crime and Punishment by melolcatsi

You’ve probably already read this one since it’s a Severitus classic, but it’s a classic for a reason and I can’t make a rec list without including it.

- I Know Not, and I Cannot Know; Yet I Live and I Love by billowsandsmoke

Ok so this one isn’t really Severitus, but it scratches the same itch and it COMPLETELY blew me away. Plus, it’s only 32k words. It’s a canon compliant look at Snape mentoring Luna through the years. That’s it. I won’t say anything else because I could not begin to do it justice.

And here are a few others that, although they didn’t stand out to me like the previous ones, I really enjoyed:

- A Thousand Words by Ailee17

- It's Delicate (isn't it?) by MellarkandArt (this is only my fav part of a longer series, which I also recommend in its entirety, but I suppose it could be read as a standalone)

- I, Your Glass by koppelkat

- Under Your Skin by waitingondaisies (considerably shorter than most fics I’ve listed; Snape discovers Umbridge’s detention practices)

- Digging for the Bones by Paganaidd

- Life as Dictated by a Talking Hat by RhiannanT

- The One I Run To by Sa-kun

You might want to check for content warnings and completion status on a few of these. All the best!

I 1000% meant to answer this as soon as I got it, but I've been looking for O Mine Enemy for months. I read roughly half of it while delirious with the flu a while ago and could not, for the life of me, remember what on earth it was. Tysm!

I will definitely be checking all of these out. Your explanations made me want to read all of them! Especially the Chivalry series - I'm such a sucker for tearjerkers.

Gosh, and thank you for reminding me of Crime and Punishment. Patiently waiting for the next chapter is so hard!

Thank you again for all of these recs, all the best!