Two rec's! 

Title: A Necessary Evil by kai
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Rape-Non-Consensual Violence Male Pregnancy
Author's Summary: After the Final Battle, Albus is pregnant (!) and Lord Voldemort is almost-dead yet again.
Author's Notes: This is a horror story. If you have a weak stomach and/or hate experimental fiction, then flee now. I mean it, folks. No fluffy third-person, limited POV bunnies here! Some readers may find the subject matter and my treatment of it quite offensive.

When I first read the summary, I wasn't sold.  How could you be?  I had heard good things, but I'm not a huge fan of the m-preg.  I went into this one with my cursor poised over the back button.  But, it turns out, the summary doesn't do this fic one bit of justice. 

Dumbledore doesn't conceive his child in the normal way (er, m-preg normal, that is).  Voldemort, in a final effort to evade death, implants his essence within the Headmaster during this story's version of the final battle.  Albus, believing that this Tom, given a proper childhood full of love and sunshine and lollipops, has the potential to grow up to be a good person, refuses to terminate.  Severus and Harry aren't so convinced. 

As the story progresses, so does Harry and Snape's relationship.  Initially united by the need to vanquish Voldemort, for good this time, they slowly build up from a friendship to something more.  But Harry's power, fueled by the need for revenge, grows steadily as well, and with it comes a whole other set of issues to deal with.

It was written before the 5th book came out, I think, so Sirius is alive.  Other characters aren't so lucky.  There are a few plot points that I felt could have been fleshed out a bit better (Harry/Draco's relationship, for one), but it's a very minor complaint in the grand scheme of things.  The writing quality was superb, the plot was gripping, and I had that wonderfully awful desire for it to end (so I could know what happened!) and go on forever, both.  An amazing read.

On to the second...a familiar face around schal.

Title: Life in Kind
Author: libby_drew 
Length: 10,487 words
Pairings: HP/SS
Rating: NC17
Author's Summary: Harry believes Snape deserves to be immortalised. As usual, he rushes in where angels fear to tread.
Notes: Written for the snape_after_dh  prompt: Snape is dead, but Harry still owes him, and he'll do anything to repay his debt.

The premise isn't so earth-shattering; Snape gets his wizard portrait.  All the other headmasters have one.  Not such a big deal, right?  Maybe...if it were any other author.  But the way Sansa pulls it off is nothing short of enthralling.  A year after the Battle of Hogwarts, the wizarding world, still unable to accept Snape's role in the war, has turned its back on him.  The Master Painters (who have studied their craft for decades) normally charged with creating wizard portraits have all refused to take Snape on as a commission.  So Harry, unwilling to leave Snape unpainted, locks himself in a dusty room and takes up the task himself.  How could this not end well?

Aside from the beautiful flow of the story and the spot on characterization, the detail that Sansa puts in regarding how a wizard portrait is created is fabulous and really pulls the story together.  I absolutely loved reading a DH-compliant Snarry (ghastly epilogue excepted) that I could actually believe.  *happy sigh*

Go!  Read!  Review!

SCHAL has been a bit quiet over the last, um, year. Thought I'd drop by and try to stir the embers a bit with some quality ficcage. :)

Title: To Stay the Shadow
Author: Vain
Rating: R (by author)
Notes: Written for the 2008 Snarry Games, Team Phoenix
Summary: Once upon a time Severus Snape fell in love. And then everything went wrong.

SS/LP squicks me. Especially in the context of Snarry. When that seventh book came out with a big, fat confirmation of Snape's love for Harry's mom, I'll admit that I was concerned. I wondered how Snarry shippers would cope.  Ignore it?  Claim it wasn't that kind of love?  Stick our fingers in our ears and lalalalala?  Assuming we were able to get past the whole 'Snape dying' part of DH.

Vain's tale handles this conflict of interests beautifully. While not DH compliant (most notably, Snape is alive), Vain does utilize elements of the DH plot to fantastic ends. Snape is still good. He still loved/loves Lily. The elder wand still plays a role in Voldemort's demise. But she plays with the specifics - different sacrifices are made by different people. It's an interesting and well-crafted AU, to be sure.

The fic opens at an end of sorts. Harry and Snape have been involved for some time, and Harry has just discovered Snape's love for his mother. The story then jumps back to the beginning, showing how the characters got to where they are in the first chapter, exploring a friendship demanded by circumstance that evolved into a romantic relationship of their choosing, the issue of Snape's love for Harry's mom and the complications that presents at the forefront of the narrative all the while.

It's bittersweet; the author does a wonderful job of evoking sympathy in the reader for both characters. Grammar, tone, characterization and all the other technical things are spot on. It's really a fantastic story. Go enjoy it!

Author: cluegirl
Title: Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent
Summary: No summary given
Rating: Definitely R
Warning: BSDM, Violence, Slavery, Breathplay, Bloodplay, Character Death, and much Angst.


This was one of the first Snarrys I fell in love with (and with a title like that, who wouldn't??).  The war is over, Voldemort has won and claimed his spoils.  Snape is dead and Harry's situation, captured by Voldemort, is not much better - paraded about at posh parties, forced into the odious position of Lord Executioner, and loaned out to the Malfoys for sport.   But Harry has never been helpless...And, rest assured, despite Snape being, well, dead, this is most definitely a Snarry.  ;-)

The fic packs an emotional punch, so take care to heed the warnings.  It's definitely one of the most angst-filled fics I've come across.  I will freely admit that I am a weeper, so my experience might be the extreme, but this had me absolutely clutching the tissue box.  Harry's situation, how much he lost - what he gains - is just heart wrenching...I reread it, for maybe the fourth time, right before I posted and I'm still reeling.  So, SO good.

I can't believe we haven't mentioned these fics before:
Author: Minx (miraminx)
Rating: NC-17
Title: School Work
Summary: Challenge response: Harry thinks that Snape doesn't read his essays, so he writes porn or asks dirty questions in them.

Title: A Good Buy
Summary: The Gryffindors hold a slave auction. Guess who buys Harry?

Title: For Services Rendered
Summary: Challenge response: Harry has something Snape wants. They arrange a trade. Then things become complicated. Snape POV.

Title: Lost Feeling series
[Check the pairings and follow the list. For Snarry only, start with "Till Break of Day", then "One Warm Beautiful Thing" and so on.]

These stories were written in times of my long gone youth and thus make me hopelessly sentimental. Since then some characters have been murdered by the coldblooded JKR and Snarry will never take this shape again.
Stories created by Minx always were the mixtures of 'lovely', 'funny' and 'hot' and that most definitely hasn't changed (I checked). "A Good Buy", "School Work" and "For Services..." are probably my favourite one-shots from her list, thanks to their ability to reduce me to the pathetic puddle of giggles whenever I read them (just before they make me blush, that is).
"Lost Feeling" is another matter entirely - long and plotty, dealing with the Snape/Harry relationship after Hogwarts. It is still very much blush-worthy though, so beware.
All in all, the author's website is a nice place to explore - whether to discover or rediscover the joys of post-GoF S/H fics. Enjoy!

Title: The Pandora Complex
Author: Nimori
Pairings: Harry/Snape
Rating: Mature
Summary: Some boxes, once opened, are impossible to shut -- as Snape discovers when a student brings fanfiction to class.
Warnings: None

This is such a great read if you want to laugh out loud. I don't want to spoil it for those who have not had the pleasure of reading it, but the way Nimori writes Snape discovering the internet, and all the fan fiction goodness it holds, is amazing. In other words, I can't think about this fic without laughing out loud and getting strange looks from those around me. What I remember the most is the way Snape gradually gets comfortable with the internet, and email. It's an absolute blast and I recommend it to everyone.

Enjoy.

Title: A Bittersweet Potion Series (link to warning page)
Author:buglandalchemia
Pairings: Harry/Snape
Rating: Mature
Summary: During Harry's 5th Year at Hogwarts, he receives a highly sought after Gift- but will it be more trouble than its worth? Snape (to his horror) learns he trusts Harry. Draco attracts trouble. Dumbledore, as usual, knows more than he lets on, and how is absinthe involved?
Warnings: Murder or Attempt, Suicide or Attempt, Violence, Chan

"Unfettered cat instinct makes me lean forward and lick that oversized, crooked nose.
He recoils. I shrink back into a furry heap. I just licked his nose. I licked Snape's nose. I am losing it. I truly am."

The first time I read this fic, years ago when it was significantly shorter, I was absolutely dumbstruck. It was strange, disturbing, and, logically, it took me to a very different place - a place I wasn't completely comfortable being in. But I absolutely loved it. Strange as it might be, every bit of it worked - the characterizations, the writing quality, the motivations, the situations...Stylistically, it's much more interesting than most other fics out there, successfully utilizing both first person narrative (mostly Harry's, but occasionally Snape offers his own cynical take on things) and present tense, playing with writing conventions ocassionally to a very intriguing result. And some of the stuff these two come up with, plot-wise, is nothing short of genius.

The basic storyline is that Harry's 'Gift' enables him to become a 'Osulc-dhnelgenzin shape changer' - rather like a super animagus, I suppose. In his preferred form of a cat, Harry is unknowingly and somewhat reluctantly adopted by (who else?) Snape. But Harry's charade cannot last forever and when it ends...well, that's when the real fun really begins. :-)

Enjoy!

Title: Surrendering the Mark
Author: igtow
Pairings: Harry/Snape
Rating: Adult
Summary: Severus and Harry push the boundaries of love for freedom. A story about hope, survival, and the price of 'happily ever after'.
Warnings: Character Death, Suicide

I have to say that I Got Tired of Waiting is one of my favorite Snarry authors out there. She has a talent for writing long, emotionally taxing, but supremely satisfying fics - the kind which you find yourself still reading at 5am, after four hours of swearing, "Just one more chapter, then I'll go to sleep". And this fic is absolutely no exception. It tells of a suppressive post-war Wizarding world whose Ministry, unable to control Harry, has forced him and Severus into hiding. Unfortunately, however, Ministry stupidity is rather the least of their worries. "Neither can live while the other survives."

Enjoy! And maybe keep a few tissues handy...

Title: Cambiare Podentes: Madurare
Author: jordangrant
Pairings: Harry/Snape
Rating: Adult
Summary: Sequel to Cambiare Podentes: Invocare, which is available on this LJ, Walking the Plank, and www.the-archive.org
Warnings: Slash, graphic m/m sexuality, themes of dominance/submission, recovery issues, infidelity/partner betrayal

I know that Cambiare Podentes: Invocare has been rec'd on SCHAL, so I thought I put one out there for the sequel.  For those (few?) who haven't read Invocare, a quick recap - a prophesy predicts Voldemort will, after disposing of the Boy-Who-Lived on his 18th birthday, plunge the world into 10,000 years or so of horrible nastiness.  The only way to prevent all of it is for Harry to combine Snape's magic power with his own - the catch is that Harry, in exchange for access to Snape's power, must become Snape's sex slave.  Having just successfully invoked at the end of Invocare, Madurare picks up right where we left off.

With the, er...problems which arose at the beginning of Invocare, for the longest time I didn't hold my breath that this series would be finished well - or finished at all for that matter.  Which is why I thank the Snarry gods for Jordan Grant.  Her seamless continuation as well as fantastic characterization and story line are just a joy to read. 

She manages to expand the characters' personality and emotions gradually and believably, with as much skill as any author I've seen out there.  She takes Snape to Disney World of all places! (off-camera.  You don't see Snape riding Space Mountain or anything of the sort.  He's still Snape, after all)  And I believed it. 

Really, it's an amazing fic.  Long and satisfying, especially when you consider the prequel.  You won't regret reading this one. 

(AU after the 5th book, and Harry has been aged a year to conform with the age of consent.)

A sequel to my walk down the memory lane:

Title: Misericorde
Author: fabularasa
Pairings: Harry/Snape, Sirius/Snape
Rating: NC-17
Summary: Snape teaches Harry duelling. According to him, the end justifies the means. Harry struggles with some unexpected consequences.
Warnings: a bit of non-con.

Before I say anything, I challenge you to read the Prologue of this fic. I'm serious. Go on, it's short.

Done? Right now it must be hard to believe or accept that "Misericorde" is a post-GoF story with Sirius as one of its central characters. If not THE central character. Even a few years ago it was enough to make most Snarry maniacs hit the Back button with all possible speed. It could be even worse now when we are quite sure that Sirius was far from being a post-Azkaban sex god and, well, died pretty soon after GoF. So if reading about him as not only Harry's godfather, but also a constant presence in Snape's life bothers you, walk away now, forget the title of this story. It's an established Sirius/Snape relationship we're talking about (even if told from Harry's point of view), and it's definitely less violent and more graphic than what we're used to. On the other hand, you could also give this story a try and witness what the Prologue gave us a glimpse of: excellent duels, the use of wandless magic, dark magic and its alluring, intoxicating quality, plus Harry Potter's not entirely innocent infatuation. No resolution to read Snarry and Snarry only is worth missing it.

Title: The Sins of Omission series
Author: Nym (nym777)
Rating: R/NC-17
Summary: Snape and Harry pay the price for a moment of weakness, but great power is within their grasp.
Note: Sadly, the series is unfinished. For now there are four parts, plus a PWP set five years on from SoO, all at the author’s site.  

Much as I love ‘Half-Blood Prince’ and ‘Deathly Hallows’, the end of the series made me terribly nostalgic. I can’t stop thinking about the Snarry we had years ago, about the brilliant, brilliant stories that made many people fall in love with the Snape/Harry dynamic, the unforgettable snarling during Potions and the spiteful words in dungeon corridors.
Nym’s series is among those gems. Not only is it rich in Potter-Snape confrontations and fascinating dark magic, it also wraps them up in amazing, beautiful language and atmosphere.
If you miss the 'old times' just a little bit, miss the secrets played out behind Dumbledore’s back, miss the glares, fury, deception, and the consuming need that neither Snape nor Harry could control –
make yourself a cup of coffee. This is going to be a long and satisfying read.