My thanks go to several friends who helped me out enormously with this story. painless_j and tryfanstone were the "godmother" betas for this story: both of them took a strong interest in it from the start, encouraged me when I was flagging, and offered many useful suggestions and criticisms. PJ proofread this with her usual acuity, and Jay also served as a much-needed Brit picker. meri_oddities and florahart combed through the syntax and word choices carefully, and made it more readable. Flora also helped me with a very tricky transitional scene. amelia_eve turned text into clever images, which enhanced the story a lot. I am grateful to all of them.



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Title: Property Rites
Rating: NC 17
Pairing(s): Snape/Harry
Disclaimer: Not mine, not ours, alas.
Warnings: None, apart from a warning for insensitive treatment of ghosts.
Author's notes: The name for the agency Harry works for is adapted, with grateful thanks, from a term used in Mike Gray's excellent essay. This was written for pir8fancier. She was good during 2006, and I hope this pleases her.


Summary: Not all of Snape's ancestors were as pleasant and cheerful as he is. Harry learns to appreciate this fact.


( Property Rites, Part I )