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florahart has the utterly charming custom of producing a series of ficlets each year during her birthday month, as a present to the rest of us. And each year, there are quite a few gems among them. To say that her mind works in interesting ways is on a par with observing that the pope is Catholic.

Today's birthday ficlet has established her, beyond question, as the foremost practitioner of crackfic in our generation.

That is all.

My usual flavor is slash, of course. But when the writing is this fine, all preferences can be tossed aside.

Title:Things We Lost (and Found) in the War
Author: xylodemon
Pairing: Severus/Minerva
Rating NC 17
Warnings Het is not a warning

Summary:Two people, two wars, and a few of the things they learned along the way.


xylodemon is a very fine writer, and the only reason I don't rec her stories more often is that she tends towards characters and pairings that aren't usually my cuppa. But I saw that she'd posted a Severus/Minerva story, and couldn't resist. And wow, was curiosity rewarded here: this gorgeous work.

I'm not sure where to start: the perfect characterization and voice for both Snape and Minerva, or the deft way she fits her scenes into canon, or the lovely, taut, and understated tone of the prose. All of these strengths sparkle and shine. The narrative structure is also very well done: the series of scenes go back and forth here, ducking and weaving through the various canon books, deftly weaving the tale of a complex relationship. This story has a very adult conception of their connection, and I loved it so. Not to be missed.

Yes, End Times are near, dear readers. Because emmagrant01, a widely-respected H/D writer, has written a Snarry. Of sorts.

I'd always heard that she was a very talented writer, but had never tested this assertion for myself, because . . . well, I think you all know how irrational and unreasonable I am on the subject of Draco. God only knows how my friends put up with this. So, I was taking it on trust, about how good she is.

No more. Now, I know for myself.

Title: 101 Uses for a Pensieve
Author: emmagrant01
Pairing Oh, the one that tastes best, my dears. Plus Lupin. SS/RL/HP and SS/RL. Sort of.
Rating: That would be NC 17, and oh, how that has been missing from my life the last few days.
Warnings: Nope


I'd say it's a sure bet that Snape left behind a helluva lot of memories for Harry. Far too many to look at in Book 7, I mean. But Emma has some marvelous ideas about what Harry might find, if he looks through what's in there, later on.

Any Snape-centric reader has read a lot of pensieve sex stories. But this one? Is one of the most creative and inventive examples I've seen. God yes, this is surely how wizards use pensieves. I mean, they have to be miles better than DVDs. As Harry discovers.

Go read. This is erotic, well-constructed, and original. And just what we needed, right now.

I guess there must be someone, somewhere on this flist who hasn't finished DH yet. So, I'll use a cut. Not much longer, though, my dears.

Fandom hasn't been much fun for some of us, these last few days. So, I'm very grateful to magnetic_pole for reminding me of why I came here, to begin with.

Title: In The Grand Scheme of Things
Author: magnetic_pole
Rating: gen, and G
Warnings: spoilers for DH is all

Summary: ( A key scene in the Prince's Tale chapter is retold from another character's POV )

Home from Prophecy, and it will take days to work through my flist's posts, I know. But I came across this, and immediately, had to stop and rec this.

Title: The Dead Bird
Author: maggiehoneybite
Pairing Snape/others
Rating: a hard R, I'd say
Warnings: angst

Snape loved Lily, yes. But he was still pretty awful, when he was younger. And surely you didn't think that he died a virgin, eh?

This is an intelligent, textured, beautifully-written exploration of Snape's personal history. Not a wasted word here, and it shows how unpleasant (but still decent, in some respects) Snape really could be. God, what a bastard. And oh, poor Severus.

If you have a happy ending, then pass this by. But canon itself didn't end all happy, you know. And this? Is a first-rate DH-inspired character study. Edgy, succinct, and powerful. Lovely.

The last chapter of this was posted just a day before DH came out, and I've been waiting to rec it until all the DH-related meta and wank died down a bit. Because the fact that I'd rec this was always a foregone conclusion. It is, beyond question, one of the major Snarry novels, and it's now complete.

She pulled it off, in other words.

Title: Cambiare Podentes: Madurare (link is to the author's list of chapters for this volume)
Author: jordangrant
Pairing Snape/Harry
Rating NC 17
Warnings Hmm. Nothing terribly dark. There's partner betrayal, but I don't think even very hardcore romance lovers will be put off by how it's done. The novels are AU by definition, since they were begun before the publication of HBP.

Summary: The second volume and conclusion to jordangrant's award-winning Cambiare Podentes: Invocare. Snape and Harry must cross powers, within the framework of an enslavement bond, in order to defeat Voldemort.


She's done it. jordangrant has completed what will surely be ranked as one of the most important Snape/Harry novels, Cambiare Podentes. And the second volume is as smoothly-written, clever, and engaging as the writer's earlier novel.

CP is a huge accomplishment in the world of fanfic. She starts with a very canon-compliant rendering of Snape and Harry, post OoTP (and God, they loathed each other) and slowly but relentlessly brings them to a very different place. I am not going to spoil you for this, but I will say that the second volume is creative, and takes its time to build to a conclusion that most readers will find utterly persuasive.

Many of you will already have read this, since I know that large numbers of Snape/Harry fans pounced on this eagerly. But if you haven't read it yet, you have a real treat ahead of you.

Just make sure that you had nothing planned in RL for a couple of days, eh? Because this is hard to put down.