Open Call: Guest Review Submissions

Due to changes in my life, I do not expect to post a review of my own again. However, I am hearing from the many readers who have checked in on me that they would like to see more reviews here. (Thank you to everyone for your very kind words and for those who have checked in on me.)

I’m excited to announce that I am now accepting Guest Reviews!

Guidelines:

• Snape/Hermione fics of 90k+ words not yet reviewed on this site
• Provide a link to the fic, or if it is not hosted anywhere, a format I can upload that is easily digestible by readers
• Positive reviews only – the best function of this site is helping people to find good fics to read.
• You cannot be the author.
• Use the same format of review as I do here; a few paragraphs, ‘The Bottom Line’ section, content warnings, and a rating from the Harry Potter grading system.
• Email your reviews to serpent[dot]and[dot]lily[at]outlook[dot]com

I will not post all of the reviews; in fact I might only post a handful or none at all. I may edit them for grammar and/or clarity.

Readers, I will also rely on you to let me know if a Guest Review is not accurate or if you disagree. If there is a lot of disagreement, I can take down the review.

Hopefully together we can keep this site a useful, living resource for the SSHG community.

The Poison Garden – by turtle_wexler

Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/13133745/1/The-Poison-Garden
Rating: Exceeds Expectations
The Basics: Romance, 2018, 93k
Warnings: Time Travel

Hermione Granger finds a mysterious book that takes her back in time to Hogwarts in the 1980s. She makes an Unbreakable Vow with that time’s Dumbledore not to reveal the casualties of the future War. A deepening friendship with professors Severus Snape and Charity Burbage has Hermione testing the bonds of her Vow…

Writing this from an airplane on my phone, on my way back from Wizarding World in Orlando. What an amazing world we live in.

I was very excited going into this fic, because I loved turtle_wexler’s A Light in the Fog. I also have come to appreciate time travel docs more than I once did. In the modern fic era, this trope is often a lot fresher than Deathly Hallows recaps. I also am an avid gardener, including a poison garden full of potion ingredients. Each of the chapters in this fic is named after a different flower or herb, probably with a connection to Victorian flower language, though I didn’t take the time to make those connections. What could I love more?

Indeed, it is a good fic, but I was disappointed that the garden did not play a more central role. Or a role at all, really. There was not a strong plot; this fic is more of a romantic meander through time. There is a fun plot twist involving Charity that I enjoyed, but that is about the height of the action other than a Deathly Hallows recap towards the end. Romantic meanders are great for some, but in a fic of this length, I prefer a mystery or action plot to keep the pages turning.

The romance is pretty good. The Severus is a bit soft, but that is appropriate for a time travel fic. Maybe? It is the 1980s not long after Lily’s death; perhaps he should have been a bit more closed and angsty. Hermione is lovely and the romance develops at a nice pace, friendship first. However, Hermione is a bit aggressive in her attempt to befriend him, and he is a bit too receptive. The developing romance is never quite as satisfying when these are the opening terms.

I’m struggling to muster up more to write about this.

The bottom line: It’s a sweet, well written fic that feels mostly like fluff to me despite the length. Read it for a summer romp with a Snape who lives with Charity Burbage and loves his mother. Skip it if you are looking for deeply satisfying romance or action.

Camerado – by MillieJoan

Link: http://ashwinder.sycophanthex.com/viewstory.php?sid=21257
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5089614/1/Camerado
Rating: Exceeds Expectations Plus
The Basics: 2009-2016, Romance/Action, Epilogue What Epilogue, 259k

At the beginning of her sixth year, Hermione asks Professor Snape to teach her Occlumency. Harry must learn and he cannot learn from Snape. This sets off a chain of events that will carry the reader all the way through the events of Half-Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows, from an SSHG perspective.

I thoroughly enjoyed this fic for the first 2/3 or so. It took the author seven years to write this fic, so you can imagine that there was a bit of story fatigue and perfunctory ‘let’s just get through this’ chapters. She even mentioned in the Author’s Notes that she wrote another story concurrently with this one, needing a break. I felt that showed in the pages, especially towards the end of the story.

The strengths of the story are the writing and the romantic arc. The author timed important romance moments to match important action moments, right down until the very end. The action plot was not particularly satisfying because it’s ripped straight from the pages of the actual books, so the romance arc kept the pages turning for me. The romance is especially strong in the first half when Snape is teaching her Occlumency and they are slowly starting to realize how well they fit together. The rest of the fic is overcoming that reluctance and the obstacles of the War, which was also fairly satisfying.

I wish there had been more innovation. We all know the story of Half-Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows very, very well. The author cleverly puts little spins on things here and there, but for the most part, it’s just the story we know very well from an SSHG perspective. That’s not quite enough for me. There is not going to be any tension in the action scenes when they are directly from a book I have already read. I wanted to see new spells, new Voldemort defeating mechanisms, new battle strategies, new locations. Most of the fanfic I have read is very old; I wonder if this is more common in modern fics, because people are a bit shy to move away from canon? I hope not.

I loved the characterizations in this fic. The author avoided the temptation to soften the edges of Snape’s undesirable qualities – he’s mostly inexperienced romantically, he’s got that greasy hair and hooked noise, his body is not necessarily attractive, and he has no idea how to kiss. He tries to be stoic and composed about these things, but Hermione knows him well enough by then to see the awkwardness and the author uses to this to tenderly strengthen their emotional connection. It’s great stuff.

The bottom line: A mostly satisfying romance set against the backdrop of HBP and DH. Read it if you love ‘canon from Hermione’s perspective’ fics, skip it if you’re looking for an original story with lots of innovation. I’d recommended the first half to just about anyone. The peak of the story is Shell Cottage, in my opinion, so if you find yourself a bit bored after that you can skip the rest and have enjoyed the best of what the story has to offer.

Fade to Grey – by Marianne Le Fey

Link: https://m.fanfiction.net/s/6928496/1/Fade-to-Grey
Rating: Exceeds Expectations Plus
The Basics: 2011, Romance, Epilogue What Epilogue, 77k
Warnings: Time Travel

A witch of uncertain age with an even more uncertain memory finds herself on the doorstep of 1970’s Spinner’s End. There, she strikes up a friendship with a black-haired young man. As the two try to unravel the mystery of her presence, she soon finds herself winking in and out of time – always near Severus Snape.

Hey guys, I’m back again! It’s been a while, but I still feel the call to return to Hogwarts, as we all do. Next on my list of reader recommendations is Fade to Grey by Marianne Le Fey, and I am happy to report that I quite enjoyed it. Thank you to whomever recommended it. My instinct is actually to rate this as an ‘O’, because I enjoyed the fic so much, but as I wrote the review I couldn’t muster up enough defense for that rating. Let me know what you think below and maybe I’ll raise my rating.

At 77k, it is a bit shorter than most of the fics I recommend, but it feels like the right length for the narrative. The long, delicious slow-burn of Hermione and Severus coming together and overcoming their differences is not usually present in time-travel fics so a shorter length is more acceptable. Teenage Severus is much more open to falling in love than the forbidding Potions Master, after all. The romance is not as satisfying as a traditional SSHG fic, but I still enjoyed it.

The most enjoyable aspect for me was the action and the pacing. The author does a great job choosing the moments to drop Hermione into Severus’ life. There is not a clear enough pattern for us to immediately solve the mystery of what she is doing in time? How did she get there? What is the meaning of the letter addressed to ‘Professor S.’? Where will she find Severus next? Towards the end of the story, the magic of the time-travel starts to malfunction, which I found really interesting and thrilling. The author knew just when to add a little twist to the formula.

The story does not have much plot other than the ‘mystery’ of what Hermione is doing back in time, but it was enough for me. I loved pattern of these time-vingettes where we as readers could observe a slightly-more-aged Severus through Hermione’s eyes and try to place him in his timeline. What had changed in his eyes? What had changed in his life? Why had Hermione been brought to this moment? How would their friendship advance this time? This variation on a theme structure allowed the author to sideline major Snape timeline moments that are done to death and explore usually unseen aspects of Snape, like his time alone in the woods near Spinner’s End.

The romance and characterizations were a bit off for me; while the author did a great job with the action arc, she seemed to struggle with the emotional arc. Most of the conflict comes from tragic misunderstandings and bad assumptions. Yes, Severus is extremely defensive and it’s difficult to write him without the ‘pushing her away’ trope, but it’s tiresome to read. There are authors who manage to do this in a more subtle, interesting way. That said, the story’s quick pacing healed most of those little conflicts before they festered.

The bottom line: I have read almost zero modern fic, so perhaps you ought take my view skeptically, but I thought this was a well-written with a fairly original premise. The biggest strength of the fic is the pacing – it’s so well paced that it very nearly has a thriller/mystery vibe. Read it for quiet moments in the woods near Spinner’s End, skip it if you are looking for deep characterizations or ensemble Hogwarts action.

A Light in the Fog by turtle_wexler

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14739003
Rating: Outstanding
The Basics: 2018, Mystery/Romance, Epilogue What Epilogue, 120k
Warnings: None

[Site update note: I am sure some of you noticed that I disappeared for more than a year. I got divorced, moved, and changed jobs twice in 2018-2019 (all positive changes, but all painful.) I am finally settling into my new normal, which includes my first smartphone and the Voice Aloud Reader app to continue to listen to fanfiction. However, I am going to change the focus of this site slightly and look for great fics rather than reviewing absolutely everything. I will never catch up on the mountain of fics to reach my ambition of having every 100k+ SSHG fic here, so it’s time to start reviewing mostly good ones. Please feel free to send me suggestions at any time; I have a long list going. This review came from the top of it!]

Severus Snape is involved in a a mysterious accident that causes him to lose all of his memories from the last 20 years; including all memory of his best friend, fellow Hogwarts professor Hermione Granger. There is a cure, but it takes a year, and requires donated Pensieve memories from friends to build a bridge to his lost memories. During this process, he discovers that some of his own organic memories have been tampered with. Was his ‘accident’ deliberately caused by some witch or wizard? Why?

I loved this fic. Some of that affection, I’m sure, came from freshness; I have not read fanfic in a year and aside from that, I rarely read fics this modern. Still, this fic was magnificently put together.

The central plot of Snape losing his memories is woven together with Hermione’s parents permanently losing their memories. The parallel is painfully, poignantly lovely. In an average fic, Hermione would be invested in Severus’ recovery merely due to the romantic plot. The additional layer of, ‘This can’t be happening again,’ adds great depth and color to her interactions with Memory Loss Severus. The author highlights those beats in just the right way and at just the right time, all the way through to the end. The plot, romance, and emotional arcs all resolve climatically at the same time around the same action and discoveries. It feels organic, clever, and very satisfying. I felt surprised but not tricked by the reveals. This is fine craftsmanship!

Additionally, this was the most successful SSHG ‘mystery’ that I’ve ever read. There were plenty of suspects, we interviewed them all, and I was not sure who was responsible until the end.

The characters are great. Hermione has been both hardened and softened by the war; she has grown up a lot, she has some world-weariness, but it’s been a long time and she has mostly healed, even from her parents’ memory loss. She has the restraint and patience necessarily for a relationship with a snarky old Potions Master. Snape is written in a complex and interesting way, because it’s ‘young Severus’ in the old Potions Master’s body. The author does not go annoyingly over the top with this; it’s subtle. She paints the Potions Master as completely emotionally closed. There may be emotions beating in his chest, but no one will ever catch a scent or whiff of them. Memory Loss Severus, on the other hand, is well-shielded but not invulnerable. It’s very interesting to watch Memory Loss Severus observe the Potions Master in his Pensieve journeys. Memory-clips make up a significant part of the fic but they usually propel the mystery plot or the emotional arcs forward, so they never feel like stalled action. Also, it must be mentioned that Severus is deliciously clever in this fic! It takes a very sharp mind to write Snape-worthy retorts and observations.

The side characters are fun. I loved the take on Lucius as sort of a bored aristocrat who spends his time betting his son about Snape’s love life and dreaming up new storage spaces for his shoes. I loved the pairing of Ron and Neville; presenting it as perfectly natural without any sort of scandal or plot drama (compared to not that long ago when we used ‘slash’ as a warning! How far we’ve come.) I loved the idea of Hermione’s parents never recovering their memories; this seems like a fairly basic idea but I suspect I’ve never seen it because I have not been reading modern fics. Gold Star to the memory of Charity Burbage. Marking her as one of Severus’ best friends pre-death parallels Lily and Dumbledore; another friend lost due to his actions or inactions. “Severus, please. We’re friends.” JK wrote that line, but I appreciated this author’s exploration and expansion of Snape’s friendship with Charity.

As for complaints, I honestly don’t have any. I think some of my readers might be looking for more romance or more smut; while there is some of both it is very much a slow-burn.

The bottom line: This review may be colored by my long absence from fic and my delight at returning, but I really think this is a well-crafted, witty, emotionally satisfying fic. Read it for the superb craftsmanship, unique timey-wimey mystery plot, slow-burn romance, and Lucius Malfoy’s extensive collection of fine shoes.

When a Lioness Fights – by Kayly Silverstorm

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2162474/1/When-A-Lioness-Fights
Rating: Outstanding Minus
The Basics: Phoenix Era, Angst/Action/Romance, 400k
Warnings: Non-consensual (not SSHG), Violence, Dark!Hermione, Torture

Hermione Granger is tired of hiding under under the title of ‘child’ in the protective bubble of Hogwarts while others risk their lives daily to protect her and her friends. The Wizarding War has been raging for years and Voldemort is only getting stronger. Someone needs to turn the tide, but Ron and Harry seem content to remain blissfully ignorant at Hogwarts. She is smart, she is strong, and she can end this. For them…and for him.

First, I want to disclaim that I read this many months ago and am just reviewing it now, so I might have some of the details or warnings missing or incorrect.

You can probably tell by the extra effort I put into my little summary blurb that I loved this story. I am really excited to bring his fic to you because it is truly a hidden gem. I found it trawling through harmony_bites’ Phoenix Era Work-In-Progress list. 95% of the WIPs on that list were still incomplete…but this one was eventually finished, and to make things even better, it was spectacular! What a treat! I hope that this fic will be new to you all and that you will enjoy it as much as I did.

The most important thing to cover is that this is a very dark, very strong Hermione. She is capable of controlling any room – Dumbledore, Voldemort, Snape, or otherwise – with her determination and charisma. This veers into Mary Sue territory, but not so much that it ruined the story for me. She is purposeful in her actions and she suffers major consequences. For me, a bad Mary Sue fic is one in which everything is easy or accidental, like Wesley Crusher. This Hermione is intensely intelligent and powerful in a Mary Sue way – but she fights, plots, and sacrifices her way to this power and it takes every scrap of her strength to do it.

Despite the above paragraph, I found the characterizations to be pretty excellent. This Snape is all about sacrifice and duty; character details that were not fully understood until Deathly Hallows. It’s wonderful to see an author extrapolate these qualities as early as the Phoenix era. This fic deeply understands and probes these aspects of his character. Morever, this Dark!Hermione shares his obsession with duty and sacrifice and together they give every scrap of themselves over to ending war. These are beautiful, bleeding, ends-justify-the-means-ian heroes and I am HERE for it.

Regrettably, the other characterizations are not as stellar. A lot of time is devoted to the side characters, so this is an important criticism for those of you who can’t stand OOC fics. Dumbledore twiddles his thumbs in his office and is out of ideas. Draco is more Scorpius than Draco; kind, brave, a skilled spy, and essentially Hermione’s best friend. This is fun – I really loved Draco’s storyline – but wildly inaccurate. Additionally, Ron and Harry are infantilized to highlight how strong Dark!Hermione is. They play Quidditch and study for their NEWTs, content to leave the war to the adults. This childlike state gives Harry a great growth arc (seriously – it’s fantastic) but it’s unfairly exaggerated by having Harry grossly out of character in the beginning.

The writing is also a bit uneven. The author has a lot of raw talent; the fic is full of great action, great ideas (the Thanalos potion!), wit, and earned character growth. These qualities are lumpily churned into a messy first draft. She writes one or two sentence clumps of short, clipped action or dialogue rather than long descriptions or ‘internal monologues’ which we expect in this genre. However, I didn’t notice the awkward rhythm at all when I was listening to the fic with my text-to-speech program. Perhaps the writing has a nice flow but author over-presses the Enter key, or the author’s talent made this rough formula palatable, or maybe I simply liked the plot enough to overlook it? You might balk at the messy writing, but if you give it a chance I think you will become immersed in the story and forget about the rest.

The romance is lovely and heart-wrenching but again – messy. I re-read the scene where they admitted their feelings to each other for this review (because I read the fic months ago) and it felt absolutely real and in character. They fall in love with the deepest parts of each other for exactly the right reasons and their interactions are very satisfying. Unfortunately, this romance resolves early and the author relies on tragic misunderstandings to drag thing out. There is enough action and side-plot to fill the pages, but it’s a shame that the romance did not progress at the same pace as the warplot. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, there is a beautiful romantic conclusion in which Snape finds out why Hermione really decided to become Dark!Hermione that is completely satisfying and deeply in-character for both of them. I will say, though, that there is a beautiful romantic conclusion added near the end of the story in which Snape finds out why Hermione really decided to become Dark!Hermione. It’s lovely enough to almost make up for uneven romantic pacing and I was very glad that the author held something back for the end.

The action and the Voldemort-defeating mechanism in this fic are straight-up awesome. I LOVE fics that really take the time to set a trap for Voldemort, make a plan, and throw all of the the Order’s combined intelligence and strength together in one evening. The readers come along for the ride to every brainstorming session and training class and are rewarded with a glorious Final Battle in which we see everything come together. This is truly what an Epic length fanfiction should be! (We were robbed of this in Deathly Hallows, by the way. I’m not bitter.) This aspect of the fic reminded me of Looking for Magic‘s epic conclusion.

The bottom line: This fic is sloppy in a lot of ways, but if you suspend your cynicism and overlook the lumps and bumps, there is a lot to love. Marvel at the beautifully and (mostly) accurately written Phoenix era Snape. Be burned by the ferocity of this Dark!Hermione’s determination and power. Cheer for Harry as he puts down his Quidditch broom and takes up the mantles of responsibility and leadership. Read this when you are in the mood for a truly epic ensemble action fic, with Harry as the Hero (he definitely starts fic only concerned about picking up power converters from Tosche station) and Dark!Hermione and Snape as dual Byronic heroes.

Mobile Friendly at Last

Hello Snape Hermione fanfiction fans – I know it’s been a long time, and and I’m sorry about that. As an apology, I’ve finally taken the time to tinker a bit with my layout, updating my ancient WordPress theme to a modern responsive one. I hate change and I feel like the new one is super ugly, but at least you can read it on your phones. The sidebar disappears to the bottom in mobile mode, so I added a ‘Browse by Rating’ feature as a Page which comes up on the top ‘tap menu’ in mobile mode. I also chose a layout with a built in top search bar (rather than merely the sidebar widget) so that it will also be available to you in mobile mode. Lastly, I chose a layout that still includes the sidebar in desktop mode for the change-averse among you (like me.)

Edit: This paragraph refers to a theme that I have since changed. I HATE that the posts have a stark white background – WordPress allows me to change the main background, but not the post background. I should just build the site on my own with actual code. I thought I was taking a lazy shortcut by selecting WordPress when I started this site but doing it myself would probably have been easier. Anyway, I recommend the ‘Hacker Vision’ app to those of you out there like me who can’t stand bright white backgrounds; the site looks great on my computer with Hacker Vision turned on.

Update: I changed the theme again when a user pointed out that on widescreen it rendered all of the way to the left. This new theme isn’t perfect either, but at least we can have a dark background! I don’t like the giant picture size, but the theme requires it (on free WordPress, I have no access to the code.) I found a gorgeous picture to use, since it will dominate so much of the page. It is by artist Abigail Larson, whose work is AMAZING. You should Google her and check it out. I will need to edit it to include her name, and will do that very soon.

I’ve had a lot going on in my life including a new job! Hooray! I have been establishing a new routine and trying to figure out where fanfiction fits in. I used to listen to it while I was sewing for my job and I no longer do that, so I will be reading more slowly. I finished a wonderful fic several months ago that I have been dragging my feet about reviewing (When a Lioness Fights – by Kayly Silverstorm.) I will get to it soon!

The Phoenix, the Raven, and Prince Charming? – by Dragons Quill

Link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/3530941/1/The-Phoenix-The-Raven-Prince-Charming

Rating: Acceptable

The Basics: Half-Blood Prince Era, Angst/Romance, 160k

Warnings: Angst, Torture. I did not finish the story so there could be more.

Severus Snape kills Albus Dumbledore. Harry Potter saves the world. Now, Snape is in Azkaban for his crimes. Curiously, Albus Dumbledore’s phoenix, Fawkes, voluntarily joins Snape in Azkaban and refuses to leave his side. Hermione Granger is intrigued by this mystery – and besides, she needs Snape’s help.

This is a really interesting fic. It’s a combination of factors that I don’t think I’ve seen before – excellent, creative, original ideas and storylines combined with really, really bad writing. I actually prefer it to well-written fics with terrible ideas/characters, which is usually what you find in fanfiction.

I skimmed most of this fic because the writing was so bad – I just couldn’t fully immerse myself in it because I was constantly drawn out by mistakes and awkward phrasing. The worse offense is the author’s proclivity to summarize rather than flesh out a scene. The majority of chapters are summaries of events rather than concrete moments. This works really well for something like flashbacks – of which the story has plenty – but it feels cheatingly disappointing to read what ought to have been an interesting scene in a short summary.

There are some awkward conceptual mis-steps, too. I’m selling this idea of an idiot savant creative genius author who is only held back by bad writing, but that isn’t strictly true. For example, Hermione wants to bring Snape some comfort in prison. He is starving to death and has lost the will to live. She brings him…shampoo. Cringe. Any serious fan of the pairing should immediately recognize that this is pouring salt on an old inflamed wound of Snape’s. It’s not comforting! She ought to have brought him a collection of books or a Potions journal. There are plenty of other examples like this, too. Overall, though, the concepts of the fic were excellent and the writing was terrible. I found that dissonance interesting.

It’s also interesting to see how the writing improves throughout the story. The author gets a beta reader, which helps tremendously. She is clearly utilizing feedback from her reviews. The writing is still pretty bad at the end (for example, having a 4000 year old phoenix use the phase, ‘get the ball rolling’) but I enjoyed the meta-journey of watching the author grow.

The bottom line: Honestly, this is worth a read for almost any fan of the pairing. You’ll know right away if you can tolerate the low quality writing or not. If you can’t, well, skim a bit like I did. If you can, you might be in for a treat. Fawkes looking over Snape in Azkaban! Hermione Granger, Mistress of Horses! Snape, learning to forgive himself and find the will to live. There are great concepts and soulful insights here, hidden beneath layers of grimy writing.

She Married Her Choice – by averygoodun

Link: http://www.thepetulantpoetess.com/viewstory.php?sid=1589
Alt link: http://ashwinder.sycophanthex.com/viewstory.php?sid=12777
Other: There is also a prequel, Marry a Choice, which I link in ‘the bottom line’ section.

Rating: Acceptable

The Basics: Half-Blood Prince Era, Teen Drama/Romance, 150k

Warnings: Dumb People, NC-17, Violence, Non-Con (not SSHG). Also, I did not finish the story so there could be more.

After the defeat of Voldemort, seventh year Hermione Granger chooses to marry Severus Snape before the Marriage Law is passed in order to prevent worse Death Eaters from drawing up contracts with her against her will. The wedding is over, and the couple returns to Hogwarts. Hermione’s seventh year is going to be difficult.

It’s been quite a long time since I put down a fic this early, especially a fic of this seeming quality. The first thing I should mention is that I only read about 4 chapters before I was so frustrated that I had to stop. So, some of you who do not share my pet peeves might really enjoy this fic, and you might also find a lot of things in the middle and later chapters that I did not that redeems it. I’d be interested in those insights, but I just can’t read this anymore, so I will review what I managed to choke down.

Let’s start with the problem, since I’m sure you are wondering. The problem is that Snape and Hermione both act like complete idiots. They both act in the moment with their emotions like teenagers (which, granted, Hermione is, but she’s shown throughout the entire series to be level-headed and cautious.) They both jump to nonsensical conclusions about each other over and over again – I call it ‘tragic misunderstandings’ and it is my biggest pet peeve both in life and in fanfics. I’m too old and grumpy to read a fic that has 3 of them in the first 4 chapters. Snape thinks Hermione is ‘spreading rumors about him’ because the school is rampant with rumors day the after their wedding. Utterly asinine. Then, Snape publicly shames her by giving her a detention and when she refuses to go, he attempts to physically drag her there. Sorry, but that’s not a character I’m interested in reading about AT ALL. He bears no resemblance to my beloved Potions Professor.

Hermione is slightly more in character – after all, she immediately sets Snape on fire when he manhandles her, which is exactly what any mature Gryffindor worth their colors would have done – but she also suffers from plot-contrived stupidity when the author requires it. It’s as if the author pulls everything, included the characters, out of shape in order to accommodate her ideas for fun scenes or moments, even if it does not make sense for the characters. For example, Hermione says incredibly blunt/rude things about Snape while he is in the other room and he’s angry the next day and she can’t figure out why. HMM I WONDER. Real, intelligent people are automatically anxious about being overheard and do damage control right at that moment. Hermione doesn’t think about it. She doesn’t think about anything other than her own selfish impulses at the moment. This is not how you create conflict or write intelligent chcaracters. Hermione is a bit Mary Sue, too, which is surprising in a Half-Blood Prince era fic when it was looked down on as a cliche, as it is today. Lucius Malfoy, my beloved glittering arctic fox, apparently wants Hermione for a bride. This isn’t the worst Mary Sue I’ve ever read, but it’s there.

From what I’ve written so far, you might expect that this is a terrible fic, but it really has a lot of redeeming qualities. There are a lot of fun ideas – using storm clouds and sunlight in the Great Hall for humorous effect, giving Snape chicken pox, Snape subtly coaxing and then viciously eviscerating a couple of boys hassling Hermione, Ginny smuggling Hermione chocolate mousse to comfort her after a bad day, Hermione setting Snape on fire when he pushes her too far. All of these are fun ideas, and most of these scenes are written well. It’s just the terrible, terrible, ham-fisted emotional conflict between two characters that /know better/ that ruined the fic for me. I feel like there is definitely a good fic IN the author somewhere, but this isn’t it, because her characterization preferences are not at all suited to a serious fic about Hermione and Snape. Her strengths lie in friendship, comedy, and the dynamics of a group. Maybe even a pair of emotional lovers, like Ginny/Harry or even Draco/Harry. But serious, calm, slow-to-action, always trying to outfox each other, curled-up-with-a-book Snape and Hermione? No.

The bottom line: The romantic tension is non-existent because they are married when the fic begins. Lackluster characterizations, tragic misunderstandings, and impulsive and asinine emotional conflict ruin an otherwise funny and well-written fic. Read if you don’t mind ‘teen romance’ type conflict. Note that I only read the prequel (60k, http://www.thepetulantpoetess.com/viewstory.php?sid=861 )and the first 4 chapters of this.

A Matter of Trust – by SGTRJ

Link: http://ashwinder.sycophanthex.com/viewstory.php?sid=16492
Alt link: https://sshgreview.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/sgtrj-a-matter-of-trust.pdf
Adding my own files to Ashwinder-only fics since Ashwinder has gone down for long periods of time twice now and I don’t want to have to edit the dozens of Ashwinder-only stories on this site with links to my own files every time it goes down.

Rating: Exceeds Expectations Plus

The Basics: Half-Blood Prince Era, Action/Romance, 150k

Warnings: Violence, NC-17, Torture, Angsty!Harry

Severus Snape is a hunted man; hunted by the Aurors, the Order, and the Death Eaters. Hermione Granger stumbles across a group of Death Eaters torturing Snape and in a wild moment of compassion, Apparates him to safety.

We’re nearing the end of the Half-Blood Prince Era now, finally. I ought to be tiring of kidnappings, Horcrux hunts, and Dumbledore’s portrait, but somehow this excellent fic manages to find freshness in the fic tropes of this era. I gathered from the Author’s Notes that the author was new to the pairing and this freed her from the rampant groupthink that had developed in the ship by the end of the Half-Blood Prince era (sandalwood, chestnut curls, eyebrow quirks, lip-chewing, Dark revels.) This fic is still a logical extension of HBP so there is plenty that is familiar – even a whiff of Classic Era tropes that most well-read-in-the-ship authors had started to avoid by this point in time – but somehow, I found most of it charming and fresh.

I have to say, I really enjoyed this far more than I expected to based on the early chapters. They focused on Harry, Ron, and the Order which bored me a little bit. There is quite a bit of focus on Harry and unfortunately I did not find this Harry or his struggles particularly compelling. It’s the ‘Order of the Phoenix’ Harry who is angry and constantly struggling with his emotions.

Once the SSHG arc really gets going, it’s very compelling. It’s my very favorite standing-too-close-to-each-othe while focused on Voldemort and stirred with two drops of introspection and one drop of academia. The author might be new to the ship, but her insights about Snape are accurate, interesting, and thoughtfully drawn. These insights aren’t new or ship-shaking, but they are clarified in a fresh corporeal form. She understands that Snape’s acerbic tongue is an armor that he wields to keep people away – he isn’t merely an asshole. He’s a wounded boy who turned into an asshole to protect himself. She also does something with the Dark Mark in relation to Snape’s character that I found both interesting and original, though I disagree with the results a little bit.

I do think Hermione is probably a little too timid and a little too understanding, but that’s my preferred version of her because it’s a bit more like me. For those of you who are a more Gryffindor, you might find her patience out of character. For me, though, it worked perfectly; and it certainly complemented this version of Snape.

I keep mentioning a feeling of ‘freshness’; it’s one of the greatest strengths of the story for me. It’s all familiar, but somehow new. Snape and Hermione work together to create a potion to defeat Voldemort, but the potion is a new idea that is clever and thought-provoking. They have to gather rare potions ingredients, but the ingredients are much more than a substance in a bottle and lead to an exciting adventure. That sense of wonder and newness is really what we read fanfiction for, isn’t it? We want to visit the world again, breathe that Hogwarts air again, and when the ideas are fresh and clever enough, we can (almost) believe it’s our beloved world and not merely ‘fanfic’. I found that wonder again in this fic. The ideas are not amazing, not transcendental (like the ideas in The Lioness Prophecies or Looking for Magic), but wonder-giving all the same. The only whiff of staleness in the entire fic was Angsty!Harry, and even that had a few unique aspects that I did not expect.

The next paragraph is spoilery, but I think it’s important to know before you read; consider yourself warned.

The start of the fic focuses rather cheerfully on the Order and Trio before progressing to a fairly innocent romance (this adult Hermione is very innocent which I like but some may not.) Next, though, the fic takes a bit of a turn and explores some dark aspects of war – there is a major character death, then a MAJOR character death, then a rather disgustingly dark portrayal of a minor character. Perhaps I should have felt this leading toward an unhappy ending, but I did not. I know some people insist on happily-ever-after in their fics but for me, I don’t mind darkfic and unhappy endings – Chaos is Come Again is one of my all-time favorite fics – but they have to be /earned./ Chaos is Come Again spends the whole fic meditating on a very dark character study of Snape. It could not have had any other ending, in my opinion. However, this fic sets up a happy ending and snatches it away. There is a lot of angry reaction in the comments and I think their anger is a result of the dissonance between the set-up and the pay off. The ending feels like a broken promise.

The author has an unfinished sequel, which I read, because I wanted more. Strangely, it was all really, really bad. The villain is forced and awkward in a way that did not feel authentic to me at all (many pages of A Matter of Trust were wasted setting up this lame villain for the sequel), and the talks between Snape and Hermione are artificially drawn out and stilted. I felt like the author threw away the ending of a /great/ fic (A Matter of Trust) in order to set up a barely readable unfinished sequel. I wish so much that she had condensed the entire sequel into three or four chapters and made it the true ending of A Matter of Trust. That would have catapulted this to my highest rating, for sure.

The bottom line: The beginning is a little slow and too filled with Angsty!Harry. The ending is somewhat unsatisfying in order to set up an unfinished sequel. The middle, however, is excellent, excellent SSHG and as a result I really recommend this to almost all fans of the pairing. This is a careful, thoughtful, intelligent, believable character study of Snape with great slow-burn romantic pacing. Just…imagine your own epilogue.