When Harry finds an injured Snape on his doorstep and must hide him from the Dursleys, he has no idea that this very, very bad day will be the start of something good.
Harry and Snape are thrown together by annoying relatives, a series of strange dreams, and Voldemort's latest hunt for Harry, but their greatest challenge may well be surviving each other. This will be a long summer unless the two can find a way to work together. A slow-burn enemy-to-mentor story.
Alternate 6th summer (and part of the school year): post-OotP; ignores HBP and DH.
Takes Place: 6th summer
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Snape flavour: Canon Snape
Tags: Injured!Harry, Injured!Snape, Snape-meets-Dursleys
Categories: Teacher Snape > Trusted Mentor Snape
Membership status: Member
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Reviews by afellowGryffindor
Rated: T
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Warnings: Abusive Dursleys, Neglect, Violence
Chapters: 61 - Completed: Yes - Updated: 08 Mar 2021 / 30 Apr 2007
Series: None - Challenges: Battered Snape for Breakfast
Chapters: 61 - Completed: Yes - Updated: 08 Mar 2021 / 30 Apr 2007
Series: None - Challenges: Battered Snape for Breakfast
| Title: Chapter 61: Epilogue/Bonus Chapter (AKA Dumbledore Is a Scheming Old Coot) | 14 Mar 2021 |
| Reviewer: afellowGryffindor (Signed) |
- Okay, so I don’t write fan fiction online and I never review anything, but I created this account so that I can thank you, Kirby, for writing this thoroughly enjoyable story. This is without exaggeration the only multi-chapter story I have read where I have finished satisfied. And I am not usually one to enjoy stories based on the mental arts, neither do I particularly like Snape. But I have always felt strongly that he had a heart buried somewhere and that it was a great tragedy he never opened it up to anyone after Lily. Thank you for taking your time with the narrative and character development and writing it in a believable way without venturing into creepy Harry-was-actually-Snape’s-son territory.
You have a brilliant capacity for keeping your readers on the edge of their seats with the inner workings of your Ravenclaw mind. I did not see the twists and turns of the plot coming and more than once thought a beloved character was going to die (Ron! Remus! Even Snape!). My only intuition that turned out to be right was that Other Harry was true. Your story clearly had forethought and intricacy without the labyrinthine chaos of too many unrelated subplots. I am impressed with how later chapters explained earlier chapters’ mysteries, like the sugar plum and mouldy cabbage vision, the ‘unusual creatures’ code (twice!), Ron’s Dual Curse, Voldemort’s schemes regarding relocation from Grimmauld Place… Some of the events were harrowing to read, yet I couldn’t put it down and plowed through it in three days (I will need to revisit the last third of your ‘book’ as I was hooked and no doubt skimmed through it so quickly that I missed many details).
It took me several chapters to realise that you were American - which is very well done, seeing as our culture and language use are so deeply engrained it is difficult to isolate regionally used phrases. Things like, we’d probably say ‘like death warmed up’ rather than ‘death warmed over’, and ‘throwing a fit’ rather than ‘conniption’. But you got many details right, such as ‘primary school’ rather than ‘elementary’ and ‘nappies’ rather than ‘diaper’. Probably one of the biggest cultural differences I seemed to have noticed is that British-influenced cultures are far more self-deprecating than their American counterparts, and you handle this fairly well.
You create believable characters with personality who don’t function purely as plot devices. Particular Kneader and Hunter. The image of Harry having a casual chat with a snake is heartwarming and I’m thankful he gets an outlet to process some things that he doesn’t want to speak to anyone else about, and Hunter is perceptive and amusing and offers good advice. I am also really glad you didn’t isolate only the relationship between Snape and Harry but included plenty of other vital characters, as well as fun details of the magical world, including Hogwarts. A number of times I laughed out loud at a funny description or a particularly in-character remark. Your development of the theory of the mental arts, particularly occlumency, is impressive and sound enough to satisfy my curiosity. And you offer very logical explanations for phenomenon such as why Snape always flinches at the mention of Voldemort.
Finally, the crowning jewel of your ‘book’: reconciliation and redemption and love winning over selfish ambition and evil. You don’t shy away with dealing with hard, hard things. Grief, loss, guilt, bitterness, hatred, resentment, abuse, fear… We all experience these to some degree or other and it can be a strangely healing experience to work through some of them through a work of fiction. As I read the end of Deathly Hallows, I ached that Snape lived such a miserable life of his own choosing. His was a life of bitterness and secrecy and attempted absolution of past wrongs through penance, and I badly wanted him to know forgiveness and love and a second chance at life. But also I could not see how that could ever play out in a realistic way. You achieve the impossible through the measured pace and the circumstances of your ‘book’. What a testament to the power of loving one’s enemies. And thank you, thank you for not killing any major characters. I’m a sucker for happy endings and couldn’t bear to lose them again after what happened in the canon books.
Thanks for reading the ramblings of an opinionated Gryffindor. I am grateful for the hours you’ve invested in this work and for picking it up after a ten year hiatus. This is a story I will revisit. I am sorry to hear of the loss of your friend through COVID, and pray that God would comfort and strengthen you all.
Author's Response:
Wow, thank you so much for the kind words and long review!! It means so much to me that OME meant that much to you. You know, it can be difficult to gauge how somebody else will view your own story, especially knowing that you can't please everyone, so I generally just write what I myself would like to read, then hope for the best. ;) Especially since OME is my first story (so therefore my first attempt at ending a multi-chapter story), I am so happy to hear that you finished the story feeling satisfied!
Thank you for the Britishisms! I try my best, but sometimes I get wrapped up in telling the story that I forget to check myself for sounding too American, ha. And then other phrases I simply don't know unless someone tells me. I made up my mind early on that I wasn't going to bother with spelling, but I do try to correct the slang and vocabulary when it is brought to my attention. So I really, REALLY appreciate it when people give me concrete examples to go back and fix - thanks for that! (I'm kind of burnt out on writing at the moment, so for now I made a note of your notes for when I go back to revise after my break.) ;)
Harry should have had a pet snake in the books! Just saying. If I could talk to a certain type of animal, I'd be getting one as a pet, stat! And he certainly could have used a little friend to talk to sometimes. I'm glad you liked Hunter and Kneader. :) AND that you appreciated the scope of the story in the emotions and themes it dealt with. It also made me so sad that Snape didn't experience love or redemption in the books, but he truly was a miserable soul...I'm pretty sure he didn't even want it in the end. I'm glad I could write him a different ending. (And yes, I'm a sucker for happy endings too. Honestly, we see enough sadness and depression in the world around us, if I'm reading and writing fanfiction, it's because I want things to work out happily in the end.)
Ravenclaws and Gryffindors unite!! Just think of all we could do. ;) Thank you again so much for the review, and I appreciate your prayers, and I hope that you enjoy OME again on a re-read. :)