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 nordwind
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) | 01 Apr 2021 |
| Reviewer: nordwind (Signed) |
- (Sorry, English is a foreign language for me!)
OME is a wonderful story, in the full sense of the word. This is a story about magic not outside of people, but inside them. Therefore, it seems to me that its epigraph refers not only to Harry, but also to Snape – to Snape even more, because he really is one of those who once «fell», but is able to arise.
And I would like to point out some impressive parallels.
For example, how Dumbledore and Harry's attitude towards Snape changes over time.
«Disgust had somehow turned to tolerance, which turned to a grudging respect, which turned to admiration, which turned to a form of paternal affection that Albus had felt for very few individuals in his long life».
«The contempt that had driven their arguments in previous years had given way to a grudging respect… and maybe it wasn’t even quite so grudging anymore». (And what will happen next, we also remember!)
The meeting with Snape affected Dumbledore, and the one with Harry, in turn, affected Snape himself:
«Albus had always claimed to believe in redemption, but he wasn’t certain he had truly understood the concept until he had met Severus».
«I have never truly accepted the concept of choice. One is so often what one was born to be. Or so I thought. Dumbledore insisted otherwise, even Kneader on occasion, but I could not see it. Until you».
For me, OME is a story not only about moral rebirth, but also about how a person becomes himself, a kind of novel of formation (or “becoming”? I mean, I'm not sure of an appropriate English term). As Remus said: «Yet you are your own person. You can be proud of what your parents gave you, but you have no obligation to be anyone but yourself».
And here is the irony of fate! Snape said about Sirius: «He would have respected your differences in time, seen you as more than your father’s son». Sirius, alas, had little time. But in the finale of the story, this discovery was destined to be made by Snape himself:
«You’re not merely Potter anymore, and not only… his son. Hers, yes, but not only hers either. You’re… more.” He gestured with agitated hands. “You’re… you’re you».
Over the years, I have often reread this story with great pleasure, although I have lost hope that it will ever be finished. And when I found out that there were new chapters, it was a huge gift! After all, although 2020 was a very sad year for all of us because of the epidemic, but thanks to the OME, I can still find good words for this year.
I send from the other side of the globe (from Russia) my heartfelt thanks to the author for this beautiful story. (In which there is no unrealistically fluffy Snape, no Harry "I-hate-you-oh-wait-I-love-you"!) And, of course, I will patiently hope for a sequel. Because now, thanks to OME, I know that we must never lose hope!
Thank you very, very much!
Author's Response:
Wow, thank you so much for the long review and the kind words! I love that you were able to see those parallels within OME, and I also love that you were able to relate that verse to Snape too. One of the things I enjoyed about writing OME is that it is on its surface a story about Harry, but really it's more Snape's story. He's the character that fell the furthest and has more to overcome. He's the character that undergoes the most growth and needs/experiences actual redemption. There just something fun about seeing it through Harry's eyes. :)
That little tidbit that Snape tells Harry about Sirius being able to overcome his assumptions and see him for himself, if given enough time, was one of my favorite bits to write, because whether he meant to or not, he really was talking about himself. I do in many ways see Snape's character as Harry's second chance at having a Sirius in his life. Finally Harry can have someone to fill that role that Sirius was supposed to fill but was never quite able to do so.
Thank you again for the long and thoughtful review, and I'm so glad that I provided some reading material during that difficult year! Love and blessings from the USA!