New HP story: The Familiar

[resonant]

The Familiar
Harry/Snape -- NC-17 -- 40K
No underage
A potion goes awry.

Many thanks to Julad and Cesca and Calico for help that went way beyond beta.

Don't they sound like a line from a ballad, my betas?

There were three sisters lived in a wood,
Julad and Cesca and Calico,
And they fixed a story that wasn't much good,
All along the banks of Spey-o.

Comments

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

I said this already on wizard-l, but I liked this one, Res. :)

I don't suppose you'd be willing to archive it at Kiln?

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! [beaming]

I already put it up at Kiln, actually. And at Inkstained Fingers.

[tradescant.livejournal.com]

I've been longing for a decent Harry/Snape fic, and feeling a little sad because none have been posted recently. But this was absolutely worth waiting for. Light without being frivolous, tender without being sentimental. And the poem you used to frame it is as inspired as the one you used for "Down, You Lie Down Too."

Love it, love it. If I were to rec it in my lj, where should I link?

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you liked it! I'd be thrilled if you recced it. You can link directly to the story on my site:

http://trickster.org/sigrid/familiar.html

[mz-bstone.livejournal.com]

I love the mood of this piece ... a slow grey day, with thin shafts of golden playing on the still water, catching rainbows unawares, and the lazy drone of dragonflies.

gorgeous.

B

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Aww. Thanks! By the time I finished writing it, I was wishing I could spend a couple of months as a frog myself.

[dahlia-777.livejournal.com]

I really like your story. It's so simply and elegantly told. And the quiet, assured style fitted with the way you wrote the characters. Harry was done just right - not too cheeky, but not too submissive either. And perfectly well able to hold his own, which I always think is vital if he's going to get together with Snape. I also enjoyed the way Snape went along with the situation, accepting Harry's presence (in whatever form) in his life with resignation and later a rather guarded contentment. And the war trauma both Snape and Harry were suffering was handled in an understated manner that was all the more telling as a result. I don't know how many other HP stories you've written, but I'm going to track them all down now.

BTW, thanks for 'friending' me. I've added you back.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! They're both pretty prickly, aren't they, Harry and Snape? I don't really understand why I like the pairing so much, but on a shallow level it's lots of fun to make them snark at each other.

I've only written one other HP story, and it's very short: Down, You Lie Down Too. (http://trickster.org/sigrid/down.html) I have a Harry/Draco, Transfigurations, that's been in progress for what feels like decades. If my betas were less brilliant, my stories wouldn't be as good, but they'd get finished ...

Thanks -- I love it when people friend me. Makes me feel Popular.

Re:

[dahlia-777.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link. Yes, I like that one too. Especially the way the war makes them so matter-of-fact, and uninhibited, about what they are doing. And in the library of all places - nice choice of location. The bit where Harry thinks Snape's voice is the only sexy thing about him is interesting. Did he really mean that? Or is he in denial? (Or is the reader not supposed to know for sure? You don't have to tell me if you don't want).

I'll be very interested to read the H/D story when it comes out. I'm glad you like Draco enough to write about him. So many H/S writers seem to hate him. You killed him off in The Familiar, so I suspected you might be one of them.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Glad you liked it. There wasn't much to it, but it was fun to write.

The bit where Harry thinks Snape's voice is the only sexy thing about him is interesting. Did he really mean that? Or is he in denial? (Or is the reader not supposed to know for sure? You don't have to tell me if you don't want).

In the context of the story, I suppose it could go either way. For what it's worth, when I try to play the story out after the ending in my mind, I find that it really is the life force for Harry -- that he really doesn't feel much attraction to Snape, unless I can get them to develop a friendship first, which of course can take years. The Snape in my head, on the other hand, is rather more affected by this little interval than he lets on.

So many H/S writers seem to hate Draco. You killed him off in The Familiar, so I suspected you might be one of them.

I don't hate Draco, but evidently Snape and Draco serve similar purposes for me, because I find it difficult to conceive of a story (at least a Harry-centric story) that has both of them in it.

War stories

[(Anonymous)]

And the war trauma both Snape and Harry were suffering was handled in an understated manner that was all the more telling as a result.

Hah, res. I *told* you this was a war story.

(I've been arguing that this story, frog-like though it may be in its appearance, actually stands up really well within the shell-shock literature of the post WWI era. It's got that same gentle sense of damage, a kind of questing for peace that's a kind of spirituality in itself.)

Anyway. Just needed to comment to res and say Nyah. --Cesperanzaperson

Re: War stories

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Ces, if you got a LiveJournal, you'd get an e-mail to tell you someone had replied to your comment. Or, in other words, Nyah right back at you!

[(Anonymous)]

It's always a delight to read a new res story, but especially in this fandom. I keep opening up stories only to discover Adolescentgirl!Snape or Spineless!Harry, and then I have to strangle them, toss them away, and go wash my hands. A thoughtful, adult story is such a treat.

And yeah, it *is* a war story, Ces.

Carla

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I keep opening up stories only to discover Adolescentgirl!Snape or Spineless!Harry, and then I have to strangle them, toss them away, and go wash my hands.

You're going to run out of space in the back yard to bury the bodies, pretty soon.

[(Anonymous)]

You're going to run out of space in the back yard to bury the bodies, pretty soon.

Nah. I have a fabulous compost pit. They turn into high-grade loam. ;> So I can keep killing 'em off again and again until someone gets them right.

Carla

[flambeau.livejournal.com]

This was just enchanting. :-)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! (Nice icon, too.)

[strawberrythief.livejournal.com]

I've never run across anyone before who could write accurately about the sort of fragility that comes after the shock of tremendous violence, while still preserving a sense of humor about the persistence of life. I love this fic so much... it's gentle and pitilessly dry and so sweet, in the best and rarest sense of that very abused adjective. I'll shut up now. Great fic. :)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

[big grin]

Thanks! That aspect of the story sort of sneaked up on me -- as I mentioned in the story notes, (http://trickster.org/sigrid/nfamiliar.html) I really did start out thinking I was writing a funny story about Snape being forced to keep a pet. I blame the betas.

[nestra.livejournal.com]

My goodness. I'm pretty sure you're insane, but I'm even surer that I love you for it.

Thank god for *good* HP fic.

Quidditch.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Well, hey, I'm slashing a children's book with a story based on a children's poem, with a note on the story listing that says earnestly, "No underage." So. Yeah. Insane.

But I'm glad you liked it!

The Familiar

[devon.livejournal.com]

.
I really liked this story. I don't get over to Harry Potter fic very often (because I haven't read any of the books, and I'm pretty occupied with my other fandoms,) but when I do, it's because of a recommendation.

This was recommended by mauralabingi in a threat on verdandi's LJ.

I love the light-hearted progression of things. Very pleasing and relaxing to read, and the plot was more compelling than the, er, language style. Is that how you describe it? I don't like it when the language draws attention to itself and pulls me out of a nice plot. Also, It was very easy for me to visualize the story, so I think you used a lot of good words, because it didn't take you *pages* to give an impression.

Thank you for a lovely story.

Re: The Familiar

[devon.livejournal.com]

.
er... it was recommended in a *thread*, not a *threat*.

Re: The Familiar

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it.

It was very easy for me to visualize the story, so I think you used a lot of good words, because it didn't take you *pages* to give an impression.

This is interesting to me, because I'm not a very visual person myself, and often my sense impression of a scene (even one I write myself) won't have a lot of visual content at all. After reading or writing a story, I might only have a handful of snapshots in my head. (In "The Familiar," for some reason I can see the objects -- the frog's bowl, Ron's government waistcoat, the bottle of apple brandy -- a lot more clearly than the people.)

So I'm glad that for people who are more visual, there was actually enough information there to get a picture in your head.

[amberfox.livejournal.com]

Nice fic. *purrs softly, then giggles* "Accio minnow." *giggles again* Poor Snape, he's so put upon. Or so he'd have you think....

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

*beaming* Thanks!

Yeah, it's a rough life Snape's got there. Terrible thing, having to put up with a new assistant who can more or less read his mind and who will show up in his bed naked!