Snape makes the first move

[resonant]

There are a lot of HP stories where Harry gets up from the table at the Leaving Feast and blows off a chance of the party of the decade in order to go down to the dungeon, shout, "I'm not your student any more," and fling himself at Snape.

Sometimes Snape is expecting this, and sometimes he's as shocked as Warner Bros.' lawyers. Sometimes he accepts Harry's offer, and sometimes he nobly sends him away to get old enough to be interesting gain Useful Experience and Perspective so that he can Make An Informed Relationship Decision.

What I want to know is, why is it always Harry who makes the first move?

Because, really, can't you see it the other way around? After the Leaving Feast, Snape comes up to the Gryffindor common room and sends everybody scattering, and he talks for a while to Harry in private and then sweeps away, and the rest of the Gryfs come cautiously back in:

"What'd Snape want, Harry?"

"Probably wanted one last chance to assign him a detention."

"Er, Harry? I really think it's not terribly healthy to be casting Scouring Charms at your lips ..."

And then Harry goes off into the world to get old enough to be interesting gain Useful Experience and Perspective and Enough Distance To Become Intrigued.

But meanwhile, Snape's despairing of Harry's ever changing his mind, since Harry didn't say "No thank you" or "I'm flattered, but" or "It's not you, it's me" -- he said "Wha -- aaaaagh -- no, no, no, make it stop, make it stop --, god, the nightmares, where's my wand ..."

That's a story I would really like to read.

Comments

[ranalore.livejournal.com]

I think Harry is already old enough to be interesting (though not interesting to Snap, which is what I think you meant, but then I'm not sure age has much to do with that), but your story idea?

*cackles*

[sparrohawk.livejournal.com]

Oh, what a perfectly LOVELY bunny.

[ranalore.livejournal.com]

Not interesting to Snape, even. I really shouldn't be allowed to post when I'm sick.

[maggie-malfoy.livejournal.com]

I think that's the only Snape/Harry plot it wouldn't mind reading.

[maggie-malfoy.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't mind reading, even.

*facepalms*

Just throwing things out.

[verstehen.livejournal.com]

I particularly like the bit about Scouring charms. ^_-

I'm not certain why the fans often write Harry as making the first move though Diana Williams comes to mind as writing the opposite. (Whether I like them or think them believable or in-character is another story entirely.)

I think part of the reason, though, comes from the orientation of the writers. The majority of Snape/Harry fans are, first, Snape fans. And as Snape fans, Snape becomes the pseudo self-insert, who is wined and dined and taken home for a good long session of love making.

Then there's also the theory that Harry 'tops from bottom.' Or he's dominant enough to make the first move but not dominant enough to actually be a top. (Some day, somewhere, someone is going to write a Harry/Snape BDSM story with Harry as the dom and I shall rejoice. Of course, it'll likely be very fucked up and probably not be consensual, but oh well. We take what we can get, I suppose.)

Some of it may also be characterization issues. Ie, it's harder/easier (for Author A/Author B) to explain Harry/Snape's attraction and thus the person they can rationalize easily ends up making the first move?

[geoviki.livejournal.com]

"as shocked as Warner Bros.' lawyers"

Has to be one of the best lines I've read lately!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Huh. I never thought of that. I always assumed it was an age issue -- i.e. that people could handle the idea of a student pursuing a professor, but the idea of a professor pursuing a student creeped them out. (And the whole source of this story idea is that it would creep Harry out, as well -- at least until he went away and reflected that, hey, he and Snape were kid-and-adult for seven years, but they'll be adult-and-adult for a century or more and might as well get used to it.)

Some day, somewhere, someone is going to write a Harry/Snape BDSM story with Harry as the dom and I shall rejoice.

I would swear that I've read this. But I didn't like it, so I didn't save the URL.

Re: Just throwing things out.

[verstehen.livejournal.com]

There's also A Biddable Man (http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=988739"), but it's been a very long time since I've read it.

[verstehen.livejournal.com]

I think that might be part of it as well, though given how many stories are set while Harry is a student, it might be a small issue. Maybe it connects to the idea that most everyone has a crush on a teacher at some point in their schooling?

[everythingisaid.livejournal.com]

That's a story I would really like to read.

That's a story that I'd like to read as well!

There are so many Harry-pursuing-Snape stories, but I would love to read more Snape-pursuing-Harry stories. I think a lot of people have a problem with Snape being so much older and a former professor of Harry.

Also, using idiotparade's reasoning, maybe the reason that I would rather see Snape-as-the-pursuer stories is that I am much more of a Harry fan than a Snape fan. But I don't really think about why I like things. : )

[painless-j.livejournal.com]

Since you are nursing such an idea, why woudn't *you* write it? Everybody would like to read it (hope it's not too insolent of me).

As a passing association. Not so long ago Isis wrote a funny drabble, turning a cliche upside down (http://www.livejournal.com/users/isiscolo/111303.html#cutid1). Have a look.

[celandineb.livejournal.com]

So, write it! Please! I'd like to read it too... and have sworn not to start writing HP fic, at least not this year, so I have no hutch room for that bunny.

Come to think of it, it really is pretty implausible that Harry would make the first move. Yep. This is a story that needs to be written.

[switchknife.livejournal.com]

THIS BUNNY IS MINE! MINE MINE MINE!

... Ahem.

If you don't want to write it, that is. If you do, that's brilliant, because you'll do a HELL of a lot better with it than I ever will... but if you don't, I'll be delighted to write it for you. Absolutely delighted.

*clutches bunny to chest*

*gives others the evil eye*

I have staked my claim. Tell me if you want to write it, Res, or I'll have it written before the end of the week! A belated New Year's gift for you, I guess! :D :D :D

Re: Just throwing things out.

[switchknife.livejournal.com]

(Some day, somewhere, someone is going to write a Harry/Snape BDSM story with Harry as the dom and I shall rejoice. Of course, it'll likely be very fucked up and probably not be consensual, but oh well. We take what we can get, I suppose.)

I DID WRITE THIS! I DID! See here (http://aeristerra.com/switchknife/fiction/thecount.htm). Interestingly, most people said they were too unnerved by it, by my upsetting the usual power-balance. (Or imbalance, I should say.)

Darn it, I've spoiled the story for you just by pimping it, because most people who go into it are deliberately fooled into thinking that Snape's the aggressive one at the start--the twist is the key. Kindly Obliviate yourself before approaching the story.

[kattahj.livejournal.com]

Ick.

I'm not a Snape/Harry shipper in any way, so that might affect my judgement, but it's definitely the age/power thing for me. The thought of any of my teachers trying to pursue me on my graduation day... ick.

Re: Just throwing things out.

[verstehen.livejournal.com]

Actually, it's a good thing you explained that Harry tops because I probably wouldn't have read it the other way. I'm not entirely certain I could ever see Harry as a believable masochist simply because he spends so much time in his life avoiding pain.

*goes to read*

Oooh, Res

[jelazakazone.livejournal.com]

I'd sure be happy if you wrote this one:) Of course, if switchknife wants to write it and you don't, I'd probably be perfectly happy to read *that* rendition. Even better, you could *both* write one. Mwuaa haa haa. Spread the love, or something like that.

[mzcalypso.livejournal.com]

Apologies for butting in... not my fandom, but the issue's interesting. I'm not into HP/anybody *or* Snape/anybody (sorry--any man with access to soap & water who can't bother to wash his hair is a slob.) (Aragorn, Boromir, & Faramir are exempt, since they did't have access... hop in the bathtub, darlin! ;-9 )

Harry making the first move, after graduation? It's the power/ethic of it, I think. A teacher who preys on students is a fuckhead (and it *is* predation even if the student lusts after the teacher, because *kids in lust are not thinking clearly.*) It's the same reason a doctor or therapist who puts the moves on a patient/client can have their license yanked. What is coerced love really worth? What damage does it do?

Relationships are a tricky balancing act at best. When one person's a lot older and the other isn't yet quite sure who s/he's referring to when s/he says "I am," it means the subordinate one may have to wait til middle age to actually grow up. Even if you're talking dominant/submissive, how real is surrender if the power structure is already built-in? (Or when any reversal just looks like a childish fantasy of 'getting even' with a nasty teacher?)

Kinks aside -- a Snape with integrity would not hit on kids. (Easy for me to say, of course, as I find kids cute but not all that interesting; my partner's my own age.)

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Cool! Go for it!

I tried to imagine actually writing it, but I'm afraid I foundered on the characterizations. Specifically, I could certainly get at a Snape who was attracted to Harry and waiting eagerly until the clock ticked over and Harry was fair game -- but I couldn't get at a Snape who was willing to risk humiliation by actually saying so.

In fact, now that I think of it, it may be that the reason people are more likely to write Harry taking the lead is that Harry seems a lot more willing to take emotional risks than Snape is. Snape doesn't appear to have very many intimate relationships at all (though I think the canon allows various interpretations of his relationships with McGonagall and Dumbledore), and it's hard to see him going out of his way to get one.

Not that I'm trying to discourage you! I'd love to see what you'd do with it. And even in the unlikely event that I did arrive at a Snape I could use, I'm sure the two stories would be different enough that the fandom would have room for both of them!

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

It's funny -- Harry/Snape creeped me out wildly when I first started reading HP, but over time, familiarity has taken the ick out of it, for me.

A lot depends on the context of the story, for me. There are two years left between the end of OotP and the end of Harry's career at Hogwarts, and depending on how you imagine the story going, you can place Harry at a lot of points on the continuum between "schoolboy" and "young soldier," and you can place his relationship with Snape on a lot of points on the continuum between "teacher/student" and "comrades."

Of course, for some readers, the gap in age and power is the kink. It's not mine, though. I don't need them to be the same age, but I need them to be roughly equal in the power they hold over each other. But there are a lot of ways to arrive at that equality, and not all of them require you to wait until Harry leaves school.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

Plenty interesting enough to snap with a wet towel.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

It must have been typo night.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

I skimmed that; power imbalance is a squick for me, so I had to sort of look at it with one eye. Plus it's unfinished, so make that half an eye. I remember it as being pretty well done for what it was, but what it was wasn't something I care for.

[maggie-malfoy.livejournal.com]

itz always typo nite with me!1!1!!!

*laughs*