Yond Snape by Anders Svartalfurinn (NC-17)

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

Fandom: HARRY POTTER
Pairing:Snape/Slughorn
Length: 7800 words
Author on LJ: svartalfur
Author Website: Stories on IJ
Why this must be read: First, there's the language, the words perfectly chosen - almost poetic - and yet never once crossing the border from the richly evocative to the overly baroque. Then there's the flawless sense of place, which is somehow both recognizably canon and wholly original at the same time. And finally, of course, there's the characterizations, which are absolutely perfect. This is especially true of Snape and Slughorn, who are both Slytherin to the core and whose eventual relationship is utterly believable and, at the very least, useful to both men...at least for a time.

***

The moment he cast Lumos to inspect the labels on the vials, the door banged open and the torches on the walls flared up. Severus Snape froze in his position, caught red-handed, a trespasser and a thief.

"Severus, Severus," Horace Slughorn said. "What are you doing here in the middle of the night?" He sniffed the potion fumes that emanated from the cauldron. "And why are you brewing in the dark?"

Snape watched the old man twirl his moustache and waddle to the cauldron, a fat genie in lilac silk, surrounded by smoke. "It isn't necessary for you to inspect my work. I'm perfectly capable -"

"Shush, my friend. Allow a colleague to admire your art." Slughorn took a ladle, scooped some of the blackcurrant-coloured liquid into a vial and turned it this way and that in the light of the nearest torch, treating it like a wine connoisseur might treat a glass of Chateau Mouton Rothschild.

"Ah, Severus, you're indeed a master of our profession. Maybe not as inventive as our dear Damocles, but your art is so much more elegant and subtle. This is the most refined base for the Draught of Living Death I've ever had the pleasure to lay eyes upon. Beautiful."

Slughorn turned the vial one last time and put it on the table. "It's a pity that you won't be able to complete it tonight."

Snape, who'd watched the old man's antics without so much as the blink of an eye, stepped up to tower over him. "And why, pray tell, would that be? I'm sure that you're only too glad to help me out here." He gestured at the fuming cauldron and the supply cabinet.

"Of course, my dear friend, of course. Where are my manners? You're welcome to use my workstation as well as my supplies any time. Doubtless you were aware of that when you sneaked in here last week and tonight."

"Everyone who knows you knows of your generosity," Snape said, bowing his head. His eyes twitched, and his hand, still holding the illuminated wand, trembled.

Slughorn's laughter made his whole body wobble like jelly. "I'm glad to hear that my reputation still stands. I'm only afraid that I have bad news. The supplies of Sopophorous Beans are short this year."

Slughorn took a glass bottle out of the pocket of his lilac pyjamas and shook it demonstratively. A few brown beans that looked like the faeces of an oversized rodent rattled in the glass. "One for each sixth-year, that's all there is."

Snape turned on his heel and headed for the door. When Slughorn spoke again, he paused on the threshold.

"Naturally, as a man of foresight, I put some by in my private stores. For a rainy day, so to speak. I could be persuaded to share ... with a very close friend."

"What do you want?"

"They are of great value indeed. If you were to buy them at an apothecary before the next harvest, it would easily cost you a month's salary and more. If they are for sale at all."

Snape stood motionless in the doorway with his hands clasped around his forearms, the glowing tip of his wand pointing sidewards. "What do you want?" he repeated.

Pudgy fingers trailed along Snape's arm, and a moustache tickled his neck when Slughorn whispered, "I can think of something that would be pleasant for both of us. Can't you?"

With an indignant snort, Snape swept out of the door, banging it shut behind him.

***

So many of my fannish interests center on the less popular characters and the rarest of rare pairings, that I often forget there's a need to actually sell stories featuring pairings like Snape and Slughorn to skeptical audiences. But in this case, I'll just ask you to give the story a try - and let "Yond Snape" sell itself.

Read "Yond Snape" (also available on the Reversathon community site)