This is the best fem!Harry of the fandom, no doubt about it. I don't even care about the H/Snape thing, this portrays the best example of Harry/Hermione friendship I've ever read.

Also, it's worth pointing out that when Snape becomes aware of Harriet's (unwitting) crush, he's appropriately horrified and disgusted. As of the latest chapter of the sequel, Snape has demonstrated no emotion towards Harriet other than his commiment to safeguard her life.

It has some flaws. Sirius and Remus are kind of caricatures of characters. But meh.

5/5. Reading it just floods me with dopamine.

 

Random thoughts:

1. There is no more enjoyable experience in HP fanfiction than a well characterised Snape and Dumbledore. I love that this story didn't try to tone down Snape's meanness, pettiness or cruelty. His character voice is just perfect too, and his numerous observations about the world and other characters feels very authentic and occasionally amusing.

2. Dumbledore here had just the right amount of moral ambiguity. The biggest flaw in the typical fanfic Dumbledore characterisation isn't that he is manipulative, it is that he loses his aura and exceptional ability to control the flow of the conversation. Any characterisation that manages to balance that part with his eccentricity and empathy and moral ambiguity is a good characterisation.

3. Looking forward to Snape's reaction if/when Dumbledore reveals to him the true nature of Harriet's scar. If Snape felt used in canon where he didn't give a single shit about Harry personally, here well..

4. The interaction with the teachers was the next best part of the story. I want a fic with nothing but Snape and McGonagall trading snark and barbs for 100k words.

5. The progression of Harriet's relationship with Snape feels very natural. I think it overdid it a bit after Harriet discovered her crush on Snape, though. The increased melodrama is a feature/flaw of this fic in general.

6. The Malfoys are... blah. Narcissa comes across as too try-hard - the author really, really wants you to know how manipulative and cunning and ruthless Narcissa is. It is mentioned almost every time she is on page. The Draco teenage drama is even worse, and just unbelievable in the extreme. Disappointing, because I love a well written Malfoy family dynamic.

7. I must have skipped about 20-30k words of this because I don't care to read the same lines that appeared in the book with little change. I don't have an issue with rehash in general - the same canon scene with tweaks or from another character's PoV can be an engaging read. I don't mind that the general direction of this fic is the same as that of the books, but dialogue and scenes lifted wholesale is just awkward.

8. Remus and Sirius are fairly well characterised. I am not super invested in their story, but at least I enjoy their interactions with Snape.

Some hits and some misses, but any fic that engages me for the best part of 600k words is a hit overall. The Snape and Dumbledore scenes are the best.

4/5.

 

My first reaction to this fic was, 'Wow Harriet? And Snape? Really?'. But I was instantly hooked and found myself reading through the whole thing like a possessed man. It reminded me of reading canon for the first time; I just couldn't get enough of it. After reading the whole thing, I later had a hard time lowering the bar for the next HP fanfics I've come across. Easily my favorite fanfic.

However I notice some people being hesistant in reading this, mainly because it's a fem!Harry/Snape fic. But I assure you Snape isn't a creep who goes after twelve year olds.

To give a better idea, I would say the relation between Snape and Harriet is similar to that of Leon and Mathilda from the 1994 movie 'The Proffesional'. Just a man(with dangerous skills) who is trying his best to keep a girl safe and the formentioned girl who is curious about her gaurdian.

Of course Snape is still the bitter, self-loathing soul but when seeing Harriet he is reminded of Lily, not James. So instead of tormenting Harriet during classes he chooses to ignore her, except when he's frantically keeping her safe from basilisks, alleged mass murderers and whatnot. And this confuses Harriet to no end and she tenaciously tries to confront Snape to know why.
The writer explores and develops this complex relation wonderfully and it is a joy to watch how Harriet and Snape change when certain truths are revealed.

Lastly, I want to mention how excuisitely the writer builds up toward certain scenes. Those scenes are truly breathtaking and put this fic in a whole new level. Though it's been months since I read TNER, I still remember the overwhelming emotions I felt upon reading them.

5/5

PS
Forgot to mention Snape's sarcastic sense of humor. In my opinion this is what makes Snape such a likable character in this fic.

 

Tried this a long time ago and dropped it, and this is coming from a person who generally enjoys Snape stories.

Laventadorn's Come Once Again And Love Me was clearly superior, I think.

 

I'm enjoying this to a degree not felt in quite a long while. Little personal exchanges are excellently written, and the quality of writing overall is the highest I have ever seen in fanfiction, more over, higher than most original works.

I can think of no negative points that would not be the result of personal bias, yet the story is swimming in positives, most notably being the characterisations of all involved. Grammar is superlative, the rhythm in each sentence is exquisite.

5/5, some of the best I've ever read.

 

So far, the reviewers in this thread have rated this story:, 5, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 4, 5, 5 - for an average of 4.67. The thread has 44 votes, with an average of 3.55. Assuming those other 33 people have actually read the story, it would be useful if some of them might actually write a review to showcase some of the less positive opinions about this fic. Because as it stands going only by written reviews, this is the best story in the DLP Library.

 

I'm guessing its people who are immediately turned off by Snape/femHarry. Rowling herself could have written it and they still wouldn't read it (Though I'm guessing they still gave it One Star anyway).

I can't say I wouldn't have done the same a few years back. Instead, I've abstained myself from giving a rating as I probably wouldn't be fair. I managed to get through a few chapters but just the thought of Snape/Harriet was enough to stop me. That's my own failing. If it wasn't for that one aspect, I'd probably enjoy this story quite a bit. The prose is fairly good (If a bit tryhard), Snape was actually written as Snape and not Alan Rickman and Dumbledore was only slightly away form his canon self. The Malfoys (Particularly Narcissa) grind my teeth a bit and not in the good like Umbridge or Voldemort do. They just seem a bit "off" to me.

 

Thanks for that recommendation, while I still think The Never-ending Road is superior, this recommendation is superlative as well.

What a gift for exposition, I wonder if she's published anything.
--- Post automerged ---

In all honesty I'm starting to think this might be the best piece in the DLP library, however I do value and appreciate a mastery over words and grammar more than deep, well planned plots (though to say this does not have that is a lie). Previously 'Unatoned' by Sesc and'A Long Journey Home' by Rakeesh were the only two pieces I had read which combined such superlative writing with an engaging plot, yet I feel this might outclass them.

 

@kinetique

No problem! Have you finished COAaLM though? If so that's some mighty fast reading!

@TMD

DLP is has a well-known anti-Snape bias, so I wouldn't at all be surprised if some people downvoted this without reading, simply on the basis of the pairing. Regardless, I would say it's generally wise to assign greater weight to reviews over ratings; partly for the aforementioned reason of lazy voting, but also because reviews give far greater insight as to whether you will enjoy a particular fic,\ regardless of its general popularity i.e. there are going to be deeply polarizing fics enjoyed only by a small minority, and if you're in that minority it hardly matters that the majority does not share your taste.

 

Yes I've finished it, was quite good but not on the same level as this, in my opinion. Little interactions in this are significantly better, Dumbledore commenting on Snape being an interesting door to door salesman, the frankly beautiful imagery conjured in the first paragraph, the yule ball debacle, the characters feel a lot more fleshed out, the teenage voice and the juxtaposing adult perspective, the final few scenes which I won't spoil have a greater mastery over writing an action scene. Come again and love me did not draw me in quite the same way.

I read very quickly.

 

I'm sure that's the case, doesn't change the stupidity of it. I've never read any 'my little pony' fanfiction or seen anything to do with the fandom. If someone came along and produced a fic about transgender ponies doing weird shit I probably wouldn't read it. But if I did, and the writing was gorgeous with an engaging plot and it was overall an excellent read that I thoroughly enjoyed i'd have to admit that however grudgingly. If I was then going to write an actual formal review of that story or give it a rating for any kind of ranking purpose i'd actually have to consider it on it's own merits, free of all personal bias. If I couldn't do that, I wouldn't provide that review/rating out of respect for the process, the author and the other reviewers who are doing exactly that. Your point about considering reviews more than rating is very valid, but remember that this only applies once the fic is in the library. If a fic has a bunch of glowing reviews but the average rating unfairly keeps it out of the library, someone coming to DLP looking for a catalogue of the best writing wouldn't even see it.

Bolded is key here, and the correct stance to take on this. Everyone is allowed, and encouraged to have their own personal taste here. It's your opinion. If you want to read hardcore HPMOR x My Immortal slash that's your prerogative. If you only want to read 5* stories that have been authored by DLP members and spent at least 2 years in WbA, that's also entirely your choice. But stick to your niche then, don't compromise the review process. DLP's library is supposed to contain only the best of the fandom, and that's achieved by members submitting stories for review which can then be fairly appraised by whoever is interested and a consensus can be reached with the review and voting process. It defeats the purpose if people roll through, see a 1 line summary of a fic and give it 1* for the lols. Since my last post, a few more people have done exactly that (and I suspect more will after this one). By the rules now, this fic's rating is too low to be in the library (<3.5). People enjoy having a good circlejerk in 'Make DLP Great Again' about how they can improve the site and encourage more authors to submit for review etc, but why would they if their story would get a shit score from people that don't even read it?

 

This is the first time I've even heard of the fic and, even though I've never read a single fem!Harry/Snape story in my life (simply never appealed to me), reading all the previous reviews giving it glowing praise has been enough to warrant my interest. Stepping out of my comfort zone has served me pretty well so far (sold me on more content than I would have gravitated towards initially) and I can't imagine it not doing so this time.

 

https://laventadorn-baker.tumblr.com/post/180016402888/announcement

May as well make this abandoned now. God damnit, had the best writing out of any piece of fanfiction I have ever read.

 

That's unfortunate, but best wishes to Laventadorn. Depression is hard, if not impossible to beat at the best of times.