Severus Snape/Hermione Granger (Harry Potter)

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Title: The Buried Life
Author: idlerat
Spoilers: through OotP; spoilers for one fic are set off with spoiler space


The Buried Life*

Snape/Hermione is one of the most ficced pairings in Harry Potter fandom, even though their canon relationship sometimes seems like it can be boiled down to four infamous words: "I see no difference." (This is Snape's remark after Draco magically enlarges Hermione's already prominent front teeth in Goblet of Fire, UK ed. 263). This essay will explain why I think so many fans have written terrific stories placing these two characters in a relationship, in spite of these apparently unpromising materials, and provide an overview of classics in the subgenre.

Two caveats: first, I am not, in any traditional sense, a Snape/Hermione shipper. I've read a lot of Snape/Hermione fic, but I don't "support" the pairing: I don't find it canonically plausible, I like fic about other pairings at least as well, and, in fact, I haven't read much Snape/Hermione fic in the past year, and my essay is based on earlier works. I hope that Snape/Hermione fans who take a different view will comment on this post with their own perspective, and in particular that they will supplement my list of fics with more recent suggestions.

Second, I am convinced that the reason for the popularity of this pairing, even more than for some others, is that it allows people to tell the kind of stories they want to tell and read. I do not believe that Snape/Hermione fans are as concerned with canonicity as fans in some other parts of the fandom. Again, commentators will hopefully provide alternate views!

Because I think the center of Snape/Hermione is the fic, not canon, I have commented on many of the more famous works in this tradition. Again, your mileage will vary, and other comments are most welcome.

The kinds of stories we want to tell and read

I think my own experience of getting into Snape/Hermione was probably fairly typical. I'm one of those people who saw the first two movies before reading the books, and, just based on the movies, I found myself asking why Hermione wasn't the hero. She's so smart and brave and cool, and the author is a woman and it's the turn of the 21st century after all. What would happen if Hermione were the main character, the one who matters most?

After reading the books, and with a lingering taste of Alan Rickman on the mind's tongue, I added a further profound insight: Snape is HAWT, not to mention the most intriguing character in the story. So, based on my interest in these two characters on their own merits, shortly after "discovering" fan fiction I started looking for good stories about them, hopefully stories that would place the unreflecting boyishness of Rowling's Hogwarts in a different perspective. What I found was Kaz's Falling Further In, and I, well, fell further in. (Something flourish once said leads me to believe that quite a few people had been drawn into HP fandom by this fic).

When I turned to other Snape/Hermione fics, I started finding a lot of stories with a scholarly emphasis, where the authors were obviously well-read and wanted to include reflections on art, poetry, music, and philosophy in their work: this appealed to me also. Snape/Hermione is known as the subgenre of HP most allied with the traditional, bodice-ripper type romance, with an older, dark, mysterious, powerful, nasty, and (in many stories) rich hero and a younger, idealistic heroine who steals his heart. But it's equally important to remember that this is the teacher/student ship par excellance, since Hermione builds her identity around being a student so much more than any other of the young characters in the series. This one of the most popular pairings for people who like the idea of a bond based on intellectual affinity. It appeals to those who place a lot of importance on the fact that the HP series is set in a school, even when the stories are set after Hermione has finished at Hogwarts. There are other types of Snape/Hermione fic as well, but this is a very common approach.

And, as laurelwood commented to me recently, Snape/Hermione fic is a good place to read about smoother, sexier, more likeable Snapes, if that's what you're looking for. The pairing also attracts extremely long epics (you'll notice most of the fics on my list are novel-length), so if you're looking for long, you've come to the right place.

The characters:

Severus Snape is so well known, not only within HP but across fandom, that he hardly needs an introduction, and has been ably introduced by other essayists in this community. Harry's "least favorite professor" knows how the bring Teh Snark: mean, bitter, ugly, and articulate, with (probably) a core of morality and honor, the Potions Master is a huge favorite with slash and het fans alike. He dresses all in black; he's the Head of Slytherin House (stop giggling!); he joined the Death Eaters as a young man and later spied for Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix "at great personal risk." In the time-frame of the books, he is in his mid- to late-30s. He hates Harry on sight, probably because he hated Harry's father, who bullied him at school. He is played in the films by sad-eyed, deep-voiced, notoriously sexy Alan Rickman. Rickman is a lot older and better-looking than canon-Snape, but he has certainly influenced many Snapes in this part of the fandom.

Hermione Granger is one of Harry's two close friends. She is the best student in her year at Hogwarts: she is both very intelligent and almost pathologically studious, and quite competitive as well. She is highly opinionated and not at all shy about sharing her opinions and showing off her knowledge. She has her hand in the air every time a teacher asks a question, and many times when they don't. (This cuts no ice with Professor Snape, at least in canon.) Her many opinions tend to have an ethical cast, and she is very interested in social and political issues; in Goblet of Fire, she begins a campaign to end House-Elf slavery. As the series goes on, she becomes increasingly perceptive about people's emotional lives, although she can be undiplomatic in pursuit of something she thinks is right or important. She's not particularly concerned with minding her own business.

Hermione is Muggleborn--she has non-magical parents, which makes her the butt of prejudice and in fact potentially puts her in a lot of danger from reactionary fanatics (the Death Eaters and their sympathizers) who believe that only wizards and witches of "pure-blood" should be allowed full rights in the magical world. She knows a great deal about the Wizarding World because she is such an avid reader, but she begins the series as an outsider. We never meet Hermione's parents, but we know that they are both dentists, and it's reasonable to imagine this as an aspirational middle-class family that puts a strong emphasis on education, since education has provided her parents with solid (and extremely mundane) careers. Although JKR has said that she once planned to give Hermione a sister, this character has never materialized, and it seems safe to assume that Hermione is an only child.

Hermione's status as an only child and an outsider in the WW, combined with her independent mind, have the potential to isolate her. The episode that is the catalyst for her friendship with Harry and Ron is important for understanding how her character is developed in fan fiction. After Hermione out-performs the wizard-raised Ron in Charms class, and is congratulated and awarded house points by Professor Flitwick, she overhears Ron say, "It's no wonder no one can stand her" (PS, UK ed., 127). Here, it sounds like she can't have friends because she is such a good and competitive student (and perhaps because she is a girl who refuses to hide her achievements under a bushel.) Later that night, when the students are sent to their Houses to protect them from a troll that has been set loose in the castle, Hermione doesn't hear the warning because she is hiding in the girl's toilets and crying, stung by Ron's remark; aware of this, Ron and Harry go to rescue her, and the duo becomes a trio from then on.

Isolation and Social Position

So, while Hermione sometimes seems very independent, her strong personality and her need to follow her own path sometimes isolates her, and she needs friends. This tension, between an acute need for the regard of others and a tendency to become isolated, is the main thing that ties her character to Snape's. Snape and Hermione both have very intense and troubled relationships with public recognition and institutional advancement. Hermione is obsessed with excelling at school, and always wants her achievements recognized, although she is willing to risk this when she decides to defy school rules in pursuit of justice, to protect her friends, or to fight Voldemort. Snape has always wanted a job teaching Defense against the Dark Arts, which he has never been given. In PoA, we learn that he badly wants official recognition in the form of an Order of Merlin.

The fanfic tradition tends to emphasize how unfairly Snape has been treated by the establishment. The key element in this is the infamous Shrieking Shack incident, aka "the Prank": for reasons that have still not been thoroughly explained, back when they were at Hogwarts Sirius tried to lure Snape out to where Lupin was busy being a werewolf. James, Harry's father, found out and intervened to save Snape. Most fan writers have assumed that Sirius was not severely punished, at least not expelled, and Remus was certainly not expelled; Snape may have felt betrayed by Dumbledore, who put his favoritism of these Gryffindors (as Snape saw it) above Snape's safety, and some have speculated that this may have contributed to the alienation that led him to join the Death Eaters.

Before OotP, many readers assumed that Snape was rich because of his position as head of Slytherin House, with its aristocratic traditions. More important, to my mind, was the tradition of the Gothic hero: Snape seemed like a candidate for this role, after GoF, because of his tortured past, his clever, sarcastic manners, and his black wardrobe. The tradition of Snape Manor is particularly associated with SS/HG because of its roots in the romance tradition, but, to be fair, filthyricharistocratic!Snape appears often in slash as well. This way of looking at Snape was damaged, it seems to me, by OotP, partly because the view we get of Snape as a teenaged loser was inconsistent with the mighty autonomy of the Gothic hero and also because of the flashes Harry sees, during Occlumency lessons, of the abusive household Snape grew up in. Rich households are just as likely as others to be the site of abuse, but I do think this scene clashed with expectations, at least for American readers. Not all SS/HG writers give Snape an aristocratic background; The Fire and the Rose, for example, gives a terrific portrait of a grim, and not at all wealthy, Snape family background.

In SS/HG, two very different characters who both find it hard to fit in, and maybe hard to love, find they can help each other to lead more fully human lives.

An aside: the Ron factor

One thing worth noting in Snape/Hermione fic is its general contempt for the Ron/Hermione pairing, which figures so largely in other parts of the fandom (Ron and Hermione are often a couple in the background of fics about other characters, as well as in Ron/Hermione fic proper.) This stems from the conviction that to hook up with Ron, especially to marry him, would be a kind of death for Hermione. People look at Molly Weasley's life and think, that's what Ron wants in a partner, and that's not Hermione. Snape/Hermione fans want to see Hermione paired with a character who is as smart as she is, who can keep up with her intellectually, who can challenge her and not be overwhelmed (or simply oblivious) in the face of her strong personality, and who will not expect her to stay home, cleaning and feeding a dozen offspring. There are exceptions. I wrote another essay on this in hp_fictalk a while back.

Conclusion

Snape/Hermione fic is based on the spark that arises from contrast combined with a sense that some underlying values can transcend certain types of difference. A basically happy person with a deep optimism; a deeply unhappy person full of cynicism and bitterness. Someone who has led a fairly sheltered life, such that her worst fear, at 13, is that McGonagall will tell her she has failed her classes; a former Death Eater. What they share is fierce moral conviction--strong enough, in Snape's case, to make him betray Voldemort and humble himself (he is very proud) before Dumbledore, and in Hermione's to take on the Hogwarts she reveres in a campaign for House Elf rights. Someone who thought he was beyond love is redeemed and brought back to the land of the living: someone who is very cerebral finds herself overcome by passion. This is the underlying dynamic played out in a fanfic tradition in which the teacher discovers he has something to learn from his student. It is, in a way, a version of the Pride and Prejudice model: a powerful, basically decent, but unpleasant man finds himself in love with a woman he believed to be his inferior, and his life is transformed.

*As you can see from the list of fics, I took this title from Kalina. It is the title of one of the best fics in this part of the fandom, and I think it expresses an underlying theme of much Snape/Hermione fic.

Resources


The premier center for discussion of this pairing has long been the Yahoo group "WIKTT" ("When I Kissed the Teacher"), which maintains a very comprehensive listing of Snape/Hermione fics, with summaries and ratings that you can vote on, called Dark Sarcasm. Beware the "most popular" list at the front--this is self perpetuating, since new users go to these first, and doesn't necessarily represent the most-recced fics.

Ashwinder (formerly, I kid you not, "Lord and Lady Snape") and Whispers are Snape/Hermione archives. Quite a few Snape/Hermione classics are also archived at La Societe des Femmes Dangereuses (sorry about the absent diacritic).


Some famous SS/HG fics

Double stars mark my absolute favorites; my other recs get single stars. Alphabetical by author.

I've given opinions but not summaries for these fics: please click links to get summaries, and add dissenting opinions (as well as additional recs) in comments.

*Abby, The Other Side of Darkness and Survivals and Remembrances. Atmospheric and well-written; more canonical Snape than some others in this genre. Cool magic.

*Abby and Domina, The Fire and the Rose. A long fic, posted a chapter a week for a year. Very sustained body-switching device, leading to lots of masturbation experiments (I <<33 wank fic), humorous dilemmas, and, IIRC, a very moving section where Hermione must visit Snape's family home as Snape. As with many SS/HGs, there's a lot in here about clothes, and Snape proves to have simply mahvelous taste.

**Amanuensis (amanuensis1), "Love's Appalling Adverbs." A parody of the genre by a famous slasher. Metafic, with implications for fan fiction and erotic fiction that go well beyond Snape/Hermione. Amanuensis plays an uncharacteristically mature Snape and casts the Snape/Hermione writer as Hermione. Ingenious.

Amy McWilliams (mcamy), A Matter of Honor. An early trilogy that set the pattern for many later school-based Snape/Hermione fics. I adore Amy.

Anna (coldcoffeeeyes), the Travelogue (or "Classic Cinema Series")-- i.e. Roman Holiday, Jewel of the Nile, and Last Tango in Paris (WIP: only 47 chapters of the last volume!). Extremely well written, with gallons of plot. Also HG/DM and HG/BW. This is the queen of a large SS/HG sub-genre I call "year-at-the-Sorbonne-fic"; Anna's Hermione is often accused of being a Sue--"Who was this minx, and what had she done with disheveled, bookish Hermione?" She travels around the Continent and beyond having enriching experiences (Anna is a music teacher, and classical music plays a prominent role), though she also suffers terrible losses, as does Snape. The series leaves Hogwarts and the WW as you know it far behind. Very popular and, as I said, beautifully written. Some great sex scenes and original magic.

Domina (formerly Anne), Round Midnight. Much recced, and I liked it. An academic fic, set at least partly at Oxford, with, IIRC, a somewhat unhappy and isolated adult Hermione.

*Didodikali (trickofthedark), Teacher's Pet. A classic. I've seen it listed as a children's story, which it isn't, though it has the sweetness and the adorable illos and animals and basic lovableness of everyone (including Snape) that one finds in D's work generally. Funny. Available in an astonishing number of languages.

**Kalina (kalinalea), The Buried Life, and other stories. This is the fic I always recommend to everyone, whether they read this pairing or not. Beautifully written and plotted, with a deeply humane sensibility. Her characterizations and settings are impeccable, and her story well-paced. Give it a few chapters to get going, and bring a hankie for the fourth quarter. Among her short stories, I love "Still Here," but "The Last Word" is perhaps more generally popular. Her unfinished novel-length fic (which she does not plan to finish) Desperate Measures is brilliant also, if you can handle unfinished fic. You can read my reviews here.

**Kaz (called "KazVL" at FA and "kaz2" at FFnet), Falling Further In (WIP and, IMO, unlikely to be completed). I have so much to say about this fic that I hardly know how to say just a little. It's messy, baroque, excessive, and where it is good it is absolutely brilliant. Definitely in the romance tradition, with a very strong, super-sexy, and decent Snape (who gets tortured a lot), this is both the most beloved and in some quarters perhaps the most reviled SS/HG fic. Kaz sets her story during a summer at Hogwarts, which enables her to draw a sweeping portrait of the school from the faculty's perspective (Hermione, whose parents have been killed by LV, is the only student there). At her best, her characterization and dialogue are exceptional, her devices and descriptions are inventive, and she comes up with turns of phrase that just knock me out. At her worst, she mixes metaphors, invokes cliches, and can seem incredibly heavy, even stilted. She makes full characters out of McGonagall, Sprout, Hooch, and above all Pomfrey, giving us a cast of adult women, distinct and with distinct relationships between them, that is rare and wonderful. Her Hogwarts sometimes feels like an idealized elective family. I love her confident Hermione: this fic epitomizes the Snape/Hermione tradition of refocusing HP around a female hero. (Harry, when he finally appears, is a nightmare, anticipating OotP pretty well!) If you'd like to read something shorter, set much later but in the same universe, I highly recommend "Who By Fire," but that's just the two main characters.

Luthien (luthien67), "In Whiskey Veritas." Luthien has said, I believe, that her goal in this fic was to be very true to the canon characters and see if she could still pull the pairing off. These are not the same characters found in most other fics in the genre, and they don't really match my ideas of the canon characters either, but it's a good fic.

*Meri-Todd Webster (mommybird)'s 'Absence' series--actually Snape/Harry/Hermione, but should appeal to many SS/HG fans. Sweet and loveable porn.

Quillusion, Soul Searching. Started out as a PWP metafic (Snape discovers the WIKTT archives; Hermione spies on him), but it was a huge hit and Quillusion expanded it into a very plotty story full of ancient magicks. You can still read the first couple chapters on their own if you're so inclined.

Ramos, The Hinge of Fate. A monster hit.
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Snape forced to rape Hermione! Supersperm finds the egg! Hermione realizes "DNA" spells "potions genius"! Career must be abandoned! Barefoot and pregnant hippie wedding! Cottage! Cheese! Luv is all around! Sprogs galore! SNAPE GROWS BEARD!
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*Resmiranda, The Shadows Trilogy (Door of the Morning, Interlude: Dreary Hour, Like Shadows on the Winter Sky). Dark, not a romance. This Snape shares the virtues of many others (intellect, some strongly held ethical convictions) but is a much darker and scarier person than most Snapes in this pairing (or in slash, for that matter). Very inventive magic and poetic sensibility. The author confesses at the end that her favorite novel is Voltaire's Candide, which explains a lot (including the source of the final scene). Resmiranda also wrote what may be the funniest short piece in the pairing, "A Little to the Left Professor" (known in my mind as "the duck fic").

Riley, Pawn to Queen (unfinished and the author does not plan to finish it. Very long anyway). By far the most controversial fic in this sector of the fandom, not excluding FFI, PtQ was the center of what has to have been the second longest single-fic kerfuffle in HP, the 8-month "PtQ Wars" that raged on WIKTT circa 2002. Fascinating. By a very young author, it has some great inventions in it, some elements that I don't think anyone who has read it will forget. It can also be overwrought and pretentious and worse, boring. Please note Minerva McTabby's (mctabby) parody "PtQ in a Nutshell."

Susanna (pigwidgeon37), various fics. Her biggest and best known is perhaps The Sybil's Oracle, but I haven't read it. I have read About a Potions Master, which was not to my taste but has many admirers, and From Hell--an early fic with much to recommend it but some language difficulties (Susanna is, I think, Austrian). Susanna's done a lot of helpful work for other members of the fandom (betaing, reccing, helping with Latin).

*TextualSphinx, A Decoding of the Heart (WIP: may not be finished). TextualSphinx's "Letter from Exile One Merciful Morning", which she later decided was a sequel to the events in the main part of this fic, was one of the very first Snape/Hermione stories, and it remains exceptional, if for no other reason than that Snape actually gets in trouble for bonking a student :). She writes beautifully and her work is loaded with that highbrow stuff I love. I particularly recommend the little interlude "Why Slytherins Are Sexier" (also, theoretically, part of Decoding), which is the source of the infamous Gryffindor sex manual Quidditch in Bed.

theatresm. As Aashby, theatresm became widely known for her Snape/OFC trilogy Brave New World, which I enjoyed. She is currently posting a Snape/Hermione novel, Chaos Is Come Again, as a WIP on LJ. I have not been keeping up with it, but I can recommend her as a writer.

*Yahtzee (yahtzee63), The Bloody Stare of Mars. Very very well written, and atypical of the genre. In fact, it's borderline Snape/Hermione (it's also Ron/Hermione, which is usually anathema to SS/HG shippers). Dystopian future with a terrific subplot involving Remus and an unpleasant Snape.

Comments

[zeelee-penguin.livejournal.com]

Great essay. I haven't read much fic in this pairing, but it does intrigue me. And a great list of recs!

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

thanks!

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

that was great! i especially like your summary of the fics, b/c that's a great incentive to look at the ones i haven't read yet (though i'll balk at PTQ, i think :-)

i really like the way you how acknowledge canonicity (or lack thereof) yet show why the pairing has such an appeal nevertheless, esp the intellectual affinity and the hermione-as-molly-equals-intellectual death.

gothic hero and heroine, here we come...

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Ta!

[bethbethbeth.livejournal.com]

Very nice work, hon. Obviously there's much more to be said, but I think you've done an excellent job of capturing the sense in which it's the coming together of those two oddly well-suited personalities (rather than a relationship developing from specific interactions in canon) that's a major key to getting this pairing.

Some other links:

Luthien's Teeth (http://luthien.ebonyx.org/docs/fic/teeth.html) (which was written for McTabby's "Blame Somebody Else" challenge, and is both funny and rather sweet

Arsenic's stories (many of which include SS/HG) can be found here (http://www.mediageek.ca/arsenicjade/hp.html) See, "Care of Magical Creatures" (which is actually a threesome including Remus) and "Body of Knowledge" in particular.

Bloodcult of Freud's "Tyger! Tyger!" (http://adultfan.nexcess.net/aff/story.php?no=25017) (technically still a WIP, but definitely worth reading). She has some other stories (not all SS/HG) including a post-apocalyptic SS/HG, but "Tyger! Tyger!" - despite some editing quirks, had something intriguing in almost every chapter which set it apart from many of the Marriage Law Challenge stories.

Deeble's stories, especially Wandless Magic (http://ashwinder.sycophanthex.com/viewuser.php?uid=459&PHPSESSID=c6bbb57b198f297a9f683b358d58738d) (in which a post-Voldemort world sees many wizards and witches, from both sides of the fight, being exiled into the Muggle world).

Spyke Raven's Sixty Mondays (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/666297/1/)

Leni Jess: Cheat the Devil (http://www.skyehawke.com/archive/story.php?no=2414&PHPSESSID=7b1a062f2f1292502d2e57b0a6a10600)

Plus quite a lot of the authors who posted stories in the recent SS/HG ficathon (http://www.livejournal.com/community/lovedraughts/).

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for adding these links, Beth!

[rosehiptea.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised to find so much Snape/Hermione fic here that I haven't read myself. Probably mostly has to do with the fact that I came in to the ship relatively late? I'll leave it to those more competent than I to make some later recommendations perhaps...

I will say my personal favorite of Susannah's is actually "How to Fall in Love With a Dog You Didn't Really Want". I find it surprisingly in character (and I agree that's a serious challenge in this ship) with a dark edge.

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1009199/1/

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, ideas of what's "classic" have doubtless changed a lot. Your rec is welcome--feel free to add more.

[rosehiptea.livejournal.com]

Actually, that wasn't exactly what I meant... I do know most of these fics and they are definitely still considered "classic" but for various reasons I still haven't read them, and in most cases I want to. (No offense but I'll also skip Pawn to Queen.)

I do like April Grey's stories a great deal. Unfortunately I know them from aff.net which is down constantly, but they may be on other sites. (I believe she's stopped writing in the fandom however.)

Flyingegg's work is extremely funny (to me!) and in character in my opinion.

I also very much loved a story called "Parvus Obitus" but again... it's on that site.

I suppose I should have waited until the site was back up to give my recs. However, they may also be on Ashwinder or elsewhere?

In any case I really loved your essay! I'm working on one of my own, due in two weeks, for the anime couple in my icon. While it has slightly more canon, the age difference dwarfs SS/HG and the fandom numbers in the single digits. But I digress...

Thanks for the essay!

[gardendoor.livejournal.com]

Good essay, and much thanks for the awesome recs! And I'm glad you listed Teacher's Pet; everything on Lemonade Party is fabulous.

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Ta!

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

Very thorough and interesting essay-I do believe it covered the most common reasons for shipping this pairing, even though they weren't necessarily the same as mine.

SS/HG is what's got me into this fandom, but I don't read nearly enough of it lately. Not because my love for the pairing has waned (on the contrary), but because I dislike the way it is commonly written. And the words 'marriage law' and 'challenge' make me automatically hit the back button.

I for one am glad that OotP quashed the aristocratic!Snape idea. I was never fond of Snape Manor, and of cultured, obscenely rich!Snape, in slash or in het.

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

I for one am glad that OotP quashed the aristocratic!Snape idea. I was never fond of Snape Manor, and of cultured, obscenely rich!Snape, in slash or in het.

God yes, me too. Do tell about your own reasons for shipping these two.

Marriage--*shudder*. The words "Mrs Severus Snape" give me the willies.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

Heh. I’m notoriously bad at verbalizing my reasons for liking a pairing-it’s why I have enormous respect for all you guys undertaking the task of writing manifestos.

Having said that, I know what I don’t care for ‘Gothic Hero Snape’, or indeed any Snape that is too verbose (no denying he’s got a way with words, at least when it comes to insults, but in some fics he sounds like he swallowed a thesaurus), too angsty, too ‘old fashioned’ (the Wizarding World is by definition Old Fashioned, but when he looks and sounds like something out of a Victorian novel). I see Snape as certainly intelligent and heroic in what he does, but also petty, often sadistic, sarcastic and bitter, and I’d like that acknowledged in fic.

I like the ‘scholarly’ type of fics, but they’ve been overdone to the extent that they’re now formulaic, and I’d prefer it if the meeting of minds is not the only focus of a story. I’m not averse to the idea of Hermione’s thirst for knowledge, all available knowledge, potentially leading her to darker magic, as in Countess Chiana’s A Brilliant Mind (http://silverlake.imjustsayin.net/countess-abrilliantmind.html).

I guess too many SS/HG fics focus on their bonding over the nobler aspects of their character (primarily their intellects/misunderstood statuses), and I would like the less than pristine aspects explored. Hermione has behaved in a ruthless and calculating manner in canon after all (Rita Skeeter’s abduction/blackmail, the curse against Marietta), and the lack of Student!Hermione/Snape fics around boggles the mind, simply because I think that Hermione would be even more determined to bend the rules once she sets her mind to something, and more calculating/evasive in order to keep the relationship secret.

As for the Marriage fics, and the baby fics, I want to burn them to the ground. Hermione married/a mother at a young age is part of the reason I hate Ron/Hermione, so why would I want to see it in a pairing where it just doesn’t fit? And Snape with a child is an absurd image. I think it’s a case of the writers projecting their own lives/values/expectations upon the characters. And I could get a lot rantier than this, but this is a public forum, so I’ll leave it at that.

Enough with my rambling nonsense. Aren't you glad you asked? ;)

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Haha! Yes! I am glad I asked. I love your comments.

I think 'overdone" is something that can, and inevitably does, beset every pairing, genre, and device.

he sounds like he swallowed a thesaurus

Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Too often, long words and excessive formality are used to substitute for actual wit--which, to be fair, is a hard thing for a writer to grow if she doesn't have it already.

I talked about Snape's image changing with OotP, but didn't touch Hermione. I wonder if that ruthlessness, though, would carry over into something that was just her personal desire, as opposed to War and Justice... in any event, I think all of the fics on the list, except Yahtzee's, are pre-OotP.

The one baby fic I do love is Kalina's Desperate Measures, although it makes me cringe in places: it's not the *kind* of fic I'd like, but I just adore her writing and characterization, and she does some great things with the parenting. She decided not to finish it, btw, because she found the Snape of OotP too "damaged" to be a plausible parent under any circumstances, and I agree. But what there is is still good on its internal merits.

Thanks for the rec!

[ann-mcn.livejournal.com]

Hi, I'm here from the Daily Snitch.

You said that you wanted to see the "less than pristine aspects explored" and aren't happy with Marriage fics. You must read Chaos by theatresm (see SS/HG in her Memories), which is set about 10 years after Hermione finished at Hogwarts. Neither she nor Snape is glorified or prettied up. It is updated every 2 weeks, and is complex and funny and horrifying.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

Thanks a lot for the rec, it sounds very interesting. Will definetely check it out. :)

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

I appreciate your explanation of the trope, which helps me understand why I dislike this pairing so much! I have to say I entirely missed the idea of Hermione as wanting to redeem the Gothic hero, although given her activist personality it makes sense.

A long answer, with reference to Snape/Black

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Always glad to be of service. :)

But I find myself desiring to make a long answer.

I think your choice of the verb "redeem"is a little misleading, and that "heal" would be more accurate. Hermione virtually never changes Snape's *values*; that would violate the premise. She doesn't reform the rake, Clarissa-style. Snape/Hermione overwhelmingly takes off from the assumption that Snape left Voldemort for moral reasons, and continues to risk his life for moral reasons, and that this implies a thoughtful, considered moral seriousness under all the snark.

I'm going to stir the pot a little more and opine that the slash writer whose work most resembles my favorite Snape/Hermione is your pal Fab. Again with the healing, the loosening up (though Sirius is pretty loose already), again with the intellectual affinity and moral seriousness.

Now of course Sirius, unlike Hermione, is neither righteous nor innocent, whatever Remus may say about him, and has a whole different kind of history. But if I compare Snape/Black to Snape/Hermione (on the one hand) and Snape/Draco (on the other), I think the first is much closer. And that's not an argument against Snape/Draco: it just assumes a different Snape. Not necessarily a bad Snape, but, I think, one with less Gryffindor in him.

The thing *I* can't stand in Snape/Hermione is the rich!Snape tradition, particularly connoiseur!Snape. I love a steady background literacy, neat little quotes and bits of foreign languages etc. But when it gets into "my aunt in Corsica with the racehorses..." I'm just bleh. Because once Snape becomes all about shopping, that moral and intellectual seriousness that moves me just blows away on winds of "the finest this" and "the finest that."

Of course the other thing to consider is that Snape is a SODDING GREAT NANCY POOFTER. But that can seem more or less obvious depending on which fics you read.

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I realized later that I had used the word "redeemed" myself! Torn between "telling slip" and "inaccurate on my part"-- and think it's both ;)

[majorenglishesq.livejournal.com]

wonderful essay. i would simply like to add two reccomendations to your list before i start exploring your recs for myself.

Sixty Mondays (http://www.chantico.com/cgi-bin/darksarcasm/jump.cgi?ID=782) by Spyke Raven - the story that i stumbled upon that compelled me to take a personal interest in the paring...

and regann's Heart Over Mind (http://kalyka.net/fanfiction/hp/heartmind/index.html), a WIP that continues to torture me week by week while i wait for updates from it.

both i think of as "academic" fics that build upon what i find truly neat-o in this fandom. also, i find reluctant!Snape, like the snarky one who hates to admit when he's lost in Heart Over Mind, to be the biggest turn-on.

.starla.

The first Snape-Hermione, Riley etc

[textualsphinx.livejournal.com]

Wow - thanks for the rec! You should take a look at JOdel's essay on Snape-Hermione at her site red-hen publications. she's recently updated it.

I'd also reccommend to the person who's unsure about reading 'Pawn to Queen' to go ahead and read it. Don't worry about its being unfinished - Riley posted a summary of how it all turns out at 'La Societe des Femmes Dangereuses'. Whatever the fic's faults, Riley's take on the WW is highly original,thought through at 'long range' and intellectually challenging. The 'Pawn to Queen' wars happened because people tended to simplify what Riley was up to - and allowed their personal fetishes to get in the way, behaving as if they were paying customers who had the right to 'order' more of the bits they got off on. (Many a BDSM-er objected when it looked as though Snape and Hermione weren't going to have a thing where he was dominant and she was submissive). Having enjoyed a very long correspondence with her, in which it's become fairly clear that our politics are not *always* in the same neck of the woods, I can honestly say that whatever 'position' she adopts, she's never doing so for precisely the reasons one *assumes* she is. It's always more complex, and it's always dialectical. Unsurprising really - she is a researcher in Education for the super-Gifted, and herself has an IQ somewhere in the 150s. It is very challenging/humbling to correspond with someone whose IQ is some ten to fifteen points higher than one's own!

To give some credit where it's due - it's worth mentioning that 'Decoding of the Heart' was only written because Morrighan (of the unfinished but utterly brilliant Snapefic 'Long Road to Damascus') challenged me to write a 'prequel' to 'Letter from Exile'. The Letter was orginally an alternative ending to another story - the very first Snape-Hermione ever posted to ffnet, LupinLover's 'Beyond the Silver Rainbow'. She wrote it when she was all of 12, and it's lucky I didn't know, otherwise I'd never have been so cruel as to write what amounted to a feminist critique of her original. Mind you, LL DID make her Snape write an incredibly short, not very forthcoming loveletter to Hermione, and that was asking for trouble... I'm not sure if BTSR is still up at ffnet. Lupinlover withdrew it because she came to regard it as unworthy juvenilia. I think she should repost it exactly as it was first written for history's sake.

Re: The first Snape-Hermione, Riley etc

[textualsphinx.livejournal.com]

I forgot to say that I'm glad you distinguish between being a 'shipper' for Snape-Hermione in fanon but NOT in canon. It would NEVER happen in canon, and I dread to think what Rowling would say if she ever read Snape-Hermione fics. I don't know if she'd go as far as banning them, but I bet she'd WANT to.

Agreed too with your points about the class thing. It was easy to assume Snape was from a posh background simply becuase he was a Slytherin; the house seems to be the WW equivalent of Eton or Harrow. The minute I read 'working class' and 'lower-middle class' Snapefics the evidence fell into place - even before OotP confirmed that he definitely isn't from a background as privileged as Sirius Black's. The spitting in PS, his 'over-correctness' - all point to a self-made man. Being far too influenced by Earthwalk's marvellous 'I Was Right', in which there is a 'Snape Manor', albeit a crumbling one housing a severely dysfunctional family, I am now using every means possible to render my 'classy' Snape as insecure in that position as possible - the kind of 'poor relations' you get in Jane Austen: class from somewhere way back when, but no money.

an another thing

[textualsphinx.livejournal.com]

Yeah, canon Snape is DEFINITELY gay or asexual. Or rather, Rowling's idea of a nasty 'queer'.

Re: an another thing

[mandrill.livejournal.com]

Out of curiousity, what's the canonical evidence for this? I'm not arguing with you but I'd appreciate knowing what it is. In fact, I've suggested to disbelieving friends that if any character in the HP series was gay it would indeed be Snape, but I'm not able to really present any concrete evidence other than Snape sets my gaydar off. :=)

Re: an another thing

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not *canonical* evidence as such, but there is this...



:) Stolen from iibnf.

For me, it's just his air--nothing specific. His version of masculinity seems more unconventional, less boyish, than most of the other male characters, especially Gryffindors. To me.

Re: an another thing

[mandrill.livejournal.com]

LOL at the picture -- that's great! Thanks! :=)

And yes, the Gryffindors have always struck me as being the conventional jock/preppie type.

Re: an another thing

[(Anonymous)]

Well, it's partly to do with the way he seems to fit a certain British stereotype of 'Public-School-in-the-closet-repressed' homosexual. (Slytherin House is very much the House that embodies the British Public School at its worst.) If one were doing a spoof of HP, you could *almost* cast Kenneth Williams as Snape (there was a spoof that cast Jeremy Irons, which I didn't see but it struck me as wrong.) Then there's the whole 'Drama Queen' side of Snape - the swishing cloaks, the snarling, the bitchiness - that a het-up writer would identify as Not Straight. I honestly don't know what JKR's views on sexualties are, but if she's as conservative as she sometimes appears, then Snape's lack of wholesomeness and his starkl contrast to the more macho, 'sexy Sirius' might point to JKR thinking of him as gay. She doesn't QUITE call him limpwristed, but the way he fights is defintely about finesse rather than strength. I'm not saying myself that 'effeminacy' automatically makes someone gay, far from it - but JKR might assume so. I can't put my finger on any particular instance either, except that Snape sets off my 'gaydar' too. Maybe it's the 'private' scenes with Harry - when he calls him a 'nasty little boy' and the violence of his response to the intrusion into his Pensieve. He seems indifferent to women in the books. Whether he's the type of gay who genuinley likes women as people, or the type who definitely doesn't (we're back in mysogynist Public School territory) I don't know.

What's 100 percent certain is, whatever his sexuality, he isn't getting any and JKR doesn' intend him to.

Re: an another thing

[mandrill.livejournal.com]

Thank you for your excellent and insightful commentary. I wish that you'd signed your name. You raised a lot of good points. :=)

I've always thought that British actor Murray Melvin when he was younger would also make a good Snape (he's far too old now to play the role now). Murray was a charactor actor who always portrayed rail-thin, snotty, effeminate school-master/clergy/judge types in costume drama films. He always had a great, sleazy presence.

Re: The first Snape-Hermione, Riley etc

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

I found myself citing the tale of "Esmerelda the Transformer" in a conversation just yesterday.

I think she should repost it exactly as it was first written for history's sake.

God I would love it if everyone would do this. It drives me nuts that fics are generally undated.

[exit-chrysalis.livejournal.com]

Avid shipper here. I don't write much, but I read all over the pairing. I think everyone's recced just about all my favorites.
I'm glad you mentioned that this ship will never be canon. All I can say is, I hope Hermione ends up with either a much matured Harry or Ron, a much matured Draco, or The Man himself. Unfortunately, Ron is seeming more likely. I have nothing against Ron's character, but it just doesn't seem right to me, and it doesn't seem as though Hermione and Ron really understand each other's motivations and ideas. Hermione needs someone who can understand her passions and ideas. Actually, Harry, if he matures more emotionally, might be the best choice as far as likely canonical options go, since if he matures, it would remind me of some aspects of the SS/HG pairing. But that's neither here nor there, and I've rambled on. Lovely essay!

[inalasahl]

I've always thought of Hermione/Snape (without actually reading any, of course) as being slightly squicky, but now I'm all intrigued. I'll definitely be checking the links out. Great essay.

[vulgarweed.livejournal.com]

Absolutely wonderful essay, and thank you!

I too draw a distinction between canon/fanon - this is a fanon ship for me, purely. I don't expect it at all in canon, and I'm fine with the fact that Snape's portrayal in many of these fics isn't exactly canon, though when it wanders too far off I get annoyed, and it's hard for me to state flat out where the boundary lies (though the skill of the writer does have a lot to do with it). The idea that Snape is a smooth operator has a lot to do with it, though I fear I've written that myself. He's not. He's an awkward, petulant, passionate, spitting, tantrum-throwing fool. It's part of his "charm."

I never saw Snape as being from a wealthy background (though I've enjoyed many fics where he is, I never thought of "my" Snape that way). I think one thing that he and Hermione have in common is having something to prove. I'm pretty sure he's not Muggleborn, so what is it in his case? Probably a troubled family and poverty -- I think more the struggling, working-class sort than the abject, estate-house, generations-on-the-dole kind, but YMMV. Being in Slytherin has nothing to do with wealth and everything to do with ambition, and who is more ambitious than the poor who are desperate to get out and "be somebody"? This is not necessarily a "bad" quality, but it certainly can be a Slytherin one. His bad experiences at school only reinforced a pre-existing tendency to "use any means to achieve his ends." Very likely the Death Eaters offered him much that he had dreamed of: status, recognition, the possibility of no longer wondering where his next batch of ingredients was coming from. I also think it's possible there's some addiction in his past.

As for Hermione, I see a large part of her growing-up so far as moving away from the unquestioning adulation of authority we see in her as a child. As she sees more and more of the cracks and chinks in adult facades, and more and more danger in clinging to the rules in a dangerous world, I think she's going to be inclined to rebel in spectactular fashion. I don't think there's any DE potential there--but an illicit affair with a former, now slightly discredited authority figure? Why not? The usual assumption is that an affair between a more powerful person and a less powerful one is always at the expense of the student, but this completely ignores the possibility of the student using sex to equalize the dynamic. It is a very powerful force, it is awfully intimate, it certainly offers her glimpses of a vulnerable side of him--and all she has to do if things head south is squeal on him, and he's probably sacked! (But she's Gryffindor, not Slytherin; I think she would get off on the rush of doing something emotionally risky, far more than on the rush of having that power over someone. He's had so many truly awful Secrets, there may be something for him in the challenge of maintaining a Secret that's more romantic than Eeeeevil.)

Besides, I know from experience that precocious only children very often feel better able to relate to older people than to their age-peers. :) That's all I'll say about projection - except to say that I'm much closer to Snape's age now, and when I write this pairing I think there's equal amounts of "me" in both of them.

As for Ron: I like him. I think he's strong and smart and sweet. But for Hermione? Hm. Maybe (in canon). It doesn't interest me in fanon. I suppose the Molly/super-breeder factor may well be part of it. I don't mean to disparage women focused on family life IRL, it can lead to great happiness for many women (but not for all). I find it utterly boring to read or write about. I don't necessarily assume that Ron wants to start another family just like his own or marry a woman like Molly -- in fic, breaking this too-neat paradigm frees Ron up as well as Hermione. Does he really want to become his father? Maybe he wants to travel the world breaking curses like Bill or work with dragons like Charlie! Maybe he wants to write about worldwide Quidditch for the Daily Prophet. Maybe he wants to be a Wizard Chess tournament champ. Maybe he's gay.

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Sorry it's taken me so long to respond--this certainly deserved a response! So first, thanks.

I think one thing that he and Hermione have in common is having something to prove.

I think so too, and I agree about Snape's background (with the caveat that, as of OotP, I think we can assume that few Slytherins are muggleborn). Interestingly, I've seen this given as a reason why Snape/Hermione doesn't work as a pairing--the impulse to compete would be too strong. And in practice, I think most ficcers who write this pairing tend to make one or the other much more confident.

Hermione has certainly become an ace rule-breaker as the series continues!

The usual assumption is that an affair between a more powerful person and a less powerful one is always at the expense of the student, but this completely ignores the possibility of the student using sex to equalize the dynamic.

Have you ever read Feminist Accused of Sexual Harassment, by Jane Gallop? I'm not totally sure I agree with her argument (she agrees), but it's a likeable book and a great read.

I like Ron also, but I find him quite conservative, and I don't find his and Hermione's bickering in canon promising as far as a relationship goes. It's funny, for couples who *aren't* expected to be a canon pair, outright hatred can be the best basis for shipping, but for these two the mere quarrelsomeness just doesn't sell me on the romance. I prefer to think of Ron as gay--I like Ron/Harry, but then I'm a bit soft on Harry/Hermione also. Harry's such a slut--I like him with everyone! I can see Ron being a bit retro when it comes to gender relations though, in canon.

Thanks again!

[anehan]

Thank you for giving words for something that I can find no words for.

I would like to rec hayseed_42's Ordinary People and Dark Gods in the Blood, both complete. Dark Gods in the Blood is only implicitly Hermione/Snape.

I would also like to add that for me part of the charm of the pairing is that it is in some ways wish-fulfilment. I was, and still am, very much like Hermione. A bookworm and an over-achiever, and it's tiring to always trying to justify one's choices (for example that one would rather read a book than go to a bar). It's nice to read stories in which Hermione has a relationship with someone who undestands her bookisness.

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Oh, definitely--I think that's huge!

[bethan-b-bad.livejournal.com]

Great essay! I'm not a big shipper, with mild preferences towards Hermione/Snape, Hermione/Krum, George/Angelina, Tonks/Remus and Hermione/Ron, but this gave me at least a great 'To-Read' list. Can I steal your icon, though? I <<3 both Lilo&Stitch and Het fics.

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Go ahead!

[galfridian.livejournal.com]

A bit late here -- but I just want to say that this is a great essay.

Oh, and that I'm a bit of an odd ball: my OTP is Ron/Hermione, but my favourite fanon ship, so to speak, is Severus/Hermione.

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[almost-alone.livejournal.com]

is there any place I can find The Hinge of Fate?

its nowhere and I am sad :'(

[idlerat.livejournal.com]

Really? It's so well-known! Did you try the link for it at Dark Sarcasm? You could also try references to it by searching the archives of the WIKTT ML--it's often mentioned there. Or you could post a query to that list (I think they allow fic search questions...) I can't remember where I read it, alas, and I see the link is broken. It's always possible that Ramos might have withdrawn it, perhaps for revision.

[barcelona9.livejournal.com]

Wonderful essay. You bring up so much I had never thought of, and you make a very strong case for why this is such a popular ship. In my opinion, I think that part of the appeal of the SS/HG ship is the whole Lolita-esque perspective. Though Hermione is far from being a nymphet in the sense of Lolita, Snape does seem perfect as Humbert Humbert type, a man in love with and lusting after a young girl. The other side of this, which I suppose would be more controversial than comparing the ship to Lolita, is the Electra complex. This would be more in keeping with Hermione's character as she seeks approval from authority figures, and the Electra complex is after all an extreme form of earning approval and validation from an authority figure, specifically that of the father substitute which would correspond with Snape's character. I have to admit I had never thought of the Pride & Prejudice association, but it does seem more than appropriate. I am a loyal SS/HG fan, but I recognize that in no way would this pairing ever appear in canon.

Anyone up for bewitching the mind and ensnaring the senses?

[pingback-bot.livejournal.com]

User proud_mudblood referenced to your post from Anyone up for bewitching the mind and ensnaring the senses? (http://community.livejournal.com/musemostwanted/1117360.html) saying: [...] a measure of curiosity -- to play with this dynamic. There's a fantastic (and ooooold) essay here [...]