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Good fic! This is a prequel to Resonant’s <a >Transfigurations</a>, though the two are loosely tied together and each stands very well on its own. I’ve only skimmed ‘Transfigurations’, using my usual highlighting of the words ‘Severus Snape’ approach. There wasn’t enough Snape for me to want to read it. However, I’ve heard it’s a good one if you are interested in magic and a strong focus on Draco and Harry. Anyway, back to ‘Heartsease’. Don’t let the pairing put you off. I’m not so into Neville and Snape/Neville strikes me as a real stretch, but this story works beautifully.
It’s not remotely a romance story, more an exploration of the final days of the war against Voldemort. The story has a very tight Neville pov, and I thought it worked well here. Neville and Snape are brought together in the first place because the potions master needs an herbologist and Neville is pretty much all they have left. The war is not going well, particularly since the Dementors have clearly joined up with the DE’s. Hence Snape, who is no longer of use as a spy, has been put to the task of developing some defense. Luckily, ‘heartsease’ is a plant that the dementors seem to avoid, so Snape uses that as a starting point. Neville is assigned to help with growing the plants.
This story has an almost claustophobic feel to it, as Snape and Neville must move from safehouse to safehouse, barely one step ahead of their enemies. I was completely sucked into the world created and I could actually identify with Neville, who has a real ‘every man’ feel to him in this story. As mentioned, it’s not exactly a romance, but the way in which Neville and Snape do eventually become paired worked very well for me. Snape is a survivor of more than one war, and I thought his ‘take comfort where you can find it’ attitude really worked. That first kiss.... I was as shocked as Neville- and Snape’s reaction to Neville’s reaction was perfect. Eh, I’m not expressing it well. Let me just say, the pairing worked when I wouldn’t in a million years have imagined that it could. Just a wonderful read, full of magic and well drawn characters. I almost cried at the end. Good fic!
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