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Tweak says, "WHAT was THAT supposed to be?!"

spfestmod (spfestmod) wrote in snape_potter,
@ 2011-10-20 12:59:00

Entry tags:

cliche fest, fic, rating: nc-17

Cliche Fest: FIC: A Grim Old Cat
Title: A Grim Old Cat
Author: oliversnape
Other pairings/threesome: Canon Ron/Hermione
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 14,256
Content/Warning(s): (highlight for spoilers) *AR, minor character deaths mentioned in passing.*
Cliché: (highlight for spoilers) *Cat!Snape, Grimmauld Place after war, Back to work at Hogwarts, Virgin!Harry, Ministry bureaucratic idiocy.*
Summary: In which Harry finds comfort in his own routines, solitude, Grimmauld Place, and normality in the sound of incoming trains. He ought to have known a cat would subtly change things to suit its own machinations.
A/N: Thank you to my beta pygmypuffofdoom, any other mistakes are mine.

(A Grim Old Cat)

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	snarry_fan7 2011-10-20 06:15 pm UTC (link)
	A very delightful story. Snape as a cat is awesome and adorable. I also love how he and Harry interacted once Snape was back to being human. Snape the cat vomiting on Lucius Malfoy's shoe is hilarious. Very wonderful work.~Sophia (Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 12:38 am UTC (link)
	Thank you so much! I'm so late to commenting, but it was very hard to resist before the reveals. :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	centaury_squill 2011-10-20 06:25 pm UTC (link)
	Harry's obsessive visits to Kings Cross are absolutely heartbreaking, especially as your world has an even higher body-count than JKR's. Very fitting that Snape is the one to save him. I also love how Harry learns to interpret Snape's body language from his time as a cat. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 12:39 am UTC (link)
	Thanks for the compliments! I had been iffy on how many people to kill off, but I think it worked out in favour for this. Glad you enjoyed it, and sorry for the late reply! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	bk7brokemybrain 2011-10-20 06:39 pm UTC (link)
	That was such a wistful feeling story! Lovely. So quiet and soft and cool, like Harry's fog. Just gorgeous. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 12:40 am UTC (link)
	Thank you! Sorry for the late reply, but I had a hard time not commenting before the reveals and had to not check this. I tried to make the fic seem lightly layered, and I'm glad it worked. :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	felaine 2011-10-20 10:57 pm UTC (link)
	So much to enjoy in this story: Lucius as MOM errand boy, Draco selling clothes, the sweetness of the Sev-cat and Harry's way of grieving. Excellent work. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 12:41 am UTC (link)
	Thanks! Lucius would be a perfect errand boy, except he'd likely get distracted along his route. ;) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	dgpolo 2011-10-20 11:09 pm UTC (link)
	I loved this story. It was so melancholy at times but still so hopeful. I liked that Harry knew the cat was Severus from the beginning. I was startled to learn Harry was the cause of the fog (I didn't think of that, it was brilliant) and the two of them coming together was perfect. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 12:45 am UTC (link)
	Thank you. :) I think it came out more melancholy/sad than I intended, but I'm glad you liked it. Sorry for the late response to your review! And yes, I was quite proud of the fog connector. I imagine Harry felt a lot of comfort at Kings Cross with Dumbledore. (Reply to this) (Parent)

atypicalsnowman
2011-10-21 04:19 am UTC (link)

I'm not certain what I love most about this story, but I'll start with how soft it seems. There's this quality to a great work of fiction that I can't put my finger on, but it makes you stop wanting to rush to the end and just allow yourself to experience the story with the characters and not worry about what's going to happen next.

I admit sometimes I'm in a rush to get to the ending, to see how it all works out but this fic prevented that. I read this slowly and enjoyed every minute of it.

I liked that you had the cat!Snape cliche, but not the 'Snape gets angry at Harry once he's restored' cliche. This made more sense to me, that Snape would be grateful and less hateful after the war.

I didn't connect the fog to Harry until Severus told him to stop it. That was heartbreaking.

But my favorite line was this one:

“Imagine living your whole life focused around the worst thing you ever did,” Snape whispered, his voice low and commanding in Harry’s ear. “And how you’d feel once you’d finally paid your debt.”

This is my absolute favorite concept in all post-war Snarry stories. What does Severus do now that he's finally finished his penance? In my own thoughts (and writing) he doesn't know what to do with himself or how to accept that he's forgiven. But this look at him was refreshing. He isn't necessarily a broken man here. Just a man looking to move on, damn it.

And I, on a more shallow note, I was so pleased by the sex scene. I adore bottom!Snape like there's no tomorrow.

The take on their relationship was refreshing. We female writers tend to write them too flowery because it's what we like, but this very matter of fact sex scene was so masculine, in an excellent way. Severus notices Harry looking at his hands, goes to his bedroom. End of story.

In case you couldn't tell by now, I adored this. This was amazing to me and will be reread when I want something excellent and inspiring.

*standing ovation*

(Reply to this) (Thread)

oliversnape
2011-11-10 12:50 am UTC (link)

Wow, what an awesome review! I'm sorry I'm so late in response, but I wanted to say that I've read your note a few times and I'm dead chuffed. This story is not my usual style, and while it was a challenge, I'm glad that the light layers of it came across so well.

I felt so bad for Harry as well; he originally wasn't going to be so lost but it just had to be done.

As for the sex, I'm all about equal opportunity and bottom!Snape is hot! I'm also not a fan of flowery eroticism, so I try to avoid it like the plague.

Thank you again!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

suitesamba
2011-10-21 02:52 pm UTC (link)

Wow. Absolutely brilliant. I adored your Severus--as a cat and a human. You absolutely nailed the cat part (this says the cat lady) and he was ohh so much better as Severus the man. The entire story was artfully done, wonderfully structured, beautifully contrived. Harry going to King's Cross, the fog, the slow reveal of what exactly he was up to...all perfect in my book. And Severus' behavior once he was restored to human form, how he behaves with Harry, with Lucius, was so real, so believable. Kudos to you for this wonderful story of healing.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 12:52 am UTC (link)
	Thanks! I have a cat, and mine nearly tore my lip piercing out one night that he threw himself against my shoulder/head. Severus this cat here is very closely mirrored to my own little devil. ;) I'm so glad you liked the fic! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	shoeboxes4all 2011-10-22 03:28 pm UTC (link)
	I heart this ever so much. thank you 8) (Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 12:52 am UTC (link)
	You're welcome, and thank you for the compliment! :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	veridari 2011-10-22 05:08 pm UTC (link)
	When we finally find out why Harry is sitting at the station, my heart shattered. I knew it had to be something really sad. I love broken!Harry and a Severus who knows just what to say and do to bring him back. Your cat!Snape was just perfectly spot on. LOVED this to bits. A really wonderful story! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 12:54 am UTC (link)
	Not that I'm trying to plant any more images in your artistic mind, but Harry sitting on a foggy platform wrapped up in a huge scarf, with a grumpy cat in an owl cage beside him? :) He just seemed so lost that I had to write this. I'm so glad you liked the story! (Reply to this) (Parent)

countesszero
2011-10-22 05:34 pm UTC (link)

This made me cry. I have such a childish weakness for cat!Snape that it's really embarrassing. And Harry and his losses and the way he dealt with them broke my heart. From the moment on you chose to write the cat as a Russian Blue (and I always was fond of blue cats and their temperament) and not as a say, black cat, I knew you would handle the whole cliche brilliantly! Pay hommage to it, gently make fun, play with it in a creative way, but never merely repeat it.

Also, your Snape was perfect to me. How I loved the moment when he tells Harry that he is causing the fog. He is the only one who can reach Harry, the only one who understands Harry's pain.

(And also, I loved the sex! It was different and lovely and tender and yet incredibly hot!)

Great work! Thank you for this! :)

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 12:59 am UTC (link)
	Aww, I'm sorry to make you cry! Wasn't quite what I intended; the story seems to be sadder than I realised. The cat was modeled after my own, who is not a Russian Blue, but still a little devil sometimes. I thought it would be perfect for Snape, as he's not only black. He's got different colours and layers to him. Thank you for the compliment! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	torino10154 2011-10-23 07:19 pm UTC (link)
	Not your average cat!fic. Poor damaged Harry. I'm glad that eventually he and Severus were able to heal together. Really nicely done. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 01:00 am UTC (link)
	Thank you! I try to aim for different. ;) (Reply to this) (Parent)

emynn
2011-10-23 10:37 pm UTC (link)

This? This is absolutely beautiful. I loved the soft and gentle tone throughout with the bouts of humor. I was also particularly impressed with your transitions and how you ended scenes...I'm thinking in particular where Severus asks if his hands are so fascinating and Harry says yes...you just really get that final punch so practically each section could stand as a story on its own. I loved Severus as a sweet, gentle cat that enjoyed sleeping on Harry's pillow and how their relationship developed once Severus returned to his human form. And as much as it broke my heart, I love that you portrayed Harry as being broken from the war. It's so easy to do "war is over, now let's do the love thang!", but he went through so much at a young age that there is no way he could emerge totally unscathed. This portrayal of him was a very real one, heartwrenching without being emo angsty, and it made me ache in the most wonderful of ways. So happy our boys were able to find each other. Beautiful work. ♥

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 01:01 am UTC (link)
	Thank you very much! Sometimes I think I end scenes too abruptly, but I'm glad it worked out in this fic, and kept with the soft feel. Like you, I'm fond of looking at how people handle situations like this, and the realism that not everyone is okay after such a war. It just makes it that much more alive. Thank you again. :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	alisanne 2011-10-26 05:05 pm UTC (link)
	I was getting teady to rec this when I relazed I hadn't commented. smacks self What a lovely and contemplative piece! Harry's obsession with King's Cross made my heart break. Trust Severus to understand. And Harry's understanding of Severus' body language made me smile. Well done! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 01:02 am UTC (link)
	Hee, thanks! and thank you for reccing the fic! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	szefi 2011-10-28 09:15 am UTC (link)
	This was wistful and charming. Loved Severues as a cat, and Minerva was great:) (Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 01:02 am UTC (link)
	Thank you! :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	lost_stray_cat 2011-10-30 10:05 pm UTC (link)
	I liked this mellower Snape, and the sex scene! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	oliversnape 2011-11-10 01:02 am UTC (link)
	Thanks! Yay for sex! :P (Reply to this) (Parent)