Snapedom

This is a wonderful story, told from Percy's POV, in which he is working as a librarian in Prague, where he has fled postwar to escape both British Wizarding society and his family. To his surprise, he runs into Snape one night at the opera, and then again at the library, where Snape has come to do some research to aid Cruciatus victims (of which Ginny is one). It's really nice to see a more mature Percy, who's made a life for himself outside the confines of his family. Snape is less bitter than the canon Snape we know, but he's still recognizably Snape, and is at first snarky and defensive with Percy. However, Percy holds his own against Snape's snark, and they strike up a friendship that gradually turns into something more.

This isn't a pairing that I normally read, but it actually works quite well--Percy and Snape have a lot in common, as they are both, in a sense, living in exile from the British wizarding world. (And I've always had a soft spot for Percy, whom I thought was treated unfairly by his family in canon.) This is actually more of a Percy-centric fic, given that it's told from his POV, but it was very interesting to see Snape through Percy's eyes as opposed to Harry's POV in canon, and I very much liked Snape's portrayal and the way that the relationship between the two developed.

Hermione (as Percy's friend and sole remaining link to the British wizarding world) and Ron put in brief appearances, and are an added bonus in the fic: they're a fine example of how the trio might realistically have matured postwar. Hermione is still Hermione, but she's a little more mature, and is finding out that reforming the Ministry is a difficult and frustrating process. Ron, too, is very much in character, but tempered with a bit of maturity: Percy is surprised that his estranged brother isn't angry with him when they finally meet, and Ron replies, "I lost one brother to this war already and my sister is barely a shell of her old self. I'm not losing any more family members if I can help it, you prat." Also, the scene where Ron finds out that Snape and Percy are lovers is absolutely hilarious! ^_^

I highly recommend this fic--in fact, my only complaint is that I enjoyed it so much that I would have liked to have seen it expanded into a longer story or series, to see whether Percy ever reconciled with his family (the story seems to hint that he will, eventually) and how Molly would have reacted to her son not only being gay, but having Snape as a lover. I definitely wouldn't mind reading more Percy/Snape in the future.