I'm posting this fic rec on Hwyla's behalf, as she doesn't havr an LJ or IJ. It was originally posted as a comment on my entry: "Snape and his women". The rec below is taken verbatim from Hwyla's comment.
Rec for
The Birthday Present by excessivelyperky.
EDIT: Totalreadr from LL has asked me to add a prostitution warning, and I'd like to direct you to her comment about sex/romance below. Thanks totalreadr - I appreciate people pointing me to warnings that have been missed.
Also warning for abuse including sexual abuse, and angst.
Elethian also points out that the fic is a massive total of ~800,000 words - see Elethian's comment below.
[...]
I thought that since I was reminded of the fic I want to suggest by this subject (Snape's friendships - with Minerva and Poppy in particular) I would post it here in this section. In other words, these posts here are what reminded me of this particular fic. And a great deal of the fic is about Snape beginning to understand what it means to have true friends and truly BELIEVE they CARE for him (not pity him). It is also about the people who care for him, opening their eyes and truly seeing HIS situation.
It's AU since she began it just before HBP (bk6) and finished it just around the time DH (bk7) came out. So, canon up to the end of OotP (bk5). Because of this, Snape's background is different but with a few similarities (pureblood, but grew up on Knockturn Alley, still poor, but I'll let you read it to see the difference in abuse, etc.) And has one of the most original ideas I've read for Snape's 'nasty' disposition.
I read it faithfully, as it came out - week by week (more or less) have reread it several times since then and cried over it many times. No love interests for Snape, no lemony sex - mention of very underage slash with undertones of abuse and also of outright sexual abuse pre-Hogwarts.
Hope some of you might enjoy it! -- HwylaThe Birthday Presentby excessivelyperky
Warning for prostitution.