OH MY GOD. Oh, my god, where to start? I'm not even sure I know what to say. This... this was absolutely amazing! Can I take the liberty to say I love you so much right now? It took me three days to read it all (damn RL), but god, it was SO worth it. I'm blown away. I tried really hard not to cry at the end and failed, not because the ending was that sad - no, I actually found it quite hopeful and I was very happy for Snape being free at last - but from the sheer emotional intensity building up and up and up since Harry and Snape were caught in that fire. Overwhelming intensity.
I felt tears prickling my eyes at several other moments, too. Like with Ron. And especially with Hermione's reaction when he was gone. And I'm not a Ron fan nor have I ever liked Ron/Hermione. But it really struck a chord with me.
Your characterisations were fantastic. I'm so in love with your Snape. Oh, Harry was just as wonderful but it's always Snape's characterisation that can make or break a story for me and your Snape was perfect.
The sex - guh. Talk about scorching. UST and actual sex both. I even found hot the one time when Snape bottomed and that's, okay, not a first for me, but very, very rare. I feel like keyboardsmashing but I'm trying for some semblance of coherency here. *g*
The whole story felt... I'm not sure how to describe it but I kept thinking of dark magic, subtle and seductive and dangerous. A poor metaphor, I'm sure, not conveying what I'm trying to say, but really, I'm enthralled. I wish I could give you feedback even half as good as what you always give to others (yes, I do read your comments whenever I see them :-)) but I don't think I could, even if English were my native language. Still, I feel I could say a lot more about this fic but it would probably be just rambling. So. Anyway. Thank you for this gem of a story. I wish I could give you more than a 9 because you totally deserve it.