Now *that* was a fulfilling story. I am all full of happy contentment now. So much joy, mixed with softly dark suspense. Heh: Harry, mixed with Snape, I guess I'm saying!
I loved the "5 aids to healing" as a plot device (though the other 3 are??) ... it was a lovely, lovely way for Harry to get inside Snape's defences. Of course, Snape was getting inside his, too...
This is a story I will love re-reading again not just for the fun, the love, the sex, the dialogue and the description (subtle but very precise: just like Master Snape). I will also love looking at the clues, or savoring the progression. Like I was just thinking that Shacklebolt shows up at the beginning and the end. Was it when he visited Snape after he was found, that Snape decided to free Shacklebolt from the burden of renegade DE's - or worse alternative, unwanted publicity about their deaths? Is that when Snape planted in Shacklebolt's mind the hint that he'd like to see Harry?
My goodness, Severus Snape is devious. And Author, so are you! Beautifully written: thanks. And I will imagine a wonderful later reunion between them when Harry not only finds Snape in Thailand (or the place Mulciber flees to), but helps Snape too...
And may I say I heartily applaud your declining to write the sequel *cough*Epilogue in which you name and describe their children? Thank you for the open -- but joyously promising -- ending.