Thinking about a Severitus AU where Severus takes Harry from the Dursleys and raises him as a long-lost Prince. (: Of course he'd pull it off, he the greatest damn wizard to have ever lived.

Hii, I saw your post asking for Severitus recs and I have quite a few!

- O Mine Enemy by Kirby Lane

This one is my absolute favorite, and I never miss an opportunity to sing its praises. The characterization is one of the most canon compliant and on point I’ve ever seen in the fandom; the author has a way of working WITH the characters’ canon versions instead of going against them or finding ways around them, so the whole thing reads like a natural progression of where they stand in the source material. And it’s not just Snape and Harry, either. Kirby’s Dumbledore is the most believable I’ve ever seen in any Severitus work. And the development of their relationship is SO satisfying (it’s one of those slow burn stories that make you feel like you fought tooth and nail for and earned every tender moment and every step forward, but it also doesn’t feel dragged out), and the plot is GREAT as well. Everything feels so high-stakes and so intimate at the same time. It’s got everything: Seer!Harry, alternative Horcrux lore, Dursley family bashing, kidnapping and rescue missions, arcs that progress beautifully and come full circle in more ways than one, and of course the parental/protective Snape of our dreams. The first few chapters are good but won’t blow your mind at first or anything, but the story finds its footing pretty quickly and then you won’t be able to put it down. I swear.

- The Chivalry series (The Guiltless and The Poor of God) by branwyn

I haven’t seen this one mentioned in rec lists nearly enough. The Guiltless is mostly setup, as it is all about Snape’s initial discovery of Harry’s home life. The second installment is where the story really begins to shine for me. The writing is almost lyrical at times and the plot is pretty original, as far as Severitus works go; Harry and Sev establish a tentative (and adorable) correspondence until a Potions mishap offers the most glorious excuse for angst and hurt/comfort I’ve ever seen (to give you an idea, iirc the exploding potion in question was named the draught of waking nightmares). The story also focuses quite a lot on Harry’s recovery from the Dursleys’ abuse, and Luna features prominently as well. Fair warning tho, the epilogue is a tearjerker (the happy kind of tearjerker, I promise).

- Time Left Today by gzdacz

Road trip AU (does being on the run from the cops count as a road trip?) , set immediately after Year One, in which Harry and Snape have to go on the run from the Ministry after Quirrell’s death (a journey which takes them all across Europe, and the author builds each setting beautifully). Snape’s POV here would probably be considered a bit OOC by most of the fandom, but his outer persona and dialogue was sufficiently Snape-ish to make the story feel like an organic continuation of the first book (and his inner life is constructed so well and so subtly that for once I found myself not minding the deviation from his canon harshness). Also, this little Harry is absolutely adorable and one of the most believable portrayals of a child I’ve seen in fanfic. The Lily/Sev flashbacks are yet another highlight; gzdacz’s Lily is my favorite EVER, and I desperately DESPERATELY wish there was even one Snily/Lily-centric story out there that portrayed this version of the character.

- Crime and Punishment by melolcatsi

You’ve probably already read this one since it’s a Severitus classic, but it’s a classic for a reason and I can’t make a rec list without including it.

- I Know Not, and I Cannot Know; Yet I Live and I Love by billowsandsmoke

Ok so this one isn’t really Severitus, but it scratches the same itch and it COMPLETELY blew me away. Plus, it’s only 32k words. It’s a canon compliant look at Snape mentoring Luna through the years. That’s it. I won’t say anything else because I could not begin to do it justice.

And here are a few others that, although they didn’t stand out to me like the previous ones, I really enjoyed:

- A Thousand Words by Ailee17

- It's Delicate (isn't it?) by MellarkandArt (this is only my fav part of a longer series, which I also recommend in its entirety, but I suppose it could be read as a standalone)

- I, Your Glass by koppelkat

- Under Your Skin by waitingondaisies (considerably shorter than most fics I’ve listed; Snape discovers Umbridge’s detention practices)

- Digging for the Bones by Paganaidd

- Life as Dictated by a Talking Hat by RhiannanT

- The One I Run To by Sa-kun

You might want to check for content warnings and completion status on a few of these. All the best!

I 1000% meant to answer this as soon as I got it, but I've been looking for O Mine Enemy for months. I read roughly half of it while delirious with the flu a while ago and could not, for the life of me, remember what on earth it was. Tysm!

I will definitely be checking all of these out. Your explanations made me want to read all of them! Especially the Chivalry series - I'm such a sucker for tearjerkers.

Gosh, and thank you for reminding me of Crime and Punishment. Patiently waiting for the next chapter is so hard!

Thank you again for all of these recs, all the best!

Thinking about modern Severitus where Snape catches Harry playing the Lil Alchemy phone game and spending the better half of the night playing it together.

I just want my boys to be happy.

You know, in all of this, I still feel bad for Harry. Both of his parents were horrible people (on the “good” side. Ha, sure.) and his godfather(s) were just as bad. If they had all lived, Harry would have been the WORST kind of person. You cannot be raised by bullies and come out unscathed.

Do you like Severitus? Of course you do, you're reading this.

Might I suggest A Patchwork Family by aspionage? 3 chapters, 15k words so far and so so good :D

Here's the summary:

When Harry blows up Aunt Marge, Dumbledore decides he can't be left to his own devices in Diagon Alley for the whole of August and sends him to stay with the only person available - one highly displeased Severus Snape. Harry, for his part, doesn't think this summer could get any worse. After all, what could be more difficult than living with Professor Snape? Finding out Draco Malfoy is also staying at Spinner’s End, of course. None of them know how they'll survive a month in each others' company, but they might just come out the other side with something they all need the most: a family.

Could someone please rec me some well-written Severitus fics? My crops are dying

rereading the philosopher’s stone makes me all the angrier at dumbledore

oh let’s leave harry in an abusive home (and you CANNOT tell me that arabella figg didn’t owl him over the dursley’s treatment of harry) and then continue to groom and manipulate him to die for the “right” cause

there is no defense for it and god i hate him

It is astounding to me that the Harry Potter fandom is so deadset on removing all of the characters’ personalities to make them into discount-wooby-OCs. The characterization of Harry Potter characters is the most interesting bits of canon. Why would you divorce that to play dress up with the tropes you project onto these characters?

“wow snape was such an awful person that’s why i stan my unproblematic fave remus lupin uwu”

he dated someone half his age and left her pregnant during a war

he let the marauders bully kids

he didn’t own up to fucking anything ever

but ok honey

Rereading the books and knowing what Dumbledore was about the whole time is going to be what ruins my blood pressure forever. Every time I think of what that man did I see red.

I do think that growing up is realizing Dumbledore is the antagonist of the series

I am, unfortunately, at that age where I can hardly stomach poorly written fanfiction. So desperate for the content I want to see, and yet every time someone is written out of character or there is this horrible air of informality I’m taken out of it instantly.

My brain is currently full of Snape winter thoughts, like always having something brewing because it’s cheaper than turning the heat on. Long walks in the snow to ponder potions problems. Checking through seed catalogues for spring over a warm cup of tea.

If I was a Hogwarts student I think Professor Snape would detest me and I am fine with that ♥

Though, now I do want to write a "What if" of female Harry Potter that looks just like Lily, except for his father's eyes, and how that affects Snape's relationship with her.

I'll be honest, I don't think it changes much other than Severus hating himself just a little bit more.

I think my favorite Alternative-Profession!Snape is definitely him running a dingy little apothecary in Knockturne Alley. It's quiet, it's away from people, and with his knack for sniffing out bullshit and his well-practiced discretion, he can definitely live comfortably and safely out of it.