InsaneJournal

Current mood:	ecstatic
Entry tags:	rec, snusa

SQUEEEEE!
My gift is up at Snupin Santa! Actually - am I lucky or what? - two gifties! And they are fabulous!

Shifting is set between the wars, in Siberia, on Christmas. Snape came to collect a potion ingredient and is stuck there due to the Aurora Borealis disrupting his - everyone's - magic. Naturally, he runs into Lupin.

The writing and the imagery in this fic are so beautiful. Here, let me give you a sample:

Severus tosses and turns in the narrow bunk of the train compartment, wide awake despite the constant rocking of the locomotive. Outside, the sky is aglow with swirling, dancing clouds of light – the Aurora Borealis, that natural phenomenon which continues to disturb his days and haunt his nights. Sleep is impossible, so Severus pulls his cloak around himself and stands quietly at the window, staring out into the deep and dark December night. It's Christmas, he thinks idly – not something that he's never cared about, for the season has never brought him any comfort or joy. The snow-covered landscape glistens gently in the reflected light of the sky and the world seems very, very still. Mile after mile rolls by, eaten up by the sturdy metal wheels that speed along on the rails, carrying them closer to Lake Baikal. They're expected to arrive in the very early morning, although the nearly-constant darkness makes time almost irrelevant here. The train thunders towards the east, and Severus loses track of how long he stands there, gazing through the window at the lights in the sky. They are almost patchy in appearance now, frequently blinking on and off the way he remembers the Muggle sort of fairy lights in store windows when he was a child. It does him no good to think of those days, and he tries to shake off the encroaching sadness; tries to replace it with his customary bitterness, but both the timeless quality of being on this train and the surreal and muted feeling of standing here at the window amplify his sense of apartness.

*shivers*

The dialogue is perfect. Lupin is dry and funny, and Snape is snarky and snide. And the *ahem* sex is blistering.


Suspicious Minds is set during PoA, and done from Sirius' POV. Now, Sirius is not my favorite character, but my Mystery Author captures his loneliness, frustration, isolation - and touch of madness - perfectly enough to make me weep for him. It's done as a series of drabbles. Here is one:

You sit beside me during the Order meetings as always, but I am acutely aware that you are acutely aware of his every move. I too watch him like a hawk, but whereas at first I believed our objectives were the same, now I begin to doubt.

I watch him for signs of weakness or hesitancy, but he is as unflinching as a serpent.

He resolutely ignores us both, yet somehow, he doesn’t ignore you in quite the same way.

Perhaps his hatred for me is greater? I would certainly hope so, as my hatred for him knows no bounds.

*nnnnn*


This link goes directly to eFiction, and this to LJ, and this to IJ. You need an account to comment on eFiction - but that's easy to set up - but you can also comment on LJ or IJ. If you like them, and how can you not, please leave love for my Marvelous Mystery Author!