Yeah ok, I’ll make my case for Snape/Shacklebolt, I've a completely sincere soft spot for them.
Shacklebolt’s an honorable guy, but he’s very much a manipulator. Dude’s introduced lying to his superiors that Sirius is in Tibet! He can talk down Vernon and blend in in a muggle government office! He plays double-duty working for the Ministry and the Order and he does it so well that he gets elected minister in the aftermath! He’s the “face” that gets initial post-war reforms past a staggeringly conservative government and population! He’s also highly competent. This is the exact sort of guy Snape tends to attach himself to (Voldemort, Dumbledore… heck, I’d even count Lucius and imperius-specialist Mulciber among the good-at-his-job manipulators. Obvs Voldy and Dumbles are the most competent, but even Lucy is quite good at what he does before Voldemort rugpulls him!) Snape, of course, has the rare-among-wizards gift of logic and common sense (…usually) and has a strict set of morals (even if they seem incomprehensible from the outside sometimes), which makes him an anomaly in the setting.
Some sort of post-war setup where Snape survives could frankly have them being stabilizing influences on each other — Shacklebolt has this “functional adult” thing on lockdown and has absolutely dealt with worse tantrums, and Snape has the ability to look him in the face and be like “that’s absolute bullshit” when the situation calls for it, their traumas do not seem to overlap, they can keep up with each other mentally without feeling like they’re encroaching on each other’s specialty… it’s downright nice and peaceful. They realize they don't have to lie to each other, since Shacklebolt knows Snape was a spy and Snape knows at least the general gist of what the post-war reform plan is, and then they bond over shittalking everyone in private and being the smartest two people in any given room (now that Dumbles is dead), and then one morning Snape wakes up to the shocking revelation that he’s been in a relationship for like two years and has never once been asked to be useful about it.
… Also polite, charming, ex-auror and gleefully public-facing politician Minister Shacklebolt with his bitchy dark arts-obsessed unwilling war hero of a husband is just a fun mental image.
You know what, Snackelbolt!anon? I dig it.
It does sound peaceful. A bit like Tonks/Moody. They just vibe and aren't riddled with overlapping trauma.
And I suppose Snape would still be triggered and weakened from the war but I could imagine Kingsley (being a functional adult) being able to 1) protect him from the press and prying eyes after the war to help him heal, 2) be able to get through Snape's fits of anger without flinching too much and deescalating the situation quite well (he's a politician) and 3) be one of the very few people who could convince him after a while to go to therapy.
And they develop a true respect for each other and slowly it evolves and one night Severus is at Kingsley's place (like every Thursdays) and they're talking on the couch and there's a silence and they look at each other and there's something in the air you know (even Severus can feel it and that makes him super nervous) and Kingsley is very chill about it (he's aware of what's been happening for a while he's in no rush).
And they kiss but Severus stops it because he's overwhelmed but most of all he's anxious about changing their relationship because it's actually nice and he values it and he doesn't want to loose that.
But Kingsley is chill. And it takes its time (a bit like in 'Second Life' if you know you know) and then I love the idea of 'it's two years later and Severus realizes he's in a relationship and hasn't been asked to be useful in any way.'
Yeah, I dig it. I'd like to read that first time on the couch.
