2012 Favorite Fics, Part 7
The Balm of Gilead, by lucius_complex (PG-13, 5k)
Jesus H. Christ, this is a gorgeous story. The kind I'm inclined to get evangelical about; the kind that made me want to open this Tumblr in the first place, the better to spread the word. It's a fairytale of a story, which is to say it has something of a fairytale quality to it. But don't think that this means it's in any way treacly - rather, this is one of those quieter, more dreamlike fairytales. Snape, left mute after surviving the war with goblin help, is given by them a new life as a baker. He's happy making his creations with his usual precision, until one day Harry Potter stumbles into his life and his kitchen. Harry doesn't recognize Snape, but Snape knows Harry and allows him to make something of a life with him. When it all goes pear-shaped, as it so often does, Snape has a choice to make, and what he chooses will bring tears - happytears! - to your eyes.
And because he’s a fool, he allows ‘Evans’ with the half-starved eyes and the sadness palpable around him into his life, and Potter looks at him with so much quiet gratitude that he wonders if he’s starting to channel Molly Weasley. Or Pomfrey.
It became a weird world that Severus found himself in. When he was a miserable half-starved child dreaming of Hogwarts and escape, Severus would never have thought he’d become a Death Eater. And when he was a Death Eater dreaming of death and escape, he’d never thought he’d become a baker. And now…
And now Potter shows up every week as if he has nowhere else to go, and sinks with a sigh into the kitchen chairs as if there was nowhere else he’d rather be. Potter pops up, like toast; pressing his face on the windows (grubby handprints everywhere) and grinning like he already had too much sugar for breakfast. Severus imagines that if the boy owned a tail, he’d wag it.
He tries to sneer at this, and realises with some shock that he’s forgotten how.
If you enjoy the story, take the time to leave the author some love. A comment or kudo goes a long, long way.