Fic Rec: Unexpected Effects by RussianWolf7.
Fic: Unexpected Effects.
Author. RussianWolf7.
Status: Complete.
Word Count: 160+
Summary: Two years after being impaled by the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, Harry starts noticing some...odd changes. During eighth year he can no longer pretend, and has to deal with what he's become. In order to do that, he has to get help from someone less-than-ideal. Over the years, Harry and Snape's relationship grows; now with an alternative Snarry ending. Rating to be safe.
Themes/Genres/Warnings: Misunderstandings, Unresolved Sexual Tension, and extreme fluffiness. The genres are romance, adventure, and a pinch of hurt&comfort. Warnings... I don’t know, just the usual stuff, much lighter than what I wrote in Unwell and Pantogogue, which are decidedly dark stories.
Narrative: The narrative is L-O-V-E-L-Y. I always tend to read darker Snarry fics because I have this idea that Snarry without some sort of tragedy is just not Snarry, and while the idea of turning into a Basilisk is pretty worrying in a sense, it is not handled with obscurity. And still, it fits well with the author’s story line. They are superb at evoking emotions, especially tenderness, which I think is major in a romantics story’s recipe for success. The Unresolved Sexual tension does not happen until a while later in the story, not even after one of them realises they do feel something else for the other. Maybe it is more of an Unresolved-every-time-I-see-you-I-get-tingly-and-want-to-cuddle-and-hug-and-kiss-you-but-I-don’t-know tension. The tension is just... tense. Amazing.
Character breakdown: Harry is amazingly sensitive, without taking away the things that made him edgy and prickly in canon. He is still kinda immature, but with an amazing heart, and interestingly dense, which is one of canon Harry’s most frustrating but endearing traits. Snape is a work of art here. There is no overt tenderness, and he isn’t fluffly, and his behaviour is still stoic and cold and dry, but you can detect where he is softer without it being cloying at all. Maybe not softer, but commiserating, and then, later, passionate.
The story is a little bit closed up, because the story isn’t filled with interactions with other characters, but when I read it I didn’t feel it. The story does a good job with that.
My opinion: Eeeeekk *squeals* Just lovely and fluffly and tingly and amazingly tender.
