Brainstorming, Plot Ideas, and Story Help
This is a place to discuss works in progress, future story ideas, offer prompts for other writers, or request help if you're struggling with a particular character/plot point.
I'll kick things off with an idea I've had for years. I don't know when (or if) I'll turn it into a story… at the very least, I'll have to wait until I finish my current WIP.
"Sometimes, I think we sort too soon."
I've always believed that Severus could potentially fit into any of the four houses. He has the bravery of a Gryffindor, the loyalty of a Hufflepuff, the intelligence of a Ravenclaw, and the cunning of a Slytherin. I'd love to write a story that explores what might've happened if he'd been sorted into each of the houses… I know Slytherin is redundant, but the other three could be intriguing.
As far as Slytherin goes, maybe that could be both the start and end point. What I mean is, he starts off with the canon version of his life as a Slytherin, but is given the chance (or forced to) experience life as a member of the other houses. Ultimately, he's given a choice. He can trade his canonical future for that of his Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, or Ravenclaw counterpart, or he can start over as a Slytherin.
If he chose Slytherin, he'd be doing so with the wisdom/perspective he gained from his experience with the other houses. I could explore how that might change things, what might've turned out differently, etc. Could be an interesting take on a "do over".
The overall theme of the story would go back to that concept of "sorting too soon". I'd want to demonstrate that ultimately, he did belong in Slytherin, but at 11 years old, he didn't fully understand what that meant or how to handle it. Were things doomed to go wrong? Or could it have all been different had he been more prepared, etc?
Just a rough idea for now, though I think it has potential. Also, it would give me an excuse to write more Snily, which I haven't gotten to do in a while.
Would he be given a chance to view what those alternate lives as a non-Slytherin would have been like the first time around, or does he just have to choose using only his past experiences?
I haven't gotten that far in my planning, though there would have to be an end point. It wouldn't be much of a choice if he could see how all the different versions of his life would play out, especially if one was significantly better than the others.
I'm thinking that the endpoint should be October 31, 1981. That was the lowest point in his life, a clear schism between his past and future. He suffered the deepest, most soul crushing regret, which I'm sure included being sorted into Slytherin (and everything that led to). It makes sense to use that date as an anchor… it also leaves plenty of unanswered questions considering that he was only 21.
So he gets a feel for the alternatives, but he doesn't know exactly how they'd play out. In one version, maybe he's dating Lily, but they're not married yet. Maybe in another version, they've had a falling out, but for completely different reasons than SWM. Hell, I could even have one version where he's the one who chooses to end their friendship. The possibilities are endless, especially when you bring in additional factors (other characters, alternative friendships, the war, future plans, etc).
There's a work on FFN called "What If? The Afterlife of Severus Snape" by Escoger. It's currently a WIP, but it sort of has a similar premise, only with a broader time frame. If you know of it, that might be a good work to read and get a feel for how things go down based on slight changes.
As for your timeframe, just as clarification, if the end point is Halloween 1981, what would the start point be? I'm guessing the Sorting Ceremony?
That was my initial thought, but now I'm thinking about that incident on the train. That's really the first time that Severus's potential future in Slytherin had a detrimental effect on his life. Might be interesting to start off with how James/Sirius would've reacted if he'd mentioned a different house, and how it might've changed their dynamic moving forward.
I'll check out that story after I finish catching up on yours. Planning to read at least one more chapter sometime tonight. ❤️
There's a couple of ideas I've had cooking in my head for a while, but there's one in particular that is Snape-centric.
So, I'm sure that Snily fans especially is familiar with a somewhat common premise: Snape dies, gets a do-over, gets the girl and gets his happily ever after. My favorite fic with the premise is The Peace Not Promised but there's plenty of others.
What I had in mind was a fic that takes this idea as an initial "backstory". Snape dies, is prompted for whether he wants a second chance at his life, "even a third chance just in case". He agrees, and the fic's initial chapter is basically this. He gets his do-over, and with the advantage of hindsight makes a much happier life, a family with Lily with children. He ultimately dies in old age, surrounded by his loving family, content with everything he accomplished.
...Only to get his "third chance" as he "wanted", now back in 5th year before the Mudblood scene again. Except, while in his first life, he never got to live for himself and never managed to let things go. As a result, in his second life, he managed to assimilate into the student body as a student again without too much trouble since he lived most of his adult life in a weird state of limbo, never allowing himself to truly live. He did not miss anything from his first life. But this isn't the case anymore. He has lost his love, and his family. And he'll never get them back -- even if he tried, it would be a lie to himself, and he knew that he couldn't possibly replicate his second life fully since he'd forget important details.
The people around him are no longer familiar to him. They're no longer the counterparts he left behind. How would he even cope? Would he distance himself from the people he got close with the second time around, try to muddle through the last few school years and then try to integrate with a different group of people that don't remind him of what he lost?
So he agrees to three chances, only for it to backfire when his second chance works out perfectly? That's a really interesting concept, though it would be even stronger if you tied it to an overarching theme. For example, maybe the point of him being given three chances isn't about a "happily ever after" with Lily. Maybe the point could be that the difference between happiness and misery is learning to love himself.
During his second chance, he makes better choices, has a future with Lily, ends up being happy. That's what scares him so much about his third chance, because he thinks that happiness is entirely based on her/the life they had together. Maybe the third chance pushes him into a different scenario, one where being with her isn't the outcome. He's alone (or with someone else) yet still manages to have a happy, fulfilling life, teaching him that happiness ultimately comes from within.
That said, you could still make Severus/Lily endgame if you wanted to. Maybe at the end of the story, he gets to choose one of his three fates. He chooses her, not because he needs to be with her to be happy (lesson learned in the third chance), but because he truly loves her.
Anyway, just a thought. I'd love to read your story, no matter which direction you take it!
@heatherlly, your comment reminds me of a Snape timeloop fic I read long ago.
Basically he jumped into the fifteen year old body and made good choices and had his happily ever after with the Lily only to find that he looped to his fifteen year old self again after his death. He kept looping after his deaths no matter what he did.
At last he chose to repeat his first life choices consciously and 'died' again from Nagini only to awaken in the hospital wing of Hogwarts greeted by Ron and informed about victory in the war and being saved due to the anti-venom he made to save Arthur from Nagini's bite.
The lesson Snape learnt that while his choices were bad, they were his 'best' choices made under those circumstances and he learnt to accept those choices and forgiving himself for them.
Quote from Krystal on February 12, 2023, 10:19 am@heatherlly, your comment reminds me of a Snape timeloop fic I read long ago.
Basically he jumped into the fifteen year old body and made good choices and had his happily ever after with the Lily only to find that he looped to his fifteen year old self again after his death. He kept looping after his deaths no matter what he did.
At last he chose to repeat his first life choices consciously and 'died' again from Nagini only to awaken in the hospital wing of Hogwarts greeted by Ron and informed about victory in the war and being saved due to the anti-venom he made to save Arthur from Nagini's bite.
The lesson Snape learnt that while his choices were bad, they were his 'best' choices made under those circumstances and he learnt to accept those choices and forgiving himself for them.
While not the same, this reminded me of Looped by Rumors of an Alchemist ( https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13291258/1/Looped ). The premise is Lily (not Severus) getting series of do-overs until she ultimately does a drastic change to the timeline. But the outcome is very different from the fic you mentioned.
