Snape Fanfic Recommendations (Severus/Lily)
I first learned about this community after adding a number of Snily fic recs to a comment thread under Heatherlly's Obscura Nox Anime, and I've just been lurking in the months since, unsure about making this post. I enjoy shipping Sev with most characters, but something about the potential and what-ifs of his and Lily's relationship has always intrigued me, and young Severus is such an interesting character as well! Unfortunately, Snily is a relatively rare pairing, and finding good fics takes time. Here is a list of a bunch I personally have found and enjoyed, but please feel free to add others!
*Note: This pairing is often in many messed-up situations. A lot of these stories do not shy away from torture, rape, and similarly adult themes. Check the tags and watch out for yourself.
Chaptered Works:
A Dealer, Not a Death Eater
This is one of the best long Snily AUs I've ever encountered. Really long and gets really dark, but so well written and I love how Jaxon writes both these characters and their relationships. This Severus is transformed (but still recognizable and beautifully characterized) by the confidence Lily's love gives him, even as their world gets so much darker. It's unfinished, but at 162 chapters there's so much quantity and quality here that I still really recommend it. It's just so beautifully done.
Life, Loyalty and Love
Another absolutely amazing long Snily AU. Finished and beautifully done. Snape and Lily are the only ones left who can beat Voldemort.
Right after I read it, I wrote in my bookmark that this fic "doesn't hide away from canon violence but doesn't glorify it either. Probably one of the most realistic about death eater service, and man this Severus is amazing! Brilliantly written and an absolute joy to read." Very highly recommend.
A Dream Carved in Stone
Summary: “When an unmarried Lily Evans joins the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore gives her a simple mission: meet with the Death Eater Severus Snape and tell him what she's done.”
Right after I finished reading, I wrote that "this one is absolutely brilliant. Makes so much sense, in both the character and world-building sense. So lovely, a joy to read."
Summary: "Severus wakes up in the afterlife expecting something rather different than being almost-seventeen again. But wait - Lily's come back, too - from 1981? Perhaps it's a second chance... but for what?"
^This is a time-travel fic that is brilliantly done; after reading I wrote that it's one of the "most beautifully written and introspective fics I've read, and it's an absolute pleasure to read."
Puzzle
Summary: “Three years after Voldemort visited Godric’s Hollow, Lily now lives under the protection of loyal Death Eater Severus Snape in a world ruled by the Dark Lord’s conquest. But the Order of the Phoenix is not completely eradicated, and two names are beginning to return to her: Harry and James.”
I’ve got to say, I think this fic (although it has an amazing story) did Severus dirty. Lily in this one is also absolutely ruthless, disturbing, and an extremist. After reading I wrote that although this story is really well done and an interesting read, it has a “very merciless one-viewed Lily and weak Severus compared to many depictions.” Still, definitely worth a look if you’re still interested. It gets dark.
An Affair to Forget
Lily cheating with Sev during the first war fic; everyone is messed up in this one. Canon ending.
Ambiguous
Such a good one shot, about how the prophecy could be fulfilled in other ways. Beautifully written.
Civilized People Use Doors
Summary: “Hogwarts was magical but Lily and Severus realised that Cokeworth had its advantages; long lazy days without Potter and Black, or Avery and Mulciber. No Gryffindor versus Slytherin wars, and most certainly no mention of Pureblood politics.
Just Lily. Just Severus. With a record player, a bedroom, and some time to find what makes the other tick…”
I love Jaxon's Snily so much. This is a very sweet one shot about their youth.
Oblivious (in the summer of ‘75)
Summary : ”Fifteen year old Severus' heart skips when he sees Lily, and fifteen year old Lily's heart skips when she sees Severus.
Lily attempts to show her interest, yet her best friend seems oblivious to her overtures.
But is he really oblivious-Severus? Or is he simply thinking get-a-grip-of-course-she’s-not-flirting-with-YOU-Severus?”
Adorable, very short
In a Mirror, Darkly
Dark one-shot. Ruthless Lily. Summary: “Lily Evans Potter would do anything to protect her family from Voldemort. Even seduce her ex-best friend Severus Snape.”
Seventeen Moons
AU where Remus turns Severus into a werewolf. Lily helps.
"Come Once Again and Love Me" is one of my favorite multi-chapter works, and I'm pretty sure "seventeen moons" is my favorite one-shot.
Agreed. "Come Once Again and Love Me" is the story that inspired me to write Severus/Lily.
Summary : Sometimes all that's needed for enormous differences is a small change, as small as the order of a few sentences in a heated fight. Lily Evans unconsciously makes one such change while arguing with her best friend, and the magnitude of consequences her actions cause hold the potential to reshape not only herself and the people around her, but their world's very future. A What-if AU that explores the questions of how much we know ourselves, how much we're truly influenced by our surroundings and how much we do so in turn, whether unexpected consequences arising from the choices we make are our responsibility, and ultimately, whether truth is truly an objective axiom of existence, or only what we make of it.
My review : One of the best marauders' era Snily fics without any time travel or other supernatural aspect. Starting with the butterfly effect, this fic takes the reader through a rollercoaster of emotions and I can't truly wait to see it's conclusion. They also have a sequel which takes place in AU of Philosopher's Stone with Harry Potter and Evan Snape (OC - son of Lily and Snape) as the protagonists.
When I first got very invested into Snily as a ship, I found the author Escoger on FFN, someone who, especially in the past, was a very profilic writer. Most of their fics are decent enough, but don't really stand out in terms of storytelling and writing. They do usually have rather intriguing premises, however. @Naaga posted a brainstorming idea in the plot ideas thread ( https://alwayssnape.com/forum/topic/brainstorming-plot-ideas-and-story-help/?part=3#postid-1792 ) that reminded me of Escoger, because they had in fact written a fic with the exact premise in question. I linked the relevant fic(s), but I figured I'd also post them here alongside another fic of theirs in case anyone is interested. The fics in question are these:
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/4936966/1/What-if-The-Purgatory-of-Lily After Lily's death, she is forced to view snippets from various different AUs (one universe per chapter) where she made a different choice. Most of them (not the first one, really, but the rest more or less) are heavily implied to have been moments where Lily did something very dubious for someone who maintains that they tried their best at maintaining a healthy friendship with Snape. A lot of the scenarios have SSLE endgames, but the author explores a couple of other options. My biggest issue is that the characters don't always maintain character realistically in the scenarios, and that the writing is sometimes not always the best.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13424591/1/What-If-The-Afterlife-of-Severus-Snape Similar idea but with Snape instead of Lily, and where afterlife Snape has some additional agency (unlike Lily, he is allowed some input on his own in terms of the decisions he ends up taking in the AU scenarios). It also has better writing, by virtue of being a much later work and the author having improved over time. However, it is rather slow at updating and is incomplete, which might be a dealbreaker for some.
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5639520/1/Letters-From-The-Dark In this fic (which takes place in 6th year, hence after Severus and Lily went their separate ways), everyone gets a random anonymous penpal with someone else either within their own school, or with another school. By sheer fluke, Severus and Lily get each other. They both feel that the anonymity allows them to vent their personal frustration with their peers, and end up discussing their past friendship (without knowing that they are in fact talking with each other) and how prejudices and lack of communication/understanding was a major factor in the breakdown. I consider this to be the author's best work, and it's a fic that I am happy to recommend in general. Unlike many other fics (although The Path Not Tread mentioned above also does this well), this fic gives major weight to the idea that if Severus and Lily had just truly *talked* to each other and properly discussed their worries and issues about themselves, their friendship, and each other, it would have allowed their friendship to recover. This is a view I've always subscribed to heavily myself.
Oh, these look interesting! Thanks for posting – I'll check them out as soon as I get a chance. 🙂
I also recommend all three of those, "Letters" is a really interesting premise, and the execution's pretty neat, and the Afterlife works are also really cool.
Seconded @fredriq and @thegestaltprince, I really enjoyed the 'Letters' and 'afterlife watch alternate realities' fics of the author.
The Peace Not Promised
Summary:
His life had been a mockery to itself, as too his death it seemed. For what kind of twisted humour would force Severus Snape to relive his greatest regret? To return him to the point in his life when the only person that ever mattered in his life had already turned away.
My review: Surprised that this one is not recommended here, it is in my opinion the best Snape time travel Snily fic at present. Characters felt canon compliant, plots were nicely done. Worth reading for Snily fans and a great read for marauders' era only fans.
I've heard nothing but good things about this one. Will definitely check it out when I get a chance!
