You will pardon me, I'm sure, but this is likely the most favourite fic I've ever written. It needs to be posted as Ingredients for a Potion, and with the art supplied by and commissioned from the wonderful, talented lonerofthepack, my eldest spawn (a writer in her own right, natch!) So, for the next 30-40 some days, you'll be seeing me post one Ingredient a Day. It's meant to be read this way and I am indulging myself with this. Forgive.
Without further ado, let's get this cauldron bubbling!
Title:Controlled Burn
To:sugareey
Author: tigersilver
Pairing/Threesome: H/D; Snape as Mentor
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: * AU & EWE. Time travel, in a sense. Rough sex (not dubcon or noncon); quasi-underaged relations; flangst. Implied het; inclusion of NextGen characters.*
Story notes: This tale is literally in pieces. I hope the reader will forgive me, but I'm humbly asking that he/she concocts it as he/she goes along. Discard the parts you dislike and retain the bits you wish, if you please. It is a jumble sale of a fic; a Chinese takeaway menu. Still, I believe all the essentials are present: the ingredients needed for this Potion (if you'll forgive the fancy), and the proper preparations provided for self-ignition of the conflagration, powering Snape's most ingenious recipe yet. To provide some relief, fair Reader, I've based the action loosely on the Dave Carter song 'Tanglewood Tree'…but not reliably.
Beta'd and coded by: My lovely, forgiving, endlessly patient Dream Team:demicus*, lonerofthepack and megyal*. Additional much-needed assistance provided by the incomparable groolover* and the marvellous altri_uccelli*. All further errors are mine own and I claim them proudly.
Word count: 40,000+/-
Summary: Deceased Professor Severus Snape had always claimed he could 'stopper death itself' with his skill at Potions. What he did not make generally known to his young students was that a Potion could accomplish so much more than merely halt the Grim Reaper. In the proper circumstances, that is, and with the correct motivators, Time itself could be altered. Invoking the ancient Beltane Magic, a bewildering variety of ingredients, Snape's most private jottings and his sage, acerbic counsel (albeit portrait-purveyed), Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy (singly and together) attempt to set to rights a massive wrong—a rift in the very temporal fabric—that only they perceive clearly…and perhaps not always as clearly as all that, either. Their joint efforts have/will/might, could and can remould the very foundations of their lives and the lives of others. And, if Janus should smile, they will succeed.
Disclaimer: Characters are the property of JK Rowling, et al. This was created for fun, not for profit.
Author's Note: Dearest sugareey, I owe you a proper and very humble apology! I've had this Beltane concept in my head for ages now and all I wished was to have the opportunity to charge ahead and write the damned thing. Fortunately, the wonderful Mods were able to match us up, you and me, and I'm hoping that, although I've not given you all you asked for nor even a quarter of it, really, I did manage to include and incorporate at least a little of your particular Requirement. And not to worry! There is no Epilogue; really, there isn't. I hope, too, that you'll forgive me for practically eloping with this tale; I couldna' help myself, I swear it, 'pon book, bell and candlestick! As for everyone else who tackles this gnarly tangle, you'll likely notice a few stray references to some fairly weighty H/D fanfic titles. You are not mistaken; this is deliberate. I (ahem) was being terribly clever. Please forgive!
Note: This is posted as a whole at hds_beltane*, where it was part of the 2011 Fest. I owe a debt of eternal gratitude to thisgirl_is, Mod Extra-Ordinaire and brilliant author. She put up with me through numerous extensions, and she wrote me the most perfect of Beltane gifts: Stuck On You.