"Not Entirely Tedious" (Minerva, Severus, Albus, Filius, Pomona)

[friendshipmods]

Author:Anonymous
Prompt/Prompt Author: When one of the pairs listed above find themselves trapped in a room for several hours, they decide to take turns asking questions, which the other promises to answer honestly. At first, the questions start out pretty barbed, but as the conversation continues, the two find common ground. / igrockspock
Title: "Not

Comments

[therealsnape]

“I’ve been reading since I was three,” Minerva replied, reclining again. Such a perfectly IC reply. And why not indulge in the odd trashy novel, especially with someone selecting the juiciest.

Vengeance, you see. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” That rather does seem to sum up Snape's life. Minerva is right it is high time he tries making some friends instead of just collecting enemies.

This "not entirely tedious" afternoon could be a very good start.

[mmadfan]

Getting past some of his own preconceived ideas about Minerva -- his construction of her as someone so straitlaced she'd never read anything "trashy," or viewing her as a Gryffindor, with all his prejudices about Gryffindors, for example -- might help him start making at least one friend rather than, as you say, just collecting enemies. I like to think the two are on their way toward friendship here, too.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks very much!

[jean_doe_27]

That's Albus for you, forever cunning... fun reading, and I was really happy to see Snape joining for dinner (and I loved his Muggle style!).

[mmadfan]

Thank you!

I thought back to the early 80s, and I thought the styles back then were particularly suited to Severus -- the sort of punkish look, anyway. Glad you liked it! (I'm sure he was the best dressed of the party at the restaurant that night! *vbg*)

[magnetic_pole]

A compelling premise, and very much something Dumbledore would have arranged. :) Enjoyed the verbal sparring! M.

[mmadfan]

Thank you! Dumbledore was very useful to me here!

[kellychambliss]

I found this story not entirely tedious. In fact, I found it delightful and satisfying and smartly-charactertized and perceptive. I had to read slowly to make it last. The Severus/Minerva conversation is so plausible that as I read, the text faded away, and I simply heard their voices. There's a great deal of complex and subtle characterization here, and I loved it

[mmadfan]

Thank you very much! I enjoyed reading the different aspects of the story that you enjoyed or appreciated. It was especially nice to read that you could hear the two of them in your head as you were reading the dialogue.

Severus and Minerva are two of my favorite characters to write, though they aren't always easy to write, and I do enjoy writing them together, so this fic was a great opportunity to do that, and to do a scene with them that I'd never done and hadn't really considered before.

and of course, Minerva's response to Severus's question about "being with men." For one thing, unlike Minerva, I *have* retained my adolescent prurient interest in the intimate lives of others (or at least, of hers), and so I'm glad he asked what was on my mind (though I would not have wanted to embarrass her; I just want to know!) And I loved the way she both put him in his place and yet treated him as an equal in her answer. LOL! Yes, I too enjoyed knowing the answer to Severus's question. I'm sure that if it had been a conversation between

[igrockspock]

You have done a wonderful job with this! Severus and Minerva seem like such ordinary, understandable human beings in spite of the extraordinary history they have together and the crazy war they both just survived. I liked how you made Minerva perceptive enough to recognize his relationship with Lilly; I've always thought that she would. And I loved the little human touches, like her naughty romance novel and the kinds of tea she likes. Snape is wonderfully characterized too -- almost unbearably petty, but you can see that he's damaged and understand why he thinks the way he does. Also, I loved that Minerva calls Dumbledore out for setting her up without her knowledge; she is a grown woman who deserves the truth, and Albus needs someone who can stand up to him once in awhile. Thank you for doing such a great job with my little prompt!

[mmadfan]

Thanks! I really liked your prompt. I was very glad to have gotten it, since I immediately had a germ of an idea upon reading it. I'm glad that you liked the way the fic played out and how the characters were developed.

Thanks again for a great prompt! :-)

[mmadfan]

Oh, and I'm glad you liked the bit between Minerva and Albus. As good friends as they may be, and as much as she may admire and trust him, Minerva is quite capable of being her own witch in the relationship and not put up with any nonsense from Albus. She's not afraid to tell him what she thinks and to disagree with him when she thinks he's wrong -- and I like to think that it's one of the things that Albus appreciates about her. She's loyal to him, but not blindly or stupidly so, and that's better than a dozen yes-sayers.