Fic: Ex Libris

[magnetic_pole]

Title: Ex Libris
Characters: Eileen Prince, Severus Snape
Rating: PG
Word count: 1200
Summary: The summer he is sixteen, Eileen Prince says good-bye to her son.
Notes: For bethbethbeth, whose birthday (and birthday extravaganza over at polarbabe09) I missed almost a month ago. Happy belated birthday, Beth!

Comments

[aunty_marion]

Oh, I like this! The way it's Eileen who writes that sentence into the book - and of course her writing's changed since she was at school, but Hermione was right to say it looked like a woman's handwriting, wasn't she? And the fact that she lied to the Aurors (she did, didn't she?) about where Severus had been. She sort of knows what he's up to, doesn't she, and she's trying to steer him straight...

And I love that she's called the cat 'Tobias'! (Or ... is it that the cat IS Tobias??? *g*)

[magnetic_pole]

Glad you enjoyed! I felt like the handwriting in the book just couldn't be explain, no matter what--there's just no way that Harry wouldn't recognize Snape's writing, right? After five years of classes with him?--so I had a bit of leeway to go back to Herminone's intuition and not worry too much about the resulting inconsistencies. (Because Sectumsempra really does need to be Snape's himself.)

Anyways, again, glad it worked for you, and thanks for reading! M.

[aunty_marion]

Well, of course, Snape's handwriting would have changed as well since *he* was sixteen. And we know Harry's a bit thick! He might not notice the difference between two different cramped handwriting styles in margins.

[magnetic_pole]

Very true! Ah, Harry's thickness--the starting point (and excuse) for a thousand ficcish plot points... *smile* M.

[atdelphi]

Oh my goodness - I love this. In the right hands, second-person perspective can be amazing, and you nailed that here. The whole thing just rings so emotionally true in an understated way: the once-united front, the distancing, the worry. I've read and enjoyed a lot of stories with Eileen, but this is one of the few in which she seems so unmistakably Severus's mother. And I laughed out loud in startlement and glee when she picked up the cat.

[magnetic_pole]

I'm always a bit embarrassed to post something in second person, because I know how off-putting it can be--thanks for the reassurance on that front. And I'm delighted to hear the line about the cat worked for you! (I never know whether things that amuse me amuse others, too.) Thanks for reading! M.

[bethbethbeth]

Okay, this...is fantastic. Thank you, my dear.

Eileen is so wonderfully believable here. She loves her son so much, but shows it most in the way she keeps her emotions in check because a mother's love can be, well...not while your school friends are in the house, please (he's such a perfect teenage boy here).

And yes, I wept when Eileen wrote "...property of the Half-Blood Prince" in the potions book. It made *so* much sense, both that she wrote it and that this nickname was something she and her son shared, maybe the last thing they'd share.

In conclusion: LOVE!

[magnetic_pole]

As I was telling therealsnape below, I've always been puzzled by "half-blood prince" as a title that Snape took some pride in--why, when half-blood status was clearly second-rate in this society? It began to make sense when I thought of it as a relic of past, a name that had private meanings earlier in his life--as you put it, something she and her son shared, maybe the last thing.

In any case, glad you enjoyed, Beth! And happy belated birthday! *hugs* M.

[therealsnape]

How utterly brilliant!
Loved:
He was in his bedroom, asleep, as any sixteen-year-old boy should have been at that time of night! She would say that, yet her anxiety shines through.
Sometimes he seems like a marionette, all limbs and loose joints. (And strings.)
And too many pulling them.
And yet, surprisingly, not very Slytherin," you counter archly. "To pass up the chance to get ahead." And that perfect explanation of the halfblood prince line.
The potion has been mixed, with all the attention and expertise you could summon brilliant image.
Thanks!

[magnetic_pole]

So glad you enjoyed! I've been mulling over the half-blood prince moniker for years, since I just can't understand how in a culture that valued pure blood, his half-blood status (and membership in a group that had middling status in his eyes) would be something to brag about or advertise. And this solution caught my fancy...

Thanks for reading! M.

[magnetic_pole]

Maggie's MO these days: rewrite the minor women characters, demonstrating how the main characters (disproportionately men) derived much of their awesomeness from them. *g* Thanks for reading! M.