Title: Aftermath by Josan (NC-17)
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Severus Snape/Ron Weasley
Categories: post-canon, drama, romance, slash
Length: Epic (50,000 words)
Warnings: Non-con, rape, torture (mostly off-stage), serious medical problems

Author Website: Josan
Author on LJ: tales_of_josan (moribund)

Summary:
It's long after the War, and Severus Snape discovers there is more to life than potions.

Review:
This is another one of those stories I first came across years ago, but which has stood up to re-reading. I admit I read it the first time because I saw the pairing and couldn't believe anyone could write a story matching Ron and Snape that would work at all. It does, though.

The main reason it works is that both men have changed after the war. Snape has resigned from teaching and is hiding himself from unwelcome attention in Muggle Liverpool. Ron, refusing to accept charity and suffering from a curse that has left his motor control shot, crosses paths with him. What starts off as something of a challenge rapidly becomes more than that as Ron and Snape find themselves dealing with what might be the resurrection of the Death Eaters.

Fascinatingly, that's only half the story, pretty much literally. At least as much time is spent on dealing with the other Weasleys' reactions to the pair, which are not exactly friendly to start with. The Weasley women in particular take a long time to come to terms with Ron flourishing with Snape as he didn't in their care, and it takes a suitably long time for those emotions to work themselves out.

This isn't a perfect story. While the wordsmithing is just fine and the plot entirely credible, the characters' voices don't quite ring true to me. In some respects the story has been thoroughly jossed through having been written well before the final books were out, though that's hardly its fault. Even so, for me it stand head and shoulders above the crowd for coming up with a remarkable story of triumph over adversity.

Aftermath

Or on LJ without the annoying ads: Aftermath Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.