The Other Side of Darkness

A Snape/Hermione story by Abby

Disclaimer: The characters and the universe of Harry Potter belong to J.K Rowling. No disrespect is intended. This story is written for sheer enjoyment. No profit is being made from it. The story itself is mine <g>. Please do not archive without my permission.

Rating: NC-17 for sex, subject matter and generally not being nice. The story contains consensual sex between adults. There is also some material involving Draco Malfoy which probably constitutes slash, but personally, I think that it’s on the outer edge of the definition. However, you have been warned J.

Author’s Notes: This came about following some shameless bullying from Clare009, and a long conversation with Anne in Starbucks. So if you like it, it’s all down to me, and if you don’t - it’s not my fault, they made me do it….. <vbg>

(Most) deliberate borrowings are done with permission. My biggest debts of inspiration are probably to Pawn to Queen, Marrach, and A Higher Price. I humbly grovel and apologise for any subconscious, and unintentional, borrowings from their or anyone else’s fic - I have no doubt there are loads anyway - please take it as sincere homage <g> Tell me about it, and I’ll credit you…. There is one almost direct lift from the Lord of the Rings. And a couple from the Wizard of Oz. And one from The Lion in Winter.

As for Sphinx - the name is not borrowed from the wonderful writer <g> but from the breed of cat that she most closely resembles. In fact she is based on a real cat of my close acquaintance, who, is, in fact, called Esmé. Confused yet? <g>

Thanks to Anne for kicking around the psychology of Snape with me, and thanks to Clare009 for alternately bullying, betaing and providing reassurance/validation at 2 o’clock in the morning when I am convinced that I can’t write a decent laundry list, let alone any form of fiction. <hugs> guys!