Snapelets?

sabrinanymph recently asked in the comments to this post:

...what's this about a Snapelets fic? How did I miss this, is there anything available currently?

Which made me realize that I've never really posted a coherent message about this particular WiP, I've just gone on merrily assuming people knew about it. But unless you've been following my blog as well as my LJ for quite some time, you probably don't. So, here's the scoop.

Calling this story "the Snapelets fic" is heavily tongue-in-cheek: it makes it sound like a fluffy little piece where Snape and Maud look benignly at their precocious but adorable kids, and make clucking noises over all the naughty but clever things those children have been up to lately. Fortunately for those of my readers not equipped with strong stomachs, or otherwise inclined to seek out fics drenched in syrup, I'm not writing anything of the sort. In fact, it's going to be fairly grim in parts, as those of you who have read Cry might have begun to suspect.

The structure of this story is going to be a bit different from anything else I've written so far: what I'm doing is writing up scenes in pretty much random order, as they occur to me, and then I'm going to piece them together and add connective tissue as necessary. The story covers a significant period of time -- about fifteen years, possibly more -- so I'm just dipping into the Snape family history here and there where it relates to the main plot. That plot being, as it happens, Margot Snape's development from a shrewd and observant young woman into a calculating, iron-willed Evil Overlady who makes Voldemort look, well, about as stupid as he actually was. :)

Anyway, so far I've written four scenes that are publicly available, though a couple of them (especially the first) are noticeably incomplete, and all are sure to be revised when I've got more of the story written. But you can get an idea of what I'm doing by looking at these:

The Discovery. While camping in the countryside near his mother's childhood home, ten-year-old Malcolm Snape finds an artifact amid the ruins.

The Reunion. At the Hogwarts school reunion, a twentysomething Malcolm witnesses the formation of a dangerous friendship between his sister Margot and a Most Unsuitable Person.

The Confrontation. Shortly after the preceding incident, Geoff Weasley demands to know the truth about Margot and her new partner in potential crime, with surprising and unfortunate results.

The Library. Near the end of his first year at Hogwarts, Malcolm agonizes over his Potions grade. Fifteen-year-old Margot critiques Voldemort, and expounds on how a Real Leader would operate. Albion, the Snape family's resident Quidditch star, Head Boy, and all-around model of Good Form, is not impressed.

Current scenes in progress include a Snape family dinner party (which I am indebted to lizbee for suggesting), and a scene very close to the end of the fic in which Geoff's idea of Something Wonderful turns out to be a bad, bad thing for all concerned. There's also a peripherally connected story called "Golden Boy" which I wrote for lizbee's birthday, since she's a Mad Albion Fangirl. If you've read the other available scenes and decide you'd like to see that one, I'll send the link on request...

(no subject)

I'm in a potentially disastrous situation here. Help!

At about 4:30 this afternoon Nicholas, who has been battling a bad cold for the past four days and is still fatigued from our long road trip, unexpectedly put his head down on the living room carpet and went to sleep. From past experience with these late-afternoon naps of his, I realized that there was no point even trying to wake him until he'd had at least an hour, so I took the baby downstairs for a while. At 5:30 I tried to wake Nicholas up several times, with little success, until I bribed him up with the promise of chocolate. He wandered into the kitchen, ate the chocolate, then turned straight around and went back to the couch to lie down again. I tried a second time with some more chocolate -- he got up again -- and then offered him a drink of milk and some supper. But he only put his head down on the table beside his untouched plate and whimpered, "I can't. I have to sleep."

Obviously there was nothing for it but to let him crawl into bed and cover him up. Which I did. And he slept. He is still sleeping as I write. I don't try to wake him up now, I'm afraid he's going to be awake and hungry at 4:30 a.m. On the other hand, if I do succeed in waking him up now, he'll have had such a long nap that he probably won't go down to sleep again until after midnight.

What's a mother to do? *tears hair*

Lots and lots of lovely D&L art...

Courtesy of Em:

A beautiful portrait of Maud, taken from a larger pic of Maud and Snape together which I also like very much (especially the trippy look on Snape's face -- I mean, clearly that Hair Thing has become a serious addiction).

Then there's my secondary OC's, Jennet Peachtree and the irrepressible Imogen Crump.

And finally, appropriately enough considering my previous post, it's the Snapelets. I never thought of giving Margot this particular hairstyle, but now that I've seen it... it's awfully tempting.

Check out more by the same artist -- if you're into Tonks/Remus, for instance, it's a positive feast.

And just when I thought my week couldn't get any better, I got an e-mail alerting me to a new gallery of D&L illustrations by sannalim:

Trilogy cover

The Potions Master's Apprentice cover

Personal Risks cover

If We Survive cover

aaand it's the Snapelets all over again! Snape Family Portrait

Seriously, I am overwhelmed. Thank you both very, very much. Wow!