Top 5 Favorite Snape/Hermione Fanfics: And none of them are teacher-student relationships

Within the Harry Potter fandom, sometimes Snape/Hermione romance fanfic gets a lot of criticism. Either people just dislike Severus Snape in general or they disagree with the power dynamics of a teacher-student relationship or they dislike the age gap. But in the romance reading world, all of those things are fair game and sometimes even purposely sought out.

For the folks where a teacher-student power dynamic makes things squicky for you, I’ve put together a list of my top five favorite fics that happen to exclude this set up.

Fate Set Right by mltrefry

Time-Travel AU. At the end of Hermione’s third year, she has an accident with her time-turner and lands in July 1974. She is taken in by McGonagall’s brother and sister-in-law for the summer. She meets Lily and Severus on the train to Hogwarts for her everyone’s fourth year and befriends them. Story jumps between the 1970s and 1990s. Told from the perspectives of Hermione, Severus, and their daughter Aurora. One of the most solid relationships I’ve seen between Hermione and Severus, and a lot of the squick-factor people have around this ship is mitigated by them being the same age. Of the time-travel/Sevmione category, this one is my favorite. I’m usually not interested or invested in original characters, but I found myself rooting for Aurora as she interacts with Harry&Co in the 1990s.

Read this fic on Archive of Our Own

Post Tenebras Lux by Loten

Ten years Post-Deathly Hallows. Severus has been dead since the end of the Battle of Hogwarts. So why does Hermione think she sees him at a train station in Muggle London? Hermione tracks him down, finds him in a Muggle trailer park, helps him re-integrate into the wizarding world, and gets him his job back at Hogwarts. Severus is back to being the Potions professor and Hermione teaches Muggle Studies. She’s single and lonely and wants to be his friend. He’s looking to cure himself of nerve damage from too many hits of the Cruciatus curse. They work together and Hermione slowly breaks down Severus’ emotional defenses. There’s no villain or dastardly plot in this story; just two people growing and getting to know each other, and dealing with the reaction of the people around them. One of my favorites in the long beyond Deathly Hallows era category of fics.

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Sin & Vice by mak5258

Time-Travel AU. Hermione is given a special time-turner to train and become a fighter for the war; after so many turns of time, she’s older and tougher and fiercer when she meets Snape as her peer. This one takes place around the same timeframe as Books 5 through 7 of the series, but focuses on Hermione’s role in the war against Voldemort. The special time-turner comes into play quite frequently and I loved seeing Hermione and Snape come together in this one. Epic adventures involved.

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The Poison Garden by turtle_wexler

Time-Travel AU. We start after the war when Hermione is a teacher at Hogwarts. She’s accidentally transported back in time to 1987 (when Voldemort has already been defeated). She lands in Snape’s rooms at Hogwarts and has to be hidden and protected. For the duration of the summer, she stays at Snape’s house at Spinner’s End and befriends his friend and neighbor, Charity Burbage (who is the Muggle Studies teacher at Hogwarts). When it’s time for the school year to start, Hermione wears a glamour charm, assumes a fake name and becomes the Hogwarts defense teacher.

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In the World Where Things Went Right by TheTitaniumSerpent

What if Hermione was the same age as Severus? If Hermione met Severus before they started Hogwarts and remained friends throughout their school years. This one is pure fluff and super enjoyable when you need a low-drama story to read.

Read this fic on Archive of Our Own