Severus's Secret

Mutual top/bottom switching. The author has a personal squick about fixed roles, so comments assigning top or bottom roles will be deleted. Please understand.

Severus has had a secret by his side ever since he was young.

A mysterious visitor from the East, a so-called "Master" dwelling in his dreams, a spirit who has lost his past, and a so-called "dear friend" lost and bewildered. Incredibly powerful, yet incredibly fragile.

He would tap pieces on a chessboard, conjuring all living things in his dreams, and chat with a smile about the mysteries of China and the mortal world. When he spoke of an "anchor," he said it was a fixed point that could hold a soul fast amid the torrent of heaven and earth, a means of confirming what made a person who they were.

For a time, Snape couldn't understand the meaning of the Chinese word. The other merely watched him with an amused expression, smiling without a word.

Many people thought that the fearsome Professor Snape was destined for a lonely, miserable life. But they didn't know that someone shared his existence, someone reshaped his soul, and someone said they would be his sword, cleaving through the misfortune of the rest of his life.

Though that someone was only one person.

Perhaps that was enough.

It was even better than he could have imagined...

A not-so-serious visitor from the East x a serious Slytherin Snake King (the professor). The order of the names has no significance.

Original character, two powerful leads, switching roles equally in both mind and body.

Anything inside [ ] is in a language other than the speaker's.

The story starts from Harry's point of view. His perspective takes up quite a bit of the early chapters, but he definitely isn't the protagonist. I can't say I like Harry, but I do pity him.

An exchange and mutual learning between Eastern and Western cultures (?)

Original male protagonist: Xiao, of the Tushan clan.

There will be fluffy fur, but no delicate little thing, no stunning beauty, and no seductress.

He's a handsome fox (or a little rascal of a fox), who might be a drama queen or might be serious.

He's a great demon with a fierce nature that's hard to suppress and a wild temperament that's hard to tame, not a silly, sweet little darling or a bewitching beauty of ambiguous gender... The fox form is just the author's personal quirk (and he's not a nine-tailed fox). The protagonist is an unconventional mutant fox.

Also, since this professor was pestered by the little rascal of a fox from childhood, I don't think his personality will be the same as in the original (shrugs). The difference won't be too great, though. He probably won't be quite so self-destructively closed off. I'll do my best.

Other pairings are tentatively as in the original.

In this setting, the HP world isn't a book or a movie. This will be explained later in the story.

Actually, I don't recommend waiting to binge-read, because the author has the nerve to say they want comments as the story updates.

Even a small change in the comment count would make me very happy.

Lately, inspiration has been very stop-and-start. I have the outline, and I'm not abandoning the story. Updates will come when they come, and progress will be slow.

Theme: Defy fate and change your destiny; human will can triumph over heaven.