The Secret Language of Plants (series) byEdrina

Title: The Secret Language of Plants (series)
Author: Endrina
Fandom: Harry Potter
Relationship(s): Remus Lupin/Severus Snape, Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Rating: Hard R (primarily for violence, but also non-graphic sexy times)
Genre: romance, action, adventure
Warnings: secondary character death, canon-level violence, angst, pining,
Word Count: 373,096 (for 4 parts)

Summary and Why You Should Read This:

Severus Snape finds Harry Potter being abused by the Dursleys as a toddler. He takes Harry to Remus to buy time to get Harry away and, before he can admit to what he has done, finds out that Albus plans to give Harry back to them.

Not knowing what else to do, Remus and Severus keep Harry, raise him, love him. And each other, but that’s another part of the story. Harry grows up as a loved child, allowed to do magic in his own way (which is unique!), and send him to Muggle school when they have to.

The author gives you an ‘out’ after the 2nd story and, while you certainly can stop there (it’s a good ending), don’t! The third section features all the characters from Harry Potter in ways you’ve never seen them before.

There’s an overabundance of original characters, but they have important roles in this story. The tension and lack of knowledge between wizards and muggles is a key part of this story, and the muggles show what they can do that wizards cannot.

While Harry and Draco and Hermione and Ron are major players in the story, it’s also a story of the adults doing a lot of the heavy lifting. They do adult things like being responsible for children, provide security for those that cannot protect themselves, and making informed decisions (at the times they have information to work with).

The 4th story is both an epilogue and a ‘what happens after’ story. Each chapter ties up the stories of most of the major characters and is a delight.

The writing is lyrical and poetic and draws you in. Chapters are long and engaging. They’re long enough that the author puts an occasional “if you’ve read this far in one go, you should take a break” in her end notes. I had to take her up on that more than once!