HP recs: het

Posted on September 2, 2007
Filed Under HP recs masterlist, HP recs |

HET

Long fics, Medium-length fics, Short fics

Long fics (stories over 50K words, long series and such)

Brave New World, by theatresm #
Snape/OFC; R. Summary: The Account of a Muggle Teacher at Hogwarts.

This is a typical women’s novel, though a good one. Like many a het romance Harry novel, it features the Rochester-type Snape. The main character is a Mary-Sue, but also a good one. She’s a Muggle woman in her mid-thirties who came to Hogwarts, who teaches, interacts with the Hogwarts stuff and students and evaluates it all according to her Muggle views. Who are most of us? Muggle women of …, too ‘less young’ to be students. Don’t tell me you’ve never dreamt of yourself in Hogwarts, I won’t believe you. So here you are given an opportunity to see how this game could be played well. You can’t believe that a Mary-Sue can be good? Read and see by yourself. A great read, as for me, very interesting, original and well-written.

The Buried Life, by Kalina ##
R; Snape/Hermione. Summary: Harry disappears just before the start of his seventh year, and Hermione and Snape work together to find him.

There was a discussion in the now defunct hp_fictalk community initiated by Idle Rat who pondered over the reasons why people write Snape/Hermione and what they see in this pairing. Snape/Hermione is not my cup of tea in the slightest but the essay was interesting. This fic was mentioned in it. When I asked the author to point me to some good SS/HG fics, she once again advised me this story. I’m immensely grateful!

In this story you won’t find:

- a background character named Harry Potter who crosses the stage once and then disappears, which is a typical feature of many an SS/HG fic. Opposite to that, Harry’s part is integral to the plot and takes as much space as Snape’s or Hermione’s. I consider it positive because I don’t like SS/HG stories where Harry’s forgotten and it’s Hermione who saves the world/kills Voldemort, thanks to the power of her superb intellect.
- the omnipotent Hermione who saves the world and easily solves any problem. No, here she makes mistakes, sometimes feels miserable and helpless but is brilliant in other situations, in other words, she behaves like a student, like a normal human being, a teenager and, in the end, like herself.
- sex, either vanilla, or overly-naturalistic, or ‘Victorian’. However strange it is, I’ve seen all the three kinds in SS/HG fiction. No, here there’s no sex, even romance doesn’t appear soon.

What you will find:

- a fantastic magical place, Solaris, Dumbledore’s hidden cottage. It’s made up with love and creative fantasy, it’s amusing and, in my opinion, it’s one of the best non-canon magical locations I’ve seen in fic.
- Hermione’s Animagus form. Very fitting and also amusing. I’d say her Animagus form is IC.
- brooding Harry who at the same time isn’t annoying or boring in it.
- mystery/action plot without loose ends or not working details, with an even, dynamic pace.

Are you there already?

Care of Magical Creatures, by Arsenic Jade (author’s page at Skyehawke) ##
NC-17; Hermione/Remus, Hermione/Remus/Snape. Summary: The story behind Wereworld. Also on the old site: CoMC, sequels: Mating For Life (PG), Inside, Waiting (PG), Where You Hang Your Robes (PG), Flight Patterns (PG-13), Appellation (PG).

This is a long novel that tells us about Hermione’s life after the war, the life where there’s no more Harry or Ron, but there’s an abundance of bitterness, tiredness and survivor’s guilt. Hermione lives like an automaton until the day when she sees a child who was abandoned in St Mungo’s hospital because he’s a werewolf. The situation appeals to her sense of fairness and gives her something worth fighting and living for.

In my opinion, this is the best fic about werewolves in fandom. It encompasses both social and personal sides of lycanthropy, what it feels like to be a werewolf and how to live among people that hate and fear you. The story tells us about heroes: how one person’s unceasing struggle to help their beloved ones makes the world a better place, how strong but fragile those whom the world sees as made of iron can be, and how they, too, need love and support.

Arsenic’s Hermione in this story is my absolutely favourite Hermione of all fics. Let’s confess, she’s often if not Mary-Sue per se then at least distinctly Mary-Sue-ish in fanfic, particularly so when paired up with Snape. Here she is not, period. She is a so well-developed and interesting character that it was hard for me to read other Hermiones after this story. The same can be said about Lupin and Snape, too. They are, IMO, very much in character and (or but) very attractive. So attractive, actually, that I wouldn’t mind something like this for myself :)

And then there’s another thing. How many really long fics with a threesome that looked absolutely real and believable have you seen? I’ll tell you, not many. Arsenic has this rare gift (among other things) to make her characters and their life seem absolutely real.

The story tells us what family is, not like those ideal families in some sappy tear-jerkers, where they hold hands and gaze adoringly at each other, but a real family, with problems and hard times but full of love and the wish to understand each other. The real ideal family. I guess that when you see a long novel and the number of sequels, you’ll be a bit intimidated, but I bet when you finish the novel, you’ll be happy that there are sequels because you won’t be able to get enough of this universe!

Dark Gods in the Blood, by Hayseed (or here) []
Snape/Hermione; R. Summary: A wandering student comes home, a broken man pays his penance, and a gruesome murder is both more and less than it seems. Some paths to self-discovery have more twists and turns than others. Warning: character death, dark.

What is the antonym to explicit? Implicit? If there is such a word, this story is implicit het - it’s not about sex, it’s about relationships. The settings are long post-Hogwarts; late Harry Potter is survived by his wife and two kids (I’m not spoiling anything; “Harry Potter was dead” is the first line of the fic.) The story is rather dark but not overly so. It’s well-written, it has a real detective intrigue - I bet you’ll twist in your chair trying to guess who the murderer is. Characters are interesting and deep. Good reading but for one thing (pretty damn big thing, in my book, but it’s the matter of tastes and preferences), which I’m not going to name ‘cos it’s a huge spoiler.

Finding Himself, by Minisinoo ##
Cedric/Hermione [and others], NC-17, AU 5th year. Summary: “‘The boy who almost died’ has to figure out what it means that he didn’t. Harry’s tulmultous fifth year at Hogwarts is Cedric’s seventh and final. Bound together by a shared trauma survived, both boys fall under Ministry fire and suspicion, and both undergo a ‘deconstruction’ of sorts in the face of that crisis. Who is Cedric Diggory? He must find himself amid rumors of war, the awkwardness of falling in love, and a crippling personal tragedy. (parallel canon)”

This story was my food and sleep for I won’t tell you how long (’cos I’m really weirded out with how long it took me to finish it in my current circumstances). It is a very long story though, and very… everything. As you all know, teen het relationships aren’t my thing at all. But I read Minisinoo’s Harry/Cedric fic Nature & Destiny (AU, NC-17, novella) some time ago and liked her writing very much. So when I saw that this long fic was finished, I immediately bookmarked it. Took me long enough to overcome myself to actually begin reading, but once I started, I couldn’t help begging the time that I had to spend working or doing other stuff to rush by faster so that I could get back to living in this fic again.

As I said, it somehow has everything. It’s amazingly thorough and never boring! The author says: Like any novel, this one involves an ensemble cast, but the central protagonist is Cedric, not Harry, which naturally skews the focus so that some characters important to the books are less important here while others barely mentioned become significant secondaries. Nonetheless, the ‘holy trio’ remains central. At least initially, all romances reflect canon, and most will continue so — with one important change (Cedric/Hermione alert). Before reading it, I thought that speaking of own fic as a novel with all that entails is a tad too ambitious, but now that I want to tell you something about it and can’t choose what to begin with or how even to approach it at all, I realise that no, it’s simply correct.

So whatever aspect you think of, you’re likely to find it in this story. Firstly, I’m truly impressed with how deep and interesting the characters are, including OC, such as Cedric’s mother or his Hufflepuff friends, or minor characters. They are real people, and those of them that are students are real teenagers. For me reading this story was rather like reliving my teen years — exasperating, confusing, intense, often defying logic and everything else there’s to defy, but lovely and funny too. Secondly, there’s some amazing magic, detailed and creative — in particular, wizarding art. Simply mind-blowing. Then there are the details of family life. Cedric’s family mostly, but not only. Wizarding homes, disability and its treatment, magical and non-magical pets and familiars, Animagi, studies, exams, love and friendship, teen’s psycholody (and the differences between the teens), plot in the end. The story is rich! Generous. I don’t have enough words to do it justice, and I’m not feeling up to speaking about Cedric or Hermione (or even Harry, for that matter) in depth. Just… OotP is my least favourite HP book but I was reading this parallel canon like addicted.

Of course there were things that exasperated me: the character of Lucy sometimes, and Hermione, and various teeny stuff. But it’s not bad exasperation. It’s a part of a whole compass of emotions and thoughts that the story evokes. And does it stay in your head! I doubt it can leave any reader unmoved.

Oh, there’s one thing I want to speak of specifically. The Hufflepuff house. I can’t say I’ve read many fics that focus on Hufflepuffs, but this is, as for me, the best representation of the Hufflepuff house I’ve seen. The scene where they cast the vote? Made me shiver in awe. All that chapter, OMG, I was so cheering!

Have I made you want to try it? Anyway, it’s my two stars, if it’s saying anything.

One thing that wasn’t to my tastes were the accompanying illos. I do not, emphatically, imagine HP characters as the actors that play them in the films. I have unrestrained and well-developed imagination. So the visual props threw me out a bit every time they came up. I learned not to mind them by the middle of the story — but for those that represented Lucy’s paintings. I mean, I can imagine the most enticing and magical things based on the author’s description of the truly and deeply magical art that no kind of manip or even fanart could possibly compare to. Illustrating the most mysterious thing in the story doesn’t add; it’s much more likely to detract. But don’t mind me, seriously. It’s just my opinion — you all know that me and manips aren’t friends.

Getting the Hang of Thursdays, by Hayseed (you’ll need registering) #
Snape/Hermione, R. Summary: “A good day goes bad and then gets far worse than Severus could ever have imagined. Again and again and again. Inspired by the WIKTT Time-Loop Challenge.”

I believe that all the SS/HrG fen have read it. But I’m speaking to my fellow slashers here. You don’t read het? You don’t like Snape/Hermione? Well, it’s true about me, too — to some extent. But if because of that you don’t read this story, you’ll miss so much fun and true brilliance!

One day there’s an accident in the Potions class that kills Hermione Granger before Snape’s eyes. The girl burns up alive. One day there’s an accident in the Potions class that kills Hermione Granger before Snape’s eyes. The girl dies before he gets her to the hospital wing. And so on. How could it be not boring? How could ‘a Groundhog Day’ be dragged on for so many chapters so that you enjoy every single one of them? Go read to find out! Because it can.

Grasping at Normality, by Kaz []
Snape/Hermione; R. Warnings: Character Death. Summary: Seventh Year doesn’t begin quite like Hermione thought it would.

The Knight Errant Chronicles, by Guernica []
Snape/OFC, OFC/Lucius; NC-17, WIP (last updated June 2006), very long. Warnings: Abuse, BDSM, Torture. Summary: For centuries, the Faery people have been a mysterious, sometimes persecuted minority in the Wizard world. But now Albus Dumbledore has persuaded them to send an officer of their military to teach the Fae canon of magic at Hogwarts. Meanwhile, Severus Snape spends a memorable evening with a stranger in King’s Cross…

Like Shadows on the Winter Sky, Dreary Hour, Door of the Morning, by Resmiranda []
Snape/Hermione; R. Summary: When Voldemort tires of Severus, he exacts his punishment. Hermione is reluctantly along for the ride in Snape’s journey out of the darkness. Warning: Dark.

Rule of Law, by Arsenic Jade (also at the old site) ##
Snape/Hermione; NC-17. Summary: Hermione believes that the reasons behind one’s actions really do matter.

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Medium-length fics (~15 to 50K words; stories you can read in one go but it will take some time)

The Abundance of Her Charms, by OdoGoddess #
Snape/Luna, NC-17, 16700 words. Summary: Abhorred in life, thinly admired in death, Severus Snape slowly discovers a sort of peace to be found in the company of a maddeningly perspicacious Ravenclaw. DH-compliant, set before epilogue.

The Snape the author wrote (should I say painted?) here wasn’t my favourite Snape of all. He’s rather mellowed. But that can be easily excused with the fact that he’s a magical portrait. But Luna! Goodness, I loved Luna here. Her letters and her matter-of-fact view of sex made me laugh out loud. But what I liked best was the amazingly detailed life of a magic portrait. Fascinating and awfully romantic!

The Best Revenge, by Scattered Logic #
Lucius/Hermione; NC-17. Summary: Lucius Malfoy instructs Hermione Granger on the finer points of revenge.

The Bloody Stare of Mars, by Yahtzee ##
R; Snape/Hermione, Ron/Hermione. Summary: In a dystopian future after Lord Voldemort’s ascension into power, a desperate Hermione Granger turns to Severus Snape for help. But when she becomes a spy in his household, their relationship becomes complicated in ways neither could ever have anticipated.

new Breaking the Seal, by Florahart #
Petunia gen, Petunia/Percy (previous Petunia/Vernon), NC-17 in the end, though most of the fic is not about sex, ~30000 words. Warnings: Vernon is a violent bastard; this probably isn’t news but Petunia reflects on it and we see some new violent, and sexually-violent, behavior. Summary: Petunia didn’t know why she’d kept the box under Lily’s bed, but it turned out, it might be useful.

I saw this fic posted and was equally intrigued and repulsed. ‘Cos on the pro side, Flora who can do wonders with strange pairings and plot bunnies. On the contra side, the rare pairing that makes faint snoring sound escape from me. I would dither and forget were it not for Snegurochka Lee’s rec. My thanks, madam!

I call this fic in my mind, The humanisation of Petunia Dursley. Flora takes a thoroughly unsympathetic canon character whose past (and present) is full of bad choices and plain going with the stream, who’s cowardly and even stupid, and begins digging for explanations and putting this character in situations that would shake its world. Petunia finds herself in possession of a forgotten box left to her by Lily before she moved out. “Those people” contact her because they are collecting memorabilia for the war memorial. This is the point where Petunia sort of begins waking up: to the life she has, to her past, to the world around her. You know those seemingly accidental meetings or small events that, looking back, you can say changed your life? Well, this is it for Petunia. It’s a long story, full of painful things and good things, people and magic. When at the end of it, it came to Percy, I couldn’t help feeling that it was a wonderful match. ‘Cos really, he knows all about mistakes and family and forgiveness.

Percy came in and moved past her, holding out his hand. “Percy Weasley. At the moment, I’m the temporary special assistant for Remembrance and Rebuilding, under the Minister, which essentially means I do anything that helps toward the memorial, the museum, and whatever else the Minister deems relevant, which, for the time being, also includes revamping Muggle relations and creating an education and cross-cultural center.”

“Dudley Dursley. Uh, bouncer, pub on the corner.”

Wonderful story, moving, memorable, thought-provoking, and very kind, in the end!

A Distinctly Different Manner of Finding Prince Charming, by Maya (mistful) #
McGonagall/Flitwick, G. Summary: A famous duellist is coming to town.

If you could doubt my word ‘amusing’ regarding some other fics, here it can be applied with 100% certainty. I was giggling all the time (and am giggling now again remembering it). The words ‘wonderful’ and ‘charming’ first come to mind when I think of it. Meet young Minerva McGonagall whose personality totally reflects her name, her classmates Poppy and Vivien whom you know from HP books from so many years later, and several boys whom you also know. You didn’t know those where them? Now you will :)

I think it’s a brilliant fic, I’ll go read it once again.

Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing… Rat?, by Maya (mistful) []
PG-13; Draco/Hermione. Summary: Draco Malfoy, magically transformed into an evil rat. Who is it who always seems to get the evil rats as pets, and what is poor, poor Draco’s new name? Eventually D/Hr, just now mainly D/coffee…

It’s a typical sitcom. It’s amusing enough although the whole story works only on one device — comments on the scenes from the point of view of a rat with Draco’s character but without Draco’s abilities. It’s often funny but since the story is long, it’s also sometimes boring [note to authors: don’t write long comedies, you’ll lull your readers to sleep]. On the whole, it’s a pleasant light reading, and old classics besides.

‘It’s a - nice rat, yeah, Ron, but I think it wants to get down. It’s squirming. It could be wild.’
‘It could be diseased,’ added Granger.
‘Same to you, Granger,’ Draco snapped.
‘No, it likes me,’ Ron said defensively, hugging Draco to his chest. ‘It hasn’t tried to bite me.’
‘You think I want to die of poisoning? Put me down, you delusional psycho!’
The three Gryffindors stood around, looking blissfully unaware of Draco’s enraged howls.

Engineered Collisions, by fandomme #
Snape/Hermione, past Hermione/Ron, novella. Summary/Prompt: 2. Everyone who witnessed Snape’s “death” had their memories modified. By whom, and to what end? Next Dark Lord, anyone? Dark, light, humor, threesome, what-have you, whatever works, 3. Against all odds, Snape is alive; Hermione is divorced/widowed. Can he ever forget his One True Love and find happiness with another? I’d like to see him genuinely struggle to find someone else–an actual flawed human being, instead of an over-idealized dead woman–appealing, and I’d like to see a decent-fellow!Ron as Hermione’s ex. Snape can be a virgin or not, but he’s got some emotional growing up to do. Hermione suffers from magically-induced degenerative memory disorder.

I wish I didn’t read any extra info: I went to read comments after I finished the story, learned that the author dislikes Dumbledore, and got sulky. Because while Dumbledore’s role in the story isn’t very positive, his motivations and decisions are left open to interpretation. I mean to say that the story itself is wiser than circumstantial author’s comments, as it should be. Now look at me clutching at a minor, totally insignificant thing!

The premise is very interesting — see the beginning of prompt 2. People remember that Snape died. Then suddenly something happens that make them remember differently. You’ll gradually learn what and how. Fascinating stuff. I don’t like who the author cast for the role of “the drop that overfilled the cup” ‘cos it’s too close to random villainisation for my comfort but I like the rest, especially Snape and Hermione’s relationship. They aren’t young, they are both pretty fucked-up but somehow it works. Not without Snape’s struggling against it of course. I liked the magic too.

Flame and Shadow, by Maya (mistful) (also at the Restricted Section; you’ll need password) ##
Ron/Pansy (past Ron/Hermione, past Ron/OFC, Harry/OMC, implied past Harry/Draco); NC-17. Summary: You can’t think of anything more wrong. Nor can they.

This story by Maya is worth reading like all the things she writes, although it’s less famous than her H/D fics, I guess ‘cos nobody will outnumber H/D shippers. But it was the story that made me her devoted reader. Yes, despite its being het.

Ron is living through the crisis caused by his parting with Hermione. He meets Pansy Parkinson by chance. Pansy - vulgar, loud, arrogant, miserable that some time later turns into Pansy - funny, sexy, light-minded, truly alive. Pansy who forces Ron to live instead of dragging along through his life, miserably sinking in recollections and regrets.

They are both so imperfect, funny and sweet that you can’t help loving them. Besides, in places the fic is funny like hell. There’s a lot of Muggle devices in Ron’s flat. Pansy thinks that all the cooking is done by a house-elf who hides in the stove. Preparing a party, she tries to talk ‘the elf’ into cooking, threaten it, beat it, and as a result burns down the kitchen.

This is the kind of fiction to make you sigh contentedly, like after watching a good family film, slightly humorous, slightly melodramatic, with a happy ending.

Good Deeds and Sucker Punches, by slinkiestumble #
Millicent/Percy, PG-13.

This fic is one of my strongest impressions recently. It’s written from Millicent’s POV (3d person) and — I’m going to say a thing I hate the others for saying, about the characters we know so little — she’s absolutely spot-on. Three-dimensional, interesting, unique; rude, no-nonsense, sneering and selfish, blunt — and very appealing and likeable. And yes, it’s all dragged out of a canon character about whom we know next to nothing but who nevertheless seems very true to their canon self here. After this story, Millicent is well under way to becoming my favourite female HP character. But there’s also a wonderful Percy here! The plot goes like this: Millicent pretended to be Percy’s girlfriend, on some uncharacteristic compassionate reason, when his brothers teased him for the lack of a GF he’d said he’d be meeting. That had consequences. Their relationship, first only at work that later grows into something else, is ridiculous but very persuasive. I couldn’t help thinking that it all made perfect sense. The dialogues are often funny. I’m very glad that I gave this pairing a chance because all in all, it’s a really wonderful story, very enjoyable.

In Plain Sight, by Sophie Richard []
Lucius/Luna; NC-17. Summary: At the end of the second war, a mysterious treachery leaves Luna Lovegood wanted for murder. Her only refuge is in fleeing from herself, and her only hiding place is in plain sight. Warning: Cross-dressing. Heterosexual sodomy. Brief, non-sexual caning.

Inferno, by Ociwen ##
Hermione/Lucius; NC-17. Summary: In a post-battle world, Hermione has to learn to live with one of the things she hates most, one Lucius Malfoy.

Mind that the review is full of spoilers!

Can you imagine that anybody will make you believe that Hermione Granger could have a long-term, working relationship with Lucius Malfoy? Ociwen made me believe it. It’s not romantic, because what romantic can go hand in hand with Lucius Malfoy the arrogant and cruel bastard? There’s a lot of physiology, both of sex and of pregnancy. I can’t stand the admiring descriptions of bellies, morning sickness, devouring tons of ridiculous meals, waddling gait and swollen ankles. The least interesting story you can tell me is that of how your pregnancy was progressing. Maybe only the proud-parent stories of your infant toddling across the kitchen or his or her stomach aches can be as boring as that.

Ociwen tells us the story in many details - of Hermione’s pregnancy, her giving birth, her sex life with Lucius. But they are not annoying because they are not romanticised. In this story, there’s nothing charming in a pregnant woman’s pains, sicknesses, and irrational desires. But nothing disgusting either. This is just how life goes. People have sex, people want homes, women get pregnant, pregnant women have many everyday difficulties, people eat and sleep, babies are born in pain, people take care of babies, and so on.

Besides, all those details aren’t there for their own sake. From them, the story of Hermione’s becoming an adult and Lucius’s learning how to lead the life of a squib is built. The premise shows us a disastrous situation. After Hermione has cast the spell that stripped Malfoy of his magic, the two enemies that hate each other are trapped in the middle of nowhere in the house of an old Muggle woman. Malfoy is now a squib, Hermione is bed-ridden. The story of their life together is not a happy tale. But neither is it unhappy. It’s just, kind of, life-like, with ups and downs, with struggle for survival, with fights and joys, despise and acceptance.

The only thing that left me slightly puzzled was the last line. I can’t see another meaning of the lock apart from symbolic. Why? Ron is a wizard, he can simply say “Alohomora”. But maybe it was symbolic, at least for Hermione…

Land of the Trembling Earth, by Tourniquette #
Luna/”Rolf” or Luna/?, NC-17, ~25500 words. Summary: Some secrets are better left in the wild. Warnings: darkfic, minor character death, implied character death. Relatively DH-compliant.

One big contra: lots of typos. But the story is very unusual and worth reading, as for me. Creepy but not outright scary, the story kept my attention all the way through. Luna travels abroad in search of rare magical creatures. She meets Rolf Scamander, a grandson of Luna’s favourite writer Newt Scamander. She has a sort of allergic reaction to him but she likes him a lot. But something is a bit off in him.

I really liked the idea of the infinity loop and what it signifies — sorry for being vague! I don’t want to spoil it. I also liked the rearrangement of the pairings. When Hermione’s husband was first mentioned, I thought I wasn’t reading attentively and misread it, lol The author, though, should probably have said “EWE” or “creative compatibility” in the story notes, for those who’d like to know it beforehand.

Poor Luna! I always liked her but after this story, I can see how her character traits that make her so refreshing a character can also lead her into really dangerous situations. It’s good to see good in everybody, isn’t it? Only maybe not “Rolf”. But it’s still her who figures everything out because she’s clever and she does pay attention, in her own, unique way. Interesting story!

The Last Word, by Kalina []
Snape/Hermione; PG. Summary: Hermione is tasked with bringing Muggle computers to the Ministry, and an e-mail glitch leads to a mysterious correspondence. Who will have the last word?

From many a humorous fic that play with the idea of Internet in the Wizarding world, I really liked this one. It’s sweet but not sappy, it’s even kind of elegant in places. Humour is conveyed through their mail-style, which is a pleasure. Hermione works in the Ministry where a new, Muggle, technology is installed. She writes an e-mail to her boyfriend but misspells the address, and her mail receives a reply from somebody else. Snappish Snape’s mails in all their glory. Enjoy :)

Our Blessed Child, by lordhellebore #
Snape/Petunia; PG-13, WIP, non-magic AU. Summary: London, 1830: Years ago, Severus Snape lost the fight for the woman he loved, Lily Evans. Now a rich apothecary, he makes the acquaintance of Vernon and Petunia Dursley, the latter being his lost love’s elder sister. Lily and her husband James Potter have died thirteen years ago, leaving a mentally handicapped and epileptic son, who is not accepted by his uncle and locked away after a tragic accident. Not allowed to see her abused nephew, a desperate Petunia finally seizes an opportunity and asks Snape for help. Will he be able to save Harry as well as his aunt?

Rosemary and Blue Heliotrope, by djinnj #
Snape/Tonks, R, AU, 22K words. Summary: Snape has a one night stand with Tonks. It lasts more than one night.

This story was recced all over the place when it was posted but I found it in my tabs just now. It shows why Snape/Tonks is one of my favourite het pairings. Tonks is so incorrigible; she won’t take any of Snape’s crap. I can see it how Snape could fall for her and struggle, spit and hiss. And how Tonks won’t be too flustered about his resistance. The story has two time-lines: now and several years before, and in my opinion, is written wonderfully. I loved the bits about Tonks’s metamorphing and how it affects her life. I haven’t seen this theory before! Interesting and lovely!

Something Borrowed, by Arsenic Jade (old page) ##
Harry/OFC (Snape/Hermione, Ron/Draco); PG-13. Set in the Origins of Myth universe (which you should read first). Summary: Harry has a few things to figure out.

Traumlieder, by Rex Luscus ##
Snape/Luna; NC-17. Summary: A what-if AU. After Snape falls out of favor with the Order, the only one not buying the prevailing wisdom about him is Luna, who knows exactly how it feels to be misunderstood.

Snape/Luna is my dream het pairing. I do believe that it could work much better than ever so popular Snape/Hermione. This story shows exactly why. You can’t write Luna as not weird; it wouldn’t be Luna. So you can’t really slide into the comfortable world of vanilla clichés. Although, what am I about? Say “Pit” and watch enumerable girls write anything anyhow: sobbing!Snape, made-over-over-the-summer-sleek-n-fashionable!Hermione, tall-tanned-muscled!Harry without glasses, and whatnot. But I’m not speaking about them. There are hundreds of decent Snape/Hermione fics that I can’t read because they read like Harlequin novels. Luna, thankfully, escaped the fate of fandom Hermione, so a well-written Snape/Luna fic is like a gulp of fresh air. Like this one. It’s lovely, believable, full of interesting and amusing domestic magic, and both Snape and Luna seemed to me to be very much in character. Besides, the fic is accompanied by a wonderful piece of art, also by Rex Luscus. All in all, this is one of my most favourite pieces of het now. Very enjoyable!

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Short fics (under 15K words)

new Below the Belt, by anguis_1 #
Millicent Bulstrode/Dudley Dursley, R, ~6500 words. Summary: All Dudley wanted to do was deliver the letter and return to his perfectly normal, relatively pleasant existence. Luckily for him, fate and Millicent Bulstrode intervened.

Dudley comes to the wizarding London in search of Harry but gets taken advantage of by doggy types in Knockturn alley. That happens in front of Millicent’s shop. She patches him up, and later on, he returns the favour. It’s an interesting story, with gently gliding POV that felt right to me, with likable characters and details of running a wizarding business (see what business it is! :D), which is always a plus for me. Wonderful!

Better Left Unsaid, by gmth []
Harry/Luna; Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione implied; NC-17, short. Summary: Harry’s got a problem he doesn’t want to talk about.

Harry has a problem, as he very eloquently puts is, “down there.” Which means he can’t get it up. Luna helps him. It’s not a PWP, or not quite. The first half of the story, until Harry meets Luna, shows us a very Harry way of solving a problem by doing anything but the most apparent thing. I laughed out loud when he tried Neville’s remedy. I commiserated. I enjoyed the story. The only thing I wish for is that it were a ‘proper’ Harry/Luna. But I’m just a fan of Luna.

Comfort and Carp, by elucreh (or here) #
Trio and permutations; mentions of past Harry/Ginny, NC-17. Summary: They have always taken care of each other, any way they can. Warnings: Some angst; threesome, slash and het; frottage, some voyeurism, masturbation, dirty talk.

The very threesome sex does little to me but I liked the rest very much. And is there a lot to like! Fabulous drunk Harry, very hot Harry/Hermione UST-filled scenes (me! saying so!), even hotter Harry/Ron; an absolutely incredible bit of medicinal magic that totally blew me away; a wonderful visit from George, very amusing. The Trio dynamics is warm, lovely, and Molly’s vignettes make a wonderful frame. Good reading!

Consequences of Choice, by Ayla Pascal (curia_regis) (or here) []
Lucius/Hermione; PG with a NC-17 epilogue. Summary: Sometimes choices are not as clear cut as Hermione would like. Warnings: Dystopian themes.

Counting to None, by Nope #
Draco/Hermione; PG.

This fic was a part of my library fiction selection. A lot happens in Hogwarts library in it, where Hermione and Draco study for their Arithmancy class. Of course, fierce competition is unavoidable. Nope has a talent of quiet elegance and precise minimalism. He is never verbose. So I heartily recommend you to spend some time at his site. It will be a good time, believe me.

Four Funerals and a Wedding, by Isis #
Hermione/various (all het); PG, humor. A series of Daily Prophet articles reveals Hermione’s strange and deadly…appetites. Written for Minerva McTabby’s Blame Someone Else challenge, with the assignment “Cannibalistic love involving Hermione and Neville!” provided by Elfiepike. Warnings for character deaths out the wazoo, and bad puns.

Implausible, Irrational, Preposterous, Peculiar, and Just Plain Luna, by The Treacle Tart #
Snape/Luna, PG, short. Summary: Everyone needs rescuing at some point. What happens when your knight in shining armor is Luna Lovegood?

Am stealing this rec from Rex Luscus who is reccing Snape/Luna in crack_broom this month and thanks to whom I found it. It’s a very heart-warming, lovely, fulfilling story. Luna kidnaps Snape from the Azkaban prison where he awaits his trial and takes him to a magical dimension of her own creation. There he learns a few things. Wonderful!

Please ignore typos.

The Interview, by Florahart #
Snape/Hermione; R. A/N: Written for Beth H’s Snape-a-rama Instant-AU Challenge. Prompt by karasu_hime: Talk show host Hermione must interview Children’s Author Snape.

Flora kills me with her cleverness :) Hermione is a talk show host who’s going to interview a children’s book author, one Stephen Saunders, who turns out to have a surprising number of rules for his interview. And when he comes to talk to Hermione, there isn’t a drop on his clothes, although it’s raining but he has no umbrella. Hermione also has some questions about his book, apparently the story of a magical boarding school, in which the ostensible hero wasn’t the protagonist, nor the narrator. It seemed his story was being told, and rather incompletely and in a biased fashion, by a chemistry teacher of sorts, who didn’t especially like the boy–and the feeling was mutual. The tone was nasty, the structure was odd, and somehow… somehow she found herself fascinated.

Surreal and funny conversations, Snape charming in his own way and somehow very Snape-ish, a story within a story — it’s all about Snape’s Saunders’ book, remember? Flora walks a really fine line on the brink of AU here, which makes the story really fascinating. Well, and lovely, and amusing. Go read!

Lesser Languages, by The Treacle Tart #
PG-13; gen-ish, Snape/McGonagall. Summary: Some need more than words to tell their story.

Love Is (), by Kai (or here) #
Snape/Bill, Bill/Fleur; R. Summary: Fleur discovers that love isn’t enough, except when it is. Kinks: Mild hurt/comfort, mild D/s, rather, er, unrestrained foreplay, and some gentleness afterwards.

Bill can’t control his wolfish urges, and Fleur in her quest to save her love and family comes up with an idea: she decides to ask his ex-lover for help. The problem is that the ex-lover in question is Snape who, she suspects, won’t be very forthcoming. How far will Bill (and Fleur) be willing to go to get his help? The fic is long and rather playful, although serious, too. Wonderful reading, not quite plotty but engaging.

My Loveless Haze, by Wandmaker #
Harry/Pansy, R. Summary: “Nobody ever would have believed that it could happen so quickly.”

I opened this fic when it was posted and somehow closed it. But then I saw it recced all over the place and decided to give it another chance. Am I glad I did! It’s a light and very enjoyable story. Amusing rather than funny, and with some typos, but it has a very pleasant combination of cynicism and sincerity. Narcissa Malfoy invoked a … ritual? or something that bonded Draco to Ginny. Harry’s love life is in ruins. So is Pansy’s. Misery, as the saying goes, loves company, but Pansy is cleverer than that: she has a solution. Pansy’s voice — although I can’t say it’s spot-on ‘cos we really haven’t heard her enough in canon — seems somehow very fitting nevertheless. She’s absolutely charming — just look at her reason of becoming a Slytherin. The ending is awwwsome. Very enjoyable.

The Next Greatest Love Story, by Scela Letifer (storyteller) #
Various (predominantly Lily/James), implied Harry/Hermione/Ron; R. Challenge: Unrequited Love. Summary: Ever wanted to be the greatest love story of your time?

Press, Release (), by Beth H (or here) #
Snape/Luna, R. Summary: A Ministry directive gives new hope to certain prisoners in Azkaban, but its distribution list is rather smaller than Severus Snape might have hoped.

As I confirmed during one of the previous anon fests, Snape/Luna is my favourite het pairing. I’m inclined to like a fic with it if I like the author’s version of Luna. In this pairing, Snape somehow comes second for me. So I liked this story because IMO Luna here is perfect.

Neville shook his head. “Honestly, Luna…the man was a horror before he went into Azkaban. What do you think a decade in prison’s done to him?”

“Made him terribly hungry, I expect,” Luna said, reaching for a biscuit. “Just between you and me, I don’t think the food in Azkaban was very plentiful.”

It’s a Hurt/Comfort, with wonderful and absurd Luna-flavoured C. Very pleasant story.

Random Luna snippet, by Sociofemme []
G; gennihs Snape/Luna.

Same Time, Next Year, by teaspoon (calliope14) #
Harry/Ron/Hermione, NC-17, short. Summary: There’s a certain way things go between friends.

I can’t believe it was all first person narration without even a line of dialogue and it kept me enchanted all the way. It’s a PWP that makes you at the same time forget it’s a PWP because of the narrative voice and makes you forget the 1st person narration because of the sex. Fabulous character voice! Wonderful story!

new The Silver Arrow, by Snegurochka Lee #
Lavender Brown/Roger Davies, NC-17, ~5,700 words. Warnings: Pegging, sex work, infidelity. Summary: The only rule at the Silver Arrow was that the customers couldn’t fuck the girls. That didn’t mean the girls couldn’t fuck the customers, though – especially when they walked in the door with their wedding bands in their pockets, that old Quidditch swagger at their hips, and really bloody asked for it.

I can’t believe I have read a minor character het fic, and amostly PWP at that, and liked it! I never cared about Lavender (who does?) and am feeling like one of those shallow and horny men in the Silver Arrow that find her hot because of her werewolf scars. Because this was one of the details at the beginning of the story that got me interested :) But then I just couldn’t look away from the screen until I finished the story, and yay! Go Lavender! Show him! :)

Six Days of Bliss, by Ella Bane #
Harry/Ron, Harry/Ron/Hermione, NC-17. Warnings: Rimming. Summary: While cleaning Number 12, Grimmauld Place, Hermione finds a magic lamp. To unlock the power of the lamp, the trio must endure a six days of bliss.

Lovely and funny. Harry found a genie lamp in 12, Grimmauld Place. To make the lamp work, as Hermione discovered during her research, they had to perform a five-day long sex ritual. Oh my, I’m giggling remembering it. Very enjoyable fic! And hot like hell! [I almost never find het hot, but here it’s not quite het, it’s a threesome, but, phew, give me a fan :)

such a beautiful blank (but smooth it), by JenAdamson #
Harry/Ginny, NC-17, 12500 words. Summary: Ginny picks a rose, and her world spins out of control.

I read a Harry/Ginny fic. And liked it. A Polar bear must have died at that instant, as we say. This is a ‘Groundhog day’ sort of fic. Ginny walks through a forest, picks a rose, and an Elven Queen puts a spell on her that she must lose the most precious person unless she can win his love in a day’s time. Yeah, I wouldn’t like it either. Elven Queen, WTF, right? Except I did, quite a lot. Ginny has to live the same day over and over, a day where Harry isn’t her boyfriend. Where he isn’t, in fact, interested in her at all. So she tries different ways of attracting his attention. I really liked how the story was written. I began reading and wasn’t able to stop until I finished it. Harry’s utterly charming in a very Harry-esque way, when he’s clueless and when he isn’t. Wonderful story!

Teacher’s Pet, by Didodikali []
Snape/Hermione - or can be read as gen; PG-13.

Tequila Shots, by Femme (or here) #
Snape/Hermione (background Draco slash), NC-17. Summary: Alcohol can be a powerful potion in its own right.

Severus and Draco own a Muggle club. The pairing is Snape/Hermione. Put these two together and you’ll get as much not-my-thing as there can be. But I liked it. I don’t watch smutty_claus; it was Beth H’s rec that seduced me. And drunk Snape. This Snape would seduce anybody! He’s so very Snapeish, even when pissed out of his mind — just read how he negotiates. The story isn’t romantic, it’s written from a wonderfully done Snape’s POV (3d person), it’s funny and hot and on the whole, written wonderfully. Sheer enjoyment and brilliance, if you aren’t averse to het.

To Achieve Weightlessness, by Lissa22 []
Snape/Luna; G. Summary: Luna helps raise Snape’s spirits for a few fleeting moments with an unusual concoction. A light, humourous fic.

To all of us on our way through life (without our noticing for a time), by Fourth Rose #
Harry/Draco/Luna, NC-17, ~13000 words. Summary: It is four years after the Battle of Hogwarts, and all is not well. Harry Potter, husband, father, and Junior Auror, has everything he ever wanted – which only goes to prove that you should be careful what you wish for. Warnings: Infidelity, threesome, voyeurism, a hint of bondage. Not epilogue-compliant.

This story is simply lovely. No heavy angst or action here but the story progresses nicely anyway. Harry is married to Luna and raising Teddy with her. He loves his family and his life. But not sex. So he cheats on her with, of all people, Draco Malfoy. What does Luna think of it? Read to find out. Pleasant story!

To Die in Bed, by Ella Bane (or here) #
Snape/Luna; NC-17. Summary: Severus Snape expects to die. He doesn’t expect a sponge bath.

Another Snuna from Springsmut, and another really good one. This fic is short, sweet and funny. We’ve never seen Luna in bed in canon, but I can’t help imagining her like this after this fic. “Is that your penis?” Oh god, I start giggling just remembering it. Lovely story, very enjoyable!

Traditional Socks, by angharad04 []
Albus/Minerva; PG. Summary: Why does Professor Dumbledore tell Harry that he sees himself holding a pair of socks in the Mirror of Erised?

What Fools These Mortals Be, by Isis #
Snape/James, James/Lily. Het, sort of. Slash, sort of. NC17, definitely. Summary: When Lily makes a deal with Snape to brew polyjuice, they both get more than they bargained for.

The Witching Hour, by Neuri []
Gennish Draco/Hermione; PG. Summary: A father and son take a walk through a special place, in a nightly ritual that reunites them with a loved one.

Draco and his son walk through the alley of enchanted statues. Another fic from childhood list. I wouldn’t care for Draco’s and Hermione’s child, nor for their implied romance/family, the history of which is omitted. I don’t believe that such a canonically incredible thing can be taken for granted. But I did like the statues and the atmosphere of this fic. They are memorable.

Within These Pages, by Isis #
Snape/Pince; PG-13. Warning: character death. Summary: A book observes the romance between the Potions teacher and the librarian. Atmospheric and bittersweet.

This is a very good and very sad story written from a book’s POV. Books see a boy come for them and speak to the librarian. Books observe a young professor come to the library. Books see the teacher invite the librarian for a glass of port. Books see the man leave for a mission. Books never see the man again. For such a short story to work as well as this one does, every word should be in place, every sentence should work. And of course they do here.

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this is pj's fannish place made with the goal to be a sort of public library of (or a gateway to) fanfiction. I read mostly slash, I love sex and various kinks, so if you are underage and somehow wormed your way here past net nannies and warnings, please surf responsibly and go somewhere else when you are asked to!

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