HP recs: Harry/various
Posted on October 5, 2007
Filed Under HP recs masterlist, HP recs |
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Fics are sorted in alphabetical order by title (articles excluded).
Long fics (over 20K words)
And So Life Goes On…, by Nenya Entwhistle (also at the FA) #
Harry/Snape, Harry/Draco; R. Summary: Five years after the defeating Voldemort, Harry Potter has lived in obscurity in the Muggle world with a very normal, very ordinary routine. But one day, he meets someone that is going to disrupt his life. Is it for the better or for the worse? And what happens when Harry realizes that the life he has known is really a farce?
A Fracture of the Mind’s Eye, by Rushlight (or here) ##
NC-17; Harry/Remus, Harry/Snape, Harry/Lucius, Harry/Draco. Warning: rape, violence. Summary: A tragedy at the end of Harry’s seventh year makes him redefine his perception of reality.
This is one of the most elaborate HP stories I’ve read. Rushlight plays with two planes of existence shown from Harry’s POV. Harry lives in two realities and doesn’t know which one is real. One of them is a bit too sweet: after the war that the good guys won and after Harry has spent some time at St Mungo’s, he lives with his lover Lupin in a small cosy cottage. It’s the reality that represents the so-called ‘happily ever after’. However there’s a “but” there: Harry suffers from memory loss; he remembers nothing of his [supposed] happy life. But in his dreams and later even while being waken, he lives in another reality where Voldemort won and where Harry is a sex-slave of loyal Death Eaters. He’s given to Lucius, then to Draco, then to Snape. And this plane is also slightly exaggerated in its badness.
Rushlight plays expertly. The happy reality structurally is shown as the main one, but Harry believes in the bad reality more. The reader is left clueless as for which one is ‘really real’. In this respect, the fic resembles of Akutagava’s “In the thicket” where a reader is shown 5 or 6 different but equally credible versions of the same event.
Teaser: “This all seems like a dream,” he said.
“What does?” Remus looked at him curiously.
“This.” Harry gestured vaguely, wishing he could explain himself better. “You. Me. All of it. It’s like… like it’s too good to be true.”
Give and It Shall Be Given Unto You, by Kai (or here) ##
Pairings: Harry/Severus, Harry/Lucius, Harry/Severus/Lucius, others implied; NC-17. Summary: “Surprises are foolish things. The pleasure is not enhanced, and the inconvenience is often considerable.”
In Memory I, by Becka (or here) []
Harry/Draco, Harry/Snape; R. discontinued WIP. More chapters available among the messages in the author’s yahoo!group. Warnings: Angst. AU. Child-abuse. Dark. Language. NCS (non-graphic). Slash. Violence. Summary: What if someone followed Hagrid the night he delivered Harry to the Dursleys? How would Harry’s life have been different?
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent, by Cluegirl (or here) ##
Harry/Snape, Harry/Lucius, Harry/Draco, Harry/Pansy, Harry/Narcissa; NC-17. Warning: BSDM, Violence, Slavery, Breathplay, Bloodplay, Character Death, and much Angst. Summary: Harry Potter, captive and trophy of Voldemort victorious, begins to seek a final solution to his troubles.
After dozens of looking-all-the-same bonding cliché-fics that I read, this fic was like a gulp of fresh air, pardon me another cliché. I shouldn’t have liked it. It’s too dark for my tastes and too angsty. But it’s an example of real *writing*, of how an author uses her skills and talent really well in all respects, be it plot, or style, or characterization, or anything else. And you know, it’s really refreshing. Very strong, emotional story.
Occam’s Razor, by RaeWhit (joanwilder) #
Harry/Draco, Harry/Snape, NC-17, 90K words. Warnings: Sex toys, rimming, bondage. Summary: Two years after the end of the war, only desperation could make Harry seek out the help of a one-time enemy.
Fics of this sort are the killers of fests. It’s 90K words, as those who counted say. It took me three days to read it, and now I’m days behind on everything. I didn’t like it at the beginning. There was a passage that threw me out, very formal, on the surface, and I thought silly. So I quit and had to come back when a fellow Snarry mod asked if we thought it was Snarry enough (see pairings). Being a responsible person that I am, I went to check it, and that time wasn’t able to stop reading. I printed out small sections when I went out to have dinner and when I had to take a train home.
Harry takes after Filch’s job, including adopting Mrs Norris. His friends don’t understand his choice of occupation but he doesn’t seem able to move on yet. There’s a portrait of Snape in the Headmaster’s office, but no Snape in it. There’s also a trunk of Snape’s left but no-one can open it. Then one day, Draco Malfoy sends Harry a key he found sorting out Snape’s possessions. Harry applies his Gryffindor tenacity to opening the trunk, and what he finds redefines his life.
But for that small false note (I’m not sure anyone but me would even consider it a false note), the writing is very smooth and easy. You read not noticing words. The story itself, although unhurried, is never too slow. The relationships are easy, and somewhere in the middle of it all I found that Harry and Draco (and Snape) are nothing like I imagine him or like I remember them from the book, but the transition was such that I didn’t notice it. Magic is interesting and complex, starting from the wizarding portraits (compare Snape and Albus!) and to the final ritual.
What impressed me most was that in such a long story, the author didn’t lose their way. All the clues given us and Harry work, all the ends are tied and everything holds together. And even if I wouldn’t say that characterisation is the author’s main strength, there are many fascinating, fine details to make you not be bothered with it. For example, the Bat. Or that Snape’s portrait, which one would expect to be life-sized at least (’cos the man is larger than life, right?) is, in fact, small, about ten inches :) And the sex is awfully hot. All in all, a very pleasant reading!
new Once Upon A Stormy Life, by laciudad #
Draco/Harry; Lucius/Harry, NC-17, ~30K words. Summary: …And Tom Riddle? Was loved.
Warning(s): underage sex (15-17 years old), faintest hint of Dub-con, AU, very mild BD/SM, handjobs, blowjobs, mention of rimming, lots and lots of slashy innocent-virgin sex, Slytherin!Harry, arranged marriages….too many words for one story.
My first comment on the story was: Just wanted to say one thing: your summary? Genius!
My second comment was: Typos? Not many, but check (homophone abuse of the kind of principle/principal, bear/bare; words missing sometimes).
Explanations left out (say, why TMR is the Minister — well, summary answers that, but people want details!)? Check.
The very AU the kinds of which I didn’t think possible after HBP? Check.
The dreaded “cum”? Yuck and check.
“Call me daddy”? Oh-noes and check.
The end result? Contrary to all those “checks”, I loved it to bits. It’s been a long time since I read an AU story (or a marriage story, for that matter) in such delighted abandon. It’s such a charmer of a story!
The bottom line is: if nothing from this list of “checks” or pairings is your bullet-proof squick, read it! This was one of the most enjoyable and captivating stories I’ve read in a while. Harry, a Slytherin extremely unhappy with his sorting, a teenage boy whose parents died a couple of years ago (and isn’t there a sinister mystery!) and who now lives with his guardians/uncles, has an affair and is terribly in love with Lucius Malfoy. Who arranges Harry’s marriage to his own son, Draco. Who, in turn, is even more unhappy with it than Harry. Delightful Harry, delightful Lucius, wonderful Draco, a nice doze of Hurt/Comfort. Awfully hot. Steaming hot. Don’t be afraid of the “daddy” thing; it’s done tastefully — you’ll see. Let me repeat: this is a very enjoyable story! Will be rereading. And I want to know who the author is!
Primer to the Dark Arts, by Icarus (or here) ##
R; Harry/Ron, Harry/Snape. Summary: Harry learns he is to be given private (and secret) tutoring in the Dark Arts to protect himself next time he meets Voldemort. His teacher? Professor Snape. Features ghost cats and cursed harps, spells that are supposed to go wrong and don’t, a friendly sociopathic Death Eater… and Snape’s very naughty, naughty library.
Severus Snape and the GhostWritten Romance, by Cluegirl ##
Harry/Draco, Harry/Snape; NC-17. A Classic Canon Challenge tribute to Cyrano De Bergerac.
I read Cyrano so long ago that I clearly remember only two things about it: his nose and that he was very noble. Not much, isn’t it? I more or less remember the general idea. So I was able to read this fic with relatively naive eyes, which is a pleasure. It’s the advantage of a really well-written x-over that it can be read by those who keep in mind both originals, by those who remember only one of them and by those who know neither. GhostWritten Romance is for sure well written, and what is more, it evokes a very powerful emotional response.
Not wishing to spoil your reading, I’ll abstain from speaking of the plot. Just believe me, you’ll be surprised, and more than once. But there’s one thing I want to speak of. Draco. Many readers who keep in mind Cyrano would expect Draco to be the ‘false aspirant’ and therefore be shallow, stupid, pathetic or whatever version of this idea the author might choose. But ClueGirl doesn’t make him like this, she doesn’t go along the easy way. I think that how Draco is written makes this fic so good - because he’s damn good (and stays in character!). You can’t help caring about him, you can’t help wishing him well. You don’t wish him to fail and Severus to get what he deserves. You keep wishing best for Severus because he’s even better. I hope you realize that I don’t mean it in the terms of Light and Dark, good and evil and such. I mean the way they are shown as characters: deep, humane, difficult, hurting, twisted, attractive. And the pensive scene! It’s so beautiful and tragic! Go read it already, or I’ll let out the stream of spoilers.
The Soul Adores, by Maeglin Yedi (or here) ##
Harry/Tom, Harry/Snape, NC-17. Summary: Harry gets his hands on Slytherin’s locket, but gold is not all he finds. In a desperate bid to gain crucial information, Harry attempts to play the player, with unpredictable results. Warnings: dubious consent, manipulation, underage (Harry turns 17 in the story), secondary character deaths.
It’s a rare thing that I would rec a fic on crack_broom while the author is still unknown, but the fic is so good that I don’t want to waste the chance. This fic features a most perfect Harry, independent and stupid and so Harry! I wanted to shake him until his teeth rattle for his clever plans and solutions, for how he doesn’t simply walk inside a trap but first makes it, and then marches in. Suspense and foreshadowing in this story are nothing short of masterful — I kept clicking away to another window ‘cos I couldn’t bear the tension but then clicking back immediately ‘cos it’s impossible to get away from this story until you read it to the end. Tom is also perfect — manipulative and evil but attractive, and Snape made me fall for him head over heels. It’s not a dark fic, although some parts of it are pretty dark. And the ending, ah, as for me, it’s perfect too. Amazing, brilliant, and full of clever magic! Run, don’t walk!
Spinning Off Course, by Hijja (or here) ##
Harry/Lucius, Harry/Sirius, Harry/Rabastan; NC-17. Summary: “Awful things have happened when wizards have meddled with time…” Warnings: non-con, dub-con, breathplay, voyeurism, bondage, assorted darker kinks.
Absolutely fabulous and brilliant! It’s twenty minutes since I finished it, and I still seem unable to move past WOW and OMG.
I don’t even know what to begin with. It’s kinky like hell (and they aren’t even my kinks, more like squicks, half of them) and the majority of this long fic is smut, but it’s written amazingly. It’s not a PWP despite what I said above. The plot is clever and everything is tied together with an astonishing skill. Harry uses a Time Spinner to go 20 years back to the time when Sirius was young in search of the locket Horcrux. But the device is broken, so what he gets himself into isn’t at all like what he expected to encounter. The author uses a wonderful device: up to approximately the middle of the story, a reader understands a bit more than Harry, so our involvement in the story is increased proportionately. Very engaging, awfully hot, ultimately satisfying reading! Run, don’t walk!
Short(ish) fics
All Along, by rei_c []
Harry/Draco, Harry/Snape; PG. Summary: The end comes a little too soon. Warning: see summary.
I definitely like emotional fics right now, and this one is no exception. It is emotional but quiet, not blunt. Very pleasantly structured sadness, martyr!Harry, letters sent to tie up all ends.
The Apple, by Rinsbane # (locked)
Harry/Ginny, Harry/Snape, Harry/Nagini, Harry/Tom, NC-17. Warnings: that would be bestiality. It’s all kind of dreamlike, though, open to interpretation. Summary: In which Harry gets a pet and Snarry goes to the beach. No, that’s not my real summary. In which Harry is a pussy, Snape flails around in prison, and Nagini rules the roost. Ok, that’s not my real summary either. Try this: Postwar, just. Voldemort is dead, and Harry has choices to make. (See why “Harry is a pussy” is better?)
I liked this fic a lot. It’s very dreamy, in the best Rinsbane’s traditions, rather scary and for sure fucked-up as its main hero is after the war, but ultimately hopeful. Harry’s slow descent into– madness? himself? alternate reality? — is wrapped in fantastic imagery: cones, shells, sandy beaches, yellow eyes that flicker with red. I wanted to grab and shake him all the while. I liked the ambiguity, the imprint that Voldemort leaves on Harry, how it seems very obvious on the surface and much more complex when you look closer. And I absolutely loved the title and the ending! Wonderful story.
A Disturbing Development, by Sheepybunbuns #
Harry/various, NC-17, humour. Summary: Harry Potter tells the story of an unwelcome connection between him and Voldemort, and how it helped in Voldemort’s demise.
Down, You Lie Down Too, Bruise, Marked, by Resonant ##
Snape/Harry, NC-17, Snape/Harry, R, and Harry/Draco; R. Summary: A brief interlude of peace.
Hard war times, quick war couplings, succinct unemotional language. A handful of sketch-like details, bare like truth. From one of them two other stories grow. Two drabbles. Both are even thriftier. The incredibility of such a fixation on such a detail like what is used there is stunning. And believable. And cruel. And irresistible.
Its mood makes the triptych be read more like a World War I story, that’s why the mention of a manticore or vampire seems somewhat alien. But the writing is so good!.
A Kind of Wild Justice, by Nimori (or here, locked) #
Snape/Harry, Snape/Sirius, Sirius/Harry; NC-17, AU. Summary: Snape always knew Potter was a nasty little boy. But that’s all right because Snape is a nasty man. Warnings: chan (Harry’s 13), bestiality, coercion, AU.
Everyone in this fic is naughty or nasty, and tables are turned more than once. Fun to read if you don’t mind bestiality and hot and fun if you like it. As for me, it’s delightful and amusing; excellent writing is a bonus, too. Brilliant!
Mirror Magic, by Go Seaward (link to part 2 is at the bottom) #
Snape/Remus, Snape/Harry; NC-17. Summary: “For the SSFF three-word challenge: contrition, voluptuous, bloodthirsty. Or, to put it another way, Snape has a stalker and a fiftieth birthday.” You can also read it at the Severus Snape Fuh-Q Fest, search by title or author’s name.
Working my way through the Severus Snape Fuh-Q Fest in order to find something interesting I missed before, I found out that I, indeed, missed several excellent fics. This is one of them.
Somebody enchants Snape’s mirror. The mirror likes watching Snape in his private moments. The mirror talks to him. There are several suspects, which in the end come down to two. You’d say, a-ha, situation comedy. I’d say, and situation comedy, too, but also much more. Love triangles, fascinating magical theories (and practice!), amusing dialogues, and a fair share of tender and sad moments. This is a wonderful fic. I started re-reading it for this rec and was unable to stop until the end.
Prisonnier de Guerre, by Switchknife []
Harry/various; NC-17. Summary: The experiences of a prisoner of war. Warnings: Rape, more rape, slavery, starvation, sadism and the abuse of prisoners.
I will never ever read this fic again. It’s the darkest, cruellest, most merciless and hopeless fic I’ve read. It’s awful. It doesn’t read like a fic, you know. It reads like a Nazi-time documentary. But I believe that everybody should read it once because it works, it makes one think. It makes a really strong impression, even devastating.
Resolution’s Ease, by Nimori (or here) #
Harry/Voldemort, Harry/Snape; PG. Summary: No war ends in complete victory. Compromises must be made among the survivors.
It’s a sad story, soaked with apprehension — Harry’s leaving his lover to go perform yet another duty, always the sacrificial lamb of the Wizarding world.
Some might enjoy forced marriage fics where Harry is married to Voldemort because they hit certain kinks of theirs. I don’t. I usually find them far beyond the limits of what I consider credible. But in Resolution’s Ease Nimori creates such a version of reality that I can’t help agreeing and thinking that this scenario is possible and even probable. Once again the point is proved: the question is not *what* it’s about but *how* it’s written. Here it’s done wonderfully! The atmosphere is quiet but gloomy and tense; the narration is succinct and precise. Very good reading.
The Road to Hell Series, by Cybele #
The Eager Student (NC-17, Harry/Remus), The Road to Hell (NC-17, Snape/Harry), Hell: Frozen Over (NC-17, Harry/Snape, Remus/Sirius). Summary: Snape may or may not be in trouble. A few well meaning Gryffindors come to the rescue. Response to the Severus Snape Fuh-Q Fest, scenario challenge 69: Goings on at Snape Manor.
Old classics. It should be recommended and re-read twenty times for the sheer hotness and amusement value. My favourite of them is number 2, The Road to Hell, because I find it the funniest. Harry has had a couple of visions/seer dreams that told him that Snape is suicidal. Snape proves Harry’s suspicions by giving Hermione a rare book, not taking points and other OOC actions. So Harry and Co come to rescue Snape from himself.
Looking at these stories from today, they seem cliché. But all clichés were fresh and shining some time ago, especially considering that Cybele was among those who discovered them. So enjoy their twinkling lights [re-]reading this wonderful series!
A Spell to Turn Tigers to Butter, by Amanuensis ##
NC-17; Snape/Harry, Lucius/Harry. Dark, Non-con, Humor. Summary: In a tale told through the eyes of his enemies, Harry remains resourceful even in the most dreadful circumstances.
One of my first recs, hee! It went like this: This story bought my soul and sent it to Amanuensis wrapped in bright paper. It will always work for me as a reminder that you can’t judge a writer by one story. I had read her fic And Just Plain Wrong and didn’t like it at all. The natural reaction was not to read anything more of the author. I’m very glad I somehow overcame it.
When you begin reading, ‘A Spell…’ seems just another dark-fic: Voldemort won, Harry is given to his favourite Death Eaters as a sex-slave. But believe me, I won’t be such a fan of ‘just a dark-fic’. To imagine the rhythm of the story, toss a coin on the floor. At first it will roll in wide circles, then they will gradually become smaller and smaller until in the end the coin just trembles on the spot, and finally stops. Apart from this fantastic rhythm, the sense of humour here is also very peculiar. First you think it’s quite serious, in the middle you quirk you eyebrow in quiet amusement, at the end you laugh and say, ‘Oh, you wicked thing!’ It’s really well-written and sexy and clever. And look at the title! One of the very best ever! Don’t let ‘dark’ and ‘non-con’ in the warnings avert you, go read the story!
The Things You Discover Over Dinner, by Dragon Light (also here or here) #
Snape/Harry, Draco/Harry; PG-15. Summary: Originally written for the AAA fest, but I never got it edited in time. Completely my fault. Challenges: 41) Include this line: “You have my word of honor that the story I have been telling is the truth… Okay, mixed with a little fiction… All right, I’m lying my butt off…” and 20) Triangle past - A significant someone from your chosen character’s past returns to attempt to re-kindle the relationship, igniting sparks of jealousy in a current (or potential) partner. Who will they choose?
This is an absolutely charming love triangle story, and saying charming I mean really, really charming. It was a pure delight to read it, from the first word to the last. Well, a fic by Dragon Light I don’t like is yet to be written, but this one is my favourite of hers. I don’t want to say much about the plot. Three men, two relationships, a dozen scenes. And a dreamy, contented smile on a reader’s face afterwards. So good :)
Touch, by serpentpixie #
Harry/Snape, Harry/Lucius, R. Warnings: non-con, character death. Summary: “Without identity we become unknown, without sight, we may lose our way. In the absolute darkness a single touch becomes a way marker, a sign of hope. Trust is only relative to emotion. Emotion is a product of memory.”
This fic manages to convey the disorientation of the sudden loss of sight and memory in such a way that almost makes you physically dizzy. It’s a strange fic; a prisoner fic with a lot of dark things in it, but it’s not unhappy. Very impressive.
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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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