HP recs: Harry/Draco medium length
Posted on October 13, 2007
Filed Under HP recs masterlist, HP recs |
A fair warning: I’ve been out of HP fandom for quite a while by now. As I read HP fiction nearly not at all nowadays, please don’t expect these listings of mine to be kept up to date. If you report a broken link or suggest a new addition, I might fix/add it… in half a year. So please don’t use these lists as a proper gateway but rather as a general guidance for what to look in other places if you find a dead end here. For new stuff, check comments.
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Go to: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy. Part 1: Long fics (over 50K words)
Go to: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy. Part 3: Short fics
Fics are sorted in alphabetical order by title (articles excluded).
After Eden, by rickey_a []
Harry/Draco, NC-17, ~15,000 words. Team EWE. Summary: Life threatening injuries are an occupational hazard even for a seasoned Auror, but Harry Potter never considered the possibility of life altering injury. And why is it that Draco Malfoy has to be the one to help him?
The first classic Hurt/Comfort in the HD Wordcup (prompt 2: Judgment). I liked the story the author told but I didn’t much care about the way it was done. I also didn’t like the ending because by then, both Harry and Draco seemed too fanon to me. Why am I reccing it then? Because I liked how the after-injury treatment and training were written. It was detailed and interesting, and I particularly liked the earlier stages of it.
Ain’t No Friend of Mine, by tkp ##
Harry/Draco, PG, ~33K words. Summary: Draco has to face the truth of who he is. The truth has long hair and slobbers.
Draco gets turned into a dog by some [really interesting] magic, which you’ll see explained later on. He tries to find a way to London, to somebody who knows him well enough to recognise him in the dog. A stray dog’s life, as it turns out, isn’t at all fun. His ears get pulled by kids, he gets rough treatment from other dogs, and he has to eat out of rubbish bins — which he promptly pretends never happened. In one of the places he placed his hopes on to be recognised, he gets into real trouble and is rescued by a PI Harry Potter. Draco as a dog is amazing here! He’s some sort of hound (I imagine him like this Saluki), and his dog-brain is at the same time very doggy and very Draco-y.
Potter rubbed his eyes and looked down at Draco. “I thought you would’ve let me know there was someone here,” was all he had to say.
What, like that’s my job here all of the sudden? Draco thought to himself. I just started today. Don’t I get a—I don’t know—an orientation? With instruction pamphlets, about how I’m not your doorbell or personal secretary. Also, éclairs.
Aloud, he barked.
The combination of the two brains is especially amusing when Harry takes the dog to his friends: see how his thoughts about Ginny, for example, fluidly shift and change depending on what she does.
I really liked Harry here. Seeing how JKR’s Harry is incredibly well-adjusted, what with his childhood and, well, everything else in his life up to 18, so naturally this fine guy is what we most often see in fanfiction ‘cos, well, there’s writing a character in character and all that stuff. Here, however, we can see a Harry as he could have been if less, I dunno, incredibly well-adjusted. Which means, rather maladjusted. He is rather inept, both socially and in personal relationships, and it’s painful and amusing to see at the same time, but he’s still not OOC, as for me. On the whole, I enjoyed the story a lot! Liked it best among the Animagus fest fics that I tried.
Alpha Watch I: Sin For Me, by Furiosity (or here) #
R. Supposed to be part 1 of a series. Summary: “Harry never expected the peace to last forever. Dumbledore taught him better than that. He just didn’t expect the next war to begin less than a month after Voldemort died. Never would he have dreamed that it would be a man’s personal war against a system. The wizarding world was that system, and Harry was that man.”
This is shaping out to be my favourite story of F’s, and it already is an incredibly captivating and complex story. I don’t really know where to start speaking about it. It’s set after the war and features a Machiavellian Harry who desided to change the Wizarding World political situation because the current one is unfair and flawed, and he’s sick and tired of it. Harry has changed in this story; he’s ruthless and a bit creepy (but not outright dark). The main plot in this part is the elections of the new minister. You’d think, phew, of course Harry wins. Nothing that simple! He is, indeed, running for the minister, but he has a much more cunning, devious plan. A plan involving Draco Malfoy. There are many a fascinating detail: the very Alpha Watch, the portrait of Ron, election processes, vows and bonds, and much, much more. Wonderful reading! I’m looking forward to the next part of the series.
The Arc of the Pendulum, by brummell ##
Harry/Draco, NC-17, ~30300 words. Team: EWE. Prompt: The Hanged Man. Warnings: A bit of gore. Summary: After his father casts a mysterious curse on Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy is forced to try to make things right. Author’s Note: This is an adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, with some tribute paid to Disney’s 1991 animated feature.
An engrossing read. When I was told that it was a werewolf!Harry fic, I though I wasn’t going to read, let alone like it. ‘Cos let’s admit it: you come across a well-written creature fic in proportion 1 to 20 mediocre or bad ones. Surprisingly, this was one. I began reading and was lost to everything until I finished. If you look at the summary and expect something light or fairy-tale-ish, you’d be mistaken. The story isn’t light. I wouldn’t say it’s very dark either, even despite the dark curse and gore mentioned in the warning. It’s just serious and gripping. The author sort of turns lycanthropy upside down in this fic but it makes the curse all the more tragic and conspicuous. The story is very emotional (not melodramatic!) and vivid. I finished it two days ago but I’m still watching some scenes in my head: Harry struggling to use quill, digging a hole, sticking his face in the plate but carefully pushing food with his paw, craving human touch to retain humanity; the house in shambles and Harry hiding in the corner, and many, many others. Believe me, I want to keep on with the list! Fabulous story! Made me cry but I was so engrossed with it that I noticed only when I saw drops on paper.
Arctic Fox, by scrtkpr #
Harry/Draco, non-graphic Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione, NC-17, 28K words. Summary: “Isn’t that Draco Malfoy? He keeps looking at you, Harry.”
Harry and Ron start their Auror training and who’s training with them? Yes, exactly. And reasons aside, he turns out to be rather bad at it. This is the point where I was sold on this story. Because bad-Auror-trainee!Draco? Is delight :) Not to mention the Arctic fox which made me laugh and coo. It’s way too charming an image; I even wish the author used it more in the story but anyway it made for a good title: concrete, appealing to readers’ imagination, and memorable. It’s an interesting story, well-written. One of the best in HD Holidays so far, as for me.
The Astronaut Phase, by george pushdragon (fee absinthe) ##
Harry/Draco, NC-17, 17K words. A/N: “This is for twistedm. It’s a little bit of Harry/Draco whimsy inspired by her comment that rather than casting Ginny as a villain, she prefers to see her “doing something amazing and feminist and far, far away”.”
Just how cool is that Ginny is the first wizarding astronaut? Ginny the nag or Ginny the bitch is such a familiar image in a H/D fic but I admit this off-screen Ginny seemed to me much more in character. Ginny’s space shuttle is about to launch, Harry’s a paper-pushing frustrated Auror, and Malfoy is back in the country, clearly up to no good if to judge by the reports in the MLE headquarters. It’s not mystery but the detective/mystery subplot gives the story a nice dose of suspense. The sex is scorchingly hot. And the main thing: the writing is totally, utterly brilliant. To die for. End of nearly each sub-chapter made me “oh” and “ah” in delight or burst out laughing:
“Are you going to finish that?” Harry said as he plucked her cone off the table, shoved most of it into his mouth and bit down. Four centimetres across the top, he calculated. He curled his fingers out of sight. Malfoy’s cock could have been just a bit thicker. He wondered how much more he could take.
The punchlines are brilliant, which no amount of quoting will show you because they need context to be appreciated properly, although I can’t help copying a few here. By the time he’d done the last of them, he was labelling them “ACTUAL SIZE” and signing himself as “Stubby Boardman” so it wasn’t, perhaps, a complete loss. This is a story that is delightful from the first line to the last. The word I used, ‘brilliant’, calls to mind something cool, aloof, and shining. But the story is moving, too. The reason Malfoy gives Harry to his “Why?” made me melt, almost for real. Go read!
At Childhood’s End, by Mahogany Handle #
Harry/Draco, PG, ~38000 words. Team Fanon. Summary: When Harry comes across a fallen branch of an elder tree and accidentally bonds with it, his life changes beyond his wildest imaginings.
I’m going to quote a comment by tacitprophecy, because she expresses what I thought much better than I could: I’ll admit that fanon is always a bit jarring, because there is that disconnect from the facts we are accustomed to, but I think a good fanon fic is about readjusting the audience believably to an alternative world. I started the fic faced with a Harry I knew, in an environment that didn’t quite make sense. But Harry stayed the Harry I knew, while the fic slowly acclimated me to his new world. I learned little facts–the grocery he liked, his relations with his friends, and by the time Draco appeared I had somewhat adjusted to this new world.
Harry is a wandmaker who’s living on a boat. Draco is — you’ll learn it soon after beginning; if you don’t want any spoilers, skip the white bit. If you want them, highlight it: Draco is a tree. Sort of. The story is surreal and otherworldly. It’s not only long but meant for slow reading too, because it contains lots of information and is meant for attentive reading. Harry is busy and stubborn. People and things around him leave him lots of clues, unwittingly or intentionally, but he’s determined to do things his own way. If you pay attention, you’ll figure out what’s happening considerably earlier than Harry, but if you know yourself to have the attention span of a sparrow, don’t worry too much, all the trails will come to the same place and it all will make sense in the end. To make it easier for those who, like me, got confused by magical theory and Green Men, have another spoiler: keep in mind that an elder tree and a Green Man are largely synonymous.
As for me, it’s one of the most fascinating fics I’ve read. The ending is a bit abrupt and although it doesn’t leave you hanging, I wouldn’t mind a sequel, or just the same story being longer. Yeah, even longer. Can’t you say I liked it?
A Balancing Act, by Natt #
Harry/Draco, NC-17, novella. Summary: All at once, Draco has lost his friends, parents, home, and all sense of security. Hogwarts is a lonely place for someone who used to have it all. Then, one day, he finds comfort in someone unexpected — Harry Potter, who is keeping a sexy little secret, indeed. Warning (highlight to read): gender bending.
Natt is back in fandom, and she returns with fic. This can be defined as an AU 6th year. Canon-compliant through year 5, the story references some events from book 6 but the time line is completely different. His mother dead, his father in prison, Draco returns to Hogwarts and distances from his former alliances and friends to find a new thing to occupy him. He discovers that Harry Potter has a really big secret, which proves to be a nearly bottomless source for blackmail. Draco pounces on such an opportunity. Weird, hot, lovely, and totally wonderful!
BDSM: A Love Story, by Sara (addictedkitten) (or here) #
NC-17; discontinued. Summary: Harry and Draco have a lot of sex and a lot of issues, but not necessarily in that order.
Beautiful Boy, by Debra Fran Baker (mamadeb) []
NC-17. Warning: D/s.
Blind Leading the Blind, by NQDonne #
Harry/Draco (Harry/Ginny implied), NC-17, ~25200 words. Team Epilogue. Warnings: clubbing, drinking, frottage, toys, desk sex, accidental voyeurism. Summary: Harry catches wise to a series of blind items in the Daily Prophet’s gossip pages that sound suspiciously like him. Except no one knows that he’s gay, do they?
Only Harry can get himself in such a spectacular mess! I had so much fun reading it, giggled and clapped hands. Harry, on the brink of turning 40, finds himself checking out nice bums — only of the wrong sex. But what is much worse, a mysterious writer of the gossip column in the Prophet somehow knows about it, even though Harry hasn’t said a word about it to anybody. Every step Harry takes on the slippery way of homosexual education, the omniscient columnist knows it all. Awkward “caught in the act” scene, awkward “first time” sex, Harry’s “figuring out” who the author of the Blind Item of the Week is and confronting said “author” — I loved it all. Teddy was a star of untimely appearances. The episode when he walked in on Harry made me say “OMG!” out loud and laugh like crazy. I think everything to do with sex is done really wonderfully in this fic: the sex shop and what happens in there, the magical porn (very nice!), the very sex that was really hot, too. I loved the kids: James trying to impress that Ravenclaw girl, Lily adding up her age. Al and Scorpius were lovely. I really, really enjoyed the story!
new Black Coffee on a Lonely Night, by Femmequixotic #
Hary/Draco, past Draco/Astoria, NC-17, ~21,600 words. Summary: Draco owns a café in the city. Harry’s an MP who comes in every morning, newspapers in one hand, BlackBerry in the other, and orders a triple espresso macchiato. Warnings: non-magical AU.
The fic is utterly charming! I don’t think this Harry or Draco have much to do with their canon counterparts but I do advice you to give it a try because the story is absolutely magical, as only some of non-magical AUs happen to be sometimes. Lovely and delightful and written really wonderfully! I’ll be rereading it when I want to feel good — not because of fluff (there isn’t any… or much; there’s quite a bit of angst actually) but because of the sheer comfort and, again, charm of it.
new Blood and Brimstone, by Calanthe ##
Harry/Draco, Harry/OMC; Draco/OMC, NC-17, ~42K words, Wicked Gentlemen crossover. Summary: The Inquisition claims it reforms and cleanses Prodigals of their demonic heritage, but Captain Harry Potter learns that the Church has lost its way and is worse by far than the devils in Hells Below. Warnings: Character death (not Harry or Draco); creature!fic of sorts (Draco is a demon); blood play (broadly); religion.
I loved this fic, which is rather paradoxical because I don’t care much for Ginn Hale’s ‘Wicked Gentlemen’ (see my review for details). But as Femme, if my memory serves, once said, admitting the book’s imperfections, it’s a perfect universe to play in. Which Calanthe just proved with her story, creating a logical background for the universe that didn’t have enough of it — again, my opinion — by taking the components for it from another book and strengthening WG’s strengths even more. Blood and Brimstone is a story with main characters and other key elements taken from HP but placed in Ginn Hale’s world, and it works quite brilliantly, if you ask me. I actually think that Cal expressed and shown things Ginn Hale only hinted at, and that is at the same time a compliment and a curse for the original ‘verse’s author but… let’s not go there ‘cos it would only end on controversy in a wrong place.
Hmm, thing is, I think quite a bit about this fic. Much more than I usually do after reading a fanfic. Take the fact as a compliment to it, too. In particular, I think this very crossover was a perfect opportunity for Cal to broadcast her writing strengths, such as the incredible, fantastic sensuality of everything she decides to describe and show, be it sex (fantastic!) or dirty streets, the ability to make reader a participant rather than spectator, and mask her writing weaknesses.
Anyway, to cut the long rambling short, the story is incredibly vivid, sensual, compelling, clever, and plain addictive. Do try it!
Brave New World, by Silent Auror #
NC-17. Summary: The first post-war Christmas is coming to Grimmauld Place. As the Order of the Phoenix ponders its future, Harry sorts through a maze of war records and quickly begins to see that not everything is as it should be…
The beginning is a bit too slow, as for me, but please don’t mind it: the story picks up its pace nicely. Harry works as some sort of secret police, I’d say, wizarding KGB. Or not, as it turns out when he finds that he knows less than he thought. The intrigue is really interesting. It creeps in on you gradually, tugging you in the story and glueing you to the screen. In parallel to it, Harry and Draco’s relationship develops — also really well-done. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I bet if you like this story, you’d want a sequel. Not that it has an unfinished feel. It doesn’t. And the story is told even if only a part of the main intrigue is resolved. But still, a sequel would be nice. When I ranted in the comments that I want it, the anon author said that it’s in the works. Heh, if it was the author of course, and not a random jester :) Anyway, a wonderful, interesting story. I think I’ll be rereading it.
Breaking all the Rules, by Frayach #
Harry/Draco, Harry/Ginny in the background, NC-17, 22800 words. Team Epilogue. Warnings: Crack!fic, swinging, boys in pink knickers and kitty-ears, rimming, and a couple exceedingly brief het sex scenes. Summary: Malfoy is slowly wringing the last vestiges of pleasure from Harry’s life with all his rules and committees and agendas and reports. Or is he?
Crack and I aren’t friends, so of course I think there were too many things for the giggles in the first part, but by the middle, when I got used to it, it became an utterly absorbing reading and I did find it to be fun if not outright funny. I think it’s not quite crack, even. It’s somewhere in between crack and satire. I don’t know whether I should be pissed off that one the hottest sex scenes I’ve read ever was [the way it was] — sorry, I’m avoiding spoilers — or just be happy that it was there :) ‘Cos the sex was awfully hot, shameless and dirty. Scorching hot. All in all, it was a very enjoyable reading, original and amusing.
But I Have A Penis, by Florahart (or here) #
NC-17. Prompt: Written for dragon_charmer, who wanted a bunch of things, including: seduction, hurt/comfort, dirty talk, Parselsmut, teasing, UST, happy endings, and well-written MPREG.
Light and amusing. Harry’s a Parselmouth, which leads to highly unexpected and irregular consequences — two male pregnancies where none was expected that go on quite differently and in character, if pregnancy can be in character. But it’s fanfiction, so surely it can be, here. The fic is delightfully light-hearted, fun, especially Harry and Draco’s mail exchange, not sappy, and on the whole, very pleasant!
Catch Me If I Fall, by Alisanne []
Harry/Draco, R, ~15800 words. Team EWE. Summary: As the world recovers from war, Draco faces an uncertain future. Unusual advice sets him on a new path, but only time will tell if he can avoid the pitfalls.
The most conflictless of the four fics posted for that prompt (The Fool) in the HD Wordcup. Technically, it’s team EWE and I voted “yes” to the question if the author/artist is true to their team. But as for me, it’s fanon also. I liked everything about the tarot card reading: the witch, Draco tripping, how he understands it. Snape’s portrait was a nice detail too. The story itself was a bit too smooth for my tastes and too fluffy towards the end but it was written pleasantly. The plot? It’s an Eigth Year fic. Harry and the other two parts of the Trio take Hogwarts teachers on their offer to come and finish their education. Draco is the only Slytherin of his year to come. They bond, gradually. Recommended to those who like the relatively new but already popular Eigth Year cliché.
Cerulean Blue, by scrtkpr and Anna Fugazzi []
Harry/Draco, Harry/Draco/Snape (of sorts), NC-17, ~27K words. Summary: When twenty-two-year-old Potions Professor Draco Malfoy has an accident that costs him the last four years of his memory, Harry Potter is the only one who can help him. Harry, with the grudging assistance of Severus Snape’s portrait, comes up with a plan. But how many of Draco’s secrets will be exposed in the process?
This is a memory loss cliche where memory recovering is done with the assistance of portrait!Snape. This, as you can imagine, is not what makes the story interesting. Several details that freshen it up do. Draco is a new Potions master at Hogwarts and, let me put it like this for fear of spoiling it, he’s rather bad at it. It’s more interesting and unusual than that, but you’ll learn the details when you read. Another detail is Harry’s literal-mindedness which I found very amusing. “Something is as if behind a closed door” becomes “something behind a closed door” for him, and so on. Lovely, nicely paced. Pleasant reading!
The Cinderella Complex, by Big Mama []
PG-13. Summary:” “In the space of a few minutes he had gone from the belle of the ball to the transvestite behind the tree.” Draco Malfoy has convinced the entire world that he hates Harry Potter. Everyone, that is, besides himself. As Draco pines and obsesses, Harry remains completely oblivious to Draco’s plight. When Hogwarts holds its first-ever Masquerade Ball, Draco concocts a plan to seduce the love of his life: By turning into someone else. Black market Polyjuice Potions, enchanted mood rings, and unrequited love all come together in this re-telling of the popular fairytale. Harry Potter slash style, of course.”
I wouldn’t say I liked how it was written. But I find the idea interesting, both in the part of Draco pretending to be somebody else and the fairy-tale “subtitles” separating the parts of the text. This is the fic where I’d like to see the same things done in a slightly different way. But even as it is, in my opinion, it’s interesting enough.
Confession Is Good For the Soul, by Anna Fugazzi (also here or here) #
R/PG-13.
A sure way to make me enjoy a story is to write original magic of the HP sort. I mean, not Celtic rituals and such but something new that at the same time works similar to the magic as we see it in HP books. This story tells us about a very interesting curse/illness and a no less original way to cure it. Both Harry and Draco work as mediwizards on a small island in Shetland. They both have reasons for working in this far-away place. One day Harry answers a call to a patient and comes back ill. He isn’t feeling any ill effects, which can’t be said about people around him. They are terrified of him. Harry’s sent into a quarantine with Draco who’s to cure him, being the only colleague who’s immune to the curse.
I first didn’t believe in the somewhat mellowed post-war Draco, but the more I learned about his life, the more credible his character became. He’s charming, really. And Harry is, too. The story is full of fascinating details. Have a quote:
“What I can’t stand is how… dead everything is in the Muggle world. Did you notice that? You walk into a home, and nothing moves. Nothing talks to you, nothing looks at you… it’s like being in a bloody cemetery.”
“At least cemeteries have statues you can talk to.”
“Muggle ones don’t.”
“Oh. No, I suppose not.”
Or this:
“Erm. Right. Thanks,” Draco said, also blushing deeply. “It’s… erm, nice of you to say so,” he said inanely, and wished the floor would swallow him up. Quickly headed off that thought – it had been known to happen that wizards and witches in great distress sometimes caused the floor to literally open up and swallow them, and the damage was hell to repair. Rather mortifying, too.
On the whole, it’s lovely, warm, and very pleasant, with a dash of angst and cleverness. I really enjoyed it.
Correspondence, by illstarred []
PG; WIP (on hiatus?). Summary: This is what happens when two enemies begin to freely correspond with each other …
Currency, by Blythe & Circe ##
Harry/Draco, NC-17, long novella. Summary: Harry wasn’t at school any more, nor was he fifteen. He was a successful merchant banker with a flat to die for and an owl who loved him. He wasn’t going to get into a pissing match with a stick-fiddler who’d always driven him mad. Written before DH.
How pleasant a detail is it that Harry has a namesake, another Potter, who works in the same office with him? How brilliant is that it’s Harry who’s an investment banker wearing a tailored suit and Malfoy is a geeky wandmaker who wears goggles and is scruffy in a mad-scientist sort of way? And it’s totally believable, too! How cool is Harry’s relationship with Petunia? And Hedwig? See yourself:
The owl flapped her wings impatiently, the tip-feathers swiping Harry’s glasses down his face. He straightened them as she took off from the window ledge, flying west. “And wait for an answer!” he shouted, amused when a few stragglers in the courtyard turned up to see who was yelling. He waved at them, and one waved back enthusiastically.
Christ, he thought, ducking his head back inside. It really wouldn’t do for the firm to hear their star investment banker was yelling at birds and waving to Japanese tourists.
Definitely time to go home.
Harry lives among Muggles, works with Muggles — not beyond some tricks to advance things his way — and breaks his wand accidentally running his office chair over it. He has to get in touch with Ollivander, who, as it turns out, is seven years dead. So we begin to learn about Harry’s life, the whys and hows of it, his problems, people around him. It’s amazing. It’s three very long chapters of wowsome.
As they passed underneath the shadow of St Paul’s, Harry felt an itch between his shoulder blades and a buzzing at his nerve endings. Bloody Christopher Wren, he thought. Whether it was the architect himself who was the wizard or some overeager fuck of a sorcerous stonemason, all of Wren’s churches set him on edge.
Dangerous Liaisons, by Fungus Files #
PG-13, based on Choderlos de Laclos’ Des Liaisons Dangereuses. Summary: “Ten years after graduation, it’s time for the class reunion! As one would expect, there are rumours, snarky reacquaintances, disappointments and life-threatening intrigue.”
After the war the rich ‘bad boy of the post-War society’ Draco Malfoy amuses himself by making bets with his friend Pansy. Well, silly of me to try and re-tell the plot, really. It deviates from de Laclos’ novel in some points, though. Firstly, in the ending, and secondly, it has a detective sub-plot. On the one hand, this sub-plot speeds up the rather slow and languid story, on the other hand, as for me, it’s somewhat out of place in it. But it’s a good fic nonetheless.
Dark Side of Light, by Maya (mistful) (not available online anymore. I’m keeping the rec up just for remebrance) ##
R. Summary: “Maya’s attempt at dialogue-only. Post-war, Draco-in-Azkaban, very dark, may be bad for your mental health.”
This fic is the example of how a story grew on me right while I was reading it, from bare tolerance at the beginning to fondness at the end.
A dialogue-fic is a brother of a play, only minus the very essence, i.e. the intent of stage life. I’m not fond of the theatre and I don’t like reading plays, but somehow I don’t mind reading dialogue-only fics. They are OK for the general audience only when they are short. If they are long, they inevitably will be read as a play, so the audience potentially will be limited. I suppose this rule works for DSoL, too, and I think many a young H/D fan (and Maya’s fans) dropped out of this fic somewhere in its middle because it’s ‘boring’. Pity, then. Because the fic is truly wonderful.
The story is very slow. Maya peels layer after layer gradually and shows us Harry’s tormented soul in many unhurried details. The contours of the after-war world appear one at a time, and it’s not right away that we understand that the war wasn’t like the ones we see in so many a HP fic. This fic requires a reader’s effort of keeping up with what is told and shown, of extracting information about what happened from Harry’s bitterness, deciphering their true emotions etc. But I believe most good things are a difficult reading.
A broken, lonely Harry has nothing to hold on to, not a single reason to keep moving, and as soon as he finds one, he loses it in such an awful and tragic way, and then is clutching the traces of it so desperately, and loses it again and again, that the effect of the story is devastating. I wasn’t able to fall asleep after reading it ‘cos I kept turning it in my head, trying to make up a way for them to have just a bit of happiness. Awful but wonderful fic.
DIY Messiah, by Scoradh ##
Harry/Draco, Harry/Ginny, R, ~27000 words. HD Wodcup entry. Team Epilogue. Prompt: The Tower. Summary: Harry stopped hating Draco Malfoy on Bring Your Kids to Work Day.
I loved this one to bits. It’s bizarre and ridiculous but somehow feels more real than realism because everything in the story is lively, full-bodied, and sticks to memory, sinking in lots of tiny hooks. Harry and Ginny are rather bad at parenting. Not spectacularly bad, no. Simply like quite a few families you know: house is in disarray, kids misbehave or wrap their parents around their manipulative little fingers, and the relationships, while not dysfunctional, are somehow skewed. They seem to work on the outside but something doesn’t connect. I was totally in this story that is sad for the old relationship, hopeful for the new one by the first mention of the Department of Accounts and Boring Paperwork, which means by the third paragraph: Up till then, Harry had no contact with the Department of Accounts and Boring Paperwork. He didn’t even realise the Head of ABP wasDraco Malfoy. He knew him only by his nickname, which was—handily enough—also ABP. It stood for A Bit Pissed, which is what happened to the Head of ABP when his fellow Ministry workers didn’t get the ‘Quills and Misc Stationary’ requisition forms in on time. I was completely sold on it when I learned of Lily’s eating habits and fell in love when the kid that refuses to bathe first appeared.
The scene when Harry comes home with the roses and Ginny delivers her news broke my heart. Draco serving Harry’s kids special scones children get to eat only once began mending it. Somewhere close to the end of the story I realised that Harry and especially Draco weren’t H and D I know from the books, but I also realised that it had ceased to matter long ago. Because how is it possible not to fall for Draco who works, basically, as a most boring accountant and has to have two insignificant jobs to make ends meet.
I’m sure I know who the author is ‘cos there’s only one HP writer who can write something so unusual in this particular style and make me love it every time.
Draco, the Magic Dragon, by Sansa []
Harry/Draco, NC-17, novella. Summary: Come to the fair! Draco’s granting wishes, Harry’s investigating a mystery, and Luna’s giving away pants. Crystal balls and kissing, dirty talk and candy floss – and that’s just the beginning. DH-compliant, EWE.
I found it interesting or unusual rather than like it because it left me with questions, mostly about the origin of Harry’s attraction to Draco and the OC villain that I didn’t like. So I think it’s a shipper’s fic, but I’m reccing it anyway for the sheer pleasure of seeing Draco work as a “Magician” at a Muggle fair. It’s vivid and detailed, both pleasant to read and memorable. So, recommended to H/D shippers, those who like seeing original occupations, and those who like reading about Draco having a miserable job. Pleasant story!
Draco By Trial, by Thrintje []
R. Summary: Harry and Draco were friends, closer than some people thought was healthy. Everything seemed to go wrong at once, and now Draco is on trial for murder. Nobody knows what really happened between the two boys except Draco, and now he has no choice but to tell his story.
Draco in Darkness, by Debbie (aome) (or here) ##
PG-13. Summary: Following an accident in his seventh year, Draco loses his eyesight. At first he completely withdraws, avoiding any hint of pity, as well as any assistance; he is determined to succeed on his own. But after Harry elbows his way into Draco’s dark world, both boys find themselves in a strange new friendship, and they each learn new ways to see each other … and themselves.
This story was recommended at Switchknife’s rec site. She said it’s her “favourite H/D novel on the Net right now”. I suddenly wanted to “administer the sacrament”. But it wasn’t the main reason to read it. In the summary, it was said: “Following an accident in his seventh year, Draco loses his eyesight.” What else did I need?
You know, it’s my most depressing type of dreams where lights go out or where I go blind. The dreams aren’t recurring. This detail is. So-called hyper-realistic dreams they usually are, with awfully real sensations: stone staircase under my palms ‘cos I have to crawl unable to find a single detail in the world that disappeared on me. An unexpected puddle on the floor that makes me flinch in disgust when I touch it. Rough wall at the entrance. Every crack at the railing, which I finally manage to find. Rustles and whispers in places where I haven’t heard them before. And unbearable shapeless darkness. Not black. Of some indefinable colour - dark brown, green and black altogether.
So naturally I wanted to read a story where a character suffers it. I wouldn’t say it was the best HP fanfic novel I’ve read. But one of the best, I’m sure; this story is really fine.
There are many ‘pros’. It’s very tender. It’s about blindness. It’s thorough and respectful. It’s written well. It’s not sappy. I can’t see any ‘contras’. So go read.
Draco Malfoy and the Heart of Slytherin, by Saber Shadowcat []
PG-13. Summary: Instead of allowing Draco to stay with family or friends when his father is arrested, Dumbledore places him with Harry Potter. What was Dumbledore thinking?
Drawing Down The Moon, by Scoradh (or here) #
Some Draco/Blaise; NC-17. Summary: Yet again, the request bears the same resemblance to the story as a road map does to an earthquake. So, in my own words: After breaking up with Blaise, a drunken Draco begs Harry Potter for help in winning him back. In a fit of misguided philanthropy (and maybe with one or two ulterior motives) Harry agrees. In the midst of the ensuing chaos, at least one person falls in love …
I rarely rec one fic per rec post, but I was so moved by this one that decided not to wait until I have enough new H/D. This fic is wonderful! You’ll have something to cry about for a little bit, and something to laugh at; a 80-year old Ron Weasley who tells stories to a dozen of his great-grand children and his wife knitting by the fire; an awfully hot and amusing story of Harry and Draco; marvellous style and storytelling manner. This is one of the fics that you save to your hard drive with a contented sigh. Go read!
Duration of Emptiness, by fireelemental79 []
Harry/Draco; Harry/Ginny and Draco/OFC in the background, PG-13, 29K words. Warning: minor character death, divorce. Summary: Harry and Draco find themselves thrown together by Scorpius and Albus after the death of Draco’s wife and Harry’s divorce. Will Harry be able to help Draco through his grief? Or is Draco so mired in his own despair that Harry won’t be able to pull him out.
I shouldn’t have liked this story ‘cos it’s chock-full of things I don’t like: divorce-related angst and a very ugly divorce, bitch!Ginny, Harry who realises he’s gay after he raised three children. I can’t really say that I liked the story. Rather, I found it interesting and compelling. I even printed the second half out to take with me on the train. I especially liked the thing that, I suspect, will turn away many a reader: how the divorce turns nasty and how characters start behaving like jerks in those circumstances. What I’d consider unreasonable Ginny-bashing in another fic, here I saw as “what we allow ourselves to become when…” I’ve seen enough of it in real life to find it believable here: how friendly and sensible people quarrel because of an old wardrobe, how kindly ones turn into furies because they don’t have to be kind anymore, and so on. I also liked Draco here. I won’t tell you what happens to him but it’s a thing I haven’t seen often in HP fics. And I liked Scorpius and Albus’s relationship, that whispering thing that they do. All in all, it’s an interesting story. It sticks to memory.
The Empty House, by Hollycomb #
Harry/Draco, R, novella. Summary: AU, Harry is separated from his friends during the war and stumbles into an empty cabin that happens to belong to the Malfoy family.
As I said in my comment to the story, Hollycomb has a Midas curse, of a sort: everything she touches turns into gold. I’ve read several next gen stories of hers and now I had an opportunity to see how she writes H/D. Fantastic story. Hollycomb shows us what happens in her POV character head like few can. Draco’s a coward. The fear he feels when he enters the cabin, it’s wow. It’s palpable. You get to feel it, to understand the mechanics of it. Draco is pathetic but very human and needy — and impossible not to love. I loved how Harry is rather larger than life for him.
One thing I didn’t like was the ending. Not the what of it but how. I actually clicked the link at the end that brought me back to the beginning ‘cos it didn’t feel like the end to me. But that might have more to do with me than with the story, so in your place, I’d go with the author rather than me. Because in any case, it’s a story that teaches one something important; even if I can’t define what at the moment, this is a feeling I got from it. Worthy experience :)
The Face of His Enemy, by Mahaliem #
R. Summary: “On the train to Hogwarts, Draco is hit with a curse that results in him reassessing who he is and who his true enemies are.”
Oldie but goodie. Mahaliem writes stories about which you can always say “charming” and “fun.” Her gentle and absurd humour is unparalleled. In this story Harry curses Draco on the train but mispronounces the curse, so in the result there are two people in Hogwarts with the face of Harry Potter. Of course, much hilarity ensues, but it also leads to a lot of unexpected revelations. Lovely, funny, awww-worthy, interesting and satisfying. One of the stories I come back to when I want to lighten up.
Fatal Fascination, by Stray (grey_hunter) #
Harry/Draco, NC-17, ~27K words. Warning(s): angst, dub-con. DH-compliant. Summary: Those who have followed the last couple of months’ news might be acquainted with the astonishing story of Camélia Malfoy’s mysterious death. Her husband and his family were prime suspects in the murder. Our readers were informed that after local Aurors investigation turned up nothing, the case was handed over to Auror Headquarters, with Harry Potter himself leading the investigation. Many of our readers are still reluctant to believe the outcome, especially after Harry Potter – whose domestic life is whispered to be turbulent these days – handed in his resignation to the Ministry two months later and has refused interviews ever since. Will the true story behind the scandal that had the wizarding world in upheaval for the last few months ever be revealed?
I keep reading HD Holidays fic (the fest is endless!) and stumbled upon another mystery/detective story that I liked. Harry who has family problems comes to Malfoy Manor to investigate the murder (see above) and stays because it’s more convenient. So he investigates. I liked the stuff about his work and magic involved in it, especially the Malfoy crypt and Scorpius’s behaviour around it. Gradually, Harry learns more and more about people involved and their at first suspicious and contradicting statements begin to make more sense to him — and us. Interesting story, pleasure to follow along. I liked the solving of the mystery, too :)
Fool (Or, The Many Good Deeds of Draco Malfoy), by avocado_love []
Harry/Draco, R, ~18000 words. Team Canon. Warnings: EWE, language, sexual situations. Summary: “You haven’t done one brave or noble thing in your life, Malfoy. Then you come into my house and ask me why I won’t do the right thing for you? What have you ever done for anyone?”
The one with the surest way to get to pj of the four fics posted for that prompt (The Fool) in the HD Wordcup. I mean, Draco adopts a dog! How could I resist? I still don’t understand the classification; I mean, how Team Canon is different from Team EWE and Team Epilogue if it can feature either epilogue-compliant fics or not. But that’s a theoretical bone to pick with the mods (at another time, if any), not the authors. There are two things in this story that weren’t to my tastes: a) Ginny subplot. I realise that one should somehow dismiss her but apart from killing her, this is my second least favourite way. And b) the ending seemed a bit too easy to me, in comparison to the rest of the story. I liked Draco here and I loved the dog and all that business. Quite enjoyable!
A Frayed and Threadbare Wish, by Sansa (or here) #
Draco/Harry/Draco, R. Summary: Today’s victory lies in the future. Harry and Draco’s mission to find the Malfoy Legacy leads them to places — and people — they never thought they’d see. Canon compliant through Half-Blood Prince.
Sansa has this unique talent to take a crazy, ridiculous, FFnet-bad-fic-like idea and make it into a wonderful story. She also has a talent of making it sound poetic without being pretentious. This is a story of Harry and Draco’s time travel into the future to save the world (out of sheer desperation, really) where they find an older Draco who’s, so to say, not quite balanced. It’s told in a dream-like, vivid present tense narration. It’s not linear but nothing too complex either. Just enough to intrigue rather than annoy. It leaves just enough unanswered questions to leave you craving for more and ponder it on your own — but not to make an impression of something unfinished. Because it isn’t. All in all, a very enjoyable, interesting story, with reach imagery and complex relationships. Wonderful!
From Ashes Reborn, by Mahaliem #
Harry/Draco, some other pairings, NC-17, ~34K words. Summary: Harry and Draco’s relationship didn’t simply die out. It was reduced to ashes. Years later, Draco is teaching at Hogwarts when Harry arrives in search of Fawkes. Can Draco make their love burn bright once more?
I must confess that it’s the only fic I’ve read from HD_holidays this year, and even that happened after the reveal — I simply couldn’t pass on the opportunity to read a new fic by Mahaliem because I knew I would enjoy it and that it would lighten my mood. And I did. I might be remembering it wrong (so much going on in my RL that things blur together in my head) but it seemed to me that this story of hers had a bit fewer gags and more plot than what can be called ‘usual’. But what gags were here were as always hysterically funny, especially the things about Lucius and, consequently, Ron. You’ll see what I mean when you read it, if you haven’t yet of course. In any case, a delightful story!
Good-bye to Yesterday, by Furiosity (or here) ##
Also Draco/other, NC-17. Summary: Draco felt ready to face even a million years in Azkaban as long as it meant that at the end of it all, he would make Potter pay.
This is one of the very best stories I’ve read this season, hands down. It’s edgy, poignant, plotty, really vivid and memorable, and has a perfect pacing. It made me literally sit on the edge of my chair and mutter expletives in my worry about the characters. It also features one of the most thorough depictions of Azkaban I’ve read — and it’s beyond fascinating! Really powerful and well-written.
During Draco’s trial, when he almost, almost got pardoned, Harry Potter unexpectedly protests Draco’s lie, and so he’s sent to the new Azkaban for a year. Draco is hell-bent on revenge, and you know that Draco who sets his mind on such a task is a dangerous thing indeed. He’s bloody perfect here! This is a story that is interesting to read, very captivating. It grabs you and puts you in. I so loved it!
new Greeting Expectations, by Mahaliem #
Harry/Draco, Ron/Hermione, Pansy/Blaise, R, ~16K words. Summary: Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy ask Harry, who’s currently unemployed, to discover why Draco has apparently gone Muggle. Warnings: Rubbish art on the front of the cards. Artists and those good with photoshop – hide your eyes! Also, some of the characters do not like Astoria. The opinions of these characters don’t do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the author.
If you read my lj, you all know that I think that Mahaliem is a comic genius. Well, she is! Her humour is weird and unique and it works its magic on me every bloody time! This fic is no exception. Even though I’ve read enough fics of hers by now to seemingly know all the tricks, I’m still surprised and delighted every time. Say, Harry’s spying on Draco. Badly. Draco catches him at it and Harry picks a random stranger in the street to say he’s spying on him. Of course the stranger turns out…. read and see! :) And it goes on: one thing turns to be another, and the characters’ revelations and commentary, my, they are hilarious! Go read!
Hedge of Thorns and Only Castles Burning, by Earthquake (requires password; or here and here) ##
NC-17, AU. Summary: “A sensitive young tutor. A gloomy manor. H/D slash in the alternate universe of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. This longer and more torturous version has twice the Tragic SecretsTM of the original.” A/N: “In this universe, Harry isn’t famous. Voldemort killed Harry’s parents, along with a lot of other witches and wizards, before he was eventually defeated during Harry’s second year at Hogwarts. Now Harry’s an orphan, impoverished, a lot like…Jane Eyre, I hope. I’m following the emotional arc of Bronte’s story, which means that Harry and his new employer have never met (in this case ’cause, uh, Rochester went to Durmstrang).” Warning: BDSM in the second story.
I love this fic to bits. It’s charming and brilliantly written. The author takes the necessary features from Jane Eyre and slightly twists them (twisting HP-verse much more because it’s a ‘HP placed into another -verse’ type of crossover.) So the fic has a very Bronte-like air, with naive and sincere Harry (who’s somehow not OOC at all), an eerie secret (you’ll never guess!), HP characters in unusual roles but still easily recognizable, and of course romance. The AU here isn’t non-magic as one could expect from a crossover like this, instead, there are some interesting spells and occupations and a very wholesome world in general.
The sequel, Only Castles Burning features heavy S/M. Some (or even many) of you may be disinclined to read it. If you don’t feel up to it, the “skip this section” option is offered to you, but I’m asking you to give it a chance. S/M is very much not my kink, but the way Earthquake writes it here made me understand it and see the characters’ need for it.
But enough talk. The story is absolutely delightful! I reread it once every several months. Just think, Mr Rochester!Draco, Jane!Harry, don’t you crave it already?
Hexed!, by Randominity #
R. Warning: MPreg.
Lo and behold, I’m reccing MPreg :) This entire fic is about Draco’s pregnancy: how it goes, what happens to his magic, how he changes, how he copes with it; how Harry reacts to it, what he does etc. I somehow didn’t notice this fic when making the MPreg lists; a friend reminded me of it several days ago. It’s a pleasure to read a fic where pregnancy in itself isn’t unnecessarily romanticised or is made another excuse for “holding hands and gazing adoringly into the emerald/storm-grey eyes.” Wouldn’t you think that Draco who says that his newborm baby “looks kind of like a monkey” is a more credible version of him than the one that coos over it? :) But the fic isn’t without kindness or loveliness. Very pleasant reading!
Homecoming, by novembersnow #
Harry/Draco, NC-17, ~27000 words. Team: Epilogue. Prompt: Temperance. Warnings: Infidelity, sort of (divorce in progress). Summary: Harry thinks spending two weeks as a guest lecturer at Hogwarts will offer the perfect chance to get away from his troubles. Then he meets his assigned faculty guide: Potions Master Draco Malfoy.
It’s easier to say what this story isn’t than to name what defines it. It’s not plotty. It’s not dramatic or fluffy. It’s smooth, reads well, and is lovely on the whole. You begin reading and it goes on as naturally as breathing. Ginny finally gets tired of rumours following the Potters wherever they go and whatever they do and files for divorce. Harry’s depressed, so when an opportunity comes to serve as a guest lecturer at Hogwarts, he takes it. The story follows the two weeks that Harry spends there, lecturing, observing children, and eventually getting involved with Draco Malfoy. Pleasant reading.
How Do You Mend a Broken Heart? by Mahaliem #
Harry/Draco, R, ~26500 words. Team Epilogue. Warnings: Language, sexual situations. Summary: In order to keep custody of his children, Draco needs to find a spouse that will shore up the Malfoy family’s tattered reputation. But what starts off as a means to an end gets more complicated when Draco’s target reawakens feelings in him that he hasn’t had in a long while, and Draco starts to feel alive for the first time since his wife’s death.
When I read that Draco was a single father of seven: six daughters and Scorpius, I thought it was crack and I wasn’t going to like it. Ha! Firstly, it’s not crack. It’s just humour. Secondly, what’s not to like? I had so much fun reading it! Btw, it is epilogue-compliant, in a weird, most unusual way. You’ll understand why you only saw Scorpius in the epilogue when you read the fic.
A couple of years after the death of Draco’s wife, her relatives begin to fight for custody of Draco’s children, declaring him unfit because of his shady Death Eater past. Draco is deadly afraid of losing them. He has a cunning plan: to get involved with somebody whose reputation is shiningly untarnished. Who’s better than Potter? Draco urgently begins to seduce Potter, on the way falling head over heels for him. Harry meanwhile have some agenda of his own, apparent to us but not to Draco who’s caught up in his own plots and schemes. Draco is delightful here, and so is Harry.
I’m 100% sure I know who the author is because only her gags make me laugh so hard. Excerpt:
Scorpius still looked shell-shocked. “I can’t fault your taste. I mean, he’s a more wrinkled version of Albus, but aren’t you two a little… old?”
“I’ll have you know that Mr. Potter and I are NOT old. Our virility is still undaunted by our age.”
Three of his children stared at him with various expressions of disgust at the thought of their father possibly having sex. Cassiopeia just looked confused as she puzzled out the meaning of virility.
“Ewww,” Draco’s three oldest chorused.
“Oh,” Cassiopeia said, as the meaning occurred to her. “Ew.”
“You don’t know that for sure, do you?” asked Scorpius. “Please tell me that you don’t know that for sure.”
“If you do,” Lyra added. “I hope you used protection.”
Everyone turned to stare at Lyra, who became flustered at the attention. “In Beauxbâtons: les Révélations there are two accounts of male pregnancy, so it can happen.”
“Oh, god,” said Columba. “Now I’m imagining Mr. Potter in a witch’s robe and with a swollen belly.”
Draco was, too.
It was at that moment Feely, the house-elf announced the arrival of Mr. Harry Potter and ushered him in.
All eyes went to Potter’s stomach.
If the beginning of the story makes you smile, wait till you get to Draco’s talking to Ron — it will make you howl. Light and funny, written wonderfully. Sheer pleasure!
The If Sieve, by crawfords_lover #
R. Summary: The device sat on Draco’s bed, denting the heavy green quilt into a rumpled dip. It looked a little like a Pensieve: a solid stone bowl filled with quivery silver liquid.
Sequel: Mirror Maze (PG-13, short).
Very interesting magic (and a very original device that doesn’t look out of place in HP world), a really clever way of working with clichés, interesting and truly memorable story, good writing. Draco fixed a broken If Sieve to get an answer to a question that keeps bugging him: if maybe he and Potter should have become friends. He has his reasons for posing such questions. So he keeps slipping various if-questions into the sieve. See what happens! Delightful!
In Plain Sight, by Taradiane #
Harry/Draco, Ron/Hermione, mentions of previous Harry/Ginny, NC-17, ~18K words. Summary: Pansy comes to Auror Potter’s office with a special favour to ask…
A large part of the story is set on the Isle of Skye. Harry goes there on Pansy’s request to find out about the state of Malfoy who disappeared three years ago and is rumoured to have been living there as a Muggle. Harry goes and finds many things, some much more unexpected than others. It’s a lovely, atmospheric tale. Hidden identity/discovery intrigue moves it nicely. I liked Harry’s concern for Teddy and what he gives him. I liked Harry’s shift of perspective. Very pleasant.
In Which Harry Potter Discovers a River In Egypt, by kestrelsparhawk #
NC-17. Summary: A missing roommate, a mysteriously familiar male prostitute, murdered Muggles, and an angry boss are all making life difficult for Auror Harry Potter. And that’s before he discovers that the reason he’s avoided having girlfriends for three years is not only because he doesn’t like publicity.
I love reading about grown-up Millicent. She and Luna are my favourite HP female characters. So I was delighted to see Mill (not Millie, thank you very much) co-star here. There’s also her daughter, whore!Draco, a detective intrigue (with a sinister potion) that doesn’t curdle at the end as many a detective plot does, and a wonderful Harry. Oh, and Mill fights for the rights of the suppressed sex workers! Wonderful reading!
An Interpretation on Justice (the Aurors and Assassins Mix), by noticeably
Harry/Draco, R, ~16000 words. Team Epilogue. Warnings: Angst, character death, infidelity. Summary: The little-known truth about floor sixteen and the department that inhabits it is this: the ten witches and wizards that sit in the front, while attending to things like paperwork and other trivial matters, are only a front to appease the few easily confused, lost individuals that happen to wander into the department unannounced, most usually when looking for another floor.
The one that caused controversy all over H/D part of LJ: how much of readers’ critique is acceptable (at all, in this fest, for this fic), how it should be worded, and so on. I’ll add to it. It’s not a rec; it’s a review.
The fic was interesting and gripping. It has a mystery (what’s wrong in Harry and Ginny’s family?) and then another, bigger one that give it a really nice, fast pacing. I was reading it sitting on the edge of my chair, almost biting my nails. But it petered out in the end. Several elements though made all the difference to me. Firstly, Draco’s job. The department for which he works looks unusual but not cracky — I mean, I can imagine it in a crack!fic, for the giggles, but here it was written seriously and it was very fresh. I believed in Draco’s (and other people who work there) reasons for taking the job. Secondly, Albus. I loved Albus here. Sullen, paranoid, suspicious, Slytherin. I loved it when we could see the events (or traces of them) through his eyes. In my opinion, it’s the best POV in this story which features several of them. The scene of Harry and Ginny’s quarrel when Albus’s trying to have a talk with his dad gave me chills because of Albus. But I can’t say everything made sense to me and too much was left unexplained.
What didn’t make sense to me (highlight to read ‘cos it contains lots of spoilers):
- It’s labelled H/D but it isn’t. One drunken pass from Harry and then Draco indicating his willingness to wait in case Harry figures how to fix things don’t make it H/D. I’d label it as Draco gen with Harry/Ginny, Harry/Teddy on the side.
- Who killed Ginny? And who composes the List and sends it down to the secret department? Why were the people on the list that were there? If Wood was killed for sleeping with Harry’s wife (and why was his wife killed with him?), who and why decided to dispose of him, and later Ginny? If it was a coincidence, why was he killed? One can’t make Draco an assassin, make it a huge plot point, and then leave this mystery un-solved. It simply doesn’t work like that. It’s not a gun on the wall that doesn’t shoot. It’s a whole battery. The mystery is what moves the plot in this story. And as a result, it moves nowhere but instead makes it look like the author simply hasn’t thought their story through properly.
- Harry/Teddy relationship. While it’s perfectly OK as long as we see the glimpses of it through Albus’s eyes, to leave it that sketchy isn’t OK when we move to Harry’s POV and not OK because the big mystery of “what is wrong in the Potters’ household” is used for the hook; the story opens with it. So either it shouldn’t be accented at the beginning or shouldn’t wilt in the end.
- How does Scorpius and Draco’s relationship go after the revelation that Draco kills people for a living?
- as Draco says, no assassin murders have been solved by Aurors. Closer to the end, Draco explains that assassins are allowed to forewarn people without disclosing details and CAN disclose details afterwards. Throws logic, isn’t it? So are they a super seekrit force or not?
- if they are a secret force used to dispose of those who carry the maximum threat for society, what did Wood do to get on the list? Or Cho Chang? Or does it point to terrible corruption in the highest echelons of powers? WHO?The conclusion I come to is: it’s interesting and the elements of the fic are written wonderfully but there isn’t a story. A story is more than a simple sum of elements, and while this fic has lots of wonderful, creative, even amazing elements, they don’t make any sort of whole. Could be a really amazing fic if reworked.
Kiss A Boy In London Town (And Other Intimate Misadventures of A Society Whore), by Femme ##
Harry/Draco, Draco/others, NC-17, 36K words. Summary: There’s only one cardinal sin for a whore. Warnings: Prostitution, semi-epilogue compliant.
I realised I liked this fic at about three paragraphs in. Having read one fourth, I mailed my best friend to squeal. Which would be unbelievable because this is a first person, present tense, thirty-six thousand word rentboy fic. But I loved it to bits. I loved Draco’s voice, his reasons for various choices and his biography. I loved Harry. I absolutely, madly loved the children: the sausage that “flewed”; that Albus is so mistrustful of strangers and that James is so vigilant, in his childish way, and everything, everything about them. The hidden identity and the conflict of the respective protagonists’ life choices moved the plot nicely. The magic, especially St Thomas, made me alternately clap hands and cry. It’s a wonderful, romantic, sexy, heart-warming and very Christmas-ey story. Two stars from me, is how much I loved it.
Leave Your Field to Flower, by Emma Grant (or here) #
Harry/Draco, implied Hermione/Percy, R, Summary: Draco Malfoy is like all the other Survivors of the disaster– except for one called Harry Potter. (Every wizard looses memory of the magical world as a result of Voldermort’s curse.)
The Lodger, by Mad Martha #
PG-13. Summary: Harry takes in a lodger.
new Little Red Courgette, by blamebrampton, with art by raitala (or here) #
Harry/Draco, PG, ~31K words. Summary: When this season’s purple courgettes are woefully thin, Draco Malfoy thinks it amounts to small beans. Next thing he knows, the Department of Standards is over-run with leeks, Brussels sprouts all sorts of legislative difficulties, and somebody appears to have put a roquette under Harry Potter. Can Draco seize a marrow victory? Or will his plans for peas be squashed? Warnings: Dreadful vegetable jokes and puns by the bushel. See that title? That’s quality compared to some of the stuff after the link.
I must confess: when I read the summary, I was simultaneously intrigued and repulsed. I mean, too many vegetable jokes on a square inch of text, you know, blergh. But this also made it intriguing. ‘Cos I know BB’s writing, and it’s good. So she must have written this dreadful summary for something, right? I’m glad I gave it a go. The fic has far fewer veg puns than the headers suggest, and they are lovely and funny, especially at the end.
Draco works in the Ministry’s Department of Standards, standardising home-grown vegetables. He’s been doing it for 10 years, patiently carving a place for himself in the post-war society, leading a quiet life, and surreptitiously enjoying alternative media, i.e. The Quibbler with its political commentary made through comics page. His quiet and structured life goes belly up when his (wonderful) under-under-something-secretary messes up in a really inopportune moment. I loved this Draco, I loved his colleague, and I adored the way the author developed Harry and Draco’s relationship. Wonderful long story!
Love in a London Tube Stop (Under Construction), by Klynie []
Harry/Draco, NC-17-lite, 18400 words. Team: Epilogue. Prompt: The Chariot. Warnings: Infidelity (but in an open marriage, which should probably be another warning, I suppose), Open marriage (see?), Cheating (for readers who are hopelessly honest), A Very Tiny Bit of girl-kissing-girl action. Summary: A Romance, In Diverse Parts, Involving Champions, Cheating and Chariots in Various and Sundry Combinations.
That was interesting and fun. Not everything made sense to me (the London Tube metaphors didn’t) and I can’t say the humour here worked for me (too cracky for my tastes). But I liked the plot: Albus and Scorpius take part in the Triwizard Championship. I admit that I got lost somewhere in the clues, that is, I don’t get it how the second task clue applied to the third task. IMO, it was rather random or needed explanations. But there was one thing in this story that I liked a lot: the Harry/Draco relationship, or I better say miscommunication. It isn’t as if they misunderstand each other, it’s as though they speak completely different languages, which, I suppose, they do. As for me, it was reflected really well.
Love Like a Razorblade, by Furiosity ##
Harry/Draco, other past pairings mentioned; NC-17, novella. Summary: Like everything powerful, love is a weapon. Warnings: Slight mindfuck, some violence.
Absolutely fantabulous! Harry’s sent to Durmstrang on a mission to discover its location and curriculum. He meets Draco Malfoy teaching Dark Arts there instead. I’ve wanted to read a good story set in Durmstrang forever, and this is it! Amazing details, magical theory, PLOT, sex, tension, cultural differences, geography, everything! Either this writer has Russian roots or a very good Russian beta :) ‘Cos they never once failed in Russian names, customs, or anything. A word of caution though: do not try to repeat sex-in-banya thing; it’s ok only for those whose heart is very strong and healthy. But anyway, this story is a joy from the first line to the last. Go read!
Lush Life, by Pir8fancier (or here) ##
R. Summary: Draco Malfoy is forty, currently editor of a soft porn gay men’s magazine, the author of a no-holds-barred tell all of his life as a former rentboy, and is perfectly happy. Uh, not. Enter one Harry Potter. Sequel to Lettered.
Draco Malfoy, now known under the name of Dee de Poitier (which made me laugh out loud), is coming back to England where he hasn’t been for more than 20 years to launch a British branch of a smut empire. What more to tell you? I saved it to my hard drive when I reached the middle. And I would do it at the end were I not so impatient before. There are typos here and there, but they are just occasional typos; they don’t detract from the story. It’s utterly engaging and lovely, has a wonderful balance between pathos and irony, and an adult Draco’s voice that I believed. Wonderful reading!
Lustre, by Julad and Calico #
R. Summary: Draco is perfectly fine, thankyou, and Harry is merely distracting.
The Magician’s Gifts, by RurouniHime ##
Harry/Draco, Harry/Ginny, R, ~32800 words. Team Canon. Warnings: Het! OMG het! Summary: Harry’s crisis is only the beginning of his journey.
I would say that this one is pretty amazing if the word didn’t imply something more loud, shocking. This story begins sort of neither here nor there, slowly, one might even think it’s boring. It creeps on you, keeps growing, taking root, and by the middle has you in thrall. Everything feels so bloody real! Harry’s thoughts and emotions, his reasons and his actions. He has grown a lot but remained so very Harry I fell in love with him all over again. He’s learned that actions have consequences. He learned to take his family into account. He knows what a step out of line in his job could cost them. But he isn’t, I don’t know, Percy. So when he catches Malfoy smuggling out of the country people whose movement have been restricted by the law that Harry (and his friends) voted against, he doesn’t turn Malfoy in. What is more, he joins the venture. You’d expect crime/action novella but it isn’t, or not quite. It’s an emotional journey. Maybe even emotional roller-coaster, for the second half. Because the main conflict is inside Harry. Because even when you know the risks and you think that if worst comes to worst, you can predict the result, when it does, it never goes exactly how you thought it might. And you can never count all the variables. You can’t guess how it will affect you because there are other people in the equation. There are so many points in this story that I’d like to elaborate on but they are all spoilers. Let me just say that I think the open ending is very fitting. Made a very strong impression on me, this story did.
Master Work, by Mahaliem #
Harry/Draco (also some Harry/Ginny, Harry/Pansy, Hermione/Ron), R, ~35K words. Summary: Harry’s eighth-year at Hogwarts is going about as well as all the others. Someone is out to get him, Aurors keep questioning him about the final battle and, worst of all, Draco is determined to repay his life debt to Harry. Warning(s): Minor character death. Set pre-epilogue, implications of EWE.
A message to the author: Mahaliem, I love you. Let’s elope? :)
A message to the readers: ahem. I believe everybody who’s interested in H/D have read it already, right? But I’m not much into HP right now, as you well know, so forgive me the lateness of this rec. If by some miracle you haven’t read this fic, what on earth are you waiting for? This fic contains everything I love Mahaliem’s writing for. It’s lovely and plotty, funny and ridiculous, self-ironic and gently poking fun at fanon clichés. It has recurring gags, as usual. By the fifth or sixth time Snape and the love of his life were mentioned, I laughed out loud. All in all, it’s not a fic, it’s a Cheering Charm. Will be rereading every year, that’s a given.
A message to the author: but what if I grovel and beg? Will you elope with me then?
new A Matter of PreText, ConText, and Misconceptions, by laciudad #
Harry/Ginny, Harry/Draco, past Draco/Astoria, NC-17, ~15K words. Summary: Marriage suffering a slow death by silence, career taking a drastic downwards turn, Harry re-analyzes his life through one of the best methods he knows: wanking and porn and wanking to porn. It’s not becoming an addiction, it’s not. Warnings: infidelity, professional misconduct, passing mention of heterosexual sex. Epilogue compliant – to a degree. 9 years later instead of 19 (2007).
Laciudad is one of my favourite “new” writers (meaning I’ve been reading her fics for about a year or two, unlike my favourite old writers whom I’ve been reading since coming to HP fandom), because she can do things like what she does in this fic. It’s painful and hopeful and hot and sad and warm all at the same time. It’s an interesting and compelling story that evokes the broadest range of emotions; it’s a story for grown-ups; it’s a story about unexpected places in which life can get skewed and how it can be mended, as unexpectedly. Wonderful story!
A Mile in His Shoes, by Sansa (or here) ##
NC-17. Summary: It’s ten years after the war and a chance meeting on a small island changes Harry and Draco from who they’ve become into who they want to be.
The fic reminded me of Alice’s adventures. Draco arrives on an island and stumbles upon Harry. No less accidentally, he happens to stay in his house. While Draco tries to figure out Harry’s strange behaviour, weird household and even stranger family members, the reader is one more step behind him. It’s all a bit bewildering, a lot intriguing, and really fascinating. The cast of original characters are a blast and IMO it’s them who create most of the wonderful atmosphere of the fic: Sergei, Cook, and Fawne.
“Hello,” Draco called.
“Can’t talk, dear. In the middle of something quite delicate.” The woman threw a glance over her shoulder. “I’d ask for your help-”
Draco smiled. “I’d be happy to help.”
“-but you’re too small for my needs.” The woman reached the far end of the hall and paused at the door Harry had earlier told him led to the garden. “I’m Cook, by the way.”
“Excellent,” Draco said. “I was coming to find out what was for-”
The back door slammed behind her.
“Dinner,” Draco finished. Bemused, he wandered through the archway that led to the dining room, hoping to find the kitchen beyond. The dining room dripped elegance, but he gave it only a cursory glance. It reminded him of the small family dining area at the Manor. Cold and not particularly welcoming.
An unobtrusive door at the back of the room led, as he suspected, to the kitchen. Inside, a hulking man, easily eight feet tall, hovered over the stove.
Draco drew up short and cleared his throat. “Hello.”
The giant’s head swiveled around. Dark, beady eyes bore into Draco. “Dinner not ready,” he growled in broken English.
Draco gave a nervous laugh. “Yes, I suspected as much. I just wanted to know when Cook was planning on serving.”
The large man stopped stirring. With exaggerated care, he put down his spoon and turned around. Hands on his hips, he glowered at Draco. “Why would Cook serve Sergei’s meal?”
“Er…” Draco licked his lips. Before he could form an answer, the giant plucked his long wooden spoon from the stove and shook it at Draco. “Cook not allowed in my kitchen. Always make huge mess. Can’t even boil water.” He pointed the spoon at the door and mumbled an incantation. It flew open and banged against the wall. “Now. Go upstairs, pretty boy. Sergei will call when dinner ready.”
But both Harry and Draco are wonderful too. Harry’s seriously fucked up, to quote one of the characters, and Draco, although he seems much more normal and unscathed at first, has his own scars. The labyrinth scene made me cry. It all looks like some sort of distorted reality which is no less real for that. Very interesting story, emotional, sad and amusing at once, and hopeful. Not all possible questions are answered but I can’t see it as a drawback at all — they just add some food for thought and make readers invest more in the story.
Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, by scrtkpr #
Harry/Draco, NC-17, ~17K words. Summary: Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy don’t know each other as well as they think they do. When a disastrous attempt at courtship results in the shattering of their fragile trust, they still find themselves working together in a rush to protect their secrets, their friends, and their hearts. EWE.
I have a habit of reading headers in their full so I got a bit scared with the A/N about the request. I somehow expected something dark and twisted and ueber-angsty. The actual story has its measure of angst but it’s just a necessary element to make it more intense and the lovely parts of it, all the more wonderful. In the centre of the plot lies a misunderstanding of epic proportions. Draco divines from some indirect clues that Harry has problems with his magic. Draco has learned to sympathise (well, after a while, of course): his wand was malfunctioning for all the year that he were on parole. So Draco has been giving Harry gifts, sly and subtle ones, as is becoming for a Slytherin. Draco + being subtle + Harry = disaster, right? Right. Really wonderful. Will make your heart flutter with worry, sympathy, and delight in turn.
Momenti Diversi, by zarah5 (link to ch.5) #
NC-17. Link to ch.5; previous parts are linked from there. In which you’ll find the Italian sun, some sexual tension, a reluctant Harry and a persuasive Draco. (Post-Hogwarts, aftermath of war.)
A really charming novella, very atmospheric. Harry fled to Italy, to a small town at the seashore, where he works in a Muggle gelateria. Draco who now works for the Ministry is assigned to try and persuade him to come back home. Harry is more than reluctant. Draco has his own agenda.
From the new H/D fics, those that appeared in the last several months, this one was probably the one that impressed me most. It smells of Italy, it nearly makes you feel the sun on your skin!
Mother of Pearl, by Geoviki ##
R. Summary: After Draco Malfoy turns up again a year after the war, Harry is determined to uncover the mystery behind his Order of Merlin.
I so loved it! The plot hooks you up from the very beginning, as soon as Harry finds a sinister-looking card among Ron’s things. More (slightly spoilery) details are grey on grey; highlight to read. It’s wrapped around magic, namely, Memory Charms, their usefulness and dangers, help or damage they can result in. Which details guarantee that I fall in love with the story fast and hard — if, of course, it’s written well, which this one for sure is. It has PLOT, with a really intriguing INTRIGUE and carefully planted clues. It’s not a detective/mystery story though. The grown up characters are believable and interesting, not only the main ones either. I loved Harry here — he’s so Harry, even if grown-up, can never let the sleeping dogs lie. And Harry’s first job! I can just say “whee!” On the whole, it’s just a wonderfully told story, interesting, moving, with magic and post-war world — worth every minute you spend on it. Loved it to bits, from the first line to the last!
The Next Best Thing, by Emma Grant #
NC-17. Summary: How does a boy get a girl to notice him? Why, by pretending to be gay, of course! (post-Hogwarts)
Harry Potter isn’t gay. Pansy Parkinson grew up to become really, really hot. Harry has designes on Pansy. But Pansy has a strange kink: she likes gay guys. So of course Harry has a brilliant plan: he’ll pretend to be gay and hit on Pansy’s best friend whom she’s always hanging out with, Malfoy. This somewhat sitcomish premise makes sure that the story is interesting to read, but there’s more to it than Harry’s pursuit of Pansy. There are other sides of the life of grown-up wizards and witches, such as job (that at some point collides with Harry’s personal life), leisure, people around. The fic is also really well-written and hot like hell — Emma is among the best at writing sex, so that’s a sure thing to expect in a story of hers. Sheer joy to read.
Not Yet, by Zionsstarfish (link to part 4; or here) #
R. Summary: Draco Malfoy does not need anything or anyone.
On One’s Knees, by Pir8fancier ##
Harry/Draco, NC-17, ~32200 words. Team: Fanon. Prompt: Strength. Warnings: Lots of swearing. Summary: Five years after the final battle at Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy has been paroled from Azkaban and works nights as a janitor at The Daily Prophet. Harry Potter, recently married to Ginny Weasley, is training as a Healer at St. Mungo’s. One wastebasket=one head injury=our story.
Oh no, “our story” is so much more! But this is exactly the sort of summary that makes me want to read a fic. It didn’t disappoint. Scratch that. I think it was awesome. It’s Draco’s story (told in fantastic first person). His life hit the proverbial bottom: he’s very ill, he works a miserable menial job, lives in a hovel, barely making ends meet, and his use of magic is severely limited. Yes, it’s fanon Draco. But not the leather-clad bratty Slytherin prince. No, it’s fanon Draco that is a great fannish development, the best fanfic can offer in how to believably take what there’s in books and grow it, nurture it, and ultimately, make you fall in love with him. How he climbs the stairs when he can’t walk! How he defines pride! How he writes snarky replies to the letters to Agony Aunt instead of Lavender Brown who’s employed in this capacity at The Prophet! I wouldn’t be able not to love him. But whom I fell really hard for was Harry. OMG what the man does! (Draco catching him at that caused shivers to run down my arms.) It’s so, so Harry! Silly, guilt-ridden, always tired. I love him here so much. And I love the ending.
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!
Only Your Shadow, by Phoenix Song (mijan) #
PG-13. Summary: “It’s easy to hate someone from a distance. When you talk to a person, up close, things can look very, very different.” Draco sets Harry up for an ambush, but revenge isn’t enough. He wants to see Harry fall for himself, and he wants Harry to know, when it’s all over, that Draco Malfoy finally beat him. So, Draco decides to shadow Harry all day… but he gets much more than he bargained for. Never get too close to your enemy; you might mistake him for a human being.
Surprisingly good reading. “Surprisingly”, because it turned up in one of the fic searches, and forgive me that I don’t expect a lot of amazing fics to come to me this way - experience is a heavy-handed teacher. Then, there’s this plot that the summary reflects well. Forgive me that I don’t hold much belief in the ’sudden change’ of heart. But this fic is good. Draco follows Harry for one day. Harry thinks he’s alone. Harry visits the Shrieking Shack. Harry buys a diary. Harry writes in it. Harry is as open in his anguish as one can be when he’s hurting and searches solitude. So Draco did get much more than he bargained for. Will what he has seen change his plans? Is one day of such observations enough to overbalance many years of hatred and prejudice? You’ll say, “Of course! This is a H/D fic.” But it’s not. This is where the merits of this fic lie. Until the very end you can’t predict how Draco will act. You’ll have to read to find out.
Own Two Legs, by Spark of Chaos ##
Harry/Draco, Harry/Ginny, Draco/wife; NC-17, 30K words. Summary: Suddenly, he wants nothing more than to absorb her persistent ability to put one foot in front of the other and move forward. Not look back. He wants to be able, like her, to live. Warning(s): Mentions of character death, structure, mild violence. [I’d also add infidelity - pj] DH-compliant.
The non-linear structure will make you work to figure out what happens when in the straight time-line but it’s never deliberately murky, there are always enough hints and pointers. And believe me, it so worth the work! The ending is twice as powerful because of it, I think. Harry loves his wife and children. Draco also loves his wife and son. They are both ok with their lives, even happy. But sometimes life is a difficult thing and you need something to help you step away, gain a perspective and regroup. Surprisingly, even for themselves, and quite by accident (which one might argue) Harry and Draco become this something for each other. One storyline is Harry’s, the other one is Draco’s. They cross. We are shown crucial points of both, and often incidental ones which let us see the whole picture. This is a story that spans a lifetime. It’s often painful, sometimes sweet but always mature. This is what I liked best about it. And characterisation. And Draco’s wife. And how many scenes I remember in detail a week later. Good story!
Perfect Day, by skrtkpr #
Harry/Draco, light R, 24500 words. Team: Canon. Prompt: Wheel of Fortune. Summary: One day can change everything.
The story shows us one day of Draco’s life. He has trouble with his wand, so he goes to Diagon Alley and soon decides to have some help with luck. You’d think that 24K words are too much for one day but the story is plotty and fast-paced. You won’t notice how you get to the end. And it offers one of the most interesting takes of Felix Felicis I’ve read. I wonder why I haven’t seen it much more often in fanfiction after DH. It seems it could be a good plot device. Here though it’s more than a simple device. Everything is tightly bound by it. Draco wants to have one perfect day. Hah! It’s Draco we are talking about. He will do something stupid, in a very Draco-ey fashion. Engaging, sometimes fun, sometimes sweet, other times tense. Wonderful reading!
The Potter Files, by NQDonne #
Harry/Draco, Harry/Teddy Lupin (really minor, almost not at all), Harry/Zacharias Smith (minor); NC-17, 33K words, AU. Summary: Private investigator, wizard, thorn in many people’s sides. Harry Potter’s a jack of all trades. Warnings: AU, plucky first person narrative, non-major (aka: minor OC) character death, accidental bottom!Harry :P Kinks include first-time, rough sex, dirty talk, rimming, wall sex and shower sex.
I can’t say I liked everything about this story: I didn’t really get where the AUness of this AU comes from (why Draco is who he is, for instance); the werewolf subplot didn’t go anywhere so I consider it a major loose end; I kept questioning where the rest of the characters were and whether they would be magical of Muggle. I have no idea about The Dresden Files. But I enjoyed the story nevertheless: the mystery, the sex (wonderful and not romanticised), the storytelling manner, the magical/Muggle stuff, ghost!Snape who likes to watch and eavesdrop. The very first paragraph pulls you in: “The sign on the door says Harry Potter, Wizard, but you’d be amazed how few people actually believe it.”
It’s an enjoyable story with quite a lot of interesting stuff in it.
The Potter-Malfoy Problem, by who_la_hoop []
Harry/Draco, NC-17, ~29,000 words. Summary: The room of requirement’s gone mad — at least, that’s what Harry thinks. There’s no way that Draco Malfoy ‘requires’ him, of all people, but why does it keep dragging Harry there like he’s some kind of furniture, every time Malfoy enters it? Throw in Pansy the pervert and a clipboard-wielding Hermione, and things can only go from bad to worse. And that’s not even mentioning the pirates . . . Warning(s): Hot sexin’ (om nom nom) of both a top!Harry and top!Draco variety, sort-of voyeurism, bad language, a dash of girl-on-girl snogging and blatant abuse of the prompt ‘pirates’ to get Draco in a dress.
I just realised the following might sound as a critique while in fact, I’m going to pay compliments to this fic. So keep my intent in mind :) This fic reads like an Old Skool HD, a bit cliché, a bit fanon, with some things a bit careless (why would Draco know about Peter Pan?). You know how it will end; you probably even know the steps to get them there. But it’s one of the most pleasantly entertaining and feel-good pieces of HP fiction I’ve read recently, in which making you feel good after reading is done without undue sappiness. Besides, it’s hot, even though there’s nothing particularly edgy or innovative in how the sex is written. On the whole, it reads as if it’s written as a good-natured tribute to the old times HD. I enjoyed it a lot.
Practicing the Same Religion, by Geoviki #
R. Summary: Harry thought he knew how far Draco Malfoy would go to save his family, but nothing could have prepared him for what he would witness this time.
Good MPreg! It’s always a pleasure, but here’s more: an obscure tradition, Harry who is the youngest member of Wizengamot (!), wonderful dialogue, slow progress of the relationship, good writing, and what not. All the things that must irk readers in a fic (MPreg, MPreg, yeah) here are written really well. It’s a kind of fic where the entire Wizarding word comes alive from a few details. Go enjoy it, it’s such a humane story, warm but not sappy.
The Price We Pay for Wings, by Frayach ##
Harry/Draco, other pairings, R, novelette. Summary: Books have the power to shape young lives. At least that is the hope of the anonymous author of a best-selling series about a Muggle boy and his best friend on the eve of a world war. But stories do more than just shape the future: they can redress the wrongs of the past as well. But only as long as it’s not too late… Warning: Character death (not Harry or Draco). Fully DH and Epilogue compliant.
Sequel: A Flame Undamped.
This is stunning. I cried my eyes out and I can’t believe the author’s skill: every freaking thing in this story (except reading and the very last bit) happens off-stage! We don’t know how the one who dies does, we don’t know anything about this war, we know of the main relationship in the story from glimpses of memories attributed to different characters and told us in small pieces; even the backstory is revealed sparingly. But it works like magic! There’s nothing super original in the story itself. It’s an eternal story: guy meets
girlguy, etc. The thing is in how it’s done. It makes a breathtaking story, poetic and romantic in the best way possible and full of the sharpest, most precise details to pierce your skin thickened by years of fanfic reading. “Because every time the church bell rings, It means another angel’s got his wings.” Go read please!
Ring A-Ring O’ Roses, by melusinahp #
Harry/Draco, NC-17, ~20000 words. HD Wodcup entry. Team Canon. Prompt: The Tower. Warnings: character deaths, EWE. Summary: Some demons are harder to banish than others.
I’m sure I know the author of this story, which makes it four for me in the “guess the author” game I’m playing with myself reading the fest. It has her trademark features: beginning with Harry and Draco that feel very canon to me and tense, raw, even nasty interactions, and following along a highly inventive plot based on canon magic and details mixed in a unique but believable way. Harry and Draco meet at a post-war function where Lucius Malfoy, who has slithered his way into respectable society once more, is delivering a speech on wizarding unity and the lessons of war. A disaster strikes, and Harry easily steps on a familiar path: Draco is to blame. Lots of angry and very intense encounters, fantastic sex, and a nicely paced, creative plot. 20K words to spend wonderful time on!
Riptide, by Anna Fugazzi #
Harry/Draco, Harry/Ginny, Harry/others, Draco/Asteria, PG-13ish, ~19200 words. HD Wodcup entry. Team Epilogue. Warnings: Infidelity, but hey, it’s Team Epilogue, what do you expect? Summary: (With apologies to George Lucas) “Who’s the more foolish: the fool, or the fool who follows him?”
The craziest of the four fics posted for that prompt (The Fool) in the HD Wordcup. Well, its Harry seems to be, anyway :) Also, the one I liked best. Maybe I’m overanalysing (sometimes I do tend to read more in a story than what the author put into it), but I think I need more time to process its message(s). There are several points of view on every event and you’ll have to form your opinion about their meanings comparing those POVs. Firstly, the formal POV character is Draco who is, age-wise, approximately at the point where a man has his mid-life crisis. His family life is a safe haven but not exciting at all. Draco observes Harry Potter who’s at the same stage of a man’s life but whose decisions are vastly different from those Draco makes. We know Draco not to be the most objective of the observers where Harry’s concerned, right? And Harry doesn’t show himself in the most complimentary light to Draco. Then there are various newspaper and magazine articles (brilliant, as for me) that trace Harry’s family problems. We know how objective those are, too, right? We can hear Harry’s commentary on the same events, but can we always believe him? Does he really know what he’s doing? Fascinating story, gives one much food for thinking, and the ending is open to interpretation too. I liked it.
A Secret History, by warholhp (or here) #
Other pairings, NC-17. Warnings: in the story post, if you want them. Summary: A secret history is a version of history at odds with commonly accepted historical narrative, a history claimed to have been deliberately suppressed or fogotten. Harry Potter, struggling to make a life for himself after the war, is about to discover his.
It’s not a light reading. It’s possibly not for those who love the Weasleys — but I find that it didn’t stretch my belief the way it was written. Frankly, I found the story disturbing — more disturbing than what I usually like, but I liked it anyway. Paraphrasing what I said in my comment, I’m trying to remember another fic that seriously speaks of [this topic], does it in a pretty forthright way, and doesn’t fall into all those multiple traps that would make it, ahem, “less good.” It’s not that I don’t like the topic per se. But I can count on the fingers of one hand the fics that don’t turn it into either a sappy cliché or a kink galore, those that stay within the realm of psychological credibility without making your teeth ache from the amount of psychology thrust in, and remain relatively tasteful besides. This is why I think the author managed to walk a fine line here. I’m not even sure it’s the Harry we saw in the books — although note that I’m reluctant to say “OOC” — but it didn’t matter to me. I mean, within this story, Harry is very believable; I didn’t think of his characterisation while reading. I also liked how the story is told: the clear narrative style, the pacing, all that stuff. And how it ended.
The Simple Joy of Living, by Mahaliem (or in the author’s LJ) #
Harry/Draco, Ron/Hermione, Ginny/Viktor, R, ~40K words. Summary: When Viktor is attacked, Harry and Draco work together to find the culprit.
Light-hearted, with a consistent mystery plot and very amusing supporting characters and gags, this is an ideal fic to read to lighten your mood. Unpretentious, gently poking fun out of clichés and plots, lovely and very enjoyable!
“I fought Death Eaters at the Ministry and was almost strangled by tentacles from a brain.” Ron said.
From across the table, Goyle stared at him. “You and your friends turned me, Draco, and Vincent into giant slug things. I spent half the summer oozing.”
“Tie,” they both said together and took a drink.
A Slytherin in Gryffindor Clothing, by Mahaliem #
R. Summary: Draco hits his head and wakes to find himself in another world where he’s a Gryffindor and Harry Potter is a Slytherin.
Harry is in Slytherin here, but the fic is focused on Draco in Gryffindor. It’s a very pleasant fic that incorporates an AU into normal reality. It’s in places funny, in places sad, but always interesting, plotty, enjoyable and well-written. One can say that Harry is too gullible for a Slytherin and Draco is too easy-going for Draco, but so much psychological credibility isn’t a requirement of the genre, which is adventures. I love this fic, can’t help re-reading it every year.
Snakes and Ladders, by Scoradh (or here) ##
PG-13. Summary: Sixteen years since he last saw his former nemesis, Draco is filling Snape’s old shoes with aplomb. History, though, has a nasty habit of repeating itself, as the arrival at Hogwarts of Harry’s son turns Draco’s comfortable existence topsy-turvy.
I adore this fic. I love well-written children characters in HP fiction. I especially love werewolf children. And I love post-Hogwarts H/D stories that show how much their lives have changed. Here we have all of this and much more. Misunderstandings, really interesting OC child, good pacing and something not quite definable that makes a good story. It’s charming and comforting. Go read!
Sob Story, by Scoradh (or here) #
PG-13. Summary: The war is over, but the battle only begun. A reluctant Harry is burdened with a broken Draco and charged with putting him back together again. The only problem is that the cracks will always show.
This story isn’t similar to Snakes and Ladders. It’s not light, it’s far from being serene - see the summary. I really don’t want to tell you any details because I feel that if I start, I’ll spoil it. Let me just say that it’s a good reading: sure characterisation and style, memorable details and distinctive atmosphere.
Stain of Silence, by Brummell ##
NC-17 (Harry/Ginny non-graphic), novelette. Warnings: Crossdressing. Character death (not Harry or Draco). And a baby (not MPreg). Summary: After the war, Draco serves out his sentence in Harry Potter’s house.
Of course I suspect that Brummell is a sock of some writer I know and love already because the journal is empty of other things and the writing is way too good. But if so, I welcome it with arms spread and promise to cherish it. If it’s a new author, I welcome them with some loud squealing. ‘Cos gosh, I loved the story. ETA: they say they aren’t a sock :)
As I told the author in my feedback, this story and its appearance reminds me of the appearance of Things That Change by Ociwen (in the separate journal eutychides). Present tense, Draco in dire straits who has to live with Harry, locked in his house, a baby — although here it’s not MPreg — and Draco with feminine traits. And also wonderfully written and all in all delightful.
I loved the story and how the author told it. I thought that present tense worked wonders in it. I loved the narrative voice. I was thrilling inside, “Gonna rec it, gonna rec it!” even before I finished it. Everything to do with the baby was particularly impressive. Loved it!
Stung, by Pushdragon #
Harry/Draco, mild NC-17, 21000 words. Summary: After the war, Draco is really, really, really angry. A loose re-telling of “Taming of the Shrew” with duelling, mindless destruction, cross-dressing and lashings of crack.
You’d think there are enough H/D fics in HD Wordcup now but I find myself foraging among the older fics in the short break between finishing reading what was posted in the fest by today’s morning and the new doze that appeared in the afternoon, feeding the addiction :)
I can’t believe that I missed this story. I even remember starting it but something must have distracted me. Well, all for the better ‘cos I could enjoy it today. And what a wonderful story this is! As I said in my comment, I don’t want to try and analyse it. I don’t want to know what the trick is that makes my breath actually catch when I read one of Pushdragon’s stories.
I’m not sure one should read this fic for the Harry and Draco that we know from the books. I don’t think the duality of In Character/Out of Character can be applied here at all. It’s HP world soaked in Shakespeare until something unique and whimsical is born. This something is strange, unusual, intense, and so, so beautiful! Narcissa and her hapless and comical suitors, the semi-sentient house that carries out its dead master’s will in a most ingratiating way, the bit of cross-dressing that, not being my kink, stole my breath away.
“Where on earth did you get that idea?”
“Your mother.” Draco wondered if there was such a thing as an ex-mother; if so, he was shortly going to have one.
Charming, magical story!
Subtle Nuances, by Anj #
NC-17. Summary: In the quest to find fugitive Lucius Malfoy, Auror Harry Potter finds something else entirely. Written for Kellie for Valensmut 2005.
new Sweatin’ to the Voldies, by dark_branwen ##
Harry/Draco, (mostly past) Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, NC-17, 24,500 words. Summary: The-Boy-Who-Lived has become The-Boy-Who-Ate, and his girlfriend just can’t take it anymore. After Ginny leaves Harry for presumably slimmer pastures, Harry realizes that if he has any chance of getting her back, he’s going to have to get fit quick. It’s really just his bad luck that a certain pale, pointy bastard owns the only wizarding gym in the country. Warnings: EWE, frottage, rimming, tiny bit of movie canon (flying origami notes).
If you are one of those people who are tired of Draco always been portrayed as slim or skinny, this fic is for you. It features bulky!Draco. Yes, it also features fat!Harry. Both of which I’m happy to see because after so many HP fics read, I welcome any believable step off the well-trodden road of H/D fiction. The fic is at once refreshing, entertaining, very vivid, and moving. What else to wish! Well, good writing of course but it has that too. To quote a reviewer, “It was the perfect balance of humour, plot, angst and reality.” I do admit that I don’t believe in this Draco’s motivation of opening the gym — or don’t completely buy it — but it’s a really enjoyable reading on the whole, and certain scenes are plain hilarious. Which makes me strongly suspect who the author is, but I’ll keep that to myself. Highly recommended!
Take A Sad Song (And Make It Better), by Femme (or here) ##
Harry/Draco, NC-17, ~45500 words. Team Epilogue. Summary: The last thing Harry wants is to lose his kids.
The longest of all the fics posted in the HD Wordcup so far (prompt 2: Judgment) and the one I loved to bits. Also, the one that, in my opinion, has everything a story should have. It begins with Ginny and kids having just moved out of Harry’s house because Harry has cheated on Ginny. With men. Two times. Harry’s not sure where he is in his relationship with his wife but he’s sure he wants to see his children. So the battle for the custodial rights begins. They are assigned Children and Family Wizengamot Advisory and Support Services supervisor who will observe and talk to all involved, including the children, and whose decision will heavily influence the court in the end. This person turns to be Draco Malfoy. All friends of Harry and Ginny’s inevitably get involved in the conflict. This is the main premise. There’s also a very engaging mystery/detective subplot, believable and important for the story as a whole. The characterisation is amazing, honest and mature. It all looks ultimately realistic: Harry with his trying to be a good father but not really understanding what it’s about, Ginny with her anger and hurt, Albus with his freakishness and James with his rage and rebel, Ron and Godric the dog. And of course Scorpius. You read it like breathing, forgetting that you are reading. Awesome!
A Test of Character, by SilentAuror #
NC-17. Summary: Draco Malfoy is nearly finished his Auror training. However, something comes up in his character testing which may prevent him from qualifying: he is required to befriend an old enemy.
Reads like an old classic H/D — well-written, in Draco’s perspective, focused on Draco’s relationship with Harry, and with enough UST and plot to keep things moving smoothly and nicely. It does follow the pattern “initial disdain — getting to know and liking — falling in love — conflict of love and duty — resolution” but in a good way. It’s never boring. Draco, as the POV character, is deep, complicated, changed and attractive enough. Harry’s intriguing and lovely.
Their Kind of Forever, by Furiosity (or here) #
NC-17. Summary: The final part of Harry’s Auror training forces him to walk the line between truth and lie, between the wizarding world and the Muggle world, between the life he thought he’d have and the disappointing reality. And through it all, he finds unexpected solace in a most unlikely person’s company. Warnings: Minor character death.
This is such a charming and interesting story! I saved it to my hard-drive when I was about a quarter in. It has everything: lots of hottest, sexy smut, an incredible OFC, fantastic settings, a good share of fun, a proper share of angst, a mystery (which wasn’t quite to my tastes but sped up the plot nicely) — and besides, it’s a love story. The premise is: as a part of his Auror training, Harry has to spend two week holidays on a Mediterranean cruise ship. Completely without magic — no wand, no magical devices. Harry’s navigating his way to the Italian port and then being on board is so much fun! I was grinning all the time. But then things get more complicated, and there’s a cause to worry about the characters and to be sad about them. I felt totally involved in the story, which is a most pleasant feeling, as for me. On the downside, Ginny is rather two-dimensional, but I didn’t read this story for Ginny, did I? So: plotty, sexy, fun, evocative, with a relationship, long — what else can one wish? I loved it. Will be rereading.
Things That Seem, by Maeglin Yedi (or here) ##
NC-17. Summary: A potion gone wrong. A desperate wish. A new future. And a…horse?
This fic was written for the Smutmas fest by a writer who doesn’t write H/D, and it turned out to be one of the best fics of the fest and of this pairing. I believe it was the outside perspective that let Maeglin write a fic both unusual and wonderfully refreshing.
The fic is brilliant. The author labels it as AU, but it’s not quite so. It has two realities: the “real” one that makes a frame and a fabulously crafted alternate one. It also features one of the best Animagi transformations I’ve seen in HP fanfic: neither those fancy creatures that young writers favour nor anything you’d call “sweet” like kittens/puppies/ferrets; it’s both original and realistic, and hysterically funny when it comes to it.
The trials Harry faces in that unfamiliar reality! The fun of it! The more details about the alternate universe the author uncovers, the more fascinating it becomes. I remember literally clapping hands at the end because of how clever and even elegant the plot was. Besides, the sex parts are very sexy. Sheer deligt, highly recommended!
This Side of Me, by Cherrycola69 []
Summary: Saving his mortal enemy in a moment of insanity Draco is suddenly labelled a hero. Floundering in a new life and hiding from Death Eaters with Harry he finds that his allegiance isn’t the only thing that’s changed.
Time For Later, by khateh #
Harry/Draco, PG-13, ~15500 words. Team Canon. Summary: When he goes with Al to Egypt on holiday, Harry finds more than he ever expected and learns that people change, sometimes for the better.
Draco is head of research on the archaeological site in Egypt where he spends most of his time and where his son often joins him. Harry takes Al, who’s best friends with Scorpius, on his first separate holiday after their divorce with Ginny to visit the site. When a new pyramid is found, Al and Scorpius get lost in it when they go exploring. Scorpius is seriously ill and has to take a potion, so Harry, Draco, and Bill who works for him have to find them fast. Real trouble finds them nearly as fast. Formally, it’s action/adventure but unhurried and somehow dream-like, full of exotic things, magic, and slow growth of new feelings. Lots of things to remember in this story, and even though the ending seemed a bit too fast to me, I enjoyed it. I particularly liked Scorpius and his relationship with Draco, and the hidden city.
to go wherever dreaming goes: part 1, part 2, part 3, by abaddon (nothingbutfic) #
NC-17. Summary: There is also love in the world. The challenge was: Harry/Draco, university (college) AU, muggle or magic. undepressing ending.
To the Sheer Love of Madness, by winnett #
Harry/Draco, past Draco/OFC; R, 23000 words. Team: EWE. Prompt: The Hermit. Summary: Voldemort was gone. The Death Eaters were gone. Unfortunately, Harry Potter’s mind was gone as well.
That was a very interesting story! I was sold as soon as I read the summary because for once, it contains something intriguing. Then we can see Draco as a dissident, Lucius as the Minister that keeps the magical population under subtle mind control spell, “A cot and a pot and a cursed idiot”, Harry’s personality swings and fascination with death and small things! It was wonderful even when it was scary, like Harry’s bursts of magic or the past.
Harry lifted his hands to his face, examining them with utter curiosity like he’d just discovered something rare and alien. “My skin,” he said, “it covers me from head to toe,” then he lifted up his finger and poked himself in his ear, “except for just a few holes. Isn’t that amazing? How did this happen?” Draco looked at Pansy, who looked at Harry with open incredulity.
The ending was a bit too fast for me, but it’s not unresolved. It was time well-spent. Please ignore the recurring typo (I won’t name it ‘cos not everybody would notice). Wonderful story!
Unintended, by Furiosity (or here) #
NC-17. Summary: Every little thing between them had been unintended, accidental, fortuitous. Kinks: voyeurism, wanking, orgasm denial, Parseltongue, seduction, cock worship, bondage, some dirty talk, slight ambiguous consent, mild D/s.
Plotty, unhurried, interesting. I love Harry who’s all mysterious and cool and and in control but not entirely in a macho way. (How do you spell macho?) And Draco is scared, tired, and confused, but snotty and very Draco-y. Wonderful storytelling manner, believable characters, lots of sexy stuff, lots of magical stuff, wonderful balance of hurt and comfort, plenty of glorious angst *slaps her hands not to start spilling spoilers* And a fabulous last line! I loved it!
Vale Sanare, by RurouniHime #
Harry/Draco, Harry/OMC, Draco/OMC, past Harry/Ginny; NC-17, 23300 words. Summary: Draco’s world gains a new component, just when he thought he’d sorted everything out. Warning(s): EWE, seizures, war injuries, angst.
Good, well-paced Hurt/Comfort featuring an epileptic Draco who’s alone, lonely and unwell, and Harry who might hide a lot behind his sure front. I liked magic (and Muggle Magic) used — or not used — here for healing and treatment of various things, and liked the characters. Wonderful story!
Vehicular Homicide is Only a Misdemeanor but Arson is a Felony (Unexpected Sparks), by Ze_Dragon (Dragon Light) []
Harry/Draco, NC-17, ~19500 words. Summary: Starting over doesn’t always mean from scratch. Which is probably a good thing when something sinister is lurking around the corner. Fully DH-compliant.
I wouldn’t say I liked everything here — didn’t care much about the mystery element or Ginny. But I was totally sold on it as soon as I learned of Harry’s occupation. He’s a forensic magician and criminalist in Boston where he moved after he parted ways with his ex-wife and where one of his children has run off to join him. The life of the magical community is very different from Britain there, and so are the rules regulating Auror actions and procedures. I found it fascinating. In general, the details Harry’s (and Draco’s) work is what I liked best here. Vivid, different, and memorable.
A Vengeance So Sweet; or When Harry Met Draco and Ended Their War Games, by Lilith (lilithilien) (or on IJ) #
Harry/Draco, past Harry/Ginny, Draco/Viktor Krum, NC-17, ~27000 words. Warnings for ridiculously naïve!Harry (is that canon?), drag!Draco, musical!Krum, and disloyal!Ginny. Also irresponsible abuse of firewhisky, mild swearing, and liberties taken with the Malfoy family tree. And smut, of course! Summary: Cast your mind back to 1997 and to a little film called Addicted To Love, in which Meg Ryan was no perky girl-next-door but a kohl-eyed hellion bent on revenge, with Matthew Broderick as her mostly willing accomplice. The situation was just begging to be rewritten with Harry and Draco in mind.
As I told the author, the beginning disturbed me: Harry’s absolutely obsessed with Ginny and their perfect happy life, or with the happy life in his head. But thankfully, I really liked the writing so I read on, and the further the better I liked it. The ending totally made my day. Did you like Lassie when you were a kid? I loved it. And here there’s a Lassie talk, awwwwsome and so moving!
“If I’m the dog in this story, you can stop right there.”
Harry snorted. “No, I’m the dog. Her name is Lassie.”
“You’re a girl dog. That’s even better. All right, Potter, you may continue.”
So, if you watched the film, you probably know a lot about the plot. I haven’t. So for those who are like me in this respect, here it is in brief: Ginny leaves Harry for Krum. Harry is waiting for her to come back to their perfect life, meanwhile spying on her. Where he meets Malfoy who’s spying on Krum, as it turns out, his ex. Malfoy is hell-bent on revenge. So they begin spying together. Things happen :)
Lots of fun and interesting to read, and as I said, the ending made me melt. Go read!
A Very Long Misadventure, by Ociwen ##
NC-17. Summary: Through an accident of time, Harry and Malfoy are forced to work together and discover something between themselves on their very long misadventure.
This is a story that is *interesting* to read. It’s a time-travel fic, one of the best I’ve read, and believe me, I’ve read a lot. Harry and Draco are brought to the Britain of the Roman Empire times where they have to find some magus who’d help them get back. So they travel in search of him. Plot! Awkward, realistic and very hot sex! Very thorough depictions of what life was like then, realistic depictions of towns, households, taverns and so on. Fabulous reading!
Very Midsummer Madness, by George Pushdragon #
PG-13; AU. Summary: “I thought stealing the plot of Twelfth Night would be a good excuse for twin Harrys, shipwrecks, boys disguised as girls, Draco carrying a riding whip and Ginny flouncing around as a duchess. It was. Shakespeare’s themes of the paramountcy of love and the shortness of time are still there under all the fluff and Draco does look good in doublet and breeches. Warnings: Snape wearing his yellow stockings cross-gartered and under-use of the word “buttock”. Lashings of slash.”
A spell goes awry, and Harry finds himself in another universe, completely unlike the one he lives in. In this unknown world, Harry has to disguise himself as a girl, Viola, and arrive to the court of Ginny, the local Duchess in pursuit of the Count Olivier (Draco), both of whom are served by some other familiar/unfamiliar people. Ginny sends Viola as a messenger to Draco, the intrigue develops, and then another Harry arrives. This is a fantastic story where the images of the two universes are merged beautifully, where the characters are at once the same and not. And the words flow and twirl, bewitching you.
Waters of March, by Duinn Fionn (Geoviki) ##
PG-13. Summary: Voldemort’s final victim resides with the other spell-damaged wizards in St. Mungo’s Hospital. Harry suffers survivor’s guilt and finds an unusual beta. Cream-colored knee-high leather boots make a brief appearance.
When I think of this story, the words ‘charming’ and ‘tender’ come to my mind. If you don’t want to be turned inside out by what you’re reading, if you are in the mood for something light but not light-minded, if you want a fic to be romantic and innocent but not overly sweet, this will be perfect reading for you.
The war ended abruptly and with just a few casualties, one of which happened to be Draco Malfoy who, as it turns out, had worked undercover for the Light. Hogwarts has undergone much damage and while it’s being restored, students live in small groups and attend lessons in the middle of Muggle London. Guilt forces Harry to visit Draco in his hospital suite, then to do it regularly.
It’s one of the warmest fics ever. It’s really charming and unforgettable. Go let your pains be soothed with the tenderness of this story.
Welcome to the Broom Closet, by Janice Chess #
NC-17. Summary: Harry thinks he knows how his life will go: Become an Auror. Marry Ginny. Have a family. But then he sees an advertisement in the paper that no one else can see, and his life is turned upside-down. The Broom Closet: you can be anyone you want while you’re there, but you won’t remember it in the morning. Notes: Inspired by the Eros Affair prompt, “I promise to remember your name afterwards.”
It’s been some time since I read a H/D fic with such simple delight. As I said in my comment, this fic, as for me, is perfectly balanced between serious (themes, problems) and light (style, humour). You know how it will end from the beginning, but it doesn’t lessen your pleasure because how the characters will get there is more important than if or when. Have a look at the beginning:
The advertisement sat innocently on the lower left corner of page six of The Daily Prophet, written in blocky text on a plain white background.
“IF YOU CAN READ THIS, YOU ARE QUEER.”
“What the hell?” said Harry. “Look at this advert!”
He and Ron were sitting at a small round table in the Aurors’ lounge. Lessons were over for the day, but they were waiting until after five o’clock to go home, when the crowds at the Apparition points and Floos had dispersed. It didn’t really matter if they were here or there, anyway. After nearly two years of gruelling training, this room, with its ugly paisley-printed chairs and plain wooden tables, felt as much like home as their flat.
Ron leaned over to look where Harry was pointing and frowned. “Half-price cauldrons at the Cauldron Castle? What’s wrong with that?”
Harry turned towards Ron, words of indignation dying on his tongue, and then looked back at the paper.
“IF YOUR FRIEND CAN’T READ THIS, THEN HE IS NOT QUEER. BUT YOU CAN. SO YOU ARE.”
It had me laughing and clapping my hands in delight of the promised magic. And it delivers. I loved how the Broom Closet worked, its history (appropriately moving), what happens there and how Harry puts the clues together. I really liked Ron; he played a great supporting character. All in all, absolutely delightful and written wonderfully. Go read!
Where Draco Is A Statue, by simmysim #
NC-17. Summary: Five years after the war with Voldemort, and things happen! Ooh!
What the title says. Don’t you want to read it? Draco Malfoy served as a coat rack in Harry’s house for five years. Now he’s back to being properly alive, only five years younger than his former classmates who kept growing and moving on while he was being hung clothes on. Which leads to a perfect plot-moving conflict: bratty Draco vs more mature, grown-up Harry. You can expect that a premise like this will lead to lots of highly amusing scenes and exchanges. Draco is scheming and manipulating his new circumstances to his advantage, as he’s wont to do, only the differences in age and experience make them all rather too transparent for Harry who, in turn, finds that this Draco grows on him. Funny, moving, clever, with lots of brilliant lines. Pleasure to read!
Whispers, by GatewayGirl #
R. Summary: Harry is forced to sit next to Draco in Potions. Draco whispers. (7th year) Warnings: Ambiguous to tacit consent. Somnophilia.
Brilliant chaptered porn, hot like hell. Lots of UST*. Plenty of RST. There’s no other plot in the seven chapters beyond what helps smut along, but it somehow manages to make the fic more than PWP. The smut progresses, develops, on the way turning into a sort of relationship. Besides, if somebody has a talent to show characters in all their glory in a nearly-PWP, it would be GatewayGirl. Both Harry and Draco are delicious in this fic.
Seven chapters of pure pleasure! Go give yourself a nice break :)
*UST stands for unresolved sexual tension. RST would mean resolved then.
The World of the Living, by Fourth Rose (or here) ##
R. Warning(s): Voyeurism, Parselsmut. Summary: A traumatised war hero and a convicted criminal under the roof of an eccentric journalist make for a rather odd ensemble, but Luna has never had a problem with oddities as long as they make sense.
Two cast-offs find their home in Luna’s house. Amazing Luna’s voice (third person)! She’s weird and matter-of-fact and straight to the point as we know her to be from canon, but she’s given space here to show herself and observe others and this way let us have a very fresh, original look at characters and events. What I liked best in how the author wrote Luna is that they didn’t bind her inside a comical role. Wonderful story, from the first line to the last!
Wrecking Ball, by Janice Chess #
Harry/Draco, R, 21K words. Summary: Draco’s life becomes slightly less intolerable after an encounter with a secret Wizarding society called the Arcane Order of Builders. But the scrutiny of a certain up-and-coming young Auror may ruin everything.
Brilliant! There are Free Masons! Well, magical masons. And a mystery. Children are withdrawn from Hogwarts, disappearing. The Builders that are rebuilding Hogwarts Great Hall might or might not have something to do with it. Auror Harry Potter arrives to investigate it. I adored Draco in this story, his prejudice, egotism, self-indulgence, fantasies, brattiness, high adaptability, his jealousy of Harry. He’s utterly adorable; he’s exasperating and moving. He craves recognition, and gosh, what foolishness he’s jumping in in his want to get there! Original and absolutely delightful!
Your Every Wish, by Maya (mistful) ## (not available online anymore. I’m keeping the rec up just to remember it)
Summary: “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
This one of those fics that make you think and think after you finish reading them, trying to find a way to change and cancel what happens in them. The story won’t make you cry, but it’s so heart-wrenchingly sad, and wrong, and rich with nuances, and wonderfully written! Draco happens to get in the way of Harry’s curse (of the kind of multi-person Imperius), and now he obeys Harry’s every wish, literally. It’s like a vortex that sucks them in, and it’s tragic in the best way.
Go to: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy. Part 1: Long fics (over 50K words).
Go to: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy. Part 3: Short fics.
Back to Main HP recs page.
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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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Hi! Do you know about the sequel for The Price We Pay for Wings by Frayach? It’s called A Flame Undamped: http://frayach.livejournal.com/15322.html
I didn’t see it listed here and thought you might be interested in it, seeing how you deem it’s predecessor worthy of ##!
Thanks, yuyin!
Thanks so much for maintaining this rec list! I honestly appreciate it, and really love the commentary you have below fics.
I’d just like to say that the link for “Momenti Diversi” is no longer working, and the new one (to Chapter 1) is here:
http://zarah.dreamwidth.org/29686.html
Thank you again for your awesome work!
[…]one another relavant source of information on this topicis ,painless-j.net,[…]
Hiya,
Just to say that in your rec for Mahaliem’s “Greeting Expectations” you mention that the art on the cards is quite bad, but I think that might be the point! “Phil” is the artist, and using the same method as Draco to make Muggles think they’re good. I think!!!
Thanks!