Readers' Recs!

Do you have some favorite fics in fandoms that rarely show up at epic_recs?

Small Fandoms at ER are any fandoms which have 5 or fewer recs in the comm, regardless of the how big the actual fandom is (you can check out how many recs a fandom has with our tags).

Things to keep in mind:

• Recced stories can be any length, any fandom, and any pairing, as long as they fit the theme.
• You don't need to write a review (unless you want to). All that you need to include are title, author, and link to the story (all parts if there are more than one).
• Fic or media as a single file are preferred, if available.


• WE ARE CURRENTLY SEEKING A NEW RECCER. Reccers are accepted by invitation only and the invitations are issued primarily based on their response to RR posts. If you're interested in reccing each week, respond to this post (or one of the previous RR posts) with a full rec, including everything in our rec template: Title, Author, Rating, Pairing, Genres, Length, Summary, and Review (including a paragraph or more about why you liked the story).
  
• If you'd like to use our reccing template, you can find it under the cut.

( Totally Optional Rec Template )

Today's Topic: Small Fandoms

Previous Readers' Recs topics can be found here.

It's my Epic Recaversary!
My first post at ER (a Billy Elliot rec) was 1 year ago today. I'm happy to start my second year reccing an HP favorite.

Title: The Boy Who Only Lived Twice
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco (mention of past Harry/Ginny)
Categories: Post-canon, EWE, Unspeakables, hidden identities, action/suspence, romance, drama
Length: Epic (54,117 words)
Warnings: Some self deprecating language during sex. To be safe for comm rules: one scene could be interpreted as (consensual but non-negotiated) D/s within a relationship that is unhealthy at the time.

Author on LJ: lettered
Author Website: lettered

Author's Summary:
Harry Potter is an Unspeakable. Draco Malfoy is the wizard who shagged him. Adventure! Intrigue! Secret identities, celebrities, spies! It's all right here, folks.

Review:
This story is brilliant and emotional, with a lot more depth than the author's summary would lead you to believe. Harry's an Unspeakable code-named Blackbird, and he and his new handler, Rabbit, know nothing of each other's true identities thanks to Polyjuice and voice alteration. Although Harry's not keen on Rabbit's more cautious methods at first, he comes to trust him completely. Meanwhile Harry starts a highly charged and fraught affair with Draco Malfoy, someone he could never trust.

I ate up the suspense built into the hidden identities: the way Harry's more comfortable as Blackbird than himself, the way we know who Rabbit is long before Harry does. I particularly loved those moments when we understand what's going on while Harry doesn't, like Rabbit having to be gone for fifteen minutes after the invisibility cloak.

lettered takes a theme that's at the heart of this pairing to me - How do Harry and Draco get beyond their past? - and pushes it to its limit by having Harry fall for Rabbit (and Rabbit develop feelings for Blackbird) without Harry having to reevaluate his relationship with Malfoy at first. The fact that all that happens well before everything comes together gives them the chance to see each other for what they are. Ironically, it's the disguises that allow for moving past the surface to really knowing a person.

The Boy Who Only Lived Twice (AO3)
original post on LJ