Title:  May Contain Nuts
Fandom:  Harry Potter
Pairing:  Harry/George
Categories:  Pre-slash, romance, humor, fluff AND angst
Length:  Long [33,000 words]
Warnings:  mostly (and inadvertently) canon-compliant, so some spoilers for DH


Author on LJ:  scoradh 
Website:  Scoradh on Delicious

Review:  "After Voldemort is defeated, the script for Harry's life comes to an end. Unsure of what to do with his life, he does nothing. Only one person is on hand to show Harry that a hero is not the sum of his vanquished enemies, but he's got problems of his own."

Miraculously, Scoradh managed to correctly guess which characters wouldn't be making it out of Deathly Hallows alive, 1 1/2 years beforehand.  I know most people would never have predicted Fred's death, so kudos to Scoradh.  (Well, there are a few extra survivors, but since they only get mentioned twice, it's up to you to decide whether this is an AU or to ignore them.)  The epilogue isn't at play, obviously, and so we can all wipe it from our minds so that leaves plenty of room for an alternative future.  Harry has become an aimless Ministry worker, who coexists with a batty collection of OC coworkers.  The OCs are simply hilarious, and may just infiltrate your personal canon.  There's also a pet cat, if low-key pet humor is your thing.  On his days off, Harry visits the now-somewhat-reclusive George, and UST ensues. 

This romance is slow, and half the time the characters don't seem to be aware that it's happening.  I applaud the author's use of uncommonly-addressed issues blocking intimacy... namely, impotence and PTSD.  While the characters don't get past these problems until the very end, that doesn't mean that there aren't sex scenes steamy enough to fog up your monitor... the author has some creative applications of Weasley-manufactured candies.  This fic's not just about the romance, though - the beauty of the story rests in how Harry pulls himself together and starts taking control of his life: work and romance and everything else. 

May Contain Nuts   Part 2   Part 3   Part 4