Title: Running on Air
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Categories/Genres: Cold Case, Mystery, Drama
Length: 74,885
Warnings:

Author/Artist on AO3: Eleventy7

Summary: Draco Malfoy has been missing for three years. Harry is assigned the cold case and finds himself slowly falling in love with the memories he collects.

Review: This is a fic that makes your heart ache and will be with you till the end of time. Nostalgia and Wistfulness packed in a bottle. It hits you right in your chest, so subtly dragging you back to times in your life when you’ve isolated yourself because it’s easier to run away then let other people see your pain.

It honestly makes you pine for a car of your own and to drive forever. It’s a fic about finding yourself and how it’s a journey all of us have to face. It’s a beautiful fic with a happy ending.

Running on Air

Title: Sacrifices Arc
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Categories/Genres: Spy, War
Length: 3,069,375 + extras
Warnings: Dark, Child Abuse, Character Death, Maiming, Slavery

Author/Artist on LJ: lightningwave

Summary: Saving Connor begins an AU of Harry Potter's school years, the Sacrifices Arc, where Harry's twin Connor (bearing a heart-shaped scar) is acknowledged as the Boy-Who-Lived. Harry and Connor have a loving relationship, and Harry plays the role of personal bodyguard/silent support for his brother to the hilt.

Review:
I admit I didn't get all the way through this. It's just so monumentally long. For comparison the Harry Potter books themselves are only 1,084,170 and I'd have a hard time reading them one after the other as well. Yet it will truly be a huge regret on my bucket list though if I do not finish this and I do not know if I would ever forgive myself. I think I got to book 5 and it is shocking.

The summary explains nothing of the book so I'll go into a little more detail. If you hate spoilers do not read on. The book starts with a huge change to the plot. In this version Harry had a twin brother named Connor and when Voldemort came to kill them when they were a year old they both received a unique scar when the killing curse backfired. The boys weren't with their parents when Voldemort came into Godric's Hollow meaning both Lily and James were alive to raise them.

This means the prophecy was also different. In this one it mentions the the younger would care for the whole world and the older would only care for the younger. Dumbledore decided that to keep the prophecy in their favour the two boys must be the younger and older. If they were not it meant that there was another boy out their the dark lord could kill to ruin the prophecy forever and they couldn't let that be so they started planning.

They pretty much condition Harry as the older twin by minutes to only care for Connor. They pretty much systematically abuse him until he cares about Connor's happiness more than his own life. They train him to be his brothers protector, train him to not care for any pleasure and tolerate any pain. If you cannot stand Lily, James and Dumbledore treating a child as less than human then don't read this.

It gets so bad at points but at the same time it's worth it for how you grow to love this version of Harry. I love him dearly to the point his losses make me cry, his hurts make me feel pain and his victories make my heart soar and I would never ask more from a book than that. This is probably a fic I would recommend to J.K Rowling herself as this fic is a castle build only on her bare template and to call it just another AU is to degrade all the clever ideas and plot that makes so much sense to the the point of nothing.

The Sacrifices Arc

I am reccing two fics today because the first is impossible to find a link for. The author took down all her work when she became an established author and those of us lucky to have copies kind of feel like a beautiful piece of art has been destroyed by the very person who made it. So I also give you a fic of a similar theme which is also heartwrenchingly beautiful.

Title: If you've a ready mind
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Categories/Genres: Hogwarts AU, Alternative timeline, Ravenclaw!Draco
Length: 89144
Warnings: Canon Deaths

Author/Artist on LJ: sarahtales formerly Maya
Author/Artist Website: Sarah Rees Brennan

Summary:
Draco is sorted into Ravenclaw. A lot stays the same but somehow this little thing makes a world of difference.

Review:
I love how over dramatic Draco is in this fic. You get the feeling he always was but he never stood out because so were all the slytherins. In Ravenclaw he really stands out. He throws a tantrum and the ravenclaws find it cute and calmly leave him to it. I love how the rivalry is different between Draco and Harry because no one believes Harry that Draco is a bad person, even when Draco easily admits to only using everyone for his own gain. It makes Harry question his black and white reality.
Not to mention it feels really in character that Draco becomes smart only to try and make his father proud of him. Knowledge is power is how he justifies not being in slytherin to his cold hearted father.
Favourite moment - While Draco gets smarter every year, he still maintains the belief that his muggleborn friends' inhaler is in fact a demon amulet.

Hermione, false friend that she was, abandoned Draco and left him lumbered with Potter,
who was looking around with an air of vague alarm, as if he totally failed to recognise the
people he'd been going to class with for four years. He was also giving Draco strange
sidelong glances.
"You're asthmatic?" he said after a moment, gesturing to the amulet.
"Don't call me names when you're in my common room, Potter."

No Link for this fic.

Title: Chaos Theory
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Categories/Genres: Hogwarts AU, Alternative timeline, Ravenclaw!Draco
Length: 102711
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Kidnapping, Torture, Psychological Torture, Mind Control

Author/Artist on A03: Tessa Crowley

Summary:
Chaos: when the present determines the future, but the approximate present does not approximately determine the future. One gene varies, one neuron fires, one butterfly flaps its wings, and Draco Malfoy's life is completely different. Draco has always found a certain comfort in chaos. Perhaps he shouldn't.

Review:
Draco is a little out of character in this fic. Still over dramatic and terrified of everything but possessing the brain of Sherlock Holmes and the empathy of John Watson. Anyone can see from the quotes in this fic that the writer is a Sherlock fan. It gets very dark after Book 4, darker in some ways than the actual series. You can read up to then and be satisfied with the point in the story that you decide to leave it.
I love the fact the story feels like a childhood frienship slipping into romance in an entirely unforced way. Harry and his butterflies really take the cake.

“I know it might be a bit…” Harry’s mouth twists. “But I was thinking of your thing about chaos.”
“The butterfly effect,” Draco supplies.
“Yeah. I thought it might be a nice symbol.”
Draco laughs, though it’s quite breathy. “The butterfly isn’t a symbol of chaos,” he says.
“No?”
“No, Harry, it’s a symbol of—”
Draco looks up at him, and he has to physically bite his tongue to keep himself from finishing the sentence.
You, Draco wants to say but doesn’t. It’s a symbol of you, of the way you feel about me, of the way I feel about you.

Chaos Theory

A day late and probably a dollar short too. Fortunately I work in sterling :-)

Title: Second Chances
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco/Harry
Categories: Slash, romance, kidfic, non-canon compliant.
Length: Epic (96,000 words)
Warnings: Sex, depression, suicide attempt

Author on FictionAlley: Kishijoten

Summary:
For the first time in over a decade, Harry Potter crosses paths with Draco Malfoy. Both have changed a great deal, but what do those changes mean to them - and to each other?

Review:
This is another one of those stories that is over a decade old — well before Half-Blood Prince came out, so don't expect canon compliance — that has stood up to the test of time.

At heart it's a love story initiated and complicated by children. Harry is single, and a teacher at Hogwarts; Draco is divorced, and his youngest twin children have just started their first year. They meet when Harry notices that Adrian Malfoy, who has been sorted into Hufflepuff, is suffering from severe depression. What follows is a slow-burn romance, with parent and teacher bonding over the child's problems and desperately trying and failing to maintain their professional distances.

The strength of this story is in the characterisation. Harry and Draco are still recognisably themselves, but equally have changed in the way that you might hope a decade of maturity would give them. They don't instantly fall into agreement with each other, but then neither do they instantly dismiss each other either. The children are clear and distinct individuals, the right sort of mix of angel and demon for their ages, and really they are the ones that drive the story through. Harry and Draco are driven together by the children, and when their romance hits a bump, as it frequently does, it is almost always because of the children too.

Don't be too scared by the warnings. Bear in mind that I'm reccing this, and I'm a depressive with a real hot button about suicide. Without wishing to minimize either, the writing doesn't over-dramatize the issues and as a reader you do still feel in control.

This is a very good example of fanfiction romance, and I have no qualms recommending it to you even after all these years. Go on, enjoy yourselves.

Second Chances

Last week I was late because of computer trouble. This week I'm late because I was enjoying myself too much. Sorry!


Title: The Lodger
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Categories: Drama, romance, canon divergent
Length: Epic (44,500 words)
Warnings: Talk of suicide, accidental(?) near-suicide, depression

Author on AO3: mad_martha

Summary:
Years after Voldemort's death and the end of the war, a lonely and alienated Harry Potter decides to take in a lodger. The result isn't quite what he anticipated. He has more in common with his new housemate than he expected, and together they learn to look life — and the wizarding world — in the face again.

Review:
This story delighted me many years ago when I first read it on Martha's now-defunct LiveJournal. Coming across it again on AO3 when I thought it lost forever was a particular joy, and now I get to pass the joy on to you. Better yet, it turns out that there are prequels and sequels to enjoy as well, though they are by no means necessary to make sense of things.

The story pre-dates Order of the Phoenix, so needless to say diverges from canon. All the information we need as readers is there in the text, spread about as necessary rather than dumped unceremoniously at us, allowing us to slip naturally into this variant world. A slightly different selection of people lived and died, but it's close enough not to matter; it's perfectly clear how both Harry and Draco turn into lonely young men with complicated lives. The trick that brings the two of them into contact some years after Voldemort's death is probably the least convincing part of the whole story, but it works well enough that I can't really complain.

This is a well-written, well thought out story, full of keen observations of personality and social reactions. It's not perfect — Justin Finch-Fletchley is particularly hard done by, but someone recognisable had to turn out to be a plonker to make the story work, and better it be Justin than someone whose nature would have had more obvious violence done to it.

I take particular delight in Martha's portrayal of Ron Weasley. This Ron is no temperamental ham-fisted side-kick to the famous Harry Potter. This Ron is the Chief Auror, the man who quite literally spread Bellatrix Lestrange across the main street of Hogsmeade. He can be extremely intimidating when he wants to be, but he's still the same old Ron. He reacts to the news of Draco's arrival with characteristic Weasley temper, but he and Harry can still have a reasonable approximation of a rational argument about it, and he doesn't hold the grudge past the point of reasonableness. Indeed at several cruicial points, Ron is the one to decide to trust Draco and casually back him up in public. This is a breath of fresh air compared with all the stories out there where Ron causes all of the conflict in the story.

The Lodger

After 2 years reccing weekly, it's time for me to go (though I'll be around as a mod for a while). I've loved sharing favorite stories at ER. Thanks for giving my recs a look. I've saved a good one for last. If you haven't already read it, I hope you enjoy.


Title: The Pure and Simple Truth
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Eventual Harry/Draco; a cast of pretty much everybody who went to school together and lived through the war
Categories: Post-war, conversations, friendships, drama, humor, romance eventually, philosophy,
Length: Epic (65,482)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: lettered

Author's summary: Harry, Draco, and Hermione go to a pub. Harry, Draco, and Pansy go to a pub. Harry, Draco, Pansy, and Hermione go to a pub. Harry, Draco, Hermione and Ron go to a pub. Harry, Draco, Hermione, Ron, and Pansy―you guessed it―go to a pub. I could go on. In fact, I did. Harry, Draco, Hermione, Pansy, Ron, Blaise, Luna, Goyle, Neville, and Theodore Nott go to a pub. In various combinations.

OR My Summary: In my initial comment to the author in 2012 I offered my own, fairly biased summary:
Brilliant exploration of the heart of people - individually, in pairs, in groups, in society, in the wake of war and throughout the course of bloody history. When you think you know everything it has to offer, this story unfolds into more: more humor, more revelations, more warmth and understanding. It's larger than its word count, but it sings along. And yes, it may read in some ways as practically gen, but in any way that counts, it's a steam train running toward mutual affection and respect, and that's more than enough romance. Also, it's hysterical.

Review:
In life, the truth is often anything but simple, and that's the beauty of this fic. lettered knows everyone has their own beliefs and experiences, and that celebrating that instead of fighting it makes for a feast of friendships, ideas and debate. And yet for all its philosophical implications, this is an emotional and immediate story. It's warm and funny and sharp.

Harry's in character, never one to over think his plans, but he's not the glue holding this social circle together - not even the center, since it doesn't seem to have one. But it's his point of view we get, so the way he learns and changes is central to us, and through him we see Draco's growth as well. To me, in addition to everything else it has to offer, this is a romance, despite how long it takes them to come around to just the start of that - or actually because of how long it takes. They don't get pressed together or rushed in any way. Their post-war journey of discovering who they are now and who they could be is both required and incredibly good to read.

And I'll never be able to include why everyone else is so fantastic, funny, thoughtful, sometimes hurting, and always individual. I'll just say briefly that I'm a Luna fan, and she shines here. Pansy is so clearly drawn she could walk off the page (if she weren't too busy looking at her nails), and her hysterical deadpan delivery covers hurts you couldn't begin to untangle. Plus her description of Draco's relationship with his father is dead on. Blaise, of all people, works as the lynchpin; I'm not sure the story would get to the heart of things without him. ...And there are so many more terrific characterizations.

The Pure and Simple Truth has a lot to offer the heart and the head. It sticks with you long after you're done reading.

The Pure and Simple Truth (AO3)
On LJ: Part One, Part Two, Part Three - and comments to the author go here

It's Humor Theme Week here at ER!

Title: Wheels Of Fire (The Official Autobiography of Harry Potter)
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Categories: EWE, Post-war, bad writer Harry, good writer Draco, humor
Length: Medium (9,468)
Warnings: Brief mention of past character deaths

Author on LJ: captain_tulip

Author's summary: Harry's been wanting to publish an autobiography for years; only problem is, he can't write for peanuts. Enter Draco Malfoy: broke, surly and the best ghost writer in the business.

Review:
There's more to this snappy story than just humor; Draco is alone and seriously poor at the start. But the tone isn't about angst or Harry saving Draco... Well, wait, I guess without it being his original intention, Harry does save Draco. And Draco certainly saves Harry from embarrassing the hell out of himself.

Okay, starting over... When I'm reading this story, it has me smiling and admiring Draco's tangents and Harry's stubbornness. What we get to read of Harry's writing is so fabulously awful, and the publisher's attempts to not laugh him out of the office are just right. I also like Harry not wanting to be full of himself, but failing to understand how no one could want to publish a book by the Chosen One!? Draco's point of view is even funnier as he imagines different ways his first meeting with Potter might go. Especially since Harry has no idea it's Draco he's meeting. Lastly, the final two lines are perfect.

It's such a lively read that the more serious aspects just lend it a bit of weight without ever slowing it down.

Wheels Of Fire (The Official Autobiography of Harry Potter)

Title: Be My Valentine
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Categories: Hogwarts, quidditch, kissing, romance, fluff
Length: N/A
Warnings: None

Artist on LJ: wincest_drarry
Artist on DeviantArt: dorisdoris

Artist's Summary "Harry! STOP KISSING your house enemy!! "
"Awwwww~~~"
"Can someone catch the snitch so we can all leave for dinner? I'm really STARVING now..."

Review:
I seem to be in a quidditch art mood, but we could use more art recs on the comm, so I'm going with it! Last week I recced quidditch locker room art, and this week, I'm reccing a less recent favorite with Draco and Harry in quidditch gear, sharing an airborne kiss while riding the same broom. The artist has a lot of great work; I love their use of shadow in some and the luminous quality of their light. Here, the boys are lit up in gold that glows from beneath in a style that reminds me of stained glass, though with finer, more detailed lines. There's a radiant sense of joy and optimism, and beautifully expressive faces and body language. One of my all time favorites.

Be My Valentine (to bring up the full sized version, click "download" on the right)

Title: quidditch
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Categories: Hogwarts, quidditch locker room, kissing
Length: N/A
Warnings: None

Artist on LJ: chouette_e
Artist on DeviantArt: chouette-e

Review:
I love both the composition and coloring of this realistic digital art created this year. The tones are mostly warm and dark with quidditch gear and brooms in the background. That's contrasted with the almost pearlescent lightness of the shirtless pair in the foreground. The boots are beautifully detailed, as are the little hurts from quidditch scrapes and the discoloration on Harry's neck that's more likely a hickey than anything that happened on the pitch. Draco's hair is a work of art on its own, and the placement of Harry's hand with its bloody knuckles is perfection.

quidditch

It's Epistolary/Historical theme week!

Title: Inevitable as Tragedy
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco (mention of Harry/Ginny)
Categories: Post-War, EWE, Epistolary, Drama, Recovery
Length: Medium (8,084)
Warnings: Minor character death, mention of suicidal thoughts

Author on LJ: lomonaaeren
Author on AO3: Lomonaaeren

Author's summary: Physical separation is possible for Harry and Draco. Mental separation is not.

Review:
More than any other Harry/Draco story, this is the one that's head-canon for me, because Lomonaaeren spotlights the resentment that lies between them, plus their differences in personality and beliefs, yet Harry and Draco still move from antagonism to truce to reliance and finally understanding.

They find common ground in their shared trauma from the war. And at the heart of their transition is the curse on Narcissa. It leaves Draco open and brings out Harry's drive to act. After that, any guardedness Draco feels is gone, and what's left is Harry's emotional upheaval. With no Voldemort to defeat, he's facing up to his neglectful childhood, his adulthood and his sexuality all at once.

I found this story uplifting. Without sweeping anything under the carpet, it pushes inevitably toward connection and fierce protectiveness. Though there are setbacks, each letter moves through and past obstacles until there's nothing left but the two of them.

Inevitable as Tragedy (AO3)
On LJ

Title: Leave Your Field to Flower
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco/Harry
Categories: AU, Post-War, Group Amnesia, Romance, Drama
Length: Long (12,578)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: emmagrant01
Author on AO3: emmagrant01
Author's website: Emma Grant's Fiction

Author's summary: Draco Malfoy is like all the other Survivors of the disaster -- except for one called Harry Potter.

Review:
Here's a classic that I just realized has never been recced here. Draco begrudgingly attends group meetings with Hermione, Neville, Romilda, Fred and others who were victims of an accident and can't remember anything about their pasts. Harry is the oddest, with a crazy story about how they used to be wizards and witches.

It's a unique plot that makes Draco good friends with Hermione, and, to some extent, with all the survivors. But strange things happen whenever any of them get angry or afraid, and Harry may seem crazy, but he's offering a bit of proof. The problem is, the way Harry tells it, all the victims seem to have been friends with everyone but Draco.

There's a lot to love in this beautifully crafted fic, with Draco unhappy about what Harry's story says about him, and with the way things seem familiar and yet not. There's a need for everyone to figure out who they are now, and there's a growing closeness between Harry and Draco, a relationship that probably wouldn't have happened without this new start.

Leave Your Field to Flower on AO3
On LJ: Part 1, Part 2
En Español : Deja que tu Campo Florezca translated by La traductora (PerlaNegra)

Title: The Conquering of Harry Potter('s Virginity)
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco (with background Pansy/Neville)
Categories: Humor, Romance, Fluff, Virgin!Draco, Virgin!Harry, 1 year post Hogwarts, EWE
Length: Medium (8,377)
Warnings: None

Author's summary: The prompt says it best: after Draco acquires the knowledge that Harry Potter has had a very sad (non-existent really) sex life, he sees it as his personal duty to be the Saviour's hero for once and show him how it's done. And Draco is totally the right person for that.. although he may not actually have had sex before either.

Review:
Never has a plan been so unnecessary, but Draco has come up with the 6 phases required to save Harry, because, "If Potter—who must receive dozens of offers a day—couldn't get any action, then clearly he was completely helpless on that front. His virginity was a foe he could not vanquish... He needed Draco!"

There's great pacing and dialogue. There's humor and affection and awkward sex, plus some smoother-than-smooth sexy talk like, “Get ready for more sex and some mushy pasta.” There's everything you could want in a feel good fic.

You're probably better off skipping the details and heading over to this story, which is an instant rec - a temporarily anon. offering today from the dracotops_harry Fest. But if you need more convincing, I'm happy to gush a little more...

The author gets every scrap of humor and good feeling from the premise by giving us a smitten Draco I particularly adore - the kind who gets an idea in his head and completely misunderstands anything that doesn't align with it. He's got great energy and conviction for this Herculean task that...    Okay he's not actually going to need to work very hard. But there's no point in trying to talk to him about anything that isn't phases 1 - 6. Pansy has tried, and it got her exactly nowhere.

Harry is brilliant as well, and his initial shy and hopeful uncertainty is the kind most people get when they have feelings for someone and don't know whether they'll be returned.

The Conquering of Harry Potter('s Virginity)

Title: Azoth
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco, background Hermione/Millicent & Ron/Lavender
Categories: Romance, drama, angst, first time
Length: Epic (88,720)
Warnings: References to canonical major character death

Author on LJ: zeitgeistic
Author Website: zeitgeistic

Author's Summary:
Now that Harry is back at Hogwarts with Hermione for eighth year, he realises that something’s missing from his life, and it either has to do with Ron, his boggart, Snape, or Malfoy. Furthermore, what, exactly, does it mean when one’s life is defined by the desire to simultaneously impress and annoy a portrait? Harry has no idea; he’s too busy trying not to be in love with Malfoy to care.

Review:
There are so many things to love about this story. Eighth Year is a new beginning for Harry, an opportunity for him to begin to live a life outside the shadow of the Dark Lord. He starts to find out who he really is, and it is this self-discovery that leads to him making an unconventional choice of career. He first makes this decision out of stubbornness and a desire to tweak Snape's nose, but with time he finds that he is perfectly suited to being a Potions Master.

His journey from being second only to Neville in potions failure to Snape's apprentice occurs alongside an evolution of Harry's character that feels very natural; he finds an understanding of himself and a love of the mutable, artistic nature of potions-making. Harry also finds himself growing up and growing apart from Ron, and he wonders at the fact that Draco so easily fills the spot left by his childhood best friend -- only to realize that Draco is more to him than he could ever have imagined.

The author did a brilliant job depicting Harry's growing understanding of and skill in making potions, and the alchemical work he does with Draco was extremely well-developed. The characterizations were simply excellent all around, with Hermione as a particular favorite. And of course, the relationship between Harry and Draco evolves slowly and realistically, with just enough angst and pining to make the happy ending all the sweeter.

Really, I can't do justice to how absolutely amazing and perfect this story is. I can't recommend it enough.

Azoth

Title: Not Through With You
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Categories: War era, romance, drama, angst, spy!Draco
Length: Medium (11,086)
Warnings: Mention of a minor character's death

Author on LJ: dark0feenix
Author Website: (On AO3, but no fics posted there at the moment)

Author's summary: Draco doesn't remember, and Harry doesn't let him forget.

Review:
With Snape gone, Draco is the Order's main source of information about the enemy, but he doesn't enjoy the light side. He's sometimes forced to torture muggles to keep his cover, and every time he returns from a mission, he's faced with interrogation and Legilimency. Plus Potter's at Grimmauld Place, and Draco doesn't like him any better than at school.

Potter, oddly, seems to want to be near him, though. Weasley's being weird, too. And the strangeness intensifies with the vivid, sexual dreams Draco is having.

This is a long time favorite of mine. It's got suspense, great Spy!Draco pov, his unfolding relationship with Harry, romance, and is very nicely all of its NC-17.

The less said before you read, the better, and you'll understand why when you read it. So I'll stop here, but if you enjoy war era drama, you don't want to miss this one.

Not Through With You

Title: Single Wizard Seeking Same
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Categories: Romance, Fluff, Pining, Happy Ending
Length: Long (18,963 words)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: jennavere
Author Website: Jennavere

Author's Summary:
Lovelorn Draco has been secretly pining for Harry for months. He's finally forced into action when ex-boyfriend Blaise shows up. A gift!fic for Prof. McKitten starring an awkward, smitten Draco and a cameo by Harry's chest monster.

Review:
When I got back into reading Harry Potter fanfiction after spending some time focusing on other fandoms, one of the first things I did was revisit Jennavere’s stories. Of all of them, this is unquestionably my favorite. It’s just such a sweet, happy story — the sort that makes you feel good when you read it.

Draco is positively smitten with Harry, and there are so many charming little moments — giving Harry the gloves off his hands, for example, or sending him a hangover potion of his own making — that show just how far gone he really is. He’s unquestionably a kinder, gentler Draco than we see in canon, but that’s the beauty of fanfiction, I think, that we get to see all these different interpretations of the characters we love (or love to hate). Harry is adorably clueless and noble by turns, and my absolute favorite moment involves his “chest monster”. It makes me smile every time.

Smarmy, gold-digging Blaise is a delightful, not-too-evil antagonist, and Hermione’s role in putting our oblivious boys out of their misery is fun, particularly when a nervous Draco is prepared to spend a small fortune to secure her help. She’s not above a little trickery, and it leads to a hot, funny, and sexy conclusion.

Single Wizard Seeking Same

Bonus second rec today...

Title: Bare Feet, Giant Squid, and One Perfect Moment
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Categories: Eighth Year, Quidditch, romance, pining, first time, fluff
Length: Medium (4,400)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: bryoneybrynn
Author Website: NA

Author's summary: Gryffindor may be the House of the brave but Harry’s feeling a bit nervous. It’s one thing to face a dragon or a Dark Lord. It’s quite another to make a move on the bloke who’s been your nemesis for the last eight years....

Review:
It's Eighth Year, and the houses are getting along after months spent finding their way, even playing together at informal Saturday Quidditch games where they switch up teams and positions.

Bryoneybrynn fleshes out a feel good story of post war reconciliation and pining by adding little images that make you feel as though you're there. (Draco pulling at the laces of his wrist guards with his teeth sound good to anyone?) The dialogue is great, as is Harry's tongue tied inability to make a pass, and Draco's eventual exasperation.

This was written as a fic glomp for the H/D community, and it really is a glomp. It'll have you smiling and thanking the author for sharing the love.

Bare Feet, Giant Squid, and One Perfect Moment

Title: Sticky Fingers
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco/Harry
Categories: Eighth year, forced proximity, sharing a bed, romance, sweet, flangst
Length: I'm going to say Medium (It's a 43 page Fan Comic)
Warnings: None

Author on LJ: dustmouth
Author Websites: NA

Author's Summary: 8th year is going just fine until Malfoy starts practising his sticking charms.

Review:
Though it features some popular themes, this is a one-of-a-kind story. When you visit the link, you'll know straight away whether you've seen it before. It's a 43 page fan comic drawn in pencil.

As the artist says on their livejournal, they tend to draw boys in nightshirts with pointy elbows. Dustmouth has a distinct style that I loved, with thin arms and legs and short pencil marks. Characters' faces are open and expressive, especially of their angst or uncertainty, sometimes showing us they mean the opposite of what they're saying. But I think the composition was my favorite part; Dustmouth makes great use of the page, knowing when to break out of panels and how to shape and size them to set the tone and tell you even more about the story.

The plot itself is straight forward and a pleasure: Harry and Draco gradually finding their way with one another due to a sticking charm, with lots of pining and some gossiping schoolmates, confused friends and humorous moments.

Go and give it a look! I hope you'll like it as much as I do.

Sticky Fingers (AO3)
Original post on LJ with link to gdoc

Title: Comfort Food
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco/Harry
Categories: Post-Canon, EWE, drama, romance, first time
Length: Medium (13,720 words)
Warnings: Slight BDSM (For details, see rec at LJ)

Author on LJ: arsenicjade
Author Websites: Taste of Poison

Author's Summary: Harry never falls for the nice guys.

Review:
Toward the end, Harry suggests that his issues and Draco's go well together. It's true, because in this story neither of them could have hoped for a long lasting relationship with most anyone but each other. Harry's single after a relationship with someone who left him in part because Harry likes to be needed perhaps more than he needs his partner. Draco's probably not been in relationships; he's dealing with a Ministry spell that causes him pain whenever he so much as thinks anything remotely violent, and he's eeking out his hiked-up rent by working two jobs.

I liked that when they first run into one another, they're not happy about it. And even as things progress, Draco is a minefield of topics that will make him angry. Luckily Harry doesn't mind the extra work -- or the expensive meals -- and he finds a way to help that makes use of Draco's Quidditch talent. It's being valued rather than pitied that gets Draco to go along with it.

Comfort Food has my favorite sort of mix -- a great balance of serious issues lightened by snappy lines and Harry's efforts. Draco's bleak past is a part of the story, but he doesn't let it turn into heavy angst, and Harry doesn't patronize him. The dialogue is brilliant, and the progression of their relationship is just right.

Comfort Food   (at Taste of Poison)
On LJ: Part One, Part Two

It's Supernatural/Horror Theme Week!

Title: Don't Call Me Back
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco/Harry
Categories: Post-canon, AU, Apocalypse, Suspense, First Time, Inferi, Horror - but with some hope, hurt/comfort
Length: Medium (9,830 words)
Warnings: Violence, death of minor characters

Author on LJ: rurounihime
Author Websites: Rurounihime

Author's Summary: They walked all day, skirting copses of trees, avoiding roads. Harry pushed them past a village where the glass littered the streets, sparkling in the morning light, and doorways gaped open like giant black wounds.

Review:
ZOMBIES... Or rather, Voldemort's zombified Inferi. Whatever they are, they're scary as hell, and Harry and Draco are on the run. This opens with a vivid description of Harry's escape from a critical ward with Draco's help, and it rolls along from there. It's got a few of my favorite elements from the zombie film genre, but never feels like a retread, and I didn't know what was going to happen at any given moment.

The suspense is off the charts, and there's no time to worry about past bad feelings when you're trying to live through the day, and you know exactly one person who isn't out to kill you. This allows for some intense and emotional scenes between Harry and Draco. Favorite parts include Draco's fever and fear of turning, meeting up with a few humans, and turning to one another for comfort after two near death experiences in rapid succession. Plus I thought the open but hopeful ending was just right.

Even if zombies aren't your thing, if you like suspense and a thrown together need to rely on one another, this is a terrific read.

Don't Call Me Back (AO3)
On LJ