While busily writing fanfiction I decided not to post too much to give myself a little break. But with the looming release of the final Harry Potter movie, I thought it might be nice to revisit the fandom and offer up some recommendations.
So with all the thousands of recommendation sites including one entirely labeled by grace of various kinks, what does this one have to offer that others don’t? I will sum it up in three words – exceptionally high standards. (Dohohoho!)
The Harry Potter fandom is HUGE and has some of the best writers I’ve ever seen grace fandom and fanworks in general. I’m honestly a little detached from the art side of things since with a book I prefer to imagine (and that also explains why I’m not terribly fond of the movies), but with regards to fanfiction I have put on enormous hip waders diving into hoards of utter shit to find good writing. So in lieu of putting just fanfics I like, which is all well and good, I wanted to put fanfics I liked and found pretty incredible. And I can also promise you that these are all in character, or if not in character so well characterized you don’t even care.
But what’s a fandom round up without a little help from images? Boring shit, that’s what. So please enjoy the fruits of my hours and hours of scouring and searching on the web for some of the best HP fanfiction out there (in my opinion, please don’t forget). Hopefully even for you hardened veterans I’m bringing to light some older fanfics or overlooked gems. Tread carefully, as these all have adult themes and some of them are outright kinky or explicit.
Pairing: Sirius/Remus
The Maddest House
A story about Sirius taking a small (and adorable) Harry in as his own son, and various shennanigans that result from looking after the Hero of the wizarding world. This is an overall feel good fic, with great writing and excellent characterization of Sirius and Remus with laugh out loud moments.
Stealing Harry
Another story about Sirius and Remus as a couple raising Harry as their own, with an adorable and outright funny twist. Excellent stories concerning every major canon character here, with superb writing and an enjoyable pace.
Pairing:
Snape/Harry
In Between Days
Severus Snape is a difficult sell in fanfiction because it’s so easy to characterize him badly. Throw in Harry and you have a full blown recipe for disaster. But In Between Days will sell even the most reluctant fanfiction fan into the pairing to end all rivalry pairings, it’s probably the best Snape fanfic I’ve ever read. Written late enough to include some major twists in canon, it has superb characterization, scorching hot sex scenes and a believable Harry being taken advantage of by a believable Snape. I honestly liked the ending of the fanfic far more than the ending to the actual books. It’s excellent reading and keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very last part.
Snape: The Home Fries Nazi
Yes that does sound like a complete crack!fic but I can assure you – it really isn’t. Take the most out of character scenario you can imagine, keep it in character. Add interesting, fully fleshed out locations with interesting minor characters and you have what is, in my opinion, one of the best humor fics in the fandom. It’s touching, sexy and sad in all the right ways, and despite the totally unusual circumstances, it sells you on each and every one of them.
Pairing:
Lucius/Harry
An Eye For An Eye
Outside of mpreg, I think my next favorite kink has to be forced marriage. Throw two character together in a situation as kinky as it is unlikely and I’ll be there. Lucius entraps Harry in a marriage and uses his sexual wiles to entrap him further. It includes mpreg (briefly mentioned) and kinky sex, which pretty much means this is on the top of my list for recs of the shameless porn variety.
A World Not So Black Nor White
The premise for this story – Harry as a rent boy – is assumed to be dark and painful but this particular story turns the assumption around and makes you believe in an impossible romance. The situation is set up realistically and you’ll chew your nails from anxiety during every painful event that leads Harry into the lap of Lucius Malfoy. I thought it was tastefully handled despite essentially being a rape/humiliation fanfic. I enjoyed it immensely, and if you’re into the Lucius/Harry pairing for the romance, this one won’t disappoint.
Pairing:
Harry/Ron
Two Households, Both Alike In Dignity
While I’m not fond of the Ron/Harry pairing and it pretty much sends me screaming into the hills, I enjoyed this story despite that because of the additional plot points: Harry is a Slytherin and he lives with Sirius and Remus. There is also an enormous, spooky old house that their family renovates and it adds so much interest, flavor and color to the story I couldn’t help but enjoy every page. While not explicit in the slightest, there is plenty of romance both for Harry/Ron shippers and Sirius/Remus and like any good story, the situation of their lives is far from a perfect ideal. Misunderstandings, emotional distance and dysfunction abounds in the most glorious of ways, lending a much needed humanity and drama to what some shippers call the ‘perfect’ pairing.
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Wolf
The Harry/Draco pairing is ubiquitous and overwhelming in the Harry Potter fandom and I find myself looking for fanfiction that does something different and really strikes out from ordinary fair. Wolf was the fanfic I had been looking for all my time in fandom that I didn’t even know I wanted, until I read it. Harry is the Hogwarts bicycle in this one, and literally everyone gets a ride – but that’s part of the reason the story becomes so compelling. For all of Harry’s romantic tumbles he finds it difficult to connect outside of one person. And even that particular romance is questionable. Harry also has a drug problem, a case of lycanthropy and a tendency to emotionally mind fuck anyone he has a relationship with. The ending is also fantastic, heart warming and heart breaking all at once. This proves that you can take the most ridiculous premise and make something stunning out of it when the writing is just -that good-.
A Proper Place For All Things
This story shows you the power of a small idea and how a good writer can make it feel very large with only a few words. A single one shot that perfectly describes the early dynamic of a Harry/Draco relationship, it’s smoldering, sexy and swimming in the elements that make an IC fanfic so great.
There are numerous fanfics I’d love to add to this list and a plethora of work to choose from in Harry Potter and they all are quite good for various reasons. In lieu of making a post a mile long, I found some rec lists that may help adventurous souls in their search for quality fanfiction. There’s one for Mpreg, another for forced marriage still more for werewolves, a magical creature list and for optimum weird a males birthing litters list. Prancing Voldemort thinks it’s SUPER KAWAII.
