Tea and No Sympathy

Title: Tea and No Sympathy
Author: who_la_hoop
Pairing: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy
Rating: NC-17

Groundhog Day-themed fic but oohhhh the sloooowwwww burn of it all, uuunnggghhhh. Also brings me back to the days of high school when you have a crush on someone and it's all so repressing but also exhilarating.

Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness

Title: Dumbledore's Army and the Year of Darkness
Author: Thanfiction
Pairing: Gen
Rating: M

Update 6/20/2023: Thanfiction's AO3 account has been deactivated; story can be read online/downloaded at: https://www.scribd.com/doc/33499119/Dumbledore-s-Army-and-the-Year-of-Darkness.

When I first read this, none of the rest of the series existed (which means I should go read it now, ha). This is a beautifully involved story of the "side-characters," if you will - not Harry, Ron, Hermione, etc - but of Neville and all the students left behind in that year when the Golden Trio went Horcrux-hunting, how they survived with Death Eaters at Hogwarts, and strove to be "ready" when the Golden Trio returned. Gorgeous read.

Broomflight

Title: Broomflight
Author: Mad Martha
Pairing: James/Lily
Rating: PG

Awwww. How Lily ends up thawing and dating James. This is a very sweet story, and I like the James in this one - more down-to-earth and self-deprecating, and you can really tell that he earnestly likes Lily.

Tower of Air

Title: Tower of Air
Author: cluegirl
Pairing: Gen
Rating: PG

Dumbledore makes sure all the sacrifices during the wars are not forgotten. I may not always agree with his methods, especially in the later books, but this... this was beautiful and aching.

The End of the Beginning

Title: The End of the Beginning
Author: Marina
Pairing: James/Lily (also calling it Gen because it also really is)
Rating: PG-13

Update 6/20/2023: original site hosting this story closed in 2017. Keeping this entry so I can continue to try hunting for it.

Giles and Ethan have a run-in with a strange mark in the sky, and curious robed figures... and it expands from there. This is an brilliant BtVS/HP crossover, with very believable characterizations, and it answers my question from the minute Harry could hear his parents's last minutes when Dementors showed up of "why didn't Voldmort just kill Lily that night, why did he just keep telling her to step aside?" Honestly, I really wish this story just went on and on and never ended, because the possibilities are so endless and intriguing, and I found myself re-reading paragraphs and lingering over sentences (for instance, for some reason this sentence really struck something within me: "The grin with which James Potter greeted this rather prosaic question was the unmistakable symptom of a man gone silly with love"), anyways, really, why is there no more of this story!?!?!?!?

The Maddest House

Title: The Maddest House
Author: busaikko
Pairing: Remus/Sirius
Rating: NC-17 (for the explicit scenes, which are really only part of something so much bigger)

Sirius takes Harry and raises him in a world where Voldemort never died, while figuring things out with Remus. This is an interesting take on what could have happened that Halloween, and I really love the direction they've taken with the whole Harry-is-one-of-Voldemort's-Horcruxes thing, especially in relation to how a piece of Voldemort's soul is in Harry. I had some trouble understanding what all happened in the final scene (mainly 'cause it was very descriptive and I think I was trying too hard to visualize it), but it made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me love. Beautiful.

Accio Stone

Title: Accio Stone
Author: krislaughs
Pairing: James/Lily, Remus/Sirius
Rating: PG-13

Interesting AU where James and Lily didn't die, and Harry grew up in a loving wizarding family with doting uncles, and then goes to Diagon Alley on his 11th birthday and meets a stuttering professor in Gringotts...

I loves stories about the Potter family that-would-have-been, and this was a treat - I love there are events of the first book woven into the story. Also, that whole scene with Lily and how she became the way she was initially? Ugghhh. I am incoherent.

Mapmakers

Title: Mapmakers
Author: Casira
Pairing: Gen, background Remus/Sirius
Rating: PG-13

This is a remix of Raven's Making Moony Laugh (which was also beautiful and sad),  and is the story of Fred and George's gradual awareness of who the Maurauders were, how they react to that information, and how they handle everything after the veil. It's beautiful (I've always wanted to see the Weasley twins interact with MWPP, can you imagine the shenanigans they'd get up to!?) but it's so, so heartbreaking, especially the ending, and I cry every single time I read this story. Just... oh Padfood and Moony ::sobs::

Sidekicks

Title: Sidekicks
Author: kaydeefalls
Pairing: Remus/Sirius (but this is mostly Marauder-centric, honestly)
Rating: PG-13

James and Sirius may have been the masterminds behind the Marauder's Map, but Remus and Peter give it a voice. Gorgeous story of how the "sidekicks" plan some mischief of their own, with hilarious MWPP interaction. Teehee boys.

Along The Way

Title: Along The Way
Author: Elizabeth Culmer (edenfalling) (Elizabeth Culmer)
Pairing: This is a gen story, really (but if you must, Hermionie/Ron, Harry/Ginny, Rose/Scorpius)
Rating: PG

Beautiful story of Hermione growing up after the war.

The Made-Up Things

Title: The Made-Up Things: Deeper Magic from Before the Dawn of Time
Author: fire_and_a_rose
Pairing: Petunia + Lily
Rating: PG

I'm starting to develop a real crossover kick. I used to think that xXxHolic was the best series to crossover with anything, but now, with more and more really good authors crossing any and every fandom they please, there are some real gems out there, and some absolutely magical combinations. This is a Harry Potter/Narnia crosseover - once I saw Rose's summary: "Once upon a time, there were four children, whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. And then all that was left was Susan, who had two daughters. One was named Petunia, and one was named Lily," I thought OMG YES and proceeded to devour it. I mean, we all know Aunt Petunia is a sour old lemon, but seriously, how hard had it really been for her to watch her sister do magical things and go to a magical school and not be able to even touch any of that world? That makes me sympathetic to her (not to say her treatment of Harry is in any way excusable). The story was in turns happy and wistful, and when I got to the last line I was surprised to find tears in my eyes.

Debts To Be Paid

Title: Debts To Be Paid
Author: mehnema (swedish_furniture)

Pairing: None
Rating: PG

Hahahahahha. This is utter, utter crack, except it's amazing. Yu* Yu* Hakusho and Harry Potter may become one of my favorite crossovers, because it's just so interesting to see these two world interact. Voldemort cheated death... so Koenma sends his Tantei after him (oh man now I want to see Voldemort with Death from the Sandman - can you imagine that conversation!?!?). Tee hee!

Rituals and Traditions

Title: Rituals and Traditions (AO3 version)
Author: Amanuensis
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: NC-17

Voldemort wants to rule the world with Draco's body, and Harry saves him... except there is also snark, and whips and chains, and shameless shagging (all of a good cause, really!!!), and and and - this story make me crack up with laughter the same time I was going all "nnggghhh guh" XD

The Best Defense & A Good Offense

Title: The Best Defense & A Good Offense
Author: JoIsBishMyoga
Pairing: (but this is really gen) Kuwama/Hiei, Yuusuke/Keiko, Kuwabara/Yukina
Rating: PG-13

I totally started rereading this fic to remind myself what to rec about it... and I almost didn't remember to go to sleep last night XD Yeah, it's that good.

A Best Defense is an amazing YYH/HP crossover that integrates all the demon culture and "magic" into the wizarding world at Hogwarts. In a nutshell, the Tantei (along with Genkai, Keiko, and Yukina) to go Hogwarts to protect the student body as a whole, and if they "happen" to run across Voldemort... well, to quote Yuusuke, they will "kick his ass" XD You can imagine what sort of shenanigans they group gets up, especially after meeting the HP crowd. Genka is the new DADA teacher (OMG can you imagine taking classes from her!?), the twins are irrepressible, The Golden Trio do their thing, and Draco is The Malfoy Git (there actually isn't much HP slash in here that I can tell, now that I think of it, but you barely even notice it because you're just caught up in the story - although there were many times I just wanted to scream at Draco for being such a brat).

A Best Defense sidefics - don't read these until you've finished reading A Best Defense - you'll need the background and don't want to be spoiled. Little slices of insight regarding the various characters impacted by the merging of the two cultures.

A Good Offense (WIP as of this rec) - I haven't actually read this fic (ducks and runs), because I'm going through a period where I don't read a story until it's done (yes I hate suspense, I'm still living through that whenever I buy a new volume of manga and then go noooooooo that's IT!?!?), but considering the quality of The Best Defense, I'm highly certain this will be as good, if not better... especially with some of the plot points in The Best Defense ^_~ Another year at Hogwarts for the Tantei.

Oath Breaker

Title: Oath Breaker series
Author: GoblinCatKC
Pairing: Harry/Draco, Lucius/Severus
Rating: R

This... I don't even know where to start. KC has created a lush backstory and history for Dark Wizards (although some of it might be me just not reading up on my King Arthur history - I think I only ever watched the Disney version of The Sword in the Stone, and that's the only reason I've heard of Merlin the Wizard), and it's fascinating. This is Harry against Voldemort, but also Dark Wizards against Light Wizards, and KC also includes many minor characters in the telling of this story, which is always fascinating to me. Also,  I like KC's version of Lucius, Narcissa, and Severus - they're Dark Wizards, yes, and unapologetic in their Darkness, but they also do the things they do for a reason, and are very human beneath any haughty veneer they present to the world. Plus, you can tell that they genuinely care about each other. A fascinating read.

Glistening Cherry

Title: Glistening Cherry
Author: devilfancy
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: NC-17 (oh boy is it ever)

Rimming is apparently one of my kinks, specific to the HP fandom - I say this because I've never actually actively searched for rimming fic in any of the other fandoms I read, but there's just something about Harry and Draco doing this to each other that hits my buttons, and devilfancy does an absolutely hot, filthy, and nasty job of it (in the best way possible!). The adjectives get a little cliched at times, but if you're in a mood for some good old straight up pr0n, this is definitely the fic for you. Guh.

Promised Eternity (A Ring of Endless Light Remix)

Title: Promised Eternity (A Ring of Endless Light Remix)
Author: victoria_p
Pairing: Remus/Sirius
Rating: Adult

I love MWPP stories with good interactions between the characters in their younger days. This story... I can't say too much without giving the plot away, but it basically feeds one of the hungers I had after the whole Prisoner of Azkaban fiasco, and answers that what if question I'm sure we've all asked. Also? That line that states the what-if question makes me tear up every. Single. Damn. Time.

Friend Like Me

Title: Friend Like Me
Author: Lady Vader
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: NC-17

Oh god this is one of those fics that is beautiful and compelling and by the end you just want to cry at the pain. The author weaves cannon events into her story seamlessly, and although the ending is a bit odd for my taste, the rest of the details and the sheer emotion is amazing. This is one of those stories that sits in the back of my brain, and every so often I have to dig it up and reread it again.

A Thousand Beautiful Things Universe

Title: A Thousand Beautiful Things Universe
Author: geoviki
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: R

I have a weakness for well-written Harry/Draco fics. Especially (apparently) ones that have them go through all sorts of trials but end up living happily ever after. Which has nothing to do with reccing this fic, but it's about Draco and changes in beliefs and personal struggles and... and it's him and Harry and it sucked me in and held me captive until I devoured the entire series. Includes Delicate Sound of Thunder,  in which Harry suffers a curse and Draco undertakes the necessary measures to rid him of it. 

The Waters of March

Title: The Waters of March
Author: geoviki
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Rating: PG

I read this so long ago that I don't have that fresh oh-my-god-I-just-read-this-amazing-story reaction anymore, but it's a beautiful tale of how Harry and Draco go from hating each other to learning to like each other to more. It's poignant and moving like waters themselves, and that last bit about Harry's favorite part of Draco just slayed me.