Or Perhaps In Slytherin, Youll Make Your Real Friends

“Or perhaps in Slytherin, you’ll make your real friends…”

Eidetic Memory

Hi, this is very random but I'm actually writing a dissertation on Harry Potter Fanfiction and I'm looking for the 'big' fics, i.e. fics that lots of people in the fandom read - the most popular/famous ones that might even have their own sub-fandom (All The Young Dudes for example). Do you know of any Drarry ones like this? Thanks in advance!

What a wonderful topic for a dissertation @realistic-but-optimistic - I would LOVE to read it if you ever publish/want to share. And I definitely have some recs for fics that have their own mini fandom and/or are ‘The Drarry Classics’

What We Pretend We Can't See by @gyzym [131k words]

Seven years out from the war, Harry learns the hard truth of old history: it’s never quite as far behind you as you thought

This is THE fandom classic almost everyone has read and talks about. It features a redeemed, slightly obsessive, charming Draco. Grimmauld Place plays a huge role in the fic and Ron/Hermione are wonderful. Overall 10/10.

Running on Air by @tinyhistory [75k]

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.

I genuinely do not know if any fic rec can do justice to this masterpiece. It’s so beautiful and poignant and somehow nostalgic. The language, the plot, the pining and the mystery are all breathtaking. You have to read this one yourself to believe me. This is definitely a major fandom classic.

Tea and No Sympathy [70k] by who_la_hoop

It's Potter's fault, of course, that Draco finds himself trapped in the same twenty-four-hour period, repeating itself over and over again. It's been nearly a year since the unpleasant business at Hogwarts, and Draco's getting on with his life quite nicely, thank you, until Harry sodding Potter steps in and ruins it all, just like always. At first, though, the time loop seems liberating. For the first time in his life, he can do anything, say anything, be anything, without consequence. But the more Draco repeats the day, the more he realises the uncomfortable truth: he's falling head over heels for the speccy git. And suddenly, the time loop feels like a trap. For how can he ever get Harry to love him back when time is, quite literally, against him?

If you like Groundhog Day style fics, this is the winner! It has over 32k kudos on AO3 which is INSANE! It’s super well written and keeps you hooked until the very end. And it’s not just this one, every fic by this author is a classic in its own right. Especially ‘written on the heart.’

Right Hand Red [73k] by @lqtraintracks​

Harry felt Malfoy's breath on his lips as they came together over the bottle, hands firmly planted on the floor as though they each needed their familiar soil, refusing to cross into enemy territory.

Except that Malfoy no longer felt like his enemy.

Malfoy felt inevitable.

No rec list can be complete without an eighth year fic. The fandom is FULL of eighth year fics and they’re perfect for anyone craving a Harry Potter continuation but with Drarry. This is one of my absolute favourite ones. It features a lot of party games and it’s really nice to see Harry and Draco have a chance at a normal school year for once, something they’ve been robbed of for so many years. There’s a lot of pining and healing in this one and I felt all the feels when I read it. 

Away Childish Things [151k] by @letteredlettered

Harry gets de-aged. Malfoy has to help him.

This one. This one. THERE ARE NO WORDS BUT I WILL VALIANTLY ATTEMPT. I love it. It explores Harry’s childhood in a way very few fics have managed to and it really really tugs at the heartstrings. It’s gorgeously written and evokes so many emotions. Please read this one.

Stop All the Clocks (This Is the Last Time I’m Leaving Without You) [44k] by @firethesound

Living with Draco was difficult; living without him is unbearable. But if there’s one thing Harry learned from the war, it’s that even when one life ends, the rest of the world goes right on living.

Full disclosure- I haven’t read this and I don’t know if I ever can. It features MCD (main character death) and I really struggle with reading fics that don’t have a happy ending. Having said that, it is a fandom classic and everyone who has read it, RAVES about it. They say it’s gorgeous and beautiful and devastating. What I can confirm is that firethesound is an amazing author and I have read several other fics by them which could also be considered fandom classics. Especially ‘All Our Secrets Laid Bare’ which is the ultimate Auror partners fic and ‘A Convenient Impracticality’ which is the ultimate fake dating/friends-with-benefits fic. 

Dwelling [83k] by aideomai

Curses, James and Lily Potter ride again, several Ministry balls, a teenage Summer of Love, a grim young adult dystopian winter, a few different Draco Malfoys, secrets and the problems re: not having any, alternate lives, impossible lives, real lives, allusions to Dirty Dancing, and just because it's not called the Mirror of Erised doesn't mean you shouldn't know better.

Oh my goodness, this fic ruined me. In the best possible way. If you want a glimpse into how Harry’s life could have been if his parents had been alive and if Harry and Draco had been friends from the start, this is the one. There's a huge twist which makes the fic EVEN better. I don’t want to spoil too much but this one is worth a read. Another fic by the same author, ‘Far From The Tree’ is also gorgeous. It’s a newer fic so I wouldn’t say it’s a classic yet but the plot is SO unique. It features Harry’s grown up kids coming back into the past and how that could affect Harry/Draco’s relationship. All the characters are super well written and it’s one of my personal favourites!

Other notes:

I made a Drarry rec list when I first got into the fandom. I would say almost all the fics on this list are also classics/very well liked. 

Another great way to find classics are through this link. They are Drarry fics on Ao3 (30k+ words) sorted by the number of kudos they’ve received. I would say all fics on the first five pages can be considered classics. 

Here are three other SUPER adored authors in the Ao3 fandom: Bixgirl, Saras_Girl and GallaPlacidia

All works by Bix and Saras_Girl are considered classics. GallaPlacidia started writing for the fandom only a couple of years back but she has such a knack for writing both these boys, it’s absolutely insane. I’m 100% confident her fics will be considered classics in a few years! Especially ‘The Bucket List’ and ‘Ship of Theseus.’

Enjoy and hope this helps!!

Zukka Essential Reading

Transference by The_Quartermasters

In a modern AU, Zuko has to deal with settling in a new school after expulsion, dealing with an angry ex and an abusive father. Maybe his new found friendships and growing closeness with Sokka will help him make it through.

Borderlines by The_Quartermasters

Three years after the war, the work still isn’t quite done and the Gaang is scattered across the continents in their efforts to help the world recover. When Aang and Katara pay visit to the Fire Nation where Zuko is Fire Lord and Sokka acts as Ambassador for the Water Tribe, sparks fly between the siblings over Sokka’s life choices.

Basic by squirrellysemantics

A modern military AU retelling of the events in Avatar: The Last Airbender. As infantrymen, Sokka and Zuko must make it through basic training and a deployment in Afghanistan.

(and mine)

To My Favorite Fire Lord by apairofglasses

Dear Sokka,

You never fail to surprise me, you know that? And that is one of the things I appreciate about you—you and your reckless bravery.

You’re also quite handsome. (Though I don’t mean to insinuate that I keep you around only for the view). The castle is boring without you.

Sokka, I can’t stop thinking about it. You’re on my mind all the time and then at night I am victim to fantasies I can’t even escape in my dreams.

Thinking of you,

Zuko

P.s. I’m sulking so much that everyone has had enough of me, including my uncle.

—

Ambassador Sokka and Fire Lord Zuko exchange letters after a good-bye kiss opens the floodgates of unresolved sexual tension.

🖤

🤲

Aaron Minyard is a dick yes but he’s a dick because he’s a scared ex-addict kid who’s desperately clawing at anything he can to be “normal” and not a Fox™.

Date the sweet cheerleader who also wants to be a doctor, get the 4.0 gpa, become a surgeon, Stay Away From The Foxes because association means he’s damaged and he’s Not Damaged anymore and definitely don’t talk to the therapist because that means he needs help which he Does Not Need. Keep the appearance of the “normal Minyard”.

He grew up in an abusive home with an addict mother who made him into an addict. Keeping up the normal appearance has been the name of the game his entire life, it’s second nature. Don’t let anyone suspect anything. Being apart of the Foxes comes with a reputation and that scares Aaron, it threatens a rickety appearance he’s oh so carefully built to protect himself from others (and mostly himself tbh).

Being an asshole and outwardly a dick is his trauma response. It’s the result of his refusal to process and come to terms with his past. He’s a dick to others because he’s the biggest dick to himself.

(Me personally, I also think his homophobia comes from a place of internalized shame and homophobia. Once again, he grew up with it drilled into him that he Needs to be “normal” and put together and I assume he probably also grew up religious ((his uncles a homophobic pastor who boarder line hates his own son)). Aaron grew up seeing how Nicky was treated for being openly gay. If he started having any thoughts about being anything other than straight, his first response would be anger and shame that’s expressed outwardly.)

His response to his internal shame and anger is to lash outwards at others rather than process it. (which isn’t an excuse, I just don’t think he’s an asshole because he’s an asshole at his core but because he carries a lot of shame.)

I think him rooming with Matt is what would really help him improve his ability to process his shit. (Along with more joint therapy with Bee and Andrew). Seeing Matt, another ex addict, who is fiercely kind and protective of the Foxes, who’s unashamed of his past and how it affects him now would be an eye opener for Aaron. His past doesn’t define him but it’s not something he can deny either.

Matt helps him see the Foxes as a group who has overcome their struggles. Who are helping eachother continue to over come their struggles. And he slowly starts to realize he can let them in and he can accept his past and still be successful and have the life he wants. And start to process and change the way he reacts the way he does.

(And process his not straight thoughts bc bi Aaron is real in my heart)