The buzz of chatter died instantly as Malfoy swept into the room. Whether he saw Harry standing there at the very back of the classroom or not, Malfoy gave no indication. He put down the stack of parchment he carried and plucked his wand out from behind his ear.
"I've graded the homework you handed in on Friday," Malfoy said, his voice barely heard at all. "I really do wonder whether those who write an essay without reading the subject material first think I can't tell? Miss Collins, come hand these out, please."
Sitting down behind his desk, Malfoy proceeded to open the attendance register and call out each student's name, glancing up each time.
"And where is Mr. Hinkly?" he asked when a girl raised her hand instead.
"In the hospital wing," the girl said. "He ate a poisonous toadstool."
Malfoy blinked. "How come?"
"Um. He was dared to."
At this point, Malfoy looked up and straight into Harry's eyes. Then he gave a little shake of his head as if it was Harry who had been stupid enough to eat a poinsonous toadstool on a dare.
Shutting his register and getting to his feet, Malfoy rapped the blackboard with his wand. Graceful, cursive writing appeared on the board.
"Rather aptly, we're going to be brewing Essence of Insanity this week," he drawled. "At sixteen, I'm sure none of you needs to be told not to drink this potion - even on a dare." Once again, Malfoy threw Harry that look of derision.
Harry realised he was scowling back at Malfoy, automatically crossing his arms and spreading his stance, assuming the same posture of intimidation he did while standing across from a suspect in the interrogation room.
"...and the ingredients are in the store cupboard as usual," Malfoy was saying. "This potion, if you do exactly as instructed, will take three classes to brew. You will hand in your samples on Friday. I want you all to make notes as you brew, especially if you do something incorrectly. If the mistake can be rectified, I will instruct you on how. If not, you will start over and come in during your free hours to make up for time lost so you can hand in your sample on time on Friday. As always, I expect nothing but your best work. You may begin."
Harry watched, quietly fascinated, as the students immediately set about their work with an air of reverent keenness that Harry had never felt in Snape's classes. Almost nobody spoke at all as cauldrons were set up, ingredients were procured, knives were sharpened and quills loaded.
The hem of his cloak sweeping the floor, Malfoy walked around the classroom, hands clasped neatly behind his back, with none of the malevolence and balefulness of Snape. His students were clearly quite unafraid of him; in fact, most of them seemed quite breathlessly deferential towards him.
Malfoy reached the student closest to where Harry stood, peering down at her chopping board.
"Good. Try chopping them a bit finer. And don't use the green part of the root."
Harry fully expected Malfoy to just ignore him and continue strolling through the classroom. But Malfoy looked up, and then just stood there, staring at Harry.
Harry nodded once. When Malfoy didn't nod back, he said, "I assume you received an owl from the Ministry? Explaining why I'm here?"
"Safe to assume I did," Malfoy said. "Or I'd have asked you to leave."
"Yeah, well, you weren't at breakfast," Harry said, scowling again. "That's when we were supposed to go over the brief for this week."
"You're tailing me around the school for a week to vet that I'm not secretly murdering or torturing anyone, yes?" said Malfoy, and the girl sitting there looked up, startled.
Harry's scowl deepened. "We'll discuss it after class."
"I'm teaching all through the morning up until lunch."
"Well, at lunch, then."
With a curt nod, Malfoy swept away.
~
Three days later, Harry was completely, without a doubt, certain, that Malfoy was upto something.
For fifteen hours a day, Harry tailed him. He followed him from breakfast to class to lunch to the staffroom; on his walks around the grounds and his visits to Hogsmeade. They had, twice, sat at the same table at The Three Broomsticks along with some of the other staff. They sat side by side at the staff table in the Great Hall during mealtimes. Harry had even conducted a very thorough search of Malfoy's personal quarters in the dungeons.
Absolutely nothing Malfoy did seemed out of place or worthy of suspicion, leave alone investigation. But Harry's intuition claimed otherwise.
Malfoy was a dedicated, patient, and surprisingly engaging teacher. His approach seemed to alter with the age of his students: with the first years, he was patient to a fault and quite lively. With the second, third, and fourth years, he commanded unwavering attention and constantly stressed the importance of minding every single instruction on the board. From the fifth, sixth, and seventh years, he tolerated nothing short of perfection.
Every single one of Malfoy's students seemed to be in awe of him. They hung on to his every word, preened when he rewarded them for a job well done, and looked genuinely ashamed when he expressed disappointment.
The other staff members seemed completely at ease around him, too. Malfoy rarely sat in his own office, preferring to grade homework and take his tea breaks in the common staffroom instead. He seemed closest to Professor Sinistra, and the two of them often read the day's Prophet together over their tea.
Malfoy was so normal and... nice. Why the hell was he nice now? And why the hell were none of the other staff members suspicious of him? Clearly, he was up to something.
Harry was extra irritated because on top of everything else Malfoy was very handsome and seemed pleasant towards almost everybody except Harry. So clearly he still hated Harry. The only explanation for this was that Malfoy was up to something nefarious.
Harry had tried reporting this to McGonagall. He'd been to her office every evening after seeing Malfoy off at the entrance to his quarters. He was writing his report for the Ministry, of course, but he wanted McGonagall to see what nobody else could.
"Nonsense, Potter," MCGonagall had said crisply when Harry had expressed his doubts. "Professor Malfoy is one of the most popular teachers in the school. Now, I know you're here doing your job on the Ministry's orders, but that hardly means you revert to behaving as you did when you were a student yourself."
Harry had just sat there feeling as though he'd been slapped.
"He's definitely up to something, Professor!"
"You follow him everywhere?"
"Yes."
"You've searched his quarters?"
"Yes."
"Have you found anything?"
"No, but--"
"Go to bed, Potter, it's another long day tomorrow."
Harry had gnashed his teeth and stomped off, wishing Hagrid weren't in France. Hagrid would have believed Harry. Maybe.
He had taken to staring at Malfoy's dot on the Marauders Map until he fell asleep every night. The sense of déjà vu was unsettling to say the least.
"Morning, Potter," Malfoy greeted him at breakfast on Thursday. "You don't look like you had a very restful night," he added, briskly buttering his toast. The tip of Malfoy's nose was pink, as were his lips.
Harry just glared at him and then poured himself a heaping mugful of coffee. "Whatever, Malfoy."
"You're determined to uncover something unappealing about me, aren't you?" Malfoy asked pleasantly, shaking his head lightly so that his hair slipped onto his face and caught in his pale lashes.
"I'm determined to uncover the truth, yes," Harry said, staring steadily through the brightness radiating from Malfoy.
"What an exciting prospect," Malfoy drawled idly, sipping tea, and turning back to the day's Prophet that was propped up, folded, against a jug of pumpkin juice.
That morning, Harry was in for yet another surprise. After putting up the ingredient list and instructions for a Wiggenweld Potion on the board, Malfoy clapped his hands and, to the great delight of the gathered first years, asked if they would all like to spend the first hour of the lesson collecting Moly and Wiggentree Bark for their potion from the school grounds.
It was a chilly November morning but there was still some sun as Malfoy led the group of tiny first years, stumbling over the hems of their robes, each clutching a little wicker basket and chattering excitedly, across the dew drenched grounds. Harry brought up the rear, his eyes never leaving the back of Malfoy's stupid, shiny head.
When Malfoy matter-of-factly walked into the Forest, the students didn't even pause or hesitate before following him. Drawing his wand, Harry went in after them.
There was a great deal of shouting and excited pointing as Malfoy stopped every now and then to point out a familiar potion ingredient. Whenever he asked a question, most of the students would jump up and down with an arm in the air.
They found Moly flowers and Wiggentree Bark after about fifteen minutes of wandering around. They were barely inside the Forest at all, and the trees grew far apart, letting sunlight filter in and dapple on their hair and faces. Malfoy reminded everyone to put on their gloves before touching anything, and then went around with a pair of clippers, helping the students collect their ingredients.
Harry stood leaning against a tree and watched Malfoy. He was soft spoken and kind and showed a fair amount of interest when a student pointed to something or asked a question. He did not, for one instant, remind Harry of the person he had hated for so long.
Malfoy himself was plucking and clipping up a variety of roots, berries, leaves and soft barks into his own basket, and after about ten minutes of foraging, he called the students to attention and announced that it was time to head back to class.
Overall, it was a very happy bunch of first years that trooped out of the dungeon an hour later. Ignoring Harry, Malfoy went around from desk to desk, Vanishing the contents of each student's cauldron and setting up the tables for his next class.
"So, you love your job," Harry blurted abruptly.
Malfoy smirked at him. "Are you very shocked?"
"Sceptical, more like."
Malfoy laughed, his eyes dancing. "What, you think I'm pretending to love my job while I secretly practice the Dark Arts and torture my students and poison my coworkers?"
Harry didn't answer immediately. "You're up to something, Malfoy. I can tell."
Malfoy stood up very straight, his nostrils flaring. "Very well. You can go ahead and prove it, then."
"I will."
~
Friday was the last day of Harry's mission. He was to head back to London after breakfast on Saturday, take the rest of the weekend off and hand in the report on Malfoy's activities on Monday.
It was all part of an ongoing, Ministry-conducted survey of exonerated/ex Death Eaters. Harry had put in a special request for Malfoy's file. It wasn't that he had hoped to find something bad, but then he supposed old habits died hard.
After dinner on Friday, he watched Malfoy disappear into his room with a feeling close to sadness. What he wasn't sure about was whether the sadness stemmed from not having found something terrible about Malfoy, or from the prospect of not seeing Malfoy again for who knew how long.
He went up to his room, and without undressing or getting ready for bed, he sat in the armchair by the fireplace with the Marauders Map. Malfoy's dot was firmly in place within his quarters. Harry huffed a sigh, pulled a quilt over his shoulders and waited.
He dozed off without meaning to and at just past 4AM he grunted himself awake. Scrambling up, he pushed his glasses back into place and peered into the Map.
It was as if an alarm bell had woken him up because even as Harry watched, Malfoy's dot exited his quarters. Heart now pounding, Harry sat up straight and watched as Malfoy steadily made his way up to the Entrance Hall and then out the main doors.
Harry ran to his trunk, flipped it open and yanked out his Invisibility Cloak. He threw it on as he ran out the door. Wand in one hand and Map in the other, Harry raced downstairs, thumping silently across the Entrance Hall and out into the freezing night.
Malfoy was almost at the edge of the Forbidden Forest by now and Harry flat out sprinted across the grounds after him. The moon slid in and out of clouds and owls swooped overhead, eagerly hunting for dinner.
Reaching the edge of the Forest, Harry slowed down, gasping for breath. Malfoy wasn't very deep inside the Forest yet and was moving very slowly. Harry lit his wand and made his way inside until he was close enough to hear movement.
"Nox," he whispered, as he neared a clearing and heard Malfoy's soft voice, along with another sound.
It was a sort of weak cry, rather like bleating or neighing; it sounded infantile.
"I know," Malfoy was saying, as the small cries grew longer. "It's sad she isn't here. But you've still got me."
Harry inched closer, stepping upto a gigantic oak for cover and then peeking around it.
Malfoy was in a small clearing with several enchanted lanterns lit up and flaoting all around him. He was standing in the centre of the clearing and seemed to be speaking to someone or something that was below knee level.
The tiny, helpless cries sounded again and Malfoy sighed.
"We should head back," he said firmly.
Stepping forward, Malfoy bent down to scoop something up into his arms. When he turned, the lights from the floating lanterns fell squarely on him, tall and cloaked, holding a...
Harry's mouth fell open.
It was a baby unicorn. Pure gold with a star on its forehead where its horn would eventually grow, the foal was absolutely exquisite. It was also very, very small - much smaller than the ones Professor Grubbly-Plank had showed them in fifth year. Quivering in Malfoy's arms, it emitted another one of its piteous cries and Malfoy shushed it gently.
Harry held his breath as Malfoy walked past him, following him after a safe minute or so. Malfoy's lanters had vanished but he had his wand lit for which Harry was grateful. As it is Harry stepped on a fallen branch, freezing as Malfoy looked around wildly, straight through Harry, his face oddly hopeful.
Harry waited until they were back in the castle and just as Malfoy tapped the wall to his room open, Harry stepped out from under the Cloak and said quietly, "Seriously, Malfoy?"
With a gasp, Malfoy spun around, panic in his eyes for all of three seconds until he registered Harry's presence, at which point he simply scowled, clutching his chest.
"Potter, what the hell?"
"A baby unicorn? That's low even for you."
Malfoy looked thoroughly confused. "Why is it low?" When Harry just shook his head, he looked down at the foal in bewilderment and said, "Wait, what do you think I'm doing here?"
"That's what I was going to ask you. I mean, killing grown unicorns is one thing..."
"Killing?!"
"...but to fuck around with an actual baby..."
"'Fuck around'?"
"A highly protected, Class XXXX creature--"
"Potter. Shut up!"
Harry shut up, his mouth still open in speech. Malfoy then sighed, and turned around saying, "You'd better come inside before my bones turn to ice."
The inside of Malfoy's rooms were wonderfully warm and glowed softly golden. As soon as the door slid shut behind Harry, Malfoy set the little foal down. Together they watched it cross the room on shaky little legs and curl up on a large, satiny bed in front of the fire.
Malfoy unclipped his cloak and hung it up before heading for the little tea station he had by his desk. Without speaking, he put together two cups of tea and brought them to a round, spindly little table by the fire. He sank into one of the two armchairs and huffed out another mighty sigh.
"You genuinely believe I'd hurt a wee little thing like this?" he asked quietly. Harry watched as Malfoy bent down and ran a gentle hand over the bright gold foal.
"Well, you're a potioneer and unicorns are highly sought after for their--"
"Potter. Enough." Malfoy looked tired. "Please stop. I've tolerated the way you've glared at me all week, waiting for me to cross some invisible line you'd drawn as a test, but please- just stop now."
Harry didn't know what to say, so he walked over and sat down opposite Malfoy.
"She was abandoned," Malfoy said, waving a hand at the foal. "I found her two weeks ago, and stayed with her nearly three hours in the Forest but none of the other unicorns came to claim her. I finally brought her up to the castle and hid her here because I didn't want her prodded and poked at. Every few days, I take her back to where I found her and wait to see if her calls are answered. No luck so far."
"What do you think happened to the mother?"
"I don't know," Malfoy sighed. "I just hope the poor thing hasn't died. I collected some of the baby's fallen fur and rubbed them around on the trees, hoping the scent will draw the mother back."
"What about food?"
"Oh, they're very easy to feed. Berries and roots and all sorts. They're herbivores and survive on things found very easily in the Forest."
"Where did you put her when I was in here for my search on Tuesday?"
Malfoy's lip quivered at the edges. "Under my unwashed laundry. Sleeping."
Malfoy seemed so...innocuous. Harry just sat there feeling as though he'd swallowed a whole flagon of Butterbeer. Warmth spread from his chest to his frozen fingertips, and in the soft light from the fire and lamps, Malfoy suddenly looked painfully beautiful.
"I'm sorry," Harry found himself saying, taking himself by surprise.
Malfoy looked as surprised as Harry felt.
"I'm sorry I've been trying to catch you out all week," Harry said. "I suppose I haven't grown up much over the past decade."
Malfoy smiled; he actually smiled. It was a knowing sort of smile with a gleam of amusement in it and Harry found himself smiling back sheepishly.
"Are you going to put this in your report?" Malfoy asked, nodding towards the now sleeping foal.
"No," Harry said. "But I do hope you find her mother. Or at any rate, find a way to look after her until...whenever."
"I'll look after her," Malfoy said softly.
"Right." Harry clutched the arms of the chair and after a moment's pause, pushed himself up. "It's almost- I should probably," he hooked a thumb at the door, "go."
"When do you go back?"
"In the morning," Harry said awkwardly. "So, you won't have someone breathing down your neck when you wake up."
Malfoy just smiled, and got to his feet.
"Good luck with your report," he said.
"Thanks," said Harry.
Harry was almost at the end of the corridor that led upstairs from the dungeons when he suddenly turned and bolted back. He tapped on the stone wall and it slid open.
Malfoy was kneeling by the foal and looked up in surprise. "Potter."
"Will you have dinner with me sometime?" Harry blurted.
Malfoy bit on his upper lip to hide a smile, gracefully rising and approaching Harry.
"Is this related to your report?"
"No," Harry mumbled. "It's just...dinner."
Malfoy held Harry's gaze for a solid beat before smiling that dazzling smile of his again. "I thought you'd never ask."
hey everyone! So a lovely friend made my art into a brilliant master list, as well as formatted everything to look like the prophet. They chose to remain anonymous, but can we all just collectively gasp?!?!??
Check the link in my pinned post to view the entire thing! Thank you, dear, talented, amazing friend! 💗💗
“Mr. Potter, that gesture may be sweet and touching but please remember you two are in class and not in your own world. I do not tolerate sleeping in class so please wake Mr. Malfoy up. I’ll see the both of you in my office after class.” - Professor McGonagall
Hello! I'm getting back into fandom after many years and was hoping you could recommend the best (or most popular) drarry fics to come out in the last 5 years?? The longer the better! I'm having such a blast re-reading old favs and would love more to read! Thank you so much!
I was also away from the fandom the past three years, we share the feeling! I'll go for +100k and skip super well known examples (e.g., Grounds for Divorce)
Alucinatio by alexmeg (127k)
"It's... it's not good," Harry tells them lowly. "They've given him a month's time, only." There is so much he needs to explain, but his head is foggy and exhausted and he can't think properly, can't think of how to relay all that he's learned. "Have you heard of Alucinatio?" is what he starts with. "The Daydream potion," Hermione says. "The person who intakes it experiences very vivid and realistic daydreams of all they could ever want, but is essentially in a severely catatonic state out in the external world, incapable of any basic functions." Harry nods. "Somebody's given it to Malfoy." He remembers the tattered remains of a black coak wrapped around Malfoy. "I think it might have been Professor Snape." They take a minute to process that. "And... the cure?" Ron asks. "Tears of anyone the experiencer craves love of," Hermione answers.
I Do Not Love You by Writ_and_romance (228k)
In 2013, a carefully-designed Obliviation leaves Harry reconfiguring his life and identity without any memories of true love; an act that’s essentially erased Draco Malfoy from his mind despite a wedding band and shared home.
In 2000, Draco had expected Pansy’s relationship with Luna to bring the Gryffindors a bit closer to his orbit of quiet, carefully pacifistic existence, but he never expected to navigate such a transparent embrace into a unit of family, friendship, and love.
A mystery, two love stories, and a reminder that learning to love never has an end date.
Nor All That Glisters by @sweet-s0rr0w (110k)
Lonely and frustrated on house arrest, with no prospects for the future, Draco begins brewing Felix Felicis in an attempt to improve his lot. Just in the short term, of course. He isn’t a total idiot.
But before long he finds himself with a thriving business, a nice flat, some actual (albeit irritatingly Gryffindor) friends, and a very satisfying sex life. What’s more, no-one is hexing him in the street. And Harry Potter is single, and gorgeous, and giving Draco decidedly interested looks.
Stop taking the Felix? You must be joking…
Soup-pocalypse and The Great Curry Cataclysm by @norelationtoatticus (104k)
Eleven years after the war, Draco Malfoy leads a quiet, boring, and perfectly respectable life, thanks very much. Or, at least he does, until a sudden and very unexpected veela awakening causes him to throw soup all over Harry Potter in the middle of the Ministry cafeteria.
Every Hour Has Led to This by @sassy-cissa (105k)
Banned from the wizarding world and sentenced to live as a Muggle for ten years, Draco Malfoy finds his world turned upside down. Navigating the Muggle world becomes easier thanks to help from some unexpected strangers who become family. But when his mother insists Draco fulfil an agreement set when he was a child, he finds himself married and a father. Then a divorced single father. After the war Harry Potter found himself without purpose, until an unexpected offer changed his life. Playboy, Quidditch star, war hero – Harry seems to have it all, until a Quidditch accident ends his career. Lost and without purpose, Harry’s life is lonely until a surprising event brings him to Draco’s door…literally. Running parallel lives for nearly 10 years, when they reconnect both Draco and Harry find the passion for life that had been missing. A story of love and loss and how the best things in life happen in their own time
Pages of You by @wolfpants (101k)
Summer, 1980. Harry is floating between university and becoming a Real Certified Adult. He's not ready. He really isn't.
In a desperate attempt to have the Best Last Summer ever, he takes a casual job at his godfather's bookshop in London, starts an illicit pen pal affair with a wordy posh boy that he's catching feelings for, all while dealing with the son of Sirius's business rival, one Draco Malfoy, insufferable know-it-all extraordinaire.
A story about trying to figure out who you are, where you're going in life, and who you want to take along with you.
Notes on a resurrection by newleaves (126k)
It was never Draco’s intention to raise Sirius Black from the dead.
The Liars Department by @dorthyanndrarry (103k)
This is a story about Harry meeting up with Draco Malfoy four years after the war. And a story about Harry, well, not hating his job per say, but it's not like he has much to compare it to and it seemed fine. His whole life seemed fine. Then Malfoy came along with and his flashy suits and fast car making everything seem dull in comparison, and Harry... Harry couldn't just leave well enough alone.
Turning Leaves by @kbrick (112k)
Draco and Harry have a one-night stand that ends in disaster after Harry tells Draco he's unable to move beyond their poisonous past. So when Draco finds an unusual Time-Turner in the Department of Mysteries, he seizes the opportunity to start fresh with Harry. Only instead of fixing things, he keeps making them worse.
Bolts by @lqtraintracks (114k)
Harry joins the Hogwarts staff as the new History of Magic Professor, while Draco has already been teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts for the past year. When Samantha, a first year, is being bullied one day and throws a made-up Truth curse at her harasser, only to accidentally hit Harry instead, Harry becomes cursed to tell the truth, and not only that, he has to regularly tell it to Draco Malfoy. Samantha is clearly gifted, maybe the most powerful witch or wizard to ever come through Hogwarts, and yet she has no idea how to take the curse off. As they work to remove it—and also teach Samantha how to control a power that's becoming more dangerous by the day—will Harry's truths become too much to handle? And will whatever’s going on with Draco just make everything exponentially worse?
Freedom to be by @quicksilvermaid (169k)
Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived. 12 years after the war, he's become the Boy Who Lived For Everyone Else. He has the perfect wife. The perfect house. The perfect job. The perfect friends. Only nothing feels perfect. Until one day he stumbles across a club called Release and begins a journey of self-discovery that takes him to a very different place.
By the Grace by @letteredlettered (139k)
Harry is an Auror instructor. Malfoy wants to be an Auror.
Two to Shore by Lamplighter (204k)
Harry and Draco meet in Madam Malkin’s and instantly take a liking to each other. Just kidding. They don’t, but Harry does get sorted into Slytherin, and they do become extremely good friends.
Way Down We Go by @xiaq (109k)
The war was over. Or at least that’s what the papers said. They’d been saying it, for months, as if people needed reminding. Maybe they did.
In which Harry and Draco both run away from their pasts and conveniently choose to hide in the same tiny American town. It's super.
Nyctophilia by prolonged_autumn (107k)
Everyone's back for 8th year, and Harry and his friends seem determined to spend their last year in school running around at night, hyped up on coffee and alcohol and Honeydukes candy, doing all the childish things they didn't have the chance to do before. Draco watches as he's always watched: from afar, quiet and bitter and hopelessly in love. That is, until Pansy decides she's had quite enough of it.
Make Yourself by @anyaelizabethfic (103k)
Harry just wants to be safe within the freshly painted walls of Grimmauld Place, with his friends around him. But when he hears Draco Malfoy has been spotted at the local soup kitchen, he can’t help but encourage a different type of stray to come under his roof.
Kept Man by @drarry (147k)
A downtrodden Harry Potter in a serious dry spell is looking to be a kept man, and a lonely Draco Malfoy responds to his anonymous ad. A perfect storm of lust, scandal, and maybe even love. A Daddy Kink Magnum Opus.
The Ordeal of Being Known by @lou-isfake (146k)
When Auror Potter is anonymously cursed with silence by being forced to hide his own voice inside his mind, there’s unfortunately only one person in the country with the qualifications to fix it: Certified and Licensed Healer Legilimens, Draco Malfoy, specialist in Mind Curses and Afflictions. It’s obviously a terrible idea, a disaster waiting to happen, but Draco’s never been able to back down from a challenge… especially from Potter.
Harry Potter and the Welcome to the World of Grey by @sobsicles (456k)
When Harry fails to keep his anger at bay and Voldemort possesses his mind, the events that follow lead him down a long road to realizing the world isn’t as black and white as it seems. Chaos, hilarity, and tragedy ensue with a Dark Lord being honest all the time, a rival becoming something else, and a world demanding to be saved. Featuring frightened Death Eaters, deep conversations with a monster, Pureblood traditions being ridiculous, and the fight to do the right thing with no true options. Harry’s life just gets more and more bizarre with each passing moment. ~~~ Or, the one where Harry’s life gets split in half, and he has to figure out how to bring it back together.
The Secret Keeper by @the-fools-errand (225k)
On Halloween 1981, Albus Dumbledore made a decision that would change the course of history, concealing Harry Potter’s survival at the hands of Lord Voldemort underneath a Fidelius Charm. But when Harry comes of age in the Muggle world, Dumbledore realises too late that the fate of the world may depend on a boy who has never held a wand. An unlikely team assembles to teach him everything he needs to know before the charm runs out, but only one of them knows the truth behind the Dark Lord’s return to power. If it were anyone else, Draco would have no problem turning them over to the Death Eaters, but there’s something about this certain bespectacled idiot that has him questioning everything he’s ever known. Will Draco seal the fate of the wizarding world by uncovering the Chosen One or will Harry save Draco from a fate of his own?
Dwelling on Dreams by @the-sinking-ship (135k)
Draco thought he could avoid Potter for the duration of his brief return to England. He’d stick to his schedule and be back home in Paris, where he belonged, in a few short months. No trouble at all. He had plenty to occupy him, what with the opening of the London branch of his successful apothecary, his innovative research, drinks with Pansy, a backlog of unread potions periodicals. Except Head Auror Potter is everywhere — in Draco's chair, at his door, in his dreams. All six feet of motorbike-riding, combat-boot-wearing, sex-hair-sporting Saviour of the World packed into one unfairly fetching uniform. Potter won’t leave Draco the bloody hell alone, won’t let him breathe, let him forget, let him sleep. Because no matter how fast Draco Malfoy runs, Harry Potter is always hot on his heels.
A Sword Laid Aside by @korlaena (128k)
When Draco’s cover is blown during a deep undercover operation and the Ministry is compromised, Ron takes Draco to the only safe place he can think of—Potter. Hiding out with a taciturn Harry Potter, who has been missing from the Wizarding World for almost two decades after a shocking fall from grace, is nothing like Draco thought it would be. Draco has to navigate dealing with this Potter while being hunted by Dark wizards and wanted by extremists in the Ministry. When things take a turn for the worse, Draco has to decide whether he's going to keep running or find a way to protect the world and the people he cares about most.
Changing Tides by @carpemermaidtales (109k)
Draco has spent half of his life spouting the things his father has taught him without much thought about how he feels about what he says. When he unexpectedly comes face to face with the Dark Lord, he grapples with the harsh realities of the world and struggles with his changing views on life. Instead of doing what’s expected of him fifth year, he joins Dumbledore’s Army and learns how to defend himself, how to make his own choices, and how he can be something greater than his father’s example as he grows into his own man rather than his father’s shadow. The choices he makes change both his and Harry’s fates, intertwining their paths until they converge.
Taking Chances by @gracerene (135k)
After the war, Draco disappeared and started over in America, vowing never to return to Great Britain and the fraught past he left behind. Unfortunately, when his mates convince him to sign up for an exchange programme for the last year of their Auror Training, Draco learns that he doesn’t have much of a choice in the matter.
Graceless Heart by @orange-peony (132k)
Harry is lost and broken after the war. He has gone to countless funerals, broken up with Ginny, moved back into Grimmauld Place—which feels darker and dirtier than ever before despite how much he tries to fix it. He feels lonely and desperate, but he won’t ask for help, and he still can’t cry.
When he agreed to help the Aurors at Malfoy Manor over the summer, he thought that he would be breaking dark curses. Harry never thought that he would actually spend his days sorting out dusty books with Draco Malfoy, or teaching him how to cook.
Little by little, as they begin to navigate their life post-war, Harry and Draco become intimate…in more ways than Harry could have ever expected.
Brave Though The Stars They Make Me by @dwell-the-brave (108k)
After the events at the end of his Sixth Year, Draco Malfoy has been kept all but prisoner in his childhood home, Malfoy Manor. Alone, terrified, and desperate for some way out, he begins to have strange dreams - dreams of Harry Potter. Are they a trick of his mind? Or are they a way to change his fate, and a chance at redemption?
Always Already by @aibidil (170k)
Harry and Draco are perfectly fine, separately minding their business in 2004, when the Unspeakables conscript them into service... in the First War against Voldemort.
Come for mutual pining and forced proximity in a 1980 hotel room, stay for young Sirius and philosophising about immortality and wormholes. And an eighties cowboy soap opera.
He Comes Like a Thunderstorm by @korlaena (140k)
Draco is doing his best to balance the life he wants to live and the life he’s forced to live. He’s nearing the tail-end of a long, post-war probation when Harry Potter crashes back into his life with all the grace of a charging Erumpent, breaking through his carefully constructed rules and routine. Caught up in a whirlwind of sex and lust, Potter unwittingly shows Draco that his life as an Incubus doesn’t have to be as lonely and unfulfilling as he thought, but how long can it last?
Close Behind by @oflights (134k)
To rescue Draco from the Underworld, Harry has to look forward. Unfortunately, Draco has to look back
where all the veins meet by @saxamophone (146k)
It's the summer of 1998. The battle is over, and Voldemort is dead, but Harry still has more questions than answers. Who is he without a piece of Voldemort's soul in his head? What is he supposed to do now? His friends try to help, but the only thing that can hold his attention—one of the only things that ever has—is Draco Malfoy, out on parole and weirdly hanging around the British Museum. As they keep running into each other, Harry sees that Malfoy is different, and he wonders if he can be someone else, too. Featuring rumpled band shirts, poker games everyone hates, fumbling sex, and a Harry going a little mental over how wands even work.
Harry's a fool. The biggest, stupidest fool in all of England.
That's the only explanation he could think on why he did that stupid thing.
What stupid thing, you ask?
Today, Harry's running late for work and Draco, good housemate that he is, helps Harry whenever this happens.
Harry was almost running to the door, with Draco following closely behind, carrying a drooling Teddy in his arms. Draco was reminding him of his lunch box, keys, and wand when Harry halted at the door and distractedly kissed Teddy on the forehead and Draco on the lips before he dashed out with a goodbye.
Harry's only realized what he did after he descended the stairs, heart rabbiting in his chest. He looks back at the closed door and lets out a scream internally. He breathes in, preparing to apparate. He's going to deal with that stupid thing later. For now, he needs to get his shit together and go to work.
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