He’s sitting there, in that lab stool of his, much like an adult version of a highchair. Really if you were to ask me, I would say that he get the safety features added, it would greatly benefit him.
I am a new project, supposed to follow him around the day, recording his daily adventures and mis happenings in the lab (the latter were quiet a few). He’s hunched over a triangular flask now, carefully adding droplets of some clear liquid into another clear liquid. I zoom in.
One. Two. Three drops. He picks up the flask and carries it to the hooded chamber, I don’t know what it’s called but it makes an awful noise when turned on, like a faulty exhaust fan.
The chamber is set up with a black backdrop, and another camera recording straight on. He’s humming some upbeat song. Oh. This means something interesting is about to happen. I adjust my focus. He taps his feet, reading the label on the back of some bottle. He’s a chemist shouldn’t he have all this committed to memory?
I’m hoping today is an explosion day, the past few hours have not been exciting and rewarding for me, just recording his silly face and silly hands doing mundane tasks. I think he keeps me here because he gets lonely—the boy even talks to me sometimes; I don’t even have a working microphone!
A noise comes from the entrance, his friend walks in. “I brought lunch, babe!” The friend says.
“You’re right on time, darling,” he replies. “Remember this project I had been telling you about a few weeks ago? The spiderman-webs-nylon video?”
“…Yes?” his friend replies, setting the bag of food on a nearby counter. His eyebrows are pinched.
“Yes well, you’re just about to witness the first run of it!” He flourishes his arm towards the flask, sitting next to huge bottle in a noisy chamber.
“This is not the first time. Honey, the last time you tried this you blew it up.”
“This time will be different.” He insists, pulling on his gloves.
He walks towards the chamber. “All I have to do is add these two together and stir slowly."
"Is this chemistry or alchemy?”
“Slowly is the key word.” He does as said, the ticks of the clock prominent to me, who has been waiting for this moment of great excitement in my day.
“I-,” he stammers. “This was supposed to work!”
“Don’t sound so shocked, I told you that last time.” His friend says.
“Pfft,” he says. “I’m a scientist, nothing shocks me.”
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.’
Harry realizes on a perfectly good workday that Draco Malfoy's wand is still sitting somewhere in Grimmauld Place. He vows to give it back; a series of events unfold.
A story of forgiveness and finding love.
Words: 16,433 Chapters: 5/5
“Did you see him again?” Harry heard a voice behind him say. He didn’t grace Ron with a reply this time. Ron snickered.
“You know,” he said, taking a seat at his desk opposite Harry's. “You run into him an awful lot these days.”
“Shut up, Ron,” he said. But he’s right, Harry thought. He did run into him an awful lot these days, and something told him it was not a coincidence. Maybe he was up to something. Maybe it was fucked up fate.
Not that he could be up to much, working in the Intra-Ministry Communications Department, sending memos all day, and occasionally filing paperwork. It was just another coincidence that Harry had run into him on the elevator again. Right?
“You should talk to him,” Ron said.
“And why the fuck would I do that?”
He shrugged. “You know ‘Mione’s been telling me about how not all of them are bad. Zabini even helped her with some of his connections the other day.” He waved his arm around. “Politics.”
“I'm not having this conversation anymore.”
“Whatever you say, mate.”
Harry focused intently on his task at hand, which was not much. His day, much like Malfoys he assumed, was full of paperwork. A punishment of sorts from Robards, to teach him the importance of paperwork. It is not up to Ministry standard, Harry, I'll be pushing more into your pile so you can learn how to do it properly. Or something like that, Harry had stopped listening after the I'll be pushing more into your pile, his mind already filled with dread.
Maybe that’s why he was crossing paths with Malfoy so much, he always crossed paths with Malfoy when things in his life were dicey.
It was only the next morning that Harry ran into Malfoy again. This time it was seven in the morning, too early even by Hermione's standards. And Malfoy was buried behind a pile of paperwork so high one could only see a sliver of blond hair. He was walking briskly towards the elevator door; the same door Harry was currently holding open. Well, shit I can't close it fast enough now, he thought.
“Thank you,” Malfoy said stepping in, presumably before he caught sight of Harry.
Harry risked a glance at him. The Ministry had added elevator music after the war, the kind you would find in a muggle place, sickly sweet and unbearable.
“Hi, Malfoy,” he said, seeing him stiffen out of the corner of his eye. A few seconds passed; he didn’t get off at his usual level.
The elevator chimed ‘Department of Magical Law Enforcement.’
Both Malfoy and Harry tried to step out at the same time. Harry knocked his shoulder into his, accidentally, and watched in slow motion as the mountain of paperwork went tumbling down.
“Shit, shit, shit,” he muttered, Malfoy was already crouching down, picking up each file.
He found it odd Malfoy didn’t complain, no snide remarks, didn’t even look at him with thinly veiled disdain. Harry helped him pick up the rest of the files. Not that Malfoy had been anything but polite in the few interactions they had had.
“I’m sorry,” he said, handing him a file and locking eyes with him. He returned the gaze steadily.
When the last of the errant papers were picked up, some five minutes or an eternity later. Malfoy turned to Harry and said, “it’s my own fault for being in such a hurry,” he said, smiling tightly.
“That’s okay,” Harry found himself saying, “No harm done.” Malfoy nodded.
“Are you dropping these off at the front desk?” he found himself asking again. This must be the longest conversation they’ve had in years.
“Yes,” he said. Then sighed. Harry didn’t know what to make of it.
“I'll be happy to take them the rest of the way,” Harry said, already taking his wand out, far easier to levitate them.
“Thank you.” Malfoy turned back to the elevator.
He was still thinking about this new version of Malfoy when he dropped off the stack of paperwork. There wasn’t even anyone at the desk.
Wand, Harry realized, as he put his own back into the holster. He still had his hawthorn wand, stashed away in some drawer at Grimmauld, forgotten for the past three years. I need to return it, he thought suddenly. He wondered why the thought hadn't occurred to him sooner, and why it did now. But he pushed them aside and busied himself with work for the day.
full work on A03
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
A oneshot in which Frederick gaslights, Helen gatekeeps, and Annabeth girlbosses
*Takes place during the January between botl and tlo*
A knock sounded from the door of the Athena cabin. Annabeth was busy unpacking the duffle bag she had taken to see her dad's family for Christmas and ignored the noise.
"It's Percy, can I come in?" the boy hollered from outside.
Annabeth stopped what she was doing and looked towards the door as dread filled her. She didn't have the willpower to face him right now. The past two weeks spent at her dad's had been a nightmare, and she didn't think she'd be able to handle the surely volatile interaction with Percy.
Unfortunately, he didn't listen for an answer before opening the cabin door.
He'd grown since she'd last seen him. His face seemed longer than before and his hair was shaggier, swept back carelessly. His face, however, looked far from careless. Something about it set off her nerves and Annabeth returned her attention to her duffle bag, hoping whatever she sensed was just in her head.
"What are you doing here?" she asked as starkly as possible, eyes glued to the wadded up clothes in front of her.
"I got a call from your dad."
Annabeth stopped in her tracks. Why had her dad called Percy? Her mind raced back to the fierce fight between the two of them over winter break. She had said some harsh things, sure, but it wasn't anything that would warrant her dad calling all the way to New York, right? Annabeth felt worry start to rise in her chest and forced herself to breathe, continuing to unpack.
"Well, what did he say?" She asked, praying her voice hadn't cracked in fear as she spoke.
Percy walked further into the cabin, leaning against one the bunks. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at her. Annabeth could feel her cheeks beginning to burn and focused even harder on pulling the dirty jeans and sweatshirt out of her bag. He waited to speak up, and soon every strident word that had left her mouth at her dad's flooded into her mind like she was her own prosecutor.
She had been trying to be on her best behavior, really. But Annabeth could only handle so much before she snapped. Perhaps her reaction had been too brazen, but her dad and Helen hadn't been the sweetest either. It seemed like every day they had found a new way to remind her she wasn't supposed to be a part of their family, and the worst part was the perfectly manufactured facade that said they weren't to blame for that. They hadn't done anything wrong. They hadn't made Annabeth upset on purpose.
She couldn't take the silence any longer. Annabeth looked up at Percy. What she saw mades her nerves even worse; he was looking down at her from where he stood with a look of exacerbation on his face. What did he know that made him feel that way? Did he believe in the Chase's facade?
"What did he tell you?" she asked again, trying her best to keep her voice from shaking like her innards now were.
"That, because of a disagreement, you threatened to run off with Luke."
Annabeth blinked. She remembered that, vaguely, but it didn't go the way he had described it.
"I didn't threaten. Luke had made an offer for me to come with him about a year ago. He wanted to run from Kronos with my help, but I said no. I mentioned it to my dad, I didn't say I was reconsidering," she explained.
What did Percy think she had meant by it? Obviously she would never go with Luke, to join Kronos or not.
Percy's eyes flashed over to the window and back to her. He looked exasperated, but there was a hint of something else in there too, perhaps worry. Perhaps annoyance.
"Annabeth. You can't says things like that casually. People are going to take you seriously." He said it as if scolding a child. It made Annabeth's skin crawl. She wasn't a child, and he shouldn't be treating her like one.
"Is that why my dad called you, then? Did he think I'd really do it?"
Percy held her eyes in silence. Gods, Annabeth hated how he wouldn't give her a straight answer. If he kept refusing to talk, she'd just get up and leave.
"Frederick called my mom, actually," he spit out. "Because he didn't have Chiron's number and figured she could take a message for him. He thinks just because she lives in New York she has the time and energy to handle all demigod things- but that's aside the point."
Percy sat down on the edge of the nearest bunk. They were now a few feet apart and his face seemed softer than it had before.
"He said to tell Chiron that he doesn't want you ever coming to stay with him again, that you caused too much of a scene and he doesn't want Bobby or Matthew to be around that."
"Oh," she said quietly. She hadn't been expecting that. Maybe she should have, granted how the past two weeks went, but she hadn't dared to think her dad would call it quits for good. And yet he did.
Annabeth hadn't been trying to ruin their Christmas... all she had done was shown up. Where had it all gone so wrong? Was it from the beginning, when Helen was 2 hours late picking her up from the airport? Was it when she wasn't invited to go ice skating with the rest of the family, or when there had been no stocking up on the fireplace for her? Or when-
A hand brushed against her cheek, warm and soft.
"You're crying," Percy whispered as he wiped a tear away with his thumb.
"I'm fine," she mumbled, leaning away from him. "It's... fine."
Her body betrayed her and let out a sob, but she quickly fought to choke it back. It was too late; Percy's was already wrapping his arm around her and pulling her into a hug.
"Your hands have been shaking since I brought him up. What happened between you two?" he asked softly as they sat huddled together on the bunk.
What had happened? She didn't know. She had gotten angry and he had made her feel so bad the entire time she was there. What had he said to her? She didn't remember exactly.
"I don't want to talk about it," she replied, sniffling. Part of her was terribly embarrassed to be crying like this in front of Percy, but the bigger part of her needed this hug so desperately.
"That's ok. We can just stay like this," he whispered.
After the fall of an empire, Perseus, son of Poseidon, and Annabeth Fredriksdotter, daughter of Athena, must put aside old rivalries if they are to survive in this strange new world.
Medieval/Renaissance AU."
• Too Much Time by TheTimeTraveler24
6k words, Alex/Magnus
"Magnus Chase is an einherji. Einherjar are immortal. Never (permanently) dying, never aging. Not everyone is like that, and it's kinda hard to watch it all go by. It's even harder to let go."
•If patience is a virtue (i think i just might pass) by thewindwarns
6.6k words, Percy/Annabeth
"There are stories about those like them, with their longing and their loss.
Or, a take on Annabeth and Reyna leading their camps before and during the events of TLH and SON."
•Call It Even by Fangirl_Shrieks
40k words, Percy/Annabeth
"I'm a socially anxious introvert, and you're the popular captain of the track team, and I know I've never spoken a word to you in my life, but my dad said if I run a marathon, then I can get a puppy, so PLEASE train me." OR Annabeth's past is shaky at best, and she's desperate for a furry companion so she seeks out Percy Jackson's help.
•From light to darkness by iwillpassthis
1k words (but u read it 5 times because it's just that good), Percy/Annabeth
"The world has plunged into darkness. But it hasn’t always been like that.
