The theme of this fic fest are secrets; dirty little secrets, white lies and all the alternatives you can think of.
We only have two major rules:
The main pairing must exclusively be Drarry – poly relationships including Drarry are not allowed. Side pairings/relationships are still allowed, but Drarry must be the central focus and endgame pairing of your fic/art.
Secrets of any kind must be the key point of the plot; Harry or/and Draco can have a secret, or investigate a secret together, etc.
Aside from these, you can go wild with your imagination.
Keep reading for more information, the RULES and the FAQs for 2026.
RULES:
ROLES:
Writers will be expected to come up with their own story ideas based on one of the submitted prompts of the list, meet minimum word count and checkpoints throughout the event, share their progress with their beta if present, and communicate with the mods as needed.
Artists will be expected to create at least one finished piece of art for their project(s). Any type of art from the following list is accepted: fanarts, playlists, moodboards, edits, animatics. Artists will have a confirmation checkpoint and a final checkpoint before posting.
Betas/Sesitivity Readers are welcomed to help the writers throughout their writing process but are not required to proceed with the writing. For this fest, there is the chance to also sign up as a sensitivity reader (For more information about the difference between a normal beta reader and a sensitivity reader, please check the FAQs) or an Art Beta if you want to help out our artists.
GENERAL RULES AND GUIDELINES
Fest participants and enthusiasts will be invited to the Discord Server after the sign up closes through invitation.
For the mods’ sanity, this fest will be 18+ only.
You can find the AO3 Collection here.
You will find the trope list here as soon as the prompting opens.
You will be provided with the prompts list for the claimings as soon as the prompting period ends.
Your fest mods are niarnoen and spillthebea. Banner credits go to niarnoen.
PROMPTING GUIDELINES
You will be given a list of General Tropes about secrets. You are free to submit a prompt about one of the tropes or to choose the General Secret trope and submit a totally new idea.
You can submit your prompts via this form [link to be added].
You may submit a maximum of five (5) prompts and you will know beforehand if your prompts have been accepted as valid by the mods.
You can submit prompts without intending to participate in the fest afterwards.
Smut is admitted, but not necessary.
All eras, all characters, all ships are welcome but Drarry has to be the main focus.
All secondary ships are welcome, unless they involve incest and/or relationships with minors. Moderators reserve the right to reject a pairing if they believe it violates these guidelines.
If your fics has 18+ scenes (Explicit Content) your characters MUST be 18+. (You can discuss the grey zones with the moderators).
CLAIMING GUIDELINES
Claiming will be done via Discord ticket, so you must be in the Discord server of the fest to do so. If you won’t be able to access Discord during this time, please let the mods know in advance so we can make alternate arrangements.
Prompts are claimed on the first come, first serve basis.
You can view the available prompts here [link to be added]. Please give 24-48 hours for an email/message confirmation. If you haven't gotten it in that time frame, please contact the fest mods.
You may only claim one prompt at a time. If you submit your work before the deadline, you may claim a second prompt and so on up to three prompts.
It is allowed to self-claim ONE (1) prompt you will submit.
If you do not plan to complete your claim, please contact the fest mods so we can free your prompt for someone else.
Depending on attendance, each prompt may be claimed by a maximum of two people.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
FICS
Submit your work in the AO3 collection
The minimum word count is 10k. One shots and multi chapters fics are both welcomed.
One shots must be completed upon submission.
Multi chapter fics must have reached at least 10k words to be published.
You may gift your work to the prompter or to whoever you want.
All works must select the Major Character Death archive warning if present.
Betas are encouraged but not mandatory. If you are not having your work beta-read, please be sure to do a spelling, punctuation, and grammar check before submitting. If you are having your work beta-read, please credit your beta in the author notes.
ART
Post your work on tumblr using the #DKYSFest2026 and tagging the @dh-keepyoursecretsfest for reposting
Due to the ambiguous nature of sharing art pieces, we will only be sharing any works featuring excessive violence on tumblr (and AO3 if it’s a work that is part of a fic), not on Discord. Any fanwork not featuring gore, violent death, etc will be shared on our Discord server. This is in an attempt to comply with the ambiguity of Discord Community guidelines.
POSTING GUIDELINES
You are required to add the moderators as a co-creator when uploading your creation. This is so that we can change the posting date, check the submission, and add a tag for Drarry KYSFest 2026. We will not make any other changes to your work, and we will remove the mod account immediately after the fest has ended.
Please contact the mods if you have any issues submitting your work to AO3.
Posting begins on May 02, 2026 . Depending how many works are submitted, a number of them will be posted daily.
Links to works will be shared on tumblr and on the fest Discord server.
After the last works are posted, the mods will create a masterlist linking the works of every participant of the fest on Tumblr and Discord.
EXTENSIONS/DROPPING OUT/ADJUSTMENTS
If you need to drop out of the fest for any reason at all, please let the mods know ASAP via Discord or Tumblr. There will be no repercussions for future fests if you let us know before the posting date.
If you need an extension, please contact the mods ASAP with the estimated additional time you need. Please don’t hesitate to reach out as soon as you find yourself struggling with a due date. We want to make this fest as fun as we can.
SCHEDULE:
Writer/artist volunteer sign up: Nov 29, 2025 – Dec 20, 2025
Discord server invitation: from Dec 21, 2025
Claiming: Dec 23, 2025 – Jan 11, 2026 (Confirmation from Dec 27)
First Mandatory Writer Check-In: Feb 9, 2026
Second Mandatory Writer Check-In: Mar 10, 2026
Final Mandatory Writer Check-In: Apr 11, 2026
Final Mandatory Artist Check-In: Apr 26, 2026
Posting: May 2, 2026
CONTACTS:
You can contact us on our e-mail: [email protected] or on our Tumblr account @dh-keepyoursecretsfest
After the discord invites have been sent, you can contact us through our ticket section on the discord server.
I don't think we give ToG enough credit for showing us that deep connections don't have to be romantic
Yes, the series technically classifies as romantasy, and yes, there is a lot of romance in there, but not only.
There is Manon and the Thirteen, who teach us that the family we build for ourselves is so much more important than the one we're born into.
Aelin, Dorian, and Chaol, who show us that sometimes you just need a hand to pull you out of the dark hell you wound up in.
Aelin and Ansel who teach us that sometimes we make mistakes, and those mistakes hurt the people around us, but that doesn't make them unforgivable.
My personal favorite, Fenrys and Aelin, who had a bond so deep they were the only things that kept each other sane through months of torture, so deep Fenrys broke the unbreakable blood oath and SURVIVED for Aelin's sake.
There is so much love in ToG. Platonic, romantic, between all genders.
At the end of Kingdom of Ash, when the battle is finally over and Aelin is finally permitted to enter the Castle of Orynth with Rowan, they take time thanking their allies and comforting those who lost loved ones. Then there is a time skip of ten days prior to Aelin’s coronation. This short story explores what might have taken place in that time. Mature content. Cannon typical violence.
Ao3 link
Day 1/Day 2/Day 3/Day 4/Day 5/Day 6/Day 7/Day 8/
Princess of Flame and Ash
Epic re-imagining of Throne of Glass inspired by Maeve's dreamscape in which Erawan never returns. What if he had stayed entombed in Morath, bound by Mala's lock? In this re-telling, Aelin grows up in Orynth with her family. The King of Adarlan never finds Elena's tomb or the wyrdkey, and he never gets taken over by the Valg. Maeve is still Valg and still a manipulative, scheming bitch.
Rowan x Aelin eventually. Cannon typical violence. Starts off as Teen, but eventually rating will escalate to Mature.
50 words of Poweful Harry ☺️ for @drarrymicrofic ‘s prompt: Shattered
Draco’s Occlumency walls shatter twelve seconds in. So much for Potter’s skills being merely rudimentary, shocked and bitter, Draco is helpless to the invasion.
Potter slows down advancing on Draco’s mind, expression unbearably soft.
“I— didn’t know.” Potter’s magic falters in sync with his words.
“Well,” Hermione says, then stops, furiously gnawing her lip. “Look. Harry—”
“Has terrible taste? In pathetic wet rat men?” A waiter moves past, and Ron snags two flutes, passing one to her.
“Look,” Hermione says again, and can’t go on. She sips at the champagne instead as the violins swell merrily nearby, a backdrop to the burbling crowd of the Ministry Gala.
“It’s like every other wet rat of a man he’s ever tried to date has been leading up to this,” Ron muses, eyes still stuck across the room. “And now he’s set his sights on the King of the Rats...”
“I don’t think this is—um, new, Ron,” she says carefully.
He pinches the bridge of his long nose. “No. No I know. This is the blueprint. The original. The entire fucking reason he was ever into any of the others in the first place. They were all substitutes. Imitations.”
Ginny plonks herself down at their table, dress robes loose at her neck and butterbeer in hand. “What’re we talking about?“
“Harry.” Ron’s voice comes out muffled from behind the hand rubbing at his mouth. “And his penchant for rats.”
Ginny’s gaze tracks across the room. “Oh my god. Is he trying to shag Draco fucking Malfoy?”
Hermione hesitates. “I, um, think he wants—more than that, actually.”
Ron sighs. “Yeah. He wants little rat babies with the prick.”
Pathetic 🐀 Day 4 of @peachydreamxx and @uncannycerulean’s unofficial microfic may challenge
Another year, another bunch of Drarry fics! Like in 2022 and 2023, here is the list of the fics that made 2024 such a cool year to me. Thanks to the writers for making me happy with these wonderful stories of my favorite boys <3
More than one chapter:
Dwelling by aideomai (83k)
In Every Universe by @skeptiquewrites (27k)
Can I tell you something? by GallaPlacidia (33k)
A Big Black Sky by alexmeg (90k)
All Life is Yours to Miss by Saras_Girl (114k)
Harry Potter: DILF Hunter by @vukovich (11k)
What We Pretend We Can't See by @gyzym (131k)
The Day Before the Wedding by @kbrick (39k)
Eclipse by Mijan (287k)
Secrets by Vorabiza (395k)
Twist of Fate by Oakstone730 (302k)
Finely Drawn Lines by @the-sinking-ship (61k)
A Pocket Full of Stones by @amywaterwings (67k)
The Devil's White Knight by orphan_account (64k)
One-shots:
Truth or Dare? by @lettersbyelise (3k)
Always the Last to Know by @nv-md (10k)
Lovesick by @corvuscrowned (7k)
Tangled Up in Midnight Memories (and you) by @ronbinary (8k)
Seven Ways to Get Harry Potter Hard (in Public) by @curleecue (7k)
Ten Thousand Reasons Why Not by @lqtraintracks (8k)
telepathy by @hogwartsfirebolt (2k)
Howl by @tackytigerfic (8k)
Let’s go dip it low (then you bring it up slow) by @andithiel (3k)
The Boy Who Only Lived Twice by @letteredlettered (54k)
You know those fics you keep coming back to, no matter how many times you've read them? Well, I've got a few that I can't get enough of, and I wanted to share with you my love for them and for the writers of these incredible stories.
I've read those fics countless times. Some are angsty, others are fun and sexy, but they all have something in common: I've read them an embarrassing amount of time and I love them dearly.
Almost all of them are under 30k because, well, I don’t have enough time to reread longer fics, unfortunately (although, I do sometimes reread part of them, but that would have to be for another post).
Is this love? by @phdmama 3.8k
This is where I go when I need comfort. So achingly tender, soft and intimate. I love it.
Draco at nineteen by birdsofshore 5k
Older Harry from the future surprises Draco for his nineteenth birthday. Hot hot hot with feelings and a pinch of angst.
In His Nature by Create_Serenity 20k
Amazing veela fic with a vulnerable Draco who will break your heart.
Strings Attached by daisymondays 14k
Friends with benefits with a Draco very much in denial. Humour, banter, feels, smut. This fic has it all.
Once more with feeling by InnerLilith 28k
I guarantee that you will be a little bit in love with Harry after this fic.
8th year fuck or die. An absolute gem of a fic! The first chapter hurts so bad, but the pay off is worth it. The ending will have you grinning like a loon with your heart full.
All I have to do by @fluxweeed 9k
The hottest one shot ever. Incredible writing and such a delightful read.
Kiss the Joy (Until the Sun Rise) by ICMezzo 37k
This is such a raw, emotional and powerful story. A confined narrative entirely set in the room of requirement, right after the final battle.
Ship of Theseus by GallaPlacidia 18k
“When Harry gets amnesia and forgets he and Draco were ever married, he refuses treatment to remember”. My absolute favorite GallaPlacidia fic. Angsty with lots of pinning.
Invisible by Phoenixstrike 2.6k
Warning : infidelity (not between drarry) + threesome Drarry/Ginny.
This fic was written for a dialogue-free fest and is so underrated. It deserves more kudos. It’s brilliantly written and even though it’s very angsty and quite sad (for Ginny), I love revisiting it.
Finally, I couldn’t not mention @lqtraintracks - I’ve spent hours and hours going through their catalogue. There are so many fics that I adore and that I’ve reread over the years. I couldn’t possibly choose one.
blakekathryn
annaxmalina
turnnoffyourmind
izzy806
2087
germansingergirl
