Adventures in Wizardsitting by nimori. Remus/Sirius, NC-17. Sirius babysits Harry, Remus babysits Sirius. Imagine like, the worst thing that could happen while your're babysitting and expected to be all responsible. Hot and funny, and baby Harry is adorable.

Bed and Board by resonant8. H/R/Hr, NC-17. After the war, and everyone's pairing off and going domestic. The Trio does things a little differently... as Harry finds out. Sweet and hot and delightful.

The Cheap Mechanics of Melodrama by pogrebin. Riddle, Stoppard, auto-erotic asphyxiation. Really. A line: The universe is expanding and shifting and complex, and eventually, all paths overlap. Don't let the warnings scare you off; this is fic that makes your brain hurt. NC-17.

eyes big love crumbs by isilya, NC-17. Hermione/Hermione. Is it slash when it's the same person, or is it some kind of bizarre masturbation? It's Time-Turner self/slash; it's porn that makes you think; it's poetic and lovely prose.

Greatness Thrusts, Or What You Will, by marksykins, her Classic Canon Challenge HP spin on Twelfth Night. A real delight to read, especially if you're familiar with the play (Snape as Malvolio! Hee!). PG-13.

Guy Talk, by icarusancalion. R, Harry/Ron. Ahh... boys being boys and talking about their sexual encounters. Harry tells his story; Ron gets embarrassed. Funny, hot, and kinda sweet--how I love that combo!

Lessons by merrycontrary. Ron/Lucius (no kidding!), R. Ron's an undercover Auror having a bit of a crisis. A tight, short piece with a twist (and you know I like those!).

Lightning Has Just Struck My Brain by mousapelli. Harry figures some things out about Neville, Dumbledore, and prophecies. Freaky-deaky, man. Gen. Also on her site.

Like a Man, by maeglinyedi NC-17, Remus/Sirius. Realistic 18-year-old (ostensibly straight, mind you) boys watching porn and having a wank. I love how the action progresses with each step being perfectly reasonable and logical. Personally, I think Sirius had a bit of a plan, the sneaky dog.

Love's Mysteries by switchknife. Macnair fic, NC-17. Normally, I couldn't care less about the secondary (tertiary?) characters. Normally, I quickly pass by fics with warnings like: "Rape, mutilation, bloodplay, knifeplay, sexualized torture, asphyxiation, sadism and bondage." erm. yes. This Macnair is a calm, deliberate, coldly removed sadist who happens to be paid by the Ministry for his work, and valued by Voldemort for his, er, other work. Horrible and beautiful at the same time, and clinical in its detail. Disturbing, yes, but disturbing like a J. G. Ballard piece, or perhaps certain passages in Alan Moore's From Hell. (Both of which I like. heh.)

Mischief and Madness by isiscolo. PG (but don't miss the optional NC-17 epilogue!). A Classic Canon Challenge fic: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hogwarts style, and done well. Light and funny, and I got a kick out of the casting. I won't say what the pairings are, but if you're familiar with the play, you'll figure it out right off. Also on her site.

Of Mortal Bondage by fluffyllama. Snape/Lupin, NC-17. A 'werewolves are a controlled species; Snape owns Lupin' story, but it's more than that. Snape is awful and manipulative and never says more than he needs (very in character!), and there's a twist. (Have I mentioned I liked those?)

Summer Thing by prillalar. NC-17, Fred/Hermione/George. Everyone knows how awesome this story is, right? If you don't, hie thee off this minute to find out! Really lovely. The hot, muzzy feel of late summer, just before term begins, infuses this story with a lazy sweetness that leaves you feeling warm and good.

A Thousand Wishes by _hannelore, PG Neville genfic. Neville, paper cranes, and wishes. A lovely character piece. Also on skyehawke, here.

A Three Potion Problem, by dementordelta. HP/SS, NC-17. [part two here] Another Classic Canon Challenge fic, this time with Snape and Harry cast as Holmes and Watson. A Holmsian mystery (with sex, yo). Yeah, I'm so loving the Holmes/Snape comparison.

Wrapped Round Everything by musesfool. NC-17, Remus/Sirius. Trust and mistrust, hope and desire weave together in parallel scenes, one past, one present. It hurts, but I like it.

mood: moody

Stories that make me go, "Duuuuude, you're messing with my brain!" AKA, stories that hit my biggest (non-sexual) kinks.

The door by thete1. R

The feel of this story is heavy, dark, with a tinge of the gothic. Ron notices a locked door in Grimmauld place, one that no one can open. I love how the sense of foreboding builds, almost to a point where I can't stand it. Bits of both Ron/Hermione and Ron/Harry, but it's gen. Ominous, creepy, and weird, but gen. :D (I found this via bonibaru's rec page.)



A Fracture of the Mind's Eye by rushlight75. NC-17

I *knew* I'd like this when I saw half the flist reccing it, and boy did I. Harry's flipping back and forth between two worlds, one a horrific Voldemort-won scenario, in which he's raped, brutalized, and dehumanized as he's passed from Lucius to Draco, and finally to Snape; the other a world where he defeated Voldemort, but suffered a psychotic break as a result--he's loved by kind, gentle, *calm* Remus Lupin, but he's an amnesiac. Which world is the 'real' one? I love it when you can ask that question about a story, and *not know* the answer.




Two WiPs. It's a testament to how much I like these stories that a) they're both WiPs, which I generally try to avoid, and b) they're both H/D, which I don't read all that often:

Oscillate Wildly by marksykins. R to NC-17

Inspired by the Buffy episode "Normal Again" (one of my faves from the sixth season). After an Occlumency session with Snape, Harry wakes up in a mental institution in a world where magic doesn't exist. Have I mentioned that I like stories where you can't tell which world is 'real'? :D Supposedly in the final stretches... The Schnoogle version is R rated, but there's an NC-17 version on Marks's site.

and


Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by novembersnow. PG

Things I love about amnesia as a plot device:
--getting to see a familiar character with entirely new eyes (often their *own* eyes as they learn about their former self).
--the mystery.
3T delivers in spades. Draco Malfoy wakes up in St. Mungo's suffering from severe amnesia. We see familiar (to us) faces through his eyes, and a mystery is presented: why is he in St. Mungo's, and what does that have to do with Ron being in a coma? I want to knooooow!! Also on skyehawke.

mood: moody

Crossposted from contrariwise...

Breviary by musesfool. I really like stories in this style, where each section can be read as a short-short story on its own, but when all the sections are read together they make a whole larger than the sum. The Percy/Penelope (canon pairing? Who'd a thunk it!) section touched my wee black heart. Many pairings. PG.

Cursed Artefacts for Sale by icarusancalion. Ahahaha! Snape drags Harry to a cursed objects jumble sale--if you've ever been involved with someone who, erm, collected, you'll empathize with Harry's plight. Even if you find the idea of SS/HP somewhat daunting, don't let it keep you away from this, I mean it! PG-13

The Interview by gatewaygirl. Can Harry's skills get him a job? Made me laugh, because I can imagine a similar interview: "But- but- I can write a realistic blow-job! And look at all these comments that say I give good Draco! Really!" Gen. PG



ETA: forgot to add the ratings. D'oh! I *always* forget that part, unless the story's R or NC-17...

mood: moody

Breathe out Anger by penknife. Remus in the early eighties, after 10/31/81. This is Remus, and I love him. It takes you by the shoulders and makes you say, "Yes, that is how it must have been." Lovely and painful and wonderful. Gen. PG

Crossword Puzzles by Trinity Day. A pre-Halloween Godric's Hollow snapshot. James and Sirius try to do the Prophet crossword puzzle. Lily's better at it. Funny, and bittersweet. Gen. PG

Games of Skill and Chance by Snowballjane. A post-war Snape character fic. What do you do when the war's over and you actually lived? Snape ends up running (tolerating?) a games club while he finishes his last term teaching at Hogwarts. Gen. PG



Yuletide HP recs:

crapulam terriblem habeo by greenet. This one was written for me. MWPP-era Peter, drinking, dreams, latin, and Remus. Yay! PG

Herbology and the Art of the Family Tree by suckerlove. Tangled pureblood family trees and not-arranged arranged marriages, and Draco and Pansy are the latest branches. It has a lovely sort of creepy inevitability that I really like. DM/PP. R

If You're Breathing by sanj. God, I love, love, love this story. It takes all my Neville-adoration (already turned up to 11 by OotP) and shoots it into the stratosphere. HP/NL. PG

My non-HP Yuletide recs are here.

These are all the HP recs I've made on my personal site so far.

They're pretty much in chronological order of reccing, newest on top.


Just Add Water by Cybele Harry gets kinda gay when he gets drunk. Bill's happy to oblige... God, they're such real boys in this. Funny and hot--my favorite combination. BW/HP. NC-17

Parseltongue-tied by dementordelta SS/HP with a touch of D. H. Lawrence. A hot summer day and Parselmouth-Harry strikes up a conversation with a snake in the grass. It's one of the most popular stories at the Skyehawke archive, and for good reason--it's a terrific story, all 'round. and I'm not just saying that because I recently had something of an epiphany about the SS/HP pairing, and this story played a role in that... *g* SS/HP. R





The Bloody Stare of Mars by yahtzee63. Voldemort's won the war and Hermione needs a job. Snape's hiring. Plotty, believable, and not as utterly bleak as the first chapters would lead you to think... SS/HG. I couldn't find a rating, but it's on the mature side.

A Brilliant Mind by Countess Chiana. Nietzsche and Potter? Snape saves the wizarding world from Hermione and no one notices. Made me think really hard about the nature of the magical world, and I like that. *g* R

First Piece of Silver and Before the Cock Crow by isiscolo. Peter Pettigrew and the making of a traitor. After Hogwarts, friends married or otherwise paired off, what's the odd one out to do? Even though I know what happens, I can't help but feel for Peter and wish that he'd make a different choice, not just because it'd save James and Lily, but because it would save Peter. Also posits an interesting and believable reason for Sirius suspecting Remus.... Rumor has it there's a third installment in the works! R





Mother Knows Best by musesfool. Molly just want Bill to be happy. And she really, really likes Remus. Sirius, she's not so hot about. I'm so envious of Ms. P's ability with humor here--Molly is infuriating yet lovable, Remus is his calm, witty self, Sirius is jealous, and poor Bill is bewildered. Fave scene: Arthur wants to know who's buggering Remus. PG-13


Tie Me to the Length of That by spare_change. Lucius, Draco, and Malfoy Manor. It feels like a wonderful thick, heavy gothic novel, yet it's very short and the language is beautifully spare. Probably not for everyone... R

When it Alteration Finds by musesfool. Four houses, four possible lives Remus could have lived. From sweet to horrible, yet all still plausibly Remus. The last one is only one step away from canon, and so terrible it hurts. R





Repechage by fabularasa. It's Sirius/Snape, and told from Sirius's POV. He falls for Snape and Snape sloooooowly comes around over the month period it takes to brew Wolfsbane. They're both bitter, damaged men and so very real. This story is the one that made me see the possibilities of Snapefic. (Which is good, I suppose, since there's about ten million tons of it out there!) NC-17

Okay, another by Fabula Rasa: Rats' Alley. This one's also Sirius/Snape, with a touch of Stoker. Interesting and exciting plot coupled with scorching sex and a twist to Snape's character that could be hackneyed and overplayed, but instead is deftly handled and clever. NC-17

The Green Light by pogrebin. After leaving Hogwarts, young Tom Riddle travels through war torn Russia on the trans-Siberian railway. Atmospheric and chilling, with a tinge of melancholy. PG-13.

Let the Moon Fall by Siren. A 'how Remus became a werewolf' story that lingers. Eight-year-old Remus wants to prove to the Muggles that werewolves are real. PG.

Ephemeris, by penknife. Sirius and Remus, in number twelve Grimmauld, just before OotP. One of my very favorite RL/SB stories. It sticks you in the belly and twists the blade. NC-17

Faded laughter against her ear, by Mary Borsellino. One of those short bits that stick with you for days. Ginny, poking around in the attic at number twelve, stumbles across a portrait of someone familiar.

Blue Vase, by ivyblossom. Memory and truth are tricky things. Hits my amnesia kink right on the button. :D Harry/Draco. R. Note--there's an age-check popup to read it. Click on "fanfiction" and read the warning info, it has the username/password you need. While you're there you can read lots of other things, too! (I'm quite fond of "Fall on your Knees," a Millicent Bulstrode story.)




Happily Ever After, by novembersnow. Harry and Ginny are married. Both want something... else. Deliciously painful and wonderful. R

In Love, by prillalar. Teen love and Quiddich. Marcus Flint realizes he's in love with Oliver Wood and sets out to do something about it. Is it worse that Wood's not a girl, or that he's in Gryffindor? Humorous and kinda sweet and-- and-- I just lurve it. PG-13

Nothing Like the Sun by musesfool. Fantastically dark, brutal fic. 20-something Hermione makes a deal with Draco during the war with Voldemort. NC-17. This was the very first Harry Potter fanfic I ever read!



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