(More) Erised Recs!

[dicta_contrion]

SO MUCH GOOD FIC. So much good fic that reccing is hard because narrowing it down is so difficult. Just go over to hd_erised and read everything. Everything.

Some things to start with:

Another Mask Behind You by lettered - NC-17, 120k - Draco is a high-end prostitute who hides his identity. Harry unknowingly hires him. And then there is porn, questions about identity, domestic bliss, more porn, and truth as seen through a web of lies. (And then more porn. Seriously, if you don’t want sex scene after sex scene you probably shouldn’t read this. And please read the warnings.)
If anything, I think this summary sells the story short because while the sex is hot - and hot damn the sex is scorchingly, meltingly hot - there is so much more to this fic than the sex. The hidden identity component becomes a fascinating device for exploring the evolution of these two men's beliefs about themselves and each other. Draco, especially, is explored in such beautiful, complicated ways as he sees who he could be without the baggage attached to being a Malfoy post-war. The whole story is moving and engaging and the end had me quite literally gasping out loud. It was so easy to get invested and so worth it, and even at 120k (which really flew by) I would've been happy to read more.

House Style for Gryffindors by femmequixotic and noeon - NC-17, 11.5k - The Slytherins have always ruled the Sortilegus, a wizarding society magazine popular since the Middle Ages which lost most of its staff during the recent Unpleasantness (informally known as the Campaign against Noses). Pansy Parkinson has just been made the youngest witch ever to head the publication and has been charged with livening up the magazine and helping it move into post-war society whilst maintaining tradition. Which is all fine by Draco until she brings Harry Potter on staff, an obvious attempt to force Draco into a nervous breakdown by requiring him to work cheek-by-jowl with his arch nemesis.
This fic is so brilliant snarky. Draco is delightful - snappy and clever and just a bit hilariously oblivious, and his interactions with Harry are fantastic. There's an excellent cast of secondary characters - Blaise and Pansy are everything wonderful you could imagine about Slytherins running a fashion mag - and the hilarity that ensues at the big main event at Hogwarts is, well, hilarious. To say the least. One of those fics that is seamless and lovely and feels like such good, indulgent fun. Like a good cocktail in fic form.

On the Turning Away by blamebrampton - PG, 25.5k - It's one thing to be good at not making a besotted fool of yourself over a man when he's busy being the most famous wizard in the world and you're tucked away quietly in Wiltshire. It's quite another when you have to see him every morning.
This story was positively lovely. It was full of fabulous lines and descriptions that were funny and warm and clever. Every line of dialogue hits the nail on the head; I could read these conversations forever. Harry and Draco are both more adult, in a really charming way - they have a different sort of appreciation for each other and come to slowly enjoy each others' company on new terms, but without forgetting the past. There's also a fabulous OC, a fabulous Luna, and a moment with Lucius that is positively priceless. The whole experience of reading was a pleasure.

A Private Reason for This by femmequixotic - NC-17, 92k - When the wife of a star politician in the Scottish Ministry turns up dead just outside Hogsmeade, Draco Malfoy and his murder investigation team are called in from the Edinburgh Auror force to find her killer. What DCI Malfoy doesn't expect, however, is to have an ex from two decades past end up in his murder room, cocking up not only his case, but also his heart.
I don't even know where to begin. As evidenced by the at least half a dozen lengthy comments I've left? (*cringes* Sorry, MA!) Anyway. Whew. Deep breaths. This was my gift, so perhaps I'm biased, but jfc, it's perfection. It's so beautifully written that it felt less like reading a story and more like taking a trip into another world. Every setting and every character felt so perfectly, amazingly real. The way they speak to each other and know each other, the complexity of everyone who is in this story, is mindblowing. And I haven't even talked about the plot yet, right? Well. It's a murder mystery, and it's a really good one. There are interesting, viable suspects and the pursuit of the killer is excellent. Draco's team - Pansy, Susan Bones, Lee Jordan and, in this case, Harry Potter - are all motivated to solve the case by different and equally compelling reasons that tell us so much about them, and seeing how they work together is a pleasure. (The whole cast of secondary characters is a thing of beauty.) And the relationship between Harry and Draco...holy shit. They're brought together by the case, but it goes so much further. Their relationship becomes - already is, in some key ways - really close, and they challenge each other and know each other. And the sex is fucking steamy as hell, and there are also not-quite-sex scenes that blew my mind for the sheer intimacy between these two. There's no amount of flailing I can do that will really convey how much I love this story. I will say, though, that this is one of those stories that I wanted to read all in one go but also had to ration out so it wouldn't end, and then when I got to the end just started reading it again. Which I highly recommend doing, and then we can be speechless together.

Tea and No Sympathy by who_la_hoop - NC-17, 70k - 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?
I was not necessarily expecting to get totally sold on the time loop premise. I got totally sold on the time loop premise. It's brilliantly done. Draco's reactions to repeating the day are so telling. He evolves slowly and beautifully over time as he rethinks/re-imagines his options and gets to know Harry. This characterization of Draco in general felt really wonderful and spot-on. There's snark and cleverness, but also that desperation and frustration that we see in the books, and his evolution in this story is one I can absolutely see as an extension of canon. And the depiction of Harry is brilliant as well, as is the whole world of the story. Thoughtful and skillful and wonderful.

Un Noël Très Parisien by noeon - NC-17, 14.5k - When Draco crossed paths with Auror Potter at a political function in Paris, he was not expecting their former animosity to change into something rather more intriguing. But he could be certain their casual flirtation would not last more than the night, couldn't he?
Somehow, someway, this fic came out feeling like the best parts of the holiday season. It's got a wonderful, festive, glamorous feeling in parts, and really moving warmth and nostalgia in others, and loads of humor and wit all the way through. Harry is fabulously (hotly) confident, Draco is both wonderfully skillful and doing Slytherin proud in moments of sneakiness. Hermione and Pansy, as their besties, are a delight as well. And while it's going along being funny and charming, the feels are building and building, towards a conclusion that is hot, then gut-wrenching, then sweet.

Comments

[this-bloody-cat.livejournal.com]

God, yes, these are all wonderful! I kept reccing Another Mask Behind You everywhere, reccing it to everyone I knew because I loved it, and then there was Tea and No Sympathy and On the Turning Away and I had to rec those too -- because they were perfect! -- and then it just got messy :'D

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

Isn't it SO GOOD? There's all SO GOOD!

And the potential for messiness...yes. Between this and the first round of recs I think I've recced a quarter of what posted? And there are still more I could rec? I don't even know what to do with this embarrassment of riches.

[this-bloody-cat.livejournal.com]

YES. EXACTLY. I wrote an email to a friend of mine reccing my favourite stories -- and I was really picky there, because I only wanted to rec the best, but still, by the time I'd finished, the list had sixteen stories. SIXTEEN! Out of 39. And just, wow. How is that even possible? We have so much talent, dear God ♥

[dicta-contrion.livejournal.com]

I know!! I sort of tried to cut myself off after a point, but there were a bunch more that I could've recced and might still rec and just...we are some lucky ducks, with this fest. With this fandom! So much talent.