#i love hermione but not this side of her and she's not being portrayed in the best light here

[maxdibert]

The sad thing is that we don’t even get to see any uncomplicatedly happy memories of his innocent childhood friendship with Lily. There’s this pervasive sense from the start of that chapter that JKR thinks that even 9 year old Lily was too good for him (the horrid judgemental use of the word ‘greedy’ and that quote she once gave where she said Snape’s tragedy was that he was drawn to but couldn’t emulate Lily’s innate goodness makes me hurl - what was so innately different about them aged 9 other than her good looks and middle class parents?) and so every single scene is her chastising him for something or other. Like she couldn’t allow saintly Lily to be seen as genuinely choosing and enjoying the company of someone as prickly and offputting as Snape, so she time skips 5 years and just tells us instead of showing us that they’re best friends. Unfortunately by failing to show any gentle, unspoiled moments the whole thing comes off like Lily sees him as a charity case she condescends to hang out with on occasion, while Severus fails to get the picture that clinging hard to someone who doesn’t want that is always going to end in a toxic place for both parties. Sorry for the super long post! It’s just rare to find someone who doesn’t buy into JKR’s intended reading of the Potter parents.

This is quite an interesting topic because even years ago, when I re-read the series at 19 or 20 and was quite involved in political groups and unions at university, I got the impression that Rowling creates a world where classism is constantly justified unless you are on the side of the bad guys. That is to say, Draco being a classist is wrong because he’s Draco, and he’s bad, and he’s Slytherin. But then you have quite a few characters who have clear classist attitudes and nothing happens because they are part of the heroes of the story, and so we’re going to completely overlook it. For example, Sirius is a classist; he always has been and even has nothing against slavery and treats his house-elf like rubbish. He doesn’t even consider him a conscious and independent living being; he’s just a bug to him. The Weasleys have a clear class resentment; they are humble and are sold to us as open-minded and tolerant people, but the reality is that if someone doesn’t fit into their narrow standards of “goodness,” they shut down and are just as petty and prejudiced as any blood supremacist. The best example of this is how the Weasley women treat Fleur simply because, instead of being a humble pick-me girl, she’s posh. But the fact is that Fleur has done absolutely nothing wrong for Ginny and Molly to treat her that way; her only sin is being beautiful and feminine, end of story. It’s supposed to be a story to learn that prejudices are wrong, but Hermione spends her life labelling other girls like the Patils or Lavender (before Lavender gets involved with Ron) as frivolous because they like doing things that are traditionally classified as feminine, which reveals that Rowling has quite a few prejudices against certain groups of women and their attitudes, stemming from a clear internalised misogyny that is present throughout the novel. You only have to look at how she glorifies motherhood as the pinnacle of female fulfilment and the real way to become a moral and brave example within the saga (Lily and Molly, Narcissa being redeemed ONLY because she loves her son) compared to the female characters who either haven’t seen motherhood as a dream come true (Merope Gaunt) or who have no children (Bellatrix), who are portrayed as little less than the worst of the worst in the story.

What I mean by this is that Rowling has quite a significant cognitive dissonance when it comes to establishing the moral values of the story. Because this is not A Song of Ice and Fire; it’s not a multi-voiced story with various perspectives from which you can develop your own complex criteria. It’s a story told from a single point of view where the dichotomy between good and evil is a central point of conflict, but is often blurred by quite a few contradictions that have no explanation, not even theoretically. I mean, the social themes in this story are terribly mismanaged and portrayed in a very superficial way. In the end, the conclusion you draw is that Gryffindor’s mission, the Order, or Harry’s is basically to defeat Voldemort to continue preserving the same status quo in which the magical world has always been immersed, with no intention of going to the root of the problems and taking action for real change. But well, we’re talking about a story written by a woman who turns her protagonist into the magical equivalent of a cop. I mean, LOL. I mean, ACAB, what can I say.

I say all this because when we talk about James and Lily, all of this applies in the same way. James and Lily make no sense. James and Lily are an example of what should NOT be done when writing a script, for instance. In screenwriting, the premise is always show, don't tell. But Lily and James are purely the tell. Lily and James are known for what other characters tell us about them, totally subjective characters, especially those who were friends with the couple. They are presented as great heroes when the reality in canon is that they did nothing. They joined the Order, were in it for a year, and then spent a year and a half holed up at home with their child, then they died, and that’s it. They can be treated as something tragic, but heroic? I wouldn’t say so.

They are also shown as paradigms of "the good ones," of the "correct morality," especially Lily, who is basically the Virgin Mary of this story and seems to have no flaws at all. But the reality is that if we go to canon, everything Lily does is a constant failure. Lily is condescending to Severus from the very beginning, probably because he is poorer than she is. Then she treats him as a charity case, which is already annoying her because he’s too geeky, odd, and marginal, causing her problems in her social circles. Then she half-smiles at his abuser while he is mistreating and humiliating him in front of the entire school. And then she marries that abuser. You can tell me whatever you want about Lily Potter, but what you’re showing me is rubbish, and if you show me rubbish but tell me wonderful things, there’s something that doesn’t add up, and for me, that’s the greatest failure of all.

If I have to be honest, I go back to what I mentioned before: for me, Lily had a huge inferiority complex. She felt inferior in the Muggle world because perhaps she wasn’t poor, but her family didn’t live in a good area either; they were probably lower middle class, without status or a promising future. At Hogwarts, she felt inferior for being the daughter of Muggles, so throughout her life, she secretly wanted to be part of the elite, to stand out, to be popular, to be seen as something important. That a boy like James Potter—handsome, wealthy, popular, with pure-blood status—would take an interest in her never displeased her. Deep down, she liked it; it was what she wanted. In the end, she gave in and married him, and she was probably very happy with her decision because that way, she ended up at the pinnacle of the social ladder. Of course, she liked James deep down for a long time; as Rowling once said. She liked what James represented, what he could mean for her. She would no longer just be the good student, pretty, nice, and popular; she would also have one of the most popular boys in school as a partner, who was also rich and of pure blood. I think that deep down, she and Petunia are quite similar in that regard, both seeking social ascent, each in their own way. After all, they were sisters.

[saintsenara]

oooo as an unhinged ship, if it hasn’t come up before, hermione x regulus. (meaning book hermione and book regulus, not their fanon equivalents who we may safely assume can slip right into “good girl gone bad x unreasonably hot wealthy man” without trouble, and need no further consideration. idc about them. i like losers). what we know about regulus is minimal, but we can imagine for the sake of the bit that if he somehow survived, he just might have a little interest in SPEW, and canonically, hermione does go for a youngest son with fluctuating self esteem. regulus also loves making pinterest boards for his passions (which include domestic terrorism but all the same), while hermione is known to color code and decorate her study schedules. i’m curious to know your thoughts 👀 both crack-wise and more genuinely, as i love your analyses of how characters with severe divides could — or could not — reconcile their differences and overcome the obstacles.

(their biggest obstacle, of course, is harry, who bursts in on them at least three times a day to demand hermione explain why she went for the clearly less good looking brother. men are always like “i’m fighting demons” and the demons are unexplored bisexuality.)

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

while describing hermione's type as "youngest son with fluctuating self esteem" is apposite, regulus strikes me as someone as someone whose self esteem is sufficiently bulletproof that his issue is with a world which - as he sees it - doesn't respect how special and extraordinary he is, rather than feeling overlooked because he believes himself to be less special and less loved than those around him.

[hence signing his camp little note with his initials, assuming reading it will snatch voldemort's wig off and throw it across the room, when what actually happens is the dark lord doesn't even notice he's missing and undoubtedly thinks his name is reginald.]

would he enjoy being constantly nagged by hermione [which is how she expresses to those she loves that she loves them]? eh... i doubt it. although i am compelled by the crack potential of regulus joining spew for a quiet life, and helping the missus glitter-glue posters. the couple that crafts together stays together.

but what i actually think would be most interesting about these two - as i've also said in reference to shipping hermione with bellatrix - is that they have a couple of shared traits which could mesh very interestingly: an enormous capacity for loyalty and a slightly naive, slightly childlike tendency towards seeing what they want to see.

i've said this before, but hermione's astonishing loyalty is one of her most impressive traits - and contributes, in fact, far more to her role in the series than her intelligence. but it comes with the flip-side that she also - since her loyalty is directly intertwined with her inflexibility, which is her most fundamental trait, in both positive [she's resilient, logical, etc.] and negative [she's argumentative, narrow-minded, etc.] ways - has a slightly hagrid-ish tendency towards blind faith.

her inflexibility - especially the difficulty she has with considering multiple viewpoints - also contributes to her naivety. i do think it's striking, given the fanon tendency - gleaned from the films, which massively overplay this - for her to be portrayed as orders of magnitude more mature than harry and ron that she is, in many ways, the most child-like of the trio: harry begins deathly hallows by throwing away most of his school trunk, hermione takes her schoolbooks on the run as comfort items; hermione believes that she's overthrowing the institution of slavery at hogwarts because the hats she knits vanish overnight; the item left to her in dumbledore's will is a book of fairy stories; etc.

both of these - loyalty and naivety, with the positive and negative things each of them brings - is also the regulus special. he sacrifices his life in an act of absolutely breathtaking loyalty to kreacher - which is directly caused by the humiliation he feels over his blind faith in voldemort being revealed to be misguided, and, specifically, is caused by the realisation that his initial view of voldemort as someone who wanted to bump off all the mudbloods and let pureblood families rule as oligarchs over a society which was, otherwise, fundamentally unchanged in terms of social structure etc. was extraordinarily naive. the dark lord wants to live forever, and he doesn't give a fuck who gets hurt on the way.

i do think there could be something quite compelling about the two of them either having to untangle their fairly rigid approaches to life - and how much of a knock that might be to their self esteem. i also think there's something to be said for each of them seeing in the other what they want to see, and being completely unwilling to do otherwise.

you are correct to note that harry would be gagged.

[bibliophilicstranger]

Harry/Hermione are more like James/Lily. Not Ron/Hermione or Ginny/Harry(the two ships that everyone wants to convince are like them)

I agree and disagree. I agree that neither Hinny nor Romione resemble Jily, however I also don't think Harry and Hermione are Jily reborn.

Harry and Ginny are only physically somewhat akin to Lily and James, but personality wise are very different. Ginny is far sportier, though she has a quick temper, and also has a bit of a hero-worship streak that Lily certainly never had for James. Like Lily she's popular, but I don't think she's as academic (her Slug Club admission was practical rather than academically based). She was never a prefect, which displays that her grades and disciplinary record was unsuitable for such a position.

Harry, despite Snape's remarks, is not much like his father. He's good at quidditch but he's not as arrogant, he's terrible with women, and he's a leader by necessity rather than by choice. Harry has James' ability to lead, but unless circumstances require it, he doesn't put himself forward to do so (he often goes along with Ron and Hermione's decisions unless there's a crisis/Voldy-level decision). Harry doesn't start confrontations, he tends to react to provocation and will escalate a fight, but he's not going around pranking Draco or Umbridge. Fight Draco after his mum has been insulted, yes, but that's not out of the blue. He asks for Umbridge to be pranked, but that's a practical matter as part of a larger scheme. Harry has a mischevious side, but it tends to come in the form of sly humor rather than large pranks. I also suspect that if Voldy had died in 81 and Harry had experienced 7 normal years, Harry probably wouldn't have broken the rules much at all, unless it was in defense of a friend. Whereas James seems more to have broken rules as much for the fun of it as anything else (though the Animagus/nights out were for Remus, so that is a point in common).

Hermione has more in common with Lily, certainly. She too is tempestuous but kind-hearted, zealous to the point of blindness as times and utterly loyal to her friends. Her academics are more in line with Lily's, as is her background. Yet Lily is portrayed as having a more charming personality; we never hear of her having the same friendship struggles Hermione had. Lily was popular and well-liked beyond just her teachers. Hermione has a much harder time relating to her peers. She has the brains and the ferocity but not the veneer that makes those socially acceptable. It's not a bad thing (personally I'm a Hermione, not a Lily), but it does make their experience of the world much different.

Ron is not much at all like James beyond a few superficial points: they're both pureblood, they both love quidditch, and they're both from Light families. James is somewhat arrogant, a natural leader, and from a privileged background. Ron is neither arrogant nor a leader, and his financial status is well known. Ron suffers an inferiority complex while James is more likely to believe in his own superiority. James is also naturally intelligent and a good student and Ron... isn't. He's not quite as moronic as a lot of fanfiction portrays, but beyond being good at Wizards chess, we don't see much scholarly aptitude from him. Their attitude toward the Dark Arts and Dark Wizards is similar, but James is more confrontational, whereas Ron tends to be reactive. James would start a fight, Ron reacts to taunting rather than starting it. Frankly I also can't see James ever abandoning his friends the way Ron did.

What we know of James and Lily's relationship is little, but we know that after he grew up a bit and started taking life more seriously that they got together and fell in love. They spent six or so years at odds first, so by the time they got together, Lily had probably accepted James as an equal. We know James was smart, so he could probably keep up with Lily to a degree, even if their interests were different. I do think they were partners, that they worked well together. When Voldemort attacked they didn't bicker over who would fight even if both could, James acted to defend while Lily went for Harry. Honestly we know so little about them canonically that comparison is difficult.

I don't really see Hinny as a relationship of equals. I don't think Ginny ever totally loses the fangirlish/looking up to Harry attitude. Harry never looks at her like she's a partner. Ginny doesn't become a fourth member of Harry's group when they become involved and he detaches from her when planning year 7 rather than work with her. She's more an emotional escape than emotional support. I think Ginny's popularity and presumably larger friend group (quidditch team, journalistic collegues) might wear on Harry over time.

Romione has a few more similarities with Jily, but I don't see the same success in their relationship. Ron and Hermione are friends in a way Jily weren't, but their incessant bickering is a source of conflict. Yet the reason for conflict differs. Lily needed James to grow up; once he stopped hexing people for fun and was a little less arrogant, they were able to build a relationship. Ron seems annoyed with Hermione's very character, and she gets frustrated with his as well. Her love of knowledge and bookishness isn't going to change and those seem to annoy him. I also don't see it as a relationship of equals. In Ron, Hermione is never going to have a partner who can keep up with her mind. She's going to always be assertive and he seems to chafe at that.

I don't think Harry and Hermione are Jily reborn, but they do have the potential to have an equally strong relationship in their own way. Harry and Hermione don't have a conflict-based relationship (he was never antagonistic toward her the way Ron was), but a friendship based one. I do think they would be equals and partners: they have a history of dividing labor between them to share the load well. Harry isn't as smart as Hermione, but he's shown more academic interest than Ron has when not around Ron (and might show more once he no longer has Voldy to worry about). Harry and Hermione might need to discuss minor habits they find annoying in one another and how to handle them, but they don't fight the way Jily or Romione would for the other to change.

I don't think Hinny, Romione, or Harmony are Jily reborn, but I do agree that Hinny and Romione are less like Jily than Harmony is.

[whinlatter]

Any headcanons about Fleur? I feel she’s very underrated…

Fleur is underrated, it's true! For me, what makes her interesting to think about, though, are all the ways in which she's flawed, complex, and elusive as a character and also, frankly, a bit of a dickhead with some room to grow. In some fandom spaces, there's a tendency to sanctify Fleur (coming particularly from the anti-Weasley sides of the fandom), and portray her as a victim of horrible bullying that she never deserved, which I don't agree with. Do Molly, Hermione and Ginny cover themselves in glory in their initial approach to Fleur? Of course not. But for all her many strengths, Fleur gets off on the wrong foot with Bill's family in part because she can be a bit of a rude and inconsiderate houseguest, thoughtless in her remarks, and occasionally vain in ways that make sense but that do demand a bit of introspection and self-improvement.

I do think it's clear that Fleur's experience coming of age in a world that sexualised her from a young age was both formative and deeply harmful in ways I think she would have to unpack and unlearn as an adult. Patriarchy conditions Fleur's worldview: it also shapes how other female characters respond to her. Everyone's losing. Whenever I've written Fleur, I've tried to give her lines that portray her as someone disarmingly honest, rarely meaning to wound, but certainly a bit tactless and bearing the unexamined scars of a childhood and adolescence that sexualised her young, hardened her and made her feel like appearance and looks are a currency. In Orchards, it's the line about Fleur giving Ginny her an expensive-looking French conditioner for her birthday. (‘It will help with – how do you say - ah, split-ends' - like, kind to give Ginny a present, but comes off as patronising and a criticism of Ginny's appearance, especially to an already unimpressed and unforgiving audience). The bit I just put in Beasts is me trying to flag this sense I work with her of her as a character: ''You are very pretty, even if you do not try,’ Fleur had said, that afternoon. (Her sister-in-law always did like her compliments backhanded.)' ‘Boys will like your ’air, if you do it nicely. Remember, if you take care of your looks, zey will take care of you.’'

A only have a couple of headcanons for ya, none of which are very ground-breaking, forgive me!

I think of Fleur as a solitary person, with a strong sense of self and little interest in explaining her inner life to others. I think Bill and Fleur's relationship is the meeting of two similarly self-sufficient people who find a sort of calm together, but that isn't defined by emotional co-dependency.

I like to think Fleur moved back to England for work as an adult because the Triwizard Tournament was both emotionally and politically formative for her. The circumstances in which the tournament ended struck at her own strong sense of justice, but she also felt drawn to a place where she had been changed, in some way. I think there's something in going back to places that changed you but that you feel you have unfinished business with. Her crush on Bill was secondary to her pursuing that more elusive feeling, following up on a question mark

I like to think Fleur benefits a lot from her relationship with her sisters-in-law as an adult, albeit slowly and quietly. While I love the idea of her and Ginny being able to talk about why they clashed years later, I don't ever really imagine Fleur as being best mates with Ginny, but I think both come to a place of mutual respect, unspoken but deeply felt, and that they admire each other as parents a great deal. I think a more mature and reflective adult Fleur would be intensely sympathetic to the ways Ginny was almost certainly harassed and sexualised in the wizarding press as a figure in the public eye.

[sophsicle]

I just read what’s up of the girl who ate the gods and I need to ramble/ scream about it so I thought who better to say it to than the writer

First of OH MAY GOD I LOVE IZT SO MUCH the concept and the characters chosen for each role is *chefs kiss* and as someone who is doing a class in classics I’m absolutely feral about this

Okay, Pansy is giving me such strong Evelyn Hugo vibes that I’m dying,,, like the control she has of her entire world and of the people around her using their desire of her and the way she turns their wants into her own power is so Evelyn coded that I can’t even cope. Her saying that it wouldn’t be a chore to fuck Theo was so beautifully framed, like the fancy myth-y language being undercut by the (objectively) crude ‘fucking’ was genuine art. She literally orchestrates an entire war for motives unknown!!! And I feel pity for her even while feeling simultaneously that she could (and would) step on my face and I would thank her for it

Ariana really thinking that she was there to marry harry is actually breaking my heart :( the very first time Hermione questioned why she was there I thought ‘we’re missing an iphegeneia, aren’t we?’ But even then it still killed me that she died (AND that Albus killed her too like her own brother- which mirrors canon in such a beautiful and heartbreaking way oh my god) and she feels so young too. And also the parallels between her and pansy make me want to scream. Like pansy knows her own power/ use is a cruel one and uses it to benefit herself, but Ariana believes that her use is a soft one, then discovers that hers is a cruel one too but due to her naivety she dies and cannot use it. And the way that the only time we as readers actually hear her speak as as she unknowingly offers herself up for death is the most beautiful, saddest thing ever

Hermione!!! She already seems so clearly suited to Pansy in behaviour and attitude (girls in a mysogenistiv world who gain power despite it)(girlbosses) and yet also so different, and yet the same again. Like pansy uses other peoples physical desires to get what she wants,  but Hermione doesn’t. But then Hermione uses harry and the people she loves to keep Albus on her side and to keep her home safe and in the end she’s using what Albus wants to get what she wants, just like pansy.

And she’s so pragmatic too like she is fully embracing/coping with the brutality of her world to keep the power she needs. Also her and lily were so fascinating because they feel so similar to me even if Hermione can’t see it. Hermione, harry and Ron being friends too but with a shifted dynamic into this mythological setting where the stakes are shifted feels so perfect and I want to scream

I also love love love that this is pansmione centric bc the idea of a sapphic ship in a setting of mysogyny and warfare makes me so so happy

I have thoughts about Ron and harry too but I think I already commented them (? I have no memory of anything I say so maybe I did, maybe I didn’t)

(Also side note does the title mean we get to meet any gods bc I love the idea of gods interacting with mortals smmm)

ANYWAYS I loved this so so so much it was genuinely incredible, best thing ever, I want to eat it, etc. Thank you for writing it!!!!1 <333

eeeee!!!! yay i love this fic!

Pansy is my Helen redemption, I feel like she is always portrayed as being a pawn or being some lovesick, naive, little girl who is too beautiful for her own good, but her story is hardcore, like first of all, of all the famous warriors and heroes who go to Troy and die, she lives, and I feel like people don't give her enough credit for that, for the political maneuvering that goes into it, also the fact that she is raped by a god when she's just a kid, i think she is way more jaded than people usually write her, also if you read the iliad it is like 90% her and hector just shitting on Paris, I fully believe that she runs away with him because she thinks Troy is her best bet of defeating her piece of shit husband, so yeah, Pansy is very cut throat and very scheme-y and always has an ulterior motive, which is gonna make the relationship that will develop between her and Hermione super interesting

part of what made me want to write this au in the first place is how well i feel like Dumbledore, Aberforth, Harry and Hermione fit these roles, and all the parallels that you can make with canon and how much you can play around with the "chosen one" narrative that harry potter and the iliad are a part of.

i also love fitting female characters into this super masculine story and i also like just not explaining it, like obviously there are some gender politics going on with Pansy, but like, Hermione is a commander and a king and it's just like, yup, that is how it is.

I do want to throw some god stuff in there! (the founders will be stand ins for the gods)

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR MESSAGE IT MADE MY DAY

[fanfic-lover-girl]

Personal Appeal of Dramione

Since reading comprehension among some HP fans is lacking, let me reiterate with some disclaimers:

I do not ship Dramione.

I do not like Dramione, especially as it is portrayed in fanworks.

I do not think Hermione should be with Draco because I dislike Romione. Unfortunately, Romione is the best ship for Hermione...Ron could have done better though.

If anyone makes any comments about the previous points, it is proof they did not read my post properly. Sick and tired of pro Romione people asking how I can ship Hermione with her bully when I merely bring up anti-Dramione arguments I observed.

Anyway, I keep seeing some common arguments for people's disdain for Dramione. I agree wholeheartedly with most of them. The Ron bashing in Dramione fics is 100% out of control and I find it laughable that someone will say Ron is toxic but then say Draco is better. I love Draco but I live in reality (plus I would never pair my baby with a girl like Hermione). Maybe Draco has the POTENTIAL to be better in a well-crafted AU but the canon as it stands does not support this. I have commented that even the enemy part of the enemies-to-lovers ship for Dramione is boring and lacklustre compared to Drarry. Despite all of this, a part of me does find Dramione as an appealing concept and I think some Dramione antis are deliberately being obtuse when wondering why Dramione is popular. I want to write my own response to some sentiments I have seen:

If you want an enemies-to-lovers ship, Romione is right there.

I hardly consider Romione an enemies to lovers ship. Can you even consider them enemies at the start? Ron didn't like Hermione because her personality rubbed him the wrong way. He made a few deriding comments about her that led to her crying. Hermione acted naggy and intellectually superior and maybe she saw Ron as a bit of a delinquent? YAWN! What enemies! Technically they fit the definition of the ship trope but in the tamest way possible. As far as I am concerned, the emphasis was more on their friendship (they are friends for basically most of the series) and their initial dislike was a minor hiccup. They were 'enemies' for like 5 chapters in one book and the switch from enemies to friends was lightning quick - like one sentence quick.

But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend.

I think Romione is better suited as friends to lovers but that's just my take. Just look at Sukka from ATLA. Sokka and Suki started off on a rough note but you would not call them enemies to lovers. Most of Romione's 'enemy' moments boil down to Ron and Hermione being teenagers and going through normal, hormonal teenage drama.

Compare this to Dramione. Draco scorns Hermione's very being and Hermione dislikes him before even having dialogue with him. They are on opposing sides from the beginning: opposing houses, opposing sides of the war, opposing values and ideologies etc. And it would have been interesting to see how that disgust and conflicting worldviews could have morphed into respect and love.

Draco already has a redeeming love interest. You don't need Dramione when you have Drastoria.

Drastoria is a decent ship but I don't like it for a few reasons. First of all, Astoria is a character I know almost nothing about. If I want to know about her, I have to search Google. She and Draco have hardly any interesting history shown. She's basically a NPC - a blank slate. Maybe Cursed Child fans would like Drastoria more.

Secondly, while it is admirable that Draco married a sickly, blood-traitor girl who might not have been able to give him heirs, at the end of the day she is still a pureblood. She's still a relatively safe option. Marrying a muggleborne person like Hermione would make a way more concrete redemption/atonement story. Hermione challenges Draco's worldview more than Astoria ever could.

On Hermione's end, maybe being with Draco could challenge some misconceptions she has about pureblood culture or something. Maybe being with Draco could even challenge how she views her femininity when we consider how pureblood women don't tend to be career-driven in canon, except fanatics like Bellatrix who are childless and have unhappy marriages. Also, I think Hermione's flaw of being vindictive and aggressive could have been challenged more in Dramione. I despise how JKR lets Hermione get away with murder in Romione. Even when Hermione is wrong, it ends up being Ron's fault. Disgusting!

Draco and Hermione would never touch each other in canon.

That's so true...that's why fanfiction and fanon exist. To explore creative possibilities. It's always a bit amusing when I see canon shippers of ships like Kataang, Hinny and Romione complain about the lack of fan content. Like dude, you have canon as your content. Of course, fanon couples will have a tendency to have more fan works due to the lack of canon material.

While many Dramione fics are annoying and totally OOC, there are some concepts that can honor canon that I find intriguing:

Draco and Hermione are forced to be together. This way they have to find a way to reconcile whatever bad feelings they have so they are not miserable for eternity.

Draco and Hermione meet as kids. This allows their personality and impressions of each other to slightly change before canon starts.

Draco and Hermione meet again as grown adults. Maybe Romione and Drastoria did not work out for non bashing reasons and they form a tentative acquaintance as mature adults which blooms into something more.

Draco begins his redemption/awakening arc prior to starting Hogwarts. I like fics where Draco begins questioning his parents' beliefs due to some external factor (like his Aunt Andromeda). That way Draco starts Hogwarts with a lot of his awful bigotry gone. Not all of it but even a small portion of it, making Dramione more feasible.

Draco was Hermione's bully.

It's called enemies to lovers for a reason...you know because the people were enemies. Duh. I will argue that Draco's actions towards Hermione are not as devastating as most people think and are totally redeemable. I will die on that hill (not really lol). All of Draco's biggest offences against her are verbal in nature and he arguably harrassed her the least in the trio. If JKR showed Hermione being impacted by Draco's slurs, I would 100% feel differently. However, Hermione treats Draco like an annoying fly - Draco does not hurt her in any meaningful way to totally dismiss Dramione as a ship in my view.

Draco and Hermione are happy in their canon ships

I love when my fav character ends up in a happy, loving relationship. I hate that Draco lost his wife which is one minor reason I dislike Drastoria. But that's besides the point.

Part of the reason why I dislike the teen ships Romione and Hinny is that they don't really matter much in the narrative. If you take them out, nothing changes, especially Hinny.

For example, there's nothing profound or grand about Ron marrying Hermione. The Weasleys are pro-muggle (...at least in spirit...) so who cares about Romione getting together? I sure don't. The most profound thing about Romione is that Harmione did not happen with Harry and Hermione being the male and female leads. However, Romione still occurs within the friend circle. Same with Hinny. They are safe pairings that don't challenge the status quo. Safe pairings are cozy but most tend to be uninteresting.

On the other hand, Dramione offers the potential for a richer narrative. It could symbolize the potential for change in traditional pureblood families - the start of an era of unity. Between Slytherin and Gryffindor, purebloods and mugglebornes. Because JKR ended HP with the chasm still wide open. Nothing changed except who was on top. Draco is the face of the younger Slytherin generation and is the scion of two prestigious pureblood houses. His ending the story being romantically involved with Hermione would have been amazing to see. Instead of seeing everyone still stuck in their own corners in the epilogue. How disappointing. JKR even ruined Harry's moving speech to Albus with that line about choosing Gryffindor if being in Slytherin bothered him so much. But JKR seems to love the status quo, so what else is to be expected?

Characters being happy in their relationships is great but I also like seeing how a relationship contributes to the themes of a story. Dramione could have offered more to the HP narrative than Romione, and maybe Drastoria, in my view.

These are my opinions. I truly don't care about Hermione so that's a big reason why I can't stand Dramione. But I do see the potential of the ship if written well.

[babyrdie]

It's kind of interesting how sometimes we project ourselves onto characters, so we say "character X wouldn't like character Y" without any evidence of that just because WE don't like Y.

A few examples I've seen on the mythology side of Tumblr:

The Achaeans didn't like Neoptolemus. There's literally no evidence for that, and there's even evidence to the contrary (that they liked him). Even when we think of an Achaean who had problem with him, it was after the Trojan War and it was for personal reasons (Menelaus, who felt that Neoptolemus neglected Hermione for Andromache). Because people think Neoptolemus is despicable, they want their favs to think so too. But guess what? They don't.

Achilles doesn't like Deidamia. Again, there's no source that shows he doesn't like her. It's a projection because people like a specific ship and want that ship to be monogamous, even though we're talking about Mycenaean Greece, so they make Achilles dislike Deidamia.

Theseus was a jerk to Phaedra. Again, I don't remember this. I don't know if I didn't read the source that indicates this, but I don't remember this. People are just bitter about Ariadne and then project that onto Phaedra. When the tragedy with Phaedra happened, Theseus wasn't even there. He found her already dead. Phaedra is not Ariadne. Ariadne's problems are her problems, not Phaedra's.

Andromeda hates Perseus. There's nothing to indicate that she hates Perseus, but there's a lot to indicate that she loves Perseus. It's a projection because people would hate to be in a situation where you have to choose between the family that was willing to sacrifice you and a complete stranger. If I were Andromeda, I wouldn't want to marry Perseus and at the same time I wouldn't want to be with Cepheus and Cassiopheia, but the thing is… I'm not Andromeda. Andromeda wanted to marry Perseus.

Helen would hate being married to Achilles in the afterlife. There's no evidence of that, either. In fact, they're always portrayed as a happy couple, with Achilles singing and partying with Helen. Hesiod even says that Helen would have chosen Achilles as her husband if he were a suitor. It's just that you think Achilles is a jerk and think Helen deserved better. But the thing is: you're not Helen, Helen has nothing against Achilles.

Hephaestus had an unpleasant personality while married to Aphrodite. Again, no evidence of this. It's just that people have this idea that Hephaestus was ugly and the reality is that people think it's unfair that the goddess of beauty gets to be with an ugly guy because she deserves the hot guy, in this case Ares. Although, to be honest, I don't even remember Hephaestus being ugly. But the popular image today is that he was.

The interesting part is that it's also never a thought. It's never a reflection like "I think X would feel pressured by Y for W reason", it's always "that's out of the question, because X wouldn't like Y" or "X hated/was disappointed by Y". It's not even a headcanon, something like "I headcanon that X and Y wouldn't get along for W reasons". No, people like to state it as if it's 100% certain. If it was some kind of elaborate reflection or a headcanon, I would understand. I also reflect on certain relationships, I also have headcanons. But it's always "I know this character better than the ancient Greeks who wrote them and I say it's out of the question that X would like Y."

Honestly, the only situation where I think this is valid is when there is a certain contextual romanticization of the time on the part of the authors… for example, the tendency of some authors to present enslaved women and the men who enslaved them as a couple who love each other. It really makes sense to think "that's super weird, I prefer to think that she didn't like him like that."

[qu1cks1lversb1tch]

Some of my Marauders era/Harry Potter Headcanons

Professor McGonagall was considered a patient teacher until the Prewett twins and the Marauders, so when the Weasley twins and Prongslet started Hogwarts, she just knew it would be a chaotic repeat of events.

"Well, thank you for that assessment, Mr Weasley. Perhaps it would be more useful if I were to transfigure Mr Potter and yourself into a pocket watch? That way, one of you might be on time."

Of course, we can't forget Ron. He was just as much Gideon and Fabian as Fred and George, but to a lesser degree.

He's brilliant and gets a lot of hate for always making Hermione cry (which im totally not ignoring)

Ron is an important part of the trio, even if the movies do kinda portray him as a replaceable, dickish, himbo, carrot top cunt, who purposely hurts Hermione.

THAT'S OUR FOODIE GINGER SNAP BABY RONALD, OKAY!?!?!???

We respect him in this household, even if we sometimes wanna kick his ass so hard he begins to think he's Viktor Krum.

REMUS LUPIN FOLDS HIS SOCKS

He did it as a child and a teenager, but he carried the habit into his adult life. It made him feel in control of something in his life.

James was Sirius's first kiss

Sirius was James's first kiss

Strictly platonic first kiss between a couple of bro's

It happened second year.

"Its not gay, Wormtail, we had socks on."

Peter was terrified of rats before he discovered his animagus was a rat

If Regulus Black was an animagus, he'd be a black cat, for obvious reasons

Speaking of Regulus Arcturus Black, we stan that dramatic emo bitch in this household <3

He was just like Sirius, but in his own way and he catches so much shit because he was a death eater and did bad things.

Before he was marked, he was a boy who wanted to make his family proud. After he was marked, he wanted to escape.

He defected to the good side, but he died before Sirius could know the good thing he had began. He was just a boy.

Draco heard stories from his mother about Regulus and based many of his best traits after his cousin.

He treated house elves with respect, mostly when Lucius wasn't around to influence him. When he had nothing to prove.

He didn't care if they were like Dobby or Kreacher

He simultaneously hated his father and wanted him to be proud, so he took the dark mark at sixteen

Much like Regulus did

He also wanted to defect. He didn't want to be a killer. He didn't want to die.

He was just a boy.

Hermione carried on the soul of Regulus

I will die on that hill.

She was born a few months after he died and they were very similar, except for the obvious differences (blood status, house, family life, you get the gist)

We all know about S.P.E.W.

Regulus would've been the FIRST official member if he had been alive

Lily introduced her pureblood friends to muggle fashion

In fifth year when she saw James in a pair of tight pants, she almost fell out right in the middle of Hogsmeade

After that, she forbade Sirius from letting James borrow his clothes ever again

For self-preservation purposes, I like to pretend THE prank never happened. If you know, you know. If you don't, I can't explain or I'll cry

Marlene McKinnon = blonde Sirius with boobs

Hermione, Remus, and Lily are the voices of reason amongst their friends, while also being just as bad as them in a more subtle way

"Now, if you two don't mind, I’m going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed or worse. . . Expelled!"

BUT ALSO

Snape on fire ring any bells?

I just know James was sitting in the clouds, laughing his ass off while Lily told him to hush

She was also fighting laughter

Revenge often came in the form of a brilliant muggleborn witch

Sirius craves violence. . . And chaos

He would love when witches or wizards got mad, especially at him.

That shit turned him on faster than Remus fresh out of the shower

Sirius and Marlene yelled at eachother like siblings

Meanwhile Remus and Lily were sipping tea like some high society in-laws at Sunday brunch

Sirius LOVED Abba, but refused to admit it, even after Lily caught him singing 'Mamma Mia' under his breath. . . In the middle of class.

I SWEAR I had a point to this. I started writing HCs and then I started rambling??? I could ramble forever, honestly.

Send requests, I have some free time

Let me know if you want to be put on the tag list :)

It's currently empty, so it sure would be cool if I could make a list :)

[iamnmbr3]

I'd go as far and say a Harry/Ginny romance doesnt work with the structure of the books. Its not an ensemble, its protagonist centric story. And Harrys main relationships are with Ron, Hermione and Voldemort. What makes Draco unique is that he can be a Voldemort stand-in, & used to explore relevant/main book themes like redemption, love, forgiveness, good and evil. He's Harrys age and has the most screentime out the Voldemort-allied side (not counting Snape since hes a spy).

JKR true failure is Harry in the H/G relationship ; She doesnt build emotional connection between them, doesnt include Ginny in Harrys adventures ; its golden trio through and trough, even after book 2 or 5 - they dont even share a single significant moment in the DoM! He patronisingly doesnt "allow" her to fight during battle just like Molly. When the war ends Harry thinks "later" about Ginny and needs to process what happend with the ppl he loves most aka Ron/Hermione even Dumbledores portrait. I would not even describe them as very close friends; she is Ron sister and sometimes part of an extended friend circle. When Harry crushes on her, he angsts about "Rons sister" and not " omg i could loose our friendship" cause they dont have a personal/intimate relationship on that level.

Does Harry even know anything about her? Who are her friends, her best school subjects, her insecurities? The one thing he knew- Riddle- he "forgot". Rowling builds this on nothing but superficialities like hotness,being jocks and jealousy and Ginny being a Weasley and called it a day.

Im not saying toss Harry/Draco together with no build up (obviously that would also require dedication) but at least that theoretical romance would actually relate to the events of story and portray how the characters are fundamentally changed by the events of the books in a positive way despite the war, instead Harry returns to dating the girl he dated for 2 months in high school who was not a vital character in this journey as if nothing happened...okay..

Yeah it's bizarre. In book 5 Ginny start getting some good development and then it just....stops. Book 6 Ginny feels like a different character and way shallower. It's like she got turned into Love Interest TM and all other characterization got thrown out the window. Which doesn't make the romance very compelling. There was potential there but imho it doesn't get realized.

[pebblysand]

hey hey good morning and salutations and completely optional Ask!

There is RedditDiscourse about the question of if Harry would find it hard to say 'I love you' for the first time, and re-reading Castles, as one does, I notice that you have him fairly easily saying it to Hermione (along with a beautiful little meditation on the different forms of it), in Chapter 2, but yes, struggling with Ginny--a thing I really like is that you portray it as also him struggling to BELIEVE it from her.

So, anyhoo...Deep Thoughts if you'd like, on this somewhat silly but also central topic--saying it versus displaying it non-verbally, what exactly might make it difficult for my boy to say it out loud, and characterization choices you made in having him able to articulate this to Hermione (would she, in your head canon, be the first person he said that to?)

All very optional, of course. Enjoy your day!

oh wow, redditdiscourse™ - sounds frightening lol 😅.

jokes aside, yeah, that's something i did think about quite a lot, especially when i wrote that hermione scene. initially, i was like 'eh, would he say that?' and remember being a bit unsure. i must also come clean on the fact that i did recently ret-con the hinny break-up scene in chapter 3 re: 'i love you,' - originally, harry said it to ginny as they were arguing to try and get her to stay, now he admits it to hermione, when they're talking on the couch instead:

'I fucking love her,' he says. 'Dumbledore said it would always be enough, he said -’  

that change wasn't so much due to the fact that i thought he wouldn't admit it, though, it was more to do with the fact that i thought as they're arguing, he's totally in shock, and i thought it just wouldn't actually occur to him to say it in the first place. he's still trying to process and she's slipping away, and it all goes too quickly for him to really do anything. he admits it later to hermione cause he's drunk off his mind and has no filter. but, i might change it again whenever i do another re-read. castles is a work in progress and i do change some things sometimes, and so we'll see where i ultimately land with that.

but coming back to your question, i think it's one of those where, when it comes to characterisation, you can really argue both points. on the one hand, love is everywhere in those books, and harry's never particularly shy about it. it's what saved his life, that of his friends, etc. he argues for love in his last faceoff with voldemort, still believes in love in spite of everything that's happened to him, and that's what's remarkable about him, etc. so, i don't think he's scared of love. he's pretty open about the fact that he loves ron and hermione in narration, although he never actually says it to them "on screen". i'd definitely see him say it to ron pretty routinely, the way men sometimes do - like if ron did something stupid, harry'd laugh and say 'ah, love you mate,' and the like.

that's what made me "side" with keeping that line in when it came to hermione, in the end. i was like: this is someone who won a literal war thanks to love, i can't imagine him being shy about it. it's also what led me to initially write him saying it to ginny so early on. when you've lost so many people you cared about so much, you tell those who remain you love them. and, it kind of feeds into the frantic nature of the early chapters, of this sort of post-war euphoria with a lot of Big Feelings and i-love-you-i-can't-believe-we're-alive. it's not necessarily the same kind of love he later feels, but it's a love that's there. be it hermione or ginny, it's like: 'omg, we made it.'

also, harry's not someone who's particularly private or guarded, most of the time. when he kisses cho, he tells his best mates. when he kisses ginny, he does so in front of everyone without giving a fuck. and, this is obviously castles-canon, but he's also not shy about how he feels re:Mia - he knows he loves her, says it, even if it's not the way she wishes he would. i'm not saying he wears his heart on his sleeve, but he's not someone who's particularly secretive about the way he feels. same thing: when he's upset or angry, everyone knows it.

on the other hand, it's true: i don't think he ever says it in the books. so, you could also conceivably argue that he thinks it a lot but doesn't say it out loud, and that he might think it makes him seem more vulnerable. i think his reluctance to say it a second time in chapter 16 is however more rooted in what you pointed out: he doesn't believe ginny when she says it. so, he's more guarded. and, also, i think it just takes him a while to understand his feelings. they're slowly building themselves back up, you know? and generally, i do think that because of his upbringing, he would find it harder to believe it when it came from other people - not just ginny. i think if hermione or ron said they loved him, part of him would think 'ah, they're just saying that.' he's not someone who grew up being wanted. he loves Other People, but can't imagine Other People loving him.

in terms of headcanon, i think the first person he actually says it to is ron, as i said. but again, i don't think it's such a massive deal to him. i do headcanon harry and ginny as this sort of couple who say 'love you!' every time they hang up the phone. again, they're gryffindors. they're not shy and have Very Big Feels.

thanks for the question though, it's a super interesting one.

[takeariskao3]

Hey, so I noticed you said Draco was one of your favourite characters and outta curiosity what do you like about Draco? Tumblr and fanfics seem to have this love for him that I’m trying to understand but I’m a confused. I honestly just want someone to explain it to me without getting upset. Personally I never found him to be an interesting character, just the usual high school bully who’s racist and flaunts his parents money and status like he’s earned it himself. I’ve been trying to read more fanfics with him being paired up with him and Hermione or even Harry and Ginny to get a better perspective of what some people are seeing that I’m not but whenever I read a story of him it’s not true to character. They change his personality completely and make him out to he this lonely saint who’s a got this sexy bad boy side (they give him personality traits from Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny) and usually drop dead gorgeous. I don’t get it. For me it’s just that if you have to change a character’s personality so much why not just invent a OC? He was never brave, loyal, compassionate, or kind. He was selfish, arrogant, coward, and pompous. The only people he cared about where his parents everyone else were just chess pieces for his plan of survival, even his best friends. Fans usually talk about him crying the toilet but that was because he was scared for his parents life, his is own life, and the task he was handed. He wasn’t a killer and I’ll give him that but I don’t think he was a nice person. He didn’t think about his peers when he brought Death Eaters into the school or when he was about to use Cruico on Harry. I think we saw a glimpse of what he would do in power when Dolores gave it to him. If Voldemort won the war and he was put in a high rank Draco would flaunt it around and hurt innocent people, he wouldn’t kill but he would hurt them. I find the fanart confusing too because he was never good looking, I know people automatically think of the stereotypical “blond hair blue eyed hunk”, but none of his features portrayed in the art are true to character. I feel like fanartist are taking Tom’s good looks and combining it with Draco’s blonde hair. Why can’t he just look like a regular blonde guy? Why does he have to be redeemed to look like some type of sex god? The fanart I see of Ron and Harry is usually geeky scrawny duo, which I get because that’s what they’re like in the book. Hermione on the other hand is usually decent looking or average unless she’s paired with Draco then she gets transformed into a Greek or African goddess. I just don’t get it! When she’s paired with Ron or Harry she’s depicted as a nerdy average looking girl but when she’s with Draco or another Slytherin … wow complete transformation. Are they trying to say unless she didn’t look like a Greek or African goddess the Slytherins wouldn’t be interested? She would have to completely change her appearance to get the Slytherin boys attention? The only ones that would fall for her as she truly looks is Ron and sometimes Harry? I find that insulting to women. I get it if you want a redemption Slytherin character but why not give that to Theo or Blaise? We don’t know much of them and when you read about them you can actually say it might be true to character instead of completely changing a canon characters personality so much to make them seem like a whole new character or morphing multiple canon character’s personality to make Draco 2.0.

hey anon.. i am going to put my answer under the cut so this doesn't turn into a "do you love the color of the sky" post

yes, draco is one of my favorite characters. not because of what he did or how he acted in the books, but because of where he could go post DH. my preference is a post-war au where we get to see him grow and change and choose to be a better person. but that's because i *LIKE* redemption stories. in fact i would even go so far as to say i prefer them. give me a character who is the worst of the worst, someone mean and horrible and unlikeable, break them down until they're at rock bottom and watch as they put themselves back together better the second time around

you say you've read fics but you feel like his character is changed? that's probably valid... but also you have to remember that dramione has been around since like 2001. no seriously. dramione fics have been on live journal since prisoner of azkaban came out. TWENTY YEARS AGO. i read my first dramione fanfic in seventh grade in 2003.. so you have to remember that there is a lot fandom has adopted and adapted in that amount of time and things that are considered staples of the genre if you will. just like how we (in our little hinny corner of the internet) have headcanons and dynamics that are considered universal, dramione has the same thing.

"fans usually talk about him crying in the toilet but that was because he was scared for his parents life, his own life, and the task he was handed." you are almost there, you are so close to getting the point. just follow that line of thinking just a little bit further... half blood prince/deathly hallows is the START of his redemption. not the end of it. at least in my view. draco gets his first real taste of the ideology he has bought into in half-blood prince when he realizes his family's name or his money or his status no longer grants him favor. in fact he's pretty much a pariah, in the inner circle of the death eaters for his father getting caught, and in the outer realms of wizard society for his father being outed as a death eater. this is the BEGINNING of his arc. if you look at deathly hallows!draco you see a kid who can't make up his mind which side he wants to be on. that year during the war he witnessed unspeakable atrocities (countless people tortured & murdered in and out of school, classmates held prisoner in his cellar, the muggle studies professor eaten alive on his dining room table) and if you take all of that and put it into a scared seventeen year old (no matter his house alignment) you end up with a person who has no ideals left. they deal in realities. we see this when harry, ron, & hermione get snatched. draco is visibly and clearly reluctant to identify them. he knows its them. WE KNOW HE KNOWS. but maybe he's reached a point where he doesn't want to see any more torture and murder. maybe he's reached a point where he thinks harry is the only one left who can defeat voldemort and he doesn't want to be the guy responsible for putting an end to the rebellion. then during the BoH.. maybe draco sees the writing on the wall, he sees and thinks that voldemort has won, that's why he takes crabbe and goyle into the room of requirement to look for harry, because if voldemort is going to reign supreme, he sure as hell is going to try and find favor. the point is, you can add whatever context you want for his actions. in my opinion, by the end of deathly hallows, grey isn't even a character alignment anymore for draco, its a cold hard truth. in his mind, there is no overarching good in the world, there is only what people are and are not willing to do to each other in the name of power. that's an excellent jumping off point to try and put together an enemies to lovers, redemption story romance.

i don't have much to say about the fanart piece except for there is no superiority when it comes to the way we create and consume fan works. full stop. no one is better or worse for interpreting the character a certain way. pretty hermione, ugly hermione, harmony, dramione, romione, it doesn't matter. no one gets to say what is right or wrong when it comes to enjoying fiction. because at the end of the day, draco and hermione are not real. they are tools for a narrative. they are make believe. they can be whatever someone wants them to be.

the last point i want to address is this: "i get if you want a redemption slytherin character but why not give that to theo or blaise?" blaise had exactly one speaking scene in the entire series and theo had none. what sort of redemption do they have to earn?? that's the whole point of redemption stories, someone gets redeemed and who has more to atone and apologize for than draco?

if you really are interested in a draco redemption story i have several recs that actually address and work through his school bully/junior death eater phase and show him coming out of it as a much more humble and well adjusted individual. i have my reasons for liking him paired with hermione but those are personal to me and since you didn't really ask i won't get into it just now.

hope this answered your questions.

[meganswish]

Things in Harry Potter you might have not noticed since JKR started being more openly TERFy:

Hermione attacking Ron with a violent offensive spell because he kisses a girl that's not her. they're not even dating. no consequences. it's okay because she's upset that he dares to have autonomy when it comes to his love life, I guess.

Hogwarts magically intervening to stop any male presence entering the girl's dorms, but not vice versa. despite the fact that the only instances of harassment we see in Harry Potter are boy-on-boy (James and Snape) or girl-on-boy (Romilda and Harry/Ron, Merope and Tom Riddle Senior) and it's a magic castle that could probably find another solution.

despite her self-proclaiming to be a feminist (usually when someone calls her out), the series has a pretty strong male focus. male protagonist, male best friend, male mentor, male villain, male Ministers of Magic, predominantly male teachers ...

leading on from that, a pretty good litmus test for whether or not a female character will be good or bad is whether or not she likes Harry. male characters (like Zacharias Smith and Cormac McLaggen) get the luxury of being assholes without being actually evil.

none of the "cool" girls that Harry gets on with have any female friends; they don't really even get along that well with each other. they're either ~quirky~ or have good masculine interests like studying and sports and being an Auror.

Lavender and Parvati being consistently mocked and belittled by Hermione, Fleur being excluded and insulted by all the women in the household. (Harry even points out that she's clearly not useless as she's a Triwizard Champion, and Hermione immediately attributes it to him lusting after her.)

Rita Skeeter's "mannish" features being repeatedly drawn attention to, her garish clothes, her illegally changing her body to spy and profit off children.

Aunt Marge is also portrayed as overtly masculine

men in "women's clothes" being used for comedic effect (e.g. Neville's Boggart, the wizard Hermione laughs at in the queue for the Quidditch World Cup)

villainous malice/spite closely tied to femininity. need I say Umbridge? Snape too.

JKR was the original person to hate on astrology girls for their ~feminine~ magic with tea cups and scents and comfy seats with nice cushions. she literally has to make her female self-insert physically incapable of performing well in the class or respecting the teacher,and has Professor McGonagall break her professionalism to openly disparage the "woolly" magic.

(Divination is okay when she needs it as a plot point though.)

love potions - as in, magical date rape drugs - being completely normalised in wizard society and played for laughs. despite having a man as the genius professional Potions master, they're portrayed as pretty much entirely a female medium. (probably because having a man give a woman a love potion would immediately draw attention to how messed up it is for a lot of readers.)

I feel like you could do something with the weird emphasis on blood/genetics??

you definitely already noticed this but the LGBTQ+ representation is more prominent on Twitter than it ever is in the universe... even the later ones, now that she's one of (if not the) most successful writers alive in a time where diverse casts are being encouraged.

consistently portraying large majorities of women as silly/thoughtless/blind when in the presence of good-looking men. (to have that effect in the reverse you have to be a Veela, though. or Hermione.)

feminine women who still have positive impact on the plot are redeemed entirely through their reproductive ability and status as mothers.

this ^^ ALWAYS results in them selflessly protecting/ sacrificing something for a male character.

and all of the female villains are childless.

the most prominent gay character never ends up married. his only relationship is paralleled strongly to Hitler's rise to power, ends with the death of his traumatised sister, and he redeems this through essentially grooming a young teenage boy for war.

Mrs Zabini using her ~feminine wiles~ to routinely control and murder men for money. ofc she's a black woman.

I'll probably end up thinking of more at some point

[torinighthawk]

Harry Potter Head-canons (1/?)

First off let me just say that I have always and will always adore the actors and actresses who portrayed all our favorite and not so favorite characters, and the crew and directors who brought Harry Potter to life. They made magic real and their contributions can never be understated.

This is not about them though. It’s hard to remember but the Harry Potter films were made in a time before the current push for more and more representation, that’s not an excuse, just the facts (with the one exception that will be brought up, obvs). And the same is true for the books, though that is a whole can of worms I do not feel like getting into in this very positive post.

Representation matters. When POC voices say they need representation, listen. When we change media to suit that need, it’s not a dig at what came before.

That being said, I dropped out of the fandom a few years ago, and after heavy reflection I’m back, but on my terms this time, no one else’s, canon or not.

My Hermione Granger is biracial (like me). Her father, Robert, is a strong Black father from a strong Black Family with deep ties to their heritage and culture, and a drive for excellence in all things done. Her mother, who’s name varies from fic to fic tbh, is biracial too. She grew up in a very different but still loving family from her husband, with a Black mom who immersed her in Black culture and an Irish father who taught her how to fight for what she wanted, no matter what others had to say about it. Hermione grew up in a secure and happy home with parents and grandparents who gave her culture and valued and fostered her intelligence, and made sure she had a stiff upper lip to make it through other people’s bs opinion of her. She might falter, but she never breaks. Also, she really has a thing for older guys (Ron is the only exception and a total fluke).

My Harry Potter has heavy Welsh and Desi roots from James’ side of the family. Unfortunately, thanks to Petunia and Vernon he is constantly put down for both of these things and grows up without the rich culture his father had been born into and hoped to pass on to his son. The amount of Desi blood Harry has depends on the fic. The big one I’m currently working on has his father’s, father’s mother being full Indian. James’ father was adopted but his maternal aunt was still a huge part of his life and worked hand in hand with his adoptive parents to give him a life filled with his mother’s culture, which he passed on to James. Oh and he’s bisexual, it’s just that Cedric was the only guy in school that he really lusted after and we all know how that ended up. He and Ginny (who is also bi) love to occasionally rate celebrities and random strangers both male and female, its kinda adorable.

My Lavender Brown is Black. My one true bone to pick with the movies, is the one I think we all in the know have, with Lavender being Black until she became a main love interest for Ron and then was recast to a white actress (maybe it was incidental, maybe it wasn’t, doesn’t matter my brain fixed it). Lavender had two loving Black parents (I’m done with the broken home stereotype for Black parents can you tell?). After her failure dating Ron she finally came out of the closet as a lesbian and started dating Parvati. In most of my fics, Lavender survives (usually as a werewolf) and Parvati sticks with her and the two live happily ever after.

My Ginny Weasley (as stated above) is bisexual. She and Luna definitely had a thing going throughout their school time together and Luna was really there for Ginny in the last year of the war with Harry and the gang gone and all the stress. My Ginny is also a non-binary demigirl [she/they], not a tomboy, who starts to really explore her gender after the war is out of the way. Harry is a super supportive boyfriend/husband and he helps her through her gender diaspora during their pregnancy with some their children (which never gets easier so they switch to surrogacy).

My Ron Weasley really has a thing for POC women, he is completely incurable (thank merlin). Whoever he ends up with (in my head its not always Hermione) they are 10 times out of 10 going to be POC in some way. And he really immerses himself in whatever culture he has to to ensure his children grow up in their mother’s culture, no matter what they come out looking like.

My Remus Lupin is/was pansexual and was in love with Sirius most of his life. Part of his guilt and reluctance with Tonks is because of Sirius. I have very strong feelings about his werewolf nature (and werewolf demonization in general), but I’ll leave that to another post. I do still have Sirius die in most fics, but I believe there are worlds where these two make it every time and get to have some freaking peace and quiet together.

My Sirius Black is aro-ace and has only ever thought about Remus as a partner in those categories. Because he is emotionally stunted, he has no idea how to handle it and needs help to get a relationship started.

My Ted Tonks is Black or at least mixed race, and the only thing the Black Family hate about him is that he is muggleborn. Wizards do not care about colorism they way we muggles do, nor do they really care about sexuality and gender (Pure-blood families only care that their children procreate with other untainted people), they legitimately couldn’t care less. Totally headcanon that this has always been a point in contention of why Pure-blood Families see themselves as morally superior to muggles while missing the point of the other serious societal problems they have.

My Nymphadora Tonks is as genderfluid as her metamorphic abilities and pansexual. She never really had to think to hard about it and was pretty much born out of the closet. It helps really spice up her love life, especially her relationship with Remus. She’s aware of the Sirius thing and tries to help Remus through his grief and doesn’t really push him even though she’s hopelessly in love with him.

My Severus Snape is somewhere on the aro-ace spectrum, he doesn’t think about it much. I do love letting him live to have an actually redemption arc where he finally breaks the cycle of abuse.

My Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan are gay and in love. It took Dean longer to get there but Seamus is stupidly happy when he does. The two go on to raise an adorable little family.

My Theodore Nott is demisexual and not evil. He got out from under his father’s influence to great risk to himself and later became an Auror. He and Harry are good friends. He has a massive crush on Harry. Also, he dated Daphne Greengrass and Blaise Zabini at some point in his life.

My Blaise Zabini is gay. Very gay. Need I say more?

My Mrs. Zabini isn’t a serial murderess, she was cursed to love again and again and for all those she married to die horrible deaths. She has tried to go celibate but part of the curse is that she cannot. Blaise and Theodore Nott go on a side quest at some point to help break her curse, probably.

My Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy are both bisexual and occasionally enjoy the company of others in their bed. They’ve both probably propositioned Snape at some point. Draco, thank merlin, never finds out about any of this and goes his whole life blissfully ignorant of his parents wild secret lives.

My Draco Malfoy is on the aro-ace spectrum and finds certain people aesthetically pleasing but very rarely has any romantic or sexual feelings for them. He does however, like a good number of people do, have a crush on Harry at various points in his life. He’s emotionally stunted though so he acts like a child about it.

There’s more but I’ll leave it at that. If you want more info about the big fic I’m currently working on let me know. I may never actually write more than one-shots inside the world I built for it so it will be nice to get some stuff out for people to see. As for Next Gen headcanons I reserve those on a fic by fic, world by world basis so if there is a separate post for them it would be fic specific and not set in complete stone. I love to use my Next Gen characters to suit my needs for storytelling.

Bye.

[prettyboypucey]

Weird ~ G.W.

Summary: George is gorgeous. Charlie is a meddler. The snow is cold. (this summary sucks...just read it) 

Pairing: George Weasley x Y/N 

Word Count: 2,404 (who do I think I am?) 

Warnings: mentions of bullying. mentions of food/eating. george is unknowingly triggering? reader cries. idk? let me know if i missed something. 

A/N: part 2? maybe? translations are for romanian via google translate. do not come for me if they are hella wrong. 

Translations: draga - darling; dragoste - love; tampit - stupid 

     I had never been normal. From the time I was a toddler I had stars in my eyes and dirt on my knees. While the other kids in my grade were playing with dolls and dressing respectably, I was riding imaginary dragons and wearing mismatched socks with dungarees and a butterfly headband. Normalcy evaded me even further when at 11 years old, I got a letter declaring me a witch.

     When I first came to Hogwarts I spent the majority of my time alone. It appeared that even children who could wave a stick around and makes things fly wanted nothing to do with the colorful little girl. Meeting Luna Lovegood in my second year was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Here was a girl who allowed me to be exactly who I was with no judgments. And then she introduced me to Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley, and suddenly that little girl who thought her only friends would always be the rocks she painted faces on, had found her people.

     Of course, being friends with Ginny Weasley meant knowing her many brothers. So after graduation when I went off to Romania to work with dragons it made me feel slightly better knowing Charlie Weasley would be there. He quickly took me under his wing and became the older brother figure I had never had. After working together for three years, and electing to stay at the sanctuary for the last two over the holidays, he had finally convinced me to come home with him. I was reluctant to leave the sanctuary - the one place I truly feel safe (despite the massive fire breathing creatures).

     Charlie had warned me that being with one or two of the Weasleys was very different from being with the entire Weasley clan. Obviously I knew Charlie and Ginny, Ron had always been nice to me, and I had met Molly a handful of times in passing. However, Bill was known to be quite intimidating, Percy was supposedly very no-nonsense, and the twins (albeit never cruel) had a reputation of being hell-raisers.

     Apparating to the edge of a marsh with Charlie by my side I could see the rising structure haphazardly balanced slightly ahead.

     Pausing, I glanced at the back of the familiar red covered head, “I don’t know Charles, maybe I should just go back. I really don’t want to be a burden.”

     Charlie very quickly rounded behind me to continue guiding me towards his home, “No, no, no, no, no. No. You’re not a burden to anyone draga. Keep your head up and if any of them give you grief - remind them of the giant, winged beasts you can feed them to.”

     Quickly placing a kiss to the side of my head Charlie bounded ahead again to open the door and announce your arrival. Before I could toe off the first boot to leave next to the dozen other pairs in the entryway, a pair of arms had flung around my neck.

     “Y/N! I missed you so much!”, Ginny pulled back, keeping her grip on my shoulders, to inspect for any major injuries.

     I held onto her elbows, keeping her close, “Hi Gin, I missed you too. A lot. I’m loving this new look by the way.”

     She reached up to brush the now short locks behind her ears. A grin on her face as the two of us looked the other over for the first time in months. Ginny was wrapped in a pretty baby pink sweater with shades of red and white running through it. The material was soft against my palm as I hooked it around her crooked elbow to follow her into the living area.

     “You know”, she started, “I was starting to think maybe Charlie had let you get eaten or burnt to a crisp in the land of dragons. It’s been so long since you’ve come to see me or left the sanctuary.”

     “I’m sorry Ginny. It’s just that after everything, I had to keep myself busy.”

     Ginny’s smile softened into one of understanding. The war had taken a part of all of us. Although Fred had recovered after many months, that fear of almost losing such a vital part of their family had rocked the entire Weasley family to its core.

     “I get it, I do, but I worry about you. I just want you to know you’re not alone Y/N.”

     I pulled the girl into another tight hug, “I know.”

     Ginny pulled away first, clearing her throat, “Okay! Now that’s out of the way - it’s time to introduce the one and only Y/N L/N to the Weasley’s.”

     I hummed, “Hmmm and which of us should be more scared?”

     “Oh definitely the Weasleys.”

 ~~~~~~~~~~~

     Meeting the Weasley family had gone much better than expected.

     Molly had opened her arms and home to me as if I was one of her own children. By the time the night was over she had me stuffed full of warm food and drink and donning my very own coveted Weasley sweater, the lavender initial in the middle marking it as my own. Arthur had been very interested in my muggle parents and upbringing, questioning me about the functions of a rubber duck. Bill and his wife Fleur were the most stunning couple I have ever seen, and not nearly as intimidating as people portrayed them. Fleur was pleased when she found out I spoke a bit of conversational French and promised to have me over to Shell Cottage (apparently they have an amazing collection of wind chimes that I am dying to see). Percy was a bit more refined. Completely polite and friendly but he seemed reserved. Ginny had explained in one of her letters how much guilt Percy carried after the Battle of Hogwarts over how he had behaved in the years leading up to that day.

     The twins were much different than I remembered them being from the few times we were around each other in school. The physical differences were clear - George’s missing ear and Fred’s dragging limp were both signs of the prices they paid in the war. More than that however, they had matured greatly. They were still happy and made sure to pull at least two pranks over the night, poor Molly nearly lost her voice after they blew up the turkey. However, there was something in their eyes that had been dimmed. Especially in George.

     His twin almost died that night, and it reflected in George’s eyes each time he looked at his older brother. It was clear that he was still afraid because whenever Fred left a room George followed, never letting his brother out of his sight, and if he happened to lose track of him a panic began to swirl in his brown orbs.

     I was in the middle of watching as George yet again made his way to Fred’s side, clapping a large hand on his twins shoulder and throwing his head back in laughter.

     “So which one are you staring at dragoste?”, Charlie whispered as he appeared out of nowhere.

     I ignored the burning in my cheeks as I looked away from the scene in front of me.

     “I am not staring at either of them tampit.”

     “Mhmm, sure, absolutely, I believe you.”, after a quick pause he said, “It’s George isn’t it?”

     I turned and scoffed at him, “No!… How did you know?”

     Charlie let out a chuckle, “Because I know you my little dragon. I also know my brother, and just between us, he definitely likes you as well.”

     At this I let out an incredulous laugh and glanced back to where George was now telling a story, his hands moving animatedly. There was no way that George Weasley had even a remote attraction to me. He was kind, strong, clever, and so bloody gorgeous it truly was a privilege to look at him. And I am…me. Nothing special. Just a girl who had more dragon friends than human ones and whose hands were covered in scars and callouses and whose socks never matched and had never even kissed a man before. So no, there was no way that George Weasley would ever like me.

     “Hey. I know that look Y/N. Stop those thoughts right this bloody second.”

     “Charles it really is annoying when you read me like that.”

     Throwing his arm over my shoulder he began to lead me towards the twins, “Yes I know and I am sorry in advance but this needs to be done. Fred!”

     Charlie’s voice had gone from a rushed whisper to a jovial shout when we reached George, Fred, and Ron by the fireplace. George’s smile as he turned to look at us sent a million butterflies off in my tummy.

     “So Freddy, I was hoping you could help me out with a top secret project tomorrow for mum and maybe show me around the joke shop. I heard you added some new displays that I want to check out.”

     “Sure Charlie”, Fred glanced at George as he spoke, “I’m sure we can make some time for our favorite brother.”

     Ignoring Rons protest, Charlie gripped my shoulders and pushed me in front of him, “Actually George I was thinking you could stay here and show Y/N around the area. She mentioned wanting to talk a walk tomorrow and I would hate to disappoint her on her first Christmas out of the sanctuary.”

     “Um-”

     I interrupted the rejection coming from George, “No please, I would hate to be a bother and make you be stuck with me all day. I’m sure Ginny can take me.”

     George smiled and shook his head, “No it’s completely fine Y/N. I would be happy to show you around.”

     “Okay great! It’s settled then!”, Charlie looked rather too pleased with himself and obviously missed the look exchanged by his identical younger brothers.

~~~~~~~~~~

     The next morning the Burrow was a flurry of movement as everyone began their day. Apparently Charlie and Fred weren’t the only ones on their way out. The others still had some last minute gift shopping to do and Ron was spending the day with Hermione’s muggle family. After breakfast, a quick wink from Charlie, and a slam of the front door - George and I were alone in the house.

     The two of us stood facing one another in the living room for a few awkward moments before George spoke, “Well, um, did you want to head out as well?”

     “Oh sure! Yes, let me just grab my boots really quickly.”

     George led me out the door and onto the snow covered path towards the small, iced over river. Nothing was said for a while, the only sound was the crunch of snow under our boots and the occasional sniffle from one of our red noses. I was mentally imagining all the ways I was going to kick Charlie’s ass when he got back for suggesting a walk in the middle of winter when we came to the top of a hill and stopped.

     Everything as far as the eye could see was blanketed in sheets of white. Stomping my boots down into the fresh snow, I couldn’t help the giggle that escaped as the snow gave way underfoot. Feeling a pair of eyes on me I remembered that I wasn’t alone and turned to see George watching me with an unidentifiable look on his face.

     “Sorry, sorry. That was - I don’t know why I did that. I liked the feeling of the crunch of the snow I guess. Sorry.”

     George grinned, “You don’t have to apologize. It was cute.”

     I could feel my face flush at his words. His smile grew even wider at the sight of my heated face. My gaze dropped from his pretty face down to my boots. I could feel the thick socks I had on beginning to grow cold and wet from how long we’d been outside. Looking back up I could see George’s deep eyes glaze over. Assuming it was because he had been apart from Fred so long I glanced out at the view one last time before turning back the way we came.

     “We should probably get back. We’ve been gone a while and my toes are getting wet. I feel bad enough that Charlie forced you to do this anyways without you getting frostbite or something. I’ve had frostbite, it’s not fun. And now I’m rambling. I’m sorry. Sorry”

     George was shaking his head at me and said, “You are so weird.”

     Ouch. My chest tightened and the small smile I had been wearing dropped from my face. If I had been able to see past the tears forming in my eyes that were making my sight blurry, I would have seen George’s face do the same. Unfortunately, all I could focus on was that word. Weird. Strange. Abnormal. Freak. 

     Weird weird weird.

     The walk back was silent. A thick tension surrounded you both as thick snow flurries began to swirl down in the midmorning air. Just as thick was the lump forming in my throat as I fought back tears. I know I shouldn’t let his words affect me. He’s just some guy. But deep down I also know that he’s not just some guy. This is George fricking Weasley. With his stupid perfect face and gorgeous eyes and his loyalty to his family. I couldn’t help but be enamored with him from the moment I walked in the Weasley’s front door. So it hurt to hear the man I liked call me that nasty word that has haunted me my entire life.

     When we finally reached the Burrow, George tried to reach for my arm but I pulled away and ran into the house. I could hear that some of the others had returned and really wanted to avoid a confrontation. Once again, luck wasn’t on my side. Charlie came walking out of the kitchen and saw me in the entryway. His face immediately became concerned at the sight of me and he lowered the sandwich he had from his mouth.

     “Draga?”, Charlie’s voice followed me as I finally reached the stairs and launched upstairs.

     As I reached the first landing I heard him speak again, his voice rough and hard.

     “What did you do?”  

[snow-in-the-desert]

Dramione Recommendations

Ok so, 2020 has been A LOT but on a personal note one of the most surprising things to happen was me discovering Dramione fanfiction and becoming unashamedly obsessed with it. I really didn’t see that coming but I’m here now and I’m here to stay. 

I think I started reading in the Dramione fandom around mid July last year?? (In all honesty I’ve lost any true sense of time’s progression at this point so I could be well off the mark with that) And I’ve decided to compile a list of all my favourite fics I’ve read so far. Why? I really just want to gush over all the amazing writers I have found through this fandom because y’all deserve it. 

Side note: If any of the authors actually sees this post just dm so I can buy you coffee or post you writing supplies or something idk I feel like that’s the least I can do for all your amazing work x

Remain Nameless by @heyjude19-writing

Ok I have to start with RN because this fic is pretty much the sole reason I decided to create an account with A03 or a tumblr or just decided to get involved with this fandom at all. 

I headcannon this story hard. But I think even if you aren’t a fan of Dramione you should just read this because it is so unbelievably good and well written and poignant and Draco’s sarcastic personality in this is truly a thing of beauty in this - I relate to his inner monologue’s on a deep personal level. 

I could rave about this story any time, any day of the week, just ask me. In fact, maybe I’ll just start a HeyJude19 fan club to fulfill that urge.

There are so many elements that I love but for the sake of brevity, RN is a beautifully told story of Draco and Hermione finding love and healing in a post-war HP setting. Heyjude19 had the very special ability of making me want to simulatenously laugh, cry and swoon with the power of her words. Just stop what you are doing and go read it now if you havent already, ok?  

I also really enjoyed reading Bells on a Hill, Beers, Potions and Unwise Notions and A Shift in Focus, if you are looking for smaller fics, definitely give these a go. They are all funny and heartfelt stoires that will make your tippy toes wriggle with glee. 

The Rights and Wrongs Series by @lovesbitca8

The Right Thing To Do, All The Wrong Things and The Auction are the holy trinity of Dramione writing. I have christened it thus, so mote it be. And frankly I’m not interested in any other opinion than that one, thank you very much!

After reading this series I don’t think I’ll be able to look back on the orginal HP books without thinking of Hermione’s and Draco’s memories of their time at Hogwarts in these fics as anything other than strictly cannon. 

So many things to love about this series but I think one of the major highlights was Hermione and Draco’s use of occlumency. LoveBitca8 created such beautiful visuals with how occlumency works as a magical practice and seeing Draco and Hermione so devoted to eachother to the point of safeguarding their inner most feelings to protect eachother was unbelievably romantic and poetic. 

Also the smut is divine ;)

Manacled by @senlinyu​

My heart will never be the same after reading this story. Like I actually can’t think about this fic without getting a lump at the back of my throat. I have never felt so emotionally ruined after reading anything, compared to the likes of this fic. Just please, please read it. To badly quote HP, reading Manacled will make you suffer but you’re going to be happy about it.

The flashbacks are a rollercoaster in of themselves but the way Hermione inadvertently refers to them when she is still in a state of memory loss was so heartbreaking to read. My heart still aches for them both. Also its a truly satisfying to see Draco and Hermione written in a way were they are both so fiercly protective of one another. They make my insides go soft. 

I also really enjoyed Snow Fall, Now Is A Gift and All You Want by the author but to be honest anything written by Senlinyu is always thoroughly enjoyable and worth a look. 

The Erised Effect by @adaprix​

Ada is QUEEN of dramione smut but ‘The Erised Effect’ is top tier. Its equal parts funny, romantic, sentimental and oh so sexy. Ada really knows how to build and build on sexual tension and doesn’t disappoint on the final delivery. I’m a big admirer of her writing style and just veraciously read whatever she posts but ‘The Erised Effect’ is just golden. A must read. (Also Pansy’s sexual fantasy in this story is a visual I don’t think I’ll ever be able to remove from my brain so thanks for that Ada)

Also quick side note: Adaprix’ stories were the first I read when I was looking into this fandom and it was enough to get me hooked on the pairing from the get go so I have that to thank Ada for too. I remember devouring all the stories she had posted to A03 and when I was done I was like... now what am I supposed to do with my life?? And that’s basically when I began to look deeper into the fandom and thus the course of my life in 2020 changed for the better. 

Some other stories I love by her are Break for Me, All My Sins, The Big 4-0, The Fucklust Series and The Flat in Bath. 

Clean by @olivieblake​

This 6th Year AU where Draco and Hermione work together on a class assignment and end up falling in love had me feeling all kinds of ways when I read it. I almost don’t know where to start but I think one of the stand out things for me was how immersed I felt in reading it. 

Hogwarts is captured really well, you get a good sense of class atmospheres, character nuances and behind the scenes of events that happen in HBP but from a Draco and Hermione’s perspectives. It’s well executed and intricate tapestry of a fic. With an excellent plot twist ending! 

Also Hermione and Draco’s relationship in this is equal parts fluffy and smutty and it just ticks all the right boxes that you want to see for those characters ;)

Breath Mints / Battle Scars by @onyx-and-elm​

The angst in this one is just *chef’s kiss*

God I love this fic. The way Draco is portrayed is very true to his defensive and tetchy character in the original books but he is also given so much more depth. The way his diary entries are written are just so well executed. It’s a true testament to the author’s creative writing skill. And I LOVE how even though Draco is clearly in such a messed up place, he still has a basic level of self respect and dignity that he won’t tolerate being used or undervalued in his relationship with Hermione. 

Yep, I really love Draco’s characterisation in this one if you can’t tell.  But Hermione is also well written too. Her stuggles and trauma of returning to Hogwarts after war is described in a believable and grounded way. And my heart definitely ached for them both. I just wanted to wrap the pair of them in a big fuzzy blanket and tell them that everything will be alright. 

WANDS OUT! by @persephonestone​

This murder mystery / Dramione / Theo x Harry / AU crossover is everything I didn’t know I wanted until I read it. I felt like I was picked up and plonked right into an alternative dimension where all the characters of HP are just living it up in an Agatha Christie novel. 

It’s a funny and clever story that I found refreshing to read amongst all the other fanfics that are usually cemented in the HP timeline or universe. Theodore Nott in this fic is perfection he should be written like this in every fic from now on in my opinion. I couldn’t stop giggling any time he had a scene in the story.

And the ‘only one bed’ trope in this fic is 10/10. I don’t want to give spoilers but ohmygod. It hits all the right notes. 

The One With Technical Difficulties by cassielassie 

Cassielassie has an excellent three part series of Dramone called ‘The One with...” but I have to give special credit to this story in particular for one main reason. ELEVATOR TROPES. I can’t get enough of em. I think I have my early childhood viewings of NCIS to thank for my obsession with elevator tropes they just do something to me that simply cannot be explained with mere words. The palpable sexual tension of being in a broken down elevator with an ‘enemies to lovers’ pairing, a heated arguement breaks out followed by a discovery of mutual feelings and a romantic embrace...

Eugh. It gets me everytime. And this fic is no exception. I loved it for all the reasons I’ve already stated above but also for the attention to detail in Draco and Hermione’s careers makes this one particularly immersive. The dynamics between them established in this one-shot are convincingly portrayed and the chemistry between them is so undeniably hot. 

The Light is No Mystery by @masterofinfinities​

Yooo if you want to read a dramione fic that is a deep dive into Pureblood culture and Post-War recovery but is also a perfect allegory for discrimination and today’s political landscape of moral grandstanding for votes then look no further than this one. 

This story has a bit of everything. Intrigue, mystery, ptsd and recovery, enemies to lovers / secret relationship, government conspiracy and humour, to name a few. I eargerly await every update to this story and am anxious to know how it ends!

The Eagle’s Nest by HeartOfAspen 

Finally! A fic that gives me the Ravenclaw representation I crave. I think I could recommend this fic on the lore depicted of Ravenclaw house alone. ‘The Stacks’ and Rowena Ravenclaw’s own ‘come and go room’ are just such cool details that I could see being real in the HP universe. 

This fic is so cosy and makes me feel like I’m just popping back into Hogwarts for another year. You get to see all the usuals like prof. Mcgongall, Nearly headless Nick, PEEVES, Hagrid, as well as learn more about minor characters from the other school houses. The story follows Hermione going to her day to day classes and there are interesting concepts about magic and alchemy that are explored. 

Draco and Hermione’s relationship in this one is of course very fluffy and heartfelt. But it’s the attention to detail that really makes this fic outstanding and the experience of reading it feels fleshed out and true to HP universe.

A shorter fic by HeartofAspen that I recommend is one called Set in Stone, it has an adventurous, Indianna Jones vibe to it, that I am so down for. 

Teachable Moments by @purplesugarquills

In this fic Hermione is an innocent little virgin determined to learn everything about sex. And Draco Malfoy is her tutor. If that isn’t enough to get you on board then I don’t know what is. Both Heartfelt and Steamy. PurpleSugarQuills writes smut so well but it’s the progression of their growing attachment and the nervous treading of new uncharted waters of romantic relationships for both of them that just adds a whole other level of feels to the story. Also chapter 9 is like reading poetry - its so good. Eugh just give it a read if you haven’t already.

Les Pèlerins by @pacific-rimbaud

This story is high art. It’s transcendent. Reading this story feels like the emotional equivalent of standing around a hundred glowing fairy lights, sipping hot cocoa and being wrapped in the loving embrace of a s/o. I can’t speak my praises highly enough or even become passably coherent in my words when I try to articulate a review. 

From the very first paragraph I felt like I was just whisked away on a Parisian holiday and I’ve never even bloody been to Paris but damn it if this story didn’t make me feel like I was there. The writing style is just so tactile and intense it’s like I could feel the cold winter air brush against me as I read it. Eugh I just completely fell in love with the story and the writer. 

New Year’s resolution. Read everything PacificRimbaud has ever posted online. 

[padfootastic]

I’m loving the discourse here about Sirius fanon (mis)characterization, and I just wanted to add, if we take canon situations which point to Sirius’ impulsiveness, they are - going after Peter in 1981, his attempts to break into Gryffindor tower and coming back into the country when Harry’s scar hurt. I did not include going to the DoM because I don’t think this was impulsive, unless Remus, Tonks, Moody, Kingsley and Dumbledore going to the DoM is also called ‘impulsive’. His godson was in danger, he had a far better reason than the others (including the Aurors still on Ministry payroll, pretending to be supporting Fudge) to go to the DoM. If we look at the other examples, we can see that the main reasons behind his actions are usually (in no particular order) grief, love for his godson, and trauma. In fact, we know that despite his grief, he even tried to take Harry in 1981. It was only when he was denied by Hagrid (Dumbledore, really) that he goes after Peter.

I completely agree that the big deal made out of his ‘recklessness’ and ‘impulsivity’ in OOTP were completely out of the blue. What really frustrates me about that is also that neither Molly nor Hermione ever apologize for their comments or behavior. I’d have liked to see Molly acknowledge she was unfair to Sirius, because she was panicking about her family being in danger, or Hermione acknowledging that she was passing judgement on Sirius because she had no idea what she was talking about when it comes to PTSD or trauma. Fans are quick to forget that she’s equally as clueless about how to deal with Harry’s PTSD in OOTP, but somehow all of this disappears in time for HBP, and everyone ‘moves on’.

The only person who truly understands Sirius (as much as he can, when dealing with his own trauma) in OOTP is Harry. Remus’ nonchalance at keeping Sirius imprisoned in a house with his worst childhood memories is also baffling. Actually, Harry’s reactions are most often a parallel to Sirius’ reactions - Harry running after Bellatrix, like Sirius went after Peter, after the death of the only family they had. But, Harry’s actions or reactions are always portrayed in a heroic light, they are always because of his love, or saving-people-thing (an oversimplification from Hermione that also frustrates me). JKR’s bias in her portrayal of Sirius is obvious, and fans seem to have run with the caricature they made of Sirius in the movies and in Hermione and Molly’s OOTP words.

hello anon! 💜 you and me both, tbh. i hadn’t quite realised how many people were disgruntled with sirius’ fanon self so its quite fun for me to see all these interpretations.

re the DoM, i thought this was a wonderful post analysing why it wasn’t reckless of him to go, like u said.

re the other things, definitely—loyalty, love, trauma, and grief make up so much of his core traits/responses. people like attributing selfishness/recklessness/immaturity to his decision to go after Peter but i don’t agree with them tbh. he’s just lost his james, he’s in a haze of grief and anger and guilt, and along comes a person who takes his godson on the orders of someone who’s the leader of their side in the war. why wouldn’t sirius, who’s deferred to the order before (harry’s bday), listen? especially when it gives him a chance to go after the traitor? it’s not a stretch, or arrogance, to think he’d be (the only one) capable of catching peter—no one else knows about the switch *and* the animagus thing, after all. it’s entirely possible for him to think about it in terms of neutralising a threat tbh. and iirc, he didn’t even go after peter to kill him or wtv? i’m pretty sure it was firstly a ‘how could u do this’ endeavour but also he’s morally against that kind of violence, isn’t he?

and yes! it frustrated me sm that the narrative itself justified molly and hermione, even when they’re categorically wrong (atleast imo). i’m pretty sure sirius’ arc (and james, to a lesser extent) is why the ‘show, not tell’ thing has made such an impression on me because jkr told us a whole lot about sirius but showed the exact opposite and that’s led to this clusterfuck of a canon characterisation lol.

remus’ lack of care about sirius being imprisoned in GP makes me think that maybe he didn’t know all that much about his childhood, tbh. it lends even more credence to my hc that only james did. there was a shocking lack of care towards the kind of abuse walburga’s portrait & kreacher were hurling at sirius and the implications it had. and harry definitely showed an amount of care & understanding that others didn’t, imo. that comparison between umbridge and walburga, for one. the sirius-harry parallels are unending, aren’t they? because that’s such a good point about peter/bellatrix. it’s interesting how similar actions, similar motivations can be demonised one way and praised the other.