Good long fic: Right Hand Red by lumosed_quill
Title: Right Hand Red
Author: lumosed_quill
Artist: iwao
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 73,000
Summary:
Harry felt Malfoy's breath on his lips as they came together over the bottle, hands firmly planted on the floor as though they each needed their familiar soil, refusing to cross into enemy territory. Except that Malfoy no longer felt like his enemy. Malfoy felt inevitable.
Why I loved it:
It's everything I love most in a fic--8th year, party games, first times, coming out, hotness and subtle humor. And oh the many clever bits: Luna not getting the memo that she isn't an 8th year student, Ned-the-Hufflepuff who nobody knows his last name until almost the end of the year, and the point portrait!Snape makes about his ability to keep secrets (omigod this is SUCH a good line!).
And I loved that the author took the standard party games trope and did nifty new things with it. Like Twister: has anyone ever used that one before? If so, I haven't read it, and it was super hot. And then instead of having spin-the-bottle be a game where Harry is dreading that he might be made to kiss Malfoy (which seems to be the more typical trope) she had it be a game where Harry was desperately hoping he'd get to kiss Draco. And truth-or-dare is saved to the end and ends up being meaningful rather than the more typical use as a source of embarrassment.
The only thing I had a quibble with was that Draco got very angry about something Harry did that didn't seem so bad to me, and he maybe stayed mad a little too long for my liking. But honestly, the make-up sex was so awesome that I almost don't care :) All of the characters were so very well captured and it was just a wonderful read--very well done and well worth your time.
Oh! and the artwork by Iwao is phenomenal too. Go and see!
Excerpt:
When Professor McGonagall stood and walked around their table to bring out the stool and the Sorting Hat, Harry knew he should be paying better attention. This was the last time he'd ever see it happen. Everything that happened this year had the potential to be the very last of that thing in his life. Harry reckoned he should be watching the first years walk up to the hat with fear in their eyes while getting nostalgic tears in his own.
But all he could do was watch Malfoy.
Harry knew why he was here. He'd have to be a hermit not to know that returning to Hogwarts to complete his education was part of Malfoy's conditional release after the war. Harry had to wonder if that was the only reason he'd come back.
What would Malfoy be doing if he wasn't here at Hogwarts, gazing fixedly at a spot on the table? Would he be in France with his mother? Would he have gone into hiding? Would he be rallying forces to avenge his family name?
Would he be in Azkaban with his father?
Harry didn't know how much goodness there might be lurking in Draco Malfoy's heart, but the war had shown him evil, and Draco Malfoy was not evil. If he were, Harry would not be seeing what he saw in Malfoy's eyes just now as neither of them paid any attention to So-and-So Peterson, "Hufflepuff". He would not see the shame and dejection on his face. Malfoy would not look like he wanted to melt into his chair and disappear.
(From the recent harrybang fest)
Author: lumosed_quill
Artist: iwao
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 73,000
Summary:
Harry felt Malfoy's breath on his lips as they came together over the bottle, hands firmly planted on the floor as though they each needed their familiar soil, refusing to cross into enemy territory. Except that Malfoy no longer felt like his enemy. Malfoy felt inevitable.
Why I loved it:
It's everything I love most in a fic--8th year, party games, first times, coming out, hotness and subtle humor. And oh the many clever bits: Luna not getting the memo that she isn't an 8th year student, Ned-the-Hufflepuff who nobody knows his last name until almost the end of the year, and the point portrait!Snape makes about his ability to keep secrets (omigod this is SUCH a good line!).
And I loved that the author took the standard party games trope and did nifty new things with it. Like Twister: has anyone ever used that one before? If so, I haven't read it, and it was super hot. And then instead of having spin-the-bottle be a game where Harry is dreading that he might be made to kiss Malfoy (which seems to be the more typical trope) she had it be a game where Harry was desperately hoping he'd get to kiss Draco. And truth-or-dare is saved to the end and ends up being meaningful rather than the more typical use as a source of embarrassment.
The only thing I had a quibble with was that Draco got very angry about something Harry did that didn't seem so bad to me, and he maybe stayed mad a little too long for my liking. But honestly, the make-up sex was so awesome that I almost don't care :) All of the characters were so very well captured and it was just a wonderful read--very well done and well worth your time.
Oh! and the artwork by Iwao is phenomenal too. Go and see!
Excerpt:
When Professor McGonagall stood and walked around their table to bring out the stool and the Sorting Hat, Harry knew he should be paying better attention. This was the last time he'd ever see it happen. Everything that happened this year had the potential to be the very last of that thing in his life. Harry reckoned he should be watching the first years walk up to the hat with fear in their eyes while getting nostalgic tears in his own.
But all he could do was watch Malfoy.
Harry knew why he was here. He'd have to be a hermit not to know that returning to Hogwarts to complete his education was part of Malfoy's conditional release after the war. Harry had to wonder if that was the only reason he'd come back.
What would Malfoy be doing if he wasn't here at Hogwarts, gazing fixedly at a spot on the table? Would he be in France with his mother? Would he have gone into hiding? Would he be rallying forces to avenge his family name?
Would he be in Azkaban with his father?
Harry didn't know how much goodness there might be lurking in Draco Malfoy's heart, but the war had shown him evil, and Draco Malfoy was not evil. If he were, Harry would not be seeing what he saw in Malfoy's eyes just now as neither of them paid any attention to So-and-So Peterson, "Hufflepuff". He would not see the shame and dejection on his face. Malfoy would not look like he wanted to melt into his chair and disappear.
(From the recent harrybang fest)