Snowgall's Best of Drarry Fanfiction: 2015

[snowgall]

What follows is a list of my picks for the best Drarry fanfiction of 2015
(37 fics, sorted by date published)

Note: There are so many lists of favorite Harry/Draco fanfiction, but I'm doing something a little different. Rather than create a list based on genre or length or era or whatever, I've decided to do a series of "best-of X year" lists. This means the year the work was published not the year I read it.

Once again, this list was hard to pare down! I read more fanfic published in 2015 than in any other year, and between my LJ blog and hd_storyroom, I recced 93 Drarry fics from 2015. Consequently lots of good fics aren't included on this list. In the end any list is just an arbitrary thing based on one person's no doubt flawed opinion. It says nothing about the quality of any fics not on it!

More lists:

• Best of 2015
• Best of 2014
• Best of 2013
• Best of 2012
• Best of 2011
• Best of 2010
• Best of 2009
• Best of 2007-8
• Why am I making these lists?

Title Author Rated Length Original Post Pub Date
Right Hand Red lumosed_quill NC-17 73,000 harrybang 31-Jan-2015

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.
• Link to my rec

Seizing Second Chances momatu NC-17 28,300 hd-familyfest 1-Mar-2015

Five years after Draco lost his infant son to complications following his premature birth, he sees a happy, healthy dark-haired child the same age his own little boy would have been playing on the swings in a Muggle play park. One year after the sudden loss of his wife, Harry sees Draco quietly watching children play in a Muggle play park. If they can put the past behind them, can they be each other's second chance at happiness?
• Link to my rec

A New Path
(remix of Abandoned Destinies 2009) oakstone730 PG 3,450 hd-remix 23-Mar-2015

The Stone of Abandoned Destinies had been given to Draco in hopes that it would show him a path out of the darkness. It had saved him, and now he hoped that it would work one more time and guide him on a new path.
• Link to my rec

In His Nature create_serenity NC-17 20,600 dracotops-harry 3-Apr-2015

Harry agreed to have sex with Draco once a month in order to keep him alive, what he didn't agree to was Draco popping up all over the place and disrupting his life in more ways than one.
• Link to my rec

Unexpected Consequences lauren3210 NC-17 39,200 that picture 9-Apr-2015

Harry was going back to school. He was going to play Quidditch, sleep in lessons, hang out with his friends, and generally just enjoy being a kid for a change. And he was also going to do it while being bonded with Malfoy, because apparently life was just going to continue throwing curveballs at him. Harry didn't know why he expected anything different.
• Link to my rec
  PERSONAL ALL-TIME FAVE

Like Diamonds We Are Cut With Our Own Dust raitala PG-13 10,00 that picture 9-Apr-2015

Draco has borne the mark of the Dark Lord for over ten years. It is familiar to him, but he pays the price for it every day, and Harry has noticed.
• Link to my rec

Harry Potter and the Mysterious Portrait Painter
(or How Harry Came To Realise Draco Has A Magnificent Arse) create_serenity PG-13 1,600 that picture 14-Apr-2015

No one had much minded when the pictures first started appearing; even Draco only greeted them with a raised eyebrow. Now it seemed Harry really should have given them more thought.
• Link to my rec

The Coefficient of Friction daftfear NC-17 18,000 dracotops-harry 17-Apr-2015

The war is over, the Death Eater trials are complete, life in the wizarding world is finally getting back to normal, and Harry Potter is restless. Unsure of what he really wants and growing increasingly confused in his personal life, Harry decides to take a holiday - alone - to clear his mind and find himself. He books a trip to a wizarding resort, expecting to be the lone guest, only to find out Draco Malfoy will be there as well. Falling back on old habits, Harry determines Malfoy must be up to something. In his search to uncover Malfoy's secrets, Harry inadvertently does what he had meant to all along - find himself.
• Link to my rec

Make Me a Headline (I Want To Be That Bold) dicta_contrion NC-17 31,000 dracotops-harry 29-Apr-2015

Draco never expected to see Harry doing that again. Especially with someone else, in a grainy photograph that's landed on his desk one Monday morning.
• Link to my rec

Just Go With It keeprunning R 1,000 AO3 14-May-2015

"No one before me, then? I thought, with Ginevera at least-" "I'm in bed with you and you're asking if I've slept with a woman?" Harry thunders, unable filter himself, as usual. Malfoy makes a hushing noise and rubs soothingly at Harry's biceps in a way he has learned means peace. "I am merely mature enough to consider that you might be interested in both - or any - of the genders, even though you are presently interested in me."

Endowment dicta_contrion NC-17 11,000 livejournal 19-May-2015

Potter has got under my skin for far too long, in far too many ways. I fully intend to return the favour.
• Link to my rec

Draco at Nineteen birdsofshore NC-17 5,000 livejournal 2-Jun-2015

It's the middle of the night and Harry Potter is sitting on my bed looking distinctly weird. I've had some fucked-up dreams in my time, but this takes the biscuit.
• Link to my rec
  PERSONAL ALL-TIME FAVE

The Green Vial eidheann_writes NC-17 31,400 harrydracompreg 4-Jun-2015

After months of seeing Harry Potter walk into his Apothecary disappointed and hopeless, Draco offers to carry the baby that Harry can't. Now he's just got to hide the fact that he's been half in love with Harry for years.
• Link to my rec

The Art of Perfection create_serenity PG-13 19,000 hd-smoochfest 7-Jun-2015

Harry cursed the day he'd ever made the stupid bet with Ron because that bet was what had led to him being naked in front of a Muggle art class. Of course Draco Malfoy had to be taking the class, because that's just how Harry's life worked.
• Link to my rec

Just. No. frnklymrshnkly PG 400 dracomalfoy 10-Jun-2015

How does Draco hate leather pants? Let him count the ways.
• Link to my rec

Green Beans and Fedoras twistedm R 3,450 hds-beltane 12-Jun-2015

Harry runs into someone unexpectedly, gets some weird advice, and decides to take it. What could possibly go wrong?
• Link to my rec

Make My Demons Run lauren3210 NC-17 28,500 hd-smoochfest 13-Jun-2015

After giving evidence in defence of Draco at his trial, suddenly Potter is everywhere he turns as he completes his community service. Draco hadn't expected any of it, nor had he expected those long buried feelings he'd once had to come rising back to the surface. He definitely didn't expect what happened next.
• Link to my rec

An Aching Soul writcraft NC-17 15,000 hd-smoochfest 26-Jun-2015

I can't help but wonder if Potter's really as fine as he claims to be. There's something strange about seeing the vanilla hero of the wizarding world eye-fucking someone across a crowded bar before slipping off into the shadows - Draco Malfoy escapes to the Muggle world to avoid his parents, memories of the war and Harry Potter. However, some things prove harder to escape than others as Draco realises when his favourite Muggle haunt is rudely invaded by a post-war Harry who is struggling to cope with grief, growing up and the battle with his inner demons.
• Link to my rec

Of All Things lumosed_quill PG 200 harry100 26-Jun-2015

Harry's a bit lost after the war, except for this one thing.

Somebody to Love khasael PG 31,400 hd-smoochfest 28-Jun-2015

Draco's life after the war is quite different than it used to be. When he finds himself cursed, with little hope for lifting the spell, he sets out to make the most of the time he has left. Getting to know his Aunt Andromeda and his young cousin Teddy feels like a good thing to do, even if it can't help him in the long run...or can it?
• Link to my rec

Mirror, Mirror themalfoymanner PG 780 tumblr 8-Jul-2015

At Harry's insistence, Draco accompanies him to an abandoned classroom to examine an old mirror, unaware of its significance.
• Link to my rec

O Sinners, Let's Go Down birdsofshore NC-17 32,000 hd-collab 11-Jul-2015

It seemed like such a straightforward plan ? a trip to Suffolk to research his mother's family tree and spend a few days relaxing by the seaside. Harry wasn't looking for anything more than that. He certainly wasn't looking for Draco Malfoy. with art by raitala
• Link to my rec

Slip Into My Lover's Hands lumosed_quill NC-17 6,000 daily_deviant 17-Jul-2015

Draco licks his lips. He shuts his eyes, because he doesn't think he can look at Potter when he says it. When he asks for it. "One finger?"
• Link to my rec
  PERSONAL ALL-TIME FAVE

hello goodbye ('twas nice to know you) tamerofdarkstars PG-13 4,800 AO3 18-Jul-2015

Draco Malfoy thinks he might know whose thoughts are scrawling themselves on his skin, but that's crazy. Impossible, even. It has to be a mistake.
• Link to my rec

Alcohol and Apologies CaramelDarling PG-13 1,400 AO3 28-Aug-2015

Harry and Draco drink and talk, mostly about apologies.

Two Weeks and Four Walls fantasyfiend09 R 7,000 hd-eighthyear 9-Sep-2015

Hannah Abbott brought an unusual souvenir back from holiday and shared it with her study group.
• Link to my rec

Dear Diary AWickedMemory PG 20,000 hd-eighthyear 11-Sep-2015

This can't possibly go worse than the last time I kept a diary. // After the war, Harry picks up a journal to write in...and it writes back. Luckily, it's not a Horcrux on the other end this time.
• Link to my rec

Vampauror enchanted_jae R 4,700 hp-creatures 15-Oct-2015

After Harry is infected with vampirism on an Auror mission, Draco Malfoy is assigned to him as his Transition Assistant.
• Link to my rec

Transmutations khasael PG-13 21,300 hd-fan-fair 23-Oct-2015

Transmutation (n.): the action of changing or the state of being changed into another form; the supposed alchemical process of changing base metals into gold. Harry needs help with his current Auror case, and it looks as if only Draco Malfoy can provide it. The Draco that Harry knew at school would never have agreed to do so... but maybe he's changed?
• Link to my rec

We're More Than Ordinary digthewriter R 12,800 hd-fan-fair 27-Oct-2015

After a freak accident, which was totally Potter's fault, Draco has to live as Potter for three days. It isn't a party for Harry, either.
• Link to my rec

A Convenient Impracticality firethesound NC-17 38,000 hd-erised 1-Dec-2015

Somehow Harry ends up agreeing to a fake relationship with his ex-nemesis-turned-friendly-acquaintance-with-benefits, except for some reason it involves an awful lot of actual dating and, sadly, not much sex. Confused? Harry is too, but when has anything with Draco Malfoy ever been as straightforward as it seems?
• Link to my rec

All Roads Lead Home dracogotgame PG 15,000 hd-owlpost 9-Dec-2015

Draco is strong-armed into spending the first Christmas after the War with the Weasleys. And Harry Potter.
• Link to my rec
  PERSONAL ALL-TIME FAVE

The Deeper Symbolism Behind Golden Apples oldenuf2nb R 26,700 hd-erised 16-Dec-2015

When the Wizengamot insists Chief Auror Harry Potter pose for a statue for the Ministry Atrium, why are his friends reluctant to tell him who the sculptor is?
• Link to my rec

Dear Uncle Plume eidheann_writes NC-17 16,500 hd-erised 17-Dec-2015

Life after war is nothing like Draco expected. He only hopes he'll survive it. Especially when his friends are less than sympathetic.
• Link to my rec

Any Instrument dicta_contrion NC-17 130,000 hd-erised 19-Dec-2015

Draco Malfoy wouldn't go back to England for anything less than an exceptional case. Being asked to figure out why Harry Potter can't control his magic might be exceptional enough to qualify.
• Link to my rec

Incongruent agentmoppet NC-17 41,200 hd-erised 28-Dec-2015

The war has left its mark on everyone. The Ministry, as usual, is only too happy to take advantage. But Harry won't let them destroy his home, no matter what he has to do to stop them. And no matter if a certain Draco Malfoy insists on getting him off track.
• Link torec

Solder oakstone730 NC-17 35,000 hd-erised 29-Dec-2015

Seven years ago, Harry disappeared out of Draco and Scorpius's life without a trace after Harry's addictions destroyed his and Draco's marriage. Now, Harry's back, and Draco wants to believe he's changed. But Harry isn't the only one haunted by the past.
• Link to my rec
  PERSONAL ALL-TIME FAVE

General notes:

• The "original post" column provides links to the first place I can find evidence of the work online. However, it can be really tough to determine when and where a work was first published (see my rant here: Dates Matter). So it could be that a fic was actually published earlier somewhere else and I didn't know it. Corrections are welcome.
• I've read a lot of HD fiction, but I certainly haven't read it all, so if I've left off something you think I shouldn't have, I'm happy for you to let me know.
• I may continue to add works to this list but I will try to keep the total number to something reasonable. ( On the challenge of maintaining lists)
• My goal is to add lists for other years as well, time permitting.

How my fic preferences will skew the lists:

• I tend to like fics which contain explicit sex, so the list will probably skew that way. However, I prefer that there be an actual plot, not just sex, and I read PG rated fics too--just fewer of them.
• I like almost all the standard tropes, but I don't usually go for non-magical AUs, unhappy endings, dark!fic, or threesomes
• I don't give a toss who's on top or bottom, so you'll find both here.
• I shy away from epic-length fanfiction unless I'm very confident in the author, so most of my recs will be less than 100,000 words.