#graymatters

It's the lovely lovely @graymatters' birthday today, and I'm so excited to do a five faves for them! I first got chatting to Gray when I was assigned them as a recipient in a fic exchange; we immediately panic-bonded over Big Bang fics and the rest is history. Gray is just so incredibly talented; their writing manages somehow to be so vivid and lyrical while retaining this amazing sense of place. Reading a Gray fic is total escapism; you just find yourself completely immersed in Harry and Draco's world, and it can leave you with a fic hangover for days! If you're not sure if you're ready to dive straight into the longer stuff, just take a look at their microfics, which include some of my all time faves, and then look at this rec by @sitp-recs and this embroidered rec by @onbeinganangel and wonder no more.

Happy Birthday, lovely Gray! Thank you for your friendship and for writing such fabulous fics and I hope you have a lovely day!

Read theartfulldodger / graymatters' work here on AO3!

⭐In Pursuit of Lost Marbles (T, 22k, memory loss, frustration, Legilimency, falling in love again and a stellar supporting cast)

Summary: Every night after work, Healer Malfoy follows the same routine, beginning with a familiar flight of stairs that leads to the Janus Thickey Ward at St. Mungo's. With an air of professionalism, he introduces himself to Harry, his husband of seven years, when a memory curse makes Harry look at him like a stranger. He tries not to flinch when Harry calls him sir, but he smiles when bits of the old Harry emerge. Eventually, Draco leads Harry to the Pensieve where he shows him pieces of the life they've built together, what Harry will come home to, one day, when this is all over. Then, Draco waits. He waits, and he hopes.

⭐Making Lemonade (T, 5.7k, magical tattoo parlours, sticky-hot summers, and first kisses)

Summary: Malfoy has a habit of showing up on Harry's doorstep unannounced. This time, Malfoy has an appointment at a tattoo studio and wants Harry to join him.

⭐Among Ancient Pines (M, 74k, the Northern Lights, wolves, tiny airports, wandlore, magical Alaskan bars, unsubtle stolen touches in front of a very knowing Ginny and a whole lot of feelings)

Summary: Every day, Draco Malfoy tries. With every fiber of his being he tries. But he doesn’t much think about what he’s trying for. In his final term of Healer training, Draco is unfortunate enough to find himself on a plane, the only means of traveling to a small, magical town in rural Alaska. Years of hard work have culminated in an opportunity to work with an experimental wandmaker to study the intersection of Healing and wand theory. When Draco arrives, he doesn't find the wandmaker, but does find his apprentice, who happens to have ridiculously messy hair, a lightning bolt scar, and a definitely-not-charming smile. But Draco isn’t going to let Harry Potter get in the way of him becoming a successful medical researcher, even if Potter is stubborn, hot-tempered, reckless, surprisingly gentle, has bizarre taste in music, and likes to leave his shirts unbuttoned. How hard could the next few months be? A fic about challenging assumptions, discovering self-worth, the silver lining in failing to meet expectations, and finding friendship, love, and purpose in a small Alaskan town that’s steeped in magic.

⭐Do I Make You Cringe? (M, 4.7k, Quidditch teammates Drarry, drinking, locker room banter, friends-with-benefits-to-more-maybe?)

Summary: Harry and Draco play for the Falmouth Falcons, a professional quidditch team known for its questionable sportsmanship. While they've been sleeping together casually for months, Draco wonders if Harry's means of coping with his past might prevent them from having more.

⭐When You Came In, The Air Went Out (E, 3.3k, vampire Harry and perfect horror movie vibes)

Summary: “This road’s not safe for a pretty face like yours.” It’s a crisp voice that sounds like home, melded with the honey-sweet drawl of the South and accompanied by a pale, slender hand, beckoning you as it appears over the roof of the Eldorado. “Need a ride?”

***

Hi darling @graymatters ! I’m so sorry this reply is so so so late, but, well, life has been pretty shitty lately. But I was so happy when you asked me this because I really want to talk about it 😂

So the idea for this fic came a while ago when there was another surge of antis being dicks and calling people who like ships with age gaps “disgusting”. One of my friends got an ask calling her nasty things, so I was brooding over this one morning and I thought “I should write Harry/Teddy! But I don’t know what it would be about...” And of course two seconds later I had ideas. Let’s make this as “problematic” as possible, how do we do that? Harry’s still married to Ginny of course, so there will be infidelity. Oh, and Teddy needs to be pretty young (though I can’t do underage so he’s about 18 I think). Some dubious consent, maybe? Voyeurism for sure! And hung!Harry, so a bit of a size kink. Oh, and first person POV to really tickle antis the wrong way. The problem is I have to find the time to write this shameless porny porn fic. 

What’s that? You wanted an excerpt? Well, I aim to please, so here you go (it’s super ns*w, also super not polished):

I watch him in the mirror: his breathing comes in short shallow bursts, the air is thick with his arousal, with mine, coming off us in waves. His cock lies thick and heavy between my buttocks, it’s so big that it doesn’t even stand up even though he’s fully hard. I shift my hips a bit to slide it further down, gasping as it grazes my hole.

“Please,” I whisper, barely audible for the pounding in my ears.

“You still need to prove yourself,” he hisses, and I fold my lips in between my teeth, nodding. I’m so eager for him to fuck me.

Hello hello Sara! Thank you for the question 💛 13. hardest character to write

I think it's Draco actually, which is funny because I started my first fic with his POV and found Harry's POV difficult to write. I think my idea of Draco is more flexible from fic to fic, and finding the right notes to hit for a given fic is always a bit of trial and error. 14. easiest character to write

Hi!