#hprec

HP-recfest begins, and I really don't know which fic I read first.

But digging around a bit in my memories reminded me of a fanfic of my early AO3 days that I still remember and that deeply affected and impressed me, back in the day.

Give it a read, it's well-composed, wonderful, heartbreaking, thoughtful and adult in the sense that you can feel the writing has a heart AND a head.

Within the HP-Fandom one of my firsts was a Drarry and it inspired me to write some of my own. Have a look at a Soulmate AU of a different kind.

Prompt 11: A WIP you're following fic @hprecfest

@consistentsquash beat me to the punch with her spot-on rec for this fabulous, deliciously angsty fic, but I'll add to what she says below:

Year of the Thestral

Characters: Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, Rolanda Hooch, original character

Pairings: Minerva/Severus, Minerva/Rolanda

Rating: MA/NC-17

Warning: major character death

Word Count: 110,000+

Summary:

Minerva McGonagall has outlived most of her contemporaries and resides in peaceful retirement on a Scottish hillside. Aware that her life is nearing its end, she agrees to share her memories with a sympathetic biographer. There's just one snag: this means facing a period of her life she has chosen to forget. Specifically, that terrible year under Headmaster Snape and the truth about what happened between them.

Why You Should Check It Out:

Currently at 17 of 19 chapters, this is a searing portrait of an uncompromising woman forced by war to make shattering compromises, and how she lives with the aftermath.

In addition to portraits of Snape and McGonagall that are breathtaking in their complexity, @perverse_idyll gives us a treatise on moral ambiguity, impossible choices, and trauma that keeps on and on.

@hprecfest

Theme: A fic with art

Bringing Up Babymort

Pairing: Hermione/Severus

Creators: groot, mywitch

Rating: K+/PG

Word Count: 9,943

Summary: Severus Snape longs to be a father. Be careful what you wish for

Why You Should Check It Out:

This wickedly funny collaboration between writer and artist takes a familiar HP trope and sprints with it.

I won't spoil it with too much detail, but suffice it to say that they make the idea of a magical baby absolutely horrifying in the best and funniest way imaginable.

Severus and Hermione are wonderfully drawn (in words and ink), and their trials and tribulations will be recognizable in spirit, if not in kind, to bewildered and exhausted parents of newborns everywhere.

Slumming with Staff

Characters: Albus Dumbledore, Filius Flitwick, Gilderoy Lockhart, Minerva McGonagall, Pomona Sprout, Rosmerta, Severus Snape, Sybill Trelawney

Creator: mywitch

Rating: MA/NC-17

Warning: some wanking

Word Count: 546

Summary: It's Christmas week 1992 and Gilderoy Lockhart was easily coaxed to share with us his journal. I've included some drawings as well, to clarify things.

Why You Should Check It Out:

"Slumming with Staff" is a rollickingly fun comic strip featuring Gilderoy Lockhart's personal journal. His interactions with his fellow staff members are … memorable.

The Headmaster's Closet

Characters: Albus Dumbledore, Original Character, Severus Snape

Creator: cabepfir

Rating: K+/PG

Word Count: 342

Summary: Professor Snape owns everything he needs.

Why You Should Check It Out: