Rec List for 2021 Wrap! My Year in HP Slash Fic Reads <3
Happy Friday! I wanted to share a month by month list of the new fics I read in 2021. I read around 529100 words worth of new fics in total based on my bookmarks!!
Selection Criteria
Completed fics only
I already reread the fic at least twice. But usually more.
Fic was posted on AO3 as completed in the 2021 month it got listed on**. It's definitely possible these fics got posted earlier outside AO3.
Didn't include rereads of fics written before 2021.
January 2021
Vaticination by kelly_chambliss.
Pairing - Minerva McGonagall/Poppy Pomfrey
Words - 5900 words
She didn't need magic affirmation. She needed only to trust Minerva. . .and herself.
Why I read and reread it! - Because this fic gives an awesome Poppy! She's like this brilliant mix of confident and insecure. Her character growth over the fic is A+! Also I love the descriptions of the student medical problems. Incredibly sweet and emotional fic. It hit me hard when I first read it during the lockdowns <3
It's definitely not my favorite from the author. But it's a fic I needed in 2021! Hope + love + things ending well!
February 2021
Jeeves and the Secret Society by @perverse-idyll
Pairing - Snape/Albus Dumbledore
Words - 12100 words
Poor old Snape was forced to tip his head back to continue gazing deep into Albie's eyes. Romantic, what? Personally I was dashed relieved I wasn't in Snape's shoes. When Albie continued to stand there like an iridescent lamppost that has nothing better to do than loom everywhere and cast chalk-striped light, Snape whispered, "You."
Why I read and reread it! - Also one of the lockdown reads! It introduced me to Jeeves and Wooster which was like the highlight of the lockdown time. I fell in love with the TV series. Also the books! Whoa! It's one of those reading styles I thought I was going to forever hate. But this fic! <3 Beautiful fic with tons of emotion. It's the full 360 of emotion! It is a crossover fic. But don't let that stop you! You are going to come out of this fic shipping a new ship :D
It's definitely not my favorite from the author. But it's the fic I needed in 2021! Humor + love + things ending well!
March 2021
Pandemic by eldritcher
Pairing - Harry/Voldemort
Words - 264000 words
"She insists that I entertain her on occasion. She sings The Rime of the Ancient Mariner in a loop unless I comply."
"How have you been entertaining her?" Harry demanded, fury and mirth battling in him at what his life had become.
"Onanism," the portrait explained. "He assists me in my anthropological studies, Harry."
Onanism.
"You are tossing off to a portrait?"
Why I read and reread it! - The lockdown fic. Honestly there are fics and then there's this fic. Looks totally ridiculous on the surface. But delivers incredibly like nothing I read before. Like MyWitch explained on this art Pandemic is a love story for the ages. Brilliant emotional connect. Beautiful, beautiful, absolutely stunning intergenerational fic covering over a century of time.
It's definitely not my favorite from the author. But it's the fic I needed in 2021! Loneliness + love + things ending well!
April 2021
A Peculiar Haunting by @skybluethunderhead
Pairing - Snape/Harry
Words - 49000 words
It couldn’t be.
Potter sat there, his mop of hair unruly, dressed in a rich red cloak. Adorned with gold stars, wands and moving wind. He wore his old spectacles and his straight brows were carefully brushed. It appeared after years of worn down loose clothing, the brat had found his father’s vanity at last.
Why I read and reread it! - Classic Snarry mood! Angst + Love + things ending well!
May 2021
The Dressing Room: A Play in Three Acts, with Chorus by PurpleFluffyCat
Pairing - Hermione/Minerva
Words - 10000 words
Minerva saw the clouds pass across Hermione’s features, and tutted. This wouldn’t do at all. Sodding Muggle customs… It was time for some Gryffindorish straightforwardness, then. She tried to school some sentences together through the haze of her own arousal, and held Hermione’s gaze with her own. “You are sublime, lassie. Like a Renaissance Venus. I’m sorry to gawp, but I do find you breathtakingly attractive.”
**Why I read and reread it!** - MINMIONE! <3 Thanks for the ship name, @danni-the-puff! Flangst + things ending well! Also really love the wholesome Christmas vibes of the fic. If you are looking for something seasonal this is the fic for you right now! Go for it!
June 2021
Remember Me to Cheetham Hill by Delphi
Pairing - Snape/Filch
Words - 13200 words
“Hypothetically speaking…” He licks his lips. “I wouldn’t need to let anyone do anything at all. If I didn’t care for the look of someone, I could get him into the stall, cast a memory charm, and take all his money. Hypothetically speaking.”
A bit nasty, that. Thieving, really. But it’s only from Muggles, you suppose, likely more than a few who’d thieve what they could from a lad half their size who didn’t know his way around. Ones who’d leave worse than a few marks on his hips.And it’s a little flattering, isn’t it. Him here with you. Liking the look of you. Confiding a thing like that.
Why I read and reread it! - This has everything that we see in the best fics on reddit /r/nosleep. Black mirror episode! This is one of the rare fics I read this year without a happy ending. No regrets!
The Seventh Stardrop by @ac1d6urn
Pairing - Snape/Harry
Words - 39000 words
Harry shrugged. "I need some decent hobby, don't I? Can't keep on fishing all day, apparently. That takes patience."
He enjoyed the sight of a curling lip. "Hmph."
Why I read and reread it! - Wholesome summer Snarry fic. Classic Acid style! This was feel good and just what I needed! If you need a refreshing and gentle read this is the fic for you! Absolute mood booster! Technically a crossover. But you definitely can read it without knowing about Stardew Valley!
Byzantium by eldritcher
Pairing - Snape/Sirius, Snape/Dumbledore, Snape/Rosmerta, Snape/Walburga, Minerva/Ollivander
Words - 9000 words
Had he married Lily, James would be alive. Perhaps then-
"It was her fault," you say, as Snivellus rambles on about McGonagall refereeing duels with wit and verve. "Lily's fault," you explain. "She was a fiery thing. I told James to marry a girl who wouldn't be trouble."
"She wasn't-" Snivellus stutters, eyes wide in betrayal and grief and rage. "She was worth ten of him."
"She destroyed your life. She destroyed James's." She destroyed yours. If James had married one of the other cows, he would not have-
Why I read and reread it! - Not so wholesome Snape fic. My personal favorite is Hollow Moon because Sirius and his Issues. Beautiful prose, totally weird and totally brilliant.
August 2021
Interesting Mistakes by kelly_chambliss
Pairing - George/Remus
Words - 1800 words
You can't really explain it, not even to yourself. There's just something about George that draws you. Maybe it's his occasional moments of tentativeness, of vulnerability. He seems so lost without Fred, like a blind thing groping. He reminds you of yourself as you were for so many years after being bitten.
Why I read and reread it! - Postwar hurt/comfort with a BIG dose of realism. But happy/hopeful ending! I really needed something like this to feel the summer mood!
Suspiria by @foxconfessorandthewolf
Pairing - Snape/Harry
Words - 5000 words
You shrug, silent. He wants to find a strange optimism in life, in assenting to living, but you’ve always been driven by fear. You live simply because you’re afraid of nothingness. There’s a void staring back at you, calling out your name. It weighs on you like your childhood church, like your father’s hand gripping around your own, squeezing your knuckles together until they ache, dragging you into that dusty room, the hundreds of beating hearts and breathing lungs, all giving thanks to the Lord above. Are you reborn, Severus? Do you want to be?
Why I read and reread it!- Unhealthy Snarry is the best Snarry. It can't get unhealthier and better than this! Probably the angstiest fic I read this year. No regrets! Also really really love the POV here! Intense read!
September 2021
The Frabjous Triad by eldritcher
Pairing - Snape/Aberforth, Snape/Harry
Words - 33000 words
Three freckles has Snape, along the hook of his nose, and they are spread out to form a wonky C. Three half-rings of teeth cut across his breast, and he wears them comely in dawn's light. Three snores he hums light, before he roars a belly-deep thunderous snore, again and again, and the cadence lulls Harry half-asleep.
Why I read and reread it! - Whoa! Absolute get wrecked intense fic. As in the reader is going to get wrecked. Dark, beautiful and totally unhealthy on like all the levels. But The Tumtum Tree as the Snarry epilogue is really wholesome. Also the most beautiful prose I read anywhere! Strange but beautiful.
October 2021
Bestiarium by eldritcher
Pairing - Snape/Giant Squid, Snape/Harry
Words - 17800 words
Letters arrive. All are burned, in the hearth lit once more. All are burned, but for the boy's. The boy's letters are unread, carefully bundled in twine, and placed on the mantel. He wonders how the boy must have begun the letter. Had the boy written his name? He cannot bring himself to find out.
In the healing house, a healing man speaks his own name. The house creaks as a purring cat, the man breathes easier, and the wound of a name scabs over.
Why I read and reread it! - Probably unhealthy. But definitely sweet. POETIC. This is what fluff looks like when eldritcher writes it. Don't skip the Giant Squid fic. It's legit brilliant.
Teardrop in Your Palm by @danni-the-puff
Pairing - Scorpius/Harry
Words - 2100 words
“Scorpius, what…?”
Oh no. Harry rubs his face and Scorpius leaps to his feet. What if the potion is off? Or brewed incorrectly? It hadn’t ever mattered, because Scorpius never meant to use it! Not on anyone, not ever! And now — “Professor?”
Harry smiles. “Scorpius. It’s Harry, I’ve told you that.”
Why I read and reread it! - Because Danpuff delivers the hottest angstiest one shots guaranteed to break your heart. Feeling sympathy for Scorpius is a mood. Especially when you shouldn't be feeling sympathy for him! The entire Danpuff writes for Kinktober 2021 collection is brilliant.
November 2021
Two Hands by pauraque
Pairing - Hermione/Ginny/Pansy
Words - 200 words
The three of them sit companionably by the bonfire, sweet smoke curling and clinging to their jumpers
Why I read and reread it! - because PERFECT COMPERSION <3 I don't even know how Pauraque wrote something this beautiful in a Drabble. But read it! The entire HP Halloween Collection 2021 is awesome.
December 2021
Something to Say by Anonymous
Pairing - Snape/Harry
Words - 30000 words
“Are you absolutely sure you can’t understand him?” Madam Pomfrey asked. “We’d hoped you’d be able to help him communicate. Maybe help us solve the mystery and break the curse.”
“No.” Harry shrugged. “Sorry. I can’t help him.”
Why I read and reread it! - because classic Snarry with angry Harry <3 It's got a brilliant Harry characterization in a postwar setting. Actually the Harry characterization had some beautiful throwback vibes to When the Rose and the Fire Are One! I really loved that. Also really loved their relationship dynamics. This fic has a perfect Snarry happy ending! The entire Secret Snarry Swap 2021 collection is awesome!
