#witchsoup

As Sharp as Any Thorn by Argosy [E, 8.8k]

The road to redemption is a winding one. Christmas at Grimmauld Place, Post HBP.

Art: Night and Her Daughter Sleep (detail), Mary L. Macomber, 1902

Scenes from a Marriage by hiddenhibernian [T, 5.4k]

They say love isn't about what you say, it's what you do. If you see it that way, Hermione doesn't have any reason to complain.

Art: The Lovers, Akseli Gallen-Kallela, c. 1907-1917

Grit by witchsoup [T, 4k]

Hermione attempts to diagnose a secretive patient suffering major curse damage.

Art: Hands Grasping 7, Susan Manspeizer, 2018

remedia amoris by magneticwave [M, 14.7k]

The most amazing thing about Malfoy is not that he managed to build a successful Ministry career out of the total disgrace of his family, but that somehow Hermione only despises him half of the time that they work together.

Art: Circe Offering up the Cup to Ulysses (detail), John William Waterhouse, 1891

Inside by onebedtorulethemall [M, 7.5k]

Something is wrong with Draco Malfoy.

Art: Illustration from The West Wing, Edward Gorey, 1963

With Teeth by provocative_envy [M, 5.4k]

Albus Dumbledore had been wrong about Voldemort’s horcruxes.

Art: Escape Before the Dawn, Devinez, 2023

On the Virtues of Inexhaustible Burning by PacificRimbaud [T, 5k]

In which Draco Malfoy wrestles geology and Hermione receives several gifts.

Art: Saint Augustine (detail), Philippe de Champaigne, c. 1645-1650

I am Sleeping on a Time Bomb by i forgot to blink [M, 4k]

The war is over, and they go to Antarctica.

Art: Barne Glacier, Herbert Pointing, 1911

Tromp as Writ by a_rum_of_one's_own [E, 7.2k]

‘Merlin and Morgana, what’s that?’ he breathed. ‘Muggle underwear. We’re beyond chemises, you know.’ ‘Granger,’ he said. ‘Granger. You can’t. This isn’t fair.'

Art: Saturnina Canaleta de Girona (detail), Federico de Madrazo y Kuntz, 1856

Reset by provocative_envy [M, 4.5k]

And the fear—the fear that he’s learned to swallow, choke on, bury the crushed and fragmented shards of—it's turning the space between him and her and the last six weeks, the last six months, into a gaping yawning brutally invincible chasm; a wall to scale and a cliff to jump and a step he’s never quite been brave enough to take. She takes it for him. Of course she does.

Art: Joan of Arc, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1882

Chiaroscuro by ifyouwereamelody [T, 5.1k]

Draco Malfoy returns to Hogwarts for sixth year a changed man. Marked, dangerous, and tasked with something terrible, he finds himself haunted by memories of the year before — a bright spark of connection that now he's got no choice but to douse.

Art: Vengeance is Sworn (detail) from the Revenge Triptych, Francesco Hayez, 1851

The Street Where You Live by scullyvasan [T, 10.5k]

Muggle childhood AU. Single mother Narcissa Malfoy co-parents her son Draco and functionally parents the little girl down the street. Light homages to Books 1-4 but no wands, no wizards, no Hogwarts — just human magic and the passing years at work.

Art: Daydreams, Thomas Couture, 1859

The Running Club by winterwells [E, 10.4k]

Hermione returns to Hogwarts for the "Seventh Year Was A Cluster F*** So Let's All Do It Again!" year. The war has left its mark, and she copes in the best way she can. Running. And she might pick up some stragglers along the way...

Art: Stripes of Silence, Lu Guada, 2012

Whistle by witchsoup [T, 1.5k]

Hermione spends the majority of her time on the tube, or dashing around Sainsbury's hunting for the last of the vegetarian wraps for her two-thirds-complete meal deal. Though it would be somewhat off-brand, she feels that it's well within her rights to ask David Cameron to lower the price of a meal deal, while he's at it. Possibly her rent, too.

Art: Untitled, Isabel Bishop, c. 1940s-1960s

Lights Out by Phoebe [E, 10.2k]

She smiles, and it enrages him further. Granger is afraid of many things. She's afraid of what lies outside Hogwarts, what could be lurking within the walls. She's afraid of Voldemort, and probably of his father. And she is inexplicably, illogically afraid of the dark. But she's not afraid of him.

Art: The Woman with the Candle (detail), Cornelis Visscher II, c. 1643-1658

Salvage by storycat9 [T, 1k]

Who is Hermione Granger when there’s no one left to protect?

Art: After Igor Svyatoslavich's fighting with the Cumans, Viktor Vasnetsov, 1880

The Object Lesson by Fleurizel [M, 13.6k]

When Hermione is forced to spend a weekend at the Bulstrodes’ country estate glad-handing for the Ministry, she finds an unlikely ally in the only other house guest who hadn’t fled the country when the war broke out: Draco Malfoy.

Art: Hands of the Puppeteer, Mexico City, Tina Modotti, 1929

i think i've seen this film before by magneticwave [T, 24.8k]

It doesn’t occur to Harry until supper that night, while Luna makes a Spanish tortilla with pink and blue potatoes from her garden, that Granger might actually be his friend now. Not just a transferable friend, comfortable with him because she’d grown up with a strangely domestic alternative version of him with short hair, but a real friend. Since he’s not sure how to feel about it, he eats his half of the tortilla in a silent daze and then helps Luna go over the last of the proofs for next week’s Quibbler. 

Art: Still Life with Orange by Süleyman Seyyid Bey, c. 1900

Party Lines by PacificRimbaud [E, 10k]

As the dust settles in the 2000 United States Presidential election, Ivy League student Hermione Granger goes to three different parties, in an effort to think about something- anything- other than the state of Florida. So does that argumentative trust fund prick, Draco Malfoy. A college AU all about enemies who...aren't.

Art: Jasper Johns, Edisto Beach, Ugo Mulas, 1964

i have gone at dusk through narrow streets by i forgot to blink [T, 4k]

Draco, Hermione, and what came before and after the end.

Art: Interior Strandgade 30, Vilhelm Hammershøi, 1901

Breathe by Argosy [T, 14.5k]

The war is over and everyone wants something from Hermione. But that's nothing new; she can handle it. Really.

The Edge of the World by Phlox [T, 6.5k]

The only thing worse than living in the world the way it is now... is to bring a child into it.

Art: The Sea, Gustave Courbet, c. 1865

Eyes Open by orphan_account [T, 14.7k]

Granger corners him one last time, pulling that bloody envelope from her robes. He lets it fall into his open palm. "You know the rules, don't you?" "Only for when I'm at my lowest point," he says. "And after I open it, I go straight to you." Ten years later, and he's falling in love with her.

Art: General Étienne-Maurice Gérard (detail), Jacques Louis David, c. 1816

As Beautiful as Days Can Be by Phoebe [T, 6k]

It would be madness, anyway, an unthinkably slim chance that two children who hated each other, forced together in the dark of Hogwarts' endless passageways, might approach, if not understanding, something close kin to it. Might fight and fuck in that darkness. That one might, eventually, tell the other things; little things that can be very important.

Art: Villa am Meer I (Villa by the Sea I), Arnold Böcklin, c. 1864

altered states by sultrynuns [M, 1.5k]

Draco Malfoy is an omnipresent arsehole, and possibly the worst person Hermione's ever met. Naturally, she runs into him the one (1) time she tries to decompress before exams, only to find him in a chemically altered state. And maybe, just maybe, a little ego death is all he needs.

Art: Proteus, Cy Twombly, 1984

The Witching Hour by neilistic [E, 12.4k]

“I feel like—a meteor crashed into my house and I’m the only one who can see it. I feel like a sketch on a piece of parchment instead of a real person. I feel like I will curse the next person who tells me to ‘just enjoy it’.” Hermione never thought she would be a solo parent. No one told her that it would be boring, and devastating, and that she would be filled with so much joy that she might burst any second. No one told Draco he'd feel the same way.

Art: The Sixteenth of September, René Magritte, 1956

Blood Runs Stale by witchsoup [E, 2.8k]

Sacred Twenty-Eight blood is dying out, but the Malfoys never fail to produce an heir. Radiating triumph, Narcissa lifts a small, hot, red something into the air. And tears it in two.

Art: Every Night a Dream Visits Us, Alfred Kubin, 1900

there's always a straight way to the point by B_LovedHunter [T, 13.1k]

Hermione becomes an Animagus just in time for the start of her 8th year. Surprise. She's a cat. While roaming Hogwarts, she comes across a very distressed Draco Malfoy. Against her better judgement, she decides to comfort him. It turns out Draco is a cat person.

Art: Jardin Bleue, Jean Mallard, undated

you were kind of punk rock, i grew up on hip hop by perennial [T, 8k]

The lindworm shedding a skin was akin to watching a cicada crack open its husk and step out, though the thick shell he left behind collapsed somewhat, like a hot air balloon still holding air but without hot flames keeping it taut. "Ta-da," he said. The disappointment was hope-crushing. He was less black underneath, more streaks of brilliant new iridescent green, but the shape and size of him didn't look any different. Hermione breathed through her panic. After this she only had nine dresses left.

Art: The Bride & The Lindorm, Henry Justice Ford, 1897

La Belle Dame sans Merci by fleurizel [T, 14.2k]

In which Draco is Hogwarts’ triwizard champion, Hermione doesn't need rescuing, and we discover the virtues of hypocrisy.

Art: Ophelia, John Byam Shaw, c. 1900

bitter/sweet by provocative_envy [M, 5.6k]

When I finally came, it felt as if I had been flayed open, spine exposed, a cachet of fireworks set off in half-second increments along my vertebrae as he murmured my name so reverently I could not help but think that there must be some magic to it, to me, to him.

Art: At the Breakfast Table, Carl Vilhelm Holsøe, c. 1888-1935

Where the Magic is by Argosy [T, 11.4k]

After Dumbledore’s death, Draco Malfoy vanished without a trace. Ten years later he may have re-emerged as a robber of Muggle banks. Can a bushy-haired gal from Magical Law Enforcement find happiness in the arms of a grey-eyed Master Criminal?

Art: Tahitian Landscape (detail), Paul Gaugin, 1892

I'm Never Lonely When I'm With You by PacificRimbaud [M, 5k]

"I won’t take the room." She shakes her head emphatically. "Living with you is totally out of the question." "Obviously." “But if I did—" His brow furrows. "Would you?"

Art: Christmas in Madison Square Park (detail), Paul Cornoyer, c. 1910

Best Shot by AccioMjolnir [M, 23.6k]

It's eighth year and Hermione is trying to navigate her post-war friendship with Draco Malfoy and a relationship with Ron Weasley when she gets an unexpected visit from someone who knows her better than anyone: herself. Thrown back from the future, an older Hermione drops a bombshell on her: she has only three days to set things right, or Draco dies.

Art: Gothic Windows in the Ruins of the Monastery at Oybin, Carl Gustav Carus, c. 1828

Room Serviced by pir8fancier [E, 6.6k]

Post Hogwarts. Kids still at war. Angsty, angry, and men and women doing it in hotel rooms. This is obviously an AU by now.

Art: Misery (detail), Cristóbal Rojas, 1886

Admission by eevilalice [E, 7.2k]

Harry's been captured by Death Eaters, while Ron and Hermione have taken a prisoner of their own: Draco Malfoy. What is Hermione willing to do to find Harry?

Art: Camp Fire (detail), Winslow Homer, 1880

Just As It Is by Phoebe [M, 5.8k]

"Magic doesn't matter. It—" She was losing what she had to say. It was slipping away from her, when she had held it so clear and tight in the dim room, staring at herself in the mirror, and imagining another face at which she would speak. "It's not the most important thing about people," she mumbled. Tonks nodded sharply, and Hermione bit her lip. "It's not. That's all. Thank you."

Art: Wolves, Andrew Wyeth, c. 1960s

Anima Sola by storycat9 [G, 1.8k]

Draco has been a hair-trigger ball of panic, dread, rage and exhaustion all Sixth Year. All he needs is one more thing to bring everything crashing down. So of course some arsehole decides it would be hilarious to spike his morning tea with Amortentia.

Art: Closed Eyes, Odilon Redon, c. 1894

Les Pelerins by pacificrimbaud [M, 10k]

Les pèlerins: pilgrims; travelers on a journey to a holy place. Hermione Granger refused to believe in fate. She’d had enough of destiny and prophecies to last a lifetime. But try as she may, she felt, sometimes, that an invisible golden thread stretched out and away from her. All she could do was follow it.

Blood Runs Stale by witchsoup

Sacred Twenty-Eight blood is dying out, but the Malfoys never fail to produce an heir.

Art: A Dream Visits Us Every Night, Alfred Kubin, c. 1902-03

The Doll's House by phatonym [18k]

Helen is on her way to university when her car breaks down in the middle of a rainstorm. She goes to closest house asking for help, and a strange, reclusive man named Draco Malfoy answers. He brings her inside, generously giving her a change of clothes and food to eat. She’s almost perfect, he tells her when she wakes up in his basement. He only needs to change her a little bit and she'll be almost exactly like Hermione Granger.

Helen is on her way to university when her car breaks down in the middle of a rainstorm. She goes to closest house asking for help, and a strange, reclusive man named Draco Malfoy answers. He brings her inside, generously giving her a change of clothes and food to eat. She’s almost perfect, he tells her when she wakes up in his basement. He only needs to change her a little bit and she'll be almost exactly like Hermione Granger.

Art: Nature morte à la mésange, aux souris, aux noix, aux insectes et au vase de jasmins, Jean-Baptiste Oudry, c. 1712-13 [detail]

Inside by onebedtorulethemall [7.5k]

Something is wrong with Draco Malfoy.

Art: Illustration from The West Wing, Edward Gorey, 1963

Mobius by hieronymousbox [22k]

Hermione wakes up in a strange cottage with no way beyond the hedge. She’s having trouble remembering how she got here.

Art: The Hunt in the Forest, Paolo Uccello, c. 1470 [detail]

Hysteria by lady_of_clunn [43k]

Wizarding medical care is not always the route of choice.

Art: The Birth Scene, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux, 1870

Epilimnion by witchsoup [8k]

The tournament was supposed to be safe. Dumbledore was a personal friend of the chieftain, spoke Mermish, commanded the waters of the Black Lake and the movements of the Giant Squid. There was nothing to be afraid of, until the others (the Delacour girl, the Ravenclaw chaser, fucking Weasley) surfaced at the end of the hour. And Granger did not.