Have you ever wanted a story to continue even though it had ended? Or maybe you wanted the backstory of a character and the author just didn’t oblige. No worries, that’s when fanfiction comes to the rescue!
If you don’t know, fanfiction is basically a fan’s take on a certain story. Fanfiction can be written about anything and it can be found everywhere. But, because I am a huge Potterhead, I made a list of ten must-read Harry Potter fanfiction. Obviously, there are lots more, which you can find on fanfiction.net or archiveofourown.org, but these are my personal favorites. Beware of spoilers ahead!
James and Lily
The greatest untold story of the Harry Potter Universe is the story of James and Lily Potter. All we know is that they used to hate each other, and then that hate became love. Numerous fanfiction writers all over the world have taken a stab at explaining that process.
Crossroads by EmmyJean is the basic story of James and Lily, following them through their final year at Hogwarts. It is written from Lily’s eyes and follows her ups and downs as she falls in love with the roguish James Potter.
An Unhealthy Fixation with Aurors by Oynnej is slightly different because it doesn’t follow the exact timeline of Lily and James. Once again told through Lily’s eyes, it tells the story of Lily as a journalist for the Daily Prophet (the magical newspaper), who gets caught in a deadly Death Eater plot.
Tears on the Balcony by Byebyebirdie is actually the first in a series of long fanfictions by ByeByeBirdie. This is the story of James and Lily as they undergo a lot of angst starting their fifth year at Hogwarts, and onwards.
Draco and Hermione
Draco and Hermione (or Dramione) is a pairing that never actually happens in the canon Harry Potter Universe. However, fanfiction authors like playing with the idea of a non-canon pairing, and Dramione is a pairing filled with sexual tension.
Isolation by Bex-chan tells of Hermione and Draco being stuck in Hermione’s dorm room and how sharing one room leads to tension and much more.
We Learned the Sea by luckei1 is a story that follows Draco right after the story of The Half Blood Prince. However, it also adds a warped timeline where Draco changes sides and helps bring down the Dark Lord, while of course finding love.
Rose and Scorpius
Rose and Scorpius have a following as strong as the Dramione following. This pairing is really strong because it is semi-canon (proven in The Cursed Child) and is the pairing of Rose Weasley (Hermione’s daughter) and Scorpius Malfoy (Draco’s son). This pairing is also like the James and Lily pairing because we don’t really know how it happens or how they get together.
Take the Tumble by Kittenshift17 is a long one; 67 chapters to be exact! However, it is a great story of enemies turned something more. Rose and Scorpius hate each other, but Scorpius happens to be Albus’s best friend. How Rose and Scorpius manage to become friends and more is quite a miracle.
Amortentia by goldensnitch18 tells of the love potion, Amortentia. One fateful potions lesson, both Rose and Scorpius smell each other in the love potion and realize that they are meant to be together, but at the time they’re seeing other people.
Draco and Harry
Draco and Harry is a pairing that is also never seen in the canon story of Harry Potter. However, this one fanfiction is a nod to the other non-canon stories we do not see very often, even though Drarry has a large fan following!
Black Truth by InferiorBeing is the story of Draco becoming something more than just a wizard. He has a special Divination assignment that forces him to learn more about his past and his future.
No True Pairing
These sets of stories don’t have one single pairing they follow. They are based more on their plots than pairings. That’s not to say there are no pairings, but rather that the story is stronger than the pair itself.
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Less Wrong is basically the story of the golden trio (Harry, Hermione and Ron), but from a different universe. It’s kind of like a parallel universe where Harry is the adopted child of Petunia and her husband Michael who are loving parents and scientists. They give Harry a proper childhood and he comes into Hogwarts with a completely different outlook.
Destiny Reversed by chattypandagurl is also a parallel universe story where Harry one day wakes up and realizes his parents are alive. He realizes that he no longer holds the burden of the prophecy to kill Voldemort. But now, Neville carries that burden.
Others
My Immortal originally by XXXbloodyrists666XXX is known to be the worst fanfiction ever. Read at your own discretion. I’m not kidding. It was taken down by the site within one year of it being posted, but people have put it back up since then. But it deserves its own category because it’s famous, or rather infamous. I wouldn’t put this as a top ten, but read it if you want!
This list is quite lacking. There are a lot of fanfictions I wasn’t able to list, so let’s make this part one of many, because I’m sure there are plenty more to write about, within and outside of the Harry Potter fandom. Tell me about your fanfiction favorites by leaving a comment below and make sure to share this article on Facebook so we all can broaden our lists of fanfiction!
*All of these can be found on fanfiction.net and all authors are usernames on the site.