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I need to take another reading break and finish writing something if I want to post it before the end of the year. Which I really, really do. But reading is so much easier! :/ Well, anyway, reading has prevailed over writing this week. Ah, well. :) I've got a few of the longer ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) smutty_claus stories bookmarked, but here are some one-shots I've loved so far.
Throwdown by Anon (Harry/Tonks, NC-17: Tonks-lives!AU, 5K)
Voldemort had been a piece of cake compared to fighting a pretty girl.
PAIRING WIN! I was just talking to a friend about how we slashers love to keep canonically dead women dead and resurrect the men (which I do all the time myself, so no judgement there), but it's lovely to see the reverse for a change. Tonks survived the war, and several years later, she's Harry's physical combat instructor in Auror training. Winning set-up before I even tell you another word, right? :D They are each wonderfully characterised, and I especially love Harry's narrative voice as he tries to talk himself out of a raging crush on this 30-something family friend, mother of his godson, training superior, and overall super hot, fit, awesomesauce woman.
Ride the Drafts in Empty Bedrooms by Anon (Snape/Narcissa, NC-17, canon character death, implied infidelity, 3K)
Severus is well aware that some of his housemates tend to turn to the liquid comfort of Firewhisky and gin after being so totally rejected; it is now his turn to turn to the sweet assurances of liquid luck.
This is one of the only Snape het ships I can handle, and when it's done well, I really like it. I mean, HI, Unbreakable Vow, anyone? a;lksjf. This short fic does a nice job of switching between a school-age timeline and an HBP-era timeline, and I really like how the author characterises both Snape and Narcissa and develops the chemistry between them. I also really like the style of writing here; I can't really explain what's different about it, but it has a nice, fresh feel, with some well-placed parenthetical asides and streamed-in dialogue and oh, IDEK what I'm talking about. It works, though. :)
A Little Sideways by Anon (Cedric/Luna, NC-17: Cedric-lives!AU, 9K)
Cedric was never as dead as everyone thought. All he needed was one person to see him.
This one had me at the summary. :) It's a lovely, romantic tale about a boy who died and might have become a ghost (or might have come back, except no one can see him but Muggles), and a girl he used to know a little bit who spots him one day and slowly brings him back to life. Sort of. It's a universe only a character like Luna could make work, and the way it unfolds is nothing short of beautiful. I also decided it's part-meta on minor characters like these in general in fic: all it takes is for someone to 'see' them. ;)
Upon the Midnight Clear by Anon (Draco/Hermione, NC-17, 4K)
Years after the war, things have changed. Hermione meets Draco at a Christmas party and goes home with him to make a little music.
This might be a horrible, back-handed sort of compliment to give, but it took me a few tries to get into this one. First of all, unless you're one of maybe two authors I can name off the top of my head who excel ridiculously at it, I probably won't be on board for your first-person narration right off the bat. Second, I, ah, had some trouble with Hermione in the first few paragraphs. BUT! But! I was intrigued enough to keep reading, and by the time Draco enters the scene, I was completely hooked. A bitter, broken-hearted Hermione is actually pretty kick-ass by the time she loops her arm into Draco's at a Christmas party and starts chatting him up just to make a philandering Ron jealous. I was rooting for her the whole way. Draco, meanwhile, is quiet, charming, and there is a passage about his relationship with his son that melted me into a puddle of goo. It's a great set-up and has a lovely follow-through. If you're wary of first-person the way I am, I recommend plunging in and letting yourself sink into the POV. It's really nicely done.
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