@raraoaawr / raraoaawr.tumblr.com
"And then Draco did something none of them expected.
He picked his son up like he weighed nothing. The expression on Scorpius' face was one of shock and priceless confusion. Hermione almost laughed until she felt a hand on her lower back steering her in the direction of his office. Then his hand found hers as he led the way.
Just as stunned as Scorpius, she quietly went along with it."
~Measure of a Man by @inadaze22 chap. 24
I have a previous post about Harry Potter fan fiction I’ve read back in 2020, and I have read a multitude of other stories that deserve recognition because they are so good. If you are looking for amazing Dramione plots, angst, smut, fluff, or one-shots this is the list for you. Here is my list of stories I have read so far this year:
The Fallout by everythursday
Okay lets talk about this story real quick. This is the second story I read in the Dramione fandom, and to be honest it was a lot. I didn’t understand the hype about it, and I thought the story wasn’t all that. I recently read it again, and let me tell you, the story IS ALL THAT. This war fic now lives in a special place in my heart because it has everything. The character development of both Draco and Hermione is astounding. The action, the plot, the smut (THE SMUT) is so so good. I think if you have read it and didn’t particularly like it, I think you should have another go and really understand the story and who the characters are. 10/10 story in my opinion.
I don’t usually read WIP, but this story is mind blowing. A story about a very bad ass Hermione and a very closed off Draco, and the best part (in my opinion) is little Scorpius. Make sure you have a box of tissues while reading this one because not only is it heartbreaking in some parts, but you will really feel for all the characters. The relationship between Hermione and Scorp just warms my heart, but breaks it at the same time. The writing of this story is some of the best I have read, and it captures you in the life of Hermione in every chapter. Updated bi-weekly, and it reminds me of waiting for TV show episode. I get so excited when a new update comes around.
I read this fic in one sitting because I could not put it down. A first person point of view through Draco and his struggles after the war, dealing with loss, drug addiction, and PTSD. I cried reading this, not even going to lie. The way the writing is structured made me feel like I was Draco experiencing his trauma. Hermione and Draco in this are very cute and have past trauma that they are both dealing with, and eventually Draco is the man that Hermione deserves to be with. The relationship that Draco has with the Weasley’s is my favorite thing in this story. This story is pure angst, so if you’re feeling up to reading that sort of thing this story is perfect.
A fan favorite in the Dramione fandom, and well deserved. I had a tough time reading this one because the plot is devastating. I actually stopped reading it in the middle of it, but I had a dream about the story and how it was going to end, so I knew I had to finish it, and thank God I did. Hermione loses her memory while she is married to Draco, and Draco tries everything to have her fall in love with him. But he is Draco Malfoy, so of course she falls in love with him all over again (any sane woman would). The writing is beautifully done through Hermione’s perspective, and the characters in this are beautiful, as well. Definitely a story to read.
The prequel to Wait and Hope, and a beautiful one at that. We get to see how Hermione and Draco fall in love before their marriage, and it is so real it hurts. The perfect amount of angst, fluff, and smut (and a little time alteration never hurt). We get to see insight on how messed up Draco’s family is, and how Draco is one loyal man to his woman. This story just makes Wait and Hope even worse to read because we get to see how much they love each other and how far they are both willing to go. I love both of these stories because it is a realistic kind of love that they both deserve.
I swear Senlinyu makes the best Hermione ever. This Hermione is so smart, yet so stupid, and Draco is just a mess. This story is very cute, very funny, and has a very happy ending for both of them. Hermione has wings! But how? Draco is a Veela, duh, and Hermione is his soulmate, but it takes a minute for her to actually figure that part out. I’m a sucker for Creature fics, and this one takes the cake for best short story Veela Draco.
8th year fic, with a little bit of everything. Runes, sexual tension, vampires, fairies, and P.O.R.N and S.M.U.T.. The banter and snark of both Draco and Hermione is so funny and very entertaining. Another story I could not put down. Draco’s Slytherin side really shows in this story, and I love it. The side characters in this story are gold and really put everything together. Also, the Squeaky Mice are my everything.
This is a story of healing, with my favorite aspect: music. Hermione has a mysterious neighbor that plays beautiful melodies on the piano, and all she wants to do is thank them for helping her heal from the war. Low and behold Draco is the mysterious musician neighbor, and they get together through music, apologies, and healing. It is truly a great story, and one of my favorites.
This story is currently on hiatus because some of y’all don’t know how to act, but it’s okay because this story is still so good. 6th year Dramione with Draco as a werewolf, and Hermione as his other half trying to make it easier. Draco is of course, a stubborn bastard, but Hermione is a bad ass who helps him, hurts him, and heals him. I couldn’t stop reading because the angst hurts so good, and protective/confusing Draco is my favorite.
Traditions by @raven-m-3
this is the first story I read in 2021, and it was a perfect start to the year. After the war, Hermione and Draco visit Hermione’s parents without their knowledge of magic, and the visit is a sweet affair. This story includes flashbacks from the war, and how Draco and Hermione fell in love through it all. Hermione’s parents are the cutest and very supportive of their relationship even with the memory loss. The dialogue is very sweet, especially with Hermione’s dad and Draco. Also the smut. *fans self*
If you are looking for a fic with Hermione, Draco, and Scorpius, this story is perfect. Hermione is no where to be found after the war, and everyone believes she is dead, except for Draco. He does find her, but her memory is gone, and he also finds a little boy with light blonde hair with a name of a constellation. Draco sticks around, and he and Hermione fall in love all over again. A great fic with a great family relationship. I’m a sucker for Scorpius in every fic, and his and Draco’s relationship is precious in this. A memory loss fic, with a little bit of mystery, and a happy family in the end.
I love a good soulmate story. This story takes place from the beginning of Hogwarts to the end, and the Dramione is absolutely fabulous. A story full of fluff, love, angst, and a happy Draco (finally). The love Draco and Hermione have for each other is unstoppable, and I love that Draco’s family is supportive of their relationship, even if it takes while. A great story to read if you are looking for something light-hearted and fluffy (and smutty).
A story that I could not put down for the life of me. Draco has a hard life (boohoo) and Hermione is trying, oh and they’re married by tattoos. They love each other, but of course neither wants to admit it, but the tattoos give it away. This story has action, angst, and great developing relationship between Hermione and Draco.
If you are looking for an Omegaverse fic, this is it. This story has a sweet Draco and Hermione that are protective and love each other with every part of their being. Their relationship starts off in 6th year and extends after the war with their Alpha-Omega bond. Fluffy, smutty, and a lot of Ron bashing (because he really is an asshole). A great story to read if you’re looking for a great Omegaverse trope.
Baking equals forgiveness because Hermione is that good of a baker. A very cute story with Draco and Hermione full of friendship, romance, and of course desserts. Loved reading this one because it shows how affected each person is after war, and Draco and Hermione’s relationship is the cutest.
This story is a BDSM centric story, and the best one I’ve read. Keeping that in mind, it also has romance and a sex club that Draco and Hermione need after the war. I loved reading this one because it shows the struggle of both Hermione and Draco, and how they handle their trauma through sex. The smut is insane, but the story also expands upon that. They know they both want and need each other, but the evil little devil of miscommunication gets in the way. A great story to read it you want PWP.
First and foremost, look at the tags. Another BDSM story with Hermione struggling how to cope with the loss from the war. I really enjoyed reading this story, but it might be sensitive to other readers, so again, look at the tags. Draco and Hermione’s relationship grow with sex and of course occlumency. Draco is a dick but also a sweetheart, and Hermione is trying not relieve what she survived through the war with Draco’s help. A cute ending with a great smut.
When I finished this fic, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. A dark look on how Hermione tries to restore her parents memories after the war. Draco finds Hermione in Australia trying everything she can to restore their memories, and Draco ends up falling in love with her. There are very cute moments, and moments where you think the best is yet to come, but alas, it does not come. I am a huge Hermione stan, and in this fic she is BAMF, but you can’t help feel for Draco throughout the story. I have a love/hate relationship with this story, and the ending is bittersweet, and you learn that forgiveness is sometimes hard to come by.
Draco and Hermione are both imprisoned after Hermione’s torture from Bellatrix. While in the cell, they learn from each other, confide in one another, and depend on each other for survival. A story with a secrets, virtue, and love coming from both characters and how they show it. We, along with Draco, learn that he will take care of Hermione through sickness and in health, which is why I love this story. This story has a different ending than the canon series of the war, but Draco and Hermione’s love reigns all.
What will Hermione do when Draco steals the very secrets on how to end war from her? Everything, of course, she’s Hermione damn Granger. 7th year Dramione where Hermione does not go Horcrux hunting with Harry and Ron. This fic reminds me of a sexier, less plot induced Isolation. The smut is amazing, Hermione and Draco learn a lot about each other, and Hermione learns she is not the only one who can change the tides of the war.
Vampire! fic, and this one is so fun. I’ve never read a vampire fic, but the story of this one is so interesting, and both Draco and Hermione take the bad ass level to level 100. Hermione gets captured during the war and is taken to vampire Draco, but they already have history together, so what will happen? The good thing about this fic is that if you don’t like the first ending, there’s another one! There are two endings for this story, and both are complex and satisfying (one more than the other). This story was a fun one to read.
A lovely story with a lovely Dramione. After the war, Draco gets sent to Azkaban, and Hermione helps him keep his sanity in tact both during and after. I love the way colubrina writes her stories because they are so sweet and so detailed, and she perfectly captures how Draco and Hermione would act. A great short story with a cute plot and a great relationship.
Okay now for the one-shots that I couldn’t get out my head…
The writing in this story is beautiful and I have read it again and again. What better place to ask for forgiveness, reconnect, and love each other than in Paris? Stunning dialogue, beautiful scenes, and a perfect ending. Loved this one.
This story is set during war, and Hermione and Draco both get away from the war to fool around with each other, but they realize it becomes more than that. This is another story which I could not stop thinking about. It left me wanting more and wondering what was going to happen with their relationship. A perfect bittersweet ending to this story.
What’s a better a Christmas than being snowed in with the love of your life? This was a super cute and sweet story between Hermione and Draco, and you can tell they understand each other better than anyone else. I really enjoyed reading it.
I love a good scar fic. Draco and Hermione bond over their scars, and it’s really cute and sweet and smutty, and one that I just love reading.
I liked this fic because it reminds me of my mom… just not as angsty and less trauma and no blonde hair. Draco decides to run and run and run, and he gets invested in something along with Hermione’s help. Draco gets immersed in muggle culture, and watching him trying to figure it out is hilarious. Also, runner Draco is very attractive to me.
Inadaze22 does it again with the fabulous writing. Sexual tension galore with these two I mean oh my God. Trivia night with Hermione and Draco is just what I needed. I loved this one… just read it.
Hermione’s schedule is very important to her. It is also very important that she must not miss her dick appointment with Draco Malfoy. Seriously just smut, but lovely BDSM smut at that.
I never knew I needed Shakespeare quotes to come out of Draco Malfoy’s mouth, but let’s say I am very glad I read this. Hermione doesn’t think it’s half bad either (no seriously, she is me in this story).
A bunch of creature one-shots which include Hermione with cat ears (adorable), Draco as a demon (hot as fuck), and Hermione biting Draco’s butt with her Vampire teeth.
And that’s it! I have to thank all these writers for creating these stories and working so hard to give us Dramione galore. Your work does not go unappreciated or unnoticed, so thank you!
“You could start by moving.” He rested a hand on the sofa next to him, eyes firmly on her as he patted the cushion once. Twice. It was a bold gesture, an indication that temporarily confused her until its meaning left Hermione both jarred and flushed in an aggravatingly adolescent way.
Move closer.
Chapter 24, Measure of a Man by @inadaze22
“Is he gone?”
Hermione looked over her shoulder. “Still watching.”
Measure of a Man by @inadaze22 Chapter 24
Flashback to the daily prophet chapter 2 🔥
The screen door bangs. Then Taryn rushes in front of me, her gown blowing in the morning breeze. If I didn’t know what a real princess of Faerie looked like, I might think she resembled one. For a moment, it seems impossible that we’re related, no less identical.
“What happened to you?” she asks. “You look like you got into a fight.”
I don’t speak. I just keep walking. I am not even sure where I am going, as slow and stiff and sore as I am. Maybe to Bryern. He’ll find me a place to crash, even if I won’t like the price later. Even bunking with Grima Mog would be better than this.
“I need your help,” Taryn says.
"No,” I say. “No. Absolutely not. Never. If that’s why you came here, now you’ve got your answer and you can leave.”
“Jude, just hear me out.” She walks in front of me, causing me to have to look at her. I glance up and then start to circle around the billowing skirts of her dress.
“Also no.” I say. “No, I won’t help you. No, I won’t hear you explain why I should. It really is a magical word: no. You say whatever bullshit you want and I just say no.“
"Locke is dead,” she blurts out.
I wheel around. Above us, the sky is bright and blue and clear. Birds call to one another from nearby trees. In the distance, there’s the sound of construction and road traffic. In this moment, the juxtaposition of standing in the mortal world and hearing about the demise of an immortal being — one that I knew, one I kissed — is especially surreal.
“Dead?” It seems impossible, after everything I’ve seen. “Are you sure?”
The night before his wedding, Locke and his friends tried to ride me down like a pack of dogs after a fox. I promised to pay him back for that. If he’s dead, I never will.
Nor will he ever plan another party for the purpose of humiliating Cardan. He won’t laugh with Nicasia nor play Taryn and I against one another again. Maybe I should be relieved, for all the trouble he caused. But I am surprised by feeling grief instead.
Taryn takes a breath, as if steeling herself. "He’s dead because I killed him.”
Cardan, a deep and gorgeous character, and Jude, a marvelous protagonist unlike any I’ve enjoyed in the past. Poured a bit of my soul into this piece, trying to replace the bit that vanished after finishing the latest novel.
Well, this looks familiar! A few weeks back, I was testing out a vellum paper to use on an upcoming papercraft and decided to use Jude’s dress from one of my illustrations – to get familiar with the translucency and different vellum coats. Afterward, I decided to finish the illustration outright and worked on Cardan and the rest of the papercraft over the past weekend… ‘cause you don’t give Jude a bunch of attention and then just banish her, abandon her, leave her to sit in time-out on a shelf! *COUGH*
Overall, I looooove the effect that the vellum papers offered here and I’ll look to use them in more future pieces!
Notably, April marks a year since I started this account and a year since I began papercrafting again. With my upcoming Wicked King papercraft in illumicrate’s April box, this will mark my 4th TFOTA papercraft, and a great callback to the first papercraft on this account. I’m very humbled about how much this account has grown and to how many people my artwork has reached; all because of you, my followers and viewers. I only post on a few platforms, but you wonderful people help share the experience, and I’m very grateful!
Please look forward to some exciting things coming down the pipeline in the next few months! Thank you!
Warning! This contains minor spoilers but without context for the Wicked King! Be careful of the notes! Ohhh I’ve been sitting on this joke for a while. I didn’t mean to get as detailed here, but Nicasia and the Bomb were sooooo fun to draw, especially their outfits! (and then Cardan just gets a shirt, hah) Happy [early] Valentine’s Day! ♥️🧡
I feel like we are all worrying about how Cardan actually loves Jude and how she will break the exile. And I’ve seen people being like “Why doesn’t Jude get it, he did it to protect her?!” Not only do I not think it’s as simple as him wanting to protect her, but I don’t think Cardan is all that romantic. I haven’t quite worked out his motives, but I really do not think it’s “wow I need to protect the love of my life Jude from Faerie.” If anything he’s motivated by justice for his brother, and perhaps a perverse sense of trickery. He’s already proven to be smart, as smart as Jude is. And I think part of why they are attracted to one another has to do with with each other’s inherent selfishness and trickery. After all, faeries are known for trick—what’s not to say that being cunning and a bit wicked it a legitimately attractive trait for many? Furthermore, Jude acts like a faerie in many aspects, and has been socialized as one. So the attraction to cunning goes both ways, but I digress.
What I really want to get at though, and what I think the most important issue is with exiled Jude—and maybe the key to how she is going to act in QoN—is how Cardan’s actions in the last scene make her feel. Versus how she feels in the marriage scene.
We know that Jude has struggled her entire life with feeling powerless. She was powerless to help her parents, powerless to reject Madoc’s care, powerless against the fae in school, powerless against pretty much anything anyone wanted to do to her in the absence of rowan berries. Having so little control over her own life obviously has shaped her entire character, and it makes sense why Jude of all people would want power. (I’ve seen her criticized for being power hungry and I’ve done it as well, mostly because she isn’t necessarily someone we’d want in power. But I do think it makes sense why she *does* want it.)
When Cardan asks Jude to marry him she thinks it’s a cruel joke:
“As though someone looked into my heart and saw the most ridiculous, most childish desire there and used it against me.”
Now, we don’t know what that desire is explicitly, is it power or is it Cardan?
I think it’s both, and I think the two are essentially the same. I think it’s agency, personal power, the ability to change things in her own life to have control. At her core, Jude is afraid, and she doesn’t want to be anymore:
“Maybe I wouldn’t have to be afraid to love him. Maybe I wouldn’t be scared of all the things I’ve been scared of my whole life, of being diminished and weak and lesser. Maybe I would become a little bit of magic.”
Now obviously there’s the bit about her loving him in here, which yeah we all freaked out over. But I think it’s mostly that she’s afraid to love him as she is: mortal and powerless (compared to faeries), and this ties into her thirst for personal agency. It’s because she doesn’t have a single choice for herself, not even who she loves, that she’s so scared, that she accepts his proposal, that the proposal itself is her “most childish desire.” Because it’s protection. And it’s power. And it’s agency. And…and it’s the ability to be vulnerable. To fall in love, without keeping one eye open at all times.
We could argue here that Jude has backed herself into this corner, that had she not decided to involve herself in royal politics she would be able to fall in love with a normal not-Cardan faerie, but I think the other faeries have shown us that they sort of all…are cruel to an extent. So any love she had would be subject to a power dynamic and a constant struggle, which as we see is what she is both tired of and habituated to.
Anyways, Jude wants power. Because she wants personal agency. Because she just wants to maybe, be safe? But not in the way that Taryn wants safety: with Locke, subject to his desires, but assured of her place in life. Jude wants safety on her own terms, because of her own agency, and because of her own power. She does not want to be weak or lesser. Being Queen, having power over the court—a court that has subjected her to countless evils—is what she wants. Quite desperately.
And that’s why what Cardan does in the last scene devastates her so much. Because maybe it’s protection, but it’s not on her terms, and it’s not because of her power:
“He looks at me for a long moment, but his gaze is mild, as though he’s expecting me to be fine with exile. As though I am nothing more than one of his petitioners. As though I am nothing at all.”
In the next lines we see Jude humiliated:
“Tears of frustration and fury prick my eyes as, a beat too late, Cardan laughs with them. At that moment, knights clap their hands on my wrists.”
Cardan helped Jude attain power that she wanted when he asked her to become Queen. She was a part of the negotiation: she frees him from her command, he makes her Queen. They wield equal agency, equal potestas (Latin for power, but also connotations of capability. I know I’m pretentious but I can’t write about power without thinking about Roman potestas). But in this scene, she isn’t in power at all, in fact all of her personal agency, what she has worked towards for the entire book is demolished. Not only does Cardan treat her as nothing, but those around him mock her. The court that we already know Jude hates, the court that she wants power over, mocks her because of something that Cardan does. Not only can she not force him to speak the truth of their marriage vows aloud as her ability to command him is gone, but she cannot fight back as there are too many knights. Jude is a uniquely capable person, in both mind and body, and this scene sees her robbed of both.
Jude believes that he thinks nothing of her. Nothing. A girl who has already suffered so many slights, who has had now tasted actual power—not provisional power, but power that would make her equal to the person she might love, power that would ensure they had an equal relationship, and power to take her vengeance on her abusers—sees that power taken away by the very person she thought she now might have the ability to safely love.
So of course, of course Jude doesn’t think of it as Cardan protecting her or as exile for her own good. Of course she’s eating depression fish sticks while watching Yuri on Ice. The guy who she wanted to love just ripped away the only thing in her life that ever made her feel like she was capable of loving him, and of having personal agency. Of course she’s not going to forgive him easily. Of course she’s going to be out for blood. Of course she doesn’t recognize it as protection, if that’s even what it is. No one has ever really protected her. No one has safeguarded her.
Power, power that she obtained with her own wiles and strength made her feel protected. Being Queen made her feel protected. Not…being sent back to the mortal realm.
It doesn’t matter what Cardan’s intentions were. It matters that his actions made Jude feel weak, the very last thing she ever wanted to feel.
So if she’s out for his blood in Queen of Nothing, then I say girl, go for it.
I can finally share this piece with you guys. this Artwork was commissioned by @shelflovecrate
hope you guys will like it xoxo
I just love painting this two.
Characters belong to Holly Black
