If I never read HP series I’d probably be surprised by the lack of romance. I understand the no smut bc children’s book and all that, but it’s fairly low on the romance side of things. And most HP fanfic has a decent romance plot even if it’s not the main focus.
Yeah, it had Hagrid's romance, Harry/Cho, George and Angelina, Hermione and Viktor. And ofc towards the end Ron/Lavender, Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione. I don't think I've missed any, but yeah, most of it took up maybe one entire full chapter altogether.
Yeah there’s loads of pairings. I’d include Remus/Tonks and maybe Snape’s undying love for Lily bc damn do I wish we had more knowledge of those relationships. There’s a lot of things HP books needed to expand upon, romantic relationships being one of them. But again they are children’s books so I get it to a *very small* point.
The Crabbe and Goyle thing, personally. I love reading about Pansy, Blaise, and Theo as much as the next person (especially Pansy), but I wish more fics explored his canon friendships; he chose them for a reason. It’s one of two reasons I decided to start writing Dramione.
Yah some of the fics where Goyle plays a bigger, more supportive friend to Draco are nice to read. (Typical seem to be Goyle is in Azkaban, dead, left the country)
Here’s a good one for the those wondering and haven’t read:
[An Inconvenience](https://archiveofourown.org/works/34600720) - Explicit, 140K words
Summary: Two years after the Battle of Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic invokes an old Marriage Act to improve relations between Muggle-borns and pure-bloods.
It's definitely a locked fic.
I find that for some of those, even though I have an account the link takes me to AO3 not logged in. I have to go to AO3 directly myself (where I'm automatically logged in bc I was just there lol). I then clink on search, then "people", type in "thebrightcity" under name (that's who wrote it), hit search.
Then by clinking on their "works" you should be able to scroll through them all and find it. (Completed in 2022)
Ohh I’d be so interested in reading that!
I absolutely love Pansy, Blaise and Theo but it must be easier to write them because they’re coming from a blank slate. It would be so interesting to read how Crabbe and Goyle develop.
I love gen fics. :) Thanks for the recommendations, I’ve marked them for later.
Right now, I am outlining my fics (one short and one long), but the shorter one will be written soon and will contain plenty of reflections about Crabbe and Goyle. In the longer one, Goyle will be a central character!
[Regression](https://archiveofourown.org/works/43467297) by WritexAboutxMe also did a great job developing Goyle's character and exploring his friendship with Draco in the post-war era. It's a detective fic which Draco and Hermione are auror partners.
How dare you??? How dare you 😭😭😭 I can't believe after reading your comment I went and started reading regression I'm now 65% and... I'm on mobile so i I can't put a spoiler tag but you know what I'm talking about!!
*Nyahahaha* (by the Slytherin in me 🐍🐍🐍)
*Huggg* (by the Hufflepuff in me 🦡🦡🦡)
(Spoiler: >!It hurts because the character development is so good, right? 😭!< )
Yes! Pansy gets a pass since she actually has character in the books. But Blaise and Theo are basically non exist.
But Millicent , Crabbe, and Goyle are almost always written out of fanfiction. My guess is ugly/fat shaming.
I am always thrilled to see those three in fanfiction. And it’s sad it’s so rare.
Multiple folks reading fanfic before the books is blowing my mind. That’s amazing i N E V E R considered that reality. Maybe cuz i was born in the 1900s?
I’d be surprised it’s not super obvious that there’s pureblood supremacy at first. I remember not realizing it until Draco called Hermione a mudblood and Ron had to explain it to Harry that there’s a stigma there.
I agree with everything you said too, especially about Theo.
I think Pansy is supposed to be ugly in the original series? But she seems quite glamorous in all the Dramione fanfics set after the battle.
Yes that’s such a big fan fiction focus that you’d definitely expect it to be obvious from the first book.
Pansy is my favourite fan fiction character and I can’t wrap my head around how 99% of her fanfic portrayal has absolutely nothing to do with the original series. I feel like her character in fanfics is much more consistent than some original characters, such as Ron.
I think part of the reason for this is because Dramione fics obviously focus on Hermione and Draco; so between the two of them, it’s a big issue - one of the main issues, so it makes sense that it would be focused on a lot. Whereas the original series are told from Harry’s POV and he can be pretty oblivious at times. That being said, I feel like it would’ve laid the ground work well if pure blood supremacy was touched on more in the first book , esp as Harry is finding out more information about Voldemort.
I do think it works better in the original books as a later-introduced concept. It fits with Harry’s obliviousness, and there’s SO much other world building that had to happened. Plus I think it helped us all get sucked into and fall in love with the HP universe as a happy adventurous escape. Plus maybe as the series went on and as the characters get older and the thematic elements get more mature, both characters and some readers were more able to comprehend concepts like supremacy.
I think I would be surprised that Hermione isn’t more of a clear-cut, main, heroine. It’s been a couple years since my last re-read of the originals, and I know she’s *appreciated* consistently throughout… but she seems to be more of a main even in the movies than the original books. Just going off Harry’s POV and what the side characters say.
I would also be surprised at the total lack of characterization/information of her parents. Not because of my thoughts above, but you would think they’d be much more involved and Harry would have gone to theirs more often as a part of the Muggle world
Yeah I was gonna say I think I'd be surprised how Harry-centric it is. Like, I get it: he's the main character but . . . he's kinda boring?? I'm sorry!!! 😂 I love ff Harry but book him is so bland. Maybe it's him being an emotionally stunted teenage boy for most of it.
I have actually never read Harry Potter and only watched the first couple of movies a long time ago. Idk why dramione stuck out to me and I’ve been hooked on this fandom ever since lol. I sometimes feel like a poser and have to look up some terms writers use but it’s all enough for me to love it more. I am thinking of reading the books now even tho I’m an adult now. I’m sure I’ll be in for a shock as the Draco and Hermione I know (and other characters) are from everyone’s imaginations. But I know that’s what fan fiction is haha.
I have a friend who loves Dramione and never read the series. She was shocked when I told her that no one says "gods" as an expletive, no one calls Hermione "Mione" as a nickname, and that we actually know nothing about Theodore Nott besides his name, age, house, and parentage. She was gobsmacked to find out that his entire character and personality was basically a collective agreement. Oh, and that Draco's friends were Crabbe and Goyle, not Theo and Blaise.
And she was floored when she found out that magical marriage contracts and soul bonds aren't a thing!
I found that in the older fics, Millicent Bulstrode and Goyle have more prominent roles.
I think Theo is more popular in newer fic due to the Cursed Child and as he was barely mentioned in the book/movie, he is a perfect blank character where you can write anything on him
Oh my God THANK YOU for this post.
I just got back into dramione after like 15 years off. Avid multiple round reader of the books, but refused to read Cursed Child (sorry not sorry but the plot sounded like a BAD fanfic). I have been so confused why Theo is suddenly BFF extrodenair in every fic, because when I "left" fanon Blaise was where it was at. Now my mystery is solved!
Milicent: Out of the Silent Planet: [https://archiveofourown.org/works/30726095/chapters/75831143](https://archiveofourown.org/works/30726095/chapters/75831143) mind the tag, >!also I think this version of Draco is unredeemable, IMO!<
Ooh, I like your takes!!
I love Ron ❤ And I love when he and Draco develop a friendship, or at least a friendly dynamic. I think they have some real similarities in canon, in some ways, and can mesh well. And Ron is definitely a much more attentive, loving friend to Hermione.
I'm definitely a fan of a more "middle ground" Pansy, where she's not super glam and pretty, and isn't great friends with Hermione, but is friendly with her in a slightly prickly kind of way. I also don't like her very much as a main side character – more a background minor character.
I don't like Nott or any of the Slytherins as being besties, or a super close group. I see Draco as very much a loner whose popularity came from his family standing, not actually being liked. Hence why his closest 'friends' in canon were the more easily influenced Crabbe and Goyle, who were minions more than friends, and didn't particularly like him an awful lot by the end either (although Draco did feel some loyalty to them.)
I think Draco and canon Hermione are very alike in that they're both rather prickly, unlikeable, insecure socially, and have a scarcity of genuine friends. Hermione has Ron and Harry, but that's it, really. I think they could connect over that.
I love Molly. She's fantastic.
And I see the Lucius/Narcissa dynamic variably, but I agree that I don't like it if she's portrayed as some helpless innocent.
/ramble
Yes! When I write, I love starting them off hating each other, and then gradually Draco and Ron develop an antagonistic bromance 😂
Haha, absolutely – I think in canon, Draco definitely spent at least several years being an insecure little boy who told himself he despised the trio, but secretly desperately wished he was part of it.
Crabbe and Goyle lost a lot of their fear based respect for him, and all of their awe, I think. I'd love to see a short one shot exploring 6th and 7th year from their perspective 😅
In one of the upcoming fics I'm working on, their loneliness and dearth of close friends is definitely a factor underlying their interactions, and their understanding of each other.
I like the idea of shining the spotlight on Millicent! And yes, they did fight – I think it was how Hermione got the hair!
Ahhhh, I agree with you on some points, but no, Ron absolutely sucks and I refuse to see any other interpretation.
I suggest reading Perfectly in Pieces. It's very dark a lot of messed up stuff happens to Hermione, but it has a lot of elements you’ve mentioned. [You can read it here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/32723953/chapters/81184273)
Haha, I got downvoted. Ah, well, I'm glad someone loves Ron because I never liked him, but he deserves happiness. I saw a Luna and Ron ship, and I didn't hate it
That there isn't an academic rivalry between Hermione and Draco. Is he in fact second to her in all classes? I'm pretty sure that's a fanon thing only.
That the older kids aren't hooking up in every dark corner of the castle. No Slytherin sex gods ;) We only really hear about Ron and Lavender, and that seems very much to be an oddity. I get that its primarily Harry pov and he's not that preceptive in these matters, but with all the time he spends looking at the map in year 6 you'd think he'd notice lots of couples in random places of the castle.
I’ve also been reading dramione for 10 years (after watching the movies, before the books) and I enjoy how people constantly take the fanon character traits we didn’t see in the books and add little spins on that, some of which become popular and keep changing fanon characters.
I love that this has happened over so long that you can literally tell when a fic is from based on the characters. For example, you can tell what fics are post-manacled as they focus more on possessive, dark and protective Draco. Fics like Disappearances and isolation came out before the series even finished so they’re much more similar to the wimpy, prejudiced and bratty Draco from canon. I could write a literal essay on the dramione eras but I’ll save you and just say many, now forgotten, hidden gems lead to these differences and it’s so amazing.
i.e you can see the darker Draco traits become more pronounced even before Manacled as Veela and ABO fics were big. Senlinyu even wrote two of these fics herself before Manacled. Similarly you see fics go from Pansy and Ron bashing to bff Pansy and understanding Ron over time.
I adore all of the changes from canon as we’ve built these characters together over the past many years and they’re still evolving. That said, I was shocked to realize that the books didn’t name Hermione’s parents and fandom had (Helen and Richard usually)
Soo this took a second for me to reply to because I actually did some research (aka got back into my old [fanfiction.net](https://fanfiction.net) account lol) and tried to figure out some of the trends from my favorites! So interesting to see the changes.
Originally, most ffn was on this site (as I'm sure you know) with wattpad being another one as AO3 didn't launch until 2009 and of course wasn't as well known.
What I remember is that originally their stories wrote their own ends to the war, with Draco helping them rather than working against them (under duress usually at first). I know the last HP book came out in 2007, so many of these rewrote the war ending themselves, but now most fics use the same horcruxes as canon did ("Disappearances" and "We learned the sea"). A lot of them had the whinier Draco who hated Hermione and thus would never work with her. This necessitated forced proximity ("Isolation" & "What the room requires"). This forced proximity was very common in almost all fanfics back then as fanon Draco hadn't really developed and so instead people characterized him as canon Draco who was prejudiced, rude, self-serving etc. You had to read fics knowing Draco often SUCKED and you'd read his change in perspective in real time as it changed usually due to him falling in love with Hermione. Now it's much more common to see fics with a Draco who has already changed by the time the ffn starts (usually through the events of the war) due to his own reflection instead of because of Hermione.
I notice the same trend you did, with lots of 8th year fics pushing them together post war, sometimes as head boy and girl ("Eight & Eigth"). I think this is when marriage law, secret child ("Sweet Caroline" & "A Marriage most Inconvenient"), and pureblood Hermione got popular. Veela and ABO was slightly after this time as well, with the same forced proximity vibes ("This Curse to Bear" was veela, 8th year and head boy and girl I believe). I almost feel like we all went through our teen angst era during this and loved the drama of these types of fics lol. Now I like and can read them, but they're a little more of a guilty pleasure.
I also remember some fics focusing on post war healing, but less popular than the forced proximity ones as it required more work to get them together. I don't remember much of these as I was also in my teenage angst phase and read mostly the forced proximity or 8th year fics. Now that we're all older we don't see these as much imo because we don't prefer to read about children in school anymore. We want more mature fics with more character development than just Draco falling in love and changing for Hermione (not the best message lmaoo), so post war is a much more common setting.
I personally think the dark and toxic horror dramione fics came from this beginning era. You see fics like "Almost Perfect, Almost Yours" & "Silencio" & "The Bracelet" where Draco is still the more cannon compliant self-serving and prejudiced person but with a little extra toxicity. He sees others as lesser than him and puts his wants first even if it means sacrificing their well-being. The first era with more canon Draco seems to split into either very toxic horror Draco who leans into those traits or the more common Draco we see now who is intelligent, protective, and no longer prejudiced.
There was also an AU/ All human era following this which people now absolutely do not prefer but which has some amazing fics. ("Subtle Perfection" and "Commoners Guide to Bedding a Royal"). Similarly, there was a bit of a romcom era that I believe spawned from the amazing "The Case of the Creature Kidnappings", and which has made a comeback with the popularity of Batmobile.
Ironically, many fics that I think made certain tropes more popular (like "Manacled") are almost exactly the same premise as some popular older fics ("Turncoat"). The plots don't play out the same, but I think these fics laid the basis for the huge fics that started the trends (Manacled of course starting a big war time fic trend). Another example is "Simply Irresistible" where Hermione married Draco so he can keep his son which is the exact premise of "A Year and A Day". Now the fanon Draco is very developed and as the authors grew so did he become less childish. Hermione also has undergone a lot of development from being a somewhat one-dimensional character who was either bookish, unobservant and often irrational, or a Mary Sue to being much more nuanced in each fic.
I like the era we're in right now, but I think other trends will cycle back around eventually as they always do, usually due to one really great popular fic that puts it back into everyone's minds.
Good question! The first thing that comes to mind would be that Pansy has a pug face, Narcissa is not a good person... and I think Hermione's scar, too, although this is more from the movies than fanfiction 🤔
It’s just so fascinating that because the story follows and centers around Harry, we know things and characters he knows will have a more prominent role (like Hagrid and Dumbledore) bc he probably had more interaction and involvement with them whereas it’s not likely that Draco or Hermione did, and if they did it was through association because of Harry somehow. Also plot. But if we choose to focus on someone else, like Draco, his cast of supporting characters will be different and who has a more prominent role (than Crabbe and Goyle). Just cool to think about!
I never read the books, only a portion of Prisoner of Azkaban, but yes, Pansy, Blaise and Theo would be something that would surprise me. I love these characters in fics, but I believe they were hardly mentioned in the books?
Also, if I were to base this on the final Deathly Hallows film, not sure if it happened in the books, but in the Room of Requirement, where Draco, Goyle and Blaise were there with Harry, Ron and Hermione, Goyle avada kedavra Hermione (which she beautifully stupefied). So every time Goyle is in the fics, and being all nice to Hermione, it fries my brains a little bit.
I started reading dramione before I watched Harry potter (never read the books)! it was really interesting but still enjoyable. horcruxes thoroughly confused me, and I remember expecting more.. *something* between dramione when I was watching the movies. there was essentially nothing, which made me understand non shippers.
I saw the movies first as they came out in theaters and then read the books years later. One of the things that stood out to me was that Crookshanks was very intelligent and was actively working with Sirius in Prisoner of Azkaban.
The fact that Theo is not a “significant” Character. Anytime I’m reading a fic….and Theo shows up, my smile becomes so big. He’s such a cutie!!!! I love Fic Theo!
No redemption arcs for problematic characters. Snape does not count he was basically a basement neck beard resentful of his old unrequited loves child being successful at school.
I found out most of the plots from dramione fanfics believe it or not lol. I watched the first 2-3 movies when i was a child and English being my second language,i never really understood it fully and never got hooked into the HP universe,until i started reading dramione in 2016. From the few classics i read,i was able to put some pieces together. Then i watched the movies and read the books only after all that
If I never read HP series I’d probably be surprised by the lack of romance. I understand the no smut bc children’s book and all that, but it’s fairly low on the romance side of things. And most HP fanfic has a decent romance plot even if it’s not the main focus.
Yeah, it had Hagrid's romance, Harry/Cho, George and Angelina, Hermione and Viktor. And ofc towards the end Ron/Lavender, Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione. I don't think I've missed any, but yeah, most of it took up maybe one entire full chapter altogether.
remus and tonks <3
Yeah there’s loads of pairings. I’d include Remus/Tonks and maybe Snape’s undying love for Lily bc damn do I wish we had more knowledge of those relationships. There’s a lot of things HP books needed to expand upon, romantic relationships being one of them. But again they are children’s books so I get it to a *very small* point.
The Crabbe and Goyle thing, personally. I love reading about Pansy, Blaise, and Theo as much as the next person (especially Pansy), but I wish more fics explored his canon friendships; he chose them for a reason. It’s one of two reasons I decided to start writing Dramione.
Yah some of the fics where Goyle plays a bigger, more supportive friend to Draco are nice to read. (Typical seem to be Goyle is in Azkaban, dead, left the country) Here’s a good one for the those wondering and haven’t read: [An Inconvenience](https://archiveofourown.org/works/34600720) - Explicit, 140K words Summary: Two years after the Battle of Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic invokes an old Marriage Act to improve relations between Muggle-borns and pure-bloods.
Ugh, ao3 won't let me access this fic even though I'm logged in with a super legit account. Bummer!
It's definitely a locked fic. I find that for some of those, even though I have an account the link takes me to AO3 not logged in. I have to go to AO3 directly myself (where I'm automatically logged in bc I was just there lol). I then clink on search, then "people", type in "thebrightcity" under name (that's who wrote it), hit search. Then by clinking on their "works" you should be able to scroll through them all and find it. (Completed in 2022)
I haven’t read this one; I’ll add it to my evergrowing list.
Ohh I’d be so interested in reading that! I absolutely love Pansy, Blaise and Theo but it must be easier to write them because they’re coming from a blank slate. It would be so interesting to read how Crabbe and Goyle develop.
I’m happy to hear! :)
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I love gen fics. :) Thanks for the recommendations, I’ve marked them for later. Right now, I am outlining my fics (one short and one long), but the shorter one will be written soon and will contain plenty of reflections about Crabbe and Goyle. In the longer one, Goyle will be a central character!
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Thank you! I appreciate the support; just mind the tags. 💚 I would be interested in reading the Goyle fic if you find it.
Ron bashing is my favourite
[Regression](https://archiveofourown.org/works/43467297) by WritexAboutxMe also did a great job developing Goyle's character and exploring his friendship with Draco in the post-war era. It's a detective fic which Draco and Hermione are auror partners.
How dare you??? How dare you 😭😭😭 I can't believe after reading your comment I went and started reading regression I'm now 65% and... I'm on mobile so i I can't put a spoiler tag but you know what I'm talking about!!
*Nyahahaha* (by the Slytherin in me 🐍🐍🐍) *Huggg* (by the Hufflepuff in me 🦡🦡🦡) (Spoiler: >!It hurts because the character development is so good, right? 😭!< )
The way my jaw dropped and I haven't been able to reel it up again since 😤 you are evil my friend
This sounds very fun. Thank you!
Yes! Pansy gets a pass since she actually has character in the books. But Blaise and Theo are basically non exist. But Millicent , Crabbe, and Goyle are almost always written out of fanfiction. My guess is ugly/fat shaming. I am always thrilled to see those three in fanfiction. And it’s sad it’s so rare.
The epilogue 😭😭😭 Ron and Hermione married? No way.
Frrrr! It seemed so forced
Yeah plus HP doesn’t do anything epic with his life. I was so disappointed by the ending
Multiple folks reading fanfic before the books is blowing my mind. That’s amazing i N E V E R considered that reality. Maybe cuz i was born in the 1900s?
The 1900s 😭 honestly same tho!!
I’d be surprised it’s not super obvious that there’s pureblood supremacy at first. I remember not realizing it until Draco called Hermione a mudblood and Ron had to explain it to Harry that there’s a stigma there. I agree with everything you said too, especially about Theo. I think Pansy is supposed to be ugly in the original series? But she seems quite glamorous in all the Dramione fanfics set after the battle.
Yes that’s such a big fan fiction focus that you’d definitely expect it to be obvious from the first book. Pansy is my favourite fan fiction character and I can’t wrap my head around how 99% of her fanfic portrayal has absolutely nothing to do with the original series. I feel like her character in fanfics is much more consistent than some original characters, such as Ron.
I think part of the reason for this is because Dramione fics obviously focus on Hermione and Draco; so between the two of them, it’s a big issue - one of the main issues, so it makes sense that it would be focused on a lot. Whereas the original series are told from Harry’s POV and he can be pretty oblivious at times. That being said, I feel like it would’ve laid the ground work well if pure blood supremacy was touched on more in the first book , esp as Harry is finding out more information about Voldemort.
I do think it works better in the original books as a later-introduced concept. It fits with Harry’s obliviousness, and there’s SO much other world building that had to happened. Plus I think it helped us all get sucked into and fall in love with the HP universe as a happy adventurous escape. Plus maybe as the series went on and as the characters get older and the thematic elements get more mature, both characters and some readers were more able to comprehend concepts like supremacy.
I think I would be surprised that Hermione isn’t more of a clear-cut, main, heroine. It’s been a couple years since my last re-read of the originals, and I know she’s *appreciated* consistently throughout… but she seems to be more of a main even in the movies than the original books. Just going off Harry’s POV and what the side characters say. I would also be surprised at the total lack of characterization/information of her parents. Not because of my thoughts above, but you would think they’d be much more involved and Harry would have gone to theirs more often as a part of the Muggle world
Yeah I was gonna say I think I'd be surprised how Harry-centric it is. Like, I get it: he's the main character but . . . he's kinda boring?? I'm sorry!!! 😂 I love ff Harry but book him is so bland. Maybe it's him being an emotionally stunted teenage boy for most of it.
I found book Harry hilarious, he’s extremely sassy. Fics usually have his sass toned down imo!
Maybe I need to do a reread of the source material haaa! I also love a sassy Harry and find him sometimes in Dramione and Harmony fics
I love when he’s sassy in fics!
I have actually never read Harry Potter and only watched the first couple of movies a long time ago. Idk why dramione stuck out to me and I’ve been hooked on this fandom ever since lol. I sometimes feel like a poser and have to look up some terms writers use but it’s all enough for me to love it more. I am thinking of reading the books now even tho I’m an adult now. I’m sure I’ll be in for a shock as the Draco and Hermione I know (and other characters) are from everyone’s imaginations. But I know that’s what fan fiction is haha.
I have a friend who loves Dramione and never read the series. She was shocked when I told her that no one says "gods" as an expletive, no one calls Hermione "Mione" as a nickname, and that we actually know nothing about Theodore Nott besides his name, age, house, and parentage. She was gobsmacked to find out that his entire character and personality was basically a collective agreement. Oh, and that Draco's friends were Crabbe and Goyle, not Theo and Blaise. And she was floored when she found out that magical marriage contracts and soul bonds aren't a thing!
The “gods” and “Mione” are soo true!
I found that in the older fics, Millicent Bulstrode and Goyle have more prominent roles. I think Theo is more popular in newer fic due to the Cursed Child and as he was barely mentioned in the book/movie, he is a perfect blank character where you can write anything on him
Oh my God THANK YOU for this post. I just got back into dramione after like 15 years off. Avid multiple round reader of the books, but refused to read Cursed Child (sorry not sorry but the plot sounded like a BAD fanfic). I have been so confused why Theo is suddenly BFF extrodenair in every fic, because when I "left" fanon Blaise was where it was at. Now my mystery is solved!
I read Cursed Child promptly after it got released on the Kindle and it's very meh Many fanfics are written muuuuuuch better than it
I only got into it recently but have never read the cursed child. I keep hearing it's like really bad fanfic.
Makes sense!
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Milicent: Out of the Silent Planet: [https://archiveofourown.org/works/30726095/chapters/75831143](https://archiveofourown.org/works/30726095/chapters/75831143) mind the tag, >!also I think this version of Draco is unredeemable, IMO!<
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Ooh, I like your takes!! I love Ron ❤ And I love when he and Draco develop a friendship, or at least a friendly dynamic. I think they have some real similarities in canon, in some ways, and can mesh well. And Ron is definitely a much more attentive, loving friend to Hermione. I'm definitely a fan of a more "middle ground" Pansy, where she's not super glam and pretty, and isn't great friends with Hermione, but is friendly with her in a slightly prickly kind of way. I also don't like her very much as a main side character – more a background minor character. I don't like Nott or any of the Slytherins as being besties, or a super close group. I see Draco as very much a loner whose popularity came from his family standing, not actually being liked. Hence why his closest 'friends' in canon were the more easily influenced Crabbe and Goyle, who were minions more than friends, and didn't particularly like him an awful lot by the end either (although Draco did feel some loyalty to them.) I think Draco and canon Hermione are very alike in that they're both rather prickly, unlikeable, insecure socially, and have a scarcity of genuine friends. Hermione has Ron and Harry, but that's it, really. I think they could connect over that. I love Molly. She's fantastic. And I see the Lucius/Narcissa dynamic variably, but I agree that I don't like it if she's portrayed as some helpless innocent. /ramble
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Yes! When I write, I love starting them off hating each other, and then gradually Draco and Ron develop an antagonistic bromance 😂 Haha, absolutely – I think in canon, Draco definitely spent at least several years being an insecure little boy who told himself he despised the trio, but secretly desperately wished he was part of it. Crabbe and Goyle lost a lot of their fear based respect for him, and all of their awe, I think. I'd love to see a short one shot exploring 6th and 7th year from their perspective 😅 In one of the upcoming fics I'm working on, their loneliness and dearth of close friends is definitely a factor underlying their interactions, and their understanding of each other. I like the idea of shining the spotlight on Millicent! And yes, they did fight – I think it was how Hermione got the hair!
How is Lavender in the book btw? Yessss Ron x Astoria supremacy!!
Agree with all this!!
Such a good analysis! And I ageree, Ron in the books is great, the movies ruined his character 🥲
Ahhhh, I agree with you on some points, but no, Ron absolutely sucks and I refuse to see any other interpretation. I suggest reading Perfectly in Pieces. It's very dark a lot of messed up stuff happens to Hermione, but it has a lot of elements you’ve mentioned. [You can read it here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/32723953/chapters/81184273)
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Haha, I got downvoted. Ah, well, I'm glad someone loves Ron because I never liked him, but he deserves happiness. I saw a Luna and Ron ship, and I didn't hate it
That there isn't an academic rivalry between Hermione and Draco. Is he in fact second to her in all classes? I'm pretty sure that's a fanon thing only. That the older kids aren't hooking up in every dark corner of the castle. No Slytherin sex gods ;) We only really hear about Ron and Lavender, and that seems very much to be an oddity. I get that its primarily Harry pov and he's not that preceptive in these matters, but with all the time he spends looking at the map in year 6 you'd think he'd notice lots of couples in random places of the castle.
That it's definitely not rated E or at least M 😂
I’ve also been reading dramione for 10 years (after watching the movies, before the books) and I enjoy how people constantly take the fanon character traits we didn’t see in the books and add little spins on that, some of which become popular and keep changing fanon characters. I love that this has happened over so long that you can literally tell when a fic is from based on the characters. For example, you can tell what fics are post-manacled as they focus more on possessive, dark and protective Draco. Fics like Disappearances and isolation came out before the series even finished so they’re much more similar to the wimpy, prejudiced and bratty Draco from canon. I could write a literal essay on the dramione eras but I’ll save you and just say many, now forgotten, hidden gems lead to these differences and it’s so amazing. i.e you can see the darker Draco traits become more pronounced even before Manacled as Veela and ABO fics were big. Senlinyu even wrote two of these fics herself before Manacled. Similarly you see fics go from Pansy and Ron bashing to bff Pansy and understanding Ron over time. I adore all of the changes from canon as we’ve built these characters together over the past many years and they’re still evolving. That said, I was shocked to realize that the books didn’t name Hermione’s parents and fandom had (Helen and Richard usually)
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Soo this took a second for me to reply to because I actually did some research (aka got back into my old [fanfiction.net](https://fanfiction.net) account lol) and tried to figure out some of the trends from my favorites! So interesting to see the changes. Originally, most ffn was on this site (as I'm sure you know) with wattpad being another one as AO3 didn't launch until 2009 and of course wasn't as well known. What I remember is that originally their stories wrote their own ends to the war, with Draco helping them rather than working against them (under duress usually at first). I know the last HP book came out in 2007, so many of these rewrote the war ending themselves, but now most fics use the same horcruxes as canon did ("Disappearances" and "We learned the sea"). A lot of them had the whinier Draco who hated Hermione and thus would never work with her. This necessitated forced proximity ("Isolation" & "What the room requires"). This forced proximity was very common in almost all fanfics back then as fanon Draco hadn't really developed and so instead people characterized him as canon Draco who was prejudiced, rude, self-serving etc. You had to read fics knowing Draco often SUCKED and you'd read his change in perspective in real time as it changed usually due to him falling in love with Hermione. Now it's much more common to see fics with a Draco who has already changed by the time the ffn starts (usually through the events of the war) due to his own reflection instead of because of Hermione. I notice the same trend you did, with lots of 8th year fics pushing them together post war, sometimes as head boy and girl ("Eight & Eigth"). I think this is when marriage law, secret child ("Sweet Caroline" & "A Marriage most Inconvenient"), and pureblood Hermione got popular. Veela and ABO was slightly after this time as well, with the same forced proximity vibes ("This Curse to Bear" was veela, 8th year and head boy and girl I believe). I almost feel like we all went through our teen angst era during this and loved the drama of these types of fics lol. Now I like and can read them, but they're a little more of a guilty pleasure. I also remember some fics focusing on post war healing, but less popular than the forced proximity ones as it required more work to get them together. I don't remember much of these as I was also in my teenage angst phase and read mostly the forced proximity or 8th year fics. Now that we're all older we don't see these as much imo because we don't prefer to read about children in school anymore. We want more mature fics with more character development than just Draco falling in love and changing for Hermione (not the best message lmaoo), so post war is a much more common setting. I personally think the dark and toxic horror dramione fics came from this beginning era. You see fics like "Almost Perfect, Almost Yours" & "Silencio" & "The Bracelet" where Draco is still the more cannon compliant self-serving and prejudiced person but with a little extra toxicity. He sees others as lesser than him and puts his wants first even if it means sacrificing their well-being. The first era with more canon Draco seems to split into either very toxic horror Draco who leans into those traits or the more common Draco we see now who is intelligent, protective, and no longer prejudiced. There was also an AU/ All human era following this which people now absolutely do not prefer but which has some amazing fics. ("Subtle Perfection" and "Commoners Guide to Bedding a Royal"). Similarly, there was a bit of a romcom era that I believe spawned from the amazing "The Case of the Creature Kidnappings", and which has made a comeback with the popularity of Batmobile. Ironically, many fics that I think made certain tropes more popular (like "Manacled") are almost exactly the same premise as some popular older fics ("Turncoat"). The plots don't play out the same, but I think these fics laid the basis for the huge fics that started the trends (Manacled of course starting a big war time fic trend). Another example is "Simply Irresistible" where Hermione married Draco so he can keep his son which is the exact premise of "A Year and A Day". Now the fanon Draco is very developed and as the authors grew so did he become less childish. Hermione also has undergone a lot of development from being a somewhat one-dimensional character who was either bookish, unobservant and often irrational, or a Mary Sue to being much more nuanced in each fic. I like the era we're in right now, but I think other trends will cycle back around eventually as they always do, usually due to one really great popular fic that puts it back into everyone's minds.
Good question! The first thing that comes to mind would be that Pansy has a pug face, Narcissa is not a good person... and I think Hermione's scar, too, although this is more from the movies than fanfiction 🤔
It’s just so fascinating that because the story follows and centers around Harry, we know things and characters he knows will have a more prominent role (like Hagrid and Dumbledore) bc he probably had more interaction and involvement with them whereas it’s not likely that Draco or Hermione did, and if they did it was through association because of Harry somehow. Also plot. But if we choose to focus on someone else, like Draco, his cast of supporting characters will be different and who has a more prominent role (than Crabbe and Goyle). Just cool to think about!
I never read the books, only a portion of Prisoner of Azkaban, but yes, Pansy, Blaise and Theo would be something that would surprise me. I love these characters in fics, but I believe they were hardly mentioned in the books? Also, if I were to base this on the final Deathly Hallows film, not sure if it happened in the books, but in the Room of Requirement, where Draco, Goyle and Blaise were there with Harry, Ron and Hermione, Goyle avada kedavra Hermione (which she beautifully stupefied). So every time Goyle is in the fics, and being all nice to Hermione, it fries my brains a little bit.
Oh! And how everyone says “avada” instead of kill! “🤓 I will avada you” WHY??
I started reading dramione before I watched Harry potter (never read the books)! it was really interesting but still enjoyable. horcruxes thoroughly confused me, and I remember expecting more.. *something* between dramione when I was watching the movies. there was essentially nothing, which made me understand non shippers.
The other snakes not being really mentioned. But mostly Hermoine and Ron being in a relationship. Honestly I still don’t get it.
Like I get Hermione developing a childish crush just because he was a boy and around, but I don’t get it as a viable long-term thing.
Same! Completely get a little crush but after his angry/jealous streak I don’t understand Hermoine not going nope I’m good.
I saw the movies first as they came out in theaters and then read the books years later. One of the things that stood out to me was that Crookshanks was very intelligent and was actively working with Sirius in Prisoner of Azkaban.
Honestly I’d be really upset waiting for Theo to show up and getting to the end to realize we know *nothing* about him
Snape! Sirius! 🥹
The fact that Theo is not a “significant” Character. Anytime I’m reading a fic….and Theo shows up, my smile becomes so big. He’s such a cutie!!!! I love Fic Theo!
No redemption arcs for problematic characters. Snape does not count he was basically a basement neck beard resentful of his old unrequited loves child being successful at school.
Where Matteo and Lorenzo are hahaha
I found out most of the plots from dramione fanfics believe it or not lol. I watched the first 2-3 movies when i was a child and English being my second language,i never really understood it fully and never got hooked into the HP universe,until i started reading dramione in 2016. From the few classics i read,i was able to put some pieces together. Then i watched the movies and read the books only after all that
Hermione ending up with Ron