Fic Rec Fridays 2019 - part 29

Grounds for Divorce (122217 words) by Tepre
Chapters: 10/10
Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Also briefly:, Harry Potter/Original Female Character(s), Harry Potter/Original Male Character(s), Draco Malfoy/Original Male Character(s), But not to worry they will eventually get their shit together
Characters: Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Just your regular Hogwarts gang
Additional Tags: Slow Burn, Pining, UST, Anal Sex, brief but all the same enthusiastic rimming, One (1) lemon tree, Accidental Bonding, And I mean like U! S! T!, Jealousy, Deals with Trauma, They both top at some point, ron is a good friend, Draco is a Good Cook, Dubious Consent due to the Accidental Bonding, The actual SLOWEST burn, Hurt/Comfort, Have I mentioned UST? Cannot overstate this it's like A LOT, First there's frottage, And then there's more sex, Anal Fingering, Blow Jobs, Hand Jobs, and just a lot of sex, sex on a bed, sex in the shower, sex on the floor, Sex on a settee, In other news they go to Egypt, Teddy is a Small Bean, There is one (1) cat, and one (1) happy ending

Summary:

Malfoy finds a coin. Harry finds a letter.

A story about histories, a story about families. A story about a lemon tree somewhere in Upper Egypt.

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This fic beautifully illustrates the reason why I like reading the 'slow burn' trope: namely,the way you know they're going to end up together at the end, but you're desperate to know what sort of twists and turns (and how many) it will take them to get there this time.

And here's a good roller coaster ride's worth of them here!

To begin with: the set-up. I confess that accidental bonds, forced proximity scenarios and the like are totally my jam. This iteration of the trope (read: the curse) is innovatively conceived, solidly developed, and engenders some quite wonderful character interaction -- complete with witty dialogue -- and extra-delicious angst.

And then there's a plot happening. With lovingly detailed settings and lots of opportunities for the reader to cringe and go “Harry NO” or alternatively “Draco NO”... but the painful is well balanced by the tender (and the *cough* UST).

It sounds like a complete mess, and at times, it is, but a riveting, insomnia-inducing sort of mess that allows you to see characters grow and eventually resolve their personal Gordian knot (though not with a sword, mind!) in a very rewarding way.

Also, did I mention the bees? Or the cat? Or the lemon tree? (Shoo, read the thing already!)