Books
The Harry Potter fandom is more or less divided into two halves: those who enjoy fanfiction, and those who stick strictly to the canon. I've always been in the latter half; I never really thought fanfic was my scene. But it turns out there is a Harry Potter fanfiction for everyone — even for people who don't like fanfiction.
People who don't like fanfiction (i.e. me and, I presume because you're reading this, you) don't want J.K. Rowling's gospel contradicted. My fanfic-loving friends use fanfiction to help them fix the things they didn't like — but canon-lovers stick too closely to the book for that. Yes, I hate that Fred died — but it happened, so I can't change it just by reading an alternative universe. But did you know there's fanfiction out there that doesn't change a thing? It just slips right into the existing Harry Potter universe. Now that's my type of fanfic.
Another great thing people love about fanfiction is shipping different character pairs. If you're not a fanfic person, you probably don't want to read about what if Draco and Hermione had got together; if Rowling didn't write it that way, we assume it's for a reason. But she never specified that Dean and Seamus didn't get together... Thanks to fanfiction, even the most die-hard canon-lovers can enjoy fantasizing about this fan-favorite couple.
So here are seven Harry Potter fanfictions that won't take you outside your comfort zone. This is still the Harry Potter you know and love — but it's not just limited to seven measly books.
1
'A Keen Observer' by DeepDownSlytherin
J.K. Rowling built us an incredible world, but there's still so much backstory we're curious about. 'A Keen Observer' is all about Andromeda Tonks (i.e. Tonks's mom) in her youth, and it answers all the questions we never even knew we had. Like why did her sisters buy into the pureblood rhetoric of their parents and she didn't? And more importantly, did her hair change color too? 'A Keen Observer' doesn't even feel like fanfiction; it just feels like the truth.
2
'The Life and Times' by Jewels5
We've been waiting for a story about the Mauraders forever — but it doesn't seem like J.K. is going to write it any time soon. 'The Life and Times' is the Marauders backstory you've been waiting for all your life.
3
'The First Day' by little0bird
We waited nine years for a Harry Potter sequel, but when we got one, it skipped a whole nineteen years into Harry's future. What happened in between? 'The First Day' has all the answers, beginning on the very first day after The Battle of Hogwarts.
4
'Australia' by MsBinns
'The First Day' follows Harry's next adventures — but what happened to the Weasleys? We last left them in a pretty tragic situation, and we really needed to see them closure after Fred's death. 'Australia' is about George learning to live with Fred, the family starting a new life, and Ron and Hermione exploring their budding relationship.
5
'The Shoebox Project' by Lady Jaida and Rave
Did you always feel like Sirius and Remus were a little more than friends? As adults, Remus settled down with his beloved Tonks — but J.K. never ruled out any history between our two favorite Marauders. 'The Shoebox Project' is about a shoebox of memorabilia kept under Remus's bed, containing photos, letters and diary entries about his time at Hogwarts — and a love story between two best friends.
6
'Very Bad Things' by freudian fuckup
I can't resist adding another Sirius/Remus pairing to the mix, because they're just the greatest couple to ship. If you don't like things to get too sappy, 'Very Bad Things' is much more humorous than the romantic 'Shoebox Project.'
7
'When Luna Met Rolf' by uptowngirlinlove
One of the biggest unexplained bombshells that J.K. dropped on us was when she introduced a husband for Luna at the end of Deathly Hallows — but we had no idea who he was. In the movie, they ignored that and tried to pair Luna a little too neatly up with Neville, but we know that's not what really happened. 'When Luna Met Rolf' fills in all the blanks of the story we've been dying to know: how Luna met and fell in love with Rolf Scamander.
