Author: fencer_x
Fandom: Harry Potter – J. K. Rowling
Relationships: Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald (brief mentions), Sirius Black/Remus Lupin (very brief mentions), Assorted background canonical pairings
Characters: Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Albus Dumbledore, Most everyone who appeared in canon
Rating: Explicit
Word count: 522,850
Additional Tags: Horcrux Hunting, Alternate Universe – Canon Divergence, Animagus, Dragons, References to Switching, super slow burn, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Brief scene of dubious consent (medicinal aphrodisiac), brief homophobic language, Minor Character Deaths, Patronuses, Mates/Mating, Sexual Content, Canon Rewrite
Summary: [Extensive re-telling of Deathly Hallows] ‘Kill Albus Dumbledore’ is less a challenging task and more a suicide mission, so when Draco Malfoy is presented with the option to either dispatch his Headmaster or suffer an excruciating and most ignominious death of his own, along with his parents, he reaches deep into his black little Slytherin heart and manages to scrape together enough courage to go with option C instead: Spend Sixth Year secretly studying Animagecraft in the hopes he’ll turn into something sufficiently imposing even the Dark Lord himself won’t be able to keep Draco under his thumb. But just his luck, his Animagus form turns out to be a dragon, and a rather randy juvenile at that, intent on finding its mate: one Harry James Potter.
Author’s Notes: This is the revised version of the piece originally posted to Archive of Our Own, since removed. Substantial changes have been made to key scenes, with over 40,000 new words added, so I hope you enjoy this reborn version of the fic! Thanks go out to my original beta and overall error-catcher hamykia, as well as my Brit-pickers, without whose help this fic would undoubtedly be rife with Americanisms: topcatnikki and HamletMouse. The revised version has been newly Brit-picked and edited by the lovely aulophobia. The cover art was lovingly crafted by EverydayMerlin, and the included illustrations come courtesy of my fabulous Big Bang partner, danasauurrr.
Created/Updated: September 16, 2018/May 2, 2021
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Harry Potter world, which is trademarked by J. K. Rowling. No profit is being made from this piece, nor is any infringement intended. The story told here is the work of the above-mentioned author and is not purported or believed to be part of J.K. Rowling’s story canon.