1 – 20 of 31 Works in What-If
"I'm hoping to do some good in the world!" Anthology by Morgue13
Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
20 Mar 2026
Summary
Book One - The Resurrection of House Black
Book Two - The Rise of House Granger
Book Three - The Secrets of House Evans
Book Four - The Fall of House GauntAnthology containing:
The Resurrection of House Black
The one where Hermione needs Harry to be safe.
---
Harry. Harry wasn’t safe.
Harry needed to be somewhere safe this summer. He had watched Cedric die. Watched Voldemort return. Been tortured. Seen his dead parent return while he duelled the man who murdered his parents. All during a tournament he was forced into and consequently vilified for by his peers and Britain’s wizarding world.
Harry needed to be somewhere where he could be sad and angry and scared and not alone and safe.
Where was safer than Hogwarts?
---
Formerly titled What Would Hermione Do?
The Rise of House Granger
Harry is now safe. He has a family, friends and allies. He has even seen a healer. Everything Hermione set out to do in order to protect him last summer has been accomplished. Their fifth year has started and now she has realized that the battle is just starting. Now she needs to keep herself safe.
---
The one where Hermione gets shit done.Shelves: Harry Potter
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 153,341
- Status:
- In-Progress
The Space Between the Stars Anthology by kinglady
Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
29 Aug 2025
Summary
Padme struggles to come to terms with the fact that Darth Vader is not just a product of evil, but a tortured and manipulated individual.
Anakin escapes the clutches of the Empire only to find himself surrounded by those he hurt the most.Set ten years after the events of Revenge of the Sith.
Anthology containing:
Star Crossed
Ten years after the birth of Luke and Leia, Padme finds herself on Tatooine. The desert planet is far from what she would consider a true home but for the time being it's enough. With the help of Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, Padme had successfully raised her children far from the prying eyes of The Empire.
On a supply run to Mos Eisley, Padme discover something that quickly turns her safe life upside down. A clear image of Anakin sat on the holograph, beneath it read, ‘Vader: Threat to the Empire’.
or
Pretending to be a Rebel in disguise, Anakin finds himself surrounded by the very people he hurt the most. How long can he stay on a ship with Padme, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka before he exposes his true identity?
(This was going to be a longer fic, but I decided to split it up by parts. This just helps with my writing process, I hope that's not too confusing. This is Part One of The Space Between the Stars Series)
Shelves: Star Wars Fics
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 62,731
- Status:
- In-Progress
My Roots Run Deep Anthology by BairnSidhe, ValkyriePhoenix
Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
11 Apr 2025
Summary
Anthology containing:
Of The People and Desert Storm Albums by BairnSidhe & ValkyriePhoenix
Companion work to Roots (Run Deep Into the Hollow)
What it says on the tin.Roots (Run Deep Into the Hollow) by BairnSidhe & ValkyriePhoenix
Bail Organa makes slightly different choices.
Everything changes.
Nothing changes.Bite Down (A Little Harder) by BairnSidhe & ValkyriePhoenix
Rebellions may be built on hope, but above that foundation rebellions are made of pain, rage, and stubbornness.
Which makes them the perfect place for a Punk Rock Princess and her Tatooine Metal-head brother.
Strike back (a little harder) by BairnSidhe & ValkyriePhoenix
In the Roots-Verse, rebellion does not belong solely to the epic protagonists.
Music does not belong solely to the Rebellion.
Choices do not belong solely to those in command.Sometimes soldiers decide to disobey orders.
Sometimes they decide to strike back.
Sometimes Stormtroopers wake up.Shelves: Star Wars Fics
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 196,757
- Status:
- In-Progress
Civil Wars, Whistleblower Tactics, Schematic Drafting, And The Finer Points Of Sith Adoption: The Essential How-To Guide For The Engineering Jedi Anthology by Jackdaw_Kraai
Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
28 Jul 2024
Summary
When Luke Skywalker—operating under the name of Luke Lars—accepts a job offer from none other than Darth Vader to become the next Head Engineer aboard his flagship, The Executor, a.k.a. The Lady, he hardly expected his life to take as much of a turn as it did.
Learning how to navigate his way through the microcosm of culture that is the Lady, Luke finds that life is far from quiet in his new home. Friendships and rivalries are made, inventions and politics throw everything into disarray, and throughout it all, Luke and Vader slowly find themselves drawn closer to each other, much to the relief and awe of many of the Lady's crewmembers.
Follow our favorite engineer from the twin suns as he goes from strangers, to friends, to adoptive family with his mysterious new mentor, and changes the face of the galaxy forever in the process. There are mysteries about the past to be unraveled, inventions to be made, wars to be fought, and family bonds to be forged in the fires of revolution and rebellion.
They say that Darth Vader has no heart, that the Empire and its Emperor are eternal, that the Jedi are dead and gone, and that nothing will ever change. "They" have obviously never met Luke Skywalker before.
Anthology containing:
How To Reinvent The Stormtrooper Armor To Make Your Surrogate Father Proud And Shut The Naysayers Up For Fun And Profit
This is an AU of loosingletters' The Background Noise Of Defiance verse
Instead of Luke inadvertently revealing to his anonymous holonet friend that his last name is Skywalker, thus revealing himself as the son of said holonet friend (yes, Darth Vader has a Space Twitter), he keeps mum and instead takes on Vader's job offer, becoming the new Head Engineer aboard the Executor, alias, the Lady. While he's thrilled to be there, thriving on getting to improve the lackluster hardware that gets shunted onto the rank-and-file of the Empire and building up a rapport with the mysterious Sith Lord who is fast becoming the father figure he never had, not everyone aboard is as happy about the young engineer shaking up the previously well-cemented hierarchy of the Lady.
But ask Luke and Vader if they care. All Piett knows is that this is gonna be one hell of a headache and way above his paygrade. At least he gets to see his boss be put in his place by a teenage engineer and Lord Vader himself.
How To Give A Presentation To The Imperial Court While Accidentally Committing Light Treason By Making A Friend
As it turns out, inventing new armor technology was the easy part. Getting it approved for actual production, Luke finds, is a lot more work and a lot more boring. Thankfully, he has his mentor, Darth Vader, to help him sort through the process and occasionally keep him company throughout all the boring meetings. Unfortunately, his industrious and ingenious nature catches the attention of many other people, some of which Luke really wishes he could've avoided the attention of.
After getting summoned to the Imperial Palace by the Emperor to present his latest invention to the Court and the Senate, Luke finds himself smackdab in the middle of a complicated web of Imperial politics, the threads of which he can't yet see.
There lurks more in these shadows than just threats however, and Luke may not be the wholly naïve and inexperienced prey some of the players in the Imperial Court were expecting. With enough charm and tenacity, he finds that here too, friendships can be found and pacts can be forged. And with the full might of Darth Vader at his back, perhaps the Imperial Court would've done better to leave well enough alone.
Too late now though. Ready or not, Imperial Center, Here Comes Luke Skywalker!
Shelves: Star Wars Fics
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 761,640
- Status:
- In-Progress
Secrets of the Sith by AzuraJae
Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Cartoon), Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
09 Oct 2023
Summary
There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.
That is something Ahsoka Tano truly understands, accidentally wrapped up in the horrific plot rooted deep in the Republic and the Jedi. Lost within the tendrils, she cannot do this alone. It's up to the very pawns trapped in this conspiracy to unwind it all from the clutches of the darkness lurking underneath the surface.
Maybe, things will turn out differently this time.
[Star Wars: What If? | RotS Alternate Canon]
What if Fives met Ahsoka (who didn't leave the Jedi Order) during the Conspiracy Arc?- Part 1 of Secrets of the Sith AU
Shelves: Star Wars Fics
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 174,990
- Status:
- Completed
Summary
“‘The watertight bulkhead door has closed.’”
Go.
“‘All personnel within the partition wall–’”
Go! Do not lose the threads of a blood oath you have just formed!
“‘Evacuate–’”
Move, or you will lose him!
Shelves: Persona 5
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 82,006
- Status:
- In-Progress
Shigaraki Izuku by LilacDreamSage (TheMistyDarkPrincess)
Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
12 Jul 2023
Summary
What would have happened if Izuku was taken from the hospital right after his birth by Kurogiri so that All For One could give Tomura the experience of being an older brother? Things would be different right? But just imagine how different....
Or
Izuku was raised from birth to be a villain. Situations are changed, and canon takes an interesting twist.
- Part 1 of Shigaraki Izuku Files
Shelves: My Hero Academia
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 72,861
- Status:
- In-Progress
Hero Enough Anthology by DreamHero
Fandoms: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Warriors
03 Apr 2023
Summary
(Some Heroes are Born, but You were Made)
A collection of stories revolving around the idea that Wild(Breath of the Wild's Link), is very different from his past namesakes. These stories dive into the how and why of that difference as well as the emotional difficulties it brings our heroes.
Wild in most of these stories does not possess the Hero's Spirit (meaning he's not technically the HERO. He doesn't have the Triforce of Courage, and the Master Sword doesn't recognize him as her wielder).
Unless otherwise stated, all of these works are their own stand-alone pieces.
Anthology containing:
Wildling
100 years after the Calamity, the body of the fallen hero rises once again, but the being who steps out of the Shrine of Resurrection is no longer Hylia's Chosen Hero. A new life born without the Goddess's blessing, created by magics old and forgotten, something new and impossibly different took its first breaths.
Where the Hero of Courage once fell, the Wildling now rises.“What are you?"
"A hero. Just not like you."........
AKA: Breath of the Wild Link isn't actually a "Link" blessed with the Hero's Spirit or even the Triforce of Courage. He's something much different though no less important in the grand scheme of destiny. Too bad the Chosen Heroes of the past decide to drag him into their mission before he can fully figure out just what he is.A Hero by Choice is Still a Hero
Wild has always been a bit different from the other Links, this was a common fact among the group of time-traveling Links, but none of the past heroes could ever imagine just how different their newest member is.
......
Another take on my favorite theory: Wild isn't the current holder of the Hero's Spirit.What Could Have Been (And Maybe Still Can Be)
The newest Hero decides its time to have a few words with her 'predecessor'. What starts as a meaningless talk about their shared timeline and world soon dissolves into a much deeper and heated conversation about scars both thought long healed.
....
AKA the one-shot about what would happen in the alternate Timeline where Renia(now known as the Hero of Dreams) joins the Linked Universe gang and has a little talk with the Wildling.Not Lost-Just Reborn
Wild is an enigma even among a group of his past selves. He brings endless knowledge of a time so far from any of their own, a time of destruction, ruin, and loss. The other Heroes never thought that loss would stretch to Wild's people having completely forgotten the ways of magic too.
Legend decides he's tired of watching everyone dance around Wild, and he's going to fix the problem at its root. But never in his wildest dreams did he expect what he finds when he confronts Wild.
Songs of the Wilds
Songs have been one of the common threads through the Hero's journey, as sure as the Hero's Spirit itself. But the newest hero-from a world of ruin-possesses no chosen soul, doesn't wield the Master Sword, and has never even heard of the Triforce. It's no surprise that the Chosen Heroes of the past deemed that songs wouldn't be part of his story, after all, he didn't even have an instrument to play!
But not every song needs a tool to be sung.
...
Or: Wild knows magic songs, but none of the other Links believe him.Curse of Reflection
They should have known that mirror was cursed, but the Links' curiosity always won out over their common sense. Now each Hero is forced to take on the guise of a monster that best reflects their personal demons and fears.
All... expect Wild that is. But Wild knows what he is becoming and he prays to every being that will listen that they can undo this magic before his transformation is complete, or the words of the curse really will come true.
Wild will become the Hero's Bane.
The Divine Calls
All the Heroes of Legend were special in their own ways, but there was something about Wild that truly set him apart from his fellows. He could do something none of them could, something no one else could in all of existence. The Divine called to him and he answered them unafraid.
"You can hear her?"
"Always. Though sometimes I wish I couldn't."....
AKA: A collection of shorts/one-shots focusing around the idea of Wild's connection with Hylia as the only Link who can talk to her. (most of this is pretty fluffy despite the vaguely angsty summary)Wildling - The Lost Chapters
[Though technically not required, it is highly recommended that you read the original "Wildling" before reading this work]
In every story, there are branching pathways, possibilities that could have been. The story of the Wildling, the hero of the ancient and untamed, is no different.
Here is a collection of a few of the possible choices, of stories that could have been. Of beginnings and ends that went unsaid, the lost chapters.
Wilder Than You
Wild might be the hero of the wilds, champion of Hyrule, and newest successor to the Hero's Spirit, but there is another that the wild, untamed, ancient things bow to. A Hylian who shared his face, with forest green eyes instead of ocean blue, unmarred by scars of wars past. A hero that was not Hylia's.
He called himself the "Wildling".
..
Or rather - a collection of one-shots centered around the idea of "normal" Wild meeting the Wildling. (Warning lots of these will be sad).Shelves: Zelda
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 91,744
- Status:
- In-Progress
Ad Astra Per Aspera by MatchesOnlyBurn
Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
02 Dec 2022
Summary
In a world where Anakin Skywalker was born about fifteen years earlier, still a slave on Tatooine as his mother was, a curious stranger shows up with a horribly broken hyperdrive.
That itch had always been there, that he was destined to do more. Destined to be living out the stories that got tossed around the spaceport bars instead of chained here, on this trash-heap of a planet.
Ad Astra Per Aspera
To The Stars Through DifficultyShelves: Star Wars Fics
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 23,788
- Status:
- Completed
And if we Fell Together by Kaaragen
Fandoms: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
21 Oct 2022
Summary
Treason! Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker has captured and exposed Barriss Offee as the mastermind behind the plot to bomb the Jedi Temple.
With her treachery revealed in the Republic Centre for Military Operations, Offee denounced the Jedi for having fallen to the Dark Side in their prosecution of the war, under the eyes of her best friend Ahsoka Tano, who she framed for the crime.
Imprisoned in the Republic Military Base, Offee awaits the announcement of the date of her execution, as a visitor comes to see her...
Shelves: Star Wars Fics
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 432,106
- Status:
- Completed
Summary
Begins with an AU after Season 4, in which Rory runs away to NYC (after sleeping with Dean) to find Jess. What follows is an epic adventure, spanning more than forty years in the life of Rory Gilmore and Jess Mariano, plus all their family and friends.
Anthology containing:
The Runaways
Rory can't face home after sleeping with Dean, fighting with Lorelai, and touring Europe with her grandma. Running away suddenly looks very appealing, and she's headed towards the one person who always seems to understand her, even when Rory doesn't understand herself.
A Diamond Christmas
Rory admires her Christmas gift from Jess.
Our Little Corner of the World
A collection of one-shots showing various moments throughout the lives of Rory & Jess, their son Jack, and all the family and friends surrounding them in Stars Hollow.
Baby’s 1st Christmas
Rory & Jess' celebrate baby Jack's first Christmas.
Christmas for Four
Tori's first Christmas.
Father Christmas
Somebody has to play Santa for the kids of Stars Hollow and this year it's Jess' turn!
Christmas Cookies
Jess bakes Christmas cookies with the kids, with mixed results.
Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
Rory & Jess let the kids pick out the Christmas tree.
Believing in Christmas
Rory and Jess deal with the kids on Christmas Eve.
The Christmas Show
It's Tori's first time on the stage.
Christmas Traditions
Rory, Jess, Jack, and Tori decorate the Christmas tree.
Rory & Jess, Into The Literativerse
When Rory starts thinking about the different paths her life could've taken, she and Jess end up discussing the many and various ways they might have met and fallen in love.
A Good Deed for Christmas
Jess has learnt that Christmas is for family.
Santa Looked A Lot Like Daddy
Rory & Jess have to deal with the fact the kids might be getting too old for their usual Christmas traditions.
Stars Hollow: The Next Generation
The next generation of Stars Hollow teens are living their lives, experiencing love and loss, and just trying to get through the day! Join Jack & Tori Mariano, Billy Danes, the Van Gerbig twins, and the Bellville clan as they navigate high school and all that entails!
I'd Rather Be In Philadelphia
Rory & Jess spend the weekend in Philly, partly to visit with Chris & Matthew, but mostly to relive the days before marriage and kids in the privacy of a fancy hotel room.
Paris & Rory's Prep School Reunion
It's 2023. Paris and Rory are about to attend the 20th Reunion of Chilton's Class of 2003. A lot has changed in twenty years, and yet some thing's have remained very much the same. Prepare to find out what has become of Madeline, Louise, Brad, Tristan, and a few other people you might not expect to see!
Young and In Love at Christmas
Rory and Jess are reminded what it is to be young and in love at Christmas.
Christmas in New York
Rory & Jess spend Christmas alone in New York, thanks to their kids.
I Think We're Alone Now
Luke & Lorelai spend their first Christmas alone together.
Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want To Fight Tonight)
Doula decides to go home for Christmas.
Merry Xmas Everybody
One big happy family Christmas... in Hartford?
Miracles Happen
Steve Van Gerbig is supposed to be a pastor... isn't he?
The Ghosts of Christmases Past
A much older Rory & Jess think back to Christmases past.
Our Little Corner of the World, Volume 2
A second collection of one-shots showing various moments throughout the lives of Rory, Jess, Jack, Tori, Luke, Lorelai, Billy, Liz, TJ, Doula, Lane, Zack, Steve, Kwan, Sookie, Jackson, Davey, Martha, Jaime, Emily, Richard, April, Dax, Alex, Tara, Paris, Doyle, Eva, Jonathan, et al.
Our Little Corner of the World, Volume 3
A third collection of one-shots showing various moments throughout the lives of Rory, Jess, Jack, Tori, Luke, Lorelai, Billy, Liz, TJ, Doula, Lane, Zack, Steve, Kwan, Sookie, Jackson, Davey, Martha, Jaime, Emily, Richard, April, Dax, Alex, Tara, Paris, Doyle, Eva, Jonathan, et al.
The Runaways 'Verse - The Complete Chronology
All stories from The Runaways 'Verse in chronological order, for those who may wish to read it that way.
Shelves: Gilmore Girls
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 413,992
- Status:
- In-Progress
Summary
What if, a few weeks after Justin left Ethan, Justin had a medical emergency at Babylon and Brian happened to be there?
Shelves: Queer as Folk
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 71,244
- Status:
- In-Progress
Summary
A series of "what if" rewrites of Harry Potter, books 1-7. Cross-posted from tumblr (ink-splotch).
Anthology containing:
boy with a scar
What if Voldemort had chosen the pureblood boy, not the halfblood, as his opponent? This Neville would have had graves to visit, instead of a hospital. He’d still have grown up in his grandmother’s clutches, tut-tutted at, dropped out windows absentmindedly, left to bounce on paving stones.
Let’s tell this story: Alice Longbottom, who was the better at hexing, told Frank to take Neville and run.
the kids who chose themselves
What if Voldemort went after Harry and Neville, and gave no one a chance to die for them? What if both Chosen Ones died as children?
--
There was no prophesied boy, but there was still this--dozens of shadowed young faces refusing to run, even at the very end of the world. Dumbledore looked out at his chess pieces, pawns and queens; his children and his friends; his collateral damage. He had the beginnings of a plan swelling in his chest.It would take them decades to get their hands, quietly, on every Horcrux. Tom Riddle had to think they were secret. He had to think he was safe. It would take them almost decades, but one day he would be mortal again.
These dozens of faces--they were mortal now. Alastor Moody could feel mortality in the aches of old broken bones; Andromeda rewrote her own last name. Remus and Sirius felt empty, gaping holes in the seats around them, and they made crude, expansive, joyous toasts to friends' memories.
When Molly first reached over and held Arthur's hand, they knew this was something that could not last. That was why they held hands, held on, held tight.
no place like home
When Petunia Dursley refused to take Harry in she forfeited his birthright protection, so Dumbledore took the baby to the safest place he knew: Hogwarts.
The applicable staff (mostly just… not Snape) took Harry in on a rotating schedule as he grew from baby to toddler to child. They traded extra credit for babysitting among the older students, and Harry grew up knowing a few dozen different laps that were safe and warm to nap in.
This was a Harry who grew up among books, among old transient walls and learned professors. They gave Binns night duty sometimes, and let him talk young Harry to sleep. This was a Harry whose world changed, on principle, daily. The stairs moved. The walls became doors. You had to keep your eyes open–you had to pay attention. So he did.
He grew up in a school. Knowledge was power, but knowledge was also joy. This was his sanctuary. There was magic in his world from birth.
the family evans
What if, when Petunia Dursley found a little boy on her front doorstep, she took him in? Not into the cupboard under the stairs, not into a twisted childhood of tarnished worth and neglect—what if she took him in?
Petunia was jealous, selfish and vicious. We will not pretend she wasn’t. She looked at that boy on her doorstep and thought about her Dudders, barely a month older than this boy. She looked at his eyes and her stomach turned over and over. (Severus Snape saved Harry’s life for his eyes. Let’s have Petunia save it despite them).
Let’s tell a story where Petunia Dursley found a baby boy on her doorstep and hated his eyes—she hated them. She took him in and fed him and changed him and got him his shots, and she hated his eyes up until the day she looked at the boy and saw her nephew, not her sister’s shadow. When Harry was two and Vernon Dursley bought Dudley a toy car and Harry a fast food meal with a toy with parts he could choke on Petunia packed her things and got a divorce.
the heir of something or other
When kids in the Slytherin Common Room tossed jeers at the pudgy feet of Millicent Bulstrode, Harry rose up to do something about it. This Harry, now one of Snape’s own, got fewer House points lost but many more detentions– it had never been the colors on his hem that Severus hated.
This was not wishing Harry an easy path. This was not wishing the boy a warm House. This was Harry, three weeks in, sleep deprived and considering running away and going back to Privet Drive. This was Harry in the back of Potions class, blank-faced under Snape’s disdain the way he’d perfected under the Dursleys’s torments.
When Quirrell shouted “troll in the dungeons, thought you ought to know,” and Harry overheard that there was a girl in the bathroom crying, he still ran off to make sure she got out okay. He hesitated first, at the back of the little pack of Slytherin first years (at the back so that no one could get behind him)– he hesitated.
And Millicent Bulstrode, who could never quite keep her tummy tucked in enough, could never brush all the cat hair off her robes, never quite keep her temper in check, hesitated, too.
he will have power the dark lord knows not
It was Mrs. Figg who suspected first.
She noticed many things, sitting on her side of her fence with her cats chasing butterflies and nuzzling her ankles, Mundungus and the other watchers dropping by for tea now and then.
Mrs. Figg noticed that Petunia was a nosy bit of work with insecurities hanging from her every harsh angle. She noticed when Dudley learned the word MINE-- the whole neighborhood noticed that one. She noticed that Vernon glared at owls.
She noticed that when Petunia gave Harry a truly horrendous haircut one year, it grew back in at a normal rate. Harry was uneven and weird-looking for ages, hiding under beanies when he could.
When Mrs. Figg had Harry over for carefully miserable afternoons of babysitting, she noticed nothing moved that shouldn't. He didn't accidentally make flowers out of fallen leaves, or levitate anything during tantrums, or turn toys funny colors.
Mrs. Figg called up her mother, interrupting the wizarding bridge game she was winning against the nursing home staff, and asked her how she had known, decades back, that her youngest daughter was a squib.
the girl who lived
Harriet Lily Potter was left on the doorstep of 4 Privet Drive. They called her ugly and gave her Dudley's hand-me-downs. They would tell people that she went to a boarding school for troubled young women. Dudley still offered to stick her head in toilets, and she still learned to snap back, "Really, Duds? The poor toilet's never had anything as nasty as your head down it, it might hurt it," and run.
Harry was the kind of girl who came home with scabby knees, who snuck the kitchen shears in the dead of night to snip her dark messy hair short.
She wondered, as she curled up in her cupboard, if Vernon and Petunia would have loved a niece who was pretty instead of scrappy, who had soft hands and never burned the bacon at breakfast.
the girl who lived (again)
Molly tried her best. When Harry had told them, Arthur had asked excitedly, "is this a Muggle thing?" Hermione had hurried out a "no!" and a frantic history of gender diversity in the wizarding world.
"It's just that I'm a girl," Harry had said, and Arthur had nodded and asked her about how telephone booths worked. He would call her by the right pronouns until the day he died at the respectable old age of one hundred and thirty three, and he would make it seem easy.
But Molly had to try. Hermione explained things faster and higher-pitched every time Molly messed up a pronoun. Molly frowned and muttered and put extra potatoes on Harry's plate at breakfast. Harry slept in Ron's room, which didn't bother either of them but which made Hermione scowl.
Harry got boxes of sweets and warm hugs, as Molly chewed things over. For her fifteenth Christmas, the Weasley sweater she would receive would be a bright, friendly, terrible pink.
The next time Harry visited, Molly put her on Ginny's floor to sleep-- for some definition of sleep that involved Hermione hissing threats at three in the morning if Harry and Ginny didn't "shut up about Wronski feints, do you know what time it is."
the last son
On the train platform, Harry suffered a hug from Remus, a hair ruffle from Sirius, and a "don't do anything I wouldn't do" from his mother, and then he ran for the brick wall, cart rattling before him. The snowy owl they'd gotten him hooted softly in protest. Harry had named her Ororo after the Muggle comic books his mother had introduced him to. Lily took Harry to the comic store every time he sat through a whole visit with his aunt, uncle, and cousin and didn't kick anybody unless they kicked him first.
Bill tried to wipe some dirt off a dodging Ron's nose. Ginny complained loudly about being left behind. Fred and George ran off to see Lee Jordan's spider. People watched the Weasleys from all directions--they were hard to miss--and Ron's shoulders slowly rose up and up to his reddening ears. He missed the big empty orchards behind the Burrow already.
Ron was one of the last people on the train. He slid past staring eyes and finally stepped himself into an almost unoccupied compartment-- there was just one small boy tucked in there. He had messy dark hair, slightly askew round glasses, and a comic book held up in front of his nose.
"Is it okay if I sit here?" said Ron. "Everywhere else is full."
the brightest witch of her age
When Hermione Jean Granger was one year old her parents died in a car crash. She knew all about it because she asked a lot of questions and her aunt and uncle believed in answering them.
Why is the sky blue, auntie? Why are b's and d's like in the mirror? Where do songs come from? Why did Jenny Hopkins call me a--?
Her father had accelerated into a green light, like you were supposed to. (By the time she was eight, Hermione had the driver's rulebook memorized). A truck driver, going the opposite way, hadn't stopped at a red.
Hermione had been strapped in a car seat in the back, her aunt and uncle told her. She hadn't been hurt at all except for the scar that stood out, jagged, on her forehead.
As Hermione grew up into a gangly, bushy-haired, buck-toothed wonder, she thought she could remember it-- a glaring green light, a rush of cold air.
baby birds and other adventures
Harry did not know this and would not know this until Mrs. Granger mentioned it casually over a Christmas dinner years and years later-- but she and Mr. Granger reported the Dursleys for child abuse and neglect, over and over.
The reports got lost-- minds scrubbed down, papers vanished-- but they kept calling in reports. They considered kidnapping. They couldn't imagine why the wizarding world might want to keep their chosen one somewhere so toxic, why they might want to keep this underfed child and his messy hair with those people.
"My mother left me a blood protection spell," said Harry, whose scar had not ached in years. He poked at his mashed potatoes under the focused attention of Mrs. Granger's stern little forehead wrinkle. "I had to live with family, blood family."
"Then they should have made them treat you right," Mrs. Granger said, as though it was that simple.
Mr. Granger gave Harry another helping of peas.
the family potter
Lily remembered her sister, how there had been a time she was curious and delighted about magic, before it slowly sank in that she could look and not touch.
The last thing Petunia had said to Lily before she died was a chilly goodbye, ending a holiday dinner where they'd had a shrieking row in the entryway. Petunia had said 'freak' and Lily had hissed 'better than this, better than this being my whole fucking world, Tune, do you even see yourself, are you happy--'
And now here was Dudley Vernon Dursley fussing himself to sleep as Lily walked the halls of the Godric's Hollow house. His tiny soft hands with their tiny soft fingernails curled under her chin, the same way Harry's always had.
She passed James, who was gently bouncing his way up the hall the opposite way. "I think he's asleep," James mouthed over Harry's tousled head. His hair was the same mess, his head bent down as he peered at his sleeping son.
Lily stopped where she stood, her nephew heavy on her chest, her husband smiling, her sister buried. "James," she said. "How are we going to do this?"
perfectly normal, thank you very much
When the letter arrives, Lily is almost as excited as Petunia. She writes Albus Dumbledore to ask if she can go too, and if she cries a little when the answer comes back no she doesn't tell anyone. Lily waves from the train platform, writes diligently, and listens with excitement whenever her big sister deigns to share stories of magic.
--
Anonymous asked for "what if Petunia was a witch and Lily a Muggle?"the family potter [podfic]
When Harry was eleven years old, his Hogwarts letter came by owl. He'd been accidentally blowing windows open and lighting cauliflower on fire for years. James took Harry to go get his wand at Ollivanders, and Lily took Dudley to the Owl Emporium where he tried to convince her they should build an aviary in the backyard. They came home with a fat black cat who hissed at everyone. Dudley named him Spooks, and Lily called him Monster.
"Did you have to?" said James. "That is the meanest beast I've ever met, and I've known Remus unmedicated on full moons and a pubescent Sirius thwarted in love."
Lily, who had ink on her cheek and a ballpoint pen stuck behind her ear, waved vaguely at the living room without looking up from her arrest report. Dudley was asleep in an armchair. The cat sprawled across his lap. Both its front paws were wrapped around Dudley's arm as it cleaned his wrist with aggressive fondness.
"Alright," said James. "Yeah, you had to."
a life of smoke and silvered glass
Albus Dumbledore rose to his feet, smiling at them in that way of his, like he knew something you didn't and he was proud of you for it. "Friends," he began.
The door thudded open and the Marauders burst in, late and pink-cheeked with cold. The headmaster smiled at them, too, and Sirius gave a cheery little salute back.
Severus sunk lower in his chair, staring witheringly over his butterbeer. "You told Potter about it, too?"
"He might as well put all that energy to good use," said Lily. "And, to be accurate, I told Remus."
"But Potter, really?" said Severus.
"He and Black cooked up a jinx that gives you a boil every time you say a slur to a Muggleborn," said Lily. "It was either invite them to Alice's war club or bake them cookies, and I know where my skills lie."
Severus sniffed. "Don't come crying to me if he tugs your pigtails."
"Come crying to me if he pulls yours, and I'll deck him," said Lily.
(Slight AU in which Severus apologizes, tries harder, and stays friends with Lily)
yer a wizard, dudley
Harry Potter spent his eleventh birthday in a cabin on a tiny rock in the middle of the sea, listening to his cousin snore on the couch.
When a knock sounded on the wind-swept, rain-drenched door, it was not a giant fist (or a half-giant's fist). It was a short sharp rap that sounded once, twice, three times before Minerva McGonagall simply charmed the lock open and stepped inside.
"Apologies," Minerva said crisply, as Vernon raced out brandishing his rifle and Petunia pulled Dudley up off the couch and behind her. "I wasn't sure you could hear me over the weather.” The rain fell down behind the professor in a roar. She was perfectly dry.
Minerva fished in her pocket without looking, because the only things allowed in her pockets were only ever exactly what she needed. “I've come to deliver this," she said, pulling out a letter and handing it to Harry, who was cross-legged on the floor, "because our owl post seems to have been unable to get through.”
“And I've come to deliver this," she added, pulling out a second letter, "because Hogwarts by-laws require a professor to hand-deliver acceptance letters to Muggleborn families for their explanation and comfort."
a snake in the den
you know what would have been great? if ron got sorted into slytherin.
imagine– we have this kid on the train, the first friend harry meets, with his corned beef sandwiches and smudged nose. ron is eleven years old and he wants gryffindor, because he’s a weasley and that’s what always happens. but it doesn’t happen.
what a way to redeem slytherin house– or, god, at least complicate it. because ron is petty. he is mean and sharp and ambitious and jealous– and he is loyal to the ends of the earth. he is all those things, and he is and always has been good.
potter becomes before weasley in the alphabet, so harry says not slytherin please and gets told might as well be gryffindor. percy and fred and george are all sitting there in red and gold, ruffling the already-ruffled hair of the boy who lived, smug, and then ron sits down and the hat spits out slytherin!
neither red nor gold
When news had come home that Bill had gotten Ravenclaw, Arthur and Molly had shared a look but sent Bill a congratulatory letter and some newly knitted blue mittens. “He was always too smart for me,” Arthur had said, and Molly had hummed.
“Hufflepuff, it’s a… nice… House,” Molly had said the next year, searching in her knitting basket for a shade of yellow she didn’t dislike too badly while Arthur looked over the friendly little missive from Pomona Sprout. How had she ended up with so many ugly threads? They must have been gifts; she wouldn’t have bought this pastel mustard skein, even at a 90% discount.
“You know,” said Arthur, later, as they watched the Express carry Percy away to his first year at Hogwarts. “I don’t think Perce is gonna be the one to break the streak.”
“So it’s a streak, is it?” Molly said, keeping an eye on the twins, who were chasing pigeons she was hoping they wouldn’t manage to catch. It was making Ginny’s day, though, the little girl covering her laughter with her fists, so she wasn’t stopping them yet.
“I think it is now,” he said.
--
(What if none of the Weasley children were Sorted Gryffindor?)Shelves: Harry Potter
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 216,499
- Status:
- In-Progress
Inheritance by AisforAmy71
Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
27 Jun 2021
Summary
When Inko dies in a trainwreck while protecting Izuku from the impact, Izuku discovers he had a quirk all along. The ability to inherit the quirks of people that die is, to say the least, problematic. It sends Izuku on a much different track that he ever imagined his life taking, but will hopefully end up exactly where he needs to be.
Shelves: My Hero Academia
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 284,123
- Status:
- Completed
Summary
In the aftermath of Okumura Kunikazu's death, the popularity of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts is at an all time low. Support is getting scarce, open hostility is rampant, not to mention the infuriating pampering the detective on their case is basking in meanwhile... and yet, even as the walls all around are slowly closing in, life goes on. But when they barely escape from a particularly dangerous Shadow only to find the black-masked criminal there in Mementos, injured and unconscious, the Phantom Thieves soon realize there is another life besides their own that is about to swing around.
Shelves: Persona 5
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 73,447
- Status:
- In-Progress
Summary
What if Boromir didn't receive the dream-summons and so stayed in Minas Tirith and Faramir went north instead? PG warning: this is a hard tale, but not a dark one. At crucial times, characters in LotR react instead of act. For example, when the Fellowship splits and the return of the king. Using the branch point of Boromir's dream I was able to examine both of these important choices.
This commentary AU is tersely written. It is primarily a bookverse story. Because I make large jumps when my timeline matches the original closely, this is intended for readers well familiar with the Ring War trilogy. Comments and typo catches are welcome.Shelves: Lord of the Rings
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 63,251
- Status:
- Completed
It takes heaven and hell to raise the Antichrist by dont_stop_imagine_mccartneys_celery
Fandoms: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
24 Dec 2019
Summary
If Good Omens was a Rom Com Sitcom!
In which Crowley stays just a little longer at the hospital of the Chattering Order of Saint Beryl and witnesses how the nuns misplace the Antichrist. He decides that he will take matters into his own hands and runs off again with the Antichrist, that is believed to be the exchanged baby of the American Cultural Attaché's wife.
In lack of a better idea he brings the baby to his archenemy and dear friend Aziraphale and they agree they have no other choice than to raise the son of Satan themselves. That way they have the chance to let him grow up well-balanced between heaven and hell. Surprisingly, (for them, but really not the readers) the little extension of their family lets them only grow closer.Fanart in Chapter 8 :)
Completed!
Shelves: Good Omens
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 130,960
- Status:
- Completed
Summary
Brian told Justin to get some friends his age – what if the kiss Michael saw was misconstrued? What if miscommunication was only the start of it all? Just how far does the butterfly effect go?
Beta'd by the wonderful Kim - aka Predec2 - thanks for everything, hon.Shelves: Queer as Folk
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 195,395
- Status:
- In-Progress
A beacon in the dark by NohaIjiachi
Fandoms: 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
17 Feb 2019
Summary
“My thanks.” He says, smiling back. “What is your name, boy?”
“I’m Izuku! Izuku Midoriya, sir!” The boy replies, excited, looking up at him. And Toshinori looks into the unmoving washed out green, into milky white pupils visible behind the mess curly hair, and realizes.
The boy is blind.
The boy that he distinctly saw dodge a series of fairly quick attacks, light on his feet and clearly used to some kind of training, the boy that had thrown him the bottle at the perfect height and perfect speed, the boy that has easily collected his spilled groceries and orderly put them back into the little plastic bag—
The boy. Is blind.
[CURRENTLY ON HIATUS]
Shelves: My Hero Academia
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 306,430
- Status:
- In-Progress
Summary
What if, after overhearing the doctor leaving a message on Brian's machine, Justin had confronted Brian, instead of going to Michael? How would things have been different?
Canon divergence begins midway through episode 408. Plot bunny by Deb. Thanks to SandiD for being my beta.
Shelves: Queer as Folk
- Site:
- archiveofourown.org
- Words:
- 59,707
- Status:
- Completed