That answer is: sort of. (Pretty wishy-washy, I know, but maybe better than nothing?)

I do still read Harry Potter fanfiction, though less than I used to, partly because the Harry Potter fandom is now time-sharing my fic-brain with other fandoms, and partly because Real Life demands have been significant drains on my fandom time over the last six months. Hopefully my life will be returning to a somewhat normal state at the end of the month. If and when that happens, it’s likely to be reflected here.

I will likely not return to posting daily, but I could probably be convinced to post weekly. Perhaps even twice weekly, should the fanfic godesses bless with good fortune of the fic variety. Since the release of Deathly Hallows, the output of fiction has slowed significantly and many of my go-to authors have turned their skills to other fandoms, so it does take a little more hunting to find the good stuff.

I have continued to receive suggestions and recs over the last few months, and I thank you for them. Many of the novel-length recs have fallen by the wayside, simply because of the time investment they require to read, though I’ve bookmarked them for a time when life allows. As always, I encourage people suggesting fic to submit them to me in the C&C Why-You-Should/Might-Not-Care format to be used as guest recs, which are always more likely to make it to the site than unformatted suggestions.

Thanks again for watching and enjoying Coffee and Chocolate, and for all the positive and warm feedback. You’ll be seeing more of me in the months to come!

Summary: She has no children, and thousands of children. Drabble, 926 Words.

Why You Should Care: Because the teacher and student relationship between Pomona Sprout and Severus Snape is rich in layers, and Sprout’s sadness at the path Snape chose is palpable. The writing is top-notch, and Sprout comes alive. It’s wonderful to see Sprout interact with a student other than Neville.

Why You Might Not Care: The first phrase about Frank Longbottom is not as seamlessly tied into the others as I would have liked. The lead-in works, but I think lingers in too many words and misdirects the piece, then never gets tied off. His connection to this story seems too device-like, even though the section is beautifully written and very powerful. It feels like there’s a link missing somewhere.

Summary: Narcissa never intended to marry, but circumstances change and needs must. The darkest thing I could think of was abandoning the person you want to be for the person you feel you must be, so that’s what this is about. Art Fic, 1,000 Words with Illustrations (some rated R).

Why You Should Care: Wow. Between the story itself and the amazing artwork, I’m a bit shell-shocked. I’ve not got enough artistic background to really give you a solid critique of the art, but the style and the colours were so unique and well suited to the subject matter that I read the whole thing twice over, the second time just for the art. The story itself is well written and presses all the right buttons in all the right orders, and it creates a truly sad tragedy around Narcissa with this completely different take on her character. I would gladly purchase this as a real paper-and-binding book.

Why You Might Not Care: Some of the art is definitely Not Work Safe. Which only means you should read it at home instead of at work, not that you shouldn’t read it at all. Really, really wonderful. (It brought me back to make a rec after, oh, five months now is it? *grins*)

Summary: By now we’ve all got a pretty good understanding of the dynamics between the Marauders, but what about the Marauders’ mothers? Drabble, 668 Words.

Why You Should Care: Quite possibly because I’m a little bit in love with this particular characterisation of Dorea Potter, who seems to cheerfully fill the role of James Potter’s mother with style and a bag-load of zingers her son would be proud of.  It’s also delightful to see Fernwithy remember that, even though Dorea ultimately chose to be a Potter, she’s also a Black, and she shows it.  (The rest of the ladies are well characterised, too.)

Why You Might Not Care: The problem with doing this well is that now it’s too short!  I wanted more Dorea, but I suppose I’ll have to make due with what I’m given.

Summary: After the war, an injured veteran Severus Snape finds sanctuary. AU, 7,000 Words.

Why You Should Care: There’s something very human about this story, something warm that we can all engage with. It seems to deal with the trivial facts of one man’s attempts to return to reality, but occasionally it seamlessly slips into something deeper where it has the ability to shed some light on darker topics. Extra points for exciting facts about House-Elves.

Why You Might Not Care: Written pre-DH so Snape Lives. Gratuitious pretty house-porn, and also gratuitious house-elves.

Summary: Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter are seven years old, plump, cute, and innocent. Life for them is all about cake, ice cream, friendship bracelets, and premature vows of love. Humour, 8,713 Words.

Why You Should Care: Because it’s so cute! Mini!Marauders and Mini!Lily may just be the best things ever. There’s a wonderful ruefullness about reading this story, it takes you back to the dramas of being seven and all the crazy stuff you used to believe and it’s fun. Additionally, the author manages to keep all the characters pretty in character, and also passably young. It’s a nice gimmick, but done so well that it feels like more.

Why You Might Not Care: Vaguely AU. Also, small people are not everyone’s cup of tea. Plus, Lily/James.

Note: I haven’t actually been able to pin down Chelle about recs, but I guess I’ll just post as many as I can as often as I can until Chelle tells me not to…?

In the meantime, if you’ve read any good fanfic lately, I encourage you to send in Guest Recs to share, which I can immediately publish to the hungry readers out there.

Summary: Who was to know Death had etiquette enough to be personalized? Oneshot, 10,074 Words.

Why You Should Care: Because it’s my very favorite Harry Potter afterlife fic ever, I think.  It’s amazingly well characterised and considered, with each afterlife tailored to the individual.  It is completely canon, having been launched from the springboard of the King’s Cross chapter in Deathly Hallows, and it’s just really, really well done.  JKR would approve, I think.  Hedwig’s interlude especially made me smile.

Why You Might Not Care: If you dislike afterlife fics, that is all this one is about.  Otherwise, it’s really an excellent comment on the characters it covers.  Definitely worth the time to read.

Summary: The war is over, and Severus Snape is in Azkaban.  With Chocolate Frogs.  Could there be worse?  Well, yes.  Correspondence about them.  Just what is really going on? Oneshot, 4,918 Words.

Why You Should Care: I… don’t really know.  I just like something about it.  Probably the complete randomness of the situation that is dealt with in (almost) all seriousness.  It’s a grand battle of the wills over something completely insane.  It’s wacky.  It doesn’t quite make sense.  It might be crackfic, except that it doesn’t read quite like crackfic.

Why You Might Not Care: It ends with several questions unanswered, and even after three read-overs I’m still not quite sure what all actually happened.  But I still like it, possibly because it’s just… odd.  A very strange and possibly unique piece of fanfic.

Summary: “It’s all there in front of you, waiting for you to discover it.” Drabble, 600 Words.

Why You Should Care: I like the idea, and the observations of Hermione and Draco are are well made, I think. We so rarely get the opportunity to explore the world through eyes that aren’t Gryffindor or Slytherin, and this Ravenclaw mind is thoughtful and nearly poetic.

Why You Might Not Care: The only problem I have with this is the same problem I have with other pieces like it, which is that I often feel we too easily stereotype Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs using the small handful of buzz words that appear in Sorting Hat songs. Having said that, the entire sorting process is rather an exercise in stereotyping, so perhaps I’m just being difficult.