Really? Did you really think I would post an update on April Fools Day? Anyway, happy belated April Fools, but on to more important stuff.

This is a long author's note but you'll want to see read it. A lot of you are in lockdown and looking for something to read. And one of the most common questions I get is — what are your favourite fanfictions? So I thought this would be a good place to recommend them.

First, a little context: I'm the generation that grew up with Fanfic.net — i.e. the heyday of Harry Potter fanfics before sites like Wattpad and AO3 became popular. I tend to read original fiction on Wattpad and fanfics on fanfic sites, because Wattpad's search for fanfics is super weird. Like, I swear, Draconian is tagged Dramione but I've literally never seen Draconian appear when I type 'dramione' or 'dracomalfoy' or 'hermionegranger' before. Have you...? It's like the ship has abandoned me.

Anyway, some of the following stories are available on Wattpad (as reposts by other authors), but please support the original author. It's the least you could do when all these are free to read. Without further ado, here are my across the three big fandoms I read in:

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Note: I'm not a huge fan of Sherlolly; I much prefer asexual!Sherlock. But sherlolly fanfics have some of the best writing I've seen. Here's my top two:

Post TFP; AO3. Pre-relationship with existing feelings. The gradual build-up to romance is perfectly done.

Post Reichenbach; AO3. One of the most delightful reads in the fandom. Perfect story to curl up to after a horrible day.

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Note: Marvel is the trickiest fandom for me because many stories feature badass!heroines who're loud and unemotional. Finding OCs with heart has been difficult. The following are the ones with:

Bucky x OC; post CA:TWS; AO3. Therapist and veteran trope, with unique avengers and x-men crossovers.

Loki x OC; post Thor 2; AO3. A servant discovers that a false king is seated on the throne of Asgard. Loki riots.

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Note: Like I said, I'm not a Dramione shipper. But that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a good fanfic. And here are some great ones:

Draco x Hermione; during DH; fanfic.net (wattpad version is not by the original author). The mother of all Dramione fanfics. Enough said.

Draco x Hermione; post DH; fanfic.net. Fluffy angst, with one of the most unique takes on soulmates.

Draco x Hermione; post DH; AO3. A series of vignettes spanning after the war through their relationship.

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Note: Some all-time favourites from 'out there' ships. Before you go "wtf Noelle???", try taking a leap of faith. I mean, you trusted me to tell you a good story with Draconian, right? Now trust me to recommend you the best stories:

Theo x Hermione; post DH; fanfic.net. After the war, Theo hears and falls in love with a voice.

Theo x Luna; post DH; fanfic.net. For Theo x Luna shippers. Finite isn't coming back, so hopefully this satisfies your cravings for awhile.

Severus x Hermione; post/pre(?) DH; fanfic.net. Hermione travels back to the past to meet a young man who's dead in her future.

Some of you have seen me recommend this on ask before and I'm recommending it again. Before you go all "wtf Noelle how can you ship Severus and Hermione?!?!?" on me, read it. Read. It. You probably still won't ship them after this story, but you'll be absolutely blown away by the story. And then you can come back here so that I can say 'I told you fucking so'.

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...and that's a wrap! I hope these will make your dreary days at home better. If you've read any of my recommendations,

Now back to the story. This is the chapter by the way. You'll weep when this is all over.

xo Noelle

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Disarms opponent.

greeted him had never been louder before.

Draco looked down at the others. Apart from Hermione, everyone had been stunned speechless, including the other people who had overheard their conversation.

Harry shifted, delicately breaking the fragile silence and blinked at Draco. "You're the Master of the Elder Wand?"

"Do keep up, Potter." Draco frowned. "Yes, I'm the Master of the Elder Wand. Its allegiance has belonged to me for the past three years."

"Muffliato." Harry waved a hand to ensure that the conversation stayed within the group and turned back to Draco. "Sit down, Malfoy. And explain from the very beginning."

Draco narrowed his eyes, but sat down all the same. He felt Hermione thread her fingers through his and held on tight, glad that there was at least one person on his side.

He drew out the phials that hung around his neck and plucked one between his fingertips. "This phial was given to me by Snape, several days before he died. He wanted to have at least – someone, who knew what he went through, knew what he'd seen, knew what he had to do."

Ron's eyes widened. "He showed Harry his memories too. We collected them from him right before he died."

Draco was surprised to hear this but simply shrugged. "In the memories he gave me, I saw that Voldemort was on a quest for the Elder Wand, but it had all along been in the hands of Dumbledore. Until the night he died – because I had disarmed him."

An uncomfortable silence trailed in the wake of Draco's words. Some of them clearly remembered how Draco had intended to kill Dumbledore years ago. It was all in the past, but Draco could still sense their animosity, and he cleared his throat.

"Anyway, it occurred to me that I had become the Master of the Elder Wand by disarming Dumbledore. Then I remembered that you," he threw a half-hearted glare at Harry, "had disarmed me at the Malfoy Manor – "

"That's embarrassing," Theo mumbled, stifling a snigger. "Can't believe Potter beat you."

Draco rolled his eyes. " – so then the allegiance of the Wand had shifted to you. It didn't matter to me. By then, I was exhausted and the only reason I stayed with Voldemort was because he'd kill my parents if I didn't."

His hand tightened on Hermione's. Back then, he truly believed that staying would grant him and his parents full pardon. It didn't make a difference. Whether they stayed or left, the Malfoys were dispensable to Voldemort. Everyone was.

"On the day of the final battle, after Crabbe died in the Fiendfyre – " Pain crossed his face at the mention of his friend. It was over in a flash and he looked at Harry. "I trailed you and watched you get cornered by Dolohov in one of the hallways."

"Dolohov?" Harry frowned. "I was never cornered by Dolohov."

"That's because you don't remember it," Draco returned. "He cornered you and disarmed you. Then he Obliviated that portion of your memories, and I believe he also inserted a false one when he was done. That's why you have no recollection of it."

Harry shook his head, stunned by the turn of events. "I can't believe it."

"Shit," Blaise breathed. "Draco, does this mean that Dolohov had been wanting possession of the Deathly Hallows since the battle?"

"I believe he knew about the Deathly Hallows," Draco hedged, "I don't believe he actually wanted them until the battle was over. Because Dolohov was sent to disarm Harry on Voldemort's orders."

"How did he know that I was the Master of the Elder Wand in the first place?" Harry asked.

Draco shrugged. "You were an open book and you weren't skilled in Occlumency. I've no doubt that Voldemort managed to sift through your mind, find out that you knew that you were the Master of the Elder Wand. So he ordered Dolohov to disarm you."

Ginny raised a hand to stop Draco. "Why didn't he just disarm Harry himself?"

"Simple – he wanted Potter to fight him still believing that he had the wand's allegiance. Then Potter would face off with him without a single fucking clue as to what had happened, and wouldn't even know what hit him until he was lying dead on the ground."

"But Harry didn't die," Luna smiled, the only one apart from Hermione who remained unperturbed by the news.

"Correct." Draco nodded at her and smirked as he remembered what happened after that. "Because I disarmed Dolohov before he could return back to Voldemort. And then I Obliviated his memory and inserted a false one, just like what he did to Potter."

"Bloody Slytherin," Ron shook his head, his lips twitching in amusement.

"And then I watched Voldemort disarm Dolohov, thinking that he was now the Master of the Elder Wand."

"Hold on, let me get something straight." Pansy stopped him. "Are you saying that all these years, Voldemort's been waving the bloody Wand about, thinking that its allegiance belonged to him?"

"He's had fun, hasn't he?"

"Are you serious?" Theo broke out in a fit of laughter despite the tense atmosphere. Even the rest looked rather amused now. "Classic Malfoy!"

Draco allowed himself to grin, but he soon straightened his face as he focused on the matter at hand, turning back to Harry. "I was going to return Mastery of the Elder Wand to you," he said, his voice quieter now. "But then you were facing Voldemort before I could even find you. Neither of you had the Wand's allegiance, but Voldemort did have the Wand in his hand all along and so, naturally, he won."

The brevity of Draco's words sank into the silence. All of them were suddenly aware of the repercussions of his actions. Had Harry been the Master of the Elder Wand, the past three years would've panned out completely differently. The Order would still be in existence, Hermione would've never been captured, and there would be no war.

One crafty Slytherin, one disarming spell, one wand – and everything had changed.

"So all these years, you've been using another wand?" Neville asked, looking at the discarded wand near Draco's feet.

Draco picked it up, feeling a faint pang of nostalgia sweep through him as he studied it. "My mother's. I don't have to be using the Elder Wand to be the Master of it. But I'm certain that I am – it's the reason why I created the anti-disarming charm in the first place."

"You know," Harry mused, "I can't say that you were in the wrong, Malfoy." Draco met his gaze in surprise and he shrugged. "If you didn't take the Wand's allegiance from Dolohov, Voldemort would've taken it. And I would've been dead by now."

"I know."

"So," Harry's lips lifted in a grin. "Are you willing to give up ownership?"

Draco let go of Hermione's hand and dragged himself to his feet, silently removing the anti-disarming charms on himself. Charms that he had created so long ago to prevent anyone – even Voldemort himself – from disarming him, so that he could retain ownership of the Elder Wand, until the time came for the Boy Who Lived to win.

The time was now.

He squared his shoulders and loosened his grip on his mother's wand. "Go ahead."

Harry got to his feet, well aware that everyone in the Courtyard was watching the exchange between them. He took a deep breath and directed his wand at Draco.

"Expelliarmus!"

A blinding jet of light streaked out towards Draco. His grip on the wand loosened and flew out of his hand. Harry swiftly caught it in mid-air. All was silent as everyone realised the gravity of the situation.

Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, was finally the Master of the Elder Wand.

Harry didn't move as he studied Narcissa Malfoy's wand. "You know what's funny?" He said at last, tossing his own wand over to Draco. "That, I believe, belongs to you."

Draco's eyes widened as he recognised the familiar hawthorn-wood wand. This was the wand that had seen him through his teenage years. "How the hell do you still have this?"

"From the skirmish at the Malfoy Manor years ago. I grabbed your wand away, and I've been using it ever since, even to fight Voldemort during the previous battle. Funny how our fates keep intertwining, huh, Malfoy?"

"For Salazar's sake – "

A distant commotion cut Draco off. The group turned, only to see the Order getting to their feet. The atmosphere was tense now, like the imminent storm had finally arrived.

"They're here," Theo said. His eyes were trained in the distance. When Draco followed his line of vision, he saw what Theo had seen – the shield around the castle disintegrating into vaporised mist.

"Let's keep it simple." Draco said quietly. "Keep the Death-Eaters at bay, take down whoever you can. And Potter will face off Voldemort when he's ready."

The rest of them nodded in understanding, Neville in particular looking almost relieved that he wouldn't have to face Voldemort alone. There was a low hum of chatter, the shuffling of footsteps as the crowd around slowly prepared for what would be the final battle to end the terrifying war that had lasted for far too long.

Draco turned when he felt Hermione sidle up to him. She pushed herself up on the tips of her toes to seal a quick kiss to his lips. In spite of the dried tears or the faint bruises clouding her face, he thought she'd never looked more beautiful and alive before.

He couldn't help but think that there were repercussions of his actions three years ago, but within the mess he'd made, he had somehow found Hermione Granger – the light to his darkness, the angel to his inner demons, the pulse in his otherwise unfeeling heart.

She was all he could see, and her voice was all he could hear when she spoke. "Maybe, tomorrow, we'll finally be safe."

Maybe they would.

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The first spell came out of nowhere exactly one minute after the shield had been taken down.

It was far too quick for anyone to counter – Hermione was standing with her friends one moment, her fingers intertwined with Draco's; but the next moment, she found herself being pushed behind Draco as he cast a powerful shield to protect all ten of them.

He was swift enough to react, and they were far away enough to not take the brunt of the spell. Hermione watched in horror as the spell exploded into the crowd, sending several bodies and limbs flying. It was evidence that a Dark Spell had just been cast, the first of many more to come.

Then Shacklebolt was yelling for everyone to stand guard, while McGonagall was sending a spell back in the direction where it came from. And Hermione found herself thrust into the thick of war again as Death-Eaters flew overhead on brooms, hurling curses and hexes every which way. Draco and Theo were the first to snap into action, taking down Death-Eaters as swiftly as they appeared, and the rest soon joined in.

But Hermione felt herself frozen on the spot. Her head was thrumming with screams and yells, but the moment she saw Katie Bell flung back against the wall nearby, her lifeless form slumping onto the ground as Ginny let out a devastated cry, the oxygen was sucked out from her lungs again, a sickening emptiness churning in her stomach.

One down. She didn't think she could lose any more people today.

Blinking back the tears, she fired a spell at the Death-Eater who had killed Katie. Ginny joined her, and it wasn't long before their barrage of spells took him down in one fell swoop. Ginny went to help George after that, while Hermione found Luna battling a burly Death-Eater. She rushed forward and sent a stunning spell his way. The Death-Eater turned to her, only to be caught by Luna's spell.

"Levicorpus!"

Hermione trained her wand on the Death-Eater, who was now dangled in mid-air by an invisible rope. "Stupefy!"

The Death-Eater fell to the ground and Luna smiled at Hermione. "Thanks."

"No problem." Hermione waved her wand to fix Luna's bloodied nose, and pulled the blonde witch back into the thick of battle. "Come on."

She and Luna weaved their way past people, firing spells to help arbitrary Order and Rebellion members along the way. Midway through, Luna went to help Theo, while Hermione ran over to Neville, who was single-handedly duelling two Death-Eaters. She fired a disarming curse at one, and he swiftly stunned both of them, smiling at her once the Death-Eaters were unconscious on the ground.

"Nicely done, Hermione – " but the words were ripped from his throat as a Cruciatus hit him in the back, and he fell over with a torturous yell.

Hermione's breath caught.

The Death-Eater's voice had struck a chord in her memory. Her fingers tightened on her wand and, ignoring the others who came to provide Neville with reinforcements, she stepped forward.

"Flipendo!" The Death-Eater twisted out of the way to avoid her hex, but she shouted another before he had the chance to recover. "Incendio!"

In her peripherals, she noticed that her duel had drawn the attention of the people around them. The Death-Eater's mask fell off as he ducked, and her blood boiled as she came face to face with one of her captors.

Yaxley.

"Missed me, mudblood?" He sneered, drawing his wand on her. "Avada Kedavra!"

The spell missed her by a mere inch. She flung a spell back, a wordless Incarcerous that took him by surprise. Thick, black ropes wound around Yaxley's body and she dragged him across the rubble towards her, kicking his wand far out of reach.

"Going to kill me, mudblood?" He rasped.

Hermione stopped. At that moment, she realised how easy it was to disassociate herself from the situation. To let the three years of suffering morph into nothing but searing hatred, to let a simple curse slip past her lips. People like Yaxley were better off dead anyway. It was war – kill or be killed.

Avada Kedavra, Avada Kedavra, Avada Kedavra.

The words were almost mellifluous on her tongue.

"I can't." She whispered, digging her wand to his temple. The words refused to leave her lips, the magic for that curse refused to pulse through her veins. Shutting her eyes briefly, she pushed aside all the loathing she had for this pathetic excuse of a man in front of her.

And when she opened her eyes, the air was breathable again.

"Stupefy."

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