When asked what I'm reading, I'm more likely to say, "Harry Potter smut." It doesn't do what I'm reading justice, but then again, fan fiction has never gotten the pat on the back it deserves.

This is probably due to a casual prowling through FanFiction.net, where 12 year old's visions of "lurve," proper grammar, spelling and a believable plot has me reaching for a back button on my web browser, usually about three sentences into the story.

However, a funny thing happened in the Harry Potter fandom. Those 12 year olds grew up and some of them became really decent writers. When the older crowd discovered the fun of writing Harry Potter fan fiction, it was all over but the shouting.

And shouting there was. From canon plot sticklers, whose fan fiction had to stay true to the original books, to the alternate universe relationships or shipping or shippers, whose vision of life and love in the HP universe strayed from JK Rowling's in leaps and bounds.

Staying true to canon wasn't helped by the long periods of time between the Harry Potter book releases, where everyone's imagination ran wild and story after story was released.

The pairings became so varied, that different fan fiction archives were opened to fiction for a particular pairing. And of course, the subplots in those stories, featured even more non canon pairings. These stories are released chapter by chapter, and if waiting for the next JK Rowling book to come out was hard, waiting for some of these juicy stories was nerve wracking.

One of the really good things about this was that some of these fan fiction archives demanded that the writers conform to excellent writing standards. Many writers started to use betas, and it wasn't long before you could see authors acknowledge three betas working on a story. One each for plot continuity, (useful in the 100,000+ word stories,) grammar and brit picking. (One must never forget that the Harry Potter series is quintessentially British.)

After the betas were through with the chapters, they were released to the archives. Who might have a Mod (moderator) look at the chapter again to accept or reject it.

Being a fan fiction writer who wanted to post on one of the better archives, meant that you had to be good. Some of these writers proved to be so good, they now write their own novels, featuring their own universes.

Some really good fan fiction writers found the archives oppressive or, became so popular they needed their own site. And some fan bases, which never meant to become archives needed a place to list the huge amount of fiction being produced. Yahoo Groups and Live Journal | Insane Journal filled those needs.

Next Up...Whose Doing Who

I let my Mother borrow my ebook reader...where I have stored tons of fan fiction. She is a Harry Potter fan also, but the fan fiction she wound up reading surprised her, because of the pairings.

Harry - Draco (feel the UST)

Hermione - Severus Snape (intellectuals sticking together!)

Ron - Pansy Parkinson

Ginny - Lucius Malfoy

You'd be surprised how often Ron has wound up with Pansy or Millicent Bulstrode. This is because most of the "ships" I read pair Hermione up with anyone except Ron.

As a matter of fact, the amount of Ron bashing in fan fiction is so notorious that requests for gift fictions, (fictions written by other authors according to your guidelines,) are beginning to state, no Ron bashing. Not because Ron isn't universally despised, but because writing Ron as the ultimate uncouth and unworthy boyfriend is like shooting fish in a barrel. No one wants fiction that takes the easy way out with Ron anymore.

Hermione, the most paired up person in HP fiction by adult writers, has been put through the mill. She's been with Lucius, Snape, Draco, Sirius, Remus, Voldemort, Greyback and assorted other Slytherins. Occasionally, she'll even wind up with Harry.

Ginny has been placed with Lucius - a lot. Apparently in fan fiction land, Ginny is addicted to shoes, which Lucius can provide in droves. (After living with power shopper Narcissa, Lucius can honestly say no woman's shopping will every faze him.)

Fan fiction, takes on a life of his own. All it takes is for one popular writer to include something about a character, and other fan fiction writers pick it up in homage. I have no idea who started Narcissa's shoe addiction, but now, it's fan fiction canon. (Which is a contradiction in terms to say the least.) Ginny's shoe addiction is courtesy of "Shiv." One of the many great fan fiction writers I've had the pleasure of reading.

Archives

Here are some archives you might like:

The Wicked Companion (fiction recommendations HG/SS only)

Sycophant Hex and of course Ashwinder

Granger Enchanted

Adult Fan Fiction's Harry Potter Section - read at your own peril

The Petulant Poetess

WIKKT (When I Kissed the Teacher)

Fan Fiction

I don't mean to short-change any writer out there, these are simply the stories I never erase from my ebook reader. These should not be considered kid friendly.

Big Name Death Eater - Shiv (the link is actually to her writers page at Ashwinder. BND actually had two sequels.) Comedy - what actually happens at those Death Eater meetings.

Objects of Desire - Azrael Griffen. Drama - this is the story that convinced my Mom never to borrow my ebook reader.

In Annulo - Lady of the Masque. Jean Johnson has gone on to write fiction professionally.

Authors

Inell is the acknowledged Grand Dame of Fan Fiction. Many writers acknowledge her help and support. She is quite simply the most prolific writer out there, comfortable with a wealth of different ships. Her character studies are always dead-on. Inell can and has written pretty much everything you could imagine and I've been a fan since she was writting Buffy fan fiction.

Ms. Figg is amazing. What can you say about a writer who was posting a chapter every hour or two and finishing every story she started. The Ring, is a particular favorite of mine. While considered "very American," by many fan fiction archives, her earthy take on the HP characters is a guilty pleasure.

So, if you ever thought Dumbledore was a evil man, that Lucius is lucious or that Remus and Sirius were hotties - you can find the fan fiction that suits your fantasies and enjoy an alternate Harry Potter universe.