This fic of mine doesn’t exactly need a repost--it’s over six years old, and far and away the most popular fic I’ve ever written by almost every statistic on AO3. BUT, my lovely, dear friend capitu made me this banner and it’s SO perfect and gorgeous that I figured it deserved a post of its own!

Rorschach by gracerene

Harry never gave much thought to Malfoy's soulmark. But that was before he caught a glimpse. Now it's all he can think about.

Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing(s): Harry/Draco
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: ~5,500
Content/Warnings: soulmark AU, Auror partners, brief injury/mention of blood, soulmates, dirty talk, rimming, blow jobs, implied switching
Author’s Notes: This was written for kitty_fic for hd_owlpost 2015!

This is essentially an EWE fic that follows canon EXCEPT that, in this 'verse, a soulmark appears on every person when they turn 17. Finding your perfect match isn't incredibly rare, but it's also not extremely common either. Because there is no guarantee that you will find your soulmate, people often think that waiting around forever for the perfect person is impractical, though most do hold out hope that they’ll meet their true match. :D

READ ON AO3

This is a post with all of my Draco/Harry AU Recs. In the Notes section of each entry I have different tags, so if you are looking for something specific (like "lawyer!draco" for example) just ctrl+f and enter your tag and it should highlight the relevant entries!

♥ = favorite

updated June 15, 2022

( AU: Non-Magical )

( AU: Magical )

Reveals have gone up at hd_owlpost so I can claim my gift for the lovely, kitty_fic! I had a lot of fun working on this one, as the slight soulmark AU aspect was very different for me. There were a few speedbumps, but overall I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It's also the longest H/D fic I've published to date!

Title: Rorschach
Author: gracerene
Pairings: Draco/Harry, brief mention of past Harry/Ginny, background Ginny/Dean
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: ~5,500
Content/Warnings: soulmark AU, Auror partners, brief injury/mention of blood, soulmates, dirty talk, rimming, blow jobs, implied switching
Summary: Harry never gave much thought to Malfoy's soulmark. But that was before he caught a glimpse. Now it's all he can think about.
Notes: Kitty! I have actually been wanting to write you a little something for a while now, but time was always getting away from me. So I was extra thrilled to find out you were one of my recipients. This doesn't follow any of your specific prompts, but I tried to squeeze in several of your likes and come up with something that I thought you'd enjoy. I really hope you like this, and I hope that you are having a marvelous holiday season! ♥

This is essentially an EWE fic that follows canon EXCEPT that, in this 'verse, a soulmark appears on every person when they turn 17. Finding your perfect match isn't incredibly rare, but it's also not extremely common either. Because there is no guarantee that you will find your soulmate, people often think that waiting around forever for the perfect person is impractical, though most do hold out hope that they’ll meet their true match. <3

Thank you capitu and snowgall for all of your help with this one! ♥

To help me figure out where my head was at with how things worked in this verse, I sort of top-of-mind spewed out some background. I didn't want to include all of this with the final fic, but I thought I'd include it now for fun! :)

This is essentially an EWE fic that follows canon, only in this verse a soulmark appears on every person when they turn 17. Just because two people are soulmates, doesn't mean they automatically get to ride off into the sunset happily ever after. It works as an indicator of the person that you are the most compatible with. Most soulmate relationships are successful, but they still require work just like any other relationship, and they can wither and die if people become too complacent in their bond, and rely only on their mystical connection to sustain them.

Finding your perfect match isn't incredibly rare, but it's also not extremely common, and people often decide to have successful and meaningful relationships outside of the soulmark connection for a plethora of reasons. In fact, it's only within the last hundred years or so that soulmarks began to really gain traction as a viable possibility for marriage. Historically, arranging matches based on wealth, status, and prestige were considered far more important than compatibility -- it would have been unheard of for a wealthy pure-blood to marry a poor muggleborn, even if they were soulmates. The nobility often viewed soulmarks as frivolous markings of baser instincts, and would go out of their way to cover the marks with makeup and glamours. However, as children began to gain more independence with their matrimonial choices, there was a marked increase in young people searching out their soulmates.

Nowadays, there are varying approaches to soulmate-ship, and while some people consider dating and relationships outside a soulmark just practice or a bit of fun, just as many people believe that non-soulmate relationships are as valid and stable as soulmates. Many believe that, while there may be one "perfect" person out there for you, it doesn't mean that there is nobody else in the world that you can build a happy fulfilling life with. Because there is no guarantee that you will find your soulmate, many people think waiting around forever and wasting your life waiting for one perfect person is impractical. Some young people flash the soulmate at every person they meet trying to find "the one" (Seamus) some people think the whole thing is ridiculous and refuse to ever let anybody see it (Hermione). Most people view/touch early on in a courtship, on a first date, or as a precursor to a date, depending on their views of soulmarks. Express an interest, discuss your thoughts on marks, ~touch~. But generally speaking, most view touching a soulmark as an intimate experience, akin to kissing, and there is usually some kind of connection/interest there before the touching/viewing happens.

Soulmarks appear on different places on the body and look like an ink blotch to everybody but the person with the mark, and their soulmate. The first indicator of soulmate-ship is the person being able to see what your mark really is. But, of course, there is potential for fraud here, because somebody could have a lucky guess, or, since the person with the mark knows, they could have somehow accidentally let it slip what it really is. So there is a second layer, which is the pleasure-touch. The first time the mate touches is amazing, and from then on out it still feels good, but not earth shattering.

I really love soulmark AUs, but I also have some issues with consent/choice, and while I can suspend those when reading, apparently I cannot create my own verse without downplaying the "Everbody is automatically with their soulmate, and it's all rainbows and sunshine" aspect. I wanted it to feel more like the real world with options, except in this verse, instead of guessing/assuming when you are with your soulmate, you actually know.

Draco's mark is dragon, Harry's is a phoenix. Some people believe that, while it's extremely rare for soulmarks to be identical, there is often a kind of connection between the two images, though that's never been confirmed. In H/D's case, there is the connection of wings and fire for pretty much a million reasons. :)

Read on AO3

( Rorschach )