Hermione Granger's Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run

Fanfiction
Title:	Hermione Granger's Crammer for Delinquents on the Run (HGCfDotR)
Author(s):	waspabi
Date(s):	1 July 2016 - 21 May 2017
Length:	93,000 words
Genre(s):	M/M romance, humor, friendship
Fandom(s):	Harry Potter
Relationship(s):
External Links:	Hermione Granger's Crammer for Delinquents on the Run at AO3
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Hermione Granger's Hogwarts Crammer for Delinquents on the Run is a novel-length Harry/Draco canon divergent fanfiction by waspabi. It has heavy found family elements, and generally alternates between Hermione's, Harry's, and Draco's points of view.

The story is based on the premise that the Dursleys had successfully hidden Harry's magical background from him, therefore making Harry never attend Hogwarts and live a Muggle life. Meanwhile, all of the other canon characters learn about Harry's legacy, so once Ron, Hermione, Draco, and Neville are 17 (while Ginny and Luna who join them are 16), they track Harry down and tell him he's a wizard.

The fic's summary on AO3:

'You're a wizard, Harry' is easier to hear from a half-giant when you're eleven, rather than from some kids on a tube platform when you're seventeen and late for work.

As of May 2017, the fic is completed at 93,000 words, and has over 8,000 kudos on AO3, where it is posted. The author does not plan on writing a sequel to it.

The Fic

The fic is a mix of adventure and romance, character-driven with the backdrop of the Wizarding War while clueing readers into how the Harry Potter characters they know and love have changed - and yet, are still the same. In particular, the story focuses on a different version of Harry, while Draco is more similar to his canon self, just having made different choices. Hermione's perspective serves as the point of entry for the reader, her character much closer to canon and familiar enough for the reader despite the rest of the changes in the story's world.

Notable aspects of the story include how the author explicitly states that Hermione is black and Harry is half-Desi (and bisexual!) Since the characters interact heavily with the Muggle world, there are also specific mentions of 90's Muggle British culture at the time. The fic also weaves in typical fanfiction tropes, such as bed sharing, fake dating, and slow burn.

Fan Responses

Everybody: read this. I don't care what fandom you're in or what you ship. Literally - just read this.

Amazing and brilliant. Take Harry out of Harry Potter, add Voldemort to the Ministry circa fifth year, and sprinkle with events from the books altered to fit the new parallel universe, and you get this. A tale of uncomfortable tent-sharing, growing out of emotionally stunting childhoods, and learning magic. Wherein Hermione is easily distracted by theoretical musings, Draco has a guilt complex, and Harry can't decide if he misses his old life or not. Complete with cameos from dozens of characters.

A masterful modern classic of the rollicking adventure kind. includes the line "flying murderous Zippos" to describe dragons. Read this settled in somewhere comfy as you won't get up for hours.

Such a lovely, precious gem of a fic. Seriously I loved every moment. The relationships, the characters... written in a way that makes it feel like a genuine, REAL AU of HP. The Drarry didn't feel forced, and everything felt so gradual and natural. One of my fave HP fics of all time <3

the one where Harry never went to Hogwarts, and Hermione and friends come to find him, protect him, and train him. written in amazing, sharply funny prose (really, I lost track of how many times I laughed) with one of the top 3 harry/draco depictions I've ever read. they are such boys in this, it's amusing and endearing and refreshing. in fact, everyone is such a teenager while being on the run and plotting to overthrow the government. this fic was such an unexpected delight

other great things: an abundant use of tropes in an organic, plot-relevant manner; every pureblood's bafflement of muggle culture; Hermione being the undisputed leader and mastermind of their makeshift band of teenage revolutionaries; and a reformed draco who is helpful and respectful of Hermione while also retaining his snark and snobbiness, but in a wonderfully funny way

An excellent story and a fantastic plot. I would have liked to see the gang defeat Voldemort and take charge of the rebellion, but quite frankly that's never what this story was about. There are countless stories of people finding and destroying the horcruxes, and the fandom didn't need another. This story is about love and about a group of traumatized teenagers coming together under horrible circumstances and somehow making a family and finding hope. In some ways it feels more real than other similar stories, because unlike the horcrux hunt, there is no real point. They don't have a plan or a goal; they're just trying their best to make a difference, and somehow succeeding. Grade A work!

Best HP fic...ever. Draco is priceless. The emotional intelligence of this story far outstrips the canon. It's funny, clever, and wrenching in equal parts.

I WANT TO AND AM GOING TO CRY BECAUSE THIS IS PERFECT AND EXACTLY WHAT I WOULD LIKE IN A HARRY POTTER FIC WITH BIRACIAL DESI HARRY AND BLACK HERMIONE AND FUCKING CANON DIVERGENCE AND THIS UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE BUSINESS AND DRACO!!!!!!!!!! I WILL READ ABOUT A THOUSAND PLUS FIC WITH HIM INTERACTING WITH OUR MOTLEY LOT THANKS I SO LOVE THIS FIC I AM KICKING THE WALL AND SCREECHING IN FIVE MINUTE INTERVALS UAAAAAFHHHGGGHHG

This fic has everything - the slowburn, found family feels, hilarity, suspense and guerilla warfare. On more than one occasion I snorted so hard that water came out of my nose while I was reading it. A story of the HP gang navigating young-adulthood whilst fighting the war. It's charming and offbeat and perfectly captures the essence of the books. I love it.

So it takes place during what would have been Harry’s 7th year at Hogwarts, but with the premise that Harry never went to Hogwarts, and instead he’s lived his whole life with the Dursleys and is now on his own in muggle London with a shitty job and a shitty apartment. And then Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Luna and Death Eater-deserter Draco have left Hogwarts to go search for him.

I love the premise in itself, but I honestly can’t believe how perfectly executed this fic is:

- It has hilarious and well-written dialogue
- Excellent characterization of every single character
- All of it is well-written, it feels so worked through and thoroughly edited.
- Diversity (Harry is bi and says so, Hermione and Harry are POC - Hermione is black, Harry is mixed race (James is Indian, Lily is white) and this is made explicit in the text and is a part of how the characters act and talk and perceive themselves + is a part of the awful relationship between Harry and the Dursleys, and just I never see anyone handling race or handling it well in fic so just A+ on that).
- Wizard swears (“Fucking ballsack of a pregnant hippogriff”)
- Perfect balance of character examination and plot-progression
- Perfect balance of humor and seriousness.
- In-character pining on Draco’s part.
- Well thought through use of the contrast between wizard and muggle society.

Everyone go read it.

Okay, the CHARACTERIZATION in this fic!!! Goddamn. Everyone is written so perfectly and the group dynamic somehow just feels so right! Really, everything about the fic constantly had me like “yes!!!!” The story is poignant but also fucking hilarious; I laughed out loud so much I embarrassed myself a few times. Also this fic contains possibly my favorite line of anything I’ve ever read, and it was the most random unrelated-to-the-plot line (so no spoiler alert, haha):

(from a description of a new setting) Several middle-aged women sobbed by a long table of dried fruit.

And I know loving this line so much makes me Very Strange, but like it just gave SUCH A PERFECT SENSE OF THE TYPE OF GATHERING THEY WERE AT and so succinctly and I think the fact that I loved this random (not even Drarry-related!!) line so much just goes to show how truly amazing the writing of the fic was overall. I aspire to write like this. So omg anon, if you are wondering what to read next, look no further :)

Look this is the best THE BEST story I have ever read. Like fuck I can't even function. I had to stop five times throughout this chapter for a good cry and just to catch my fucking breath. I'm still clutching my chest and ohmy just what a day you've given me with this. Thank thank thank thank you just thank you for this amazing and maddeningly, brilliantly perfect au you've taken the time to build and share with us. I just feel really fuckin lucky to have read this. Shit I'm crying again bye. <3334555

I can't remember if I've commented here before, but this deserves as many comments and kudos as I can throw at it. This is possibly my favorite fic in this universe… ever. I find myself thinking about these characters and your writing style during my day-to-day. It's just brilliant. Your Hermione. I can't read another Hermione. Your Harry! You've ruined all other Harrys for me. ALL OF THE CHARACTERS, ACTUALLY. Ugh. And the pace and progression of the story is fantastic. The timeliness of the content is chilling. It's just hit such a personal spot for me. <3

This story swept me away. I don't think I can express how much I loved this. As a loitering London teenager, I don't think I'll ever go to Hampstead Heath again without thinking of Ron's nettles. I loved this world so much and although I can't pick out my favourite quotes as there are too many, I did love 'Draco felt all soft and open like Harry could dip his hand right through Draco’s soppy ribs and pick out his heart', because aside from being lovely writing you don't often get slow burn normal teenage fluff from Drarry due to their Hogwarts history. Thank you for writing this.

Oh my god. I feel like it's 1997 again and everything is awful and wonderful. This fic was stunning. The immersive 90s experience through the eyes of wizards has killed me stone dead. Hermione is everything I want and more. Her meta commentary is one of my favourite things ever, hands down. Murderous Ginny, Luna on point, the boys were fucking hilarious - they felt more in character than the actual books. Wow. I had a lot more intelligent things to say, but I'm still recovering.

Published in 2017, this fic feels contemporary while also capturing the tone of HP. The author made some thoughtful choices about how the wizarding world would change without Harry, and there’s a great balance between Harry/Draco romance stuff and adventures/witty friendship scenes with the other teens. It feels fresh compared to fic from 10+ years ago, partly because Harry and Hermione are portrayed as POC (which was virtually unheard-of at the height of HP book fandom), and partly due to the fic’s politics and more ~millennial sense of humor. A satisfying longfic, and a great place to jump back into HP fandom if you haven’t been around in a while!

Artwork Inspired By The Story

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  Hermione and Ginny in the woods. Digital fanart by batcii.

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  Harry and Draco with their wands out in the dark. Digital fanart by batcii.

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  Squad. Digital fanart by batcii.

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  Draco and Harry kissing. Digital fanart by brightandred.