Snitch!

Snitch! is one of the earliest Harry/Draco slash fanfics. The first six chapters were posted on 16 July 2001 to FictionAlley by Al with updates continuing until December of 2002 before it became an abandoned WIP. 
It was published during a time that slash was still considered niche and something to be warned for, and may have garnered some hate for this (see The Pairing for more detail), but overall it was very well-received and quickly became a fandom classic. The ship name "Guns 'n' Handcuffs", which was used to refer to Harry/Draco on FictionAlley, takes the "Guns" half from Snitch!Guns 'n' Handcuffs Glossary. Accessed 10 Dec 2021.
At the end of each chapter posted to Schnoogle, the author thanked readers who had left reviews. There was also a dedicated Yahoo group, Draco's Appartment, for discussion, spinoffs, and related fanworks. Aja listed it as one of her recs in her giant fics rec meme.
==Mentioned in the New York Times==
==Summaries==
The summary on FictionAlley is: 
The summary at Fanfiction.net: 
==The Fic==
Written between the release of Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix, Snitch! is a post-canon AU futurefic set in 2003. It features Harry as a mob boss and Draco as a drug dealer who team up to run Harry's club business and keep the Wizarding World from interfering with their lives. The fic was rated R on FictionAlley, although the author admits it "would be rated 15 in the UK."Schnoogle - Snitch! (Chapter 01). Accessed 17 Nov 2020. It appears to be based in tone on Guy Ritchie movies, particularly Snatch,In response to a reviewer, Al said: "Pulp Fiction, I'm thinking more Brit-gangster movies, like Snatch *hence the title* ... but the analogy works." and many reviewers praised the originality and freshness of the fic, particularly in comparison to the author's earlier work, Dracaena Draco.
The fic is canon divergent from Goblet of Fire, with both Draco and Harry being expelled for having sex and being forced to make their own way in the world. The fic also features an interesting example of the Ron the Death Eater trope, where although Ron is not actually a Death Eater in the fic he is placed in opposition with Harry and they are no longer friends due to bad blood between them. The fic is notable for the use of many OCs, as it primarily takes place in the Muggle world. It also contains a cameo of Cassandra Claire, as the author was friends with her and it was Cassie who initially introduced him to Drarry as a concept.
===Unfinished Story===
The story is an abandoned WIP, ending at Chapter 11 on something of a cliffhanger. The author posted an apology in 2004:
===The Pairing===
At the time Snitch! was posted, slash was still thought of as "niche" and something to be warned for. Harry Potter fanfic was overwhelmingly het or gen and the author himself was known for the Dark Descending Trilogy, a series of gen fics mostly centered around Draco Malfoy. For more context on the time period this fic was written in, see other early Harry/Draco fics. Initially, the first few chapters of Snitch! were posted with the following as the author's note:
This author's note was left up for archival purposes by Heidi8, against the author's wishes, but the warning was presumably written because Al feared potential backlash for writing slash, especially when known as a gen writer. While the reviews on FF.net are largely positive, traces of the general attitude toward slash can be seen. This review from someone named Simon on chapter 2 is one such example:
And this similar comment by Samantha K. on chapter 1:
These, of course, are only the remaining comments. Others may have been removed after being reported for abuse, if this comment in a review from MiniMalfoy101 on chapter 2 is any indication:
However, the author's note in the version of chapter 2 posted to FictionAlley seems to indicate that the story was fairly well-received and (at least initially) garnered no hate:
This sentiment was repeated in chapter 3's author's note:
The remaining chapters that were cross-posted from FF.net only seem to mention the positive reviews, potentially indicating that Snitch! did, in fact, gather an amount of hate between the time chapter 3 was posted and the time chapter 4 was posted. Regardless of what hate the story did or did not gather, it was considered enough of a fandom classic by the time the ship name was being discussed to become part of the eventual "SS Guns 'n' Handcuffs" name proposed by the FictionAlley forumgoers. Snitch! is the guns half, in reference to the gangster aspect of the story, and Irresistible Poison by Rhysenn was the handcuffs, because it featured handcuffs. This name was widely accepted enough by December 2001 that the first Harry/Draco megathread was called "Smart wizards choose guns and handcuffs!" in reference to the ship name.Harry/Draco. Smart wizards choose guns and handcuffs! Accessed 10 Dec 2021. That those two fics are the ones that ended up being popular is perhaps due to the fact that both authors were associated with Cassie Claire and therefore on the periphery of the inner circle.
==Selected Commentary==
The story has 631 reviews at Fanfiction.net, some of them by the biggest BNFs in the fandom, such as Cassandra Claire Comments , yael ; Comments; Comments; Comments; Comments , Rhysenn Comments; Comments; Comments; Comments , Carole Estes Comments; Comments , Heidi Tandy Comments , Gwendolyn Grace Comments; Comments; Comments; Comments; Comments , Flourish Comments; Comments; Comments , and many more. See them (oldest to newest) here.
Some other selected reviews:
==Notes and References==
===Notes===
===References===
Category:2001 Fanfiction‎Category:2002 Fanfiction‎
Category:Slash Fanfiction
Category:Yahoo! Groups
Category:2022 Featured Articles