Think twice if…
- Content warnings: PTSD, Trauma, Drug use, Alcoholism, Non-consensual, Dubious consent, Violence, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Death, Self-harm, Depression, Anxiety, Bullying, Panic attacks, Sexual content
Breath Mints / Battle Scars
by Onyx_and_Elm
One of the most-bookmarked Dramione fics on AO3 for good reason - a post-war eighth-year story about two traumatized people clawing toward each other and toward themselves. The CNC tag is intentional, the smut is earned, and the healing is hard.
goodreads 4.25/5 21,858 ratings
storykind_community 5/5 1 rating
Quick fit
Is this story right for you?
A decision-first view of the reading experience.
Length631 pages
Story statusStandalone
Spice5/5 · Frequent explicit scenes
PacingMedium
Story profile
What the story promises
The strongest reviewed signals about romance, fantasy, and the reading experience.
Romance promise
- Enemies to lovers
- Male/female pairing (M/F)
- Slow burn
- High
- Frequent explicit scenes
- Cathartic release
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- Dark/tortured soul
- Academic rivals
- Rough / aggressive style
- The angst delivered
- Morally gray
- Morally gray love interest (LI)
- Emotional / vulnerable intimacy
- Tension finally satisfied
- Redeemed villain
- Love/hate tension
- Angry / hate sex
- Expanded empathy
- Anti-hero
- Hurt/comfort
- Healing / comfort intimacy
- Earned hope
- Betrayal to trust
- Desperate / urgent
- Obsessed
- Intense / passionate
- Book hangover incoming
- Dark / taboo style
- Wall pinning
- Hair pulling soft
- Marking hickeys
- Rough but consensual
- Tension
- Anticipation
- Neck kisses / neck touching
- Ear whispers / breath on neck
- Non-consensual fantasy themes (CNC)
- Dubious consent elements
- Rough/aggressive intimacy
- Hair pulling (hard)
- Marking
- Possessive
Fantasy promise
- Fanfiction
- Academy / campus
- Urban fantasy
- Witches/wizards/warlocks
- Dark academia romance
- Low fantasy / secret magic
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- Contemporary
- Forbidden love
- Right person wrong time
Reading experience
- First person
- Medium
- Dark
- Heavy
- Damaged survivor
- Mental health rep
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- Angsty
- Emotional
- Bookworm/scholar
- MC 20-30
- Intense
- Snarky/sarcastic
- Raw
- Survivor
- Haunting
- Introspective
- Yearning
- Lyrical
- Cathartic
- Character-driven
- Brooding
- Literary
- Melancholic
- Emotional devastation
- Morally complex
- Addictive pacing
- Binge read
- Will make you cry
- The long game
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Matched by the most important shared story signals, with the tradeoffs made explicit.
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Similar because
Right person wrong time · Will make you cry · Cathartic
Different because
It is completed rather than standalone. Spice is lower (3/5 vs 5/5).
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Similar because
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Similar because
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Different because
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Book details
- Length
- 631 pages
- Language
- English
- Format
- Book