This list more or less goes hand in hand with the other list I started today, Mentorship and adoption (Harry-centric) - where I only take stories that follow canon at least for a while. This list is for Harry having a different childhood - which means in a lot of cases also being adopted or at least mentored by someone.
Stories where Harry grows up with the Dursleys but that diverge from canon afterwards, see AU: Harry grows up with the Dursleys but story diverges from canon once at Hogwarts.

I only take a very specific kind of AU, though:
- The fateful attack on Halloween happened. James and Lily are dead. Harry is the Boy Who Lived. (For AU-stories where James and Lily are alive, check out painless_j's list James and/or Lily live(s)).
- Harry is magical and comes to Hogwarts when he's 11 (or earlier). Or story can of course stop before Harry's years at Hogwarts. But I don't take any stories with "Harry comes to Hogwarts at 15..."
- Harry can be with the Dursleys originally but leaves them before he turns 11.
- No Redo-stories. See my Timetravel-list for those.
- Other than with my Mentorship and adoption-list, I accept Severitus and similar - provided they start pre-Hogwarts.
- No stories where Harry's caretaker lateron becomes his lover.
- No abandoned stories or WIPs with less than five chapters, please. And no badly written stories.

( On to the fics )

I have been getting lots of Harry/Snape-fics for both my Manipulative Dumbledore and Grandfatherly and mentor!Dumbledore lists. For the most part they don't seem to fully fit in either of the lists, so I won't be adding most Harry/Snape-fics with Dumbledore playing an important role as the chief-manipulator in getting them together in either of those lists. Instead I'll try to categorize them somewhat here.

( On to the fics )

This is the list that goes together with the one before about Manipulative Dumbledore, kind of its counterpart. It will contain Dumbledore being grandfatherly towards Harry or his mentor. Or fics where they simply have a positive relationship.
For the most part Harry/Snape-fics where Dumbledore plays an important role (as catalyst, master-manipulator or whatnot) belong in my Dumbledore in Harry/Snape-fics-list though I might add one or two if Dumbledore very actively mentors them during the fic.

( On to the fics )

An absolute favorite theme of mine is Harry interacting with adults: they can be true family by blood or simply adults who mentor him. Some of the stories in my other favorites also have Harry adopted or mentored by someone but are centered more closely around another theme, so I won't put them up here. Likewise I will not put stories that I find center on family in Sixth + Seventh year even if the story takes place during sixth year for instance.

( On to the fics )