A bet, a wanted witch, and a magical contract land Draco in a most unexpected situation. Can his Slytherin soul survive intact or will he succumb to one redheaded witch in bondage? Snarky humor, romance, and a pinch of angst. “I don’t want it. I didn’t order it. Now leave me the fuck alone.” He slammed the door closed. Only it didn’t close due to the enormous boot wedged into its threshold. One loud grunt later and it flung back open, almost hitting him in the face. Draco reflexively leaned back, and that’s when she was thrust into his unsuspecting arms.Category: Works in Progress
Ouch.
Good story.
Author's Response: Yes, I couldn\'t agree with you more. Thank you! -fallenwitch
And his name's Christo, no less!
Good suspense. Can't wait to read how this works out.
Author's Response: Yes! I rather liked that part myself. Thanks for noticing! -fallenwitch
Wow. Poor Ginny. Always being abandoned by her beloved partners for the noblest of reasons, so that her romantic attachments to them are like having her heart ripped out. Draco has a lot of catching up to do, no matter how much those potions cost. It's not as though he has risked anything he can't afford, is it?---like his life, or voluntarily sending Ginny into the arms of his romantic rival in order to save her life... What an incredible story this is! So layered and rich.
Author's Response: Hi Phae - A unique and interesting take on the story. Enjoyed your review immensely. Glad you are enjoying this one and thanks for your review! -fallenwitch
Lovely suspense thriller, as all of the chapters have been. I didn't quite picture Draco as a Rick walking off arm-in-arm with Blaise's Captain Reynaud to join La Resistance, so I will wait ... on tenterhooks? with baited breath? to exhale?
Author's Response: Yes, I see your point. Glad you are enjoying this, despite its lack of Casablanca appeal for you. Appreciate you stopping by, Phae,and thanks for your review. -fallenwitch
How I love this phrase:
"She was beauty and fire and deadly desire, so close he could see the danger simmering in her dark eyes and feel the pulsing of her body. And he ached for her, this scintillating rebel and wife of another wizard. "
Their confrontation was so powerful. The moment of truth about her marriage to Chernenko was both satisfying and bittersweet. Chernenko certainly turned out to be more of a manipulator than his press clippings reveal. I love how you showed that cynical side of his character---very subtle and well-written.
And another dizzying cliffhanger. What does she mean by her last statement? I'm itching with curiosity!!!
Author's Response: Thanks, Phae. I wasn\'t sure how that would go over and I\'m glad you found it substantial. Also, how did you get to be so smart? (Now referring to your last question.) I would tell you to go to the head of the class, but you\'re already there with your hand raised! -fallenwitch
So many incredible moments:
Another powerful, dramatic chapter with the plot twisting and turning. So many incredible moments:
"...watching the dripping sunlight spill in a scorching mess across the floor..."
The whole realization about having to slaying a nation and laying it at her feet, and his final orders about magical mischief.
And of course, the attache would show up, not the Minister and in an underhanded fashion, not at the front door.
I love how this story has turned on itself, and the villains have become self-sacrificing heros, and the heroes are not so pure...
Author's Response: Thank you, Phae. How I love your insightful and provocative reviews! -fallenwitch
In progress. Ginny commemorates the fifth anniversary of her death and finds herself face to face with someone from her past.Category: Works in Progress
On the edge of my seat here. Clearly a major shock or two are in store.
Author's Response: Thanks for reviewing. Don\'t fall off!
Two and a half years after his failure to kill Albus Dumbledore, Draco has long been accepted back into the ranks of the Death Eaters. He is still obsessively searching for the rebel Ginny Weasley, but he hides that secret well. When she is found one snowy December night, he smuggles her onto the Death Eaters? train with him. And he begins to learn that nothing will ever be the same again?Category: Works in Progress
I adore the complexity of your characters. They are definitely not cartoon villains. I'm looking forward to seeing what you make of Bellatrix. Clearly Snerk sees something the rest are missing. Well done, Anise.
Thanks for the recap at the beginning of the chapter. It really helps. It also helps that the chapter itself makes everything so clear about the purpose of all these meetings, especially pertaining to the keystone room and Draco's Unbreakable Vow. I no longer feel like I'm stumbling along.
So, wow! Suspense. What a no-win situation for the Order. It really would have to be a horrifying bind like that for any of them to even begin to contemplate such a strategy. And what an extraordinary commentary on the dilemnas of soldiers and their commanders. I get an inkling of why you face such reactionary opposition. Good luck with your Lumos project. You must be making a very good impact to attract such unreasonable reactions.
Damn, I wrote you a nice, long comment about what's happening to my reading of this story, and the aether ate it. Basic gist: so many threads, I'm losing sight of the story pattern. Can't remember what happened more than 2-3 chapters before and there's so many chapters that I can't find the one to go back and re-read to remind myself of what happened back then. So, more leading of the reader please. More reiteration of the key structural pillars which support your story with greater detail when we need to remember them. Otherwise, I'm swimming in the dark.
I smiled when I read your comment about sprawling novels and trying to tie everything up. I followed a lead on a defunct site once to a 70-chapter novel, and managed to plough through most of it on a very slow weekend. Even so, reading steadily, I lost the pattern. I think the author did too, since her terrifying, bloodthirsty demon turned into a fluffy pron-star, and eventually, she just abandoned it.
Similarly in following all these different threads, I have lost sight of the larger pattern in your excellent story, and can hold little more than a faded impression of everything that transpired before, perhaps, 2-3 chapters prior to the latest. Most of the time, I feel like I'm swimming in the dark. As a reader, it means that I can offer very little commentary of any value besides, "Oh, I see you really want Harry to be a villain here" or "Wow, that was really a really ghastly thing to happen to Hermione" or "Is Bellatrix going to be a friend or a villain?" For all the effort you've put in, I like to be able to leave you with something more nourishing than that.
Perhaps a more clear reiteration of your key plot points at different stages in the dialogue or exposition---I mean, more than "Oh, that time Ginny and Harry got together back in..." because I scratch my head and wonder which time was that?---And I can't remember which chapter it was to hunt down the thread. But I would remember something like "when he had her committed to the psych-ward at St. Mungo's."
Just a thought...
I'm not sure what to think about this chapter. The rape scene came as a surprise, in spite of the graphic-violence warning at the very beginning of the story. It did seem as though the worst of it was over when we left the death-train behind. You might want to add non-con sex to your story list of warnings. Frankly, I don't think there's much difference between rapists and Dementors, so it was interesting to read how the guard reacted so hypocritically. It's delightful to see that your Hermione has the depth to care for Snerk. She and Harry had started to look two-dimensional.
How strange that Harry and Hermione wouldn't leap at the chance to heal Draco's soul! I could see it if they were mini-Voldemorts, but they don't seem to understand what a soul is, do they? Why would they want Ginny to serve as Draco's ersatz horcrux? Even though this tangles the story, I am curious about what their motivation could be. I am also looking forward to the moment when Ginny and Draco realize that they love each other and how redeeming that is, but I see I have to wait just a little longer. This is like one of Peffy's chocolates....
Oh, so close. What is keeping them apart? I look forward to learning what this mystery is.
Ginny Potter worked with her husband as a Caser until the day her life changed forever. Now she's seeing things: images of her husband haunt her as does the image of the man now standing next to her. When her world falls apart, yet again, who will be there to put the pieces back together again? And is the nightmare she's chasing really just that...or the truth surrounding her husband's death?Category: Long and Completed
Lovely shift in this chapter. Ginny's apology made the transition believable. Plenty of long, white fingers seem to be pointing at Dakotah. Of course, that started the minute she trespassed into Ginny's territory *grin*. Good story.
It is a new experience to read about a Draco so crushed by guilt, so determined to purify himself of the past that he believe the only way is to plead guilty to a crime with which, apparently, he had nothing to do. Why not just atone for the crimes he actually committed? Not to mention how this complicates Dakotah's involvement in the murders. I suspect there is a huge part of the story that's missing about Draco, and I'm interested to see how you reveal and stitch up the loose threads.
I add my voice to those who are delighted to hear you have a sequel in the works, one in which I anticipate Draco will be exonerated from crimes he did not commit and with Ginny's Caser talents. It isn't that I must have a happy ending and it isn't that your ending doesn't have that gritty veritas feeling to it. It's wonderful that Draco is using his prison time for self-realization, but in terms of where that takes the reader... it deflates the earlier promise of the story and feels a bit 'cornered' or blocked. I'm interested to read how you turn that around since I know you have the talent to do it.
A new game at Hogwarts is meant to develop more Inter-house relationships... but Draco just wants the extra credit.Category: Long and Completed
Excellent! Your Ginny and Draco are very sweet pair of schoolkids. I hope he's still intact after the family gets through with him. ;^}
Author's Response: Oh, it means a lot to me that you visted and reviewed. Since you finnished OTLFA I\'ve wondered how you are! ;) Thanks for reading and reviewing... and never fear... this is all about fluff -- he\'ll be fine! ;)
Some light dusting, heavy spying, inappropriate sniffing, and . . . a rock ballad? Things are going to get very weird when Ginny and Hermione, super spies extraordinaire, take jobs as maids at Malfoy Manor!Category: Works in Progress
Ooh, to have mirror like Mirabel! Then again, Louis Vuitton is Lord Voldemort, and Draco's paint-job sounds normal for the 1980s (ie., google-image Jackie Collins), especially with the lip extension. Great job. Lots of laughs.
With all the insane bouts of laughter bursting out of my office from this fic, my partner thinks I'm ready to compete with the squirrels. I almost peed myself at Shweasel, and as for that "too sexy to be loved?" speech---popped in at The Superfarcial and couldn't get past this bizarre moment: "...I'm not sure it's considered a nipple slip when you pull off your own top. It's more like undressing. She's must be so used to the motion she just randomly does it in public." Almost---but not quite---as funny as your story.
Author's Response: Hi Phaedra! I\'m so glad I made you laugh -- it is hard to tell if what\'s funny to me will be funny to anyone else. And I\'m glad you liked the Superficial. It\'s where I get my daily dose of snarked-up raunchiness. Thanks very much for reviewing.
Just the name of this chapter has me in stitches. I think Draco just earned himself a split lip. He reminds me so much of Eddie to Blaise's Patsy from AbFab, it's uncanny.
Author's Response: Hi Phaedra! Yes, indeed, Draco is in for a world of hurt. :) I\'ve actually never seen AbFab, so the similarity is completely coincidental. Glad you like it though. Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Ginny Weasley is bound by a blood curse to marry Draco Malfoy and to live with him a year and a day. What happens when she finds him to be...not exactly the man she thought he was? Love, perhaps?Category: Works in Progress
I must say I read this story to completion on another site, and it was spectacular from start to finish, very touching, and in the end, very sad. I hope you will continue to post the chapters here. I love the way you weave together some of the swashbuckling elements of historical romances too.
AU. Draco Malfoy has an uncommon skill and he offers his services to the Order of the Phoenix to protect his mother. But as his importance to the Order grows, his strength and will slackens. Finally, all Draco wants is peace, but can Ginny Weasley help him find peace with her before he seeks it in the Dark?Category: Works in ProgressThis story takes place after OotP but uses a few elements from HBP.
**And now includes illustrations! Thanks to the rulers of the DG universe, er...the Cabal, for letting me post them here!**
Wonderful and well-written story. The suspense of Draco not knowing the reason behind Ginny's actions is palpable. I can hardly wait to see how you make the story unfold, even if he doesn't find out for awhile. I really like your vulnerable Draco.
Author's Response: Thanks so much! I like vulnerable Draco too, even if he\'s a bit OOC, but I hope to provide a reasonable explanation for it!
I think your references are quite apt for the feel of this story, the PreRaphaelite paintings, Edgar's scene from King Lear---I'm not sure how the birthday fits in yet, unless Draco's being whisked away by the Erlkonig and that's what upsets Fleur. Beautifully written and fun to read as always. Waiting on the edge of my chair to see what happens next.
Author's Response: Thanks for guessing! I don\'t think I\'ll answer all the questions...yet...but soon... Anyway, thank you for such a lovely review. Cheers!
Will Ginny forgive Draco after this? Will Draco forgive Ginny for being so hardheaded? There's more than curses that need to be healed here. Interesting play in the relationship between Dumbledore and Draco.
Author's Response: Didn\'t we all learn that we just need to communicate better? Easier said than done... ;)