Wow.
This was amazing. Brilliant, moving, and chilling.
I cried silently while reading this story. It was very, very powerful and I feel that you did an amazing job with it. I could feel Ginny's pain, as I was in a situation where I once felt pain like that. I could feel Draco's horror at seeing his unborn child to the point where I am sick to my stomach. You have a wonderful way with words. As depressing as it is, it's also brilliant and amazing. I applaud you for moving me to tears.
Wow. Have you ever seen Requiem of a Dream? I was listening to that soundtrack while reading this, and the track "Meltdown" (you can probably guess that the chaotic part of the movie came in there) played just as I was reading Draco's panicking bit at the end.
I'll admit that I suspected Ginny's intentions a while before they were actually revealed, and the uncontrollable compulsion that Draco had for his mistress made me think of a Veela, not a lust potion. But that makes me wonder--assignment? Who had assigned her to Draco? In retrospect, I'm thinking it was Lucius, because he played them both like a fiddle.
I loved the characterizations of everyone in here. Ginny was heartbreaking, Lucius was wonderfully Machiavellian, and poor Draco was hopelessly in love and lust. Did I also pick up on a hint of a Molly/Lucius romance in Hogwarts? LOL. I always wondered how something like that would turn out, and have toyed with writing one for ages now (although I'm probably reading too far into your hints and interpreting them for my own means...).
Still, the imagery here was wondrous. I loved the role that the roses played, and how they evolved through the story (and the prestory) in their symbolism from token of love, to betrayal, to vengeance. I guess the last question I'm wondering is if Ginny is still alive. Did she take off? Or is Draco going to find her in the bathtub in the unwritten part of the story?
Seriously, masterfully done. I think you wrote the broken romance better than anyone I've ever read.
This story was fantastic. You made all the characters come to life and your descriptions are amazing.
I loved Lucius. He was so delightfully bone-chilling.
Again, well done.
-Jayde
My my. Very unexpected and shocking but bravo none-the-less. The way you conveyed Ginny's self-destruct sequence took every single reader along for the ride, pain, sympathy, hatred and all. This IS absolutely fantastic writing. And I must say you have pitted most readers against Draco (in this plot) with feelings of violent outrage. I have a hunch that the next fic anyone reads after this one will give unwarranted disdain to Draco's character. Compliments, again for your work.
OMG!!! A great and suprising story, that I love to pieces!!!
Your writing is simply superb. I love the symbolism of the rose, and how you used it and changed it to suit the story. And how Ginny goes mad... bit by bit. It's haunting and say very sad. I also absolutely loved this story.
Two words... Beautifully Dark... It takes a lot to write something like this...so eerily beautiful.. Surprisingly, the grotesqueness was fitting... You have introduced a never before thought of element to the D/G dynamic...kudos to you... I do appreciate the dark side of the human psyche...it exists , even in the best of us.. although we think it convenient to pretend that it doesn't. My award goes to you for uniqueness.. and your vivid imagination... I will remember this story for a long long time.This story truly defies all description..
Wow. That was quite chilling. I think I need to go read something fluffy and cheerful now. I must say, it was brilliantly written. You definitely know how to tell a good story.
I'm not even sure what to say. My heart is so completely utterly broken I can't even begin....
This was beautiful, stunningly so. So amazingly well written and the plot was fantastic. Short of that...I can't even form the words. You're amazing.
This has been one of the best stories I have read in a long time. It literally brought me into tears. I love how you turned the rose from a symbol of love to betrayal. The way the story ended made it so much better. I truly pity Draco even though I wanted to murder him in the beginning. Lucius has a very dark, twisted mind which fit into this perfectly. I look forward to reading more horror stories from you.
AHH SO CREEPY!! You had me guessing to the very end what would happen, and I loved every bit of it!
... i feel so sad right now. very well written i must say. good work, a bit creepy, but very good
Wow. The entire time I was reading this, I wanted to make Draco physically manifest in front of me so that I could rip his balls off. I refrained from attempting such magics (beyond the fact that such a notion is insane) because I thought that Draco had to be under a love spell. But for so long? Oh my God. While I know it was all Lucius' doing, I wonder who his mistress was, and I wonder who Molly's old flame was.
Well written. Ginny's sense of desperation, loneliness, and fear was real and palpable. And for once, her mother wasn't a bitch. Her mother was understanding, reasonable.
I felt so much pity for Ginny. She tried so hard. She knew he loved her, but she couldn't understand (or even know) that he was under a spell. Now after finding out that Draco was under a spell, I pity him too.
I really hope that you do write a happy ending for them. They deserve it.
Kudos!
~Lia
This was so very well written. I would have loved to see what happened next after Draco found the baby, but than the mystery of the ended would have been killed. I'm going to pretend like she lived lol.
Creepy! But written beautifully. And thanks for your explaination in the review. I was wondering if Ginny died as well. I guess it's not really important to the story because either way it's still haunting to think about. Having the mystery surrounding the end is a nice touch.
So glad you posted this here! It's just as creepy as when I first read it. How I love a seriously twisted Lucius. Take a bow, Maleficent.
OMFG
I can't even explain what I'm feeling right now.
WOW! I'm utterly speechless at how beautifully haunting this fic is?! The only fic I could draw comparison to this 1 is where_is_truth's The Visitor! I love how it's so unpredictable, until the very end! I think it had the right element of grotesque to create that horrifying feel to the plot, but w/ a hint of romance as well!
The jar w/ the fetus inside is pure, utter genius! It takes guts to write this story, & I applaud you for it! I hope that this won't be the last horror fic I'm gonna read from you! Thanks for the scary ride!
merlin i feel depressed! that's what i get though - should have paid attention to the warnings! besides that, it was a very clever story. i was immensely relieved that draco was under a lust potion and that he really loved ginny, even though it all ended tragically. so, i have to ask... ginny is dead? or just the baby. i reread it, but i still need a wee bit of clarification!
Hey,
I thought this was sooo interesting and really good! your descriptions are really nice and chilling at the same time! the constant references to the "red rose" seemed to have an ominous feeling. it was really interesting how roses, which are normally supposed to represent love, symbolize betrayal in this story. i'm just a little confused though. i was really happy that draco wasn't being purposely unfaithful to ginny, but what happened? was the girl paid by lucius malfoy to seduce and ruin draco and ginny's marriage? Who is the girl? Was it ginny, because it sounded like GInny's Power of Suggestion in the end? and I'm assuming that ginny is dead? and that she took the fetus out of her before she died? and how did she die, and what kind of bargain did she make with lucius malfoy? i know some authors want to make things ambiguous and "up to the readers' own interpretation", but it would help me a lot if you could explain the whole thing a little. regardless, you are extremely talented and i enjoyed this piece very much!
XOXO, JT
Author's Response: LOL. Well, I do want to leave a little bit up to your own interpretation, but because I've had a lot of questions, I'll try to clarify.When I originally played out this story in my head, it went like this: Lucius wanted revenge and knew (in a way that only a true manipulating sociopath would) that to destroy Draco, he would need to destroy the thing he loved most: Ginny. However, Lucius did not want to overtly interfere (like by killing Ginny). He knew that the way to cause Draco the most pain would be to let them destroy each other. Lucius saw the potential in Ginny. He knew that she'd gone against her family and given up a great deal to marry Draco (agreeing not to have children, for one) and all of that left her vulnerable. The Ginny in this story is not the fiery, self-assured Ginny we usually see in D/G -- you know, the Ginny who would have hexed Draco into oblivion at the first sign of infidelity? Even though we don't get to see the particulars of how they got together, I hoped to make it clear that the two of them were so close that his cheating literally caused her world to implode -- that she couldn't see past the pain and betrayal. I know it's not exactly the way we normally picture Ginny, but in real life, even the most seemingly self-assured and proud women can lose themselves in a relationship. I wanted to examine that.
As for the ending, I guess it's up to you. In my head, she lived. She used Dark Magic to extract her unborn child simply to hurt Draco. After that she most likely fled -- maybe descending into madness or maybe not. Maybe she continued to feel justified and calm about her decision -- although that's even scarier. But perhaps it would be more humane to think she died? Because how awful for her to learn that it was a trick all along, and that she played right into Lucius' hands. Maybe, however, even knowing the truth, she's beyond forgiveness. Maybe she'll blame Draco for not fighting harder? Maybe it will completely break her and she'll commit suicide? You decide. But for clarification's sake, the only part Lucius had in it was to hire the woman to become Draco's mistress. The rest, Ginny getting pregnant, breaking down, finding the spell, and seeking revenge -- were all conscious decisions made by her alone. And Draco, even though he was being manipulated, was not entirely innocent either. He could resist his mistress from a distance -- but the sex, of course heightened by the lust potion, was simply too tempting and he continued to go back time and time again. I don't mean to imply that he's completely a cheating bastard -- without the lust potion he would probably never have started seeing his mistress in the first place -- but I do want him to share some of the blame. All of the signs were in place for him to get rid of the mistress. He knew he was cheating. He kept going back to get lost in the lust again -- like an addict. However, I probably didn't spell that out as much as I should have so if you want to believe he's brainwashed -- go for it. ;)
P.S. I'm really a very positive and upbeat person. LOL.