Well, that was... depressing. You certainly took the prompt in an unexpected direction. It was well written.
Author's Response: Thank you! It is a very sad story. :((((
Oh. My. Goodness. This was SO sad! Fantastic story concept though. Your writing is gorgeous!
Author's Response: Thank you so much!! n_n
It hit me right in the feels. It reminded me very much of JessicaKMalfoy's story Paper Hearts from a DG FIc Exchange from some years past. It brought on the same feels. A lovely story with no happy ending that just gets you right in the gut. Beautiful tearjerker. It was easy to read the first time because I always read your stories. This one should have come with some tissues.
Author's Response: I really appreciate the compliment! Jessica K Malfoy is an amazing writer. I looove happy endings, and I write my fair share of fluff, but sometimes a girl's just gotta torture her readers with the angst, you know? ;D I know what you mean about the feels though, because I didn't intend for Draco to be dead in this. So when I realized he had to be, I was very sad about it. I just love writing this sort of tortured Draco, though (even though in this story he has come to terms with his trauma and death and no longer angsts over it), because I really do think he would be haunted by his experiences during the war. I think that's a fascinating Draco to write about, because that's where I can develop the redemption JKR left out of the books. As sad as this was, I'm really glad you enjoyed the story and that it provoked some emotion out of you. That's all an author can ask for! :)
This was so beautifully written, so sad. Brought me to actual tears. I can't promise I'll ever read it again but it was great the first time, made me feel all the feels. Excellent story!
Author's Response: I can't blame you if you never read it again, but I thank you for reading it the first time! n_n
This was so sad. The thought that Draco would have been sexually abused never occurred to me. I love your insights on this complex character. Thanks for writing it.
Author's Response: I guess I just figured if I was going to write a sad/disturbing story, might as well make it as sad and disturbing as possible. ;o; Thank YOU for reading!
OH, SUPER CREEPY!!! But... wow, it really works. I'm not even completely sure what to say about this one (although it's all good.) Afterwards, some logical questions did occur to me (is it believable that Draco would actually open Malfoy Manor as a haunted house in order to make his memories known, to tell his truth, would he really have opened it to everyone, or...) But while reading it, I was just caught up in the spell, like going along with an irresistible dream.
And actually, or did Draco really just do it that way because he knew that Ginny couldn't resist the temptation? The most haunting sentence in this is probably the one about Tom Riddle having groomed her as a child-- the word has a very specific meaning applied to abusers, as you probably know (or you wouldn't have used it.) That really is what Tom did, and so the fact that he wasn't able to take shape in a way that enabled him to do exactly what he wanted to do to her didn't somehow erase everything (and the canon message that this DID happen and now it's all okay was what made me so mad about the trashing of Ginny's character, in some ways even more than the icky pairing with Harry.) And Draco is the one who understands. In this fic, he couldn't escape the past, which at least Ginny did manage to do.
Anyway... great job!!
I think that your writing is maturing, getting more subtle, more meaningful. I want to see where you go with this, so you'd BETTER KEEP WRITING and posting it where I can see it, as in D/G here. ;)
Author's Response: (I am apologizing in advance for an unasked-for ramble!!)Thank you, Anise!! My stories, especially my one-shots, are always open to interpretation, so you can of course read into this story however you'd like. To me, I don't see Draco setting up this haunted house scheme as a way to attract Ginny specifically there. I see Draco as suffering from depression and PTSD after the war. For whatever reason, his parents are no longer in his life and life/society was unforgiving toward him after the Battle of Hogwarts. So he has no support system at all. I see him planning his suicide and his memorial at the same time, as a way to reach out to people, even though it will be too late by the time anyone goes through the manor and sees his memories. He opens the manor to the public because he's dead, his parents are dead or gone, so what does it matter? But as Memory!Draco tells Ginny, there are protections on the manor so that no one can steal or destroy Malfoy property. He sets his ancestral home up as a museum and a mausoleum. And to me, the story is even more tragic if Draco isn't targeting Ginny, because that means that out of the hundreds of people who go through the manor and see Draco's memories (because, honestly, who would ever pass up such an opportunity to see inside if they could?), Ginny is the *only* one to make a connection with him, the *only* person moved enough by what she saw to do something about Draco's memory. Just look at the way Harry, Ron, and Hermione react at the end of the story. They are appalled by what they saw, but they don't think anything of it and just leave. Ginny is the one who stays behind for a final look at the manor and she's the only one who vows to tell Draco's truth. Draco couldn't have known that she would be affected in such a way. He couldn't have known that they had trauma in common. If he had known, maybe he would have tried reaching out to her before killing himself. Who knows?
By opening the manor to the entire public, Draco is not only hoping someone comes to understand him more, he's also shaking his finger at society. Like, "Look what I went through, and none of you cared, and now I'm dead." You know? It's not just a plea to be heard, it's an admonishment that no one cared about him or reached out to him sooner. And now it's too late because Draco's dead, so everyone can feel guilty for what happened. Now, whether or not the public learns from the manor or takes any truth out of it is open to interpretation, but I do see all of Draco's memories being memorable to the average (and not so average) citizen because of their deeply disturbing nature.
I have a tendency to write Draco as an isolated, haunted character who receives no support for his suffering after the war, and Ginny is the compassionate one who sees that mutual suffering and reaches out to him. I think ALL of the holiday one-shots I've written since 2012 feature this dynamic. While Ginny, of course, would also suffer after the war, she's been dealing with trauma since she was 11 years old. Draco, on the other hand, lived a very spoiled, comfortable life until he was 15/16, when Voldemort gave him an impossible task. I guess I see Ginny as being able to come to terms with her grief and her trauma (or at least *recognizing* it) more easily than Draco because she's had more time to sift through those events and emotions, so I also see her being compassionate towards people who are suffering since she understands that pain. And that's why she's able to connect with Draco when no one else is. The second tragedy is wondering how Draco's fate might have changed if Ginny had been able to reach out to him before he killed himself. Maybe she would have been able to offer him the support he needed to keep living. :(
And, yes, I did very intentionally use the word "grooming" to describe Ginny's relationship with Tom. Of course what Tom made Ginny do in CoS is horrific enough, but I think, for her sake, we should be glad that Tom was more interested in Harry than he was in her. Her fate could have been a lot worse. D:
Thank you so, so, so much for reading and for the extremely flattering review! I keep thinking "this is going to be my last DG story"/"I don't know if I can write any more after this one," but I'm always amazed and grateful when the muse kicks in with a new story idea, even in this year of 2016, ten years after I jumped on the Fire and Ice train. I have every intention to keep writing until I can't write anymore. ;)
A sad one-shot!! I can understand why he want someone to know what his life was like- the press can painted their story on him, but to see draco's experience at his home. the visitors would have a better understanding what he want through..
Author's Response: Exactly. It's really sad that Draco had to die before anyone would get to hear/witness his story. :( But I think Ginny will do whatever she can to make sure his truth comes to light. Thank you for reading and reviewing!
Woooow that last scene of Draco appearing in a window reminded me SO MUCH of the last scene of that movie, "Mine Ha-ha (a.k.a The Fine Art of Love)"; although that scene was way creepier than your story XDDD
This was mindblowing. Poor Draco, I feel so sad and sorry for him. I hope Ginny can keep Draco's memory alive...
Author's Response: I haven't seen that movie, but that last shot of Draco was inspired by the ride at Disney World, The Haunted Mansion. At night, if you look close enough, you can see the shadows of people moving in the windows of the attraction. ;) Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! n_n
Sad and depressing.
Author's Response: I know. ;o; I never intended this to happen, but the story had to go this way. ;o; ;o; ;o; Thank you for reading!