A rec or three

[chthonya]

I second curia_regis’ rec for scatteredlogic’s The Best Revenge. It’s a must-read for anyone remotely interested in Lucius/Hermione, and even for those who aren’t, the Lucius/Snape/Harry/Hermione conversations are priceless. Rated NC-17, but that’s a short and minor part of it – I’d have probably rated it R.

There’s a fic on adultfanfiction.net that started with a similar scenario, but alas has never been updated past Chapter 1, so I was doubly glad to see this one. If we get many more additions of this quality to the Lucius/Hermione ouvre I’ll have to start using two hands to count the good ones! ;)


While I was browsing round her site, I came across a very short fic entitled Making a Difference, centring on Neville and his Mum. Call me sentimental, but it made me want to cry. If I were a Niffler, I’d probably Niffle it.


And for something completely different, if you want to laugh instead of cry, check out shadowycat’s Duelling with Dolts. As she put it: Have you ever wondered why it fell to Professor Snape to assist Gilderoy Lockhart with the Dueling Club instead of Professor Flitwick, who was apparently a champion dueler in his youth? ;)

;) indeed.


Anyhow, here’s my review of The Best Revenge

Firstly, it's great to see such a witty and well-written Hermione/Lucius story, which are all too rare. However, I wasn't _entirely_ convinced by the Lucius characterisation. At the start he was spot on (imo), but it felt to me that his manner lost its edge once they started their plan. His reasons were plausible enough; I'd just have expected him to make it a little harder for her, to be more triumphant about the corner he'd backed her into. And I find it hard to imagine that he wouldn't have had more of a problem with her being a Muggleborn, but that's really a symptom of me being too enmeshed in my own Lucius characterisation, probably. :)

I'm not one for anatomically graphic NC-17 fics, but even I was a little disappointed that black was faded to so quickly. Not so much for voyeuristic reasons (honest! ;) but because I'd have liked to see their initial reaction to each other once that bedroom door was closed, especially after so much build-up. Hermione basically made a logical decision to go through with it, and I'd have been interested to know how she felt when the results of that decision appeared in the flesh, as it were, and how Lucius might have dealt with her reaction as well as whatever he was feeling at that point.

I do salute the author, though, for de-emphasising the sexual content by portraying it solely in flashback, and letting the story rest on its characterisation. Apart from my little niggle about Lucius, that was excellent throughout, including an insight about the Weasleys that will stay with me, and dialogue that was thought-provoking in places (Lucius' prods at the biases in Hermione's morality) and downright hilarious in others (especially when Snape was around).

The ending felt a little... clean, to me, but there's something very satisfying about that, too. I'm not sure whether it's the sense that ending on a low key brought me gently back to earth, or just the beautiful phrasing:

'Less than what could have been, perhaps, but so much more than what should have been.'

Indeed. And a welcome change from the melodrama that pervades the fandom. (And yes, I do include mine in that!)