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well i think it's safe to say things are not looking up for hermione and to me it seems that they're not likely to look up any time soon...more likely they'll just go downhill from here :/
which is sad for her but oh well...it is a noir story :D
i wonder what her boss' problem is. i mean...i wouldn't have expected so much animosity towards hermione who's basically a war hero, but who knows what's the background on that guy hmmm
draco being an informant is very fitting with his character and i suspect he won't be too happy that hermione contacts him heh
hopefully she err, does something about her whole...condition...because honestly, you write her so well that i feel a lil sickly just reading about her symptoms :sweat_smile:
kris
hm hm hm
is it possible all the stuff written in books hermione read about vampires is wrong? or, well, not all but some stuff...that's rude. considering our lil vampire is a bookworm. oopsie
okay but for real -- reading about hermione struggling due to her injury is just...painful. and super sad. she seriously needs a break. knowing she regrets pushing ron away makes me hope she'll try fixing up tgeir friendship because she definitely needs a friend.
kris
aw man
hermione is hungryyyyyy :eyes: i wonder how her moral compass is going to deal with *that*
but ron! i love the way you wrote him! i mean he gets on her nerves and i get that but i love that their friendship is still so strong and that her rejection of him as a romantic partner (which makes sense) doesn't mean their friendship is over and i think that's my favourite takeaway from this chapter *_*
kris
I reckon that flat out prurient is the only way I can believe Dramione, too, Pix. That's one well written bunch of naughty behavior there, kiddo! You do such a nice job of taking Hermione from sensually self-satisfied to shocked by her own lust to just rolling with it in a really short span. The bit as she's waking and stretching, up until she downs that potion, is really hot stuff. You're being nice to Draco again, too! Even nicer than cake! Damn,
Can't pretend Draco is really so down and out that he can't still spot the main chance and grab it, that's for sure. He's so true to his character here - nothing beats him when it comes to greed or arrogance, even when he's looking down at the world from the gutter. This is beautiful work, Pix. The description is among the best you've done in this story, too. Okay, so I'm gonna shut up now and go shower or something.
G
w o w
i love the way you write, honestly. it's just how effortlessly you weave the backstory of hermione's curse and how things developed for her (and ron) and how it fit so naturally into the story that's happening in the present...idk, it's just really great writing and i love it so much
but also. poor hermione, the state she's in, and not knowing w t f happened to her, i think she's not completely freaking out because of everything else she'd been through so far in her life, it's almost like she's become a little numb towards all the shitty and fucked up things that happen. and also...yeah okay, i suppose she's not yet fully aware of the state she's actually in, but still, i feel like her war (and even pre-war) experiences definitely make her more resilient in the face of hardship, but on the other hand...i suspect make her more fragile when it comes to other stuff as well. it's just a matter of if or when the fragility will present itself.
i'm super curious to read on :eyes:
okay so i knew vampires were like ~~teh story but i didn't expect them to flat out attack hermione who was going to try and help them. very rude of them but on the other hand, it makes for a great story and first chapter :eyes:
but to backtrack a little - i love the entire concept of this story, first hermione being handicapped (i suppose her arm was cursed or something? it reminds me of the thingy that happened to dumbledore when he was dealing with the gaunt ring) and magicless and like,,,she's the type of person who definitely would struggle *a lot* with that, she was so great at doing magic and losing that must've hit her pretty damn hard. i'm not surprised she went through a bunch of therapists before dr. metzker. who also seems very sus since he's the one who sent her to meet the vampires who rudely attacked her. damn,, she really can't get a break
i also love that despite the fact that the handicap must've hit her hard, she's still hermione and she's stubborn af so of course she'll try to do everything on her own, not asking for help. which might not be great, but it's still very much ~~her
anyhow.
whew
this was one hell of a chapter and i'm excited to read moreeee :eyes:
kris
Hey, Pix, good to see you've managed to beat this chapter into submission! It feels a bit different from the earlier ones, but still makes a solid contribution to your narrative. I like your handling of Hermione's internal monologue here - she seems to be getting a little control over her thoughts at last, although I'm not sure whether she's fooling herself to do so - seems likely, given all that's happened so far.
The meeting with Draco is mighty civilized compared to the last time they met up - although I gotta wonder how civilixed it'll stay after you drop the curtain on them. Could be way less crazy than us gutter-dwellers are prone to assume, of course, but I reckon Hermione could go wilder than mortals expect, too. That line "her body was more truthful than her conscience, feeling all sorts of things" brings to mind an ancient Pete Townshend lyric "my dreams, they aren't as empty as my conscience seems to be" that is followed shortly by a musical explosion to bring havoc to what appeared to be a peaceful ballad. Everything that's happened to Hermione so far makes me expect the next chapter will blow up in my face!
Nice job on this chapter - you keep me guessing all the time, which is way more fun than letting me predict things accurately. Thanks again!
George
Author's Response:Hi there. So... this is the part where I start to pretend that I'm not responsible for writing this story. The tonal shift is definitely all Hermione. She is convinced that she's back in control. Is she fooling herself? Most definitely. Seems to be a talent of hers.
That curtain is going to be a heavy one for a while. If you're waiting for an explosion, you have *checks outline* just a little while longer. We're getting there.
Go ahead with the predictions. It will be fun to see if you hit anything! I promise I won't spoil things for you.
Pix
I'm back for the Project Tempus Linea event!!
I love how the beginning bit of this chapter read. It really sets the tone of the confusion Hermione is feeling by forcing us to feel the same way.We're also forced to take stock of everything and try to piece together what actually happened. It just adds even more to the feeling of being tossed right into the story which I absolutely love.
I also love how a little bit more backstory is peppered into this. And I love how Ron really truly is trying to help and is still supportive of her. It's honestly refreshing that he's not immediately the villain of a Dramione story so that is just more proof that I picked the right one to read lol.
Ooo, more context with the way that lady reacted to Hermione. Is she talking about the vampires? Does she know something about them? Or are they part of something even bigger? It's a quick and easy almost throwaway but it just adds to the intrigue of what exactly is the plot going on.
And damn, that ending. The cliffhangers are killing me but clearly they're working because I can't wait to read the next chapter!!
~Ashley
Hello!! Here for the Project Tempus Linea review event :)
Right off the bat, I am not a fan of Dramione but the summary and the disclaimer have me very intrigued. I love how we are tossed right into the story at the beginning and slowly get introduced to the premise as we go. And I have to say, I'm definitely intrigured. Hermione losing her magic? And what's up with her arm?? The questions are coming immediately and it's definitely got me hooked from the very beginning.
The vampires are so cool and such an interesting addition but now I'm immediately suspicious of her therapist. Like, they sound like a cool person who geuinely was helping her but like...they had to have known what they were sending her into?? What's up with that???
I am absolutely hooked right from the start and I can't wait to see more of the plot and where we go from here!!
~ Ashley
Oh, wow. A vampire of some power and importance has come to see Hermione in her office. Why? Burns, the vamire, is connected to the mysterious 'Council' that oversees vampires and is outside of the Ministry.
His goal is to 'exterminate' the rogue vampires who attacked Hermione (and other people too, apparently), but she doesn't want to exterminate anyone, no matter how dangerous and loathsome. I am reminded of the scene in Deathly Hallows where Neville asks the trio what they did with the dragon that carried them from Gringott's Bank to Scotland, and Ron says that they let him go, but that Hermione was all for keeping him as a pet. Could vampires be rehabilitated and rendered harmless? Hermione probably hopes so.
Hermione gets a lot of basic information from Burns. He says that she is only 'half-turned' into a vampire at present, but apparently one cannot remain thus indefinitely. She must choose, either to become fully-turned into a vampire, or undergo a ritual performed by the rogue vampires that would turn her back to her former self. A no-brainer decision, one would assume.
Really bad news. After I had been happy for her and thought that things were getting better: the improvement caused by the blood potion is only temporary, The magic she has just regained is not hers, it comes from the unwilling blood donors and will wear off. She will die in 24 hours if she doesn't do something.
A huge dilemma about what to do, whom to trust/help, and a very short time to decide. What a predicament, and just when I thought things were getting better You have quite the imagination and quite the convoluted plot.
Will we see Draco again? Will he be able to help? Hermione is really in a dumpster fire, to use your phrase.
Vicki
This is an exciting chapter, for sure. A miracle that, first, Hermione started to feel somewhat better, and that she had the stamina to look through all those books, hunting for the very scarce scraps of information that they provided, but nevertheless getting something out of it. Then beginning to look through all the papers that Draco had shared with her, and seeing that there were factoids, such as the address of the Night Hags organization being the same as the address to which her therapist had sent her. It sounds as if Hermione is moving off dead center, not by much, but some movement is exciting.
One concludes that there was something in those blood bags of Draco's, some ingredient in his 'secret sauce', that is making Hemione feel better, less like dying, and that's very welcome. Maybe her feeling somewhat better is the reason why she starts to act automatically a little more normally, such as by Accioing her tea mug without thinking about it, just doing like she did in the old days. What a shock! It worked! And then her withered arm and hand revived, with a spasm of pain as all the molecules aligned themselves into their proper anatomical configurations once again. Kind of like having a dislocated shoulder reduced without anesthetic.
It must be something in the blood bags to make such a drastic change so soon after she drank the contents of the bags. There's no other good explanation. Now I wonder if this is a permanent improvement or a medicaltion that will have to be taken periodically for an indefinite span of tiem. Hopefully the former.
What is the cold case involving a missing person that Hermione thinks her therapist might be mixed up with? Maybe you have already mentioned it in the earlier chapters and I have just forgotten, or maybe it will all be cleared up later in the story. At any rate, I''m really happy for her!
Great story.Vicki
Pix, you old softie! You gave him cake and a froo-froo drink? And let him get jinky? My oh my. I guess it really was Rick James after all, huh?
This chapter really cracked me up! Naming his hangover relief potion Everclear is classic. "At this rate, he could rent out the room for a photo shoot of the Spring Break edition of Witches Gone Wild: The Afterparty, and make a small fortune." I'm dying! But why the hell is Draco, of all people, sparing any thought for the possibility that Hermione is tanking her career? He's making a profit, apparently, even with the damage to his office and confusion to his libido.
As always, I'm here to tell you you're killing this, Pix. I dunno why nobody else is reviewing you but they're all missing out. Thanks for another fun read.
G
Author's Response:Hi George!
Still Looney Tunes over here. I don't know what you're talking about.
So here's where I have clearly thrown all propriety out the window, and yet, in attempting to lose the plot, I've managed to get it dangerously wrapped around my throat.
Also, let's pretend that Draco doesn't really care about Hermione tanking her career, he's simply remarking on it as an unexpected change in her MO. Because clearly, Draco only cares about one thing.
Maybe two.
You know what? I don't care what Draco Malfoy cares about. He's clearly not in a position to be a beggar or a chooser.
Haha, maybe people were scared off by my disclaimer in the story shell. Maybe it should have said: "Danger. Complete and utter nonsense ahead."
Thanks again for reading!
Pix
Hi, Pix.
You almost have to feel sorry for Draco right now.. An almost-unsolvable problem has just landed on his sofa. He thinks to himself, ' It eas incomprehensible that she truly had no idea what had hppened to her, or why.' That line echoes my own thoughts in a previous review, where i said that alarm bells should be going off in her head, but they're not. Of course Draco is seeing her at her worst, at this moment, but her ailmets have been going on for over a year now, and she still doesn't have a clue, despite being the brightest witch of her age.
Then Draco has to cudgel his brain about the freaky cursed blood that has suddenly shown up. My thought is that the vampires got infected with it when they drank Hermioe's blood, not knowing tha she had been fighting this magic-destroying, body-wasting disease for a year.
Poor Draco (and I do feel sorry for him) has suddenly had a load of pressure placed on him, and this chapter focuses on that as he paces around and thinks of all the potentioal trouble he's in. Hermione on his sofa, his need to manufacture more blood potion fast, Hermione's probable future requests for more blood, the strange problems in the vampire world (tainted blood, attacks on wizards) that can only spell trouble.
Thus the pressure on his bladder, which seems to be a symbol for all the other pressures he's experiencing.
Too bad those other pressures are not so easily relieved.
What kind of a birthday has this been for him?
Author's Response:Hi Vicki!
A Bad Birthday. That's what Draco Malfoy is having. I suppose you can feel sorry for him if you want to. I suppose I might have given him a little bit for people to feel sympathy for him. I suppose he might deserve just a little of that... or not. I don't know. Ok, yes, I do know. But I don't like it.
Even though Draco sees Hermione in this state, he still doesn't know she's lost her magic. He doesn't know how or why she's in the state she's in, but he's the character who understands how bad it is, and what eventually happens to people in her position.
And yes, he is in a lot of trouble. I don't think he's ever gotten himself out of it.
I love symbols! Lol!
Thanks for the review!
Pix
Hi, Pix.What a ghoulish scene you have painted here. Hermione cravves more and more, drinks so many bags & bottles of blood potion that I lost count (!). Her tank must have been almost empty. I wonder what would have happened to her if she didn't get the blood potion, if she had just lain down on her bed in her flat -- would she have just died from lack of blood? Is that how you see what would have happened?
Drace keeps asking "Who did this to you?" and Hermione keeps not answering, but as she gradually feels better after drinking the blood, she knows that she could not answer because she doesn't know who those creatures were in the warehouse, or what the so-called Freedom Wings Agency is, or how her therapist is (obviously) mixed up in all this.
Draco says to himself that the vampires are breaking their own code of not attacking witches and wizards, so there is obviously some major change in the politics/policies of how vampires are going to act. A bigger mystery behind the immediate fact of one particular victim.
How can Hermione get help? Can Draco help her -- he knows vampires? But no. "Whoever did this to you is well above my pay grade, and I don't want that kind of trouble breathing down my nect after you leave." Draco does not sound eager to help But who can?
I presume that the potions Hermione drank will eventually wear off. She needs to question Draco -- What's wrong with me? What shall I do?, but he doesn't want to get involved. Hermione is in a terrible spot.
Lots of chapters still to go.
Prickly Arse Pub -- what a name! And what a seedy place. This address must have been listed in those papers in Hermione's file at her office in the Ministry of Magic where she could meet with the informant.
What a half-baked back-up plan, to just stroll out onto the street to a hopefully unoccupied pay phone. Doesn't she hae any experience in actually being in the front ines of law enforcement?
She spots Draco in the pub. How are the mighty fallen. Now his nest is in this viper's pit A great metaphor. He is a survivor living in the "rubbish bin of the Wizarding world's seedy underbelly," having made "deplorable life choices." A dangerous way to make a living, surrounded by unthinkable people who would as soon kill him as not.
But he is no fool. He immediately sees that the statement "How are the mighty fallen" can equally apply to Hermione now. He recognizes her as a half-turned vampire, dead-white, de-energized, needing blood. Horrific things have been happening to her, nothing like what she had planned fo her life in either the short term or the long term So he gives her some of the stock of blood potion that he sells to vampires to revive her somewhat, and takes all her money, but (what a guy!) he does give her the papers that they had agreed upon that he would sell to her.
One's heart sinks upon realizing the state/circumstance/situation that Hermione is in. And there isn't any cure, is there?
There is not a single spark of beauty or hope or virtue or goodness in this entire scene, except for the fact that there seems to be somthing good still existing deep down in Draco's heart. We shall see what happens next. Great writing, imagination, settings
Vicki
Hi, Pix.
It was good to see Neville, even thought their conversation is not too informative because Neville doesnt know what has recently hapened to Hermione or what is going on between her and Ron. It's too bad that Hermione has been distancing herself from people who could provide moral support. There's a difference between being a burden to other people and simply having close friends
She's a smart person, but she doesn't seem to question what her therapist has been doing and saying (or not doing and not saying). Big alarm bells should be going off in her head, and they're not.
I'm glad that she has the spunkiness to take out all the bribery frunds from the Ministry account (to bribe informants, I presume). If she goes down, she'll take someone/something down with her.
It must feel good, in a sense, to get out of the MoM office and into the fresh air and sunshine. I'm not certain where she is going, but I'll soon find out!
Grreat story. Thank you for writing!
Vicki
Hi, Pix.
I have read much of this story, and now I am coming bak to write some reviews.
You do n excellent job of showing how disabledHermione is. First, when she woke up on the arehouse floor, she could bare wlak or take a taxi; she coud barely get home. Then, when she encounters Ron at her flat, she can barely finction to clean herself up and do the simplest of self-help actions. Now she is back on the job, barely able to keep from passing out
. Dizzy, nauseated, clumsy. You show her as being barely able to function and also unable to face or accept how non-functional she is. It was bad enough before the vampire attack, but now it's worse. Poor Henry, trying to break the news to her as gently as he can, but it's all bad news.
Actually, when Hermione is sitting in her chair, not trying to walk or make sudden head motions that bring on the dizziness, she is able to sort through some papers on her desk, read them, and make some sort of decision about them. That's the most encouraging thing that has happened all day.
I don't know if it's right to say that this story is a dumpster fire, but Hermione's life certainly is a dumpster fire. I'm not sure if there will be any happy ending, for her, Ron, or the pixies.
This story is certianly....different. And that makes it unpredictable. What a job for you.
Vicki
From Morricone the soundtrack shifts to Rick James, huh? Poor Hermione - she's flailing after sinking beyond the lowest place she can imagine and yet the magic keeps eluding her grasp. It wiggles and slides and the tighter she grips it the more quickly it escapes. Even her poor patronus is frantic; it's like the happy memory that's guiding the otter is being twisted, too, just as she is. Damn fine imagery there, Pix! Great job on this chapter - I was wondering how you'd handle the cliffhanger from last time, and I'm not disappointed at all.
Maybe you could have given Draco a little more air time to express his fear or whatever, but he's been such a twerp lately I'm happy with Hermione running roughshod over his sorry behind. The dense weave of this story keeps me fascinated. Thanks, Pix!
George
Author's Response:Hi George!
You're back!
Ah, well. To each his own soundtrack. Mine's playing the Looney Tunes Theme on repeat, so it's a little bit of a different vibe over here.
Thanks for the compliments on the imagery! It really wasn't meant to be such a cliffhanger, but when I decided to have each scene be its own chapter, things like that sort of happened by happy circumstance. I suppose there may be more cliffhangers like that in the future, but I haven't looked through it specifically to tag them. Maybe I should...
Are you telling me you are Concerned about Draco being able to express himself, here???
I am appalled.
Don't worry. He's got an entire scene all to himself to tell you exactly what he thinks about all the shenanigains.
Dense weave. Awesome!
Thanks for your words!
(Look at me, I'm still not apologizing!)
PIx
me againnnnn for the project tempus linea event :)
i wanna say before i forget how much i like the way you wind in through the chapters and hermione's narration the little one-liners and so on from dr metzker (so glad her name was at the bottom of the chapter so i could remember it lolol). it's a really nice way to use them and it works so well for kind of presenting an additional view in a way
it's so in character for hermione to be so convinced that she can't have been attacked by vampires and therefore be a vampire now herself because she checked in a bunch of books (presumbly not written by vampires haha) and they say she should be experiencing things that she's not :P but it also reminds me of when in the first chapter she thought back to how she'd wanted to believe for so long that her magic would come back when she lost it - that kind of blind disbelief and insistence that it couldn't have happened, there must be some explanation... it's so perfect as well for how a person would react after being attacked, blacking out, forgetting it and then having to piece it together bit by bit over hours
ahhhhhhh poor hermione. i feel imma say this a lot as i go through this story but this whole moment where hermione gets to the ministry entrances and realises ron's not there and she has to get in on her own and she can't was really very painful - in the best way, honestly, but still painful. like, it's kind of a sick compounding of injury and insult yk - how she realises she's pushed ron away strongly enough he's doing what she kind of wanted him to do (only she doesn't really want him to do it because losing it is a big change and that's hard) and then the reminder of her inability to do things - the practical thing that he used to do to her
and i loveloveloved how you described it as a literal him opening up his world to her because ron is so inherently magical - growing up in a magical family, always surrounded by magic - in a way that hermione kind of wasn't and she and harry had to learn to adopt, and it's just so poignant and has so much depth to it
ahhhh this is just so so sad and so packed full of emotion and turmoil even though comparatively less happens. loved. it!!
laura xx
hihi me again!! for the project tempus linea event :)
i'm writing this having just read the first sentence because i want it noted that ron was my third guess!! but i discounted him because i couldn't think why he would necessarily be worried - how he would have worked out something had gone wrong. damnit :P
okay omg so you are an absolute master at deception and it's so good and i have to say it (possibly again, but if so, it bears repeating!!) because i was completely surprised by the idea that hermione lost an entire day. like, it makes so much sense, but the way you wrote it was :chefkiss: in the way you strung me along until it was revealed. and it brings so much more to ron's worry, to his frustration when hermione dismisses his concern, and all of the missed meetings, the attendence notes and so on. it's so so good
i really love her relationship with ron. for all them dating clearly didn't work out - and for hermione it's really not an option any more - they were friends for so long before and it's so clear and so beautiful the way you write it to be so obvious that they still care about each other and still will, regardless of where their feelings are in their relationship (because ron definitely isn't in quite the same place as hermione is). it's so complex and so layered and so deeply emotional in the way it ties them together and i love it
and ron as a character is great too. his worry and anxiety, the way he has definitely matured from the books, his stubbornness, his new-found backing off rather than bickering the way they used to (which is both respectful and sort of sad too), the way he's trying so hard and doesn't seem to know what else to do or how else to go about things. it's so good and i feel so sorry for him at the same time as i really understand hermione's feelings on it and honestly that's the best way to write a complex relationship and complex characters and i lovelovelove it
also i love how this introduces kind of the next stage of the plot with the mention of the disappearances and i have a horrible feeling hermione may have to accept she was wrong on the 'no one knows i don't have magic so i'm not a target thing' because hmmmmm ALSOalso v curious about what will happen when hermione finally meets with the good doctor - but, first things first, baby vampire is hungry ooohhhh :eyes:
so so so excited :)
laura xx
it's me again!! :) for the project tempus linea event
i just wanna say that i'm really glad that hermione being bitten wasn't like, somehow a magical Cure for her arm or anything. people often use that i think, believing that 'magic' can be used as a catch-all for everything, but i really appreciate that you didn't - and the way that you called that out in here too, that yk, magic has limits, no matter how miraculous it seems.
i really love the backstory in here: the way hermione got cursed/lost her magic, her fight to see if she could keep it or get it back, ron's stubborn insistence that she keep fighting, how her life changing was the end of her relationship with ron but not their friendship, how hermione (being hermione) feels that other people have suffered more and worse. it's so good and so developed and it brings a real layer of sadness but also solemnity to this which i love (and really works for a post-war story yk)
hermione's confrontation with the woman on the street by the florists was so good - i'm so so curious about why exactly she's so scared of the vampires in the warehouse :eyes: (well i mean, i know why she's scared lolol but there seems to be some history there, yk, some previous Incidents perhaps which i'm really curious about) and i love how the cabbie initially offers to take her to the hospital for free, assuming (correctly) she's been super hurt and needs help - and it's a little sad but true that giving people a pile of money often keeps people quiet :/
a little thing: i love how hermione keeps trying spells. for all she sort of tells herself she's accepted her new life and new reality without magic any more, it's such a sad, great way of revealing that actually, she still has hope that it's not true, that it'll come back somehow or sometime. it's a really beautiful touch
the light on!! dun dun dun :P no seriously, i'm super super curious as to who's there - my money, for what it's worth, is on it being either the vampire lady from the warehouse or her therapist dr whats-her-name :eyes:
i will be back :D
laura xx
hiiiiiii pix here for the project tempus linea event :)
okay so you got me hooked with vampires because i am unapologetically a vampire girl haha and you are definitely keeping me with your author's note about this story examining why dramione can't sail as a ship because i am v much down with that viewpoint!!
but. also. it's been a while since i read anything of yours and even longer (literal years) since i read anything of yours based in the hp world - and ahhhhh i missed how good you are at writing. how to retire is brilliant but it's a completely different genre - but i remember the rabbit story haha and how brilliant that was, and that i think was something closer to this so i'm really, really excited :D
i'm so so intrigued by what happened to hermione to lose her hand and the use of her arm - it sounds like it was bad and dangerous and i wonder if it'll come up in this?? - but then i also think we kind of don't necessarily need to know what happened, because we see so much of the aftermath for hermione. i really love how you handle it too, how you talk about how hard it is, how frustrating to not be able to do the things she used to be able to do - even the simple things. my granny lost the use of her right arm years before i was born in an accident when my dad was young and it was hugely lifechanging and v difficult for her so i really appreciate the way you've written it :)
also, like. the taxi driver. dude, you could have offered help. i mean, i know hermione likely wouldn't have accepted it but still. (also it is better in ways for people to ask for help - it can be an important step forward, recovery-related and all. but yk. it would have been polite!!)
i lovelovelove your description of the warehouse where hermione goes to meet them - how it's so out of the way, the little detail that the taxi drivers didn't want to go near it, how hermione realises too late that she should have gone with someone else. it's so wonderfully deceptive about how dangerous it is - like, i knew it was dangerous because of the story type but it didn't feel super, super dangerous and yet. so the attack felt really kind of sudden which i loved :)
also really curious as to what her therapist's connection to the vampires is, if he suggested she meet them :eyes: seems sus :P
i'm so so excited about this story and super curious to see where you take it!!
laura xx
Another great chapter, so much going on here with the introduction of this Burns fellow. He seems like a scary man to working with, or working against - or vampire, I should say. Cool trick for real, though! haha Hermione is in a real situation here, and that's a seriously tempting offer, but... is it real? Is reversal actually possible, or is just a trick, a tease, a false promise to get what they want from her? She is clealy stuck between a rock and a hard place - and very dangerous ones at that. I really love the thought you put into the way wizard's blood affects vampires - you gave it so many layers and such detail, and it's really cool how it ropes Malfoy into all of this. And if Hermione is trying to chase that feeling of magic she got from his mixture, it could become addicting sooner than later, and she could be driven mad, sounds like. Hopefully she keeps her wits about her for the most part!
Yo, I know Malfoy didn't want to be caught with half-vampire-Hermione on sleep meds barely lucid in his office and all, but damn that was some cold shoving into the stairwell! LOL He really does not want anything to do with her. hahaha
I know I've seen some spoilers already, but that Dr Metzker reveal as she's linked to an old missing person's case with the same warehouse involved was really well done and also infuriating to feel that confirmation for the first that she was definitely intentionally involved in what's happened to Hermione.
Ugh, the ending probably reads so hopeful for people without spoilers, but knowing it won't amount to anything is heartbreaking! Poor Hermione. She's going to have to accept this loss all over again, isn't she? Great chapter!
""Iced coffee could at least pretend to be a hipster's defense." This line cracked me up, as did this one: "Draco was an expert at measuring out just the right amount to make his clients feel invincible without making them want to do naked cartwheels in the midday sun." - I really like the bits of humor in your writing that find their way in and break up the heaviness of all the other things going on!
I loved reading about Draco's contempt for Hermione that he still holds, even as she's a literal half-turned vampire passed out on his couch. But it was very authentic being in his head during those thoughts, as he weighed all of his advantages against all of her disadvantages only to be the one who who failed while she succeeded. I know one thing Malfoy never imagined was this scenario - after how many times he's seen her name in the paper surrounded by praise, he probably just assumed this was the life he was doomed to forever now, so it will be fun to see him deal with this absolute insanity!
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