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Hey I'm here for a galazy review!
Now this is a random pairing that I don't see every day - Vincent Crabbe and Hermione Granger??
OMG Hermione found Ron in bed with twins? And she was already pregnant with Rose? Then it sounds as though she had a rather bumpy journey going from relatonship to relationship with little stability in her life. It must be a relief to see her daughter settled with someone.
Oh yeah, nice comeback from Hermione to Vincent's comment when all she was doing was trying to help him decipher the prices. I get that he's probably on the defensive, but tehre wasn't any need for him to act like an ass in that situation. But as they get talking, it becomes apparent that Vincent has all but transformed - dating a muggle, writing to her mother for recipes, attempting to cook for her - athough in fairness we only glimpsed Vincent through Harry's eyes in the book so we don't really have a good idea as to what sort of a person he was back then anyway.
The way that they develop and friendship and eventually a relationship was so well written I can totally believe it. And it's sad to hear that Ron made lousy father material, but Vincent more than stepped up to fill those father shoes, right?
You did such a great job with this story; it was genuinely sweet, very readable and you totally pulled off a tricky pairing!!
Meera <3
Hi Tasha, here for our swap.
This is a pair that caught I've never read before. For that reason, it caught my eye. I'm not a huge fan of Ron/Hermione at all. I mean I don't think Ron would go that far.
It's interesting to have Vince dating a muggle girl but that's how they met.
Rose is adorable.
Hi Tasha! :)
So this particular piece caught my eye because of the character tags -- WHAT a rare pair you have here! The way you’ve easily kind of pulled away why Ron & Hermione didn’t work out was done well -- while I’m not a huge fan of Romione, I’m even less of a fan of people who straight up bash Ron, so you toed the line well here with the tone you’re going for and Hermione’s reasons for leaving him being very strong. I’m also enjoying how you’re portraying Crabbe here. He’s clearly grown up a lot since Hogwarts, and is obviously trying to get to know the muggle world and try to live in it as best he can considering he’s dating a muggle. Hermione’s kind heart can’t help but assist him, and then her acceptance of him into her apartment after he’s dumped, ugh, my heart! Little toddler Rose too, so cute! Wow, four kids and Rose is so many kids but hey that just means more send-offs to Hogwarts and weddings and all the good life stuff! Great job with this piece, Tasha! :)
~MadiMalfoy
Hi Hi Hi!
Sorry for my major delay in getting this review to you, but I'm here as you submitted this wonderful piece as an entry in my Riddikulus Ship Challenge.
As soon as you mentioned Crabbe/Hermione I thought interesting, how is this going to work? Which is exactly why I created the challenge in the first place. I thought there was a sense of beauty to this, of Crabbe helping Hermione heal following something I know for sure a lot of women including myself have been through. This even led me to think, "I want a Crabbe in my life," which again is frankly something I never thought I'd say.
It's thought provoking and inspiring. Thank you for allowing me to read such a wonderful piece.
Alice x
Howdy Tasha! I want to begin by apologizing for the undue delay (and the possibility that this review will be shorter than my normal), but I've unfortunately broken my hand and won't be back to full strength for another two to three (2-3) weeks.
ANYWAY...to start with, this challenge was indeed challenging wasn't it? I wound up getting to pick my own poison, but wound up pulling a total cop out with an AU, so I was really pleased to see that you didn't take that path. I think it's very possible that Hermione and Ron would flame out. I usually imagine it's from a maturity lapse on his part, which certainly could manifest in a post-war indulgence in what's bound to be newfound celebrity and all that comes with it. Personally I think it's a bit over the line that he'd mistreat his daughter so openly - I imagine in the characterization you've created that it would be more neglect-by-self-absorption, but that's just me. Either way, it definitely opens the door to something else - even Crabbe/Hermione as she's quite an open-minded character. So I don't mind the pairing in that respect - especially given the way you accurately describe Crabbe as more of a follower than a mindful, particularly deliberate embracer of Voldemort's worldview.
I think the biggest issue I find with the story is its pacing. The end of Ron and Hermione is quite abrupt and we don't get much of her emotion on it aside from the remark that she, for an unspecified amount of time, slid into casual and/or meaningless and/or short, serial relationships. As a reader, I'd want more detail there to understand the break with canon better (aside from being required by the challenge). Similarly, Crabbe and Hermione's friendship seems to develop quite quickly. For reasons unknown they are deep-diving into heavier conversation on first reunion. Likewise, at the end we get more of a summation than an explanation of what feels like the critical line: "Vincent Crabbe healed me in ways I didn't know I was broken." We don't get to see all those ways or the healing. A big part of the pacing issue relates to length though and I think it's because we escalate the plot so quickly and get so honed in on Hermione's identity and issues in particular that we don't get a lot of description (she's GOING to be pretty focused on and dare I say involved in the details of Rose's wedding, right?) throughout. Even baking in relatively minimalist descriptions into each scene would add 250, maybe more and allow things to get immersive so the speedier plot development is disguised more.
That said, I think the middle worked very well for you. I think you characterized Hermione as a mother well and also preserved her willingness to be confrontational when it matters when relating the tough conversation with Molly about Ron's behavior and her swift and extreme legal action thereafter. Alongside you also supply a REASON that Hermione decides she's open to escalating things with Crabbe beyond friendship so that it doesn't seem ridiculous that she picks option two (2) after Crabbe's sudden kiss. She seems him as a good potential father to her daughter. I would like to see more of these reasons and connections fleshed out more at beginning and end.
All in all, I think you did a solid job with a very challenging pairing. Good luck in the challenge!
Wow, I don't think I've ever read a Vincent Crabbe / Hermione Granger. Actually it makes sense to me, and I like it, for me this fits perfectly to the alternate story line in CC where Hermione is a teacher.
It's good that you start giving just small details about the men Hermione meets, that he was in Hogwarts when Snape as director; that Hermione saved his life in the Room of Requirements (this narrows it down to three - and actually first I was thinking og Malfoy, as Dramione stories are so much more common - so it was a pleasent surprire to see something different.
I was wondering at the beginning of the story who the twins were? I instantly thought of Padma and Parvati Patil as Ron had attended the yule bal with Padma, and in one of the alternate timelines in CC she was Ron's wife.
You did very well writing about how Hermione thinks of Rose, it gives the impreassion of how having a child pretty much influences everthing including dating with new people. Maybe you could have more details here, I mean of their relationship, after all it is her wedding that is happening right now.
Also for a cannon-nerd like myself it would be great if you could include more hints to what we know from CC.
Overall, I'm glad I've read this - it's not a typical all-happy romance, but really gives us a lot to think about.
So, I'm trying to get round to reviewing all entries, so...hello :)
Okay, this was unexpected, definitely. This was a rather hard pairing I gave you, and it's quite impressive the way you managed to make things turned out. I liked how they met while Muggle shopping and with Hermione offering to help, which I think was very characteristic of her.
My heart absolutely broke for poor Rose. She shouldn't have to deal with a relationship with Ron like that at 4 years old, it's not right :( I hate Ron so much in this (although that was probably the point). The build-up to Hermione and Crabbe's relationship and how they started off as just friends was really nice.
Anyway, great job. Thank you for the entry :D
So right from the get-go, you’ve imbued this story with a lot of strong emotion that resonates particularly well. Oh and look at that: Ron, being a total idiot. Surprise … not!
Now I know that Hermione/Ron are canon, but it’s a ship I’ve never really cared for. It seems to me that they weren’t well suited for each other. That said, I have to ask … Vincent? Seriously? I’ll go out on a limb and say this is a pair of the likes I’ve never contemplated.
Ah, but the initial meeting was lovely. Him being out of his element in a Muggle supermarket and trying to figure out how the monetary system works made me grin. It also works well in that they are both a little off balance (more so Vincent) and helps to disarm them and their perceptions of each other, so to speak. What nailed it for me, and apparently Hermione as well, was his interaction with her daughter.
Overall, you’ve written a lovely one-shot with tons of strong emotion. Great job!
~Alexis
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