Name: justawillowtree (Signed) · Date: 19 Jul 2019 03:41 PM · For: At The Lake

SAM, I NEVER CONSIDERED GABRIELLE DELACOUR AND DAPHNE GREENGRASS, BUT AS WITH ALL YOUR STORIES THEY MAKE ME BELIEVE THIS MUST BE CANON. The intertwining of the past and present worked so incredibly well for this story, because they’re connected by the setting—the Black Lake. And so it makes the differences between the past and present so abundantly clear, because they’re at the same place they once were, with an entirely different tone and degree of happiness, and who knew that Gabrielle’s misery would’ve led to such a wonderful relationship?

 

The contrast between Gabrielle feeling jarred and uncomfortable from all the different language by the lake to her current state of happiness despite being the center of attention was so beautifully done. I’ve never imagined how Gabrielle must have felt after the Triwizard Tournament event, and I love that you did—"shouts and cheers in a jumbled mixture of languages that bombarded her like cruel laughter” is such a beautifully written line, and it conveys her emotions so clearly! Of course she must’ve felt terrible, being abandoned by her sister like that, but I hope that she forgave her sister eventually.

 

I CAN’T BELIEVE THEY’RE GETTING MARRIED THOUGH. I want to know so much more about them omg (which I understand would not really have fit in this story :P), but still, I can’t help but be curious about the details of their relationship. And the endingggg, omg, how we went from Danielle whispering, “She left me,” to Daphne promising, “I will never leave you.”

 

This is perfect, as is all your writing. <3

 

Love,

Eva

Name: Phoenix Potioneer (Signed) · Date: 19 May 2018 08:13 PM · For: At The Lake

This story is short but absolutely lovely! I love the parallels between Gabrielle during the Triwizard tournament, as a little girl, and now. Even though then and now she's in completely different situations- then she was scared, now she's ecstatic- they both revolve around her love, Daphne Greengrass. And it's beautiful.

 

I've never seen anyone ship Gabrielle Delacour with Daphne Greengrass, but I now love it. The fact that they are both a) very minor characters and b) we never saw them interact explains why. But this is a beautiful, simple, sweet love story. Thank you.

 

I never considered before how Gabrielle felt about the whole used-as-a-thing-to-rescue in the Triwizard Tournament. Ron acted like it was no big deal, but I imagine the perspectives of an older boy and a little girl are different. To someone as young as Gabrielle at the time, I'm sure that was terrifying. Did Dumbledore realize how scared she was, or did he just not care?

 

A young Gabrielle saying, "She left me" broke my heart a little. Again, I've never really considered her perspective on the ordeal, so I guess she would be sad and disapoointed that she was saved by Harry instead of Fleur.

 

But Daphne later saying, on their Wedding day, "I will never leave you" was a really nice sentiment. I love the parallels.

 

Speaking of Daphne, I love how she was the only one who noticed that Gabrielle wasn't doing okay. Slytherins aren't normally portrayed like that, so I loved how Daphne broke the stereotype. In addition, Gabrielle didn't have any sort of house prejudices, because she didn't go to Hogwarts. I found that beautiful.

 

Overall, this was a very cute fic that just made me a very happy girl. Thank you. :)

Name: MuggleMaybe (Signed) · Date: 19 May 2018 04:13 PM · For: At The Lake

Ok, I don't know how I forgot that this was about a wedding? That seems like a pretty essential aspect of the story. Silly self.

 

Anyways.

 

I love this! It's really cool how to move between her memory of the second task and her experience of the wedding in the 'present.' And it flows so beautifully! I especially love the last transition. She left me/I will never leave you. Gah! I'm swooning! (Also a child feeling abandoned that way just slays me. My poor heart.)

 

The line about true beauty and true horror is great. Tha's such an amazing, interesting thought. 

 

The description here is stunning, honestly. I could quote the entire thing back at you as being utterly lovely but that seems silly so I'll just repeat that it's all stunning! 

 

Also, somehow even with such brief glimpses, you get me to ship them? How did you do that? Maybe it's because you clearly show how much Gabrielle needs someone to care about her, and Daphne really comes through for her. It feels really safe, which maybe doesn't sound romantic but I think it is. 

 

This is such a lovely piece <3

xoxo Renee

Name: manno-malfoy (Signed) · Date: 19 Dec 2017 06:42 PM · For: At The Lake

Awh. This is just so adorable. I do love it so much when you hand love to such minor characters and craft something meaningful and deep about it. What I love the most about this story in particular is that you weaved possibly the only bits we know from canon about Gabrielle with your own beautiful writing about love, and made this seem like a most natural union. The past blended with the present perfectly to surprise us at the end that this little moment of attention so many years ago has developed into genuine love and was being declared as a (hopefully) eternal union. As always, your writing is flawless and ever so dreamy. I don't know how many times you'll let me get away with saying that your writing is dreamy, but it really is nothing but a compliment, so you should let me get away with it. Hopefully. 

Name: Rumpelstiltskin (Signed) · Date: 18 Dec 2017 10:31 AM · For: At The Lake

Hey!


I love the imagery of Gabrielle standing by the lake, the wind playing with both the water and her dress -- it's a very pretty picture. So, Gabrielle met Daphne Greengrass at the Triwizard tournament when she was rescued from the lake during one of the tasks? I love that Daphne saw Gabrielle crying and came to make sure that she was alright; it's a very sweet and caring way to meet somebody. I really like how both Daphane's similarities to what's familiar to Gabrielle (the fair-skinned beauty that reminds her of her relations) and the differences (her lack of imposition or danger) that attract Gabrielle to Daphane. I think it's also an awesome nod to the Veelah where Gabrielle is left wondering if there's such a thing of something beautiful that is not at the same time dangerous. It's an amazing love story, with Gabrielle realizing that Daphane was exactly what she was looking for just through her kind act. And Gabrielle's sadness about her sister leaving her at the bottom of the lake and Daphane's promise to never leave her is really sweet!


-Rumpels

Name: Stella Blue (Signed) · Date: 02 Nov 2016 01:05 PM · For: At The Lake

*transferred from HPFF*

 

Here for our review swap!

Wow, this is really impressive the amount you have managed to put into only 500 words! Congrats on that, because I know how hard it is and you've done wonderfully. And what a lovely pairing too ♥ I don't think I had seen that before but I really love it!

Your descriptions, particularly setting the scene in the beginning, are beautiful. I particularly like the bit about the ripples in the reflection on the lake faintly echoing her appearance - what a superb visual.

I also like that you really touched on those feelings of alienation Gabrielle would have at Hogwarts, at a school where she doesn't speak the language very well, and knows no one, and is really just there to be a prop in the tournament for Fleur. Poor girl! And then Daphne arrives just at the right moment, a friendly face in a crowd that of people who don't care about her - it was a lovely moment.

While most of the relationship is behind the scenes, it's really neat the way you have interspersed their first meeting and their wedding and how you were able to convey so many emotions that way, especially how Gabrielle is just as entranced by Daphne that day as she was when they first met - how it's set up, it kind of gives this feeling of their love unchanging through the years, which is sweet.

Lovely work on this! Thanks for the swap!!

Author's Response:

 

[transferred from hpff]

Thanks so much for the swap and the lovely review!
 
 I actually found it pretty easy to keep this to 500 words. I have been working on keeping my writing direct and concise, and have been reading a lot of other every word counts entries.  Once I drafted this I think I actually had to ADD words. Ths was the first time I've tried writing like that, but since then it's become a definite part of my style! I think very strongly about what exactly I want the point of a chapter to be, and from there it can be really hard for me to get myself to add in filler =P
 
 I'm glad you liked the pairing! It seemed super weird at first, especially with the age and geographical differences, but once the plot bunny came it just seemed so natural.
 
 Thank you so much for your compliments on my descriptions! That is also something I've been working on, as I historically tend to get pretty wordy describing characters' emotions, and the one-shot I did focusing on descriptions got too wordy doing that! So it's definitely good to hear that I've struck a good balance here.
 
 Thanks again!
 
 Sam.