Seven Photographs

Seven Photographs by Casira

Summary: Glimpses of our heroes at the end of the battles and beyond, as they face what’s lost and what’s to come. Oneshot, 8,300 Words.

Guest Rec’d By: Kira

Why You Should Care: Written shortly after the release of DH, casira writes seven separate scenes that, frankly, JKR should have written, and succeeds just as if Jo had written it herself. There’s Remus and Tonks’ death; Minerva and Hogwarts directly after the battle; Hermione’s parents in Australia; George returning to WWW’s alone for the first time; Kingsley and the rebuilding of the MoM via Potterwatch; Ginny, Neville, Luna, and Andromeda discussing post-war plans; and finally, Harry visiting Snape’s grave. In a style very reminiscent of Jo’s, casira really wraps the HP series up well with a touch of everything that made it successful in the first place: brilliant character interaction, gripping action, laughter, family, and sacrifice. A brilliant pre-epilogue.

Why You Might Not Care: If you didn’t like the way DH ended at all, then this may not be your cup of tea.

Variations on a Happily Ever After

Variations on a Happily Ever After by GM Weasley

Summary: All was eventually well, but it took nineteen years to get there. Drabble Collection, 7,400.

Why You Should Care: This is a wonderful series of drabbles centered around the women of the Harry Potter universe and life beyond the epilogue. Insightful, thoughtful, and occasionally even mundane, these little snatches of the painfully ordinary process of moving on after the end of the story are well worth your time. Angelina’s thoughts on her wedding are particularly well done.

Why You Might Not Care: These drabbles could have been tighter, and occasionally they suffer from awkward syntax. A couple of passes from a sharp-eyed beta would have alleviated this problem.

Tumble

Tumble by FireworkFiasco

Summary: “There isn’t time to dream, to pretend, so she busies herself with plotting and planning and doesn’t think about caresses by the lake or how green his eyes really were.” Oneshot, 1,340.

Why You Should Care: I’m not generally fond of Ginny-centric fics, and I think it’s because I find her character as created by Jo somewhat elusive — you think you’ve got her nailed, only to read it over and find out no, no that’s not quite right.  I can’t say that this fic will suit everyone’s vision of Ginny, but it suits mine quite nicely; what’s more, it’s been carefully and deliberately designed in four verses, each with its own theme, and the entire four part oneshot stretches itself across the expanse of Ginny’s character in Deathly Hallows.  Her transformation from child to adult is as borderless as the changing of the seasons.

Why You Might Not Care: For whatever reason, there are some people who so detest Ginny as a character overall that they probably wouldn’t enjoy anything that featured her.

The F Words

The F Words by Antoshevu

Summary: “Remus and Tonks’s was the worst.  Not that the others hadn’t been dreadful—Colin’s, which was just unreal, Dennis pale and unblinking by the grave with their Muggle parents; Mrs. Weasley wailing at Fred’s, gathering her remaining children to her expansive bosom so that all that Harry could see was a forest of red hair and blotchy faces. And one bright, brown eye, locked on his.” 20,900 Words.

Why You Should Care: There are a lot of stories about what happens after the battle in Deathly Hallows, from lots of different perspectives and angles.  This is another, one that follows Harry through the days after, then the weeks after, then even the months after.  It’s actually a series of six fics, though for me they are more chapters of the same than they are stand-alone stories.  Well written, with much thought given to the loose ends left to tie.

Why You Might Not Care: The Dursley’s chapter is a bit far reaching, I think, but overall it’s quite well characterised.  I think people who try to write Harry are at a supreme disadvantage, because he’s the character we know the best from the series.  Out of JKR’s hands, he never seems quite right to me; this does come as close as anything, though.  There’s lots of Harry/Ginny, some Ron/Hermione, and some Luna/Dean for those with ship preferences.

Aftermath

Aftermath by Georgie

Summary: The rain is like the aftermath. Drabble, 100 Words.

Why You Should Care: Every schoolchild learns about pathetic falacy and the use of weather and changing seasons to show emotion. Here the author uses weather as more, as a symbol of something nearly tangible that Ginny holds onto in her fight back to normality. Like all great drabbles, it says so much with so little. Exquisite.

Why You Might Not Care: Don’t like drabbles, don’t like Ginny, don’t like weather.

Two Conversations

Two Conversations by YKuang

Summary: Harry has a hypothetical toe fungus. Ginny thinks he’s odd. Hermione thinks he’s odd. Everything happens at four in the morning. And it’s all canon. Oneshot, 1,665 Words.

Why You Should Care: The friendship between Harry and Hermione is a tricky one to write without straying into awkwardness, romance or the library and YKuang deserves a medal for this one. The interaction between Ginny and Harry is suitably sweet, and the author does a good job of connecting awkward!Ginny with grownup!Ginny. But it’s the characterisation of Hermione that really makes this fic stand out. I hate the character. I love this fic. Go figure.

Why You Might Not Care: This isn’t one of those fics that makes you laugh out loud, or cry, but it’s beautiful in its own, quiet little way and sometimes that understatedness is the best kind of genius.

Faded Laughter

Faded Laughter by Mary Borsellino

Summary: Ginny finds a portrait in the attic. Oneshot, 1,386 Words.

Why You Should Care: This fic almost brought tears to my eyes. The premise is that Ginny finds an old portrait of Sirius in the attic, and the way it’s told is so sweet and quintessential. Young!Sirius is so filled with energy and passion, and this is contrasted by the almost lethargic Ginny that we meet: so young and yet so old. And there are these fabulous moments, like when Ginny thinks that she could be infatuated by Sirius’ charm, or when Sirius refers to the Weasleys as ‘spawn’. Particular kudos for using Ginny and not Harry, the more obvious choice. It’s nice to see her with some true emotion and sensitivity.

Why You Might Not Care: A little too short to give as much impact. Plus Mary Borsellino falls into the old trap of just having to include a moment of Remus/Sirius. But it’s nicely handled and actually adds somewhat to the fic.

Lonely Let the Flowers Grow

Lonely Let the Flowers Grow by PumpkinPasty

Summary: “Longbottom,” Professor Sprout says wearily, “there is a time for fighting, and there is a time for waiting to fight. Right now is not the former.” Oneshot, 2,408 Words.

Why You Should Care: It’s the calm before the storm, and sometimes waiting on the edge of disaster is more difficult a thing than being right in the thick of it. There’s an anxious, helpless suspense in waiting for the wave to break: you can see it coming, in the distance, closer now than it was before, but still far enough off that to brace yourself for it is a waste of energy. This fic captures some of that sentiment well, focusing on the three other major characters involved in the war who are waiting to be called upon and probably all wish they could be out helping Harry along with Ron and Hermione just so they don’t feel so helpless. The characterisation of Neville and Luna are particularly well done, and this author manages to capture Luna’s voice without making it feel forced or overly prophetic. I think this is meant to be a Neville/Luna, and there’s a little ship service right at the end, but I think the fic holds up very well as a general piece.

Why You Might Not Care: I wish the thematic elements of this fic were a little tighter and a little more focused. I think the author meant it to be a simple story about how Neville, Luna and Ginny decided to start up the DA again, but the strongest sections are the ones that focus more on the helpless attempt to find something — anything — to do while they wait. This author has real talent, and I think she would have done a more thematic piece very well.

Pause

Pause by MagentaBear

Summary: “This has been the strangest night of your life, a detached section of your mind realizes. You’ve never been so sick and frightened and confused and yet you’ve never hugged so many people.” The final battle, as experienced by Ginny Weasley. Oneshot, 5,106 Words.

Why You Should Care: There are three things most fanfic writers avoid like the plague: second person point-of-view, stream of consciousness, and action. In this fic, MagentaBear takes on all three at the same time, to great effect. Over all, it’s very, very good. In some places, it closely approaches excellence. MagentaBear also somehow manages to give us a solid characterisation of Ginny on top of it all, and in spots it’s as much a character study as it is anything else. There is a great momentum in this fic, except where MagentaBear calls a full stop and purposefully brakes to a standstill, starting and stopping deftly in a way that further punctuates Ginny’s experience.

Why You Might Not Care: There isn’t quite enough intensity behind the action, and occasionally Ginny appears to have more time to think than would have actually been afforded her. Having said that, also keep in mind that action sequences are far, far tougher to write than most people think; MagentaBear has tackled the biggest battle in Harry Potter canon, and come out with her head held high. This fic could also do with a little trimming and a little tightening here and there: it’s good, but cutting out five or six hundred words of excess would make it really good.

Wallflower

Wallflower by DrArchie

Summary: It takes Ginny three weeks to speak to Harry again after the Battle of Hogwarts. Oneshot, 1,384 Words.

Why You Should Care: After the war, Ginny and Harry’s reunion can’t have been easy – emotions flying everywhere like house-elves on Butterbeer, and this fic really captures that. It’s gently humourous, but there’s a lot of truth in here about what it must have been like for Ginny after the second war, how she might’ve coped, and it’s wonderfully human – showing the ridiculousness of desperation. Although it’s light-hearted, this fic moved something within me.

Why You Might Not Care: It’s Harry/Ginny, it’s post-war and it’s both angsty and funny. If any of those put you off, maybe skip this one.

Five Moments of Doubt

Five Moments of Doubt by Bagheera

Summary: Sprout, Neville, Luna, Ginny and Professor McGonagall during Deathly Hallows. Oneshot, 5,971 Words.

Why You Should Care: Snape is not, perhaps, the infallible master of deception he seems. He swore to Dumbledore he would do everything in his power to keep the students and the school safe, but it is a precarious line to walk, and at times he slips to one side or the other. This seems to me perfectly canon in every way, and the notion that McGonagall — especially — might have discovered him is no surprise. Snape tells McGonagall “I am exactly what you think I am” and means it; he has played the game so long that he is what he must be, both Dumbledore’s man and Voldemort’s man.

Why You Might Not Care: Experience these moments of doubt with these characters as you experienced your own while reading, and know the uneasy feeling that things might go either way even though you already know the outcome.  This fic is well written, astute, and with thoughtful and accurate canon characters.  I encourage you not to overlook it.

Disenchanted

Disenchanted by Arabella

Summary: Dumbledore speaks to Ginny about her experience with Tom Riddle.  Oneshot, 3,472 Words.

Why You Should Care: This is a missing scene from Chamber of Secrets, and Arabella does an excellent job of wrapping up all Ginny’s loose ends without really wrapping them up at all, because she knows (and Dumbledore even says) that healing of that sort can only be done alone, and over time.  Yet this provides some closure, and some insight into Ginny’s experiences over the course of her first year that we were not allowed through Harry’s POV in the books.  We are stuck at how young Ginny is to have experienced this, and at the same time how much older she is because of it.  Ginny’s childhood ended in her first year, and we are allowed glimpses of how it came about, and are impressed by her courage, will, and determination to heal the hard way.

Why You Might Not Care: Dumbledore is very, very close to his canon counterpart, but some of his whimsy is conspicuously vacant, probably due to a concern that it would be inappropriate.  The trick to writing Dumbledore dead on is to find ways of making it not be inappropriate, but it is quite a trick to master indeed, and the Albus Dumbledore here is still very canon and very well-written.  This story was written prior to the release of Ginny’s full, canon name, so it is “Virgina” in here, but it’s a small and unimportant detail.

To Love a Hero

To Love a Hero by Pantz

Summary: Tell him, tell him you love him. He’ll tell you, painfully, that he loves you, too. Oneshot, 3,169 Words.

Why You Should Care: A lovely staccato piece about the life of Ginny Weasley as it entwined with The Boy Who Lived. It’s beautiful and sweet to watch as Ginny goes from a young girl to a young woman. Lyrical.

Why You Might Not Care: This has not been written like a standard piece of fan fiction, and it might annoy some people. Other than that, there is no reason not to read this.

Awards: 2007 Hourglass Award, Oneshot – Third Place.

After the End

After The End by Arabella and Zsenya

Summary: It’s the summer after seventh year, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and the rest of the wizarding world must learn to live without fear. Over 400,000 Words.

Why You Should Care: This is one of those monumental novel-length pieces written by two well known and talented Harry Potter fan fiction writers. It was written between GoF and OotP, so by now it is — like many excellent stories written in that time period — firmly AU. The most noticeable discrepancy is that Sirius Black survives the war and emerges from it a free man cleared of all charges. I put off reading this for a long time, intimidated by the length of it, but I’m glad I finally dug into it. The characters are quite well done — Ron in particular seems accurate to me, and I find he’s one of the ones who’s difficult to find written well. The plot is considerable and well constructed, and this piece never really seems to amble or take too long. It may be difficult to believe, but almost all of the over 400,000 words are well placed. It was almost always a joy to read.

Why You Might Not Care: Ginny is edging into Mary Sue territory, which is my only real serious squabble with this fic. Harry occasionally gets a little excessively Harry (if you know what I mean) but I suppose there’s ample reason for him to be an emotional twat once in a while when you consider what he went through (and what he continues to go through at times) in this fic. Some people might take issue with Draco Malfoy’s character here, but I found him quite spot on — he’s more cuttingly canon than fanon. His dialogue, in places, is particularly well done. This is not a Draco Redeems himself sort of story; he stays decidedly ass-holeish through to the end, though there are brief moments of real pity for a boy who lost everything and only knows how to keep fighting. He’s real, but unrepentant, and perhaps not entirely the coward he’s been made to be in canon.

Awards: 2007 Hourglass Award, Novel-Length – Third Place.