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Title: Secrets by Vorabiza
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Categories: Angst, Action/Adventure, Kid!fic (slightly), Harlequin, h/c, sort of AU (not Book Seven compliant)
Length: OMG!Epic (400,000+ words)
Warnings: a few grammar issues, mainly in the early chapters
Author on LJ: n/a?
Website: n/a?
Review:
Shortly before his birthday, Harry gets a surprise visiter: Draco Malfoy. With a baby. Thus is the beginning of aremarkably snarky beautiful relationship.
This story impresses the hell out of me for a ton of reasons. The plot is amazing, being both intricate and well-planned, and resulting in a fabulous (if entirely different from canon) final battle. Vorabiza also did an brilliant job handling the kid aspect of the fic -- Victoria (the baby) is an integral part of the story, but at no point is there any danger of her taking it over. She is a catalyst and an important element, but the world does not revolve around her.
Finally, you have some truly great characterizations, with Draco and Harry both recognizably teenagers, but also not nearly as bratty as they are in canon. Harry is especially well done, encompassing both the volatile emotions of his canon character and the gradually emerging maturity necessary for him to be a believable leader of the light with a real chance at defeating Voldemort. The secondary characters aren't shortchanged either: unlike most H/D fics I've read, Harry's friends are not turned into judgemental shrews, Draco's parents are not drawn as saints, and Severus does not become a marshmallow. Instead you have flawed, human characters who grow over time and who make mistakes just as often as they succeed.
With a fic this long, there will be issues, and I have to admit that the story does have its slow spots. Personally I find this to be a positive side of the story, since even I can't finish 400,000 words in a single day and I need the slow spots to give me an excuse to go to bed. (I also have an issue with Fred and George, but this is entirely due to the fact that Vorabiza wrote them exactly as they are in canon and I find their canon versions to be highly irritating).
Final verdict: long, beautifully plotted, and full of rich, well-drawn characters. A highly entertaining story.
Secrets
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Categories: Angst, Action/Adventure, Kid!fic (slightly), Harlequin, h/c, sort of AU (not Book Seven compliant)
Length: OMG!Epic (400,000+ words)
Warnings: a few grammar issues, mainly in the early chapters
Author on LJ: n/a?
Website: n/a?
Review:
Shortly before his birthday, Harry gets a surprise visiter: Draco Malfoy. With a baby. Thus is the beginning of a
This story impresses the hell out of me for a ton of reasons. The plot is amazing, being both intricate and well-planned, and resulting in a fabulous (if entirely different from canon) final battle. Vorabiza also did an brilliant job handling the kid aspect of the fic -- Victoria (the baby) is an integral part of the story, but at no point is there any danger of her taking it over. She is a catalyst and an important element, but the world does not revolve around her.
Finally, you have some truly great characterizations, with Draco and Harry both recognizably teenagers, but also not nearly as bratty as they are in canon. Harry is especially well done, encompassing both the volatile emotions of his canon character and the gradually emerging maturity necessary for him to be a believable leader of the light with a real chance at defeating Voldemort. The secondary characters aren't shortchanged either: unlike most H/D fics I've read, Harry's friends are not turned into judgemental shrews, Draco's parents are not drawn as saints, and Severus does not become a marshmallow. Instead you have flawed, human characters who grow over time and who make mistakes just as often as they succeed.
With a fic this long, there will be issues, and I have to admit that the story does have its slow spots. Personally I find this to be a positive side of the story, since even I can't finish 400,000 words in a single day and I need the slow spots to give me an excuse to go to bed. (I also have an issue with Fred and George, but this is entirely due to the fact that Vorabiza wrote them exactly as they are in canon and I find their canon versions to be highly irritating).
Final verdict: long, beautifully plotted, and full of rich, well-drawn characters. A highly entertaining story.
Secrets
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chasethestars
chasethestars
Comments
(Interestingly, I think Fred and George are thoughtless Gryffindor bullies in canon, but liked them much better here.)
Thanks so much for reccing the story. I loved it!
I'm so glad you enjoyed the fic! I've been reading some seriously long HP fics so you should see more recs in the not-too-distant future.
Not that I have anything against the pairing, but there are others out there. Sirius/Remus is a favorite of mine.
Personally, I'm very OTP oriented. The very fact that I have two pairings to rec in this fandom is amazingly good so I wouldn't hope for anything else from me. Feel free to give Mei a nudge, however:)
|Meduza|
|Meduza|
|Meduza|
I really love this story and I tend to keep it on my phone because no matter how many times I read it, I can never get enough of it.
Draco and Harry are well written and just as you said despite the inclusion of Victoria the story doesn't revolve around her which tends to happen when an OC is included into a story. Normally the OC takes a bigger, more involved role where as Victoria just gets things moving simply by existing.
I usually don't warm up to characters like Lucius because he is always portrayed as a martyr or saint but I totally loved this version of Lucius. He was fun yet very in character and didn't deny that he was a bastard. Most authors try to play off his past actions as something he had to do for a number of reasons which redeem him in the readers eyes as someone who has good intentions but had to do evil things. Here though he owned up to the things he did because he wanted to and truly believed what he was doing.
Like you also said Severus isn't a fluffy mentor or character in this story and his softer moments are rare because he's always having a row with someone but because his softer moments are rare I tend to relish them more and remember them more.
I actually think the twins are fun in canon as well as here but there is no denying that they can be bullies. No one's perfect though.
I really like AU fics and this one was really well done. Not only were the horcruxes still in the story but the whole plot and the way Vorabiza wrote in the curse on the DADA post was bril! She really did a great job resolving many of the problems her story could have had as well as keeping the plot interesting yet believable.
I'm not a fan of Ron and in canon he tends to annoy me. Usually in a lot of Drarry stories Ron or Hermione tend to be more judgmental than accepting but here they were perfect. Trying to understand and still be accepting while trying to overcome the hate they have for a school bully.
All in All a really great story that I will forever love.
I just wish Vorabiza wrote a little sequel to this. Like a few one shots about how things were after school came back or about Victoria when she grew up.
Well I'll just have to keep hoping.
http://www.hpfandom.net/eff/viewstory.php?sid=6256