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hdcup_mod (hdcup_mod) wrote in hd_worldcup,
@ 2008-04-01 07:20:00

Entry tags:

fic, nc-17, prompt: the fool, round i, team fanon

Prodigal -- Team Fanon
Title: Prodigal
Team: Fanon
Author: aoifene
Prompt: The Fool
Wordcount: 13,326
Rating: NC-17 for graphic violence and language
Warnings: AU. First Person POV. Draco-centric. Set after HBP. Not DH Compliant.
Summary: One year after Dumbledore's death, the tide turns in Voldemort's favour and with Harry Potter locked in the Malfoy dungeons, the fate of the Wizarding World seems bleak. Who'll save the saviour when he's in need of saving?
Author's Note: Many thanks to my A.C.E. betas and Team Fanon! Based on the literal and figurative meaning of the card, centred on the themes of blind faith, innocence and beginnings.

Prodigal

Poll #1288
Open to: All, results viewable to: None

Is the author/artist true to their team? Yes/No vote ("yes" is worth 2 points, "no" is worth 0)

How well did the author/artist use their Prompt? 1 to 9 (1 being the least)

How much did you like this story/art overall? 1 to 9 (1 being the least)

For a description of teams, please see our FAQ.

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	tlp2107 2008-04-02 12:26 am UTC (link)
	eeeee! awesome story! i loved draco's inner monologue, especially his dry wit. great development of his feelings for harry, very subtle and fitting with the overall tone of the fic. harry's characterization was very ic too, and i loved his slow building trust of draco. great banter too! please do an epilogue after the worldcup!!! begs (Reply to this)

	ships_harry 2008-04-02 01:43 am UTC (link)
	I very much enjoyed Draco's manipulation of Lucius as a kind of puppet; it was a concept that was both fascinating and incredibly sad. (Reply to this)

	floooeee 2008-04-02 01:13 pm UTC (link)
	Oh goodness me, this was brilliant. It made me laugh and cry and sweat and..oh it was just lovely. <3 Congratulations on a job well done :) (Reply to this)

vaysh11
2008-04-02 11:27 pm UTC (link)

This is a story which makes events like WorldCups and fic fests so worth my while and my time and my passion for H/D-fanfiction. "Prodigal" is brillantly conceived - the title, the plot, the way the story is structured. Draco's first person pov is so well and so convincingly written, this is an IC fanon!Draco to the hilt. The story offers a challenging, dark interpretation of the "innocence" and blind impetousness of the Fool. The AU is a convincing scenario of what could have happened had Voldemort not be defeated, it takes up fanon motives, adds and enriches them. I love the prophetic dream of the hallway, the subtle hints that Draco himself knows that he has been fascinated by Harry since sixth year.

Draco's attempts to keep up the façade of his father as a sane man, when Lucius has been mentally destroyed in Azkaban, is just devasting to read. Everything, down to the crossed-out letters on the computer screen, reveals how desperately Draco wants to believe his father is still with him. The "dialogue" under Imperius when Dravo wants to kill his father but can't is nothing but heart-wrenching.

I love this moment in particular: I desperately search for something to tell him. Words that won’t sound stupid or impersonal or insane. It’s too early to love him, isn’t it? A wish for good luck would be simply idiotic. And to say that I like him when I’m as good as willing to die for him would just be a gross understatement. Draco's struggle to find words here for what he feels for Harry, the meshing of the vocabulary of sentimental love, tough banter, and bitter sarcasm, characterises the entire story. This is perfect H/D for me. Thanks for writing!

(Reply to this)

	marguerite_26 2008-04-03 01:31 pm UTC (link)
	The story was beautifully written and the point of view was very well done. Draco's lack of passion for anything at the beginning was heart breaking. (Reply to this)

	lilithilien 2008-04-03 10:53 pm UTC (link)
	My favourite story of the day! There's nothing I like better than Draco in this protective role, and here the development of that relationships was absolutely perfect ... with the glorious twist that he was the one responsible for the damage as well. Very well done! (Reply to this)

I fail at having an IJ account :( _silverleaf_ at LJ
(Anonymous)
2008-04-04 03:44 am UTC (link)

Wow, that was intense! I normally don't like first person POV, but it fit so wonderfully well here. Lovely interaction between Draco and Harry as well! I was grinning like mad at a few places - trust Harry to be all sarcastic when being a tortured prisoner. :) And speaking of torture... you handled that really well too. Shit. It was all so vivid - blood, pain.. the "Kill me" moment will haunt me for awhile now. :S Great work!

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meredyth_13
2008-04-06 04:59 am UTC (link)

This is actually a very dark piece. There's something almost horrific in Draco's protection and ... use? of his father, even though in his own head it makes sense. The fact that technically he's the one abusing Harry night after night - and yet he still manages to distance himself from it, and deal only with the aftermath each time. Harry's madly gung-ho - which is a very fanon interpretation, but somehow the dry exchanges between them do fit and make sense in an AU where things are so very different.

Once I got into the first person POV I did find great satisfaction in staying with this story and seeing where it went. And I love that although the end is slightly ambiguous, I can easily read it as Draco's redemption and see him stepping up beside Harry to face Voldemort.

:)

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greenjuly
2008-04-06 09:25 pm UTC (link)

I almost didn’t click on this since it isn’t DH-compliant and is a Fanon fic, but I’m glad I did! The premise of this fic reminded me of mijan’s Eclipse (I am sure this was an inspiration for you), though the two stories are not really much alike. I liked the fact that this story doesn’t gloss over Draco’s darker nature. The back-and-forths between Harry and Draco were great, and often pretty funny! I thought Draco’s characterization was done well, you really brought across his desperation and hesitancy, and the progression of his reverse-Stockholm Syndrome didn’t seem too contrived. Harry's "Kill me" was genuinely affecting, and this exchange made me go :O

“I know you love him and it must kill you to hear this, but you know it’s the truth. He’s the sort of man that is truly evil. He actually gives Voldemort a run for his money.” Potter shudders as he hugs himself. “His eyes are always the same when he tortures me. There’s no fucking emotion in them. Even as I was choking on my own bile and practically drowning, he never as much as flinched. Not once. Anyone who could do that to another person is inhuman!”

My fist is already colliding with the side of his face before I register what I’m doing. All I want is for him to stop, to shut up about my father...about me. But even then, his words are still ringing in my ears. Even then, it doesn’t make them any less true.

Nice job.

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