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psyfic (psyfic) wrote in hp_beholder,

First of all, my apologies for taking so long to respond - my spouse & I are on travel so I did not even see my beholder gift had posted until earlier this evening. Unfortunately, it was at a time I was not free to do more than skim it, but I chose not to and am glad because this story should be savoured slowly.

I've always loved Millicent, her boldness and her faults and her figure and her fierce loyalty. I admit I have a fondness for Greg as the films depicted him (at least until film 8!) and find book Greg a fascinating character to consider.

You present a recognisable and very human Greg here that I like very much. He knows his strengths and his weaknesses and has no false notions regarding his intellect or his place in the world. It's quite telling that on fleeing an unjust sentence, he would find his way to someone who was a touchstone to Vincent and him. It's sweet that he seeks first to make himself useful to Millicent; he's clearly aware appealing to her emotions is definitely not the way to go. There is something I find charming about the term 'the way to a man's heart is through his stomach' being turned here. The way to Millicent's good side, if not (yet) her heart is clearly through her stomach. While you do not extol upon her ample virtues, this subtle hint as to her appetites (in every sense of the word) and his more than willing acceptance of it is delightful. His acceptance of her temper and manner of grieving is rather sad and sweet - is he accepting of it because it is his nature, or because she is a tie to Vince? We are left to ponder this among other things.

Millicent's memories are all she has of Vince and it's natural that she clung to them for so long, not even allowing herself full expression of her grief because it might somehow lessen them. Her finally releasing them, as well as accepting Greg's feelings for Vince and the guilt tied up in her treatment of him, was very moving. So, too, was her earlier consideration of Greg's love for and loyalty to his Dementor-kissed father.

The aftermath of their grief is a gentle sort of not-quite-comfort that fits these two and their burgeoning alliance. Greg figuring out the configuration of the stones in its wake was heartwarming. Lacking a wand -- and wits, the unkind might say -- he nonetheless possesses an intuitive and rudimentary form of magic all his own. What the future might hold for these two is a pleasant contemplation with which to be left. I adore fics that leave one contemplating. Thank you for that and for a sweet, delicate and nuanced tale I enjoyed very much!