Natalie
I never realized how much of a negative character Natalie might have seemed until I read all the comments like "omg Natalie sucks, I hate her" or "i can't believe draco loved her" etc. etc. In my head, she's a very brave woman and there are a lot of similarities between her and Hermione. I tried to make that connection when I mentioned that just like Draco had been the easier option for Natalie, Ron was the easier option for Hermione. Natalie loved Draco to a certain extent, just not as much as she did Cassius and the same goes for Ron and Hermione; it wasn't romantic love, per se, but it was love nonetheless. The only difference was that Hermione and Ron ended their relationship while they were still ahead but Draco and Natalie got married.
The kind of love that Cassius and Natalie shared was 'magnetic', so to speak. No matter where they were and whom they were with, the connection between them was impossible to resist. That's why Natalie gave in initially and that's why Draco had to lose. If there was one person in this entire world that was completely and utterly perfect for us, Natalie's one would have been Cassius. There is a whole backstory to their love and their relationship that I didn't/won't really get to explain in Lady Malfoy. Lady Malfoy is, after all, about Draco and Hermione while Natalie and Cassius only factor in as they apply to those two central characters.
I once watched a movie (whose name escapes me) where married man has an affair with a married woman (they're both married to other people). Their partners were faithful to them but neither the man nor the woman were happy in their marriage. The man was bitter with his own failure as compared to his wife and the woman regrets marrying someone she didn't really love. These two characters meet, connect and have an affair and throughout the entire duration of the movie, I kept thinking to myself 'This is so wrong but, as an audience member, why don't I hate them?' How is it possible for these characters to be committing adultery and yet for me to feel happier when they're with each other than when they're with their respective partners. And the answer to that (as I figured it) was that they model flawed human characters - a very difficult breed to personnages to write. They are flawed, they make mistakes, they lie and yet, at the core of these characters' motivations and feelings, is the need to be loved. The need to be with someone who we feel completes us.
I don't believe that there is only one person in the world for you; we can be happy with many different people because we are not 2 dimensional characters. We have different sides to us, different traits and different desires and dreams that show themselves depending on the person we're with. To show everything about yourself to someone, every fear, weakness, flaw and secret, requires more than just courage. Thousands of marriages function perfectly fine with partners not knowing their spouse's deepest secrets. But what Cassius and Natalie shared was that intense bond to which they had both completely surrendered themselves.
I often get comments and emails like 'wow cassius is so insane' or 'omg why is he so crazy' and my response to that is: wouldn't you be that driven too if you lose the only person in the world with whom you can share the darkest parts of your soul with?
That's why love is such a powerful emotion and it can cause the greatest of damage. Hermione and Draco are still in the relatively early stages of their love but as I'm sure many of you have figured out, their bond transcends that of regular love. Much like Cassius and Natalie's did.
What Natalie did was wrong. Of course. But each character has their own side and their own story and before you rush to judge her, remember that I write different parts of the stories from different characters to try and show you as much depth to help you understand their motivations and their fears. It's a terrifying thing to have to chose between two people you love for different reasons, especially when one of them has to get hurt.
The kind of love that Cassius and Natalie shared was 'magnetic', so to speak. No matter where they were and whom they were with, the connection between them was impossible to resist. That's why Natalie gave in initially and that's why Draco had to lose. If there was one person in this entire world that was completely and utterly perfect for us, Natalie's one would have been Cassius. There is a whole backstory to their love and their relationship that I didn't/won't really get to explain in Lady Malfoy. Lady Malfoy is, after all, about Draco and Hermione while Natalie and Cassius only factor in as they apply to those two central characters.
I once watched a movie (whose name escapes me) where married man has an affair with a married woman (they're both married to other people). Their partners were faithful to them but neither the man nor the woman were happy in their marriage. The man was bitter with his own failure as compared to his wife and the woman regrets marrying someone she didn't really love. These two characters meet, connect and have an affair and throughout the entire duration of the movie, I kept thinking to myself 'This is so wrong but, as an audience member, why don't I hate them?' How is it possible for these characters to be committing adultery and yet for me to feel happier when they're with each other than when they're with their respective partners. And the answer to that (as I figured it) was that they model flawed human characters - a very difficult breed to personnages to write. They are flawed, they make mistakes, they lie and yet, at the core of these characters' motivations and feelings, is the need to be loved. The need to be with someone who we feel completes us.
I don't believe that there is only one person in the world for you; we can be happy with many different people because we are not 2 dimensional characters. We have different sides to us, different traits and different desires and dreams that show themselves depending on the person we're with. To show everything about yourself to someone, every fear, weakness, flaw and secret, requires more than just courage. Thousands of marriages function perfectly fine with partners not knowing their spouse's deepest secrets. But what Cassius and Natalie shared was that intense bond to which they had both completely surrendered themselves.
I often get comments and emails like 'wow cassius is so insane' or 'omg why is he so crazy' and my response to that is: wouldn't you be that driven too if you lose the only person in the world with whom you can share the darkest parts of your soul with?
That's why love is such a powerful emotion and it can cause the greatest of damage. Hermione and Draco are still in the relatively early stages of their love but as I'm sure many of you have figured out, their bond transcends that of regular love. Much like Cassius and Natalie's did.
What Natalie did was wrong. Of course. But each character has their own side and their own story and before you rush to judge her, remember that I write different parts of the stories from different characters to try and show you as much depth to help you understand their motivations and their fears. It's a terrifying thing to have to chose between two people you love for different reasons, especially when one of them has to get hurt.