Fic Post: and i'm a goddamn coward (but then again, so are you)

[darkhairedgirl]

Title: and I’m a goddamn coward (but then again, so are you)Pairing: Justin Finch-Fletchley/Pansy Parkinson
Prompt: for what it’s worth
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2023
Summary: “Am I a bad person?”

Author's Notes: 8/13. Title from “The Lion’s Roar” by First Aid Kit.

Comments

[darkhairedgirl]

With everything going on in the world right now time means absolutely nothing to me anymore, so my apologies for the late reply - but thank you so much for your kind words!! You have always left such lovely, thoughtful critique on my writing in the past, and I'm so, so happy to hear that you still enjoy this story, and that you feel it is consistent and effective in its telling even now - yikes, seven years since I originally started publishing chapters for my RPS prompt table. It's so strange to look back at my earlier pieces and see how my writing style has changed in that time, and to hear that you think this story has stayed strong in the years since, well... it means a lot to me.

It's interesting to me that you mention the "darkness" of this chapter; in addition to exploring the relationship between two very different characters, I have always wanted to use this fic as a means of exploring what "survival" means in the aftermath of the war - for Pansy, as a not-that-innocent bystander, and for Justin, as a literal prisoner of Voldemort's regime - and what coping with their trauma actually looks like. To hear that it is coming across well,, as difficult as it might be, is high praise indeed!

I will say that you shoudn't worry about Draco - he'll be fine eventually, a Malfoy always is - but it's good that he and Pansy have each other while they try to find their place in the new world they're in. I've always liked their relationship and I love getting to write about it; someone, a billion years ago, back when I was still on the FictionAlley boards, said that Draco and Pansy were "like the evil Slytherin version" of Harry and Hermione, and I have always kept that in mind when I write them. :P

And with regards to my previous response, my plans haven't changed, but the timeline has... shifted, a bit, since my initial outline. There's one more chapter after this one of "terrible emotional stumbling" before these two work things out. But things will start to get better for them - that's a promise! :)

Thank you again for reading, even after all this time. I hope you're taking care of yourself in this very, very strange time we're living in, and that you're staying safe!! <333