The Lodger by Mad Martha (PG-13)
Last week I was late because of computer trouble. This week I'm late because I was enjoying myself too much. Sorry!
Title: The Lodger
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Categories: Drama, romance, canon divergent
Length: Epic (44,500 words)
Warnings: Talk of suicide, accidental(?) near-suicide, depression
Author on AO3:
mad_martha
Summary:
Years after Voldemort's death and the end of the war, a lonely and alienated Harry Potter decides to take in a lodger. The result isn't quite what he anticipated. He has more in common with his new housemate than he expected, and together they learn to look life - and the wizarding world - in the face again.
Review:
This story delighted me many years ago when I first read it on Martha's now-defunct LiveJournal. Coming across it again on AO3 when I thought it lost forever was a particular joy, and now I get to pass the joy on to you. Better yet, it turns out that there are prequels and sequels to enjoy as well, though they are by no means necessary to make sense of things.
The story pre-dates Order of the Phoenix, so needless to say diverges from canon. All the information we need as readers is there in the text, spread about as necessary rather than dumped unceremoniously at us, allowing us to slip naturally into this variant world. A slightly different selection of people lived and died, but it's close enough not to matter; it's perfectly clear how both Harry and Draco turn into lonely young men with complicated lives. The trick that brings the two of them into contact some years after Voldemort's death is probably the least convincing part of the whole story, but it works well enough that I can't really complain.
This is a well-written, well thought out story, full of keen observations of personality and social reactions. It's not perfect - Justin Finch-Fletchley is particularly hard done by, but someone recognisable had to turn out to be a plonker to make the story work, and better it be Justin than someone whose nature would have had more obvious violence done to it.
I take particular delight in Martha's portrayal of Ron Weasley. This Ron is no temperamental ham-fisted side-kick to the famous Harry Potter. This Ron is the Chief Auror, the man who quite literally spread Bellatrix Lestrange across the main street of Hogsmeade. He can be extremely intimidating when he wants to be, but he's still the same old Ron. He reacts to the news of Draco's arrival with characteristic Weasley temper, but he and Harry can still have a reasonable approximation of a rational argument about it, and he doesn't hold the grudge past the point of reasonableness. Indeed at several cruicial points, Ron is the one to decide to trust Draco and casually back him up in public. This is a breath of fresh air compared with all the stories out there where Ron causes all of the conflict in the story.
The Lodger
Title: The Lodger
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Draco
Categories: Drama, romance, canon divergent
Length: Epic (44,500 words)
Warnings: Talk of suicide, accidental(?) near-suicide, depression
Author on AO3:
mad_martha
Summary:
Years after Voldemort's death and the end of the war, a lonely and alienated Harry Potter decides to take in a lodger. The result isn't quite what he anticipated. He has more in common with his new housemate than he expected, and together they learn to look life - and the wizarding world - in the face again.
Review:
This story delighted me many years ago when I first read it on Martha's now-defunct LiveJournal. Coming across it again on AO3 when I thought it lost forever was a particular joy, and now I get to pass the joy on to you. Better yet, it turns out that there are prequels and sequels to enjoy as well, though they are by no means necessary to make sense of things.
The story pre-dates Order of the Phoenix, so needless to say diverges from canon. All the information we need as readers is there in the text, spread about as necessary rather than dumped unceremoniously at us, allowing us to slip naturally into this variant world. A slightly different selection of people lived and died, but it's close enough not to matter; it's perfectly clear how both Harry and Draco turn into lonely young men with complicated lives. The trick that brings the two of them into contact some years after Voldemort's death is probably the least convincing part of the whole story, but it works well enough that I can't really complain.
This is a well-written, well thought out story, full of keen observations of personality and social reactions. It's not perfect - Justin Finch-Fletchley is particularly hard done by, but someone recognisable had to turn out to be a plonker to make the story work, and better it be Justin than someone whose nature would have had more obvious violence done to it.
I take particular delight in Martha's portrayal of Ron Weasley. This Ron is no temperamental ham-fisted side-kick to the famous Harry Potter. This Ron is the Chief Auror, the man who quite literally spread Bellatrix Lestrange across the main street of Hogsmeade. He can be extremely intimidating when he wants to be, but he's still the same old Ron. He reacts to the news of Draco's arrival with characteristic Weasley temper, but he and Harry can still have a reasonable approximation of a rational argument about it, and he doesn't hold the grudge past the point of reasonableness. Indeed at several cruicial points, Ron is the one to decide to trust Draco and casually back him up in public. This is a breath of fresh air compared with all the stories out there where Ron causes all of the conflict in the story.
The Lodger