Need - A gift for fluffyllama!

[scarletladyy]

Title: Need
Author: featherxquill
Recipient: fluffyllama
Pairing(s): Amelia Bones/Bellatrix Lestrange
Word Count: ~3000
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Violence, references to rape and character death.
Summary: Amelia Bones is the consummate Auror: stoic, professional, moral. But even the most dependable individuals have their moments of madness.
Author's Notes: This isn't very

Comments

[therealsnape]

This is a fascinating story, and one that will stay with me. You make it so clear what it takes for Amelia Bones to give in, to become, as she puts it, a monster herself. And it's so understandable.

Bellatrix is shown so clearly in her sadistic mockery. And yet you make it believable, somehow, that she didn't see who it was. Or perhaps she did. But you leave room for reasonable doubt.

Amelia's promise that she will know her niece is beautifully done.

[featherxquill]

Thank you so much for your comment! So glad you enjoyed the story, and found both Bellatrix and Amelia's reaction to her realistic. ♥

[miss_morland]

Wow! This is amazing -- well-plotted and constructed, amazing characterisations, wonderful magical details, some really gorgeous language.

It’s like wild magic, unchannelled and crackling, like sandpaper rasping the inside of her skin -- Beautiful line.

Amelia takes a step back, heart beating hard, and surveys Bellatrix. She’s hanging mid-step, only one foot on the ground, arms outstretched. Her head is back, throat bared, but her eyes move and her fingers twitch as she fights against the spell. -- There's something about this image that's really haunting.

Bellatrix’s laugh echoes in Amelia’s ears long after the door of the cell has closed between them. -- Just how long, I wonder? Gah. I do feel sorry for Amelia.

I bow to your talent. <3

[featherxquill]

Thank you for this lovely review. it made my day! So glad you enjoyed the story and found it affecting.

[kellychambliss]

A powerful, well-written story. I'm so glad that you didn't make Bella just a total raving nutter, yet still monstrous (and far more so than Amelia, who may [understandably] have been pushed to a breaking point, but who still has her humanity intact.)

I agree with miss_morland -- the image of arrested-in-midair Bella is very effective, and the sandpaper/skin line is superb.

Sometimes, a person needs a break from being stoic and dependable.
Yes.

[featherxquill]

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed. I'm especially pleased that you found Bellatrix both believable and monstrous. She's a fine line to walk; I'm glad to hear that this interpretation worked for you. ♥

[feuerfunke]

Wow, very well written, fascinating story. It's hard to get Bellatrix's character right and you managed really well.

[featherxquill]

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed. It's been a long time since I tried writing Bellatrix, so I'm especially glad to hear you found my take on her believable.

[fluffyllama]

Oh, this is wonderful -- I can't believe my rather jumbled prompt ideas led to this, but I'm very glad if they did!

Making her a smoker going without a cigarette was a great way to make her feel like a real person, especially for a (mostly ex-) smoker like me. It's very effective as part of setting the scene in time at the start, and I can feel how driven she is. I love how you keep that tension all the way through the scene with Bellatrix too - I swear I held my breath through to the end.

Thank you so much! I want to say lots more, but it's taken me an age to type this as I'm not too well right now. I will be reading and enjoying this again and hope to be able to leave a longer comment soon.

[featherxquill]

Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed this! Your prompts were super-awesome. The combination of freedom in choosing the characters along with the descriptive prompts spoke to me almost immediately - the chance to write darkish!Amelia, yay!

And haha, glad you liked the nicotine withdrawal. When I wrote this, I had just recently given in to my own cravings after my umpteenth quitting attempt (it'll happen, eventually!), and there was one moment in my not too distant past that involved withdrawal, yelling at my boss and then having a cry in the loo for no reason, so when I came to write this I latched onto that feeling of out-of-controlness and used it. So glad it worked for you.

♥, and I hope you're feeling better!