Team Epilogue: 22. I think I saw a Pensieve like this once...

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Title: History
Team: Epilogue
Author: emerald_dragon8
Prompt: 22. I think I saw a Pensieve like this once...
Wordcount: 17 000
Rating: R
Warnings: Infidelity, some swearing, a slightly porny scene, bad grammar in Harry's text messages (hopefully good grammar elsewhere!)
Summary: "Take from the altars of the past the fire, not the ashes" - Jean Jaures. When a

Comments

[fauxpersonae007]

Well that just broke my heart. I had this feeble unrealistic hope that they could be together and so that ending devastated me. Nevertheless, this was truly lovely. Excellent work.

[emerald_dragon8]

Aw, I'm sorry that it broke your heart, but I have to admit that was my intention. I love sad endings, but like you, I like having that hope that they can be together. I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks for reviewing!

[anexiana]

I read this earlier today and oh the ending! It broke my heart but it's not out of place at all, I don't think. I suppose Harry gave up fighting for what he had with Draco a long time ago and I'm of the mind that something like that can become a habit easily. Even though it was pretty difficult to read a Harry that didn't do what I thought was the right thing, I can understanding his fear of being left without the only support he's ever had in life. Most times, I can twist sad endings into hopeful ones but here, I can't seem to and that's a bit heartbreaking. I suppose it's because Harry and Draco seem like history and just, the way you ended

[emerald_dragon8]

Thanks so much! I definitely agree with you that Harry can get in the habit of not fighting for Draco - he's so brave in some areas but in love he's not very brave at all. I too like to find hopeful endings but I just couldn't see one in this story, even from day one. Very depressing to write, knowing how it ended! But the ending I had just felt like the one that was coming from the beginning.

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I couldn't resist putting those little things in. And I'm glad you enjoyed the mystery - that was the part I was most nervous to write!

Thanks so much for the lovely review, and my apologies that it's taken me a while to get back to you. :)

[selenesd]

The story was wonderful! It is not often that I see well developed mystery fics. I suspected Dennis at first but you completely threw me off when Blaise was found guilty the first time around =) I really liked the structure of the fic that shifted between 2019 and 2030. It was surprisingly easy to follow and I'm sure that wasn't an easy feat.

The ending made me tear up though! Why would Harry choose to stay with Ginny when he didn't love her anymore? It kinda make me wanna smack him for being a moron (and hurting Draco in the process!) but he seemed so helpless there that I also wanted to hug him. *sigh*

[emerald_dragon8]

Thank you! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. :) I was very nervous writing the mystery - I'm not typically a mystery writer - so I'm glad you enjoyed it. I was also nervous about transitioning between time periods so it's nice to hear that I pulled it off.

I guess in my mind Harry is just a very damaged person. He grew up without family so he'd be terrified of losing that. On one hand he has the family (Weasleys) that made him happy when he was young, and made the Voldemort years bearable for him, and on the other hand he has the man he loves. It's a difficult choice, but I think despite his heroism when it comes to things like fighting dragons, he's not so great at fighting for what he really wants. Which is why he couldn't fight for Draco.

Thanks for the great review! :)

[emerald_dragon8]

Wow! Thank you so much! That's lovely to hear. :)

[insaneformality]

Excellent fic. It was pleasure to read. My favorite scene was, for some reason, Harry returning Draco's wand and Albus starting his journey to past. I have to say, I didn't even think that Dennis could be a culprit and I should have at least suspected him. I guessed almost every other minor character. My mystery-solving abilities need improvement.

Ending makes me so sad. I really, really hoped that they could have happy ending, but no. Story does what story must. They just weren't strong enough.

[emerald_dragon8]

Thank you! I really liked that scene too - I wrote it very early on and it was something that I enjoyed writing. And lol maybe it's my mystery writing skills? XD

I know, I would have loved to give them a happy ending, but I didn't feel that that was right for the story.

Thanks for reviewing!