Fic: A Reason to Fight for lazy_neutrino

[genficsanta]

Title: A Reason to Fight
Author: lyras
A gift for: lazy_neutrino
Rating: PG
Length: 3,000 words
Characters: Aberforth Dumbledore, Neville Longbottom
Warnings: None
Summary: Aberforth thinks he's finished with fighting -- until Neville Longbottom falls through the portrait door and into his life.
Notes: Hello, lazy_neutrino, I very much hope this is to your liking

Comments

[lazy_neutrino]

Oh my dear god, this is amazing. It is so bleak and yet so atmospheric. Aberforth is brilliant - a survivor, and one who thinks he can carry on the way he is until Neville makes him realise what he's missing.

The sentence that broke my heart was this one: he knows not to touch her, because he knows how much it will hurt if his hand passes through her. He's learned to live without so much, hasn't he

[kellychambliss]

Oh, well done! I love a thoughtful, taut Aberforth fic, and I'm a sucker for well-told canon missing scenes. You capture so much of what canon suggests about Aberforth but doesn't really have time to explore. Canon is not meant to be Aberforth's story, of course, but you've made it excellently yours. His mental conflicts are so believable -- his need to insist that he doesn't care coupled with his understanding, however much he tries to deny it, that he does. And what a fine, mature Neville.

[woldy]

This is a lovely missing scene, which such a thoughtful characterization of both Neville and Aberforth. Really enjoyed it!

[eglantine_br]

Oh, I like this very much.

[therealsnape]

What a thoughtful portrait of Aberforth. His doubts about the point in fighting, the way he wants to protect the children or at least try to talk some sense into their heads, and the way he finally finds a reason to fight again.

A beautifully-told story.

Here on kellychambliss's rec, btw.