Fic: The Cruelest Months (The Blacks; Rating PG-13)

[gehayi]

Title: The Cruelest Months
Author: gehayi
Pairing/Character: The Blacks (Regulus, Sirius, Andromeda, Bellatrix, Narcissa)
Word Count: 7,205
Rating: PG-13
Prompt: the cruelest month (The prompt table, which is for 7spells, is here.)
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling, various publishers including but

Comments

[hibernater]

A heart-ful, lovely-worded, all-encompassing, precise and beautifully colored, engrossing eulogy for the House of Black. Cheers.

[gehayi]

Thank you so much! And what a beautiful way of phrasing your appreciation.

[kethlenda]

He is the only one here who is trying to spell out the word "love" with shards of ice, the word that he knows will free him, but he has been trying for so long that he's all but black with cold, and half cut to pieces by the jagged edges of the ice.

It hurts to know that there are sanctuaries out there, homes that belong to Remus, Peter and James. They gleam and glisten like three diamond-encrusted stars in a bleak, black midnight sky--unbearably lovely, painfully alluring...and never to be reached.

hfa;alkadgs;lkdg;kjhg

This fic is amazing. It sucked me in like a dark fairy tale and had me holding my breath by the end, even though I know what becomes of all the characters. You know, I never thought of the possibility that Narcissa might have feared Draco becoming the prophesied one. Brilliant!

And yay, another person who calls Andromeda "Romy". :)

[gehayi]

Thank you VERY much. I'm delighted that you liked it.

Fairy tale motifs come up a lot in my writing. I'm not sure why.

I can just imagine Narcissa wondering if, should her baby be born in the last week of July, the Dark Lord would kill her baby. Or order both her and the child killed. Or order her husband to kill her and the baby, as some twisted test of his loyalty. I can imagine her wondering if Lucius would do so, and fearing the answer was "yes."

"Romy" sounds best to me. "Andy" sounds too tomboyish to my ears, and "Meda" has too many overtones of "Medea."

[kethlenda]

You'll never hear me complaining about fairy tale motifs! :)

For me, it's a pronunciation thing. I'll call Andromeda "Andy" sometimes just so people know who I'm talking about, since it seems to be a common way to shorten it, but to me, calling her either Andy or Meda would come from pronouncing her name ANdroMEDa, when in fact I say anDROMeda, which made Romy the most plausible nickname.

/rambling

[underlucius]

and that was my favourite piece in this too!

*incoherent*

[anonymous]

Enduring Snape's snide comments is like being pecked to death by ducks.

Wasn't that a line from a Star Trek: Voyager episode? If so, you might want to change it, funny though it is. No worries, it happens to me all the time. I write something that's been floating around in my head, and come to find out it's from something else.

Loved the story. It was insightful and heartbreaking.

[gehayi]

I've never seen Star Trek: Voyager, so I couldn't have gotten it from that. I've read and heard people say that dealing with various people--usually their relatives--is like getting pecked to death by ducks since before there was a Star Trek: Voyager, so I suspect it's just an expression.

And thank you. I'm very glad that you liked the story.

[das_kabinett]

I love this so much. I read it and then went right back to the beginning and read it again. I really enjoy how you portray Sirius and Regulus' relationship; I love the two of them when they are done really well and I think you hit it perfectly.

I also really like your Bella, who's almost childlike obsession combined with her brutal efficiency is chilling. Narcissa is heartbreaking and I especially like how you manage to create an effective emotional life behind the classic "cool and manipulative" exterior. The short scene with her fretting over Draco's birth date was perfect and startling. I just think I love your Blacks. Great work!

[gehayi]

Bella was great fun to write, because she's so twisted and yet, in her own mind, she's a heroine, fighting for what's best for the wizarding world. Narcissa, who had to be Machiavellian and deeply emotional at the same time, was by far the trickiest. Sirius was the most painful to write. The Halloween section just about broke my heart.

And thank you very much! I'm delighted that you liked it!

[underlucius]

Wonderful. Just great! The way it moves forward - still jumping from Black to Black - but stays coherent and readable is masterly.

My favourite phrase: "He is the only one here who is trying to spell out the word "love" with shards of ice, the word that he knows will free him, but he has been trying for so long that he's all but black with cold, and half cut to pieces by the jagged edges of the ice." which has already been quoted by someone else.

As I've said to you personally already, you are a consummate Story Teller, which is a rare thing in this fandom. There are many many people who write well, but I can probably name about 10 people who can weave a STORY, in a Scheredzade (sic) way the way you do, that makes me start and read to the end, no matter how long it is.

Stellar work, gehayi. *applauds*