They Did What? (The Dark Mark Remix) [Harry Potter; Draco and Others]

[melle_mal]

Title: They Did What? (The Dark Mark Remix)
Author: melle_mal
Summary: The Dark Mark should have been solution to all of his problems, should have been his reward and his acceptance and his glory. But now it was nothing more than a testament to his shame and his failure and his loss.
Rating: PG
Fandom: Harry Potter
Title, Author and URL of original story:

Comments

[osmalic]

This is a very dark version of the original fic by snorkackcatcher, but heartfelt. I'm glad Draco started seeing the tattoo as something else, but is still compelled to return to his family (and not his team). Thanks for sharing.

[melle_mal]

I definitely didn't want this to be a redeemed!Draco fic at all. I think I would have struggled to make it one, considering I haven't written from Draco's POV before. But I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for reviewing :)

[snorkackcatcher]

Unusual and rather orthogonal take on the crackish original ... good to see that Draco finally found he regretted what he was doing, just as he did in canon. In over his head, clearly. :)

[melle_mal]

I must admit that I was very intimidated by your fics. You work with a lot of characters that I'm unfamiliar with (writing-wise) and your writing has a beautiful, poetic feel to it that I knew I'd never be able to match. I didn't want to disgrace your works by attempting to own the characters that you do, nor by re-working your plots which, I have to admit, I could never do justice to. So I thought it best to take one specific concept and shift the context. I hope it didn't disappoint :)

[savage_midnight]

Oops. That was me, obviously :)

[snorkackcatcher]

Very kind of you to say so (although I'm usually more prosaic than poetic :D). Really, I don't mind the idea of the stories being reworked -- they're JKR's characters after all, not mine. This was a surprisingly dark story, and I suppose I was initially bemused by the narrow area of connection and the unexpected AU turn towards the end. There were hints of Draco/Hermione, right? :)

I do sympathise though -- my own remix had to be in a fandom I'd only ever written one story in, because that was the only shared fandom I had, and it was a real struggle to find a suitable angle of approach. (And then I had to rethink it late on when new canon totally changed the tone of the show!)

[werewolfsfan]

Fascinating tale. I haven't read the original. I'm going to do that now. But I think you did a great job with Draco's POV and character. He is a Malfoy and a Slytherin through and through. He's just not cut out to be a Death Eater. Also, even though they appear only briefly, I can totally see your Harry and Hermoine as being in character with what we've seen of them in canon.
Do you know what passage really stood out for me?
Life was all about death for the Dark Lord. Ending it, prolonging it, cheating it. He called them Death Eaters because they devoured death, dissected it, breathed it, lived it. But for Draco the name had simply been a name. Until he had become it. He had feared death for too long, as children often do. The death of a destiny he didn't have, the death of his father's love, his own death at the hands of Voldemort. But it was nothing compared to this, the reality of it, the ugliness and finality of it. They had toyed with it, twisted it and molded it into something it should never have been.I'd always hated