swatkat: knight - er, morgana - in shining underwear (Default)
[personal profile] swatkat
It's raining. It's been raining since yesterday night, and it's still raining. After the past few days of stifling heat and humidity, it's *finally* raining. And the weather reports are being non-committal as usual, but it feels like monsoon to me.

*

Cleaning up the hard-drive a bit, I discovered this - an old post-OotP Hermione fic snippet with interesting possibilities. I don't intend to do anything with it, since I have no idea what I was trying to do with it in the beginning, but thought I'd post it here nonetheless.


This Rough Magic

*

The summer after their Fifth Year, the Ministry of Magic officially withdraws the Underage Magic Act. Minister Fudge appears in front of the press, nervous and flustered, explaining that in the light of recent developments, it's the only possible step he could take – allow the children to defend themselves.

That evening, Hermione takes up practising the Imperius Curse.

Two days later, when her father expresses his surprise over the astonishingly docile behaviour of the neighbours' abominable dog, she moves on to the Cruciatus curse.

The day before Hermione leaves for Hogwarts, she hears her mother complain about Crookshanks leaving dead rats all over the house ('That cat is really getting out of hand, dear') and swears to be more careful in the future.


*

Harry remains quiet and depressed through the first few days of Sixth Year; until the day he takes her and Ron to their favourite spot beside the lake and tells them about a prophecy and how he must kill Voldemort or be killed by him.

The next evening, she tells him that it’s time he started learning the Unforgivables.

'Can you -,' whispers Ron in awe.

'I tried it during summer,' she shrugs.

'You have to mean it,' says Harry, looking very uncertain. 'Bellatrix Lestrange told me that you’d have to mean it to make the curses work.'

'You can do it,' she assures him.

They practise throughout the year.

*

Hermione kills her first human in her Seventh Year, during the first wave of Death Eater attacks on Hogwarts.

It takes her almost two weeks before she can sleep properly again.

She remembers the dazzling flash of green light; the look on Dolohov’s face when the curse hit him on the chest; the horrifying stillness afterwards. But mostly, she remembers the rush of magic that surged through her veins when she hit him with the curse.

*

Harry kills Voldemort after a long and bloody battle – 'I can't remember everything that happened,' he tells her when she asks about it – and the War is over. The remaining Death Eaters either surrender, or escape abroad.

'We must now rebuild our world,' Dumbledore declares in a speech.

The world must be rebuilt, and the Ministry needs fresh minds and young blood to do so; and so Hermione joins and becomes Junior Undersecretary at the Ministry of Magical Law Enforcement. She spends her days helping Percy Weasley redraft the Wizard-Muggle relations laws and making plans for a safer, more humane Azkaban minus the Dementors.

She tells herself she doesn't miss the magic, doesn't miss the exhilaration that comes with it.

But at nights, she dreams of Dolohov, of the look on his face and the energy rushing through her veins, and she knows that she's lying after all.

*

Date: 2007-06-13 06:55 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] leiascully.livejournal.com
Wicked Hermione! Excellent! Finish it!

Date: 2007-06-13 07:00 am (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
I'd love to, but I have no idea what I wanted to do with it! My notes mention Draco and Azkaban, but I really don't know!

Date: 2007-06-13 07:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] leiascully.livejournal.com
It makes sense even as a standalone, I think, but I'd love to see you flesh it out. If you can make sense of your notes.

Date: 2007-06-13 08:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lyras.livejournal.com
That works pretty well as a standalone ficlet, actually. OMG quasi-evil Hermione! I like it.

Date: 2007-06-13 05:26 pm (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Hee, thank you. I wish I could do more with it, because I like this Hermione, but I don't remember a thing!

Date: 2007-06-13 09:10 am (UTC)
ext_17412: (Default)
From: [identity profile] msgenevieve.livejournal.com
I love you. Have I mentioned that lately?

Date: 2007-06-13 05:25 pm (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Well, it's always nice to be reminded every now and then... *g*

Date: 2007-06-13 11:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] author-by-night.livejournal.com
You know, I can actually see it. I don't think she'd do it as quickly, but she's already got this inner... Elphaba to her. I don't think she'd become a DE, but I can see her going to the extreme to stand up for what she believes in. She already has, really.

Date: 2007-06-13 04:48 pm (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Elphaba!Hermione! That's such an apt comparison - it never occured to me before, but it's true. I wrote this after Hermione sent Umbridge to the centaurs in her fifth year - it doesn't get any more extreme than that.

Date: 2007-06-13 12:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] delle.livejournal.com
oooooohhhhhhhhhh this is fantastic!!!! it'd be fabulous if you worked on it more, but it's a lovely standalone just as it is!!!!!!!!

Date: 2007-06-13 05:28 pm (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Thank you! I'd like to do more with it, because I really like my dark!Hermione, but I'm not sure *what* I'd do with this!

Date: 2007-06-13 06:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jaybee65.livejournal.com
Ooh. Well, you *knew* I'd like this one.

I'll join in the chorus of people saying that it works quite well as a standalone piece!

Date: 2007-06-14 04:15 am (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Thanks! I quite like my dark!Hermione as well - as [livejournal.com profile] author_by_night points out, there's something very Elphaba about Hermione, which is something I really love about her.

Date: 2007-06-13 07:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sk56.livejournal.com
This is stunning, just stunning. I know that nagging won't make you write any faster, or any more often, so I will leave it at this -- anytime, anyplace, you write -- I read.

Did I say this was stunning?

Date: 2007-06-14 04:19 am (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Thank you! I'm flattered. *g* I *wish* I could write faster, but I'm yet to discover how that works for me. *sigh*

Date: 2007-06-13 10:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] goddesspharo.livejournal.com
This was awesome! Your Hermione is very intriguing.

Date: 2007-06-14 03:58 am (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Hee. Thank you.

Date: 2007-06-14 10:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] lady-game.livejournal.com
This was creepily good! It really does work very well as a stand alone, but I do think Hermione is a tiny bit OOC - I doubt she'd start on the Unforgivables so quickly. But it works really nicely :)

Date: 2007-06-14 12:15 pm (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Thank you. It was inspired by Hermione sending off Umbridge to the centaurs - canon!Hermione would take more time to start off with them, certainly.

Date: 2007-06-14 03:49 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sweetumms33.livejournal.com
Very interesting...its very possible for Hermione to end up this way...nice job!

Date: 2007-06-14 04:05 pm (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Thank you!

Date: 2007-06-15 12:10 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] toffeeliz.livejournal.com
oooh, someones playing with fire and likes getting burned. Great fic, something I would love as a bigger piece. We always knew Hermione had a dark side ;)

Date: 2007-06-17 05:18 am (UTC)
ext_7700: (Default)
From: [identity profile] swatkat24.livejournal.com
Thank you!

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swatkat: knight - er, morgana - in shining underwear (Default)
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