Friday, January 25, 2008

Everyday From Right Now: Chapter 18

LINK: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3725509/18/

Credit goes to the six people who replied to my last blog post for their extra push for me to get this chapter completed and posted. :D

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Chapter 18: Commentary

-- Don’t ask me what caused me to do it…but I suddenly had to write Hagrid in for a little bit. In my mind, they had (of course) already talked to him, like at Fred’s funeral or the Hogwarts memorial, but it was all off screen because I didn’t really know what they could talk about. Somehow though, I thought it was fitting that it be Hagrid to tell them to mellow out over the Malfoy’s being there, seeing as that was something he had been doing a lot through the course of the series itself.

-- And for the record…I thought it was tricky enough to write out/spell the way Fleur speaks…Hagrid was freakin’ ridiculous. I definitely give Jo Rowling her credit on that bit of characterization, holy crap!

-- *sigh* Oh, Draco, you really were such an asshole. You should be glad that I gave Ron a chance to rant instead of just having him go over and punch you again. …or have any of the Weasley’s hex the crap outta you and your family.


-- *ahem* TEDDY LUPIN IS THE COOLEST BABY EVER! Especially that hair. XP


-- So…I have this feeling that some people won’t be pleased that I didn’t spend a lot of time describing Tonks’ and Lupin’s funeral. And I’ve got quite a few reasons for it:

First, following the tone of Book 7, Tonks and Lupin were killed not just suddenly…but very vaguely in the background. There’s lots of literary explanations for why I think Jo did this, but the one that pertains to my story is that I wanted to keep it in the background, not because it doesn’t matter as much, but because its not a crucial part to Harry’s story at all; its something that is crucial to Teddy, which is why I just wanted to focus on that little boy.

Which brings me to the second reason I skipped some details; I wanted to focus on their son. I wanted a big meeting between Harry and Teddy, but seeing as the funeral was right away, I had to work around it, hence the whispered talking and interaction with him.

And honestly…I wasn’t particularly moved by Tonks and Lupin’s deaths. Was I shocked and angry and sad and all that good emo stuff? Of course I was. But on the whole, and in the aftermath, the death that stuck with me from Book 7 was Fred’s. I know why Tonks and Lupin died – parallels, symbolism, motifs of loss, etc. - so I didn’t need closure on it. Of course I did what I could for those of you who did need it, but you’ll have to excuse me if you felt a bit cheated.


-- Now, for the impromptu scene of Draco and Harry talking. Apparently, upon doing her latest book tour readings, Jo was asked if Draco owed a life debt to Harry. She said no.

When I heard about this, it got me thinking…

I mean, in the epilogue of DH, they see Malfoy and Scorpius (HA) at Platform 9 ¾, and he at least had the decency to nod slightly over at them. This to me – back when first reading this anyway – meant that they do on occasion run into each other, particularly with them all at the Ministry. They were civil, which means that along the way, they must’ve let things go to the extent that they wouldn’t want to kill each other anymore.

Together, these small bits of info led me to believe that whether verbal or not, knowingly or not, things with Draco Malfoy in the past were let go in favor of moving on with life. I just chose to make it verbal in my fic, to try bringing in that element….

…and so no one would complain that Draco wasn’t in the story. …And because I’ve begun to really question the fics that suddenly make them all “LIKE OMG, BFFs!” now that the war is over. They’ll never befriend the Malfoy’s…they will however, deal with them.


-- Yes, that was a WHOLE truck-load of fluff in the ending. But, quite frankly, m’dears, I don’t give a damn!

Ron holding Teddy…no, holding any BABY?! Hermione brushing her fingers softly through the baby’s RED hair?! So much symbolism/foreshadowing of those two having their OWN red headed baby and kissing over a cradle one day?!!? Lots of warm, fuzzy, happy feelings that made me sigh happily and be fangirl-teary the whole chapter?!?!

C’mon. You know me, LOL. You should’ve expected that much, really. XD

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I’m officially off a set time schedule for when more chapters can come up, because so many are only half completed. And they’re half completed because of an intense quarter of class work. Post February 5th, I hope to start writing for EFRN again, and new chapters should be cropping up more frequently, hopefully by late Feb/early Mar. And while they haven’t made an appearance quite yet, I’m still planning on filling the void with some one-shots.

Thanks again to everyone for continuing to be so supportive. I wish I could give you all hugs…instead I’ll work really hard to get you more stories, deal? ;)