(#) brad 2007-03-13
Good stuff! Felt a nice little frisson of anticipation when I saw the e-mail notifcation of this - yay, another Dr. T story! - and it was a satisfying read.
I enjoyed her mental comparison between herself and Harry, with Harry coming out as more tragic every time. This is a 'caring for her best friend' side of Hermion that I love, and it's good to read her actual thoughts in this style.
I've only read a few stories which mentioned Hermione's wounds from the Ministry battle as being of any grave severity, and just one or two which used that fact to any good/dramatic effect (I'm trying to remember if you've addressed this in the past in one of yours; don't think so?). Imagine Harry's concern - and his feelings of guilt, being Harry - if he ever found out how badly Hermione was hurt! Or saw the scars later (might be an interesting little plot, their first time together, and then he goes into a state of fugue on seeing her scars).
Of course, OotP has them 'leaving the infirmary fully healed' - that's pretty close to the quote - but I think there's a lot of potential in milking an AU convalescence, as you have done here. I've just found it to be, in the one or two rare stories that capitalised on it, a very powerful device for drama (or angst).
Also enjoyed the analysis of the two boys' romantic potential, although I think I've been spoilt by all the fluffy!Hermione stories ... while I applaud her use of logic here, I would have still hoped that there'd be some sort of romantic 'spark' of true love along the line as well!
Wonder what advice Mrs. Granger might give her? "Go with her heart"? But we didn't see any of her heart really in this, did we?
"... convinced she would figure things out by September."
Will you be posting a second part, resolving the issue? Please? :-)
It's be interesting to read a third part, even, if she then tried to attract the target of her affections - in all your stories, I think, Harry's always been the active one; oh, White Warlock had Luna seducing him, I think :-) - introducing the boy to the idea of going out with his female best friend. A' la' "Like a Sister" by Jeconais, Dr. T style. That would be her follow-up action to this tale, once she'd decided on the identity of her boyfriend.
Thanks for the story!
Author's response
Well, the 'second part' would be HBP, so I don't think I need to go there. I think I've used this device before, in smaller doses. I know I did in 'Harry & Hermione'.
At the end of OotP, it seemed v. possible that Hermione and Ron would soon get together. They didn't, and we had Ron slobbering over 'Lav-Lav' while Hermione was actually cheating by helping Ron get on the Quidditch team. She obviously was crushing on him. When did that start, in in OotP it seemed that if anything Ron was more attracted to Hermione than the other way around.
This was my answer. Once Hermione determines to do something, she obsesses about it (SPEW, for example). I think that during that summer, she became focused on Ron instead of CAPLOCK Harry, and that carried over to the Sixth year.
"T"