This is probably now an old fic for you, and its possible you don't even use the account this review will be sent to BUT, I have been reading the fic over the past few days and needed to tell you that I adore it (:
It's less smutty than what I normally read and it's AU which is rare for me, BUT I feell utterly inlove with it all the same. You make the characters so completely 3d. We really meet and know the characters, aklso you have created this amazing school, which I can picture perfectly in my head..
I even adored the Tom Riddle evil guy extra, it made everything click together. I hope you're still writing, even if its not fanfiction anymore, &I; hope you actually read this review ^^.
After spending countless hours of my last few days, I've finally reached completion. Honestly, I'm not sure where to begin. I have so much I want to say in this review, but I'm entirely unsure of what to start with. Yes, this fic is that amazing.
I guess I should mention how this fic absolutely sucks in my heart. It was really unexpected. I started reading this a couple of days ago on a pure whim and couldn't even bring myself to get pass the first chapter. Not that it was terrible or anything, it's perfectly fine and your writing is very beautiful. I just often have trouble getting through first chapters and sinking into the story.
And then there's the characters. I obviously didn't have a clue about how this story would play out, but when Harry and his violin stepped in, I fell in love. It's a rather interesting combination in my opinion and you worked it really well. There's so much passion and love within Harry, the way you describe his music and everything was brilliant.
Of course, being Harry, he just had to snatch Draco's heart. I love the way you portray their relationship. It's nice and slow, filled with more than just sexual desires. There's the swirl of emotions and dash of music. A thing I noticed was how you included the relationship of other characters rather than centering everything around just Draco and Harry. It helped build up my love for every character in this.
I wonder why I didn't get into this pairing sooner. This story is truly wonderful. It's touching and sweet, and aided me in finding my hidden love for classical music. Really, this is a master piece. :)
Katiepox 5/25/10 . chapter 13
I absolutely loved reading this fic and the sequel to it. Both were really amazing. I found myself Google-ing the songs that Harry or Draco played during the duration of the story. Then reading about how the music affected them and what they thought about as they were playing it- while I actually listened to the same song.
According to all the reviews for chapter 8 of the sequel to this fic; it isn't completed. I just wanted to say that it could certainly pass as finished. Ending with Harry agreeing to that major event by simply saying, 'yes' is a great ending. You also tied up all the major plot points before then. I actually thought that the story was over until I read a few of the reviews for that chapter asking you to unabandon it.
Anyway, thanks for writing this story. I enjoyed it immensely.
I'm in the middle of reading your story, I just finished chapter six, but I felt like I had to comment before I continued. The way this chapter ends is just...sweet.
It's not so much the kiss between Harry and Draco (though that was lovely too) but Narcissa's part in the scene. Reading her I could feel her relief and joy, it made tears spring to my eyes. I like the story but, until that moment, I didn't really feel *committed* to it but now I do.
*smiles* I was listening to the danse macabre during the first part of this chapter. You made it sound so awesome i had to go find out for myself. And I found I really loved it which is somewhat unusual actually. I usally find classical music to be somewhat boring unless spiced up in some way, like how Bond does it.
8smiles* I shall go back to reading your story now but I just wanted to convey my aappreciation of your work. It makes me wonder if you write original fiction. All through this story I've felt a bit like you were hiding behind the characters and the fanfic genre. This seems to me like an original story with just the names changed to those of HP characters at times. I hope you do write original fiction, I have an inkling you'd be quite good at it.
Oh, I'm so happy right now! I read this fic like years ago and absolutly loved it but over time I sort of forgot about it. Then two days ago it popped up in my head again but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was called. And then today - this wonderful day - I found it on someone else favorite list! Amazing! It totally made my week!
The story is, of course, just as good as I remembered it to be. Harry is just so fascinating and sweet and fun and Draco seems just like the right guy for him.
I have to go to bed now (should have been asleep an hour ago at least) but I'll keep reading the rest of this tomorrow!
This. This was... And everything... and the MUSIC! My /God/, this was possibly one of the best stories I've ever read in the Harry/Draco fandom, and to be honest, I don't give out praise like that a lot. Arg, I am totally incoherent, must regain intelligent thought.
Alright!
When I first saw this fic in a rec list, I went, "Oh. Alternate Universe, ick. Not my thing." It's not an attack on your story at all, and in fact, it just shows that it was very well written, for me to love it this much. (Bah, losing coherency again. Starting over!) But today, a friend of mine convinced me to make a read-through and at least get through the first chapter.
Holy hell, am I glad I did.
The characterizations were spot-on, I felt, in all of the characters. Harry, Ron, Draco, Blaise, Hermione, even the inclusion of Tom Riddle! And you didn't use the attack/rape as a convenient plot device to get them in bed with each other and blow it off like a lot of other authors do. Instead, you used it as a way to make Harry seem more real as a person and to explain the way his friends responded to this weakness, when it's so clear that he is the center of them all. A sun, if you will, with glowing planets basking in the warmth of his presence. It was beautiful, really. It's like... here he is, the person they all go to, not because he's a prodigy and they want the fame or the popularity or some other such thing, but because he's special and unique and fragile and just so deserving of love and affection and friendship. (Ah, run-on sentences; don't you just love them?)
Draco, as well, was perfectly portrayed! None of that silly schoolboy meanness he had in the books, but just a boy who's father expects too much, a mother who expects nothing at all, and a passion for music that's unrealized until he meets the right person.
And, Merlin, the music. You have such a fantastic way with words, it's incredible. I felt like I was in the story myself sometimes, being a musician myself, and I knew how each of them felt; that place we like to call "other", separate from reality. The creation zone, where light can sing and music tastes like the sweetest nectar and art leaps off a canvas and becomes real. The way you portrayed their feelings of music, of how immersed Harry and Draco become when they find that passion and zeal and fire... It was amazing. It made me want to go play my piano in the other room and tinker around and sing.
I have lots to say, so if you're getting bored, go ahead and skip to the end. -laughs-
I know this is kind of a silly thing to comment on, but the fact that there was thirteen chapters... I really liked that. I don't know if you did that intentionally, but it really just added a sense of interest to the overall story. Superstition claims thirteen to be an unlucky number, and yet, Draco isn't Wendy and things don't end in a fit of tears and angst.
Sirius was perfect! And "Guppy" is possibly the cutest pet name I have ever heard in my life (and which I plan on using all the time from now on.) I really, /really/ loved the fatherly aspect he had in this, as well as the distance he still played as the "Uncle", knowing that he was not James but still trying to fill that hole anyways.
If there was one thing I could comment on being disappointed on (and, really, I wracked my brain for this!) it was the lack of Dumbledore in the overall story. But I can understand, without Harry being "The Chosen One" and all that rot, the Headmaster wouldn't really see the need to interfere in Harry's life besides the occasional dip and pass through his misfortunes (aka Tom Riddle and Peter MacLain.) So even though I was sad to see so little of him, I also know that it's a ridiculous notion to hope to see a twinkle of him.
The relationship you started with Ron and Hermione was really well done and played down considerably, which was wonderful. It really helped bring Harry and Draco closer together, I feel, and kept the plot rolling.
I suppose I should probably get to sleep, seeing as it's 3:17 (and I have class in five hours!), but I just wanted to say thank you for such a beautifully written fic and I look forward to reading the sequel later on today! -laughs-
Valentine's day is so sappy. I wrote an anti valentine poem, and I think I need to do the same this year as well. What Draco did, in the end, was romantic and great! Love love love! I can't wait until tomorrow when I finish your story.
that was really good, and the sap actually fit and didnt make it awkward (so dont worry about it, if it isn't forced life's good).
there are very few harry potter stories i've enjoyed reading and finished, and this is one of them. i loved the idea of making them musicians, and you made it fit their book personalities while modifying the characters to fit your own interpretation.
and where the heck did you get the idea for electric violin? that is so cool, i'd love to hear someone play that. it was neat how you matched each person with a specific intrument or art form (especially since they all fit very well), it actually started me thinking on how the different instruments in my band relate so certain characteristics...
on that note, i do play an insrument (oboe!) but not at any kind of crazy-high level, mostly just in self-interest and as a form of release from the craziness that life often becomes. a lot of the stuff you mentioned i could relate to (although, in reading this, i realized how little i know about classical classicals) including finding the right instrument- i don't know if i will always play oboe, but it's the first that felt right...even when i sounded like a dying goose.
some of draco's mistakes, and the whole setup with the unwanted kiss, annoyed me, but i think that's more of my dislike of Over-reactions Needed to Show Character Development. the story did lose my interest breifly at some of these points, but overall was quite a good read.
oh, and make sure you stay in one tense, i noticed near the end you started switching in and out of the past (which is what third person is usually written in, not present).
I love this story, I really do. It reminds me of La Cordo De Oro. And every time I read it (or come back to it) just like with this story, I feel empty. I love this and that story, I really do. Nothing wrong with either (except that you almost never place ending marks on the end of taliing sentences. EX "She went away" )
It leaves me empty because I want this. I want to just be able to pick up a music instrument and lost myself in playing it. I read a book called Oh My Gods! and the girl was into running, (her grandmother or something was the Goddess Nike after all) and she would lose her self into it just like a the characters in your story.
I wish I had that. The only thing I have are books that make me want what I will never have, and writting. Writting is my dream, but like everything else, I'm not good enough.
I've told my friends about this and their reply was to learn how to play. I can't. I tried the guitar, didn't work. I don't have the patience to learn. I tried singing, loved it, but the notes would never stick in my head. I mostly did it by ear.
Your story leaves me empty, but at the same time, it gives me hope (so far, I haven't gotten far). Maybe...just maybe I can find something I can lose myself in that will make life worth while.
I love the drama between the charcters and particarly think think they are all in character (for the situation) and the Mione and Ron thing, perfect. Luna...should just get with Jake. Great story so far and can't wait till I have time to read the next chapters!
mk, doing my 'long' review on the last (next!) chapter, but i dedicate this one to When I'm Up (I Can't Get Down) by great big sea.
its a song that's always confused me as it seems happy yet melancholy at the same time, in lyrics (which in themselves made me pause for a while), and style. it just never clicked in my head, and this chapter made it do so- and then right after i made the connection the song started playing (i usually have my music on shuffle when reading).
kinda random and out-there when compared to all the classical pieces and poetry you use in the story, but hey, music's all about emotion, as your story demonstrates.
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Katiepox