Progress Report 10/20

[lomonaaeren]

Time for a full progress report.



Soldier’s Welcome: I have more of an outline now—as in, I know more about what happens at the end of the first book—but I still don’t know how long it’s going to be. It was supposed to speed up again after exams, so that I actually stood a chance of getting to the end of the year in a timely fashion. Instead, Harry had to get himself incapacitated.

Practicing Liars: This will be going in a slightly different direction than I had originally chosen, but I think it will ultimately strengthen the fic. I’m planning the revelation of Harry’s heritage for about halfway through, instead of the end, because due to the way Harry defeats Voldemort, I think putting the revelation at the end would feel anticlimactic. This one is due to be updated today.

“Cornucopia”: My one-shot in progress, which is currently about 4000 words long. Harry writes to Draco offering to give him most of the Black fortune and property back. Draco’s suspicious mind goes into overdrive. Why would Potter be doing this? Obviously, it is a conspiracy with him as its target. The hardest thing about this one is the tone; it’s funny, but I have to carefully manage so that just how pathetic Draco’s current life is comes through the humor.





My imagination is still determined that I not go to sleep until I have story ideas.

“The Art of Joy”: Epilogue-compliant, starting the summer before Al goes to Hogwarts. Harry and Ginny have just gotten a divorce, and both Harry and his children are restless and feeling gray because of it. Hermione suggests they go see the Prestidigitator, a wizard who specializes in using magic to cause wonder and joy in his audience. She “forgot” to tell them that the Prestidigitator is Draco Malfoy.

Harry is resistant when he recognizes him, but can’t help being dazzled and stunned by his show, so much so that he goes backstage to talk to him. Draco meets him with light banter that Harry thinks is a mask for his discomfort at first, but soon he realizes Draco really has changed enough down the years to become a different person—largely because he woke up one day after the war, realized he hated his life, and decided to become the opposite of everything he’d been so far. Because Harry is still awkward (he hasn’t dated someone for thirteen years, since his marriage to Ginny) he proposes going on a date before he’s sure what happens, and Draco accepts. It turns out shortly after this that Draco might need Harry’s help to solve a minor case anyway; his props keep disappearing.

This is a story that’s going to be deliberately different than some of my others: as little drama and angst as possible, epilogue-compliant but without infidelity issues, and the focus on Harry becoming more confident and pursuing Draco instead of remaining oblivious of Draco’s interest in him. I would reveal some of the other ways it’s different, but I don’t want to spoil the plot or the ending.

“Stepping Stones”: This one, on the other hand, does involve infidelity, though it’s not epilogue-compliant. Harry’s starting to think that he doesn’t know how to fall in love; there’s no one he feels the same sort of blazing passion for that Ron and Hermione feel for each other. But Ginny is desperately in love with him, and Harry likes and loves her even if he’s not in love. Besides, he wants kids and the Weasley family approves of him as a son-in-law. He figures he might as well marry Ginny. He really doesn’t think it’ll ever be a problem since he believes he’s not capable of passion.

Then he finds himself falling in love with Draco Malfoy. Boy, does that alarm him. But it’s still okay, Harry thinks, because Draco is definitely not in love with him back, and he’s about to marry someone else anyway. It would need something more than a crush that won’t ever be fulfilled to make Harry break his marriage vows to Ginny, or Draco’s to Astoria.

By now, you can probably guess what the next step is.

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