Fic: "New Year's Eve"

[redbrunja]

Title: New Year’s Eve (New Day Dawning)
Author: redbrunja
Fandom: Harry Potter
Rating: PG
Characters: Ron & Hermione.
Author’s Note: Written for the lightprincess89.
Summary: “This was the worst New Year’s Eve of Ronald Weasley’s entire life.”


11:57, December 31st.

Hermione was talking, while around them, the rest of the party was thronged through the Weasley's house, everyone circling around the clock, (not the old grandfather that bore the names of the family on hands, but a Muggle one that Ron’s dad had brought into the house just for the occasion). All around them, people were talking loudly, drinking, eating, some still dancing even though the music had been momentarily silenced for the count down.

11:58

Ron attempted to act suave and pay to what Hermione was saying, but all he could really think about was how he was going to have a socially expected way to kiss her in 60 seconds.

"Are you even listening?" Hermione asked.

"What?" said Ron

11:59

Hermione gave him a gimlet glare, but apparently that last year not-at-Hogwarts, when they'd been running around inches from death for nine months had worn down her temper. She just have him an amused and annoyed look and then turned as people started counting down.

"Ten..." they chanted.

Hermione was looking at the clock, her back to him.

Bloody, bloody, bloody hell... he thought as he tried to worm himself around the face her. There was a crowd pressing around them now, and Ron settled for tapping her on the shoulder.

"Five...."

She obediently turned around, lips slightly parted.

"Four...."

"Yes, Ron?" she asked.

"Three...."

"Er...."

"Two..."

Ron started to lean down.

“ONE!” the whole room shouted, and Ron flinched.

Hermione clapped dutifully as everyone started kissing each other. As couples fling themselves at their partner’s mouths, Hermione held out her hand.

Ron shook it, as over her shoulder, he saw his eldest brother kissing his dark-haired girlfriend.

Lupin’s niece pulled back with a laugh, and then delicately nipped Bill's bottom lip, her face flushed but her motions smooth and lithe and free of shame or embarrassment.

Hermione looked at the clock again, like there could be any doubt about what time it was. “Well, I’m off. I work early tomorrow, and I’d be very surprised if anyone else shows up.”

Ron tried to smile.

“Happy New Year’s Eve,” Hermione was saying.

This was the worst New Year’s Eve of Ronald Weasley’s entire life.

“It’s been fantastic,” he said.

Hermione gave a little wave and headed towards the door.

Ron stood stock still in the middle of the room. He blinked, and realized that Clancy and Bill were back in his line of sight.  His eldest brother had his arm around her waist, and her hand resting against his neck, one finger toying with his fang earring.

Are you a Gryffindor or not? A voice snarled in his head, and he bolted after her.

“Hermione!” he yelled.

She whirled around, wand in her hand, eyes scanning the surrounding area.

“Death Eaters?” she gasped.

Ron shook his head, stopping in front of her.

“No, sorry, I just forgot something,” he said.

Hermione leaned her head to the side.

“What did you forget?” she asked.

Ron expected this to be hard, to be a challenge, but maybe after all the near deaths and the almost losing, after all the danger over all the years, maybe Hermione wasn’t as intimidating as she used to be or maybe it was just that it was right, this was right, and his lips met hers with no fear at all.

Comments

[lightprincess89.livejournal.com]

Thank you. That was lovely!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you liked it!

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Nice!

. . . what happened to Fleur?

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Fleur fell into the hole with all the rest of HP 5+6. (short answer.) The long answer is that when book 5 came out, I was alread in the middle of a longer HP fic (http://www.fanfiction.net/s/2491189/1/)involving Lupin, Bill and Clancy, and wasn't about to change the whole story for canon I didn't really like (and at that point, while it was implied that Bill and Fleur were involved, it wasn't definitive.)

While I like the idea of Fleur, I think she really suffers from Rowling writing her, and being always in last place because she's The Girl. (There were other factors, but it really tweaked me that Fleur had to be last because she wasn't dating/wasn't a main character/wasn't the rival of a main characters. How hard is it to have your chicks competent, JK!)

Anyway, Clancy has a soft spot in my heart, and I haven't written her in a long time, so I jumped on the chance to give her a little cameo.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Good point. She's the freakin' school champion, why didn't she do better than she did?

And yeah . . . JKR created a kickass universe but hits a few snags with her characterization. ie, Remus/Tonks being several times more awesome in fanon than canon.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I know! If she's going to lose, at least let her lose with some dignity and class.

Once book 5 come out Rowling had such problems with characterization. And yes, Remus/Tonks was so much better when she wasn't writing it and it was all subtext. I never actually thought she'd make that relationship canon, and I was so sorry when she did. All the romances in book 6 felt like I was reading fanfic, and not the awesome, 'this is so good I wish it were canon' kind. I could rant for hours about the problems with book 5 and 6.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

I can get that, for plot reasons, Cedric had to do as well as Harry and Krum needed to come close, but why not have Harry and Cedric tie for first at the start of the third task with Fleur and Krum tying for second? Maybe let Fleur rescue her sister and have Krum knocked out by someone sinisterly trying to help Harry, so Harry had to pull both his friends to the surface to keep the stupid-heroic element?

I like Luna. Because of this, I can't completely hate books 5 and 6.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Or how about making it really hard on our hero and having him and Cedric tying for third or last place, and Krum in last place with Fleur leading, or some way where Fleur and Cedric duke it out for the top spot? Something.

Luna was cool, but I didn't like her enough to make up for all the ways that book 5 +6 screwed the pooch. (imho)

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

No, no -- Harry must be awesome at everything he does because he's the hero. And Cedric needed to tie for the whole plot device to work and Harry to get gobs of guilt over the whole thing. . . *sigh* And why the frick did they let a kid who's still in school play professional, international quidditch?

No, to clarify -- I like Luna on her own. She is the redeeming factor that keeps the hatred from becoming absolute. And Remus had a couple of good moments, aside from the bit with Tonks at the end.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

You know, way back when I was first reading book 3 my mother mentioned how unfair it was the Harry got a better broom than anyone else, and I realized later (when I wasn't twelve) that she was right.

Frankly, in someways Snape is right to call Harry on the fact that he does get a huge amount of preferential treatment he recieves.

Ah, it's so nice you have a redeaming facter. I kinda don't. I mean, there were parts of the books that I enjoyed, but nothing that made be really, really happy. An Tonks, who was one fo the things I really loved about book 5, totally got ruined in book 6, so... *shrugs* I told my mother that we're not buying the last book and she's like 'but we have all the others' (we're completionists) and I go "fine, but we're waiting for it to come out in paperback." No way I'm paying twenty bucks for that - especially when I could use that money for used manga and get most of the Saiyuki I'm missing.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Harry is the main character. Thus, he needs to have a family fortune and a traumatic past and be annoyed by everyone fawning over how famous he is. He must get to have the rules bent for him, like how first years aren't supposed to play quidditch and have the school buy a top-of-the-line broom for him.

Harry is, at heart, a rich kid-jock, in the typical school hierarchy. Luna is the weird kid who gets picked on a lot, which is why I identify with her.

Snape? Snape is awesome. He takes Potions seriously because it's a serious subject. You screw up a potion, you could wind up dead. He does not allow for error because it'll result in his students either paying very strict attention or avoiding potions as much as they can in their future careers, either way resulting in fewer potion-related fuck ups in the current generation.

I've got book seven preordered, but there's a "Fuck it, I'm seeing this through if it kills me" factor at work. Some book serieses are like that for me.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Oh my god you're right! Harry is a rich jock! That explains so much. You know, I don't mind the traumatic past (he's the hero after all) and during the first four books it actually worked, just because that was when Rowling's writing was really on it's A game, and she wasn't tryingt to do something she couldn't pull off.

I actually identify most with Hermione, because I'm kinda type-A like that, and what I like about Hermione is that I don't necessarily think she's a genius, I just think she's a driven kid who works as hard as she can to prove she's just as good as everyone else.

I'm not one of the Snape-apologists, but I do think he was on Dumbledore's side (and if she writes that he was ever-so-evil after all I swear I will rip up the book). Snape never got over his issues (but I think he earned them) and he should not be allowed to teacher children and I kinda can't see why Dumbledore didn't let him teach DADA for so long - didn't he do a decent job with that one? (it's been a long time since I read that book.) But Snape - I kinda feel for him. He's a bastard, but he's witty with it, and will I think he needs a couple of smacks to get his head in the right place, but I think he ends up doing the right thing (e.g. trying to save Harry even though he hates him.)

I've got book seven preordered, but there's a "Fuck it, I'm seeing this through if it kills me" factor at work. Some book serieses are like that for me.

Yeah, same for me. If this was a series with no set end I'd just say screw it and stop reading, (like I did for wheel of time) but since there's just one more book - well, you've gotta find out how she's going to screw up the ending (is bitter).

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

I think what happened to Rowling's writing was that she got more popular, and more was demanded of her. If she'd been under the impression that her books were doing moderately well, and the publisher found them just profitable enough to publish the entire seven-book run she had planned, I think we'd have read a different series.

Yep. One thing I read on Hermione is that, if she were incredibly smart, she wouldn't need to spend so much time studying. As it is, she spends every spare moment in the library, memorizing every book she can get her hands on. She was probably giving her all to get into a good muggle school before she got her letter, so it probably led her to do everything she could to catch up with this new world she'd be in.

I'm not apologizing, just . . . he's a potions master. That implies he damn well knows what he's doing, he takes his subject seriously, and while he is overly hard on some of his students (and punishes Harry for his father's crimes), his speech at the start of the first book was just awesome. And I don't think he's evil. Maybe therapy would help, or if Hogwarts got more teachers and he was only teaching the advanced Potions classes.

Even if the plot is so-so or outright bad, I figure it'll be worth reading for the worldbuilding details she sticks in. Those are always of the awesome.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

If she'd been under the impression that her books were doing moderately well, and the publisher found them just profitable enough to publish the entire seven-book run she had planned, I think we'd have read a different series.

I completely agree. I remember reading book 5 and going, 'so, did an editor even see this?' because, (if I may compare my unpublished self with a multi-billion dollar selling author) I'm written stories with I do some of the same things she did, where things makes sense in my head and you don't see that they don't work untill some one calls you on it. And since she's said that no one reads her manuscripts... yeah.

One thing I read on Hermione is that, if she were incredibly smart, she wouldn't need to spend so much time studying.

Exactly! She works damn hard for those grades she gets.

he's a potions master. That implies he damn well knows what he's doing

*nods* There's nothing more attractice than competency. It's one reason I love Lupin so much. Snape's speech at the start was awesome. And I think you're right - if he was just teaching the advanced class he'd still be (some I'd never want to work with) very demanding, but someone easier to deal with if he wasn't constantly having to deal with twelve year olds who just want to see some flashing magics.

Yeah, the worldbuilding is where she really shines - I think that's one reason why I've read fanfics that I like better than the original work - because when you combine her worldbuilding with writers who know how to show the characters to their best advantage....

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

A small but dedicated fanbase will get different results from an author than their publisher saying thier low stock price in 2006 was due to the lack of a new Harry Potter. People started calling the series 'epic', she figured it meant she should write longer books.
I think she has an editor; or at least, she's better than Anne Rice, who wrote somewhere online how she was so awesome that she needed no editor. And used no paragraph breaks while writing that.

Being highly demanding while teaching the advanced class would be something else entirely -- say, 'Advanced Potions' being an optional class for third years and above -- you'd have students saying to themselves "I'd better do my damndest to perfect my potions; Professor Snape is really strict about who gets into his classes." Thus, he'd only have to deal with students who damn well knew what they were doing and who really wanted to make potions, and any mistakes would be due to nerves rather than incompetence.

Definately. I've seen some full-length AUs(ie, retelling the entire series from a different approach) that were just kickass.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Yeah, a small fanbase really will create a different atmosphere than huge popularity.

And yeah, saying that out loud and in print is just asking to look stupid. I'd like to make lots of money publishing, but I don't want to be/write like most of the people who made millions off their books.

Being highly demanding while teaching the advanced class would be something else entirely

It is. And I think that fifteen year olds would annoy Snape less and be better able to deal with him than 12 year olds.

Yeah, I've read some awesome fanfic for HP. Reading the 6th books, I was like, 'wow, this is like reading fanfic.... subpar, fanfic.' I think the issue is she really can't write romance.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Yep. Not entirely her fault. It's just a shitload of pressure.

I remember reading something by a musician that said the reason most musicians tended to make huge demands when they became big(have a dish of only green M&Ms in the dressing room, etc) was that, until then, they were treated like crap. Might be something similar for authors.

Snape would be awesome as an Advanced Potions teacher. Sure, he still wants to be DADA teacher, but the position is still cursed, so he'd only last a year no matter what happened.

Some people can write romance. Others can't. I still figure JKR's doing a better job than if someone from Harlequin wrote the series.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I remember reading something by a musician that said the reason most musicians tended to make huge demands when they became big(have a dish of only green M&Ms in the dressing room, etc) was that, until then, they were treated like crap.

I believe it, and it's really too bad, because that's one surefire way to create bitchy, bitchy, entitled people.

Since some of my favorite romance/supense writers (Rachal Caine, Tami Hoag, Suzanne Brackmann) originally wrote under the haliqueen label.... I can't quite say the same. But I do think she was much better when it was all subtext and hints. And it someone for Harlequin wrote Harry Potter.... *mind boggles* it would be like the Anita Blake books.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Yep. Which is why it's amazing when you hear about musicians/authors who are genuinely nice people. The conditions they go through . . . it'd turn nearly anyone into a raging bitch.

Ah, sorry -- I meant regarding the standard idea of Harlequin, bodice-rippers where the villain has no logical motivation or development and the female characters check their spines at the door. But when I think about it, romance should just be a genre like every other one, and not have a reputaiton for the 90% crap that Sturgon's Law states every genre has.

Hm. I think I'll continue with my track record of not reading any Anita Blake novels.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

It's also one reason I don't like to read interviews or know much about artists/acters - I like to take the music/film on their own merits and not have an opinion based on the artist.

Well, romance novels get a bad rep for two reasons, I think. First, they're 50% of the novels published in the US, so numerically speaking there's just more of them out there. Secondly, they're geared tword women, and there's a long history of things women love being marganilized.

And the early Anita Blake novels aren't bad - she got popular and they went downhill.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Point -- I remember there was some debate on Neil Gaiman's blog a while back about another author, and a reader wrote in saying they were trying to reconcile the book they really liked with the author who had opinions they completely disagreed with. Neil summed it up nicely: "The art is not the artist." And now I realize that reading Neil Gaiman's blog goes against that kinda, but the man is awesome and writes poetry about cleaning up his cat's vomit at 4AM.

Well, my dislike of romance novels comes from a few really crappy ones I've read over the years. The best way to get over an attempted rape is to get a new boyfriend who pressures you into sex under the pretense that you 'need' it to help you move past the trauma, according to one.

Ahh. And there's another case where a lack of percieved popularity from the author might have saved it.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Well, Neil Gaimen is the win - I don't think rules apply to him. ^_^

Those romance novels do sound terrible - if I'd read something like that, I think I would have thrown the book against the wall.

And yes, I think the percived popularity really hurt her - or she discovered the joys of writing sex and didn't understand 'moderation in all things.'

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

And then there's the one that I came across a *cough* bootleg digital copy of, seemed interesting because the author was highly reccomended in the werewolf romance genre -- seemed like a good entry point for a Snow/Bigby shipper -- and then. Ow. Female lead wasn't instantly cheery upon finding out male lead was a werewolf and squeeing about how she'd be having puppies with him and living happily ever after (seriously, he gave her less than a minute to let the information sink in) so he used mind control on her to make her forget any objection she might have to him being a werewolf, her job, and anything else that might distract her from wanting anything but to live in his cabin with him and have gobs of sex.

That made me want to steal a copy of the book, track down the author, and beat them over the head with it.

*wince* Well, at least there's no fear of JKR getting into that. Her books are still written to be acceptable for kids, so at most we'll get a fade to black with heavy implications.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

so he used mind control on her to make her forget any objection she might have to him being a werewolf, her job, and anything else that might distract her from wanting anything but to live in his cabin with him and have gobs of sex.

Why do people not get that rape isn't sexy? Why, why why? Now I want to join you in hunting this bitch down and smacking her until she learns something.

If you want good werewolf romances, I suggest "The Silver Wolf" or "Kitty and the Midnight Hour," or, the best werewolf novel ever, "Blood and Chocolate." I promise you'll enjoy both of those way more than whatever book that was.

Yeah, JK is still writing at the PG level. Which isn't bad, some great romances have been written that way, but I do wish she'd kept the romance subtextual and just had vibes.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

It was just insane and random and painful. I really really hate tht author.

*takes notes, adds to Amazon wishlist* Most excellent.

Though, if JKR's romances just had vibes, then the shipping wars would probably get worse because they'd argue that nothing was confirmed -- keep in mind, there are people who still think there'll be Harry/Hermione in book 7.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I hate that author too, and I haven't even read her.

I stayed pretty clear of the shipping wars, so at this point I'm kind of sad one side 'won.' Part of me thinks they should never have any resolution and argue into perpetiuty or until they realized how childish they're being.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

I'm in support of anyone who can reasonably argue their 'ship. I've read an excellent fic where Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione were the pairings in thier school years, but they all grew up, moved on, and grew apart. They parted amicably and all remained friends, developing lives and getting jobs and normal adult stuff. Later, Harry and Hermione grew closer and developed a closer relationship than ever before. No one really 'won'; there's still plenty of room for fanon.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Quite true. I was just talking to someone else about how easy it was to write Harry x Hermion fic, or at least gain by belief that they could work: just say, 'she and Ron dated and then parted as friends' and it totally works.

Well, I know a bunch of people right after book 6 came out who where like, 'ha! It's canon now bitches!' So while it didn't screw up the actual writers, who look at canon and go off on tangets while staying true to it, I know there's a section of the fandom who's all smug and satisfied.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

They're still in school. Sure, some people find the love of their life in school, but others meet a good first boyfriend/girlfriend. They enjoy their time together, but grow apart and move on. It's life, it happens. I sincerely doubt anyone except Bill and Fleur will be getting married in book seven; while I figure that (if they live) Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny will be the 'ships JKR ends with, there's still a lot of room to grow.

*sigh* No matter which way it went, there would have been sections of fandom who were smug and satisfied. As it was, there were portions that claimed JKR was just wrong.

Thus, the only pairing I will argue for in HP fandom debates is Petunia/Snape. OTP all the way, baby!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

I think you scarred me for life. I can handle Snap in ships, but with Petunia? my brain just imploded.

Ron/Hermione and Harry/Ginny will be the 'ships JKR ends with, there's still a lot of room to grow.

Agreed.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

What? You dare to slander my OTP? For shame! Petunia and Snape have so much in common! Snape loved Lily, and they both really hated James' guts and are taking it out on Harry . . . They sooo belong together!

I genuinely don't care about what pairings people write, so long as they write them well. I try to keep an open mind in the HP fandom, and I've seen interesting approaches for everything from Ron/Hermione to Hogwarts/Giant Squid.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

You know know that you mention it..... Snape x Petunia could never happen (I tease.) I agree with you about writing being what makes or breaks a fic. The best could take things you'd never in a million years have thought of and make it work great.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Are you crazy? I could get so much evidence!

. . . actually, I have an essay planned to argue in favour of Petunia/Snape. I'll only go through with it if the shippers get REALLY insane after book seven, another round of "JKR WAS WRONG!!eleventyone!" or something like that. Every time Petunia is mentioned as scrubbing the house, it's to get rid of the grease marks left by Snape's hair so no one suspects anything. Any time that Snape is mentioned as being missing with his location unaccounted for, he's off for a tryst with Petunia. I could go on like this for ages.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

You know, I think I've forgotten what the pairing 'discussions' used to be like. *flashback* *whimpers*

Yeah, how that would work, with Snape being so ..... and Petunia being so fastidious? I bet she scrubbs him down good before anything sexual happens.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

I've kept out of the "discussions" wherever possible, but I've heard about how bad it's gotten.

Foreplay in the shower, natch!

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Foreplay in the shower, natch!

Oh, god, I've feed a moster, haven't I?

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

Please. I've been into this pairing for years.


And I still haven't managed to write one fic for them.

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

And now I'm encoraging you. ^_^ Shipping them for years and not one drabble? For shame.

[fairest1.livejournal.com]

I'll get to work! Really! *starts battling writer's block*

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Oh, the noblest (and most annoying) enemy!

[pzb.livejournal.com]

Eeee, very sweet. :D (Even if I haven't read the books... I know, I know, I'm bad.)

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Hey, I've read fanfic for shows/books I don't know. And while the HP books are fun, don't read past book 4.

[pzb.livejournal.com]

Really... I've heard tales of how dark it's been getting (Jim's read all of them to date...)

[redbrunja.livejournal.com]

If only.

As I'm sure you know, I have no problem with dark. What I do have is a problem with the characterization starting to suck. *must not rant about book 5* four years after the thing is published and I still can list what is wrong with it at a moment's notice.