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

[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!