Title: Notebooks and Letters
Author: chem prof
Rating: M
Genre: Drama/Romance
DLP Category: Romance
Pairing: H/Hr
Status: complete
Summary: The ‘true’ version of Books 5, 6, and 7, as told by Hermione to her daughter years later, using her old journals and letters between her and Harry.

Link: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3867175/1/Notebooks_and_Letters


WARNING: This fic is not for those who hate H/Hr on general principle. That said, it's a well-written drama/romance where chem prof goes through the last three books and 'fixes' canon events to skew things toward H/Hr. It's got decent action, and Snape is an absolute bastard in it. As per usual with chem prof, the characterizations are excellent but Hermione is a little on the 'perfect' side. I think it's good enough to go in the "Romance" category.

Weaknesses: The story is framed using letters and journal entries from Hermione's Hogwarts years. This can become tedious, especially when there's an action scene. Not even Bram Stoker or Mary Shelley could pull off this technique really well.

My rating: strong 4/5

 

Now, I've never understood the "shipping" thing in fanfiction, characters can vary so much from canon to fic to fic that they have little more than similar appearences(and even that is not a sure thing).

So I am not one of those people who "hate H/Hr on general principle."


That said, people who pull the "real true version!1!!1" bullshit, them I have no problem hating.


No matter what any little bitch tells themself, the "true" versions are the ones written by JK Rowling and anyone who doesn't understand that is fucked in the head.

 

I don't go recommending very many fics, since I've hardly read a majority of what's out there, and a depressing precentage of what I have read is too awful to recommend with a straight face.

I started reading this fic when I was more fired-up for H/Hr than I am now, and the story started off pretty well. I actually liked the flashback-like plot device that the journals/letters gave, and there were enough vaugeries and misdirection that you weren't sure who, other than Hermione and her daughter, had survived the war.

It was about chapter 20 or so that I lost interest, and felt the fic was slouching into the land of tired and predictable cliches. Also, I felt the story might end up as Abandoned, so I cut my losses. Then, since I forgot to cancel my alerts, I saw that the story was completed, and went back to give it another shot.

I have to say, chem prof definitely went AU, and although the story includes the nearly obligatory AlwaysRight!Hermione that ruins so many H/Hr stories, this is no fluff piece, at least until you get to "present day" and that's when the story derails a bit. I sort of wished for a not-so-happy ending, but for what it was, I thought it was worth reading, unless you despise Hermione or are a fan of Snape or the Malfoys.

As a side note, the story skirts an almost-rape or three, but it seemed the author coudn't bring himself to cross the line, and in that case, I wish he'd left it out instead of what seemed to be chickening out. If you read the story, you'll see what I mean.

I hate rating stories, but I'd go with 3/5 for quite a bit of original ideas and my H/Hr affinity, tempered by the predictability and the cliches.

 

I never expected to see any of chem prof's work here. I've read almost all of his works and enjoyed them at varying levels. This one, unfortunately, I lost considerable interest in towards the end.

I felt pretty much the same. The story also lacked a real hook towards the end for me, and since I had read his material before I knew chem prof wouldn't finish without a happy and fluffy ending, and that ruined the original hook of the fic for me.

Chem prof is a great writer, and his characterisations are excellent. Though, it must be noted that he sticks close to canon for the most part, making Hermione a little less irritating and Ron varies from tale to tale. This story is no exception.

Being my (former? I'll have to get back to him on that when I finally finish my next chapter...) beta I know he's great with the English language, so you're likely to find (m)any errors.

That all said, it all comes back to the first point: it didn't hold my interest.

Most I give it is a 3. It's not bad but it isn't great, either.

 

4/5 for me.

This story is what got me into Chem prof's work to begin with.

 

So I could be fair, I read the first two chapters.

This story, while technically superb, reads like somebody took the whiniest post-DH posts from an H/Hr shipper thread and used them as the basis for a story. While this might seem revolutionary to somebody who's relatively new to HP fanfiction, this brings back memories of two years of H/Hr fans having tantrums and threadshitting after HBP.

On to the story:

So the premise here is that needing funds, Hermione (of course it had to be Hermione) gave JKR the true Harry Potter story. Rowling wrote the it faithfully through 4 books, then arbitrarily changed it--even though people would have actually been married and having kids at this point.

"H/Hr is still real to me, dammit."

Ah, the hallmark of any true H/Hr fan: the perfect mixture of smug condescension and head-up-their-ass denial.

Of course, her parents are named "Dan and Emma" Granger, and of course the budding relationship is as saccharine-sweet as the worst H/G you can imagine.

Final Score:

Starting 3/5
+1 for the quality of writing (although I think that in the age of spellcheck we should be less amazed. In the future this might only be worth 1/2)
-1 for the premise (complete redo purely for the sake of shipping. LAME)
-1 for "Dan and Emma Granger"

2/5

 

This is going to be a shitty review from me since I'm working off of the memory of something I read over a year ago.

I've always had something of a softspot for ChemProf - since his works were easy reads and somewhat original (ie. they didn't hump canon's left leg.) Unfortunately, with this story, I simply stopped reading sometime during the 6th year.

I remember liking that he involved Susan Bones in the Ministry battle. Hermione's parents forcing her out of England also makes sense. But... if I recall correctly the romance was damn annoying...and ChemProf cited the Notebook as one of his sources (that movie must die. die die die) lead me to just stop reading the story. Even with the changes I reckoned there would still be the Horcruxes hunt of boredom.

3/5 from me. This story wasn't bad...but it also wasn't really good.

 

Nukular: I hardly think it's fair to judge most stories, especially well-written ones, on their first two chapters. This story is almost 300k words long, and you didn't let the story get beyond setting up its initial premise.

Plus, and this is addressed to everyone, I've noticed that any story with fluff gets slammed with "sickeningly sweet," "saccharine," "diabetic," etc. around here. Are there any romances that the DLP regulars approve of, excepting Harry/Dark Slytherin?

One thing that is immediately clear in looking through the DLP library is that it is skewed toward the dark, twisted, and cynical. There are many excellent stories there, but it could use a little bit of light.

 

I've read enough fanfiction that I can if I'm going to enjoy a story after two paragraphs. Two chapters is MORE than enough.

You do realize that this is DARK LORD POTTER, right?

 

QFT.

Back in the time that I was an H/Hr shipper (meaning my pre-DLP era) I would've given this story a solid 3/5. Now, it's pretty much it's less desirable because the shit is ass old. But that being said, it's pretty well-written, just not my cup of tea anymore. 2/5

 

I've read plenty too, and I feel the same way about stories that are poorly conceived or poorly written. It is usually obvious from the get-go. But being able to tell whether you, with your individual tastes, would enjoy a story is not the same thing as being able to give an objective opinion/rating on whether this is a good H/Hr romance.

I know this is DLP, but there are also many different genres in the library. Romance is one of them. If the goal of the library is to collect the best of HP fan fiction in one place, then stories that don't fit the "dark, twisted, cynical" mold must still get a fair hearing, no?

 

You do know the story is rated by alot more people than in this thread? If we [DLP] do not feel like the story will make the library, it'll go to the recycling bin. Don't base your anal problems on two people that didn't really like the story. Me? I don't think it should go to the library. If alot of people think this story is a 4/5, it gets in. But what the fuck do I know, I'm not mod/admin.

Have some sweet wargarrble to go with this post.

 

lol, wut?


"Best of HP fan fiction" is based on opinions.

There are people, a lot of them that think Generic Harry/Malfoy/Snape male veela mpreg love triangle slashfics are the "Best of HP fan fiction".

Luckily, those peoples opinions don't count for shit here.

When I look in the library, I know what I will find is based on DLPs tastes.

I don't read aforementioned mpreg fics, but if I did I would know to look somewhere else to find them.

The library is not about "being fair to all tastes".

DLP is about DLPs tastes, I've never heard anyone claiming the library to be impartial and that's why I trust it, because I know that if something makes it in chances are it fits my tastes.

In closing, incest is the best, put Lily to the test.

 

you're assuming that the Library is meant to showcase every good fic. You assume incorrectly.

The Potter Law thread, while not perfect, is a fairly good barometer for what's going to fly here.

This rec fails several of them, including Number 1:

In this context: Don't rec a story about Hermione reading to her kid.

Hermione-Sue = FAIL.

Basically all of Chapter 2 fails.

Hope this helps.

 

Yup, all of those responses helped. I misunderstood the purpose of the library. I thought I had read a comment from Lord Ravenclaw somewhere describing its purpose in more universal terms, but maybe I didn't.

Anyway, I like this site because it has by far the most intelligent discussions of HP-related subjects, despite all the frat boy posturing. I'll probably steer clear of rec'ing fics in the future, though. Dark! and Evil! Harry just ain't my cuppa.

EDIT: Sesc, it makes perfect sense. Movie and book critics do it every day. Of course, no opinion is truly objective, but when Roger Ebert reviews a kid's movie about animals or something, he reviews it not only on whether it fit his personal tastes (OF COURSE it doesn't), but also whether the movie accomplished its goals, worked within its genre, would be entertaining to kids, etc. That way, parents who would be potentially interested in taking their kid to the movie (or seeing it themselves) could make an informed decision. SO, what I was saying was this: if someone went looking for a good H/Hr romance in the library, they're not going to find one if all the responses are "H/Hr = automatic fail; GTFO."

But criticizing the story for its execution, as Nukular and others have done, is obviously fair game.

 

Nah, don't be discouraged. Despite me only giving this a 3, it is a fairly decent story. Much worse crap has been recced by others.

I view it as a crapshoot when I rec a fic. I would say grammar and the quality of the stories are the only constants, although for certain ships the quality of the story telling is held higher. I myself violated Potter Law I with the last fic I recced, and for now it has 4 stars. (Watch Nucleur Winter tank its rating)

There just has to be a certain edge to the story, which this one lacked.

 

Yup, we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. I have read quite a few of the Indy and Romance stories in the library, and many of them are among my favorites. Calling them all dark! Harry stories was unfair on my part. But if you look at them, almost all of them involve significant departures from canon events and/or have unusual ships, and there's only one novel-length H/Hr story in the Romance section (Vox Corporis).

Now, let me be clear. I especially like stories that depart from canon events, but I also like the occasional story where an author goes back and 'fixes' canon, usually H/Hr style. If you're interested in the latter, then chem prof is one of the best at it. I'd say it's become his stock-in-trade, really, as his latest oneshots do the same thing. Like I said, agree to disagree.

My only real irritation was with my belated recognition that I shouldn't have submitted this story to begin with, since it probably never stood a chance. See scary's comment that "she never thought she'd see chem prof's work here." That's an indication that DLP isn't just about good fics, but only good fics of a certain kind. A fact that I'm now aware of.

 

This is what get's me about H/Hr shippers.

H/G has the SoulMatesOfLoveDestinyMagic™, H/Hr has the "truth!1!11!!!".

See, if I was referring to a fic that follows canon with a new pairing/house/pet/favorite food, I tend to say it changes canon, but when it comes to H/Hr I always see it referred to as "fixing" canon, I'm not saying that JKRs books are perfect, they're not and they have flaws and plot holes that she could have fixed if she had more experience points before she started HP. But I get that fanfiction is simply an alternative, it explores the ways the original didnt go, follows on to all those what ifs.

But when people use terms like "fixing" and "true version" it just pisses me off and makes it hard for me to take them seriously.

Blame people like Pstibby(sp?) for being batshit insane and mentally scarring me if you must but there you go.