I just need to give up on this author and be done with it.
so many words that mean so little—and when they signify anything it's usually something irritatingly off key or senseless, as when someone is startled by a thing someone says and stabs themselves with a fork in the canteen.
because eating is hard, yo.
requires focus.
can't take your mind off the task at hand or—zoot! stab wound.
This is marvelously well-written. Honestly it's hard to put my finger on it exactly, but there is something so effortlessly graceful about the prose and characterizations here. This is my first "Drarry" or (Potter anything) fanfiction, and I really had no idea what to expect: I did not expect that I would be eased into a universe in which the connection between these two former enemies would come to seem the truest, most authentic, most inevitable thing in the world.
Perhaps the effect was especially strong because this is my first read in this fandom, but Saras_Girl showed me a new dimension of what the best fan-fiction can accomplish: somehow staying true to Rowling's characters while still revealing dimensions and qualities in them that I'd never seen before, but now feel as much a part of them as anything in the original. In a million years I would never have imagined that Harry would go on to be a healer--or that Draco Malfoy of all people would become the director of a drug rehab facility. It's not even that Saras_Girl sells it--it's that you really feel like she dug to the heart of each of them and found truths that no one else suspected were there.
Reading over what I just wrote, I realize it sounds a bit grandiose, but then I recall that first scene of Draco running a group therapy session, and I realize that I haven't exaggerated. It sounds like it should be ridiculous or campy, but it's understated and moving, the picture of a professional who is dedicated to his job. Above all, it's the picture of an adult, one who has come by his experience the hard way and so can empathize with those desperately trying to pick up the pieces of their own broken lives.
And it's through that lens that you can truly believe that for all of Harry and Draco's superficial differences and past hatred, at the deepest level the key experiences that shaped them into the adults they became are those they have in common. As critiques of the series go, that's as good as you get.
I just read my first Drarry. Yeah. I am still kind of getting the image worked out in my head. Still.
I don’t know if I will ever really ship Harry and Draco, way too much deeply ingrained history there, plus, ya know, Harry Potter. Just hard to read about him doing that. But man, regardless, this story was excellent.
Anywhooooo...This story wasn’t just well written, it was also thought provoking. There is just something about fanfiction. How it can take your most favorite thing and give you more when there isn’t any more left. Taking a world, in this case, one you know like the back of your hand and saying hey, what if this is what happened? It is a very comforting feeling being in a world you love and getting more. I got swept away as easily as I did with the original stories.
I will admit I struggled at the beginning and that was all me. Like I said, deeply ingrained history almost impossible to turn off. I just needed to relax and fall back in to the magic and give a different perspective a chance. Once I did that, this was a breeze. So brilliant and a book I just could not put down.
So, I can’t for sure say I’ll read more Drarry, although, maybe, and I can’t for sure say “I’ll go down with this ship” but I am entirely happy that I took the chance and got to experience a brief return to the world of Harry Potter, even if I had to put up with Draco Malfoy…
The first time I heard about Harry Potter was the night before the publication of the fourth book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. My friend and I were at Powell's Books so she could check on her preorder. I was the only person left in the world who had no idea why there was a line of kids and their parents down the street at 8 pm at night. Shouldn't the little bastards be in bed already? My friend told me the books were about a baby who could do magic. (Or something like that. I might not have been listening.) I thought, "why the fuck would anyone want to read a book about a magical baby?"
If I had known that 14 years later I'd be reading about Harry Potter playing hide the sausage with Draco Malfoy and really enjoying it--well, I might not have loved Rowling's books more, but I certainly would've started reading them a lot sooner.
Of course, the fact that I enjoyed this fic doesn't change the fact that I spent most of it shocked to my core.
OMG. Harry Potter just used the "F" word.
"Fuck you, Malfoy," Harry grunts, looking up just in time to catch the icy stare traveling speculatively over his body.
OMG. Harry is jerkin' it to Draco Malfoy.
Warm and comfortable, Harry wraps a languid hand around his cock without bothering to open his eyes....It doesn't take long, and he doesn't even try to pretend he's not thinking about Draco's mouth, his fingers, his smell....Just a graze of his thumbnail across the sensitive head and he loses it, arching and spilling over his hand with a soft cry.
OMG. Harry and Draco are giving each other handjobs.
...As Harry sinks into the demanding, deep kiss, it's all he can do to keep moving his hand over Draco's erection, half-learning the pressure and speed and grip that makes him twist and cry out, spreading fluid over the heated flesh with his thumb and sinking further and further into the abyss as Draco strokes him over and over and flicks his tongue into Harry's mouth.
Okay, I probably just gave you the impression that this fic is entirely Drarry sexy times and it's really not. Instead it's about Harry and Draco's lives 5 or 6 years after Deathly Hallows. And Harry's big ole gay crisis. Which is really a big ole I-wanna-bone-Draco crisis. Which really isn't that much of a crisis.
I really enjoyed it. I'd talk more about why--but fuck it. I'd rather be reading the next one.
Setting the story at St Mungo's hospital means its nicely separate from JKR's verse while still keeping familiar touches. The characters have grown up and are moving on with their lives, though some prejudices are slow to break. The world of the hospital is colourfully drawn and interesting to explore.
Draco is a fascinating character and as Harry realises never boring. There's a vulnerability to him and strength at over-coming his past, but he's never a tragic figure as he retains all of his outward disdain and sheer Syltheriness, which just makes his genuine smiles so much more.
Harry, I liked that he's become a healer and that it's Ron whose joined the ministry. His growing appreciation for Draco and his embracing his strategies is a joy to read.
There's a bundle of new characters and each are given enough personality to seem real. Fellow trainee-healer Cecile with her dry humour, the various patients with their mix of sly and anxiety. I felt for Ramona and laughed over the Flapjack tales.
Its written in present tense which didn't bother me as I was quickly absorbed into the world, and a great mix of story and feels. There's just enough hospital politics and plot ground the story while the centerpoint is two enemies becoming friends and then more.
I like how this story ends but I'm also very glad to know there's a sequel 'Foundations' to dive straight into.
I really like this author. In a sea of Harry/Draco fanfic she manages to give us very interesting and original plots.
Her obsession with love for Draco always ensures a fantastic, detailed characterisation on his part. I love how she gives us a further glimpse in the MCs lives. So far, judging from the stories I've read by her, she always manages to lend Draco, but Harry too, a unique voice, sometimes adds character traits which often present them as tortured heroes/souls in one way or another, while simultaneously staying true to character.
Reparations certainly didn't disappoint. It's like (most of) her other stories, past-DH and therefore she has a certain leeway when it comes to the MCs characterisation. She beautifully adds to their past stories. Both Harry and Draco have grown up, a bit at least, but in another way they're charmingly childish when it comes to each other. It seems like the real growing up only happens because of each other... The UST part is, as always, extremely well-done and it's fun to read.
This story was completely engrossing and, as Marleen already mentioned in her review, I really do hope that she keeps writing.
There's, by the way, a sequel to this story: Foundations
Harry is finishing up his Healer training, and his next rotation is working under none other than Draco Malfoy himself. At first all those old feelings of hate and anger are all these two men feel, but eventually, (thanks to some well meaning patients locking them in a closet together) they talk it out and then find themselves growing closer together.
This story also has lots of wonderful secondary characters, Draco's patients and Harry's co-workers, Ron and Hermione are their usual wonderful selves.
It's been just over a month since my last Drarry fix, and I didn't realize quite how into withdrawal I'd gotten. There may have been some squeeing when I found this story and first started reading it.
And it was nice. Harry's reasons for how he's ended up a Healer are clear and logical. And the lovely, lovely antagonism between him and Draco is alive and well at the start.
The mystery, the case that Ron is working on that just happens to tie in to Harry and Draco's work at the hospital is nicely-paced and well set up.
The original characters are delightful, and the whole atmosphere of the Chem. Dep. department was so well-described, that I found myself wishing I could actually spend time there.
The only two things I didn't like:
I'm a fan of slow-burn romances, but this wasn't just slow-burning, this was "is the burner even on?" burning. Not to say that there wasn't lots of lovely delicious chemistry between Harry and Draco, just perhaps not often enough?
I feel almost bad mentioning formatting as a negative, but it did impact my enjoyment of the story. I'm not sure if it was some strange alchemy between my iPhone and the fanfiction.net site, but there were no scene breaks. It looked just like the space between all other paragraphs, but suddenly either new people are talking or the same people are talking just in a different place and about something else.
Even coming to expect it, I still got pulled out of the story every single time I had to go back a paragraph or so and reorient myself to a new scene.
Still a lovely story, and I'm excited to start the second one!
Favorite Quotes: "Nothing." Harry gulps his wine. "A month of Malfoy. We'll kill each other."
"If you go first, you're sorted," Ron suggests. Harry shoots a quelling look in his general direction, slightly disoriented. "Not ready to joke about it? Ok. Erm, what a bastard, eh?" he amends.
Probably just over-awed by the Man Who Wouldn't Die, are you?"
And when it comes down to it, though it's not very scientific or very subtle, annoying Draco into submission is pretty much all he's got
"Caffeine is always a valid explanation."
It's a lie, of course, because he is afraid, but the fear is shot through with desire and need and warmth; and it's wonderful.
This isn't my first Drarry or experience with Potter fanfiction all. I've been reading fanfic for 12 years 98% of it Potter and a great deal of it Drarry. It's not a casual or occasional pastime I've read obsessively through many sleepless nights, car rides and family movie nights. Foundations!verse is, without a doubt a quality story. Having read thousands of Harry/Draco fics (and even more in the general Potter fandom) there aren't many truly new ideas. Healer!Harry is hardly uncommon nor is reuniting with Draco in St Mungos, however I have never read Draco as a rehab counselor or truly as an adult who clearly has his life far more put together than Harry. This isn't just Harry and Draco with Ron Hermione and Ginny as background. Narcissa plays a vital role where she knows her mistakes, has been changed by the war and yet without shame holds on to and defends Pureblood Protocol. In addition to Narcissa's appealingly flawed role there is a well fleshed out cast of secondary characters who are mostly OCs who become real and never overwhelming. Harry and Draco's love story is realistic, it's honest and raw, riddled with misunderstandings and they face many minor obstacles that come from 6 years of rivalry and opposite sides of the war -- they have grown up and past their school year grudges and have acknowledged Draco's redemption but realistically they have a history that doesn't disappear so quickly and the author writes many of the minor stumbles and setbacks that would naturally occur. Harry's everyday life as a Healer is also incredibly realistic, he's just out of training and he's at the bottom of the totem pole. Depreciating comments from superiors and commiserating lunches with peers included. This story is clear in my memory of countless Drarry fics mainly because there was no moment that felt contrived, everything flowed in a realistic manner - the characters where human, flawed but not in order to write a more dramatic scene but because people, especially those who grew up in war, are flawed.
omg the UST!!! I loved the characters, how they developed since the books - you could really see how they grew :) Plus, I liked that Harry had a gay crisis without it being the main focus or him making a great deal out of it. His development was still understandable, even if the story was definitely not about his coming out. Last but not least: it was not only romantic, but it was funny and exciting, there was kitsch and action and crime... a great mixture! (also for me as a psychology student, the general topic of drugs and rehab was super interesting.)
Excellent writing, it took me back into the world of HP after many years out of the fandom. Solid all around on romance, killer UST, and plot. So happy to see there is a 700+ page sequel.
counting both parts 1 and 2 here, i surprisingly enjoyed the first one more, the second was a bit too wordy at times, though the dynamics were still very nice
Harry lekarz stażysta, Draco terapeuta uzależnionych, a w tle niewielka intryga kryminalna. Bardzo fajne, chociaż zabrakło mi zwierzaków, w których kreowaniu Sara's Girl jest mistrzynią. 😁
Reparations is of my favourite fanfiction stories. Pre-slash Harry/Draco. EWE. Author has written just as good sequel Foundations and few one-shots from the same universe.
I really enjoyed the Healer training and mystery plot, but there was something missing in the romance. It should have worked, but it was like I could see the emotional connection between them without actually feeling it myself. I rarely find the first without the second, but apparently it can be done! Maybe 2.5 stars, but there are just very few fanfics I read for plot...
Tropes: – Draco/Harry fanfiction – Enemies to lovers – Forced proximity – Healer teacher Draco/Healer trainee Harry – Romantic suspense
Harry's not thrilled that he has to train under Draco in the Chem Dept. Until he realizes the "blond Slytherin git" has changed quite a bit since school.
I swear to God, Healer Draco makes me BITE. MY. FIST. I love this version of him so much. This is my first fic by Sara's Girl but best believe I have the whole backlist downloaded now. I love the writing, the banter, the character portrayal, ugh so good. This is entirely in Harry's POV so watching him develop feelings and then pine for Draco and then fight for Draco was an absolute 10/10 experience. I also so deeply appreciated how the topic of addiction was handled in this and Draco's past + how it drove where Draco is today. Just so good. After I read part 2, Foundations, I will be going to Turn, I think but I am a mood reader to a fault so please do not hold me to it!
Am I painfully aware that I am the first person to review this in FIVE years? Yes. Am I going to end my review streak for it? No way! Its what I want out of a fanfiction, it didn't take my breath a way, but it helped me unwind before bed and having the tab open on my phone was a welcome tool for filling gaps in my day. If my friends asked for a Drarry fic recommendations would I give them this? Probably. While this wasn't something that crazily well written and had a fairly predictable plot it was utterly acceptable and served its purpose admirably.
A fast, light hearted and enjoyable read. The romance had a nice pace and I particularly enjoyed the way the author handled the interactions between Harry and Ginny post breakup. It was also refreshing to have a smart! Harry in a fic and not let have Draco all the brain. This fic was definitely more character than plot driven and I would definitely recommend this if you’re looking for a fast Drarry read.
Good Drarry with a healer Harry and sort-of psychologist Draco? The mystery was easy to resolve and I knew who was the bad guy right away, but it didn’t make me enjoy it less. Instead of a sentient house, we have a sentient kitchen cupboard lol. All of this happens in St. Mungo and it felt a little like Greys Anatomy.