A Darker Blue

by skitter

The War rages and leaves a trail of broken things in its wake. Swept out with the raging sea, Hermione and Draco must learn to live with themselves and each other. Violence begets violence in an endless loop that they will either break from or beneath. Survival is the goal but not necessarily the destination and regardless of private desires, they'll have no choice but to weather the storm together.

Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling

Genres: Fan Fiction

496 pages, ebook

Published May 5, 2023

Reviews

[Kimberly Nguyen]

The build up, prose, and angst was beautiful and well executed. Battle scenes were great. Ending left more to be desired by design but my selfish heart wanted the satisfying pay out 😔

[Bookishgames]

This fic should be as popular as The disappereances of Draco Malfoy. The story is as good and clever but with more romance and more exploration of war trauma. It's probably one of my favorite Dramione of all time !

Also, that was a SLOW BURN and I was there for every angsty second of it 💚

[dominique]

“love is a lie people tell themselves to justify all the ways they use and are used by one another.”

“love is but another tool we can wield to harm, we’ve just learnt to gild it with purple prose.”

someone please tell me why those are some of the best lines i’ve ever read. whatever these a03 authors be eating, please share with the class. another excellent dramione fic! these books are such a comfort novel for me. the slow burn was absolutely slow burning. this is exactly what i want when a book is marketed as a slow burn. the almost fade to black smut scene at 89% was worth it🙂‍↔️

my favourite micro tropes are when, “malfoy,” becomes, “draco,” and when, “granger,” becomes, “hermione.” 🥺

in a lot of wartime fics, it tends to be canon where she’s a healer and disregarded by the order. it’s giving, “she was a member of the order of the phoenix and did not fight.” TEARS.

can’t wait for my next fic. back in my fav era 🤩🤩

[liya]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 | they really earned that slow burn tag. great prose and the built up tension between the romance and the fallout of the ongoing war was well done . wish we got more of them together towards the end.

“𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀, 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗲𝗮. 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲? 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗜'𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝘁? 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲, 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗴𝘂𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆. 𝗦𝗵𝗲'𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗜 𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁, 𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗺𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗺𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀, 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱. ”

her unwavering kindness to his cruel world <3


“𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲, 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗻, 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗺 𝗺𝘆 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗸, 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗿𝗶𝗯𝘀, 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗺. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗜 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗮𝘆. 𝗡𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘄, 𝘀𝗵𝗲'𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗳𝘁, 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲. ”

[꩜ ashe]

this fic is so bleak and gritty but so atmospheric it's literally like reading that time in green light where draco was teaching hermione occulumency in the ocean but with the vibes of bm/bs and don't look back but it’s the whole fic itself. i really enjoyed the slowness of this and even though it was written in first person i thought it was fitting for the story. it made it more impactful.

this fic also reminded me so much of scumblackentropy’s dramione. dramione being isolated and kind of shunned by everyone was a trope I once also wrote for a long time ago and reading this fic made me so happy bc it brought me so much fond memories 🥹 i liked the open endedness of the ending and how small moments in such an awful era built upon dramione’s relationship here.

[Brittany Date]

No denying that this was well written. It captivated me and definitely delivered what I emotionally wanted for the characters in the end. I felt the pull of it; it was desolate at times, lonely, even maybe maddeningly one note at times but strangely it worked; for these two characters are stuck in a cottage for the entirety of the book after all. Some of their viscousness for each other, particularly Malfoys, grated on me. I understand why the author created him in this way. Ultimately this is a very different Hermione and Draco story and I appreciated it overall.

[Gretchen]

“It’s like staring into the sun. Even if I look away, the afterimage of you lingers, burned permanently into the black every time I close my eyes.”

This wasn’t the story I expected. I thought they’d be abandoned in a different way. But I did like this. It was very sad and dark. The characters felt very true to the original. It wasn’t super eventful but it was entertaining anyways. I liked it.

[Madison Roberts]

The author claims it’s a slow burn, but in reality, it’s just slow. Each chapter starts with a reminder of how “fun” the book is by listing the same trigger warnings over and over again: suicide, anxiety, gore. Any hope for redemption is dashed as the main characters spend most of the book screaming how much they hate one another—right up until about the 80% mark.
Am

[Elain]

Loved it - great pacing and for once, I really loved the switching POVs between Draco and Hermione. Only complaint: I wish there was more! The ending felt rushed; I'm still not entirely sure what happened with Narcissa. Draco's characterization was fairly tame in terms of some of the more popular "Draco" tropes.

[Fatima Ali]

-TRUE enemies to lovers
- SLOW burn.
-war fic but no clear participation by both.
- dark and gloomy

Tbh i LOVED it, and was LOVING it so much but A03 got down for 2 freaking days, and i abandoned it and started something else on ff.net. And after completing that when i came back to it, the magic was ruined😭 but i remember appreciating the GOOD writing and their relationship so much.

[Nat]

3,5 star

good slow burn, but the main focus is on the relationship between Hermione and Draco. there is almost no interesting background of events, even though the war is actively ongoing. I would have liked a more interesting and detailed world beyond the relationship between Hermione and Draco

[Rachel Beck]

3.5⭐️ the first 2/3 were like a sludge molasses slow kind of slow burn and could have been cut way shorter. Loved the last 1/3 though. The crescendo and resolution was very well done and enjoyable. My biggest beef was the amount of times they used “ephemeral”. Way way way too many

[Suzy]

Masterpiece. Amazing prose. Beautiful build-up and masterful wrap-up.

Also fanfics should not be on Goodreads, since it's not a published piece that asked for star-based critique, but since it is, I will give it the five star it deserves.

[Tessie]

I feel a little robbed with such a quick ending..

[Ines]

5⭐

WOw, just wow!!!!
Bravo 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

[Radina Izzo]

Loved loved loved this Dramione! It’s definitely worth reading and could honestly be a good first Dramione read for some who prefer a darker enemies to lovers (slowwww burn) romance!

[Jordin Henson]

It was excellent. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The slow burn, and every single emotion that they could possibly feel was perfectly translated through the pages. Great ending!

[Sam Kimball]

not proud of it, man enough to admit it: this was goooodddddddd

[Mollie]

“Life is an endless parade of unwanted surprises.”

I liked this a lot but if I have to see the word ephemeral ever again it’ll be too soon.

[Dalal Shukri]

I can't dig my way out of this Dramoine phase!
I loved this, both the characters were a bit weaker than the previous fanfics I've read, but their relationship was heartwarming...

[Elayne Douglas]

I am truly struck. What a stunning and heart-wrenching work. I’m gutted. I am never moving on.