A Lamb to the Slaughter

by FantasyJune35

Hermione Granger grew up on the magical Isle of Alec, where the magic is ripe and the people-humans and members of the Six alike-never leave. Every hundred years the only powerful young witch on the island is sacrificed to the six ruling Wizarding families. Her purpose? To temporarily restore their magic, for theirs has been depleted to nothing for over a thousand years.

This generation, the family that will house the sacrificial witch Hermione-Jean Granger is the cunning and cold House Malfoy. But there are secrets lurking on the island, and in their manor. Secrets that will change the shape of Hermione & Draco’s life forever.

Genres: Fan Fiction, Fantasy

ebook

Published January 1, 2025

Reviews

[Johanna]

The concept has potential but the execution wasn't really my cup of tea, unfortunately

[Jennifer]

That was heavy

[dorsa]

Big fan of this one

[Isabella Hood]

I meaaaan 👀

[alice]

Clever and interesting AU with a nice twist on the pureblood families. It views magic in a completely different way: only a few girls are born with it, and they don’t need wands to use it. I feel that it could have been longer and needed more scenes building their relationship, the timeline was pretty short for all that to have gone on. That being said, maybe I am just used to monstrously long fanfics; this was a decently quick read with a charming HEA ending, and a little too much of the miscommunication trope.

[Maria Costa]

⋆˚࿔ ⋆ “They didn't speak for an eternity. They were whispers. They were myths. They faded and melted until they were nothing but candlelight. It was an existence that Draco didn't even know he longed for, and yet he never wanted to become corporeal again. He would gladly stay a hushed word, a ficker in the light, if it meant Hermione was his alphabet and his flame.” 𝜗𝜚˚

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Overall: 4.3 ☆
Characters: 5 ☆
Writing: 4.5 ☆
Romance: 4.5 ☆
Chapter length: 4.5 ☆
Pacing: 4 ☆
Ending: 4 ☆
Epilogue: 4 ☆

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How I missed Dramione fanfics!!
This was so unique! It kept the characters but changed most of the dynamics and the magic system, in a way. It seems like everything was carefully thought through from the beginning, making it even sweeter to reach the end and look back at those moments with different eyes.
The only thing I would change would be the length. It was too short for me. When they revealed their feelings to each other, I wasn't able to feel it alongside them.

[Alicja]

I must admit that I enjoyed this one. It was fast paced and well thought through. I liked the little twists and spins on the hp universe, the little winks to the reader. I wish it were a tad more developed but you can only do so much within 339 pages, and it was good to read a ff that was short and sweet for once! Even though it repeated the themes of other well known ffs (ie slavery), it was executed well and the romance plot was not questionable. Nice one!

[Alana Reeder]

This was good. It was far enough from cannon that I feel it would have been great or perfect as trad published all along. I will give it some time and then read it in its published non fiction form. Unique story and it will be interesting to see how the trad form changes it. I read it pretty quickly. It didn't feel quintessential dramoine or that it was required to be them so I feel it will be good and pleasant to read in its updated form and maybe even preferred that way

[Priya Sandhu]

*2.5 stars*

Interesting concept but not very well written. The descriptions are a bit over the top, I don't really feel empowered, they fall 'in love' super quickly, and the story just ends weirdly abruptly. I read this because I heard it was published as a book called 'Cold and Cunning' (which I think has mixed reviews) and often the original fanfiction is better, but I was disappointed. However, it was a nice break from the last few I've read, which have been 1200+ pages!

[rita whitethorn]

“With everyone else I have to be a person, but with you I feel that I can just be a soul.”

Overall: 4.3✩
Characters: 5✩
Writing: 4.5✩
Romance: 4✩
Chapter length: 4✩
Pacing: 4✩
Ending: 4✩
Plot: 5✩

The parallels omg I loved it so much, so unique and interesting

[Amanda]

ehh i’m so used to reading post-war docs that anything rewritten entirely is just a bit weird. it wasn’t terrible but some thing didn’t entirely make sense and the relationship wasn’t built up as much as i would have liked

[Ebube Maidoh]

2.5 This feels like the early days of wattpad where plot points are hardly explained and major events happen behind the scenes/are brushed right past. Cute story light but lacks a lot of depth. I hope to read the published version and see how this is fleshed out!

[Lisa Snow]

So different than any other dramione fanfic I’ve read. I enjoyed reading.

[Kareena]

written beautifully but i wish the relationship development wasn’t rushed

[Libra]

3.5 stars rounded

[Lauren Clemence]

This was surprising and so good? But I needed it to be like 500 pages longer pls tysm

[Christina]

A solid 3 stars. I really want more of everything from this book- more plot, more character development, more relationship building. I will still recommend when appropriate.

[Tori (torireadswhat)]

Who knew that all I needed to get me out of my reading rut was a little Dramione fanfic.

[Sabrina Jackson]

Interesting story, fun twist on the characters but felt very rushed at the end. Excited for this author to be published.

[Scarlett]

The ending was bit rushed

[Tracy Yakey]

This fic does not follow Harry Potter canon at all and is a completely different story, except for some familiar names. There is no Golden Trio, no Voldemort, no Hogwarts and takes place on a fictional island. It is different enough that it could almost be considered as a stand alone romantasy in its own right and has now been traditionally published as “Cold and Most Cunning” by Isabella Hood.
-Slow Burn
-He falls first