The Apple Orchard

[ireneadler]

Title: The Apple Orchard
Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it belongs to JKR.
Pairing: Gabrielle/Hermione friendship
Rating: PG for passing reference to character deaths
Word Count: 3550
Summary: Hermione escapes to France after the war, but it seems she’s not the only one who could use some healing. Or a friend.
Notes: Written for unperfectwolf at witchwinter. Just

Comments

[ap_aelfwine]

My, this is lovely.

I'm taken with your vision of Gabrielle's grandfather's farm and way of life. And the bit about the chickens frightening the house elves was a nice touch. I liked the way you showed us Hermione accepting folk having house elves without making a big deal of her "conversion."

And I very much liked the way you've given signs of a possible future Hermione/Gabrielle relationship without plunging them into a sea of Destiny-with-a-capital-D or drenching every friendly gesture in sexual innuendo.

[ireneadler]

Thank you for your lovely comments! This was my first piece of fanfic, actually, and it completely took over my brain for about two weeks. I had such fun playing with the girls and creating their world.

I'm glad you liked the chickens! That was one of my favorite bits. We had chickens when I was little, and they definitely scared me. *g* And yes, I'm all about ambiguity. Luckily that works for fanfic. Not so much in daily life, alas....

[ap_aelfwine]

You're most welcome!

We had chickens when I was little, and they definitely scared me. *g*

Chickens never scared me when I was a kid--then again, the only chickens around were pets who tended to lay wherever they happened to be and then abandon the eggs, so I never had to collect them from the nests--but the geese, now, those were the stuff of nightmares. ;-)

Seriously, though, I liked that bit because it really brought the world to life. So often, both in fic and in canon, house elves are just convenient plot devices and/or comic relief. Giving them a fear that isn't the usual "what if Master makes us iron our hands?" or "what if Master gives us clothes?" makes them real.

And yes, I'm all about ambiguity. Luckily that works for fanfic. Not so much in daily life, alas....I know the feeling. Pity there has to be so much ambiguity about in real life, isn't it? You'd think the author was playing with us or something

[ireneadler]

*is totally not a week behind on comments* *blames recent vacation*

Moving on. I grew up hearing about Granddad, this horrid old rooster we used to have. He actually killed hens, and my brother still has the scars on his legs that testify to Granddad's bad temper. We only had Canada geese on our pond in nice weather, and they tended to scatter if we got too close, so they never bothered me.

...I hadn't thought about the bringing-the-world-to-life aspect. For me, it was more along the lines of Gabrielle recognizing the personalities of all the animals, so of course she would do the same for house elves. It's really cool to hear about what other people see in my stories, though

[acoustics1220]

Awww!

This story makes me fidget inside with all the fuzzy goodness. I liked this. I liked that this was in Gabrielle's pov the whole way through. It was really intriguing and a nice, long one-shot (which I love).

The ending really did make me go 'awwww'. It was sad to read what happened to Hermione's family, and then what Ron did, and the letter from Harry. :( But it was great to see Gabrielle comfort her and be her friend.

♥

[ireneadler]

Thank you, darling! ♥ I'm glad you liked. *g* I had so much fun writing this one. As for Ron--the person who made the request apparently hates him, so that was for her. I never liked him much before SHH, but now I appreciate him and feel bad for making him sort of a jerk. Oh well. I hated to kill Hermione's parents, too, but I felt I needed a reason for her to be in France and not at home. *pets poor Hermione* *pets Gabrielle, too, cause she's had it rough as well*

[tree_and_leaf]

This is a really charming story - I like the narrative voice you create, the sense of place, and Hermione's slow healing, ads well as they way it helps grandpere.

I think you may have been a little unfair to Ron, but that's a minor point... It's going in my memories.

[ireneadler]

Thank you for the lovely comment! I had a lot of fun with this story. I'm so glad it worked for you, and I'm all *squee* that you're--memorizing? what's the appropriate word there?--it.

And Ron's not so bad, just a little immature still. Gabrielle's a bit biased. *g*

joe

[anonymous]

whoaaaauuu continue please

Re: joe

[ireneadler]

Thanks! I think this one has reached it's natural end, but I'll be posting another Gabrielle fic very shortly. Thank you for reading!

[gelsey]

This was a wonderful story. In some ways, this background would explain a lot about Fleur and her uppity mannerisms. But I love the friendship between the two girls, and you did a brilliant job at keeping the POV as that of a 14yr-old girl.

And the last lines are wonderful. Makes me so happy for Hermione :D

[ireneadler]

(Apologies for being so crazy late with replies. RL. Bah.)

Moving on. Thank you! I confess that I thought a lot about Fleur and why she is what she is when creating this story. Gabrielle loves her sister, but they are quite different. *g* My nieces are about Gabrielle's age, so I had a useful reference point. I'm glad it seemed true. And yes, Hermione deserved a bit of happiness after all that war badness. Hee. *pets the girls*