Fandom Hopping - Harry Potter - Finding Himself 04/10/2012

Some may say we’re easily distracted.

We say, “Why limit ourselves to just one fandom full of smut when there are soooo many other possibilities out there?!?!” And so we give you Fandom Hopping, a place to poke your nose into another universe, meet some new characters, and enjoy all the pervy possibilities when a writer fucks with the canon someone else created.

---

Finding Himself

by Minisinoo

Summary: The-Boy-Who-Almost-Died has to figure out what it means that he didn't. Harry's tumultuous 5th year at Hogwarts is Cedric's 7th and final. Bound together by shared trauma, both boys fall under Ministry suspicion ... Who is Cedric Diggory? Cedric!Lives AU

Check out the YouTube Trailer here.

---

Chele
Let’s just take a moment before we begin to rejoice that there is fanfiction, because that means that there is a Potterverse wherein Cedric doesn’t fucking die. YES!
Not only does he live, but Minisinoo gives us a hero in Cedric. One who is is fully fleshed out, mature, and fuckhot sexy.

Finding Himself picks up at the end of The Goblet of Fire, and takes us through a remarkably canon-faithful version of The Order of the Phoenix, with the monumental twist of being able to see it all through the eyes of a very living Cedric Diggory, who was badly injured, but not killed in the graveyard following the Triwizard Tournament.

With the miracles of cleansing charms and dittany, Harry Potter fic readers may have begun to feel that magic could fix anything except an Avada Kedavra, but this early exposition alleviates us of this illusion fast. It is brilliant the way we are able to view the Potterverse through the eyes of someone experiencing a physical impairment which not even magic can repair. This world is dangerous, difficult and palpably on the brink of war. It is an Order of the Phoenix for grown ups.

Cedric’s narrative is that of a remarkably mature young man who, after a life of self-reliance and easy popularity, learns to accept help and support from others, while fully realising his true ability to aide those around him as well. I love this Cedric. His vulnerability, his strength, his humor. He’s so very real, and unlike canon Harry, who is still so very young, Cedric is a grown up, so I can perv on him freely.

There are a hundred tiny bits of perfection in this story’s characterizations. Hufflepuff house is a character of itself in this story. Its members show the true tenacity of their represent animal, the badger by being the only group to truly make a real, effective stand against Umbridge, whose reign of terror over Hogwarts has left no student unscathed. I love the way they dig in, stand together, and represent true unity.

Hermione is also brilliantly written, and I completely believed their relationship and compatibility. In Cedric she finds her intellectual match, and an unexpected mate for her soul. Their slow-building desire and attraction felt startlingly authentic. The time it takes to build that physical attraction, and a comfort level with one another to explore it, only causes an increase in intensity when they begin expressing that attraction fully. I was quite pleased to see the potential of the prefect’s batch fully realized. Unf.

While there is a love story here, it is as much a triumph of the soul as it is a triumph of the heart. It is Hermione’s goodness and friendship that gives their relationship a breath of possibility, but it is Cedric’s strength that sets it firmly up a foundation, and lights your pants on fire.

Through a thousand little moments and so many beautiful words, Cedric Diggory becomes a man to admire, falls in love with Hermione, and finds himself.


Jess

To be honest, I almost don’t know what to say about this story. This was the first Harry Potter fanfiction I have read, and I can honestly say it completely blew me away. As I was reading it (yes, it’s ::cough:: long ::cough::) I was struck time and again at how well Minisinoo fleshed out this story, particularly Cedric and Hermione, in ways that were so consistent with canon. If you get to the end (and even a little throughout), you’ll find a really great author’s endnote that provides the reader with all the reasons why this story was written, how Minisinoo came to the conclusions she did, and more importantly, why this pairing - Cedric and Hermione - feels so logical and perfect.

This story, at the heart, is about growing up, living in a world where not everything makes sense, where you must face the consequences of your choices, and how love and friendship can mean the difference between being on the inside or isolated and alone. Cedric, as we learn relatively soon, is critically wounded and ends up crippled after trying to save Harry during the final challenge in the Twiwizard Tournament. Over the course of the story, we watch Cedric bravely face the enormity of his handicap. By all measure, he is strong and courageous, but it’s heart wrenching moments like the one below when I was reminded how vulnerable and young he really is.

”It feels like it’s never going to stop - found out what I can’t do, I mean. I know the nerve damage isn’t going away. But the rest - I peel myself like an onion, but I’m afraid when I get to the middle, there won’t be anything there.” His throat closed on the last word, choking him, and he looked away to hide the sudden sting in his eyes.

It’s through countless moments like this that Cedric realizes he actually has friends and people in his life who he can count on to help him face the challenges - Can anyone say Umbrage? - that will literally push him to the limit - physically, emotionally, and mentally.

That’s also where we see Hermione shine. Younger but still an equal in many ways, I found myself loving her. Yes, she’s bossy. Yes, she’s a know it all. Yes, she can be overbearing. But we also know she’s fiercely loyal, a good friend, and someone who can and does love freely. I found the nature of their relationship incredibly believable and mature. After all, we are talking about Cedric and Hermione. There are SO many examples I could give to show the blossoming nature of their relationships (I have 19 pages of notes highlighted on my Kindle), but I think this is a good one.

Looking up at him she caught his grin. “You’re teasing me.”

“You fall for it so easily, you make it hard not to.”

Reaching out, he ran a thumb over her cheek and she closed her eyes, her expression almost transported. Inside his chest, something uncurled, fluttering like moth wings. “You’re so beautiful,” he said even more softly. Her eyes opened, surprised. “And truth? When you came to the tent last year [during the Triwizard Tournament], looking so focused and worried for Harry, I was jealous. I wanted a friend as loyal as you; I never expected to get you myself.”

And can we all just swoon together for a second. This entire story is full of tender moments like that and others shared in the library, out by the lake, and in the Great Hall. But let’s be honest, they aren’t ALL like that. They quarrel and snip at each other, ignore each other, and then make up, and as time goes on those make up sessions and the pressing of boundaries - physical and emotional - grow more and more intense. I could go on and on about the build up, the first touches, first kisses - “Cedric kissed like it was a conversation - give and take, exploratory, sensual, even a bit sloppy because he wasn’t thinking of how it looked, only how it felt... Cedric kissed like somebody who wanted to be kissed back.” - first times for lots of things, but I think I’ll let Cedric’s poetry do the talking.

Skin-thrill in touch. Heart-catch and breath held. Watch her lips as she drops words, eat them and her mouth both. There lies all of her for me to taste. She hides in my heart, peeks out and surprises me. I dream of futures in kaleidoscope senses. Soft conversations and the smell of rain, warm hearth-fire nights and summer sun caught in leaves and brown hair. Laughter and whispers and soft sighs from her hands on me. Want lies heavy between my legs. Love lies somewhere else. The intangible Real. My body knows only a wall-shadow of the truth, but in the shadow is the Form of Beauty.

And folks, there is plenty more poetry where that came from. There’s plenty of sneaky time spent in the prefects’ bathroom and in the room of requirement. You’re just going to have to read it to see...

There are literally about a million things I could say about this story, but I know my words simply won’t do the plot, characterizations, the extrapolations and parallel canon storytelling justice. Go read this story. Just like the original series, this story and the possibilities will draw you in and hold you tight in its clutches until you’re at the very last page. Good news for me (and you)... there’s a sequel - DULCE ET DECORUM EST that follows Cedric and Hermione through books 6 and 7.

As you read this little (ok, big! thick! long!) gem, make sure you leave Minisinoo some love, and tell her the Pervs sent you.


Jen
Chele shared the link to Finding Himself at exactly the right time. I’d just watched Goblet of Fire, and was positively swooning over Robert’s sweet baby face. I was fully primed to appreciate a deeper exploration into Cedric.

If you weren’t captivated by Cedric in the book or the movie, Minisinoo’s Cedric is sure to capture your heart and your pants. To be honest, this fic is so good that her Cedric is really JKR’s, and this book could absolutely have been the book after GoF.

Hermione is, well, Hermione. Incredibly bright *cough* know-it-all, bossy, ever the good girl. Hermione’d never really had reason to talk to Cedric, until Cedric was so horribly cursed at the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. She’s drawn to Cedric, taking time to visit him at St.Mungo’s when she’s taking a few days to spend time with her parents. After they share a moment in the elevator, she realizes she is liable to fall oh-so-hard for charming, intelligent, gorgeous Cedric. This scene is so innocent, yet ridiculously hot.

In the lift, he turned in the chair to look up at her - and caught her staring. For just a moment, there was a connection there, like electricity, sparking hot between them and making her weak in the back of her knees. The pupils of his gray eyes had dilated, and that was not just a friendly look. Hermione couldn't breathe, felt herself falling, pulled like gravity. And if gravity wasn't a Wizarding concept, it still functioned in the Wizarding world. It was functioning now, sucking her in - sucking them in. This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to want another girl's boy.

Ah, yes. There’s that--Cho. Cedric feels the pull that Hermione feels. He realizes he’s not really compatible with Cho, but doesn’t want to hurt her. Hermione and Cedric continue as friends when they get back to Hogwarts at the end of the summer, but they don’t acknowledge their mutual attraction. The UST, the banter, the pure rightness of Hermione & Cedric will have you swooning.

There’s so much story, suspense, and growing up in this story that you’ll never feel my gods won’t they get it on already! Everything develops naturally and just so right for these two. In a world where Voldemort has returned and Umbridge is running Hogwarts, of course things don’t always go smoothly for our couple. And again, it’s just so right.

So, go. Go get lost in Minisinoo’s fabulous alternate reality. Don’t fear the word count! Finding Himself reads very quickly, and besides, you won’t want be able to stop. Your family doesn’t really need you, do they?
Teal

Who wasn’t devastated when Cedric Diggory was murdered so abruptly and unexpectedly in Goblet of Fire? You’re a liar if you say you weren’t. Even before the movie when Rob became him, Cedric was a charming, popular, likable character. He was Harry’s foe of sorts in Quidditch and later the Twi-Wizard Tournament and for Cho Chang’s affection, but he was impossible to hate. It was a such a clever, well placed characterization by Rowling, so when Cedric and Harry finally showed their solidarity for Hogwarts, not their personal glory, it was an utter shock to see their display of unity turn into disaster. Like many of the deaths in the Harry Potter series, it was one that had most of us turning back the page to reread in disbelief and make sure we’d gotten that right. Not only was it significant for Harry’s perspective on his role in taking down the Dark Lord, but also the first truly significant death in the impending war against Voldemort. The death not only of one of the “good guys” but also one of a student...an innocent. And a very popular, much loved one at that.

Enough history, though. You remember, I’m sure. Your heart broke with mine, and you probably wished there was some way you could go back and change it, thus why we turn to fanfiction. As author Minisinoo calls it, this is Cedric!Lives fic, and it’s certainly not the first. It may very well be the best, IMHO.

This fic is Order of the Phoenix through Cedric and Hermione’s eyes. It is both a rewrite of that book if Cedric has lived, playing a part in the dynamic of the school, being grouped with Harry and Dumbledore in Daily Prophet criticism, and in the Order of the Phoenix, and it is the journey of unexpected friendship, love, and discovery between Cedric and Hermione. It gives a depth to both characters that we simply didn’t see through Rowling’s original stories (or Harry’s eyes, for that matter) and also brings a number of other characters to life, including Cedric’s parents.

I simply cannot explain how well-rounded and evenly-paced this novel is, following the timeline of the original book while using Cedric in a great capacity. The action, struggles, and battles are all still there, though sometimes with different outcomes. Of course, what Perv Pack rec would be complete without mention of the smut? Don’t shy away because Hermione is a Fifth Year in this book. She is 16 and Cedric 18, and it truly is a love story.

Love, Cedric thought, was a sweet kind of drowning, and he never wanted to breathe.

His current state of bliss wasn't the result of sexual release - or not that entirely. He'd be lying if he said what they'd shared in the attic hadn't affected him.

No, his mood that Christmas Eve night rested on a sudden alchemy of everything - her laugh, the way the lamp above the dining table caught her brown hair, the blush in her cheeks, the softness of her hand, the way her brow furrowed when she was thinking, the lilt of her voice as she replied to something his father or mother asked her. It was how she could make him smile, make him think, then make him want her so badly he couldn't think at all. She engaged everything in him - body, mind, and soul.

Yes, teenage hormones do play their role, and this fic does cover the scope of an entire school year. These two set a pace of sexual exploration that is comfortable for both of them, not rushing, and they actually discuss it *gasp*! Teenagers who talk about their sexuality in a mature manner??? Hard to believe, but when you consider who we’re dealing with (and the characterizations the author expands), it really does make sense. It’s a coming of age story folded in with the adventure and struggles we all know, and that makes it sweet, sexy, and exciting to read.

He pulled away to look at her, his gray eyes dilated and dark. She just looked back until he let his hands slip down to the hem of her sweater. She raised her arms so he could pull it over her head, leaving her bare except for a white satin bra. He unhooked that too, and she let him slide the straps down her arms. But even if she'd wanted this, been the one to initiate it, she felt exposed and crossed her arms over her chest much as she had in the bath. This time, he gripped her wrists gently, moving her arms. "I want to see you," he muttered, voice cracking, his expression transported. "So lovely." His long fingers slipped up her arms and over her shoulders, then down the pale, freckled skin of her chest. He didn't touch the cold-puckered nipples, just cupped the curve of her shallow breasts. His skin was warm and she leaned into his touch, watching him look at her. To her surprise, she didn't feel embarrassed now. She felt beautiful, precious, and no longer desperate or daring. She inched closer until she could press her bare skin to his, arms sliding around him.

"I'm cold," she whispered. "Hold me."

So he did. Eventually, they made their way into her bed where they could pull up the covers and he kissed her all over beneath, tongue sliding fire across goose-pimpled skin. This time, instead of straddling him, she rubbed hands on the front of his trousers. She wanted to feel the hard length of him, even indistinct through two layers of cloth. Dropping back against the mattress, he raised his chin and moaned, bucking up into her palm. "Faster," he muttered, and she complied, watching his face as he approached orgasm. Afterwards, he rested a minute, then returned the favor, one hand between her legs, mouth at her nipple, tongue busy until she hissed and groaned and thrashed, feeling wanton and vulnerable. Appropriately - and amusingly - fireworks began somewhere outside at that moment, set off by impatient kids; they both laughed as he laid his head in the valley of her breasts, soft hair tickling her skin. She wasn't cold now, and after a while, he scooted up until they lay nose-to-nose, talking about nothing in particular, still half naked. His hands moved idly over her and hers over him.

Gah! And that’s just skimming the surface. Please, please, please go read this fic! Then share other Cedric/Hermione stories you love with me *puppy eyes*