Need and Want

I got back into the groove! Holy crap fanfiction.net is really becoming my best source for fics, new and old. Not only do the pages load easier on my phone, the amount of fiction there is just stupendous...

Through the community "Hermione's Happy Endings," I have found a few fics that have loaded up the memory on my Blackberry: Be Careful What You Bet On by BooBlack, Best Laid Plans by shadowglove, Love and Forgiveness by HarryPGinnyW4eva, and most recently Need and Want by rinny08. 

Location: FF.net

The summary for this story is:

"Head Girl Hermione Granger wants nothing more than a quiet final year at Hogwarts, only to be thwarted by Head Boy Draco Malfoy who offers her an arrangement that might be everything she needs. AU after HBP and DH."

Warnings: AU (?)

Rating: soft M

Length: Medium length, 22 chapters/~45K words

Time Period: 7th year Hogwarts/Post War

How Good?: Pretty good, 8/10

And the Smut?: -/10, see below

Status: Complete

Pairing: Dramione 

Awards: Haven't found any...

***Spoilers

The Bad:

This fic was a pleasant, quick, easy read but by the description I was expecting much more... something. Spunk, heat, and that anticipation that you usually get while finishing a chapter. 

Alot of that anticipation was dissolved with the little previews given at the end of each chapter, along with the writers exceptional foreshadowing. It was too good, and I could tell nearly every "big" point in the story many chapters before they happened. 

The smut was, even though the summary foreshadows otherwise, nearly nonexistent and the relationship was so fluffy at times that... well, it almost seemed indecent for any smut to be written out at all. In the beginning, the deal is made, and I am expecting a plethora of hot and sweaty, but secret, Head Boy/Girl action. They set up their "arrangement" and we expect their first time together, along with the second, and perhaps some kink throughout the story. I mean, the fic is called Need and Want for goodness sake, not Want and Fulfilled. Despite our expectations, I can't remember any actual smut whatsoever... It's like, the set up is there, hints at foreplay, but even the kissing is kept to modest pecks for the most part. What I mean is, she sets up for what sounds like some amazingly randy hotness at the end of one chapter, only for it to be referred to briefly in the next. Or having a lead in with some caresses in one sentence, with some Stephenie Meyer sex smattered about (not even), and then the little "after their fulfilling night, Draco and Hermione went..." afterwards. And by Stephenie Meyer sex I mean the kind where she skips a few lines and you are just supposed to imagine it, in there, the blank space...

I bombed through this story trying to find the heat, but it wasn't there.

The Good:

I AM happy I finished this fic though. This is great writing, nearly perfectly betaed, very well thought out phrasing and sentence structure, and some beautiful descriptions. That's why this got an 8/10. Apart from the dryness of the plot itself, which is a bit half corked, if summarized correctly this fic could very possibly win a Dramione Award if it hasn't already. This has a very, though not particularly, happy ending--something I adore in a fic. 

Draco and Hermione's relationship progresses quickly, and although a lot of hearty information is left out, I can certainly appreciate what the writer has put in! There is a very intense moment at the end but... I really love how it is resolved! I guess I can't say anymore on that!

So, even though it is displayed as a fic with romance and angst, especially with the M rating, this is definitely not meant to be that kind of fic. It's fluffy, with some drama, a pleasant (though choppy) storyline, and should probably, if anything, be rated T.