**Warning: Contains Spoilers**
Isolation
By: Bex-Chan
infinity stars
This is my first ever Dramione fic and my favourite. The author is so skilled and talented. More than JKR in my opinion. She just has such a way with words and this story really convinced me of the Draco X Hermione ship, completely. This fic is pretty long: 278,881 words to be exact. Here's the synopsis...
He can't leave the room. Her room. And it's all the Order's fault. Confined to a small space with only the Mudblood for company, something's going to give. Maybe his sanity. Maybe not. Post Half-Blood Prince. Ron and Harry are Horcrux hunting and Hermione has been left at Hogwarts to help the Order make it safe for the other students. Draco is forced by Snape to stay in Hogwarts for his own protection, but he can't leave the room he is given; Granger's room. Hermione is the only student trusted with this information, so she and Malfoy share the small space, and Draco tries to avoid insanity as he becomes increasingly isolated with only the Mudblood for company. Something's going to give...
5 stars is not an appropriate rating for this work of art!
It's honestly a masterpiece and I can see how much energy and effort the author has put into this. It's such a beautiful book, I can't believe it's fanfiction actually, even though I don't read fanfiction, I had assumed that it was rusty and not very well-written. I'm not even joking, this writing was beautiful with colleen-hoover-worthy quotes and amazing emotive language.
This review is pretty long to do Isolation justice, also the rest of the review is spoilers so proceed with caution...
I read Isolation because I had heard great things about it and I wanted to see what the whole Dramione craze was about because at the time I still shipped Romione (I was an idiot). I have to say that it deserves all the hype it has and more! It convinced me of Dramione so firmly that I would buy this book if it was available! This book made me cry 4 times, that's the effect it had on me! I even found a comment that describes exactly how feel about Draco and Hermione in words!
Draco and Hermione are both amazing. I was happy to see that Bex-Chan kept the characters flexible but not so different that you can't even tell they're Draco and Hermione. Draco was obviously against Hermione for the whole muggle-born thing. But the character development though! The way they both progressed was so perfect! Definitely a slow-burn enemies to lovers but not too slow. It made sense because they were actually enemies and had reason to hate each other. AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE SEXUAL TENSION!!! It was amazing! From first kiss to fighting to angry seggs it was literally perfect. And the way they slowly understood each other! I loved when Hermione told Draco to read Martin Luther King, such a queen moment! And when they would sit together (and by together I mean she sat in his lap, kind of straddled 😍) and read Shakespeare and then Draco would grudgingly admit that muggle authors are "agreeable but they'll never reach wizarding literature status"! Their romance and their love is so perfect! Draco was so toxic at the start but let's admit it, hot toxic men are SEXY. And honestly, their love for each other is so beautiful and pure. I love how Draco has a possessive streak without becoming some weirdly aggressive full-blown alpha-male. Also, Hermione is still as clever as always and stands her ground. She doesn't go moping around Draco like some worthless Bella Swan. She has self-worth and even when they insult each other at the start she defends herself and that's what I love! The arguments and insults just added to their chemistry (and the sexual tension), making everything better.
Another thing I loved about Bex-Chan's Isolation is that the alternate route that the Harry Potter series actually makes sense!!! Just because the fanfic is primarily a romance, she didn't make up some half-assed plot, she actually worked on it and it all came together properly! So, instead of the 3 of them going Horcrux-hunting, Ron and Harry go while Hermione stays at Hogwarts (yes, it's frankly unbelievable that the 2 doofuses managed themselves but still!). Yes, Hermione did eventually help them but the whole plot worked without any gaps or unanswered questions.
Now, I'm going to have a bunch of quotes and screenshots from the fanfic!!! LOTS OF QUOTES AND SCREENSHOTS... SO BE PREPARED 🥰🥰🥰
Firstly, let's acknowledge that Draco is sexy and hot as f word! One of the major contributing factors to his undeniable hotness is his ABS!!! 😊💖💘
Now, let's talk about how I actually felt bad for Ron when Hermione told him! (Although he didn't stay sad long, he ended up with Katie Bell 🙄)
FUNNY STUFF!
I love Draco's sarcastic sense of humour 😂
Draco making fun of Hermione's elf SPEW thing lol
Hermione is the leader of the relationship 💖
Theo Nott was introduced in the OG HP series as a Slytherin death eater, but he was totally different in this book. He was absolutely hilarious! And also very hot... and when he died I cried so much, it was sooo sad!! I suspected but I didn't know the whole extent of what he was going through until the end!
This is what he looks like according to Isolation fans 😓🥵
This Umbridge joke made me LAUGH OUT LOUD!!
Some more funnies...
And oneeee more...
AND NOW... THE SAD THINGS THEO SAID WHEN HE WAS LITERALLY DYING!! 😥😭💔
So, you know how I said that Bex-Chang has beautiful writing? Well, here are some examples...
This is Draco realising the extent of his feelings or Hermione 😍😭
He didn't know, and whatever was coursing through his veins was completely foreign to him. Labelling it with some over-used word that was so carelessly tossed between strangers these days seemed unsufficient for the feelings that brought him to his knees. It reminded him of that odd sensation when fire is so hot that it feels like ice, or when ice is so cold it feels like fire. Nature's paradox.
Hermione talking about Draco... such a beautiful quote!!
"Draco's like...snow," said Hermione quietly, her gaze absent and distracted. "It's cold and cruel to begin with, but it's somehow beautiful, and you miss it when it's not there. And if you hold it in your hands close enough and long enough, it changes. It melts."
This is when Draco finally confesses his love for Hermione! I literally cried... so much builded up to this one moment!
SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SCENE? AND THE QUOTE?? BEX-CHAN IS A GENIUS.
This quote is so nice too!
It's all related. Death, love, blood, friends, enemies, parents. They're all synonymous when there's a war going on. Ted once said that wars are like the sea, unpredictable and unforgiving, and before you know it everyone's drowning."
This quote too...
So he did nothing. When it comes to death, sometimes nothing is all a person can do.
Deep...
Silence again. Everything is always broken up by silence. Punctuated by silence. Silence is nothing, but it's everything, because we hunt for words in silence. We think in silence. Our minds work hard n silence. And yet it's awful. It's empty. It's lonely. Necessary nothingness.
LAST ONE! I SWEAR! THERE'S JUST TOO MANY GOOD QUOTES!!
Okay, that's it with all the quotes! I saved so many more!! But I can't put the whole book in here so yeah. I strongly recommend this to any Harry Potter fan, especially if you like Dramione or slow burn enemies to lovers OR if you're like me and want to understand the Dramione hype and convince yourself to ship them! THIS WAS AN EXTREMELY LONG REVIEW BUT IT WAS WORTH IT
😅😅😅😆😆😁😁😁😁
Thank you to anyone who read the whole review :)