sodamnrad

art & lit & other magic| stories | drabbles

[sodamnradd]

AO3 

Nothing compared to being the Mudblood Slytherin girl. Too evil for another house, too dirty for the one I called home.

Hermione becomes the first Muggle-born student in Slytherin House.

Ecdysis: the process of shedding old skin.

(Slytherin Hermione, No Voldemort-AU, Slow burn Dramione, Morally Grey Hermione Granger)

[sodamnradd]

Chapter 20: Fifth Year - Private Moments

“Go on.” He crossed his legs, getting comfortable as he sat facing me. “I’m not afraid of you.” I frowned, knowing Draco wouldn’t agree to something so personal if he wasn’t confident in the outcome. Was he really as good at Occlumency as he thought he was? Finding my wand beneath my school bag, I prepared to cast a Legilimency spell. Nervous because I’d never done it before, and though it was a silly thought, I wondered if there was a chance I’d get stuck in there, forced to live in his rotten brain forever.  Brushing off the thought, I pointed my wand at his temple, half expecting him to flinch. He didn’t.  Interrupting me when I began to cast the spell. “Look into my eyes,” he ordered. “It won’t work otherwise.” I hesitated, annoyed that he was giving me tips, but he was right. I repositioned my wand, looking into his eyes this time. He stared back, grey eyes shielded but his stare deliberate. We were half a foot apart, and it felt suffocating, staring at him face to face like this. I mouthed the spell first, testing it against my tongue, adjusting my wrist until I was happy with how I was holding the wand. Then, with as much confidence as I could muster, I cast, “Legilimens.”

[unusual-suspects]

seven ravens, Agartaa

[rosiethorns88]

Dropping the latest Sketch-a-Wish voted on by my lovely Patreon members for January (yes, I'm drastically behind, but feverishly catching up!)

Featuring Jude and Cardan from The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black! Another scene requested where I took a slight detour to showcase what we didn't see on page (when Jude was unconscious) but was hinted at in the aftermath (Cardan's bloody jacket). Does anyone else's cat shed fur when they're startled or agitated? Mine leaves behind clumps, which for a Devon Rex is dire. I channeled that energy with Cardan's agitated whipping tail and shedding leaves.

Pomegranate have been my go-to fruit to add to my morning oats for over a year now, so it was a fun time to sprinkle them all over this.

[sodamnradd]

Hi!

I hope you're doing well. This is an Ecdysis appreciation post because I recently went bad and re-read my favourite chapters and OH MY GOD your writing is phenomenal. I remember reading on here you are/were planning on getting some original writing published, any updates on that? I just know I'd love to read anything from you. Keep slaying.

Thank you so much for your lovely words, @cerseimikaelson ❤️ I appreciate you not only reading Ecdysis, but rereading your fave chapters. That makes me so happy.

Honestly, it's been hard to transition from writing fanfic to working on original ideas again. I've been attached to Dramione since joining fandom in 2021, and only in the last year or two have I been able to stop thinking of them when I have story ideas. It took a long time for me to get here even after I deactivated my other socials and stopped writing ficlets and one shots for the fandom.

For now, I'm focusing on finishing Ecdysis so I can officially close my time in fandom. And then I intend to continue a longstanding project that also incorporates magical education (a little bit like Ecdysis). I've had some false starts with that project over the years, but I plan to get into it again with an upcoming writing workshop I've signed up to do this summer.

So no updates on publishing right now (and probably not for a while), but for me, writing is a lifelong endeavour. I will only try to publish when it feels right in my heart. Thank you for asking!

[sodamnradd]

Please please please tell me the angst is coming. With Ron with Theo with Filch if need be I don’t even care I need jealous Draco tell me he is on his wayyyy

Trust me, angst will come and it will last a long time. Enjoy the levity while it lasts ;)

[sodamnradd]

Now that you’ve introduced Evan Rosier, it just came to me that he died pretty early on in the original universe during the first war.

Nevertheless, according to marauders lore he is as sociopathic and prejudiced as they come; so I find it strange that he would shake Hermione’s hand and introduce himself to her all smiles knowing he’s a staunch believer in ‘’muggleborns should all die’’ kinda doctrine.

Any plans for him as an antagonist? A potential replacement to Riddle? Any lore that you could give us about what his life is like and what he’s been up to now that he’s been given a chance to grow up?

thanx

Voldemort/Tom Riddle doesn't exist and never has. The Wizarding Wars never happened. I have stayed true to some characters' stories and fates regardless (i.e. Cedric), but it's safe to say they all have a different life in this society and while blood prejudice obviously exists, nobody in high pure-blood society is going to step forward to admit they wish to see Muggle-borns all die (we see this only through extremists who have very little to lose by acting highly radical--i.e. Cedric's death).

Also, Rosier wasn't all smiles when he met Hermione. He was rude, used Hermione's presence in Slytherin to make a jab at Lily Potter, implying that Hermione only earned her prefect role to make the house seem more progressive. Only after Snape stands up for her in front of the entire board of governors does Rosier save face. Hermione wouldn't have been rude to him if he'd been pleasant with her from the jump. No part of their interaction was pleasant.

[sodamnradd]

Im really bad at subtext don’t kill me but am I tripping or was Draco ever jealous of Theo’s place in Hermione’s life?

Great writing btw bated breath til the next chapter

I wouldn't say he is outright 'jealous' towards anyone because of Hermione at this point, but we all know Draco is a jealous boy so it's not out of the realm of possibility to see this slowly happen--even if he's not fully aware of it himself at first. We will see more of his relationship with Theo in the coming chapters.

[sodamnradd]

I just want to say I love Ecdysis. Your characterization of Hermione is incredible. She feels flawed, resilient, insightful, and deeply loyal all at once. It’s heartbreaking seeing how much her environment and the blood purity culture have shaped her. She’s constantly forced to hide, dull, or sacrifice parts of herself just to survive because of both her blood status and the house she’s in. Her compassion, her relationships, her connection to her family, and even her sense of self all been affected by this. It makes me wonder whether all that pain and repression is eventually going to catch up to her, and what will happen when it finally does.

I also find the pure-blood Slytherins incredibly interesting to read about. They all have such different forms of self-preservation and different ways of coping with the pressures placed on them. A lot of them feel like children who were forced to grow up too quickly because they were raised to become the “perfect” pure-blood. It feels like many of them have already lost the rose-tinted view of life that children are supposed to have.

Because of that, they seem to rush through different stages of growing up. We see them experimenting with adulthood far too young, and many of the girls (including Hermione ) trying to appear more womanly or mature. Pansy especially is one that stands out to me in this way because her flirtiness is most of the time less natural and more like something she’s learned to perform in order to secure a future betrothal and social security.

What makes it so sad is that, despite how hard they try to act grown-up and composed, there are still moments that reminds you that despite there act they are justchildren playing pretend at adulthood. They are just childrent trying to prepare and survive the life that was forced upon them.

Thank you for sharing your thoughtful observations. Agreed on all points. Pansy is particularly special to me and I look forward to sharing more of her story in future chapters. I don't really have much more to say other than I appreciate how you have interpreted my story and I love reading your thoughts as you read along, anon. It makes me so happy to know readers are resonating with my Slytherins. Sending you love!

[laurens-german]

OFF CAMPUS 01.06, The Breakaway

[petaltexturedskies]

Anne Brontë, Agnes Grey

[polartss]

wild geraniums🌸 the last one of the pieces I made for Illumicrate’s special edition of the Six of Crows duology!!

[sophie-baek]

OFF CAMPUS 1.02 "The Practice"

[clarevins]

And so, this little project finally comes to an end ❤️

I’m honestly so happy I got the chance to dive into this story and spend time drawing these characters. Evangeline and Jacks found a permanent place in my heart, and I truly adore them and everything they became together.

Maybe someday I’ll return to this world again and draw more fanart for Once Upon a Broken Heart. But for now, this is my farewell to them ✨

[julykings]

nudge

[sodamnradd]

It didn't clock to me that Theo and Draco were roomies 😯. It made me realize that I don't think we've really seen any significant interaction between them. I wonder what their dynamic is like as people who are just passingly in the same orbit as one another, no matter what they do

Yes! Blaise, Theo, Draco, Crabbe and Goyle all share a room. The girls are lucky because Millicent and Tracey were expelled so it's just Daphne, Pansy and Hermione in the fifth year girls' dorm room.

We'll see more of the Theo/Draco dynamic in the next chapter, actually. Funny you bring it up ;)

[sodamnradd]

thank for the snippet! it perfectly fits what I envisioned draco to be: overly greedy and curious about everything about hermione. I wonder if this will lead into draco teaching hermione about occlumency. I think hermione matches draco in her insatiable curiosity, but her curiosity is more focused on her intellectual craving for learning magic. I just know she can’t stand knowing that draco could be better at her than anything if she can help it.

very excited for the next update!! any idea when we might get the next chapter?

Thank you for the thoughtful message. I agree with you on all points. We will see this in the next chapter.

I'm a little stuck on this chapter, so it's been taking me a while to edit. But I have a couple hours of writing time carved out for tomorrow and I think I'll be able to work it out soon. My crystal ball says that a June update is likely.

[sodamnradd]

With Ron now officially in the story, will we get to see a bit of Harry too? Not even sure if he’d even be as close with Ron and the Weasleys since he’s not an orphan here but I’m curious on what your take on an emotionally adjusted and non-traumatized Harry would be. I feel like he’d be a very chill and friendly jock type since he’s a Quidditch prodigy. I think he’d also be super perceptive and just super Socially Aware because of his mom.

Yes. We will see more Harry but he won't be as significant as Ron (wow, what a first lol). If all goes well in his life, he would be how you described... but I may have other plans for the Potters lol.