Day 8: rec a fic that was recced to you
📚 The Bolthole by aideomai, Tepre and GallaPlacidia
Draco/Harry, 54k, E
Summary:
Harry is a hoarder, Draco is grief-stricken, and both are capable human adults who can definitely spend a month in a cottage in the Cotswolds together without ever talking about the time they slept together in eighth year. Yeah, no, totally.
Lil story time to kick things off so I can properly convey how excited I am to rec you this fic! Here goes: I was freshly after reading Tepre’s Grounds for Divorce (which made me want board first plane to Luxor) and aideomai’s Far From the Tree (the way I screamed when I realised the final twist) when @sitp-recs reblogged the post with @haxkattpress’s georgeous bind for The Bolthole. Coincidentally, I was also in my Gallapod era at the time (and what an era that was 😭) so just now please take a minute to imagine just how exactly the stars have aligned for my poor fangirling heart at the time when I realised there’s a podfic of The Bolthole narrated by no other than Galla herself, who has co-authored this story IT’S JUST THAT AO3 DOES NOT SAY THAT because Galla went and became a successful published writer. How rude of her :D
So that was more of an inspiration than a rec? But hey, is there a better rec than taking your time and money to create a piece for the text? 🤍
About the story
First things first for us non-native speakers of English:
In this fic Draco escapes London to Harry's cottage in Gloucestershire, where the authors invite us to spend 50k words with them. There is a Major Misunderstanding™ theme which is very enjoyable indeed and the prose is, of course, exquisite.
Still, this fic's best feature in my opinion is how it tells the story of heartbroken, guilt-ridden characters and how they slowly heal. Oh, the way this story has broken my heart into a hundred pieces, only to put it back again in the most delicious way!
Exibit A: Harry has never had the opportunity to actually own much possesions so once he can have his own things he gets so lost in owning stuff that it gets completly out of control. . Draco helps him to get it a bit less out of control and I love it for them. I symphasize with this character so much, because I myself am very attached to objects: I like how they remind me of things, I like how pretty they are and I like having them in my own version of order (which is far from the typical understanding of tidiness, or so my husband keeps telling me 😅).
Exibit B: Draco has lost an OC parental figure and isn’t coping very well. (Harry is not great company at the time either but he is some company and the change of scenery helps Draco manage his grief and I love it for them as well.) The way Harry’s mental state is painted by his house. The contrast of Draco’s need to organize his sourroundings for comfort while Harry needs them to stay just the way they are.
And don’t even get me started on the cupboard under the stairs. Which Harry has barricaded. So Draco just took a crowbar and a hammer and kicked the door open. Which is such a beautiful metaphor for what he actually does here: literally stripping down the walls Harry has created around himself and one box after another makes an order out of Harry’s life.
All the while the feelings between the boys boil, the tension grows. Just look at the emotions in the scene when Draco realizes what the cupboard symbolizes to Harry:
“It’s only a cupboard,” he said. “It can’t hurt you.” Harry looked up at him, then. His eyes were blood-shot. He wasn’t upset, or angry: this one, Draco knew. This one was despair. He’d tried to board something up and the damn thing wouldn’t stay closed. “Ah,” said Draco, delicately. He knew his own despair was self-indulgent, ridiculous, but somehow it seemed wrong to suggest that the same was true of Harry’s. He wasn’t like Ron and Hermione, he couldn’t call Harry out, his instincts were all wrong, and he couldn’t leave him alone, either. He’d never had the knack for that. He took two faltering steps forward and went to his knees before Harry. “I see,” he said, and almost touched Harry—hands hovering. “One of those rare, malignant cupboards. The ones that can hurt you.” Harry’s eyes dropped to the ground, such a small movement, and yet so desperately, so horribly hopeless that Draco was overwhelmed with the dizzying rush of wanting to soothe, to take away all bad things. He couldn’t help himself: he took Harry’s face in his hands. “No, Harry,” he said. “You can’t be this sad. You’re supposed to be angry at me, not sad, this is not the right reaction at all.” And Harry, with a bad failed attempt at a smile: “I’m trying.” “Try harder ,” Draco said, and his hands were moving: over Harry’s face, his neck, restless. To his knees, squeezing him. “You see,” he said, and now his voice shook. “You see, if you keep on being so sad I won’t have any choice but to make violent love to you. It’s really the only option; I don’t make the rules.”
Spoiler: They do make violent love later on. It’s amazing. The intimacy between them and the power dynamics is just so ... I don't actually have words. I’m pretty sure I will remember this one particular scene for a long time (IYKYK😅). If you are into gentle D/s relationships, you are going to melt. Just like Draco did.
To sum up – an amazing read, a gorgeous listen, 12/10. I've put a few quotes under the cut for your heartbreak enjoyment.
Thank you for today @hprecfest and see you in the next one!
