Very empathetic take on what having Alzheimers does to a person and their family and friends. The fact that it’s embedded in a slow-burn Harry Potter fanfic romance is basically irrelevant, as it should be – the subject matter is taken on with compassion and intelligence, and even though the romance tropes were sometimes a bit blatant, there was only a minimum of silly misunderstandings and hurt pride (which, you know, isn’t unrealistic, just grating when it’s the only plot point).
I particularly appreciated the look at Scorpius, a young child turned nonverbal by the death of his mother, and also that the protagonist has an actually supportive/snarky/etc friend group. The regular Girls Nights with the others (and a mix of tough truths, joking, support, and also conflicts of personality etc) made the whole story come alive rather than feeling like a clinical take on illness mixed with a romance. Really well done.
Plot summary
Beware: full spoilers! Also probably incomplete and possibly incomprehensible.
Hermione is an uptight, overworked, smart healer, and falls for Draco Malfoy when he gets her (after a bit of wrangling) to accept his mother as patient. Narcissa is deteriorating slowly, having magical Alzheimer’s. Lots of helping, pride, blah, but also falling in love with Draco and his son, Scorpio, who is nonverbal since the death of his mother. In the end, Narcissa is dead, the two are married and have another son and a wonderful supportive friend group.
