Notes on The Hourglass

This story was initially published: September 12, 2009 and finished September 26, 2010. I have been writing it for one year and two weeks. I can't believe it's finally finished—my first complete story! And my oldest one…

Introduction:

I thought of the idea for The Hourglass long before I started writing it—probably I first decided that I wanted to take on a multi-chapter Harry Potter adventure story sometime in the winter of 2008. I had a vague idea that I wanted it to be suspenseful, adventurous, romantic, and unconventional. I've never been a fan of common pairings, and I knew I wanted Ginny as a main character, since she's one of my favorites from the series (incidentally, I thought she was really poorly casted in the movies. But that's off topic :D)

Plot:

I think the idea took off after I watched the new Star Trek movie in May 2009. I thought the movie was reasonably good, but my favorite part that I wished they had expanded upon more was when Kirk gets stranded in that weird alternate universe and meets an older version of Spock. I loved the idea of meeting someone who was to be your friend in the future. All over the summer, I thought about this idea, and the first chapter that I drafted, as I've told you before, was chapter 16 in which Ginny finds out that she's dead in the future. All I knew was that I wanted a story that would be a strange time-travel romance with a twist revealed late in the story.

Characters/Pairing:

I really don't know where the pairing Blaise/Ginny came from. I'm not a super fan of it, but I just thought that for the plot of this story, which was sort of dark and suspenseful, it would be better not to use something common like Harry/Ginny. I somehow felt that Blaise and Ginny were a good match since Blaise's blasé attitude fits really well with Ginny's vivacity and wit. Blaise is drawn to Ginny's strength of character, ambition, and talent. Ginny takes much longer to warm up to Blaise, eventually accepting his single-mindedness and fortitude.

Organization:

I don't know if you realized this at any point while reading the story, but I planned very little of this story prior to writing it. When I wrote the first chapter, I only had an extremely vague idea of what was to happen before Ginny met Blaise in the future for the first time. About 80 percent of this story was complete improvisation as I wrote. I'm pretty good at improvisation however, so once I come up with an idea, I can put in motifs quite easily, such as the recurring thing with Occlumency.

Some parts, of course, were planned from the beginning. I had to know all the twists of the story so that I could properly foreshadow them, such as Ginny's death and the outcome of the Battle of Hogwarts. However, some details like the disappearances of Nott and Luna, and the role of the Slytherins, I didn't think of until I was there in the chapter, writing it.

Motif of Occlumency:

I liked the idea of Occlumency and Legilimency as a centerpiece of Ginny and Blaise's relationship. Although Ginny and Blaise offset each other in many ways, they also share similarities, such as the desire for greater power and a certain deep-set arrogance since they are both talented. Since their relationship is so troubled initially, full of pride and prejudice (hehe), performing Occlumency was a good way for them to learn about one another and about themselves. I liked how the story sort of wrapped around at the end and that they were able to share thoughts in order to win the fight with Bellatrix: it just shows how much their relationship had progressed.

The inclusion of the Slytherins and the diversity of the defense club was a parallel to Blaise and Ginny's relationship. It's literally a coming together of Gryffindor and Slytherin in a setting of desperation.

Themes:

A major theme of this story is how nothing is ever really planned out in life: everything exists only as far as in the choices we make. Circumstance is everything. Some things matter because they are important, while some things only matter because they are there. You can't help who you meet in your life, or who happens to be in the right place at the right time. Love is based off of coincidence more than off compatibility.

Other Things:

What I find interesting about The Hourglass is how it's actually two stories: one story is of the young Blaise and Ginny, in their year at Hogwarts, trying to learn to accept each other and teach their club. This story moves forward chronologically. The other story is of a dystopic future with a lonely Blaise where Ginny learns more about the nature of courage and circumstance. This story moves backwards. The two stories collide at the Battle of Hogwarts, which is clearly a very confusing and bittersweet experience for Ginny. It addresses issues of how nothing seems worth dying for in the end.

I ended off this story with a lighthearted scene on purpose. Blaise and Ginny are clearly united at the end, but it's not perfectly clear where they will go from there. The ambiguity is sort of nice, in my opinion. While there have been plenty of fights and troubling aspects to their relationship throughout the year, the story leaves off with a bit of humor, as if to soothe over everything and say, 'it doesn't matter after all'.

Relationship to Canon:

Obviously, this story is very AU; however, I periodically attempted to add in elements that corresponded to the canon so that the story would be more believable. The parts with stealing the sword of Griffindor, hiding out in the Room of Requirement, and being forced to perform Unforgivable Curses in class are directly fro the canon, which gives the story a more realistic feel. Obviously, however, many things have been changed and the new DA is nothing like the old one. I personally like mine better. :)

Characterization:

I tried to keep all characters as in-character as possible, because OOC ness really bothers me. I don't know how well I did on this account, but I think it came out fairly well.

Err….what else….?

I would like to thank everyone who kept up with this story in the good times (lots of updates) and…not as good times. In some chapters, there was a gap several months, but I was pleased to find that people would still give the story a chance.

The Hourglass:

A physical symbol of the ambiguity of life. Ginny can change circumstances, but it often feels as though things are meant to be and happen by chance. I really liked that the Room of Requirement burns at the end of the canon, because it sort of puts an end to all the skulking around of the story. The hourglass is also gone. What I really like is that it's unclear whether the hourglass turned when the Room of Requirement burned down. It's a bit like the ending of Inception: we're left wondering if Ginny is living in a normal reality, or only in some dimension of it.

So, Finally:

Thanks for reading.

Thanks for kindly ignoring it when I use annoying clichés.

Thanks for putting up with my dorky hourglass at the beginning of every chapter.

Thanks for being awesome enough to like this story!

I'll add more notes if I think of them later….