Veritaserum (Harry Potter story)
| Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Veritaserum |
| Author(s): | Calliope |
| Date(s): | 16 February 2003 - 05 March 2003[1] |
| Length: | 9,000 words |
| Genre: | drama/angst, romance, UST |
| Fandom: | Harry Potter |
| External Links: | Veritaserum at Restricted Section archived version at Quill and Ink |
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Veritaserum is a Harry Potter fanfic by Calliope. Written in February 2003, it is among earliest known stories to feature the Harry/Ron/Hermione relationship.
Summary: Hermione has a plan to heal wounds that have been festering for four years.
It is described as an AU futurefic to Calliope's novel The Last Time, which featured the Harry/Hermione and Ron/Hermione pairings. In Veritaserum, Hermione convinces Harry and Ron to take a truth potion and confess the feelings they also have for one another. It is rated "hard R".[2]
First Triofic?
Though commonly thought to be the first Harry/Ron/Hermione story written, this has been contested. It does seem to be the first triofic of its length; all known stories written earlier were several thousand words shorter than Veritaserum.
For example, The Three of Us by Pale Rider was written in July 2002 and is a vignette featuring a romantic and sexual relationship between all members of the trio. In September 2002, wyoluvr posted two H/R/Hr stories to FanFiction.Net: Countdown, a series of connected ficlets, and Until the End, a short story (and perhaps the first fic to be explicitly labeled Harry/Ron/Hermione).
Recs & Reviews
In the Harry/Ron/Hermione ship manifesto, Tarie writes:
I have been involved in the HP fandom for three years. I did not become a [Harry/Ron/Hermione] shipper until nearly 18 months ago when I first stumbled upon Calliope’s Veritaserum (which, to my knowledge, is the first Trio ship fic). I read the fic and it struck a chord with me. Until then, I hadn’t been able to decide whether I preferred Ron/Hermione to Harry/Hermione (I hadn’t even contemplated the notion of Harry/Ron.). I couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to choose between them and Calliope’s piece showed me that I didn’t have to choose – they could all be together. This fic opened my eyes to the pairing of Harry/Ron but really set me down the Menage a Trio path.[3]
Tarie also recommended the story at crack_broom, where she writes:
This is a wonderful piece that looks at the many different aspects of the Trio's relationship with one another. There are so many dynamics that are explored here, rather than everyone just piles into bed and gets down to business. Calliope takes the time to show us how they get there and the obstacles they face along the way. None of the characters are sugar-coated or have their flaws glossed over. We see them for how they are and who they are - the jealousies, the impatience, the sullenness, the tempers...Between the three of them, they sacrificed a lot in life besides their friendships with one another. And, as even the boys should have expected, Hermione figures out a way for them to come together again (and not without a small sacrifice on her part there once more).[4]
In a rec at Know it Alls, harmony_bites writes:
This is an AU future fic to Calliope’s novel The Last Time; I haven’t read that novel, but I didn’t as a result feel lost in the least, the story stands on its own. I read this because of a rec on crack_broom, and on the post the reccer writes that this may very well be “the very first Trio Ship fic,” having been written in 2003, pre-Order of the Phoenix. The threesome got off to a good start then, because this story pulled me right in, and each of the trio felt very much like themselves, with the closely observed details that make a character real to you.[5]
References
- ^ As posted on RS.org. Began on 09 February 2003 (calliope14 on LiveJournal, 01 March 2004. Archived by the Wayback Machine).
- ^ Though given an NC-17 rating at the Restricted Section, Calliope states later that it "really should be R, as it didn't turn out as graphic as [she]'d anticipated" (calliope14 on LiveJournal, 23 April 2003. Archived by the Wayback Machine).
- ^ Tarie. Stronger Together at ship_manifesto. 20 September 2004. (Accessed 07 January 2013.)
- ^ Tarie at crack_broom. Harry/Ron/Hermione - "Veritaserum" by Calliope, R. 01 February 2005. (Accessed 07 January 2012.)
- ^ harmony_bites at Know it Alls. “Veritaserum” by Calliope (teaspoon14). 20 December 2009. (Accessed 07 January 2013.)