“Draco Malfoy and Love In Love’s Trial of Repentance” has rapidly gained traction as a recommended fanfiction within the “Harry Potter” community, particularly after going viral on TikTok in recent years.
The author, Bridget Nightly, was initially unaware of the story’s growing popularity.
She began sharing the concluding chapters of her 199,000-word tale in October 2021 using the username “IsthisselfCare,” and released the final installment in April 2022, after which she posted a farewell message to her readers and logged off her account.
Months later, Nightly checked her email linked to her fandom account and found a flood of messages waiting for her. “I was overwhelmed by thousands of emails,” she shared with Today.com. “I started going through them, and literary agents and publishers were reaching out to me.”
Now represented by agent Thao Le, who also represents successful fanfiction author Ali Hazelwood, Nightly has been writing fanfiction for nearly 25 years. She reflects on her inspiration, stating, “I would watch shows and think, ‘These characters shouldn’t end up together.’ It was an impulse to ‘fix’ or explore storylines that Canon had left unresolved.”
For instance, she was dissatisfied with the conclusion of Elizabeth Swann in the first “Pirates of the Caribbean” film, believing the character should have taken a different path: “She should have ended up being a pirate,” Knightly asserts.
While re-reading the “Harry Potter” series in late 2020, Nightly decided to explore the dynamic between Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger, seeing it as a classic “enemies to lovers” scenario. “The Trial of Repentance of Being in Love with Draco Malfoy” marked her first venture into “Harry Potter” fanfiction, contributing to her overall total of approximately 2 million words in fanfics over the past two decades. The story leans toward romantic comedy, portraying Hermione as a skilled healer and Draco in a sympathetic light.
Upon completing the story, Knightly felt satisfied yet still had an urge to explore further, describing it as “a story of two lovers with a tumultuous history.” She crafted the narrative as an original work rather than a straightforward fanfiction, intending to capture “Dramione vibes” while also seeking something fresh and different.
Her upcoming novel, “The Charming Urge to Fall for Your Enemy,” is set for release on July 8 and will kick off the “Deally Beloathed” duology. This slow-burn romance features a sick assassin named Osric navigating antagonistic feelings toward Aurienne, a healer from a rival order, against the backdrop of an alternate 19th-century England where magic exists.
Fans of her fanfiction need not worry, as “The Trial of Repentance of Being in Love with Draco Malfoy” will remain accessible in the archives. While the plot of the new book diverges significantly, it still mirrors the signature elements of her previous works. “I’ve always included themes of denial and longing,” Knightly notes, expressing delight in writing a character who stubbornly refuses to acknowledge their feelings.
An excerpt from “The Charming Urge to Fall for Your Enemy” features Osric, an assassin confronted with the complications of his situation, as he meets Aurienne in a clinic after being summoned unexpectedly, leading to tension-filled exchanges between them.
