Name: BrokenPromise (Signed) · Date: 05/29/15 14:34 · For: Chapter 1

Wow Vicki, this is such a heartfelt story. I love that this story ends so satisfyingly, closing the chapter on Privet Drive and allowing everyone else to turn a new page. The plot was engaging, believable and easy to follow and the characterisation of everyone was spot on. I really felt for Dudley; you make it easy to believe that he has truly matured as a character and has reconciled himself with his own childhood. I’m very glad I found this story: it’s well written with a calm tone and it’s a real gem.

Author's Response: Oh, BP, I'm so glad you liked this story. It was so satisfying to write it. I like how you expressed it, "closing the chapter on Privet Drive". It's the last little bit of their childhoods, finally gotten rid of. Everything will be different for all of them now. I felt for Dudlley too, for both of them, really. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. Vicki

Name: alittletiefling (Signed) · Date: 03/16/15 9:30 · For: Chapter 2

Aw! I like Dudders, but I've always had a soft spot for big lugheads who learn a lesson. And I LOVE this sneaky curse plot! I was so disappointed nothing came of the house at Privet Drive being abandoned that this more than makes up for it. Although poor Vernon. How often does anyone say that?

Author's Response: Not often, I'll bet. Thank you for reading and reviewing! It's kind of a mystery what happened to the house after the whole family left so suddenly. I've often wondered what the neighbors thought, whether the grass grew long and the flowerbeds were unweeded, and the mail piled up. And it seemed not impossible that after Voldemort's death some of his followers would try to get back at Harry out of spite, before they were all rounded up. I think everybody likes Dudders. He had a lot to overcome, but it seemed like he was coming around in the end, and he probably made out okay in the long run.

Name: Arnel (Signed) · Date: 01/11/15 20:09 · For: Chapter 2

It's sad that Harry and Dudley have parted this way, but because of the complications of their past, it isn't possible to mend the "rickety machine made of broken-down parts" enough to truly make them want to be a bigger part of each other's adult lives. There's just too much that went on between them as children and teens to repair the rifts created by Dudley's parents and Dudley himself. I do think that Dudley moving Petunia to another house is best, just because the move represents a new phase in her life and his. Maybe Vernon's death is a good thing, since it just might repair a few of those broken-down parts that is the Dursley family.

I also was struck by the fact that this is the first story I've read in which the Death Eaters tried to target Harry after the Battle of Hogwarts. I've read many fics in which Harry goes back to Privet Drive, prior to the Dursleys reinhabiting it, to have it cleaned and put back together, but never any in which a booby trap was set. I like your premise that Vernon would just shut the door and not open it until absolutely necessary, but there's a part of me that says that Petunia with her cleaning fetish, would have wanted to empty out the room long before Vernon opened it... it's just her nature to want every single room to be spotless, so it very well could have been her who died had the three of them not agreed to ignore Harry's room altogether. No matter what, though, I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter and the entire story. Thanks for posting it for all to read.

Author's Response: My premise was that the Dursleys, who were always somewhat leery of Harry's magical abilities, especially after Dudley was attacked by Dementors in the summer of 1995, became very afraid of any association whatsoever with the magical world after their forced exile in the summer of 1997. So when they returned to the house in 1998, they were sufficiently traumatized that even Petunia did not want to set foot in the room at all, and they didn't need the space anyway. Dudley was at boarding school for one more year and then off to the university or wherever he went, so they essentially had two empty bedrooms beyond their own master bedroom. Thus, they were in complete denial about the implications of what they had lived through, and pretended that that room just didn't exist. In my story I assumed that Harry's old room was at the end of the hall, thus making it easier to ignore. I'm sure Petunia kept the rest of the house spotless; obsessive cleaning would have been a way for her to deal with her fears and post-traumatic stress.

Perhaps Petunia did go into Harry's room in the old days, seeing that Harry felt it necessary to hide things under his loose floorboard while he was living there during the summers.

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing.

Vicki

Name: Arnel (Signed) · Date: 01/11/15 19:15 · For: Chapter 1

Oh, I like this mystery. However, what I like best is how you are writing the adult Harry and Dudley. While they certainly not best mates, it seems that they are at least civil towards each other, appreciating the circumstances that are bringing them together after all this time. I'm looking forward to chapter two.

Author's Response: Thanks for reading and reviewing. I hoped that people would not think it was out of character for Harry to say, "I would've made time for you," referring to going to Vernon's funeral, realizing that it was not a matter of honoring the dead man (which he did not) but of supporting his cousin, from whom he parted on a not entirely bad note. Perhaps, after all this time, blood is still a little bit thicker than water.

Name: Fynnsmom (Signed) · Date: 12/04/14 13:35 · For: Chapter 2

At times it seems that Dudley was bitter about all of the problems that Harry brought with him when he lived with the Dursleys. I'm glad Harry reminded Dudley that his life (Harry's) was no picnic either. The conversation about which one of them had done the most gardening was humorous. Dudley appeared to be unaware of some of the things that had happened when he was young. It was an unusual story and I liked it.

Author's Response: Thanks for the review. It was enjoyable to look at Harry and Dudley again after the passage of so many years, seeing ways in which their youthful qualities and experiences are still manifested in their maturer selves, and seeing that there are still loose ends to be tied up. A couple of weeks after I posted this story, I heard a news account of a hand grenade that had been thrown during World War II, lodged in the crotch of a tree, and never exploded. Over the years, the tree grew around the grenade until the little bomb was completely enveloped in the wood. Recently the tree was cut into firewood, and the wood chunk holding the hidden grenade was put into a wood stove to be burned, at which point the grenade exploded, damaging the stove but not hurting any people.
Vicki

Name: Northumbrian (Signed) · Date: 11/22/14 16:58 · For: Chapter 2

Thanks for a nicely drawn and thought-provoking story about Harry and Dudley. You kept both men nicely in character, with just the right amount of awkwardness between them. I particularly enjoyed seeing the Aurors arrive in a black Range Rover! :-D
-N-


Author's Response: Three guesses where the Range Rover came from, and the first two don't count! Like you, I appreciate consistency in the Potterverse, and that vehicle is certainly appropriate for the wizarding equivalent of Ghostbusters. Thank you for your complimentary remarks; I am glad that you thought that the characterization was accurate and that the story was thought-provoking. Vicki

Name: Fynnsmom (Signed) · Date: 11/21/14 15:22 · For: Chapter 1

I'm so happy to see you have a new story up. So far, so good. It sounds intriguing. I wonder what could possibly been in Harry's room to cause Vernon to collapse. At first, Harry couldn't think of anything that would've caused Vernon's death. Then, he changed his mind. Looking forward to next chapter.

Author's Response: It's nice to hear from you again, Liana. Thanks for continuing to read my stories. The prompts this year for the Terrible Two-Shot Challenge were pretty challenging, all right. I hope you will like how I finish it up in the second chapter. Vicki

Name: Snorkack (Signed) · Date: 11/21/14 14:33 · For: Chapter 1

Wow, this is really promising, can't wait for the next chapter!

Author's Response: Thanks for commenting on my story, Mary. I hope the second (and last, because this is the Two-Shot Challenge) chapter will live up to your expectations. :) Vicki

Name: SilverDoe_IsoBell (Signed) · Date: 11/21/14 2:31 · For: Chapter 1

I love how you've written Dudley and how his character has developed from the books. Really great fic and I can't wait for the next chapter!

Author's Response: Thank you for the review, Georgie! Dudley and Harry are 37 years old in this story, and my vision is that Dudley has learned a lot since we last saw him in Deathly Hallows. I'm glad you liked it.