Good to see that you have finished the story! Best to take your time in developing a plot and dialogue so that you get it right. Hope that your beta approves the final chapters soon.

Great Fic! I only found this story a few days ago, but keep the chapters coming.

Great to see you have posted another chapter. Lily is finally coming to admit that he might be reforming. I am distrubed that she is so unconcerned that Severus coould be seriously injured or killed if he is not warned immediately, just sothat she can be "sure" that is is sincere enough to suit her. I must admitt hat I had to read it several times to begin to figure out why Severus would go down to the Care of Magical creatures grounds diguised as Llily---he certainly wouldn't want to have the Junior Death-Eaters supect Lily as the saboteur! He certainly takes steps to protect Geoff O. when he uses polyjuice before in Chap 12. Hope you explain the amiguities in Chap 13----and what happened to Llewelyn? The authorities must be clueless and gutless to stand by during the attacks on Muggle-borns. Much like the thirties during the rise of Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, the Ku Klux Klan, and now other assorted dictators and terrorists. Post Chap 15 as soon as you can.

Author's Response: My underlying assumption (which may or may not be correct) is that the junior Death Eater types may harass or bully those who don't agree with them, but that they're not going to do serious harm to a half-blood who might actually serve a purpose-- they're at the stage where they are bullies, but not killers (yet). Think Draco before the assassination attempt on Dumbledore-- his activities with Crabbe and Goyle, stomping on Harry's nose, that kind of thing-- and that's what I was going for. The authorities at Hogwarts in Harry's time seem either oblivious to a lot that is going on, or willfully ignorant, and the students regularly take matters into their own hands, so I'm assuming that little has changed. Severus and Lily, just like Harry, are doing things by themselves rather than getting the faculty involved. As for him going down there disguised as Lily-- it's because he can't help himself. He has an excuse, and he's been wanting to do this for months. Plus, he is more concerned about the profs catching him than his roommates, because so far he has eluded the roommates pretty well. More about the Llewellyn plot in chapter 15, and I hope that clarifies it a bit-- of course, it's all clear in my head because I'm writing it, so it's useful to know what comes off as a bit fuzzy. :)

Glad to se that you have posted new chapters. it 9s really getting good, This is my favorite Severus story oo the fan fics. Of course Voldemort is a Wagner fan. (chuckle) The Death Eaters are so Nazi. I have been trying to anticipate how this fic will work out. Obviously, if Lily ends up with Severus instead of James, there will be no Harry Potter----so who destroys Voldemort? If Severus realizes that Mary is really the girl for him, would he join the Death Eaters and later become a double agent? Many possibilitis of dark endings here. So fascinating, Severus trying to learn to banter with Mary and learn the social skills that he has obviously never had a chance to observe during his life up to now. I wonder how Severus will be able to keep this up without getting killed by his Slytherin housemates before the year is out.

Author's Response: Believe me, I get sidetracked by all these possibilities when I'm writing it-- JKR really has created a character with so many twists and turns. :) I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much-- and sorry it has taken me so long to reply (and to post another chapter). Real life has been pretty busy lately. I'm working on ch. 11 and should have it up before long. Thank you for the review!!!

Another great chapter! I can't wait to read the next one, but also want you to continue taking your time between posts to get them right.
I think that McGonagall had figured out who "Geoff" really is when he slipped briefly out of charcter. She is a very sharp lady with years of teaching experience who has seen all of students" tricks. Her transfiguration class was the target of the first junior Deatheater's prank; during the Quiddich match she saw the Slytherin attemps to blast Severus out of the sky, and she would certainly notice that Severus haddn't hung around with the Slytherin crowd since the start of the school year . Teachers do discuss their students in the faculty lounge, but Minerva is one who keeps her own counsel, as has been previously pointed out. Again, you always surprise me.

Author's Response: I agree-- I think McGonagall would be smart enough to figure that out, and, quite honestly, that he could have just gone to her and told her his theory as himself, minus the Polyjuice, without worrying about being revealed. But given the circumstances, he's allowed to be neurotic about being found out-- and to have some fun experimenting with Polyjuice Potion, which I take it that few are smart enough to manage. Sorry for the delay-- I have another chapter just posted (waiting for approval) and chapters 14 and 15 ready to send off to my betas for their points of view. Thanks for your patience-- I've been writing this for a long time now. :)

I seldom submit a review, but your story really understands the persona of Severus. I have had some experience with at-risk youth; your analysis of the teen-age Severus is an apt description of case studies in articles such as "Why Boys Join Gangs" in Educational and Psychological jounals. Snape"s background has all the elements: poverty, unemployment, abusive parents, crime-ridden slums, drugs, bullying, poor social skills. Few boys are able to make the break from the gang culture, but I hope that Severus is one of the successful ones. Some of the helpful tools you gave him was the religious encounter in the irish catholic church service, a mentor in Professor Llewellyn and the favorable reaction of a few Hufflepuff & Ravenclaw students. I am afraid though that his plan to sabotage the attack by the junior Deatheaters will backfire and that he will be too discouraged to keep fighting. It has always disturbed the that JKR always portrayed the Marauder"s viscious pranks as "fun'. I always saw James Potter and Sirius as spoiled, snobbish rich fraternity boys. Hogwarts has a disturbing tolerance for student bullying , both of Severus and later of Harry by Draco and Pofessor Snape. And over and over again Harry is let off the hook for defying school rules. I am eagerly awaiting your next chapters.

Author's Response: Sorry it has taken me so long to reply to your interesting and thoughtful review-- busy time of year. I think JKR did a great job of making Severus Snape someone from a background that would believably lead him toward something like the Dark Arts without being an inherently sadistic or brutal person; I remember reading "Snape's Worst Memory" in OOTP and thinking that his teenage self was probably about one hex away from whatever the wizarding equivalent is of something like Columbine. And yes, it bugged me too that all that bullying was allowed to go on-- including Draco's treatment of Harry, Hermione and probably any number of Muggleborns, and Professor Snape's treatment of Harry and Neville in particular. The thing that bothers me the most about the Marauders' bullying is that they almost seem to get rewarded for it: Lupin is made a prefect to try to keep his friends under control, and James, after six years of asserting his dominance over everyone by hexing them left right & center, gets made Head Boy. After a few of the books, I just started taking it that this is how Dumbledore runs things-- he lets Draco bully Harry, but he lets Harry break the rules, for example. Not that I agree with it, but he tends somewhat toward a laissez-faire approach and, quite honestly, toward favoritism. Speaking of which, I suppose it's more realistic of JKR to have the good-looking, rich, spoiled, popular, athletic guy get the girl-- but it's so stereotypical. Personally, I don't think either one of them is a better person than the other-- JKR said something in an interview about Severus not deserving Lily, but if that's the case, James doesn't deserve her either. He seems to me to have as many flaws as Severus; he just has a more attractive and confident exterior and a mean streak that tends toward bullying instead of bigotry. James Potter has all the advantages-- a little bit of poetic justice for the underdog might have been nice. :)

I am glad to see that you have updated. It has been too long-------Please keep chapters coming. You have stuck to canon and kept within character very well. The final year at Hogwarts would have to be a very lonely one for Snape; he fears that Dumbledore's plan will not be ffulfilled and knows for certainty that one side or the other will kill him. Likely all for nothing.

Author's Response: Wow thanks! Snape is a challenge to write, but I love him so much I can't help it. I'm glad you think I've kept within character and stuck to canon appropriately - that's what I really want to achieve whilst trying to fill in some of the gaps in his story.

Well, this is different! I do want to see how this turns out, so keep writing. I had some internet connection problems, so I have a lot of work to catch up with, otherwise I would write more

Author's Response: I'm glad to have you reading, and reviewing. I am indeed continuing to work on this as my crazy mad life allows..... and I'd be pleased to see more comments from you when you have time and your internet boggarts have backed off !!

Thank you for sharing this story with us. I hope that in writing it that you can can find peace and comfort.
a few years ago when a very dear pastor of mine had cancer, he said that his last year had been a time of great sadness, but also of reat joy.

Author's Response: I really appreciate the review and your condolence given. I believe my grandmother would have thought along the same lines as your pastor. Thank you again!

Good poem! glad to see that you are trying a new genre. The challenge of poetry is to express your thoughts with an economy of words. It is harder to distill everything into a few perfect word choices than to ramble on for several pages of prose. I can't do that myself, but am dellighted tosee that you have succeeded.

Author's Response: Thanks for your review! I really wanted to try something different so it's great to see I succeeded :D