Awwww, Carole, this was so sweet. I read your Thrustin (lmaoooo) a while ago but I don't know if I got round to leaving a review D: Will do if I remember -- just let me get through all the GH stories first :D

I liked this. I think it showed an interesting look into Justin's life both before and after he found out he was a wizard and how things didn't really change for him. Also -- I find it fascinating that you made Justin a lord. But then I remember that he was going to go to Eton, so I suppose his family must have been rich. Figures. :)

Theo is adorable in this too. I especially liked how it was Justin holding back and being the one who didn't want to make their relationship public, not Theo. Normally, it would be the other way round because Theo's a Slyth and all, so I liked that you flipped things a bit there.

Lovely, sweet story, Croll :D

Author's Response: Thank you. Mmm, I always have Justin as a lord. The back story being that he's not the heir until his brother's killed - although I killed him off differently in Fracture, I've just remembered. If he is aristocracy then he faces a lot more pressure to a) not be gay and b) not be a wizard. I might rewrite this and add a lot more backstory, but my list is huuuuuge at the moment. I hope you liked the Royal Wedding references. Thanks again. ~Carole~

Hehehehe, Jamie, this was rather funny. I think you captured the Fat Lady's voice so well, and even though it was set in relatively modern times, you retained the oldness of it, if you know what I mean ;)

Ngl, I totally rate you for picking such a cool pairing -- this is one that I would never have thought of, and even better is the fact that you actually made it really believable.

So, Jamie, you're one brave Puff. Well done on a good, solid story which was well-written and which made me laugh :)

~Soraya~

Hi Fenella :)

You've reviewed so much of my work that I thought it was about time I returned the favour! :) I think this is a great first fic, definitely better than my first one (please don't read it, lol). I've always wondered how Ginny would have coped during DH without Harry, and I think you showed how crippled she was emotionally because of his absence, and because she had no idea where he was or if he was even alive. It's a horrible situation to be in, and her feelings just sing through this piece.

I also thought it was interesting that Neville was narrating this -- at first, it was a little difficult getting into it because of the first person and everything, but I soon was sucked in. And I loved the title :)

Finally, I felt so sorry for poor Neville when it was revealed at the end that he fancied Ginny :( I mean, I kind of guessed it, because of how he described Ginny's body and her curves and whatever, but still, it was sad.

Anyway, this was a great first fic! I enjoyed it, and it deserves more than just one review (or two, once I've reviewed it). But reviews are becoming harder to receive nowadays because the fandom's dwindling >.< I'll be keeping my eye out for any new stories by you, though, Fenella! Well done. :)

Author's Response: Hi Soraya, Thank you so much! It's lovely to here some feedback on this as the more I look back on it the more faults I find with it! I played around with the first person a lot, originally it was third person but I didn't think it quite captured the importance of Neville's role in this, especially not his feelings towards her. I've always suspected Neville had a bit of a crush on Ginny, he did ask her to the Yule ball after all, however I don't think it's something he'd have ever acted on, and I really wanted to portray the fact he was putting her first, that he would rather she was happy than him, which I think is a big part of his personality. They must have all suffered so much whilst the trio were on the run, I think this is often forgotten. Thank you so much for your lovely review :) Fenella x

Hi Julia,

Congratulations on the QSQ win! I remember reading this story for judging, and as usual, your signature exquisite style completely took my breath away and even more so when Carole read it for Audiofics. I thought the sensuality this fic exudes is amazing, especially given the diversity of the four pairings -- even though each pairing was so different, I could see what tied all the vignettes together. And for what is quite a short one-shot, every character is incredibly well-defined and beautifully characterised.

To me, each vignette was a thoughtful character study. I found the first one explored Andromeda’s character so thoroughly; it’s interesting that you’ve never written her or Ted before, because I actually think this section was the strongest one out of the four. I think you really put across how much of an outsider Andromeda was, and I completely agree that her being with Ted is probably the first time she has ever felt truly loved. I really connected with Andromeda on a personal level here, because having family issues is never easy, and I can see how Ted would have helped her get through that and forget about the prejudices the Blacks held.

I also thought their physical relationship was brought out here really well -- the way you wrote it was sexy but never over the top or explicit.

She smiles as that word slips from his mouth, teeth pressed into his bottom lip, the assonant hiss of an ‘f’. It’s a glorious sound, a luxurious sound that in the day seems cold and hard and unfeeling but now, in the dead of night, it’s beautiful because she has done this to him.

I thought that was far more effective than writing the moment out in dialogue; there was something really heady and raw about the phrase, “the assonant hiss of an ‘f’”, and I think you described their sexual experiences beautifully without it seeming crass at any point. Throughout the story, I thought it was as ever really poetic and, at times, quite conversational, but never losing its lyricism.

Subtlety is definitely one of your major talents in writing, Julia, and in the Neville/Hannah vignette, Neville’s development in character was excellently done. After the battle, I think there’s always been a bit of a preconception that, just because Neville chopped off Nagini’s head, he’s suddenly brimful of confidence, so it was great to see his characterisation remain intact, in that Neville does not consider himself to be as impressive as everyone thinks he is. And that makes him even more endearing to read, for me. Also, I could see the similarity between how Neville is with Hannah -- unsure, quite insecure -- and how Andromeda is with Ted, because I felt Hannah understood Neville and saw through what everyone else thought of him, just like Ted understood Andromeda. So even though the two pairings are from different eras, I loved how there was such a clear link between the two of them.

The other two pairings intrigued me the most, I have to admit. I can remember reading a Parvati/Daphne drabble by you once, so I knew a bit of the backstory (assuming it’s the same?) from before. And even though I knew it didn't end well in the drabble, I was nevertheless saddened to read that section, because I really felt for Daphne there, with her unrequited love for Parvati. And the inclusion of Lavender/Parvati was interesting, too, because I have always thought that pairing was likely considering how close Lavender and Parvati were in canon. But what I think made that vignette all the more poignant was how accepting Daphne was of Parvati not loving her back; i can see why Parvati would use Daphne like that, and the bitterness from both of them was evident, especially as Daphne actually watched Parvati say Lavender’s name instead of Daphne’s.

The Scorpius/Hugo section at the end, meanwhile, was lovely in its optimism, which was definitely welcome after the saddest vignette of the four. Hugo was delightfully quirky, and you conveyed his slightly different mindset really well -- in that his perspective of a body as a map meant the title was incorporated without making it seem shoehorned in. The last line about how unimportant straight answers are is brilliant, because it really sums up the rich essence of the whole story: that love is not easy or straightforward, and I could see that so clearly in every single vignette.

Even though each vignette was short, I still got a really clear idea about the backstories of all the characters. A few reviewers said it would have been better with more, but I disagree, because each section works beautifully on its own, and I think each vignette had such a natural beginning and ending that I didn't need more backstory. In fact, they could have easily been four drabbles, but they also work together really well.

What I liked the most about this story, though, was just the sheer realness of it. There was something so raw and rudimentary about each section, and I think that was because of the imperfections in every relationship presented. This was a stunning story, Julia, all in all; you never fail to astound me with your flawless way with words, and it’s definitely my favourite story of yours (along with The Colour of Distance). Well done, and a belated happy birthday!

Soraya xxx

Author's Response: OH I completely missed this review, Soraya! I'm so sorry! I don't seem to get notifications anymore :(

Anyway. THANK YOU. What an amazing review :D Ted and Andromeda are one of those pairings that I don't write or read often but really should because I really, really, really like them. I enjoyed writing them a lot so maybe I will try and expand this headcanon I have for them :) Neville is always such a joy to write and I have written a few drabbles with him and Hannah so I'm glad you thought he was in character. And I did put that drabble after Ted and Andromeda because I thought the parallels between them complimented each other well so it's cool you picked that up, too. I have written a Parvati/Daphne drabble before but I never really intended this vignette to fit in with that. I started writing an expansion for that earlier drabble for the mystery challenge and never finished it. However, now that you mention it, I think the drabbles could fit together, especially since I didn't really take the aftermath of the battle into account when I wrote the original one... hmmm you have given me ideas! Hugo and Scorpius were A LOT of fun to write and I am actually expanding their story right now :D Thank you so much, Soraya. This was such a gem of a review to discover and I am sorry for not responding sooner!

Julia x

Oh hahahahahaaaaaa. For some reason, I actually thought you were going to ship them lolol.

THIS WAS FAB. I don't usually like AU, as I'm sure you know, but I did think it would be interesting if Arthur died. You did a great job showing how Molly would've reacted if he had died, and I LOVE YOUR NEVILLE. He's adorable :)

I would've left a longer review, but I have to get back to biology/statistics/maths. D: Heart youuuuu for writing it, though! I love it when I can infect people's minds with my weird ideas *giggles madly*

Hi Jamie!

Well, I thought I’d leave you a (rather belated) birthday review for your Nevlly, given I planted the idea in your head in the first place :)

I think you’ve done an excellent job giving Neville a backstory in this story. It’s easy to make it an infodump, but here, I loved how you presented Neville as such a broken and hollow man. We could see how formulaic and lonely his life was, with him going to the same pub every Friday, and it’s even sadder seeing it through Molly’s eyes, especially as Neville was Molly’s teacher. But also, the fact that this is a few years on from when Hannah and her baby died makes me feel even more sympathetic towards Neville, even when it’s from Molly’s POV. Her seeing him suffer and drown his sorrows in whisky made me feel so sorry for him, so well done there. And I loved how, in the next chapter, we got to see Neville’s side to things too -- the monotonousness of his drinking, especially He sat. Just sat. Neville is often your best-written character (given that he’s your favourite character, that’s not a surprise), and what I liked the most was that he wasn’t filled with angst or anything. He had a tragic story, yes, but I liked that you didn’t over-dramatise it.

But I think your other victory here is Molly. The thing that makes this cross-generational pairing convincing is the characterisation of both characters, but especially Molly -- her attention to detail, the fact that she knew exactly how Neville liked his drink, and even the way in which she read too much into Neville offering her a drink, all these aspects of her character were excellently chosen and really made me understand, as a reader, why Molly was attracted to Neville -- possibly before Molly understood that herself, come to think of it. Also, I'm glad the whole issue of student/teacher was addressed, because even though Molly had left school, I think it still is something which could potentially affect their relationship. I’d definitely like to see Percy’s reaction to it :)

I also thought you did a great job with the two settings -- in the first chapter, the Leaky Cauldron, and in the second, Harry and Ginny’s party. I liked the contrast between them, with the pub being quiet and the party being a lot louder. The humour in Harry and Ginny’s note to Neville was welcomed as a moment of light relief compared to the far darker parts of the story, and even though it wasn’t a major part of the story, I loved the mentions of Teddy/Victoire in there too. Teddy in particular was adorable, the way he was drunk and how he forgot his speech while proposing to Victoire -- it was a very sweet scene, and I felt even sadder for Neville because I knew that it would bring back memories of Hannah and his proposal to her.

Oh, and Hermione’s perceptiveness with Neville was really well done too. I think it’s more realistic that someone, at least, would pick up on Neville’s and Molly’s changing relationship, so it was fitting as well as quite amusing that Hermione was aware of it. So far, though, this story’s been quite character-driven, so it will be interesting to see where things go from here. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this so far, Jamie; you’ve really brought this cross-gen rarepair to life (even if I had meant the idea to be a joke). Dark!Neville is so intriguing, and you’ve explored his character excellently. I look forward to the next chapter!

Eeeep sorry I took a while getting to this! I kind of decided to have an early night when my sister stole the laptop from me... anyway, YAY to Dominique dumping Myles. He had it coming to him. Though I'm wondering how awkward things would have been at Dominique's work (unless she quit?), but with the constraints of the word limit, you probably didn't have room for that, lol.

And poor Dominique! I can imagine how strange it must have been for her to be told that Mags was leaving and then find out that she's not. By the way, I so loled when Mags said "gotten". Seriously, I had to actually scroll to the top of the page to check the author, lol! But she *is* American, so she would say that.

This is honestly a terrible review, but your story is excellent. I think things were a little rushed at the end (Dominique breaking up with Myles, and then her finding Mags and everything), but like I said, I'm guessing it's more because of word count restraints than anything.

Well done, though! This story deserves far more reviews, imo.

Author's Response: Yes, twas the word constraint that stopped me. I was about 8 words short of 10k in the end *sigh*. Okay, if you read Stars of Carousels (which I know you have ;) ) you might remember Dominiques profession from there. She's working as a chef. I make an oblique reference to her liking cooking in all this, and also references throughout that she could be on the verge of quitting the job, so I sort of thought that was enough, although I did have to cut an entire section in the coffee shop where she explains to Mags about cooking and spending time with both grandmothers in their kitchens :( . Sigh* word counts get me every time. I might re write some bits when the challenge is over ... if I have the energy.

Thank you very much for the review and all your others. It's very much appreciated. ~Carole~

Hello, Katrina!

I must say, this really deserves more reviews :( Anyway, I thought I'd review you since you left all those lovely reviews for my stories a month or so ago. Plus, I know that when I read a Katrina story, chances are you'll do something really interesting with the style and also have some great characterisation (and I definitely was right). It’s great to read more of your work after so long.

The premise of this story is unique, I think: a monologue by Eileen Prince about her relationship with her husband after she has died and become a ghost is really original. I know that the whole issue of life after death in Potterverse is pretty complicated, so kudos to you for carrying it out so well. It would be easy to go over the top with such an issue, but you addressed it thoroughly (such as Eileen’s regrets about not going on and how she was so tied down to life that she didn’t want to go on), which I thought was great, because, like I said, it’s a bit of a murky topic. And yet the clarity of Eileen’s voice helped in making it far less confusing than it could have been.

Eileen and Tobias's story is something that I've always wondered about, ever since Snape said that her parents argued a lot, but also in the whole of HBP, when it became evident that Snape really hated his father for being a Muggle and that he preferred to go by his mother’s name because she was a witch. I liked that you built on that piece of canon information a lot and made the characters three-dimensional while also sticking to the characterisation (or what little there is, anyway) in the books. What was great was that both Eileen and Tobias had their flaws, flaws which were really important in making both their characters unique -- for example, the fact that Severus’s conception was an accident, and that Tobias became abusive. Tobias’s backstory, about his troubled childhood, gave a perfect explanation as to why he did the things he did.

The way you began the story, with the description of how their relationship began, and the details of the brownies and the roses, made the chemistry between them evident. I especially liked how things were once romantic for them as a couple -- it makes their relationship so much more valid and realistic, because I think that spark of attraction would obviously be necessary for them to eventually marry. Also, the idea that Eileen had to cling to those memories is so very sad, and it made me sympathise immensely with her, particularly because Tobias didn’t love her back, and Eileen loved him far too much for there to be any balance in their relationship. And it was even more horrible for Severus, who neither of his parents really cared about, although Eileen referred to him as a “good person”, so perhaps she did love her son to some extent. Despite Severus never appearing directly in the story, I felt so sorry for him for having to live in such a household, where his parents were constantly arguing and everything. The fact that I felt anything for Severus at all is an achievement, Katrina, so well done there!

The style in this was intriguing -- the use of first and second person for the majority of the story and then second person for the section in the middle was, I’ll admit, a little confusing at first, but it didn’t take me long to work out who was speaking when. And the style was certainly effective. There was some really raw emotion in this story, Katrina, and I think this was achieved at least in part by the choice of POV -- the first person made me empathise with Eileen but also understand why she fell for Tobias, and the second person made the tone of the story incredibly regretful and gloomy, because Eileen was addressing the person who she was so in love with despite him not loving her back. The section in the middle which is entirely second person worked well, too, because I think it made the narrative seem more detached, and I got a pretty cold impression of what Tobias was like. Also, in terms of style, the sparse dialogue and short, sharp sentences was really effective here, because I think this is a mostly character-driven story, and it was dependent more on Eileen’s narrative of the story rather than dialogue moving it along.

As you can tell, Katrina, I enjoyed this story a lot. I don’t often read about Eileen and Tobias, so this was a great insight into Eileen’s mind. It’s nice to see you back, and I hope to read more from you soon!

Soraya x

Author's Response: Hi Soraya, Thankyou so so much for this lovely review, and I'm sorry I'm a bit slow in replying, I'vej ust been away, and it was great to come back to this. I'm glad you thought the story was a unique idea... I can't really remember how I came up with it, it was about a year and a half ago, and I started the story and got stuck, so it had been sitting on my computer, half-finished, for a long time. Ghosts in the Potterverse half always interested me, and (as you know), I've addressed this topic in other stories as well. I think a person has to have a really big reason to stay on - at first, perhaps, it sounds good, but like the Resurrection Stone, it's just an imitation of life and ghosts can never fit in. Anyway, I'm glad you thought I handled the topic well. I've also been interested in Snape's parents and upbringing since HBP - while I don't really sympathise with Snape often, it's interesting to know why he's like that - if his parents had loved him and each other, would he have hated Muggles etc. - I think him hating his father is very tied into him hating Muggles. But I also like the idea that his mother didn't love him enough, because I think the reason he fell so hard for Lily was that she was the first person who cared. I think Eileen did love her son deep down, but she pushed it down because she was so desperate for Tobias' approval, and she regrets that later. I thought they must have had a romantic beginning, because a Muggle and a witch would hardly have married for convenience, or because their parents/societies told them to etc... although for Tobias it wasn't really love, just being loved. Which ties in with his childhood, and why he became abusive, but also why he married her (am I making sense? I hope so). I'm glad you didn't find the style too confusing, I know it can be a bit like that, but I liked the combination of first and second, because you sympathise with Eileen and the second person because she's addressing him and it's almost accusatory (not sure that's the right word). I'm glad you also liked the short sentences and little dialogue, I do like writing like that, and I think it works for short character pieces. Anyway, I'm not sure I deserve such praise from you, thanks for this lovely review :). Yep hopefully you'll see more of me soon. ~Katrina

Hi Carole,

Wow. I can remember reading this last year when you first posted it for the Character Clinic Triathlon, and upon rereading, your story still made me cry. What a sad and beautiful rendition of Ted and Andromeda’s romance. I love how you portrayed the imperfections of their relationship and also explored Andromeda’s character, giving a much fresher outlook on her than the typical fandom portrayal of Andromeda as a rebel. And out of all the songfics I’ve ever read, this is definitely up there with the best, because the way you weaved the lyrics in to the body of the story was flawless.

The setting of the park was so well-chosen, with that opening image of the nameless couple Andromeda is watching. I liked how this couple acted as a foil of what Andromeda and Ted could have been -- as a couple content to be out in the open, without secrets and the fear of disownment. I could sense Andromeda’s jealousy of them, despite her scorn of how “ugly” they looked. And this constant reminder of a normal and open relationship, the complete opposite to what Andromeda had to Ted, was a really powerful yet subtle background image throughout the story.

When first reading this, I was really interested also to see how you had integrated the song into the story, as per the challenge’s parameters (which, from what I remember, were that the song had to be playing throughout the story). I can remember you saying on a few occasions that you generally weren’t a fan of Muggle songs and literature being constantly referenced in fanfiction, and I have to say I agree with you. But that’s why the way you weaved the song into your story was so good. The way you set up the Muggle couple playing the song while in the park and, later, Andromeda playing it and remembering Ted and his proposal, was really well thought out and a believable way for Andromeda to be familiar with Muggle music. It made perfect sense in the Muggle framework of Potterverse during the seventies.

In terms of structure, I really appreciated the arrangement of scenes in this story and was never once confused, even if it was non-chronological. I liked how the song lyrics separated each scene and signified a change in time. The ending especially, with the flash-forward to Ted going on the run, was really fitting, as I felt the story ended on a sad note, made even sadder by Tonks’s optimism that her dad return. Moreover, Tonks’s line, “This time, next year, we’ll all be spending Christmas together. You, me, Remus, Dad and Baby Lupin”, was even more heartbreaking because only Andromeda and Teddy survived the war.

On that note, I found Andromeda’s characterisation refreshingly different from the few times I’ve read about her before. I think the fandom perception generally is that she is very similar to Sirius in her rebelliousness, so it was interesting to see you step away from that and not have her as a full-on rebel. As you said in a review response to someone else, the fact that Andromeda was Sorted into Slytherin suggested maybe she did feel some sense of belonging to her household, even if she disagreed with their views, and it was only with Ted that she first really rebelled. Her denial of Ted’s suggestion that they would disown her for carrying the child of a Muggleborn showed that she was somewhat different to Sirius, to me, as did her insistence that her family loved her.

I also loved the way you moved away from the clichés about first times and highlighted the imperfections of Ted and Andromeda’s relationship through the fact that their first time felt “horrible” for both of them. I thought that was far more realistic, and I could feel Andromeda’s disappointment at the lack of crashing waves and “songs” and “tender poetic sighs”. But at the same time, the way Ted sought to rectify that made him so likeable as a character, as did his second proposal to Andromeda after finding out she had lost her baby. The fact that Ted only asked her before when she was pregnant, because he didn’t think she would accept otherwise, made me really see the insecurities he had, even if the focus of the story was on Andromeda.

Finally, I thought you handled the topic of miscarriage excellently, with due sensitivity and without it seeming in any way like a plot device. I could see how much pain it had caused Andromeda and how it had upset Ted. This line in particular summed it up perfectly: “I made him cry. He cried for a baby he never knew, and I still can’t”, as I think I could really feel how important that baby was to Ted, and also the effect of suppressing her own emotions had on Andromeda, to the point that she couldn’t even cry. Still, I was so glad to see Ted propose to her in spite of her losing the baby, as he proved to her that he wasn’t just doing his “duty”, for the baby, but was actually in love with her. I think that spontaneity is a trait we see much later in Tonks; I don’t know if that was intentional, but it was a nice touch nonetheless. :)

Congratulations on winning in the Character Clinic Triathlon! You really deserved it, and I intend on nominating this for a QSQ after posting this review. Well done :D

Soraya xxx

Author's Response: I have taken my time responding to this because I was so blown away with the gorgeousness of your review that I closed the tab and ran off to wibble and squee in a corner.

Soraya, thank you so much for this amazing review and I'm glad you appreciated the story. I do have a hard time reading song-fics because so often the action is shoehorned in to fit the lyrics and this characterisation or plot are forfeited.

I'm also not convinced Andromeda was exactly the same as Sirius. She rebelled later, and maybe she was Sorted 'too soon', however not all Slytherins are evil, so why could she not have been Sorted because she shared some traits, but was open-minded enough to realise that they were wrong. Regulus, I think, is far more like her than Sirius in that respect.

Anyway, i'm going now. I'm still in post-review glow. Thank you, my lovely. ~Carole~

OOOOOOOOOOOH

Gina, I planned on leaving you a SPEW review for this, but I'm so gobsmacked that it would get a terrible score, lolol.

This was fabbbbbbb! And totally unexpected, most definitely.

Okay, I shall start from the beginning. I liked how you introduced Graham, and how he seemed to have had quite a few problems and then rectified them. I definitely think he was given a fitting job, considering what happened to him in the Vanishing Cabinet, and his fear of Apparition made sense.

I loled at Adrian and Gemma, but I did think that when Megan came into the scene, I kind of skimmed over things a bit. If their conversation was written out as dialogue, I think it might have been better, as we were told a lot of things but not really shown them properly. I still think they had good chemistry, but it would've been even better if you had more of their conversation.

*spoiler alert -- DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE STORY*






And then they went into the back room. I do think that was written well, and ngl, I didn't understand why Megan was so cold, either. But I'm wondering how it's possible to have sex with a ghost, lolol, considering what they're like in canon. I certainly can buy that Graham wouldn't have noticed that she was a ghost if he was drunk/it was dark/etc. That isn't a nitpick, btw -- I just want to know, as much as Graham does, about how that was even physically possible, lol.

Anyway, picks aside, I thought this was wonderful and ingenious, Gina. (You are a true Claw, hehehe) I expected it just to be a funny parody of Fifty Shades of Suck with a bit of good smut in it, but you made it so much more than that. You added some wonderful depth to Graham's character and Megan's, for that matter, even though she remains a somewhat mystery, lol. This deserves wayyyyyy more than one review, though, so *hugs*

WELL DONE!

Author's Response: Another review! Squee!! Thank you so much for daring to look at this strange little piece. Gobsmacked, eh? I figure it's not what people might expect, esp. from me. It certainly started out as quite a different idea in my mind. Poke me if you want to know my original plan for parodying 50 Shades, lol. But then it morphed into something more serious, something real. I'm glad you enjoyed it. So two things: first of all, I totally see your point about more dialogue between Graham and Megan. That probably would have built up their connection more, but you know what? I just didn't want to. LOL! I simply felt like glossing over it and getting to the important stuff, so to speak. I just wasn't interested in writing out so much talking over the course of the evening. Ah well, I think it works without it, just maybe not as much. As for the sex/ghost bit - yeah, who knows. I just wanted to leave ghostly clues - cold skin, strange glow, the haunting reference. I didn't stop to think of the mechanics of it. That's for Graham to discover in the DoM, because in my mind, Megan has not only sort of revived him a bit, but also sparked an interest in the subject. He really does try to solve the mystery. Does he? I don't know. Maybe I can write a sequel for another challenge, lol. But it was fun--hard work, but fun in the end--finding all sorts of chantreuse references and working out Graham in my mind. I'm still a bit surprised at ending up with such a decent guy, lol. I'm glad you enjoyed him, and the story, and just THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ACTUALLY REVIEWING THIS!! *hugs* ~Gina :)