I really enjoyed this story, it was very sweet and I liked that you wrote it from Lily's perspective, even though she wasn't in the main pairing of the story. I thought you did a great job of showing how torn Lily was between being happy for them and being a bit weirded out by out - it felt really natural for her to feel that way.

I also liked the friendship you showed between Lily and Emma, especially at the start, they seemed to relate really naturally together and I could tell they had been friends for years.

I also liked the undertones of Lily/Teddy (at least from Lily's point of view) - it added to the story to have both Lily and Emma acting a bit differently to how they normally would on vacation.

I also thought it was interesting how you presented James - Lily's perspective still shows him as immature (putting dungbombs in her trunk - which he probably did years ago), and Emma's perspective shows how he has grown up. It made him a believable character and worked really well here.

Anyway this was a really sweet story and I enjoyed reading it :).

~Katrina

Author's Response: Oh my gosh, I can't believe I didn't respond to this! Thank you so much for the lovely review! This idea of having Lily deal with her best friend falling for her brother was a plot bunny I've had for awhile, so I'm glad that Lily's feelings did come across. Maple

I thought this was a lovely piece, Jess - you really captured how Hugo felt about his sister going to Hogwarts and knowing that he would never be able to go. I think that's one of the saddest things about the wizarding world - that there can be Squibs, or muggleborns with muggle siblings, because it would be so hard not to feel hard done by all the time.

I also liked how you showed Ron and Hermione as trying their best to care for their son.

I thought Hugo's attempt go to Hogwarts by sending the letter himself was very realistic as a childlike response to the situation, and I felt so heartbroken for him when it didn't work... although of course I knew it never would work, and it would be worse for him to go to Hogwarts without magic than trying to live as a muggle.

Anyway, this was just really nicely written and very sad.

~Katrina

You literally had me in tears by the end of this story. I read it straight through and even though of course I knew where it was going, you expressed the characters and articulated their problems so clearly and beautifully and poignantly in this.

I liked the way the whole story fit together. I thought it worked well to have the four Marauders first and then Lily, who is almost part of them but then not quite. I also liked how Cynthia's death ran as a theme through all the chapters and how you showed each character responding to their grief in a different way.

Your characterisations are fantastic. You really nailed James - I liked the line He was usually so much better at picking up on her moods, even if he didn't know what to do about any of them. I think that shows James so well - it's not that he's unaware of Lily, he just so desperately wants to fix everything and he has no idea how to. I think you compare him to a puppy at some point and that works well too because he does want things to be ok. I also think you articulated his conflict between caring for his family and fighting in the war, for which there is really no answer because not fighting would mean not being true to himself, but it does mean putting himself in constant danger which could (and of course does) eventually hurt his family. Although I sometimes find some solace in the fact that James and Lily died together (same for Remus and Tonks) because I'm not sure they could have survived without each other.

As for Sirius, I loved how you worked in the idea of him turning into a dog, particuarly the image of him as a dog with his tail between his legs when he saw the girl being tortured. That worked really vividly for just showing how much Sirius was affected by the war as much as he puts on a brave face.

With Peter you showed his not quite belonging to the group so well - I loved the conversation he heard between Remus and Cynthia and how that made him feel and sort of reverberated through his thoughts and changed his interpretations. I also liked that he isn't a Death Eater yet - a lot of people write him as becoming a Death Eater during Hogwarts, but I think this is much more realistic, because at this point he has felt a lot more hopelessness about the war, and a lot more fear, and a lot less heroism because he is doing different things to his friends. I also liked that you made him perceptive and be the first to realise something was wrong with Lily and James - being observant and perceptive must have been necessary when he was working as a double agent, and I don't think of him at this stage as the really broken character we see in canon.

I really liked how you drew in the werewolf situation as being separate from Voldemort, and how Remus was affected by talking to the other werewolf. I thought it was really interesting to have a rift in the Order over it, because as much as we like to glorify them, it is entirely believable that that prejudice would have been there since it was pretty much ubiquitous in the wizarding world. I also liked how this played out in arguments between him and Sirius and James, because even their strong friendship is tested by this.

And then Lily. I liked how you compared the apparent difficulties of pregnancy with her challenge of waiting all the time, which also tied in perfectly with the title. I liked the bit when she says she isn't waiting for James to come home, but for him not to come home - that is such a simple phrase but it expresses so much. I also thought it worked that she is aware she is angry all the time and she doesn't want to be and she knows there is no resolution but she still feels that way. In both Lily and James you've created a really nice paradox between youth and naivity and a more mature almost cynicism about the world, particularly relating to Lily's pregnancy and what it means to bring a child into this world. I loved her conversation with Cynthia about what it means to fight or do something else in the war, and it was all the more heartbreaking for her when Cynthia died and that was their last conversation.

I liked that you brought this story to a resolution between Lily and James at the end - not a "happily ever after" resolution, but a sort of coming together anyway. It makes it bitter sweet, because there is so much love between them but we know that that won't last.

Anyway I really loved this story, even though it covers a very familiar topic you've written and characterised it uniquely and really effectively and you pose some really interesting questions about war and its effects, and I like that you don't give answers because there aren't any anyswers to that.

~Katrina

Author's Response: Thanks for the review! I'm so glad you liked the story. I was a little worried about it because it is rather depressing and doesn't resolve the James/Lily issue in a perfectly happy way. But I really wanted to write something where things aren't perfect and happy because they're fighting a war and their friends are dying and that kind of constant grief and fear and stress often really hurt people.

I really liked this, Soraya. You did such a great job of characterising Remus, and he's one of my favourite characters so I always love reading about him anyway haha.

I liked the way you started their relationship as shared grief over Sirius, which gradually developed into something more - it makes sense that way, because I think Remus would have been too afraid to put a label on it initially.

I loved this section - And he knows and has always known, deep down, that he will never belong with Dora, because she is whole, human, and no matter how much she might try to convince him that he is, too, Remus knows he isn’t. That to me just gets to the core of Remus - no matter what people say to him, he still feels they are better off without him. And you can sort of see why he would be like that - not just being a werewolf, but then finally making friends at Hogwarts and losing them all again. His life is so sad... but at least he gets to be happy with her in the end, and they die together. Anyway, back to your story.

It's really well-written - the dialogue seemed really natural and I got a sense of their relationship from it. I particularly liked the part when Dora tells him she loves him, because in that moment they're both so vulnerable and you can see how much they love each other.

So I really liked this, I hope it gets more reviews soon!

~Katrina

Author's Response: Eeeeee, Katrina, thank you so much for another wonderful review! I am totally on hiatus and have only posted this story because I just had to add about 300 words to it (it started out as a 900 word drabble for this activity we do in SPEW called LoveNotes, where basically each of us list pairings and prompts and we gift each other anonymously), and even then, I thought it wasn't my strongest or anything, so it means so much to me that you enjoyed this :)

I love Remus too. He is adorable, and I've recently got into pairing him with James, Sirius and even unrequited with Lily, because gah, he is such a fabulous character. Thank you so much for saying I characterised him well. That means a lot :) Also, I always planned for Remus and Tonks to get together over Sirius. It was something they had in common, I guess, and I also have always thought they had a relationship before the big declaration in the hospital wing. I definitely agree that Remus would not want to label their relationship and that he'd probably think such labels -- boyfriend/girlfriend, lovers, etc -- were trite and unnecessary anyway.

I totally agree with you re Remus basically thinking everyone is better off without him. I see why he would think like that, since yeah, he did lose his best friends, and it still saddens me to think that once he is happy and even has a child with Tonks, they both die :( You're right, though -- at least they die together.

I do love writing dialogue, but I have to say, I found it difficult this time. Possibly because I write the whole "I love you" thing so often that it was hard not to just recycle a past conversation? I'm not sure. I am so flattered, therefore, that you still enjoyed that bit because I agree completely that they are both very vulnerable people but they love each other so much. Which is why having Remus leave was so hard to write.

I'm really glad you're back, Katrina :) I miss your reviews, even if I won't be writing much until at least June once my exams are over. I know my flist agrees :D and I hope you'll be sticking around for a bit :) Than you so much for the lovely reviews once again and ♥

Soraya xxx

This was a really interesting story and I think you really captured that unique position that Ginny is in, closer to the trio than anyone but still not part of them. I think you really showed the emotions this makes her feel, even when she feels bad for feeling left out. I also liked the idea that when she is finally with Harry in HBP that she is hoping to finally be let in on the secrets - but it doesn't happen then, or ever really. She's always longing for more until at the end she is satisfied with where she is.

I also think you handled Ginny's character well, from the shy girl we first meet to the strong girl at the end, and I liked how you drew on her being the youngest and connected it to not being included with the trio (eg when her mother tells her she is 'too young' for something).

I adored this line - "I just can't sleep without them in the same room," she explains quietly the next morning when asked about it. "I have to know they're okay. You understand?"

She nods, but she doesn't. After all, she has spent nine months sleeping without knowing where they were or if they were alive. I think that just shows how much Ginny has had to cope with, but everyone is focussed on the trials of the trio. It also just shows how she's not part of what they have.

I liked the idea of the "back-up trio", I thought maybe you could have made reference to the understanding between Ginny, Neville and Luna - I know this is supposed to be focussed on the trio, so I know why you didn't, I just thought it might add to it because in my mind Ginny has a strong bond with them.

There are just a few times where you change tense, like the ending line "That was fine with her" suddenly in past tense. To me it would flow better if they stayed in present tense. Just a small comment.

I also think you captured the trio really well, particularly in the relationship between Harry and Hermione at the end and how platonic that is but how they need each other for comfort, not other people (does that make sense?).

Anyway I loved this story, it is a bit bittersweet and beautifully written and characterised.

~Katrina

Author's Response: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I'm really glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, I've read a few fics where Ginny becomes one of the trio but that never seemed right to me. Those three went through so much together that it makes sense that they would become reliant on one another and quite insular. Not on purpose though because they all obviously love Ginny, it's just that she wasn't there. Her being the youngest and only girl in the family probably added to it - I know my own little sister always wanted to be involved with stuff anyway! Gah, I knew there would still be some tense issues. I couldn't decide which tense to have it in so I re-wrote this several times to change it so a few were bound to be wrong. Thanks for pointing them out! And finally, I'm glad you enjoyed the Harry/Hermione interaction. I love their friendship so it's nice to hear. Thanks again for the lovely review :)

Lori, this is an exceptional story - one of the best stories of young love that was taken away by the war that I've read in quite some time.

I loved how you started off with quite a sweet teenage love story - even though it wasn't new, it was written really nicely. Lines like this one are really sweet : The corners of her mouth turned up, and something surprised him: when Hannah smiled, she was a lot more pretty than plain. It just captures the two of them and their relationship really nicely. Both of their awkwardness at knowing they liked the other but not knowing if they were liked back was really well done too, you just got right into the mindset of 16 year olds.

I liked how you started to introduce the approaching war through the attack on the train at the end of fifth year, and then of course it all comes crashing down when Hannah's Mum is killed. The last paragraph of the first chapter is perfect, you encapsulate Terry's mixture of feelings so well, as in sadness for Hannah and her Mum but also for himself as he feels he's lost Hannah.

I loved your description of how Hannah feels lost when she returns to Hogwarts, which is going on as if nothing had happened. You really show how much of a disjunct this is for her. I also liked how you described her friendship with Ernie, it's very sweet. Ernie didn’t know what to say either, but it didn’t stop him trying. He was her best friend, like a favorite sweater on a cold day. It might be a bit frayed and imperfect, but when the cold finds you, it’s the one you want. That's just such an original image but also one that everyone can relate to.

This section really brought tears to my eyes - That was all she would be able to manage, at least for now. And her hope was that, if she did it ten times in a row and then twenty and then fifty, that one day far off, she might take a full, deep breath again. / And then, maybe, another. That Is one of the most beautiful and true descriptions of grief I've read.

I loved the whole description of what they do in the Battle, and how Hannah saves Terry and then Michael saves them both. Again it's perfectly written, and there are some great lines like But how, when he was nothing but dead weight? It's so interesting to put death even into the language you use in this war.

I liked their conversation in the Hospital Wing afterwards, it gives the story a kind of closure and yet still shows the grief. I loved this paragraph As he spoke, she pictured every movement, seeing it in her mind from the place where she’d fallen. Her breath hitched in her throat as she fought to stay in the present. It was too soon. It was too fresh. In many ways, Hannah was still in the castle, still fighting, still running. The quiet of the hospital room made no sense next to the echoes of battle that rang in her ears. I think that really shows the trauma of this experience, that it is something they will never forget and never forget how they felt in that moment.

This line - War takes things and keeps on taking them, and the things it takes don’t come back to you. Not really, not in whole pieces, not the way you want. - was really the crux of the story for me, it connects beautifully to the title and really shows very simply but poignantly what could never be regained. And yet it's not quite despairing - they know that life will go on - but yet it is still very sad. I think it worked really well that they then went on to talk about their futures, but at the same time we know what could have been between them but will never be.

The ending of this is just perfect - The cost would never be lessened, but there would be profound comfort for the counting of it. I don't know how you're able to put ideas into words so perfectly.

Anyway as you can probably tell I really love this story. There is so much about it that you just capture perfectly.

~Katrina

Author's Response: Katrina! I have been a puddle of mush since you posted it--thanks so much for reading and taking time to leave your thoughts. I'm so glad you felt it worked. Your reviews are always so helpful and encouraging, and because they are always so honest, I was doubly over the moon when this one contained no crit at all! Haha! I would never have even considered this pairing if not for a drabble assignment in the romance class, but then I grew so attached to them so quickly. I'm such a canon girl that I knew they could not have a future together, but it could still be meaningful, and in the context of the war, there must have been loves like this, I think.