I have to confess this actually made me cry. A someone who absolutely adores Strangers at Drakeshaugh, somehow the thought that James tore apart the two families is completely gutting.

James' realisation that Anna was in fact 'little Annie Charlton' genuinely made me gasp. It caught me completely off guard, I hadn't clicked on to that at all. In fact I promptly re-read this to try and see if I should have realised it earlier!

In terms of the actual content, I thought you handled Anna's heartbreak perfectly. Her conflicted state of mind was really human and natural. James, too, was perfect. Arrogant yet charming with Harry and Ginny's natures just glimpsed.

In order to console me, please post part two soon!

Fenella x

Author's Response:
Thank you, Fenella.

I've had this idea in the back of my mind for quite some time. I've always resisted "true" next-gen, by which I mean stories where the Potter kids are old enough to fend for themselves. Strangers, to me doesn't count.

It's probably unfair to load all of the blame on James. Once I decided that neither Henry nor Annie would be magical (and until this story, I didn't let anyone know) I knew that when James and Al went to "that public school in Scotland" the families would invariably drift apart. There is one (tiny) clue to Anna's identity. "Mum" turns to her husband and says "Out, Mike."

I'm beginning to like James. He is, I hope charming. And I hope that Anna has managed to humble him a little. You'll see part 2 very soon, I hope.

-N-

Wow, this chapter was my favourite yet.
I feel like I completely understand where both Hermione and her dad were coming from in their disagreement. I found the end few paragraphs of this to be incredibly powerful, and the depth of her dad's love and fear for her was really touching, and the last line made me cry. The capitalisation of 'Daddy's Little Girl' was particularly powerful, as it felt like a title she'd always had, but had now lost.

The scenes with Ron were also well handled, they felt like the characters we know yet still damaged.

I can't wait for an update, as truly this was incredibly emotive, and the style of your writing is very enthralling.

Fenella

Author's Response: Thanks for reading and reviewing! Wow, thanks! Yeah, the trouble with this is that they are both right, but neither are going to cave so it's a real stalemate. I'm glad you liked the Ron scenes as well. Obviously they are going to be different people after everything they have been through. Update may take a while as I'm having computer trouble but the story isn't abandoned - don't panic!

This is easily one of the weirdest things I've ever read - but somehow that isn't a criticism. For me it was more about their relationship than the bizarre time travelling, and as always your characterisation was dead on and believable. Draco and Katie's fractured relationship was so human, and the lengths Draco was willing to go to to 'fix' it were completely believable and flowed perfectly. I must admit I didn't entirely understand exactly what happened with the time jump and why, but I think that will be remedied after I re-read this, and that really isn't a criticism. Your ability to create such a believable story out of such a bizarre situation really should be commended. I'm probably not explaining myself very well but what I'm trying to say is that I actually really enjoyed this and that the weirdness worked!

Fenella

Author's Response:

Oh, Fenella, I will never cease to adore your reviews. :D

This story was weird - weird to write and weird to plot. I had a rough idea of how I wanted things to go down, but how to get there was at the tender mercy of my Gauntlet guide. I can't convey how many annoyed PMs I sent my guide because I was unhappy with being derailed yet again, but I sucked it up and here we are.

Draco and Katie are a ship that shouldn't work, but when you break down the nuts and bolts of who they are as people, they kinda do. I never really thought Katie resented Draco for the necklace thing, because that isn't who she is. I think Draco hated himself for the things the Dark Lord made him do than anyone who was or might've been hurt by his efforts. Overall, I think it's made him a more complex and real character.

I don't blame you for being confused by the plot. I even had to read it a couple times myself to make sure it made sense to ME. I really wanted to have a beta for that purpose, but mine flaked out on me, so it was freeballing from there. Erk. Anyway...

Thank you so much for your visit and ever-kind words. I look forward to your visits, even if I'm a dolt and don't respond quickly enough. *hugs*

~Jess

This is seriously intriguing me, I have no idea who it could be! I like how you haven't made Cormac a stereotypical villain, he's complex and I really want to know who it is that planted the wand! (I'm starting to think it might not be a 'her' though... hmmm)

I hope you update soon and that Scorpius finally gets to spend some time with Lily haha!

Fenella

Author's Response: Thank you so much for the review :) - I am so pleased you're finding this intriguing as I've been trying to not reveal too much. It's very hard writing a mystery when you know the answer - hahahahah. I should be updating soon as have two chapters written, but I do need to get cracking on chapter 12. Thanks again ~Carole~

Yay a sequel to High! I genuinely squeeled when I saw you'd posted this, and I can't say that excitement has subsided much.
I love the dynamics going on here between the characters, and it's nice to see Scorpius and Lily's relationship still going strong despite the distance between them.
I'm really, really intrigued as to who the body belongs to. The fact she's in Hogwarts robes only fuels that further, and I've spent the past few minutes ransacking my memory for a missing girl, unfortunately to no avail.
I can't wait for you to update, I'm desperate to know where this is leading and also to get my Scily fix!

Fenella

Author's Response: Yay! First review! thank you very much; I always chew my nails until the first one's under the belt. Now I can relax.

Mwahahahahahahaha - the identity of the victim will become apparent at some stage. Oh, and I think Scorpius is waiting for his Lily fix, too - ha ha. Poor boy ;p
,br> Thanks again. ~Carole~

Even though I had my suspicions as to where this was leading, the Katie/Leanne relationship and it's eventual tragedy was still devastatingly powerful, particularly Katie's admission that she wished they'd had more time together. I thought the manner in which Leanne's death came about was interesting, as it's something that very nearly happened in DH and like the Trio, Katie had no idea about the taboo.

Oliver... oh my gosh I love him. I mean I've always loved him, but i feel like you've captured his spirit perfectly. His intensity and insecurities came across wonderfully, and his determination to coax the truth out of Katie seemed really in character.

I found the last paragraph particularly powerful, 'after kicking out the closest person on earth she had to a friend'... she's pushing him away and I like how you've had her acknowledge that, yet continue to wallow in her despair.

Can't wait for an update!
Fenella x

Author's Response: Hello again! :D

I don't think I intended for there to be major shock factor in anything that really happened -- so I'm glad you thought the backstory about Katie and Leanne's death was still powerful. I'm not sure if you've read Flicker and Fail, which is kind of a prequel to this story and details a lot more about Katie and Leanne's relationship. Not that I'm self-pimping or anything XD (It's actually not as strong as some of my other stuff, so you don't have to read it or anything, lol.) And I'm hoping the backstory wasn't an infodump or anything.

Yayayay, you like Oliver! :D I do love him, not gonna lie. I'm so glad you do, too, and yay to you liking the last line as well. That one didn't come easy for me.

Thank youuuuu for the lovely review! I'm so glad you're enjoying the story so far, and I hope to see you on the next chapter. :)

Soraya xxx

I feel kind of like a stalker, but what the heck I'm gonna review again regardless!
I read in your response to your previous review that you didn't feel like this was a particularly strong chapter, but I'd have to disagree with you! I thought it was subtle in how you further developed Katie and Oliver as characters, particularly in revealing how Oliver ended up in the Hog's Head. It doesn't seem contrived, in fact it seems perfectly logical that Oliver would have simply walked out on his dream in pursuit of something bigger, something right. I like how this shows how much he's grown since we saw him in the early books, he used to be so focussed on winning that he failed to see that anything else was more important (for instance when he told McGonagall that he didn't care if Harry's broom was cursed as long as they still won in PoA), yet here he clearly has realised that the world doesn't revolve quidditch. I guess what I'm trying to say in a very rambling way is that you've taken what we know of Oliver as a boy and matured him into a man.

I loved Katie's visit to the church, I found it incredibly emotive, and as religion isn't a topic often dealt with in HP fanfic, and I like how you didn't portray it as some illogical muggle fad, but instead as something that drew Katie in as a means to deal with her grief.

Oooh and the last line was amazing, I'm someone who firmly believes that the first and biggest step to getting over depression is realising that it can and will be okay again, so I found Katie's epiphany perfectly fitting regarding her state of mind.

Love it, and I'm also loving how steadily you're updating!

Fenella x

Author's Response: Nooooo, you're not a stalker! I thrive on reviews, so never feel like you're stalkering or doing anything wrong by reviewing because EVERY author loves them :D

Yaaaaaay to you liking this chapter in spite of my issues with it. I think the problem I had was that it was a bit of a filler chapter -- nothing really happened -- but I also know that I needed a filler, too, because I needed to establish a few more plot strands. I am so glad you liked how I've developed Katie and Oliver's relationship. I do love them as a pair; however, I also think that they both have their issues that need resolving, at least a little, before one of them makes a proper move. Katie, of course, is still half-convinced Leanne is still there, and Oliver is struggling with feelings he thought were long since buried at Hogwarts, while at the same time not wanting to take advantage of Katie (understandably given how vulnerable she is).

For some reason, I've always thought Oliver would make a hot barman (Jess agrees with me on that XD) and on a more serious note, I do think there would have been issues with Quidditch teams during the war especially if there are Muggleborns on the teams (and there are bound to be some, at least). He was focused on winning in Hogwarts, but yes, he's obviously come to terms with the fact that the world certainly doesn't revolve around Quidditch. Yaaaaaaaaay to Oliver maturing as a man, hehehehehe. He is in his twenties now, so of course he's not going to stay completely maniacal forever (though you do see his more argumentative side sometimes later on).

Okay, I'll be honest -- the main reason Katie visits a church is actually because I had to go to Christmas Mass with my school (I'm not Catholic, though -- I'm Muslim, ha), and I found it really interesting, especially the sense of unity that I could see in the church amongst those who took Communion and everything. Soo that was a little... not self-insertion, as such, but just a bit of real life in my story because I was totally stuck at that point. Katie isn't particularly religious -- she was more jealous of how united everyone was in the church as well as the couple she could see there.

I'm so glad you liked the last line! I think these chapters are pretty short (there are three more to go, by the way), but I also thought there were natural endings to some chapters so it made sense to break them up so. The whole story is about 18k and is already written, which is why I'm updating so quickly! :) I'll probably have it all posted within the next week. Hold on tight, though -- you're in for a bumpy ride, hehe. There are a few more plot twists to come; this is just calm before the storm, if you will. :D

Thank you again for the lovely, thoughtful review. Come June, I will so be nominating you for the Best Reviewer fQSQ, Fenella, because I get warm and fuzzy every time I read a review from you, so thank you very much! :)

Aww, this was really touching. You dealt with such a sensitive issue in a way that made it seem completely human, and I could easily understand why she was doing it, to me it made perfect sense. Her insecurities were so well developed in such a short amount of time, especially her belief that whilst no one other than Roxy ever commented on her weight they were all thinking it. I found that interesting because we so often are convinced people are thinking about us when they probably aren't. Louis... was perfect. I love your Louis, I love how he sees straight through her even though she thinks he doesn't understand.

I like how this acts as a kind of prequel to your other stories, and it was lovely to see their relationship developing and getting an insight not only into Lily's insecurities regarding her weight but also towards her blossoming feelings towards Louis. I'm going to have to start shipping them soon!

Really I have no idea why you're unsure about this, I thought it was lovely, understated and as always your characterisation was dead on.

Fenella

Author's Response: Fenellaaaa! Yayay, are you going to review everything I write or something? Because I'm definitely not going to stop you, lol -- thank you so much for reviewing this so quickly! :D

I'm glad you liked the way I dealt with the issue of bulimia. It certainly isn't something I'd write about lightly, and it means so much to me that you could see her reasons behind doing what she did and her insecurities about her weight.

I am so happy that you like Louis! :D I do love him. He's kind of my husband, lol. I think that's part of Lily's attraction to him -- the fact that he can see straight through her and can understand her is definitely something she admires about him and is what makes her slowly fall in love with him.

This is very much a prequel of my other stories (I seem to have written them backwards, ha -- I started off with Glass, then The Highway of Regret and then Broken Glass and now this story). I didn't want it to read like I needed you to have read the others to understand this one, if that makes sense -- I want each story to work in its own right, which is why my beta hasn't read the other Loulily stories, as far as I know. On another note, yayayayayay, I am so glad you're shipping Loulily! :D I've already converted Ellie, so welcome aboard the ship, hehe.

I'm really flattered that you enjoyed this so much, Fenella! Honestly, you are one of my favouritest reviewers ever. I really appreciate it. :) *heart*

Soraya xxx

Woah. I loved this story (and how quick you've been updating), it was such a fascinating coupling and I loved how much history was interwoven with the plot. But what I really, really loved was the curveball at the end. I did not see that coming at all! Actually, the thought did cross my mind when she named him Arthur but I was still caught completely off guard when all was revealed! Amazing. Sorry for the rubbish review but I'm still in shock! Oh how I'd love this to become canon!

Fenella

Author's Response: Thank you, Fenella. I updated quickly because I had it all written , plus it was for the Cotillion, so I needed it all posted before 1st March. I have to admit that I'm pleased the way this turned out. I'd had the idea before Christmas, but you know what it's like, most ideas never work or don;t turn out the way you think they will. This did deviate from the original idea as I discovered a lot more of the facts rather than relying on the film 'Elizabeth' but the end scene with Lucius was the first thing I thought of.

Thanks again for reviewing ~Carole~

This was the funniest, sweetest and most touching story I've read in a hell of a long time.
All three of them were characterised perfectly, and the camaraderie between them, especially between Harry and Ron, was captured especially well.
Seriously, you had me crying with laughter.
Sorry for the bumbling review, but this was honestly so funny and so touching, which isn't always easy to achieve.
Fenella

Author's Response: Thanks so much for the lovely review! I'm glad you enjoyed the bromance - it was fun to write. And it's nice to know this was apparently as enjoyable to read as it was to write. The trio are great to play with when they are being all chummy. And I will forgive your bumbling (but mainly lovely) review if you forgive my bumbling reply :)