Ooh, this was very interesting and very well written. A nice little character study with some really cool imagery!

Author's Response: Oh thank you very much!!!!!!!! :) Yes, I really enjoyed writing this, because I got the chance to explore a different point of view. I tried so hard to make it have the imagery and to be dark! It was hard work! But it seems to have paid off. Thank you again for your lovely review!

Oh, I needed a good laugh after all of the dreary things I've been reading and writing!

This totally took up the mantle for me. Nothing especially jumped out at me, and I mean that in the best way possible - It all just fit together quite nicely. Everything from Harry's deadpan 'Oh God' attitude to Ron pretty much saying "I didn't want him to kiss me, I swear!" had me in hysterics. Really sweet and a nice comfort from all the darkness. Like a ray of sunshine, really.

Oh, and I would be remiss if I didn't say that I legitimately cackled at Ron's comments about legs, boobs, and, of course, Hermione's reactions. Love it.

Author's Response: Thanks for reading and reviewing :) Haha, this was actually written because I was writing a lot of angst and I needed a break. Glad I could be of assistance. It was one of those ideas that struck and their reactions in my head made me chuckle. Legit cackles are my goal - especially when infantile humour is the cause :)

Things are getting a lot more chaotic in this story, and it's showing in their attitudes and the overall structure and flow. Ron's getting more sarcastic and introverted, and Hermione's a bit more touchy and her words are getting tangled up by Ron - all very nice character transitions in such a terrible time!

Even though it was necessary for the story, Terry's explanations gave me Physiology lecture flashbacks *shudders*. I'm always jealous of writers that can put something so technical (in this case, leukemia) into a story without throwing off the pacing. I so need to work on that.

Anyways, great job so far and I can't wait for more.

Author's Response: I'm pretty sure, the way Ron and Hermione seem to be turning out while I'm writing (and I have a plot, but I go according to my Ronmione thought flow) there will be a good case of the Brownian motion very soon. And I'm so glad you liked Ron and Hermione. I get very nervous about writing major characters. :D

I read the chapter title and... oh, my poor heart! Then it was just little Rosie asking that question and all was well.

Then the end happened. Yeah, I'm sure palpitations are good for my age ;)

Author's Response: Funnily enough, the chapter title wasn't to scare anyone, lol, but good to know that it made you think Hugo was dying (yeah, I'm evil). And you approve of the end too! Yesss! I'm so happy. :D Yayy! This means it definitely wasn't OOC, so I am a happy girl now. :D Thank you!

PS: I'll be a doctor in about two years and you can consult me if the palpitations persist. :p

'You deserve to be happy again, Hermione.'

Thank you, Harry, for saying what we were all thinking last chapter. Hell, all of their dialogue was just what I was thinking, it's eerie how the words were ripped right out of my head. Great chapter, but now I'm wondering how long that happiness will last?

By the way, about my previous review, what I really wanted to see happen between Hermione and George was George somehow dying by the end. Sometimes I'm meaner to my favorite characters than I should be, ha.

Author's Response: Thanks so much fr the review!

I am also espcially cruel to my favorite charcters but I get upset when anyone else is mean to them. Makes sense, huh? Anyway, George isn't one of my ultimate favs and he will survive until the end of the tale. :p

I'm enthralled by this story. Every bit of it smells exactly like the epilogue that should have happened but we never wanted to happen.

I like the characterizations, especially the Malfoys and Harry, but the brevity just leaves me sort of... unsatisfied. Perhaps when it all comes together it will seem 'stronger' to me, and I really hope it does. Right now I feel like we miss key characters' inner monologues or positions, but, again, that may be due to there being only a handful of chapters up yet.

Either way, I adore this and can't wait for more. Oh, and I never thought I'd see a Death song used within an HP fic. Fits better than I would've thought at first.

Author's Response: Thanks so much! I was very unsatisfied with the epilogue for many reasons. One being that the whole happily ever aspect felt very wrong. These people were all bound to be messed up. I get that it was nineteen years later, but I don't know...

Well, I'm thrilled you especially like Harry and the Malfoys because the most focus is on them. Harry, Draco and Narcissa probably have the biggest roles in the story. Honestly, I don't know how you'll feel about the later chapters, but I will say the first three were pretty much entirely set-up. See which chatacters will be playing and role and show where they're currently at in their lives. So hopefully you'll find the next chapters more satisfying.

Ah yes, the Death song. I hadn't even heard of them until yesterday. I was banging my head against a wall trying to find a song for this chapter and a friend suggested it. I was surprised how well it fit, too. :)
<./br> Thanks so much for the review. I really appreciate it. :)

Well, I promised and so ye shall receive. I guess the easiest way for me to do this, since this is such a character driven piece, is to look at your major characters. Sound good?

Harry. I think, at first, I understood exactly what you were doing with him. The war-weary Harry archetype has been done before, the Harry-without-his-best-friend has been done before, but I felt more connected to the way you wrote him. It might have something to do with the short chapters and quicker updates forcing me to internalize all of it at a breakneck speed, but overall I think he was well done. His relationship with Draco was pretty believable and I liked the portrayal a whole helluva lot better than others’ renditions – it’s got a pretty firm root in physical desire but, hey, plenty of actual relationships are.

The Malfoys. A lot of my early praise was toward Lucius, since he seemed like a broken man just trying to do better, and I think that stays throughout. He tries to cope with the Harry/Draco relationship, and the way he does it at first – complete avoidance – felt real and, therefore, more heartbreaking. The redemption of his character felt a little unearned, to be honest, but by the time 65 chapters of all this misery is over I just don’t care. Narcissa plays out as a pretty pivotal character, but I never really felt connected to her. Again, that may be due to the shorter chapters but I read her as a plot device more than anything, even when she had her quieter moments with her family. They should have characterized her, but I was left wanting. I can’t articulate it very well right now, but I believe she was well handled but not strictly as a character if that makes any sense. Draco felt a little along the same lines but because we see more of him by the end, and characterizing him in the pub scenes and his quiet moments with Harry, I felt like he evolved rather than stagnated like Narcissa.

Hermione. This is perhaps my biggest, and only real, problem with this story. Not the way you wrote her in general, but rather the speed with which it felt like she turned from “grieving every second of her day” to “boning George’s brains out” was quite confusing. I understood her motivations and why she gave in to temptations, but her relationship with him felt totally unearned with her all her himming and hawing at Harry over Ron. This, I believe, is also due to the structure of the story and how the POV shifted constantly – we get to learn a bit about her coping methods, but then we move on and read about someone else so when we come back to Hermione, some of the changes in her perspective feel unearned or contrived. It’s a complex problem where I feel like you burdened the character with a pivotal evolution, but in the end it was brushed aside for the greater plot. It would have, no doubt, dragged the story on for far too many chapters, so I can appreciate it from that angle at least. That is looking at her from a literary perspective, though, since I would have been on Susan’s side in real life so take it with a brick of salt.

Andromeda. As a character we know only a tangential amount about, I love reading interesting takes on her. I disagreed immediately with how she initially handled the whole blood transfusion dilemma, but I also understood it and empathized with her – a difficult task to do, but one that I think you pulled off. I hated her but I almost pitied her at the same time. Not to mention the Teddy inclusions where she and Harry connected gave a little extra humanization to this bleak universe.

So I guess in summary, I liked this… a whole lot. It’s bleak, yes, but all can’t be well always and forever. In the end I still think the canon ending is satisfying in its own right, but the way you pitched it is simply another perspective. It’s just the inverse of the one we were given, but a respectable one nonetheless. I don’t know if I would say I “enjoyed” reading this so much as I was willed to and, as a whole, it made for a satisfying read. Bravo, and thanks for updating so rapidly - although, looking back on what I wrote, I wonder how I would have thought of this story if it were released in a more lackadaisical schedule? Oh well, that's for alternate-universe-Joe to decide.

Author's Response: Wow, this is massive. Thanks so much! I can’t wait to see everything you’ve said. Since this is such a long review, I’m going to respond to you by paragraph to make my life easier.

So, let’s talk about Harry. Thanks so much. Yes, the beaten Harry has been done to death and I am very, very happy to hear that my version is well received. I think this plot pursued so often because…well…what kind of shape is he really going to be in after the war? Sure, I can write him moving on better, but I think it’s important to explore this possibility too. Thank you so much for your comments on him.

*dies laughing* Lucius’ redemption is unearned, but everyone’s suffered for 65 chapters so I don’t really care. That’s hilarious. Best line so far. I’m glad you liked the way I wrote him. He was harder than most characters. I love him. I think he genuinely loves his family and would do just about anything for them. My problem lies in making others see him the way I do. Glad he turned out believable. As for his redemption, it was pretty much unearned. I agree, but I don’t think he was the only one forgiven without really deserving it in this story. Let’s face it, most of these characters have done some pretty horrible things and it would be very hard to truly make-up for them. At some point, if forgiveness is going to be a thing, it takes a leap of faith from the person giving it. I saw Draco forgiving him because he’s his father and all he ever really wanted was his love in the first place. Harry made the choice to forgive him for Draco. Lucius was trying to make a mence and with everything that was going on, Harry felt it was better to have a fresh start with him then to make everything harder for everyone by holding on to the past. Had Lucius screwed-up again, Harry probably wouldn’t have forgiven him - period. End of long rationalization. Again, thanks so much for your comments on Lucius. He really is a hard character to write well.

I’m intrigued by your comments about Narcissa. These I’ll have to think about. I’m actually kind of surprised. Most of my feedback on her has been positive and she is my favorite character ever. The story was actually born around her. Very interesting. I really appreciate this feedback and will consider it more.

I totally agree that Draco had a slow start. It was hard to work him in the way I wanted from the very beginning. Many of his first scenes were with Lucius and at the time he wasn’t showing his true character around his father. He wasn’t afraid of him, but he very much wanted to please him. As he got involved with Harry and faced the idea of losing his mother, he grew-up a bit and came more into his own, in my opinion, which helped his character grow, even around Lucius.

Random note before I read the whole bit on Hermione. Bonging George’s brains out. Lovely. Great line. You made me laugh.

The Hermione/George thing. Yes. Well, I struggled with every aspect of it. I ended up with a theme to match the title and Hermione obviously needed to be saved and move on with her life as much as any other character. As the only characters I ever ship her with are Draco and Ron that presented a problem in and of itself. George was a random, and in the end regrettable choice for me. I didn’t enjoy it and may have rushed over it. The truth is, I needed Hermione to find love again and it was the plot point that ultimately led to Draco’s little stunt and getting them all at the hospital in the end for the big finale. I am disappointed with how parts of it turned out. And now that you mention it, I can totally see how I should consider the speed of it, as well.

I LOVE your comments on Andromeda. You responded to her exactly how I wanted you to. I got a lot of responses about her and most of them were not what I was going for. People out and out hated her without trying to see her side. Then there were others that agreed with her, saying she should let Narcissa die. I really didn’t want people to take a side here. I wanted to show her struggle and have readers see the turmoil. That being said, everyone has their own set of circumstances and reasons for strongly choosing a side. In the end, I’m just happy if they enjoyed the story, rather they saw it the way I meant or not. After all, I don’t think J. K. Rowling intended for us to be shipping Drarry. People see things differently than the writer expects. That being said, it’s very gratifying when someone sees things exactly the way you meant for them to be seen. So thank you so much for that.

In closing from me, thank you so much. I beyond appreciate all your insights. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I was intrigued by this story to begin with, and now I'm just plain obsessed. Not 100% sure where this is going (I've got, like, 10 different ideas lol), but I'm hooked nonetheless.

Concise writing is something I'm really envious of, so kudos on that as well :)

Author's Response: Thanks so much!

As for knowing where the story is going. It should be pretty hard to guess right now. There are still some big revolutions to come up.
<./br> I'm glad you're enjoying the story and thanks for taking the time to review. :)

Oh man, oh man this is exactly right up my alley. There are interesting points to be made on the Muggles finding out about the WW and how horribly that could happen, and I do think they would need to see something major and positive for the Muggle community to accept them.

I especially love how this breaks magic down into a physical thing, and that it is subject - like everything else - to our universal laws. It makes me begin to question broomsticks and how they deal with free-fall or resist rotation... and I love that stories like this say something other than, "with magic, silly!"

I do have one question, however: would Muggles view wizards very highly if space travel was where they popped in? From an American standpoint, our general public looks down upon "wastes of time" like going to the moon, especially in the modern economic climate. I can only assume this is around then, as Hermione is a "Weasley" and the two of them would need to be very high-up to be a part of something like this. From my experience, the general public would view the wizarding community as another branch of the government wasting their money, and hate them more so I actually agree with Kingsley that this might not be the best way to show the world about wizards. Just food for thought, since I do love this story.

Author's Response: This new space plan wasn't going to be the only thing of its type. Also, this would (if it worked) reduce the cost of space travel to distant planets to such a low level that colonization, mining asteroids, et cetera would immediately become commercially viable. As you can see, though, there are still some problems with the spacecraft. And yes to your assumption, as the date is in the late 2010s, and the Deathly Hallows ends in the late 1990s. Also, the political climate regarding space could have changed again by then, since we may have another Sputnik moment with the Chinese, or Congress might finally get its act together regarding the budget. I hope so, but I doubt it will happen.