Good story. You did a good job of creating Pansy's character pretty much from scratch. She was believable, and easiet to sympathise with than in canon, though I didn't find her all that likable. Harry's break-up with Ginny seems like real life, and I didn't mind him shagging Pansy too much, though it seems obvious to me that their relationship won't last long. Personally, I think she isn't good enough for him.
Author's Response:
Well, reviews for this story are generally unexpected, so hello!
I'm glad you understood Pansy in ways that canon wouldn't allow. If you think about it, Jo did rather demonise the Slytherins throughout the series, and many are hard on Pansy for wanting to turn Harry over and keep a bunch of people from dying. If Harry had known what would happen in the battle and that he was meant to die all along, he would've happily gone when she pointed him out in the first place.
Really, Pansy isn't terribly likeable, but deep down, she isn't a bad person so much as someone who's not had the best of priorities. I think Harry was surprised to find that she wasn't as awful as he thought she was, just as much as she didn't think she would like Harry as a person at all (considering she'd barely spoken to him in her life yet spoke *about* him at great length).
I think Harry is one of those people who needs someone to keep him anchored. During school, it was Ron and Hermione who kept him grounded and gave him the ability to work through all the crap that happened to him. But as they move on with their lives and if Ginny just didn't have the time to be there every time Harry needed to remember who he was and where he was going, Harry could very well slip in a self-absorbed wangst coma like he did in OotP. Pansy just lit a fire under his butt, lol.
No, I don't think they'd last, which is why I ended the story where I did. It was just fun to see Harry come to life because of someone completely odd and unexpected. Maybe it's something they both need: Harry needs to start feeling again, and Pansy needs to care about someone other than herself.
Anyway, thanks for the visit. I'm glad you enjoyed the story. :)
~Jess
Second Place Winner for the Great Hall-iday Challenge of 2011, for the prompt "Christmas at Ground Zero."
Nice story. I liked your Frank and Alice. Hope you'll write more stories about them.
Nice story! I liked how you portrayed the characters of Ginny and Dean. It seemed like it could have happened that way.
Author's Response: Thank you very much. I tend to be pretty much canon bound but this challenged me. Glad you liked it. ~Carole~
Michael Corner muses on his short-lived relationship with Daphne Greengrass.
*
Originally a drabble written for the amazing Jess/ToBeOrNotToBe…in the SBBC's Musical Drabble Exchange. It was based off the song "Ain't that a B*tch" by Aerosmith and the title is taken from the lyrics of that song.
A big thank you to Natalie, the impeccably wonderful beta for this in its drabble form.
Winner of the 2012 Quicksilver Quill Award - Best Non-Canon Romance.
Good story. I don't really remember these characters, but you made them seem real. Also, this story isn't too deeply embedded into Potterverse, so you could easily make it a non-fan fiction story if you wanted to.
Author's Response: Thank you for your review! I like working with minor characters, because it gives me more leeway :). I'd like to write something non-fanfiction in the future, and maybe if I add a few more things to spice it up this could be one. Thank you again! xx Ariana
Whoa! When the summary said things aren't what they seem, I thought it would be Polyjuice Potion or something. The Dark Lord felt what? I'll have to think about that a bit.
Author's Response: Ha! This was just a joke to amuse myself and friends. :)
She was the first to accept me for who I was, Muggle father and all. The teachers didn’t count. Dumbledore accepted me out of duty; Slughorn accepted me for his own personal gain. She accepted me out of love.
Would you have been any different if you had had your world ripped apart and your heart shattered until there was nothing left to love with?
This is a story about a boy and a decision that he regretted. A decision he had made a few times before. Tom Riddle made the decision to say so many times those words that would eventually be his downfall.
I liked this story. You portray Tom accurately, I think, and I believed he could have such feelings for this girl. The ending was good, and made sense for his character, but I felt that it came a bit too soon. I would have liked the story to be longer and more fully developed in the middle.
Author's Response: I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I definitely agree that it could've used some development but I wasn't (and still am not really) very good at that kind of thing, and I think most people would prefer concision to unnecessary filler in the middle. Thank you for your review on this old thing though, glad to see it's still being read!
Good story. It was believable for the most part, although I felt that Oliver overreacted a bit when she told him about writing the book.I liked how it ended.
Author's Response:
I'm glad you like the story. :) This is one of the ones on my author page I may love forever because it was written for someone very special.
Though it might not come out clearly in the story, my goal was for Oliver to overreact because he felt like she betrayed him, rather than for what she was actually doing. He knew deep down that she wasn't writing trashy chicklit about him, but he felt like she used him when he cared about her. What he said was more his reflex action, throwing anything in her face that he could. They obviously, er, made up, but his dismay is rather understandable, I think.
Anyway, thank you for the visit. It's always nice when someone pays a visit to one of my older stories that I can actually read over again without wanting to gouge an eye out. Ta!
~Jess
Tell me, is the rose naked
Or is that her only dress?
-Pablo Neruda
Four vignettes exploring what it means to fight, to survive, to make love, and everything that comes after.
Ted/Andromeda, Neville/Hannah, Parvati/Daphne, and Scorpius/Hugo.
Joint winner of the 2012 Quicksilver Quill Award for Best General Fic.
Interesting glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of some characters post-war. Lovely writing, but it did make me with for a little more--more story, more information.
Author's Response: Thanks for the review. These were just vignettes exploring one aspect of each relationship. More story and more information would have taken the focus away from that. Sometimes it's best to leave things to the imagination!
Very cute. Made me smile.
Author's Response: Thank you very much. I had fun writing it. ~Carole~
Very good. I liked the contrast between the happiness and innocence of the first part of the story and the anguish and remorse of the last part. Captured the characters well.
Author's Response: Wow! Thank you! It makes me all bubbly inside to know that people are still reading and enjoying some of my older stories on the archives. ;) Keep reading!
Nice story, though I did wonder why Lily worried about dying young and about dementors coming after her. The ending was really good.
Author's Response: Why, thank you! :) I decided I have Lily worry about those things, since she already worries about dementors in the canon stories for doing magic outside of school, even if she hasn't started school yet. As for dying young, I think there might be quite a few people who sometimes worry about that, and Lily seemed a good candidate for that since she feared she wouldn't be able to fit in well and do magic well, either. Perhaps, though, she didn't dwell on it, but it is rather ironic that she did die young later, party because of Snape. I thought this short story was a good way to try to understand Snape better, and also explore a younger Lily. I'm glad you liked the ending!
Thanks again for your review!
Thoughtful, sensitive story about Mcgonall, a character that I've always wondered about. She seemed so alone. Don't know that I agree about her sexual orientation, but I still thought it was a good story, and one that was quite plausible.
Author's Response: Sorry to be so late in responding; I don't seem to get alerts for reviews.
Thanks for your kind words. I've written Minerva as straight, lesbian, and bisexual, and I still don't have a fixed idea about which I find most convincing, LOL!
Written for the last third of Madame Alex's Character Triathalon!
--
Many thanks to Maple for the beta; I couldn't see myself sending this one to anyone else.
Anything you recognise is JKR's. Anything you don't recognise is possibly mine, but probably JKR's.
--
Wood-nymphs, more commonly known as Dryads, are first and last mentioned in the Potterverse by Fleur in Goblet of Fire. In Greek mythology, these cunning magical creatures are entirely female, and must capture and seduce human men in order to bear daughters and heirs to their forests. In other works of literature they are described as bold and highly territorial, with voracious, er, "appetite" for particular intimate activities. So, basically a shy Herbologist's every fantasy...
What a lovely story! It made me cry. Really good use of language to convey the dryad's thoughts and feelings. Beautifully written.
Good story. You handled some difficult subject matter with sensitivity and compassion. I could sympathize with Adrian and even with Miles. Well done.
Author's Response:
Thanks for the review. This was a tough nut to crack, and I put a lot of time into making it sincere without demeaning the fact that this is a story that is played by fictional characters but is likely all too true for someone.
All of the characters, in the end, had a certain shade of villainy to them: Adrian for pretending like the conversation he had with Miles in fifth year never happened, Miles for allowing his circumstances to define him, Adrian's dad for being weak and taking it out on his family, everyone who knew or suspected of Miles's abuse looking the other way, and most of all Samuel for doing what he did so shamelessly. Yet we are still able to discern right from wrong and lay the blame at the correct owner's feet. I remember, when the prequel to this story came out, how much everyone hated Miles and that they were glad he died, but it made me sad because there were victims on both sides of the war.
Anyway, I'll shut up now. Thank you for braving a story with a lot of warnings and for leaving your thoughts. :)
~Jess
A birthday present for the ever wonderful Soraya, whose praises I have sung so many times I have run out of words. Happy Birthday, Soraya - have a good cry. :P
Good story, with tenderness and passion. Personally, I find it hard to reconcile Remus being in love with Sirius, then having a relationship with Tonks and marrying her. But maybe that's just me. Still liked the story, though.
I liked this story. It was true to the characters, and seemed like it could have happened. I felt sorry for both of them.
Author's Response: Ooh, thank you! That is a high compliment indeed, as so many of these types of pairings are really pushing the 'what if' strategy. In this situation I feel sorry for them too. Thanks so much for reading, I really appreciate the nice review! ~Gina :)
Good story. I liked how it explored some of Harry's deepest fears, and addressed the subject of how the years of neglect with the Dursleys had affected him. It was very believable.
Author's Response: Thank you for reading my story. You will recall chapter 3 in Book 6, where Dumbledore says to the Dursleys, "You have never treated Harry as a son. He has known nothing but neglect and often cruelty at your hands. The best that can be said is that he has escaped the appalling damage you have inflicted upon the unfortunate boy sitting between you." It struck me that Dumbledore could see the obvious damage (obesity, bullying, self-centeredness) that Dudley exhibited, but he seems not to have been aware of the damage (of a different sort) that had been done to Harry also but which was less obvious to the casual glance. Wise as he was, Dumbledore apparently didn't know everything.
I liked this story. It was interesting to listen in on Dumbledore's thoughts and feelings. Not sure that it really needed the warning. Well done.
Author's Response: Thanks for the review and glad you liked the story. I added the warning because of the Hatstall situation with Minerva, and also because it's a new warning and I really, really, really wanted to try it out - ha ha - Yes, I am that daft. Thanks again ~Carole~
I really enjoyed this story. You were able to convey very nicely the love that Remus and Tonks felt for each other, and all the anguish, doubt and remorse that came along the way. It fit completely into the larger HP story, and you showed the characters as very true to canon. Good job. Hope you write more.
Author's Response: Thank you so much for the kind review. I am currently on hiatus, but perhaps one day the spark to write again will find me. I still monitor my page and respond to reviews, but my hectic life has taken me away from writing. I do miss it. Feel free to peruse my author page. Thank you again for reading and reviewing.
I quite enjoyed this story. It was plausible, and kind of fun to see familiar events from the books, like Harry's first quidditch match, from a different perspective. You stayed true to the characters and made Charity a very dimensional, and pretty much original character. That interested me especially, since the OC in my stories is a Muggle Studies teacher, too.
Author's Response: Thnak you very much for the review. I like writing alternate views of canon and fitting them in to the actual events, which was why I decided on those particular years at H/W rather than the window afterwards when Oliver had left school. I appreciate the review - thanks again. ~Carole~