Wow, your chapters just seem to keep getting better. I really liked the little bit of fighting/dueling you put in. It's great the way James comes to Lily's aid and then Remus and Sirius and everything. The relationships between everyone are what drive the story and I think you are doing a fantastic job showing that. Keep it up!

Author's Response: Cool, thaks heaps for all of yout compliments, it's seriously great of you to keep reviewing me like this, I really appreciate it!!

What a very tense chapter you have written here. From the very beginning, the tension of James’ parents seeps into the feel of the whole chapter and finally culminates in the Dementor attack on the boys while they’re in the backyard practicing Quidditch. You do a good job showing that the Potters are not the only ones who can feel the tension in the air. The scene with all the girls over at Lily’s house also shows that at least one of them, Roxanna, notices odd things are happening. Of course, it’s fantastic that way you use that scene as a precursor to the Dementor attack because it connects the girls to what is happening at the Potters, even if they don’t realize it. Your subtle hint that what Roxanna possibly sees outside might be a Dementor is a very clever bit of foreshadowing.

As captivating as this chapter is, I couldn’t help but notice a few spots that seemed a little odd to me. The first one was in this sentence: James nodded in agreement, brought his knew up to his chest. I’m pretty sure that the bolded word should be ‘knee’ instead of ‘knew.’ The only other things I noticed were some issues with quotation marks during the Potters’ discussion about whether or not to tell James that the Dementors may be after him in an attempt to get to them. In the line, ‘Yes, he’s 13,” he continued. the opening quotation mark should be double quotes instead of a single quote. Next, in the line, “JAMES! Mrs. Potter screamed, looking up it. you are missing the closing quotation marks after the exclamation point. Other than those minor things, the chapter was pretty well written and flowed very nicely.

Truthfully, I think my favorite thing about this chapter is its subtlety. The scene with James’ parents leads right into the scene where you hint at the fact that Todd has received the kiss from the Dementors, but you never actually state that as fact; you leave the readers to assume that is what happened. Another bit of subtlety you have at the end is the subtle way in which you mimic the need for secrecy in Ron and Hermione’s letters to Harry in the summer before their fifth year at Hogwarts in Jada’s letter to Lily. Jada can only hint at thing without fully explaining anything to Lily, which is very similar to the way Ron and Hermione could only ever hint at what was going wrong for fear their letters might fall into the wrong hands. What a marvelous way to tie the situations together. You have, once again, written a very entertaining chapter where you keep the tension level high and the readers riveted to the story.

Wow, I really like this chapter. The Christmas scene was interesting, especially the compliment from James to Lily. I love the spell you chose to have Sirius use on Snape. I couldn't stop laughing at the image of Snape with an oversize head. However, I did notice a few errors that were probably just typos but I thought I would mention anyway. 1. Roxanna looked a little hurt. “Well, at my house, It’s always my job to wake up the rest of my family on Christmas,” she defended herself.” The last quotation marks should not be there. 2. Roxanna shrugged. “You can hardly lame me! ... The word 'lame' should probably be 'blame' instead. 3. “Got to the Hospital Wing,” he ordered... The work 'Got' should probably only be 'Go.' Also, I was slightly troubled by how easily James was duped by Calista. I thought he would have been a little more suspicious as he had seemed to have a dislike of her before. But, as these are your versions of the characters, that may just be the way he is. Overall, I really liked this chapter. The writing was well done and the story moves along nicely. I'm excited to see what is going to happen in the next chapter with your little bit of a cliffhanger concerning what James has learned from Calista. I can't wait to find out what he does with that information, or misinformation in this case.

Author's Response: Thankyou so much for reviewing!! I love the fact that you love my story, it really makes me feel better after a crap day (Pardon my language) Thankyou sooo much for pointing out those errors, I went and fixed them straight away, because my Dads computer is really old, and hard to type on, and I usually use my Mums. Yes, James was quite easily duped, but I based his reaction on the magority of boys in my class, and I think that they would fall for that, and they're thirteen. The thing is, James is just an ordinary boy, and however smart he may be, he's quite gullible, and remember, he is only eleven. Also, he would be, off course, a little confuse at Calista's suden change of attitude, and probably a little flattered that Calista liked him all at once, sort of an information overload lol! But yeah, don't automatically assume that he's going to believe her and that's going to be the end of it either...ohh, interesting, I'm making no sense hey? well, in time...you shall see...*smiles mysteriously* cya lata!!

Wow. I really liked the whole bit about snow inside and outside the castle ending in the snowball fight where James and Lily are rolling around in the snow together. However, the one thing I didn't quite understand is if the boys ever went to the hospital wing to get their injuries taken care of. I think part of my confusion is that you jump from them looking bad at breakfast to them being bored and deciding to make it snow without any real indication of how much time has passed in between. It's probably later that same day, right? Anyway, what I think might have been a good addition to this chapter would be to say something about the boys' injuries fading by the time it snowed outside or something, unless they did go to the hospital wing. Another thing that I really liked about this chapter that might be explored more is the way you have Calista and Robert come out to see Lily and James in the snow together. It might be interesting to give Calista and Robert bigger roles to show how they affect the relationship between James and Lily, if they affect it at all. If they are not really going to have much of an affect on Lily and James you may just want to phase them out. Anyway, this chapter was really nicely written and was fun to read. It makes me want to go out and have a snowball fight. I look forward to reading the next one when it is posted.

Author's Response: thanks for your review, And thanks for your letting me know about your confusion, because I actually was being forecd to type up that chapter within an hour, so I know that it didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. calista and Robert...well I wont give away too much, but i will say that I'm not letting them fade away anytime soon. I have already written to yeasr 4, and trust me, even if things may seem a little confusing, I know what I'm doing and where this is all going!! As for snowball fighting, count yourself EXTREMELY LUCKY!!!! i live in quote *The driest city in the driest state in the driest continent, South australia* which means, while all you guys are running about in the snow, which by the way, I have never seen in my life, Im hiding under shelter in 45 degree heat!! Anyway, I won't take it out on you, or any other lucky people who have seen the snow!! keep readin and reviewin, I love both!!

Nice chapter. I like the way you are dragging out the mystery of what Calista has done to James to make him like her. Of course, I was very happy to find out that I was right in thinking that it happened on the train just before he jumped up and ran of the compartment he was sharing with the other Marauders. I'm still leaning toward a love potion, but if that really were it, I think the other Marauders might have put it together by now because Calista would've given James something to eat or drink right before he went after her. However, the fact that he goes after her as soon as she leaves the compartment is very similar to Ron's immediate reaction to eating the Chocolate Cauldrons full of love potion. That love potion was probably stronger than the one Calista used because, as is pointed out in HBP, love potion gets stronger the longer it is around, and we know Harry had had those Chocolate Cauldrons for a while. Moving on. Other than some minor errors with a few spots in your dialogue, there was one sentence during your description of the Quidditch match that really made me pause while I was reading. That sentence was: 'He played aggressively, though not violently, and the Ravenclaws quickly learnt to stay out of his way when he flew.' I'm pretty sure 'Ravenclaws' should be 'Hufflepuffs' since that is who the Gryffindors are playing. At least the rest of the description of the Quidditch match refers to different Hufflepuff players and the end result was that Gryffindor beat Hufflepuff. Aside from that, and my theory on the love potion, I really enjoyed reading this chapter. I can't decide on a favorite part because I am torn between two scenes. The first of which is the hilarious scene between Lily and Calista at the end of the Quidditch match where they are just screaming at each other. The second is the very touching scene you use to close the chapter where Lily removes James' glasses and tells him 'goodnight.' Lovely! I am anxious to see what will come in the next chapter and whether we will get more clues as to what Calista has done to James, since I'm pretty sure it can't just be what she said to him based on your description of what his reactions to seeing Lily with Robert are and how there is something 'deep down' that tells him he doesn't like it. Alas, I fear it will be quite a long break without any update and a lot of speculation.

Author's Response: AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just spent ages replying to that, and after clicking submit,it said to log in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, here we go again! I'll go backwards this time. Hopefully the wait won't be toooo long, but if it is, reviews inspire me!! *hint hint* Ohhhh, I love those two scenes that you described!!! This is one of my absolute favourite chapters!! I hope that i don't sound full of myself saying that, I just loved writing it! Tha mistake was simple : The match was originally written to be Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor, but I changed it as the other first match of the year was Ravenclaw vs Gryffindor. I guess I missed one name change though. :( I just have to say, that you mustn't always believe what my characters say unless I wrote the actual scene that they describe. In other words, my characters tend to exaggerate occasionally. hey, they're only human! It's really cool when you realise that you were right about somethinbg huh? Ok, thanks again fotr the great review!!

I really loved this chapter. Really. Everything moved along nicely from James' waking up fully at the beginning to the scene in the Great Hall at the end. I especially loved the bit with the Howler Calista receives. You have done a great job with each of the characters. Your portrayal of the Marauders while Remus was admitting to his lycanthropy was fantastic. Peter's reaction was hysterical, especially his not knowing what lycanthropy was.

My favorite part, though, has to be the end of the chapter after James had taken the antidote to the potion that Calista had been giving to him. His description of what was going on was very interesting, especially the bit about how he felt his head was being messed with. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him at the moment when he came to the full realization of what had happened while Calista was controlling him. She had stolen his chance to actually get with Lily and ended up costing him many years with her, although none of them know that at this point. His reaction is everything I hoped it would be - it really shows the beginnings of his obsession with her and her indifference to that obsession. Very well done. However, it was during their conversation on their way to common room that I noticed one thing that really bothered me. In the two consecutive lines of dialogue at the end of this sentence, you switch from double quotation marks to single quotation marks, which I have bolded: “I didn’t,’ James reminded her, turning red. Lily felt uncomfortable. ‘Oh… well, I guess I just, sort of, gave up on you. I thought you were in love with Calista.” Since you use double quotation marks for dialogue throughout the rest of your story, you may want to just go back and fix those two spots

All in all, I really enjoyed reading this chapter. Although I did still notice some issues with your comma usage, I figure I have talked that subject to death and will try to refrain from mentioning it again. The overall writing for this chapter, though, was very good. There was a lot of information here that forms the foundation for things that happen in the years to come while the Marauders and Lily are at Hogwarts. I really like the way you have given the foundation here so that you can use it to build the rest of your story. I am looking forward to reading your next chapter when you have it ready.

Thanks for pointing out about the quotation marks, Ill fix them as soon as Ive answered the rest of these reviews! My next chapter is up at the moment, and I look forward to getting a fantastic review for that one as well!

You really do a good job of making this chapter funny, even though it does have its serioud moments. In a way, I feel a little sorry for Petunia because she is so antagonized by the whole magical world; of course, that's only because she antagonizes everyone associated with it. I really like the way you have broken up your chapter into a section that focuses on Lily and a section that focuses on James. It is interesting to watch their development separate from each other.

Starting the chapter with Lily reading letters from her friends is a brilliant idea. The letters are a good way to bring other characters into the storyline without having them present at that particular moment. Also, I think you did a wonderful job portraying what eleven and twelve year old girls would be writing to each other about. Roxy's letter had me cracking me up; her idea of starting that website is absolutly hilarious. However, I did notice one mistake at this point in the chapter. When you wrote, 'Lily giggled Roxanna’s letter,' you forgot to put the word 'at' between 'giggled' and 'Roxanna's.' Other than that, a very funny beginning to the chapter.

The second half of your chapter is just as funny as the first, but in a wholly different way. You do a good job describing the interactions between the three boys. I love the bit when they're in that cave that looks like the outdoors and Sirius and Remus just look at each other before tackling James. That is such a great funny moment in the chapter. I was a little surprised at James' confession to Remus about liking Lily, but, never having been a twelve year old boy, I can't say that it wouldn't happen. There is a grammar mistake at this point in your chapter as well. When James confesses to Remus, you wrote, 'James took a deep breath. I know this may come as a shock to you, but I really like Lily. A lot.” ' You are missing the first set of quotation marks that should appear right before 'I.' Other than that, it was a great little section that really illuminated the closeness of the relationship between the boys. Well done.

All in all, this chapter is very enjoyable to read. It has a little bit of everything: hate, infatuation, jealousy, anger, and love (well the beginnings of love). This was a great chapter to wrap up everything that happened during everyone's first year at Hogwarts and I am anxious to see where you take the story from here.

Author's Response: YAY!! a long review, my favourite!!! ok, I will try to respoind to everything in order. Um... First off, thanks for your review!! I'm glad you like the way i split he chappies!! I like that as well when I find it in other stories.

I'm glad you like the whole letter thing, I plan to set out every Summer like that. I can't take uch credit for writing those letters as a 12 year old would write them, because I spent most of this year being 12! lol, so it wasn't really creative writing, I'm happy you loved the website thing, that was a spur-of-the-moment joke!

Thankyou soo much for pointing out those typos, because I typed up that chapter on my Dads coputer, which doesn't let you know if you made any mistakes unlike my Mums; I swear, that computer doesn't even think that "it's" is a word it's that old lol.

I loved writing the second half, and I have never been a twelve year old boy either, so maybe some scenes will be a little too feminine. I did try to make that though as if James didn't tell Sirius about it, because he is more of a playful sort of o, whereas Remus James can confide in without the fear of being ridiculed. remus just isn't that sort of kid.

Wow, you really make this seem like an emotional chapter, and it was in a way! It's funny, I am incredibly underconfident in my work, and 73 reviews later I am still astounded and thrilled if someone pays me a compliment on it! That year was so totally the shortest one of all of them, I like to think of it as a prologue more than anything!! Thanks again, keep reading!!

Your chapters just keep getting better and better. You do a magnificent job of describing what James would have been experiencing as he surfaced from his coma: the voices of his friends, the difficulty opening his eyes, and the complete confusion about what has happened. Very nicely done there. I also like the way Sirius is annoyed by Remus' apparent abandonment of James when he goes to the library with Lily. That was exactly how I pictured he would react because of his fierce loyalty to James.

Now, I just have to take a moment to bask in the fact that I figured out what was wrong with James way back when he first started going out with Calista. I was very happy to find out that Remus had figured out that James was under the influence of a love potion. However, given what Slughorn says about Lily in Half-Blood Prince, I was a little dismayed that she hadn't put it together as well because she hadn't paid enough attention in Potions. I guess I should give her a little bit of a break since she is only a second year, but I still think she would've paid as much attention in the class as Remus did. Besides that tiny spot where I think Lily might have possibly slipped out of character, I only noticed a few tiny punctuation errors mostly around your characters’ thoughts. For example, the period between the bolded ‘me’ and ‘she’ in the following line should be a comma instead: ‘It’s funny, now that there’s a chance that James could be under the influence of a love potion, I’m starting to wonder whether he really does like me. she mused.’

All in all, though, this chapter was really enjoyable to read. The fact that you finally gave us the answer to the whole James and Calista mystery was a great way to tie it to some of your earlier chapters and show that there is a main storyline throughout all of the chapters. Of course, you did include a very shocking ending to this chapter. I would never have guessed that you would have Lily lean over to kiss Robert, although it does seem the type of thing someone with her strong personality might do. I guess one of the things I’m looking forward to reading in the next few chapters is going to be an explanation of the love potion and whether or not its effects have worn off of James after his accident. It will be quite interesting to read about his reaction to the whole Lily and Robert thing once he is back to normal. I am definitely looking forward to reading more of this story.

Yeah, Im trying to weave a storyline into the years, so there isnt just meaningless events. I loved the ending personally! I had it planned for so long, not long after I started handriting the second year. There isnt much more left to this year, to put it mildly, so a lot of wrapping up will be coming very shortly!! Thanks again for the review!!

This story was very entertaining. I love the idea of experiencing Dumbledore's sorting, especially getting to see what was going on while the Sorting Hat was on his head. It was really interesting the way you highlighted the fact that the hat was taking so long to sort him - it reminded me of Harry's sorting. I like the idea that Dumbledore's personality was so evenly balanced that it was hard to place him. However, my favorite part of this chapter has to be your mention of lemon drops. I laughed when I read Albus' memory of eating almost the full bag his father brought home and getting a stomachache. You do such a great job of creating subtle links between this story and the series. The fact that you mention his brother is also very nice. I really loved the whole story. Very well done!

Author's Response: Thank you--I'm glad you liked the sorting! I was worried he seemed too...perfect. I didn't have much of a chance to show his faults; I think he's a little more prideful than the Sorting Hat realized :). Ooh, it does sort of mirror Harry's sorting. Hehe, I'm glad you enjoyed the lemon drops. It was fun to write that. Thank you so much for your review--you're too nice!

Simply fantastic. The majority of this chapter was absolutely hysterical. You do a wonderful job portraying the close relationships the Weasleys share with each other. I love everyone's reaction to Bill being home because they are so astonished. Of course, the funniest part of this chapter was Bill's gift for Ginny, and Ron's attempt to make it more than it was to bail Bill out. The other part that really stuck out to me was Fred's little slip of the tongue. I can't help but wonder what he might know about Percy that nobody else knows. It would be interesting to find out. Another thing I really enjoyed about this chapter was how wonderful the actual writing was. There was only one little typo I noticed throughout this whole chapter, and it was in this sentence: 'Close to half and hour later, showered and dressed, Ron headed down to the kitchen. ' I believe the bolded 'and' should be 'an' instead as I'm assuming you meant thirty minutes, which is half an hour. Your writing is just so fantastic and it keeps getting better with each chapter. I am looking forward to the next chapter to find out what happens when they all go shopping and Charlie has to go see a healer. What a great twist to add to your story by making Charlie terrified of healers when he deals with monstrous creatures every day. Absolutely brilliant!

Author's Response: You have no idea of how happy it makes me to hear that you think I portrayed the relationship between the Weasleys well. It's very hard to keep characters in, well, character and when you have dialogue going between a family of nine, it only gets harder. I can't believe no one has noticed yet that Mr. Weasley hasn't made a single physical appearence in this yet.... And I'm of the opinion that Ron always looked out for Ginny. That's what the whole bit was about: more trying to keep Ginny from being upset and less trying to save Bill from getting his arse kicked. Heh. I thought it was a nice twist too, thanks!