Cute. It really is a very sweet story, and I'm at a loss as to what the plan is...definitely looking forward to the next chappie! I can remember doing things like this for my parents when we were tight on money.

Author's Response: Bwa ha ha! ... I can\'t think of anything I\'d rather here than that. I wrote it to be sweet, and simple, because I suppose this is around the eye of the storm, and that\'s a side of the Weasley family that I love. I\'m looking forward to posting the next chapters too, and seeing what people\'s reactions are... Hopefully they\'ll be up soon. Thank you for your review!

"Epic Ginny-journies"...*snort*

Lovely and hilarious, as before. There's really not much else I can contrbute in the way of praise, but I do have some concrit.

"Merry Christmas" ...Shouldn't it be Happy Christmas?

I didn't really understand why Fred and George started speaking in Cockney or whatever that accent is called...was it just a whim? "Alroit" and "wo'ss"...

Anyway, good job, and good luck with the final chapter.

Author's Response: ^^ Hola! Thank you for reviewing. To answer your questions... Happy Christmas? Where I am, it\'s always been \'Merry Christmas\' and \'Happy Easter\'... I guess it\'s a missed British-ism. Coming to think of it, you\'re probably right. I suppose the Weasleys are part Aussie O_O Erm.. yeah. I\'m a sucka for whims. In my household random accents are very common... so again, a random guess, the Weasleys have an oddly accented family member or something... Excuses, excuses, eh? I really appreciate the thought put into your review, ~MOM

Really, I have no complaints except that I wish that there had been more. I think the effect of the piece as a whole would have been better with even more build-up. But that's irrelevant now, so don't worry. It was lovely and witty and I loved it. (Even though I don't like dramione at all!) So congratulations are in order. *congratulates* I'll be looking forward to any of your future writings.

Author's Response: Thank you very much for the review. I was afraid that if I stretched it out too long it would lose some readers intrest, particularly if they were not fond of the ship. I really just meant it to be a bit of a lighthearted joke. Thanks again.

You did such a good job! The rhythm works great, and you really created a unique mood. I almost fancy I could see where it was going, because it seemed so inevitable. I like how it starts out so innocently but turns quite sad without even using any fancy advectives. I loved it.

This really is a cute story, but I can't help feel that there's a little bit of a sad tinge to it as well. That can be attributed to my ever-present tragic sense of life (*cough*), but I think there's something there besides that. The fact that Snape feels a measure of fondness for Draco even while the boy treats him rather trashily is pitiable. Poor man--does anything ever go completely right for him?

The style of narration is curious, to say the least. It gives this entire one-shot a very uncertain feel. Almost like Severus is trying to deny that he would ever do something like this and show such kindness to Draco. I like it; callmehermione is right, it really does draw the reader in.

I don't really have much else to say, as I haven't found any errors whatsoever. The choice of stories that Severus told Draco were great, and the characteriztions stunning. young!Draco meshes perfectly with what we know of his older counterpart, and Severus is love, as usual. Lovely work, VV.

--The Order of Ravenclaw House Elves

=)


Author's Response: I don\'t think I could write a cute story without a little darkness in it too, at least not on purpose. Truth is, this was bunnied at least in part by a discussion on the old boards about why nobody wrote in second person. It made me want to try one. The answer is, it\'s difficult, and you need a certain sort of scenario for it, but it\'s very much worth trying sometime. /Duelling Club answer

Thanks for the review, o ye of the Ravenclaw House Elves! Delightful as always. (And yes, if something is going right that\'s just not quite Severus.)

So...here I am! My exam went alright. *sigh of relief*

Nice neat and tidy explanation as to why Harry couldn't feel the locket's evil-ness before. *wink* But really, it had to be done. And it was done smoothly, I have to say.

"This time, however, sitting in a warm room with the cool object clasped in his hand and not a danger in sight, his task wasn’t as clear." Mmmm...funny how that happens, isn't it? Kudos to you for actually writing that, because I don't think many people would have given a second thought to how Harry would approach the Horcrux when he isn't in danger of losing his life for once.

Draco and Pansy...um...really *quite* a disgusting idea. I agree with Harry's sentiments. There's just something about that girl...*shudders*

Okay, I'm laughing now because of the imagery with Draco, Ron, and Harry. That was completely brill. I had this vivid picture, clear as day, pop ip in my mind of them sitting side-by-side with their heads tilted towards the girls, their mouths wide open, complete with the "gobsmacked" expressions. I think that's good...? *furrows brow* (I've always wanted to say that!)

Sirius didn't actually say that there was a rumor that Regulus had been killed by Voldemort, so you either 1) Intentionally made Harry remember it incorrectly 2) Inferred that was what Sirius meant or 3) Made a mistake. Pick a number, any number!

Anyway, it's a little bit of weight off my chest that I didn't even know was there, now that Remus knows. I honestly don't think Harrry would be able to pull it off without some adult help.

"You have to be holding it with your wand," That means that Voldemort was actually *holding* baby!Harry...urgh.

"Ron! Be still," For some reason, "Be still" seemed--awkward--to me........what? Why are you looking at me like that? *mutters under breath*

*clears throat* Interesting idea, about Horcruxes having to be destroyed where they were placed (created?)...very interesting...

Grrr...another cliffie! What are we going to do with you?

Well, that's that. I'm glad that at least *some* of the characters won't be dying, lol, even if I AM an angst lover. Btw, it's quite strange that I'm so callous in FF when I can't stand to see people hurting in RL...*shrugs* I'm just a closet drama queen.

I'm pretty sure that I know whether Harry is going to die...*cough*LetHarryLive.com*cough*...

Lastly, let me apologize for the excessive .......-ing and ***-ing. I'm--erm--lively--today.

Author's Response: Well, Sirius said that he doubted Regulus was important enough to have been killed by Voldemort himself, so yeah, I inferred that was the rumor from that statement. I\'m glad you enjoyed it and particularly the image of Harry, Ron and Draco gobsmacked by the girls, lol.

I'm having *issues* submitting a longer review. It won't go all the way through the system or something. I don't know. *looks annoyed* I'll try later, but in the meantime, your story has my undying affection!

Author's Response: Aww, bummer! I would have loved to hear our thoughts. Anyway, thanks for being persistent enough to let me know you\'re enjoying it.

*raises hand frantically* I KNOW! I KNOW! Mundungus won't actually have the locket; he gave it to Aberforth when Harry saw them outside of The Three Broomsticks! No? Ah, shucks. So I decided to leave off the gushing. Any complimentary word that you can imagine will suffice as my positive reinforcement, lol. I'll stick with concrit. "Mrs. Weasley," Harry said, touched by her devotion. She really had been the closest thing to a mother he’d ever known, but she had to understand right now that she couldn’t stop him from doing what he had to do." That felt extremely long-winded to me, like I couldn't take a breath, if that makes any sense whatsoever. *shrugs* I also found Hr, G, and R's reaction to Harry's revelation a bit understated. Or maybe you just didn't linger on it. Isn't that the same thing? Ugh, I'm confusing myself. Happy writing, Melinda! Thank you for the beautiful chap 8 as well!

Author's Response: Thanks! I, of course, appreciate the gushing, lol (who wouldn\'t?), but I also appreciate the criticism when it\'s constructive, so thanks! I did, however, intend for his friends reactions to be sort of understated since his was so dramatic. They just got right down to business and began to think of ways to help. I like to think that Harry has a support system like that. I just uploaded the next chapter here, as well.

Oh. That's...not good. But I actually find Umbridge very entertaining. She just added so much as a villian to OotP (it's my fave HP book, btw). And no, it is a cliffhanger! But I think I've resigned myself to the cliffies by now.You are ruthless, Melindaleo! LOL. Although it was a bit too drawn out, but don't worry about it.

As with Azkaban, you've done marvelously with describing the cave, Inferi, ect. It was quite frightening when they fell into the lake! But who is Rambo? Is he like Arnold Schwartenegger? *His* voice made me giggle through Terminator. ;)

"Fine,' Ginny snapped, sounding extremely put out." Uh oh. Bad Harry! Is there going to be some discussion between Harry and Ginny regarding this? My guess would be that there will be.

I'd also like to take this chance to say that you really do an outstanding job with dialogue. It's very natural and right for every character. I hate reading a fic where all of the characters sound exactly alike, so it's just wonderful.

What’s the matter, Wormtail? You don’t trust your new friends not to sacrifice you? You should have stuck with your old ones, then. They never would have betrayed you," What a great line(s)! It's very true in any case.

"This was his chance to finally battle two of the people who’d each taken someone precious to him.' Did you mean "from"?

Snape is making me very, very frustrated in this story. When, oh when, will we find out where his loyalties lie? Not that I expect you to actually tell me, lol. In spite of the fact that I'm inclined to think and hope that Snape will ultimately be redeemed, it was so satisfying when Harry attacked him "the Muggle way." Thank you!

And on that note, good luck with your writing!


Author's Response: Oh, my goodness. You don\'t know who Rambo is? Oi! I\'ve aged myself. He\'s a Sylvester Stallone character, Vietnam war vet with lots of ammo strapped over his shoulders, lol. Glad you think the dialog works. I tend to write conversations all at once, without quotes or who said what marks or anything like that and go back and fix it later to try and get it to flow. Sometimes you\'ll find mistakes of things I\'ve forgotten to add, but I think the conversation flows better. :)

Hooray for long chappies! This one was great: funny, in-character (Harry and Ginny's dialogue gave me goosebumps because it was so eerily like Jo), and had some nice itsy, angsty moments.
I olnly have two bits of concrit to offer tentatively up to you. 1) "I wonder if she keeps her nose stuck so high in the air after living with Lucius and Draco for so many years? She started looking up just so she wouldn’t have to look at them." That didn't make sense, though I realize what you intended (and it's pretty hilarious). 2) Why aren't Harry and co. just shrinking their belongings or something akin to that? If there's a reason, it's not clear (at least to me)

How is that for length? I think it's less fulsome, but I still get the point across that you're a brilliant writer. And then the obligatory concrit.

Author's Response: You absolutely get the point across, and I always appreciate your reviews. Thanks much! I didn\'t get as much time to answer reviews this time, but I hope to catch up.