I'm a 26-year-old engineer who has become "obsessed" (that's the word my wife uses, anyway) with Harry Potter. Of course, she also accused me of being in love with Ginny Weasley once, so.... *shrug*
I write (and read) stories like the ones on this site as a way of escaping from the real world for a while.
Currently, I'm working on two chaptered stories (see below), which I update just as fast as the amazingly awesome Moderators will let me. I know I get frustrated when it takes forever for a story I'm reading to get updated, so I try to avoid giving other people that same frustration. :D
NA banner by Moony 62442 and abbs866
My good friend Abby created a second banner for A Stolen Past, and it was too good not to post. Here it is, for your viewing pleasure!
Awww! That was really cute. I loved it.
Schmergo, you rock! Oh, wait... sorry, that phrase belonged in a review to The Dark Lord's Blog, not this one. Oops.
Seriously, though, this is a great depiction of Narcissa and Tiny!Draco. It sort of makes you feel sorry for him, having no choice but to grow up to be the git we all know he becomes. I think you did a great job portraying his innocence and desire to please his parents, as well as Narcissa's doting. Wonderful little one-shot.
Author's Response: Thank you! I\'m glad to hear that I rock! And I\'m happy that you thought this depiction was in character.
I'm really not very good at concrit when it comes to poetry, but I wanted to leave a review anyway. I think this poem is a really interesting take on Tom Sr. and Merope.
Maybe I'm not reading it right, but it sounds to me like Tom may have actually loved her at one time, and not just because of the love potion. Sadly, Merope drove him away by continuing to give him the potion and hiding her true self from him. It actually made me feel sorry for both of them, which is quite an accomplishment, since I tend to dislike both of Voldemort's parents in general.
Anyway, I thought it was a really good poem, and I was glad to see that you got the whole big space between "an" and "ocean" to work. *thumbs up* Good luck with whatever you decide to work on next!
Author's Response: Thank you so much for the tip about the gaps! I was stressing for ages trying all these different tags...but yay, it works now! :D *squee*
The meaning that I was trying to convey was really about how Tom really believed that he loved Merope, because of the potion...and yet somehow sensed that perhaps this wasn\'t what \'true love\' felt like. And aww, I don\'t actually hate Voldy\'s parents at all (i only hate him!)..they couldn\'t help it... :p
Moony! Just wanted to drop in and tell you I'm liking your story. It gives me a sort of creepy, foreboding feeling, but I hold out hope for everything to turn out right, after what I'm sure will be a dark and difficult journey.
Out of curiosity, when will your beautiful banner be making an appearance? ;) Are you waiting until we're far enough into the story that it won't give anything away? (Sorry, I'm just excited.)
The only other thing I can say is, PLEASE update soon! Bye for now!
Author's Response: Thanks! Yes, this will be difficult for them all, but you will be pleased to hear that there is a (for the most part, heh heh!) happy ending!
The beautiful banner *wink* (now I wonder who to thank for that... ;D) will make an appearance soon. Wouldn\'t want to give it all away. But I\'m having trouble waiting! (and with photobucket, but I\'ll figure that out eventually :P)
Chapter four is in queue and I hope it will be up as quick as this one was!
~Moony :)
First Review!!! Hahahaha! Okay, I've NEVER done that before, and I just couldn't resist. I just asked for another chapter in my review to chapter 3, and lo and behold I look and you've already submitted the next one. Hooray!
Author's Response: Yes indeed! I am so far ahead *coughchapterelevencough* that I have everything typed and ready for the queue as I type this! Wow, the funny thing is that I procrastinate on everything BUT this. Wow! Go me!
~Moony ;)
I just realized that I never left a proper review for this chapter, so here goes:
Petey. Must. Die. I hope he becomes a tasty snack for a very happy snake. (Now where would I have gotten THAT idea?) ;)
I was sure I had checked this story for updates just a couple of days ago, but today I see I'm way behind. I guess I've got some catching up to do!
Author's Response: Ha! I haven\'t written a snake into the story but I think I have to figure out what to do with darling Peter... should be interestin! Yeah, last night was kind of wierd... I never get validated for 5 days and then 3 update in one night! Ah well, I\'m not complaining!
~Moony
Well, I've fallen waaaaaay behind on your story (something I'm about to rectify), but I just had to come and leave the first review for this chapter. :) I hope your move goes (went) well.
Author's Response: Congrats for first review! I had a bit of a break coming my way and my dad promised not to disconnect internet until we had to leave tonight, so I took my loading and packing break to answer some reviews! I hope you like the new chapters and you\'ll be happy to know that the banner will be up when I get back. The URL isn\'t working and I\'m busy looking into it... *87-year-old man\'s voice* Darn computers! Back when I was a kid, we were lucky to get high speed internet let alone fanfiction sites! Hee! Enjoy!
~Moony
First Review!!! I really hope this gets validated soon!
Author's Response: Congrats! So do I...
~Moony
Let me say it once again. Petey. Must. Die.
Now I've gotten that out of the way, I have to tell you (even though you already know this, I'm sure) that I'm quite glad you decided to throw in a little H/G. I can really sympathize with Potter_freak0515, though, as there have been a couple of stories I've had to give up reading because they had shipping that I simply couldn't tolerate (Dramione, to be specific). I was really worried when I was writing A Stolen Past, since you don't really find out who Harry's dreaming about until the second-to-last chapter, and when I posted it I sat there crossing my fingers and hoping against hope that my faithful readers weren't H/Hr shippers (because I would've gotten a lot of flames if that had been the case).
Anyway, I just want to say you're doing a great job with this story, and keep up the good work.
Author's Response: Thank you! Yeah, I agree with the whole \'petey-must-die\' theory. OOPS! Did I just give something away?! ; ) I have stopped reading stories for that too. I see no reasons to have Hermione or Ginny, even, falling in love with Malfoy! So I can sympathize with Crystal too! Thanks for the review!
~Moony
Yeah, not a lot actually happens in this chapter, but I can see that it's setting up quite a bit of what's going to happen later on.
And three chapters in less than 24 hours?!?! No wonder I fell behind!
Author's Response: Yeah, I thought I was dreaming when it showed 3 updating. I told everyone to SO not pinch me! It was kind of a filler chapter, but you are right when you say it sets up a bit in the future. I tried to escape fillers, but it didn\'t work as well as I had hoped!
~Moony
NiceGuy!Voldemort? Who would have thought it was possible? Well you, obviously, but other than that?
This was a deliciously evil chapter (did I really just say that?), although your author's note about Snape being good might have ruined a little bit of suspense.
Oh! I just checked your profile and saw that you're having trouble with the story banner. If you can't figure it out, send me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do to help. Good luck with the moving, and I hope you're able to use your school computers next week. :)
Author's Response: Well I don\'t believe in there EVER being a NiceGuy!Voldemort, but in CoS, Riddle says that only Dumbledore seemed to doubt him. So this implies that he must be a pretty good actor/Dark Lord.
Deliciously evil, eh? Hee hee, I never thought of it that way... Yeah, I ruined a bit of suspense with Snape but without saying it, this would have seemed to be a lot darker than I had intended. Besides, who said he can do anything? I mean, he wouldn\'t risk his spy position, would he? Well, as only I know the answer to that, I suppose you shall see young grasshopper. That sounded odd considering you are about nine years older than me... Oh well!
It figured I would have trouble with the banner... my friend wanted to see it (she doesn\'t read fanfiction *gasps*!) and said that she could put it on her Photobucket account and send me the URL. The URL works but it just wont show up on the site. Which is kind of the point!
Well, time to keep packing... I wonder if fanfiction sites are against the rules... we can\'t check e-mail on them but does a review count as e-mail?! Probably... darnit! But then again, the good thing about being the steriotypical-good-girl of my grade is that I can get away with almost anything! LOOPHOOOOOOOOLE! I love those things! See ya later!
~Moony
I just realized this chapter was validated. Yay! I just want to tell you it was very well-written and I really want to read more soon. I see the next chapter is in the queue, so I might just get my wish. Oh, and I can't wait to see the banner! ; )
Author's Response: Nuw! Thank goodness, please check this! Look at your chapter 10 reviews! This is big! Thanks for reviewing and PLEASE look at yours!!!!!!!!!!
~Moony
Author's Response: Forgot to say that yes, the banner will be up when this validates and I am hoping for this to be up soon. I am glad you like it!
~Moony
Okay, I'm hooked. All I can say is that things are really interesting right now. I'm totally fine with all the angst and suspense as long as the winding road leads us to a happy ending (I'm a sucker for them). Anyway, here's hoping for quick validation of the next chapter!
Author's Response: I\'m the same way: angst is great as long as there is a happy ending on it. I\'ve got the end already in my head with the major milestones, so all I have to do is add the inky little details until I get there! Thanks for the glimmer of hope; I\'m not going to hold my breath, but it could happen! Thanks again!
~Moony ;D
I can't believe I haven't read this before! This is hilarious! Wonderful job, as usual, Schmergo.
Author's Response: Thanks, nuw!
Oh ho! The plot thickens.... It looks like the Weasleys forgot about one little but very important piece of the real Ginny's personality: she HATES being told what she can and can't do. I actually think that a large part of the reason she hasn't thrown Dick out is her pride -- she doesn't want to admit she made a mistake by being with him. But I have every confidence that she'll get over it, expecially now that the potion has been discovered and replaced. I wonder if the rotten orange in the replacement "potion" will give her food poisoning, though. ;-)
My other theory is that Ginny fully plans to ditch Dick (especially after a couple chapters ago, when he hit her and told her she couldn't leave him). She just has a particularly nasty and humiliating way of doing it planned. I really hope that's the case.
Great chapter, and I'm looking forward to the next one!
Author's Response: Those are some good theories . . . hopefully you won\'t have to wait long to discover their accuracy. Thanks for the review!
Can Harry please show up RIGHT NOW and, I don't know, maybe hit Dick with a nice big Crucio? Please? Or at least a fist to the jaw? I really hope you update soon, because this chapter has left me quite depressed.
Author's Response: I can\'t imagine Harry would great Dick with anything less. . . . Don\'t worry, the story does get happier! Thank you so much for the review.
Harry rocks! Yeah! I'm completely pathetic. I know you're a big-time H/G shipper, and I know that Harry's going to win (as his daughter so astutely observes), and yet I literally find my heart pounding as I read this story. I guess you're just that good of a writer that your story can elicit a "fight or flight" response even though I know everything's going to be fine. Oh, and I'm REALLY looking forward to the return of the REAL Ginny. Although I do hope there will be more of an explanation for why she ever agreed to date/get engaged to Dick. It just seems so... so... un-Ginny-ish. I love your story, though, and I'm looking forward to the next update.
Author's Response: Thank you and you\'re right, I\'m a huge H/G shipper. One of the future chapters will be written from Ginny\'s point of view rather than Lily\'s (should I be telling you this?) and in that chapter there will be a lot of explanations. Thanks again for the review!
Okay, let me begin by sending an e-Crucio to Dick (I need to thank Schmergo for teaching me that one). Now that that's out of the way, I just want to tell you that your writing is really powerful. I felt tears pricking my eyes several times during this chapter. I agree with the previous reviewers that the stag is almost definitely Harry (who must've become an Animagus at some point), which would mean that now he knows what's really going on. All that has to happen now is for Harry to come back in human form and beat the %&$@ out of Dick. Or he could just stay in his stag form and gore him to death with his antlers. That would be cool, too.
Anyway, I still like your story, and I REALLY hope Harry's return is in the next chapter. Please update soon!
Author's Response: Wow, thank you for such a kind review, such reviews just make my day! Harry as a stag does seem to be a popular theory, but then I can\'t really say anything on the matter. . . . But I can say that I couldn\'t keep Harry away for TOO long.
Okay, this chapter was great! Fabulous! Um... *insert words of praise here*! Loved it. I can't wait to see what devilry Harry and Ginny have up their sleeves.
It's hard to pick a favorite part of a chapter like this one, but if I had to, it would have to be when Ginny says, "My sixteen-year-old self, Merlin, my eleven-year-old self would beat the crap out of me if they saw it all." I absolutely loved that line. It is so true.
I can't wait to see how it all wraps up, and what happens when the kids reveal the potion Dick was slipping to Ginny. Take enough time to make it good, but please don't take too long. ;-)
Author's Response: I\'m really going to try and make it the best chapter of the fic, but I\'ll certainly try not to take too long! Thanks for the review!
I've got to hand it to you, you've accomplished something I never thought possible: you made me hate Dick even more. I'm still having a really hard time seeing how Ginny morphed from who she was into who she is now. Was it only Harry's "death," or were there other contributing factors as well?
Once again, you have written an excellent chapter, and I'm happy/relieved that Fred and George now know that Harry's alive. Now he just needs to high-tail it home and kick some butt!
I'm not going to beg for a quick update, so- okay, I lied. I AM going to beg for a quick update. Please? The suspense is killing me!
Author's Response: I think I really love writing the memories most of all because they feature the canon Ginny we all know and love. Each chapter will explain more of exactly what happened and how Dick came into the picture. . . . I\'m glad you enjoyed that chapter, thank you so much for such a wonderful review!