awwwww... that was sweet :)

wow this is addictive... need... more... :)

Author's Response: Thanks so much...you\'ve got some more chapters to read...keep goin\'! :-)

*warm fuzzy* that made me smile.

not another *gasp* cliff-hanger! REALLY good though!

Author's Response: Sadly I\'m just addicted to cliff-hangers. Shame, really. Too bad there\'s no cure.

oooh! Conflict! Me likey this story!

HA! me love!

Author's Response: Glad you liked it, thanks for reviewing! :)

Wow, Lindsey!

This was heart-warming and ironic (is that oxymoranic?)

I love how you had Ron and Hermione several years older, but still in character. You represented how much Hermione and Ron care for eachother by showing they would give up some of their most prized possesions, just to give the other a happy christmas.

One thing I found a bit odd was that Hermione and Ron waited seven years to get married when they're obviously crazy about eachother. was it the complications of the war?

Still, amazing fic! I look forward to more!

Author's Response: Aw! Te he! Thanks Ashley! Uh.. yeah. Ron and Hermione waited that long to get married because of the war, yes. LOL, thans for your lovely review! ~Lindsey :)

That was really good! I liked how gave a summary of the war without focusing on it and your characterisation was spot on! Nice job!

Author's Response: major thanks...i felt that the point of the story wasn\'t the war but it was always in the back of thier minds.

Wow, Alison. Yours was one of the most unique Draco/Hermione fics I’ve ever read. This was a great story for the fic exchange (*high fives fellow SBBC-er*) and I’m sure Nikki will love it.

At first, I was a little surprised by the first-person story-telling approach, especially with Draco, just because he’s such a hard character to write dialogue for, let alone to show his thoughts, so very well done on that front.

“But I’ll have to work with someone else.”

I thought this was a great insight to Draco’s character. He is, and probably always will be, a loner. He doesn’t have many friends, nor does he really desire any. He’s very much like Voldemort in that respect, I think.

“After all, Kingsley was not at all impressed or scared by shouting, unfortunately.”

This was another great insight into Draco’s character; also, the word choice is great.

One thing I did pick up about your Hermione characterisation was that she seemed to be rambling quite a bit, especially in the beginnings. I really can’t see Hermione doing this; she seems the sort of person who’d make a plan for what she wants to say before speaking, and then sticking to it, or at least catching herself before she gets too far off track.

On that note, in the beginning, Hermione’s dialogue with Draco felt unnatural. It felt forced (I’m not sure if this was your intention, based on the characters’ history) and also, a bit too informal. Hermione doesn’t usually say things like “Yeah”. The way she speaks, especially to people she’s not particularly fond of, is usually very formal. However, by the end of the story, I thought her exchanges with Draco were spot on. This passage especially, I thought was rather good:

“ ‘So every member of the Golden Trio got to work at the Ministry the day the Dark Lord died, even though none of you finished Hogwarts, is that right?’

Granger nodded.

‘Major favouritism, isn't it? I guess all rules can be bent for people like you, right? Who cares if you used Unforgivable Curses! You saved the world!’

‘I don't appreciate your sarcasm,’ she said coldly.

‘Well, that's just too bad. I hate doing things you don't appreciate, after all.’

She turned away from me.”

What Draco says and Hermione’s reaction is great here. The tone of this passage is great as well. Draco is bitter to the exact right extent. The trio did get off rather easily for everything they did, while the Malfoys (rightly) fell from grace after the war. This was portrayed perfectly.

One more thing I saw, though not especially noticeable in this passage, was the lack of description between dialogue. Sometimes, almost entire sections go by without any description after a character says something. The reader (or at least myself) gets curious about what’s going on during exchanges of dialogue. What is the character’s tone like? How are they reacting? (If there’s someone else watching the exchange) how are other’s reacting?

Lastly (I’m sure you’re getting sick of me :]), though I assume some increment of time passed, the ending, approached rather fast. It would have been great if instead of “*~*” you had given some description of time passed in between these sections. Perhaps conversations Hermione and Draco had with other characters about what had been happening at work/ with the other. It would have tied the story together a little better, in my opinion.

I did, however, love the actual ending, especially the Mr. Medina-inspired speech Hermione gave, it applied very well to the story, and I thought Malfoy’s pseudo-aggressive reaction was very fitting as well. Very well done!

So, to wrap it all up, as I said, I enjoyed this story immensely. You managed to bring to very different characters together in a believable way, and the banter between Draco and Hermione was enjoyable to read, and realistic at that. Great job!