I'm already hooked by the subtlety of your characterisation - it's the little moments that tell us so much about where the characters have gone in the backstory to this fic.

“I haven’t asked you, by the way,” he interrupts, “was it a girl or boy?”

I lift my head up again slightly; he speaks with such loathing about my first born child.

I love this exchange because the bitterness really shows how far Harry has fallen from the boy we knew. Once, he understood that a parent's love had to transcend all other concerns, but I'm getting the impression that he can't understand or appreciate love in any form any more.

It’s like the role he has to play has become him and he’s now completely comfortable within it.

So Severus has walked an even darker path than Harry then? I wonder just how far gone he is?

Author's Response: Hey! Thank you so much for the reviews. You\'ve no idea how good the timing is for this - I mean, I have had a terrible weekend so to receive two lovely reviews was very nice. I am glad you\'re enjoying it, although I do know there are parts I\'m unhappy with. Lau x

Sorry that I haven’t had chance to review each chapter of this amazing story as I read it, but if I’m honest I probably shouldn’t have been spending the time reading let alone reviewing – but I couldn’t help it! I’ve been using this story as revision bribery – an hour of contract law and then treat myself to another chapter.

I don’t even know where to start saying everything I want to say about this story, it’s just so fabulous. I think it’s probably the best thing I’ve read on Mugglenet (and that’s definitely saying something as there as so many good stories here). It’s beautifully written, carefully characterised and the plot is so subtly woven with canon and striking originality. I’m having a really hard time keeping this separate in my head from canon. Normally I mostly manage to keep fanfiction well separated from canon but this has just so utterly become Snape’s back-story for me that if anything in DH counteracts it then I’ll be utterly confused!

For the first time, you’ve managed to turn Severus Snape into a real person for me. My character analysis of him had never previous gone beyond: sullen; hates Harry and probably not actually evil. But you’ve actually got me interested in him and somewhat shockingly left me having a great deal of sympathy for him. There were so many points where his future seemed to hang in the balance and one push in the right direction would have saved him that I could forget while I was reading it that we already know how badly things would end for him and so many points where I just wanted to save him and give him a hug (I hate to think of the look on Severus’ face at that comment – can’t imagine he’d take kindly to such a sentiment!). You do such a fabulous job of drawing out all the good things about him that Harry’s point of view never shows us that he has become someone I’d actually quite like to be able to sit down over a cup of tea with and discuss the finer points of the application of modern chemistry to potions (the chemistry graduate in me absolutely adored the fume-cupboard and chromatography use and got a little hyper during that chapter!).

There is some wonderful subtle humour throughout that matches Severus’ dry, sardonic style and complements the dark bits perfectly – and my goodness are the darker parts dark! My hatred of Lucius Malfoy now knows no bounds, I think, and the whole Hadrian plotline broke my heart, as did Severus’ realisation that it was his fault that Lily died. As for the ending, well, floods of tears – it was just so cruel that Severus and Harry could have had a friendship that they both so desperately needed if it hadn’t been for one initial unfortunate eye contact.

Actually, whilst I’m on the subject of Lily, I thought your portrayal of her was brilliant – the ‘Saint’ joke was such a nice nod to the usual way she is portrayed yet you captured that cheekiness about her that she is supposed to have and made her a lot of fun.

Ok, I think I’ve run out of superlatives now and I’m beginning to sound like a hopeless fangirl, so I’ll leave this here but in case you haven’t yet gathered – I loved this story!

~Hannah


Author's Response: Wow! Thanks! I hope the revision went well. I spent a good bit of time in chemistry and biology laboratories, which may have something to do with my Severus-fanship. And DH is probably going to confound me utterly; I\'m almost scared to read it. I\'m glad you enjoyed this, and appreciate the lovely long review!

I'm so glad I stumbled across this - it's fabulous! A blazing row is the perfect way to get those two together, because Ron really isn't ever going to become emotionally competent enough to work out what's in front of him otherwise. I agree with Ginny - they did need this.

The argument is so intense. I really love the line, “IS THAT ALL I AM TO YOU? HAVE NOTHING, KNOW NOTHING, WORTH NOTHING RON?” because it seems to completely sum up all of Ron's frustration and bitterness, thinking that he isn't good enough for her. You've managed to successfully blow the top off of six years of friendship, love and denial and dragged up all the old little wounds that they inflicted on one-another, without ever making it melodramatic.

“BECAUSE I LOVE YOU, DAMMIT!...I WOULD BLOODY WELL DIE FOR YOU!" Trust Ron to come out with with such romantic sentiments in such an unromantic manner - it's so true to the character. And only Ron could manage to storm off when she tells him that she feels the same, but the "I will," was perfect. It really got to me!

I loved the lighter moments that you put into it too though. It was so fitting that it was Harry that made Ron do something about it because he refused to go off hunting for the Horcruxes with them sniping at each other the whole time and the line of, Hermione smiled coyly, or at least what passed for coyly when it came to Hermione. made me laugh out loud because it was so accurate!

*wanders off to read the rest of your stories*

Author's Response: uh-oh, somehow I\'m able to access this site from work again. It\'s all over now! Nevermind that. I always love it when a new reader comes into the stories, particularly when said reader leaves such an awesome and long review. And of course you are starting at the beginning which as absolutely perfect. Sometimes I forget about this fic, and it\'s always good to remember. Thank you so much for everything you\'ve said, and so let\'s see exactly what you said. I along with both you and Ginny all seem to agree that they did indeed need the row. Why? Well, as you point out because of the fact that there are still so many personal hurdles to get over, and only a row could do such. But also from the standpoint of the author, it\'s just better this way. It\'s more passionate, and more engrossing. Sure, I could have had Ron and Hermione just go out for a nice civilized talk and work through their issues, but, yeah, how interesting is that? Which brings us to the fight itself, and how it comes across. As I\'ve said many times before, really this argument was me setting the stage and then letting the characters take over after a point. At least that is how it felt. I really didn\'t try and push them in any specific direction, but instead... I guess it\'s like pachinko. You know that game with the metal ball, and you drop it in at the top and it bangs against those little pegs? I guess Viktor Krum would be the first peg, and the ball just kept bouncing from there. In this regard, I thin kthat may have been what gave the fight its passion without going overboard. I really did what Ron and Hermione do all the time in canon, only this time, I didn\'t let them stop. I will disagree with you on one point, and that\'s because I have a very finely defined image of romance. The line you mention, to me at least, is incredibly romantic and that\'s because it comes straight from the heart with all the emotion and passion he could muster.He could take her atop a tower on a moonlight night and bestow upon her a daimond encrusted ring whilst quoting her poetry, and it wouldn\'t be nearly so romantic because it doesn\'t have the same meaning. And we explore this a little further in Epilogues Part III, that being that what makes Ron romantic is not the flourish or the gestures, but the fact that when he acts, and when he speaks it carries such gravitas emotionally that you can\'t help but to feel along with him. But then, as you point out, only he would be so stupid as to be insulted when he shouldn\'t be. But then even Harry saw this coming. Which set up, \"I will,\" and I have to say, I worked so hard for that one singular moment. I don\'t know. When you\'re writing, you get these brief spots where you feel it, where you know you knocked it right out of the park, and you may as well start jogging around the bases, and that one was it. And ultimately, I think that also is necessary. Someone had to give. Someone had to bear their belly and in not so many words say, \"Kill me. Take every part of me or no part of me, just know that either way, I belong to you... I\'m yours, and you are free to do with me as you wish.\" And then there\'s the lighter moments you mention. When inspiration struck, the only thing that really hit me was the argument. Problem was, I couldn\'t just drop the reader into the all out war that eventually ensues, so I had to figure out a way to frame it. Since the first site I posted this on was a H/G site, I figured that was how to start things, and it let me use Harry\'s POV which had the benefits of making it easier to ape JKR\'s voice, as well as free me from the burdon of having to adopt Hermione or Ron\'s point of view which may have made the scene too lopsided. Anyway, and i think from there the lighter moments were born, especially considering I don\'t think I would have been able to put them in there if I were going at it from Ron or Hermione\'s POV. But the thing I\'ve noticed is that I have a quieter sense of humor in my writing, definitely not the kind that lends itself to writing a comedy story, but it\'s there, and what\'s worse, I can\'t get rid of it. Epilogues Part III is most definitely a very serious and dark story, and yet I find myself still unable to avoid the offhanded joke or two, even in the most serious of parts. But in the end, I think I\'m learning to live with that, I think it adds texture and depth to what I do, and it definitely adds to my voice, I think. Anyway, I\'m glad you enjoyed it, and now I\'m off to go eagerly await the rest of your reviews.

Such good fun and so fluffy! The bit about the blood in Ron's face being unable to decide whether to blush or go pale had me giggling a lot as did the waltz/five step tango comment - really sums those two up. And the piggy back race is exactly the sort of ridiculous thing that you just end up doing on a day like that.

Why is it though that Harry's concern when they couldn't find the other two in the arcade gives me a bit of a sense of foreboding? I just have this nasty little feeling that things can't carry on being this perfect and happy for them all. I really hope I'm wrong!

Author's Response: I will say that things can\'t and won\'t carry on being this perfect, but not for the reasons that you suspect. Now that you reminded me of the little arcade worry scene, I think I can safely say that that is a little remarked upon aspect of my writing that becomes more evident later on. In retrospect, I think the feeling you have is the exact thing I was going for. In one instant I wanted to remind everyone that a) the peaceful times they were enjoying were very much dangling by a thread and b) these characters are so used to the duress and the drama that even they really couldn\'t sit and enjoy a day without strife without some of the old demons coming back to them. But for the most part you are right, this is just more fun and fluff. The piggy back race et al. are all just the kinds of things I imagine kids doing, you know? Just enjoying childhood... I\'m talkin\' out my ass so I\'m going to move on to the next review! Thanks again.

He was officially seventeen, and officially alone. Hmmm...now that was a line that really hooked me. It just seems so much deeper than the rest of the chapter and so true.

I liked the lighter bits of the chapter too though. “it wouldn’t have been so bad if he didn’t just stand there and gawk at her like an idiot. Somehow I can just imagine Ron standing in a doorway with a look of shock on his face and his mouth moving but no sound coming out. It's probably a miracle that he *didn't* end up belching slugs (although I'm sure Hermione could probably come up with some even more imaginative ways to hex him!).

The four of them having a day as normal muggle teenagers - now this could be interesting...

Author's Response: Alright, let me start off by saying that this is my worst fic. Bar none, no questions asked, this is definitely not me at my best. If it weren\'t for the last chapter I would probably have binned the whole thing by now, but after four chapters of frivilous fluff, I had to put some substance in there, and really that last chapter sets the stage for the entire Epilogues series. So, all i can say is thank you, and if you can manage your way through this story without hating me as an author, I promise much better things in store for you after this!

I don't normally venture into the humour category much (I generally prefer my fanfic a bit darker and more tragic), but I'd heard so much about this story that, being in a slightly silly mood, I couldn't resist. It certainly lives up to the hype! I read the first couple of chapters the other day, but was too half asleep to leave a review, so you get a review for this chapter instead.

It just had me giggling throughout. Although I did almost manage to rather inelegantly snort my cup of tea everywhere on several occasions too.

The cheese-flavoured latte particularly entertained me. I was a little worried though, that once the initial amusement wore off, I got to thinking that it didn't seem too bad an idea - coffee and cheese being two of my favourite things in life. I think I must be a little caffeine deprived...

I was also entertained by the concept of Voldy in eyeliner - maybe more so because of an unfortunate conversation last night in which my flatmate admitted an odd liking of men in eyeliner. I now find myself wondering if she'd like Voldy in eyeliner! O.o

~Hannah

Author's Response: Oh boy, someone intelligent enough to ignore the humour category ended up reading this story! I AM magic! I\'m super-glad that you liked this, because this was my first fanfiction, and I worry a lot that it\'s definitely overrated. Cheese-flavoured latte... oh dear, I would hate to drink one... makes me think of when I was three and wanted to make cheese soup (meaning putting grated cheese into some milk), but I didn\'t have any milk, so I used strawberry juice instead, and the result was revolting... and my mom made me drink it. :(

This almost isn't really a review as such (since I've already long since left you a review saying how much I love this story), but more of a thank you in some ways.

One of the things that really stayed with me from reading this was the idea of Severus' mental library. Something made me recall it a little while back, and I ended up creating my own mental library, which has helped me through some pretty rough times of late.

So yeah, thank you.

Oooh I really enjoyed this! You create a really lovely balance in the chapter between the gentle domesticity at the start and the horror at the end; the two halves complement each other perfectly.

I love that you had Hermione insisting that she was going to go despite being heavily pregnant and Ron realising that he couldn't stop and grieve because he had to finish the fight. Those moments just suit both of their characters perfect and really re-emphasise why they are Griffindors.

I thought the look Harry and Ron shared as if saying goodbye was really poignant. It summed up the depth of their friendship perfectly without forcing them to have any OOC conversation about their emotions(!) or breaking the flow of the battle scene.

One tiny little thing I noticed which just felt a little awkward to me was when Ron told Harry about Neville being dead and Harry said, “Luna is going to be devastated. You know that they’ve been married since our seventh year, when we all joined the Order.” It feels a bit like Harry is telling Ron something he'd already know just for the benefit of the reader, if that makes any sense? You could quite easily just leave it at "Luna is going to be devastated." because the reader will be able to infer the rest without it being flagged up or you might want to consider having the explanation as narrative not dialogue. Just a suggestion.

Author's Response: That was such a marvelously detailed review that you have me smiling as I am typing this!!! *huggles to death* Thank you SO much for that lovely review. I do get what you are saying about the Luna part. I think that I might actually go back and put it in context, when I have time. Thanks so much for poitning that out. I\'m glad that you liked the look between Harry (it\'s my fav part to write) and the part about Hermione and Ron being in Gryffindor for an actual reason. :) Thanks so much for reading! ~Lindsey :)

This is just lovely. Some of the imagery you have in there is wonderful, particularly,

I can hear the battlefield’s shrieking cry,
It shares the hue of the blood-red sky.

and All light fades to black-blue,
And it flows, on icicle-ornamented clouds

It's very visual and really effective. You really manage to keep the emotional intensity going throughout too and then the final line is just breathtaking!

~Hannah