I have to say, I think this is my favorite SS/OC fic I've read so far. Athene is the perfect match for him, just as gruff and stubborn as he is. People always seem to be too kind to Severus, making up reasons why he really wasn't such an arrogant berk after all, but you haven't pulled any punches. He's the same prickly Potions professor we read about in canon, but you manage to make him sympathetic anyway. Thanks for sharing this great story with us.

I LOVE the way you write Snape in Chapter 25. I find it very difficult to write nasty characters like Snape, so I admire your handling of him.

You have tons of brilliant dialogue in this story and Obliviate, but this is some of my favorite, I think.

I'm really enjoying this; thanks for writing it!

I think you should forget about DH and do whatever you were planning to do anyway. Your work is too much fun to let a little thing like canon get in the way!

And by the way--Imperius has got to be one of the ten best stories on Mugglenet, and probably the only one that's a sequel! Update soon!

I have to say that this is the best piece of Snape fanfiction I've read so far (and why aren't there more Snapefics out there? I thought it was obvious that the whole series was secretly about Snape!). I'm going to make two remarks which I hope you'll take as constructive criticism, and then I'll get on with the praise, so you won't hate me at the end.

The only complaint I can make is that after reading what JK has said about him, I think you've been rather too generous with Snape. For example, I don't think it's necessary for him to be coerced into joining the Death Eaters at first; I think it more likely that he thought they could give him something he wanted out of life (respect, wealth, I don't know) and found out the hard way that they couldn't.

My other bit of criticism is that at the end of your fiction, I kind of felt like "stringing Malfoy along until he slips up" was a good excuse to remain friends with him in the short term, but not for ten years. It seemed like he was still a little scared of Lucius and, from your story, I couldn't see him remaining in contact with him unless he was getting something from it. I have a theory that there's canon evidence for him being genuinely fond of Draco, so maybe that would work.

Okay, now on with the slobbering praise. I think this was a beautiful piece of fiction from start to finish; the characters were believable and touching throughout; you treated a difficult subject with a lot of expertise; and as noted by other reviewers, there are bits of this story which I'm going to have trouble remembering aren't actually canon (Saint Lily, for example).

I read for relationships between characters, and I love all of the ones you represent here. The one between Snape and Lily, of course, is perfect, but I also find your Snape/Pomfrey and Snape/McGonagall really touching.

Lucius Malfoy was absolutely terrifying in this story, but I think my favorite thing is how you characterize James Potter. He is charming and brutal in turns, and you have perfectly harmonized the two completely different visions of him that Rowling gives us. It makes perfect sense that Severus would hate him while other characters would love him.

Sirius Black is another great portrayal. I'm rather fond of Sirius myself, but the way you write him is just the way he would look from Snape's eyes.

Okay, I'll stop before I write the longest review ever (though it's all that you deserve after writing such a long fiction), but I'll close by saying that I would love to read any non-Potterverse fiction you've written.

Thanks for this great contribution to the Snapeverse. :)

Author's Response: Thanks! Yes, I agree completely -- Harry is just a convenient foil in the series. It\'s really all about Severus.

As for the concrit -- well, some of it is POV. Nobody is ever as horrid in his own as he would be in that of his greatest mutual annoyance (See \"Potter\" in my collection, for instance.) Some of it is most likely the VV bias as well. I was quite taken with the Half Blood Prince right about the time Harry learned the toenail-hexing spell. I want to be able to cast that one.

As for waiting for Lucius to slip up, when Lucius is \'slippery\' even by the Dark Lord\'s standards, well, perhaps Severus wasn\'t signing on for ten years, but that was what he ended up with. There may be some cognitive dissonance there, as well. If you act like someone\'s friend long enough, eventually you start to believe it yourself. At any rate, Severus doesn\'t seem too worried about his alleged best friend\'s arrest at the end of OotP; in fact, he looks to be in something of a good mood. Or at least as good a mood as he\'s ever going to indulge in front of Harry. But anyway -- I\'m glad you enjoyed this!

Nice start. I like how the "illegal activities" line has the emphasis in different places, depending on whose point of view you're in. Kind of like how different people have different impressions of the same thing.

Author's Response: Yeah, we couldn\'t agree on where the emphasis went, do we figured our characters wouldn\'t either. :D Thanks for reviewing!

You know, somehow I never really thought about the impact the werewolf incident would have on James' and Sirius' friendship. I like how you play it, though; not too hot and not too cold.

Your descriptions of their teenage gestures are awesome, too. I'm not a kid anymore, but you did a great job of bringing to my mind the way teenage boys move and act.

I'm in the "trust-Severus-Snape" camp, and I really respect your portrayal of Snape here. He's self-centered but not slimy; obnoxious but not maniacally evil. You should take it as a huge compliment that I feel that way, but I noticed you had other reviewers who said "I always knew Snape was evil!"

This has been an excellent story; it's definitely going on my permanent favorites list. Thanks for sharing it with us!

Author's Response: Thanks! I figured not many 16-yr-olds would really excise their best friends on deep moral or philosophical grounds, so the other Marauders might be a bit annoyed and uncomfortable, but they\'re not going to launch a campaign to shun Sirius. I\'m delighted you liked their gestures! I always pay a lot of attention to the physical movements of the characters, though it hardly ever gets mentioned in reviews.

Finally, someone else who sees that Severus must have loved Dumbledore like a father! Great story! Thanks for sharing it.

Wow, I have been breathlessly awaiting this chapter, and I wasn't disappointed. This story is such a worthy sequel to JKR's books! I just can't wait for the next update, keep up the good work.

This is such a worthy sequel to the Potterverse. I see now why JKR doesn't want to write any; she'd have to compete with the likes of you. Thanks for the ride, it was a blast!