Aww, I was so rooting for James. You tricked me with a Prof rating. Cheeky woman!

Anyway, I really liked the characterisation; they really seemed like normal teenagers, up to no good and doing stuff they shouldn't behind their parents' backs. It reminded me of being that age, even if the time since that was the case is becoming alarmingly longer and longer, hehe. 

Great fic. Sizzling pairing. Heart heart heart you, and Natalie, too!

~Jess

Awww! This story is the perfect blend of sentiment, pensiveness, and reflection, but not too much of any one of them. I don't think I've ever come across a story where Remus would punch one of his mates, but it makes so much sense, considering their age at the time.

The camaraderie between the Marauders was brilliant, but what was even better was the bouts of tension and, most importantly, how they moved past them. It is obvious from every word that you know these guys just so very well. 

Well done, Twin! Boo to bad coding, but the story was excellent. 

~Jess

And finally, I am back on your review page. It’s been far too long, both since I’ve read something not queue-related and since you’ve graced MNFF with more of your gorgeous writing. I’m glad we’ve both amended such poor practices. For shame.

I remember telling you this on AIM, but I think the most stunning aspect of this story is its sheer simplicity. It has minor plot and a minor timeline, but both in just the right quantity to fit both the length and the almost sad nostalgia that the story was putting forth. It rather reminds me of the song Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks (and beautifully covered by Westlife :D ). Of course, this connection didn’t really click until I looked up the word halcyon (if I do say so myself, it isn’t often that I need to look up a word). The definition just fit the story so beautifully that I cried little fiction tears of joy at its splendour.

Never will stop marvelling at the plethora of ways you can portray Katie and Oliver yet make them all feel right. Every nuance of the characterisation, from Katie’s omnipresent ability to identify Oliver from the briefest of glances across a crowded room to Oliver’s ability to bark commands on the pitch but not even know what to say in an interpersonal relationship - they all feel so murky and perfect for how I picture them in my head. Of course, I don’t know if you could possibly get your OTP wrong, or that I believe you ever could (hence why you’ve made them my OTP, as well).

Katie makes me so sad. Not because she never got Oliver, but because she spent so much effort making up for the fact that she never really got over him. Hence trussing herself up in that dress that she never would’ve been caught dead in otherwise, wearing those monstrous shoes, and pasting a plastic smile on to smile fly in the face of this farce. I’m afraid that your Katie and mine have one more black mark on their character in common, though, and that’s a small streak of cowardice, running away from things that hurt instead of facing them down and rectifying them. In a way, she never really grew up in that fashion, pawning off her problems on distance and the passage of time, hoping they wouldn’t still be there when she got back. If only life worked that way.

I’d like to say Oliver was a fool for not choosing Katie, but in the end, the choice was made for him. If she had stuck around, something could’ve come of their relationship. They had the golden things that many couples never achieve between them: they were in ‘like’ with one another before the relationship progressed. Sure, it didn’t in the story, but I don’t entirely buy that Oliver say no flat out. Poor love, he’s quite inarticulate, so perhaps (maybe this is me being hopeful), he simply couldn’t find the words to convey what he wanted to convey to her. Even “I don’t know what to say” says volumes about what one means.

Of course, no review from me to you would be complete without extolling the excellence of your writing style. It’s so simple and clear, but elegantly so. I’m never in doubt as to what the story is about, but peeling back the surface layer, there is a haven of things to be gleaned. For instance, take Morag and Katie’s physical similarity. While it doesn’t seem like a coincidence, it’s not as clear-cut as Oliver liking that type of girl or missing Katie; it tells me that Oliver had just as many unresolved issues about the relationship built during that golden summer. Whether these issues are romantic, or simply hurt that she left without saying goodbye are unclear, but how it’s left up to the reader allows individuals to get from this story what they wish to, rather than what they’re told. Personally, I think Oliver figured out later that he’d had those sorts of feelings for her when she left but simply hadn’t realised it until the pang of absence sent it into stark relief.

There is nothing one cannot love about this story. It is both warm and cold all at once, but it’s got so much packed into it for the word count it has: character, plot, angst, romance, and that desire to know more but not the necessity in order to understand and to gain from it. It is, in short, a perfect snapshot piece. If I could, I’d wrap myself in it. Thank you so, so much for writing it for me. This review falls short of what I really want to say, as it would’ve done had I attempted a review on spewswap, but you know me so well. I sincerely hope that you never get sick of me being like this, because as your writing steadily gets better with age, you will forever find ways to steal my breath with your, dare I say it, halcyon words. And, to think, these were meant all for me.

~Jess

Gahhhh, so prettyyyyy!

I really should review this properly, but all I can muster are incoherent flails. This just oozes the song so well, and I think you picked a great pairing to represent it. Michael's dystopia was interweaved nicely throughout the story, giving it a rich sense of foreboding and sickly anticipation for the inevitable knowledge that nothing lasts forever, but some things even less time than they should.

Anyway, I shall stop rambling and commend you for not only having an expert hold on the type of story I like, but also chanelling the essence of a song that I'm sure you'd never heard of until the exchange. Ta, and *squish*!

~Jess

Author's Response: Yay! You have no idea how happy I was to hear that you liked it before the authors were revealed. Thanks so much for leaving a review - and also for introducing me to the song…it's now on one of my 25 most played on my iPod :). xx Ariana

*flail*

Seriously, yo. Major flailage to the lushness of this fic, and yay for you writing it for meeeeee!

Author's Response: The fact that I've jolted you from your usual measured reviews means more to me than 10,000 SPEW reviews (well, possibly). Glad you enjoyed it and I'm giggling at the flailing. ~Carole~

Gahhhhhhhhhhh! *flailflailflail*

Even knowing what happens in this story, I was entranced. Danny is just so lush. I love his cool confidence and put-on nonchalance about his dalliances. I think the fleeting nature of them affects him more than he wanted to or allowed anyone else to believe.

Oliver was very reminiscent of the withdrawn bloke we saw in DNW, but his excellence in sports and laser-like focus when it comes to it were very much canon. However, the way he most stood out is how you made him your own. The young man who stood in front of a prone Danny and took a lashing from Robert was the man who went back to Hogwarts and fought in the battle. You brought that full circle subtly, and it was greatly appreciated.

I loved the minor characters in this, like Mike the Twat Cricket Player, Kay the Slutty Sister Who Enjoyed Her Conquests, Robert the Bastard Git Dad Who Needs to Rot in Fiendfyre, and Mum the One Who Knows What Needs to Be Done To Protect Her Boy and Her Family. And that was obnoxious to type. Anyway, I just thought the cast was well-played in roles that make sense and intermixed well to help set up the story.

Gah. My lovely boys. I was grinning like an idiot while they were messing around, and I actually thought Oliver's lovemaking was in character, if that makes sense. The boy is good with his hands, but he was firm and focused on what he wanted to do. And Danny, the dear, he definitely cared about Oliver enough to help him into it. I know most girls shrink off at the thought of oral, so that Danny wanted Oliver to be comfortable spoke volumes about the difference between his thing with this 'grockle' and the others who had come before.

And yayyyy, the book signing! I'm glad Oliver had that chance to be confident in who he was (both as a wizard amongst Muggles and as a gay man) to shout it to the whole bookstore that he was the one Danny wrote about. And then the note. Unf. Say YES to the hut, my loves. If only to be a leering fly on the wall...

This was a gorgeous fic, Carole, and I have brought you nothing but flailage. However, it is all I have to offer in turn for this stunning character portrait. Thank you for writing this, and thank you for giving Oliver the chance to meet Danny and learn to be what he is and not what is expected.

~Jess

Author's Response: Thank yooooooooooo *flaiiiiiiils* at the review. I did, in the end, ebjopy writing this. there were parts when i wanted it to die in fiendfyre - ha ha - especially when I knew I had to write the violence because I really didn't want Danny to get hurt, but it had to be done :( because I'd already written it in DNW. Why do I do such foolish things without thinking of the consequences?!! Silly Croll!

Ah, Mike-the Twat - ha ha. I dk why he became such a twat. Originally he was going to be Dan's best friend, but that didn't work very well, so he became a prat. Kay I rather liked. i now imagine her getting knocked up by one of her conquests and living forever in the fading seasdie town ... unless she marries Mike the Twat.

Glad you spotted Danny's insecurity. I think he's so used to holiday flings not working out that he had more or less given up, but then Oliver wasn;t his usual pretty boy. Hmm, I wonder if it would have worked out. I think the fact that he was a Muggle was a barrier, but also Oliver is so focused on Quidditch and winning, would he really find time for Danny. When he's older, however ... But *sigh* Cedric will always be in the way.
,br> So pleased I made you flail. I got so much satisfaction finally getting this written, so anything else is a bonus, but flailage is wonderful! Thanks again ~Carole~