I'm a thirtysomething mom of 3 who uses HP as an escape. I'm thoroughly addicted. I've got strong opinions on characterization, and I've become an ardent H/G fan since Order of the Phoenix.
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Never Alone by ckwright51
Rated: 3rd-5th Years [Reviews - 426]
Summary: Dumbledore’s gone and Harry, Ron and Hermione have returned to Privet Drive to start their search for the Horcruxes. Their plan not to return to Hogwarts is changed with the reading of Dumbledore’s will. Harry must discover that his friends are a greater help then he can imagine and how to use the “Power the Dark Lord knows not.” With a little romance, action, mystery and even Quidditch along the way, Harry will find out if he and his friends can defeat the greatest Dark Wizard of the age.
This story was completely written before the release of DH or the Order of the Phoenix movie. Any similarities are entirely coincidental.
All reviews will recieve a response!
The Power Voldemort knows not, indeed.. Good thought with sharing the joy of flying with Charlie, too As a former Seeker himself, that was definitely something he could relate, too. I liked Harry loopy on painkillers. I've seen it done before, and it's always one of my favorite things. I hope we get to see more of that - Harry's funny when he's loopy.
A couple of big Americanisms - "graduation" and "guys". I think you have a very nice story here, but those glaring ones make it lose a little authenticity.
Now, I'm really curious what Ginny and Ernie are up to, since I don't for a minute believe they're really dating. Hmmm.
Author's Response: Yeah, Loopy Harry was one of my favorites from your fic too. It\'s fun being able to write him less seriously on occassion. I will keep working on the Americanism, with my beta, in the hopes of getting rid of them. We caught a few but must have missed a couple, thanks for the heads up. Thanks for the reviews.
Okay, I just caught up on your story. I've never seen Nagini taken out first, so that was a refreshing change. I think your story would benefit from a Brit picker, however. There are a lot of Americanism. "Guys" in particular is kind of jarring. Brits use "bloke" or "lot" for the plural. I'm not sure if Mugglenet offers Brit picking services or not.
That new Defense teacher reminds me of Tonks with the clumsiness, the little cat makes me think of GInny, and I like the strong bond of friendship you show between Harry and Ron. So many fics revert Ron back to his 4th year jealousy when we haven't seen that in canon since. The one area of this story that does bother me is the Occlumency. At the end of HBP, Harry couldn't do it at all, and JKR said in her interview that he CAN'T do it, so it seems off to me that he can in this fic. I think what she'll do is find a way around the problem - so that's what we as fic authors need to do as well. Just my .02.
Author's Response: Thanks, I was hoping to do a few things that I hadn\'t seen done yet and the Nagini thing was one of them. She usually goes last so I thought we would try something different.
As for Harry and Occlumency, I did know about the JKR interview. I\'m surprised the Mods haven\'t nailed me on that one, but unfortunately it is too late to change it now.
As for Ron, I think he had grown up a lot, so I agree, he wouldn\'t revert back to 4th year Ron in this case.
THanks for the review, and the advice on the Brit picker. I need all the .02 I can get.
Hmm, Tonks is a very good teacher if all but two Slytherins could do the Patronus charm after only one Defense lesson...er...I mean Scurlock, grin.
Poor GInny, she can't really believe Harry wanted her to go with Ernie. He's always too noble, and he's never been very good at concealing his emotions. If Hermione could see it, surely Ginny could, I hope!
I'm guessing that small animal he saw was the cat - and that's really the secret Hermione wants Ginny to share, right? How am I doing?
Author's Response: Well let\'s take these in order. As for Scurlock, he is a very good Defense Teacher and clumsy. Tonk is probably a good teacher, and clumsy. Does that make them the same person, I don\'t know?
Ginny understands Harry very well and knows him well enough to know what he is doing.
The animal was not the cat actually.
Thanks for the review, and you are tracking with the story really well. I hope you enjoy the next chapter.
Nice match! While Quidditch isn't my favorite, either, I always miss it when it's not there - and I feel so badly for Harry not playing. He needs to have some normalcy, poor thing. Interesting note about Percy. I hope he doesn't forget that he tucked that note away.
Author's Response: Thanks, I really enjoy Quidditch, although writing it isn\'t the easiest thing to do. Glad you liked the chapter.
Uh oh - GInny attacking Harry under the Imperius doesn't bode well for the future, and no matter how much training he's had, I don't think Harry would be able to hurt her. Ginny's going to have to learn to resist it.
Author's Response: In many ways, Ginny is Harry\'s greatest strength, but she is also a great weakness, as Harry knew. He decided that being with her was worth the risk, but Voldemort will certainly try and exploit that. Thanks for the review. Take Care
Hmm, that's not the reaction I would have expected from Ginny. Favorite line in this chapter though? It was Ron telling his mum to stop hugging Harry or people will think she fancies him. I love Ron! That literally made me lol. Nice job.
On a non-story, canon question - do you really think the Ministry six will be involved in the end? Even after HBP? I tend to think its going to be just the trio, perhaps with Ginny helping with something along the way but not the whole hunt.
Author's Response: No, I don\'t think many expected GInny to run out like that. Harry certainly didn\'t. The next chapter is almost ready to submit so we will see soon.
As for the \"mininstry 6\" (I love the name for them by the way.) I do think they will have a role to play, together, I don\'t know how large. Thanks for the Review, take Care.
Yikes! Stupid Malfoy! Harry's enraged, but I can't believe he won't be able to get contro.. He's Harry! That head cracking makes me wonder, though...Go, Ginny in faking a faint. Good girl!
I was confused at the beginning of this chapter. I thought classes ended so they could go out into the snow, but then McGonagall's note said to meet her after his last class?
Author's Response: Yeah, is seems that Malfoy just can\'t manage to stay out of trouble. I liked that Ginny faked the fainting bit. She really is much more clever then she gets credit for.
As for the mistake you caught, I edited it, so the snowball fight takes place in the morning. That was a result of an edit I made at the last minute. THanks for pointing that out. Thanks for the review and the helpful insights.
Oh, so touching that they rebuilt that home for him. Although I can't imagine Harry ever wanting to live where such tragedy struck, I'm sure it does him good not to have it left as charred remains. I loved the twins in this chapter.
Author's Response: Thanks for the review, I hadn\'t really thought of your point about Harry not wanting to live there. I think though that the connection he feels with his parents there may be stronger then the trauma of them dying there. Although just as I write that, I am questioning that argument. Glad I don\'t really have to make that call. The twins are great, I love writing them. Thanks again and take care.
Hmm, I think that little cat is Ginny. I wonder when she became an Animagus. I'm glad she's giving Harry the comfort he so obviously needs, even if he can't express it to a human friend. I'm curious about Cho Chang's letter though. When did she and Harry become friends? Am I forgetting a part of this story, because during HBP they wouldn't even look at each other?
Author's Response: Interesting Theory about Ginny being the cat. I don\'t really know when she would have had time to learn to be an Animagus but anything is possible. As for Cho, she shows up in the wedding chapte and hits on Harry again. Thanks for the review. Hope you are enjoying the story.
Grrr to Kerrbear - canon isn't going to give us a quick reunion, so it's perfectly acceptable to get in in fanfic ;) Still, it's been an enjoyable ride. I hope Harry continues to share his feelings with his "cat", he needs to do that.
Author's Response: Haha, I will pass your \"Grrr\" on to Kerrbear. It has been very fun writing the struggles that Harry and Ginny had though. Poor Ernie, he never really stood a chance. Thanks
