Oh, Ginny, this is truly wonderful. You are so talented. Your descriptions of Severus's pain and abuse is simply heart wrenching. Lily loves him and wants to help, but he knows she will never really understand him or what he's gone through. You show the depth of his loneliness and desire to be loved through the contrast of her family and his. The light of her home glares against the darkness he lives in. I see now why you love Sev so much. The Snape you've created is the broken boy that needs so much for someone to care for him. Lovely!

Author's Response: Thank you so much for such a sweet review!  I'll admit to having very deep feelings for the adolescent Severus, perhaps because once upon a time, I loved a boy who came from a very similar background.  I always appreciate your opinion of my writing, simply because I admire your talents as a writer so very much.

Wow, that was a wonderful story! I really enjoyed reading it and reading your Snape. I absolutely love Snape/Lily and you did such a good job with him. I hope you've written more Snape stories, I really love the way you've written him. His character seems to close to canon, and you just feel for him with the abuse and his wanting of Lily. I thought you did a good job with Lily's character too.. and I did like the comment where James ruined it, even when he wasn't present. It's so sad to know what actually happened after their years at Hogwarts. The house really divides them, but they care so much about each other. This story's so sad, but excellent! I loved it!

Author's Response: Thank you!  I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond to your lovely review, but it warmed my heart when I read it.  Snape is my canon character of choice to write about and I appreciate your kind words about how I've written him. 

I think you've set up this fic in Severus's perspective very well. You deal with the sensitive issue of the abuse in a way that is real, with lasting effects in the world. I love it the way even the thought of Lily is a comfort to him, and it's even better that they have such a caring friendship. Even though he may feel uncomfortable with her openness, he stiill receives so much from her. You do a great job of showing the complex feelings they both have. You perfectly show the way their goals drove them apart in the end. It makes this story so sad because, had he been just a bit braver or willing to stand up for her, she probably would have been his.

Author's Response: Thank you, and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond to your review.  I value your opinion highly and I appreciate your thoughtful words about my story.

What an amazing story! You add in incredible sense of depth to Snape's character, and it's believably consistent with the person we've come to know from the books.

Very moving and well written. I enjoyed it a lot.

Author's Response: Thank you so much!  I appreciate your review of my story.

This was an outstanding story.
You succeeded admirably in creating what felt like realistic underpinings for a child of a violent marriage. I liked that you had Severus acquiring his father's personality traits, and yet you do it subtly, without spelling out what you are doing. (That "cold, sneering voice telling him he was useless" describes, as well, adult Snape addressing Harry or Neville. I loved the parallel.)

You do a fine job with Lily. She is as gutsy and sharp in that first scene with Petunia, and thereafter, as she is portrayed in canon.

I also really liked the scene with Lily and her mom -- very authentic sounding.

Brilliant: the way you dealt with poor Severus', um, hygiene issues. "He didn't like feeling any more exposed than necessary, especially not at home where everything was unpredictable and dangerous" -- was a very good reason why he might have been reluctant to take the time to wash his hair (you can't hear danger approaching with your head under water).


And your line, "The industrial stench that usually hung over the town had dissipated and the soft breeze was carrying a different scent of grass and of damp earth" gave a wonderful sense of place.

Your resolution, with the increasingly oppressive sense of Slytherin partisanship that accompanied getting older and the "times" was very inciteful and beautifully anticipated the canon events that would follow.

This was a TERRIFIC story.

especially not at home where everything was unpredictable and dangerous,

Author's Response: I can't thank you enough for your detailed and encouraging review of my story. Just when I'm beginning to doubt my abilities, I receive a review that keeps me going - thanks for the impetus to continue. You're a very insightful and thorough reader; you picked up on all the subtleties that I tried to incorporate into the story. Thanks again - I'm tucking this review away for those days when I feel I can't even string two words together.

Wow, Ginny, just...Wow. That story was absolutely amazing and you shouldn't change a single thing. You seriously made me cry, and I've NEVER cried over a fan fiction before. You write Severus absolutely brilliantly and I can tell he's just as important to you as he is to me :) You definitely have a talent for taking small, passing things from the "real" books and weaving them into your own story so it sounds 100% canon. It was funny, but for the first couple of paragraphs, your story sounded like it could have been describing my own Severus' past (except that I changed some things since I wrote mine before HBP was out...like he came from a wealthy family and was a pure-blood.)

Well, now that I am THOROUGHLY depressed, I'm going to go and try to find something FUNNY to read! Bravo to you a million times over and you need to WRITE MORE STORIES!! I know it must be hard with a little munchkin to take care of, but try to find the time!! This story deserves a 20/10!

Author's Response: Awh, Renny! You just completely made my day - thank you! Yes, I have very deep feelings for Snape' I'm glad some of that came through in my story. Thanks for reading and leaving such a sweet review! I'll be submitting a new story very soon.

Wow, very very good. I love how you contrasted the differences in their lives. Sev's is so sad, and all he really has to hold unto is Lily- and even that (as the title says) is drifting away.

I've always wondered how things would have been if Lily and Sev could have stayed friends. Guess we'll never know.

Huggles
~~juls

Author's Response: Thank you for reading and reviewing - I appreciate it very much!