Sweet Jesus, this was nigh on perfect. Got quasi-philisophical at the end there, which is not to say it's not good but that was one hell of swing in direction. Gorgeous narrative, then right on to the ins and outs of potential codependency. It was a changeable, but Christ in a tree it was beautiful.

Funny too. The human moments made it, I think. Pansy in particular. There were flaws in the goodies and hard-won virtues in the bad ones, and you mapped them out starkly in a way that was missing from the actual books.

I bow down before you. Now if only I could find the original.

Great story! I really loved it!

McGongall's got to be wrong at some point in her life, hasn't she? XD

Beautiful, insightful, dazzlingly written and made me weak at the knees for the lovely, quicksilver Severus Snape. Excellent character depth excellent, emotional writing an awe inspiring piece of work! I honestly don't like most takes on the Snape-Hermione pairing, but this was gorgeous. It had an exultant piercing beauty, as well as a sobering reality and plummeting dark to it, all at once. Great, great stuff you have a gift. :)

I thought this was on my favorite stories list already. It's an amazing piece of fan fiction, and it astounds me that it's as old as it is. The psychology in it is wonderful, from Severus' explanations as to why he's lived the live he has, to Minerva's deconstruction of the letter, and even Pansy's outcry at the objections to Slytherin's outing as a troubled house full of troubled children. The manic-depressive overtones that Minerva mention are palpable through the text. The overall tone of the letter, for me, is one of anticipation, like I'm standing on the edge of a breath, knowing it can't hold me. I really can't give you enough praise for this piece, and I wish there were more stories to your credit.

Quickly, I have to say, "I can do this to him. I touch him and he changes. He becomes his real self. Dark, unlovely Severus turns quicksilver in my arms.'" is a line of such utter beauty that I had to stop to read it more than once. I suppose I'm nothing more than a hopeless romantic at heart. Again, this is a marvelous work.

Cheers!

RV

Love, love and admiration, the whole nine yards and thirty-seven more, etcetera.

If I have to detail the ways in which I love this story, it would take far more than 10000 characters. So I'll just pick one way: it made me see the whole Snape/Mione pairing as something other than nauseous. Something much more positive than that. Perhaps 'palatable' is a good word here?

:)

Oh my. Brilliant. Really brilliant. Ten years old and still going strong. Wow.

That bit about Pansy and her Hufflepuffs was brilliant and it made me laugh right out loud.

Wow, what a letter!

Beautiful and haunting.

I've read the story some years ago, and loved it. I can't remember anything after the letter, so I am looking forward to finding out what you have in chapter 2.

I read your Decoding for the first time now, and am trying to connect the two. Missing the connection, though. Pity you never wrote the first part of the school year.

I'm completely lost for words, this made me cry and laugh at the right moments, not many stories can make me do that. None of the words i'm gonna mention even begin to describe this story. It's amazing and brilliant and fantastic and loads of other words. I'm really glad i took time out to read this, it's a real treat, thank you soo much.

This is wonderful! Truly wonderful! Keep up the good work!

:}

That was absolutely incredible. I have no words.

Wow! This is a masterpiece!

I re-read this for the first time in ages, and it's as wonderful as ever it was. Textualsphinx, I hope this review finds you well and happy! What are you doing and writing these days? It seems so long since those early days of HG/SS, but this will always stand as one of my very favorites, and perhaps the best-written HG/SS ever. All the best to you!