I was referred to this fanfic by a friend of mine when I told him I was bored and had nothing to do. At first, I was reluctant to read it since I couldn't help but wonder when I'll be able to finish (really, 146 chapers!). Since you have, no doubt, been praised of your writing skills countless times, it's only a small wonder that I managed to finish within a week (would've been sooner if not for my illness and time spent at the hospital).

I honestly can't believe how realistic this story was, and while certain chapters made me laugh out loud, others also made me cry my eyes out! The way Lily was portrayed ... I never imagined her a little girl scared of her magic before. This was, in one word, beyond awesome (ok, that was two XD).

Aside from how incredibally canon you kept your story, especially since you wrote most of it before DH, I must say the ending was fantastic. I just love Regulus so much more now.

And the plot and characterization in this story ... they just seem to naturally lead to the events that happen in the actual HP books. It's as if ... JKR gave you the ideas herself! I've no doubt they required incredible imagination and creativity, while still managing to stay true to the books.

Well, that must have been the longest review I've given in quite some time. It would've been longer, if I could just find words to described how wonderful the story was. As it is, I can't quite express myself and you must grow tired of my rambling. ^^; All in all, THANK YOU!

I know you wrote this a long time ago, but I just finished reading your entire story and there are no words to describe how beautiful and wonderful this story is. I think if JK Rowling herself read this she would be pleased. You've kept this as cannon as possible without knowing how DH turned out. You planned it out sometime before am I right? Anyway, the characterizations are beautiful and I loved her relationship with Regulus. She reminds me so much of Harry himself and it's difficult to stumble upon a story with so much heart and great character development. I don't think anyone could write as great of a Lily story as you have.

I could honestly say that this is one of the best stories I've read on this entire site...in any fandom. You should really write original stories and get them published, for this is THAT good. If you do, I'll be the first one to read it.

I'm sorry that I couldn't review all the chapters, I just couldnt stop reading it. Thank you for giving us such a wonderful prequel to a wonderful series!

she shouldnt have left james, he was so nice to her!! you made him should perfect :)

this chapter was so good, i didnt really understand the end u shouldnt leave the audience confused

I absolutely loved this story. I love how it portrays the characters in such a realistic fashion. (:

BRILLIANT!
This is definitely not going to be a long review, mostly because I am crying my eyes out, i can barely see what I am typing! WHY! WHY! WHY! I wish that somehow, some way, everybody could have lived all the "good guys" it is just truly heartbreaking!! (I know that without the certain deaths that had taken place the Harry Potter books would not have been the same, but wow, just like Lily says over and over again "it is not FAIR!")

That is something I loved about the series and about your story, it is so real, and true and obviously tragic! Death is all around the world, and just experiencing a story of the tragedy in your story is...i don't know what i am trying to say, but it just brings to light that even tho there isn't really a Hogwarts, and a mischievious group of boys, and a selfless Lily, and the boy that lived, there is that bit of hope that such a story can bring!

I realise that made no sense, it is (like i said before) because I am not thinking straight, and i am still crying!

But ya thank you thank you thank you!! This took me a few days to read (and now i know why when you said that it had the same word count as book 1-5! wow! well done!)

I don't really know what else to say, but just that you are an amazing writer and I have wanted JK Rowling to write a prequel, for so long, and this has definitely helped!

Thanks again for writing such a truly tragic, truly beautiful story!

~Ara

PS. I would also like to commend you on how much canon your story had, especially when for the most part you didnt even have Deathly Hallows to reference...and i loved how you were able to incorporate the important pieces from Deathly Hallows into your story! *By the way how FRICKEN amazing was Deathy Hallows...I am sorry but i probably will never ever find a book like that ever again...same with the whole series...Harry Potter was definitely a "once in a lifetime" thing, and I am so happy that I was abe to grow up with it! ( I remembered complaining a few years back about how the people in the 60s had The Beatles, and the 70s had Star Wars the 80s had the awesome clothing! Well now I realize it WE had Harry Potter!! )

lol okay now my tears have stopped, but i realize i should probably stop writing, this will probably be really annoying to read lol

okay one last time:
Thank you! :D

Rereading this again, and I still think it's very well written, but I noticed an inconsistency in this chapter. You mentioned Lily as very good at hiding her emotions. That's not true at all. If anything she's very expressive of her emotions both positive and negative. She did her fair share of crying before the previous chapter.

I apologize for not reviewing sooner, as in the instant I finished this glorious story. This is a work of art, and just amazing. I loved your characterization of Lily. It was so different, so new, so unique. Ick, what a cliched sentence. In all honesty though, your Lily is different.

As a child, she is different from anything I imagined. The idea of her being scared of magic, angry at magic is brilliant. Her parents are really interesting, and I truly like them. I will admit I sobbed when you killed them. And Petunia was spectacular. She was so nasty. Carla was a dear. I admit, I wanted to make her appear in the real series and whisk Harry away from the Dursleys.

Lily's development is great. In fact, i cannot think of a single moment I dislike in the fic. Peter's betrayal was well-written.

REGULUS! Great job with him.

I am going to stop randomly throwing out praise, which shows how random my mind is, and now tell you I am honored to have read your work. Thank you for writing it!

<3 Steel Scorpion

this is one of my fav chapters! Go Lillers! Now if only she were a blackbelt in karate... That'd make things even more interesting...

wow...this was the BEST fic EVER!!
i loved all of it! even the incredibly sad parts!!
i wish u had more :DD

you know what really gets to me?
the fact that james' father didnt get to see lily because she left
that just makes me feel sad...

First of all, let me say that I absolutely love this story. I think it's wonderfully written, and very well done. I know it's completed already, but I've noticed a few things that might come in handy to think about in your future stories. The first thing is, I do believe you use quite a few italics, and eventually it gets to be a bit overkill, rather than stressing the important words or phrases. Toning it down a bit would make more sense, at least that's my opinion.
The second thing is, along with the italics, there are also a lot of explanation points, and if everything is exclaimed, then nothing can really stand out. Well, that's all I've noticed, and I really love the story. It's my favorite of all time! Thanks for writing it.

WHAT?!?!? WHAT! I was starting to like Regulus! Egad.

This story was absolutely amazing! I loved reading it so much :) I was glad there wasn't much focus on other characters, but mainly James etc and Lily, her life. it was really really great! good work

First five books combined.. hmm. That doesn't really surprise me. Now *that* is dedication.