It was all very accurate; correct spellings and all, which is not a claim most people can make. This was very different. I loved it. It was perfectly in canon without being redundant or cliche, and it was realistic without getting too dark. Good job.

Wow. This was just written amazingly, the pace was beautiful. It was bitter, sweet just perfect. I loved how you portrayed Ginny's emotions, It was really heartfelt. I reallu enjoyed your characterization of Draco, it was very fitting to the story. This is how I would have imagined him to be after the war.

I absolutely loved this scene I had sloppy grin on my face:

""Owl me," he says with a wry smirk. He leans back and looks up at the sky, which is mostly blue.

Ginny frowns at him for a moment. "I will," she eventually decides. "But you have to owl me first – I'm not sending poor Pig off to be scared by Aquila. And – "

She ponders everything for a moment, then makes up her mind that it will be okay and bumps her shoulder against his. "You're going to have to meet up with me, too. And buy me lunch. Since you never got me a birthday present."

"I don't know your birthday," he points out.

Ginny bumps him again. "You missed it.""

As for the ending it was just right with Ginny finally letting herself go. RIP 1998 - Perfection.

Thank you!

Shai x

Loved it, pure and simple.

Brilliant work, and I loved the progression over the year.

Wow, this was amazing! I did wonder how Harry died but it is really not important. What were Ron and Hermione fighting about? I couldn't quite grasp that. But it was funny how Ginny started to curse Ron out. Your writing really flows and I adore how you were able to really get inside Ginny's head and actually make me care about Draco. Bravo!

WOW! I LOVED THIS! 3 3 3

Vicky, this was simply beautiful. :O

Your writing leaves me in utter awe of you. You. Are. So. GOOD.

This flowed beautifully, bitter, sweet, just lovely. The hopelessness of her life came out so strong it was beautiful. Every little thing about this fic is beautiful. From the way she scratches messages on the tree, to how she sees Draco in the kitchens, with firewhiskey in his coffee.

*looks at you in awe again*

Your Draco is brilliant. Not the usual Draco. A more canon Draco, but I love him. He's so sad, and it seems like this is exactly the way he would feel, after all he's been through.

I love your details, the way she gets a Valentine, Ron, everything. I love how she and Draco slowly become friends, just by silently sharing their sorrow.

""Owl me," he says with a wry smirk. He leans back and looks up at the sky, which is mostly blue.

Ginny frowns at him for a moment. "I will," she eventually decides. "But you have to owl me first – I'm not sending poor Pig off to be scared by Aquila. And – "

She ponders everything for a moment, then makes up her mind that it will be okay and bumps her shoulder against his. "You're going to have to meet up with me, too. And buy me lunch. Since you never got me a birthday present."

"I don't know your birthday," he points out.

Ginny bumps him again. "You missed it.""

Just beautiful and sweet.

It's lovely, Vicky. You rock.

*salutes*

I'm here cuz Jayde sent me. :)

I like the concept here. One of the things I love about your writing is the way you're able to capture little moments in the way that some writers capture little images - Ginny in the apple tree, for instance. I wish that you'd managed to capture Draco to the same level; I felt that they were parallel, and now I feel a little cheated that my understanding of Ginny runs in a deeper vein than my knowledge of Draco's space. Not that that's wrong - it's just my observation as a reader. I feel like I don't /want/ to know about Draco's hurt if I can't really know about Draco.

The tenses in this first part of fall were confusing to me. I had to re-read the paragraph about Colin, because I wasn't sure if he was alive or dead. Present tense is tricky enough, but add a memory and it's downright evil.

I love all the little details - the vanishing step, the absence of Pig - they add to the world you've created (because this is doubtless AU) and they also keep the tone. She's trapped (step) and lonely (owl). Nicely done.

My heart goes out to her; the way she is so bent on seeking solitude is depressing. But where is the fighting? I suppose I'm only a quarter through the story...I probably ought to pick up the pace or this review will be epic.

Aw. No Dobby. Just Draco and whiskey. Funny, this is the third fic of five I've read tonight that included both of those.

Ah. I see. She is determined to be alone, because to be otherwise is painful, and yet she can fight with him and it is not painful, not in that way. I like how you align this addiction with cutting and drugs, because that's truth, that is.

Ha. "the search is fruitless" Bad pun, m'dear.

I'm starting to feel more and more confused, I'm afraid. What are they screaming at one another? What are they fighting over?

It's odd that the fighting is healing, in a way. She's doing magic, now.

Does she want a Howler?

"It might seem like a great – and unlikely – friendship. But they almost never talk, so Ginny tells herself it doesn't count."

I like that. I feel like it sums up the entire spring semester without being redundant, and I suppose I like things to be neatly summarized and yet...not.

She DOES want a Howler. I knew it. Because I'd want one...because I have wanted one...it's actually a little scary, how close some parts of this come to my own life. But that's not relevant, is it?

I'm not really quite sure when she changed. So I'm inclined to comment that the ending felt quick. But at the same time, it also feels right. Well balanced. And I kind of want to hug them both.

This might be one of the longest reviews I've written. Maybe. It's definitely up there, and it took me three-quarters of an hour. But I'll certainly thank Jayde-and thank you. Twas lovely.

lol. The mentioning of Harrypotterwikia made me laugh. I've spent a long time on that myself. It was a very interesting read watching Ginny try to get over all the losses, and the touch with Harry dying was really well done.

This was a bittersweet thing, again you succeed with getting the emotions across at their strongest. This is a skill of yours worth envying.

Vicky, I really enjoyed this, it was a wonderfully novel idea. You really described Ginny's apathy well, there was a truly 'dead' feeling coming off of her. Killing Harry off altogether was an interesting plot device, and I truly LOVED the description of his absense as a 'buzzing, empty space'. Fantastically acurate, similar to the feeling/sound in your ears just before you pass out.

The interaction you built up between Ginny and Draco was extremely well done. I really loved the scene between Draco and Myrtle, actually, it was a brilliant use of the information from book six.

The part when Ginny tells Draco she hates him, and then drops her wand, was really well written. Without getting too wordy, you painted a nice, vivid picture and I could really see the downward cast of Ginny's shoulders, and Draco's blank features.

The conversation in the Owlery about the Eagle owl made me laugh, you placed your awkward moments nicely.

Ginny performs a less than perfect Concealment charm in class the next day. Flitwick beams and tells her it is 'splendid, just wonderful!'.

"Thanks," she says to him. "I know it's not really." - Haha! This made me grin, and a feel little bit sad, strangely enough.

I did so enjoy the part where Draco offers to let her use the Owl for the week, it was a nice little moment in their odd 'relationship'.

One of the reacurring themes in this was the Owls that Ginny neevr responded to, an extremely good choice, I thought. There was something rather poignant about it.

One of my favourite moments was when they were talking about meeting up/owling over Summer, and Ginny's bumps his shoulder after the 'it-would-have-been-a-good-kiss-moment-but-we're-not-going-for-cliches'. It made me smile on the inside.

The ending was perfect, with Ginny finally letting herself cry. RIP 1998 - very nicely done.

A really good job, Vicky.

Emma

Thank you for writing this. I must have cried a handful of times while i read this. Thank you. So much.

Good stuff. :)

I had a dream about Harry Potter verse just now so I had to read some fanfiction. Yours caught my eyes.

I don't really know what to say. It's beautiful. Despite the fact that I love romance, I'm actually glad that Draco and Ginny don't kiss. It works. This whole story - the apple trees, the carving, the slow-slow-slowness of Ginny and Draco's half-friendship, the way Ginny so desperately wishes someone in her family would just get angry at her...everything is achingly real and fleshed out.

I really, really enjoyed reading this.

Wow! That was the longest oneshot I ever read! And definitely one of the best!

You got it. You got inside Ginny's head, and you made this seem real. The only thing that maybe wasn't accurate was Molly not coming to Hogwarts and MAKING Ginny talk to her, but you know what? Doesn't matter. Because everything worked so well together. Thanks. I really enjoyed reading this.

Vicky, why did you make me read this? Well, you didn't make me, but you suggested it to me and I followed that suggestion and now I feel a little sad.

I really loved this fic; in fact it's probably one of the best I've read in a while. It took a bit for me to get into, mainly for the fact that I'm not used to the style of writing you used, but when I did get into it like I wanted to, I enjoyed it heaps.

It was really heartfelt and you portrayed Ginny’s emotions and how she felt after the war really well.

The tone of the story was very angst filled, which I have to admit, I love. I found it particularly hard to read the part where you wrote about all the ghosts of Colin Creevey, Fred and Bellatrix Lestrange, just because I got a teensy bit spooked reading it. It made me think more in depth about that kind of thing and I had to stop myself and make sure I remembered that it wasn’t real, it was fiction.

I’m not really good at this whole reviewing thing, and I am hoping this one is good enough. I know a lot of people want honest reviews that are helpful etc, but I’m not too sure how I’m supposed to say that when I enjoyed something as much as this. I don’t see anything I could advise you on changing or improving on.

Overall, I loved it and it is definitely going on my favourite stories list.

Good job, Vicky, keep it up.

Porsha.