Oh my gosh! This is so close to the actual ending of Harry Potter- you even have "always" in it. Other than that, the plot, characters, and overall story are believable, and I find myself really enjoying your writing style. Keep writing!
Okay, so the whole reason I read this was because it was published on the day I was physically BORN. 10/13/99, 12 years ago, but yeah, enough about me. I love this story and you're a really good writer. Just thought I'd review..
This is really good. I like how plausible it is - and it is very close to what JK Rowling actually did. You did a very good job, and I look forward to reading more stories from you if you are still writing :) If you are not, please start again and keep up the good work
marilyn jacksonO 9/19/10 . chapter 1
I have loved this story since i read it 5 years ago. You have no idea how hard it was to find this story when the title was unknown to me and I only remembered the geneal gist of the story. But I found it! and I love it all over again, and i will again and again and again. This story is amazing, it made me cry then and makes me cry now, all i can say is THANK YOU.
I think this is a really, really great story. Snape is one of my favorite characters and I think you've portrayed him greatly.
The only thing that I don't really like, though, is how formal all of the dialogue is. I think, as it's mostly teenagers speaking, it could be made more casual.
When I was ten years old, I found this story online through a search for Harry Potter fanfiction. I had never heard of any websites, never read another fic, never tried writing my own. I found a page that had a beautifully tragic story, and an instrumental version of "I Will Always Love You" was playing in the background. At the time, I associated the song very strongly with my parents' recent divorce, so I was already emotionally on edge as I began reading. By the end, however, I was sobbing so hard that I could barely see the computer screen.
I moved on to reading other stories, and a few years later tried to find that same story. Unfortunately, the search engine I'd used was gone, and by that time Harry Potter fanfiction was so popular that it was almost impossible to sift through everything. I gave up on ever finding it, but both it and the memory of that time in my life brought tears to my eyes whenever I heard that song. Every couple of years, I would remember it while sitting at the computer, and I'd tried to find it, but with no success.
Finally, at 1:15 a.m., a month into my first year of college and almost ten years after my original reading of the story, I found it. I almost started crying just upon realizing that this was it, that this was the story I'd read all those years ago. I was almost afraid to read it. I wondered if all those years had built the story in my memory into something it could never live up to. But I was wrong. I plugged in the John Tesh instrumental version of "I Will Always Love You" on my iPod, put it on repeat, and sat down to read the story.
I can't tell you how beautiful it is. Yes, it could have been expanded into a longer story; yes, it might have been nice to see how Severus fell in love with Samantha in the first place. But that doesn't take away from the tragic beauty of this wonderful story. It touched me with the faith of love at a time when I needed it most, and that touch left a fingerprint on my heart that I still feel today. Reading it again was like holding hands with an old, long-lost friend. I never imagined that I would find myself reading it again, experiencing that magical tightening of the chest as my heart climbed into my throat again, and yet here I am.
I found this story on the original page, and then followed the trail to this site so that I could leave a review. I don't expect you to take any special interest in my story, and I don't know if you even keep track of this site anymore. You may never read this review. But, more than anything else, I wanted to say thank you. I never dreamed of writing anything of my own before I read your story back in 2001, and that experience opened up an entire world to me that I never knew existed. Eight years later, as an English major hoping to take that creative writing passion into the real world, I am unimaginably grateful to you for that initial inspiration, however unintended it was.
I hope this story touched others as it did me. I can honestly say that being given the chance to reread it feels like a miracle to me. A suggestion to others: listen to "I Will Always Love You" while you read this. The emotions it evokes are a perfect frame to such a beautiful work of art.
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