I am a 50 something year old mother of two living in Florida. I work full time as a nursing instructor with experience caring for children with cancer. I finally got my PhD in 2020. I'd love to improve my writing so any reviews are appreciated. I am also sbmcneil on AO3 and potterfan08 on SIYE.

I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I actually started reading Harry Potter after listening to one of the parents at work reading the first book to their child. It sounded very interesting and I got the books for myself. I was hooked after that. I loved all of the books, but if I had to pick one favorite, I would have to pick Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

I don't have an entire book that I don't like, but there are two spots in the Epilogue that I don't like. I don't like the name Albus Severus for Harry and Ginny's second son. I can see honoring Dumbledore because he was such a huge influence on Harry's life, but I don't think Snape deserved that honor. Yes, he was a spy and it seems he did try to help protect the kids that horrible year he was Headmaster, but he was an awful teacher, a bully, and just plain mean. Nothing that he did justifies keeping such a bitter man teaching children and his treatment of Harry was awful. The other part of the Epilogue I don't like is Ron's casual use of magic to trick his way into a driver's license and Hermione's 'Ron, I was sure you could do it'. Ron is just plain lazy and a bit unprincipled. Hermione having to lie to stroke his ego after twenty years together comes across as very pathetic.

I love Harry and Ginny, I think they make a great couple and think it was hinted at in the books since the first book. To me they are a great couple and very well matched. I don't really like reading stories with Harry and other characters or Ginny with others. I like Hermione and Ron as Harry's best friends, but I am just not sure they are good together. I can easily see Harry and Ginny getting married early as they have been through so much and are rather more mature than their friends. Ron and Hermione just are not at that point, both are still rather immature. Hermione is a brilliant and very book smart, but she does not have the best people skills and she doesn't know much about relationships. Ron is still rather immature, I think the events at the end of the war would mature him, but I don't think he would mature to the point of wanting to marry right away.

All of my stories are Harry/Ginny and have some element of romance or friendship between the two of them. I will not pair either of them with anyone else except in brief relationships like Michael Corner or Dean Thomas or OCs. Hermione and Ron are not in all of my stories and they are not paired together in all of them.

I enjoy reading fanfics that have Harry and Ginny get together earlier than in canon, but it gets a bit creepy when people have 12 year olds snogging all over the castle. I also enjoy stories that have Harry never attending Hogwarts and meeting Ginny and the Weasleys after Voldemort is gone. Soul bond are fun although they can be poorly written as well. I love the idea of time travel, but it is hard to write a good time travel book.

Things I don't like in fanfics: perfect Hermione who knows all and does nothing wrong and Hermione and Ginny as best friends from Ginny's first year on - Hermione was best friends with Harry and Ron for her school years. She and Ginny certainly became friends and I'm sure shared a lot of confidences while sharing a room during the summers from the fourth book on, but I can't see that they were best friends. When Ron and Lavender started snogging all over the castle, Hermione went to the library for comfort not Ginny. They are two very different girls with very different interests who after they start dating best friends and eventually marry best friends I can see becoming very close, but not from the second they meet.

I don't like 'Golden Trio' fics. Whoever came up with the 'golden trio' didn't read the stories. Harry hates all nicknames so wouldn't endorse another one and during most of their school years weren't 'golden'. Were they best friends? Certainly, but Ron and Hermione fought constantly. During most of third year Hermione was too busy with classes and arguing with the other two. Ron's actions during the Goblet of Fire show that the 'trio' is not unbreakable and his actions in Half Blood Prince solidifies that idea.

I'm not a big fan of Petunia or Dudley being magical or Lily and/or Hermione really being Purebloods, but don't know it. That rather negates much of JKR's world and reinforces the idea that only Purebloods are good at magic and Muggleborns aren't as talented magically. I think the Dursleys were much more physically abusive towards their nephew - if you can grab him around the throat or swing a frying pan at his head, not to mention starving him and locking him in a cupboard, I think there is a lot more going on. I think Dudley might eventually come around, but I think Petunia and Vernon are past saving. Anyone who can treat a child like that is a lost cause in my opinion.

I don't like good Draco or good Snape stories. Draco was a bully, a coward, and a Death Eater. He is also lazy and spoiled rotten - he whines about Hermione beating him in school and Harry beating him in Quidditch and instead of working harder, he wants his father to help him. Snape is a Death Eater - he was interested in the Dark Arts from a young age and even as a young child didn't mind hurting Petunia to get his own way. I don't believe the Marauders had anything to do with him becoming a Death Eaters and I imagine he gave as good as he got. Were they perfect? No, but they firmly rejected the Dark Arts that so fascinated him. He claims to have loved Lily, but when he realized she was in danger his first impulse was to go to Voldemort to ask him to spare her, just kill her husband and son. He may have grudgingly helped Dumbledore, but he obviously hated Harry for being his father's son and chose to use his position as teacher to bully and torment a boy who never knew his father.

Lastly I don't like lazy writing. For example making the Marauders and the Weasley parents friends. The Weasleys were out of school with a young child when the Marauders started Hogwarts and it is stated in the books the Weasleys didn't belong to the Order the first time around. They simply wouldn't have known each other. It is very easy to check facts in the books themselves, on JKR's websites, or the Harry Potter Lexicon. Either check your facts or explain somewhere (not with an A/N in the middle of the chapter) that you have changed things.

Favorite couples:

Harry/Ginny

Remus/Tonks

Bill/Fleur

James/Lily

Least Favorite couples:

Harry/Hermione (Don't see that at all)

Ginny/Draco

Sirius/Remus (Don't see that one either)

Snape/Lily (I don't think she would have chosen him. In none of the memories, did she seem interested in him as more than a friend.)

My stories:

I have three multi-chapter stories that are already complete.

Remember takes place during the summer prior to and during Harry's seventh year. He sees a plaque that shows two snakes entwined and suddenly his world explodes. He and his new godfather, Remus, discover that Harry has had several memory charms placed on him and really has no recall of his second year at Hogwarts. Could this possibly have something to do with the beautiful redhead who has repeatedly shared dreams with him since the summer after his second year? Remember was inspired by another fanfic Protection by Princess Potter (not available on this website). It is my take on why memory charms would ever need to be used on Harry and Ginny. It is a soul bond fic, but not your usual soul bond. In addition to Harry/Ginny, other couples include: Bill/Fleur, Remus/Tonks, and Hermione/Charlie.

Unintended Consequences is an alternative to Deathly Hallows. When Ron and Harry get into their fight while on the Horcrux hunt, this time Hermione runs after Ron trying to stop him, but instead she ends up leaving with him. Harry is now on his own and is determined to find the Horcruxes his own way. Ginny ends up joining him and helping him in ways he never imagined. This has canon couples, but R/HR don't get together right away and they are not a focus of the story. Another author, White Angel of Auralon, wrote his story 'Harry Potter & Death's Ultimatum' based on Unintended Consequences.

Faith is a very different type of fanfic for me. It is based on The Unknown Light by Someryn. It deals with rape and the aftermath. It is not slash and Ginny is not raped. I thought Someryn's idea was fascinating and I wanted to explore what I think may have happened if Harry were raped by a Death Eater. Ginny is such a loyal and steadfast friend and of course she turned into so much more.

One shots: My one shots are varied. Several are holiday themed - Christmas Biscuits is about making Christmas biscuits across the generations. Stir Up Sunday came about in response to Christmas Biscuits. It was pointed out to me the making Christmas cookies is just not a very British activity so I wrote Stir Up Sunday which centers around the British tradition of making Christmas pudding. Celebrating Halloween is in the same vein as the first two, it explores celebrating Halloween first looking at Harry's first Halloween with his parents and then jumping ahead to Harry and Ginny celebrating with Teddy. Happy Birthday, Ginny! is set on Ginny's 18th birthday. She and Harry sneak away for a romantic and fun filled birthday celebration. There is a scene towards the end that was inspired by a scene from the movie Selena. I'd be interested in hearing if anyone can spot what I'm talking about.

Diamond Jubilee was inspired by Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee and the celebrations that surrounded it. 2012 was a big year for Great Britian with Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee, the Summer Olympics, and the Summer ParaOlympics. I can't imagine such events taking place in Great Britian and Harry and Ginny not participate in the celebrations. Orange Nightmare was written for a prompt at Catch My Snitch. It is about Hermione's obsessive planning for extremely orange wedding and Ginny's reaction to it. It is Harry/Ginny, but focuses mostly on the friendship between Ginny and Hermione.

Harry Potter and the Long Summer is a McGonagall rescuing Harry story. The premise is simple - what would have happened if Ron and his brothers hadn't been able to rescue Harry from the Dursleys. I have toyed with the idea of continuing the story and/or writing a different beginning for each of the school years, but nothing is written in stone.

Honouring Sirius is a potential missing moment from Half Blood Prince. Harry, Ginny, and Professor McGonagall travel to Godric's Hollow to grieve for and to honor Sirius and his relationship with the Potters and Harry in particular. I really enjoy Professor McGonagall in the role of a protector and friend for Harry. I don't think she is as tough as she tries to pretend.

Dancing with Ginny is a series of missing moments from the years that involve Harry and Ginny dancing starting in the Goblet of Fire and ending after the war. I think Harry noticed Ginny for a lot longer than anyone realized.

Harry Potter and the Summer of Flight, Finding Answers, The Greatest Gift of All, Never Letting Go, and A Push in the Right Direction were all written for challenges from the Sink Into Your Eyes website. Harry Potter and Summer of Flight won the People's Choice award and Best Transformation in the Animagus challenge.

Works in Progress:

Perilous Journey is the first story I started to write, but it's taken me years to work out the story line. It is loosely based on the idea of the Underground Railroad, the organization in the 1800s that helped slaves escape slavery and the American South. The group in my story, Friends of Lily, helps Muggleborns to escape from Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It follows Harry and Ginny as they try to stay one step in front of Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It also has Sirius realizing how his actions have affected Harry and vowing to do everything to protect his godson.

Realizations is a post-Deathly Hollows story that focuses on the relationships between Harry/Ginny, Ron/Hermione, as well as family relationships. It explores how well the Weasleys handle Fred's death and how the Grangers deal with Hermione's decision to wipe their memories and send them to Australia. Ginny and Hermione go back to Hogwarts while Ron helps George and Harry starts Auror training. It will end with Harry/Ginny's wedding.

Update 12/19/13: Over the past two years I have faced many health challenges and have ended up having six surgeries in that time. I am recovering and writing as I am able. Thank you for all of your concern and emails. I have not abandoned any of my stories and don't intend to do so. Thank you for all of the reviews, I do try to answer as many as possible.

Mr Orzech has kindly offered to translate my story, Realizations into Polish and it can be found on this website at https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9938472/1/U. Thank you to his hard work!

I would also like to take this time to thank everyone who has helped beta and offer suggestions for my stories. First to my husband, Tim, who has been my biggest support, thank you! I have had a number of betas over the years: Jennyelf, StephanieO, Ministry Malcontent, and seekers_destiny. I also now have a Brit picker, Mark. So thank you to all of them!