Okay, so. You know how sometimes you read a story, and at some point during the process you have this little moment of realisation and come to understand that this, this was the story you were waiting for? This was it. I couldn't say exactly when that moment was, but it was fairly early on :).
Firstly, it's about Petunia, and from Petunia. She may be one of the HP characters I find the most fascinating; she's sort of liminal, if that makes sense. A magical sister, a magical nephew, providing the blood-bond that provides all that ancient love-based-protection without providing any apparent love, connected to everything, in a way, without actually being a part of any of it. So, yes. She's a woman about whom I've always wanted to know more. What makes someone keep one child in a cupboard while the other is so pampered? She's incredibly important, and so overlooked, and isn't one of those Heroic Mothers - she's not one of those walking archetypes, and she's so flawed, but she's not beyond regret. Another of those desperately intriguing grey characters.
Secondly, I was interested by the pairing, because getting Petunia away from Vernon seemed like a good idea, and I have quite the delight for Percy. Another flawed but redeemable one, that. He's rather wonderful in this story :).
Thirdly, as I was reading, I was deeply satisfied that it read more as a Petunia-study than as a romance; that it was more about her and her growth/development/changes than about some by-the-numbers trip to get cock-in-cunt, though the sexual development was good, too. Believable, gentle, and part of the overall payoff that was everything getting better rather than a money-shot. The plot concerning the Longbottoms was similarly plausible, but while it was satisfying in its own right, it was a great device for furthering everything Petunia-related.
Fourthly; the supporting characters! Augusta and Arabella! They were brilliant in there; such good people to have with Petunia like that. Harry, too, grown into such a decent lad and with so many allusions in those parts to things that were completely sodding heartbreaking.
I feel like I should know who wrote this. I haven't read everything in this fest; I've hardly had time to read anything, to be honest, but I am so glad that I read this. Once I'd started, I couldn't stop. Just, wow, what a marvellous way to end the fest.