I have a thing for non-magical AUs if they're done well, and this was done very well. First of all, the characters. "John" was very recognisable as PoA Remus even before you mentioned that he's called Lupin. Hermione and Rita Skeeter were spot-on, and the way you explained Ron calling Harry "mate" made me laugh out loud.
Snape is wonderful. So much love for the way you have him bottoming! I perfectly well understood why Harry fell in love with him. Your Harry is just adorable. Hollywood needs a Harry like yours! The outing scene was very moving! Excellent job!
Note to the mods: the back button doesn't bring you directly back to the IJ post in case you've clicked the footnotes. It's of course easy to find the way back to the post, but I thought you might want to know.