This is absolutely beautiful! Thank you so much for such a lovely and thoughtful story :-D
I loved the way that the story was framed by the (surprisingly accurate!) thoughts of the Muggle children in the village, and the moment when Minerva sent the boy away with a toffee and a frightened expression was really priceless ;-)
You created the sense of place marvellously - the cottage by the sea, the seasons, Minerva's simple decorations inside - and the excerpts of her book interweaving with the story proper were a subtle and very effective way of guiding the reader forwards.
Most of all though, the characterization was splendid! Minerva seemed so real, with her believable past, stoicism and grief that had been shelved for too long. Severus, and the way that Minerva viewed him, also definitely hit the spot. The reasons why he found Animagery so difficult were very poignant, and their first time in bed together was bittersweet and emotional and hot all at once.
Perhaps obviously enough(!) I *love* cats, so Severus as a little black tom and the way he acted just made my heart melt. Their reunion in feline form was quietly delightful, and I'm so pleased for the happy ending - it had definitely been a worry that Severus would be trapped as a cat forever!
Thank you once again for this story - you definitely wrote something that I really like :-)