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Tweak says, "Hey apple... Knife!"

Beth H (bethbethbeth) wrote in hp_beholder,
@ 2010-04-25 12:22:00

Entry tags:

alastor moody, beholder_2010, femslash, fic, het, mcgonagall/hooch, mcgonagall/moody, mcgonagall/snape, minerva mcgonagall, rolanda hooch, severus snape

FIC: "The Days & Nights & All The Hours" for kelly_chambliss
Recipient: kelly_chambliss
Author: psyfic
Title: The Days & Nights & All The Hours
Rating: R
Pairings: McGonagall/Hooch, McGonagall/Moody, McGonagall/Snape
Word Count: ~10,600
Warnings: angst, dub-con (if you squint), forced bonding.
Summary: Minerva reflects on those closest and dearest to her in both past and present
Author's Notes: I hope this suits, kelly_chambliss. Happy Beholding!

Click here to read 'The Days & Nights & All The Hours,' then return to this entry to comment!

(Post a new comment)

	chaos_rose 2010-04-25 06:14 pm UTC (link)
	I don't even know where to start in describing all the wonderful packed into this story. It is simply a gem. I'm reccing this one! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	psyfic 2010-05-25 04:26 am UTC (link)
	Thank you. :) I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	gingertart50 2010-04-25 07:45 pm UTC (link)
	This is beautiful. I love Minerva and you have captured her wonderfully. And Snape - your Snape is so true, prickly and clever and grim and wary - the ending made me cry, with that sense of utter satisfaction from a story very well told. Thank you, I loved it! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	re: "The Days & Nights & All The Hours" psyfic 2010-05-25 04:28 am UTC (link)
	Thank you. I'm glad you liked how I wrote Minerva and Snape and, above all, that you enjoyed it. (Reply to this) (Parent)

kelly_chambliss
2010-04-25 10:01 pm UTC (link)

I'm simply ecstatic over this gift -- three of my very favorite pairings presented with such depth and grace and wonderful prose. I'll be leaving a more extensive, fitting comment later, but for now, I just had to say how much I loved this first reading. Each section is so powerful: Rolanda had me reaching for tissues, Moody is breathtakingly painful (rather like the verbal equivalent of the way he bruises Minerva's fingers), and Snape. . .well, I'll be grinning and sniffling like a mad, grinning, sniffling thing for hours. Thank you, dear Mystery Author!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	re: "The Days & Nights & All The Hours" psyfic 2010-05-25 04:29 am UTC (link)
	I'm so glad, and I'm especially pleased you find it worthy of re-reading. more in your later comments (Reply to this) (Parent)

	(Anonymous) 2010-04-25 10:06 pm UTC (link)
	Fantastic. Fully imagined, real, clear. Snape conducts himself with emotion and dignity for his first time, exactly as I have imagined. I really love McGonagall. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	re: "The Days & Nights & All The Hours" psyfic 2010-05-25 04:31 am UTC (link)
	Thank you. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	lemondropseven 2010-04-25 11:16 pm UTC (link)
	Ahhhh, this is gorgeous. I've always loved McGonagall, and this is just so her. I cried, I laughed, I'm happy. grin LD7 (Reply to this) (Thread)

	re: "The Days & Nights & All The Hours" psyfic 2010-05-25 04:34 am UTC (link)
	I'm glad you enjoyed it so much. Thank you. :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

featherxquill
2010-04-26 02:52 am UTC (link)

This is absolutely marvellous. I don't even know where to begin. Your characterisation of Minerva as this practical, level-headed but also deeply feeling woman is just perfect. She has such a wonderful understanding of herself, of those around her, and you show us time and time again how this adds strength to her relationships.

Your style is beautiful. You deal with complicated situations and large swaths of history in broad brush strokes that don't give us a full backstory of every event, but tell us a lot about the emotional truth of it. The death of Xiomara and the birth of Rolanda - the dead son and the grief and the comfort - that is one of the most subtle, powerfully human scenes I have rad in a long time.

Alstor, wow. I love this entire section. The final day of school and all the older characters with such wonderful cameos. I love that sense of camaraderie. And your Alastor with his sharp tongue and his and Minerva's attraction to each other's strength - wonderful. And how very apt that it is Alastor's own perception of his failed strength that makes him unable to continue with Minerva - and that Minerva can recognise it.

Unlike the epiphany he had engendered in her, creating feelings of rightness and splendour and completion, her actions instead left him with a sense of pain and inequality and incompleteness. He had taken her love and praise and patience for pity and was armouring himself against all kindness. This was his choice, and now as she studied him, she realised she could not take it from him when so much else had been taken already. - This paragraph, it breaks my heart. Beautiful.

And Snape. I can't quote anything here because if I did it would be the whole section. But I think what is most beautiful is the way Minerva learns from her past experiences and works them into this one. The beginning of their relationship is so wonderfully practical, and that reflects Minerva's compassion but certainly not pity so very well.

Oh, but I will quote. It made her feel a deep sense of responsibility, and in the aftermath of Alastor, she questioned her capability. The last time she held a man's happiness and dignity in her hands had been a sobering lesson, indeed. This. This is a summation of everything she's learned and everything she understands, and you proceed to show us how complicated the relationship is, but how she ultimately succeeds in keeping him in tact.

Wonderful, wonderful story.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	re: "The Days & Nights & All The Hours" psyfic 2010-05-25 06:06 am UTC (link)
	First of all, thank you. I rarely receive such lengthy commentary. I took a lot of care in setting up this triptych fic and it's pleasing to have that noted. I'm glad you found so much in it affecting. I'm also feeling a bit awkward at having nothing more eloquent to say in response to such expansive feedback aside from thank you. (Reply to this) (Parent)

Kelly Flail, Part I

kelly_chambliss
2010-04-26 04:24 am UTC (link)

Dear Mystery Author, I should warn you (and all the rest of you long-suffering comment readers) that I'm going to take up more than one comment slot with my effusions about this wonderful story. I won't be able to restrain myself, and really, why should I? A story this good demands a lengthy fangirl flail.

This amazing gift is really three presents in one: each excellent section could stand as its own story; together, they offer a full and complex record of a lifetime of love and pain and learning. Certain parts rendered me breathless, like that utterly heartbreaking final scene with Moody. It just felt so real; I feel genuinely shaken by it.

There's so much of what I love here. First of all, you've given me my very favorite canon characters, treated them so compassionately and perceptively, and kept them perfectly IC. (And there's even a cameo from Wilhelmina, my other favorite HP dyke!!) Next, the literary references (I love literary references) inform the text so well. Then there's triptych structure that so suits the content and the quotations. (And within that structure, I love the past-and-present parallels and contrasts.) Then there's your literate style, so beautifully fitted to Minerva's pov and character -- formal, and a touch archaic; it just sounds so 'Minerva' to me.

Speaking of Minerva! ♥ ♥ I just adore your version of her; You show all the elements I love about this character: she's honest, caring, sharp, ordered, practical, honorable, passionate, and yet not unflawed. And so strong.

All three of the other main characters are also perceptively-imagined. Rarely have I seen Hooch's yellow eyes used to such good effect; she's tough and fierce and vulnerable. Moody -- such a believable explanation of how his paranoia and isolation grew, and it's made so much more painful because you show how much he (and others) lose by it. And Severus -- ah. So complex and IC. Another commentator mentioned his "dignity," and that's exactly it: such believable dignity here.

I know I risk quoting the whole story, but I can't resist including just a few of the lines and touches I love:

--the fact that Minerva is not really breaking the rules in having first-year Harry play Quidditch. That was always something I found incongruous in canon, and I like your version better /g/

--the logical and believable way you deal with the age issue. It's the elephant under the carpet as far as the McGonagall/Snape pairing goes, and I'm impressed by your explanation.

--It was moist and musk and satin stretched taut over sturdy bones. The taste of damp salt kissed off of tear drenched cheeks was very different from the taste of the damp salt gleaned from between powerful thighs. The scent was unforgettable, different from her own aroma and captivating.
Such gorgeous, sensual writing.

And this line, too -- Rolanda did not cry out nor scream as Minerva was wont to do in proper abandon. So revealing of both of them, and the word "proper" is just the perfect choice -- so Minerva, so just the way she would see it.

Minerva marvelled at the heavy tracery of veins the years had wrought. Her own hands were not so work-thickened, but looked like wrinkled parchment, dry and creased
I imagine that this is just how age feels -- the physical evidence so undeniable, yet how incongruous it must appear compared with how un-old one must still feel. . .

Alastor had a way of making every encounter new and thrilling, a way of making her feel cherished and charmed, even as Auror training coarsened his already salty tongue and war reshaped his body. Her own tongue could be sharp and her body was scarcely the subject of most men's fantasies, but her words and body were strong and unyielding and it was strength they both valued above all.
THIS is exactly why I imagine them together, and it's the loss of this that makes their later parting so difficult. Beautiful description, and the contrast between this "tawny-haired, blue-eyed, kilt-wearing Alastor Moody" and the guilt-ridden, maimed man he becomes...the notion that it's their very strengths that fail them both...argh. Just heart-rending.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: Kelly Flail, Part I

psyfic
2010-05-25 06:40 am UTC (link)

*g*

I'm just very glad that you liked your gift.

I'm also glad you enjoyed the way I set it up. I had it in mind from not long after I read your request. It seemed the best way to illustrate Minerva's relationships with all three.

I'm glad you liked this version of her, and especially pleased you found her in character. I, too, love Minerva... and Hooch, Moody and Snape. :) I'm just glad that came through. (on to next comment)

(Reply to this) (Parent)

Kelly Flail, Part II

kelly_chambliss
2010-04-26 04:26 am UTC (link)

It would not be the first time Hogwarts had seen a scandal involving funds misappropriated for the use of strumpets or illicit euphorics.
Ha! Such perfectly Minerva language! She's nothing if not realistic and practical, but she's not going to be vernacular about it.

Her expression did not change, but then Minerva McGonagall knew when it was best not to gloat.
Love this! Love the way she stands up for Severus, for the right of it. And I love how well she understands Albus.

She'd had her share of lovers, but it was rare enough for interest to be expressed that she did not dismiss it out of hand. In this case, however, she wondered at what engendered it. . .while she had no qualms about her ability to conduct a discreet relationship of convenience with a colleague, she wondered if he had thought this through.
I absolutely adore this whole section -- her honesty, her forthrightness, her lack of self-pity, her un-selfconscious assessment of her own needs. And phrasings like "for interest to be expressed" -- again, so perfectly Minerva.

What she discovered was that Severus Snape was like moss-covered stone.
Oh, yes.

Minerva being of the opinion that a bit of bedding often cheered one or at least allowed one a good night's sleep.
The total win of this line cannot be overstated. Have I mentioned how much I adore your Minerva?
The bonding scenario is fascinating. I'm still not quite sure why it was necessary, but it's very effective. I love the depiction of that entire DH year, how confusing and difficult it would have been for both of them, and yet how careful of each other they remain, the mingled tenderness and tension of that one night togther.

'So you would allow yourself to be used for the sake of others' interests?' // 'No more so than you. Headmaster.' Just excellent.

It was awkward as arse
Indeed. Sometimes nothing but the vernacular will do.

I loved the charmed birthday presents and this line in particular: Hagrid had sent a small tin of treacle tarts, which, once spelled to a chewable consistency were quite formidable; Minerva approved of black molasses. Approved of black molasses! Of course she does. How perfectly IC.

And that final "wee tot"...seriously, if I'd had a plate of eggs, I'd have had to tuck into them to hide my suddenly-wet eyes.

"To act on what you learn." Here's the essence of Minerva's story as you tell it, and I loved every word. Thank you.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

Re: Kelly Flail, Part II

psyfic
2010-05-25 06:46 am UTC (link)

Yes, I do like to think that as Deputy Headmistress, Minerva surely had to be able to stand toe-to-toe with Albus Dumbledore.

Re: the bonding scenario, I just wanted something that enabled them to not only sense one another during that horrid year, but that would be a touchstone even after. Also, in canon we see Snape running into her (and the cloaked Harry) in Chapter 30 of book 7, and she calls him Severus and he still refers to her as Minerva without indication of overt hatred and perfectly polite discourse... until there is concern over Harry revealing himself which is followed by some over-the-top dramatic wand-waving on her part, which, to me, indicates there is far more going on than one might first assume. :)

I'm glad you found so much in the story to enjoy, and again, I'm just very pleased that you liked your gift. That's all I really hope for during an exchange. So thank you for all the commentary.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

tetleythesecond
2010-04-26 09:50 am UTC (link)

Such a wonderful cast of characters, from the three perfect pairings to the coven of seventh-years (and the Pygmy Puff!), and such a wonderful story to tie them together. I love your take on all of them . There's your spot-on, caring, sober, realistic Minerva. Then that beautifully un-clichéd take on Hooch (I can't recall anyone ever having written her as a mother, and yet it seems so perfectly natural the way you write it -- and I love that Minerva was the one who "taught her new ways to fly"), as well as the story of her first name(s). Alastor, too, is excellently described and perfectly IC, and then of course there's Severus, with his loneliness and ambivalence and that beautiful appearance at the very end. And Wil! Wil with a self-bred Pygmy Puff on her shoulder is such an endearing image, and the contrast between sturdy Wil and the cute Puffskein is just lovely.

Your writing is beautiful. I love the feeling of outdoorsiness that you convey, and there are many lines that made me wish I could write like that. Have just a few:

--Her voice, which normally seemed a stout and starchy presence of its own, was but a whisper as she gave in to her impulse and stroked a hand along one pale and petal-soft cheek.
--It was moist and musk and satin stretched taut over sturdy bones. The taste of damp salt kissed off of tear drenched cheeks was very different from the taste of the damp salt gleaned from between powerful thighs.
--his wonderfully familiar scent, overlaid with warm leather.

The last line filled me with a warm glow that'll last me well throughout this rainy day! Thank you for a real treat!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	psyfic 2010-05-25 06:52 am UTC (link)
	Thank you for such lovely feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed the depiction of the relationships, and that you found Minerva, in particular, spot-on. That was my intent -- for people to enjoy it and consider Minerva in new and varied light. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	ldymusyc 2010-04-26 07:19 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, this was painful and beautiful all at once, and even my anti-Snape stance managed to relax long enough to find him sympathetic and worthy of McG's attentions here. XDXD Lovely story, excellent work! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	re: "The Days & Nights & All The Hours" psyfic 2010-05-25 06:54 am UTC (link)
	you wrote: ...and even my anti-Snape stance managed to relax long enough to find him sympathetic and worthy of McG's attentions.... Praise indeed. :) Thank you. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	synn 2010-04-26 10:18 pm UTC (link)
	This is lovely. I really like how Minerva reflects on her loves, fondly, bittersweet, but always with the strength to move forward. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	psyfic 2010-05-25 06:55 am UTC (link)
	Thank you. I'm glad you liked it. (Reply to this) (Parent)

therealsnape
2010-04-27 08:55 pm UTC (link)

What a perfect story.
The Hooch-section was brilliant, and all the more touching for the understated way in which you write it.
And the party Minerva's year had at Hogwarts - such a great tie-in with canon. Utterly believable. Riddle as the social climber!
And Moody - he's so completely Moody, drat the man. One can see why he breaks up with Minerva - pity him for it, even. And at the same time, I wanted to kick what's left of his buttock and yell 'you damn noble fool'.

And Snape! You got him out of the Shrieking Shack, alive and sneering. I loved that whole section, especially Minerva's completely honest assesment at the start of their relationship.

There are so many fine lines in this story, and above all, such an utterly IC, utterly lovable Minerva. Brilliant.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	re: "The Days & Nights & All The Hours" psyfic 2010-05-25 06:57 am UTC (link)
	I'm glad you enjoyed it. In particular your comment re: Moody tells me I did my job right. That is exactly what I was hoping to evoke in the reader in that section. :) Thank you. g (Reply to this) (Parent)

lyras
2010-04-28 09:07 am UTC (link)

This is one of those stories where I was glad to have two windows open, so that I could jot things down in the comment box without losing my place in the text.

What a beautiful, poised story. I love the opening, especially the theory of why Hooch's name changed, and the scenes with Ro are very touching.

I adore the description of the party (and all those female students doing great things, yay!). Tom Riddle the social climber was a particularly acid line. :) And then I love the way you sketch Minerva's relationship with Alastor in only a couple of paragraphs, and yet tell us so much about them both.

It was always a set of common potions for personal use, but still a thoughtful gift.

This made me giggle. Oh, Severus!

What she discovered was that Severus Snape was like moss-covered stone.

Ooh, what a lovely line.

I love the way you allow the Minerva/Severus relationship to develop, even after Dumbledore's death. And oh, the ending! So moving, I'm blinking back tears - and a wonderful last line.

Gorgeous - thank you for writing this!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	psyfic 2010-05-25 07:49 am UTC (link)
	Thank you. :) I'm glad you found so much to enjoy in it. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	nimrod_9 2010-04-28 01:56 pm UTC (link)
	I loved all three tales and how wonderfully they were told. I always wonder how the Severus/Minerva pairing eloved and it was a perfect evolution and resolution here. Thank you for sharing this wonderful story! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	psyfic 2010-05-25 08:13 am UTC (link)
	I'm glad you enjoyed it. Thank you! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	atdelphi 2010-04-29 07:32 pm UTC (link)
	Oh, marvellous. I am in love with your Minerva - so practical and perceptive, and passionate too. Not a word is wasted here, every voice pitch-perfect and your prose full of lovely little subtleties. This is definitely a story I'll be returning to again and again! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	psyfic 2010-05-25 08:18 am UTC (link)
	Thank you. :) I'm glad you found it enjoyable, but especially pleased that you find it worthy of re-reading. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	kinky_kneazle 2010-05-01 12:22 pm UTC (link)
	This left me teary. Such a wonderful portrait of Minerva and a beautiful ending. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	psyfic 2010-05-25 08:23 am UTC (link)
	Thank you. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	winterwitch 2010-05-03 09:02 pm UTC (link)
	This is so marvellous and lovely, and so beautifully written; I absolutely love this gem of a story! And really don't know what else I can add to the praise written in all those entries before me! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	psyfic 2010-05-25 08:26 am UTC (link)
	Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	leela_cat 2010-05-05 04:02 am UTC (link)
	Oh..oh..oh! Three lovely stories in one. Each piece was exquisitely drawn. Each one building on the one before it, giving us Minerva in her beauty and her age. Very well done. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	re: "The Days & Nights & All The Hours" psyfic 2010-05-25 08:27 am UTC (link)
	I'm glad you liked it. Thank you! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	torino10154 2010-05-06 02:33 pm UTC (link)
	Oh that was WONDERFUL! Love the three different relationships and how very different they were. Admittedly I enjoyed Minerva's with Severus the most. That last year at Hogwarts is something I can never get enough of. Marvelous ending. Excellent work. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	psyfic 2010-05-25 08:30 am UTC (link)
	Thank you. :) I'm glad you enjoyed it. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	venturous 2010-05-12 03:22 am UTC (link)
	magical! how marvelous to get to know this Minerva. she's tough and tender and very observant, deeply respectful of her lovers. A beautiful story, thank you! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	re: "The Days & Nights & All The Hours" psyfic 2010-05-25 08:35 am UTC (link)
	Thank you for the lovely feedback. I'm glad you liked it. :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

	mistaria 2010-05-25 08:55 am UTC (link)
	This fic was lovely. I think you captured Minerva so brilliantly. I love her worry over Snape and her taking care of him -- lessons learned from her relationship with Moody in mind. And her thoughts on her graduating class with a peek at Eileen and Augusta and Pomona. :) Cheers! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	psyfic 2010-05-26 01:39 am UTC (link)
	Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it. :) (Reply to this) (Parent)

cranky__crocus
2010-05-29 09:57 am UTC (link)

'I don't countenance breaking rules, even for Quidditch.'
Great first line!

She watched the other woman efficiently stripping bent bristles from the stirrup attachment, a ray of afternoon sunlight making her eyes glow like a candle's flame.
Beautiful descriptive sentence there; I feel I'm right with them inspecting Hooch in the afternoon sunlight.

'She said she would be Rolanda henceforth. In honor of Roland.'
Ah. I love the importance this draws to her name: a personal choice always strengthens the bond more than the whim or desires of parents in the naming process.

Rolanda did not cry out nor scream as Minerva was wont to do in proper abandon. The most vigorous, boisterous woman she knew gasped and sighed and, only once, moaned as if in pain before relaxing into a quivering heap.
I love the juxtaposition of the opposing forces/contradictions here; it paints them both as very powerful characters in their own separate ways.

'Nor I, Ro. We're, neither of us, young as once we were, but it's far easier for two to bear than one.'
I love the construction of this line. It's beautiful and so very much Minerva.

Her kiss was gratitude and benediction, and deep-seated sorrow and weary acquiescence.
Great reminder. I love the circular nature of their relationship. I love Ro staying to help, based on the past and the present proposer.

The Confucius quote is pure brilliance; equally, the contrast between what the two characters would recall of the home. Adore your description of the final-year celebrations - especially the term 'diddies'.

Her scenes with Moody were heart-breaking yet I understand them completely, having once had to pull up an impenetrably shell as well. It keeps the pooled hurt inside and the potential further hurt outside, yes; it also re-labels what is love and compassion into pity and superiority, just to make the pain less acute. Strange how that can work out to be true. Well done in the story! And good on Minerva for understanding without being told, however much it pained her.

'You might not want one, Severus Snape, and it might seem late in the showing, but you've a friend in your corner. Remember that.'
I am in love with your McGonagall and how she dealt with that situation. Class act! Loved the Northerner comment. (:

...or mayhap a wee tot at Rosmerta's.'
Oh, that absolutely cracked me up. Brilliance. Your Dumbledore was fantastic. I love how well you've expressed his expansive area of grey-black, rather than the wholly angelic 'white'.

The year he presented her with a set of vials for her birthday, half Sober-up Solution and half Hangover-Halt, she had laughed heartily and surprised them both with a brief, but tight, hug.
Ah, the audacity of it, Snape: well done. :P I can see laughter and a quick hug being Minerva's response.

His deep, rich voice was as expressive as his face was not.
Love those inverse statements. Snape is the perfect target for one. This line is rich! I enjoyed your words on wizard and witch ages - very true!

'Severus, you may have the position, but you cannot actually work without the approval of the Heads of House,' Minerva clarified. 'The school itself will stand against you if it does not sense you have the backing of all four Heads of House.'
Oh! That idea is just right. Never thought of it, but perfect indeed!

Magic lives in me as much as him and I'll not leave a person that needs aid if I can at all help it.
That's the strong spirit of our Minerva. (: Well said!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

cranky__crocus
2010-05-29 09:58 am UTC (link)

She explained to the Heads of House that Slughorn's appointment was necessary. The anti-Slytherin sentiment was running high, despite Snape's grand sacrifice, and the only way the community at large would begin to trust again and quit their unreasoning prejudice would be if a well-known public institution, like Hogwarts, demonstrated its own trust by appointing a Slytherin to a high office.
Just like Minerva to think so strategically. Excellent solution.

Minerva had suggested he set up a scholarship with the proceeds of the sale for underprivileged Slytherin students, and he had concurred, liking the idea.
Bless her heart; this made me love her even more.

The birthday messages were lovely. I laughed at the other professors' antic and even smiled at Harry's message.

This story is pure brilliance. The pacing is a study of perfection, the structure is sound and pleasant, the syntax is excellent, the language is beautiful and adds to the story. I love your use of the characters – all very real and believable. Fantastic work!

(Reply to this) (Parent)

	psyfic 2010-05-30 05:31 am UTC (link)
	Responded to second post, but noting that I love your Minerva pwns you icon. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	psyfic 2010-05-30 05:30 am UTC (link)
	I'm glad you enjoyed this story from opening line and all the way through, and that you found so much in it to savour. That's flattering, indeed. Thank you. (Reply to this)

	(Anonymous) 2010-09-01 03:04 pm UTC (link)
	Wonderful! Tender, bittersweet in places and believable throughout. (Reply to this)