I'd not realized that Petunia's reference to "that horrible boy" wasn't James. Even after reading Deathly Hallows, I STIL didn't make the connection. THANK YOU for making that connection for me!
And above and beyond that, thank you for writing such an amazing fic! Your recipient should be immensely pleased.
This is the only type of AU that I really LOVE. It feels like canon. It's just a step removed from canon... but it's so unique, and takes its own path, and is so artfully constructed around canon... I love it. This was excellent. This would also make an amazing novel-length. I mean, hell, 23,000 words is still QUITE long, but I can just imagine what you'd do with more time... my brain already wants to write "omitted scenes" for this fic. Even so, I can just picture them anyway, and can see what happened between times. It was excellent. Some great dialogue, some lovely banter and humour, and topped off with some hot smut, like icing on a lovely little cake. :D