Best Forgotten
Alley_B18 Reviews | 18 Ratings, 0 Likes, 16 Favorites )
EWE, but otherwise canon compliant up to DH. It's several years after the war and the Dark Lord is defeated. Harry is suffering from a mental illness that makes him vulnerable, and Lucius Malfoy has a secret. A thought-dead Snape resurfaces to try to help Harry, but Snape has secrets of his own.
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About Alley_B
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Alley_B
Member Since 2008 | 4 Stories | Favorited by 73 | 6 Reviews Written | 622 Review Responses
Reviews for Best Forgotten
Brilliant! This story was wonderfully complex and very well thought-through, I think you've got a great skill with plot and character development/exploration! Keep writing, I'd love to read more of your work!
Such an excellent story! So many twists at the beginning that I wasn't sure which way you were leading me. My journey, however twisted, was amazing and it ended in a wonderful place. Also, very well written.
Great ending, realistic and yet somehow hopeful.
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Thank you for all your lovely reviews. I'm glad you liked the ending. :)
Wow, fascinating. I kind of want to go read those books now, though it'll be a while before I get the opportunity. Thank you, and good job.
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it. 
And thank you for your faithful and insightful reviews.
This is intriguing and rather gripping. Keep it up!
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Thank you! I'm glad you think so. Only one chapter left, and it's already in the queue. :) Thank you for reading and reviewing.
I think there's something more here. The information Severus found is just a little too pat.
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Hopefully you'll continue to read and find out exactly what's going on! Thank you for reading and reviewing.
This is so interesting. I can't wrap my mind around what is wrong with Harry.
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
I'm glad you're finding the story interesting. More about Harry's condition will be revealed in the next chapter which should be up soon. Thank you for reading and reviewing. :)
No surprises in this chapter, especially given the story warning.The only remaining question is whether Potter's ailment is inflicted or inherent; that is, whether or not Lucius is responsible for it. It would not be unreasonable for his problem - which appears, at this point, to be disassociated identity disorder - to be a side-effect of his childhood upbringing."Richard" seems to be a child-like personality with a powerful desire to love and be loved; the sex could be a manifestation of that, or it could be the conflation of sex and love with childhood sexual abuse; though I would not suspect the latter, given the lack of a warning.
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Hi! You must have a background in psychology, like I do. There are no references to childhood sexual abuse in this story -- I would have definitely warned readers about that. There's an implication that the abuse and neglect that Harry suffered at the hands of the Dursleys was more extensive than what's revealed in the books, which, as you have correctly guessed, closely relates to his condition in this story. Thank you for reading my story and for your thoughtful review. :)
Anonymous
This is a really wonderful story. I read it all on LJ, but thought I may as well come review here! :)
Author's Response: Hey! Thank you for reading and reviewing. I'm thrilled you liked the story enough to follow it here. And thanks for the 'friending.' I just saw you at 'lovedraughts,' too. Boy, you're everywhere today! 
Well, you have me hooked. Is Severus real or imagined? Living or a ghost? Will the ending be happy? Or will all the questions be answered at least?
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Thank you so much for reading and taking the time to review this story. All the questions will be answered in the end. I'm not going to tell you now how it ends, but you don't have long to wait in order to find out. This story is only eight chapters long, and the next two are in the queue. :)Again, thank you for reading and reviewing.
OK, I'm trying to figure out what mental illness he has. Loss of time can be a schizophrenic symptom, but also other illnesses can have that symptom.
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Hum... You're right, it could be a host of things. You'll find out soon. 
Thank you again for reading and reviewing.
This is a very, very interesting story. Nicely done.
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it. And thank you so much for leaving a review. :)
Oh this is a very sad post Voldy life for Harry. Can't say as I am surprised though. I would expect some sort of mental trama after that kid's life.
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
I know, that was exactly my initial thought when I started writing this story: can someone really live through all that (not just the war, but his childhood), and come away unscathed? Thank you for reading and reviewing; next chapter is in the queue. :)
This is interesting, I'm looking forward to reading more.
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Thank you! Next chapter is in the queue -- I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.
Oh my. We're up to four now, looks like. Angry, suave, child, and Harry-Harry. Interesting... I'll be looking forward to your next posting!
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Thank you for reading and reviewing. I'm glad you're enjoying this story.
Oh, wow. This is fascinating and intense. Not knowing anything about Dissociative Identity Disorder, I don't know if you've done your research and made this nice and true-to-symptom, but I really hope you did because I'm drawn in completely by the idea of psychological repercussions of the War. Of course something like that would leave marks. Not just a sad feeling, not just depression (not to minimize depression, but)- leading a war at 17 would knock most of us for a spin, and it doesn't seem even slightly OOC that Harry's mind would protect itself in this way. I'm definitely following this one...
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Thank you. The entire premise for this story started with the notion that there had to be some repercussions from everything that Harry went through in his life up to the end of the HP books. I started thinking how his childhood and the events during the war would affect him, and I immediately thought of some type of dissociative disorder. I was somewhat familiar with the symptoms of MPD, but I did do quite a bit of research and I'm glad I did, because I found out some facts I didn't know about the disorder. Again, thank you for reading and reviewing.
I've decided that Harry was cursed and the effects are similar to some mental health issue. Hopefully Severus will get it all straightened out.
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Maybe, or maybe not. 
I just posted the last chapter, so you'll find out soon. Thank you for reading and reviewing.
Poor Harry, this problem he has seems to be getting worse and he's probably frightened.
Response from Alley_B (Author of Best Forgotten)
Yes, it is a sad situation. I tried to make his symptoms and reactions to them as true to life as possible. Thank you for reading and reviewing.