That's that time of life for them, isn't it?Thanks for review!

Yeah, Draco wouldn't do too well being a martyr!

Thanks! Glad you like it!

Thanks for the review!I'm sure it's not easy for Draco, either, when people he has come to care about, like Ginny, are still half-waiting for him to revert to his old way of behaving.Glad you enjoyed the chapter! Not sure when the next one will go up -- I am soooo ready for my vacation! -- but I'll likely post it while I'm away.Thanks again! And don't forget: Monday is Minerva's birthday!

Hi, Sam! Glad you enjoyed the chapter!Yes, Draco's still an ambitious Slytherin, but now he's seeing that there will be some hard work involved in achieving what he wants, and he's willing to put it in.Thanks for the review!

Thanks! That was fun to write. :-)

I have to say, I was laughing out loud during a lot of your review. hee! If anyone had ever suggested to me that I would write a fic centered on Draco ("Newman" or not!), I would have probably "puked" too. But there were some bits of story to be told that wouldn't fit into LVS, and it was fun to explore what Draco might have become if he really had had such a shocking experience with Minerva and then been in Muggle exile for over a year. I think I was probably generous toward him, but I'm the hopeful sort.Part of what I wanted to write was, indeed, "Hobo-Harry," as you call him. We'll see him again in LVS, and we'll see Ron, too. Quite a bit of the story was actually more about some of the other characters who are peripheral to LVS, like Hermione, Arthur, Gareth, and Ron and Luna. There are only a few more chapters of D's Heart left, but the last couple have to wait until LVS is either complete or nearly so, since they would otherwise contain huge spoilers for LVS. Wouldn't want that! I, too, would love a pinball machine!You mentioned enjoying seeing a glimpse of Suzie again -- have you read "The Sorting of Suzie Sefton"? I'm rather fond of that little fic, and I'm 100% certain you'll enjoy it more than you did reading about Draco! It's a completed short story in four chapters.

Oops! Meant to address this comment, too:"Hermione is another character I can't seem to wrap my brain around.  I don't know why, but she comes across as unsatisfied with everything or just bored for some reason.  What in the world is she looking for, and does she have the time to do it?  That said, I can't imagine her giving up on either studies with Alroy and Gareth."She is dissatisfied and restless. She enjoys her studies with Alroy and Gareth, but she feels as though she's missed out on things in life, too. I haven't been able to delve into it much, but she has some "issues" that she will eventually resolve. As Gareth says, too, she's used to being uber-bright and being able to get things quickly, and it's not always that easy now; plus, she feels as though the last couple of years, as satisfying as they were, left her without experiences that she ought to have been able to have, so she's trying to stuff too much into a short time. In a way, she's in a situation a bit like Harry's, but she's more industrious and she deals with her sense of disorientation differently.Ron, too, had to deal with things, and he did it by running around after "blonde bimbos," or whatever it was that Hermione called them in early LVS. He's settling down faster than Harry or Hermione. Maybe because of the whole "teaspoon" thing! (What Hermione said about him in canon.) But he's also matured a lot, so he's okay.Well, that's an over-long answer to your review!(It rained here, too -- and strangely, this afternoon we had a hail storm while the sun was shining.)I think I may just feel my Muse waking up. I think you stirred her from her slumber. We'll see . . .Thanks for the review!

I don't think I've read that one!  I stumbled over Johaness and Soifre in "Charming the Scottish Garden."  This is definitely one I am curious about.  I'm definitely hooked after reading “The man is here to work on the gardens,” Siofre said to Lydia. “We will not be wasting his precious time with your skrechin pipes.”  I'll look out for Suzie's story though!  Thanks for the tip, and I'm glad you enjoyed your review!

PB

Oh, Charming the Scottish Garden! I do think you'll like that one. (There's a bit that ties in with LVS, as you may have guessed.) It's a differently paced fic from most of my others, though I don't know whether I'm predictable in my pacing and such or not. But I think you may like it. It's kind of a romance, but it's not as intense as some. It just unfolds gently with the rest of the story. And Johannes is quite different, I think, from most of the wizards I write as major characters (Albus, Gareth, Severus, etc.). I hope you enjoy it.

It was satisfying to write the conversation between Draco and Dumbledore. I'm glad that you liked it so well!We certainly do know why he's happier! I need to go back and work on LVS so that we can see more of it. (Having some problems with typing at the moment, so I'm trying out different methods of using the space bar -- hard after more than 30 years of touch-typing to suddenly not be able to type like normal, and without thought! So the next chapter will be a bit slow in coming, for any of the WIPs.)Thanks for the review!

It was satisfying to write the conversation between Draco and Dumbledore. I'm glad that you liked it so well!We certainly do know why he's happier! I need to go back and work on LVS so that we can see more of it. (Having some problems with typing at the moment, so I'm trying out different methods of using the space bar -- hard after more than 30 years of touch-typing to suddenly not be able to type like normal, and without thought! So the next chapter will be a bit slow in coming, for any of the WIPs.)Thanks for the review!

He has at that -- he's grown up a lot since he was a scared sixth-year with a lot of bravado.Thanks for the review!

He has at that -- he's grown up a lot since he was a scared sixth-year with a lot of bravado.Thanks for the review!