Thanks!  I'm very glad you enjoyed the chapter and the confrontation btw SS and AD!  There's more to come with them!

Thanks!  I'm so very glad you liked the chapter!  You're spot on - they both needed to deal with these things so that they could move on!

Thanks!  I'm really glad you liked the chapter!  Yep - about time he faced up to all of that and dealt with it!

Thanks!  I'm really glad you liked the chapter and that the emotions came through for you!  I'm sorry I made you cry though!

Thanks!  I'm really glad you enjoyed the chapter!  I left a talented writer such as yourself speechless!  High praise indeed!

 High praise to be called a talented author by one such as yourself!

Thanks!  I'm really glad you liked the chapter!  It's so good to hear that the emotions came through for you, but I'm sorry I made you cry!  Hopefully it was a good, cathartic cry. 

Thanks!  I'm really glad you liked the chapter!  You're right - they both needed to work through things to move on.  She was with RW for 2 years - 2 months to get over it is nothing (experts actually say you should take half as long as the length of the relationship).

I'm very specifically using names to convey how people feel about each other.  The diminitive comes when Ginny feels a bit better about HG.  Nicely spotted! 

Thanks!  I'm really glad you liked the chapter!  Yep - I laughed about the ring last time because I knew it was coming - good on you for spotting that it was important!  Thanks for the note on my writing!

Thanks!  I'm amazingly glad you liked the chapter!  Its' so good to hear that the emotions touched you (though I don't want to make you cry!).  I think SS really needed to deal with this to heal.

Thanks!  I'm really glad you liked the chapter and that SS does have a bit of a life!  (laughs)

Thanks!  I'm really glad you liked the chapter and the issues it was dealing with!  You're spot on - there are things they both needed to work through!

Thanks!  I'm so very glad you liked the chapter and Molly's reaction!  The interlude chapters are always a mix of HG and SS - this one is very similar in structure to chapter 7.

Thanks!  I'm glad you liked the chapter even if it was a bit confusing for you!  Yes - SS has been worrying about killing Albus since chapter 4, and Minerva calls him on it in chapter 18.

Thanks!  I'm so very glad you liked the chapter!  You're right - he needs to work through this!

Thanks!  I'm very glad you liked the chapter (though I wouldn't have thought this one was bedtime story material)!

Thanks!  I'm really glad you liked the chapter and the emotions involved!

Thanks!  I'm so very glad you liked the chapter!

Thanks!  I'm so very glad you liked the chapter!

Thanks!  I really glad you enjoyed these last 2 chapters so much and that they helped you start your day!

Thanks!  I really glad you enjoyed the chapter and Severus's actions!

Thanks!  Yes, she's a bit shaken the evening of this due to the break up, but she at least cares about SS enough to not jump into something blindly.  As for what she decides, I don't want to give spoilers, so please keep reading!

*whines*  Not even a teensy-weensy one? *bats eyelashes*

Okay, the eyelash batting worked!  Here's a little-bitty one:  it's not heading for an angstfest.

Thanks!  I'm so glad you liked the chapter so much!  I only hope the seat was a cushy one!  More soon!

Thanks!  I'm glad you liked it!  She pocketed the ring at the beginning of the last chapter, as for itf future, keep reading.

Thanks!  I'm glad you liked it even though SS didn't get what he wants yet!  But she only just broke up with RW - it hasn't been an hour even!

Thanks!  I'm so very glad you enjoyed the chapter!  It's also good to hear that the differing POVs are interesting to you for the differences btw SS and HG that they show!

Totally!  It's like Roshomon from Hell!  ;)

Okay - now you're got me really curious.  Why do you think they might have killed one another if they'd known what the other was thinking?

Herms is interpreting his actions through her personal filter, that he's doing this gentlemanly courting in her time of need, and backing off respectfully when he realizes she's too upset to start something new.  She has NO CLUE that he's spun away enraged 'coz he was so SURE he was Gonna Get Some right up until she said no.  She wants a real, involved, sexy love affair with an interested partner, while Sev's coldly considering forcing her!  Ron's focus on Quidditch scores may seem cold and unattentive, but that pales in comparison to what Sev's thinking.  Sure, she might enjoy that if done playfully, but certainly not right at this moment when she's reeling from the breakup.  And while Sev might not necessarily feel like clobbering Herms if he knew about her desire for him, I think he'd be scared silly by her depth of emotion.   And of course he's viewing it through HIS own filter: this all-or-nothing, stark, sad POV of "it's either Do The Deed or Nothing," discounting any possibility that she might actually care about him and/or want something other than a cheap trick.  Consciously, he just wants an uncomplicated bang-buddy like he had in Tonks, right?  While it's fine for HIM to realize that ultimately he's hoping for more, I think if Herms threw that up in his face, he'd balk Big Time.  That's why this chapter is so brilliant!  It's an illustration why eyewitness testimony is so unreliable, and why no two people can tell the same story. 

Thanks for the clarification.  I hadn't even realized that I'd made him quite this cold!  But that's also why he needed to have the realization at the end of this chapter and work through some more personal issues in the next!  Thanks!