Harry's not doing well in Occlumency, but at least he's learning something this time around!  Hopefully Severus will be able to get to the bottom of what causes Harry's difficulty so they can counter it effectively.  I dread that Harry's going to be tricked again and Sirius is going to vanish through the Veil.  Sure, the man's got problems, but he loves Harry and deserves a chance to rebuild his life after all those years in Azkaban.  Maybe he could even hook up with Petunia!  She's been single long enough, she needs to get out more! 

Poor Sev and his annual blind date at the Malfoy's!  And I see Narcissa's mercenary enough to overlook bloodlines when the individual's got money or status...   I hope Draco takes more after his father than his mother in this timeline.

And so it begins!  Now that old Moldy-Voldy's back, Harry will need to begin his Occlumency lessons.  Since he and Severus don't have that animosity between them this time around, hopefully he'll actually learn the skill!  Since he knows that Sev's a spy, that could be disasterous if Voldemort picked that little bit of info from Harry's mind...I know it must seem like sheer torture to Severus to spend even more time with Hermione, but he needs to build a friendship with her before she goes off to the past and avoiding her is not going to do that.

Ah, the sweet torture... loved the dance between the two!  And just how did Dumbledore know that Hermione would ask Severus?  I get a feeling that Minerva "set up" Severus for the whole thing by asking him to dance in the first place!  But that would be way too Slytherin-y for the Head of Gryffindor, right? Also like how Sev is getting a chance to return the favor for Hermione believing in him all those years ago by helping to bolster her self esteem now.  And this may be the very thing which begins the process of her seeing him as an individual rather than just a professor.  It's always those little actions that you don't even think about which turn out to have been so important later on...Before I read this chapter, I was half-afraid that instead of Diggory getting Cho this time around, it would wind up being "ladies man" Dudley!  Harry should ask him for advice on how to talk to girls--maybe Dudders could even set him up on a blind date!  Or not.  Anyway, love reading this--gotta rush to the next chapter now.

Naturally, I think Sirius and Petunia is a wonderful idea!  They've both suffered and grown much as a result of it, they could be really good together.  And it allows Sirius to be more of a family figure to Harry, not just a godfather.  I hope it all works out!Poor Harry.  He's believed in Severus all these years, it must be a blow to the gut to see him apparently kill Dumbledore like that.  I hope that he can continue to find faith in his friend and to remember that Dumbledore always knows what's going on around him and plans for it.  Maybe Hermione can think of the possibility for him, if he can't.What's going to happen to Draco now?  I must see!

Oh, I'm glad Sev remembered Hermione's words and gave Sirius and Lupin a chance to explain!  And again, all of the major plot developments continue to happen regardless!  That's the most brilliant part about all of this-- the overall story doesn't really change, just individual's attitudes and interactions with one another.  In the end, there should be a far more cohesive and closer group of people in the Order of the Phoenix, who will work together in an even better fashion than before.  I do hope that Sirius can avoid going through the Veil this time around, however!Hermione continues to get older, and soon she's really going to begin reminding Severus of the young woman he fell in love with.  As if it wasn't difficult enough for him already...  But you know what they say, "it's always darkest before the dawn."  The harder it gets for him, the closer the time will be when "his" Hermione rejoins him.On to the next chapter!

Oh dear... Harry is now becoming a bad influence on Severus!  Who would have thought that could happen?  I suspect this new and improved Strengthening Solution will play an important role in the future... after all, Hermione told Severus that she always carried a vial of it with her during the war.  And at least in canon, Voldemort eventually gains control within the Ministry, which will possibly give him and his followers access to it as things progress.

And Dumbledore beat the crap out of him! Not on purpose, but still, how humiliating...  Now to see how the encounter between Sev and Sirius in the Shrieking Shack (say that five times fast) goes this time around!

What I'm interested to know at this point is, does Harry know that Mrs. Figg the crazy cat lady is actually a Squib?  Since his Aunt Petunia is now at least partially involved in the Wizarding community, maybe the two of them talk a little to each other sometimes.Glad that Dudley is sticking by Harry, and hopefully he'll be able to help keep the rumor mill from getting too out of control in Hufflepuff at least.  Loved the "ladies man" comment--glad he's not going around beating up smaller kids in this incarnation!The scene with Severus watching over Hermione in the hospital wing was touching and sweet, and was one of my favorite parts... the Hermione who comes back to him will remember the "old" timeline though, won't she?  Will she want to see Pensieve memories of Severus' to see where histories diverged during her brand new past?On to the next chapter!

Like seeing the "new and improved" Professor Snape, and how the timeline is starting to change a little.  Only a little, though--so far, all of the big events are still happening, regardless of foreknowledge.  I hope we'll see Dudley helping Harry and the others out as time goes on, and maybe become a little tiny hero in his own right.  Watching Hermione grow through Severus' eyes is going to be fascinating as well, I think.  I am going to stop reading for a while because I need to take care of some errands, but I will be back to this story later today!  This is wonderful and I am thoroughly enjoying it.  Thank you so much for sharing it with us.

Oh wow!  I was just joking about Dudley and Harry both getting letters last review!  But I'm so glad it happened!  I'm bouncing up and down in my seat...  Now I want to see where they're Sorted!  What if Harry chooses Slytherin because Snape is the Head of House?  What if Dudley is secretly brilliant and winds up in Ravenclaw?  Anything can happen now!  I'm really excited.  Must--keep--reading!

All right--Petunia turns into Samantha from "Bewitched"!  Hee hee hee...  Wonder what that's going to mean for Harry now?  Will he know about his past and what he means to the Wizarding World by his 11th birthday, or will he still be totally in the dark regarding his "status"?  I hope we'll see a somewhat kinder Dudley as well.  Or... heaven forbid... they both get letters for Hogwarts!  Bwahahaha!!!  Wouldn't that be a hoot?

All right, Severus leans on Petunia!  Can't wait to see that...  And I'm glad he made a stab at dating, just so he could tell Hermione in all honesty that he did try to move on as she had asked him to.So Lucius was the snitch about the prophecy this time.  Interesting... hope you'll let on what was behind that, eventually.  Is he backsliding, or was he just thinking of gaining favor without really considering the consequences?  Guess we'll see...

Oh, I knew Voldemort would be ruining things but I didn't expect it to be this much this quickly!  Still, it forced Hermione to do what she needed to do and that was return to her own time.  I'll be very interested to see what happens and how things diverge from "canon" history from this point onward.  While some of the changes may be for the better, what if some of them are actually for the worse?  What if Harry grows up being more like Dudley for some reason?  Arrgh!  I'm going to cross my fingers and jump to the next chapter now...

Oh, that was great...  It was getting late while I was reading chapters last night, so I stopped to go to bed--but if I had known how wonderfully fluffy and sweet this chapter was, I would have stopped here instead of the last one!  Oh well.Loved the party, and also glad to see that Minerva is willing to bend a little for a good cause--even if Hermione has been sworn to secrecy about it!  But the plot thickens... must see what Voldemort's going to do to ruin things now... onward to the next chapter!

Well, Lucius feels differently now but what about when he goes back home?  I hope that the new ideas Hermione has introduced to him aren't forgotten.  While on the surface it looks like "mission accomplished", I'm glad she's staying a while longer in case there's any backsliding on Malfoy's part.  Severus did say he and Narcissa were having tough times at the moment; what would he do in order to smooth things out between them?  Time will tell (literally)!

I'm not so sure that there would be no problems as Hermione thinks--Severus may be of age, but he is in a class with her and she does most of the grading in it.  Other students could complain that he's getting special treatment if they were of a mind to make trouble.  But hopefully that won't happen here--and I am glad that Hermione was straight up with Sev about her worries and fears.  If he's willing to wait for her return years later, then give him the chance to do it, I say!Must keep reading!  On to next chapter!

Ah, a serious conversation between Lucius and Hermione; I think she is definitely making progress on his character now.  It will be most interesting to see what changes she has wrought when she returns to her own time period.  I'm also glad to see a little more of Lily in the story, and I hope that she and Sevurus are able to reconcile their friendship at least a little this time around.  Also looking forward to the Halloween Ball next chapter!

Loved the duelling!  Perfect response to the problem--they want to fight Sev, give it to them in spades until they're thoroughly sick of it.  Hopefully she won't have to do that too many more times before they learn.Must read more!  Gotta go!

This is the right thing to happen.  It's not the safe thing or the pleasant thing, but it is the right thing.  This time Severus is doing it for the right reasons, and not because he feels he is a broken man with nothing to live for.  This time he's doing it because he feels he has everything to live for and a chance to preserve it.  Who knows what he'll accomplish because of it?Nevertheless, I'm sure Dumbledore is going to get an earful...  

Hooray, the willow is spared!  For now...   So who was the snitch regarding Hermione's chaperonage?  Narcissa?  Lucius?  Someone else?  Hmm.  I could see Narcissa doing it to get rid of a rival--I hope we find out who later on.Gotta keep reading--on to the next chapter!

Aagh, cliffhanger!  I hurried to this chapter for a cliffhanger!   But there was a kiss, too, so it evens out...  I get a funny feeling we're about to find out what happened to that willow tree.  I'm off to the next chapter to see if I'm right!

Smart or silly?  Don't know... deep waters here, no matter what Hermione chooses.  Personally, I think the best thing to do would be for her to make it clear (if things progressed romantically) that she would have to return to her own timeline soon, and Severus would have to be prepared to spend many years without her.  All that aside, fraternization between students and teachers is always a bad idea.  At the very least, there will be accusations of favoritism in her class; at worst, demands by outraged parents to have her removed from teaching permanently.  I'm excited to find out how things are going to go for these two, so I'm off to the next chapter...

"Everyone else just stares at me blankly half the time, not having the vaguest notion of what I’m talking about. I can honestly say that has never happened between the two of us.”He stared at her blankly, not knowing what she was talking about.“Until this minute,” she said blandly.That was hilarious!  I think that's my favorite bit in this whole chapter!  The Room of Requirement creating the Gryffindor common room for them was pretty funny too.  I'm enjoying this immensely so far, and I cannot wait to read the next chapter, so I'm keeping this review short!

Interesting idea--actually tell the person from the past what will happen in the future if they don't shape up!  So, with Hermione in the role of "Ghost of Christmas Future" so to speak, it will be fun to see if she can un-Scrooge Severus and Lucius to any obvious extent...I'm off to the next chapter!

*blinks back tears* Okay, that was really sweet and all, but I just want to know, after all that waiting, are they ever going to actually get together? I know it's only PG-13, but the UST is getting kind of thick. I'm cool with them waiting if they have a reason, but now it just feels like an elephant in the room to me. Sorry, I just love this story so much that chapters can't come soon enough. ;)

Lovely