Thank you for the kind review! I admit, I am particularly proud of my OC, Annie. I like to think she's not a Mary Sue .

Get worse? Yikes! I thought a home invasion and attempted kidnapping were pretty darn bad....I wanted to give Annie a chance to somehow hold her own against a magical threat. To prove herself *not* helpless in the face of it. I like to think she did, here. And the encounter certainly has personal ramifications for her. And Molly will have her moment soon (laughing diabolically).Thanks for the reviews, Rose!

Thank goodness for George - Annie rightly predicted she couldn't get through this without him.And the thing with Molly... well... George does have his reasons to fear her ;)Malfoy thing = dum dum dum!P.S. Congrats, Rose, on your story being featured this month!!

Thank you!  I'm honored!

Oh, my lovely, clever, suspicious little readers! Can't a dog just be a dog? What does he have to do to prove himself to you?Here's a pic of pretty Michael if you're curious: http://www.skyhiaussies.com/images/denalibobcrop.jpg

oh he's darling.  Okay...i'll pretend for now he's just a dog, but i'm going to reserve the right to say Ah Ha! outloud at home if he turns out to be magical or part magical animal in some manner

Stephen in a 12 step program! Bah! Very funny! Isn't the first step always admitting you have a problem?Of course, Stephen has ulterior motives: he's a selfish bastard. He's not exactly the type to concede a contest to the better man. Or take no for an answer. Or fight fair. He's trying to pull out all the stops to turn Annie's head, sensing she might be lost to him for good.Poor, deluded Stephen. I do kinda pity him, a little.

Me, too! (giggle)

Thank you, Rose! I can always depend on you for a review! So glad you're enjoying it!

Unfortunately, the rest of wizarding world will prove to be rather uncooperative, won't it?

Thanks! It was time for Fred to "get it" with respect to George and Annie's relationship.This chapter was another of my little "tweaks" to canon. My alibi is that with all the traumatic hubub of the mission, Harry & company didn't have the wherewithal to notice or pay much attention to a diminutive Muggle girl on the periphery of the Burrow's crowd. Harry's focus was certainly elsewhere.

Thank you! I couldn't imagine something as momentous as Dumbledore's death wouldn't have affected their relationship, and yet... it's stronger than that, isn't it? I could've gone the "let's break up and be miserable without each other until the war's over" route, but I thought it rang more true to their personalities (stubborn! defiant!) to show them deciding to tough it out.

Thank you, Rose! With the next chapter, we plunge into the time corresponding with Deathly Hallows, so hard times are still ahead. But we're only about a third of the way through my story, and I'm a sucker for happy endings, so don't give up on me!

Thank you! I'm so glad you're enjoying it. There's lots more to come!

only a 1/3 of the way through!!!  that's super exciting on my part.  can't wait :)

George and Annie are definitely "right" for each other! ;)And Fred is a good guy at heart, even if he's gotten a little caught up in chasing women all of the sudden. I do think it's easy for a cute guy who's had a little run of success with women to get rather cocky rather quickly, and Fred is surely guilty of this. I'll further admit that I'd find it pretty difficult to resist a cute smart-ass, myself (which becomes patently obvious if you ever meet my husband, ha ha). George is lucky he has Annie to keep him grounded. :)Thanks for the complimentary review!

I'm so happy someone caught the lightbulb thing... so far you're the first one who's mentioned it!I think JKR did a great job with canon, and although I didn't agree with every single choice she made (George ending up with Angelina? WTF?), I wanted to stay true to her story to the furthest extent possible with my story. Since George and Fred were for the most part marginal characters in canon, my job was made a bit easier. The Yule Ball thing was a minor tweak (it's not very clear whether George went or not, so I gave him a bit of solitude for a moment of soul searching), and of course, I couldn't pass up the chance to take advantage of the "paper shop girl" from HBP. There are a few more tweaks in upcoming chapters, but since canon is from Harry's POV and he's rather distracted throughout HBP & DH, it's (hopefully) believable that he didn't pay much attention to Annie's presence.So glad you're enjoying the story! Thanks for the review!

Yes, I think they're both firmly past the point of no return. Onwards and upwards! Thanks for the review!

I guess I didn't see the point of making them wait any longer. They've been in love for nearly 3 years now, and I hope I've made it clear this relationship is for the long haul. I didn't see them as the sort to wait until they were married, really. And they are trying to be responsible about it, as well.Interesting comment regarding the Weasely boys' relationships with each other and their father. In my mind, I always saw George as being most like Arthur, but I think I see your point about Ron. And as irritating as Fred is being to George, he really is motivated by genuine concern for his brother (and to a lesser extent, Annie).Thanks for the review!

Well, of course we never see Arthur as a teenage boy, but we do see flashes of the same temper (like right after George is injured) that we see in Ron, who will grow into a more relaxed personality in a few years.  After I posted my review I wondered if maybe here is where the seeds of George hiring Ron to run the shop with him are born.  I don't think they're the kind of kids to wait, either, and I'm glad you didn't create some date when they both knew it was definitely going to happen.  The reader knew what was going to happen, but _they_ got caught up in the moment, which I think is more natural and certainly very romantic.

Thank you so much! I know I say this a lot, but I loved writing the tattoo scene. I love how playful they are with each other - a good sense of humor can be a very sexy thing, I think.

Yes, Death Eaters even in Ottery. The Weasleys are not the only magical residents of Devonshire, after all. But like good neighbors, they're always there when you need them.Glad you liked the Dumbledore exchange!Regarding Annie meeting the rest of the Weasleys... do you think George can keep her a secret from Molly forever? Thanks for the review!

And their timing couldn't have been better.... Why not fall in love right before a war? ;)

Annie is a very clever girl. She has to be to keep George on his toes ;)

George isn't perfect, but he's perfect for Annie (and vice versa). Annie doesn't really need rescuing, but I think it's sweet that he feels driven to do so. He's turned out to be a surprisingly (?) sensitive young guy.And while George didn't exactly have a peach of a time at Hogwarts (an entirely home-schooled, mildly ADHD, shy kid raised in an almost hermit-like existence that shunned most public contact got thrown into a big ocean of social requirements at a boarding school), at least he was surrounded by his siblings the whole time. They were his safety net - Annie only had Gran, her letters to George, and eventually, Jane. Lastly, I think you'll enjoy the chapter when Annie meets Molly. You won't have too much longer to wait. 

Fred and George are perhaps not quite as inseparable as they were in their earlier years, but they still spend plenty of time together, even away from the Wheezes. And there is a strong friendship between Annie and Fred as well, which wouldn't stop just because his brother is dating her. There's still plenty of Fred to come!

What a lovely way to put it, "trying out their grown-up roles without giving up their camaraderie." Glad you liked the smooching, too. It was fun to be a fly on the tree branch for Annie and George's date.Thanks for the review, my dear!

Shades of my own elementary school experience, I'm afraid. Not the broom-flying part, sadly...Thanks for the review!