Oh, wow!  Cool happenings! Thank you for the update!

Clues, clues, and more clues!•"Muggle physics and early Christian history."•"A series of diagrams based around conic sections...?"Should I brush up on my geometry?  Circles, hyperbolae, parabolae?  Ellipses?  The movement of the planets?  Will we venture into relativity and quantum mechanics?  I love how Severus has peaked Hermione's curiosity about what he does with his time.  Potions?  Chef?  Apothecary?  The way he responded to her query about Muggle potions was a very brilliant way to drive her analytical mind into overdrive:"Muggle potions? You need a licence for that.""Which you have not got...?""Not officially, no."It's wonderful to see how the prologue is connecting to Hermione's work in the Dept. of Mysteries.  And I adore the way she tempted Severus with the old "I can't talk about it, but I can show you" trick.  Tempted me, too!!!  I can't wait until Sunday morning roles around and they meet at the Ministry.Thanks for another wonderful chapter that drove my analytical mind into overdrive. Well done!!!Beth

She smirked. "I think you underestimate how terrifying you are." "I think you underestimate how hysterical other people become." He shrugged. "It was my suggestion. I have no desire to be anybody's whipping boy. Anonymity suits me."He underestimates his terror? Or overestimates? Confused.Now why aren't you updating more? Sorry. I kid. I kid. But I still want more. And you don't have to justify your writing schedule to me. I know you will publish in your own time and I will be thrilled. Thanks for another lovely sshg story!

I am oh so curious about more than a few bits of information we've had dangled before us, but I know enough to trust you will provide answers in time. I am really enjoying this one thus far!

Sorry....Coketown...should be Cokeworth of course. 50 points from Ali. Though I'd rather have a spanking from the Potions Master!AliX

Hi there.....I am really enjoying this. It is written beautifully and the prose flows effortlessly. You have captured the essence of a young Severus perfectly. A bit of a scally using his wits (and a bit of magic) to survive a dreadful and neglected childhood. Even before JK "named" his hometown Coketown I used to gravitate towards Oldham rather than Manchester....of course to many both in the UK and of course worldwide they would be one and the same but as someone who has lived in the area and indeed married one one Oldham's lads....of the same era...they are subtly different. In a clumsy way I am trying to tell you how realistic your portrayal is and I love that. I am also very intrigued by the plot which appears totally original. I was/am a bit of a Trekkie too favouring TNG. I can't wait to see how this plays out. Well done. Best wishes, Love Ali xxx.   

Geesh, did the Ministry put so many restrictions on his use of magic to make it virtually useless to him? And now they dangle a carrot, or at least the DoM does? And Hermione's situation, whilst utterly believable is a tad bit suspicious as well - convenient one might suggest. Yeah, I'm in a cynical mood today, lol! Probably seeing plots where none exist - I love this and wish it were done already so I can read all the things. You're the best!

Oh, dear! Why do I get the impression that we've just glimpsed a middle or an end? This looks like a case of just because it can be done doesn't mean it should... and there are more things in heaven and earth - poor Hypatia! What can of worms have you opened this time, dear author?

Can't wait for more! The emotion--the past eroding into the present, the expectations of "time"--the department of mysteries, what's left of our two protagonists post-war.... I just can't wait. I'm going to assume "Time's Arrow" was not coined by Star Trek, but still, one of my favourites, so theres that too x) Thanks for another great story!

Thank you very much. I love the long sentences and descriptions. 

Oh, now it makes more sense! hahaha. Thank you so much for the update!

Lovely writing.  I like what you leave to the reader's imagination.

He could travel. He could get to Lily's grave... Who needs fucking magic, anyway?Has Severus lost his magic?  His wand was in the gold and purple package on the coffee table- but he just sneered when he saw it.  Has he just decided to leave the wizarding world? Poor Hermione is having such a hard time.  Her sadness at missing her parents is palpable.  It's clear that she and Ron have no future together, but the saddest part of all is that (at the moment) she cannot see that she has any other choices.  Perhaps Severus has received an owl from the Department of Mysteries, too.  That could make for some very interesting goings-on.  Lovely work!Beth

Wow!  That's what I call an auspicious start!  I'm awed by the beautiful prose and the amount of research that went into this.  And I wonder if the intruder has the intent to support her spell.  Hmmm....  Well done, my friend!

In the Prologue when we first meet Orestes he is described as "A young man...at the top of the steps, his curly, black hair standing up in crazy waves from a scarred forehead.   I can't believe I didn't notice this before!  He looks a bit like Harry Potter, doesn't he?  Wonder what that means?There are many thing that pass through Hermione's thoughts as she tries to figure out just what has happened to her.  For one thing "she could remember the compulsion to take the immediate jump back to ancient Alexandria."  Makes me wonder where in time she has been and where in time is she now?  In the prologue we don't know exactly what happened when she appeared before Hypatia and Orestes.  We only know that she pointed her wand at Hypatia and began to cast the Avada Kadavra... but did she really complete that curse or did something else happen?  Had she been to Alexandria before this incident?  She had certainly made preparations for her journey back in time, but had she made a previous trip back as reconnaissance?  Again in the prologue we are told that she wore "around her neck, a small, golden pendant on a long, golden chain, [that] shone so brightly that it hurt to look at it."  Was this one of the Time Turners that were being studied by Peverell in the Department of Mysteries?  Or could it have been one she created herself?  Knowing our Hermione as we do, might it be possible that she did visit ancient Alexandria at least once before she visited Hypatia?  She seems particularly enthralled by the Library of Witchcraft in the basement of the Serapium.  Her thoughts about the "the extraordinary lost library of Alexandria" seem more like memories than mental pictures of what she might have imagined from reading the research available to her in her own time.  "She rubbed her chest awkwardly. Her heart rate was calming, but she still felt an odd sense of emptiness tugging at her, as if the adrenaline had hidden a peculiar loss of some sort. It felt very strange... not quite a pain, but something uncomfortable, lodged inside her body."  Is she feeling the results of being separated from Severus?  =======As Hermione pondered her situation with a sense of relief that at least she still had some command of her magic even without her wand, and how she had been held prisoner before and how much she had learned since that horrible time during the war... she looked at the flame of the lamp and "felt a pulse of energy from her core, and the light flared a little more brightly.""Not again," she whispered, and the tiny flame flickered even more strongly than before.  Did she feel the magic outside the tent flap?  Did she feel Severus and Ron arriving in her time?======="There was a deep shout, a harsh rattle of language and a scuffle of feet outside the hut, before a tall, dark man in rich, impressive robes swept imperiously through the doorway."  By the tonsure he wears I think he must be a Christian monk... possibly of a Celtic rite because of his comment to Hermione:  "It is an honour to meet you at last. Have the Romans sent you to spy on us?"  Or is he Egyptian?  Coptic?  Just how dangerous is this man?=======How on earth did Hermione end up in the sand sea so far from Alexandria?  At least Severus and Ron are not too far away, but, just where is Hermione?  Perhaps she will have been taken to Alexandria before her rescurers can reach her, and then the search will become even more frantic.  Thank you for another "edge of my seat" and clue filled chapter that has really made me put on my thinking cap!Beth

Eagerly awaiting the next chapter. Keep up the good work!

Fantastic! What a suspenseful, exciting, fun story! I can't wait to read the next chapter.