Thank you for the review and kind words.  The first draft is complete, and there are nine chapters.  The betas and I are working out the kinks in the narration.

Your comments are quite astute.  Let me thank you for them.

Nuts to spoilers, let’s get into this.

The dual warning thing is a bit of humor.  First, Lucius goes for the proper interpretation of his protecting and cosseting Hermione.  Part of this is the fatherly over-protectiveness of a daughter.  Lucius, and other people in the story, are intelligent and perceptive, and he has picked up on Severus’s attraction to Hermione.  As a surrogate-father he protects Hermione against all her (unworthy) suitors.  On the other hand, he is Severus’s friend, and he has just experienced the sharp, pointy end of Hermione.  As a friend, he thinks he should warn Severus to beware of this dame.

I think canon-Severus would be starving for affection, attention, and friendship.  At the same time, I think his life experiences would make it hard for him to accept any offer of these items.  This is how I tried to write him.

I do intend to have the reader be interested and puzzled, even thought most fangirls want a formulaic predictable story.

You are correct::: The introduction is outrageous:: It does not prepare the reader for the mental gymnastics in the story: Thanks for reviewing.

Thank you for a kind review.  Mind and senses: Hope you like the combination of intellect and sensuality displayed by our heroes.  Hope you like the other chapters as they cover different aspects of the puzzle and the pair.

Now that you mention it, it could make a bloke tetchy.  Bugger.  Thanks for the review.

Thanks.  The term for the jewel is MacGuffin.  The idea was that the heros would move forward in each chapter but in such a stumbling manner that progress was unrecognizable.

I’ve thought about your comments. If this story followed a standard plot, then in chapter 4, one character would be sending another character get-well cards and flowers.  In this chapter, our characters honor the expressed wishes of the women, follow a strict ethical code, and are with the most suitable partners.  If the intent was to write a twisted tale that stood everything on its head, then a modicum of success can be claimed if they appear to be ‘in all the wrong places.’ Within two half-chapters, Draupadi has emerged as a worthy rival.  Beautiful?  Severus would prefer Elaine May to Charlie’s Angels.

This is my first mystery, and the plot is too weak to sustain a long story or any real character development.  I originally planned four chapters.  Then there were six.  I finally threw a bunch of stuff away and crammed the rest into nine.  I did try to keep all the implied story line promises.

Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy the last three chapters.

I might have neglected to review, but I've read and am still here, so I guess it qualifies for enjoyement.

I wanted the mystery solved by stumblebums – people to whom I could relate, not suave and self-assured people with whom I have nothing in common.  I tried for complexity and intensity to keep the reader entertained while they fumbled through.

Congratulations, your irreverent comment has guessed the ending – poetic justice will be served – more or less.

I appreciate your review, and Lucius and Severus appreciate your sympathy.

Thank you for reviewing.

It was a difficult portrayal, and I’m not certain I got it right.

The next chapter is milder, with a different type of relationship and more plot.