Ack!  I have no idea what's going on here.  I'm so confused!  But I like it.  LOL!  This is a great story and I can't wait to read the next chapter.

Oh I really hope she doesn't die and Severus didn't actually use her.  I want it to be all a dream and have her married or pregnant with severus' child or something.  UPdate soon.:  )*

Scratches head...I am really too awfully bloody tired to think about this.Best to go with gut instincts and totally off the wall guesses.  The bit about Narcissa...is this Lucius Malfoy??? or worse she is a Weasley product test gone very very wrong.I do continue to think this is Snape.  She must be on some very damn good drugs!

Well there has to be a trampoline at the bottom of the cliff if she has jumped before. Otherwise she would be smooshed right? I have no idea what the hell is going on. I look forward to the reveal!

Hmm.  Let's see.  On the one hand it seems like Snape must be behind all this, because it certainly doesn't seem like Harry's capable of pulling off the Polyjuice potions and what not.  On the other, Harry could have retrieved the HBP's Potions text, which we all know revs up his Potions action.  So really, either one of them could be up to something bizarre here, impersonating one another.Could Snape be torturing both Harry and Hermione--banging Herms disguised as Harry while the real Harry was forced to watch?  And now the Real Harry has managed to escape and is trying desperately to save Hermione?  Nah, the Real Harry wouldn't say, "Pay no attention to anything he says."  The Real Harry would say, "Ron??!!  Since when do you take advice from that complete git!"Boy, I have to conclude I have no clue!  Happily waiting for another chapter.

I honestly have no idea what's going on, but I'll hazard a guess to say that I think she has had some kind of injury and this is all the result of her mind trying to put itself back together. Hopefully you'll clear it up in the epilogue and not leave the whole three chapters up to interpretation; I'd love to know what *your* idea behind this is.

i will try to work out a theory, but i think it would be a better idea to leave a quick review before i go completely mad..................................................

_{is she in a coma?}

Well, I can't really interpret what you've done, not that I want to try.  I like it like this without any explanation. And while it's probably not your intent, I like imagining dark!Severus in this. I'm going for the bad boy who is using her and drugging her. I don't think that's what you've really done, but it's what i want to read into it. Sometimes, I love to hate Snape a bit.

Of course I am still confused. Harry, Severus: what the heck? What's the reality?

Well, I got dragged back into reading by a very strong rec for "Beyond all Doubt," and then I noticed this fic... Hmmm. I know there is one more chapter, but I kind of wanted to review first before reading it. I thought when reading the first chapter was mostly dream-type thing happening. Now you've raised some questions here which, as you say, can't really be so easily explained... or can they?? Nice premise. I like dark fics that explore what lies beneath one's skin, as it were aned not dark just for the sake of angst or abuse but in a different way.  I'm just speculating, i guess i need to read the next bit. Well done, anyway, on a good tale thus far.

well harry has to be alive if it is indeed his polyjuice potion being used by snape......  or is it harry who is using snape's polyjuice potion????? won't guess any further...... hope you write the epilogue soon.

Ok, Sun, I am now utterly and ridiculously confused.  I have no idea who is who, who is real, or if any of it is real.  Has Hermione been cursed and this is all a result of the curse or has fallen into a coma?  Are Harry and Severus alive and visiting her and that is why she is having such thoughts of them?  In which case, why is it sexual thoughts?  Oh, I'm so lost!  Please, Please, Please give us some answers in the epilogue.

  WOW! I think I will write a fic titled: Inside the mind of Southern_Witch. How long would that be?

just fabulous! I love how you can interpert what you want. It's confusing and it makes you want to read more just so you can get a little closer to figuring it out.

My fear of failure prevents me from hazarding a guess as to what is is really going on, but I have several ideas.  I truly love this fic.  It's so very complex and intense and I love how I am just as confused as Hermione...or am I?  Hmm...I have much to ponder.  Great job!

Makes me wonder if Hermione's in a mental ward or something, imagining everything over and over, not living in reality. I truly enjoy this story and all your stories, actually.Can't wait for the epilogue.marti

Hermione the lab rat?  I kind of like the idea of her fallling as being the end, kind of like Thelma and Louise.  Hee.  I really feel sorry for her.  That her mind is betraying her, that must make it all the more difficult. 

The thing that has me thinking this is not Harry, is that the person keeping Hermione keeps having her take potions, some of which she has helped him brew, and then clinically keeps records of her reactions to the potions and possible future modifications.  Since Harry never showed any aptitude for Potions, apart from the helpful hints from the HBP's book, I can't think this is truly him.  Unless...ALL of what Hermione has experienced thus far is a fevered delusion, in which case nothing she reports of her experiences is reliable.  "Each crisis reults in a leap from a cliff"---"desire for oblivion"...hmmm.  I'm going to have to go back and re-read, and see if that helps at all.  But, if nothing I read is reliable as evidence, that's rather an exercise in futility, isn't it?  An intriguing house of mirrors---I just hope you DO give us some CLEAR picture in the epilogue of what is REALLY going on, and don't leave it ambiguous, as you hinted you might---or you might drive us ALL crazy!  (grin)

All I hear are crickets chirping in my head. I am so confused. I have absolutely no idea what is going on with hermione, harry and severus. I believe it is severus keeping her at this point and I think you must have slipped me a befuddlement draught cause I can't think straight (Alice in Wonderland comes to mind). I would say you are very cruel if an epilogue was not forthcoming for those of us who still feel in the dark, lol. And why the hell doesn't somebody ward that cliff, I mean if they can ward the property against apparition and coming and going with harry/severus only then why is she still able to walk out to the cliff's edge alone? Unless it is all just a dream and she has been under the imperius potion and this truly is the after-effect of the potion and all in hermione's head. Well I hope the epilogue is up soon and helps me figure out what the reality is in this story. You have me guessing, can't wait for more. Deanna

My guess would be that Hermione is in a coma at St Mungo's and that she's having recurring dreams spiralling upwards towards recovery.  I've really enjoyed this, by the way.  I've been around fandom so long that it's rare for me to find a story that is so fresh.

I have absolutely no idea what to believe.  After that statement about Narcissa, it seems that what Severus is trying to hide might be an affair rather than what Hermione thinks, but then what is going on with those potions and the bits to do with Harry?  Or is it really Harry and *not* Severus all along?  Or is the whole thing one long fevered delusion?  Right now it seems that any or all of the above could be true.

All right, Sun, that didn't help at all! If anything else, I'm even more confused. I'd guess that it was Harry using polyjuice to look like Severus (assuming Hermione and Severus had a relationship in the past), but that would be too obvious (and was the set up in chapter two). So why would Severus polyjuice himself to be Harry (the set up in chapter one) knowing it would confuse Hermione (unless she's lost her mind, then all bets are off.).“It’s what Ron said before he…” “That idiot. Pay no attention to anything he says.”He (who ever he is) is talking about Ron in the present tense, meaning he must be alive. Did Ron die? Did Hermione imagine it? So who is who at this point? Has Hermione lost her mind? Did Voldemort win and Severus is hiding Hermione to keep her safe (and not reject him while he serves Voldy)? Did the light win and she was hit by a curse? Or lost her mind (I keep coming back to this thought)? And what about the cliff-real or metaphorical? The movie I mentioned before (The Marathon Man) kept jumping back and forth, but this also reminds me of a TV series from the late 60's, The Prisoner. You could never tell what was happening and why, or who everyone really was.Just get the next chapter up soon, or I won't be held responsible. Say, you wouldn't want someone to beta it for continuity (since you are well aware at how bad I am at punctuation, I wouldn't offer)? But I do well with continuity, even if there doesn't appear to be any at the moment. Go, post the next chapter!*Damn, I forgot Imperius only works in person and not over the internet!*

I don't think that was Harry. I think that Severus is still a Death Eater, wanted Hermione, perhaps suggested that he could learn valuable information from her, allowed to rescue her, posed as Harry, etc.  However, I do believe he wants her to be his own and cares for her, maybe loves her in his own way, and he keeps re-working false memories and potions to keep her there and gain her trust and eventually her genuine affections. Whether I am right or wrong about my theories, I am always in awe of your writing talent.  Jean aka

Ok that is just not fair!  While on the one hand I appreciate the tight control you have on your story and the one step forward two steps back scenario. (I think it takes a very good writer to bring that off)  On the other hand it is extremely frustrating to read and just not know what is real and what is illusion.  Not to mention the fact that I thought we would have all the answers with this chapter.  Not that I am complaining (well I guess I am a little) about a longer story, mind, just the lack of answers.  I look foward to the next (notice I didn't say last) chapter.  Thanks for posting, JoAnne