Mori
Chapter 7 of 17
OlethrosHermione’s carelessness at the cemetery costs her dearly. Before the Final Battle, we find out why Hermione and Ron broke up, and Hermione forces Severus into a situation he’d hoped to avoid. Is that the scent of citrus upon the air?
A/N: This chapter contains sexual content. Not anything truly explicit, but I doubt any of you would leave if it did, haha. In any case, you have been duly informed.
Chapter 7
Mori
--7:007:30am, June 28, 1998--
Hermione Apparated to the mouth of a small alley two blocks from the remains of her house. She was familiar with the graveyard to which Minerva had given her the address. Several grandparents and the odd aunt and uncle were buried there. Cousin Tony, who had died in a car crash when he was five years old, was in the center on the very top of a small hill, guarded over by a weeping stone angel. The graveyard was only four blocks from her former home, and she did not want to walk past the ruins.
She was also not wearing her Glamour. Camilla Elliot did not belong here.
Hermione whispered a Disillusionment Charm, and her skin tingled as she faded from view. She stepped onto the main sidewalk and began to walk. It was a beautiful summer morning. The leaves of the trees lining either side of the street were a sun-dappled mix of different shades of green. A hazy mist hung in the air.
As she crossed from the first block to the second, she caught the unseasonal scent of leaves burning from an unseen backyard. When she was younger and gangly limbed, her father would rake the fallen leaves in autumn from both yards of the house into a massive pile. He would then let her jump around in it to her heart's delight before they stood back as he set the leaves alight. They took a long time to burn, and when the pile was gone, her father would carry her slumbering form into the house, her face resting against his shirt that smelled of ash and wood smoke.
The graveyard appeared to her right, and she wiped her eyes gently so that she could properly see the latch on the entrance gate. It was locked. A quiet Alohomora opened the padlock, and the gate swung open silently on well-oiled hinges. She closed the gate after her and set a privacy ward. Anybody, wizard or Muggle, passing by the graveyard would suddenly imagine themselves late for a pressing engagement and find their eyes drawn elsewhere. When she was finished, she dropped the Disillusionment Charm.
Hermione wore faded jeans and a baggy sweatshirt that had belonged to her mother. She had left her hair down, and it fell in bushy curtains around her face. She kept her eyes downcast, burying her hands in the pockets of her jeans as she shuffled amongst the gravestones, feeling it improper to raise her head.
Somewhere above her head, a raven cawed once into the silent sky.
Paul and Anne Granger had been successful dentists who had opened their own practice a few years before Hermione left for Hogwarts. As efficient, reasonable people, they had made legal arrangements in advance in case of their death. Their life insurance was good, and they would not want for pleasant resting place. Hermione idly wondered whom the money had gone to after the disappearance of their daughter.
The graves were located on the gentle slope of the hill, the tombstones carved from refined, austere black marble.
Paul and Anne Granger
Loving Parents
Cherished Friends
Talented Healers
Standing at the foot of the fresh mounds, Hermione suddenly felt very young.
"Hey, Mum... Hey, Dad. I'm sorry I wasn't able to see you until now." Her voice sounded small in the large graveyard.
"Minerva remember Professor McGonagall? found me a flat in Cambridge; you would like it. It overlooks the river. My neighbors are mainly retired professors who spend most of their days reading and walking along the river."
Her parents should have lived to grow old and to do the same...
She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling. She could not say it, she would fall apart if she did, she could not...
The words tumbled out relentlessly, helplessly. "I'm sorry for what happened to you because of me. If I hadn't come home that day, if you hadn't let me go to Hogwarts in the first place..."
If. If. If...
Hermione fell to her knees. The grassy ground was gentle and soft. "I'm sorry I didn't visit more often, I'm sorry I spent so many summers away, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you more often how much I love you..." The tears pressed against the backs of her eyes, and she welcomed them, weeping freely.
"I don't know what I'm doing, Mum and Dad. I should be preparing for university, and you two should be reminding me to pack my toothbrush. Instead, I'm..." Hermione wiped her eyes.
"I'm scared," she confessed. "I don't know that I should keep doing this; it feels wrong somehow, the forces that I'm toying with. They're so powerful and so ancient. And if it works... I'll always wonder if I could have saved you."
She reached forward, her hand groping through her tear-blurred vision. Her palm fell upon the gravestone, the granite still gritty from the hammer and chisel. She was leaning forward, a position awkward and uncomfortable for her back, but the tombstone was firm and solid under her hand.
"It gives me a purpose, Mum and Dad. I... I lost everything, doing this project. If I could only finish it, I think I could finally wake up and not immediately despair..." Hermione breathed in deeply and found that her tears had dried. She smiled weakly. "Maybe I should have been a dentist after all."
The gravestone was silent, the etchings upon its surface keeping their own counsel. She tried to feel strength seeping into her from the loves of her life buried beneath her feet. Nothing so melodramatic happened, but perhaps the searing pain inside her chest was soothed a little.
Hermione pulled two dozen lilies from her pocket and enlarged them to full-size. They were her parents' favorite. She could have Transfigured wildflowers, but to do so would have felt like cheating. Instead she had scoured every single flower shop in Cambridge until she had found blossoms that matched her standards. She placed the bouquet between the mounds and arranged them carefully. Then she rose to her feet and bent over the gravestone, kissing the dusty top.
"Goodbye," she whispered.
When she turned to walk down the hill, the sun had burned most of the mist away, and her path was easy to see.
The black raven was startled from its tree and flew into the sky, cawing loudly.
When Hermione reached the gate, she paused and removed her quill from behind her ear. After enlarging it, she wrote carefully in the air. She omitted nothing.
She Apparated back to a small alley in Cambridge between a student hostel and an 11th century stone church. She wiped her eyes one last time and had turned to step out onto the street when a pair of arms grabbed her from behind and pulled her back into the alley.
Her primal scream was cut off by a ruthless hand clapped over her mouth, barely leaving room under her nose to breathe. She choked, her coughing muffled by her attacker's palm. His other arm felt like wiry steel and held her tightly against an equally rigid body.
Initially, Hermione was coughing and panicking too much to struggle properly, and when the initial fit had passed, the strangeness of her situation prevented her from immediately fighting. Her assailant had not spoken a word, nor was he attempting to move them elsewhere. He simply stood in place, and if not for the hand covering her mouth, his grip could have been nothing more than a tight embrace.
She did struggle then, twisting to see the face of her attacker. The arm around her waist tightened until the pressure was nearly painful, and she stopped. Although she could not see his face, something about the damp, mossy scent of his clothes was familiar. Still, he did not move.
What was he waiting for?
The bracelet on her wrist twinged, and she flinched. The arm around her waist shifted slightly.
With one minute remaining until 7:30, the hand covering her mouth pulled her head back until her body was bent over the arm around her waist in a crude parody of a dance. She jerked her head to the side when she felt the hot breath at her ear, and she heard him curse as he stepped back to avoid getting hit.
"Miss Granger, unless you feel like continuing this for another half hour, you would do well to follow my instructions. I wish to Apparate us to someplace where we can talk, and as it would do me no good to have you splinched, kindly stop flailing around. Do as I say, and you will not be harmed."
Snape. Oh, God, she was being kidnapped by Snape. That voice was unmistakable.
Murderer, murderer, murderer...
15 seconds...
"Well, Miss Granger?"
And Snape knew. He knew about her condition... How??
10 seconds...
He said he would not harm her, and in truth, he had not harmed her yet. The worst thing she could do would be to make him angry.
Hermione nodded against his palm. She felt him smirk behind her.
"Good girl. Apparate with me in 3... 2... 1..."
She turned with him and felt them disappear with a crack. Sometime during the half-second of being squeezed by incredible pressure and then physically reassembled at their destination, she felt her mind go blank.
--11:30pm12:00am, October 24, 1998--
Hermione had just replaced her quill behind her ear when Severus walked into the kitchen.
He nodded towards the dredges of her tea. "Have you decided to take up Divination after all?"
Hermione made a face and refilled her teacup. Then she summoned another cup and filled it up as well. Severus took the seat across the table from her and lifted the cup to his lips. "Thank you."
"I didn't think that Harry would let you out of his sight."
"In case you have forgotten, I'm currently wandless."
"Oh. Right." She had forgotten. Now, however, she wondered how she had missed the fact that her left arm was slightly heavier as her sleeve concealed two wands rather than one.
Silence fell as they sipped their tea. From the hallway, the grandfather clock ticked away. The ceiling creaked as someone walked over their heads. Hermione stared at the glare of the overhead light on the polished wooden table.
"Do you intend to sit here all night?"
Hermione looked up as Severus broke the silence. He had hardly touched his tea, and Hermione wondered how long he had been looking at her. She shrugged. "I have a lot to think about."
"Dare I ask what specifically?"
Her mind was still a jumbled mess from her conversation with Michele. She chose one of her less confusing worries. "We're still almost children, Severus. The DA, I mean. I'm still so young. How can we possibly be ready to fight?"
"Don't ever think that," Severus snapped with a surprising amount of vehemence. Then his face relaxed slightly. "You lot are not much younger than the original Order when they faced the Dark Lord for the first time. And you are also older than I was when I joined Voldemort, so you've already proven that you have more sense."
"Do I? Is it wrong of me to think only of destroying them? Of getting back at them for everything they've done to us? To me?"
He shrugged. "It's much easier to imagine the battle than the aftermath. Whatever that is."
An uneasy silence fell again. Hermione toyed with her teacup, shifting uncomfortably in her chair. "Have you noticed that this is much more difficult outside our lab?" she asked suddenly.
"What?"
"This." She motioned between the two of them. "We can usually talk for hours and hardly notice the time go by."
Snape looked uncomfortable. "In our lab I didn't have to worry that someone could burst in at any moment and hex me for poisoning your mind."
It was a weak excuse, and his shifting eyes told her that he knew it. Almost everyone had gone to bed or gone home. Grimmauld Place was silent. Nevertheless, Hermione waved her wand to lock and ward the door.
At this, Snape looked even more uncomfortable. "Miss Granger. You should go to bed."
"The night before the battle in Hogsmeade last September, Draco got completely pissed. And he kissed me."
"What was that fool doing drinking? He knew as well as the rest of you that something was going to happen the next day."
Hermione admired his ability to deflect any subject to his liking, but she wasn't going to let it go this time. "I think he knew that the future had become uncertain. If I were completely honest with myself, I wish that he had done it sooner."
"I gather that you did not inform Mr. Weasley of this particular development."
"Oh, we certainly didn't last much longer after that, but there was nothing to develop," Hermione snapped. "Draco died the next day. Anything that could have been was gone. And don't you dare say that you don't know what I'm getting at." She had seen his gaze begin to withdraw. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."
He gave a heavy sigh. "What do you want from me, Hermione?"
"Don't you see, Severus? We don't know if we'll ever have more than now. And I... I don't want to always wonder what we could have shared if I had possessed more courage."
Unlike most men, Severus Snape had never been someone who needed things spelled out for him. He was a master of subterfuge and was attuned to the most subtle signals. And Hermione wasn't being particularly subtle.
She saw his gaze go dark and fill with undeniable hunger. Her breath caught in her throat, and a slow, tingling warmth began to bloom in the pit of her stomach.
Then he scowled, his eyes flat and expressionless. "Whenever did you become so fatalistic?"
Hermione choked down an urge to scream. "Why are you being so difficult? Do you honestly think that's the only reason I would ask this of you? I suppose it's inconceivable that I just want to be with someone that I lo..."
"I would be very certain, Hermione, that you understand exactly what you're saying."
Being pissed off gave Hermione a remarkable amount of courage. "I do," she said, her voice was steady. "But I wonder if you can say the same about yourself."
She barely saw him move, but the next thing she knew, he had her pressed up against the wall next to the counter, his hands digging into her hips with bruising force and one leg insinuating itself between her thighs.
"Do you?" Severus hissed into her ear. "Do you really know what it is you want? Is it this? I know your wards are soundproof and well nigh unbreakable. I could take you against this wall right now, Hermione, and no one would be the wiser that you'd shagged the greasy, traitorous git. Is that what you want?"
Hermione could hardly breathe from his closeness. The fear she had felt when he had shoved her against the wall was fading under the force of something else... something wild and rampant that told her to seize him and make sure he did exactly as he had insinuated. It set her insides aflame with an intensity that she was afraid to understand. How could something so frightening feel so right... so familiar?
But she also noticed that despite his rough words, his voice trembled, and his hands were frozen upon her hips and did not move inwards. Taking a deep breath, Hermione wound her arms around his shoulders and discovered they were shaking as well. Severus flinched, as if noticing for the first time how close they were, and moved to draw back. She held him there with gentle pressure.
"No, not this," she said, never taking his eyes away from his. "But it's a damn sight better than your indifference."
With a hiss, his hands fell away from her hips, and he tore himself away from her. "You don't want to give yourself to me, Hermione," he said. "You may think you do, but I won't let you make that mistake."
He grabbed the doorknob and growled when her wards held fast.
He Disapparated, leaving her alone in the kitchen.
Hermione was torn between fury at Snape and sheer admiration that he had been able to Apparate without his wand. He could not have gone far, perhaps to another room in Grimmauld Place at best.
She nearly cried when she felt her bracelet tingling against her skin. Quelling the urge to race after him, Hermione removed her quill and slashed the air with wide, determined strokes.
Snape was a fool if he thought he could escape her so easily. And next time, she would remember to include an Anti-Apparition ward.
--4:004:30pm, October 28, 1998--
He was avoiding her. And, much to her indignation, successfully.
The Order had decided that the two of them would remain at Grimmauld Place for as long as possible, to keep them safe. Not to mention it would be easier for Harry to keep tabs on Snape's whereabouts. She never would have thought it possible to hide from someone within the same house for four days.
Hermione was going stir-crazy. Even without Snape's infuriating behavior, she would have gone mad without something to do. It was a drastic change to go from non-stop working and experimenting daily to... nothing. She was sure that she had read every book in the library twice over.
And there wasn't anyone to talk to. Hermione could now empathize with Sirius. Unlike them, the other Order members were not fugitives and had lives on the outside that they could not forsake.
--9:009:30pm, October 28, 1998--
She heard Harry bid Moody farewell in the study downstairs, telling the older man that he wanted to check on Hermione and make sure she was alright.
Hermione made sure that she was in bed extra-early that night, but not before Flooing Ginny and telling her that Harry was in Grimmauld Place and needed her help with something most urgently.
--7:308:00pm, October 29, 1998--
"You could have given me some warning. The last thing I needed to see was the Boy Wonder and Miss Weasley snogging like leeches in the drawing room."
"Ah, so that's where you have been hiding."
"I prefer to say that I had a lot to think about."
At least he wasn't going to deny everything. "And did you manage to reach any conclusions?" she asked carefully.
"That I am, as always, correct about everything."
"That's not enough for me, Severus."
"Certainly not. If you had it your way, you would demand a full ten feet of parchment detailing every specific reason and justification, but your know-it-all personality can only get you so far." The words would have stung more if he hadn't said them so quickly without once looking at her. "At the moment, Miss Granger, I would like to return to my lab, and loath as I am to admit it, that means that I must ask you to return my wand."
Hermione gazed steadily at him. Then she shrugged. "Very well, Severus."
She removed his long, black wand from her sleeve and held it out. He reached out to grasp it. The moment he touched the wand, she seized his wrist with her other hand and Disapparated both of them.
--8:008:30pm, October 29, 1998--
She had brought them to his bedroom at Spinner's End. It had taken him fifteen minutes to confirm that there was no possible way for him to leave.
After finally giving up his attempts to break through her wards, Severus seemed to realize that he was trapped in every way.
"I assure you, Miss Granger. There was no need for you to resort to such juvenile tactics just to get my attention," he sneered.
"And I assure you, Severus, that creating and placing wards in your own house that even you couldn't break was far from juvenile. In any case, you can hardly claim that this was unexpected."
"Indeed not. Your insatiable spirit will never quit at anything until you are satisfied in every way." With each word, the hostility had slowly faded from his voice.
Then he sighed deeply and set his wand aside. "Very well, Miss...Hermione, we will talk. But you will forgive me if I need some reinforcement first."
With that, he turned to a small table beside the wall and lifted a bottle from its surface. Hermione was surprised to see that it was not Firewhiskey but Muggle scotch.
Severus poured himself a shot. Then he summoned another glass and filled it up as well.
Hermione hated whiskey. Nevertheless, she lifted her glass with Severus and brought it to her lips. She grimaced, expecting her eyes to water, and was pleasantly surprised when the amber liquid slid down her throat as smoothly as water.
Severus had been watching her reaction with amusement. "Talisker 25 Year Single Malt. One of my few indulgences in life."
Hermione opened her mouth to compliment him on his taste when spicy warmth flooded through her nose and throat like a time-delayed explosion. Coughing, her face red, she said, "As much as I appreciate the gesture, I cannot bring myself to thank you."
Severus smirked and poured himself another shot. Then he settled himself into the only chair in the room. After some hesitation, Hermione sat on the edge of his bed about five feet away. She felt the springs squeak beneath her.
Although Severus had agreed to talk, he didn't seem inclined to do so anytime soon. Hermione decided that there was no point in beating around the bush. She only had twenty minutes left until the next half hour, and she was afraid that she wouldn't be able to work up the same amount of courage a second time.
"Much as my actions might indicate otherwise," she said, "I don't want to force you into anything that you don't want to do. If you don't... don't want me, I can accept that. But I think you owe me at least an explanation."
Her voice broke towards the end. Maybe she didn't have the courage she thought she did after all. She felt a wave of self-loathing as hot tears pricked the backs of her eyes. She groped for her glass and downed the entire contents, coughing as the liquid burned her seconds later.
Severus' hand came into view as he refilled her glass. She dared to look at him and gasped as she saw a hunger in his eyes that seemed familiar.
"Don't ever think that I don't want you, Hermione. That doesn't have anything to do with..." He trailed off and took a deep breath before swallowing a third shot. "I can't think of a single reason why I've deserved to have you trust me with your heart, but you have. You have shared my home, my lab, my temper... That is enough from you. That is more than I could have hoped for, and it's all that I ever intend wanted. I don't want you to do something that will cause you any pain in... in the end."
"Don't talk like that! You're going to survive this, you will... you will..." Any hope of holding back her tears was dashed as she felt them flow down her cheeks.
She flinched when callused fingers touched her face right underneath her eyes.
"Dearest..." His voice was suddenly right before her. She opened her eyes to see Severus on his knees before her, all semblance of distance forgotten. "Do not weep, not on my account."
"Stop..." she said weakly. "Stop talking like you matter so little. Not when you mean so much to me."
"Oh, Hermione. You would not say such things, not if you knew everything." His voice faded into a small gasp as she turned her head to kiss the sensitive skin of his palm. "But in the end, I cannot deny you anything. Ask of me what you will, Hermione, and I will do it. Consequences be damned."
She couldn't make herself speak the words. Her life for the past four interminable months had been nothing but dry, pitiful, goddamned words.
So she dashed all words from her mind as she dragged them both to their feet and kissed him with everything she had. He tasted warm and comfortable, the spices from his whiskey sinking into her taste buds and making her feel faint.
Severus' arms came around her, holding her to him as if they had been made to never let go. The same arms lowered her ever so gently to the bed as his mouth moved from her lips to her neck. His spicy breath filled every crevice of her skin as his tongue danced along her pulse.
Hermione's eyes rolled back in her head as her world shrank to the sound of his breath in her ear and the feel of his hands against her clothes and then her flesh. And somewhere through the twisting mesh, she thought she saw a bright spot of something, something that filled her so completely that she would never need words to remember.
--9:009:30pm, October 29, 1998--
Hermione moaned as she came back down to earth, hearing a low voice crooning words that may have been tender or obscene... she couldn't tell. She kissed every part of his face, his neck, his shoulders, and she shivered at the butterfly-wing feeling of him going soft within her.
"I... I thought the first time was supposed to hurt," she said sheepishly.
Severus cocked his eyebrow just so, in a way that made her heart skip, and he knew it. "Who says that was your first time?" he growled into her ear. Her eyes widened, for she felt him twitch enthusiastically inside her. "This night is for you alone, Hermione. And until you tell me to stop, it will be my pleasure to make it your first time again, and again, and again."
Then he rose over her, his mouth moving from her breasts to her belly, lower and lower... and Hermione ceased to think for a long time.
--10:3011:00pm, October 29, 1998--
"Your eyes... they're not black. They're deep, rich brown. Like bitter chocolate."
He kissed her deeply and lifted her upper half to press against his chest, letting her feel his racing heart. He lowered his mouth to her ear.
"And yours," he whispered, "have bewitched me."
Hermione threw her head back and arched into him as his lips descended upon her neck.
--11:0011:30pm, October 29, 1998--
They lay together in the dark, facing each other. His hand caressed her from shoulder to hip, his feather-light touch raising gooseflesh on her heated skin.
Severus' hand crept around to her back, each long finger lingering over each bump of her spine, depressing them like frets upon an instrument. His hand moved up under the curve of her chin. He felt the pool of moisture under each eye and replaced his fingers with his mouth, kissing the salty tear tracks under her eyelashes.
Hermione held her quill in her hand, weeping. She could find nothing to write.
She reached up to wipe her tears away but found her arms wrapping around Severus instead. He enfolded her in his embrace and held her close.
Severus kissed her forehead gently. "Rest, dear heart. There is time enough to make new memories."
--Time Unknown--
She woke up once in the night, but it could have been merely a dream.
Severus Snape sat upon the bed, his body bent over her hand, which he clasped between his palms. His breathing seemed erratic as he pressed kisses to the backs of her palm and fingers, lingering upon the fleshy part where her thumb met her hand. He was whispering things that she could not hear as he continued to kiss her hand like a man kneeling before a goddess in adoration, in supplication.
When he looked over to her and saw that she was awake, his eyes were alight with something that took her breath away. He leaned over her, and her eyes closed. Her lips parted in anticipation.
Too late she felt the cool drops of liquid sliding down her throat. Her eyelids tried to snap open, but they suddenly felt unbearably heavy. Her head began to throb as if she had downed an absurd amount of alcohol. She made a small noise in her throat. Severus did kiss her then, crooning, "Sleep... sleep..." in between kisses.
She had grown accustomed to obeying his orders over the course of many years.
Hermione slept.
Sleep well, my love...
Reviews make my world go round.
Talisker 25 Year Single Malt Scotch is widely known as one of the finest whiskies available as well as one of the most expensive. How Snape managed to get a hold of one with his teacher's salary shall be left to the realm of magical imagination.
Next chapter: Hermione has a chat with Snape as well as Dumbledore through a most unexpected source. Old friends reunite in Grimmauld Place with mixed reactions.
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Latest 25 Reviews for Memento Amori
114 Reviews | 3.13/10 Average
I think this ending is most apt and very powerful! I know it's a happy ending and I feel the continuation of their story is a cure.
I can't thank you enough for putting the time and effort into creating such a complicated masterpiece. I enjoyed every minute of every read through I've attempted to piece it all together. This tale was very satisfying.
You've managed to infuse lovely humor and saracasm and believabilty into their relationship and their characterizations. All with a convoluted mystery that needed solving and truly does make sense in the end. Chris Nolan eat your heart out.
Only thing I didn't "get" was the Harry becoming enamored of Cami/Hermione. That was awkward and she avoided that well.
Haha although Cicero "died" this is another great and funny chapter. And thank you for the notes, it's really coming together now.
Love love this chapter! Lots of great one liners and little scenes that I adore.
"... she shivered at the butterfly-wing feeling..."
Oh my that was very sensual.
Omg they really did it. She should be ecstatic! The best in his life, indeed.
A very intense and engaging battle scene you've written here. Loved it!
Wow you really know how to twist things up! I'm ready to settle down for a long drawn out read.
Swoon swoon swoon. Romantic!Snape to the rescue.
My gosh I wish she could remember all these little humorous things that happen between them! I love how she's getting to know him but upset that she won't recall.
Someone really needs to draw a fan art of Snape AK-ing some daisies!!
Wow! I finally finished reading it for the second time. I had to print it out and read it straight forward chronologically the second time. That was a great story. I do wish there could have been an epilogue but I know in my imagination they live happily ever after. My hat is off to you for being able to pull something like that off. Truly amazing. Thank you for a wonderful read.
Response from Olethros (Author of Memento Amori)
I hope that not too many trees had to give their lives for this noble cause 
Thank you so much for your kind words!
Response from Olethros (Author of Memento Amori)
I hope that not too many trees had to give their lives for this noble cause Thank you so much for your kind words!
“Excellent, we have demonstrated that we know each other’s names,” Hermione said. One of the funniest lines I've ever read. Maybe I shouldn't have done, but I found this chapter was very funny. I was also chuckling at performing the Killing Curse on bunnies.Good meeting between the three of them, nicely written, things are becoming clearer. There has been a few warnings about the dodgy stairs now, could there be a simple explanation for Hermione's injuries? I am intrigued, so I'd better get on with the story.
Response from Olethros (Author of Memento Amori)
Glad you enjoy my dark humor... most of this chapter was definitely intended to be funny.Also, not going to answer about Hermione and the injuries but the stairs... ah yes, the stairs will indeed make a repeat appearance. Good eye!
I haven't reviewed every chapter because this is the first time I have paused. You weave your story beautifully, the non chronological time makes me really sympathetic with Hermione's position. I am pleased that you haven't spent the majority of these early chapters wading through too much of Hermione's emotional state. It would have been very easy to get bogged down in the sadness and loss of most of her memory. Still, you have clearly shown her reation, and I particularly admired the way you had Ron and Harry react. You have done a good job of keeping everyone in character, Hermione's practicality, Harry's moving forward to do what he must, and Ron's affection. It's nice to see a Ron in an HG/SS fic that isn't belittled and killed off at the first opportunity.You certainly have a flair for dramatic writing. Your scenes are well constructed to give the reader a lot of information in relatively few words. This really adds to the fast pacing, giving us a lot of action as well as explanations, meaning that readers like me are thoroughly swept along with Hermione.I look forward to reading the rest.
Response from Olethros (Author of Memento Amori)
Possibly one of the most flattering reviews I've ever gotten, thank you so so much!! I am glad that you are enjoying my work; it's the best reward that a writer can get. I'm especially glad that you thought my writing to be in character - that is always what I strive for first and foremost.Hope that the rest of the story lives up to your expectations!
*is stunned*
After reading chapter sixteen, my intention was to go back and read the whole thing backwards, but that last chapter was so exhausting, I think I need to step away for a while. Maybe some day I'll leave you a real review, but all I can say for now is that you have written an amazing story; I'm just not sure how I feel about it.
Oh this chapter is dark. Exquist imiagry of torture and pain. Very conflicting too, given the crying Snape before he chucks her down the stairs. Never ever read anything like this. It must have been challenging for you, I could never see me writing something like this.
Did they meet at McDonald's?
I am enjoying this fic, but I'm having trouble keeping the time lines straight.
I've just discovered it is possible (for me, at least) to squee in delight, cry, laugh, sniff and moan at the same time. You are absolutely right, no epilogue is needed. Let us imagine, each one, what life will be like to Severus and Hermione. What an amazing way to complete the story! Bravo!
I don't know if you'd intended it to be tricky, but I was thinking it was a sunset until I read this chapter; maybe I just wasn't paying close enough attention to the dates and confused myself. Goodness, the dates are getting closer together now...
I had really hoped it was something like that. Wow!
The next chapter sounds exciting. And I don't have to wait. Very compelling story so far.
*applauds with a yawn* If I could keep my eyes open, I would. I haven't mentioned before, but I like the way you write everyone. Ron and Harry are often shortchanged in SSHG fics, but you've done a good job with them.
I like how there is something that ties the halves of the chapter together, like the wand in the previous chapter. I am so intrigued by the bracelet thing; I already want to go back and reread the first four chapters, but then I know I'd never get any sleep.
Oh, I told myself that I wasn't going to leave a review for every single chapter, but so far, I've had something to say.
I'm really interested in Hermione's research; I've already got a few ideas. Your recaps-as-forshadowing are brilliant!
Hmm, she remembered to call him "Severus." That has possibilities. Writing this story backwards and forwards must have been hard; it's amazing.
Okay, I know I said at one point that I wasn't going to read this because I was working on something similar, but I've pretty much given up on '50 First Kisses' and I can't ignore the siren call of a completed fic. I only hope I don't stay up too late reading this tonight, because right now I want to read the whole thing. You really gave us somehting to mull over.