While you were reading/responding here, I was rereading the last chapter of TLYT.  Just wanted to let you know that.Thank you so much for the wonderful review. My heart is wrenching, too.

I know...  I know.Thank you for responding.

I never would have thought "marvelous little sadist" would make me feel good, but it does.  And yes, it definitely hurt to write it.Thank you so much.  And next time?  Share the chocs!

::I like him, too.::Thank you!

I find Voldy is very fun to write, too. Must be especially the case in this incarnation!

He has been rather astounding to me.

Hey, watch the elbows.  I was here first!Thank you so much.  I'm quivering right along with you....

Thank you so much!  I hope your packing goes well!

Thank you for the super-long review!  It's wonderful!As for the Christianity aspects, I hope that just as in magic, intent is important.  As for reproducing the themes of his first turn to the dark....Dare I admit this?I didn't realize I had until the very end of the chapter when Severus summed it up for me.

I don't know what else he could have done, either. She's a very clever girl and it's hard for me to accept that she could actually make a mistake, but damn. Thank you so much for your review!  I'm working on the next chapter now.

You're bringing up so many things, but one thing I just have to comment on.  In fact, it's been on my mind for quite awhile and I want to write about it on my LJ, maybe soon....It's my own emotional connection to these characters I'm writing about.  It's beyond my own comprehension.  And I'm gratified that you're feeling that, too.It's amazing to me how casually I thought of them at the time I ended reading DH.  It's amazing to me that when I found the world of fanfic, I found a universe where these two characters have evolved into something so profound.  Because while I've been caught by surprise at the depth of my connection to these too magical creatures I'm writing about, the connection absolutely couldn't not have happened if it hadn't already been forged in other fanfics that grabbed me by the heart and wouldn't let go.Thank you so much for your review.

Ouch, indeed!  I can't wait to see where it goes next, either.  I mean, I'm supposed to know, but these characters keep throwing me for a loop.  Thank you for the response!

I know, every chapter tosses a new dillema at me and I have to work my way through it! I think Albus and Voldemort are both very complex characters.  Nobody is completely good or completely evil, and I'm finding that exploring their characters this way is difficult but compelling.Thank you so much for your review.  It helps more than you can imagine.

I'm just amazed at the response to this chapter.  I have to admit I never anticipated this kind of reaction. In fact, I think expected to have to dodge broken bottles or something.  Thank you so very very much for your review.  It is so profoundly meaningful to me.

you think outside the box, acutully outside 6 boxes. again many thanks. please keep writing. i promise to review every time you post.

I can't thank you enough for your passionate review! It just thrills my heart.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

My dear, if you think of this review as passionate, let me tell you it has nothing on your story. Nothing. COMC simply... heck let me go back a few years, it simply rules. YOU rule!

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!

OH MY GOSH KEEP BREATHING--YOU'RE BREATHING FOR TWO!!!::fans self::Don't scare me like that.And thank you so much for your review.

I didn't intend to scare you :) but this chapter was breath-taking. How many twist is it possible to put into a story? You're pushing the limit beautifully, and I can but ask for more.

They're going to have to be very twisty indeed to get out of this mess.  ::draws deep breath::  I'm trying, though.  I'm trying.Thank you again.

Thank you so so much.  These characters are tearing me apart and I'm doing my best to bring them back together again, never fear....

Thank you!

Ah, I wondered who was going to bring that up.  Much of the religious symbolism in this story is more poetic and even coincidental than significant. But there are some important clues in this chapter.And yes, now you know why this chapter took so long!  But thank you so very much for your response to it.  I hope it was worth waiting for!snapeaddiction's response: OMG! OMG! OMG!  I haven't had a chance to re-read at all, and only now am sneaking away to type as quickly as I can!  What am I missing?  Soul magic?  If you've already explained this to another reviewer - sorry.  Please, please, please give me a clue as to what I'm missing before I go crazy!!  (And, btw, I'm not buying the 'accidentally' slipping in the religious symbolism - it has to mean something.)  Our guests are leaving around noon tomorrow - Ack!!  This is worse than waiting for the chappie update! 

Not "accidental" but "coincidental."  Example:  Tears of blood in my fic/mind are the result of their souls being torn apart when the connection was broken through her broken wand.  So it's just coincidence that stigmata is also tears of blood.  See?  That's what I mean--yes, religion plays a part in this, but in some cases the religious aspects are coincidence (tears of blood) and in others more poetic, because I chose to use poetic/religious language to describe something, since religion is such a theme here!

Are you in Italy again?  This review seems very familiar....!Thank you for your continued enthusiasm!  As always, your review simply warms the cockles of my heart, and believe me, they needed warming!  Thank you, thank you.

This story is so different from anything I anticipated writing when it began.  Thank you so very very much for hanging with me as it evolved and for your wonderful, wonderful, wonderful reviews. I simply can't thank you enough.

Dumbledore as scientist--that's very very apt.  I never thought of it that way.  As for easy... I dunno how to do easy.  It's such a challenge because I've read so many wonderful, wonderful MLCs and I love them so, and I try to avoid things I've read before, then I go read faves again and recognize influences that I wasn't aware of, or read new ones and see other people have done something I'm doing, and so sometimes I feel like I'm just writing a big fat derivitive amalgamation. So thank you for always drawing out the nuances for me.  It's more helpful than you can imagine!

I've been thinking more about this today (I can actually 'think' while my hubby and sons are gone on their camping trip--ah, blessed silence!), and now that I'm over my own "seeing red" in my fury toward Dumb Bledore, I'm thinking of what Hermione's reaction, given her "mea culpa, mea maxima culpa" behavior thus far, would be.  For someone who apparently takes her religion seriously, she sure is forgetting one vital fact---that if there is a God, He has a Plan, and is in control---even making our 'mess-ups' eventually work out as part of the Plan, if we trust Him and work with Him, instead of against Him or running out ahead of Him.  But, over and over, she is riddled with guilt and sure that SHE has totally missed the mark and, true to character, must act immediately to "fix" her mistake.  However, in this instance, she realizes that her "fix" was itself a mistake---a TERRIBLE mistake---perhaps an unforgivable mistake.  Given that, WHAT in the world will she feel, and think, when she comes to herself in Severus' arms (I'm assuming here that by the time he finds her, she's going to be in a very bad way, perhaps even unconscious), and sees Voldemort standing there? (basing this on his statement, "WE will find her").  And all the more, when it is explained to her (by either Seveus or Voldemort) that they have the Dark Lord to thank for saving them, reuiniting them, and granting them freely the right to be together---in fact, BLESSING it?  What will be her feelings then, when she realizes, that this latest action, of HERS, has put her beloved firmly into the camp of the one she most despises, and on the wrong side in this war?  In other words---SHE has caused Severus to turn back to the Dark;  her actions directly, her influence on his life, have moved him from being unquestionably on the side of the Light and dedicated to the Dark Lord's defeat, to now feeling great gratitude (and consequent loyalty?) to the Dark Lord, to the point that nothing else, NOTHING, matters to him?  I can see Hermione, given the mental state she was in before, seeing herself as the "mortal danger" to her beloved, will be devasted totally by knowing she has done what no one else could do---she has actually CHANGED Severus' loyalties from the Light, back to Voldemort (not because he loves the darkness, but because he'd do anything--literally ANYTHING--to save her).  And how can she hope to undo what she has done?  For Severus will not, having had such a close shave with losing her, risk ANYTHING that might cause him to lose her in the future.  And so, by Hermione, Voldemort has his fist around Severus' throat.I also am confused by Voldemort's statement that this was a test, likening it to God's testing of Abraham over Issac.  For example, since Voldemort would not have been physically present when Snape, if he HAD been going to obey, would have killed Hermione, how could V. hope to stop it?  For all his posturing, he is neither omniscient nor omni-present.  Secondly, IF it WAS a test of loyalty, did not Seveerus FAIL the test?  For V. saw the scene where Severus mentions faking Hermione's death via a potion. Would not that alone prove he had NOT put his loyalty and love to the Dark Lord over all others?  And lastly, he saw in Snape's memories, Dumb Bledore stating that if Severus dies, then Harry is defeated.   Does V. believe that statement?  And, if he does, then is not Severus in very great danger?  I don't trust his smooth words here----since when is V. the champion of love?  He sees it as a weakness (per PS), and weaknesses, in war, are something to exploit.  So, how is he planning to exloit thies particular weakness to his own advantage?  Is V. only 'pretending' to want to reunite Severus with Hermione, so as to enslave both of them to himself and use them even more as pawns to help bring about Harry's defeat?

Re: Hermione and God's plan--  We've never actually gotten a description of Hermione as religious.  It's explained that before she knew she had magic, she knew something was strange/different about her and as a particularly intelligent child she thought maybe it was religious.  She studied comparitive theology and dove into Anglican theology when she found her mentor.  But we get no sense that she was religious once she left and went to Hogwarts, other than (as many people who aren't particularly religious are prone to do) tossing up an almost unthinking prayer in a time of stress.  So while I've used religion in the story as an interesting subplot/complication, I'm trying to be careful not to make it a religious story.  I'm not sure she looks at things as simply as that it could be "God's plan," for example, because I don't think she looks at things in that way.How all this plays out once she realises what Severus has done by turning to the Dark Lord .... ah, that is for another chapter!Re: DL's test.  We know he was telling Severus he had to kill her and reminding him of that.  We know Severus was intending to use a poison.  What we don't know is how and when the DL would have finally ordered it to be done.  So I think there was opportunity for the DL to have it staged in such a way that he could reprieve, once he saw Severus willing to do it.  As for Severus failing the test by showing him that he never intended to kill her--if he so desired he could wriggle out of that because he was simply saying what he had to to win Albus's trust.  But by this point, he didn't want to wriggle out of it.  As for how the DL views all of this... again, that's for another chapter!Thank you SO much for these wonderful thoughts!

Oh, if people only knew how much of the agony and the ectsasy they owe to your hand-holding/slave-driving ways!  (hugs)Thank you for everything.

What a beautiful review.  I can't even begin to express how much it meant to me to read it.  I'm so grateful that you felt the things I was trying to portray--that's what I always aim to do, and it's so gratifying to know that sometimes it works.Thank you so very much.

You are very welcome. You do a great job and deserve all the praise and acknowledgement! When I think about it, it must quite wonderful to evoke such feelings across the distance only by writing. It's certainly a blessing. I'm from Peru and yet I find that I have formed a bond with this story, as weird as it may sound :)Thank you very much! Good luck with the other chapter!

Amazing.  Peru!  My husband has a friend from Peru.  I'm so happy my story crosses such boundaries!

Thank you so much for your enthusiasm!  And I understand what you mean about the "a little afraid to see what happens next" part.  I'm writing it now, though, so fingers crossed....

Thank you.  I'm feeling quite desperate to get the next chapter written.  I hope it comes more easily than this one did!

I'm going to try.  Thank you so much for your review!