I wonder how soon from this point Dumbledore is going to leave the school with Harry. Perhaps Hermione and Severus will have some more alone time together after all. Hopefully Severus will not try to push her away.

My dear Lariope,I loved every single word in this chapter.You really know how to pull at those heartstrings...Congrats on having Second Life become a featured story!**********************************************

beuaktifully written as usual dear friend i still dont see how there is going to be a happy ending but i will keep the faith i just wish now that serveus has found love whether he admits it or not he could have just a little more happiness before he has to kill dumbledoreo well wishfull hopes on my partthank you again

"I do not want you forming attachments that will confuse your loyalties."  That old bastard!And OH MY GOD what an amazing, incredible chapter!!  Everything I was hoping for and SO much more!!  “Severus,” she whispered, and everything was on fire, everything.  Yeah, including this reader....And yet this is all she wrote for now.  So I will wait, patiently, for the next posts, because they will, I know, be so worth the wait.......But can one die from anticipation?

A fascinating glimpse into the world in which he grew up and the choices he could have made had he been a lesser man.And that ring! What it gives away (and what he ought to do...what one hopes he will do...to reassure her)!By the way, I keep forgetting to rate it (I have the text enlarged in order to read it better, and that box is off the screen unless I scroll down), but this whole story gets 5 stars from me all the way through!

I can't wait until she finds out the Half-Blood Prince's identity--in your hands, I'm betting that will be quite an intriguing revelation.And I'm adoring the way you are having him teach her all those wondrous new things she suddenly knew how to do in DH (yeah, yeah, JKR let us just assume she'd learned them in six years at Hogwarts, but we know better now, thanks to you!).I do hope you have found all kinds of ways for them to continue to have at least some contact through the year on the run, not just with burning message rings, but with some actual face-to-face meetings.  And, before that, I do so hope there will be some kind of grand send-off.I'm starting to feel this wonderful sense of dread as I catch up to you...only a few chapters to go, and then I shall have to wait in dreadful agony for more....

It felt as if a piece of her had been carved away, almost as if she were lonely for herself.

That is an exquisitely phrased sentence.  You have captured such a universal sensation there.

And what a way to end the chapter!  Duh, Severus!  Go after her, you big idiot!

This was so achingly tender and so passionately brilliant that it took my breath away! I love how you've written the love-making (for that surely is what it is, and cannot be described any other way!), how Severus allowed himself to be consumed by her, allowed the world to just fade into the background for, perhaps, the first time. And then to relate that "first time" experience of his (the ability to release control, to just live in the moment) to the awkwardness of the sexual experiences of teenagers – brilliant. And, I hope all that made sense. LOL. Can't wait until you update!

“Anything, sir,”Famous last words!!! Mawhahahahah!

Man this story feels familar! Have I read it before? I cannot remember what happens next so I guess I'll just have to keep reading. Remember when our worst worry was if Snape really killed AD. How naive we all were before DH came out.

He feels like a teenager....and he doens't find it bad but necessary!

oh you  did it, he really IS back to human again, isn't he.

thank you very much for this chapter!!

salva

That girl would be his undoing.

Oh, yes, she will indeed!  And what a lucky man he is for it.

And that bursting-in-through-the-Floo thing with Dumbledore makes me just want to slap the old coot.  Leave 'em alone, it's Christmas!

What a smart girl!  I'm so glad he's begining to see how she can help and appreciate her--such a shame that Dumbledore doesn't get it.

And I love Severus fantasizing that at least one person cares what might be happening to him.  Can't wait for him to find out it's not a fantasy.

One of the best love/sex scenes I have read in a long time.  It simply flowed beautifully.  I held my breath. Thank you.

Hot chapter, more soon please

He has indeed been underestimating her for years!  Will these lessons help him learn that?  Very interesting that she creates a glamor for herself of what she believes to be beautiful, and he agrees that it is--and then he also realizes that the real woman is far more exquisite and far more worthy of his attention.

Such interesting lessons!  I want to be able to do Disguising Charms!  It is fascinating what they are able to recognize about one another, as they get to know each other a bit.  And Albus continues to be an evil manipulator, but I doubt he realizes the good his manipulation can bring about here.

You must appear to abhor that which you hold most dear.

Oh, my.  So he will continue to seem to abhor her, will he?  Another lovely chapter!  You are doing such an amazing job of filling in the blanks in canon by showing what else could very plausibly have been going on, right under our noses!

It must be nearly impossible for him to accept the fact that there is someone who actually cares whether he lives or dies, and that he has managed to hurt her, even accidentally (not to even mention the verbal hurt he inflicts on her once he's aware).  He needs to spend his recupration time thinking long and hard about what she means to him and how he can make it up to her.  And he needs to start doing that very soon, or else he is in danger of turning her into the same bitter, isolated being he has been forced to become himself.  Wonderful writing.

Heartbreaking--but beautiful.  Poor Severus! He's such a tortured soul.  I almost wish you would leave the story finished right there.  It has a finality to it that is good and right.  Besides, I don't want to see the inevitable foil to this--that is, Dumbledore's murder.This get's my highest rating (something I rarely do).  I guess I'm just a sucker for tragic beauty.

Ooh, nice lemons! And it's all so heart wrenching. Hermione is showing such maturity and composure and Sev is about to make my heart break. Interesting potion though, it has set cogs whiring in my mind. I can't wait to see if I'm right.

He would be a teenager, and none of these horrors would have happened yet; he would be free of his terrible choices at last, free to touch this lovely creature beside him without guilt, without fear…I think this is the line that tipped me over into tears.  I was already pretty emotional and then that did it.  To finally have something real, something pure--and to know that it will all shortly come to an end.  What a bittersweet feeling, knowing that in a very short time she will know him as Dumbledore's murderer.  Tears and smiles, love, regret and pain, all mixed together--the scene is almost overwhelming in its emotional power.I take it you're not much of a Dumbledore fan.  You know, I'm starting to feel that way.  He's definitely a villian in this story.  Hate him!Exceptional writing--the part about how Hermione was trying to "force a new language" into his mouth, swearing that she would always choose him, and then you switch to Sev's point of view and he's thinking almost the exact same thing--amazing!Thanks for this story!  I have a feeling we need to brace ourselves for pain though....;-)

You are breaking my heart, woman!  Your writing awes me.  The paragraph about Lily Potter was sheer poetry.  I read this chapter last evening at the end of a long day and have not stopped thinking of it since.  I've read really good HG/SS stories set to the HBP timeline, but this one stands out for its masterful writing, the truthfulness of its characters, and the fine line it treads between hope and despair (not to mention romance vs. mere sentimentality).

Your best chapter yet.

Gorgeously lyrical and so bittsweet.  Beautifully done and so enjoyable.  It leaves me sad and anxious, but in a good way.