Thank you! I'm glad you found it and are reading it along side RaM.I love writing Minerva, so I'm glad you find her incredible as always! (I had great fun wriiting the bit w/ Draco & Minerva.) In a sense, this story is about Severus & Minerva, though it's not about the two of thme together, if that makes any sense. (I am yawning my head off this morning, so it's possible that it doesn't.)Thank you very much for reviewing! I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Thank you! There will  be more to come!

She loves him and hates to see him in any kind of pain, including the clear emotional pain he was in. She also wanted to understand it so that she could DO something about it. She doesn't like to sit around and not take action if she sees something that can be fixed. She figures that the faster she understands what's going on and where Albus is coming from, the sooner they can try to fix it. Besides, as she says in RaM, the McG's have a temper, but most of them burn out quickly -- except, supposedly, Malcolm. (Remember her reaction when she got angry with him, then realized what she'd done, and her remorse overcame her anger? Not exactly parallel here, but similar, and she's had a lot of years to learn to keep her anger in check.)Thans much for the review!

I noticed myself, when working on my own long ADMM WIP (on hiatus at present), that I absolutely cannot manage to have them stay angry at each other for very long at all.  I'd thought maybe it had to do w/ my own issues around seeing the people I love be angry. <wry g> But perhaps it's really  just Albus and Minerva! But the things which Albus has done to annoy Minerva in that fic thus far (I'm up to middle of Vold War I; they've been a couple just a few years) are mere pin pricks compared to *this.*  Albus is very fortunate Minerva loves him so, for so many reasons.

There is also a sort of poetic circularity here.....if Minerva does end up raising her wand in some fashion to kill Albus in order to save him from death-by-Death-Eater-torture....since she risked her life to save him from death-by-Grindelwald-torture 52 years earlier.  But she won't get a transfigured bath tile to commemorate her bravery this time.....

And then there was always an ambiguity about their wands and what the fact that they had them meant for their relationship -- remember all of the stories that Minerva read about them, and the "Tragedy" that befell so many of those who had mated wands -- not that I'm saying that's what's going on here, but I'm just picking up on what you say about circularity, etc.I don't know if you noticed, but I posted Albus's poem as a separate one-shot. There will be a reference to it in the next chapter, although what is referenced will not be what I think you will find most interesting about it on this reading.And Albus sees himself as either dying of DE torture or of the curse, either of which is nasty, but at least the latter seems a better choice, for a number of reasons. So those are two ways that he imagines the prophecy as being fulfilled, if Severus won't kill him. Minerva believes, sensible witch that she is, that he is creating the prophecy's conditions through his belief in it, but if he believes in it, that's what she's got to work with.I've been trying to get to bed for the last hour, and it hasn't happened yet! Oh, well!I will probably post the next chapter of DD either tomorrow night or Tuesday morning, but then it will likely be a while again, since I really want to finish RaM, and I have a bunch of RL things going on this week, as well.(I look forward to your thoughts on the poem from this new perspective!

And my thought is....interesting line you chose for the title!RL things, eh?  What a pain! How rude of RL to interfere w/ fanfic  <vbg>I just watched My Boy Jack on TV, w/ Daniel Radcliffe starring as Rudyard Kipling's only son, a British infantry Lt in WWI.  Radcliffe's bespectacled character is propelled into war by his father when not yet 18, but it doesn't turn out as well for him as DH does for Harry.

In a discussion far far away on a very different topic, I was just made aware of some Randy Travis lyrics which are rather apropos to this chapter.  Albus's tastes surely don't run to cowboy or country music (massive understatement!), but I think that in this chapter he could sing this one particular stanza w/ feeling..." That lie that I tried to slip by you Was told with good intentions It was just another way to say I love you And protect you from the truth Half a pound of cure is surely worth a half an ounce of pure prevention And trying to explain while I'm insane Is the hardest thing I've ever tried to do"Randy Travis, "Is It Still Over?"(Luckily Albus and Minerva's overall relationship is sturdier than whatever Travis is singing about in the rest of that song! It's just the one stanza that applies, not the whole thing!)

It's probably sturdier than any relationship sung about in a country song -- at least the popular ones I know! (Everybody seems to be cheating, losing, walking away, or worse in most of the country songs I've heard! LOL) But that does seem to be an apt stanza for this chapter.

That is a good way of describing it!Thank you!

You're welcome! I'm glad you enjoyed it. We'll be moving forward from here in the next chapter, so you'll be able to see more of the results of having Minerva know now.Thanks very much! :)

Thanks!

So many answers in this chapter, then so many more questions posed!I'm not certain when the next update in either story will be up. I'm having logistical difficulties and a few lazy-bones issues, as well! LOL! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Yes, that little seed . . . I always wondered what happened to the brains in the Order -- were they all killed the first time around? And canon!Albus is always so brilliant in so many ways, but so . . . dim in others. And no one seemed to think flexibly. Maybe they needed more Muggle-borns or something. The plan to get Harry out of Privet Drive for the last time was doomed from the start, in terms of avoiding deaths. But I guess maybe the author thought that it wouldn't be very exciting or dramatic if there weren't deaths when Harry was taken from the Dursleys. (Yeah, killing poor Hedwig in her cage -- really dramatic and action-packed. She flew beside the car in CoS, why she couldn't at least have been out of her cage . . . Hedwig was abused an awful lot in the books.)Stay tuned for the next chapter and see the seed become a seedling!

Thanks! Minerva was certainly overwhelmed by so much information at once, and Albus was certainly not unaffected by his choice, having Minerva know, having to tell her everything, or suddenly learning that Severus was not going to carry out the terms of the Vow.Glad I was able to raise your eyebrows at the end there!

Thanks!

Thank you very much!

Merwyn (one of my favorite characters from RaM) is deceased. He dropped dead one afternoon over an ancient papyrus, so he died a happy, engaged scholar. Others still alive include Aine & Alroy, both of whom have been mentioned as still being alive, I think. Our least favorite Slytherin witch is dead, as is Flint. Anyone else you want to know about? Not all of them have that much bio in my lists and notes, so I may not have an answer for you. (As I've said before, I know WA-AY too much about these entirely fictional people! LOL!)I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and that you found it moving.Thanks!

Well, all the characters that I really was connected to are accounted for.  In the more minor column, I do wonder how Minerva's long-ago ex-, Rudolph, fared--if he ever found a witch for himself, if he even still wanted one after she turned him down.  And what's the not-so-Silent Knight up to these days? <g> Good to know that That Awful Witch died.  I hope Flint ended up being the most boring and passionless of lovers all the while "dried up old Albus" was boinking Minerva til she needed pain potion!  I'm glad Murdoch and Poppy have at least remained friends--they seemed the most naturally suited of the couples you set up in RaM.  And I'm gathering that whatever mysterious stuff is going on behind the scenes, Murdoch and Melina are in on it, as well as Robert, even if Snape isn't, and Poppy probably isn't, at least not yet.It's a good thing Albus's lovely island is decent-sized---I'm thinking it's maybe got more human inhabitants at the moment than it's had in decades!  Quite an eclectic group, too!   Or did Albus and Minerva suss out some additional remote real estate and ward it equally thoroughly before his demise?

I haven't given much thought to Rudolf beyond 1957-ish. Much.I think you would feel sorry for V C-Y-F, despite her nastiness, and very sorry for poor Frankie. Some things, you just shouldn't mess with. Like fire. And Dark Wizards. Frankie did try to take care of her and divert her from her ruin, but . . . M & P were the most naturally suited, but they never managed to make it past the practical barriers to their relationship and were on-again-off-again lovers for years. More than that would be giving things away that I'd rather save for other stories! Other answers must wait for later chapters of DD!

I particularly liked the chapter's ending:"Minerva thought of Albus and of his faith. She set her teeth, raised her chin, stood straight, squared her shoulders, and rode the spiral staircase down to play her role as if the fate of the wizarding world depended upon it, for it very likely did."

Thank you!

Murdoch and Poppy didn't stay together, they were just together on and off for years, but they are still good friends.I'm glad you liked the part with Minerva, and that you found the chapter so moving. There will be more questions answered, and a few raised, in the next couple chapters. Thank you very much!

Thank you! I'm glad that you found the chapter so moving, and I really appreciate your comments!Yeah, and, um cheers for, um, clicking the "review" button! (Yep, still the cheeky one!)TTFN!

Thank you. I appreciate your comments on the story and its writing.Robert is a good man, and I'm glad you're still loving him!We will eventually learn more about Gertie, so you'll be happy about that, I think. And she will, some day, join her beloved Gryffies at play. Johannes is quite safe, alive, and happy in his earthly garden, but he won't make an appearance in this story. He will be making an appearance in a RaM short story, though, if I manage to write it . . . Thanks for the "wow"! I am really glad you liked it. (Wouldn't want to disappoint my new "little Sis," after all! LOL!) Have a great weekend!

Minerva had a lot of time to prepare, not that it was easy for her, but she could pull herself together. Is it any wonder that she has the occasional private mini-meltdown, with all her responsibilties (a la the scene in the library) and the stresses on her?Of course, that death scene was presented from Severus's point-of-view, but it was an extremely difficult morning for Minerva.Morgan, Minerva's very quiet, bookish middle brother is still around, too, but not "around." (About the same as in RaM! haha!) Murdoch's alive, as is Siofre, Egeria, Melina, Brennan (though he's showing his Muggle years, though not as strongly as he would w/o Melina's loving care), and various younger relatives not yet born at the time of RaM.I'm glad you found it moving.Thank you!

Thank you! I'm glad it's intriguing you! I try to update regularly, RL allowing, so I hope you continue to enjoy it!

Thank you! It was very hard on Severus.I hope to have the  next chapter up over the weekend. Have a good one!

Oh, my, so many questions, so few available answers! I am afraid that my response will have to be a very inadequate "wait and see." In fact, I don't see a single one that I can answer -- although what you say of Gertrude is certainly true, esp about her emotional balance/mental health, though Gluffy is doing his darnedest to help her. (There was a part about I had to cut because I changed the way this chapter worked, but I'm hoping that I can stick it in somewhere, so I'm not going to give that bit away yet.)I'm glad you liked the bit of a sermon. :-)Thanks! The next chapter will be up at some point Friday, I hope. We get to jump back. We're coming into the nonlinear part now.

It was one of the bits that never made it into RaM. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

It depends on which spelling convention you use, and I do assume that you aren't British, or you would believe that "skeptic" was the misspelling. You may also notice other "misspellings" (such as "colour," "Defence," and the like)  -- if you check a dictionary for the British spelling, you will likely find that they are correctly spelled. (BTW, I like to get typos and other such errors in emails/PMs, so if anyone spots a typo, feel free to contact me.) I do try to consistently use correct British spelling and I use the spell-checker in WP, as well.

Sorry. My bad. I've been correcting term papers and let my zeal get away with me. I should realise that the two languages are not identical thanks to Webster and his Anglophobia. You have given me an idea for a story. John Donne's work suggests a theme. Thanks for setting me straight, Bravo!

"Skeptic" actually mirrors the root word more closely than does "sceptic" (which I sometimes misread as "septic" when tired! LOL!), and so it's an easy one not to catch as British, unlike the more obvious ones -- like "flavour" or "colour."What I think is odd and interesting is the disappearance of the word "gotten" from British English, since it is mirrored in other words, such as "forgotten." *puzzle puzzle*

Thank you -- very glad you enjoyed it!

Severus has a great many problems. Maybe he will have the opportunity, despite his resignation, to actually grow beyond his problems. He just might . . .Quin . . . thinking of it makes me melancholy, as well. He did fight back, he did his best, but he was very out-numbered. There will be more about both Quin and Gertrude later in the story.If your theory continues to feel correct, it just may be. There were more than a couple clues in this chapter. TTFN!

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed the chapter! I considered having this be two chapters, but decided to post it as one, even though there was a lot happening in it. Thanks much! The next chapter will be up in a couple days, I hope.

Oh, gods, you ARE the cheeky one, aren't you? Your opening line had me ROFL! I'm glad you found the chapter so riveting. I was a bit concerned about having all this one chapter for fear that parts of it would get "lost," but I liked having it as a whole, so I'm glad it worked for you.Severus and Hermione have an unusual sort of relationship that is proceeding in fits and starts, in a way. In the end, it will be very good -- especially for Severus -- that Minerva had them work together. I have known practically since Quin was "born" in RaM that his Muggle-loving was going to cause him problems that he had never dreamed of. It was inevitable. I'm glad you appreciated the last part of the chapter. I like having Minerva and Severus interact, and I like the thouht that there are people who actually care about Snape-the-human-being, even though he is not a particularly cuddly person. It's hard to imagine what the life he has led could have done to him psychologically and emotionally, and I would hope that he would have at least a few people around him who cared about him and offered their support even when he was less than gracious about receiving it. I felt very bad for the isolated canon-Snape, sacrificing everything because of his remorse and so forth, but not seeming to have anything positive in his life, ever.The next chapter will be up faster than this one was, but I was working to get HwtH complete and the next chapter of RaM done and posted. Now that HwtH is finished, I can devote myself to the last couple of chapters of RaM and working on DD, much of which is written, but I keep moving and tweaking, and fiddling, and such.Thanks -- I love ya, even if you are a Cheeky GLM!