Thank you! I'm glad to hear it. I couldn't resist having them teasing each other, much to Hermione's mortification.Occlumency definitely has its drawbacks...

Severus does strike me as a possessive man - I'm glad his jealousy is expected. That Lucius is his friend probably makes it worse, as there's betrayal too.I hope you'll like the eventual resolution! Thanks for reviewing.

I won't leave you hanging much longer! I'll be posting the next chapter soon.Thanks for reviewing!

Lucius certainly deserved the slap he got, although death is probably a bit too drastic... tempting, though!Hopefully he will...Thank you! I did my best, glad you liked it!

Good luck with that! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. Thanks for reviewing!

Thank you for reviewing!

Severus's jealousy has been an issue since Chapter 14, and within the story for about four months. The last one of those months he has been bottling up that jealousy inside in an attempt to maintain control. Hence the explosion at witnessing a mere kiss.As for Lucius, he agreed to a marriage in name only before they tied the knot. He married Hermione to benefit from her reputation. He has no 'right' to sleep with her. Come to that, Severus doesn't have the 'right' to sleep with her either. She chooses to do that.Hermione's not repulsed by Lucius. She simply does not love him.And OOC... I am doing my best to make these characters human. They make mistakes. For them to be perfect would be OOC.Thank you for reviewing.

Well, I never said or implied that Lucius should have a right to sleep with Hermione (or with anyone else); no one has such 'rights'. But like I said before, I do think he does have a right to be treated at least politely and preferably a bit more nicely. And I still wonder: in the first few chapters you made him rather nice and quite attracted to Hermione, so why does she now seem to dislike him so much? Since they're stuck together in this marriage, can't they try to make it as comfortable as possible, and at least be friends? And I still think that Severus is acting very immaturely. Being jealous and angry (without good reason) is one thing, and may be human, but acting like a complete idiot is another thing entirely. I'd think twice after this behaviour of Severus, if I were Hermione. Makes it more difficult to identify with her. If Lucius hadn't kissed her, the elf might not have poisoned her; but if Severus had been more reasonable, he would have found her sooner or it might not have happened at all. So if anyone's to blame apart from the elf (but I think not), it's not just Lucius.Did you have a threesome in mind at the end? If so, they have a VERY long way to go yet. And if not, what's to become of Lucius? Is his situation going to improve? For it doesn´t seem quite fair for H and S being happy together, while he can only watch and be lonely.I don't mean to sound overly critical, just giving my opinion. It's not easy to write good, consistent plots and characters (and consistent obviously does not exclude human weakness and error), and honest comments can help - that could and should be one of the benefits of sites like this.

And of course, if I didn't like the story at all, I'd just remove the bookmark and not take the trouble of writing lengthy reviews  !

Sorry, my mistake. I must have read more into your review than was written.Hermione doesn't so much dislike Lucius as dislike his actions sometimes. Other than those instances, she has been polite and as friendly as she can be without encouraging him.Lucius's history is against him with Severus: he's seduced women away from Severus before. Severus definitely did overreact and act like a prideful idiot, but what can I say? He's human, and male to boot.All of the characters definitely have quite a bit of adjusting to do before a threesome would be possible. If it doesn't happen, then no, it would not be fair, but it would simply be a reversal of Severus and Lucius's experiences in the two decades before this story, albeit without the many mistresses.Honest comments can and do help. I just can't help but find the term 'OOC' a bit insulting with the effort I put into characterisation. But that's my problem, not yours. I'm glad that you do like the story, and also take the trouble of writing reviews.

Well, what can I say. Of course I meant no insult. But I once wrote a challenge story in which I made Severus and Draco rather good friends who worked together, and one of the 'judges' called that OOC - still don't see why. I suppose we all have our own ideas about the personalities of canon figures. Severus being a man certainly is an argument for some stupidity on his part... I don't like his possessiveness at all, but that's my own preference, of course. All the same, not loving someone doesn't have to be an argument for not sleeping with them - you can just find them nice and attractive enough. Anyway, I am curious to see where you're going to take them from here.

I'm sure you didn't mean it as an insult. We definitely do have our own ideas about characterisation, what can we do but agree to disagree.Again, the connection between loving someone and having sex with them does depend on characterisation. This Hermione would be monogamous if left to her own devices.I hope the rest of the story satisfies your curiosity!

Some characterisations of Severus, or other characters, are more appealing to some people than others. That's what fanfic is about, after all. If we get too strict about canon, the S/H pairing (and many others) would be OOC in itself - I don't think we would want that! I do hope that Hermione realises that monogamy in your world, with so few females, has its disadvantages (or rather that polygamy has its advantages). But then I'm rather partial to HG/LM pairings and threesomes, as you may have guessed by now...

I'm sorry to hear that. Cliffies tend to be a hazard with my WIPs. I don't suppose it will help much that there isn't a month to wait in this case (I'll be posting the next chapter by tomorrow), as there will be more cliffhangers.I hope you will feel able to pick this story up again when it's completed, which will hopefully be over the summer. If not, thank you for your reviews. I do appreciate them.

Very evil house-elf! Good questions, which should be at least partly answered in the next chapter.Thank you! I just can't resist evil cliffies, I'm glad you thought it was well done.

Sorry! I just can't resist them!(although I must be doing something right to get a mob with flaming torches and pitchforks! It's been quite a while since I got one of those, I've missed them)Thanks for reviewing!

I'm delighted that you want the next chapter so soon! You'll be glad to hear that I went through the final edits today, so I'll be posting it soon.Thanks for reviewing!

Thank you! I can't really deny that. Poor Hermione indeed!

Thank you! Next chapter coming by tomorrow if not sooner.

Sorry! When it comes to cliffies I suspect I have a mean streak a mile wide. If it's any consolation, there's not long to wait for the next chapter - I'll be posting it soon.Thanks for reviewing!

Sorry, I'm evil like that!The next chapter should cover that, to be posted soon.Thanks for reviewing!

Thank you! I'm glad that you're catching up, and even more so that you're reviewing!Hope you enjoy the next two chapters!

Sorry! Sometimes I just can't resist.Lucius certainly needs to rethink, although at the moment he's the one that's risking being a widower.Not in queue, but it will be posted by tomorrow: I'm a validated author.

Thank you! I'm delighted to hear it, that's what I was aiming for. Next chapter coming soon!

Thanks! I hoped it would be.Hermione would certainly be safer if Tricksy died... I've certainly done my best to put thhat feeling across in the next chapter.The next chapter isn't in queue, but it will be posted by tomorrow: I'm a validated author.HermioneDiggory's response: YAY!!!

That he was... we shall see! The next chapter should answer that question, and I'll be posting it tomorrow if not sooner.

Sorry! I just couldn't resist. But I hope you'll be pleased to hear that the next chapter is coming soon.Thanks for reviewing!

(tapping foot)How soon is soon?

Short answer: by tomorrow.Long answer: when I've caught up with my reviews. The horror of backlog does not help with writing more, hence the need to keep on top of 'em.

Yippee

I won't be leaving you hanging for long! I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow, if not sooner.I'd pity Lucius, but I think he deserves what's coming if you get hold of him.Thanks for reviewing!

Either that or he really needs to turn over a new leaf!Hopefully she has...Thanks for reviewing!

You don't have much longer to wait for the next chapter!I'm delighted to hear that this chapter touched you enough for a rant!Thank you for reviewing!

I couldn't resist! Thank you! We shall see in the next chapter...