New Chapter for Soul Man
Soul Man
julymorning460 Reviews | 5.3/10 (460 Ratings, 0 Likes, 330 Favorites )
Just after Voldemort's defeat, Hermione is doing research at the Department of Mysteries when she discovers she has inherited Spinner's End. As she uncovers the secrets of the house, the effect on her work – and her life – is startling.
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About julymorning
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julymorning
Member Since 2007 | 5 Stories | Favorited by 98 | 13 Reviews Written | 1,043 Review Responses
Reviews for Soul Man
I want to know what album was on the turntable and what posters were on the wall. If Hermione wants a clue to the inner life of Severus, she should listen to his music and looks at the posters. Hurrmph! Hermione, your powwers of observation leave a lot to be desired here.So do tell,I am dying to know what the music is? Love the story, btw....
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
So glad you love the story! Thanks. :)The music and the posters though... I didn't want to specify what those were - I felt that if I did, I might end up Mary-Sueing Snape (as odd as that sounds). I definitely had an album in mind, though, and the clue is in the chapter title. :-D
She is going to listen to his music, don't worry!
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
I've read your question about Snape and Queen on Potter Place - this is why I did not specify in the story the sort of thing he listens to! If I leave it open, you can give him the musical taste you think suits him. :)
EXCELLENT!!!!!I look forward to future chapters...
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Thank you! What a wonderful review. :)
I've been thinking about Mark. I would think that Snape would have left his muggle house to Mark. Hermione is a heroine with a great talent and wonderful intellect. Whereas could be a great help to Mark to own a house or to be able to rent or sell it.
SO, there must be a reason he left the house to Hermione. Like Potions notes, maybe.
This was an excellent chapter! I am eager for more.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Well, maybe - but there would be quite a lot of impediments, I think, to leaving one's house to an unrelated primary school kid, especially when his parents already have one. And that's leaving aside the magical properties of the house and the matter of Muggle inheritance tax! But there might be something else which he gave to Mark...
A lot more to think about in this chapter :)There are several different elements in your story that have me hooked, and I really can't wait to see what's going on - Teach and his real agenda, the younger Snape ghost/soul fragment, the erotic dreams with an effect on the waking world.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
It sounds like you've got a pretty good idea about what's going on - don't tell anyone else or it will ruin the suspense! :-D
Edward Teach--the pirate? HA! Good one. Makes me wonder what he will (or has) pirated?This is fun so far. I am enjoying it!
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Thank you - I'm glad you think it's fun! :)
The hair on the back of my neck was standing up when she started down those stairs even if she felt elated. One word Hermione, Psycho But that is not what this story is about! Please, please update soon! And Severus, stop scaring the poor girl and just show yourself.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Haha! I don't know if you have read other reviews of this, but in one of them I responded that the fic was 'more Hitchcock than Halloween' - so you were right on with that! Hermione's a bit reckless, a characteristic we will see more of later. ;)
That dream seemed a little real, perhaps her ghost is not so spectral after all?
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Perhaps... ;)
Wow - questions, questions, questions... I am not going to ask them because I am sure they will be answered. Very cool though - the deeper I get into the story, the more questions I have! Great story - I eagerly look forward to an update!
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Thank you! I do so like to raise questions - I hope you find the answers, some of which are coming quite soon, to be satisfying. :)
I am captivated! I can't wait to find out what happens next.Keep it up!
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Thank you so much for the encouraging review! :)
You continue to weave some very intriguing threads in this spooky little story of yours! I especially like your explanation of Severus' motives for continuing to protect Harry; the concept that he would have been horrified when he realized how sanguine he was about making Lily a widow serves to make him an even nobler soul in the long run.And what an interesting presence he makes! What is he trying to communicate, and when will he reveal more to Hermione? Glad he's opened the basement and given her a tiny glimpse at his life there--but methinks the man in her bed is more corporeal than other evidence suggests....I'm glad as well that the glimpse of his memories showed her more about the man--and that Harry respects his privacy, too. I'm also enjoying the time you are taking to tell this story. I do so want to learn more and am looking forward to future chapters--glad you've been posting regularly!
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Thank you so much for the very thoughtful review! I'm really glad you enjoy the fact that I am taking my time with this one - it has been developing for a while and I want to do the ideas justice. We have almost reached the point at which Hermione starts to discover how complex the situation is. I'm actually having a great deal of fun writing this story - my previous one sometimes felt like a slog through some truly nasty mud - so I daresay the updates will keep coming regularly, through perhaps with a little more time inbetween as the chapters get longer and my poor beta has to cope with my stubborn refusal to understand how punctuation works. ;)
Those notes on anitvenin couldn't have been left there by accident. I wonder...
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Well, to be honest, I rather suspect that Snape thought the war would last a lot longer than it did, and perhaps never got the chance to show them to Hermione as he might have planned. Too bad he didn't know, as of course we all did, that the war would end at the same time as the school year! His failure to notice the pattern was practically criminal. :)
Anticipation!!! Another great chapter.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Woo-hoo! Thanks. :)
Loved the little interlude with Draco. He comes across as not quite over the trauma of the events of war, either - rumpled, getting drunk at the races, making almost-passes at Hermione. Even his attempts at Slytherin manipulation were pitiful.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Thank you! I have always seen Draco as a bit pitiful, through no fault of his own. He was never a particularly good Slytherin, either - all bluster and no subtlety. I suspect that if he hadn't been a Malfoy, he'd have been sorted into Gryffindor himself!
I'm really enjoying this story - you write very well! I especially liked the imagery of desire as strings wishing to be plucked and played.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Thanks for the compliment! That description was actually born out of a conversation I had years ago, trying to explain the female orgasm to a particularly dense male friend of mine. Here's hoping that at some point he figured it out! :)
Just a note to let you know I found this story today (via hgss_digest on LJ), and I am really enjoying it so far. I look forward to the next chapter.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Great, thank you so much! I am so proud to be featured on hgss_digest. :) I'm glad you're enjoying the fic.
I'm glad Hermione finally realized that Severus's impression isn't trying to harm her. I'm wondering if he has plans to come back from the dead.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Yeah, I guess it would be a little tough to think logically when faced with a 'haunting.' :)
Is Snape dead? I am beginning to wonder. A very good story.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Thank you! Well, yes, he is dead. But don't stop reading because of that! We're going to see lots of him anyway, I promise.
Hi... just a quick word to say I loved this chapter... you write beautifully.I also loved the fact that you have Spinner's End near York... I'm a Yorkshire lass myself and York is one of my favourite places of all time. Plus it also means Snape is a Yorkshireman, which gets my aproval!Anyway, good luck with the rest of the story; I'm gonna get back to reading it now!x
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Haha, wonderful. For some reason I have always read Snape as a Yorkshireman, and I have a sneaky suspicion that lots of other people do, too. We can add him to the big list of fabulously brave and noble Northerners. :) Thank you so much for your review!P.S. I love York too, so it gave me a great deal of selfish pleasure to put Spinner's End there, even though I've read elsewhere that it should be in Manchester.
This story is fabulous. I was a bit hesitant about reading a fic where our hero is dead – it’s just too sad! But I’m glad put my doubts to one side and began reading yours. I am well and truly hooked!
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Thank you, I'm so glad you gave the fic a chance! Another reader expressed a similar reluctance, but I think that one of the greatest things about HP overall is the fact that being dead need not be so bad - isn't that what JKR has been trying to tell us all this time? So Snape's death is, to paraphrase, his next big adventure. :)
Gives the term 'sweet dreams' a whole new meaning, doesn't it? Lucky Hermione...
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Dunno about that - I mean, this IS a horror story... :)
So, Snape is haunting her. That is interesting to say the least, and it is a rather erotic haunting. That basement seemed so tragic.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Thank you! Yeah, it is rather tragic. Poor lonely Snape.
Wow. Nicely done. I'm wondering if Mark is just a local kid who reminded Snape of himself as a boy, of if there's a closer connection. The erotic dream is quite affecting, and the evidence that it might be more than dream is intriguing. Why did Snape pick her as an heir of sorts, and why would he be trying to contact her now? Look forward to seeing how you resolve the questions.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Thank you! Questions, questions. I shall tell you now in case anyone else brings it up: Mark is not related to Snape. He just, as you say, a local kid who reminded Snape of himself. More on the erotic dreams, and Snape's choice of heir, to come later. As for why he is contacting her now - that's to come rather soon. :)
"His sense of obligation was to himself, to prove that he was no longer a man who would joyfully contrive at another person’s misery for his own gain." That line summed up Snape's motivations more powerfully and more succinctly than any explanation I have read. This chapter was hypnotic and enticing.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Oh wow, thank you so much! I had wanted to explore his feelings of guilt a little more because they seemed so very flat in DH. Obvi I could understand feeling guilty about causing someone's death, but no amount of atonement can fix that or bring them back. So it occurred to me that Snape's sacrifice might actually be an attempt to fix something else, and voila. :)
This is getting really good! I'm so glad that Hermione finally found a way into the basement. I'm really looking forward to more! Good job!
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Thank you so much! I am working on the next chapter now. :)
Chills went up my spine and the hair stood at the base of my neck.
Response from julymorning (Author of Soul Man)
Very, very cool. Thanks for the review! :)