AK posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 3:56pm

Well Good job you two, the story is progressing quite nicely. One thing please, make sure that Harry doesn't spend TOO much time in the hospital please? (ala Abraxan, don't get me wrong her story was nice but WAY too much hospital time.)
Oh and what's up with the flaming author's notes? Chill mon! (I know Alyx is not responsible)

MonkeyAxman1302 posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 3:42pm

I liked this chapter. I thought the way you used the mistakes of Harry and Hermione to get them closer was good. Especially as it seems to be leading to an almost cathartic experience for Harry over all his previous issues.

You made the visit at the hospital that little bit more personal and relevant to the brotherhood by bringing Oliver Wood back, I think that was a nice touch.

I like the fact that you have been posting more regularly, please try and keep it up this is my favourite on-going fanfic!

Monkey

PhishBulb posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 2:26pm

Just a quick response after your response to PJ:

This whole situation with Dudley got fucked up. Should Harry have cut off the link and run off? Maybe? God knows how anyone would deal with a complete lack of privacy in a situation like that. Is it inherently wrong that he might want to keep his thoughts to himself? No.

Should Miles have run things the way he did? Fuck no. If anyone deserves to be blamed for this situation it’s him. He had a responsibility and he failed to live up to it. Regardless of any medical problems such a breach of protocol should have resulted in disciplinary measures. The overall situation at Haven, plus his intentions — which are of course affected by his knowledge of the prophecy -- certainly should be taken into consideration. I’d like to think he would have been removed from his position regardless of any medical considerations.

As for Hermione, from an organizational standpoint I don’t think she did anything wrong. She brought what she thought was a critical situation to the proper person. She can hardly be faulted for that. The problem is, why did she determine it was a critical situation? From what I read, it comes from a distinct lack of faith in Harry and serious trust issues. She (supposedly) knows him better than anyone. How she could misread him to this degree is astounding. If we are to believe that they have the kind of relationship that you’ve shown them to have, perhaps she should show a little belief in him. When she fails to do that, maybe Harry should at least recognize that for everything good about her, Hermione has a tendency to doubt him. Despite everything they share, exactly what kind of relationship can they have without trust?

Before you tell me to go find another fan fic to read, I should say that there is quite a bit about this story that I enjoy — otherwise I’d stop reading on my own. I have found that in order to keep reading I need to skip over any part with Luna and Draco, and that the 8 ‘my heart’s’ in this past chapter grew a bit tedious. I respect what you’re doing. The scope of this story is truly impressive. The thing is I remember the way you handled Ginny in ‘Spiritus Crystalus’ -- that she could do anything she wanted to Harry and he would always come crawling back, and I hoped that it wouldn’t be a recurring trend with female leads in your stories. Oh, well.

Best of luck with the next chapter.

Bobmin356 replied:

Neither Bob nor myself will tell you to go find another fic to read. If you read PJ's review, you'll note that he/she said "I didn't even finish this chapter and it will be the last of this story that I read ..." My comment about finding other fan fic stories was not meant as anything other than an honest hope that he/she is able to find a story more to his/her taste.

Look, we can't please everyone with our story, we know that.   That's why we don't try.   We write to please ourselves, first and foremost (I seem to be repeating that a lot lately).

As for Hermione, Bob and I seriously thought about taking a bet to see just how many people screamed after the posting of Chapter 14, since so many people wanted her scalped, hung, skinned, banished or flayed alive for her actions.

So, let me see if I can explain this.   The bond that was formed between Harry and Hermione, while relatively new, is also nearly overwhelming. The bond hadn't existed for very long and they were still feeling their way through it. And the bond they've formed can be a very insidious thing.   If you're able to hear your spouses thoughts and feel his or her emotions, the need to understand body language, voice inflection and the ability to read between the lines of verbal communication can atrophy if one isn't careful.

Hermione's come to rely on her bond with Harry to read him, as he's so reluctant to share his troubling thoughts and emotions with anyone, even his wife. Then, he cut her off with no warning, causing her a great deal of alarm.   Then he stormed out, saying nothing.   She picked up the letter, realized it was a trap, and panicked when she couldn't feel Harry anywhere. Now, the logical part of her probably realized that he wouldn't walk into something so obvious.   But she wasn't behaving logically.   She panicked.   Why is this so hard to believe?   Even smart people behave foolishly under stress!

Take Bob.   He is the most logical, calm, even tempered man I've ever known.   A few years ago, our stove caught fire while he was cooking.   And what did my logical, calm husband do?   He yelled "FIRE!!!" and then stood there, watching it and occasionally repeating "FIRE!". To this day I'm not sure what shocked me more...the fire, or Bob's reaction to it. But that's what panic does to a person.

Hermione, for all her intelligence, is still human, with all the flaws and foibles that go with it. We've simply illustrated that point.

You don't have to agree, of course.   But as the authors of the story, the above is the motivation for Hermione's actions, as set down in our outline. Harry, as we've written him, is smart enough to realize that Hermione's actions came as a direct result of his own. He knows that to punish her for what she did would be hypocritical, at best.

Hope this helps clear things up a bit.

Rachel Roberson posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 1:13pm

I have really enjoyed reading both Sunset ans now Sunrise.I was recommended them by an author at portkey.org and I have hadto stay up late into the night reading them.Not that I mind.I can't wait for the next chapter.

Ricky posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 12:07pm

ONce again Bob and Alyx; A Damn Good Chapter; Look forward to the next one

PJ posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 11:25am

I didn't even finish this chapter and it will be the last of this story that I read... Yet again Hermione screws up with no consequences for her actions (for her anyway...) I'm not asking for a 'permanent' punishment, but they have been way to lax on her and it's easy to see where the bias is and sorry, but I'm no longer interested.

Bobmin356 replied:

Harry and Miles screwed up, too.   While we're spanking Hermione and forcing her out of the fight, should we also hang Miles and chain Harry to a wall until he's needed to kill Voldemort?   When your own hands are bathed in the blood of the slain, you don't point fingers at the others and say it was all their fault.   Unless, of course, you enjoying being a hypocrite. Harry was mature enough to realize that he started the whole thing, Hermione compounded the error, and Miles nailed the coffin closed on the entire mess.

There are plenty of fan fic stories out there.   We're positive you will find one more to your taste to enjoy!

DaZZa posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 10:47am

You know, your authors notes are worth waiting for more than the chapters - almost. :-) You guys coulda shown JKR how to write the Half Baked Plot properly, rather than the piece of pathetic milksop it was. Keep up the good work.

sailrpopeye posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 10:25am

Oh, forgot about the Hermione question - yes, she screwed up but she is not a professional at this kind of thing and was reacting as a concerned wife more instead of as a leader.

The people who are professionals screwed up because they failed to do the reconaissance and verification they should have before committing to a mission like that.

Ok, multiple foulups at multiple levels - the action is over and now we are sorting out the quick from the dead and writing up the post-action reports. Then we sit down and figure out what went wrong, what went right, and how to keep the wrong stuff from happening again. We learn, and move on - that's all we can do.

"The Tree of Liberty need periodically to be refreshed with the blood of heroes" (or something close to that) - Thomas Payne, American Revolutionary War. As true now as it was in 1775 and just as pragmatic - if those who died had wanted to sit it out, they could have. But they didn't, and that's why they are heroes.

Ed
sailrpopeye

sailrpopeye posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 10:13am

This is SOOOOOO good. Think I'll go and reread it from the begining again because... well, just because...

Be nice to Alyx, remember, payback is a bitch...

Cheers,

Ed
sailrpopeye

kcgx23 posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 9:29am

Great chapter, I really enjpyed and I am hoping you will add more soon.

Oldwolf posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 9:09am

Very good chapter with conversations that needed to happen, public sentiment completely aside. Personally I'm glad that Remus is starting to cool down; attacking Hermione, regardless of the circumstances, is a sure way to irate Harry. Besides, he of anyone should understand the lunacy of speaking in the heat of the moment. I also liked how Tonks was able to bring Hermione out of the spiral of self-imposed guilt.

Evan Mayerle posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 8:16am

All in all a most enjoyable read, as usual. I loved the bit with Olliver wood. It seems that Harry, Hermione, et al. are being forced by cicumstances to grow rather quickly and they are adapting and coping well. I'm sure they'll still make mistakes in the future, but I'll wager that they'll never make the same mistake twice, possibly not even the same class of mistake.

*sigh* I'm a Christian, but I have to agree with you. There seems to be a rather rapid strain of christian in the US that'd be a match for arrogance and egotism for Tom; much as the Islamic extremists of our world would be.

Ltank687 posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 7:59am

great! love it, keep up the great work!

bluemac posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 7:53am

Another chapter so soon. You're going to spoil us...not that I'm complaining, mind you!

One little quibble: it's the Cairngorm Mountains, not Cairngorn.

Manatheron posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 6:19am

{snorts}

Figures you would be anti-catholic, see if I go out of the way to keep myself from kicking a protestant next time I see one {That was a joke in case you missed it}

Intersting chapter, Nice to know that wood survived, I am wondering about the origional ollivander though, I can't recall wether or not you said he escaped. I also wonder wether or not the flamel's are still floating around somewhere...

ah well, Keep up the excellent work please!

Alex00 posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 5:02am

Great work.

KLGreen posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 4:23am

great chapter
I loved that Oilver is back with them
I love that harry is being more open with Hermione about his feeling

Deborahsu posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 2:27am

Keep up the great writing! Your stories are so good that I FINALLY talked my husband, who thinks that Harry/Hermione is just WRONG and Dumbledore & all Weasleys MUST be "good" ... and he's loving it! Hurray!

Erin posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 2:13am

great update looking forward to the next.

zac posted a comment on Saturday 1st July 2006 1:52am

As far as i am concerned Harry should be the one in charge of Hermione's punishment (perhaps he could borrow Bob's paddle?). It was interesting to see Hermione's reaction to Harry's inner beast, it is fun though when the beast comes out to play.