learning more about them as the story continue.. love the twins & draco scene

Ooooooh! I knew the baby (child now) would be the key to Ginny's memories! But it looks like I was completely wrong about the idea that the child is Draco's. I'm guessing he's the true child of Harry's prophecy? Or perhaps he has to take over Harry's role now that he's dead? I feel so bad for Draco. D: I wonder what he'll tell Ginny, or if he'll allow her to leave with his kids until she and her other child are ready to learn the truth.

And I agree with what Fred and George said in the previous chapter, I like this Draco better than before-memory-loss Draco AND more than Drew. He's a nice mix of both, I think. And I like how Ginny is becoming more and more Ginny-like, less and less Gwen-like, because of the circumstances she finds herself in. If she didn't fight back and stand up for herself, she and her children would be lost. It's very Ginny of her to demand answers and take action. It actually reminds me a lot of Ginny's canon growth, from a timid, shy child (at least around Harry) who went through this traumatic event, to a woman who rises above that event to become stronger and more self-assured. Gwen was also the timid sort of wallflower who couldn't bring herself to stand up to her own husband, but now this strange thing is happening that she doesn't understand, and if she can't get some control of her family life, then what CAN she control? I love how the more I read, the more I see into these characterizations and how they work. You've done such a great job with them!

Love the update! Can't wait for more!

Author's Response: Yes, yes - the baby is so very important, but that is all I can say! And YES again to you understanding the Gwen-To-Ginny transformation and understanding Draco's growth into a decent human being. :)

AHHHH.
That is all.

Wow, what a fascinating combination of different times, motivation, characterizations... there's just so much going on, and yet I can see the shapes or the outlines of how it's all connected, even though nothing is clear yet. I especially liked this:

It was killing him, shredding him apart from the inside out, that she was not herself, and she would be far less helpless if she weren't fighting blindly.

I think it's because a key to Ginny's character is that we know that for a year, she was not herself (and I've always suspected that the experience changed her in ways that were never explored. Oh, forget about suspected... I've worked with trauma victims, and I KNOW.)

And then the juxtaposition of Ginny's relationships with both Harry and Draco in the past... there's so much here!!! Off to read the next chapter. :)

and the questions just keep on building

I was so excited to see an update today! But you're killing me, Smalls!

So here is my prediction: that baby that Ginny was pregnant with when Harry died? Draco's. That's why she's avoiding Harry, because she slept with Draco. I don't know what Draco's plan is (for her to miss him so much while he's away that she remembers everything? For her to recall her memories in dreams?), but woooow that was really awful of him. Like, it's one thing to abandon Gwen (especially without any money), but he left his two children, too, and when they're all back together again, they're not going to fully understand why he left. They're just going to remember that he was gone, that their mother cried about it often, that they were struggling and he wasn't there to help them. So he may be trying to help her get her memories back, but it was a low blow. Maybe he's going to come back, and she'll be so angry (like in her dream!) that she'll blow up at him and remember everything??

Love, love, love Fred and George. ;_; Their finding each other triggering their memories makes me want to cry forever. But then I want to cry even harder when I think about how they spent eight years apart. Their memory-dreams must have been super confusing out of context. XD

"I have a theory," Draco announced. "Can the two of you skive off?"

The twins grinned simultaneously. "Can we ever," they proclaimed unanimously.

!!!! SO GREAT. I knew they were using their Skiving Snackboxes!

It seems like this story is really rolling now, which makes waits for updates almost unbearable. But I can be patient. Can't wait to see how Ginny gets her memories back! And what she does to Draco when he returns....

Author's Response: I have been seriously slacking on responding to reviews lately, but I just had to comment on yours because you made me laugh. :P I am not going to confirm or deny your prediction because then that would ruin the mystery, but I will say that I /love/ that you didn't forget about Ginny's other baby... because you shouldn't! But your theory is very interesting, and I love that my story is making you think. That is the whole point of a mystery after all, right?

I've got three more chapters of this story already written, so I am going to try to update every week or so, at least until my rapidfire inspiration runs out and I get blocked again. :D

thank you for carrying on with this story. This chapter kept me on edge and worried about what will happen next. I check almost every day to see if you posted the next chapter.

Also, I like how we learn more and more about the characters in an indirect way, like in this chapter, which is mostly about Draco, we learn, in the end, that Ginny, though she loves him, doesn't really trust him. Otherwise she wouldn't have thought of the possibility that she might not see him again - that he ran off. Perhaps she was always afraid that one day he will.

Also, I'm intrigued about Fred and George - it seems that they, like Luna know what's going on.

This is just encouragement to not stop writing. I look forward to your new chapters!

(pops head in)

There WILL be an actual review for Chapter 2!!! Very soon. :)

Another great chapter! I think you're doing a good job not only building the mystery, but dropping in hints that are leading towards more answers. You're approach is interesting because while it seems like the problem/conflict of the story is Draco and Ginny's memory loss, the ACTUAL conflict, I think, is whatever they are running from, whatever happened after the war. You're just using their memory loss to bring them together and explore their characters in a new way.

As I mentioned in one of my previous reviews, you're doing an awesome job of keeping Draco and Ginny in character, even though you would think D and G living a muggle life (on a farm!) might make them out of character, especially Draco. Instead, you've just highlighted their characters in any situation, so that when they do get their memories back and face whatever it is they are running from, it won't be Drew and Gwen suddenly turning into Draco and Ginny. It will be the exact same characters with complete knowledge of two different lives. And that will be really interesting to read about, too, because they have a decade together as "muggles" that they and all of their friends and family will have to reconcile with their wizarding lives.

On that same idea, it bothered me a bit in previous chapters the way Drew controlled Gwen, shut her down when she did or said something he didn't like, and whatnot. I never said anything because I figured it was intentional and I hoped it would be addressed later, because Ginny never would have let Draco get away with it, but Gwen would. So I am so happy to see that addressed in this chapter, with Gwen taking back her control and confronting the fact that he thinks so much more of himself than her (still a very Draco trait! I think even if they hadn't lost their memories, if they were married, Draco and Ginny would butt heads concerning Draco's superscillious attitude.).

The last line of the chapter is almost chilling, because when Gwen takes back her control, she becomes Ginny again. Maybe it's unlikely, but I wonder, does Draco remember everything now? Has her actions triggered more of his memory? The last line almost seems to suggest that he has enough memory back to remember who she is and regret that she doesn't remember who he is. Just a few paragraphs ago he was completely content being Drew, and now it seems like he knows he's Draco and wishes she knew, too. I guess I'll see next chapter!

Anyway, you're doing a fabulous job, as always! I can't wait to read more!

Author's Response: Yay for super long and detailed reviews!

I am so glad you picked up on a lot of the things I am trying to get across. You are absolutely right; on the surface, right now, the story is about the memory loss. But it isn't. It's about /why/ they have memory loss, what it means for them, for their old lives. It's so exciting that you feel like they are staying in character throughout, because one thing I am trying to focus on in this story especially is that they remain themselves, but that they also have a little bit of distance from who they really are - which is why Gwen allowed herself to be controlled, etc. There is a reason for this which you will begin to see in the next chapter.

As for the end of the chapter, you made one very very important observation (well, a few, actually, but one that was especially important that I am super excited you picked up on!). I don't want to tell you which statement because I am hoping to keep that part a mystery for now!

I will be updating this very soon!

like the story.. onward to see if gwen and drew will out about their past!

Well, I finally read the last two chapters, my dear! :) I so love the way this is going. The mystery is deepening... (another child for Ginny?!?), and I can already tell that the way it ends will not be obvious. And really, putting Draco in a Value Inn in the Midwest is priceless. ;) It just seems to be such an interesting exploration of who these characters really are no matter WHERE they are, and it shows that they don't need to be in the most familiar surroundings.

Oh, and if you haven't checked out the new JKR interview yet, you really should. Basically, it supports D/G. Indirectly so, but there's no doubt that it does. Should've thought of that SIX YEARS AGO, maybe (or a lot earlier than that, considering when the plotline was planned out), but better late than never. ;)

Author's Response: Thank you! And yes, Ginny was pregnant with another child, although we have no idea what happened to the baby at this point (hopefully nothing bad!). I am hoping that the ending of this fic - which is still a decent ways away ;) - will be both satisfying and surprising. That's what makes a good mystery after all! And yes, I did take great excitement in making Draco Malfoy as obscenely poor as the Weasleys once were, but I'm glad that he is still coming off as /him/ despite the fact that he's in a different place and in a different situation. And no, actually, I did not read a new interview with JK. Do you have a link? :)