Okay. So, it's like 4 in the morning, and I just read all 22 chapters.

I'm actually deeply disturbed by Draco and Ginny's relationship. More than anything else, Draco's teasing demeanor really scared me in the last chapter. He's too good at compartmentalizing, and I know that Ginny has a chance. I really don't see how this can end happily unless both D&G undergo some spectacular personality changes. Another part of me wonders about the rest of the world (you've had them locked up in the cabin for quite a few chapters now). This fic got very dark, kind of quickly. Freakish Potter and Granger and awkward boyfriends aside, it really seems like Ginny would be incapable of being happiness out in the real world (ie no cabin) without Draco. The only seeming way that she'd find happiness (because isn't that what we all want?) is either via eternal sexual bliss with Draco (who is a rather frightening, dodgy character right now) or by having Draco fall in love with her.... Which one is less implausible?

Anyways, I've never actually read one of your really long fics before (Somehow I've always started when everyone else was on chapter 638334) but I'm kind of interested in/scared of what's going to happen next... Hopefully 3 more parts = lots of time for improvement in their relationship??? I certainly feel like Draco owes her a lot after this one... but lots of unanswered questions still! (Lucius! Secrets! MARIE!)

While on the subject of Marie, it really seems like Draco is unhealthily obsessed with replacing her with Ginny. But it also seems like nomatter how much he tries to compensate for his failed relationship with Marie, he'll never be able to foreget her, and he'll keep using Ginny.

Anyways, I'll stop ranting now. Just as a warning though, I'll probably continue the tangent another time. I love this story BTW.

Author's Response: Thank you so much for the wonderful fabulous review! 638334 chapters is a little much even for ME, but I agree that they can get long... All 22 chapters in 1 sitting, wow. I agree that the idea of the D&G relationship continuing as it is really *is* disturbing at this point. If it's going to work out, the dynamic has to change, and both of them individually have to evolve as characters. They've both got a lot of darkness in their pasts (although Draco had the additional considerable baggage of evil-Dad to deal with.) And (hint hint hint) there's a shocking plot development coming up in a couple of chapters once they get out of that cottage. It will shake up everyone and everything!

BTW, more tangents are good.:) And thanks for the DDD-love!

Hello again! Sorry for the review drought these last chapters. Thanks for updating with such regularity and consistently amazing material! :)
I wonder -- did you mean for there to be symbolism with the opening up of the hole (opening up of Draco's private emotional territory or past?) and the shattering of 'Victory'?

(shakes Magic-8 Ball. Only $3.99 at Walmart!) You may be right. ;)

I like to speculate, but it may be my overactive literary-analysis-induced brain.
I really think that Draco made progress, particularly with the asking permission to kiss and the leaving. I'm hoping that Ginny's ability to get past the lock means that Draco has the capacity to love, and that he now realizes that he could love her and this realization induces some calm/confidence/diminishing-of-the-sinister-ness in him.
But again I'm disappointed in Ginny. To be honest, she's coming off as a bit stupid. As in, genuinely operating on a lower level of deduction/reasoning than Draco. Which I'm hoping is NOT the case, but really how much can we attribute her blindness to trust and love? I thought that it was pretty obvious that Ginny's presence (and Draco's awareness of it) caused him to change his actions towards Astoria, whether or not he was planning to kill her in the first place. But she seems to (foolishly?) insist on the best in him.
And then again, there's the whole mystery of Lucius and Marie. Maybe I'm being too hard on Ginny.
I would really like to see Ginny taking some charge in her and Draco's relationship, even to a small degree. Right now I think her actions/words are kind of hit-and-miss, like sometimes she can freeze Draco with her uncanny truth, and sometimes she's blabbering. But in the future I'd really like for her to know what she's talking about, or feel more empowered. Anyways, I'll stop my semi-feminist ranting now. ;)

Don't worry. It's not a rant at all. You're picking up on the way that this fic is structured. Both Draco and Ginny have definite character arcs, and we will see how they both evolve... at least, I HOPE I'm writing it well enough so that readers will see it... (Ginny pokes Anise with a stick) oh, stop it. :P

Thanks again, and I hope you update soon!

More coming very soon! :)

Oh, and one more thing I almost forgot... thank you so much for introducing Percy Weasley! So far he's the only character who manages to support and defend her while still being a firm and sane influence. We've only seen characters who have completely gone along with her (and thus don't really further her growth), and characters who are mildly or completely insane and caught up in their own mysterious/sinister issues (and thus sway her to do dangerous things). Draco is a curious mixture of the two.

Anyways, well done again!! Hope your week is going well. :)

Author's Response: I really have a soft spot for Percy Weasley. Short digression for rumination on a character... One thing we do know about him from canon is that he's one of the few people who didn't fall under Harry's spell, even going so far as to defy his family because of it. I always found it rather creepy that the Weasleys were so hypnotized by Harry that they kept casually allowing their kids to get into danger for him. But Percy seems to have always seen through him, and I think he would have continued to do this. He doesn't hold a high opinion of Draco either, and he'd be rather appalled if he understood how deeply his sister had really gotten in with a sinister former Death Eater turned careless playboy, but in a way he likes Harry even less because he knows just how many opportunities Harry has had to do better than he's now doing with his life.