Funny! I put me in a festive mood and made me laugh plenty of times. =]

Author's Response: I'm a bit late in replying, but I'm pleased it put you in the festive mood and gave you a few laughs. That was my aim. ^_^

Wowza! So many things are happen, so many questions, no answers in sight... !! I really am enjoying this story. I do think Lucius Malfoy is alive. I do not think there are "two" Dracos, but I do think something very fishy is going on. I dislike Harry and Hermione immensely, and I be they're dating right now. They deserve each other. Hmm, what else. I like Luna and Blaise ;). I do hope Ginny trusts Draco, I am almost sure that she has already decided in her deepest part that she does trust him, so I hope he doesn't go and screw it up! You have a great knack for introducing plot ideas and then covering them up with distracting elements that make them almost go unnoticed. The department of mysteries is probably talking about the weird "dream" where Lucius almost kidnaps Ginny....oh, well. Can't wait for an update! =] Oh, and I did love how Dean was loyal to Ginny in there. PS I really hope Harry and Hermione get it in the end! Thanks for writing!

Very interesting. I have to admit that although I do have some idea of who is after them (Lucius) I do not know why. I want Marie to be Ginny, but I just don't see how! And why would Ginny's hair open the lock if all of Malfoy's things are inside? Unless they are really her things in some parallel universe that might be going... and in response to other's reviews, i think that is Draco! Oh, well! Can't wait for the next chapter!

Author's Response: Love love love the theories! (does Happy Theory Dance.) Again, some are closer than others. ;)

First, sitting around in wet clothes is the absolute WORST I don't know how he could sit in a couch for so long being wet. I'd die!

Second, I would like to present my complete disbelief in the "explanation" Draco gives Ginny. My analysis starts here: “Did you have to go very far?” she asked.

His smile twisted slightly. The dimples slid back even further. “Yes. I did. And I did get soaked, didn’t I?” He ran a hand through his blond hair, the shade a little darker now from rainwater. He filled her glass."

How far, exactly, has Draco been? The past? Hell? I'm thinking someplace like that, which would add to the depth and double meanings you've always got going on in your stories.

Next:
“They followed us,” whispered Ginny.
“Very good,” said Draco. “Full marks, Miss Weasley.”
“But how? I didn’t see them coming behind; they couldn’t have possibly tracked our Apparition traces.”
Draco looked away from her. The last bit of the smile disappeared. Ginny’s heart sank.
“Through the Imperius test link,” she said.
He nodded." He looks away, which makes me think he's lying and he just goes with the idea that Ginny presents him--the imperious link. I don't think Harry, Hermione, and the aurors were there at all--aren't they lost in the middle of Gringrotts? How could they possibly make it to Lyme Bay so quickly? He definitely had to deal with Lucius, and if he was out there the whole time leading Potter on a wild goose chase, why would he come back smelling of alcohol?

And lastly, I am so looking forward to the next chapter! Draco is such a calculated actor, it's unbelievable. And now I'm glad because Ginny is joining in on the game, which I'm sure will shake Draco quite a bit. Thanks so much for the update!!

Author's Response: Thank you for the wonderful review! :) Yep, sitting around in wet clothes is pretty awful, but in the interests of sheer deviousness, Draco will do it. ;) And very good analysis of disbelief in the explanation. To clear it up a little bit, Harry & co. really WERE there, BUT... there's a whole lot more to the story than that, as you've correctly guessed. Draco will be shaken and stirred in the next chapter, and I think Ginny's going to at least try to chomp him up in little bites... ;)

The lines between reality and the alternate universe are slowly melting away....

This line: "Probably because she’s in his extended slag network!" made me laugh out loud! What a good one--all the lines about Harry were rather funny ;).

Secondly, I think I may have stumbled upon a major, repetitive character flaw that I see in Ginny (or a darker kind of hold Draco has on Ginny than any of us realize at this point). It first appears here:

"She looked at him narrowly as a thought occurred to her. “But you didn’t go along with everyone else’s opinion, did you? At least for a while, at least not at first. Isn’t that true, Malfoy?

A strange look passed over his face. He nodded. She found that she didn’t know why, so she didn’t ask. "

And then again later on in the chapter here:
“I don’t know why it was so important to you anyway,” said Ginny, half to herself. Was that a question? It certainly didn’t sound like one, which meant that Draco didn’t have to answer it, she supposed. She could turn it into one so easily. A strange, dark, closed look came over Draco’s face, and she knew that he was thinking the same thing."

--I think I've had an "a ha!" moment. Ginny constantly rants and raves that she never gets any information, but she's had plenty of opportunities like this. She's the one stopping herself from asking the right questions, all because of some look on Draco's face. Now either subconsciously she does not want to know the answer or physically can't ask those questions because of something Draco did in her past. Maybe? *shrugs*

I also LOVED:
"Tell me, just out of curiousity-- do you make a habit out of backing girls up against kitchen tables and demanding to know if they’ve ever fucked their boyfriends, when it’s none of your fucking business in the first place?”-- I was thinking "Get him girl!!!" whilst reading this. =]

I am not going to even comment on the imaginary/real conversation Ginny has in the rain--too many possibilities, truths, lies...who knows! I find it intriguing that Draco so casually lets Ginny know he knows what she did that night...

And my most important question of this review:
Didn't Draco say he killed Harry in the last chapter? Or was that a joke? Did Ginny forget that detail?

There is so much more I could speculate about, but I think this review has gone on long enough! Can't wait for an update =].

Author's Response: First of all, long reviews are good! Yay! Ahem. I LOVE that you picked up on this about Ginny, and I think that it's a big part of her character. I think that the tension between her desire to find out the truth and her *fear*of finding out the truth is very much key to what drives her in general, for one thing. I have a long, LONG essay about Ginny's unexplored canon character that goes into more detail about this (don't worry! I'm not dragging the whole thing out here! really!), and it has a lot to do with the CoS and Tom Riddle experiences. But in this fic, there is also a lot of background to that story, and it does have a lot to do with past actions by a Malfoy, let's just say. We'll find out more about what really happened with Harry in the next couple of chapters, and also why Ginny kind of forgot about it... ;)

Hmmm.. you know, your Loki reminds me of David Bowie's character from Labyrinth for some odd reason. Perhaps a dance scene next chapter? ;)

Author's Response: I could really see it!! (A subconcious influence? ;) But Loki won't be back for awhile. I may add a dance scene on his return. :)

You're an evil woman...for stopping there!! I do hope you update ASAP (my birthday is October 5th, hint hint ;)

So.. I like where this is going. There really isn't much else I have to say, I'm sure there are dozens of hints in there about the future, but I'm sure I missed them all. One question I did have was that I couldn't find the part when Draco took off her blindfold... so I was a bit confused when she started "seeing" things. =]

Author's Response: Um.... (goes back and changes time, space, and history.) The blindfold magically dissolved. :)

Happy early birthday to you! Who knows. There MIGHT just be a birthday surprise, depending on whether or not Draco shares with us in detail when it comes to his evil activities before then... ;)

For the first time, I feel like Ginny did the right thing! She realized that Draco could never give her what she wanted, so she left. Good girl, I say and I don't feel too bad for Draco at the moment. You're right, this chapter was so much better and now I feel more interested in the story again. Update soon please =]

Author's Response: Yes, I think she did. I feel that it was very hard for her (those characters are talking to me AGAIN... well, anyway), but her self-respect won through. :) More to come...

Does lucius know of Narcissa's love for Arthur Weasley? Is that THE reason he hates the Weasleys so much? Or would he hate them just as much if he didn't/doesn't know?

With all of this talk about looking down on mental illnesses in the Wizarding World, I can't help but wonder if Narcissa Malfoy is in one of the wards at St. Mungos.

I am a little disappointed you didn't write a little about Loki. As you call him Loki, I wonder if you are talking about the trickster god from Norse mythology or by Loki, you mean Satan??

Overall, this was very informative and understanding how the characters are motivated throughout this story, and I will definitely refer to this manuel when piecing together my next hypothesis =].

Oh, and the story was, indeed, very short and very cute! =]

Author's Response: MK, you always have such interesting theories... ;) Now, about Loki. Did you ever hear that saying, speak of the devil and he appears? (twilight zone music plays softly...)