Wonderbee31 posted a comment on Tuesday 15th January 2008 9:35am

Always like that scene where Harry has flashbacks, and always wondered why he didn't have more with all the went through in canon, wouldn't surprise me if he suffered from PTSD sometime in the future. Always good to see Bill and Fleur in the role of his big sister and brother, and looking forward to how things continue to replay out.

Lady Alchymia replied:

Thank you kindly!   I did toss up getting rid of that flashback, but I agree that such things are quite normal, and it  helped  trigger some important changes and reality-checks in Harry and Cho's relationship.

You know, I've always liked Bill and Fleur, too, and  Harry can certainly use some older siblings! :)

Kind regards,

Lady A

Hemotem posted a comment on Tuesday 15th January 2008 9:19am

Nice update thank you


Hemotem

Lady Alchymia replied:

Thank you very much!

Lady A

PadyandMoony posted a comment on Tuesday 15th January 2008 8:17am

Really good chapter. The changes were very subtle but I liked them. That conversation about the snakes and toads that you moved from the Leaky Cauldron to here fit very well.

Lady Alchymia replied:

Thanks very much!   I'm glad you liked the changes (even better that you thought they were subtle!).   Excellent spotting on the snakes and toads! :)   Yep, it was peviously set in the Leaky Cauldron.   I've been cutting out quite a bit, but I couldn't bear losing that wee exchange.   I like to think that Harry and Susan are developing a nice friendship where they can joke around.   But Harry is also getting more comfortable around other DA friends as well (male and female), and they around him,  so it's all good :).

Cheers!

Lady A

scribbler posted a comment on Tuesday 15th January 2008 4:40am

Hey! Great chapter. I'm completely engrossed in this story :) I am finding it interesting that you've matched Susan Bones against Cho against...not sure who else...as possible girlfriends for Harry. It's pretty obvious that Cho is not the only one who could (or should) capture Harry's heart. I know you've gotten Ron & Hermione together (YUCK! I hate that pairing) - whereas I will always support Harry/Hermione or Harry/Cho (because either girl is brave & supportive of Harry).

I'm looking forward to seeing where you take this story & how you resolve some of the internal tensions that are going on. How much more are you planning on writing? I could see you adding several hundred more pages to this...

Regards,

the_scribbler

Lady Alchymia replied:

Hello Edmond,

I'm really pleased you are enjoying Awakenings, thank you!

Ah, shipping LoL.   The eyes do wander at 16 (and at many other ages!).   I agree that bravery and supportiveness are essentials in any friendship, and friendships that are romantic should  not be exempt from such behaviours just  for the sake of appeasing lust.

I must say I've never really  felt drawn to characters who  constantly attack and belittle each other in the name of sexual tension.   I do think all friends (romantic or otherwise) should be able to get cross with each other (even have raging arguments from time to time), but, to my mind, that  needs to be the exception not the norm.   I think where I struggle with the idea of Ron and Hermione (through the bulk of  the HP series) is that we so rarely saw them actually being nice to each other.   It was certainly there, but rather rare.

How much more am I planning?   You'll be seeing  two more chapters of  Potterfest fun and games, and that will take us to--ah--about the half-way point in the summer story, so there's a good bit of summer yet to unfold.

I hope you enjoy the rest of Awakenings, Edmond :).

Best wishes!

Lady Alchymia

Erik Wiggins posted a comment on Tuesday 8th January 2008 8:40pm

I love this story, I love the characters. I've been a fan of yours since way before you joined Fanficauthors.net. I will not be a spoiler, but when will you post the other chapters you have already written? I am dying to finish this story although, I will be depressed when it is finally done. Thank you for allowing me to live in your world, if only a moment. Your writing is so compelling and the characters have depth and personality and a life of their own. You are the magic that makes this work.

Lady Alchymia replied:

Oh, Erik.   You just made my day :).   Thank you so much for your all your encouragement!

On the next few  chapters, I'm happy to say that they're pretty much ready to go, I just need to jump ahead to make sure I've covered all the clues that need to be there before I post.   I do hope to get chapter 10 out very  soon.

Many thanks!

Lady A

beauty01021 posted a comment on Tuesday 8th January 2008 12:56pm

yeah great chapter can't wait for more so please update again and soon.

Lady Alchymia replied:

Thanks very much!

Lady A

jakjakattk posted a comment on Tuesday 8th January 2008 12:40pm

Morriganscros has a great point about Tonks, but I have to say that Harry needs to get over the physical thing first and get to the people that could truly make him happy. I really have to wonder where Harry’s relationship with Natalie is going to go.

Lady Alchymia replied:

I daresay Tonks might be a tad old for Harry, but I agree with you that Harry needs to pay attention to more than just physical beauty!   I can say that Harry and Natalie will be meeting up again before the summer is out :).

Cheers,

Lady A

jakjakattk posted a comment on Tuesday 8th January 2008 12:25pm

OK, that was a great chapter. There was a lot of laughs and tones of lead to the rest of the story. Keep up the great work. Oh, and how about some of those snap shot of Cho on Harry’s tube. LOL

Lady Alchymia replied:

Thanks kindly, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter.   Sadly, the photos of Cho in Harry's tub are locked deep in his treasure chest :).

Cheers,

Lady A

morriganscrow posted a comment on Friday 4th January 2008 7:10am

Lordy I HATE Cho/Harry!
The only thing that is stopping me throwing my lappy across the room is the sheer quality of your writing. That was an excellent chapter.
Elizabeth sounds like a total hoot, and if she gets to be with Remus, that leaves Tonks for Harry - once he gets his head out of Cho's mouth/arse.

Lady Alchymia replied:

LOL, sorry about Harry/Cho -- what can I say, not all girlfriends/boyfriends please your best friends, and that's kind of how (I think) readers receive Harry's romances.   That he  is like a close friend you can see making terrible decisions, and you  just want to slap him out of it LoL.

Thank you very much for your compliments on my writing, they are much appreciated!   I'm especially gratified that you are enjoying Elizabeth.   There aren't many people reading the story (that I know about lol), and even fewer  for the first time, so it's really valuable to me to hear feedback on her since her entry to the story is pretty  different in V2 (she didn't get drunk the first time around :P).

Many thanks!

Lady A

DrT posted a comment on Friday 4th January 2008 5:41am

Well, maybe a cru Beaujolais would work with smoked trout, but I think it would taste tinny to me, but I see the appeal of that wine for the story.

I'm enjoying the rewrite a great deal

"T"

Lady Alchymia replied:

Hi T,

I  suspect that you and Julius Ramsay would get along just fine! LoL.   (And you'd love his cellar!)   The title of 'Saint Amour' was really handy for the scene, but, oddly enough, that part came after I had already decided to have Elizabeth drinking  Beaujolais and eating smoked trout, having enjoyed the combination myself (and had someone tsk tsk me LoL).   Then I was glancing through some estate listings  for inspiration and 'Saint Amour' was just too good  to pass up.   Now, rest assured,  I did cross check Saint Amour varieties from the nineties and found ones appropriate for Elizabeth's meal.   But even so, naturally it's all in  the palate of the individual  taster.

I'm really pleased that you're enjoying the rewrite!

Thank you!

Lady A

Alice posted a comment on Thursday 3rd January 2008 10:06am

LOVED it! haha as always. I see you cut out the bowling match between Dumbledore and Hermione, which was fun but probably unnecessary. I liked the added scene with Elizabeth and Mr. Moon. ^^ A hint at her and Moony perhaps? anyhow.. just one little thing. you mentioned Harry being thrown that Frank referred to Cho as a swan twice.

"Has the swan gone?" sounded a voice from the desk.

Harry was confused for a moment, but then he remembered Cho’s Patronus.

and then later on...

"That’s enough from you," Harry said with a laugh. The swan reference threw him for a moment then he remembered Cho’s Patronus. He wondered if animals could sense other animal’s spirit guardians.

anyhow.. i'm definitely looking forward to the next chapter! I've read Awakenings several times and reading the new version is quite different in various subtle ways. =]

Lady Alchymia replied:

Hi Alice,

Thank you very much for the swan pickup!   I've just fixed it.

It never fails to blow me away to hear that people re-read my stories; thank you so much for that compliment :).

Yes, the bowling game, and a good many other things lol, got chopped, which is kind of sad but necessary.   Potterfest is still plenty long (!) but I must admit that I do love playing games with Harry and his friends--such great material to work with.

Kind regards,

Lady A

Madelasha posted a comment on Thursday 3rd January 2008 8:04am

Yei!! God I love this story so much I'm actually waiting for the re-writing haha, I read v1 and thought it was awesome!! but yeah, I'm reading this as well so, I just you know, wanted to say that i love this very much and please finish it!! :D

Lady Alchymia replied:

That's really sweet of you to say; thank you very much!!

Lady A

PadyandMoony posted a comment on Thursday 3rd January 2008 6:40am

I was sad to see that whole flashback with Sirius scene go, because I had enjoyed it so much, but I really enjoyed this one with Elizabeth getting drunk with Mr.Moon. I also found it hilarious how she was being rebellious against her brother with the wine.

Great Work as always!

Lady Alchymia replied:

Hi there,

Thank you very much!   Elizabeth drunk was really fun to write; I'm delighted you enjoyed it!

A lot of the Sirius-related flashbacks (actually all of them, now that I think about it) have been cut in V2.   When I wrote V1, I'd only read up to OOTP, so he was a character very much on my mind, and he was intriguing (to me) to explore in greater detail.   I rather miss his  flashbacks, too.   When I originally wrote them, way back when, I had no idea about pacing, I just wrote what I felt like exploring.   To be honest, I found writing a lot easier in general back then LoL.   I've lost a lot of that spontaneity, of just writing wherever the characters take me.   I've slowly learned that self-indulgent threads do not good writing make, but even so I'd like to  recover some of that freedom  because it's makes writing a lot more fun ;).  

Many thanks!

Lady A

Tanydwr posted a comment on Thursday 27th December 2007 4:37am

Wow.

Hey, is Megaera one of the Furies/Erinyes? That's one of the names of three of them (others are Alecto and Tisiphone). Description works too. In which case, why is it clawing into Harry? Does it feel Harry needs to now avenge the murder of his parents? It would work...

Great as usual. And Harry's jealousy... interesting. Not healthy though. Can't help sensing H/C is going to be somewhat shortlived. I hope.

Keep up the good work.

Lol, Tanydwr

Lady Alchymia replied:

Hi there,

Thank you very much indeed for your kind compliments!

Excellent deductions!! Yes, Megaera is one of the Erinyes; you are spot on!   And Harry definitely has not seen the last of her :D.

You are right; Harry's jealousy is not at all healthy, and he'll have a chance to figure that out for himself sooner rather than later!

Cheers!

Lady A

morriganscrow posted a comment on Sunday 23rd December 2007 5:39pm

Excellent!
What the magically gifted mind (and heart) can bring into the world if not controlled....

Lady Alchymia replied:

You are the only person, ever, who has got that.   LOL   THANK YOU!!!!

Wonderbee31 posted a comment on Sunday 23rd December 2007 11:26am

Nice part here, and always enjoy the level of detail that you put into your writings, and that last part there, positively creepy the way things happened to Harry.

Lady Alchymia replied:

Dead creepy lol, thanks very much indeed!

Cheers!

Lady A

PadyandMoony posted a comment on Sunday 23rd December 2007 4:41am

Good chapter. I liked the changes.

Lady Alchymia replied:

Glad to hear it :).   Thanks!

Lady A

beauty01021 posted a comment on Saturday 22nd December 2007 11:58pm

yeah great chaptr can't wait for more so please update again and soon.

Lady Alchymia replied:

Thank you.

Lady A

wana10 posted a comment on Saturday 22nd December 2007 8:36pm

uh oh harry! your little green horns are showing...interesting having harry dream of a greek goddess as a demon though, especially a gorgon. guess it fits though, what with frank being a new addition to his life. snakes, jealousy, cho, george...harry has some problems. also, i really dislike cho's character in this. nothing against your writing, your writing is great in that it's more of a creeping dislike. as a reader i'm wanting to reach into this potter world and bop him on the head, "wake up potter!" sure george is being a tool and going after a supposedly taken woman but cho really isn't saying no. it makes me wonder though, were cho to come right out and tell george she was with harry, would george back off? thus far i would have to say no, because this george is rather smarmy, but deep down i hope it comes to a head, either to save cho's character from the precipice of cheating bitch or to push harry into the better-for-him arms of 'spoiler character'.

keep up the great work!
-wana10

Lady Alchymia replied:

Hi there,

I sympathise with the desire to give the boy a good shake LoL.

Now, I wouldn't be too hard on George.   The first time (in this chapter) when we see him flirting with Cho, he genuinely didn't actually know Harry and Cho were back together.   Harry and Cho got together 'off his radar' on the rooftop, and when they did come back down to the party, half the crowd (including the twins) had moved over to the poolroom to play more games.   George didn't know where Cho was.   And then the next morning, George and Fred went to work early in the morning, not returning until that moment in the poolroom.   Now, as for why Cho might let George flirt with her ... well, she wasn't really thinking too much about it, she's used to guys trying to flirt with her and ask her out.   She wasn't actually standing there very long with him, and if he'd tried to suggest anything, she would have said no, and when Harry came over, she made it clear who her choice was.

Poor George, meanwhile,  (from his perspective) has just realised he's lost out to Harry, whom he genuinely thought (based on what Ginny told him)  didn't care about Cho any more, not to mention that only a few days before, George had seen Harry out on a date with Natalie.   George is really feeling very vexed in the poolroom then because he had raced back from work to rejoin the party only to discover that his grand plans to win Cho had been thwarted.   So, at the end of the Quidditch match, he can't help but indulge in a little 'hex between friends'.

And after Cho sided with Harry by  dropping the snitch down George's  back when he tried to hug her after the game, he wasn't above letting her think he was Fred when they were dancing later that evening.   Harry isn't the only one who gets to be immature lol.

Cheers,

Lady A

Ken Warner posted a comment on Sunday 9th December 2007 8:08pm

I was really hoping for a Susan romance - as you had hinted at in version 1 - while I should know better from the days that I was a teenager...lo those many years ago... the old song "Love the one you are with" does about sum up those hormone soaked years.

thanks for continuing this work.
warm regards

Lady Alchymia replied:

Hi Ken,

"Hormone-soaked years" is such a great expression!   LOL.   So apt!   The roads of romance shoud never be too straight and narrow :).

Kind regards,

Lady A