Patches posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 8:59pm

Wow! This is a great conclusion to this story. I'm glad Harry got to know his mum a little bit. That was great. The way Voldemort met his end was very good. I'm glad that Ginny stayed with Harry and helped him through his recovery. That was great when Ginny and the healer went off to the loo "to discuss Harry's condition"! I like Hermione's observations. They were a great way to end this story. Harry being more open and friendly after the Horcruces
were gone was great. The little image of Ginny spinning her wand around the fingers of her "left hand" was a great tease at the end. Thank you so much for writing. I have enjoyed all of your stories. I can understand about 3 teenagers in the house. Good luck with your family and if you ever want to write about HP again I'll be very happy to read it. pms

Kokopelli replied:

Thanks for your kind words.   This story was fun, once I got back into writing it after a year's hiatus.

Chris1 posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 5:31pm

Oh, that was a brilliant ending :D

Chris

Kokopelli replied:

Thanks - sometimes less is more.

KateHC posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 3:57pm

Great and original story! I've missed reading what you write.

Kokopelli replied:

Yeah, well I've missed writing it too.

J

Hamilton Wrye posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 2:12pm

Gaack! That is so wrong on so many different levels. I have enough problems with the whole 'Ginny looking like Harry's mom, so of COURSE she is the best person to share his bed' bit, but actually having Lily inhabiting Ginny... Harry better spend some of his massive fortune on some quality couch time for the whole family. He and Ginny could go in for marital counseling, Ginny could do group therapy by herself, and the future kids can have an early breakdown because they won't know if they should be chewed out by Mom or spoiled by Grandma...

Other than that, great story:)

Kokopelli replied:

Occam's Razor - the simplest explanation is the most likely.

So, which is more likely?   Lily's Horcrux, after being blasted apart (quite violently) somehow rehomes itself in a different body, several yards distant from the body it was residing in   (said host being essentially undamaged) or a teenager adopting a mannerism from an adult that they admire?

Ginny has a few fragments of false memory (Lily's memories) left over from the blood bind (as does Harry) but no hidden Horcrux or possession.

I like my mom, but I never wanted a girl just like her.

J

Sheepdog posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 1:41pm

You can`t leave it like this is part of Lily in Ginny. You have`t write more on this please

Kokopelli replied:

Ginny has a few of Lily's memories inside her skull (as does Harry) but no Horcrux, no possession.

Ginny liked the wand trick and practiced it until she could do it too.

DrT posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 1:21pm

Thanks for the story! Who knows . . . is there really retirement from fan fiction?

Kokopelli replied:

Retirement?   I certainly hope so!

I'd much rather get paid for this scribbling.

J

Carol Layland posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 1:20pm

What lovely way to end this story. I even cried a tear of two. I shall enjoy rereading this story in its entirity so that I can get a real good idea of where it went. I enjoy reading the chapters but it does tend to fragment the story for me so when an author finishes a story, if I have enjoyed the chapters, i reread the entire story because it tends to increase my understanding of the whole picture.

Kokopelli replied:

Yes, reading them straight through helps, although it also allows you to catch continuity glitches when the author loses his way while writing chapters several months (or a year) apart.

Thanks for reading.

Wonderbee31 posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 1:05pm

Wonderful wrap up to this story, aand have to wonder, just how much of Lily may have survived if she is still around, and what that could have meant in the future for Ginny and Harry there. A very interesting way to see how Harry was able to withstand the power of the horcrux inside his scar, something which didn't seem to make sense to me in the canon.

Kokopelli replied:

When Harry and Ginny join on their marriage bed, there will be only two souls there.   Because of the Horcrux, the blood bind, and the Horcrux smashing, there are bits of Lily's memories in both Ginny and Harry, but no animating soul.

I'm strange, but not kinky.

Wolfric posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 12:42pm

Congratulations on finishing your most enjoyable story. I hope that you will be inspired to more writing at some point and I thank you for what you have done. W.

Kokopelli replied:

Thanks for reading.

Aberforth's Avatar posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 11:12am

I've both desired and dreaded you updating this story, as it was clearly your only unfinished one. I hope that it's not your last. Early in the summer of 2004, your Letters of Summer and CTS' Reign O'er Me were two of the first fanfiction stories I read. TLOS convinced my wife that I wasn't insane to enjoy fanfiction. Thanks again for all the joy your stories have given us since then -- and will again.

If you choose to share more stories, I know you'll have many eager readers. If not, I wish you and yours much joy and many blessings.


Bob

Kokopelli replied:

80% or more of the HP fanfic that I've read is pathetic scribbling that should never see the light of day - but then there are some stories that are well told, gripping, and quite worth the time.

Glad you've enjoyed my little hobby.

Jim_xinu posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 10:57am

Many, many thanks for this, and all your other works over the years. I've truly enjoyed your stories.

Kokopelli replied:

Thanks for reading.

J

Anthony May posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 10:21am

Thank you for the many wonderful hours of joy and entertainment that is Kokopelli. It will be sad to see you go. By the way that ending with Ginny was wicked!!!

Kokopelli replied:

Yes, yet another chance to tease my faithful readers.

Thanks for reading.

J

Iunee posted a comment on Monday 23rd February 2009 9:21am

Hi!

That's definitely a fic worth reading! I usually don't read much Horcrux fics, but this one got me.

Some thing I noticed in the last chapter: Why does Bill suddenly recognize the ward as Lily's? Just a few sentences above it's said that he isn't cleared for that information.

But otherwise, superb!

Greetings,
I.

Kokopelli replied:

I fixed that glitch - which created another - the perils of posting without the assistance of my usual betas.

Thanks for reading.

peruvianprincess posted a comment on Sunday 22nd February 2009 6:51am

Ooo...That was one mean cliffie. Here I thought you were really winding down the story and you handed this to us. Love it!

Jim_xinu posted a comment on Saturday 21st February 2009 4:45pm

Good chapter. Blowing up DEs with muggle means is always fun. :-) Evil cliff-hanger, though.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

JBern posted a comment on Friday 20th February 2009 3:33pm

Always nice to see another chapter. You do have a way of getting into Hermione's mind that really helps tell the story.

Please don't get me started on book 7... We don't need to go there...

brad posted a comment on Friday 20th February 2009 10:08am

Starting from the end ... I'm don't recall anything you've previously said about DH - if you put up your opinion on your LJ blog after it came out I guess I've forgotten it - so I was interested and pleased to read your "deus-ex-machina of the ‘Deathly Hallows’ has so many logical inconsistencies that I can’t even begin to unravel them" comment. I'm in total agreement. I never really got into the fandom forum thing until the last ten months or so, but I've had particular pleasure in tearing DH apart in a "Can't Stand DH" forum. It honestly amazes me sometimes that Rowling 'got away' with her last book (or even two, although DH is in a league of its own with regard to flat-out objective errors).

I liked your additional details to the understated H/G thing in this instalment. Using of the 'el word' was a big step up in my opinion (taking away one of the best attacks against canon H/G :-)). The couple's eschewing 'public displays of affection' is also much more in-line with my own personal model of a sincere and authentic relationship, frankly. I thought Ginny's running away in a tantrum and the Ginny!inverted logic was juvenile ... but so is Ginny. As long as you don't post blog entries after the end of this story indulgently assigning labels like 'soul mates' and 'perfect for each other' to what I see *here and now* as a romantic partnership in its early formative stages I'll be happy. :-)

I guess. :-)

I *am* curious as to Lily's "false assumptions about the relationship" ... wondering if they were congruent with mine. :-) Maybe one day I'll get a chance to ask Lily herself what she'd been thinking and how Ginny put her more at ease regarding her son's romantic life?

I had to laugh at this:

> I wondered if his immaturity would drive me crazy — or crazier.

Well, poor Hermione went crazy in HBP itself, but she seems better now. You've certainly matured Ron, which makes the H/Hr much easier to swallow.

Well, I guess that's all -- hmmm? Oh, this story's about more than just HP romantic pairings? Sorry. :-)

There's a few fanfics around which bring muggle technology into the wizarding milieu, but quite often they're unbalanced efforts, barging in and startling the reader with the abrupt transition. In your story you've certainly given us all the information we need on the muggle components of our good guys' efforts regarding the 'horcrux smashers' and the trap. Having Hermione as the narrator really helped in that regard - was that one of your reasons? I guess you needed someone outside the H/G/Lily tension too? - since she would make the use of the muggle technology seem much more natural and obvious. Ditto Lily as a muggle-born too.

Of course it's hard to keep a combined Muggle/Magic story going if the first attack or two doesn't finish things, because then you'd have a case of each side escalating their use of muggle technology, I'd imagine. Unless there are no muggle-born or muggle-raised in the ranks of the DEs ... which makes sense, come to that. But they could always imperio a muggle ... like an army general. I'd guess a story that dealt with a protracted engagement after each side has taken to employing muggle technology would become a monster, and hard to keep realistic.

Interesting how you've got them blowing up Riddle without too much concern as to whether all the horcruces have yet been destroyed. 99.99% of all fanfics require every last soul container to be neutralised before a move is made on the Dark Lord himself. Has your story addressed this decision in any more detail than Harry's rather casual consideration of surviving horcruces? That and a way to *know* that all of Riddle's soul fragments are accounted for?

(Myself, I agree with what I think your Harry & Co. are surmising; even if a horcrux or two is still around they can take their time finding and destroying them while Riddle-proper is floating around as a helpless spirit?)

So ... Harry's missing? I'm not sure what Ginny had to do with putting a 'trace' on Harry; I guess we'll find out next chapter. If you have her charging over the hill to Harry's rescue I *do* hope you make it believable ... such would be awfully close to the worst-case prediction I had for HBP prior to its release. :-( And by the way, in DH it's made clear, I think, that THE TRACE (another abrupt canon injection by an author who needed a contrived way to move the plot along the way she wanted) is placed on the *wizard* and not his wand. But you're eschewing DH canon, so that's cool; I don't think we were ever really told in the first six books how the 'under age magical detection' thing really worked?

Well, enjoying the story, wondering what's up with Harry and looking forward to - and maybe dreading, viz the 'Ginny Weasley to the rescue!' possibility - the next chapter. :-)

Wonderbee31 posted a comment on Friday 20th February 2009 5:16am

Agreed, the Hallows were so much red herring for the most part, though maybe if not had been made of them in the earlier books, but brought into the last book as a huge deus, no thanks. Will look forward to what all this will mean for the gang next time, where might Harry be, and what all will go down with he and his Mum as they continue to share the body.

Kokopelli replied:

The last chapter is waiting in my betas' in-baskets.

Thanks for reading.

Evan Mayerle posted a comment on Friday 20th February 2009 4:16am

Hmm, you do wonder where Harry got to after all this. I hope it's *not* chasing after Tom, but that's unlikely given his luck. It should be rather interesting to see how matters evolve from here and who, if anyone, at that get-together managed to survive. FAE does make for a quite nasty explosion, doesn't it?

Kokopelli replied:

Oh yes, FAE is quite dazzling - just the shock wave alone shreds most everything in its path.

As to where Harry goes - where do you think?

K

Ravenclawchaser68 posted a comment on Friday 20th February 2009 1:29am

This is a great story, it was nice to see more of it. You don't see too many stories written from Hermione's POV, and I think you've done a good job of it. It sounds like her voice, and that's one of things that really separates good fanfiction from just half-decent. Thanks for writing!
Jay

Kokopelli replied:

I discovered when I was writing TLOS that I really enjoyed the portions that were written from Hermione's POV.   Why more fanfic writers don't take advantage of this, I don't know.