But on to other topics. There’s just something about a dancing Severus that makes me go all fangurl and shout SQUEE to the (hopefully empty) room. Although, for the first time, I am wondering if Severus and Hermione will wind up together. She would be the perfect replacement for Severus at Lavender’s shop. I’m sure Lavender doesn’t care about her lack of a Masters license, and everyone knows Hermione is plenty creative. But the only way for that to happen is if Hermione stays in England, which means she isn’t off with Severus. Oh, I know there can’t be a Mega Happy Ending, since someone, somewhere is going to get hurt when (if?) Draco, Severus, and Ginny break free. The question is, who will be happy and who will be devastated, sadder but wiser?

One more chapter to go; I’m getting addicted to this instant gratification.

Author's Response: Maybe Ron is cheating on Hermione, maybe he's not. We'll just have to wait and see.

Yes, dancing Severus makes me want to heave a big dreamy sigh too. I think Alan Rickman could raise several hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity just by dressing up as Snape and auctioning off dances with him. If I had the money, I'd drop $5,000 on a tango with him all Snaped up. But yes, the big questions of the moment seem to be who Ron is cheating with - if he's even cheating on his wife - and if/when Severus/Draco/Ginny escape, will Hermione go with them? Big ifs. We shall have to wait and see.

Then we have Ron’s mysterious actions. It seems to me he’s just going through the motions of reconciling with Hermione. If he were sincere, there would be a little more emotion to him. Instead, he seems to be reluctantly following someone else’s orders. By which I mean Lavender’s orders, of course. Nice try, deflecting attention to Rufus’s wife, but I refuse to be dissuaded!

But the best part is the new twist in the Hermione/Ginny relationship. Of course Ginny is upset, she knows what a hypocrite her friend is being. Shoot, even Hermione knows she’s being a hypocrite. But she was on such a moral high horse about Ginny seeing Draco at the start of this fic, I’m guessing she’s just too proud and embarrassed to confess she’s doing the same thing. Personally, I equate her emotional relationship with Calleo to be just as morally bankrupt as Ginny’s physical relationship with Draco. Which makes for an entertaining story. And lucky me, I got two more chapters to read!

PS: Draco=Legolas=Orlando Bloom=funny!

Author's Response: Yes, Severus lost a wife AND a child. Writing that scene I cried...but I know the whole backstory, which makes it even sadder to see him suffer like that.

Ron going through the motions? Maybe.

Hermione being a hypocrite? Of course she is. But she sees the physical action itself a greater sin than intent of the heart and mind. Hermione has always tried to do her best, be it in school or attaining moral high ground, but she's finding that no one is infallable. She has to accept that she is imperfect too. Yes, Hermione is just as guilty as Ginny, in some ways more so because she is in the process of falling in love with Severus/Calleo while she is still married to Ron. Ginny never stopped loving Draco and loved him before she even dated Harry. Ginny merely picked up her relationship with Draco while being married to Harry.

Yes, I thought Draco as a "beautiful elf" was afunny thought too. I always wanted to do a story that featured Draco, Harry, Ron and Neville running from the Death Eaters and holed up in a motel. The clerk asks them if they had just come back from a "Lord of the Rings" party or something. "Let me guess," she purred while looking over Draco from head to toe. "You're Legolas?" Glancing at Harry, she added, "And you must be Frodo. Who's that? Samwise?" she asked, nodding her head towards Neville. "Who am I?" asked Ron. "Aragon?" she replied. "But Aragon should be sexy...not...red."