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Hi, Quilly! Here for our swap! <3
(I have to warn you, I'm reviewing this on my phone on the bus, so apologies in advance if I won't be super detailed...)
Okay, this was so adorable!!! <3 <3 <3
Of course they would make Harry's birthday a national holiday, and of course all he'd want would be escaping all the formal parties and cheering crowd and have a "quiet" moment with his family instead! As always, I love how much he relies on Ginny, how she gives him stability as he suffers through all the formal obligations. Their relationship and the way you portray it never cease to make me smile! :)
The kids all peeking at the window waiting for them and the chorus of "Happy birthday" was so sweet and hilarious! They are all so lovely!
James is wonderful! He's so much the reincarnation of his grandfather, lol! The way he complained with Ginny how dares she mistrust him like that, lol! That just gave him strong Marauders' vibes and I love it! :D
And speaking of Marauders' vibes... how adorable was Teddy's gift? So moving! I love it!
I just loved everything about the scene! I love all the bantering and sibling teasing and I love the family love of this moment! And I love your use of the fireworks prompt! I love how you open it with them at the party, just a background thing, but give it significance with that closing line, how Harry's family shines brighter than any firework! It's beautiful!
Brilliant job as always! Thank you so much for the swap!
Big snowball hug,
Chiara
Quilly! Here for some tag, but also absolutely delighted for the full fluff that is this chapter! Absolutely lovely!
I love the constant repetition of "someone," at the beginning as Harry attends his own national holiday. Almost like those people aren't worthy enough to have a name in this moment, because all he has eyes and a mind for are his family. National HP Day totally makes sense given his achievements, but you illustrate his discomfort about it all so well.
I adored the level of thought you gave to the children's gifts! So sweet and not without humor. And there were SO MANY little phrases that just got me right in the feels. This one in particular about Teddy and Remus thoughhh:
"You are so much like him, Teddy, Harry thinks, but he doesn’t say it, because he knows Teddy hears it often enough as it is, and that the reason his hair has been every color except brown is so that nobody can tell him he looks like him too."
I am emotion about it! And also, Harry gets it because of his eyes and Lily and gahh! Lots of feels about this and this family overall! Wonderful job! :)
<3 Courtney
"Harry Potter Day," dsakjfhads;djfh everyone wearing glasses and painting lightning bolts on their foreheads, jesus christ, it's like Harry's worst nightmare. But what can he do, refuse to participate? And just look like an asshole for it?
The way he holds onto Ginny's knee to ground himself and get him through this evening. It's just a really special relationship, and actions like this show it. This private, simple display of vulnerability and even some discomfort within himself on this day that's meant to celebrate him being a hero. When the best thing he could imagine for his birthday is just to be with the people who comfort him.
So I love how we transitioned from the public celebration to the private celebration. And the gifts!! The way Harry is so excited to receive them, even if not his style. And James giving him a bottle of his own wine. *snort*
and that the reason his hair has been every color except brown is so that nobody can tell him he looks like him too.
Rude of you to do this to me.
I have missed this story so much and so happy to read this new chapter. <3
Melanie
Tag <3
This is the most wholesome, adorable opening--Ginny and Harry lying on the floor of Teddy's room, making stars on his ceilng for him to enjoy. I loved them snuggled up together, arguing good-naturedly over who started their relationship. I think Ginny for sure is the one who started it (clearly). Ginny's always known what she wanted and gone for it with all her heart.
But she's hesitating here, because she has two loves competing: her love for Quidditch and her career, and her love for Harry. Though Harry is right, PortKeys make a lot of things possible. A Port Key to Holyhead won't be a big deal. I'm glad to see Harry supporting her like this, and encouraging her to take her dream job.
Teddy toddling in is too cute for words. I love how he ignored all their work, until Ginny realized that he's actually obsessed with the moon rather than the stars. Very appropriate for Remus Lupin's son.
This was just so adorable!
Yours,
Noelle
Hi, I'm here for our swap!
Oooh, this is going to be so sad. I like fics set right after the battle because everyone has such a different take on it, and I think yours is going to be a very interesting one.
'Harry doesn't say anything at all'. He usually is the middleman between Hermione and Ron, isn't he? He's so tired of everything, and he's grieving so much.
This is a very sweet chapter, and I think it's just what Harry needs after being on-edge for so long. He and Ginny clearly have a very loving relationship, and it's nice that he gets to be so comfortable with someone and just live. I think that this is an excellent start to this drabble collection, and I look forward to reading more of it.
Thanks for the swap! Hope you have a nice day!
-A
Author's Response:I enjoy post battle stories for the very same reason and so many authors have done such wonderful jobs portaying those days, it's hard not to feel intimidated, so I'm glad to hear you found mine interesting <3 Thank you so much for the review <3 Quilly
Hi Quilly,
Here for some holiday gifting! The opening paragraph paints quite the funny picture of a holiday kitchen chaos that may or may not be relatable in muggle world as well!
Also I am psyched that the where I left off queued up a christmas chapter for the holiday review!!!!
Oh damn, is this their first Christmas after the war - that's got to be really hard. No wonder Ginny feels under so much pressure. Hosting over the holidays is pressuring in itself, much more in this situation.
The little humor sprinkled on the backdrop of a difficult situation is such a nice balance in this tale. Ginny forgettting the Chicken, LOL!
Gosh I almost forgot Harry was made to do so many age-inappropriate chores in his childhood. It suddenly makes so much sense to me that Harry would know how to cook and Ginny wouldn't!
The imagery of them in the kitchen together, making small talk and those little affectionate gestures are so so fluffy and sweet!
Harry being the responsible adult and Ginny taking on the younger role is such a nice change of pace to see from the books! I'd imagine it is the effect of the war which has made Harry grow up - the things he's seen and experienced. I love how they connect and understand each other so well.
The family coming over for Christmas seems bang on - so much has happened and they're all in different stages of their grief and coping, and yet the Weasley family feels so comfortable bringing that grief together and trying to find some family time in the midst of it all. It's so lovely and pure and warms my holiday spirted heart right now!
Thank you so much for this lovely read! Happy Holidays Quilly!
XOXO Vaish
OH MY GOODNESS this is the sweetest!! I just can't stand it!
From the boys playing tricks and hanging off chandeliers to the inexperienced Harry trying to braid hair. I'm just all warm and fuzzy!
Really lovely reference to the books too, I love love love when authors do that!
So bittersweet! I never thought Arthur would pass that quickly, but I do like how you managed grief and keeping the love clear as the most important part of his memory. Also, the power of music, that it can bring back memories we've forgotten about. It was sad, but well done!
Aww, this really wasn't confusing at all. I have a similar idea in WMM eventually, and I'll leave it there since you're just starting the story. This was so sweet. I only started here because I try and review people's least reviewed chapters when I can and this was just lovely. I completely believe they would take in a little boy who needed protection, who was special. Technically what happened to Harry, but at least he'll be brought up in a loving household. Everything felt so vivid to me, especially the children playing together and his connection with Lily.
Great job! I'll go read more :)
quilly! happy holidays ♥
god i love the way you write them. they're both so perfect for each other in the way that they balance each other; with ginny trying to get him to be realistic and serious, but harry being equally serious in that he just wants to be with her. and the lines about him fighting for her now, instead of death and war, my heart soared, quilly. it was so adorable
and i love how they're just able to laugh one moment about how they first got together and then have a serious talk the next; but neither ends up in a real fight or argument, just the two of them appreciating being together. and the fact that they're there to visit teddy, to create the stars and the constellations for him - sometimes you forget that they're wizards, y'know, and they can just do this kind of magic and i love how they're creating this night sky for teddy while talking about creating the right future for them; there's just something delightfully poetic and romantic about it and makes my heart swooon
another delightful piece of fluff, friend! thanks for sharing ♥
Hello!! It's Meg aka DanyFire for our swap! <3
I decided I'd read this collection again. I meant to read more before now but got busy with other things. All the mundane daily tasks creep up on you. lol
Anyway, I loved this. It was nice and sweet. You write Harry and Ginny so well. It's like they were meant for each other (we all saw that coming in the books). I can't wait to read more of this collection!
I hope the holidays are treating you well.
Meg aka DanyFire <3
Hi, Quilly. Here is a review for the HP Review Tag, the final chapter of yours that I have not yet left a review on.
That's quite a party that you have created for Harry -- lots of people, going on for a long time, a table covered with sweet treats, women clustered around Harry, a far cry from "something small, only a few people.." I guess it means that a lot of people really like Harry and are happy about his promotion (or maybe they just like to party).
"It's getting quite late," "all throughout the evening," It's been going on forever..." The party has lasted a long time and apparently it's still going strong. Ginny says to Harry, "You can't leave your own party early." This is "early"? How long do Aurors' parties usually last? Past midnight? Is this the Aurors' way of overcoming the stressful nature of their jobs? Just forget all the serious, dangerous stuff for once and simply cut loose. Makes sense to me.
One can hardly blame Harry for wanting to cut out from the crowded scene, which wasn't his idea in the first place (see opening lines of this chapter). I can imagine how it was -- his fellow Aurors sayiing, "What a great promotion! We've gotta have a party to celebrate!" and Harry says, "That's okay, guys, you don't have to make a big fuss," and they come back with "Oh, no, this is a big deal, we've got to celebrate it properly," and they rush ahead with their plans, leaving Harry in the dust. Little do they know how he would like to celebrate this important step in his life, and it's not with all of them!
It was a flash of insight on Ginny's part to suggest what she did, so that Harry can celebrate the way he wants to, and if any of the celebrating party-goers eventually figures out that Harry is not anywhere in the party room at the moment, I'm sure that no one would think to look for him in his cardboard-box-filled office.
Since Ginny says, "It wouldn't be right for you to leave before anyone else," I conclude that in the end they will go back into the party room and continue to fulfill their social obligations to their friends, who only wanted to make Harry happy by showing him in a big way how much they thought of him.
This was a clever idea, the premise of this story. There are different ways to celebrate something (red velvet cake?), and a little give-and-take among friends will hopefully keep everyone happy.
A sweet little story (and not really smutty because you used the good old "fade to black"). It was fun. Thanks for writing.
Vicki <3
you have such a way with ending these, with the perfectly fluffy lines that make my heart swell at the image of just the two of them sitting on the roof together <3 <3
(hi, here for our swap!)
i love that ginny isn't really fazed by the reporters being there, almost like it's just a fact of life, of their relationship. she seems less bothered by it than harry, which makes sense, but i love that he's still protective of her and puts his arm around her and they run like teenagers to try and fend them off. you can really see how much they care about each other and how all they want to do is spend time together even if their relationship isn't necessarily new
also i had to roll my eyes at the "they were men, all of them" because of course they are and i just want to strangle them and let them be alone tbh. but it's so sweet how they still manage to make time for each other even in the chaos, and that ginny says she'll run to him and so will harry - and that she manages to make him laugh and it's just so swoon-worthy!! i love it!!
i have never been a huge hinny shipper but these fluffs are making me fall in love with them, and you've done such a great job with their characterizations. they've been such a joy to read <3 <3
thank you for the swap!!
Hi, Quilly.
Here again for the last time to write you a flash review for the Monster Speed Dating event.
Interesting to see that Xander has now appeared in the narrative. You had said that this series of chapters, In Light Of You, was a prequel to In This Darkness, but I hadn't seen any of that until this moment. I like seeing details of Xander's first days with the Potter family. You show us what he was like as a little boy just newly placed into a new family and a new situation.
It was interesting to read the bit of backstory you include here about the Clarifiers and their purposes. Not enough to know exactly what they're doing and why, but enough to know that they are bad dudes, and dangerous to society.
Harry and Ginny are making difficult decisions, and you show well that it is hard for them to know what is going to happen or what the right thing is to do, but they are old enough to be able to live with this uncertainty.
A nice moment. It shows us stuff we wanted to know.
Vicki
Hi,Quilly.
Here to write anotheer flash review for the Monster Speed Dating Event
What a thoughtful story this chapter is. You give us a good jump into the future.
Ginniy is now working at her Quidditch career again. The boys are old enough, maybe 7 and 9 years old, to have reached "the age of reason," and everyone's personality is shining through.
James knows better than to feed lies to his younger brother about the Hogwarts sorting procedure, but he takes pleasure in seeing his success in deceiving Albus. Yet James knows he's done wrong, as shown by his too-late attempt to shut his brother up when Albus innocently starts to repeat the lies to his father. I expect that after the curtain falls on this scene, there will to be some serious talking-to by Harry to James about this.
So the first half of the chapter is rather tense.
Then it transitions into a calmer half where Harry actually learns, taught by Ginny, how to braid hair. It was clever of you to connect this activity to Harry's recollection of seeing his parents in the Mirror of Erised so long ago. It is neat when a writer can reach far back into canon and see the similarities between what is happening now and what happened then. And it is good that Harry can compare his deepest desire at age 11 (to see his family again) with his deepest desire now -- something he already has.
Nice story. Thank you for writing.
Vicki
Hi, Quilly. Here for another flash review for the Monster Speed Dating review event.
And again we have a chapter of Fluff, as befits the Read Fluff Challenge. Fun to read.
At first, I thought that Harry, speaking of being the Head of the Auror Office, was talking about some villain that has so far eluded Harry's attempts to apprehend him "He's too skillful of an escape artist, Ginny. I'm starting to think I've been stumped."
Then it turns out that Harry's not talking about the final Death Eater to escape capture. He's talking about his three-year-old son, and those of us who have been the parents of toddlers know just what he's going through. Pretty funny. I can see that telling James about Sirius's alter ego as a dog was a big mistake. When you tell stories to little kids, you never know what part of the story they will latlch onto. Not the abstract ideas of bravery and loyalty, but the very concrete idea of acting like a dog. *big sigh for all parents*
Ginny wanting another child right away so that she can be finished with childbearing and toddler-raising expeditiously was an interesting thought. She'll certainly be busy, raising three little children so close together. I thought of Catherine, Princess of Wales, and how she had three children pretty close together and seems to be finished now. (But of courses she has all the help she wants in raising them).
Harry's 'ridiculous' remarks when he finds out that Ginny is pregnant again were funny. After all, he's seen her through two previous pregnancies, and apparently she handles them just fine, so no need to worry this time either.
A cute story. Thank you for writing.
Vicki
Hi, Quilly.
Here again for another flash review of this chapter for the Monster Speed Dating event. There is such contrast between the mood and tone of this chapter and the previous one. My first thought was that I was glad that Ginny had made it through her delivery and had done so well in labor. (As spoken by an experienced labor-and-delivery nurse, who tends to look at depictions of childbirth with a critical eye.)
The rest of this chapter certainly qualifies as Fluff to the max. I love how you have described so perfectly this particular couple's first moments of joy that the pain is over, the baby is born, the baby looks perfect, and everyone is blessed. (I noticed what might be a little nit in the third paragraph, where you write 'himself to her' and it seemed to me that maybe you meant 'herself to him.')
Understandable that Ginny would be afraid to let the baby out of her sight, even though the hospital seems quite safe. But you never know.... And she just wants little James with her, to hold, to feed, to admire, to love. But Harry, Hero of the World though he is, needs to sleep sometim also, so I figure they will call on the assistance of family members to sit the Ginny and the baby when Harry eventually goes home to sleep.
How sweet to have a moment so perfect for Ginny and Harry, where everything turned out right, in the middle of a dangerous and scary world.
Thank you for writing this chapter.
Vicki
Hi, Quilly! Here again for a flash review for the Monster Speed Dating. But this chapter is so serious that it probably needs a bit more than just a flash.
Your opening grabs my interest right away. Even though we don't know the exact words of the letter that an unknown person has hand-written to Harry, we see the strong emotional impact that it has on him.. This letter refers to something important and grim/dangerous.
When Ginny enters the room, she immediately knows that something is troubling Harry. I love your lines "I don't want to talk about work," says Harry. "Well, neither do I," says Ginny, "but I've married a terrible bore whose only hobby consists of saving the world, so I reckon we must." Very clever of you to come up with that bit of dialogue. A good way for Ginny to get around Harry's reluctance to express his thoughts.
The discussion about Louis Rousell is fascinating. I am wondering if he is entirely your invention, or if he is referred to somewhere else. Kind of reminds me our our present state in Real Life. And there is a big disconnect between what Harry thinks -- "...that darkness is never best left alone, and that an evil ignored is an evil that is allowed to grow, to duplicate, to spread," and what Shacklebolt has decided -- "...we still have no intentions to do anything about it. Shacklebolt doesn't want another war."
The final paragraphs were humorous, where we see how quickly Harry (and perhaps men in general) can go from thinking about dire threats to world peace and freedom to thinking about sex. Maybe the women should rule the world, after all. :)
A very good chapter!
Vicki
Hi, Quilly,
Here again to leave a flash review on this chapter about selecting a name for Harry's and Ginny's prospective first baby. I was intrigued by the fact that Ginny had been adamant about naming the baby Harry, for his father (Harry James Potter Junior?) But if 'Harry' was going to be a popular name for baby boys in the wizarding society, I can see the disadvantaages to choosing it. How many little 'Harries' will there be in the baby's classes or on his sports teams?
I can see why Harry has been bothered in the past when Ginny jokingly brushed aside his sincere talks about their getting married. I guess she never realized how that would sound to him -- that she didn't want to or was more concerned about what the tabloids would say than about thier happiness as a family. That's a great line you give to Harry: "Please be as sure of me as I am of you." Not your typical vow of love. It sounds more like he's questioning her commitment to him, even as she is already pregnant with their baby. Of course she doesn't mean that, but she has to stop dancing around the topic of marriage and say what she sincerely wants. Time to stop pretending it's a game and get serious.
Interesting chapter. Thank you for writing.
Vicki
Hi, Quilly.
I'm here continuing to write flash reviews for the chapters of In Light Of You that I didn't review earlier.
I hadn't realized that Harry had inherited so many properties! His parents' house, his godfather's house, and his grandparents' house. You make a good point here -- he doesn't need to own so much property. I liked your line about Harry's thoughts on owning all these houses -- "I don't want to become some emotionally stunted idiot that can't move on from his past."
Then you have Ginny says exactly the right thing. "This is your history. I know you want to break away from your past but there are so many wonderful things about it too. It wasn't all bad. Most of it wasn't bad, actually."
I was glad that Ginny was able to persuade Harry to look at his grandparents' home with different eyes and to realize that he can move on from his past without throwing out his family history.
Nicely done.
Vicki
Hi, Quilly.
Here to give you a flash review for the Monster Speed Dating review event. Your writing is, as always, smoothly flowing and mood-creating. I smile to think that in much of this piece, the conversation is between one awake person and one person who is still half-asleep.
I will confess that I do worry about Ginny a little, since it is not good for one's health to be short-changed on sleep night after night, especially if she is playing Quidditch. One might think that the game would tire her out sufficiently that she would fall asleep easily, but therer's no accounting for the effects of love. Perhaps there is still the lingering feeling that she had while Harry was away, fighting Voldemort, and she didn't know if Harry would live or die, so even now it's a matter or wonder to her that her is still here. Harry is the person in this story who speaks the line "You're here," but actually it could be either one of them.
Thank you for writing this little piece.
Vicki
awww, that last line is so freaking cute, i love it so much :(
which is great because this was a bit of a rollercoaster in the best way possible. i love ginny, she's my favorite weasley, and you reminded me of why because here she's trying to step up for molly because after the loss of fred (which was a gut-punch was NOT prepared to deal with, thank you very much), doing things like cooking feels so so hard. and ginny has clearly no clue what she's doing, but she's trying, and that's enough to fill me with the warm fuzzies. and i love the way that harry swoops in and plays hero yet agin, but in such a nonchalant way. he doesn't brush aside her efforts, but just steps in and helps her and allows them to navigate the kitchen together, with such a basic explanation and it was just so so lovely to see them spending that quality time together
ALSO, i had to chuckle at the "george comes with fred's old girlfriend, which is odd" because that is 10/10 what i thought about the whole george/angelina relationship too and it was just a nice bit of levity in the swirl of angst. and i love how even though molly and arthur are still grieving, they're still able to come down and spend time with their kids, even if it's not the same bit of effort they're all used to. and that last line - again, i loved it, it was chef's kiss. and even the whole harry/ginny relationship and how he wants to wait until she's out of school - you really nailed the balance between fluff and angst in this and it was such a delight to read
thanks again for the swap!! nice job <3 <3
Hey Quilly, I'm here for your review request!
This was incredibly sweet, I love reading the Harry/Ginny pairing with my whole heart and this snapshot was everything I needed today!
The line "He's laying on top of her, but very carefully, holding his weight so he doesn't feel heavy on her." is so descriptive and I squealed SHE'S PREGNANT in absolute delight! I loved how you let the reader infer that without explicitely stating it, I really felt that and Harry confirming it just makes you want to do a little happy dance!
I loved the sense of domestic bliss these two have, just enjoying being in the moment with each other, and the banter moments feel very natural and made me laugh.
I love the insight into a few doubts Ginny's obviously had along the way with public reaction, but it really shows how her love for Harry for who he is and their unborn baby trumps all of that and she doesn't care.
And the sweetest ending with the proposal!!! Warmed my heart today so thank you!
Jerri x
We are cryingggggg.
Lovely, wonderful crying. How dare. Oof, that little bomb at the end of the chapter that Arthur's death was just very recent. <3 How awful, of course, that we know Ginny's is just a few years away.
I love Arthur who collects Muggle records and dances with Molly in the kitchen and bows to Ginny before dancing with her, that's so sweet and touching and a wonderful little detail of their relationship -- as are all the details you came up with of what gift he left for each child. (LMAO at the toaster collection for Bill, I have to wonder how many toasters Bill inherited and what he does with them now. Also very clever was the bowl for George.)
And yay for yet more Lily and Xander glimpses, seeing how Lily is so attached to him she can't stand the idea of being left at home when he goes to school (though tbh I can't imagine Lily in general would be happy to be left behind everyone else going to school, Xander or no Xander).
The scene of them all dancing was so much wonderful family feels. <3
Melanie
ps-- tag!
hi,
here for our swap <3
so i've never been such of a hinny shipper but i love fluff so i couldn't really resist having a look at this. i loved this so much, first - i love that it's set in the same universe as your other story but you've used contrasting titles which works so nicely. i love the mixture of angst and fluff here too, i think that angst is perfectly played to make the fluff really beautiful.
i love your portrayal of harry in this piece. i think you captured harry's mental state so well. harry was only going to be totally broken by what happened which i think can often be a bit glossed over by fanfic because it's easier. i really felt for harry and i love how realistic that came across.
you used the dialogue so well. ginny was a cracking jokes because that comes across like (slight x-rated) book ginny (who i'm more a fan of!). the chemistry is always something which i felt maybe they missed as a couple but you've written them so perfectly here, no issues, both sensitive but steamy. i feel like i would be shipping them if you were the one writing them in canon. you just a brilliant job here with them and i'm so glad that i read this <3
abbi xx
Author's Response:Hi Abbi! It makes me so happy to hear that you enjoyed Harry and Ginny's chemistry, especially since you aren't hinny shipper. It really means all that more. I hope you continue to enjoy them as they're presented in this story <3 Thank you so much for this lovely review, Quilly
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