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!!! I’m obsessed with having the castle itself be the narrator, that is such a cool and unexpected choice! So good, and the idea that through everything it has seen throughout literal millennia, the thing that drives it to action is its teenage occupants not getting their shit together is too funny! Brilliant opening!
I loved the metaphor of the cold war tactics versus full-blown aggression, and, wow, is that an appropriate image for the tensions between Ron and Hermione. The shouting match was great, the accusations thrown around came so quickly that it was easy to lose track of who was speaking, which worked super well with them ending on the same line.
Loved the dream sequence (or is it? guess I’ll have to read more to find out!), too! The contrast between the utter comfort of waking up like that, and Ron’s panic at finding himself in bed with Hermione was excellent. At first, I thought the castle’s meddling was limited to conjuring the mistle toe, but I guess it had greater plans than that!
This was a great start, good luck with the inkys!
Gah. I love this. I love how full circle it comes, and I'm so glad you chose to include an epilogue. It feels so much more complete with this addition. There are a lot of questions that get answered, like that the future wasn't exactly as it had been foreseen, and yes, most notably Fred. Still so devestating that he's died in this reality, and honestly even harder, because Ron probably does have to grapple with wondering if he'd done something a little differently, would this future here now have been altered, or would Fred still be alive like he was meant to be before? Also, while writing this, I am just having a curious thought about that former future in which Angelina ends up with Geroge DESPITE Fred being alive... What happened there, I wonder? I assumed Lee was his kid, but I guess a mother is never mentioned, maybe it's a boyfriend or husband? Like I said, these are just thoughts coming to me as I type, but now I'm super curious! Anyway, back to this. The letter Hermione ends up writing is just absolutely perfect. And the way it all comes back to mistletoe is just the icing on the cake. Wonderful story, I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Ah, I was sort of right! I mean, they did wake up back in life, but obviously things - in a stroke of serious good luck for the meddling mistletoe - deviated from canon for real here! haha Harry's presence is so funny in this chapter, he is just third-wheeling big time. I really loved the tension between Ron and Hermione as they try to suss things out, and the way they approach - Rose, Hugo, Iffley Village - so clever and really adorable too the reactions and the flood of relief. And Harry just like yeah I've clearly missed some things. LOL Anyway, this whole story is just adorable and so original and the writing is great and the characters are wonderful.
This whole chapter is a giant SQUEE! I just love your writing here. There's something about the way you end your sentences, like the follow-through they have, the way they wrap up. I don't know how to really articulate it, but I feel it in these two lines in particular:
"He'd have been a liar if he said he'd never thought about this. He'd have been a lying fucking liar who lied."
"She was on his lap, fingers in his hair, gasping against his mouth and making sounds that were going to ruin his entire life."
Hopefully you get what I mean from the examples, I don't know how to phrase it, I just know I love it. Anyway, I thought they were about to transport back as soon as Ron kissed her hand, actually! And then again when he gave her a real kiss! That mistletoe turned up, and I'm surprised Hermione didn't make the connection to their final day, and think "hey, isn't that the last thing we did together before we were put into this crazy fever dream?" I wonder if it will happen while they sleep, in the next chapter if they wake up alone and back at Hogwarts because kissed? Either way, this chapter was wonderful, I love your Ron and Hermione and the easy tension you built with their sparring dialogue and tiptoeing and eventual stubborn honesty. It's just wonderful.
The exchange about aging twenty years overnight, where Ginny responds, "so have we all" - omg I felt that in my BONES. My old creaky ass bones. LOL Ron as a dad is still just so sweet, like he just slots into it so well, even though he's really just a 16 year old here, you can see how much he loves the idea of it and how natural he is at it. He is not so great with communicating with Hermione, though, but the same can be said about her. I just want to shake them both! It wouldn't be settling, you goofs, someone say it first! haha It's actually interesting you've brought up their last memory of sixth year here, because I wonder what keeps them apart for another year after this whole ordeal? Can you imagine how disappointed this hard-working mistletoe is going to be when these two idiots still don't get together? The ending is really sweet. Even if they couldn't say things with words, they did express something for each other with their actions when they laid down to sleep together. There's something so bittersweet about this story, but completely enjoyable.
"You picked a hell of a year to skip." - This line literally made me laugh out loud.
This story is so fun. I was actually really curious about this in the last chapter, but even more so now: So this magical mistletoe thing seems like it has a real grasp on the actual future rather than just thrusting them into a potential happily-ever-after situation. For example, the names of all the kids, the couples who ended up together. I wondered what about Fred... he seems to be the only deviation. It's definitely an interesting choice, and I do wonder if this were expanded, is this the same future they'd actually get, or would they get a totally different one in some ways? Just something I'm curious about!
Ron just seems like he grew up to be the best dad. I love that he's the cook and can drive and has a phone! hahaha The balding bit is too funny. And Hermione is obviously enjoying some of the perks of waking up early in a shared bed. LOL What can I really say? I find myself grinning at scene every chapter, it's so fun!
I love the subtle changes you’ve added to this inevitable-yet-different-future for Ron and Hermione! I love that you didn’t make it exactly the same, with the deja-vu feel, but rather this easy, “this is where we are meant to be” moment, and ‘yes we made it” vibe. It’s so fitting for a story like this, and those small, yet important changes make it BELIEVABLE, which just blows me away.
Time is a fickle thing.
The gifts were perfection, a perfect call-back to the first time they were here, almost like they’d been waiting for this moment for as long as they can… remember… ha! I do wonder how many times they might have discussed this between themselves - wonder if the changes from the previous future might have been remarked on along the way back here… or towards this place… It’s just so good to see them happy and settled, and the whole thing, especially the return of the mistletoe, put a smile on my face and was so so satisfying!
Pix
Hi there!
Oh, I feel the whole jolt of reality thing when Ron finally opens his eyes. He clearly did not want whatever that was to end. I think he was getting comfortable in it. Knowing that it may all have been just a dream, knowing that maybe it didn’t happen when it’s now a possibility, or rather, a reality that he’s actually lived, and knowing that he really wanted all of that…
I love how Ron pushes himself to ask first, how he just needs to know, and then the sudden relief they both feel is so so good! Add in a very confused Harry who witnesses all of this and gives it that awkward teenaged vibe, excellent!
“Weirdest Christmas panto ever!”
Bless Harry! He should just let them have a moment… ah, there he goes. Lol!
Hermione is so smart here, and thank goodness for that. Ron’s comments about their future kids made me laugh out loud, truly! You’ve stuffed this thing so full of tenderness that I think it might burst!
Pix
The first half of this chapter just makes me think how lucky Ron is to be in a reality like this with someone as clever as Hermione, who has plenty of ideas right off the bat of how they might get some information - seeing the mobile, asking for Harry, getting the floor number. Girl is on the ball as ever.
The second half is what really shines, though. I was just smiling at the screen the entire second half of this chapter - grinning like an idiot, it was so cute and funny and lovely. Ron deciding they might as well stay and do presents first, and "let's go see if you got me anything good" cracked me up. And he's got a point, if it's not real, it shouldn't really matter what they chose to do and when. I love the exchange about "the kids" - that had me chuckling. I mean, Ron's looking pretty ready to embrace this life STAT! He got comfortable real quick with the idea of being a father and a husband, seems like. It was nice to see Hermione relax into it a bit as well after reading that letter. And the ending, with the discovery of Aunt Ginny! hahaha Your Ron is so funny. Anyway, it's brilliant, I loved this chapter.
I love the idea that the Castle itself has taken to meddling with the affairs of students as stubborn as these two! haha It was such a fun perspective to begin the chapter and story with, and it came full circle at the end, when we realize that mistletoe is hella strong! Such a fun idea, throwing them into this glimpse of a potential future, should they ever wise up! You also created such great dialogue between them that leant itself perfectly to the rising tension between them, the challenge of the mistletoe that they both (think, at least) they've walked away from, despite both clearly being jealous of the other's current dating situation. They both felt so authentic to canon the way they fight here, the bitterness they have, and the unspoken words. The idea seems like it will be such a fun one, too - I understand now what your summary meant! Really great.
I wanted to stop by as many APs as possible, but I couldn't resist reading one more chapter of this one first... :P
Oh, my! Typical Hermione, trying (and failing) to rationalize what's going on... :P "Some sort of hallucination - " / "That we're both having?" Isn't it funny when Ron is the one making sense? :P I absolutely love their banter!!! :D And Hermione, I can assure you that it's totally possible for you and Ron to get married... :P but she's not ready to consider that possibility yet, is she?
"They're someone's kids," / "They don't exist!" / "Try telling them that." This made me laugh so much, it's just brilliant! :P And Ron's reactions to the Tutshill merchandise... and his reaction to the idea of Harry and Ginny being together... that's so classic Ron, and I love it! :D
The card from Ron to Hermione was so sweet! It's so obvious that he's so in love with her, and of course Hermione would be stunned by it! Can't wait to see how this experience will change the way they feel for each other! And I can't wait to see what Harry's reaction to their story will be... :P Some things did not change in futures, parallel universes, or shared hallucinations, and one of those things was Harry wanting to argue as little as possible with Hermione when she was in a certain mood. Yes, that sounds like Harry! You write all three of them so well! :D
I will be back!
Snowball hug,
Chiara
Hey, Melanie! Here for some research and development! And because I've been curious about this fic since you posted a sneak peek on the forums... also, it won SotM! Congratulations! :D
I love the concept of the Castle having enough of Ron and Hermione's nonsense that it decided to meddle! :P And the idea of them ending up in their future is so amusing! I can't wait to see what happens! :D
Their fight was perfect! But of course what else could I expect from the Weasley queen? ;) The mistletoe appearing out of nowhere is such a classic, but it worked perfectly, and their reactions were perfect, too! And their confusion when they woke up in the same bed in an unknown house... just wonderful! I'll need to come back for more very soon, because this is so promising already! :D
Wonderful job as always, my dear!
Big snowball hug,
Chiara
Hi, Melanie.
After chapter 6 that seemed to tie things up (they got back to their timeline with their memories intact and a vision for their future), I wasn't sure what you would put into an epilogue, but this was fluffy and sweet. I'm glad you included it.
I wonder if Hermione and Ron reminisced about that out-of-sequence week from time to time after Christmas of 1996 and thus kept the memory always fresh, or maybe it was a magical memory that would never fade.
Did some External Force cause all this to happen because the External Force wanted to change their trajectory from perpetual fighting to love? The note from Hermione to Ron that she put in his Christmas gift was lovely.
A Christmas story, but good to be reading it in the week before St. Valentine's Day.
Vicki <3 <3
Hi, Melanie.
Yep, it was the tricky mistletoe. How or why the mistletoe did it is something we will never know.
A good scene when Ron wakes up back in his bed at the Burrow in his sixteen-year-old body on Christmas Day, wondering about that week-long real-as-life dream he had had, which affects his mood so much that his mother and sister notice it whe he goes downstairs to open gifts with his family.
The scene is very dramtic when Hermione arrives, and by their cautious, tentative speech to each other they ascertain that they both remember the same out-of-time-sequence week 23 years in the future.
A good observation by Hermione: "It's already changed now, isn't it?" I loved how Harry has no clue as to what is going on and finally just inches out the door. This would make a great movie scene -- the looks on the faces of all three of them, the body language, the speech patterns.
Will Ron ever tell Harry what this was all about? I guess no, but maybe it's in the final chapter.
Nicely done!
Vicki
Hi, Melanie. It looks as if things are beginning to turn around for our lovers, although they're still stuck in the twenty-first century.
Mistletoe has suddenly sprouted over their heads on New Year's Eve at midnight. Aha! Didn't I say something in my review of Chapter 2 about tricky mistletoe?
When they talk about "What if this is it?" Hermione simply can't go with the flow. She can't say to herself, "Fate threw us together and we really lucked out." She's the girl that has to plan everything ahead of time and make logical decisions before taking any action. The sort of person who wouldn't go on a blind date for fear she might actually like the guy before she had done a full background check on him. I was not expecting any happy issue out of this conversation, but suddenly they both confess that they were both jealous of each other's boy/girl friends at Hogwarts, and they both decide that they did love each other back then, so now they're happy again. Pretty fluffy. :) :) <3 <3
A cute story, but I'm still waiting to see how they get back to their own time. More mistletoe?
Vicki
Hi, Melanie. Back again to find out what has happened to Ron and Hermione and whether they can get back to their right era.
I'm glad to see that they are trying to get professional help (specialists in Obliviation, memory charms, and Legilimency), but disappointed when no remnants of any memories from the 23-year gap are located, and no traces of memory charms having been done on them. That certainly leaves everything in a mysterious limbo.
Rose is old enough to be suspicious and worried. Kids know when their parents are hiding something from them. When they are alone together, Hermione and Ron try to hash out what's happened/happening with them, using logical deduction, but it's not working. They don't have the key that will crack this problem open.
Ginny is being a trouble-maker, insisting that Ron and Hermione chose to be in this time-jump. He says, "Hey, I didn't do anything." And she says, "Shut up, yes, you did." I'm not liking Ginny very much at this moment, and I'm not sure that I can trust her statement "She told me that you don't want to be married to her." That sounds like a highly distorted version of anything Hermione might have said. Maybe Ginny thinks she is helping (?), but in my life I have met people who were such unreliable witnesses that you couldn't believe anything they said. Sad.
That was a good conversation between Hermione and Ron about what if they never recover the lost years or get back to 1996? He thinks that maybe they could just carry on, but she's not willing to try for that.
All in all, not a very fluffy chapter. But I have faith that there will be a happy ending. :)
Vicki
Hi, Melanie. This is a sweet chapter. As Ron and Hermione wisely conclude that they're not going to solve, or undo, whatever has happened to them, not on christmas Day, they just try to go with the flow, each making mistakes (Hermione wants to explain it all to her own daughter; Ron wants to introduce himself to people who already know him).
Only Harry seems to know what their situation is. They get through the Christmas visits with the Grangers and then with the Weasleys. But I wondered about the statement that Fred is traveling with Lee. The 'Fred' being referred to seems to be George's twin brother, so I wondered if he didn't die at the Battle of Hogwarts. Has some of the past been changed? If so, then Ron and Hermione would not know that in their old timeline Fred had been killed.
The next day, still not much in the way of answers. I was glad that Hermione could come across the family documents she was looking for. I asked myself, if I were in her shoes, how many days would it take for me to find that kind of info in my own filing cabinets? I shudder to think. Bit by bit they're learning to function. They can use their mobile phones now. That's big. I don't know what they'll do about their jobs if they remain stuck in this time warp. No good vibes about that.
It was sweet that they took a walk in their neighborhood, just to get out of the house and into some fresh air and nature. That always makes one feel better. Then I thought to myself, "Oh, no! It's the dead of winter. You don't go taking nature strolls in the snow and ice, the icy winds. Then I remembered that they were in southern England, not where I live, and the air was probably warm enough that they could smell the odors of the damp earth.
A good final line, that during their walk they briefly forgot that everything was wrong. That's good, to escape the worry for at least a little while and just live in the moment.
Thank you for writing. :)
Vicki
Hi, Melanie.
Well, this is some sort of time travel, all right. Perfect story to review for this year's review drive. We readers can sit back and chuckle at our favorite pair's total confusion, bewilderment, and disbelief at finding themselves in a strange house with two unfamiliar middle-school-age children, on Christmas morning, having aged into their 30's, and married with good jobs and a family.
The last they knew, they were about 15-16 years old and having a major quarrel, which was their ordinary communication style at that age. It's good to see tht at their more advanced ages they have a more mature verbal relationship.
They do manage to figure out the basics quickly, but the kids must be pretty alarmed (although they don't show it much) to see that their parents have gone off their rockers.
It is so typical of Hermione to keep insisting "this can't possibly be real," knowing, as she must surely know, that all sorts of odd stuff happen in the wizarding world.
Do you suppose the mistletoe had anything to do with it?
An enjoyable little piece of fluff. We'll see how this one turns out, and if it's really just a hallucination...
Vicki
MELANIE YOU KILLED FRED!!!!!!
Ok well, you were just following canon but DUDE.
Ok, back to this normally scheduled review.
I DID like that most of the differences were insignificant and that you ran through them as they were having a momentary quiet in bed on another Christmas morning. I thought that was clever to show us all of that, especially after the last conversation they had in the previous chapter.
I thought maybe the gift was the mistletoe that kept appearing whenever they did the gift exchange each year. And that casually chaste, let me reach across the counter kiss was hella cute!
This was such a heartwarming, enjoyable read! Thanks for sharing it with us!
~ Courtney
Another big jar back to "real reality" and yet, I loved the little aside Ron and Hermione had and how they remembered absolutely everything and it was the driving force that propelled them forward. I was kind of expecting them to end up at the castle and not The Burrow since The Castle made this all happen and all, but like I'm not mad about them ending up here.
Especially with Harry being the squeaky wheel in the background while Hermione and Ron only have eyes for one another. All of that had me cackling!
And Ron's comment of "what if our actual kids are shit" xD I can't. Ahhh so much humor and heart to be found in this story! Seriously your dialogue is just SHINY AND BRIGHT and make this story sparkle.
Ahh yaya for an epilogue!
~ Courtney
Mel! Here for some more reviews!
I think Hermione's fears are valid. And Ron's inability to properly communicate (like most dudes with the mentality of a sixteen year old boy) definitely showcase the struggles with this arrangement and it being valid. And I think the way that Ron goes about reassuring her by way of: "why is it so ridiculous that I want to choose you?" And her admitting, "I hate seeing you with her." They come to a better place of understanding. That allows things to develop deeper for them not only in the physical aspect, but on an emotional level.
The "I've never had sex before," // "Oh but I know two names that prove you have," banter had me laughing hard. It IS such a Ron thing to say.
Also, I don't know if you intended it, but the bit at the beginning regarding Rose's Astronomy obsession and the title of this chapter and then the concept of a new year and the planet having completed a full rotation around the sun...I just loved that tie in, whether intentional or not. :)
~ Courtney
Melanie hi!
Oh my god, your brain is so creative. I love that even the castle has gotten tired of their shit and has decided to do some meddling of its own. Of course, it's not official meddling, it would never do that ;) Just kind of help them in the right direction while they see the possibility of the future
Their fights had me cracking up. Because of course, they're not really about much at all, just each other's standards, which obviously they wouldn't care about if they didn't have a little thing for each other. And I loved that the mistletoe appeared out of nowhere and they had an intense glaring competition - that is so in character for both of them, especially at that age because neither of them are going to make the first move. Which of course, makes perfect sense for them
Oh man, I knew they were gonna be together in this future - but I didn't realize they were going to have a child. This is going to be incredible, and I'm so excited to see where this goes!
And, of course, it's named after one of my favorite TSwift songs - how could I resist?? <33
*written for R&D*
Author's Response:Hi Jill!! <3 Thank you for stopping by for this. I was listening to Paper Rings one day and just went... man, what a Romione song (or any kind of friends to lovers, really) and the reference to paper rings made me want to put them in a sort of 'forced to play house' kind of situation and, well, here we are.
Their arguments really are so much just them talking past one another while they both want THE SAME THING. They are literally obsessed with each other. Idiots. <3
hihihi me again for the project tempus linea event :)
ahhhhhhh this took a dip into something a bit angstier and i love it!! the thoughtfulness, the worry - and it's so perfect that it's hermione to bring it up: what if this is life? what if that's all they get? how do they deal with that? and i love how you pull out the emotions - i don't really remember the fear of this from 13 going on 30 tbh but it's been a while since i watched it - because it's so good and it adds this real layer of depth and sort of crashing reality on them, which contrasts so well with us knowing that they'll get back and harry and the experts being so uncertain that they can (or that there's even something to go back to)
i lovelovelove ron's relationship with rose and how he sort of just... guesses but guesses right instinctively how to comfort her. it's really sweet. and the way she picks up on his down mood and is sensitive enough to ask about it - it's really really nice :)
ahhh i was kind of waiting for their first disagreement tbh haha i gotta admit: but i love that it comes this time from something deeper, a little more insecure for both of them and something a little more personal, private and frightening - that question of how do they get together. it's such a difficult topic for them, because they are both that bit insecure about themselves but also they're friends and for all they like each other, they've never yet seen themselves as being anything more than friends in something other than a dream or a half-thought 'maybe'. and ahhhhh it's that bit painful for them yk :/
but the ending!! it's super super rom-com-y, if that is even a thing let alone makes sense - but it's really gentle and really cute and so so good!!
laura xx
i'm back, as promised/threatened/insisted!! for the project tempus linea event :)
i am always, always impressed by how easy you make humour look. seriously - it's a hard genre to do, difficult to get the voice right and harder still to make it sound easy to do and you do it so so well and seemingly without effort. it's just so good and so impressive and it's on like full display here
just like: hermione laughing at ron's complaints about his hair thinning, "technically i'm your boss" "fuck right off", the line about ron finally accepting that Future!Harry and Future!Ginny had kids, harry asking if hermione (!! of all people) was drunk at like 9am or something (admittedly at christmas but still). so in character and so v v funny - i cackled at the line about ron deciding it was fine for harry to have married ginny
i lovelovelove how harry finally realises they're telling the truth when hermione doesn't know that she knows something (or, well, should know something in this case). i mean, it fits so perfectly!! of course that would be what gave them away!!
ron introducing himself to audrey was hilarious. thankfully she's too nice to tease him about it honestly because a different person would have teased him mercilessly about forgetting their sister-in-law and re-introducing themself. i really like how though hermione and ron are kind of starting to work together in this - starting to team up against everything else that's going on, though they spend a lot of it clinging to harry and ginny as well when they have to do all Christmas Socialising. it's just such a good reminder of how Latent all their feelings are :P
also also - hermione's lil thought about how, me and ron in the future have two kids. that means we had sex. at least twice. was so so good and so funny omg i laughed
i'm so so excited to see where this goes next - though that last line is more than a little ominous in some ways :/
laura xx
i'm back for the project tempus linea event :)
starting at the end but bahaha poor ron!! "auntie who??" bit of a shock for him - ironically more of a shock than him waking up at thirty with two kids and married to hermione. but then ron has always been a more emotional accepting character in some ways - like, he accepts some things pretty easily, even when they're emotional or hard - so it kind of makes sense. plus yk it's not as though he didn't love her already so :P
the addition of rose and hugo is so so funny - but also really warm, actually. like, the way hermione feels when hugo puts a bow on her head, the in-jokes between the kids that hermione and ron are both part of because while they're kind of not, they also kind of are, the kids typically, half-uncaring confusion about their parents' confusion ("maybe they just need some coffee" was an excellent line!! :P)
chief legislative officer is such a hermione job title i love it!! and i loved ron's shock at finding his auror badge - it was lil thing, but it reminded me so much of how in the books he wanted to be an auror but quietly because he didn't really believe he could do it and yea, i felt that :)
mahaha hermione bullying (gentle bullying honestly, very gentle) harry into getting her their floo number was 100% in character and very very funny :P i'm so looking forward to seeing hermione and ron meeting harry (and, ron has discovered, ginny!!) all aged-up but still used to weird things as only harry can be :P
all the details in this were so so good - it's a thing you do so well in everything you write - but i loved it here: the photos on the walls, the leather satchel hermione instinctively Knows is hers, the black cat by rose, hermione waving her rings at ron. so so good!!
i'll be back :P
laura xx
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