Name: 1917farmgirl (Anonymous) · Date: 13 Sep 2018 01:11 AM · For: Chai, Samosas, and a Surprise

Transferred from offsite at request of the author

Originally left on 10/26/2014

You know, I've always admired your writing. Every time I read something of yours I remember this. You have a way of cutting to the heart of the matter and expressing simple truths in a beautiful way.

I really loved this story. Now, I've not read my Harry Potter for a long time, so I don't remember if I missed something about Hannah being partly from India, but I do have to say I really liked it a lot in this story. It gave an otherwise sometimes unremarkable character from the books real life and personality here in your story. And I loved how you wrote about what for a lot of us is unfamiliar objects and foods with such familiarity. I might not know what it all was, but Hannah did and through your portrayal of her I still felt perfectly at ease with everything.

The real reason I loved this story though? It was just sweet! Such a cute and fun way to start off a story we know happened. Neville was adorable, and Hannah had such a strong ""character"" voice, I feel like I know her so well now. And I loved the humor as well. Very nice.

My favorite line was the one about knowing when things are done. Brilliant insight there.

Thanks so much for sharing. This really was beautiful.

Author's Response: Aww! That means so much to me! Your writing is great and I love it a lot, although I don't get the time to read fanfic all that often anymore, so coming from you... just, ugh. Thank you.

No, Hannah isn't partly Indian in canon, but it seemed to fit her somehow. And family and culture has a way of manifesting in our everyday lives in the most subtle of ways, and I wanted to write Hannah that way. I'm Indian, so all the stuff I talk about is things with which I am familiar. Hannah's struggles are to some extent my struggles. It was interesting writing from personal experience in that way - something I've never done before.

I'm glad you found this story to be sweet! It was the sort of vibe I was going for - that feeling of finding someone new and you're just like ""yes! You get this!"" And of course, because in canon Hannah and Neville are married, it feels so much better because you KNOW what's in store for them.

Thanks so much for your lovely review :)

Name: wolfgirl17 (Anonymous) · Date: 13 Sep 2018 01:11 AM · For: Chai, Samosas, and a Surprise

Transferred from offsite at request of the author

Originally left on 10/23/2014

Hey 800 words of Heaven!

Wolfgirl17 here with your requested review.

I know you were worried that maybe you played down their relationship too much, but I think you wrote it really well. It's not over the top, and given that they've not really had much to do with each other since Hogwarts, not to mention Neville's shy nature, and Hannah's tendency to be a bit of a worry-wart, you've written it so that it's very believable that they might meet up late one evening and cook and pal around.

You hint at the idea that it might evolve into something more in future, and that's nice too.

I really enjoyed the story. Your description of the cooking process was spot on, and I liked the way you had Neville give Hannah a hand with it.

Cannonically Hannah isn't actually Indian, but I think for this story, it works that you've made her so. Your language is expressive and subtle, hinting at the possibility of a friendship and then perhaps later, a relationship, developing between Hannah and Neville.

I've not actually read a Neville/Hannah story before and when I first learnt that J.K. paired them up in the epilogue/potterverse, I was like, wait... What?

You've definitely convinced me of how a relationship between the two of them might've come about.

Kudos too on your perfect spelling/grammar. I didn't find a single mistake, and it was an absolute pleasure to read something without jarring inaccuracies. In fact, overall your writing skills are really strong. You have great sentence structure and your characterisation was great.

You definitely didn't tone down the chemistry between Neville and Hannah too much. It's perfectly done to make it entirely believable.

I'm definitely hitting up your author page to check out some of your other stories! Thanks so much for requesting a review from me, and for contributing this fantastic story to the archives. Feel free to request anything else you've written to be reviewed because your work is a delight to read!

Keep up the great work! 10/10!

xx-Wolfgirl17

Author's Response: Hello! Thanks for taking a look at this story.

I'm glad you found it to be well-written. I wanted to write a friendship story, but also a start of something new and exciting story, and Neville and Hannah seemed like a good fit for that kind of thing. I've never written a relationship like theirs before though, so I was a little worried about how it came across.

I'm not one who really enjoys cooking, but I'm one of those who when does cook, gets super involved in the process, a little like Hannah. I'm pleased that the description worked!

No, I don't think she is canonically Indian, but it seemed to fit well for the Hannah I had in mind. And you're right - totally unexpected that they get together since nothing happens between them at Hogwarts, but that's pretty realistic. I mean, how many people actually meet the loves of their lives at high school? But I still wanted to give them a little backstory.

Haha! Yay for perfect spelling and grammar! I'm really picky about things like that, but things always slip through. *blushes* Thank you so much for your praise!

Thanks so much for your lovely review! I hope you find something of interest on my page - and feel free to let me know your thoughts if you do read something - good or bad thoughts :P

Name: AlexFan (Anonymous) · Date: 13 Sep 2018 01:11 AM · For: Chai, Samosas, and a Surprise

Transferred from offsite at request of the author

Originally left on 10/10/2014

You know that I love everything that you write and so it should come as no surprise that I loved this story of yours.

First off, I love how you kept throwing in little bits and pieces about Hannah’s family and her culture through food and other things that she personally found strange. The minute that I started reading the story, I just knew that something good was going to happen just from the tone of your writing.

Neville and Hannah are so cute! The two of them just cooking side by side and making pleasant banter just warms my heart. They seem like they’re already married to be honest with the way that they are around each other.

And this is going to be completely random but about that whole chai bit, OH MY GOD FINALLY THERE’S A CHARACTER THAT CALLS TEA BY ITS PROPER NAME. I have this slight problem with chai tea because in my language, chai also means tea (except it’s spelled caj, not chai) so the first time I heard someone ask me, “Do you want some chai tea?” I was so confused because why are you offering me tea tea before I figured out that they were talking about masala.

I could definitely feel something between Neville and Hannah, there was this instant connection between the two of them and you could already see the friendship between the two of them and how it would grow into something more than just friendship. I think you did a great job on this and it was absolutely wonderful!

Author's Response: Aww! That's so wonderful of you to say! Thank you ^.^

People's families and cultures are such an integral part of them, but they manifest those things in small, subtle ways. I wanted that for Hannah, for her to be comfortable with who she is.

Neville and Hannah are adorable. More stories should be written about these two. There's just so much potential of them being cute and fun and adorable together. And they're totally married in my head :P

I FEEL YOU ABOUT CHAI DUDE. I get so confused when I hear or read ""chai tea"". I'm always like ""why are they saying tea twice?"" Ugh. So annoying! So I really wanted to included just the one word for it.

I really enjoyed writing these two together, and I think how much fun I had really showed. I'd love to write more of their love story someday. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing :)

Name: Moonyxluna (Anonymous) · Date: 13 Sep 2018 01:11 AM · For: Chai, Samosas, and a Surprise

Transferred from offsite at request of the author

Originally left on 10/10/2014

Hi I'm here with your requested review!

""I-don't-know-how-my-wand-ended-up-in-that-particular-orifice"" - oh my god. hahah.

I think you are supposed to capitalize 'Healer', being a job title, the same as you would 'Auror'. Grammatically speaking, it wouldn't be capitalized unless you said 'Healer Abbot' but I think since it's still something JKR invented (like Auror) you would cap it.

I really like how you've set up Hannah getting a job at the leaky cauldron, knowing the information about her and her future with Neville. Cute. And the little touch that she loves to cook from being a Hufflepuff.

head cook who ran the place with a wand in one hand beefy hand -- extra 'hand' there.

Ugh. I so wish I had all of her magical spells when I'm working in the kitchen. Would make life so much easier. Though, I do love that you have her use magic so second-thought like - it brings the magic we know and love from the books back in and it adds a nice touch.

I really thought the scene where Neville first shows up and startles Hannah a little bit; it was so adorable. She's a little shy and he's definitely got that 'grown up since Hogwarts' persona that JKR hinted at in Deathly Hallows.

You set up wonderful chemistry for the pair, to address your request concerns. Rarely readers get to see the before hand, writers a lot of times being focused on getting them together, this was nice to step back and just see the beginnings of something. The cute little banter made the chemistry between them wonderful.

It's funny, I actually had one of my instructors in culinary school (how appropriate, right? heh.) say the very same thing about the 'cooking was easy, just knowing when something was done cooking' - The way you made that comparison turn into something about life (and the theme of the story, with Neville and the possibility of a budding something) was very clever and well turned.

I so rarely read Hannah and Neville, and even though this was a one-shot this is making me want a whole novel about them. Your writing flowed beautifully and this was absolutely a joy to read.

Julie

Author's Response: Heya! Thanks for giving this a read :)

Thanks for the point about capitalising ""Healer"". I wasn't sure but I wasn't near my copies of the books at the time, so I just let it slide. And the extra ""hand""! OMG. Too many hands will spoil the broth, for sure!

I'm glad you liked Hannah - and the spells. I think I'd enjoy cooking far more if I had charms and spells at my disposal.

I'm pleased you liked this grown-up version of Neville. He has so much character development throughout the series, and gains all of this confidence. I found no reason to stop him from being comfortable with that confidence for a change. Apparently he can be quite charming when he wants to be ;)

You're completely right in saying that rarely do people see the before hand of a romance. I really wanted their relationship to be quiet and a little understated, but no less important. I'm so happy that it worked!

It's a good rule in cooking, and in life, I think. You need to learn when things are done. I'm just glad that it didn't come off as too cheesy.

Oh, I'm so pleased that you liked it! There needs to be more Hannah and Neville love I think. Thanks for the wonderful review :)

Name: teh tarik (Anonymous) · Date: 13 Sep 2018 01:11 AM · For: Chai, Samosas, and a Surprise

Transferred from offsite at request of the author

Originally left on 10/04/2014

Hey there!

I'm here from the Review Tag. I must say, I adored this story. I love Hannah/Neville, and I love Hannah-centric stories set in the Leaky Cauldron. I always find it fascinating that Hannah Abbott of all people would go on to buy over the Leaky Cauldron. One thing: you keep mentioning Hannah's mother, but if I'm not mistaken, Hannah's mother was killed during the war (I believe it was mentioned in the sixth book...). Or perhaps Hannah's dad has remarried and she has a stepmother? Anyway, it doesn't detract from this very lovely story!

COOKING!! I love culinary-themed stories, and my goodness, I'm now craving samosas. I love all the careful and elaborate details of Hannah's food preparation, and I love your descriptions! Also, I'm pretty sure this is the first Hannah Abbott I've come across who has Indian blood in her so yay! I love all the details of her characterisation: how she loves her job because of the big kitchen, so much so that she stays back when everyone has gone just to cook!

And you wrote her interactions with Neville so so well. The fluff was lovely, and I think I started grinning llike an idiot when Neville offered to help with the potatoes with so much eagerness. The both of them are such an endearing pair.

The ending scene was wonderful. Chai and samosas and friendship. Gorgeous combination.

I loved this story; I'm so glad I had the chance to read it! Briliant writing. :)

-teh

Author's Response: Heya!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I adore Hannah/Neville stories as well, and there really should be more out there! And I love that aspect of Hannah too, so I tried to think of a possible reason she might become the landlady of the Leaky Cauldron. I like to think of this as the seed. And I didn't know that! Hmm. I'm sort of loathe to take it out, so I'll let readers think whatever they like about it: it's a mistake on my part, or her father remarried. Either works for me :)

I don't really like cooking, so this was weirdly fun to write. There was a surprising amount of research involved which I wasn't expecting. But it's good that you want samosas now! It means I did a decent job :P And it's the little things in life that make it special :)

Gosh, writing her and Neville together was just so cute, because I was all like ""Oh, you have NO IDEA where this is going, do you? Tee hee!""

Thanks so much for the lovely review :) I'm glad you enjoyed it!

Name: justawillowtree (Signed) · Date: 12 Jul 2018 12:22 AM · For: Chai, Samosas, and a Surprise

HI THERE.

 

I have decided that I’m going to make my way through the entire Chai series because I’ve read bits and pieces of them from either way back when at HPFF or recently here! And I want to make sure I haven’t missed any (I definitely have missed many), because there are a lot more than I’d originally realized. And your Neville/Hannah stories are some of my absolute favorites.

 

From reading this, I have deduced that you know how to cook. And I’d like to beg you to come and cook for me, because I was so envious of Neville that he got to just witness Hannah in the kitchen with all this delicious-sounding food. I’ve always loved reading stories about food and cooking (I love food hahaha), and for some reason my reading of these stories always take place late at night, when I’m hungriest lmao. It is strategically very unintelligent, but it also makes me appreciate the story more for being descriptive enough and scrumptious-sounding enough to make me hungry haha.

 

Hannah is amazing. I love that she went through the training to be a Healer before realizing that it wasn’t for her. I love that she loves cooking, and sneaks using the Leaky Cauldron’s kitchen late at night. I love her general attitude towards other people about wanting to be alone (same, girl, same). I love everything about her.

 

When Neville came in! I was already feeling all warm and fuzzy inside from how cute they were. The fact that he was so excited about potatoes made me want to laugh and hug him. He’s honestly such a precious, good person, the way you’ve written him, and I love that. He fits Hannah really well (and I love how you’ve written her Hufflepuff qualities too!) and the two have such good chemistry. I don’t know how you always write romances so well, but you do, and I love it. (How many “love”s have I written in this single review? Too many. But they’re all true!)

 

Their conversation was just sooo sweet. I wonder about his comment about wishing he was in Hufflepuff – is it something deeper than the fact that (I suspect) he may have had a small crush on Hannah back in the day? (A common room full of plants sounds like heaven to me, though. I’m just gonna wish for that for the rest of my life haha.)

 

THIS WAS AMAZING. I SHALL BE BACK FOR MORE SOON. <3

 

~Eva

Author's Response:

Hi, Eva!

 

I'm not gonna lie, I've been procrastinating replying to your reviews because I love reading them so much! I know I can still read them after, but there's something final about a reply, y'know? I'm very pleased that you want to read all the Chai stories! They'll always be here for when you're having a bad day <3

 

Lol. I sort of know how to cook. I don't actually enjoy it that much. But I've always liked recipes. Maybe I channelled my love for recipes through Hannah? That, or I've seen too much Master Chef :P I also wrote a lot of these stories late at night, whilst I was hungry, so I feel you.

 

Hannah is great. I love Hannah. I'm a student doctor, so there was something really bittersweet about writing Hannah leaving the career. It feels like I'll always have the option to start again if medicine ever stops being something I want to do almost all the time.

 

Neville seems the kind of person who'd really appreciate potatoes. They're a great vegetable, and honestly, more people should openly love them. I'm pleased Neville is doing his part, there. I'm very happy that they have good chemistry already! I didn't want to rush things, since this is a friends-to-lovers plot, but I still wanted the possibility to be there. And thank you! I do love a good romance. It's the most popular genre in the world, and I feel that it's still somehow underappreciated.

 

I got the thing about Neville wanting to be a Hufflepuff, because I remember reading somewhere that it was the House he'd asked the Sorting Hat to put him in, and that's why he'd spent so long being Sorted - they were fighting over which House he should go! I bet there's still a part of Neville that wants to have been in Hufflepuff - not because he thinks it's the "useless" House, anymore, but probably because there's a part of him that realises that he probably would have been more fully accepted there, compared to a lot of his time in Gryffindor.

 

Thanks so much for the lovely review, Eva! It's made my day, again, replying to it :)

 

xx 800

Name: Stella Blue (Signed) · Date: 08 Jun 2017 08:33 PM · For: Chai, Samosas, and a Surprise

*Transferred from HPFF*

 

I'd like to start out by pointing out how completely delicious everything in this story sounded. I actually just had Indian food for dinner this evening hah so fanfiction matching my real life yay.

But really to the point of this review: this is one of my favourite representations of Neville and Hannah that I've ever read. I just... love it so much! ♥

I really like how you wrote Hannah's love of cooking into everything. The way you wrote out each step of her cooking process in the beginning showed her attention to detail and how involved she gets with her cooking - and I could understand her being slightly irritated when someone comes in to interrupt! (but of course then she likes the friendly company. And that scene with the silly jokes about fingers made me laugh!) Ahh, and I just loved when she mentions she feels as light as fluffy egg whites, and compares Neville's laugh to chocolate :D Such wonderful descriptive phrases that reinforce Hannah's love of cooking in such a beautiful way. I just loved it.

I really like how you wrote Hannah's personality and background as well, how she started out as a Healer and then quit, and is still figuring out things and trying to be an adult while she works at the Leaky Cauldron. I could really connect with her too, being in a similar 'what-am-I-doing' phase. But as you so wonderfully pointed out through this story: it doesn't matter in the long run, does it - as long as you've got chai, samosas, and a good friend - those are the important things! ;)

This story was PERFECT. I absolutely loved it!

Author's Response:

*Transferred from HPFF*

 

Ahaha! Thanks so much! My aim was to make people's mouths water, since I made the mistake of writing this story late at night whilst feeling a little peckish. Never write food stories on a full stomach! And I'm so pleased that you enjoyed it. They're quite an uncommon pairing, but I feel as if they have a lot of options as to how their relationship blossomed.

 

Hannah really does love cooking! I've never really written a character where their interests manifest so obviously into their entire lives, although that is the case in real life - everyone who knows me knows how much of a nerd I am. And I'm just so proud of Neville for being so smooth with that finger joke! I think I fell a little bit in love with him at that point :P

 

I really wanted to write about how hard it can be to be an adult sometimes. Molly in my other fic is finding that out, but she's quite cynical about it, whereas Hannah takes that in her stride. She understands that life has its ups and downs, and she just rolls with it. Life goal: to be more like Hannah.

 

Thanks so much for this wonderful review :)