Hey Lesley, thanks for the reading!

I'm so glad you like my Severus--I was hoping he would sound very much like the canon version, while still fitting the profile of a mentor to Harry and Albus.

I really wanted Harry to be turned in the right direction by Severus' advice, but I knew at the same time that he couldn't just wake up the next day and be back to normal either.  Hearing that Albus was in an accident would really affect Harry on many levels and I imagine was in need of an extra large dose of Calming Draught.  Albus is all he has left at that point and Harry loves him dearly--I'm glad you caught that part.  

As for Hermione, she is avoiding Ron.  Ron is being a total a-hole and since Hermione has very little time off her job, she doesn't always want to spend it getting yelled at by Ron.  I should have put something in the epilogue about him too because it's quite possible that Ron will never come around, especially if his injury is permanent.  Anyway, Ron has a whole slew of family members who take turns visiting him, so it's not as if he's lonely out there.  

I think Hermione would like to visit Harry more, but I think she'd also have a bit of a problem seeing him in his current situation.  Clearly, Harry is not the wizard he once was and I think that would be hard for Ron and Hermione to come to terms with before the accident.  After the accident, Harry takes time off his Auror job and only gets worse because he has nothing to occupy his mind besides thoughts of his misfortune.  Because of this, I think Hermione would spend most of her free time with her own grown up children and grandchildren; she needs a little light in her life too and her current job must be extremely stressful.

I'm very glad I went with Al's p.o.v. in this story.  When I started to write it, I actually redid the first chapter several times, putting it in third person and also trying to write it from Harry's p.o.v.  Albus' was more satisfying though and his emotions run so deep that they really add to the fic.

It is hard to write it though.  Sometimes I get on a roll, look back, and find that I randomly switched back to third person a few paragraphs back, lol.  It's a challenge (and then, I also have a hard time going back to third person after writing first person for a long time--it's a vicious cycle!) but I really like the perspective.  It's fun because you get to try and convey what other people are thinking while only speaking through the one person.  That person can also misinterpret things and that's just a lot of fun to write.  I plan to write more first person fics because the perspective has really grown on me.

Thanks again for reading--your comments have been a great help to this fic and to me as an author.

-P.G. 

Thanks for reading!  Poor Severus, you know, he just didn't belong there and he knew it.  As for his unconventional method, it was more directed at giving Albus the advice he needed about Viv--he could have escaped in a different way, but he wanted to make a point to Albus and he succeeded.

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend's husband; that sounds horrible.  Oh goodness, the story really would have lived up to it's name if I did that.  I wanted Al to have a little happiness though and I couldn't leave him and Vivian unresolved like that.  

I can't say anything about the Potters and Weasley's just yet, other than that it will be addressed in the last chapter.  Really, it is past time for them to let go of their grudges, the 5+ year ones.  Do stay tuned--if I ever get it written, I think you'll enjoy the epilogue.  Thanks again for your support!

-P.G.