Thanks for the review. I'm glad my portrayal of mourning seems realistic and, you're right, Hermione will find many positive distractions from her grief. Jean, whose husband was her only relative (other than Hermione) and closest friend, is definately going to feel the pinch more: she is no longer safe in her hometown and Voldemort, if he rises again, could find her in an instant unless she bases herself at Uroborus. However, there is a muggle boy, a de facto orphan, who needs a home to come back to during the school year...

Thanks ^^ I think the Malfoys have some first rate qualities, e.g. their love for each other, and, had Harry accepted Draco's hand in the beginning, the situation might have evolved very differently. I'm glad you liked Harry's letter; it's the first time I've written one from him and I really wanted to show that, although he is bright and empathetic, he's still very much a child. (In his academic acheivements, I've put Harry at the level which he should have reached in the canon if he'd applied himself. In the canon he spends most of his year mucking around with Ron, playing chess, exploding snap and generally frittering away study time.) 

Mourning is hard to write because people mourn in so many ways; some go numb- for weeks, months, even years, others become furiously angry, many go into denial and a few, the luckiest ones, are able to weep and heal. And, of course, people go through good minutes and bad minutes, so there's inconsistancy but, at the same time, one has to be consistant in that inconsistancy or the character's behaviour won't be realistic. I hope that my portrayal of mourning was believable.

Thanks ^^. I think most 11 year old boys would consider it base treachery to gather homework for a friend (considering that they'll use any excuse to get out of doing their homework lol!) Theo, however, is very serious and bookish and, as Hermione is his study-buddy, he knows enough about her to put two and two together ^^.  

I'm glad you liked the ending line; I knew that, in my end paragraph, I was going to finish on a hopeful note but the exact wording literally came to me in a flash of inspiration as I finished writing the chapter. All credit goes to Uematsu: he wrote the song I was paraphrasing.