What is the deal with Draco and this spell he puts over everyone?  He can do whatever he wants for years, and then say "I'm sorry" in a breathy voice and Hermione gets hypnotized by him?

It's also annoying how arrogant she is.  She thinks everything she does is right and no one else has any valid objections.  She jumps down Ron's throat without even bothering to try to understand why he might be upset about what happened in Draco's room.  If this happened with Ron and Lavendar Brown what would have happened?  And people say Ron is insenstive...

...and they'd also be right.  I've dumped on Draco and Hermione, lol, now it's Ron's turn.  Calling her a slut?  What is he thinking... oh.  I'm shocked that Ron would ever do or say something without thinking, ha ha.

“But, she looked so frail, so helpless and she was his…friend.”  But he has no qualms leaving her to go shopping, shagging her in her frail state, or alerting her whereabouts to the people close to her only after it was clear that he won’t be getting sex from her?  Have I mentioned my intense dislike of Malfoy yet?  “This wasn’t his doing.”  Has he ever done something that was his fault, not Voldemort’s, or his father’s, or Potter’s, or Weasley’s, or Hermione’s …?

“This was her friend, but it was obvious that he wanted more.”  Why does she allow herself to constantly be around him in these situations?  And please don’t blame this entirely on hormones.

“When Ron told Hermione about their mission, she became very concerned and made him promise to be careful and to look after Draco as well.”  Seriously? Interesting scene between Ron and Draco in the cave.  Draco needs to get it through his thick skull that Hermione is with Ron and keep his slimy hands off her. “She wants me.”   This is exactly why I have been criticizing Hermione so much.  Draco still—still!—thinks that Hermione wants to be with him.  Didn’t Ron just say he’s going to marry Hermione, that they’re in love, that they’re going to have a baby?  Hermione, not Ron, needs to tell Draco.  It seems every chapter Draco does something like this and Hermione’s lack of rebuttal is irritating beyond belief (as are my constant criticisms, I’m sure, ha ha!).   

You’ve done a really good job with Sage Advice! Bill.  I’ve really enjoyed his counseling scenes, this one with Hermione and the one with Ron in the earlier chapters. Using Ron’s poetry skills to help decipher the text was absolutely brilliant and original.  I had no idea that that was coming.  I also loved it when Hermione put Draco in his place regarding Ron’s poetry.  We need more of that and less of the icky kissing between them, lol!

“She was still smiling when he unexpectedly placed a small, friendly kiss on her lips.  Her smile dropped as she drew back from him, but Draco held still.  ‘I still think you are the loveliest creature I’ve ever met.’  He ran a hand down her arm.”  Again, a reason why I hate Draco.  Ron and Hermione have shown him kindness and friendship.  Ron has opened his home to Draco and gotten his family to show him support.  And Draco repays Ron by coming on to Hermione again?  Thank Merlin this is the penultimate chapter; I don’t know how much more of this slimy git’s advances I can stomach, lol!  I’m also disappointed that Hermione didn’t slap the shite out of him; her refusal to forcefully rebut these actions is really annoying.  But as someone once said, you can’t always get what you want.

Absolutely loved the flashback row between Ron and Hermione.  The emotions were so powerful, and we finally get a glimpse of all the misunderstandings and hurt that can be avoided when they are both completely honest with each other.  But I absolutely cringed  (and smiled because I could totally see him saying that) when Ron used the f-word--forbid.  Nothing good ever happens when you use that word.  It's probably a worse word to say that that other f-word, lol!

This story is laughable.  The attempted characterizations are in no way related to what we see in the books.  Take the names off the characters and they are unrecognizable.  I suppose you'll tell me that that's the whole point...the locket made them do it!Well let's see...Harry wasn't wearing the locket, was he?  He's going to betray Ron in the worst way possible literally 4 seconds after Ron is gone?  How does he know Ron's not coming back right away?  You don’t think his brain is going to be a bit preoccupied with the shock that his best friend—his first friend!—just left?  You don’t think he’s going to feel a little guilty about practically shoving Ron out of the tent?  Harry, the man with the largest guilt complex ever? There is surprisingly little faith in Harry’s impulse control, lumping him in with the stereotypical sex-obsessed teenaged boy.  When has Harry ever put his pleasure over anything?  (The Horcrux!  But hasn’t he been more or less mentally linked to Voldemort for a while now?  What’s a Horcrux to Harry…especially one he wasn’t wearing at the time.)But now he’s just going to stand there and be railroaded by sexed-up Hermione?  I mean, tell me it’s not amusing when Harry is rendered incapable of thought at the sight of Hermione’s open shirt.  He’s written like he’s never seen a girl before and that he’s some sort of repressed virgin from a slapstick teen comedy.  I mean, he’s already had 2 girlfriends so I think he knows what breasts are.  Not to mention he’s not exactly sitting in his room jerking off…he’s kind of in the middle of a war here.  I mean, Hermione opens her shirt and he turns into an idiot, completely forgetting Voldemort, the war, his own heartache that Ron is gone, being chased by murderers, being responsible for the fate of the world, being cold, wet, hungry, and tired.  I’m sorry, but blood could not physically rush to his penis fast enough to overcome all of that.  I’d be surprised if he could even manufacture the desire to obtain an erection in the face of all of that.  Contrary to this story’s implied opinion, males do not respond sexually upon command.  Emotions do matter.  If someone just found out that he might never see his best friend again, the one he’s known half his life, I don’t think he’d be ready for action in the next minute.And the take that the locket somehow amplifies feelings that were already there is a tissue-thin plot driver.  If Harry and Hermione were so hot and heavy, why did it take until Ron left for them to screw each other?  Why didn’t they do it when he was passed out from blood loss?  Or asleep?  Or looking for food?  Or scouting the Ministry?  Or getting water?  Or taking a shower? Or on watch?  Heck, why not just do it right in front of him if this lust is so irrepressible? Why did the locket even drive them to sex, anyway?  I mean, reading Hermione go straight into cussing and ripping her clothes off ignores credulity, especially when we know what her canon reaction is.  Once again, she wore the locket before this and didn’t start swearing or stripping.  This story would have us believe that all it took for Hermione and Harry to fall into bed together was for Hermione to be angry with Ron and for him to be out of sight…yeah, like that’s never happened before! The locket amplifies what’s already there…so it amplifies a dubious lust claim instead of anything else?  Not insecurity, or remorse, or self-doubt, or self-hatred?  All of these feelings were present in Hermione and Harry when Ron was gone…in fact, it just seems like there is no respect for Ron as a character or for his influence/importance to Hermione or Harry.  Maybe that’s the real explanation after all, a commentary on Ron’s insignificance…because people who actually care about each other don’t try to destroy each other right after one of them leaves.I mean, Hermione’s reaction to all of this…no remorse, just a megalomaniacal brainwashing of Harry so she doesn’t have to talk about it.  Yikes…I don’t think Ron OR Harry fans would want them to end up with this version of Hermione, s scheming plotter seemingly incapable of any selfless emotion.Furthermore, the last few paragraphs of this story were really amusing, watching the historical justifications for Harry and Hermione’s mutual attraction get crowbarred in.  Where is this “attraction” is coming from; especially if you’re trying to make us all believe that this is a canon story with canon characters.  If this lust was so overpowering, why didn’t either of them even remotely come close to making a move on the other in any book?  The point-of-view of Harry Potter is first person from Harry’s point-of-view; it seems like something major like this would have been fairly easy to see and wouldn’t have needed some bizarre disclosure like we get here.  Hermione is extremely emotional and jealous…yet never channels this towards Harry when he’s with other girls.  She’s never upset that he doesn’t look at her as a romantic partner.  And Harry…like I said, the books are from his point-of-view!  He didn’t even try to hook up with her during the whole Lavender situation for goodness’ sakes.Oh, wait, I forgot—the answer to every question is the locket!  Too bad that thing got destroyed, it really took away the engine for a lot of zany road trips ;)PS: The sex scene reads like it was written by a 13-year-old…no offense if you’re 13!  “I'm fucking you Hermione!” moaned Harry…The orgasm that thundered through her nervous system like a stampede of mammoths…he stiffened, as she felt his jism splash up inside her”  

Author's Response: Sorry it didn't work for you. Perhaps if you're not up to dealing with stories in which characters fall influence to the malign influence of supernatural forces, stories about characters being influenced by malignant magical forces don't belong on your reading list. Thanks for reading.

Jeez, Ginny's knid of a bitch, isn't she?  Everyone seems keen to heap all of the blame on Ron, which seems unfair.  I understand that he hurt Hermione, but as she's said herself, she's a big girl and can make her own decisions vis a vis drinks and dicks.  Furthermore, the other characters didn't do so much to help her out, did they?  Ron needs to tell his side of the story! 

And then shag Hermione! 

Multiple times!

This chapter was brilliant. (Is that the right word, given the subject matter?)  Anyway, I was excited (right word?) to read about the impetus in Ron's past that led to his decisions.  I knew there had to be a "good" reason; our loyal boy would never just abandon Hermione like that. 

I think telling Ginny will help Ron see that it's possible for a female to hear what he was forced to do and not judge him or abandon him.  This could be the first step to maybe one day telling Hermione (I hope he tells her, she deserves to know).  I am so looking forward to seeing how he's going to save Hermione from herself.  She's stubborn as hell, but so is Ron--I'm not betting against him.