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A Pensieve Affair by Imogen Adult What do you get when you cross a pensieve game devised by Fred and George, a best friend bearing chocolate cake and a disillu...
Daddy's Girl by Drie All (takes place in 'Home is Where the Heart is')) Hope won't stop crying, so what's a father to do? Featuring yodeling Harr...
OK, so I really think that if Hope would finally just ADMIT that she loves Matthew, he'd be up for some serious physicality! hello?!!! I thought she was smart--figure it out, Potter!
Be Careful What You Wish For by rzieve All Did the Sorting Hat get it wrong? How Matthew Belford wound up in Slytherin House. Takes place during chapters 2-5 of Nil Desperandum....
Date: 27 March 2006 - 06:27PM
Title: Chapter 14: Consequences
Oh no. I thought something sad like this would happen, but reading that really choked me up. Poor Matthew, poor Hope. They need to be locked in a room together unti they work things out. Maybe that's chapter 15 (says she hopefully)?
I won't be able to read any more as I am going home and we don't have the internet, but hopefully when I get back in mid April there will be lots of lovely chapters to read.
And as for the plot bunny .... you know you want to write it!
Author's Response: Have a great Easter break, and don't worry - there'll still be some more story to come by the time you get back :) We're just over halfway.
Date: 27 March 2006 - 06:06PM
Title: Chapter 14: Consequences
Wow! That turned around on itself quickly! First I was laughing, then I was cringing as Matthew threw Hope out of his flat. Yipes! While Hope may or may not have gotten what she deserved, I think Matthew was a bit harsh with her. I don't think she's up to responding the way he thinks she should. Some people just aren't very deep. If anything, I think it's going to take some time before Hope becomes the woman Matthew wants her to be. She needs to grow and I think she needs some time to do it. Like I said earlier, I think the courtship should take at least two novels. Snicker, snort!
Another wonderful installment. Have Holly and Cora teamed up against Hope? Cora was being particularly brutal to Hope that morning. Too funny! Hope did deserve that! Now, what will Matthew do with the memory? Update soon, please!
Author's Response: LOL Cora and Holly haven't teamed up, but they might as well have! Holly just enjoys irritating her sister, and Cora (unlike Hope) does know that Matthew has feelings far beyond frinedship for Hope.
If you want to write the two novels, they're all yours ;)
Date: 27 March 2006 - 05:23PM
Title: Chapter 14: Consequences
I had a nice bit all written out when I accidentally clicked something and lost it all. Darnit! I'll try to recreate it as best I can...
I had a real dilemma this morning, as I found the new chapter was up as I was getting ready for my 9am class (which was creative writing...appropriate huh?). Do I risk getting into it and not having the time to finish? I'll save the suspense: I risked. And it was worth it.
My jaw was literally on my chest by the end. Poor Matthew, he really gave her a good telling to didn't he? She really needed to hear it. It's like what friends tell you when you've been fooling around with a guy you'd really like to date seriously: he won't date you if he's getting everything he wants without the label. I'm not saying Hope's as unfeeling as that, but in a way she is: she had the friendship and she had the sex.
I love reading the other reviews, they really give me a different perspective on the whole thing if they think different than I do. Like TGMarita: I love Matthew, therefore he does no wrong (haha, of course that's just the obsession talking), so what you say about him blasting her about what can be said as being mostly his fault, is something I'd never think of. But, I must disagree to a degree: I've felt really strongly for my best friend (we'll call him...M for now..and no it isn't M as in Matthew, it's M as in...nevermind) for quite a few years now. Not as long as Matthew has, but a while. He knows tho, so nothing would ever happen like this, but I can really see where, after so many years of 'hoping' he would break down with her basically throwing herself at him in a way that can be seen as her having feelings for him besides friendship. He's romanticised the two of them for so long, as I have done for M in the past. I don't know if I'd be able to withstand M if he and I got into a situation like this, which is probably why I'm so in love with this piece...it gives me a bit of what I'll never have ;) The difference between me and M and Hope and Matthew is that Hope loves him too, and just hasn't noticed. M has a relationship with his gf like Cora and Robert. Life is grand isn't it ;)
I have to agree with TGMarita though, that Hope isn't going to figure this out on her own, however, she's already had a moment with her mother about it that might spur her on. I have a feeling it'll be Cora...or if you're in a freak-us-out-it'll-never-happen mood: Harry. Yea right ;) I'd kind of like it to be Harry though...he catches her all teary-eyed and basically tells her his baby girl's in love...perfect.
"Fantastic to hear you're liking the fic, but please enjoy the weekend first!" I'm on the edge again, Imogen, but I think I'll make it to Friday. Thankfully I did enjoy the weekend, as I had a benefit concert I went to at Lehigh University for Heifer, which was great. I have another show on Thursday, Julian Velard, which will help me reach Friday faster. Thanks for caring :)
Author's Response: Ooooh -I like all these theories, but I can tell you you're wrong about one of them. She doesn't talk to Cora OR Harry (although the latter would have been a lot of fun). There aren't many people Hope would feel she could turn to with something like this.
I'll get the next chapter up as fast as I can! Roll on Friday.
Date: 27 March 2006 - 04:50PM
Title: Chapter 14: Consequences
I can't believe Matthew's response...I'm so proud of him! Finally he gets angry with her and makes her feel like crap for all the junk she's put him through.
Awesome chapter! I'm wondering what that memory she put in the pensieve was. Are you sure you won't get it up until Friday??
Author's Response: Glad you enjoyed it. He was never going to make it through Hope's rejections of him without losing his temper. He cares for her too much not to be emotionally involved.
I'd love to get the chapter up earlier, but I've got a hideous week at work with a big deadline on Friday. I'm not sure I'll have time to get the editing done before then, but I'll try.
Date: 27 March 2006 - 03:36PM
Title: Chapter 14: Consequences
Oh. My. Goodness.
*sob*
Poor Hope. Poor Matthew. I hope he looks at that memory. I trust it's from the night before, yes?
Now, I'm really waiting until Friday. *taps foot*
*hugs*
Author's Response: Well, the night before is one possibility for the memory, but she's got about 11 years of memories to choose from. The possibilities are endless ;)
Date: 27 March 2006 - 02:39PM
Title: Chapter 14: Consequences
ARGH!!! Now I have to wait until Friday?!! ye Gods, woman! It seemed like Matthew was just waiting for the slightest slip-up to jump on Hope like that--I would guess he's been stewing on that all morning, poor lamb. What did Hope put into the pensieve, I wonder.....another fantastic chapter. I'm so glad I live in the US, so I'll get to read the next installment late Thursday (for me!) :)
Author's Response: I'm so sorry - blame the hectic week at work with a massive dealine at the end of it! Matthew had been going over and over it since Hope kicked him out. He's had plenty of time to think - which is more than Hope's done! I'll get the next chapter up ASAP.
Date: 27 March 2006 - 12:25PM
Title: Chapter 14: Consequences
Ahhh... It may be morning there, but I should have been in bed here hours ago, so this may be a bit incoherant. She took an reduculuously long shower and had a chat with her flatmate while Mathew was waiting for her? What was she thinking? Well, I know what she was thinking, but the girl has some serious blind spots when it comes to emotions. Stalling only made things worst. Sitll... Ouch. Poor Hope. She may have deserved that, but she certainly didn't see it coming. Mathew is doing a nice job of punishing Hope for what was in large part his mistake. He may have said there was no going back at first, but later he made i sound like it was OK for her to be unsure. Well, she is. Of course he knows all of this, hence the "self loathing" in his voice. The problem is that Hope has never really let him know how impotant he is as a friend, so it isn't really that hard for him to beleive she'd do that to him. Not to mention the months of ignoring him after Christmas. He's gone into self-preservation mode. As for Hope, I'm a bit worried. She doesn't strike me as a person prone to introspection. I doubt she will be able to work all of this out on her own. Especially the latter part. I imagine (although I may be wrong) that she always saw Matt's friendship as a given. The idea that he might not feel the same way, that he may have doubts as to his importance to her, could necesitae a reevaluation of their history. But if Hope can't work all of this out on her own, both her and Matt's feelings, there could be some trouble. Either Matt is going to have to forgive a little and help her out or a third party is going to have to sit Hope down. Ok, my brain is running on empty. Just one more thing, do you enjoy torturing us? So many cliffhangers. I'm dying here. What was in that memory? Will Matt look at it? It will probably render everything else I typed pointess won't it? Can you update tomorrow? Becasue really, this so is not fair.
Author's Response: Yes, Matthew's really upset with himself. In some ways he thinks he should have known better and blames himself (but takes some of that out on Hope).
I've got a really mad week at work, so I haven't had time to edit the next chapter yet. I've a huge deadline on Friday, but I'll do my best to get the next chapter up by then as well.
As for the pensieve memory, don't forget this is all from Hope's point of view, and Matthew's not exactly going to be happy to see her for a while! We're going to have to wait and see :) But she certainly needs some help in deconstructing her feelings. She'd never get there if she was left to her own devices!
Date: 27 March 2006 - 03:57AM
Title: Chapter 13: Hook, Line and Sinker
once again you haven't let me down! i really like the way the morning turned out. I'm glad Hope didn't just get away with it and I absolutely adore Ginny! Holly on the other hand...lol reminds me of my sister.
Author's Response: Holly makes me laugh, but then again, I don't have a little sister! Ginny's definitely grown into being a very cool mum - she's mellowed a lot as Hope's become an adult. She still explodes - just not over Matthew!
Date: 26 March 2006 - 05:39AM
Title: Chapter 13: Hook, Line and Sinker
oh my...i love all their reactions and Holly just making it all worse. that was really amusing! can't wait to see Hope and Matthew's conversation and i hope they sort it all out!
Author's Response: The conversation is coming on Monday. I've got it back from beta now and it just needs a bit of tweaking. Holly is colossal fun to write - she just seems to come out with the most outrageous things!
Date: 25 March 2006 - 04:36PM
Title: Chapter 13: Hook, Line and Sinker
I always consider it to be a mark of really good writing when you start to care more about the characters than you do about the plot situations, and I for one care deeply about Hope and Matthew. You're not just good, you're great!
Having said that, the image of Matt landing head first in the flower bed will stick for a while. Not the most Slytherin of exits!!
Author's Response: *blushes*
I don't know whether to say Poor Matthew or Poor Daffodils! Definitely not the smoothest of starts to a morning!
Date: 25 March 2006 - 03:15PM
Title: Chapter 13: Hook, Line and Sinker
You're building up for evilness, aren't you? Poor Matthew, being booted out the window like that. I hope Hope is nice to him later.
This line: I'm sure they were just trampolining, was hilarious. I can just imagine Holly in a few years time going 'wait a second. They weren't trampolining!' and being utterly traumatised.
You likened your story to a soap-opera. In a way all stories are the same, soap-operas included, and they all work on the audience's desire to know what's going to happen. What annoys me about soap-operas is that they make exciting things happen at the expence of characterisation. It's the events which drive the characters. This feels very much as though it's the characters which drive the events, which is as it should be, but it makes me worry that Hope's view of love is going to mean that there's some trouble to come.
Author's Response: I can just imagine Holly in a few years time going 'wait a second. They weren't trampolining!' and being utterly traumatised.
ARGH! There's a plot bunny if ever I saw one. She would as well! Fantastic idea!
Yes, we're all character here... mostly because there isn't a plot. Ah well, plots are overrated anyway! Glad you're still enjoying :)
Date: 25 March 2006 - 03:42AM
Title: Chapter 13: Hook, Line and Sinker
Wow. Hope should really share the memory of what happened with her family when she goes over to Mathew's flat. I think it would lighten the mood, which otherwise could be even more uncomfortable than it was downstairs with her parents.
So Matt's Slytherin side is coming out it 14? I think Hope may be in trouble. I actually feel for her here. She honestly didn't mean anything by kicking him out, she was deathly afraid of her parents finding him. Although I'm sure a part of her was glad for an excuse to put off talking with him. Of course this also gives Mathew time to prepare. Matt should know Hope well enough by now to understand that Hope is impulsive, and one night isn't going to change everything that fast. And yet there he is ready to confront her parents as though she decided to be with him for more than one night. I guess he's so sure about his feelings that he doesn't understand how confusing and scary this probably is for Hope. Now that he's thought about it though... This is twice that Hope willingly went to bed with him only to (seemingly?) reject him in the morning. For some reason I doubt he is going to wait around passively for another four months this time. As for me, I am going to have a hard time waiting for Monday, and that's only a few days away.
Author's Response: I think you've pegged it well. He's 100% sure and has been for years that Hope is the only one for him. She's still reeling from the shock of being physically attracted to him. I mean, where did that come from? LOL
She's definitely made a bit of a mess of things, and he's had some time alone now to decide on what he needs to do...
Date: 25 March 2006 - 02:42AM
Title: Chapter 13: Hook, Line and Sinker
*giggles* I am so glad I had the house to myself when I first read this. My family would surely have demanded to know what I was laughing so hard at.
Poor Hope, trying so hard not to get caught, and never even thinking about the possibility of Matthew getting caught exiting by the window. And poor Matthew, for that matter. What was Hope thinking, sending him away like that? Well, no, it's fairly obvious what she was thinking, I just wish she'd thought about Matthew a bit more.
I loved Ginny in this chapter. Her reactions were just spot on. And now she's trying to make Hope think about her feelings for Matthew, whether she wants to or not. I just hope Hope (no pun intended *g*) listens to her.
Author's Response: Great to hear you enjoyed it. My family think I've lost the plot altogether when I start laughing at the computer, and sometimes it's a bit tricky to explain.
I agree, she should have thought about Matthew a bit more, but I suppose blind panic is a decent excuse. I just hope he didn't mind frolicking through the daffodils too much!
Ginny's grown into a fairly cool mum. It helps that she can see straight through Hope, and she's been waiting for years for something to happen between Hope and Matthew.
Date: 24 March 2006 - 11:47PM
Title: Chapter 13: Hook, Line and Sinker
Wow! Something hit the fan in this chapter. As things were slowly falling apart, Hope worked so desperately to keep up the lie. (ie putting Matthew's shirt on). I thought it was so Gryffindor of Matthew to want to stay and face her parents with Hope. And Hope seemed to initially want to rely on more "Slytherin" methods, like telling Harry "...he's gone." True, but not really honest.
Holly is such a little sister. She warns Hope that their parents are coming, but seems to love to tell them that Hope and Matthew were "snogging." Now, what little sister wouldn't like to get big sister in trouble especially when big sister gave her a hard time last night.
All those years of living with six brothers and their devious acts sure shined through with how Ginny initially confronts Hope's deception. That was classic Weasley! My mouth literally dropped when Harry found Hope's shirt and bra and when Holly told her parents about the squeaky bed. Great comeback on Ginny's part about the trampoling! ;-) What a great mom Ginny was during her discussion with Hope.
Harry's little speech about sex not being casual brought up my questions about why Hope initially only seemed to think about the physical side of sex. I can only assume it was because she became involved with Julius in her rebellious years and that because she didn't really have strong or deep feelings for him, they had a more physical relationship.
Thanks for the great story.
Author's Response: You're more or less right about why Hope equates sex as something only physical. When we see Flint later in the story, he explains a bit about why he's happier with the lack of emotion, and at 17, Hope was happy enough to go along with that - it was rebellious and fun at the same time. Unfortunately for her, it's not as simple as all that once emotions get tangled into the equation - but she'd never once expected those emotions to be there.
Glad you like Hope's double speak. She's good at that! Ginny can see right through her though, and she's been waiting for something to happen between her daughter and Matthew for years!
Date: 24 March 2006 - 11:11PM
Title: Chapter 13: Hook, Line and Sinker
Happiness, joy and warm fuzzies. I love the way Hope doesn't act, she reacts. Everything outside of her personal life is something she's in charge of but when it comes to the matters of her own heart, she's completely reactive. Wonderful!
Author's Response: Well, it would be plain boring if she was the Mary Sue of being in control of all things ;) You're right - she does react, whereas if she was proactive, she'd find things a lot easier. Although, I suppose to be proactive, you've got to know what it is you want...
Date: 24 March 2006 - 06:34PM
Title: Chapter 13: Hook, Line and Sinker
Oh Lord...what a mess! I have to agree with Tesgirl123 that Matt had the impression they could be together now...but I'm not sure if he'll hold onto that impression after she kicked him out, either way he definitely had it when he first woke up! Poor guy, have I mentioned how much I love Matthew?
Harry and Ginny were amazing. I think that's how they both would be in that kind of situation, totally. Harry seems like the kind of guy who would be calm and collected, the cool dad, until the boy's come a'knockin'. And Ginny is always so fierce it didn't surprise me that you had her be sooo discerning and call Hope out like that. I loved that Hope didn't even wonder where her mother was and that no one would see him climb down the window. Classic.
Holly is destined to be a Slytherin too...evil little thing.
The dialogue is so natural in this fic, it's fantastic. I can really get lost in it, because nothing seems forced. Hope really has a problem on her hands, because I can't see Matthew taking this very well, because he tried so hard to do the right thing and slow down..and then it was her that really pushed things forward. I have a feeling there's going to be a lovely "You know exactly how you feel, you're just too scared to admit it" scene where he'll just throw down the gauntlet and throw her feelings right back in her face.
Can't wait til Monday (never thought I'd ever see myself say that....)
Author's Response: His feelings might well change between him waking up and him being thrown out of the house. And funnily enough, Holly isn't going to be a Slytherin... she's really not! br>
Fantastic to hear you're liking the fic, but please enjoy the weekend first!
Date: 24 March 2006 - 06:30PM
Title: Chapter 13: Hook, Line and Sinker
Awesome! Ginny's advice is perfect. I love how Ginny totally wants Hope to be happy and trusts her to make the right choices for herself....and at the same time is rooting for Matthew deep down. Hope wasn't joking several chapters back when she told Matthew that Ginny likes him.
After last chapter I was expecting Hope's shooing Matthew away to cause a new round of misunderstandings between them. I thought Matthew would interpret it as, "Get lost, I never want to see you again." But as written he can't be thinking that, hurrah.
"Me?" Ginny laughed. "I'd risk it, every time." --- Ginny has her share of Slytherin qualities, but this sums up why she's a Gryffindor. (And why Hope isn't.) I also liked the beginning of the chapter, with Hope scheming how to hide what happened from her parents and Matthew inclined to "brazen it out." (cough missorted cough) I will try to write that Sorting scene. (Which is saying a lot---I've never written fiction in my life except for grade school assignments decades ago, and I detested those!)
Author's Response: Wooohooooo! I'm looking forward to seeing this sorting, If it helps any, Hope's is in 'Nil Desperandum' chapter 2 and Matthew was sorted at the same time! You can do it. I've got complete faith in you!
If the next chapter doesn't convince you Matt's a Slytherin, then we'll agree he was missorted on a technicality ;)
Date: 24 March 2006 - 06:09PM
Title: Chapter 13: Hook, Line and Sinker
These last updates have been so fast, that I couldn't keep up with the reviewing. The last three chapters were very beautiful and I was so happy for Matthew. I hope it doesn't take to long for Hope to realise she loves him too.
Poor Matthew! Being kicked out of his house like that. Hopefully it will not take too long for him to forgive Hope. Harry gets on my nerves a little bit with his overprotectiveness. He's such a hypocrite;).
Author's Response: We were lucky this week, because there was an outtake chapter as well, but we're back to two chapters a week for now.
Hope's still pretty confused and uncertain about what it is she wants. Matthew's had some time to think. The two of them need to get together and talk some more in the next chapter! :)
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