Don't get this at all

Glorious!

Gods, Minerva, you are brilliant. The trick with the board, brilliantly played, those snivelling bigots. I just want to linger over Hermione's apology scene forever. It's at one time incredibly cinematic and romantic yet also very true an relatable - the bit with the bacon is brilliant writing, and the not kissing, deliberately not kissing - genius. Minerva's Breasts of Rescue for the win.

I'm not a physicist but the caesium bit was lovely. Plumbing/wiring is clever and I'm going to use it. For most of the rest - the kitchen, the recovery - I held my breath. So much pain in something so beautiful.

I meant to comment on chapter 14, but I didn't want to stop reading. The inclusion of Fortnum's made me laugh. And the rest... it was visceral.

I loved this chapter from the A/N to the end.

I love the biscuits and the flirting. As the vicissitudes of life would have it, in the intervening eight years I have developed a taste for pistachio ice cream. I missed so much the first several times through.

I said I wouldn't, but here we are. In order of appearance: "If only it were that easy" was both expected and unexpected and made me laugh. Nice oath. "Burning so much adrenaline that the trembling threatens to become levitation," deeply relatable. And the whole last half-section, navigating desire and power and trauma: she has learned so much.

I was going to wait until the end, but this chapter is a work of particular genius, twelve ways, and I felt I ought to say so. And one well-timed laugh. You render her so carefully.

Seven years, nine months, and a brace of days. You really are something else.
More later, but as always, thank you.

I'm not sure I ever could have articulated how I wanted this ending to go, but this really was the perfect conclusion. And you answered a few nagging questions while you were at it.

It’s amazing what one can hide in a book. Or in a library. Knowledge. Objects. Time-travelers from the future.

Kingsley and the second Minister of Magic. You got me. I did not expect this at all. I do wonder about the implications of another time traveler in the Now. Kingsley's kindness to the house elves after two years of terror also brought up a wave of respect and like for just how kind he is. (For all his possessiveness of antique furniture).

And we have a second mention of Hermione as the next Minister. My, my, she’s going to be busy.

I loved the description of the time grains in Hermione's body as metastatic. It made such a visceral and morbid picture of the damage being done through rapid aging.

And finally, I'd underestimated Minerva's absolute and complete love for Jane Puckle. We see it here - she is in clear need to articulate it physically, almost to the point of panic. Now that Hermione and Jane are merged into one being (finally) I want there to be long and honest conversations after this about what it was like for Minerva knowing for all these years who Hermione was and who she would become. It’s simultaneously heart-wrenching and beautiful thing think about. And we end with the two of them in their home, warm and safe and happy. I'm beaming just thinking about it.

This is a wonderful story. I can't say it enough. So I'll finish by expressing my deep admiration for the inclusion of the Squid's graceful solo synchronized swim across the loch. I hope it finds lots of fish to eat.

Chapter 6 - Such fascinating and inventive magic; I love the library burgling and the clever Plan B for being caught. I also love Hermione's attempt to explain notions of power dynamics at least 50 years before said notions were commonplace. She does a pretty good job of it, if you ask me. The last few lines are brilliant.

Chapter 5 - I'm looking forward to finding out how all these pieces fit together. Stories like this one make perfectly clear why time-travel will never/has never happened: everyone's brains would explode first. I love how Hermione/Jane knows that books will tempt Minerva. Definitely a fail-safe charm.

Chapter 4 - the conversation with Albus (oops, I mean his egg-tempera doppelganger, of course) is hilarious; I had to stop myself from reposting half the lines. Sir Cadogan, indeed. And the delightful irony of the "will you be serious" line is delightful.

I'm enjoying watching young, clever Minerva figure things out.

Your stories have deepened my appreciation for the people I love, opened me to the histories of people I haven't understood, filled me with wonder, and let me witness my small but important place in this beautiful and terrifying world. Thank you, with all my heart 3

Absolutely exquisite! Thank you from the bottom of my heart. That's a second intricate masterpiece I look forward to revisiting again and again.