Sweet chapter. They deserve some happy quiet time after all they have been through.

Haha Merlin has hots for Mcgonall!!! The rings description were awsome... i hope there special powers will come handy in your future parts :)

Author's Response: Yeah, I got a laugh out of Merlin and McGonagall's' behavior toward each other! LOL! Glad you're enjoying the story! Abraxan

Neat rings. I like the communication aspect. Good to have a lighter chapter (your action was great, but I have to read all the way through it and it wears me out!).

I loved the Ron/Harry exchange with Ron welcoming Harry like a brother. So many fan fics warp Ron into a too protective, whiny, jealous jerk, it is refreshing to see the JKR version. For a long time Ron was my favorite HP character. I didn't fall for Harry until he got moody in Phoenix. I think that was when he finally seemed real. I love JKR's world though, and you do a marvelous job playing in it.

Have you gotten your original fiction published, or is that still in the works? I'm interested. Particularly since you used Casey in it. I loved her. :)

Author's Response: In real life, I'm a sculptor and I also make some jewelry, so I had a great time designing all the jewelry mentioned in my fics! :D Glad you like it! I LOVE Ron! He's such a great guy! Awkward, funny, sweet, hardheaded - typical guy. I hate what fanfics and the films have done to him (except for the last two films, where he became a more well-rounded character instead of the characature they made him in some of the others). I took what JKR started in the first book (heroic Ron sacrificing himself in the chess game so Harry could go on and find the stone) and ran with it. I'm glad you like him! My first novel, "Star Sons: Dawn of the Two" is at the book designer's being formatted. He just sent me the first three chapters to proofread yesterday. Hopefully, in a month or so we'll have an actual BOOK! YAY! If you email me at Abraxan@yahoo.com, I'll put you on a list of people to notify when it's available (it will be available on Amazon.com and other sites, and some stores as well, but Amazon first). I'll try to put an announcement on here about it too, and I'll have ordering info in each chapter of "Now and Forever," which I expect to start uploading when Star Sons is available. So stay tuned! It's coming!!!! :D Thanks for writing! Abraxan

No Review

So, I saw you'd responded to my reviews and I was going back through them. Several of the one I wrote from the middle of the story are gone. I guess those were during the upgrade. I don't know if you saw them all, but I did review every chapter. Oh well.
I love that Ron completed his transformation. It's good that he can do something that Hermione can't. I don't begrudge her anything as I do love her, but I think it's good for Ron's confidence to not always finish second to her. Between her and Harry, that has to be frustrating no matter how much he loves them. Well, I bet that communication spell on the rings will be very, very valuable. I like it that Harry gave Ginny a promise ring. Nice chapter.

Author's Response: Thanks! Yeah, I thought I'd kept up with review responses pretty well, and now I find I have over 100 to answer for RF, and I had nearly 60 to answer for ToD - those are done, anyway, but yikes, I'll have to spend the whole day doing this if I'm to catch up with RF reviews! I guess the changeover messed some things up, but I do like the new format. Abraxan

Loved Merlin and Mcgonagall that was so unexpected. And the rings wow cool trick. It's their version of cell phone's i guess.

Author's Response: Yup, their version of cell phones, that's a good comparison! Glad you liked Merlin and McG! I think they're quite fun together. Thanks for writing! Abraxan

Well, it's me again (smile) and as normal I have to say that I am loving this story. However, I have one concern, after reading this chapter. I found that I distrusted the jeweller. I honestly don't know why I doubt the jeweller and his motives because he had help the trio and Ginny many times before with his amazing charms. I just find it weird that Hermione doesn't know the spells he uses, when it is mention with all J.K Rowlings books that Hermione is legendary for her charms and spell knowledge. Most properly me and reading too much into the actions of minor characters but that feeling is there. Anyway congratulations on another great chapter and I am looking forward to the next

Author's Response: Every craft has its own "special" ways of doing things in real life. I'm a sculptor and make jewelry as well. I know tricks of the trade that non-jewelers would never know, and there are better jewelers than me that know tricks that amaze me! This is all that's going on here -- Mr. Joyero knows charms that are specific to his industry that Hermione has never learned -- she's a teenager, a student and reads the books in the school library which are mostly "general magic" or "student level magic." Every trade has its "trade secrets" or "tricks of the trade" that those outside it don't know -- and it takes years, most of the time, for those INSIDE that trade to learn how to do those "tricks" properly. So that's all that's going on here. Mr. Joyero is a middle-aged man whose been a jeweler over twenty years, I imagine, so he makes his "tricks of the trade" seem quite easy, while they'd be VERY difficult for other people to perform without years of practice. The same is true of any skill. I ride horses, and have all my life. My daughter has ridden all of her life, too, but is an international-level dressage rider, while I'll never be that "high" a level rider. She has native talent I don't, and she's had MUCH higher-level training than I've ever had. All of that makes a difference. But to someone who doesn't ride at all, I look like a wizard with what I can get my horse to do. It's all a matter of talent, practice, skill, tricks of the trade, etc. Nothing "bad" or "evil." Mr. Joyero is a good guy. Trust me on this! Abraxan