Well, I must say, this story made me smile just as much now as when I'd first read it over a year ago. I really enjoyed your characterization of Ginny, even in the ways she differed from HBP Ginny. She had such an old soul.

Some of my favorite lines:

"Oh. But isn't that breaking a lot of school rules?" Ron and Ginny looked at each other. "Loads!" they said together grinning.

This showed a bit more of Ginny's fun-loving side, the one that could come up with the idea for the garrotting gas in OTP.

Also,

"Why, oh why, did she always have to become involved with boys with 'issues'?"

I can't tell you how many times I've heard girls say this one. Not about me, of course.  This is such a common theme, I think, that I've seen it done in a number of different ways. In a comic book, the heroine is discouraged because all the cute guys she likes are either gay, or crazy, or super-villains. In the movie, "Fever Pitch," Drew Barrymore prepares herself for her boy-friend's 'confession' by saying to herself, "here comes the bag of hair." These were funny moments, but the way Ginny said it rang true.

The most especially touching moments for me were: Ginny finding Harry over the pitch, and sending him peaceful thoughts; Harry with pneumonia in the room of requirement ("Don't leave me, Ginny. I need you."); and of course, Harry confiding in Ginny by the fire in the common room.

Ginny seemed to have the gift for getting Harry to open up to her emotionally. She was just the balm that he needed, and the more she soothed him, the more he wanted to open up to her.

I was especially struck by the way that Ginny was able to say the right thing to Harry. She didn't drag him too far or to make him feel uncomfortable. And the way she responded to the things he told her was not reactive, but very empathetic. As an example, when Harry tells her about the prophecy, she doesn't scream out, 'Oh my god, Harry! ...". Well, actually she does, but she says it quietly, and then she's able to continue listening as he shares with her the crux of his feelings, that his life is not his own. Instead of pulling an R/HR ("OMG!" then running to the library,  or saying 'that's not going to happen, right? he's not here, right?'), she does the following: Ginny took Harry's hand in hers. "That's a lot to deal with," she whispered. She comforts him, she acknowledges his feelings, and she lets him keep talking.

Poor Ginny. It must have been hard work for her, keeping her own feelings in check, and maintaining that sensitivity to his moods and needs, no matter how anxious she might be. I guess it shows how strong her love really is. I hope in the future, though, she gets some equal time in letting her feelings be expressed, and having Harry comfort her.

Wow! Such flattery!  Hopefully, your reading of New Year, New Hope helped take care of your finding yourself in limbo.  When I finished Chapter four of this story I knew there was much more to it than where I left it, but since You're Still You was about Ginny's being the only one who actually did something (other than Professor McGonagall) to try to get Harry to snap out of  his depression and probably succeeded, I decided to leave it where that story ended and persue the rest in a new story.

I'm flattered to be considered as one of the authors you really enjoy reading.

I had to re-read this story again, it is awsome.  I saw you updated New Year, New Hope and I wanted to make sure I understood all of it.  I love the last song, it's so touching

great job, keep writing, and PLez write back

levotatingT

If you're like me, I always find things I missed the first time the second time I read a story.  I hope you found something you missed or appreciated something that made you laugh or feel sad this time. 

As I've told other reviewers, Josh Gorban's song is one of my favorites and I always think of Harry when I hear it.  It just seemed natural to name the story and include the lyrics at the end. 

Thanks for reviewing the story twice.  That means a lot!

Wow, that was awsome, it definitly encourgaged me to read more of your stories!  You should write a sequel or add on, it would take the story to a whole new level!

Love your work, can't wait to read more, write back

levotatingT

I'm so glad you found this story and found it awesome.  I love writing from Ginny's point of view and when I had the inspiration about the Pensieve box I just had to run with it.

The sequel to this story is called New Year, New Hope and takes place during the last six months of Harry's sixth and Ginny's fifth year.  I hope you can find the time to read and review because I enjoy hearing from my readers immensely.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. Ginny is one of my favorite characters and I love to peek inside her head to see what she thinks about things and people.  Thanks for the kind words of encouragement.     Arnel

I'm so glad you liked the story.  The sequel, New Year, New Hope is already four chapters long.  Part five is coming out next week and I'm well into Part six.

I do agree with you that I need to revamp the dialog in the first few chapters of this story.  I think you might have read my author's notes at the very end which said that the story began as my very first attempt at writing fan fiction.  Eventually, I will undertake the reworking of these chapters, but for now, I have so many other stories waiting to be finished that it might be a while before I get to that project.  I think that the more I write, the better I'll become at writing dialog, fleshing out the characters and making the action pop.  (I also must get over my fear of writing such strong characters as Severus Snape!)

Thanks for the encouragement!  Arnel

Actually, I find your critique very helpful.  It's nice to have things like the sameness of the characters pointed out because that tells me that I need to work on creating differences that distinguish one person from another. Thank you for pointing that out; you are helping me to grow as a writer.

No need to bash yourself against the proverbial wall over an honest review...I actually thrive on reviews which make me think.

  Arnel

Thank you for this extended review.  I'm grateful that you've taken the time to do this and appreciate your views whether positive or constructive. First, on the subject of Ginny's last sentence, I knew when I left that line in it would sound to mature for someone so young.  I tried several different sentences and still kept coming back to the original because I see Ginny as somewhat more mature than her classmates because of her trials during her first year: she's a survivor and, to me, going through such a traumatic experience and living to tell the tale would accelerate the maturation process somewhat.

Second, I can't take the credit for the poem.  They are actually the lyrics to the Josh Groban song, You're Still You.  They just seemed to fit into Chapter 4 and described Ginny's love for Harry perfectly.  Therefore, into the story they went.

Finally, I really had fun writing Ginny's brown reindeer story.  When I was little, I had a rag doll I dearly loved.  One day, my little sister was mad at me and took a dark marker and wrote all over the doll's face with it.  My mother tried everything she could to get the ink out, but washing the doll only made the marker bleed; to this day my doll's face is as multicolored as Ron's poor reindeer!

The hints about Josh Groban in the Chapter One scene at Hermione's house were added well after I had originally written it.  I was wondering if anyone would pick up on them...I'm glad you did.  Thanks again  for reading and reviewing.

Ahhhh Josh Groban. I knew a few of his songs had something to do with this story. I've always felt that those were Harry songs too. When I got my best friend hooked onto Josh, all she could think about was Ginny and Harry in You're Still You. I love how you have integrated that all into the story. Very Brilliant. Let Me Fall has also been a favorite of mine as well.

~Megs

When the new Josh Groban album came out earlier this year, I found four songs I really thought fit in the Harry Potter universe.  I've started three of those stories and have bogged down with all of them.  However, when I've become sick of the story I'm currently working on, I pull those out and see if their plot bunnies bash me over the head with their carrots!

As I said in m A/N, it seemed that the song fit the story and it seemed natural to have Ginny hear it at Hermione's.