This chapter appears to be an exact match for the older version on fanfiction.net.

meme list (professional): teaching-professional!Ginny(nursery school)
meme list (relationships): established!relationship(Neville/Ginny, marriage, ended with Neville's death)

(Granted, this chapter doesn't reveal the identity of Ginny's late husband, but I thought I'd cheat a bit rather than looking like an ignoramus.)

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Not only would the Dursleys not have shown affection for their "unnatural" daughter by paying attention to her; we know from Harry's childhood that "don't ask questions" is one of the main rules for a quiet life with the Dursleys. No wonder Chloe, being a bright little kid, finds Harry so congenial for his patience in answering *all* of her questions.

Very good characterization, that Chloe would focus on what to call him, and would settle on "Uncle Harry" for the present. I doubt that Harry could provide any helpful suggestions if she asked him what he'd prefer; he wouldn't know what to do either.

Question: Why would the Dursleys choose the name "Chloe" for their daughter? Why not a flower-name, or something desperately ordinary and boring? Why something unusual?

[skates out to baby-name website] Well, one possible meaning is "young" or "blooming"; the latter sort of fits the flower motif. But it still seems a bit too sophisicated for the Dursleys to think of.

I agree with Harry that it's worth a smile, seeing Chloe pick out [I]Common Muggle Torture Practices[/I] because of the cover. (I take it from the context that that means torturing-*of*-Muggles, not torture-by-non-magical means.) What kind of illustrations could the book have that wouldn't revolt Chloe?

(Harry's lucky that Chloe isn't able to read much yet, I must say, and shouldn't have been so quick to assume that she couldn't read the book. He'd better pull himself together and reorganize his library a trifle to keep the more gruesome books out of Chloe's way, or put some sort of repelling charms on them, or something.)

Come to think of it, given Dudley's distaste for reading as a youngster, and that Chloe hasn't had decent parenting for years if ever, it'll be a small miracle if she can read at all at her age. It's not as though her parents would've spent much effort on encouraging her. Even if they doted on her, they strike me as being more likely to take the approach of the parents in Roald Dahl's MATILDA - plop the kid in front of the TV instead of reading to her.

And (good move) this is explained neatly in the text by Chloe's own viewpoint: Mrs. Figg taught her what she knows about reading. (Again, *why* didn't Figgy write to Harry about Chloe's situation? Why leave her with those people without even a 'blood protection' excuse?)

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Good call that Harry wouldn't have a clue how to cope with braiding hair. He's never worn his own long in canon (or here, obviously), and was never close enough to any girls as a youngster to be forced to pick it up by observation or the like.

I agree with the editor that the classroom description is quite nice. Apart from the enchanted ceiling, it reminds me of the place where I attended kindergarten, give or take the fish and the number of books.

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Ah, poor Harry is definitely not used to dealing with little kids yet (particularly not little kids who might think it's a grand idea to matchmake between their teacher and their guardian later on).

The POV begins cutting back and forth between Chloe and Harry again at about the point where Chloe asks about the ribbons. It might be more interesting to stick with Chloe's view throughout the scene, and keep the reader guessing a bit about Harry's feelings. (Chloe could see that he was flustered, so that wouldn't have to be lost; it might even be funny, since she'd be a bit young to understand *why* Harry was squirming a bit at being cornered and forced to admit how many details he just happens to have noticed about Ginny's appearance.)

This is a pre-OP characterization of Ginny, so here she's very gifted with young children. (Post-OP, I wouldn't recommend putting her in this profession at all, or if it were done for the sake of a challenge, she should come across with a different personality. Not that she might not be good with kids, but I'd see her as a more likely candidate for a professional Quidditch player than a schoolteacher.)

This is one story that would be difficult to re-align with post-OP canon, because of Ginny's profession. It's the tool being used in the story to bring Harry and Ginny into regular contact through Chloe. If Ginny weren't Chloe's teacher, that'd be much more challenging to pull off with Chloe still in the story; Harry's the conscientious sort who would spend time with his new daughter, and he *wants* to, anyway. (On the other hand, Chloe later on is shown to have taken after Harry and become a big fan of Quidditch, so something might be done along those lines, e.g. meeting Ginny after attending one of her matches.)

The "eight years later" line rather suggests that Ginny married Neville (not as yet identified in the story, I know) after his final year rather than her own, but I don't think the suggestion was intended to be taken that way.

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Meghan is one of Percy's kids, not Ron's (who doesn't have kids yet), so perhaps it's understandable that Harry didn't take the opportunity to mention that Ron and Hermione were *his* best friends in school. He's probably told Chloe that several times by now, anyway, since she's already met them.

"Guilt settled over him like a shroud."

Very nice simile, there, particularly given that Harry is feeling guilt over a death.

Copyediting nitpicks:
- One "pores" over books, not "pour" unless (inkwells are involved, which is not the case here).
- Grammar: "that great of a nursery school teacher" - "of" should be "as"; "could look into the eyes" should be "could look in the eyes" or "whose eyes he could meet"