This chapter was really good. I'm excitedly waiting for the next one. It's agonizing torture to keep waiting for Laura and Oliver to get together, but I like it that way. It makes the moment when they do so much more rewarding. I can't stand when the story is all like "and now they're in love" - so boring...

Author's Response: Haha. I agree. If it helps, it was torture writing this story, knowing what would eventually happen but needing to advance the relationship from hate to love so that the story would be more believable.

This is shaping up to be a good story about the Marauder's Era...at least if my instincts are right, and they usually are when it comes to my opinion... Anyway, really great, and add more as soon as you can - but no pressure, I know how it is to be writing the story.

Author's Response: Thanks. I had to read so many Marauder's Era stories before I could write this one though. I wanted to see how other people saw the characters.

HE KISSED HER!!! Ha ha ha! I love that that is the only thing that Sirius could think of to do! How will she react?! You have to add some more quick! And ps, this is a good story.

Author's Response: I just added the third chapter. Thanks for the reviews! I think you might be my only reader!

I just read this fic all afternoon today in one go. There are, of course, things that need to be improved, but no one's fiction is perfect. As of right now, this is the best marauder fic I've ever read, and I've been scavenging to find a good one for a while. I don't know why I didn't come across it before, because I've been reading in the "other pairing" romance category for months. Anyway, I hope to get to read more soon.

Author's Response: Thank you for being the first person to admit that my fic needs improving. I love you! *hugs you impulsively* *is embarrassed* Er – yeah… anyway, you didn’t find this before because it was originally published in the “Lily/James” section, but I realized a few weeks ago that “Other Pairing” is clearly its rightful home. However, I didn’t move it until just yesterday.

Well, this was a really good chapter. I agree with what the other reviewer said, you didn't stack tons of information on us, but you gave us enough. You kept a good flow all through out and I can't wait for the next chapter.

Author's Response: Thank you! I like your story (HP & the Lightning Bond) too. Chapter 2 should be up soon and my beta has Chapter 3. I appreciate your input!!

Well, you've left me smiling and satisfied.

...

Except I wish the chapter were longer, of course, as any other rabid fan is inclined to desire. I bear no other substantial feedback right now. Just lots of glee at the update. Absolutely thrilled, and it didn't disappoint. -hugs Bridget-

Author's Response: Thanks dear. It's been a year since you left the review and I'm just now catching up on my responses, but thank you and Peace.

For some strange reason, I forget (and I know this has happened before, too) that I actually do like this story quite a lot. I was a few chapters behind in updates, even. That’s kind of remarkable since you don’t update this story very often. When I got the update notification, I determined that this would be the month I caught up on this story.

But why would I continue reading a story that I forget that I like? I think I forget that I like it because I’m neither here nor there for Lucius.

That’s where your skill, power, and prowess as a writer comes into play. Even though I’m not fond of Lucius, I become completely enraptured in the story of the girl who is. The richness with which you write has me completely consumed in what is going on in Siobhan’s life. Siobhan herself is not predictable. You have done such a good job of giving her so many layers that she’s as real as any living human being, and is absolutely one of the best literary characters I’ve read. Period. Just in the past few chapters that I’ve read over the weekend, there are many aspects of Siobhan on display to the readers. There is the Siobhan who is rather numb over her separation from Lucius because that’s how she has to be to cope with it. There’s the forward Siobhan who comes straight up to Hermione and Ron when she wants to find out where Harry is. Perhaps my favorite moment of Siobhan’s characterization today was when she went to greet Liam as she heard him coming closer. In that moment, she was so happy, it just spread through to me as I read, and I felt the joy and contentment she must have upon being reunited with her brother.

Also, over this most recent chapter and chapter twenty-three, I found particularly interesting and very human the way you described Siobhan’s thought process about Lucius. She already knows she’s made up her mind, but she is going to hold out as long as her logic can hang on because of pride. I’m inclined to think it’s also a little bit out of caution for her heart again.

It seems almost silly to review anything besides Siobhan’s masterful characterization, but there is a plethora of other things that you just do so well in this story. First, any character you bring into your story has that feeling of reality from the pimply-faced would-be suitor at the party to Greer and Liam. Neither of the Connolly men are given much face time in the story (thus far, anyway), and yet I feel as if I really know who they are because you showcase them so well in the small amount of time they’re there in the narrative. I appreciate that Siobhan brought up Liam/Kelly, and it was interesting to find out that what I read once in a one-shot by you is something that has continued for two years now between them. I love the way your storytelling is so wonderfully woven and complex. You’ve thought of just everything, and it’s evident as you tell the story that you’ve covered all your bases. There are never any holes, which is wonderful. I suppose this is a residual benefit from spending such a long time writing the story, but I think that’s a benefit to the readers, even though we crave updates.

I am eager to see how the scene you’ve just kept us from between Siobhan and Lucius will play out. I cannot say with any certainty that I know how the two will behave, or misbehave, and I love that about this story. I suppose I could make some fair guesses and probably be close with one or two of them, but I don’t feel when I read your stories that they’re formulaic or predictable. Thank you for that. I look forward to the next update – even though I always forget that I’m eager for it. (But maybe that also has to do with me being given enough time to forget. >> Kidding.)

Well doesn't receiving a review from me feel like someone has finally crawled out of a bottomless pit? I don't think I've even logged into this site since 2010, made a brief visit for non-reading purposes in like...2012, but now I find myself here again!

I went back to see when my last review was, and I believe it was 2007 - which is a ridiculous shame! Though... I think that coincides in the time in my life where I started reading less fic to a point, and I think I may even be starting to approach chapters that I've never even read - because your updates were always so gloriously long. Even the past few years as you've sporadically updated, I still get emails with the update notifications, and my thought has always been, "GAH! HOW LOVELY! I WANT TO READ THAT, but it's been far too long, Mar, and you'll have NO RECOLLECTION of where the story is, where it is going, and will not be able to enjoy it as it should be enjoyed..."

But I'm here now, re-reading this fic. I don't know if I ever had a serious intention to read this story again because my life had moved so far away from this site, but I totally happened into this re-adventure. I actually started re-reading a couple of weeks ago, and I read a chapter (or more or less) every night before I go to sleep. And I decided today it was time to see if I could remember my login (it took me four password guesses) and give you what I feel is a much deserved review from me.

Where do I start?!

I suppose with the framework and backstory of Remus and his parents. You started this years before we had answers - some things were revealed in HBP, and more in DH, but then we got the Pottermore backstory for the Lupin family, and I think it's a testament to your discernment of Remus's character and how Jo portrayed him that you were nearly dead-on for setting things up the way you did. Richard Lupin and Lyall Lupin both work with beasts, and although Jo has Hope as a Muggle, you also have that Muggle component in Remus's grandparents. You were very close on the timing of Remus's bite, as well (I don't remember if there was anything definitive except that it was before Hogwarts until the Pottermore piece, but I seriously don't remember - my canon knowledge is a little rusty on that point). I love the way you incorporated Greyback.

Okay, since I said seriously, let's also bow down to your excellent play with the Sirius/serious pun a few chapters ago! You had Peter splutter, "Are you serious?" at Sirius, and then you had him just look at him in such a cheeky way and James immediately move the conversation along so they wouldn't have to endure a comment from the man himself because they've all heard it too many times, and usually they remember not to say "serious" around him ever, but they were in such a passionate discussion that he forgot! Ugh! Perfect!

More about Sirius... The character portrayal over the 40-some chapters I've read in the past month... and this will really go for all four of them, but although he isn't MY Sirius in MY head and when I wrote him, he's spot on here. He's got flaws, but he's got the proper heart and the proper arrogance, and he gets heated and rash, but he's so fiercely protective. It's all perfect. I always get mad at him over things, but they're written precisely as they should be - because sometimes he just did say or do stupid things or have opinions (of Lindi, usually) that I didn't agree with, but never to a point that I didn't understand his reactions or motivations. Bravo.

Two scenes I want to point out in particular in regards to this: Sirius refusing to let Remus think it's okay to share his secret with Lindi at this point and Sirius laying into Lindi after the Hogshead incident when they're in detention together. Initial reactions in both cases are like, "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, SIRIUS?! GTFO!" but then you can't help but let him continue because he's right to say what he says in both cases. Heated, rash, and a bit arrogant, yeah. Absolutely. But wonderfully flawed because it's all motivated by his dogged loyalty. I think it goes against the grain of the heartiest Gryffindors to stay silent when they are passionate about a cause or moral point.

Peter! I love your Peter! I love him because I feel that he's treated so unfairly in the fandom in so many respects, and, honestly, part of this is because Jo (bless her soul) didn't give us a great portrait of him during Snape's Worst Memory - I would say she gave more of a caricature than a true character. I think it's almost the same thing she did with Hufflepuff, giving them a pretty not-glowing portrayal in the books, but where the fandom can come in and fill in the blanks, we have. Peter was. a. Marauder. He was. You give him just enough of that awe/hero-worship aspect of James and Sirius without going overboard, and it's in a way that makes it believable that these four were basically blood brothers for ten years - I firmly believe that Peter wouldn't have been trusted to be the Secret Keeper if he were ONLY the glimpse of him as a teenager that we see in OotP. And you've got these seeds strewn about that underscore his eventual betrayal, like his ability to spin excellent cover stories for their exploits and for Remus's constant monthly disappearances. He's such a great liar that they don't question him before his ultimate betrayal.

OH, LET'S TALK ABOUT JAMES AND LILY NOW, SHALL WE?

I know I for sure never got far enough along in the story to see these two finally get together (and don't spoil it for me if they still have or haven't in the 30-some chapters I still have ahead of me), but the progression is so damn well-played here! It's perfect the way you've used Lily's desire to pull Remus and Lindi together as a bit of a rallying point for Jily. It makes Lily spend more time around James. It makes Lily see some of James' friendship with the other three as well as his strategic ability as they join forces. She's getting to discover the layers, and it's building up in such a perfectly believable way that no one should question its inevitability regardless of it had been canon or not. But you're also not developing the inevitability in an annoying way - it's got enough paving happening without really beating the reader over the head with it - though you do obviously give it more of a nod now and then BECAUSE it is canon.

And James is arrogant, but he's not actually annoying. If all you see is the James-on-display, yeah, that's the James Lily can't stand (and some of the misinformed fandom, tbh), but for us reading this epic saga, those are just the occasional moments of exasperation as we are the silent, observing fifth Marauder.

Okay, that's another point, though I didn't realize it until I just typed it!

I, as the reader, feel like I am basically the fifth Marauder because of how rich this story is. It is a romance, but it's definitely a Marauder Story.

This may be hard to believe because I've been pretty verbose up to this point, but I just can't even talk about your Remus properly!

So you had an Author Note I think at the beginning of this chapter apologizing for this being the third chapter in a row that the majority of the story revolves around Remus's crisis of conscience in telling Lindi his secret. I mean, I get that you would have felt compelled to make the apology when you were updating and people were reading this as chapters came in, not all in succession as I get to now. But now that I AM just reading it, I'm so glad that you stuck to the trueness of Remus's character and how much he WOULD need to think and talk about this right now in the story, especially while he was home. Remus is flawlessly flawed in your story here. He is all the good things he should be, and he's not perfect. He still gets into trouble. You can see in canon how him being a Prefect really didn't do anything to quell what James and Sirius got up to because you show it so believably here - both how James and Sirius went about it and how Remus handled it.

I have maybe a shocking admission that I feel like has been maybe my deep dark secret for ten years, but I'm going to finally tell you that I used to really not like Lindi. I know. How was I so dedicated to this story and yet not like her? Probably because I was head over heels for every single other aspect of this story. But now that I'm reading it all at once, I know why I didn't like her and why I do like her so much today as I write this review. I didn't like her because when I was reading it in publication time, she was "too perfect" or "too" other things, depending on the chapter, for so long. And for a while in the story she's just not all that present, it's all Remus's perception of her for a very long time. But now that I can read it all, I see the realness of her, especially as Remus (and thus, me, the reader) genuinely gets to know her. As I write and explain that, it's almost the same kind of discovery journey Lily has for James, only I don't think Lindi is an arrogant berk, I just thought of her a lot of the way Sirius has thought of her. Which probably has to do with my overprotective feelings for Remus, just like Sirius.

Oh man.

I'm a nutter.

But, for what it's worth, I felt the need to drop in and say, "Hey, I'm reading this again, and I love it, and here's just a handful of reasons why," because also as I'm reading, I'm reading all of your A/Ns again and remembering that not only did I love this story way back in the day, but I also loved and appreciated the author. So allow me to send you copious amounts of electronic chocolate. I still have 30 chapters, but dare I be ridiculous enough to insinuate that if you had any passing fancy to update, I'll be around to actually read it now? Oh, yes, apparently I am ridiculous enough to insinuate that. BUT I CAN'T HELP IT! YOU WROTE THIS FIC TOO WELL FOR ME TO NOT CRAVE MORE OF IT!

Author's Response: OH... MY... GOSH!!!! MAAARRRRR!!!!!!! I can't believe you are here!!! Oh, my gosh! I am so happy to see you. I was just on the forums, PMing Nagini Riddle to see if she would still beta for me, and I was looking at the saved messages in my inbox and sent box, and there were a couple I still have saved from you and I was thinking how I should clear some things out but I couldn't bring myself to delete them. A few months ago, I got an email notification from another of my old readers stating she was deleting her account if I wanted to save her reviews, and I definitely did, so it got me going through all of them. I, of course, came across yours, and it brought back such fond memories. (granted, yours are some of the ones I have copied and saved for posterity! But it was so good to look through them again.) I don't know if you ever had any idea how incredibly happy it made me to know that you, as a Mod, would look for MoB updates, and your reviews just truly would make my day. I will never forget the first time you reviewed and told me about reading the story out of the queue to Roommate over the phone. And that you called MoB THE Remus Story... I have missed you, and now here...this review... Oh, my gosh! I am beaming. A couple of weeks ago, I was lamenting the loss of Buckbeak and then, there she is, and now Mar is back with a prize worthy SPEW review!!! I'm in hog heaven! It feels like the good ol' days! I'm encouraged to keep going...as I facetiously said to Buckbeak, thanks a lot! hahaha.... So yes, I do have a passing fancy to update. Not sure when it will be, since I have to hear back from the beta, and I'm going on vacation next week, so it could be a little while, but it's already been almost 11 years, so... >.< And about reading my A/Ns... thank you, Mar. Truly. I feel the same. I really wish you could know how happy you have made me, now, and in those earlier days. I have loved Remus and writing the story, for the sake of writing his story as I wish it was, but you and some of the others made it just so much fun. Gah...I am really so thrilled to see you after all this time. <3

Here's the long and short of it: I'm a mod right, so I can see all the stories that are in the queue, even though I'm only in charge of validating the ones in the J/L category. However, I always pass through "other pairing" on the list on my way to J/L.

Anyway, I get on last night, and I see that Moments of Bliss is in queue, and I practically die! So I hurry and call up my roommate, aka "Roommate of the Quillster", and we get freaking excited and decide that I'm going to read it to her over the phone (she's still at her house for Christmas break). We were absolutely dying!!! This is entirely one of my favorite stories. It is THE Remus story, outstripping all the others by far. I actually hope that I can portray all the Marauders as well as you do in the MWPP fic I'm working on.

I could hardly read it when Lindi and ... OH! Sadness. My voice was practically quivering with anger and sadness! Anyway. Way way way good, and I actually have a question to ask you, but I'll PM you about it latro. I'm waiting anxiously for the next chapter.

Also, though it's totally killing me that Lindi and Remus aren't together, I realize it's only sixth year. There'd be nothing to look forward to if they were together from now until they graduate, etc... 20/10

Author's Response: That’s it…I’m quitting now before I botch it up!

Author's Response: I can’t get over how nicely my story is being received. So, did you read it before it was out of queue? Is that sort of like having insider information? I do hope you have a one-rate telephone plan as this was my longest chapter yet. I’m so glad you are enjoying it and letting me know. *beams at wonderful review* Thanks for understanding about the Remus/Lindi delay. I sometimes worry that it seems like I’m simply dragging it out to torment, or that I have lost focus, but it really all plays into my grand scheme. *glances around shifty-eyed* I'm sure I don’t need every detail I put in, but I won’t really know what is superfluous until I’ve written the last chapter. At that point, it will be easier to look back and edit. Of course, by then the damage is done, eh? Aw, the advantages of posting only completed fics… But for now, I hope everyone will accept that I’m not writing things just for the sake of entertaining myself, (though that is a huge part of it *grins guiltily*) and I am going somewhere with each installment. I just hope, in the end, it is clear what I was doing. ;-)

Author's Response: Oops, I don't think I said Thank you...Thank you for reviewing!

Such a lovely chapter. I can't tell you how much I love this story. There were a couple of chapters that weren't quite as good as the rest, but the last one and this one are back up to par. One of the things I truly enjoy is how much you cover 'the werewolf' thing. It's a huge part of Remus' life, and you illustrate that so well. I loved WP&P's actions/reactions during 'woodyashagga' - they're so fiercely loyal and protective of their best friend and his hairy status. And a random note...me and two of my friends have taken to a bit of 'woodyashagga' conversationalism whenever we want to talk about your story.

Author's Response: Thank you, electronicquillster, I’m so glad you enjoyed it. I wish they could all be as enjoyable as the very best one, but some chapters just don’t work as well, (or I’m just not consistent enough to make them work, *blush*) Every time I go to hit the submit button, I worry if this will be the chapter that turns off my readers, but I tell myself that hopefully, after sticking with me for this long, you will all keep coming back with the hopes that there is another good one coming if the current one is a disappointment. I imagine most of us have those worries, eh? So thanks for the encouragement, it keeps me going!

I agree that the werewolf thing is central to Remus’ life and character. It is what made him who he is and I just love him so much, I have to explore that. I’m glad you like that aspect of the story. And W,P&P’s relationship to Remus is what makes me like them. From most of the things JKR has actually shown us or about them as teens, sometimes, the fact that wonderful Remus cared for them so much and vice versa, is the only redeeming quality I can find in them (as teenagers of course). They must have been more than the snippets we’ve seen or he wouldn’t have been friends with them.

Woodyashagga conversationalism??? O.o I really want to know what you mean by that. And I love the idea that you actually discuss my story with friends! How flattering. I wish I could be a fly on your wall! :)