So bittersweet, but so beautiful and true as well.
It's not everyday I can read this kind of story, because they bring me down terribly, but yours has touched the matters of memory, loss and aging in the right way, leaving a smile on my face rather than (just) tears. Well-written, sensitive, humorous too. We age, we lose loved ones and beloved things, but that doesn't mean life has to end before it has ended.
Thank you for sharing. You know, I would love to read something more set in this future, be it grandpa!Harry or more portrait conversations.

Very enjoyable! I liked the fancy charm very much :)

Love this! Great extrapolations and character insight! The mature Harry connected to the harry we know from the books by his conversations with the portaits where "he could be a student again". Well thought out! Kudos.

Ouuuch, my heart...

This is just beautiful. You have a definite talent in writing and your amazing characterisations just make it better. It all feels so believable and as painful as the start is with Harry's coping strategies for grief, I just love how this piece ends on a hopeful, heartrending not, a lot like the series itself.

I normally quote favourite parts to chapters, but it's nearly impossible with this (I might as well just read it back to you!). Again, your characterisations really stand out to me. No one is OOC, Snape is dead perfect with his tough love approach and elderly!Neville is adorable with his cheerful - and yet faithful to canon - persona. Interesting touch with Hermione and her Howlers - it made me smile to imagine her aged 101, still doing crazy things and still full of life. I also liked your take on Phineas and McGonagall - you had their seriousness, sarcasm and (in Phineas' case) political correctness done perfectly.

Oh! I'll tell you which bit I like!

[The last frame, hanging back in the corner, held the ageless face of Severus Snape. That familiar, acerbic voice often threw Harry into a frantic state, thinking wildly of where he might have left his Potions homework. Harry and his friends had fought to have that portrait included among the Headmasters. Some days, he dearly wished he hadn't.]

That made me snigger - very well written, and very reminiscent of Harry's schooldays. I loved that bit. The suggestions of how annoying it might be having Snape taking up permanent residence in your office and leaving that to your readers' imagination is clever and fun.

Well done - I'm officially a big fan of your Harry Potter works now!

Byoshi

Siri,

Oh my gosh why I did I never read your HP stories?

I absolutely loved this, the sadness of it was genunie and I think everybody was prefectly in IC (like it's so Hermione to send Harry howler's when he falls into states of despair) I think it was a nice concept to a future Hogwarts and Harry, and incredibly fun to read. Finally Harry is moving on with his life, he can't mourn forever. Nicely done my dear!

Sass

Characterization was great. I particularly enjoyed thinking of Hermioone's Howlers to Harry, trying to keep him engaged in real ongoing life.

Harry's grief was believable, as was his startling at thunder and lightning after having become lost in memories and thought for a bit.

Your descriptions of various settings- where he was, where his children resided, was excellent. You used great word choices, called upon multiple senses, and in so doing evoked images that made complete sense, suiting both his current mood and the mood he associated with that time/place.

I'm glad there was enough of his friends and mentors left in the pictures to enforce Hermione's message. The fact that I am glad certainly indicates that I found them entirely believable.

Good dramatic structure.

Awwww, this was a really adorable story. So sad about Ginny, Ron, and Neville...no wonder Harry is a broken, depressed old man as it were. However, I love the whole conversation with all the photographs, especially Snape, Min, and Neville. The only part I found a little odd was when Harry referred to Min by her first name. I realize that Harry is now an old man, but he does call Dumbledore professor, so I just thought he might do the same with Min out of respect, but that's just my opinion. But, anyway, as usual, Dumbledore is the voice of reason...and Neville too. And in the end, I'm glad Harry decided to go to the party to embrace the ones who are still with him. Wonderful. Well done. I truly enjoyed. Thank you. :)

Oh my gosh. I don't know where to begin. ;asdlkfj;aslk

Sorry. Had to get that out of my system. I guess I'll start with the story idea itself. It's certainly extremely unique; I've never seen anyone attempt such a thing before, and with good reason: the risks in undertaking such a prestigious idea are considerable. However, you pulled it off flawlessly. This is going to my favorites right this very moment.

The mood of the entire piece was constructed so very delicately. It teetered right on the edge of tragic, to be honest, especially in the beginning when Harry was reminiscing over the friends and relatives he'd seen die before him. And yet, you manage to keep it right at the edge of tragic without ever actually crossing over into the depressing, saddening depths. My eyes stayed dry, but my heart was crying instead, which is in truth probably the more intense emotion.

It was done so well. There are little details in the story that make it completely believable, and you've managed to stay away from that dangerous pitfall of over-describing and explaining things that many future-fics often wreck themselves in.

To be honest, I'd never considered that Harry might become Headmaster of Hogwarts after the epilogue showed us he hadn't chosen to become a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, but now that you've brought this to my attention, I'm not sure how I DIDN'T see it happening. This will forever be considered canon in my book.

You're an amazing writer, and I can only hope to become half so talented in my own work.

~Song

That was bittersweet, but so lovely.

Everyone was in character, and there are too many good lines to copy down here.

I can't wait to read more of your work!

Cheers!

I absolutely love the way that you portray old, headmaster Harry. The way that he broods in his old age at the beginning of the story is just how I would imagine him after Ginny died. It's so sad to think of him as the 'last one left' but it really rings true.

The way that the portraits comfort him, each in their own special way, really makes the story ring absolutely wonderfully. Your descriptions really tied the whole story together in a way that I could actually hear the voices of the characters involved. It was just absolutely lovely.

Thanks so much for this! This was really just what I needed right about now.

Cheers!

What an original idea! You do a great job of conveying "Old Harry", sprinkling in moments from his past that brought him to this ripe old age. You capture the characters of all the portraits beautifully as well. When I started reading this story, I didn't consider the fact that Harry's friends - like Ron and Ginny - might have died before him. That was a bit of a sad shock, but certainly made the story more realistic. Very beautifully done. :]

Albus, Minerva, Neville, Harry… Slytherin House must be thoroughly beaten down by now, after a good century and a half of Gryffindor overlordship. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff probably keep quiet as well, but that sort of thing comes more naturally to them. It can’t be easy on the House of Ambition to be held down decade after decade. Well, it doubtless just makes them better at being cunning.

This is absolutely heartbreaking. It's so hard to picture Harry without the people he loves, and in a world that's entirely unfamiliar to him- I especially like the line in which he muses that he wouldn't recognize London anymore. I can fully imagine Hermione getting desperate enough to send Howlers, and I enjoyed that particular aspect as it made for a small smile in the midst of the sadness.

'What was home? It was more than a birthplace. It was more than the place where blood relatives dwelled, as Harry had painful cause to know. Home was the place where a man was taken not at face value, but at his true measure. Where nothing about him was ignored or glossed over, where he could become his most complete self.'

I ADORE this paragraph, and I can easily see 101-year-old Harry thinking it.

And then things suddenly begin to brighten when Harry speaks with the portraits. Of course, in the end they're just 'products of a very fancy charm', and the fact that Harry doesn't ultimately isolate himself with imprints of memories gives a wonderful sense of hope.

'You have to go," Snape said abruptly. "I didn't preserve your life all those times for you to blight it on your own power. If it's uncomfortable for you, think of it as an assignment. Life is your assignment, Potter. Take it from one who didn't truly understand the terms when they were given."'

This seems to sum things up perfectly, and as I'm rambling now I'll end by saying that I really loved this fic and I'm so glad to have had the chance to read it.

And for the second time today I've made my way over to your stories - which is by no means a bad thing! I just loved this. It's so rare to see an old Harry, and I adored yours. Just seeing how everyone had lived and died was oddly fulfilling, for this being fanfiction. Love the idea of Neville being Headmaster. Of course Hermione would send Howlers - and Ginny washing her kids and grandkids mouths out with soap is hilarious! Basically, those little details made it. And even though it definitely reads as complete, if you wanted to do a quick follow-up on the party, which sounds like loads of fun ... *hints*

But, really, I loved this. A definite favorite!

-Crescent

This is a wonderfully bittersweet little story. Though in the books the portraits were both very useful and a comic relief, I like how you portray the downside, the temptation to slip into a false fellowship with dead friends (what desire could be stronger than still being able to see and talk to your dead friends, after all) rather than moving forwards with life.

Thanks for a lovely story!