Oh hey, I remember when this was SOTW and it graduated super-fast, so I didn't feel like I had to review it, lol. But it's been nominated for the RCAs, so now I've got another 'reason' to review it. I've always loved the title, for the record; it seems so dreamy and lovely, so poetic. :D

Opening with Nevelle's love of Herbology works well. It was the first thing he found that he was truly good at, so it's very important to his character. It's a good thing he still likes it, since it's his job now. ;)

The description of his cottage and its surroundings sounds so pleasant, like a comfortable place to live. And I love that his parents can stay with him for the summer! It's beautiful that he wanted to be able to care for his parents, and it's wonderful to see that he's able to do that. :)

The photograph of Nevelle as a baby with his parents is lovely in a “pulling at my heart” sort of way. I think sometimes it's too easy to forget that Nevelle, like Harry, lost his parents after barely a year. They're not dead, but they're not able to care for him, either. This picture is probably one of the last times they were together and happy, when everything was as it should be. Even though he'd have no memory of his parents caring for him, at least he has this photograph to prove that they did, very much.

Oh wow, I guess it really makes sense that magic might freak Nevelle's parents out. Yikes. I hadn't even thought of that, but it's a great detail to include here.

Neville's parents are very much like kids. It's good to see they can enjoy the moonlight; they desrve some happiness.

The struggle Nevelle has trying to decide if he should let his parents go outside makes a lot of sense. He wants them to be happy now, but he wants them to be happy the next day as well. It's very much like the sort of decisions a parent has to make about their children.

I understand Nevelle not wanting his father to damage his favourite photo, but it seems that photo is important to Frank as well. It's really too bad they can't find an easier way to communicate.

The image of Alice spinning in the field of flowers is lovely. It's quite cute that both Nevelle and Frank want to help her up when she falls, but she just wants to stay there and appreciate the flowers up close. :)

I was a bit confused about whatever it was that Frank pulled out of his pocket. If it was the same picture from the photo album, that doesn't seem to make sense, sine Nevelle would have seen him take it.

I do like the ending, how Alice shows Nevelle that he is in fact important to her by giving him a buttercup as she had when he was a baby. Even if he's just important to her because he cares for her, she's trying to show him that she loves him and appreciates him. Very nice.

Wow. This is beautiful. I like how you expanded on Neville's character, and gave him a sort of epilogue to the books (it's been a while since I've read the books, so I don't remember if he got much of a follow-up like some of the other characters). I like how you incorporated his love of herbology and plants to the way he cares for his parents and his family. I liked how Alice held the buttercup in her hand. It's almost like they're communicated through the plants. This whole piece felt very in-character for him, and it makes sense that he would want to be herbology professor at Hogwarts and take care of his parents at home.

Very nicely done. :)

That made me cry. Okay, I didn't actually cry (it takes a LOT do make me really tear up), but wow. The only criticism I have of that story is at the end:

Neville just stared at the buttercup, and only after Alice forced it in his hand and pushed her palm against his comfortingly, could Neville smile and let himself believe that he was important to his parents – even if they didn't realize that he was their child.

I feel like here you could have used a bit more of a show vs. tell technique. Your story could have showed those feelings from Neville with some imagery instead of us reading about his beliefs. I feel like that would have made the entire story more powerful.

But seriously, awesome work!

Wow. This is a beautiful image and I really love it. It's great to see his parents away from St. Mungo's, and the effort Neville puts into taking care of them. One really minor thing I noticed: One time you say "Mum" but the rest are "Mom." Either one works for me, but the inconsistency was just a teeny bit jarring.

Anyway, this is a fantastic piece, and I love the way you use the photograph to bring them together in the present.

A sad, but beautiful story, ending with the re-enactment of the photograph - it means so much on different levels. The buttercup theme was good - the whole thing played through in my head bathed in buttercup yellow.

For critique I could only pick up on a couple of minor points - one is with the British and American English - his mother is referred to as 'Mum' on a couple of occasions and 'Mom' on others - whichever you choose to use, make sure it's consistent.

The other is repetition - not necessarily word repetition but in places you have two and sometimes three consecutive paragraphs starting with 'Neville'.

Other than that, this was a lovely piece and and an enjoyable read.

So yeah, I liked this. I liked it a lot. It was very sweet and touching, in a sort of sad, hopeless way. Very, very emotional and all that stuff.

My own personal favorite part would probably have to be how you incorporated the whole buttercup thing into the fic. It was a very nice touch, and it managed to enhance the story as a whole in a sort of symbolic kind of way. It definitely wouldn't have been as good without it.

As for some critique, I found it to be a bit wordy in a few places. Like, there were some spots where I felt you could trim a word or two and make the sentence sound marginally better. Really, it isn't all that big of an issue (actually, it's more of a non-issue), but yeah.

Anyway, that's about it. Good job on your story, and congrats on hitting the twenty review mark!

This was cute and sweet. I never really looked at Neville's parents in this way before because they were never really present as characters (broken or otherwise) in the books. It was an interesting foray into the slow healing process after the books ended.

I have always been haunted by the image of Neville's mom giving him that gum wrapper in Order of the Phoenix. This is a lovely story that brings that image back and also provides a touching look at Neville grown up with a hard-earned confidence. Thanks for writing this!

This is really, really great. It was poetic, sad, but hopeful at the same time, and I didn't see any spelling/grammar errors. Great work! :)

Nice one-shot you've written here. I am a fan of Harry Potter, but I'm kind of confused by the way that Neville's parents act. I'm guessing that this is cannonical and was explained in one of the books/movies...I've only read four books and saw up to the 6th movie so a little refreshing would be beneficial on my part. Anyway, I spotted no grammatical errors while reading, so nice job on proofreading this before submitting! I loved the way you were able to depict images in my mind that made me enjoy this fic even more! You have a great knack at description, and that is one thing that I love as an author/reader! Once again, this was a beautiful one-shot! :)

This fic is wonderful. It's heart-breaking, because Neville's parents don't even know who he is, but at the same time it's just so sweet. I like how you drew the parallel between Neville's favourite picture and the end of the story, which helps to tie together to overlying theme of the flowers. I also loved your descriptive narrative, the vivid description of the moonlight field and how the flowers glow in the moonlight.

Awww, this was lovely! I love how you used the theme of buttercups when Neville was young...and how you used the theme throughout. It's really sad that Neville felt he didn't have much of a connection with his parents after they'd become ill. But then when he brought them to the field of buttercups, it all seemed to make sense...and there was a shining moment...a bit of hope...a light at the end of the tunnel. This was just amazing! I truly enjoyed it! Well done! :D

If you hear a sound that's me awwing right now.

This was well writen, nicely paced, and so bittersweet. I enjoyed your input on the whole Alice and Frank mind madness thing, I liked how you compared them to children and then followed it up with some child like behaivor. (The innocence, spinning in circles, etc)

Wonderul work!

Wordy, this is really lovely! I have such a soft spot for Neville, yet surprisingly haven't read many fics concerning him /and/ his parents. I really love the imagery of the moonlit cottage here, as well as the nostalgic tone as Neville looks through the photo album. The story is equal parts painful and sweet, which I think is a perfect combination for Neville's relationship with his parents. Anyway, I really liked this. Good job! :]

I really liked this fic, it was lovely and full of feelings… The description of the house and the summer, at the beginning, was really beautifully done. I love the idea of Neville dreaming of having his parents in his home, and yet the way you pictured life with them was very lucid and insightful - his love for them was strong, but there was also a lot of bitterness lurking within, as they couldn't really reciprocate the love he gave them, since they didn't even recognize him… The way he took care of them was sweet and depressing at the same time, as he really had to treat them like children, and they seemed so… lost… The little part about his grandmother was really insightful, when you just plainly stated that she loved Neville's parents so much that there wasn't really any room for anybody else. It was very sad, that simple fact, and Neville's acceptance of it…

I really love the way you used the photo in your story, it was well thought-out, and beautifully done. Your description of it was so sweet, their love for one another and for their son was basically radiating through your words… I love the way you described them in the garden, Alice seemed so carefree, and you pictured the scene so well, the way it slowly became just like the photo, and Neville watched it happen with bated breath… The last line was really beautiful. Great job, I just loved this )