I don't think one needs to even commit to any particular concept of an AU. The characterisation is good whatever your definition of AU, so long as you accept it as a romance fic and not a general fic. It's not meant to be a full sixth year fic, it's a self-contained romance focusing on Harry and Romilda's relationship. Harry doesn't abandon his friends, it's simply that we don't see the parts where Harry is with them because that's not the focus of the fic.

Notice, for example, how Harry is still friends with them at the end of the fic.

 

Perhaps. Sudden changes in characterizations just rub me off the wrong way, so I was biased against the story from the beginning. The thing is I actually liked Romilda's character. I generally like protagonists most people find to be unlikable - for instance, in Alexandra Potter, I hoped Alex would continue not giving a fuck about other people's feelings, and was disappointed with the ending. So Romilda's characterization is fine by me - its how everyone reacts to her and how everyone else (especially Harry) are characterized which annoys me. Ginny is suddenly an idiot. Harry is frustratingly passive and no longer minds Slytherins and a long list of other stuff which turns me off from the story.

In the train, he tactlessly blows off Hermione and Ginny's company and purposefully humiliates Ginny for no reason at all. I never got to the end of the story, but I'm thinking I'll give it another go imagining the entire world to be a construction of Romilda's imagination. Its probably the only way I could stomach such blatant, inexplicable OOCness.

 

This is basically why I read it originally. It was an interesting sidetrip in Harry-verse. Not exceptional, but I enjoyed it myself. 4/5

 

This story is X/5, and by that I mean one of the top 5 stories in fandom. Reread, still think there was a but of a crosswires in the writing of Harry and Blaise; read MOAR Romilda and concluded I still don't give a toss.

This is what all Romildas strive to be. And a story that is the DEFINITION of perfect for its own protagonist is deserving much gush. It's actually a better story now than it was years ago, making it a rare pass against the test of time.

Now I have to reread Ambient.

Still don't really forgive it though. I am battered wife of this story. Y WONT U LUV ME LIEK I LIV U.

Vladdy come back. You know I love you. It hurts me to hurt you. Why do you make me hurt you.

I dunno. I'm sorry. I won't make you hurt me again just take me back.

 

I really like this story, for me it's a 5/5.

I love the pureblood society/culture elements presented and like Sesc I would really like a politic fic set in this universe.

I love Romilda character; it was fun to read how she was unapologetically scheming and so arrogant and vain. I also like the fact that it seems to me as if the other characters were the same than in canon but that we saw other facets of their personality. I like that Hermione was called on her actions of cursing Cormac; I always get the impression that it was hypocritically dismissed just because it was her.

The only exception to that (characters staying in character) is Harry I guess. In any case I like how he appreciate Romilda as long as she was honest with him and that he dosn't angst about whether her manipulations are right or not. What I didn't like is that this aspect of his personality is not portrayed in any other way apart from their first conversation.

I also didn't like how it was mentioned that Romilda didn't play any role in the fight against Voldemort. She is 2 years younger than the others, but she still could have been useful for something. Instead I got the impression that she was pushed aside just because she was a love interest. This is only mentioned quickly in the epilogue but it anoyed me a bit. The fic was good but I felt that it ended too quickly. Even if the author only wanted too concentrate on the love story, the epilogue was set after the war ended and I would have been interested in learning more about it.