Oh?
Yes: oh! Seriously, I’m thrilled whenever I hear about any lasting mental images evoked by my writing, and it’ll be a dream come true, if an artist shows such an image to others. But I didn’t dare to suggest more directly that you illustrate a scene in a fic by me, even though our discussion had gone to that direction.

I would have liked to suggest the fic you have in mind: His Face Shines in the Gloom of My Parents’ House (http://www.livejournal.com/users/paulamcg/4940.html). Perhaps because the overall situation in that story is so close to canon that an illustration could work for such HP fans, too, who haven’t heard of my fanfic at all. The setting (in case you are inspired by a backyard scene) is an extrapolation from the interior we see in OotP, but not too far from it. This fic is perhaps the shippiest I’ve written, and jazzypom has said it’s my best story ever. ishonn, too, has been particularly impressed by this fic – and by the line which refers to the moment of your mental image: An arm around my shoulders, only for a moment. And it fills the desert of my mind for unbearable stretches of time.

Now that I read the paragraph in which I narrate the moment of Remus and Sirius sitting on the steps, I’m surprised that Remus doesn’t look at Sirius. From the first word of the paragraph (starting But now when) Remus and I hurry to take the plot forward: he’s now interested in the yard, where he hasn’t bothered to come before; he’s looking around for a spot for an anise cultivation, which is probably a unique scenario in OotP era R/S fic and art. I’d say that you can take as much artistic liberty you want to, so as to show the image in the way it has stayed in your mind.

So you can see I’m more than thrilled, and I hope you’ll have the time! I can make other suggestions later, if you want me to. In my mind I obviously have innumerable images which could be made clearer by an artist, but I suppose you’ll enjoy illustrating what has particularly inspired you, and catching the images the text has evoked in your mind.

It is, first of all, a wonderful surprise that you’ve read His Face Shines in the Gloom of My Parents’ House. I usually get few but extensive comments. However, I appreciate comments of any length, and on any fic, no matter how old it is. Perhaps my inordinately long replies scare some potential commentors off. On the other hand, I’ve just noticed that exceptionally I failed to reply to some further comments on this particular fic last spring (so I’ll enjoy starting to compose my replies now), and I just hope this hasn’t sent any wrong messages.