Previous Updates
Old updates will be listed here or you can check out the mailing list archives.
23 September 2007 - Hello, everyone.
Well, so much for my hope of getting those other fics written before Deathly Hallows came out! Most of those ideas have now, as I feared, been shot. The only idea that wasn't no longer has much of a point to being written as so much of it is now established in canon. I had wanted to do a fic that showed Half-Blood Prince from Severus and Albus' point of view as I had always believed there was more to the events that transpired than Harry suspected. Most of the scenes that I'd planned to write, though, were shown, at least partially, in Severus' memories in book 7.
Anyway, here is the second of the fics that I wrote before Half-Blood Prince came out and got published in the multifandom fanzine Millennium. It is definitely my favorite of the short fics I've written for this fandom.
Lamia: Shocking Albus is about one of Albus' staff proving that even the renown Headmaster of Hogwarts can be caught completely off guard when they choose to reveal an important and shocking secret to him.
5 June 2007 - Hello, everyone.
Here I am with another fic update! I'm hoping to add several pieces of fan fiction to the Fan Fiction section in the upcoming month as I've got a few story ideas I want to get done before the next book comes out and ruins them. Plus I've also got two fics that were written before and that I can finally post online now (they appeared in a fanzine first so I wasn't allowed to post them on the net then).
So, here is the first of those two fics. It is a bit different from my usual style and was written in one night, put aside and then forgotten about for nearly a year when I stumbled across it again in my folder labyrinth! Basically it was written after I'd read one too many fics bashing Severus and this idea hit me and just came rushing out. I'm pretty sure that people will either love it or hate it, so I'm steeling myself for the potential consequences :).
The fic is called The Most Unlikely of Endings and is about Hogwarts, which has survived countless centuries and even the attack by Voldemort and his Death Eaters (this fic was written before Half-Blood Prince), only to fall to the most unlikely of enemies: itself.
20 May 2007 - Hello, everyone.
Welcome to Fire & Ice's new home. I moved the site because after my last update it became obvious that Fire & Ice had outgrown the ability to be hosted on a free account when it exceeded the alotted bandwidth several times. Therefore I have moved the site onto a paid account. With this move come several new things:
First off, as you saw surfing in, the site now has a proper Index page. Secondly, as you may already have noticed, there is a PayPal/credit card donation button in the 'Other' table under the 'Site Navigation' table to the right. This is my current solution to meeting the cost of a paid account as I would rather avoid resorting to adding ads back to the site. I figured I'd try this route first and see what happens. Any money donated will only be used to meet the costs of the site and not for anything else.
Next, I have used the additional space I now have to make a few changes that I've been thinking of doing for a while now. I have created a Site section into which the Awards section has been moved and which also has such new features as the Site History and a Webmistress page.
This update also adds two new things to the Fan Fiction section. The first is the next and long awaited chapter of Echoes. It is chapter ten, entitled To Lie or Not to Lie?, and comes in at 29 pages! I hope that you like it.
The second new Fan Fiction item is that my Severus fic The Colour of Water was voted the best fic in all three of the categories it was entered into in the second round of the Phoenix Feather Competition! These categories were Completed Historical Fic, Completed Short Story and Completed General Fic. One of the group members made gorgeous award pictures which have now been added to the fic. I'd like to thank anyone who participated in the competition, I'm really honored!
In addition to all of this, I'd like to thank whoever voted in the Hogwarts Magic Awards as "Fire & Ice" was voted third place for Best Fan Fiction site against some pretty stiff competition. I'm really honored that you guys like my stories so much! The award has been added to the Awards section.
1 April 2007 - Hello, everyone and happy April Fool's!
First off, I'd like to apologize for disappearing from this fandom for so long. I graduated from college last year and have since been quite busy looking for a job and that ate up almost all of my free time. But now that I have found one, I once more have free time to spend on fannish activities and I fully intend to write again.
Today I have two new additions to the Art Gallery for you. Both are illustrations for Echoes from the Past, the first a photo I took while passing through London and the second a drawing made by Wooster, a reader of the fic.
This day is also the birthday of our favorite twins, Fred and George Weasley!
Fire & Ice is now participating in the third season of the Hogwarts Magic Awards so if you like the site, please go vote for it when the time comes!
Recently I have also been drawn into a new fandom, namely that of the FBI/math TV show Numb3rs, and I have just started writing fan fiction for it. Therefore I have created a new site called 3695 (read: three six nine five) to host all my N3 fic and anything else related to that fandom. Please let me know what you think of it if you check it out.
6 October 2006 - Hello, everyone.
This update is almost entirely an art update. A while back I was quite suddenly drawn into the blend making craze and entered several challenges hosted on blend sites. As a result, I created several blends and some wallpapers. All of them have now been added to the Art Gallery for your viewing pleasure.
My personal favorites are the Lily/Severus manipulation Forevermore..., the manipulated Last Request and the Severus blends Darker Chambers, Darker Secrets. Please let me know (valeriev84@hotmail.com) what you think of them!
A few new cookies for Echoes from the Past have been added to mailing list archives for anyone who wants to read it. A cookie challenge has also been issued by a list member.
Two new links to interesting and information rich sites have been added to the Floo network.
I know this next isn't Harry Potter related, but as a huge Stargate: SG-1 fan, I simply must do what I can for the campaign. If you love the series and don't want to see it die, visit the site below!
26 August 2006 - Hello, everyone.
This update has something which a lot of you have been waiting quite a while for; namely the ninth chapter of Echoes from the Past. It is called Homeward Bound and gets us away from the Dursleys at last.
The Art Gallery has also been updated with the new photo manipulation I created for the site's mailing list home and a button I created for the Harry Potter romance fanlisting Yule Ball.
I have also added a new fic to the list of "Stories Still To Come" on the Fan Fiction page as I hope to be done with it soon.
Finally, a new link to an interesting site has been added to the Floo network.
June 24, 2006 - Hello, everyone.
A wonderful new illustration has been added to the Art Gallery. It is a piece I came across online that happens to really fit a description I gave of a photo of Severus in Echoes from the Past and Lisa Rourke was gracious enough to let me post it as an incidental illustration. Check it out and let Lisa know what you think!
As you've probably noticed, I've altered the color of the background in this and all other tables. Its been toned down a little to a duller green than before. When I originally chose the colors they looked great on my computer and on my father's laptop. Since then, however, it has been brought to my attention that the green appeared very bright on some screens, making it difficult on the eyes. I hope that this problem has now been fixed, but if not, let me know! I was completely unaware of the trouble before until someone mentioned something. I knew not everyone liked the colors, but I didn't know it was because of difficulties reading, I thought it was just the color combination. So, please, tell me if the colors make it difficult to read as there are differences between computers despite the fact that the colors should be the same everywhere!
Since the last update, "Fire & Ice" has won three new awards, two from the second season of the Spinner's End Awards and one from Hogwarts Magic Awards. All three awards have been added to the Awards section. I have also joined two new award seasons which rely on voting to determine the winners, so if you like the site, check them out.
I've added eight more links to awesome sites to the Floo network so go check them out when you're done here. I've also joined a new fanlisting and done a new sorting, both of which have been added to the Odds & Ends page.
March 14, 2006 - Hello, everyone.
A new fic has been added to the Fan Fiction section of the site. It is called The Colour of Water and was written in response to a writers' duel over at Harry Potter Fan Fiction. Held in honor of their fifth anniversary, there were three different categories to choose from. I chose to respond to the Magical Inventors one where a canon character had to create a spell, hex, potion or charm that changed the Wizarding World. My story revolves around the creation of Veritaserum by Severus Snape. The story won third place and is a part of the fic compilation Looking Beyond the Beginning hosted on their site, which consists of the top twelve fics from across the three categories.
While we are talking about fics, I would like to inform anyone not on the "Fire & Ice" mailing list that two people have written cookies for Echoes from the Past and one artist has also drawn what we are calling a 'cookies 'n' cream' comic. For those of you who don't know, a cookie is a fic based on a fic, so here two people submitted awesome ficlets of how Harry might go about telling Severus the truth in my Echoes from the Past universe. Similarly, an artist has drawn a short comic of a scene that could arise in one of Harry's potions classes in this universe. Although I may later post some of these on the site here, they are currently housed only in the files section of the mailing list.
Also, voting is now happening at the Hogwarts Magic Awards, so if you like "Fire & Ice" please go vote. "Fire & Ice" won three awards at the Seeker Awards and two at the Priori Incantatem Awards. All have been added to the Awards section.
I've added four more links to great sites to the Floo network so go check them out when you're done here.
February 5, 2006 - Hello, everyone. The comic I promised with the last big update has now been added to the Art Gallery. Sorry for the delay, but it was unavoidable and I only just received it today. Let tallydragon know what you think of it so that we can get some more! :)
I have also finished and formatted the eighth chapter of Echoes from the Past, namely Mystic Alley. This chapter contains a lot of details that will not only return later on in the story, but be pretty important too. Can you guess what they are? Let me know what you think of the chapter, please? Please?
Also, voting is now happening at the HP Charm Awards, so if you like "Fire & Ice" please go vote. I'd like to thank everyone who voted at the Magical Awards last season as the site won the Best Fan Site award and came in second for six other categories! In addition, "Fire & Ice" has also won three awards, bringing the total new awards up to ten with this update! All have been added to the Awards section.
I've added some more links to great sites to the Floo section so go check them out when you're done here. The Odds & Ends page has a new little item as well.
On a more personal note, I've been selected the 'fan of the year' over at HP Earth after winning their latest contest. There were a lot of questions relating to the books, movies, DVDs and online fandom involved in the process but I managed to answer most of them!
January 9, 2006 - Happy Birthday, Severus!
December 29, 2005 - Hello, I hope everyone had good holidays, whatever they may be. Today marks "Fire & Ice's" first anniversary! My good friend, Tallymark, has created a gorgeous comic of Severus and Harry in honor of this occasion but she had some difficulties sending it to me on time, therefore it is not yet available as of this moment. However, as soon as she gets it to me, I shall post it as the temporary main page of the site and it shall remain there for a week or two, after which it shall appear only in the Art Gallery. Check back later for it and then let her know what you think of it so that we can get some more!
Several months ago, all three of my Harry Potter fics were entered into the Phoenix Feather Competition. The results came in a few weeks ago and, apparently, they swept the awards. Echoes from the Past in particular did so, winning 6 of the 12 categories, every single one it was nominated in (best overall, best angst, best novel length, best romance, best AU & best general). Spinner's End and Marauders Unveiled won 2 (best short story & best mystical) and 1 (best humor) award, respectively. I'd like to thank the organizers of the competition as well as all of the judges, I'm honored you liked my work so much!
On the topic of Echoes from the Past, I have created a banner for the story which can now be found on any page related to the story as well as in the Art Gallery. Please let me know what you think of it!
Also, as you may have noticed, I have completely revamped the Links page and renamed it the Floo. It has now been subdivided into separate pages both to make it easier to load and to make it easier to find particular links. The links are now sorted into several categories such as fic sites, general sites, art sites, ... . I have also added a ton of new links to wonderful sites so go check them out when you're done here.
"Fire & Ice" has also won a new award and been named the site of the month over at The Daniel Radcliffe Pages. Both have been added to the Awards section. The Odds & Ends page has been reorganized and several new features have been added. One of them is related to Half-Blood Prince so don't visit the site if you haven't read or finished the book.
I have also, unfortunately, needed to push back the date as to when the two other fics listed on the Fan Fiction page will appear online. I know I originally promised a year after the end of 2005, but it seems the zine won't be printed until May 2006 so I can't post the fics until May 2007. Sorry.
If you take a peek at the counter found at the bottom of the page, you'll see that since the last update, the site has had its 1000th visitor! I'd like to thank all of you for making "Fire & Ice" such a success. I really appreciate it!
October 31, 2005 - Hello and Happy Halloween!
This holiday is one of my favorites and, since it's also so important in the Harry Potter universe, I've added a java treat to the site. As you can see, the main page is currently home to a colony of ghost bats. For those of you who may have come to the site when I was uploading the pages, you may have seen that I promised more bats on two of the other pages. Unfortunately, while they worked on my computer, something about the java of the geocities ads interfered with it and I don't know enough java to fix the problem. If anyone could help me with the code, I'd really appreciate it. You can contact me at valeriev84@hotmail.com.
As for the Links page, I have added a new link to Slytherin-net, a really good Slytherin website. I also took down the two new links I added last time as, apparently, their host went down the day after I posted them!
And finally, in anticipation of the Harry Potter and Goblet of Fire movie, of the champions...
September 10, 2005 - Hello, I've added a few new things to the site including a new section, the Art Gallery. It is where, naturally, I shall be posting any art that I make (which will probably only be photo manipulations!) and any illustrations for my fics. At the moment there are only three of my own pieces there (an illustration for the seventh chapter of Echoes from the Past, a button I created for Ephmeral, and a piece I created for the mailing list home) and a link to a picture of Zera, but hopefully that will change in time. Any comments would be most welcome.
This site was also chosen as the site of month over at Hoggy Warty Hogwarts for July and the award will be added to the Awards page as soon as I receive it. The season at three of the awards sites has ended and "Fire & Ice" won four awards in the Magical Awards (first place in best site name, best fan site, best webmaster, and best overall!), three in the Muggle Choice Awards (second place in best intermediate site, and third place in both best webmaster and best site name), and none in the Magical Three Awards. Thanks to everyone who voted for the site. I have been nominated in the next season at each of the sites and am now also nominated in the Dark Emma Awards, the Silver Star Awards, the Hoggy Warty Hogwarts Awards, and the Wizard Fire Awards.
I have also added a new button to the Odds & Ends section. However, I strongly recommend that if you haven't read or finished Half-Blood Prince that you don't go to the site the button links to as it is one big spoiler!
I have added Links to two new sites, namely Hoggy Warty Hogwarts and Dumbledore's Army. And of course I made some background changes to make everything run smoother. If you notice anything wrong with the site, like broken links, please let me know at valeriev84@hotmail.com so that I can fix it. Thanks.
Remember, there is now a mailing list for this site and anything posted on it. So if you're interested in being informed when the site is updated, want to discuss the fics, or want to learn what I have planned for some of them, please join. We'd love to have you.
July 18, 2005 - Hey, just a quick addition. I am now also nominated at the Muggle Choice Awards.
July 13, 2005 - Hello, I've finally got the update that people have been waiting for, I've got the next chapter of "Echoes of the Past," namely "Golden Memories of Yesteryear." Sorry that it's taken me so long, however it is the longest chapter to date at over 30 pages! Please tell me what you think of it and I will get the next chapter up as soon as I can. I have also made a few changes to the story notes of this fic as I changed some of the symbols I use.
I also attempted to enter another fiction contest. Although I missed the deadline due to some confusion at the site, I finished the story and have posted it to the archive. I will warn you, you need to read the author's note I posted that explains the guidelines of the contest in order to understand it as we were required to write a chapter from Half-Blood Prince based on what Rowling has stated we will learn in the sixth book. The fic does not contain spoilers as I try to remain as spoiler free as possible, it is simply an idea I came up with after reading the title of the second chapter and some of the questions we're supposed to get answers to. Hence I give you Spinner's End: My Chapter Two. Again, feedback would be greatly appreciated.
In addition, this site is now also a nominee in various categories at the Magical Three Awards and the Magical Awards. The really nice thing about these awards is that there is a visitor's choice award that allows people who go to the site to vote for their favorite from among the nominees. I have also added two new Links to great sites, namely the Art Dungeon.Net and Ayne's Harry Potter Gallery. And I've also updated the Odds & Ends page with a new item.
All of the Webrings are now active, but I've discovered that if you arrive at this site via a webring that you will only see that ring displayed and that you'll need to click the link below it to view the other rings. I have no idea why this occurs and if anyone knows how to correct this problem, please let me know. And, finally, I have also made a few background changes to allow everything to run smoother.
Remember, there is now a mailing list for this site and anything posted on it. If you're interested in joining, just go to this page.
May 26, 2005 - Hello, I know its been a while since my last update, but when I finally had the time to update was just when my laptop started acting up and I was forced to get a new one. Luckily I didn't loose any of the site files, but it took up my free time then.
The good news is that I have posted a new story, namely "Marauders Unveiled." It is a Fred and George story that I wrote for a fan fiction challenge (my story was a finalist!) posted at Harry Potter Fan Fiction. Please tell me what you think of it as I am not used to writing about the twins and I'd love any feedback! I have also added another story to the list of stories still to come, namely "Lamia: Shocking Albus," which will be appearing in the next issue of Millennium along with "The Most Unlikely of Endings."
I've also added a new section, namely the Awards page, as this site has already won two awards. Thanks, I'm really honored! I've also updated the Odds & Ends page with a few new fanlistings, cliques, and other stuff, and I've added two new Links to fantastics sites (Potions and Snitches and LizArt) and cleaned up the Webrings page.
I have also started a mailing list for the site and anything posted on it. If you're interested in joining, just go to this page.
December 29, 2004 - Hello everyone. My name is Valerie Vancollie and "Fire & Ice" is my site where I shall post all of my Harry Potter fanfiction along with any links, information, or anything else pertaining to the series. Although I may write about any and all of the characters, there will be a strong focus on Severus Snape and/or Harry Potter as those are my favorite characters. That does not mean others won't appear as what would Harry Potter be without Hermione, Lily, Ron, Dumbledore, Lupin, Draco, Lucius, and all the others?
At the present there is only one story up, namely "Echoes from the Past," which is a work in progress, but more are on the way. Since I like fanzines, I post my fics there first before they become available online (go to Fanzines if you don't know what they are). They will, however, all appear online as soon as I am allowed to post them. If you have any thoughts, comments, or suggestions about my fics, the site in general, or anything in particular, don't hesitate to e-mail me at: valeriev84@hotmail.com.
