Disclaimer: I would never presume to steal what's not mine, but from what I hear, borrowing is fine. Yet, I fear lawyers, and so should you! Steal my characters and I will come after you!
I had been awake for quite some time before I was able to actually move any part of my body. It was a curious feeling. I suppose that I had been asleep for a very long time, and it was interesting feeling. It was like I was tied down to the bed in the hospital wing, yet I had been able to lift my eyelids enough times to know that I was not.
But, hey, it wasn’t everyday that you were allowed to be lazy, so I didn’t exactly mind not being able to move.
Yet… there was one thing that bothered me. I knew I was in the hospital wing, and had been there for some time. I knew that before that, I had been on my broom. In between these two thoughts, I couldn’t remember squat. So, yes, I was hospitalized, but I didn’t know why. That was somewhat annoying.
I laid there for at least five hours. It had to have been. Well, it was dark when I’d woken up, and it then it slowly got lighter. It was morning. Breakfast sounded good.
My ears began to pick out pieces of conversations from the other side of the curtain that surrounded my bed. I could tell that Madam Pomfrey was upset over something.
“…before, and I’ll tell you again now, she is exhausted. What happened to her was fairly traumatic to her body…”
Someone was grumbling, “But I just… I need to be here when she wakes up, please-”
“I do not think so,” snapped Madam Pomfrey. “You have classes to attend. I have permission for Miss Liles to visit her, and stay with her if needed, but that is only allowed because her family cannot make the trip. Young man, I suggest you head on to class. You can visit Miss Owlsten later. Ah, Miss Liles, there you are.”
Deanne? Was she there to see me? Cool. “Good morning, Madam Pomfrey. Morning, Andran. What are you doing here?”
Whoa, what? Andran? Why did he care if I was alright? Something didn’t add up.
“Trying to see the prisoner,” he grumbled, “but security is too tight.”
“Mr. Audierus!” Madame Pomfrey hissed, “Must I remind you that you are to be getting to class, again?”
He ignored her, “Liles, if she wakes up, will you let me know?”
There was a pause. “Probably. If I remember to,” came her curt reply.
Andran sighed, “Well, that’s better than nothing. I’ll talk to you later.”
There was another pause.
“Madam Pomfrey,” Deanne said quietly, “Why do you even let him in here? I don’t like him trying to see her.”
“Neither do I, dear, but I don’t like you in here much either. She needs to rest peacefully…”
“But I have permission, from both Professor Lovegood and Professor McGonagall.”
“… And I respect that, dear. You have a legitimate reason to be in here, and so does he. I don’t know how he can hurt himself so often, but there is always something for me to treat. Headache, toothache, stomach ache, cuts, bruises… I can’t turn him away.”
“Whatever…” the curtain was moved out of the way, and Deanne emerged into my line of sight. She still didn’t know that I was awake, since I could barely crack my eyes open in the first place, but I could still tell it was her. She sat herself down in a chair beside my bed.
“Good morning, Marti,” she said in a happy but tired way. She thought I was still out of it, but was talking to me softly anyway, “Today is the fourth day you’ve been asleep. Just thought you should know…
“A few of your teachers have excused you from your homework, considering what happened. Well, they’ll still have you make it up, but not until you’re ready. I… I’m sorry, Marti, I wish I understood it better. When you wake up, maybe you’ll be able to tell me what happened. You… as you probably know, you went comatose after that fall from your broom…” her voice dropped to a whisper, “You should have been awake three days ago. Pomfrey says you were traumatized, but how? Oh, I really don’t like you in here, Marti. Life’s dull without you… if I only knew, perhaps there would be something I could do to help. I just wish I knew…”
Now my stomach was really hungry, and I really wanted to move. I felt that perhaps I could move a few things now.
Hee, this might be fun…
“Your guess is… as good as mine… Dee…” I croaked. Man! My throat hurt something awful!
I opened my eyes just in time to see Deanne’s face. She gave a startled yelp and toppled out of her chair.
“Miss Liles!” Madam Pomfrey came marching around the curtain, “Permission or not, I will demand you leave for such puerile behavior!”
I giggled. Well, I tried to giggle. I think I sounded like a toad with hiccups.
“She gave me a fright, Madam Pomfrey,” Deanne breathed from the floor.
“Oh,” the elderly woman said, putting her hands on her hips and frowning at me while I did my best to grin at her. “Best get her medications, then.” And she huffed away.
Deanne peeked over the edge of the bed, her eyes wide, “You’re really awake, then?”
I snorted, “Nope, I’m just sleep-pranking. Of course I am.”
She raised her head up higher and flashed me a smile, “That’s great, Marti. It’s dull as tombs without you.”
“Nice to know I’m good for something,”
Deanne laughed and sat back in her chair. I looked at her for a moment, and then decided I’d waited long enough, and asked, “Deanne, what happened?”
“Beg pardon?” she looked surprised.
“I remember riding Nina,” I started, “and then I remember something happened, but I’m foggy as to what. What put me in here, for four days?”
Deanne turned her head down and stared at her hands, “Okay… Yeah, I suppose you wouldn’t remember it. You were going after the snitch and took a Bludger to the back of the head.”
I raised my eyebrows, “That’s it?”
She shook her head, “Somehow when it hit you, you almost swallowed the snitch. It got lodged in your throat, from what I hear.”
Whoa, that was something. I bet not many could say that. “Really? Hey, didn’t you say you wanted to know what happened, and you wished you knew?”
She waved her hand at me, “That was something else. Weasley told me what happened to you on the field. I saw it. You went blue, and no one knew why you weren’t breathing. It was scary, I… I thought you were going to die.” Her voice had faded to a whisper.
I smiled at her, “But I didn’t. Why?”
She squished her lips together, “Andran. He caught you before you broke your neck after falling off your broom, and… well it was weird. You were twitching all over the place because you couldn’t breathe, and Weasley tried to get to you, but Andran shoved him away and…”
I was getting impatient, “What happened? What did he do?”
She frowned, apologetically, and sighed, “He reached in your mouth and pulled the snitch out. No one knew you had almost swallowed it… the Ravenclaw team was ready to kill him when they saw him putting his fingers in your mouth, but Weasley held them back, and the whole stadium went dead silent and… next thing, the crowd was roaring that Ravenclaw had won, as you had caught the snitch. It was really strange, the whole lot of it.”
“He really did that?” I asked. Deanne nodded. “Wow. So… what do you have against him coming to see me?”
“Oh. You heard that?”
“Yes, Dee, I did.”
“Oh,” she scratched her knee, “Well… I just… I was watching in the stands, as you well know. I just… I have a theory, as crazy as this sounds, that it was a trick so Andran could save you.”
I raised an eyebrow at her, “I’m not following you there,”
She swallowed, “The thing is that… Pearson was the one who hit the Bludger at you. She used her own ankles crossed behind her broom… I think she broke her ankles doing it, and that didn’t make much sense to me. Why would she do that, unless Andran wanted her to, so that he could save you?”
“Um, I don’t know, because she’s evil incarnate, and she hates me?”
Deanne shook her head, “No… well, maybe, but… I guess you had to be there, Marti.”
I shrugged as Madame Pomfrey came back around the corner with a tray of soft “ yet equally yummy looking “ food. Deanne quietly brought me up to speed on the happenings of our dorm mates, and I ate in silence.
I had a lot to think about… and my throat hurt.
*** *** ***
I slumped down onto a couch in the Gryffindor Common Room, still upset with that stinkin’ Deanne Liles. I had just as much right to be there as she did. I had, after all, saved Marti’s life.
Clay sat down opposite of me. He and I hadn’t spoken much since the whole incident on the Pitch, but he and I were on better terms than Zinny and… and well, anyone. A lot of people were angry with her for taking matters into her own hands during the game. In the last four days, after Madame Pomfrey had healed her ankles, she’d spent most of her time in her dorm. I’d barely seen her.
Honestly, I was upset with her for what she’d done, but… okay, one could reason that, yes, Marti was about to catch the snitch, and our beaters were nowhere near the Bludger, and Clay wasn’t close enough to the snitch to catch it herself, so she was only trying to help the team by stopping Marti, even though Chasers aren’t supposed to interfere with the Seekers. On that term, one could also argue that Marti had been a chaser earlier in the game, and perhaps Zinny had made a mistake… Really, there did seem to be legitimately good intentions behind her actions.
But there was extenuating circumstances, meaning that Zinny had done things to hurt Marti before, so even though one could rationalize her actions, I “ and quite a few others “ knew better.
But, Zinny and I had just tried to make things better, right before the game. I felt compelled to be her friend anyway, even though I was half way tempted to ignore her and yell and shout. She was my best friend, and I didn’t want to argue with her anymore. It was too exhausting.
Never the less, I hadn’t had the opportunity. She had found ways to sit alone, eat alone, and spend her free time hidden where I couldn’t find her. It was useless.
Clay seemed to be having severe issues with the whole ordeal. He was hurt that Zinny was suddenly trying to provoke Marti, whom he had somehow befriended. For almost as long as I’d known him, he’d liked Zinny, and I think he was offended that she wasn’t quite living up to the pedestal he’d put her on. And besides, I had the nagging feeling that he was starting to like Marti, and that seemed to confuse him quite a lot.
I couldn’t blame him there. She was confusing.
Clay looked up at me, a silent question in his eyes.
“No, she’s not awake yet,” I answered. “Have you seen Zinny today?”
He shook his head, “No. She’s been in her dorm all morning.”
“Clay,” I started, “There’s a Hogsmead weekend coming up in a week, why don’t you ask Zinny to go with you?”
His eyes widened and he opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish for a few moments. “What? Why?” he finally managed.
I smiled at him, “Hey… I know you like her.”
He frowned at me and got to his feet, “Since when did you get all sensitive, Andran? Even if I did like her, she won’t give me the time of day “ she never has, and never would.”
“Don’t you mean ‘will’?” I asked as he stormed towards the portrait hole, “Never will?”
“I meant,” he drawled in a very un-Clay way, “She never has, and with you around, she never would. But you’re right, with you around, she never will.” And he left the room.
I frowned at him as he left. What had that been all about? Zinny didn’t… she wasn’t…
Whoa, whoa, hold the spell… was he meaning that...
I sat there, trying to think about all the different meanings there could be behind his words.
I think things were starting to get very complicated.
*** *** ***
It had been three days “ no, four “ and I still couldn’t show my face. I only did what seemed logical when things had come down to the wire, and everyone seemed to blame me for her getting what she deserved.
Hey, was it my fault that everyone thinks she’s so adorable? No. And no one was doing anything to stop her! Clay was trying, but she was lighter and he had no chance to catch up with her, not unless he’d been riding a Firebolt, but he wasn’t. The beaters weren’t watching, and I had the opportunity to stop her from catching the snitch. Was I the only player who actually cared about the game? It wasn’t my bloody fault that she shifted at the last and the Bludger hit her in the head instead of the shoulder.
The bloody plan backfired. It was supposed to knock her out of the way, giving time enough either for Clayton to catch the bloody Snitch or for the Snitch to get away again. That was it.
Instead, it knocked Prissy-pants out, gagged her on the Snitch, secured Ravenclaw’s victory turned most people against me, and pretty much isolate me from everyone I really cared about.
It was just too much.
I went to classes as late as I could, so I could always be in the back of the class. I went to meals early, so no one would be there. If someone was there, I’d skip it. Every other moment of my time, sleeping or waking, was in my four poster bed with the curtains drawn close.
I wanted to show the world I didn’t need them. I wanted to be angry. But, after four days, I was starting to get lonely. My dorm mates would try to talk to me, to see if I was alright, but I knew that some of them were against me, so I ignored them.
Loneliness sucks.
So, four days, and I thought perhaps it was time to head down to the Common Room and see if, you know, anything interesting had happened without me.
Everything was quiet. I figured that it was empty “ a rare moment indeed. But a few steps more and I heard some voices. Then it was quiet again. I was about five steps from the bottom when I heard two voices again. One, unmistakably, was Andran’s. The other was… Clay?
“Hey… I know you like her.” That was Andran.
“Since when did you get all sensitive, Andran? Even if I did like her, she won’t give me the time of day “ she never has, and never would.” That was Clay. He really sounded upset. Who were they talking about?
“Don’t you mean ‘will’? Never will?”
“I meant,” Clay snarled, “She never has, and with you around, she never would. But you’re right, with you around, she never will.” I heard him stomp away… I heard some noise from out side, and assumed that he had left the room.
Who had they been talking about? Clay liked someone, obviously, and Andran was trying to get him to ask her out “ I think “ but who was it?
Like I even had to ask. It had to be Marti, Miss Prissy-pants herself. Clay liked her? Gag. He deserved better than that.
I finished my way into the common room, spying Andran in a chair. He looked confused… even a little hurt. I tried to smile, but I couldn’t. If he was hurt over Clay liking someone… alright, so he had been trying to get him to ask her out… but I knew that tactic. That’s something you did when you wanted to know if the person liked someone else or not. It wasn’t the easiest way, especially since that can backfire ten fold, but it works.
If Andran was hurt over that, then there was no way around it. He liked her, too.
I started to say hello, but Andran snapped out of his silence first.
“Zinny!” he said, somewhat sharply. “You’re here “ I mean up… awake… out… how much did you hear of that?”
What was he doing? He was being… awkward around me. Things were getting out of hand, and I didn’t like the direction they were heading, either.
In my heart, I’d always been unhappy with the way things had been between Andy and me; I’d always wanted more. At times, I had wondered if it wasn’t necessarily Andran that I wanted, but just someone, and he was the closest to me and so he’d become the object of my affections… I think in the back of my head, in the last three years at least, I’d toyed with that notion in response to the feelings I had towards him. Slowly, though, I stopped toying with it. Andran was all I had “ no other guy would ever think to look at me and think of me as more than a rough housing boyish kind of girl. Andy was the only one to ever really look at me… I had friends, mind you, but none of them were as close to me as Andy. And, while I had always been too afraid to risk his friendship, our best-friendship, part of me had always held that small bit of hope that he’d wake up one day, and really, really, want me.
Now, I was losing everything. The small hope was gone, and before my very eyes, his friendship seemed to be dissolving. All I’d ever wanted was… dying.
“I heard enough,” I said in a voice that didn’t quite sound like mine. I practically leapt through portrait hole and began to run… half hoping he’d follow me.
I paused before turning around a corner, and watched the portrait hole. Nothing. Sobbing to myself, I made my way towards… I didn’t know where. Anywhere but where I was.
I was such a fool. Why would anyone bother to come after me?
*** *** ***
“Clay! Hi!” I smiled from my bed. Madame Pomfrey had been kind enough to pull back the curtain around me, so I was able to see Clay as he came through the door. “What brings you to the Iron Pen?”
He pulled a face, “The Iron Pen?”
I frowned dramatically and squinted my eyes at him, “Pomfrey runs this place like a prison. Careful, she may not let you escape!”
Clay laughed merrily and took a seat on the empty bed beside me, “I don’t know,” he said with a laugh, “These beds look comfy…”
I snorted, “Try being in one twenty-four-seven. You’d change your tune. But hey, what are you doing here?”
“Thought I’d bring you a get well card,” he said, reaching over to me with a stiff parchment in his hand. He tossed it onto my lap.
“Whoo-hoo, a card… it better make this Iron Pen worth it.” I scooped up the parchment. It was a very stiff piece of parchment, folded in half, with “Owlery” written in blue ink on the front. I looked at Clay.
“How did you know…?”
“Deanne told me,” he said with a soft smile. I hadn’t told him that my nickname was Owlery. For the most part, while that had been what everyone called me back in Salem, here at Hogwarts they called me Marti. I had tried, somewhat, back when Deanne and I first met to get people to call me Owlery, but it never had stuck. Since then, it was more like a secrete name for myself; one I only thought of now and then, or when I remembered Avery. Clay’s card suddenly meant the world to me, and I hadn’t even seen the inside yet.
“Then I gather you made this yourself?”
He nodded, “Hogsmead trip isn’t for a few more weeks, so I had to improvise. Hope you don’t mind.”
I shook my head, “I never buy cards. I always make them… homemade cards are more personal. You can tell how much trouble someone went through to make them.”
I looked down at the parchment and slowly opened it. Inside was a drawing of… me. It was a caricature… a funny little person with big eyes and lots of hair going everywhere. I laughed.
But then, the drawing started to move. Mini-Owlery bounced up and down a few times, her hair going all over, then a small black broom appeared and she hopped on. Mini-Owlery on a mini-Nina made a few loop-de-loops when a gold droopy Snitch appeared and mini-Owlery started chasing it. Mini-Owlery would jump over strange objects, like Bludgers and other players, and then she did a summersault off mini-Nina and landed on the ground, holding the squishy-looking Snitch in her hand and waving it triumphantly. Scrawly words appeared then, saying “Congratulations on your win!”, “Great Flying!”, and “Get Better Soon!” after which the cartoon started to replay.
I was stunned. “Clay,” I said, facing him, “Did you do this? On your own?”
He blushed and smiled, “Yes. Took me a while, else it would have been waiting for you when you woke up, but you gave me plenty of time to finish it.”
I shook my head, still impressed, “I didn’t know you were an artist. This is really good.”
“Not really,” he said quietly, “It’s just something I do when I get bored. That’s all.”
“Well, I love it still the same. Thank you.” I propped it open on the small bed stand that was beside my bed, so the picture could replay and I could see it. It really was funny. “So… what’s happening in the outside world?”
He shrugged and leaned back on the empty bed, “Not much. The biggest things around here are the upcoming Hogsmead weekend and you.”
I snorted, “Me? Ha, you’re joking!”
He shook his head, “Afraid not. Nearly everyone wanted to see you play. The rumors Westman had circulating about your skills were huge, and after the game it would seem that you lived up to them. You impressed quite a few Quidditch fans.”
I rolled my eyes, “Whatever. If they think taking a Bludger to the head and almost choking on the Snitch is impressive, they’re morons. I could have died,” I added, somewhat lazily. I wasn’t trying to get sympathy, I was just frustrated that some students though me almost losing my life was funny. It SO wasn’t.
Clay gave me a sympathetic smile, “Well, you still flew well. I do agree with you, though, in that it wasn’t funny that you almost died. I don’t know what Zinny was trying to do…”
“She was just playing the game, Clay. Quidditch is rough, and while she may have had ulterior motives, I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same if it had come down to the other team’s Seeker and me being the only one near a Bludger.”
Clay went quiet. “You mean that?” he asked after a moment, “You’d launch a Bludger at me, even if you were a Chaser?”
I shrugged, “It’s nothing personal, but I am not responsible for my actions on the Pitch. Westman may think I’m great and headstrong, but I’m more of a loose cannon. I get wrapped up in whatever I do, and… whoa, whoa, what is with that face?”
Clay had suddenly gone quiet and looked sad. His mouth went tight, and he looked like he was upset over something.
“Clay,” I asked softly, “What’s the matter?”
He seemed to think about answering me, but as I watched his face, he seemed to think better of it. “Nothing,” he muttered, “Er, well, the only other thing buzzing about is the Hogsmead weekend.”
Okay, I’d let him play emotional-hermit for now. I’d give him some time to think on it, but if he didn’t get it out sooner than later, I’d dig it out of him. “Yeah… I’ve heard a lot about it, but what is it?”
He instantly lit up, “Oh, it’s great. You get to go into this nearby village, Hogsmead, for the weekend…”
“Um, I sort of figured that much out on my own, Clay.”
He rolled his eyes, “Well, sure, but… look, Hogsmead is wonderful! It is the only all Wizard town in Britain. They have all these shops, like Honeyduke’s Sweetshop and the Three Broomsticks, and they just got a brand new joke shop that everyone’s been talking about.”
“Yeah,” I said, propping myself up on my pillows more, “I heard about it. Everyone’s all excited about that someone named Zonko merged with a Wheezy? Is that it?”
Clay started laughing, almost hysterically, “No, but… that’s close… I think… ahem,” he cleared his throat, “Sorry, well, Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, the largest and most successful Wizard joke shop in London, bought out the joke shop in Hogemead, Zonko’s. I hear that they let Zonko still run it, but they now sell Weasley products there.”
I shook my head, “Wait, you mean Weasley? As in Professor Weasley, our Quidditch instructor?”
“They’re related,” he said, “The two Weasley’s that own Wheezes are Professor Weasley’s brothers, I think. And they’re also related to the Weasley who plays for the Chudley Cannons as seeker. They’re all related, from what I hear.”
I wrinkled my nose, “Cool. So everyone has a good time going there, then?”
He nodded, “Oh, you bet. It’s a lot of fun. I think you’ll like it.”
I smiled to myself, and then had an idea. “Hey, I’ll bet that Deanne, Alice and some of us will just be going to hang out around there. Want to come with us? Or do you Gryffindors have some wild and crazy plans?”
He smiled, back, “Not that I know of… it’s not like we’re Ravenclaws…Hey!” he ducked, but still didn’t dodge the pillow I chucked at him, “I’m kidding! I’m kidding! Really now, if you promise not to throw more things at me, then I’m in.”
*** *** ***
“You’re doing what?” I half-way shouted at Clay when he told me his plans for the Hogsmead trip. “You can’t be serious!”
He gave me an odd look, “Why would I lie? Marti and I and some other friends are just going to have some fun. I promised to show her around with Deanne. Are you feeling alright, Andran?”
I shook my head, furiously, “Okay, no, I don’t think I am. Why didn’t you tell me she was awake?!”
“You’re not her mother, and I’m not her nurse.”
“Clayton!”
“Do you know how girly you are sounding right now, Andy?” he said with a grin.
“Shut it. Look, I’m going to go see her. I’ve been needing to talk with her for days now… dumb comatose girl…” I started to stalk away from him, but he stopped me.
“She’s out.”
“What?”
“Marti’s no longer in the Hospital Wing. Unless you plan to go marching up and into the Ravenclaw’s Girl’s Dormitory, you’re just going to have to wait until you see her in class or something. The Hogsmead trip is still two weeks off, you know. Besides, what were you going to say to her anyway?”
I opened my mouth and closed it. What was I going to say? I felt like I needed to say something, but what? ‘Marti, um, thanks, um, for letting me save you?’ I don’t think so. I opened my mouth a few more times, but still couldn’t figure out what to say.
Clay frowned at me. “That’s what I thought. I suggest you actually think about what you want to say before you talk to her.”
I scowled at him, “You’re not my mother, Clayton. I work out whatever whenever I want to.”
“Yeah, that made sense,” he smiled somewhat slyly at me and headed on his way “ which happened to be towards the Library, “Hope whatever you work out sounds better than that did!”
I glared at him, even after he’d turned a corner and I couldn’t see him anymore. What did he know? And why did I even care? What a moron. I turned around to head back to Gryffindor Tower to get my books, when I ran straight into someone…
And that someone was a lot bigger than me. With a whomp, I landed on my backside, rather winded.
“Whoa, Mr. Audierus, I didn’t see you there! Sorry about that one!”
Professor Weasley, who didn’t look the least affected by it, offered me a hand up. I took it, gratefully. “That’s alright, Professor. I wasn’t watching where I was going, either.”
“I noticed,” he said with a smile.
What was it with people giving me odd smiles???
I frowned at him, “What?”
“It’s a girl, isn’t it? I know it’s none of my business, but that’s what it is, right?”
I looked at my Professor in disbelief. I knew exactly what he was referring to, but how could he know that? And, as I watched him, he seemed to be expecting an answer. I sighed, “Two, actually.”
Professor Weasley leaned backwards and roared with laughter. I was appalled. “Good for you,” he said, lightly punching my arm, “But there’s also a problem, isn’t there? Want to talk about it?”
“Not really.”
He raised an eyebrow at me, “You sure? I bet I could help… when I was close to your age, a girl I fancied told me that I had the emotional range of a teaspoon. I’m pretty sure she kept that opinion of me until I started opening up to her and talking about things. Believe me, it helps.”
I eyed him warily. Not that I didn’t trust him, but I just… well, I wasn’t sure I wanted anyone to know.
“Um, there’s not much to tell. All I know for sure is that I’m losing my mind.”
He nodded, “Girls can make that happen. You ought to talk with Professor Potter. He’s always open to talk to students who have problems, heaven knows he had his share back in school. He knows, even more than me, that they are confusing. Oh…” he looked at his watch, “I’m late for a meeting with McGonagall. If you want to talk later, we can…”
I shook my head, “No thanks, professor. Maybe when I’ve got things at least a bit more organized.”
He smiled at me and started to run off down the hall way. I watched him go for a moment, and then he turned back, “Oh, Mr. Audierus. This may or may not help you, but it worked for me… I kind of call it a quick fix for girls… if you’re stuck and they’ve talked you into a corner, or whatever… kiss her.”
“WHAT?”
“You heard me. Swallow your pride, admit you like her “ or in your case, just pick one “ and kiss her. See you!” And he dashed out of my sight.
Um… I couldn’t…
…
… could I?
Well, there you go! Next chapter should be up soon, as this one has taken so long to get approved that I am almost done with it! It will be the longest chapter yet!!!
So, read and review. Let me know what you think about how the story has changed and all. Thanks!