Yo and much thanks to all who reviewed this work. Be prepared for the frequency of updates to decline as time progresses. I promise on the graves of everyone who died in HPatDH that as long as everyone is willing for me to continue I shall.
This "chapter" will be much, much shorter than the rest of them since, as the guidelines request, I am not to write chapters completely made of Author's Notes. So I shall begin with one more Note and we'll get about an inch closer to the end. Sorry if this seems to be teasing. I'm not leaving you hanging, I'm just keeping you in suspense.

I'm getting stuck. I had this all planned put in my head, but given my horrible habit of NOT writing down what I have planned out in my head, it's been forgotten. I would really uberappreciate guidance. I know you don't know much yet, but even help with who should speak to our beloved Arty about the circumstances and how he or she should go about doing so would be helpful.

And now, your feature presentation:

Merlin peered through the curtains at the thin crescent hanging in the dark sky. It was late. I'd barely rested, so my sleep-deprived self was yawning every two seconds. We all knew it was time to sleep, it was the execution of that plan that was the source of trouble.

The main question: who was going to sleep where. Merlin offered to sleep on the floor outside his door and let us have the bed, but that bed would barely fit Ela and Dettie. I offered to sleep on the floor beside Merlin, but that was rejected by Merlin. He thought it was a bad idea to leave the two alone. They both protested that if we were to be just on the other side of the door, it wouldn't matter. Eventually we just gave up and just stayed where we were. Merlin sank to the floor at the foot of his bed. Ela, kind soul that she is, tossed him a pillow. He offered to share the pillow with me, so I did. Ela and Dettie had blankets to keep them warm and Merlin and I had a thin linen sheet and each other. It wasn't nearly as comfortable an arrangement as the girls had, but it was comforting all the same. I didn't even need to sing to Dettie for her to fall into deep slumber. Ela soon followed, then Merlin and I. I couldn't tell if it was him or me that slept first, but it didn't matter. I slept a dreamless sleep, knowing that tomorrow would save us from poverty.