Harry smiled as he stepped through the giant doors leading into Hogwarts. Despite the insanity that tended to break out at the school, it still felt like his true home. The train ride had taken a shorter time than usual, it had seemed, though most of that was due to the fact that no one had awakened him until they were pulling into Hogsmeade Station. As they had walked to the carriages that brought them up to the school, Harry had brought up the subject of finding a new 'nest,' so to speak. The tower was getting a bit small for them.
The four Ravenclaws filtered into the Great Hall and sat at their usual spots. It still felt like it was only a short time ago that he had first set foot into the room, worries of the Sorting on his mind. A lot had happened since then and he had somehow managed to scrape through. He considered himself very lucky in more ways than one.
"Glad it wasn't raining." Tonks said.
"Yeah. Being drenched wouldn't do." Harry agreed. "Anyway, like I was sayin' - I may go for a late-night stroll tonight or something, since I spent so much time sleeping on the train and all. See if I can't dredge us up a new place to hang out."
"It would be nice to have a bigger area. The Nest was fine and all, but we're getting too big for it." Tonks said.
"I doubt the Map would be any help. And I have a feeling that whatever gets revealed in here tonight will give me a lot to think about..." Harry muttered.
"It can't be that bad." Solieyu said, reasonably. "Dumbledore may be a bit... well, a bit off, but..."
"Yeah, I don't trust the old man too much." Harry said. "Not as much as I probably should, anyway."
"Well, you're a special case. Naturally, you'd be a bit bitter to the man." Solieyu said. "All things considered, you could probably link most of your major injuries and hardships back to him."
"On that note, how does he do that eye thing?" Asked Harry, glancing up at the staff table where Dumbledore was leaning aside to listen to something McGonagall was telling him.
"What, the twinkles?" Tonks asked. "I dunno. Think it has any effect?"
"Effect? Such as?" Harry said. "I never really thought about that. Maybe it has a calming effect on people?"
"Could be." Tonks said. "We should run some tests!"
"How?"
"Ah, I dunno. I'll think of something." Tonks said, waving a dismissive hand. "Oh, and McGonagall's off to retrieve the firsties!"
McGonagall crossed the Great Hall swiftly, returning a few minutes later with a group of small, scared-looking children. Harry let out a chuckle when he saw them. "Were we ever that lit--" He stopped mid-sentence when the last person entered. "Oi..."
Tonks scowled and Solieyu let out a sigh. At the end of the line of first years was a girl that was clearly older than them. Her long, dirty blonde hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and her grey eyes immediately swept the room, coming to a rest when they landed on Harry and his friends.
"Guess we were right with the transfer student guess." Tonks mumbled.
"Great. Looks like you'll hafta watch yourself more than usual, Leon." Harry added, turning to the vampire. "Whatever she's got against you, now that we know she's here..."
"Anyone gonna place bets against her not being Sorted into Slytherin as fast as Malfoy was?" Asked Tonks, glaring at the girl, who offered a smirk in return.
"Maybe Parkinson and her can cancel each other out. Anyone gonna place bets against her not trying to drag Malfoy into a broom closet?" Harry responded.
"As long as she's not in our House - and I can't imagine that she would be - I don't have anything to worry about. You two probably didn't notice it, but she smells odd. I can't figure out in what way, though." Solieyu said, making a face. "I want to say I know what it is, but I'm drawing a blank."
"Rotten apples?" Tonks offered.
"Toilet?" Harry tried.
Solieyu rolled his eyes. "Quiet, you two. The Sorting Hat's up."
And indeed it was. The old, tattered-looking hat had just been placed on a stool in front of the staff table, where a rip in it opened and it proceeded to belt out a song. One of House unity and sticking together in times of hardship. Harry frowned as he listened to it sing, leaning over to Tonks and whispering, "Who pissed in the hat's cereal this morning? Seems a bit morose, doesn't it?"
"Well, it probably gets boring thinking up new songs each year." Tonks whispered back. "And getting stuck on head after head every twelve months. Can't imagine it's a very fun existance."
When the Hat finished its song, McGonagall unrolled a length of parchment and called the first name (Aquinton, Geoffrey) on it. The wide-eyed boy carefully approached the Sorting Hat and placed it on his head. After a good minute of time, with the boy making several faces, the Hat cried out, "HUFFLEPUFF!"
"Messer, Secunda."
"RAVENCLAW!"
"Kilbourne, Franklin."
"SLYTHERIN!"
And so it went. Each of the Houses got an almost even amount of new students, with Hufflepuff reeling in one more than everyone else. And then it was the blonde-haired girl's time. But instead of the Hat immediately yelling out 'SLYTHERIN!' there seemed to be an odd sort of mental debate going on.
"Unexpected turn of events. We don't like unexpected." Harry declared in a whisper.
After a good long time - one that rivalled Harry's own time with the Hat - its mouth appeared again and it called, "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Highly unexpected." Harry said, watching the blonde smile as she headed over to the Gryffindor table. "Somethin' wrong here."
"Oh, stop being paranoid." Tonks said, swatting him on the arm.
"If I'm not paranoid, no one will be." Harry said, grinning slightly. "Besides, after the way she threatened Leon, her getting sorted into Gryffindor's a bit of an oddity, don't you think?"
"I'll talk to Fred and George." Solieyu said, eyes still on the girl. "See if they can rope our other red-scarfed allies into keeping an eye on her."
"Sounds good to me." Harry said. "Now then, next point of business - where the hell's the new Defense professor?"
"Good question." Tonks replied, glancing along the staff table as McGonagall toted the stool and Sorting Hat off.
But the answer to their question would have to wait. After a quick tuck-in declaration from Dumbledore, food appeared along the tables. Harry would have protested in irritation, but his stomach hadn't had any treats during the train ride due to his nap, so it took higher priority. He would have plenty of time to be on-edge - right now, he wanted to inhale a large amount of delicious-looking pasta.
"Uwaa, I'm stuffed..." Tonks said, roughly fifteen minutes later. She leaned back on the bench and held her stomach, which was noticably puffed out. "How come you didn't eat much, Harry?"
"Trust me, I wanted to." Harry replied, scowling. "I'll eat later - I'm not stuffing myself before the old man decides to drop the two bombs on us..."
Solieyu, goblet half raised to his mouth, suddenly went very stiff.
"Leon? What's up?" Harry asked.
"Unnatural smell." Solieyu hissed, his fangs noticably visible. "I've smelled it before..."
"What? When?" Asked Tonks, leaning forward.
"When I was little - it wasn't long after the turn," Solieyu began, his voice extremely quiet so as not to be overheard, "A few Aurors turned up at the house. It--"
But before Solieyu could continue, Dumbledore was on his feet again, smiling. With a wave of his hand, the food and drink all vanished. "Well, now that we're all fed and watered, I have two things I would like to announce! As many of you may have heard, Hogwarts will play host to a special event - one that hasn't been held in a wizard's age, if you'll pardon the saying. This year, Hogwarts will be hosting the Triwizard Tournament!"
An immediate, hushed outbreak of talking filled the room. The headmaster stood silently, waiting patiently for the students to quiet back down. Once they had, he continued, "Our guests - students from wizarding schools Beauxbatons and Durmstrang - will be arriving within the week. I expect you all to be as curteous to them as you would your own family or House members. More will be said on the event as it draws closer. But for now, I'm sure many of you have noticed an empty spot at our staff table. Our new Defense professor had a few things to attend to before settling in, but I am happy to announce that he has finally arrived."
The
doors to the Great Hall slowly opened and an old, grizzled wizard
hobbled his way in. From the sound one of his legs was making, it was
apparent that it was fake. But that wasn't
what was on Harry's mind at the moment. No, he was more interested in
the wizard's face.
or what was left of it. It looked like something had taken a huge bite out of his nose at
one point. And one of the man's eyes was frighteningly blue and rather large. Only when he
had walked into the room a ways did Harry pick up on the fact that it was whirling around
in the socket.
"Mad-Eye Moody." Solieyu hissed, keeping his head down. "Damn the headmaster, what's he thinking?"
"You know that guy?" Harry replied, eyebrows raised.
"He was one of the Aurors who came to ensure I was 'safe,' so to speak..." Solieyu said, glaring at the old wizard. "I don't like him. He's paranoid. Thinks everything is evil and out to get him personally... He stinks of dark magic."
"Dark magic? But if he's an Auror..." Tonks began.
"It's because he's an Auror." Solieyu said, straightening up a bit when Moody had passed by. "Surrounding themselves with it constantly, aren't they? It comes off on them after a long enough time."
"What's with the one eye?" Harry asked.
"Magical." Tonks said. "They're pretty rare and his is a really old model, I think. Looked a lot larger than his real eye, anyway. There's been leaps and bounds in the artificial body part department since he got it, I'd reckon."
"How come I've never heard of that kind of thing?" Harry asked.
"Hogwarts wouldn't have any books on the subject. Madam Pomfrey probably would, but it's more the type of thing St. Mungo's keeps handy. You see ads in the Prophet every now and then, though. And there's usually some large announcement whenever somebody makes a breakthrough." Tonks explained. "I used to bounce the idea of being a mediwitch around in my head a few years ago. Before I met you guys."
"You? A mediwitch? No offense, Nymmy, but... ...Well, alright, I'd rather you be my nurse than that old battleaxe we have now, but that's not the point..." Harry said. He earned a light swat for his efforts.
Once Moody had made his way to the staff table - slowly inspecting every person at it as he went by them - he nodded to Dumbledore. Dumbledore, in turn, faced the students again and announced, "Please welcome Alastor Moody - he will be teaching you Defense Against the Dark Arts this year!"
There was a smattering of applause from around the room, save for the Slytherin table. The older students seemed to be downright spooked of the old man. The first years did too, but for entirely different reasons. Harry didn't blame them - Moody looked like he had just gotten out of a manticore attack.
From there, Dumbledore made his usual announcements about the Forbidden Forest and Filch's notes on the banning of all things fun, the students were officially free to head back to their Houses. As the Prefects lead students towards the proper spots, Harry motioned for his group to head for the Nest.
"Either of you know what the Triwizard Tournament is?" Harry asked, hands in his pockets.
"I've only heard vague things about it." Tonks said. "It's supposed to be pretty dangerous."
"Rings no bells to me." Solieyu said. "I'm more worried about that blasted Auror being on staff. If the hospital wing isn't filled with students who've caused the loon to blast them, it'll be a miracle."
"I dunno if I've ever seen you like this, Leon." Tonks said, turning to the vampire. "You usually get on pretty well with everyone."
"Yeah, well... He turned me into a damned bat, then a wolf, then laughed and told me that I wouldn't have any friends. I'm not going to go and have afternoon TEA with the man!" Solieyu said, a strange glow in his eyes.
"He did what?" Harry exclaimed. "Surely you could've... I dunno, sued the Aurors or something for being treated like that, couldn't you?"
"Dark creature." Solieyu stated, eyes narrow again. "We have very few rights to speak of."
"Go wizarding world." Tonks said in a deadpan cheer. "Let's hear it for equal rights."
"I think... I'm going to go cool down." Solieyu said, coming to a stop. "I don't like being this way... and anger has always built up when I think of Mad-Eye Moody."
"You gonna be okay? Want us to come with?" Harry asked.
"I'll be fine. Need to go see Poppy anyway. She gets angry if I don't check in at the start of term." Solieyu said, turning and raising an arm. "If there's any higher power at all, we won't get Defense as our first class."
"He jinxed it." Tonks whispered once Solieyu was out of sight.
"Yeah. You know... it's really weird seeing him mad. Like actually mad and not faking it like he did with Dudley and his gang..." Harry said, walking again.
"Yeah, it's pretty rare... Hope he doesn't try going after Moody, though." Tonks said, making a face. "That wouldn't do."
"I'm not so worried about Leon as I am about that girl... what was her name, anyway? Did you catch it?" Harry asked.
Tonks closed her eyes and, jabbing a finger into the air, did a remarkable impression of McGongall. "Aethon, Demetra!"
"Demetra, huh?" Harry repeated, hands slipping into his pockets. "Damn it. It's the first day back and three things are already threatening to drive me insane. One, I have a bad feeling about that Triwizard Tournament thing. Two, Moody threw my mental warning alarms off on his own - that he gets to Leon so much only makes it worse. And, of course, that girl."
Tonks patted Harry on the shoulder as the two slipped through the invisible wall and made their way up the spiral stairway. "Poor Harry. Three puzzles at once. So, oh great detective, anything you wanna watch out for?"
Pushing open the trapdoor, Harry smiled briefly as he stepped into the Raven's Nest, the furnishings unchanged since they had left a few months back. Flopping down onto the couch, he ran a hand back through his hair. "Not really." He said. "Too early to start finding pieces to the puzzles. And there's still something bothering me..."
"What?" Tonks asked, sitting next to Harry.
"Dress robes. Surely the Triwizard Tournament wouldn't warrant needing a pair. I know we'll be having 'guests' over, so to speak, but..."
Tonks frowned. "I guess that's true... So four things to wonder about, huh?"
"Fitting, isn't it?" Harry said, leaning his head back and chuckling. "Fourth year, four problems. I hope this doesn't continue. Providing I make it to seventh year, I don't want to have seven issues to deal with."
Tonks bopped Harry on the arm. "Don't talk like that. You know it weirds me out. You'll get by just fine and then... then..."
"Then?"
"I dunno. I haven't really thought about life after school... There anything you wanna be, job-wise?"
Harry tilted his head in thought. What did he want to be? Playing Quidditch professionally would definitely be fun... but then again, he had enough raving fans as it was. The thought of even more made him shudder. But what else did he know? Despite reading a good deal, it rarely covered jobs in the wizarding world. He certainly wasn't the type to want to sit around at a desk job. Even as a Ravenclaw, he would be bored silly.
"I think..." He said after a good deal of silence. "That I might consider becoming an Auror..."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Problem there is that the Ministry is filled with idiots. I'd only go down that path if something came along to fix things up. The Aurors at present aren't exactly on top of their game." Harry said.
"True." Tonks agreed, laying her head over onto Harry's shoulder. "I really dunno what I wanna do..."
"Hair stylist?" Harry suggested, grinning.
"Oh, shut up."
Laughing, Harry slipped an arm around Tonks, his eyes slipping shut. "...Five."
"Eh?"
"Five problems." Harry murmured, a sigh escaping his lips. "Terry."
"Oh, Terry can go bugger a knothole. I don't want to think about him." Tonks said.
"Out of sight, out of mind?"
"Something like that."
Harry nodded, tilting his head so that it lightly rested atop Tonks'. "...Oi."
"Hm?"
"Our new hideout? Gonna have enough room for a bed."
Tonks let out a sleepy giggle. "Our necks are gonna be soooore in the morning."
"Yup."
"We're probably gonna be late."
"Yup."
"You got awfully quiet."
"Sorry." Harry said, smiling. "'Bout to drift off. Oh, hey, I have an idea..."
"What?"
Harry lazily started hissing. After a moment, a muffled reply came from around the middle of his right sleeve. Nudging Tonks, he slipped back into English and explained, "Told him to wake me up somehow once it got light out."
"You sure you wanna do that?" Asked Tonks.
"Boris wouldn't bite me." Harry said. "He'll figure out something."
"If you say so." Tonks mumbled, kicking off her shoes and bringing her legs up onto the couch. "Your arm's gonna fall 'sleep."
"S'okay." Harry said. "S'worth it."
"Night, Harry."
"Night."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Is this what you wanted?"
"It is your doing."
"Shut up."
"Don't like hearing the truth?"
"I said shut up."
"Or what?"
"Or you'll die."
"And then you'd be alone."
"So?"
"You'd go mad."
"Haven't I already?"
Harry rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly, the view of the ruined grounds burned into his eyes. Coiled loosely over his shoulders was Boris, paying more attention to his master than the destruction. The two were up on the highest point of Hogwarts - or at least, what remained of such a place. The rubble had formed a suitable place to sit, though it still bothered Harry that he was basically sitting on the graves of all the former headmasters and headmistresses of the school.
It had only ended a few hours before. Now they sat and stared out across what they had done. The snowy ground was tinged pink from all the blood that had been spilled, and the stench was still noticable even as high up as they were.
The Death Eaters and their Master were gone, yes, but it had been a high price to pay for it. The spell had gone awry, erupting in all directions, unable to tell friend from foe. It didn't care what it ripped asunder. In the end, it had struck Voldemort and torn him, as well. But Harry had remained the only survivor of the massacre.
Numb, he had barely glanced around to find his friends - or what remained of them, anyway - before heading back towards the shattered stone wreck that was once a school. Though clearly on its last legs, the school accomodated Harry as he made his way to the tallest point... what was once barely half the school's height.Ravenclaw Tower was now drifting in pieces out in the lake, a surprise Christmas present from the dragons and their riders. Voldemort had wanted to send a clear message to Harry that the battle would both start and end at the school.
"Now what will you do? It's only a matter of time before outside help arrives." Hissed the snake.
Harry raised his head, hand still covering it. "...What I should have done when I used it."
"And myself?"
"You're free." Harry said, removing the taipan. "Thank you, Boris."
"It isn't possible to save you. What is there to thank me for?"
"Keeping my sanity. If nothing else. Goodbye."
The snake recoiled as the scent of the curse passed over him once more. More instinct than anything else - he had grown to know the spell well in the past day. The flash of light alone was enough to cause him to start.
"For all the good it did you in the end. I'm sorry."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Let the snake wake you up! Brilliant strategy!"
"Shhhhut up!"
"You sure you're alright?"
"I'm FINE. My throat's still sore. I wonder why."
"I simply did what you told me to do. What would you have preferred?" Hissed Boris.
Rubbing his neck, Harry scowled. "Well, I would have preferred you not cutting off the oxygen to my brain!"
"I gotta admit, waking up because you fell off the couch was pretty funny." Tonks said, grinning.
"I'm not very fond of either of you." Harry said, pouting.
"Oh, you're just bitter. C'mon, if we're late to breakfast, I'll never forgive you." Tonks stated, grabbing Harry by the hand and tugging him along faster.
"Hey!"
A few minutes later, and after having met up with Solieyu en route, the trio arrived in the Great Hall. It was still early, and not everyone had arrived yet. Moody, Harry noted, was thankfully late. The man simply didn't settle well with him. In addition, it meant that Solieyu wasn't on edge. Apparently, the vampire had holed himself up in the hospital wing the previous night. How he got Madam Pomfrey to agree was beyond Harry's reasoning.
"Crap, here come the owls!" Tonks cried, covering her food up so it wouldn't get owl matter in it. "Why do they hafta come so early!"
"Isn't that Hedwig?" Solieyu pointed out, glancing up from his goblet.
"Who would be sending me a package with my own owl?" Harry asked, frowning. Once the snowy owl had landed with the rather rectangular package, he stroked her feathers and offered up a bit of bacon for her. "Now what are you doing here, girl? What's that you've brought me?"
"Eww..." Tonks said, once Harry had torn the brown wrapping paper off.
Harry's frown deepened. He was staring down at a book. A very old, very ratty one that looked to be one step removed from falling apart entirely. It seemed to be a general book on Potions, which only further led to Harry's confusion. "Who the hell would send me an ancient book on Potions? Is this some kind of joke from Snape?"
At that very moment, the person in question entered the Great Hall, alongside the headmaster. Halfway into the room, the Potions Master happened to glare Harry's way and, in doing so, caught sight of the item in front of him. His expression immediately changed - paled - for the briefest of moments. Then a fury, unlike any Harry had seen on the man before, overcame him. Fortunately, Dumbledore had put an arm around the man's shoulder and spun him around towards the staff table once more.
On the way up, for Dumbledore seemed to have a death grip on Snape's shoulder so that he couldn't escape, a heated, hushed conversation took place. One that ended with Snape flopping into his usual spot, a look of disgust on his face. The headmaster continued to his spot at the center and sat, glancing only briefly at Harry.
"Leon, you pick up any of that?" Harry asked.
"Not a word of it. Dumbledore must have muted it out somehow." Solieyu said. "...I would reckon a guess that your new book is apparently Snape's, though, judging by his reaction."
Picking the tattered book up, Harry opened it to check. "No mention of Snape in here. Just some bloke calling himself the Half-Blood Prince."
"Could still be him, though, couldn't it?" Tonks asked.
"Wouldn't surprise me. If it isn't his, it belonged to someone very close to him." Harry said, nodding. "And judging from the headmaster cutting Snape off, he probably sent it to me."
"But why?" Tonks asked. "Why send you some old-as-dirt Potions book now? Why not a new one, for that matter?"
"Dunno." Harry said, carefully flipping through a few of the pages. "...Oi. Someone's written all over this thing."
"What's it say?" Asked Solieyu, leaning forward slightly.
"Seems to be commentary about what's written in the book proper." Harry said. "Like he's adding notes and stuff."
Tonks snorted. "Yeah, it's gotta be Snape's. Only that greasy git could think he knew more than someone who wrote a book on potions."
"I'll give it a read tonight." Harry said. "Though I think I should keep it and leave it up in the Nest until I get it memorized. Don't want Snape catching me with it, that's for sure."
"Wanna go tuck it away there now?" Asked Tonks. "He won't be able to trail after you with Dumbledore keeping watch."
"Good idea. Be back soon. If McGonagall comes around with our schedules, get mine from her!" Harry said, getting to his feet and hefting the book under one arm.
As expected, Snape's eyes went wide and he got to his feet. But the headmaster cleared his throat rather loudly, causing the man to freeze, a slow glare forming on his face.
"Oh man, Potions is gonna be HELL." Tonks mumbled. "Snape's gonna fail Harry - and probably both of us - the whole bloody year..."
"Probably. But when does he not?" Solieyu asked, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. "I'm sure he'll try riling Harry up more than usual, though. Gotta watch out for that."
"True." Tonks agreed. "Oh hey. Your girlfriend's here."
"My... what?" Solieyu sputtered, glancing to the side. "...Oh. Her. Not funny."
The long-haired blonde had entered, along with a couple of other Gryffindor fourth years. She looked, to Solieyu, very out of place in Gryffindor's colors. He still got a bad vibe off of her and felt that she would do a lot better in Slytherin.
"Wonderful." Muttered the vampire, turning to drown his irritation in pumpkin juice.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Something wrong?"
"Nothing."
"You've been acting strangely ever since I woke you."
"Nightmare." Harry said. "That's all. Just...different from the usual."
"How so?" Asked Boris.
"Everyone died. Except you."
"How did I survive?"
"I set you down before I killed myself." Harry murmured. "You woke me up right after my body toppled over the edge of where we were sitting."
"I'm glad I woke you up, then."
"So am I." Hissed Harry, a shiver going down his spine. "Promise me something?"
"Yes?"
"If something should happen in the future - I'm just saying - promise you'll try to keep me sane. If, for whatever reason, I decide to surround myself with the Dark Arts, I want you to make sure my mind doesn't go too far off the beaten path." Harry said.
"A heavy promise to make." Boris replied. "I don't like promises. But I will try my best."
"That's good enough for me." Harry said.
"Anything else bothering you?"
"Everything." Harry said, frowning. "Moody, this book, the strange dreams I've been having lately, the Triwizard Tournament and having guests visit the school... it's like Fate looked at the past three years and went 'dump that much on him in a single year and see how he does then' or something. I don't like this setup, Boris. I don't like it at all."
Though Boris picked up on another's scent, he felt it meaningless to pass the information along. His friend was obviously unsettled at the moment. Making him feel as though he were being followed wouldn't be wise. As best he could tell, there was no malicious intent coming from their follower.
"Harry?"
"Huh?"
"You need to relax. You're going to get jumpy."
"...I suppose. But given all that's happened, can you blame me?" Asked Harry.
"Not as such, no. But even so, it isn't good to be so tightly wound. Not at your age. Stop worrying so much. If you'd like, I could talk about my former master until we return to the Great Hall."
"Really? Will you--"
"No."
"Damn."
"What he did was far too strong for the likes of you. I've told you that. I will, however, tell you of his other accomplishments. Especially as some of them led to rather humorous results."
"This isn't going to spoil my appetite, is it?"
"...It may."
"Damn. Okay, tell it anyway. I'm going to go crazy if I don't get a distraction."
And, from somewhere behind them, a glare was sent out. All the person could make out was a bunch of back-and-forth hissing. That was more than a little bothersome. Whatever Potter had left the Hall for, it seemed to have him tense. And, at the very least, that might be used to an advantage.
It was all a matter of time.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Author's Notes: Wow. This was... unexpectedly long as far as hiatus goes. I'm not going to apologize - I've done enough of that on my profile page. For those who don't check there - and shame on you, since I update the status of chapters semi-regularly - the short of it is this: My sleep schedule's muffed up and we've had some family drama. The grandparents were moving out of their house of 20-someodd years to a retirement community so grandma could keep a better eye on grandpa, who's entered into alzheimer's. His short term memory is fried. The move went well and grandpa's doing amazingly well, but it was very stressful and tense for awhile.
In any case, I'll try to make updates more regularly. But until my stupid ass can cement down a good sleep schedule again, it might be problematic. I've had no desire to write lately. It's partly because I've had so much other stuff going on, partly because I don't have any Potterfics or anything to READ, really. I need to hunt for some new ones.
I'm making no promises on when Chapter 09 will appear. Hopefully something will light under my butt again and get me wanting to write more. So check my profile every so often for news. I'll see ya when I see ya.
