Chapter 8: Sakura and the Ominous Sign
The coldness of Ravenclaw Tower surrounded Sakura. It made it an extra luxury to hide under her warm blankets for just a bit longer, embraced by her comfortable blankets. Winter was still months away, but the recent weather in Scotland could have convinced her that it was the middle of February already. It was so tempting to just spend the whole day in bed.
As her brain woke up, Sakura's mood commensurately fouled. She quickly remembered the facts of reality, including all of her worries and all of the things she needed to do. Foremost of those was her decision to Professor Snape. It was long overdue, but she wasn't looking forward to officially telling him. It weighed heavily on her mind.
There was a resplendent Halloween celebration planned for the evening, but if anything that only made things worse. It meant that she wouldn't be able to have dinner with Syaoran today. Breakfast and lunch would have to suffice.
All together, it had the makings of being a very important yet very dismal day.
"Hey Sakura. W..where are you headed?" Anthony asked her as she was heading out the door of the Ravenclaw common room.
"I'm going to Professor Snape's office," Sakura asked.
"That goes by the library, right?" Anthony asked, looking distinctly nervous for some odd reason. "D..do you mind if.. if I come with you? There's something I.. I want to talk to you. About."
"Sure," Sakura answered. She wondered about the stammering.
The familiar path towards the library was well known to everybody in the house. It only took a couple of minutes to walk there.
"Is everything okay?" Sakura asked as they neared the library. Anthony had been quiet throughout the walk, and he seemed troubled by something.
"Yeah," Anthony said back. He didn't elaborate for a few seconds. He then abruptly cut in, "Sakura, I was wondering. You know. What do you think... I mean... do you have anything planned tomorrow?"
"Not really," Sakura answered. She didn't have anything special planned; just whatever she and Syaoran and anybody else who wanted to join decided to do.
"Do you want to... I don't know... play some cards or something?" Anthony offered.
"Sure. That might be fun," Sakura said. "I'll ask Syaoran-kun what he thinks. And Gloria and Lisa. She can get Wayne."
"No. I meant just the two of us," Anthony said.
"Just us two?" Sakura asked. She didn't get it. Cards were more fun if there were more people.
"Yeah. I was thinking... I was wondering... if you ever..." Anthony started. Before he could finish, a large crowd appeared from the direction of the library. Anthony trailed off, looking both somewhat disappointed and somewhat relieved.
In the lead of the diverse crowd was Syaoran. He had his sword out and looked ready to decapitate somebody with it. Behind him were students from all of the houses. The majority of them were from Slytherin, not that Sakura really recognized any of them besides Giles and Roger. However, there were numerous Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw colors in the mix as well. Most conspicuous among them to Sakura's eyes were Gloria, Wayne, and Lisa.
Sakura glanced back towards Anthony, but it seemed like whatever he had been trying to say was now over. She put it out of her mind and ran forward to get closer to Syaoran. She called out, "Syaoran-kun!"
"Hey," Syaoran called out. His voice tried to be welcoming, but it carried a heavy tone of anger.
"Hoe? What's wrong?" Sakura asked. Hopefully Syaoran wasn't upset at her for some reason. She thought back. Had she done something wrong?
"Peeves stole my wand," Syaoran said, getting visibly angrier. "I'm going to get it back and deal with him once and for all. Back in Hong Kong, we know how to deal with pesky spirits."
"Ehhh?" the familiar voice of one of the Weasley twins remarked. It was as if he had come of nowhere. He appeared right next to Syaoran and Sakura. He was carrying a large and lumpy sack. "What do we have here?"
"George!" Gloria called out, pointing at him.
"Fred," the other twin said, sending a sidelong glance towards Gloria over the large box he carried, "didn't you hear? It seems like this little firstie's going to show Peeves who's boss."
"I did hear," Fred answered back. In a stage whisper he went on, "Look at that sword. Wicked. Think he's going try to cut him up?"
"It should be entertaining, no matter what happens," George whispered back. Then in a more normal voice he said, "Good luck, little Slytherin."
"You're going to need it," Fred added as an aside.
"Whatever," Syaoran said in response to the twins' antics. He turned back to Sakura and said, "Sorry, but I should get going. I want to find Peeves before dinner."
"That's okay. Good luck. Let me know what happens," Sakura said. She wanted to go too, but she knew there was no chance of Syaoran actually being able to confront Peeves if she were around.
"I will," Syaoran assured her. He walked past. The large group followed just behind. The two Weasley twins abandoned whatever plans they had in mind and followed Syaoran too, as did Anthony.
Now bereft of company, Sakura continued on her path towards Professor Snape's office. Due to the Halloween celebration she was sure he would be around despite it being the weekend. He had groused about it in class at some point.
Sakura dodged through a side passage between two classrooms as a shortcut and made fast time to Professor Snape's room. The door there ajar, but she knocked on it anyway to politely inform him of her arrival as she poked her head in. Inside, Professor Snape sat at his desk. A large stack of scrolls were piled on both sides of him.
Professor Snape looked up at Sakura's knock. He then put his quill down and said, "Kinomoto. Come in. What can I do for you?"
"Professor Snape?" Sakura started, not quite sure how she wanted to say what she wanted to say. "I was thinking about your offer. To help teach me about Potions."
"What's your decision?" Professor Snape asked, cutting straight to the point.
"Yes. That is... Well... I'm very flattered... but I don't think I can do it," Sakura said.
Professor Snape's mouth took on quite an interesting look at that. It was either a frown which wanted to be a scowl or a scowl which wanted to be a frown. Whichever one it was, it wasn't very flattering.
"And why's that?" Professor Snape asked. Accused? Something. It was certainly in a terse voice, and it intimidated Sakura.
"I'm very flattered, but the thing is... I don't think I have the time to. I have a lot of things going on right now, and I don't think I have the time to really spend on this," Sakura repeated. She realized she was babbling from her nerves.
"I see," Professor Snape said. He then took a long sigh. "I'm disappointed. Rarely have I met somebody with your sheer potential, but at least realize exactly how daunting Potions is. Entering into the field with anything less than your full commitment is doomed to failure." Professor Snape pursed his lips. "There are still six years before you graduate. If your situation changes I trust you will let me know."
"Yes, sir," Sakura said.
"And you will pursue a N.E.W.T. in Potions," Professor Snape commanded more than asked.
"Yes, sir," Sakura said.
"Very well," Professor Snape said. "Was there anything else you wanted to speak to me about?"
"No, sir," Sakura said. She was eager to get out of the suddenly stifling office. "Happy Halloween."
"Yourself as well," Professor Snape said back.
Once out of Professor Snape's office, Sakura took a deep sigh. She was a bit disappointed in her decision, but she really did have too much going on already. Between spending time with Syaoran, experimenting with her skates, socializing with Kaho and Grey Lady and the others, her occasional exploration or other adventure with Gloria, and her constant studying; Sakura really didn't think she had time to do any serious studies with Professor Snape. It was such a contrast from her first year. It was amazing how much having her boyfriend around changed things.
That naturally led her to her next point to tackle for the day. Given the free day, normally there would be some form of indecision about which of the multitude of things she wanted to do that she would do. However, Syaoran was off trying to find Peeves, and he had taken all of Sakura's closer friends with him. That severely limited her options. She could have tea with Kaho, pass the time with Grey Lady, continue to fruitlessly experiment with her skates without the benefit of Syaoran's presence, or study. Given how Professor Sprout had given a less-than-subtle hint that it might be valuable to brush up on shrivelfig growth patterns, Sakura's decision was obvious. There were a few other plants she wanted to study up on as well.
Sakura kept to the main corridors as she made her way back to Ravenclaw Tower. The fact it was a Saturday meant there was no particular rush for anything she was doing. She just enjoyed the general ambiance of the Halloween day. Random groups of students were wandering the halls and doing whatever they were doing on the day off. The entire castle was drenched in a festive mood.
The knocker at Ravenclaw Tower posed a devious math puzzle which took Sakura a fair bit of thought to figure out. She still managed to solve it, which gave her access to the relatively quiet Ravenclaw common room. It was even quieter than usual because Halloween caused many to procrastinate on their homework for just one day despite the stereotypical Ravenclaw interest in academics.
In fact, the only person she saw in the Ravenclaw common room was Luna. She was mostly dressed for the day, having on her shirt, skirt, and robe. She was standing on a table, completely barefoot, jumping up and down, and just being Luna.
Sakura knew she would regret it, but her curiosity refused to be quelled. She asked, "Luna?"
Luna looked down at Sakura which revealed her rather upset face. Of course for Luna, a rather upset face only meant she had a bit of a frown. For the normally untouchable girl, that was a lot. She said, "Sakura. Here to tease me too?"
"Hoe?" Sakura asked.
"My roommates stole my shoes while I was asleep," Luna said. Her voice clearly reflected that she was upset, but not nearly to the extent that Sakura thought appropriate.
"That's terrible," Sakura said. She immediately felt sympathy for the girl. "Can I help you look for them?"
"I guess," Luna said. "The other students just said it was probably a wrackspurt or a nargle. Wrackspurts don't do that, and I've never even heard of nargles before. I'm sure they were just being mean."
"Why do you say that?" Sakura asked. The question was more for form and to give Luna a chance to explain herself. Sakura had little doubt that the other students were actually teasing her with some invented imaginary thing. She had checked for some of the creatures Luna had referenced in the past, including Wrackspurts, but could find none of them in any book she checked. It wasn't hard to imagine some prankster inventing something new as a crude joke on the girl.
Luna said, "They were laughing at me when they said it."
"Well I'll help you look then," Sakura said emphatically. The change of pace beat more studying in any case. "Where have you checked?"
"I searched my dorm room, and I've been trying to check the top of the bookcases in here. If I were trying to hide my shoes, that's where I'd put them," Luna said. She then started jumping again. Each jump caused Sakura to briefly panic. Thoughts of the table collapsing under Luna's weight floated through her head, but the table held for the small girl.
"How about I get Kero-chan? He'll be able to check up there a lot easier," Sakura said.
Luna didn't respond with an affirmative, but she didn't decline either. It was as good as anything Sakura could expect from her, so she hurried back to her dorm room.
"Heya, Sakura. How'd it go?" Keroberos greeted her.
"It went fine," Sakura said. There was really no other word for it. Her meeting with Professor Snape went about as well and about as poorly as she had expected. "But there's something else. Somebody stole Luna's shoes. Can you help us find them?"
"Righty-o," Keroberos said. He flew after Sakura.
When they returned to the common room, Luna was still jumping on the table. Despite being prepared for the scene, it still gave Sakura pause for a second.
Keroberos seemed to grasp the situation immediately. He said, "How about I check the top of the shelves? It's a lot easier for me."
"Sure," Luna said. She stopped jumping on the table. That was a good sign.
As Keroberos floated high into the air, Sakura said, "I'll check over here." She walked behind the white marble statue of Rowena Ravenclaw to see if the shoes had been hidden there. They weren't. Nor were they behind the bookcases to either side of it.
This wasn't quite how Sakura had intended to spend her Halloween, but she couldn't in good conscious leave Luna to her own devices as she went off to do something else. While she didn't exactly like Luna, she didn't exactly hate her either. Sakura knew how terrible she'd feel in Luna's place, and it was better than studying shrivelfigs in an case.
"I'm going to leave Hogwarts," Luna said abruptly.
"Hoe?" Sakura asked at the sudden declaration. She stopped looking behind the bookshelf and turned to face Luna. "Why's that?"
"Everybody here hates me," Luna said as if it were a matter of fact. She was casually pulling out books, opening them, and flipping through the pages as she spoke. It made for the strange disjoint between her actions, her words, and her characteristic ethereal attitude. "It's pretty obvious. Why else would they call me 'Loony?'"
Sakura knew people, including herself, thought Luna was strange. However, she hadn't realized how hard Luna had taken it all. Luna never showed any reaction to any of it. Then again, being called names all day couldn't have felt at all good, and that was before Luna's shoes had been stolen. Maybe Luna was right.
"Don't you have any friends?" Keroberos asked.
"There's one girl in Gryffindor who seemed like she might be nice, but we haven't really talked very much. She's a bit beside herself right now," Luna said.
"Beside herself?" Sakura asked.
"Yes," Luna said.
"What's that mean? Beside herself in anger?" Keroberos asked.
"No," Luna answered.
When it became clear Luna wouldn't elaborate her non-answer, Sakura gave a lamenting, "Hoe..." She returned to pulling open some cabinets around the room in self-defense, letting her concrete actions wash away the nonsense Luna was saying.
"That's okay. I'd do better in a more progressive school. Maybe Rotesbell," Luna said. She had fallen to her hands and knees and was searching around the floor.
"You can come with us and do stuff," Sakura offered. She cursed herself immediately after the words left her mouth. It was only an offer made out of pity for the friendless girl, and she immediately regretted saying it. She then felt bad for feeling bad for making the offer. Seeing how much trouble Luna was having in Hogwarts, it was selfish to think of herself at this time.
"Thanks but I don't need your pity," Luna said casually. Her blunt statement made Sakura feel guilty for trying to be nice. "What does it really matter if I stay or go? I don't really play a role here. I'm not somebody like Harry. He does stuff and people notice. I'm just like a background character. I doubt anybody outside of Ravenclaw's even heard of me."
Sakura didn't see how somebody who was so prominent in Ravenclaw could think of herself like that, but pointing that out and why she was so well known probably wouldn't help the situation very much. She tried to rally, "It'll matter to you. I was told that Hogwarts is the best school in the country. You shouldn't just give up. You might be wrong about... hoe?"
"What is it?" Keroberos asked. He floated down to hover just over Sakura's shoulder.
"What is it?" Luna asked as well, moving beside Sakura to look at the same bookshelf she was staring at.
On the bookshelf, about eye-level for the girls, was an inconspicuous gap between the books. The only thing drawing attention to it was the small pile of tomes knocked negligently on the ground in front of it. Inside this gap was the thing which had caught Sakura's attention. It was the presence of a pair of small, feathery, four-legged bird-mouse-like creatures about the size of her hand. Both of them had short round beak-like mouths and prominent pointed ears.
They also had two shoes wrapped up in their long tails.
Luna gave a gasp, and said, "Those must be those nargles. They weren't making it up."
The two creatures startled at Luna's voice and quickly ran down the bookcase, carrying Luna's shoes with them. They skittered across the floor, reached a wall, and quickly climbed out of sight. Throughout that, Luna just watched the pair run off.
"Don't you want to get your shoes back?" Sakura asked once the two creatures had vanished.
"If they need shoes, I can owl my dad for another pair. Maybe I have been too quick to judge. So, what are we going to do today?" Luna said. It flowed like a complete thought. It took Sakura a second to properly parse the three distinct topics Luna had just remarked upon.
"Hoe..." Sakura said. She wondered exactly what she had gotten herself into.
Sakura had originally intended to study, and the events which had just transpired did not change that. The only thing that changed was what she would be studying. The presence of those strange creatures piqued her interest. Sakura wanted to find out what she could about the unknown animals she and Luna had just seen, rather than study her Herbology, especially if they were running around Ravenclaw Tower while she slept. Keroberos and Luna agreed.
They started by searching the Ravenclaw libraries for magical creature books and subsequently searching those books for reference to those nargles they had just seen. It was slow going, given the lack of organization in the library and the disorganization within the books themselves.
After about two hours of fruitless searching they migrated to the Hogwarts library. Once there, Sakura introduced Luna to Grey Lady. They both got along surprisingly well. That was to be the silver lining, though. The corresponding storm cloud was that Grey Lady had not heard of anything called a nargle either, nor did she know of any creature which matched the animal's description. Despite this, she still helped the three of them locate various encyclopedias of magical creatures. None of them contained anything pertinent that Sakura, Keroberos, and Luna could find.
Their search was concluded when the too familiar wave of realization that it was time for dinner swept through the library. Keroberos tucked himself hidden in one of Sakura's pocket, and then Sakura and Luna then joined the holiday-sized crowd leaving the library as they proceeded to the Great Hall.
There were sporadic Halloween decorations throughout the stony corridors they walked through, but it wasn't until they reached the Great Hall itself that the true splendor of the event was revealed. The darkened room was lit only by the flickering of hundreds of candles burning in ornately carved pumpkins. Meanwhile, countless bats flew overhead. It was a fittingly spectacular scene. Only Sakura's memory of the same feast from the previous year kept her from stopping and gawking at the entrance.
Despite the extravagance surrounding her, Sakura would have preferred it if this had been a more ordinary dinner where she could join Syaoran at either the Ravenclaw or Slytherin table. As it was, Sakura was more looking forward to the end of the meal when she could meet up with him again for whatever they would do for the evening.
Sakura took a quick look around the Ravenclaw table in search of Lisa or Anthony. The candlelight was romantic but it also made it a bit hard to see. When she failed to find either of her friends, Sakura took a seat near the end of the table.
Shortly thereafter a large crowd appeared at the doorway. They were exceedingly chatty, and the group had an ambiance of excitement around it. It was easy to spot that this must have been the entourage Syaoran had been leading. From the atmosphere alone it was obvious that something big had happened.
"You did not tell us that your boyfriend was quite so exceptional," Lisa said as she took a seat next to Sakura. She seemed to be ignoring Luna.
"What? Syaoran-kun?" Sakura asked. Of course it was obvious that Syaoran was amazing, but it was somewhat unusual to hear people talk about it point blank.
"Yeah. He's pretty good, I guess," Anthony said as he took the seat on the other side of Lisa. He sounded a bit morose.
"It was amazing. When we found Peeves, he..." Lisa started explaining.
"Wait. Hold it," Sakura interrupted her. She had been prepared for this eventuality. "I'm sorry but I think I'd rather hear from Syaoran-kun what happened."
It was hard to do. The excitement from Lisa's voice was contagious, and Sakura was always interested in everything Syaoran did. However, she thought she should give her boyfriend the benefit of being able to tell the story to her directly rather than her hearing about it from secondhand sources.
"Have either of you heard of an animal called a nargle before?" Luna asked abruptly.
"It's about this big and it looks like a weird bird-mouse with a long tail," Sakura added, trying to describe the creature they had both seen. She was happy for Luna's standard non sequitur changing the subject.
"No I haven't," Lisa said slowly. She looked at Sakura with concern.
"I think our dorm has them and we're trying to find out what they do," Sakura said.
"I think she really is contagious," Anthony said to Lisa. Both of them slightly scooted away from Sakura and Luna.
"Hoe..." Sakura lamented.
Dinner proceeded slowly. It was clear that Lisa and Anthony wanted to do nothing more than talk about Syaoran's latest exploits. This made it hard for Sakura to do anything but wonder what had happened. Her curiosity only increased when she looked over and watched Syaoran at the Slytherin table. As usual, Giles and Roger were sitting next to Syaoran. Less usual, the two first-year boys were talking in an exceptionally animated way, gesticulating wildly at times. In addition there were several other people surrounding Syaoran who Sakura didn't recognize. All of them were doing a very similar motion with their hands, addressing some clearly skeptical older students.
The feast was splendid. It was even better in that it was freshly cooked, not half-cold like the meal the previous year in Ravenclaw Tower had been. Sakura barely tasted any of it. She was instead counting the seconds until dinner ended, when she could find out from Syaoran what had happened. A victory for Syaoran it seemed. About the only positive aspect of the meal was that it wasn't interrupted by a Professor Quirrel panicking everybody with news of a troll on the loose.
Dinner actually never seemed to officially end. Desserts came out, but there wasn't any sort of formal end to the meal. Instead, the hall seemed to degenerate into a large party of sorts. Children, mostly the older ones at first, erratically got up from their seats and started mingling in the center of the Great Hall and along the walls. It wasn't clear when the exact transition point occurred, but somehow the Halloween dinner transformed into a giant party.
Sakura took the earliest opportunity to hurry over to the Slytherin table as quickly as she could without giving the appearance of being in an urgent hurry. Despite that she wasn't able to actually get close to Syaoran. He was swarmed by a not-insubstantial number of students which prevented her from getting any closer. She might have been able to force her way through the crowd, but the fact she was a Ravenclaw in Slytherin territory prevented her from making any such attempt.
It was only when Syaoran caught a glimpse of her through the crowd that he tried to make his way to her. The crowd naturally parted for his movement. When a gap appeared in the group she heard some unrecognized boy saying, "... fire. I knew this was the best house."
"Sakura-chan!" Syaoran shouted out to her. He was hard to hear over the murmuring of the party. Syaoran then forced his way through the crowd to her.
"Syaoran-kun," Sakura answered when he got close enough to grab his hand. "How did it go?"
"How did it go?" Roger asked from right beside both of them. "It was brilliant. He bloody set Peeves on bloody fire!"
"You killed him? Killed him a second time?" Sakura asked, struggling to figure out the right way to ask the question. "I mean he's gone?"
"No," Syaoran said. Disappointment was visible on his lips. "The Weasleys stopped me."
"You should have just ignored them. Bloody Gryffindors," Giles said.
"Why'd they do that?" Sakura asked.
"Beats me. Who knows how those two nutters think?" Syaoran said.
"So what happened?" Sakura asked.
Syaoran proceeded to spin the tale of his confrontation with Peeves. Peeves's derision. The not insubstantial magic Syaoran did. Peeves's skepticism followed by pain. The interruption by the Weasley twins trying to stop Syaoran and save the irresponsible prankster poltergeist. Their reminder that Syaoran's wand was still missing and only Peeves knew where it was.
The tale was frequently interrupted by interjections from the classmates all around Syaoran. They added a detail here or a flourish there, or just added a generic comment about how Slytherin was the best house in the school. The story eventually came to a climax when Syaoran flourished his successfully retrieved wand.
The party wasn't over by that point. It was still going strong. If anything, it was actually gaining in momentum. Even after several hours, when the late hour suggested that good little witches and wizards should be heading to their bed, nobody wanted it to end. The whole student body simply migrated into the hallway in a big clump, trying to squeeze every second out of the once-a-year Halloween party. It seemed as if nothing could stop the fun everybody was having.
And then abruptly it all stopped.
"THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE."
Written in stark red, each letter a foot high along the wall.
It was more effective than if Peeves had emptied all the icy water of the lake on the entire student body.
"Hogwarts: A History" hadn't spoken at length about it, but the incidents from 50 years ago did appear in that voluminous text. Grey Lady hadn't spoken much about the incidents either. However, between the two of them, Sakura knew all she needed to. Somebody claiming to be the Heir of Slytherin had opened the Chamber of Secrets back then. The events of that year culminated with the death of an unnamed student and the expulsion of another. If somebody else had dared to open the mythical chamber it could bode no good.
Syaoran gave Sakura a comforting squeeze of the hand.
Standing right below the sign was Harry Potter. He didn't have any paint with him, but as he had his wand, that didn't mean anything. His guilty look said it all. The look of fear that both Hermione and Ron had only added to the obvious conclusion.
"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!" some voice from the front of the crowd shouted out. It cut through the silence and raised the foreboding of the assembled group of students to a fever pitch.
Sakura turned to look at Syaoran. He had a scowl on his face. He turned to face Sakura as well. His movement caught Sakura's attention. More exactly his tie did. His green tie. A chill went down Sakura's back. The Heir of Slytherin. The colors of Slytherin were green. All of a sudden, the flippant comments from the beginning of the year about her dream being related to the Slytherin house seemed much more ominous.
Syaoran followed Sakura's gaze until he was looking at his own tie. He then pulled Sakura forward into a tight hug and whispered to her, "Don't worry. I'll protect you."
Sakura could only return the hug.
"What's going on here? What's going on?" the raspy voice of Mr. Filch asked. He pushed his way forward through the crowd. When he got to the front he shouted, "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?"
Sakura looked over at the evolving scene. She hadn't even noticed at first, but after Mr. Flich's accusation it was impossible not to see the cat hanging by its tail from a torch bracket.
Mr. Filch then immediately turned to Harry and accused, "You! You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll -"
"Argus!" the commanding voice of Professor Dumbledore interrupted. Unlike Mr. Filch, who had had to force his way through the crowd, the crowd naturally parted to allow Professor Dumbledore to come forward. In his wake, a small group of teachers followed.
Professor Dumbledore detached the cat from the torch bracket as if it were the most common occurrence of the day. He then commanded, "Come with me, Argus. You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."
"My office is nearest, Headmaster - just upstairs - please feel free -" Professor Lockhart quickly offered.
"Thank you, Gilderoy," Professor Dumbledore said. He led the named people back through the mass of students. The crowd once again naturally parted to allow them to pass.
Left to its own devices, the crowd once again milled about aimlessly. Just like five minutes prior, nobody wanted to return to their dorm rooms. However, unlike the fevered excitement from before, the reason behind this hesitation was much less blithe.
Nobody wanted to be alone.
Last Updated: July 5, 2014
