AN: I know! I am working fast right now! These past couple of chapters have been exciting to write and it will be like this for the remainder of the story for me. I finally feel like I am past the exposition and have entered into some rising action ammiright

260 followers! That's crazy! Can't believe there are so many people that want to see where this story is going. Honestly, blows my mind.

So in response to the review about her not telling dumbledore why specifically he couldn't touch the ring- I thought about that too before I wrote it like why wouldn't she just tell him because she's been working as full disclosure thus far, but her one line has been how exactly people will die. I also seriously doubt dumbledore would have heeded her warning anyway. the hallows are something he has been seeking out for the majority of his life. He wouldn't have been able to resist. At least this is my interpretation.

Also for everyone commenting and begging me to make this a Remus story... well I think you will understand more the direction I am going and my reasons as we get further into the meat of the story.

DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything!

Chapter Seventeen: Burdens

Hermione woke up Sunday morning under the warmth of a thick Hogwarts comforter and to a hand rubbing gentle circles along her spine. For a moment, she felt pleasant and content and then the memories of what happened the night before returned and a sick feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. She turned her cheek to press her forehead against Remus's chest and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Hermione?"

His voice was rough and quiet like he'd just woken up when in actuality he'd barely slept at all. Hermione had been restless in her sleep last night. She would toss and turn and mumble incoherent strings of words. He tried to calm her down by holding her tighter and whispering calming words, but nothing had seemed to work.

"Remus?"

When she pulled away to look at him he was staring at the ceiling dazedly. She pulled herself up so that her face was above him and in his line of vision. He had bags under his eyes and looked like he hadn't slept a wink. Her sandy-blonde hair was ruffled and sticking out in a fashion similar to James. She touched the darkness at the tops of his cheeks with the tip of her finger, and gave him a questioning gaze. His hushed voice broke the silence.

"What did you dream about last night, Hermione?"

Hermione flinched and went to pull away, but he held her there with a gentle hand at the back of her neck.

"You wouldn't stop moving, and you were mumbling."

She shut her eyes and whispered, "I couldn't change Dumbledore's fate." Remus's eyebrows drew together, and he brushed her curls behind her ears. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach at her words.

"What do you mean?"

She opened her eyes and gave him a desperate look. "He's going to die. Last time it took a year, but I don't know if that will be the same."

Remus sucked in a breath and closed his eyes. Hermione watched as a range of emotions passed over his face and she sniffed. Her eyes shut as well.

"I'm sorry! I should've been able to stop it. I should've done something different, or insisted I do it alone. I should've stopped him before it happened, but I couldn't handle all the voices and I've gotten so weak. It's all my fault!"

"Hermione, stop!"

Remus's eyes had flown open at the beginning of her rant and now he was holding her cheek. He didn't know what happened last night, or how Dumbledore died in the future, or what they were retrieving, but he didn't have to. That feeling he'd had when Hermione had first told him and Lily where she was from all those weeks ago in the Room of Requirement hadn't faded at all. He had never believed in someone as much as he believed in Hermione Granger. Not even Dumbledore.

When she opened her eyes she had a faded look like she wasn't quite aware of where she was or who she was with.

"It's not your fault, Hermione. Whatever happened, it's not your fault."

"You can't know that, Remus."

"I know that you would do everything you could to stop what is going to happen, and I believe you did everything the way you were supposed to. You can't be responsible for everyone's lives, Hermione. That's too much for one person." He said softly.

Part of Hermione knew he was right. She dropped her forehead to his.

"I have to go see him," she whispered.

Hermione for the first time thought about the predicament of sneaking out of the room.

She groaned and said, "James is going to kill me for sleeping in your bed."

Remus chuckled. "Don't worry they all left for breakfast right before you woke up."

She sat up and carefully peaked her head out of the curtains. Thankfully the room was empty.

"Oh, thank Merlin."

Remus pulled her down for a kiss before sitting up as well, "Yeah, for some reason Sirius was very eager to get to breakfast. James was going to wake me up, but Sirius insisted I needed my sleep."

Hermione's eyes widened. Had he heard her come to their room last night? Did he know she was in bed with Remus?

"That's odd…" she mumbled. She slipped her shoes on and stood up. She reached her arms to the air and stretched. She watched as Remus rubbed at his eyes from the edge of his bed. She reached forward and ruffled his hair.

"You're rather cute in the morning. All rumpled." He snorted and gave her a withering look. She frowned and ran her fingers along the bags under his eyes again. "I'm sorry I kept you up, Remus." He caught her hand with his and kissed her fingers.

"Yes, well, I didn't mind too much." He smirked up at her and said, "Except for the kicking. You're violent even in your sleep. Did you know that?"

Hermione gasped and whacked him on the arm before she realized that that just proved his point. "You cheeky git!"

He laughed at her as she started to make her way out of the room.

"I'll see you at lunch!" She said over her shoulder before making her quick escape out of his room and going to her own for a shower and change of clothes.

Hermione had made it up to Dumbledore's office and was now standing in front of his desk. Neither said a word. She was staring at his hand which had stopped turning black about halfway down his palm.

She could feel the warmth of the stone pressed into the middle of her palm.

Dumbledore was staring at her hand like he knew what was there.

"You can't bring her back, Albus."

Dumbledore nodded vaguely and tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robes.

He looked up at her over the rim of his glasses.

"And you can't bring back your Harry."

Hermione's knuckles turned white. She choked up. She had to ask.

"Would I be able to see him though? Even just for a moment?"

Dumbledore gave her a calculating look. "Three turns of the stone, and his spirit will appear." Hermione sucked in a shaky breath and rubbed her thumb along the side of the stone. "He will disappear as soon as you lose contact with it."

Hermione nodded and looked down at her own hands. She looked up and studied the man in front of her.

"I'm sorry I didn't do more to save you." She was completely sincere in her apology. The man may have used her and Harry for his own agenda, but his intentions were true. She may disagree completely with the immorality of his actions, but there would always be that part of her that saw him as the spearhead for the thing inside her that she hadn't known existed. The magical part of her. "I truly am sorry."

He smiled sadly at her and nodded. "I assume this is the same way I died last time."

Hermione shook her head. "It would have been. If Death Eaters hadn't gotten to you first."

He stood and walked around the desk. He stopped on his way out so that his left shoulder was lined up with hers. He set a hand on her knit jumper. His blackened fingers contrasting with the soft and pale blue fabric seemed like an ominous sign.

"I don't blame you for my own foolishness, Miss Granger. Me putting that ring on was a fixed point in my own personal timeline. You can't change everything."

Hermione was frozen.

Right before he left her alone in his office he said, "Professor Slughorn says I have a year. Perhaps it would be wise to ask for my help before it is no longer possible."

Then he was gone, and Hermione was left clutching the Resurrection Stone, and rethinking her own plan.

Hermione spent the rest of the week talking herself in and out of using the stone. All the voices had stopped talking to her. Harry, Ron, Luna, Snape, all of them were just gone. Hermione was loathe to admit to herself that she missed them.

She was having trouble adjusting to a consciousness that was just her own.

Remus and Lily often found her staring into nothing with the stone clutched tightly between her fingers. It always took her awhile to come back, and most times one of them would end up just sitting with her until she did. If someone else found her like this they would just find Lily or Remus and lead them to her.

One particularly bad episode she'd been hiding behind what come to be known to the Marauder's as 'Hermione's rock' by the lake after classes when she'd frozen up.

She'd been out there an hour before Sirius had found her.

She was half frozen to death and shivering, but her eyes remained unfocused on some fixed point over the lake. Sirius's eyes had widened, and he'd immediately pulled his thick leather jacket off and wrapped it around her frail shoulders. He'd heard from James and Remus that she had been disappearing mentally all week, but because he had been avoiding her he had yet to see it for himself.

At first he didn't know what to do, but then he remembered Remus saying that he just sat with her and Sirius made himself comfortable on a rock a couple feet away. He cast a couple warming charms and tried to ignore her blank stare.

He'd done his best not to think about what had happened in the common room Saturday night, but it was plaguing him. Being around her hurt, and being around Remus hurt even more.

James was his brother, but Remus was his best friend. And Sirius may come across like an oblivious git, but he saw things. Remus was in love with Hermione whether he knew it for himself yet or not. To his knowledge, Hermione hadn't told Remus what had happened because Sirius was pretty sure he would've gotten some kind of lashing from Remus regarding it. Whether it be physical or verbal.

But, Sirius, if we don't tell them then that means it meant something.

He groaned and threw his arm over his eyes.

It was nearly another hour after he'd placed his coat around her that she finally started to blink. Her entire body was shaking from the sudden feeling that rushed through her body from the cold. Her fingernails were dug so deep into her palm that she could see dried blood on her skin.

She wiped at her eyes and looked around. Sirius was sprawled on a rock to her left in a long sleeve button down and trousers. He was staring up at the night sky with a deeply thoughtful expression.

The night sky.

"What time is it?" She croaked.

When Sirius jumped and turned his thoughtful expression on her her cheeks flushed a deep red.

His stare was more intense than anyone she'd met before.

He cast a Tempus charm and Hermione saw that it was just past eight in the evening.

"Oh, merlin."

She rubbed at her forehead with her free hand and carefully pulled herself up. She shivered and when she went to wrap the jacket closer around her she finally realized that it wasn't her jacket.

She looked up at Sirius.

"How long have you been out here with me?"

He slid off the rock and walked closer to her. He reached down and pulled her arms through the sleeves before he zipped up his jacket. It was so large it came down to almost mid-thigh on her, and he smiled at the image in front of him.

"Nearly an hour," he whispered. "I'd be surprised if you didn't get sick from being out here for so long."

Once he'd finished adjusting his jacket on her he finally looked into her eyes to see she had that same scared expression that she'd had right after he'd kissed her on Saturday.

"Are you scared of me, kitten?"

She studied him for a moment.

She wasn't scared of him. She was scared of what he made her feel. Sirius Black was dangerous.

"No," she said quietly, but it must've not sounded very convincing because his eyebrows shot up.

In an effort to change the subject, the first thing she could think of burst from her lips, "The voices have stopped."

The words were barely there because she'd kept them close like a tightly guarded secret up until this moment. Sirius and her hadn't talked about what goes on in her head since she'd started dating Remus.

"Did they now?"

He looked disbelieving.

"That's why I have been getting lost." She avoided his eyes and looked towards the castle. "I think there's too much empty space in my brain now. It's like I only have my consciousness to listen to, and I don't know how to manage anymore. My mind hasn't been this quiet for over a year."

These were the thoughts that had been plaguing her lately. The truth was, she didn't know how to do this without Harry.

"Kitten, aren't these voices all just manifestations of yourself?" He stepped closer and her gaze darted to his eyes before speeding back to the castle. "Hasn't it just been you all along?"

She sighed. "It's like my access to that part of me has been cut off."

She wished she could tell him how badly she needed Harry's voice. How much that part of her helped her with her missions, but she couldn't tell him that without telling him everything. And the second she did that, Sirius would have more of her than Remus, and she refused to tell Remus about the voices.

"Is that such a bad thing?" He whispered.

She nodded vigorously. It also didn't help that without Harry's voice his absence felt larger. His death would solidify. Her inability to ever see her Harry again would become concrete. She wasn't ready for that.

Part of her whispered from the recesses of her mind that she could just use the stone. Actually see him. But she was scared if she did that, then the voices would never come back.

"I think I… I think I need them, Sirius."

Sirius shook his head. "You don't."

"I do!" Sirius took a step back, and really looked at her. He was treading on thin ice here. A precipice between what he longed for and what was right.

"I'm going to go get Remus." He gave her a sad look. "You should be talking to him about these things." Hermione pressed her palms together, so she could feel the warmth of the stone between both of her hands. Sirius stared at the skin poking out in between the sleeves of his black jacket. He could see the dried blood.

"Hermione…"

"He doesn't know, Sirius!" She interrupted him with a shout. He thought for a moment that she was talking about the kiss, but then she lowered her voice to a whisper and said, "About the voices… He doesn't know."

Sirius eye's flew up to hers, and the intensity returned. The idea that she had this part of her, this dark part of her that she shared with only him, made that feeling his heart reserved just for her grow. He hated himself for it, but the fact that she shared this vulnerable thing with him, made him feel like some sort of safe haven. Like he was the best for her. He didn't like this bitter part of him that was growing in regards to Remus, but he'd never made anyone feel safe before. He was supposed to be Sirius Black. Trouble, heartbreak, and danger personified with bad blood pumping through his veins. Hermione made him feel different. Like he could be a good man.

You're a good person, Sirius Black.

Sirius ran his hands through his hair and pinched the wrinkles between his eyebrows.

"You can't do this to me, Hermione," he growled out.

She looked around and pushed her hair back. It had been in a ponytail, but after sitting in the wind for so long most of it was out. When she pushed her hair back Sirius saw the deep crescent moons pressed into her palm. Her hands clasped back together and she stared at a point over his shoulder.

"I can't tell him, Sirius." She thought about it for a moment, but shook her head again. "I just… I think I needed to tell someone. You're the only one who knows, but I thought… well… you've been avoiding me. I wasn't going to tell you, but then you were just…" she gestured to the snow covered rock that he'd been laying on, and then took another step away from him. "I can't eat or sleep, and I keep losing myself. Remus, he doesn't know how to help me. I don't know how to help me, and I just… I need Harry."

Sirius could only watch as she broke down right in front of him. She'd said Harry was her best friend. That she'd been through everything she'd been through for him, but Harry was dead. This he knew for sure. She'd wanted to talk to him all week about why she was disappearing, but he'd been avoiding her like a coward after his own actions Saturday night. Him kissing her and telling her to keep it secret had mucked everything up. He'd mucked everything up.

"What can I do?" He asked desperately. Her gaze moved from where it'd been staring into nothing to his deep grey eyes. She had to see Harry. She had to see him one more time. Her fingers tightened impossibly on the stone.

"It's okay, Sirius. I won't burden you with it anymore." His eyes widened in shock. "I can get through it," she said this part quietly and to herself. Like if she said it enough it would come true. "I won't do this to you anymore."

Sirius was filled with an innumerable amount of regret almost instantly. She was physically and emotionally pulling away from him, and it was like he could already feel the darkness returning at the edges of his heart.

"That's not what I meant, kitten," he said. The same desperation from before returned full force. "I'm sorry, it's just a lot, and after Saturday…"

Hermione flinched and took another step away from him.

"You're right. It's a lot..." she said this with a sad acceptance in her voice. She nodded to herself. "I should talk to Remus about these things." Sirius took another step towards her, but she stepped away.

"Wait I can…" He started, but she put her hands up.

"No, Sirius."

She, with one hand still holding the stone, quickly unzipped and pulled herself out of his jacket. She handed it to him and failed to repress the shiver once he had taken it back.

"I can get through it," she repeated. With one last look up at his shocked expression she started walking back towards the castle.

Sirius put his jacket back on and tried to ignore the heavy feeling settling in his stomach as he watched her walk away.

Sirius for the rest of the week observed her as she picked at her food at every meal and disappeared further and further into herself. With the deterioration of Hermione, Remus began to deteriorate as well. He was starting to look like the pale sickly werewolf he'd been before they'd all become Animagi. Before the Wolfsbane. Before Hermione.

James was becoming paranoid and followed Hermione everywhere, scared she would enter another episode and disappear somewhere where they wouldn't be there to bring her back. Peter sat beside her at meals and filled her plate up and then watched determinately as she filled up fork-full after fork-full, but never actually ate any of it. Lily and Marlene had taken to walking arm and arm with her to class and trying to include her in whatever conversation they were having, but nothing seemed to be working.

Watching Hermione also caused Sirius to notice anyone else who was watching her. Besides the obvious suspects, there were also a few concerning people who seemed to notice her health.

An odd Ravenclaw by the name of Pandora Goshawk had made a habit of approaching Hermione at meals with odd presents like sunflower hair pins, eye-glasses to spot missing items, among other things. Hermione would smile softly at her every time before Pandora would skip off. At first Sirius had been rather confused about the two witches friendship, and then Lily one day had told him that Pandora and Hermione studied together sometimes.

Snivellus rather than making detrimental comments during Potions, as was expected of him, instead just silently picked up her slack when her memory failed her. Sirius thought this might have something to do with him trying to get back in Lily's good graces because Evans watched Snape interact with Hermione like a hawk in Potions.

Not surprising at all, Professor McGonagall had taken to keeping Hermione after class to ask about her well-being. The two witches seemed to have this odd connection that Sirius couldn't comprehend.

Someone that really concerned him was Lucius Malfoy. The older boy had started following Hermione around with his eyes whenever she was in the same area as him. Every once in a while, Hermione's gaze would snap up and meet his and she would give him the deadliest glare he had ever seen from her. Malfoy always responded with a predatory smirk that had Sirius growling from wherever his vantage point had been. These interactions got the most emotions out of Hermione than anything else, so he didn't do anything about it.

The one person that gave him extreme pause, was his own brother, Reggie, that watched her. He never had any emotion on his face, but he seemed to observe her more like he would a bubbling Potion than anything else. Like he was trying to figure out what ingredient to add next. Like some great mystery. Sirius found himself most nervous about his brother out of all of them.

After one instance Friday morning where Hermione had nearly passed out in the middle of the hallway, from lack of nutrition, dehydration, or something else entirely, Sirius cornered James and said with as much conviction as he felt, which was a lot, "We need Dorea."

James had responded by nodding solemnly and saying, "I already owled her this morning."

When Hermione was packing her stuff into her trunk Friday after classes ended, she received a note from Pandora asking to meet her in the Astronomy tower that night. She didn't leave a time, but Pandora never really did, so Hermione just made her way up right before curfew after she'd finished packing.

She had planned on just leaving without saying anything, but she was stopped by a concerned looking Peter.

"Hullo, Hermione. Where are you off to?"

She frowned and said, "I'm just going to see Pandora, Peter."

Peter looked at her closely for a moment before saying, "Best not tell James, you left, or he'd insist on coming with you. You should try and hurry back though, okay?"

Hermione blanched at the obvious worry in his tone. Had she really been that off this past week? Sure, she had been having trouble with her awareness and such, but if Peter was this concerned, it must've looked pretty bad.

She snapped out of it when she noticed Peter's hand waving in front of her eyes.

"Don't worry, Peter. I'll be back soon. Promise."

He looked skeptical, but still eventually stepped out of the way.

She opened the portrait hole and made her way as quickly as she could manage up to the Astronomy Tower. She'd begun to feel rather fatigued lately, and her head was constantly aching.

Once she made it, she was surprised to find that instead of Pandora's willowy form, staring out over the edge was Regulus Black.

He turned at the sound of scuffling feet and Hermione startled when she saw that his face was flushed and his eyes bloodshot.

"Regulus?"

He looked her over and his frown deepened.

"You need to take better care of yourself, pet." His voice was rough like he hadn't used it in a long while. Hermione frowned at the nickname.

"I'm not a pet."

Regulus actually smiled at that, and Hermione's frown deepened. They'd had nearly that same interaction when they'd met back in September, but she never remembered him smiling that entire time. Regulus looked at her for a couple more seconds before turning back around. He was more angular than his brother. More wiry. Hermione had a feeling that if he lived long enough this time around, he'd also end up being taller than Sirius.

"I'm serious though. You've been a mess this week. Your entire crowd of lions has been following you around like lost puppies."

Hermione tilted her head to the side, "I'm surprised you noticed."

He glanced at her over his shoulder before turning back towards the horizon.

"I notice a lot of things," he said quietly.

Hermione realized then that Pandora must have orchestrated this meeting somehow. Seen it in her tea leaves or something or another.

"Like what?" She asked warily.

Regulus hesitated a moment before saying, "Lupin was a good choice. My brother's a right git."

Hermione gave a humorless laugh and mumbled, "Well noticing that doesn't say much."

Regulus turned back to her fully and continued, "But my brother watches you like you've chosen him instead." Hermione blanched. "You appeared out of nowhere at the beginning of the year, as some supposed 'transfer from Beauxbatons,' but you don't have any kind of French accent. On top of that you seemed to have had previously built friendships with my brother and his band of merry gits."

"Ce n'est pas parce que je n'ai pas d'accent que je ne parle pas français."

(Just because I don't have an accent, doesn't mean I don't speak French.)

He didn't even miss a beat when he responded, "Cela ne change pas le fait que vous avez fait le tour du château comme vous l'aviez fait un million de fois auparavant."

(That doesn't change the fact that you walked around the castle like you'd walked it a million times before. )

Hermione just looked at him challengingly and hissed, "I got a tour."

Regulus returned her look and said, "You've developed friendships with notable people. Pandora Goshawk. Severus Snape. Rubeus Hagrid. Peter Pettigrew." Hermione tried not to let any emotion pass on her face, but the last name almost got her. Regulus paused to study her expression. Regulus would know if Peter was already being approached, and since he'd said his name Hermione had a feeling that he had. She worked even harder to mask her panic. He looked directly in her eyes and kept on, "Yes, it's true, most of these people seem less than notable, but upon closer inspection, and with a keen eye and ear, one can see how they'd all have their uses to the right person."

Hermione took a deep breath, but he was unrelenting.

"One might even call them key players in what's to come." He lifted a finger and pointed directly at her chest, "Don't play coy and act like you don't know what's coming. The Slytherin's talk, and you're building quite the reputation."

Hermione didn't bother hiding her panic now. He didn't expand on the reputation, but he didn't need to. Lucius had been prodding at her mind all week. Snape had caught a peak at her wrists in Potions one day, she was sure of it. Her dress at Halloween may have hidden her arms, but it didn't hide her legs. And then there was the matter of Yaxley, Crabbe and Notte.

"Why are you saying all this?" She asked carefully. The familiar sneer from that one night in the dark corridor returned, and he said menacingly.

"Because, Hermione Granger, I have to go home tomorrow to Grimmauld where my bigoted mother and father await me with 'news'. I find myself not wanting to hear it, and you once told me you could get me out."

Hermione paused. In the glow from the moon she finally took a moment to observe him. What she'd observed at first was true. He was flushed and had blood-shot eyes, but she'd missed his slightly unhinged expression. He looked like a boy filled to the brim with paranoia. A boy awaiting a dark fate.

"Why didn't you come to me sooner?" She asked quietly.

His sneer melted and he stood up straight to his full height. "I have been trying to get a message to you since last Saturday, but those idiots have been guarding you like you're the minister herself."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "Pandora." He waved his hand dismissively.

"Yes, as I said, the witch has her uses."

Hermione must have paused too long because he said quietly, "I'm not sure what I was expecting from you. I'm not one to get my hopes up, and I realize that not going home tomorrow isn't an option." He looked up at her, and Hermione realized absently that him and Sirius had the same eyes. "I think I was just hoping that if whatever happens when I arrive home is what I am expecting, you've created some kind of plan."

Hermione smiled sadly at him and said, "If I am anything, it's a planner."

Regulus returned the solemn smile and said, "As I hoped."

She reached to her side and opened the expanded bag she'd taken to bringing everywhere with her. She dug around in it so that she was up to her elbow, and her fingers eventually found what she was looking for. She pulled out the carefully wrapped Galleons and held them carefully between her fingertips. She held one out to him.

"I've created these Galleons with the Protean charm. You can transfigure them to send messages. It will warm up when the other person has altered it."

He took it and held it in his palm.

"You could leave," she whispered this like a monumental secret. "Come back with Sirius, James, and I to the Potter's."

Regulus looked back up at her and shook his head. "My mother would find me."

Hermione scowled and said, "Walburga Black can rot in hell for all I care."

A genuine smile took over his face. "I can see why they're all so taken with you. You're like some kind of avenging angel, pet."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, "Not a pet."

Regulus's smiled dropped and the same haunted expression returned to his face. "No. I suppose not."

Regulus made his way to the stairs and looked back at her one last time.

"Peter Pettigrew has been refusing the Slytherin's advances, but I think we are in agreement in my saying that he is weak of mind."

Hermione nodded at him and before he could leave she said quickly, "Learn occlumency, Regulus."

He paused with his back to her and whispered, "Severus and I already have."

The next day, Hermione boarded the train with the same vacant feeling she'd had all week. She sat stiffly by the window with her wand clutched in one hand and the stone in the other. Regulus was going to get the mark over break, she was sure. That and she still had the Basilisk to contend with. She'd also promised Lily that they would set up wards. Dumbledore was dying. She needed to talk to Harry.

The train ride felt like it only lasted five minutes, and she couldn't remember if that was because she'd disappeared for all of it, or if she had actually fallen asleep. Either way she followed the boys off the train like some ghost and only broke down when she saw a prim as always Dorea waiting patiently next to the silent Charlus.

She pushed past the boys and ran into her open arms.

The woman just held her tightly and whispered in her ear, "You aren't responsible."

It felt like this woman, who she had somehow come to view as a mother figure, was the only thing holding her together at that point.

AN: Another long chapter for you guys.

Thanks, as usual, for the follows, favorites, and reviews. Hope you enjoyed!