A/N: Well, P.A.R.'s Support Services finally got activated. And you know what? P.A.R. is slightly surprised and happy to find out that her stories are being read a great deal more people than she thought. So to all of you who review and even to those of you who don't but are taking the time to read my stories, thank you. I hope you are enjoying them.

Also, once again putting up an advertisement for Starlight's It's A One Time Thing That Just Happens A Lot. People, do yourself a favor and read this story. It's excellent!

Also, due to further constraints being put on P.A.R.'s time, there may be a few misses in the near future on posting times. I'm sorry if it does happen. I will post as soon as possible in such an event.

That's all.

On with the story.

Enjoy.

Chapter Four: In The Hands Of The Ministry

The ministry, at Dumbledore's urging, allowed Remus to take Harry home with him, feeling he was the best person for the moment to tend to the small child. On the way, Remus made several stops in the small town that he lived just outside of to pick a few supplies for Harry, and then continued home.

Once there, Remus' first order of business was to feed the crying child. He was amazed at how fast the baby ate everything he gave him. It took two full bottles of milk before Harry stopped crying. After that he still managed to eat a full jar of baby food and a cookie Remus gave him for a treat.

Once he was fed and more agreeable, Remus stripped him out of his dirty cloths and placed him in a warm tub of water and proceeded to scrub the street dirt off of him. Remus had expected the baby to fuss and squirm about. But Harry move very little during the procedure and was soon clean and dried and dressed in some clothes Remus had bought for him.

Remus watched with satisfaction as the baby fell asleep in his arms almost as soon as all the activity stopped. Sitting with him for a little while, Remus finally placed him in the crib in his room and headed downstairs.

"He's doing perfectly fine, Albus." Remus reported to the headmaster as he spoke to him by way of the fire in his kitchen. "We've had our supper, a bath, and currently he's upstairs sleeping. I think the poor boy is absolutely exhausted. And I've never seen a child eat so much or so fast."

"I suppose Sirius wasn't able to feed him too well." Dumbledore replied. "It had to be difficult trying to care for a small child when you're trying to hide yourself."

"I think Sirius did the best he could, Albus." Remus interjected. "He told me when he gave Harry to me that he had tried to take care of him as best he could. But he realized he couldn't do it any longer."

"Well, thankfully, in the end, Sirius made the right choice. I'm sure that'll count for something if there's a trial."

Remus gave a slight snort. "Trial. He's not getting a trial, Albus. In two days, he'll be in Azkaban and there he'll stay. Convicted of the attack on the Dursley's home and of killing James and Lily. Neither crime he's guilty of."

"You sound so sure of that suddenly." Dumbledore asked with a small smile.

"Because I know Sirius."

"Yet you allowed him to be kept at your home after James and Lily were killed in order to keep an eye on him because you weren't sure of his involvement in the incident. To be sure he wouldn't go after Harry as well."

"That's true."

"Then what changed?"

"You didn't see him while he was here, Albus. All he did was sit in front of a spy-glass and watch Harry. The day Dursley got mad at Harry and threw him in his playpen, I thought Sirius was going to jump right through the glass and choke the man. I've rarely seen him so angry. Past that, he had that baby for months. And yet he never harmed him. And when he thought Harry was in danger, he gave him up to prevent it. Now, I can't say for sure about the Dursley's, nor can I say I wouldn't have done the same thing, given the chance, having seen what that idiot muggle did to Harry. But of one thing I am absolutely convinced, Albus. And that is that Sirius had nothing whatsoever to do with James and Lily's deaths."

"I see." The Headmaster replied. "Well, I'm glad to see you still have faith in your friend, for I believe Sirius could use a friend right now. I suppose you're planning on visiting him?"

Remus nodded. "I want to hear his side of things, Albus. He deserves to have at least one person listen to him."

Dumbledore smiled slightly. "Do keep me informed." He replied, and disappeared from the fire.

The next morning Remus left Harry with his neighbor, a kind little witch with several children of her own who had lived next door to him for some time. After explaining things to her so that she would be extra on her guard, and saying goodbye to Harry, Remus apparated to the ministry and requested to see Sirius.

A long trek through back halls later, Remus found himself left standing in front of a cell furthest down from the door. Inside the cell Sirius lay on the floor, looking much like he had just been thrown there and left. The only sign of life in the body was the constant heavy breathing as the body fought for each breath it took.

Remus stood outside the bars for some time, uncertain if Sirius was asleep or awake. If he was asleep, he hated to wake him. The night before he looked like he hadn't slept in some time. But unsure if he would be allowed to see him again, Remus finally stepped up to the bars and crouched in front of them.

"Sirius?" He whispered. "You awake?"

The body stirred slightly. But with the movement it started to shake as it began to cough. Slowly Sirius pulled himself up to a sitting position. But he immediately leaned over again as the coughing got worse, finally coughing up a mouthful of phlegm and blood which he spit into a bowl next to him. A bowl, which from the contents, had been used several times already for that very purpose. Slowly Sirius pulled himself back up, wiping his mouth on his sleeve as he turned to Remus.

Dirty and disheveled, Sirius still managed a small smile as he looked at his friend through the bars. "Hello, Remus."

Remus wrapped a hand about one of the bars. "How are you, Sirius?"

"How's Harry?"

Remus shook his head. "Sirius, you don't need to worry about Harry right now." He stated. "You need to worry about yourself for a change. I doubt you've done that in weeks."

"How's Harry?" Came the same question.

Remus sighed quietly. "And I can see you've apparently forgotten how to do that as well."

Sirius simply stared back at him from behind two dull, gray eyes.

Remus shook his head again. As sick as he was, Sirius could still be the most stubborn man alive.

"Harry's fine. Satisfied?"

"Where is he?" Sirius asked in a tone that sounded like he was afraid of the answer.

"He's staying with me currently."

Sirius relaxed and turned away from the bars with a slight smile. "Good."

"Now," Remus repeated, "How are you?"

But Sirius didn't act like he heard him, staring at the wall in the back of his cell.

"Sirius?"

"Did you see those idiots in the alleyway, Remus?"

"What idiots?"

"The ministry." Sirius turned back to him, suddenly looking as lucid as Lupin himself. "Did they tell you they were going to do that? Have all those Aurors there with them?"

Lupin slowly shook his head, suddenly feeling very bad about his role in the events of the previous night. How could he have been so blind? So stupid. He had believed them. Believed every word they had told him. Believed Sirius was deranged. Believed he wasn't taking care of Harry. Or that he was so out of his mind that he couldn't.

Sirius seemed to have read his look.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Remus. I understand, really. You worry about Harry as much as I do. And look at the job I was doing taking care of him. Wasn't very good, was it?"

Remus looked absolutely miserable. "They told me they only wanted you for questioning about what happened at the Dursley's, Sirius. That was all. They never said anything about wanting to ...talk to you...about what happened to James and Lily."

But Sirius wasn't looking at him anymore. He had returned to staring at the wall.

"What did they think I was going to do?" He asked to no one imparticular. "Fight back? Standing there with my godson in my arms? Did they honestly think it was going to take that much force to bring in the great fugitive? Dangerous son-of-a.....standing there holding a baby. Didn't the idiots realize they might have hit Harry if I'd still been holding him?"

"Well, you weren't." Remus offered with a kind, sad smile. "You keep saying what a horrible job you were doing taking care of Harry, and yet you gave him to me to keep him from being in any danger. I hardly think that qualifies you as the worst godparent of the year, Sirius."

But Sirius still didn't seem to be listening to him as he stared absently ahead of him.

"Sirius?"

"Do you remember when we were back at school, Remus?"

"What?" Remus thought the question was rather strange.

"You, me, James, and Peter? Lords, what a pack of fools we acted like." Sirius turned back to Remus with a wider smile this time. "We never worried about anything then. Oh, maybe tests, or if we'd get caught sneaking food from the kitchens, or if Filch would ever be able to prove who set the Dungbombs off in the Great Hall right before Christmas break. But....but we never had any really big worries." Sirius sighed as he turned to the floor in front of him. "Things were so much easier then, Remus."

"Sirius, are you all right?" Remus prompted, trying to get his friend's attention. From the way Sirius was acting, he doubted he was really paying that much attention to him.

"Did you ever think James would be first?"

"First?"

"The first to die? I never did. Not really. I mean, James was always...the most daring of us. The smartest. Not the best looking," Sirius shook his head with a sad smile, "but the smartest. I never thought anything could happen to him. Not at school, not after we graduated, not after he married Lily......and never after Harry was born. He just seemed to have so much to live for. How could it all be taken away from him like that? But suddenly.....it's all gone. Just like that." Sirius sighed again as he laid his head on his knees. "It's not fair, Remus. It's just not fair."

Remus stared through the bars at Sirius for a moment, thinking about the night before when he had sworn to Dumbledore how sane his friend had seemed. Now suddenly he wasn't so sure.

"Sirius," He said finally, "look at me."

Sirius turned slowly to him.

"Sirius, do you know where you are?" Remus asked with concern.

Sirius' expression broke into a genuine smile that was nearly a laugh. "I'm not crazy, Remus."

"Then answer the question."

Sirius looked about his small cell. "This is one of Snape's broom-closets in the dungeons, right?"

"Close."

Sirius' expression suddenly became very solemn. "I know where I am, Moony. And I know what they're likely planning to do with me. I'm not that far gone."

"They think you are."

Sirius shrugged as he turned back to the wall before him.

"Sirius, James would not have wanted you to give up. For Harry's sake if nothing else."

"I didn't, Remus." Sirius answered without looking at him. "I took care of Harry. I tried to see that he was safe, and now I know he is. He's safe with you." Sirius stopped suddenly as he started to cough again.

"Sirius, have they brought a doctor to see you? They were suppose to bring a doctor for you."

Sirius took a slow, deep breath. One that even Remus could hear rattling down through his chest.

"Things'll be fine, Remus." He said quietly. "Harry has all he needs now. He has you. James is gone. Lily's gone. I'm gone. But he still has you at least."

"Well, and Peter." Remus added off-handedly.

The comment seemed to strike something in Sirius that Remus hadn't expected. The man in the cell slowly turned back to his friend, his expression shifting to one of anger and fear as he crawled over to the bars. Not stopping until he was right up against them.

"No." He hissed between the bars. "Not Peter. You...you keep Peter away from Harry, Remus. Swear to me you'll do that! You won't let Peter anywhere near Harry. Not ever. Swear to that, Moony! Swear to it!"

Remus pulled back from the bars. Sirius had gone from seeming like a fairly rational person to the embodiment of a raving lunatic.

"Sirius, what's wrong with you?" Remus cried.

"Swear it!" Sirius stated again in the same fierce tone, two frantic eyes fixed on the man outside the bars. "Swear you won't let Peter near Harry."

"All right, all right." Remus promised, hoping to calm Sirius down some. "I swear. I won't let Peter near Harry."

Sirius seemed to accept Remus' promise as he pulled back from the bars, calming down as he leaned back against the stone wall, fighting again for breath.

"Sirius," Remus ventured, moving back a little closer to the bars, "Let me have them to get you a doctor. That cough is getting worse."

But Sirius shook his head. "It doesn't matter, Remus."

"It does matter, Sirius. You matter. To me and to Harry."

"Harry will be fine. He has what he needs. Someone to look after him. To keep him safe."

Remus tried a different angle. "He's not 'fine'. Sirius. He misses you."

Sirius turned to him.

"He was extremely fussy this morning. I could hardly get him to even eat."

Sirius turned away from Remus again, closing his eyes. "He's always fussy in the morning." He replied quietly. "And he doesn't like having breakfast too early. Feed him about ten o'clock instead. He'll be better about it then."

"And he doesn't seem to want any of the toys I got for him. He ignored them all this morning and just cried when I tried to give them to him."

"You took his blanket away from him?" Sirius asked in the same quiet voice.
"His blanket? That dirty thing he was wrap......" Remus stopped suddenly, realizing the comment wasn't going to reflect very well on Sirius. "Well, I gave him something else to wear last night, yes."

"Give him back that blanket. He'll be fine. He just wants it back. And stop taking it away from him." Sirius chide his friend lightly.

Remus smiled slightly. "All right, Sirius. You seem to know him best."

One of the ministry Aurors was walking down the hallway towards them.

"Mr. Lupin? I'm afraid you have to leave now, sir. They'll be wanting the prisoner for questioning."

Sirius turned to Remus suddenly, grabbing his hand as he whispered through the bars. "Remus, bring Harry before they take me away. Please."

"What?"

"Bring my godson. Let me see him once more. Please. I know what's going to happen here. I told you. I'm not that far gone. All I asked of you now is let me see Harry one more time before they take me away. Please. Bring him....bring him tonight. Please, Remus."

Remus paused as he stared back at his friend through the bars. Slowly he started to get to his feet.

"I'll see what I can do, Sirius, all right?"

The answer seemed to satisfy Sirius as he let go of Remus' hand with a small smile and sank back down to the floor.

Remus pulled himself up and, without a backward glance, followed the Auror out of the jail area.

Q&A

Hayleyhedwig 11: O.K., O.K., settle down. Look, P.A.R. made you FIRST this time, O.K.?

All right. I'll stop being condescending.

Actually, what happened was you're review came up after I sort of do a 'close out' on the reviews I'm going to answer that week. Sorry. I try to check right up to the point I post, and to be honest I do seem to remember seeing your review the last time I did that check. I have no idea what happened after that. But I do apologize for missing you.

A lot of people are anxiously awaiting the sequel to Family Life, and I hope they aren't disappointed by what they get. The story is extremely complicated and is on the whole the second part of the three part story, Family Life, which includes, Family Life, Family Relations, and Family Ties. However, due to the length and work involved in this project, I am not expecting the second part to be out before late Spring. In the meantime, I am planning on possibly posting some short stories.

So, you don't think Sirius would give Harry up, huh? I think by the end of this story that resolve will be strongly tested on Sirius' part.

I can tell you the way things are going right now, P.A.R.'s being pressed pretty hard to make that Sunday posting deadline every week. And times may come when I do miss. But I will usually get it up the next day. Yes, my stories are already written, but there's a lot of revision that goes on in between when I write them and when I post them. I mean, heck, chapter three USED to be one chapter. Now its three. (Chapter Three, Chapter Three 'A', and Chapter Three 'B'.). So bare with me if I miss once in a while from here on out. And thanks for the nice reviews. I like the long ones especially.

Wolf Of Solitude: *P.A.R. turns her back to Wolf.* Not talking to you.

(P.A.R. goes on reading and sees the nice things Wolf had to say.).

Rats! How can I not talk to someone who praises my story so nicely?

Any way I'll forgive you? Money always works for me.

I am so loving keeping you in heaven! And oh, look, Wolf! It only gets worse!!!!!!!!

Heavens above, you must be happy!

SiriusBPadfoot: I'm sorry about the long posting time, but P.A.R. almost has a life, and she's working hard to support it.

Yup! Pointless as asking Mr. Lay where all the Enron pension funds went. I'd love to answer things like this. Pat you on the back and tell you everything's gonna be all right. Not to worry. Happy ending and all that. But I can't. Wouldn't be fair to everyone else.

But look, if you need something to fill the time, go do what Marie Potter does. Girl spends all week second guessing my plotlines. Or if that doesn't so it for you, go read Family Life. That should take you into next year. (It's a little long.).

Lin-z: Lupin help the ministry? Somehow I don't thinks he's terribly inclined at the moment.

Cuarto anos de Espanol? (Can't make it up-side-down.). Muy Bueno, Chica!

Free hours? Free Hours? What would those look like?

Honestly, I read what I can, but I just don't have a lot of free time right now. But I'll see what I can do.

Thank you for liking my Q&A. As I said in one set of notes, it's an idea I've seen catching on more and more. Though I don't take credit for starting it by any means.

Starlight: The Bonds That Tie is a completed story, so it will be continued, and will run a little longer than Fever and a lot shorter than Family Life. (But then, most things tend to be shorter than Family Life.).

VMR: Ya' (Perfectly good word) know, I wonder about you sometimes. Sometimes you are a person of extremely few words. And other times I can hardly get you to shut-up. Like this time. (Sorry. P.A.R.'s just having a little fun.).

Anyway, the question of who Harry would go to is addressed in this story, although maybe not for the reasons you think.

Kiara O. Lawrence: I'm glad you come looking every week. Consistent readership is a good thing!

You and Wolf Of Solitude really need to get together. You both seem to have this thing for anguishy stories. Although, I guess that could be said of anyone taking the time to read this. But hey, I did warn you!

Not as good as Wolf? Heavens, come on! You put in physical action and everything. It's like I'm sitting in the room, lady!

Lotesse: Happy Day! Long review!

Listen......., could you like, maybe write a letter to my editor telling him how great I am?

The good news is, P.A.R. took out some serious stock in Kleenex before she posted this.

The bad news is, there was a reason for that!

Oh boy. You and Wolf and Kiara need to get together or something. Anguish lovers all around.

I don't know about how old Remus is feeling currently. I think the screwing he got by the ministry might have him a bit distracted from feeling bad about what he did (?) to Sirius right now. And I stand by what I said earlier. You indeed haven't seen the werewolf get protective yet. But keep in mind there's three people involved here. Remus, Sirius, AND Harry.

As things stand, it's a bit of reverse from canon. Remember that the reason Sirius was staying with Remus in the first place was because no one was entirely certain what part in James and Lily's deaths Sirius played, if any. And he wasn't exactly convincing Remus that he had all his ants at the picnic while he was there. (Well, the fact of the matter was that he did leave a few back at the anthill.). But good old Remus is always one to try and see the best in people, and he was doing his darnedest to sort out in his own mind what was going on with Sirius. And still is.

Remus 'believed ill of his friend' because the ministry could sell ice to Eskimos. They said all the right things in just the right way, and said them so often and so loud that poor Remus never had a chance to sit down and really think things out.

Wormtail's absence rather strange? Not really.

Hmmm, Peter. O.K.! I thought about him. Am I done now?

Seriously, one step at a time about this next part.

Does Sirius know 100% that Peter is responsible for the Potter's deaths? No.

Does he suspect? Oh yeah!

Does Peter know Sirius knows? Yes.

Is Peter worried about it? Probably.

Is Peter laying low? Even ants couldn't crawl under him right now.

Is Sirius in much of a condition to do anything about it? Not right now.

Is Peter currently busy trying to keep Voldemort alive and happy? Probably.

Will any of this be addressed in the story? Not in great detail. Sorry.

Technically, Katlin wasn't trying to do Sirius in. She was trying to......well....., you know. Sirius didn't have time to leave her tied up on anyone's doorstep. He was busy adding Grand Theft Auto to his rap-sheet.

Katlin would most definitely not be coming back a happy little camper if she showed up in the story again. But currently she doesn't. But she will show up in others. She's such a fun little character.

I read your last line in that paragraph. I'm still laughing today. Sometimes not being able to say anything nearly kills me!

Whyever would he? Heavens, that would open up a nasty can of worms! I mean, Remus wants to help the ministry, but he doesn't want to tell them his life story, or anyone else's, for that matter. And he doesn't believe that telling the ministry about Padfoot would make a difference one way or the other. (Don't you just love guessing what's on the mind of a fictitious character?)

Yea! P.A.R. got a gold star! Wow, and after that critique I was wondering if you'd even come back! Or are you just masochistic?

Honestly, I'm glad you appreciated it. I did say I don't review nice, I review honest. And that is what you will get out of me. But also, keep in mind, it is just my opinion, not the world's. 'One man's meat........', after all.

I don't think you're in 'dreadful need' of feedback. You have a few minor problems that are easily remedied. But overall, your style is very good.

By the way, just a brief word. If you ever do end up in a creative writing course, yes, you're there to learn to write a good story. But somewhere in the course, ask the teacher, not how do you write, but how do you get PUBLISHED? You might be surprised by the answer. It's not as simple as it seems, and you'd do well to listen to someone whose been there. Hopefully, your teacher has.

Short end of the stick? Well, maybe not this time. (Honest, not nice. Remember.)

So, you got to be this good by reading? Well, knock me over with a feather! I have long told aspiring writers (and I'm doing so again) that the best way to be a writer is to read! Read incessantly. Read constantly. Read until you annoy your friends.

Very few people in this world ever just woke up one day and knew immediately what they wanted to do with their lives. Most were inspired by something or someone. With writers, I believe for a lot of us it starts with reading a book, getting to the end, and saying 'Ha! I could have done better than that!'. (After all, what are fanfictions?) Past that, you learn by studying others, people. And if you're reading a book, you're studying a published writer. Makes sense, no?

So, Lotesse, you go ahead and read yourself into happiness! You'll likely end up a darn good author one day.

Dumbledore's True Love: I'd love to say I'm going to start passing out gold stars to mullify people. But it just doesn't work that way. Sorry. (Bribery! Now that's a different story!)

O.K., on with the questions.

1. True. But I did say that I was pretty sure that between he and Remus I'd bet they could have come up with a wand. I mean, wizards can use other wands. That happens quite a bit in the stories. Anyway, I'm holding to the 'ya' gotta have something to start with' theory.

2. I did warn you it was an anguishy fanfiction. And what's anguish if you aren't torturing someone emotionally?

3. Now how can I answer that really without giving away the plot? Oh, but yeah, the ministry are idiots. I'll give ya' that one.

4. You love the man? I would never have gotten that. And how do you know he's playing to the ministry and not 'playing' the ministry? Hmmmmm?

5. I don't know. I didn't write the first book. Such is my life.

O.K., P.A.R. is just being silly for a minute.

Follow me here. Straight off, this is AU, not canon. Now I've already been called on this before, so lets not beat a dead horse, but yes, I should have spelled out a few things that I glossed over more or less.

One, Voldemort is not dead, he's very much alive and very low on fuel. But he is alive. I mean, he's gotta be because I need him later and you can't resurrect the dead according to Rowling (although I have some issues with the whole 'Harry's parents' thing, since they are in most stories more than live characters).

Two, Voldemort isn't mist. In the fourth book when the poor muggle looked in the chair, there was something there. And it wasn't the low-lying fog the weather man had warned about earlier. And Book One never said he was mist until the end. (was that actually in the book, or just the movie version? I don't remember reading that.) So, if he wasn't mist when Harry was eleven, I'm wagering he wasn't mist when he was one either.

Oh, nuts! Hand in the back again. Yes. You. What is it?

Ummmmm......, Ms. P.A.R., if Voldemort was mist at the end of Book One, wouldn't it stand to reason he could have been mist after Harry defeated him the first time as a baby since both times he had been severely weakened?

No! Sit down! ( Actually, the answer to that is 'anything is possible'. But I look at it this way; Voldemort was far weaker after Harry defeated him as a baby then he was at the end of Book One because Harry didn't really hurt Voldemort, he just destroyed the body Voldemort was using. And I would think you have to have some level of power to hold yourself together as a bunch of particles like that. When Harry defeated him the first time as a baby, I'd think he didn't have enough power left to hold much of anything together. So he had better have had some sort of body, albeit one he eventually abandoned.

As for the Deatheaters, I'd think with Voldemort out of power for the moment, most of them are doing what the various books said they did after Voldemort's downfall. Practicing up on how to act like you've been under a spell. But then you have a few like dear old Katlin.

All right. Now that we have that cleared up.......sort of......, DTL, I'm gonna give you that gold star! And not just to mullify you. Because you nearly backed P.A.R. into a corner she couldn't talk her way out of. An accomplishment to be proud of! Enjoy!

Nagini: How long till what expires? My contract? Quite a while, I'm afraid.

I told you my author name. P.A.R.. Not my fault you don't know what the initials stand for. But it my pen name.

Sirius will get free? Now how can I answer that without making a whole lot of work redundant?

Actually, The Bonds That Tie is sort of being sequeled. I like doing stories with Harry as a baby. (Cuts down on dialogue somethin' fierce.) So where as I won't be 'sequeling' this story, I will likely continue the concept in other stories. I'm currently thinking about one, but I have a lot of other things to work on first.

Alexa Black: Actually, you're stuck with whoever was Minister of Magic before Fudge. When they were rounding up Deatheaters, Barty Crouch was said to be in line for the job, but it was given to Fudge instead. This was all just after Harry's parent's were killed. Which is just about where we are. So Fudge isn't in that position yet.

Sandrine Black: Hey, a compliment is a compliment. Thank you.

Me: Well, I almost have a life. I'm still working on that.

Whisp: Actually, I've read several of your stories, I just haven't gotten around to rev.........ah..........Oh! Look! Isn't Mars bright tonight!

Remus isn't going to let Sirius get dragged away to Azkaban without a fight? How do you know? Yeah, yeah. O.K., it's Remus. I know.

Actually, Harry's already started to notice that his favorite voice isn't there anymore. How did Remus describe him? Quite. Which is how Harry is when he's scared. He doesn't fuss or move about much. He tries not to do much of anything. All of his screaming before that, aside from being hungry, was calling for Sirius, who didn't answer. Currently the poor child is just scared.

And, of course, I can't comment on the last part due to plot interference. Sorry.

Black Sparkles: Glad you liked the chapter. And P.A.R. apologizes for missing you last time.

Voltora: No, you don't need to recite entries from a Thesaurus. Just the usual stream of telling me how much you like this story usually has me walking around with everyone wondering what that grin on my face is about.

Elizabeth Bathory: I'm very glad you like this story, despite the fact it's got more anguish in it than almost I can handle. But yes, there will be other baby Harry stories. As I mentioned to someone else, although The Bonds That Tie will not be sequeled in and of itself, the concept will continue into other stories that are for the most part stand-alone, one shot stories. As I told the other reviewer, I like writing stories with Harry as a baby; cuts down on my need for dialogue a great deal.

MegOfAllTrades: Yeah. You look new.

Honestly, ya'll (perfectly good word), I would LOVE to tell you who I am and write out my autobiography (P.A.R. has had something of an interesting life.....sometimes....occasionally.....O.K., it's been a pleasant bore.), but it just isn't possible now, nor can I say in all honesty that I will ever be able to tell you anything about myself. But please understand the amount of trouble I could get into if I were discovered doing this. We're talking legal stuff here. And I'd really rather not get into a big legal mess with my publisher right now.

Anyway, ohhhhhhh, thank you for such a lovely review. P.A.R. likes to think she doesn't write bad stories, she doesn't write slash stories (yet), and currently, Diamond is as fluffy as I'll get.

As always, thank you for the reviews. Answers are as of 02102002 at posting time. Sorry for anyone I missed. Let me know. You could blackmail me into some interesting situations for missing you, you know?

See you next week.