A/N: Just a brief note to start, folks. I always resolved I would never beg you guys for anything. Well, I'm falling right off that bandwagon. Here's the scoop. P.A.R. is in line for a job she REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wants. In order for P.A.R. to get said job, P.A.R. believes there needs to be a WHOLE lotta praying going on. So, if ya' could, could you have a word with whatever power you believe in that, whoever that is, might have mercy on poor P.A.R. and let her have her job, with her current boss, and her really nice friend she'd like to work with in the deal too. I'd really appreciate it! Thank you.
O.K., next, a lot of you asked about the chapter structure for this story, and at this point I think it's safe to say there's one more.
This chapter's title says it all. I simply can't GET any cuter than this if I tried. If you've been among the many waiting for a chapter that was just as fluffy as a frickin' French poodle, here you go! There is no stress, no fights, no attacks, and absolutely no one dies in this chapter. This was added solely for your reading pleasure.
Oh, it's also to clear up Harry's developmental problems thing. And full credit for that idea goes to Starlight, Dears. She is the one who suggested it to P.A.R..
But mostly it's just for fun.
Therefore, I say.....
On with the story.
Enjoy!
Chapter Thirteen: To Cute For Words
The third week after Sirius had left the infirmary Dr. Richards stopped by again to do a bit of a follow up on Sirius and, at Remus' request to check Harry. Remus had been commenting for the past several weeks that he didn't think Harry was getting along as well as he should. Sirius, true to any good parent, frowned at the mere suggestion, stating quite determinedly that Harry would get on with things in his own good time.
"Besides," Sirius had stated one afternoon as he and Remus rehashed the old argument, "Harry is learning words."
Remus stood with his head resting in his hand as he stared at his friend. "Sirius," he said as calmly as ever, "no child his age should even know those words."
Sirius had insisted they'd likely come in handy later in life, which usually had Remus walking out of the room, shaking his head.
And so it was, mostly to appease Remus, that Sirius agreed to let Dr. Richards have a look at Harry.
When Aaron arrived, he started with a quick follow up with Sirius to make sure he was following his medical regiment. Once Aaron was satisfied things were progressing well with one patient, he turned his attention to the other.
After nearly a half hour of having a wand waved about him, Harry now sat on the kitchen table as Dr. Richard stood studying the child for a few minutes.
"Well?" Remus asked nervously.
"He seems perfectly healthy from what I can tell, Remus."
"Ha!" Sirius put in quickly, giving Remus a very superior look.
"Let's see how his memory is, shall we?"
"He has a perfectly good memory." Sirius piped up immediately. "He knows me. He remembers Remus, Dumbledore, and every one of those retched little elves."
But Dr. Richards ignored Sirius and crouched down until he was eye level with the child on the table.
"All right then, Harry." He said pleasantly. "Who am I?"
Harry stared at the man in front of him. His attention had been focused on the polished piece of wood in the man's hand. But the instant the wand disappeared, Harry lost interest in the man. Quickly he turned to his godfather. Reaching up, Harry flapped his fingers at Sirius.
Aaron tapped the table to get Harry's attention.
"Harry! Pay attention, son." He stated. "Now, who am I?"
"Come on, Harry." Sirius prodded his godson. "Help Dr. Richards remember who he is."
Harry thought for a moment. Something in what his godfather had said rang a bell for him.
"Doc-cor!" Harry suddenly piped up proudly.
Sirius looked like he was going to burst from pride. But his pleased expression vanished quickly when he met Aaron Richards' hard stare.
"What?" Sirius cried indignantly.
Aaron shook his head and turned back to Harry. "Sirius, it's suppose to be an exam to check the child's memory retention. Not your's."
Remus snorted, catching Harry's attention. Harry watched the other man for a moment, then began to laugh as well, clapping his hands at Remus, who in turned waved at Harry with a smile.
"Well, right then." Aaron stated, watching Harry giggle at whatever Remus was doing behind his back. "How's his speech progressing? Is he learning any new words?"
As if on cue, Harry piped up with a word that Remus was fairly certain would have been inappropriate in almost any given situation.
Aaron's eyes widened in surprise. He then turned a firm stare to Sirius.
Sirius snapped his attention instantly up to Remus' ceiling.
"Merlin's Beard, Remus!" Sirius stated suddenly. "Your ceiling needs painting!"
"And your mouth needs washing!" Aaron snapped back at Sirius.
Sirius turned back to the doctor, looking utterly surprised. "What?"
"Where else would he have learned something like that?" Aaron said firmly.
"Well," Sirius thought for a moment, "what about Remus?"
"Remus Lupin couldn't say that word if I wrote it down for him on a piece of parchment and gave him a dictionary for reference."
Remus started to say something in defense of his often over-emphasized prudishness, but Sirius cut him off.
"Aaron, I'm not trying to teach him things like that. But the kid is a parrot. He repeats things like crazy."
"He's a baby, Sirius. That's how they learn speech! By repeating the things they hear adults say."
"So what am I suppose to do?" Sirius asked. "Stop talking?"
"Clean up your vocabulary." Aaron stated sharply.
Sirius huffed loudly and took to sulking.
"All right then, Harry," Aaron continued as he lifted Harry to his feet, "let's see how the standing and walking things are going, shall we?"
Almost as soon as Aaron let go of the child, Harry plopped back down on the table.
"Well, that sort of negates the walking thing I would guess."
"Sort of hard to learn when your godfather obligingly carries you everywhere you want to go." Remus put in helpfully.
Aaron turned a disapproving stare once again to Sirius, who met it with his own.
"What?" Sirius stated. "Me again? Tell me something, Aaron." He added. "Have I done anything right in taking care of this child?"
"Well, he's alive."
"And you'll likely attribute that to Remus."
"Don't know. Who feeds him?"
Sirius' hand beat Remus' into the air.
"And who washes him?"
Both hands stayed in the air.
"And who changes him?"
Both hands stayed up.
"And who makes sure he sees a proper doctor?"
Sirius put his hand down, but turned a frown to Remus, whose still had his hand proudly held in the air.
"Oh, put it down!" He stated firmly. "The man said a 'proper' doctor."
"From the looks of things," Aaron commented as he packed his bag up, "I'd say that between the two of you, the child shows a good chance of survival."
"But what about his talking, Aaron?" Remus asked as Sirius quickly scooped Harry up off the table. "And the fact he isn't walking yet?"
"Based on the child's history, Remus," Aaron explained, "I wouldn't worry too much right now. He's a bit behind, but not as far as you'd think. And it is to be expected under the circumstances of his up-bringing so far. Children need stimulus to learn. Especially early in life. Harry simply hasn't had that. Not with his Aunt and Uncle by their own doing, and not with Sirius."
Sirius turned a heated stare to Aaron.
"Not by your own fault, Sirius." Aaron pointed out. "But what were you doing while you had him? I'm sure you gave him what time you could, but the majority of that time was likely focused on trying to provide food and shelter, trying to stay clear of the ministry and the muggle police, as well as just trying to figure out what you were suppose to be doing, having never cared for a child full-time before. Personally, based on the circumstances, I think you did an admirable job with Harry. But now it's time to focus on the child's development. And for starters," Aaron added, reaching over and taking Harry from Sirius and placing him on the floor, "the child is too young for a taxi service. He wants to go somewhere, let him get there on his own."
Harry immediately looked about. The floor was not a common place for him and he rapidly decided he didn't much like it. Turning to Sirius the baby raised his arms and started babbling at his godfather.
Obligingly, Sirius started to lean down.
"Sirius!" Aaron snapped at him.
Sirius quickly stood back up, looking questioningly at the doctor.
"I can see the child isn't the only one who needs re-training." He sighed, turning back to Remus. "Just give him some time...and some toys....and I think you'll be amazed at how fast he'll catch up. He's really a very bright child."
"Sirius or Harry?" Remus asked with a small smile.
Aaron turned around to find Sirius now crouched in front of Harry, happily playing with his godson.
"He's going to take a great deal of re-training." Aaron sighed. "Sirius." Aaron called to him.
Sirius looked up.
"Back away from the baby."
Sirius looked puzzled. "Why?"
"Just do it."
Sirius stood up and back a few feet away from Harry.
The baby sat for a few moments, then raised his arms to Sirius. Sirius took a step forward, but then stopped, turning his eyes to Aaron. From the look he met with, Sirius obediently took a step back and remained there.
Harry started babbling rapidly at his godfather and continued reaching for him.
Sirius remained where he was.
Getting frustrated, Harry started to cry.
Sirius immediately launched forward, but Aaron stopped him again.
"Sirius! Leave him be."
"But he's crying!"
"Children do that. Especially when they aren't getting what they want."
Sirius looked very disgruntled, but again returned to where he had been standing.
After several ear piercing minutes went by without results, Harry quieted down some. Sniffing over his tears of anger and frustration, he finally pulled over to his knees and began crawling over to Sirius.
Sirius looked over at Aaron, who quickly waved Sirius to begin backing up. Sirius frowned, but did as he was instructed and took a step back. Harry paused as his target moved, but continued on a few seconds later. Obediently Sirius continued backing up until he was out of view of Aaron and Remus, with Harry continuing after him and picking up speed.
"And how long do you think that lasted?" Remus asked as Harry scooted out of view around the door.
"Less than five seconds after that child was out of view." Aaron stated, turning back to Remus. "Just see to it he adheres to the rules." Aaron instructed. "He's not to carry that child everywhere. And see if you can't start the boy learning some appropriate language, please. He'll have to mix with society one day, after all."
Remus smiled slightly as he showed Aaron to the door.
"By the way," Aaron asked as he stood in the doorway, glancing past Remus to see if Sirius was anywhere about, "how are things on the legal side? With the ministry and the muggle police and all that?"
"Well, the muggle police were easy enough to pacify." Remus explained. "Albus simply pointed out to the Dursley's that if Sirius was accused of kidnapping Harry, and convicted, that Harry would be returned to them. So it's all now been called a horrible misunderstanding. The dog was explained as being Sirius', who was just guarding the child people saw him with, so everyone isn't still on the look-out for a large black dog attacking helpless infants, and Sirius paid for everything Padfoot stole. So we're clear on the muggle side."
"What about the house?"
"Gas explosion. And the insurance will rebuild for them, so the muggles are happy."
"And Sirius is cleared of that?"
"Sirius was never convicted of that, Aaron." Remus reiterated. "He was only wanted for questioning. And besides, there really wasn't a scrap of evidence to tie Sirius to that. The muggles admitted that they ran from the house long before it blew up and they have no idea if Sirius was still there or not. And there wasn't a trace of magic that the ministry could tie to Sirius in the incident. If anything, a few of them are starting to realize it was likely Deatheaters. And, since the only way they could have gotten through the wards was if Harry was no longer near the house, it's even more likely Sirius and Harry had already apparated out of the area when they arrived. More likely than not, Sirius saved the lives of everyone in that house. Since if everyone had stayed, the Deatheaters would have attacked just the same. And who knows what the muggles would have done? Probably tried to run from the house. Then the Deatheaters would have had them for sure."
"And James and Lily Potters Murders?"
Remus paused. "The ministry still wants to question Sirius about that." He replied quietly. "But Albus has spoken to them on Sirius' behalf, promising them Sirius will stay here until he's recovered and then Sirius will go to the ministry for questioning."
"And they agreed to that?" Aaron asked in disbelief. He had had enough dealings with the ministry himself trying to protect his own kind to know the ministry was rarely that accommodating.
"Well, at least they know where he is. Albus has agreed to allow Sirius and Harry to stay at the castle for now. But they'll be moving to my house as soon as all the protection wards are back in place. Ministry mucked them up a bit with moving them about. And again, they really have very little to tie Sirius to what happened. At this point I think they're looking at him more as a material witness than a suspect."
"Don't count on it." Aaron replied with a frown.
"We'll be careful just the same."
Aaron nodded and left, apparating once he was outside the fields.
Remus came downstairs in the afternoon a few days later to find Sirius sitting on the rug in the livingroom, entertaining Harry as he levitated a toy just above the baby's reach. A toy Remus eyed with suspicion.
"That looks new." He commented with a touch of irritation.
"Is. Got it this morning. And Harry loves it. Don't you, Harry?" Sirius beamed at his godson as the toy came within reach and Harry snatched it out of the air.
Sirius had been given some access back to his accounts at Gringotts' once the ministry were satisfied they had enough ways to track him if he tried to escape their watch over him. And Sirius had wasted no time at all in making use of his re-newed acquaintance with his money, heading right for the nearest toy store in Hogsmeade with Harry.
"Sirius, do you remember the talk we had about buying Harry toys?"
"Yes, I do, Remus." Sirius replied, levitating the toy again as Harry squealed with delight. "And boring it was, too."
"Sirius! He has a room full of toys. You're going to spoil him!" Remus stated in exasperation.
"Good. He deserves to be spoiled. And as I recall, your doctor said Harry needed toys."
"'Toys', Sirius. But not every blessed one ever made. It's not good for him to be given everything he wants. At the rate you're going, what will you get him for Christmas?"
"Everything he wants." Sirius replied, most of his focus on his godson.
"You're not paying attention." Remus stated flatly.
"Yes, I am." Sirius turned to his friend. "And as boring as you're being again, let me tell you, it ain't easy."
"Sirius, Harry needs to learn a little discipline. That comes from not being given everything you want." Remus stated evenly, putting a slight emphasis on each word.
"Remus, Harry is a child. They are for spoiling." Sirius replied, emphasizing each word as Remus had done.
"Well, don't come crying to me when your Gringotts vault is empty, Mr. Black."
"Look, Remus," Sirius said, turning about on the carpet to face him from the floor, "Harry hasn't had a decent toy in months. What's the harm here?"
"You haven't been listening." Remus stated exasperatedly.
"Child. Don't spoil. Nothing left for Christmas. Satisfied?"
Remus stared back at him with a look McGonagall would have applauded.
In the meantime, dissatisfied with Sirius' sudden lack of attention, Harry had attached himself to his godfather's back and was attempting to scale him.
"Well, I have news for you, Remus Lupin." Sirius stated firmly, giving Harry a hand up to his shoulder. "He's my godson, and I'm going to spoil him rotten."
"And that's just what you'll have."
Sirius pulled a giggling Harry up and over his shoulder. The child tumbled down into Sirius lap, laughing the whole way. Sirius picked him up and hugged him closely to him. "He's all I have left of James and Lily, Remus. They gave him into my care. Trusted me to look out after him. And that's just what I intend to do. I'm going to be there for him every minute of every day and every night. I want to see everything he does, everything he learns. I want to be there when he flies on his first broom, when he casts his first spell, when he transfigures his first teacup, and when he messes up his first potion. I want to be there for it all."
Remus crouched down in front of them. "Ahhhh, look at that, Harry." He stated with a smile at the baby. "You're mummy and daddy didn't get you a godfather," he added, looking sternly at Sirius as he dropped his sweet tone, "they got you you're very own stalker."
Sirius stuck his tongue out at Remus. "Jealous."
"Jealous? Of you? Ha! I am his favorite uncle, after all, Sirius."
"Ohhhh, hard competition there. Vernon Dursley or Peter."
Remus frowned at him.
Harry started to giggle again. The baby then clapped his hands and shouted. "Paf. Paf."
Remus smiled down at Sirius as he stood back up. "Well, at least we all know who the favorite family 'pet' is, don't we, 'Paf'?"
Sirius frowned at him, but obligingly transformed for Harry, who rewarded Sirius with a squeal of delight and several claps.
Remus watched with a bemused expression as Harry launched himself at the large black dog. He wrestled it quickly to the floor, finally pinning it there as he laid over it's back, his hands buried deeply in the shaggy black fur.
"All right. Enough play, Sirius. Time for bed." Remus suddenly announced.
Sirius quickly transformed back with Harry still laying on his back and turned to Remus with a wicked smile. "Why Remus Lupin! You old pervert. Who'd have guessed?"
"Half the school, if you were counting the rumors. And I meant the child, you over-grown two year old. Go put him down for a nap, or he'll be a handful tonight. And I'm not sitting up with a crying, over-tired child all night just because someone wanted to play all afternoon."
Sirius sighed to himself. He carefully tumbled Harry off his back, then got to his feet, lifting Harry off the floor with him. "All right, all right. We're off. Merlin's Beard," he commented as he walked past Remus, "someone certainly needs a nap. And it ain't the baby."
"Well, feel free to take one. Do you a world of good." Remus replied as they walked past. "Aaron said you still aren't fully over that pneumonia."
Remus watched as Sirius carried Harry upstairs, a smile on his lips none-the-less. Lily and James certainly couldn't have chosen better then they did. Sirius could make the most doting parents look like slackers.
Remus went into the kitchen to see what he could cook up for dinner. But after fifteen minutes went by and Sirius didn't come back downstairs, Remus decided to go check on him.
Creeping up to the door, Remus carefully pushed it open to find Sirius stretched out on the bed, sound asleep. Next to him lay a sleeping Harry, curled up in a ball and cuddled up against his godfather's chest, his thumb in his mouth. Remus shook his head with a smile as he closed the door. At this point, he though, as he headed back down the stairs, he wasn't sure who was going to spoil who.
Q&A
Whadda' I tell ya'? Was that cute or what?
Family Life
Embyr Black: Family Life may be finished, Dear. But it is being sequeled in the summer with two stories, Family Relations and Family Ties.
Jon's Sunshine + Rupert's Princess: Ms. P.A.R. wishes she was related to Rowling. P.A.R. would be on Aunty JK's 'favorites' list for sure. Would NEVER have to work again.
LilCookie: You're in luck. Most of my stories deal with Sirius and Harry to some degree.
The Bonds That Tie
Mayleesa: You guys, like, all go to school together or something? Everybody seems to know everybody here.
Anyway, thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying this story.
Taracollowen: Whereas I appreciate the dedication, Dear, really, you need to work on the sleep thing.
As to the posting confusion, Fanfiction.net (and I'll stop there or I may say something unkind) has changed their posting practices. Therefore, P.A.R. put up the changes for the new chapter, then tried to upload it only to find herself having to learn a whole new way to do that. Trust me, you all have never come closer to NOT getting a chapter Sunday night as you did last Sunday.
As to the Port-key issue, ummmm, were you talking about them using a port key anywhere around Remus' house, or Hogwarts. If it had to do with anyone for any reason using a port-key to get to or from Remus' house, the wards prevented that. If it was about why they didn't take a port-key to get to Hogwarts, and they could have done that due to port-key use within Hogwarts' protection wards was spelled out in GoF, Remus didn't have a port-key. And no, they aren't something you just pick up and enchant for fun and profit. And since it was never spelled out any differently by Ms. (Mrs.?) Rowling, I'm allowed to say that.
You may be reviewing a non-existent chapter, Dear, but be proud! I do think that's a first.
Yeah, the sequel's title is.....well, what can I say, pessimistic?
I'm glad to have cleared up the James thing for you.
Ohhhhhhh! An idea! From my story?! Do let P.A.R. know when you have it up, Dear. I'd love to read it!
Teigra: James' whole point to Sirius was that he did not make Sirius a godparent for Sirius to just play with the idea until he got bored being a parent, then pass Harry off to whoever he felt like. Sirius made a promise. A very solemn and important one. I mean, Lily and James could have chosen anyone to be Harry's godfather. Even Dumbledore. But they chose Sirius. So they must have had a good reason. James basically told Sirius to get over himself and live up to his obligation. (But in the nicest possible way.)
Lin-z: I hope you had a nice birthday, Dear.
Yes, the chapters are getting fluffier which each passing week, aren't they?
Elizabeth Bathory: I always try to read and review others stories. But if you've seen any of my reviews, you well know they aren't the standard one-liners. They take a considerable amount of time to do. But I'll see what I can do.
Midori-sama: I enjoy making Sunday night something to look forward to for people. And I'm pleased to think I'm one of the people keeping you in this category.
Of course Sirius is cute. Why else would an older, single female keep writing about him?
Voltora: Restricted! How awful! I remember the bad old days when Fanfiction.net crashed every other day. It was not pleasant. But glad to have you (and your thesaurus) back.
Oh! It's in parts! And look! You're using your thesaurus again! That's nice, Dear.
Oh! A longer one this time.
No need to learn another language. Just whip out that thesaurus and start flipping the pages.
I could never eat my mousepad. It's a floaty kind with stuff in the middle that moves around. Very nice.
I could rarely resist Sirius-Padfoot eyes. And the answer to that one was in the Author Notes. There's one more chapter to go. And they just keep gettin' cuter. Oh, wait! I said I couldn't get any cuter than this one.
Well, chapter fourteen is cute too.
Nicky: That's the title, folks. Ain't changin' it. Ain't explaining it.
Once again, poor Remus gets left holding the bag. He had to say SOMETHING! It was, once again, just the first thing he could think of. This is, after all, the same man who named his pet dog 'Blacky'.
What's IMO, Dear?
As for Dumbledore, I think the old bird looks further into the future than most people. And I'm betting on a really good reason surfacing soon as to why he sent Harry to the Dursley's and not to someone else. I mean, on the surface, even Snape would have been better. Or why not raise him at Hogwarts? It's suppose to be the safest place in the world. There had to be some other reason. Maybe it was character building.
Starlight: Having re-read my reviews from the last chapter, I will say I wasn't jumped on as bad as I first read them. But they weren't the usual happy little review I was use to. I was of the impression the 'James and Lily' thing didn't go over too well. But I am a sensitive person. (Yeah, right!)
But I'm glad you liked it, and this one.
vmr: Thank you.
Lotesse: You think Harry was cute last chapter? Good heavens, what was he this time? But true. There is nothing cuter than a happy baby.
OHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! THANK YOU for saying that about the James thing!!!!!!!!! That's my nicest comment to date!
I wrote it for A.N.G.U.I.S.H.. Geeeez! Where have you people been?
And if you think I'm going to tell you how it's going to end....HA!
Ummmmm, about the thermometer thing. You've never had to take a pet to the vet? Seen how they take an animal's temperature? Let me put it to you this way. You NEVER want a vet to put his thermometer in your mouth. I don't care how clean he swears it is. I don't care if he scrubs it down in front of you. DON'T put that thing in your mouth. If that doesn't explain it for you, look at it this way. Why do you think Padfoot 'sat' down?
Sorry, the rescue is as explained as it's going to get. I just didn't think there was that much more to say.
Thank you for explaining the word.
LauraBlade: However you choose to get it to me, Dear, I'll gladly take a look at it. And by the way, if you chose to do it by my e-mail address, which is P.A.R. @ Fanfiction.Net, and I actually get it (e-mail hasn't been used yet and I'm not quite sure it's even active), do leave a return address so I can send my response back, yes?
And I'm very pleased you liked the chapter.
Phoenix: Thank you. Very glad you liked it.
Zimmy Russell: Yes, Zimmy, I missed you. You know I did.
Boy, you'd think those cruises would make enough money without having to nickel and dime you to death.
Yes, I should have made the wand mint flavored. Everyone likes mint!
Overdosing him? Are you nuts!? (Never mind.) You should see what my doctor has ME taking!
No, no. We can't applaud you if Whisp helped.
'Abmonished' is indeed not a word. Hopefully what I wrote is 'Admonish'. I'm just to tired to go look. By the way, it means 'to scold'.
'Exacerbate' is a word. It means 'to worsen, aggravate, or intensify something'.
'Perpetually' means 'constantly'.
Don't worry about the depression thing, Dear. It's never forever. Just remember that. And who the heck wants to be happy all the time? Well, O.K., there's Lupin.
Tried And Convicted is the standing title. I have no intention of changing it.
I can never remember the name of the guy playing Lockhart. But he is fairly well known. But I don't recall his name in connection with Wild, Wild, West.
And miscasting PoA would not make it a bad movie, Dear. It would make it a disaster. They have to be extremely careful. But if they listen to Rowling, as they have been so far, they should be O.K..
RavenNat: Actually, you got me on the Remus thing. I mean, I've read a few of your stories and they seem to deal with a variety of characters without centering on just one.
Happy reading with Family Life. I'm glad you're enjoying it.
True, what is there not to love about Padfoot?
I'm very glad you like Sirius and 'Bella. I thought Sirius needed someone to help on the parenting thing. And Harry deserved a mother as well as a father. But since the focus of Family Life is the whole 'family', I didn't want any one concept to overshadow the others. So the romance thing is greatly down-played. I didn't, after all, want that to be the story.
Chapter 18 was a great deal of fun to write. But as that it was the first chapter written, therefore my first attempt at fanfiction in this genre, Chapter 11 will always be my favorite.
I browsed Sugarquill the other day. It was nice. Format was a tad confusing. But some of the FanArt was simply outstanding. Truly some of the best I've seen. I haven't checked out the Registry yet.
I can agree to a point that there is some 'junk' on Fanfiction.Net. But I can't fault them for the service they provide. I think they have done a magnificent job laying out the format for this site and managing it as well as they do. This category alone is enormous. But the sheer volume they handle earns them my applause. My only complaint with them falls close to your comment. And I reserve the term 'junk' to certain sectors. These are those who insist on posting unfinished stories. This is a tremendous pet peeve of mine. And it's not so much the unfinished stories, folks. Don't get me wrong. Even these can serve to fuel someone else's imagination. But when you write three chapters, don't finish the story, but insist on posting the same unfinished three chapters again a few months or weeks later because you want to sucker in some more reviews, that's wrong. But that's my opinion.
Calistal: Thank you.
Alexa Black: Well, the past hasn't 'really' been changed, Dear. It's an AU. Therefore, the current 'present' doesn't really exist in this story. And that's as far down that road as P.A.R. wants to go or it's gonna get REALLY confusing.
tima: Thank you.
Sailor Sol: Keep up with the late nights, Dear, and you'll turn into some type of creative person. We're notorious night-owls. And I'm honored that my story is now ranking over sleep. I don't know that that's a good thing, but....O.K..
Kim: I thought a touch of humor was needed. As to 'where's Dumbledore', I'd like to just say 'in his office', but if you're referring to why hasn't he been more visible in the story, I can only say 'time'. This story is much shorter than I would have liked it to be, but I only have so much time to dedicate to each story. So things, or character roles, have to be shortened sometimes.
lilahp: I don't know what to say, except, man, you are one UNHAPPY little reader right now, aren't you? Sorry.
Anyway, as to my Sirius/Lupin theory, I just found it very interesting that Sirius doesn't so much as mention Lupin even ONCE in GoF. And it was LONG book, folks. And this is supposedly his best friend? I'm betting on an oversight on Rowling's part, but who knows? I mean, general consensus is that Remus and Sirius return in Book Five. I'm curious as to what the relationship will be. It would be a source of good conflict.
I do like the Snape babysitting scenario.
Why does everyone want to see that poor child get sick? Anyway, Harry is picking something up from Sirius, as you saw in this chapter. But it isn't his illness.
But sorry, no Forbidden Forrest, Moaning Myrtle, stock pot, or Snape right now. Just an unbelievable amount of 'cute'.
Karla: And you thought that last chapter was cute?
It's entirely possible I misread your review. P.A.R. is a bit tired on Sunday nights.
I always appreciate a Continuity editor. Feel free to browse for errors all you want. There's bound to be some. Especially in the next two chapters. Not so much that you'll se them now, but the sequel could be a bit tricky if I don't cover all my bases just right. Tried And Convicted is a very complicated story.
Oh, by the way, as of 02022002, my hits to these stories are now over 6,000. Yah!!!!!!
All reviews are as of 04132002. P.A.R.'s book of the week, How To Fund Your Retirement Through Extortion by I.M.A. Lonsharke.
Thank you all for your reviews.
See you next week.