Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and if I did, I would be working on
getting the next book done and released to the public.
Note: This chapter was written by my good friend, Becca.
A few weeks went by without incident, but Harry barely noticed. With all the schoolwork bogging him down and on top of preparing for his impending O.W.L.s, he also had quidditch practice. The new captain was Katie Bell and she was almost as insane as Wood. She insisted on practices every morning and evening. Granted, they weren't as long as one of Wood's practices, but they were still twice a day. They had managed to find a new keeper. He was a first year named Alex Reynolds. He had to beg McGonagall for a chance to tryout. She was hesitant, but he reminded her that Harry played his first year. She felt it fair to him the chance, and it turned out that Alex was the best candidate for the position. Harry remained cautious of Anita Skeeter, but so far she hadn't mentioned anything of their meeting in Diagon Alley or ask for any interviews. She had taken a liking to Fred and George though; she was one of the few teachers who found their jokes funny. Snape was being especially harsh, and Professor Trelawney was trying to force open the students' inner eyes. However, the future remained just as cloudy as ever. All in all, it was a fairly normal term at Hogwarts.
On this particularly brisk day in the middle of October, Harry and Ron were on their way to visit Hagrid. They trekked across the lawn and came up to the door. Ron knocked rather sedately.
"Hullo!" said Hagrid as he greeted the two boys at the door. Fang panted behind him, trying to lunge at Harry and Ron in excitement.
"Hello, Hargid," Ron and Harry greeted. Fang was finally able to break free of Hagrid and lunged at Harry, licking his face.
"Hello Fang," said Harry while trying to get away from Fang's slobbering. Hagrid grabbed Fang and led Ron and Harry to the table.
"Where's Hermione at?" Hagrid asked.
"She's still upset about the whole prefect thing," Ron explained. "She's gone completely over the bend with her schoolwork because of it. She's practically teaching the classes for the teachers."
"Yeah," Harry continued, "she hardly says two words to us anymore. She's either doing homework, studying got the O.W.L.s or glaring at Neville."
"She's just upset. She isn't the type to take defeat so easily. It's just hard for people like her to accept defeat. She just wants to be the best and for once she isn't. Hermione'll get over it and learn from the experience," Hagrid explained. Harry and Ron both looked skeptical. Hagrid saw their looks and decided to change the subject. "Anyway, have you two thought about what you're going to dress up as for Halloween?"
Ron brightened noticeably. At the beginning of the month, Dumbledore had announced that this Halloween, Hogwarts was going to have a costume contest in addition to the traditional feast. Everyone was excited about indulging in the traditional muggle fashion, and ideas about costumes were being whispered back and forth between students all over campus.
"It's a surprise," Ron declared. Harry just rolled his eyes. Ron had been very secretive about his plans for his costume. He was determined to win the prize for best overall costume, and frankly Harry was growing quite tired of his extreme secrecy.
"Well then Harry, any news with you?" Hagrid asked.
"Harry and Ron exchanged a look. "No, nothing important," Harry quietly answered. The kettle whistled, saving Harry from further questioning.
October 31st was a crisp, cool day, perfect for any festivities. Classes were fairly lax, what with everyone so excited about the Halloween feast and the costume contest. The professors were all in a jovial mood. Well, most at least. Professor Snape was downright vicious; he wasn't really in the Halloween spirit. At the current moment, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting quietly staring at the clock in Potions class. The last classes of the day were being let out early so that the students would have plenty of time to prepare their costumes. The rest of the students in the school could already be heard milling around having already been let out of class. Professor Snape, on the other hand, refused to let his students out until the last possible second, which was exactly 6…5…4…3…2…1! However, Snape wasn't about to release them yet. The seconds kept ticking by and still Snape sat there with a cruel, twist of a smile. He was clearly enjoying his students suffering; he was looking around the room, taking in the anxious looks on the students' faces. Two more minutes passed before Snape finally allowed the students to leave. Ron tore out of the classroom to get ready for the feast. Hermione and Harry were left lagging behind.
"Are you sure you won't come?" Harry asked Hermione for the thousandth time.
"Positive," Hermione answered stiffly. The look she gave Harry told him to drop the conversation. It was a look he'd come to know well and heed to. They quietly walked the rest of the way back to their Gryffindor Tower. Harry went on upstairs to heck on Ron while Hermione set up her corner in the common room within glaring distance of Neville. When Harry arrived in front of his dorm room, he found Seamus and Dean standing there impatiently.
"What's going on?" Harry asked the two boys. Dean looked over at Harry with an irritated look on his face.
"Ron's locked himself in there and is refusing to let us in until he's finished getting ready," Dean explained. Harry walked over to the door and knocked loudly on it. There was a muffled bang, and then an answer of "what?" from Ron inside.
"It's Harry. Let us in please," Harry said.
"Hold your broomsticks. I'll be out in just a few minutes," Ron yelled back.
Harry sighed deeply, walked over and sat down next to Seamus and Dean to wait. Forty-five minutes later, the door creaked open. Harry, Seamus and Dean all ambled inside grumbling. Seamus stopped dead in his tracks causing Harry and Dean to bump into him.
"Oy! What the…," Harry trailed off as he looked up to catch sight of the spectacle before him. There Ron stood, looking resplendent in a neat black tuxedo with his hair slicked back.
"So, what do you think?" Ron asked.
"Uh, what are you?" Harry asked.
"Bond…James Bond," he said in as deep a voice as he could achieve. "I visited Hermione this summer, and she showed me this 'movie' (I think it was called.) It had this slick bloke in it, so I thought that it would be fun being him."
Seamus looked confused. "Who's this slick bloke supposed to be?"
Dean jumped in. "He's brilliant! He's a spy! He has fun gadgets that do all kinds of things!"
"Yeah, he is pretty neat," Harry agreed. "But back when I went to muggle school, Dudley would get together with his friends and they would pretend they were spies like James Bond. They made me be the bad spy so that he and his friends could beat me up."
While Dean explained who James Bond was to Seamus, Harry quickly got dressed in his pitiful ghost costume that Nearly Headless Nick had talked him into. Seeing as how he was so caught up in his activities, Harry hadn't given a costume too much thought. He walked down to the common room to find Ron; he was surrounded by other Gryffindors who were admiring his costume. The muggle-borns were particularly impressed and explained to the wizard- borns who James Bond was. After a while, Harry was able to drag Ron away from his crowd of admirers, and they both made their way down to the feast.
The Great Hall was in fine form. Bats and ghosts flew around the room, which began to fill with students dressed as monsters, quidditch players, and famous wizards and witches. Ron was quickly surrounded by people complimenting him on his costume. Ron chose this moment to reveal another part of his costume: James Bond gadgets. He had a watch that when one pressed a button on it, it would produce a minor explosion. Once it exploded, the watch would return to normal. Fred and George helped him make it. Ron also had a squirt gun; he mainly used it to strike rather silly poses in an effort to imitate Bond. While he was showing off to everyone, Harry sat down at the table. He felt a little snubbed, but he stopped and thought for a moment. Did Ron feel like this when ever he got such attention? No wonder he got so mad at Harry last year. Harry thought hat perhaps he shouldn't begrudge Ron his moment in the sun.
While Harry was sitting there watching the other students, someone quickly sat down next to him. Harry looked over to see who it was and came face to face with himself.
"Hi Harry!" It was Colin Creevey. "Do you like my costume?" Harry just sat there dumbfounded. Colin was dressed just like Harry normally was. He was wearing a black, unruly wig, and a pair of glasses exactly the same as Harry. He also had painted a lightening bolt on his forehead.
Thankfully, Harry was saved from having to comment by Dumbledore tapping on his glass. The rest of the students quickly sat down and gave the Headmaster their full attention. Harry glanced around the room as Professor Dumbledore gave his usual greeting for the Halloween feast. Almost everyone dressed up. There were a few older students who thought that the idea was too childish and had refrained from taking part. Many of the teachers dressed up as well; McGonagall had cat ears transfigured onto her head and whiskers on her cheeks. Snape of course wasn't dressed up at the least. He just sat at the table with the most distasteful sneer on his face. Harry chuckled to himself at Snape's obvious distress over seeing so many people happy at once. Harry then noticed that everyone had begun to eat; he had been to focus on looking around to notice that Dumbledore had stopped talking. Harry dug in to the food like the others.
As the plates were cleared, a nervous excitement flowed over everyone in the hall. The professors were walking around the room, looking at the various costumes. They stopped from time to time to write something down or ask a student about their costume. Ron was practically bouncing up and down in his seat in excitement.
"I wish Hermione were here. I want her to see me win," Ron whispered to Harry.
"I'll go find her. I'm sure I can convince her to come and hear the winners," Harry responded.
Harry made his way up to Gryffindor tower. After giving the Fat Lady the password of the moment ("hogwash"), he walked into the eerily quiet common room. The lights were dim and it didn't look as though Hermione was there.
"Hermione!" Harry called. No one answered. Harry searched the common room and knocked on the dorms. On his way back down to the common room, Harry walked pass his own dorm room.
Just as he passed the room, Harry heard a faint. He couldn't make out what it was, but it sent a chill through his body. Harry walked inside to investigate, but he saw nothing there. The beds were all made, windows closed and everything in its place. Apparently I've gone off my rocker, he thought. Harry turned to leave when he heard a knocking at his window. He knew what was coming. Harry walked closer to the place where the noise was coming from. At the window closest to his bed his worst fears were confirmed. It was the same as the other letters that had appeared on his window at the Dursleys. Harry timidly picked up and opened the letter:
Happy Halloween! I do so hope you're enjoying yourself. It's been awhile since our last little chat. Do you still feel safe with your precious Dumbledore? I'm sure you that that life is pretty bad with that dreadful rogue reporter around. However, dear boy, that is really the least of your worries. A new friend will be joining you shortly at Hogwarts. You might want to stay in your "right" mind. Until next time…
V.
Harry stared blankly at the letter. A new friend, he thought to himself, what new friend? I've got to get this to Dumbledore. But Harry didn't even have a chance to take a step. As the letter was engulfed into flames, a blinding pain seared through his forehead and shot through the rest of his body, blurring his vision until everything turned black.
*****
Madam Pomfrey was checking on another patient when she noticed Harry stirring in his bed. As Harry struggled to sit up, Madam Pomfrey gently pushed him back down into the bed.
"How are you dear?" she asked concerned.
"Fine, where's Professor Dumbledore? I need to speak to him," Harry said.
"I'll go and find him, but only if you stay in this bed and don't move," Madam Pomfrey said and then rushed out to go fetch the professor. As Harry lay there trying to remember the letter and all that had happened, Professor Dumbledore appeared at his side.
"Professor, there was another-" Harry started.
"Shhh, Harry," Dumbledore said gently. "First thing I want to know is how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, just a bit of a headache," answered Harry.
"Good, now you can explain what happened to you," Dumbledore said. Harry quickly told the professor about the previous letters and the newest one. Dumbledore nodded quietly throughout his whole explanation. As Harry finished, Dumbledore sat back in his chair with a very contemplative look on his face.
"Well Harry, I honestly don't know what these letters are or if they are actually from Lord Voldemort. It could be a prank performed by one of his followers for all we know," he solemnly stated. Harry looked less than thrilled at this statement. "I just don't know why he would even bother playing such a game."
"I just want it to stop so that I can have a normal year for once," Harry lamented. Just then he thought of another question to ask. "What about Professor Skeeter? Could she have something to do with this?"
Dumbledore smiled secretively. "I assure you Harry, Anita has absolutely nothing to do with the situation. After the incident in Diagon Alley, I do not blame you for your suspicions, but you have nothing to worry about where Anita is concerned. And I also assure you that I am working on your situation and will get to the bottom of the mystery as soon as I can."
Dumbledore then left Harry to rest. Harry sat up for quite a while mulling over the events of from the previous night. Dumbledore's statements and who could possibly be coming to Hogwarts rattled around in his head, searching for answers. Harry's last coherent though before he drifted off to sleep was whether or not Ron had won the contest.
Guest Author's Note: I'm a member of the Slackers Anonymous Society, so that is why it took me so long to get this chapter done. Don't blame Veronica; blame me.
Author's Note: S'ok Becca. I don't hate you, nor do I blame you. A bit of info for the readers: This is Becca's first attempt at fanfic writing. I highly encourage constructive criticism. She's helped me out immensely by doing this chapter. Spring semester is over now (Yay!) but it is now time for Maymester (Boo!) That's ok though, because it'll be over next Thursday. After that, I've got nothing. And since my job is a joke, I'll have plenty of time to write. The next chapter is outlined and half-way written so y'all shouldn't have to wait as long. Sorry for the wait though. We apologize profusely. Until chapter 10, keep it real!
Note: This chapter was written by my good friend, Becca.
A few weeks went by without incident, but Harry barely noticed. With all the schoolwork bogging him down and on top of preparing for his impending O.W.L.s, he also had quidditch practice. The new captain was Katie Bell and she was almost as insane as Wood. She insisted on practices every morning and evening. Granted, they weren't as long as one of Wood's practices, but they were still twice a day. They had managed to find a new keeper. He was a first year named Alex Reynolds. He had to beg McGonagall for a chance to tryout. She was hesitant, but he reminded her that Harry played his first year. She felt it fair to him the chance, and it turned out that Alex was the best candidate for the position. Harry remained cautious of Anita Skeeter, but so far she hadn't mentioned anything of their meeting in Diagon Alley or ask for any interviews. She had taken a liking to Fred and George though; she was one of the few teachers who found their jokes funny. Snape was being especially harsh, and Professor Trelawney was trying to force open the students' inner eyes. However, the future remained just as cloudy as ever. All in all, it was a fairly normal term at Hogwarts.
On this particularly brisk day in the middle of October, Harry and Ron were on their way to visit Hagrid. They trekked across the lawn and came up to the door. Ron knocked rather sedately.
"Hullo!" said Hagrid as he greeted the two boys at the door. Fang panted behind him, trying to lunge at Harry and Ron in excitement.
"Hello, Hargid," Ron and Harry greeted. Fang was finally able to break free of Hagrid and lunged at Harry, licking his face.
"Hello Fang," said Harry while trying to get away from Fang's slobbering. Hagrid grabbed Fang and led Ron and Harry to the table.
"Where's Hermione at?" Hagrid asked.
"She's still upset about the whole prefect thing," Ron explained. "She's gone completely over the bend with her schoolwork because of it. She's practically teaching the classes for the teachers."
"Yeah," Harry continued, "she hardly says two words to us anymore. She's either doing homework, studying got the O.W.L.s or glaring at Neville."
"She's just upset. She isn't the type to take defeat so easily. It's just hard for people like her to accept defeat. She just wants to be the best and for once she isn't. Hermione'll get over it and learn from the experience," Hagrid explained. Harry and Ron both looked skeptical. Hagrid saw their looks and decided to change the subject. "Anyway, have you two thought about what you're going to dress up as for Halloween?"
Ron brightened noticeably. At the beginning of the month, Dumbledore had announced that this Halloween, Hogwarts was going to have a costume contest in addition to the traditional feast. Everyone was excited about indulging in the traditional muggle fashion, and ideas about costumes were being whispered back and forth between students all over campus.
"It's a surprise," Ron declared. Harry just rolled his eyes. Ron had been very secretive about his plans for his costume. He was determined to win the prize for best overall costume, and frankly Harry was growing quite tired of his extreme secrecy.
"Well then Harry, any news with you?" Hagrid asked.
"Harry and Ron exchanged a look. "No, nothing important," Harry quietly answered. The kettle whistled, saving Harry from further questioning.
October 31st was a crisp, cool day, perfect for any festivities. Classes were fairly lax, what with everyone so excited about the Halloween feast and the costume contest. The professors were all in a jovial mood. Well, most at least. Professor Snape was downright vicious; he wasn't really in the Halloween spirit. At the current moment, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting quietly staring at the clock in Potions class. The last classes of the day were being let out early so that the students would have plenty of time to prepare their costumes. The rest of the students in the school could already be heard milling around having already been let out of class. Professor Snape, on the other hand, refused to let his students out until the last possible second, which was exactly 6…5…4…3…2…1! However, Snape wasn't about to release them yet. The seconds kept ticking by and still Snape sat there with a cruel, twist of a smile. He was clearly enjoying his students suffering; he was looking around the room, taking in the anxious looks on the students' faces. Two more minutes passed before Snape finally allowed the students to leave. Ron tore out of the classroom to get ready for the feast. Hermione and Harry were left lagging behind.
"Are you sure you won't come?" Harry asked Hermione for the thousandth time.
"Positive," Hermione answered stiffly. The look she gave Harry told him to drop the conversation. It was a look he'd come to know well and heed to. They quietly walked the rest of the way back to their Gryffindor Tower. Harry went on upstairs to heck on Ron while Hermione set up her corner in the common room within glaring distance of Neville. When Harry arrived in front of his dorm room, he found Seamus and Dean standing there impatiently.
"What's going on?" Harry asked the two boys. Dean looked over at Harry with an irritated look on his face.
"Ron's locked himself in there and is refusing to let us in until he's finished getting ready," Dean explained. Harry walked over to the door and knocked loudly on it. There was a muffled bang, and then an answer of "what?" from Ron inside.
"It's Harry. Let us in please," Harry said.
"Hold your broomsticks. I'll be out in just a few minutes," Ron yelled back.
Harry sighed deeply, walked over and sat down next to Seamus and Dean to wait. Forty-five minutes later, the door creaked open. Harry, Seamus and Dean all ambled inside grumbling. Seamus stopped dead in his tracks causing Harry and Dean to bump into him.
"Oy! What the…," Harry trailed off as he looked up to catch sight of the spectacle before him. There Ron stood, looking resplendent in a neat black tuxedo with his hair slicked back.
"So, what do you think?" Ron asked.
"Uh, what are you?" Harry asked.
"Bond…James Bond," he said in as deep a voice as he could achieve. "I visited Hermione this summer, and she showed me this 'movie' (I think it was called.) It had this slick bloke in it, so I thought that it would be fun being him."
Seamus looked confused. "Who's this slick bloke supposed to be?"
Dean jumped in. "He's brilliant! He's a spy! He has fun gadgets that do all kinds of things!"
"Yeah, he is pretty neat," Harry agreed. "But back when I went to muggle school, Dudley would get together with his friends and they would pretend they were spies like James Bond. They made me be the bad spy so that he and his friends could beat me up."
While Dean explained who James Bond was to Seamus, Harry quickly got dressed in his pitiful ghost costume that Nearly Headless Nick had talked him into. Seeing as how he was so caught up in his activities, Harry hadn't given a costume too much thought. He walked down to the common room to find Ron; he was surrounded by other Gryffindors who were admiring his costume. The muggle-borns were particularly impressed and explained to the wizard- borns who James Bond was. After a while, Harry was able to drag Ron away from his crowd of admirers, and they both made their way down to the feast.
The Great Hall was in fine form. Bats and ghosts flew around the room, which began to fill with students dressed as monsters, quidditch players, and famous wizards and witches. Ron was quickly surrounded by people complimenting him on his costume. Ron chose this moment to reveal another part of his costume: James Bond gadgets. He had a watch that when one pressed a button on it, it would produce a minor explosion. Once it exploded, the watch would return to normal. Fred and George helped him make it. Ron also had a squirt gun; he mainly used it to strike rather silly poses in an effort to imitate Bond. While he was showing off to everyone, Harry sat down at the table. He felt a little snubbed, but he stopped and thought for a moment. Did Ron feel like this when ever he got such attention? No wonder he got so mad at Harry last year. Harry thought hat perhaps he shouldn't begrudge Ron his moment in the sun.
While Harry was sitting there watching the other students, someone quickly sat down next to him. Harry looked over to see who it was and came face to face with himself.
"Hi Harry!" It was Colin Creevey. "Do you like my costume?" Harry just sat there dumbfounded. Colin was dressed just like Harry normally was. He was wearing a black, unruly wig, and a pair of glasses exactly the same as Harry. He also had painted a lightening bolt on his forehead.
Thankfully, Harry was saved from having to comment by Dumbledore tapping on his glass. The rest of the students quickly sat down and gave the Headmaster their full attention. Harry glanced around the room as Professor Dumbledore gave his usual greeting for the Halloween feast. Almost everyone dressed up. There were a few older students who thought that the idea was too childish and had refrained from taking part. Many of the teachers dressed up as well; McGonagall had cat ears transfigured onto her head and whiskers on her cheeks. Snape of course wasn't dressed up at the least. He just sat at the table with the most distasteful sneer on his face. Harry chuckled to himself at Snape's obvious distress over seeing so many people happy at once. Harry then noticed that everyone had begun to eat; he had been to focus on looking around to notice that Dumbledore had stopped talking. Harry dug in to the food like the others.
As the plates were cleared, a nervous excitement flowed over everyone in the hall. The professors were walking around the room, looking at the various costumes. They stopped from time to time to write something down or ask a student about their costume. Ron was practically bouncing up and down in his seat in excitement.
"I wish Hermione were here. I want her to see me win," Ron whispered to Harry.
"I'll go find her. I'm sure I can convince her to come and hear the winners," Harry responded.
Harry made his way up to Gryffindor tower. After giving the Fat Lady the password of the moment ("hogwash"), he walked into the eerily quiet common room. The lights were dim and it didn't look as though Hermione was there.
"Hermione!" Harry called. No one answered. Harry searched the common room and knocked on the dorms. On his way back down to the common room, Harry walked pass his own dorm room.
Just as he passed the room, Harry heard a faint. He couldn't make out what it was, but it sent a chill through his body. Harry walked inside to investigate, but he saw nothing there. The beds were all made, windows closed and everything in its place. Apparently I've gone off my rocker, he thought. Harry turned to leave when he heard a knocking at his window. He knew what was coming. Harry walked closer to the place where the noise was coming from. At the window closest to his bed his worst fears were confirmed. It was the same as the other letters that had appeared on his window at the Dursleys. Harry timidly picked up and opened the letter:
Happy Halloween! I do so hope you're enjoying yourself. It's been awhile since our last little chat. Do you still feel safe with your precious Dumbledore? I'm sure you that that life is pretty bad with that dreadful rogue reporter around. However, dear boy, that is really the least of your worries. A new friend will be joining you shortly at Hogwarts. You might want to stay in your "right" mind. Until next time…
V.
Harry stared blankly at the letter. A new friend, he thought to himself, what new friend? I've got to get this to Dumbledore. But Harry didn't even have a chance to take a step. As the letter was engulfed into flames, a blinding pain seared through his forehead and shot through the rest of his body, blurring his vision until everything turned black.
*****
Madam Pomfrey was checking on another patient when she noticed Harry stirring in his bed. As Harry struggled to sit up, Madam Pomfrey gently pushed him back down into the bed.
"How are you dear?" she asked concerned.
"Fine, where's Professor Dumbledore? I need to speak to him," Harry said.
"I'll go and find him, but only if you stay in this bed and don't move," Madam Pomfrey said and then rushed out to go fetch the professor. As Harry lay there trying to remember the letter and all that had happened, Professor Dumbledore appeared at his side.
"Professor, there was another-" Harry started.
"Shhh, Harry," Dumbledore said gently. "First thing I want to know is how are you feeling?"
"I'm fine, just a bit of a headache," answered Harry.
"Good, now you can explain what happened to you," Dumbledore said. Harry quickly told the professor about the previous letters and the newest one. Dumbledore nodded quietly throughout his whole explanation. As Harry finished, Dumbledore sat back in his chair with a very contemplative look on his face.
"Well Harry, I honestly don't know what these letters are or if they are actually from Lord Voldemort. It could be a prank performed by one of his followers for all we know," he solemnly stated. Harry looked less than thrilled at this statement. "I just don't know why he would even bother playing such a game."
"I just want it to stop so that I can have a normal year for once," Harry lamented. Just then he thought of another question to ask. "What about Professor Skeeter? Could she have something to do with this?"
Dumbledore smiled secretively. "I assure you Harry, Anita has absolutely nothing to do with the situation. After the incident in Diagon Alley, I do not blame you for your suspicions, but you have nothing to worry about where Anita is concerned. And I also assure you that I am working on your situation and will get to the bottom of the mystery as soon as I can."
Dumbledore then left Harry to rest. Harry sat up for quite a while mulling over the events of from the previous night. Dumbledore's statements and who could possibly be coming to Hogwarts rattled around in his head, searching for answers. Harry's last coherent though before he drifted off to sleep was whether or not Ron had won the contest.
Guest Author's Note: I'm a member of the Slackers Anonymous Society, so that is why it took me so long to get this chapter done. Don't blame Veronica; blame me.
Author's Note: S'ok Becca. I don't hate you, nor do I blame you. A bit of info for the readers: This is Becca's first attempt at fanfic writing. I highly encourage constructive criticism. She's helped me out immensely by doing this chapter. Spring semester is over now (Yay!) but it is now time for Maymester (Boo!) That's ok though, because it'll be over next Thursday. After that, I've got nothing. And since my job is a joke, I'll have plenty of time to write. The next chapter is outlined and half-way written so y'all shouldn't have to wait as long. Sorry for the wait though. We apologize profusely. Until chapter 10, keep it real!
