Draco Malfoy blinked once. Twice. Three times, before the unimaginable,
mind splitting pain shot through his body once more, returning along with
his consciousness. He had enjoyed that sleep so very much. There had been
nothing - just the way he liked it. No ouch, no dead dad and most
definitely no cold cellar covered in blood.
He could hear the faint pitter-patter sound of water hitting stone
somewhere, but his eyes failed him, still not quite adjusted after sleep.
Flexing his aching shoulders he tried to move his injured leg. Looking down
he saw that there was a piece of black material tied above the wound,
preventing the blood circulation from reaching the cut. Must be Ginny's
handiwork, he thought absently, glancing round the dank dungeon before
spotting a blob of familiar red fuzz through his blurry vision. He went to
call her but his jaw hurt too much, not to mention his bleeding and swollen
lips. Damn.
So Draco had to settle with lying like a sausage and waiting for her to
notice him. My life story, he thought bitterly, just sit and wait for her
to notice you.
Ginny Weasley meanwhile was sitting in the far corner of the room rinsing her hands under a small and rusty tap sticking out the wall. The water didn't look what you might call clean but it still beat the sight of your own (and possibly somebody else's) blood. Drying her hands on her extremely tattered robes, Ginny pushed herself backwards, sliding along the floor to rejoin Draco. Her leg killed but she just couldn't have sat there looking at her hands with all those stains. But now they were clean.
When Draco's eyes finally focused Ginny was sitting next to him again with a look of sheer terror and pain.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, leaning her head back against the stonewall, "I'm sorry for being so stupid, I'm sorry I got myself kidnapped, I'm sorry you had to come and get me, I'm sorry I almost got you killed, I'm sorry I -"
Draco reached an arm up and signalled for her to stop. Ginny obliged and they sat in silence for a while, allowing all that had happened to sink in. They both blinked back the tears as they recalled what had to have been the worst day of their lives:
Ginny - almost killed and tortured, had killed a person. Draco - stabbed by his own father, whom he had now murdered.
They shuddered in unison, suddenly feeling just how cold it was in the room - if you could call it that.
What felt like an hour passed without Ginny or Draco uttering a single word. It probably wasn't, but time only flies when you're having fun - and they most certainly weren't. Eventually, Draco decided it was time they got out of there, and told Ginny so before taking her hand and together they apparated back to the apartment. Standing (or at least, trying to) in the warm and welcoming flat made the whole thing seem so surreal. The god-awful skin-cat could be heard mewing on the stairs outside, the tap dripped in the kitchen and the argument of the not-so-happy couple above them came through the ceiling in muffled yells. They were home.
Ginny was bruised, cut and in no way comfortable but, realising that her state was practically luxuriously pleasant compared to Draco and his leg, she placed his arm on her shoulder and helped him hobble to her bedroom. They were halfway down the hall when Draco opened his mouth and spoke in a hoarse voice, "No," Ginny looked at him in surprise, staring into those all-too familiar grey eyes and seeing defiance shining in them. "Draco, you can't walk. I did do a summer school of Medical training, you know. And you don't have to be an expert to see that you need help."
Draco glared, removing his arm from where she had rested it on her shoulder, "I can walk just fine. Malfoys don't feel pain. That's not the way we're brought up. In fact, come to think of it, Malfoys don't feel much at all. Now, would you be so kind as to let me use your room to tend to my leg?" Ginny frowned, wondering what the hell was wrong, but nodded never the less, watching him hobble down the hall, her brow knitted in thought.
Draco Malfoy pushed himself forward onto the soft, springy bed, sighing in ecstasy. He glanced at his leg before muttering "Accio wand," His slender wand flew gracefully into his hand and he lay back for a few moments, thinking about the best healing charm to use. After a while of consideration he decided to do a quick Tempy Pix charm, leaving the skin of his leg intact once more. It wasn't the best of spells - merely healing the wound; the pain would be there for a while longer, but less than before. He could have asked Ginny for help, he thought, but for some reason he wasn't too happy with her right now. He couldn't quite recognise why, but he was in no mood to think about it, so he moved his train of thought onto a new track. Bunnies, he pondered, absently, desperate to distract himself from that damn redhead, what curious creatures, with those odd little snowball tails and twitchy noses. Silent, too.always just nibbling away at a carrot or something. Actually, he'd heard that they really preferred apples and the whole carrot thing was just a myth. Hmm.wonder where that came from then. Yes, he could easily avoid tricky thoughts, nothing to it, really.
The tricky thought sat in the living room, wand in hand, healing all her cuts and bruises until all that was left was an thick layer of grime and a troubled mind. Ginny had been sure that if she'd gotten out of the whole thing alive there'd be some sort of romantic ceremony between her and Draco involving butterfly kisses and tender healing sessions. Obviously, she had read one too many Trills & Swoon trashy Romance novels - they always got the difficult, brooding man and turned him into a sweet and kind father with little cute kiddies running at their feet. Yes, she had definitely been reading too many. But she could see it now.
"Drakey, hon! Timothy's just knocked the Christmas tree over!" Exclaimed a tired, but warm looking woman with untamed fiery hair. A tall, handsome blonde swooped the small child into his muscular arms, and ruffled his hair lovingly. "Now, little tyke, what do you say?" His tone was mocking and his eyes sparkled. "Sowwy," mumbled Timothy, his face buried guiltily in his father's jumper. Draco Malfoy lightly placed the little boy back onto the carpet, and sat down with his wife by the crackling fire "Oh, Gin.you truly are the most beautiful woman ever to walk this earth. How did I ever manage to be this lucky, eh?"
Ginny giggled, as he trailed soft kisses down her neck.
Ginny shook her head, pulling herself from the fluffy daydream. Was that what she wanted? A sweet, gentleman? If so, then what the hell was she doing chasing after Draco? Surely her school sweetheart, Harry, would be far better suited to the job. But, she admitted resignedly, she didn't want Harry anymore...an odd feeling jolted her very core. I want Draco.
"Yes.yes! No, no, no. Draco Malfoy. yes. Listen, Molly, I swear it's true. No, honestly! Look, I swear to Merlin.mmm - yep. No, I'll be right over to tell you. Mmhmm. Bye, then!"
It's easy to sit back and wonder at the ability for gossip to travel. Hermione had bottled this amazing piece of information up for a week, but she had finally burst - as everyone does - and she happened to burst by owl to Anna. And she kept it secret for a while, but then she burst to her long-term boyfriend George one night in a restaurant. And he didn't even bother to keep it a secret, but instead told Harry, who then rushed of and told his friend, Ben (who also happens to work with Arthur at the Ministry) who then told his wife, Elaine, who is a close friend of Molly's (due to the fact that when he and Arthur met for work meetings, Molly and her bonded over Cauldron cakes). And Elaine wasted absolutely no time in sending Molly a Chatterbox (Like a howler, only when it arrives the sender and recipient are able to talk to one another immediately. Think Wizard phones), and telling her all about Ginny's new flatmate.
So, Molly Weasley sat at the old, over-used wooden table in the kitchen of The Burrow, chewing her fingernails and waiting for Elaine to arrive with all the details. There was a loud banging on the door, and she excitedly flicked her wand at the door with a quick Alohamora spell, unlocking it for her guest. As expected, Elaine bustled in, her face flushed with excitement, "Oh, Molly! I'm sorry, but I just had to come and speak to you.can you believe it!? Ginny and Malfoy! I just cannot be - "
"Yes Elaine, dear, I'm finding it hard to believe, too. Her own mother and she didn't tell me! It seems that everyone else knows; I owled the kids and Harry today, but they didn't seem shocked at all! Come in, anyway and let's get you some nice hot tea - sugar, dear?" Molly rushed off to set the kettle off to make tea. Elaine nodded and sat down at a rickety chair.
They babbled for a while, talking about how 'shocking', 'terrible' and 'truly disturbing' it was that a Malfoy - of any generation - should be living with the youngest of Molly's children. After much thought they decided it would be best (best, that is, in the eyes of a mother on a mission to embarrass, and a nosy friend) if they went round there for a face-to-face confrontation. Molly needed to get a few things straight with this Draco boy.
Draco Malfoy heard a loud and rather urgent sounding knocking on the door - why these people had to be so dramatic and couldn't settle for the doorbell was beyond him - but since Ginny was making no effort to get off her arse and answer it, he thought that he might as well get it himself. Big mistake. No sooner had he slid the lock back, a rather plump and ageing redhead came bustling in, wearing a glare that reminded Draco faintly of Ginny; a tall dark-haired lady with the odd grey/silver streak and a pointed turn-up nose trailing behind - the sort of mischievous look on her face of someone who knows that they're interfering but doesn't care.
Before he could ask why Ginny's mother plus Little-Miss-Nosy over there were visiting, Molly Weasley forced him down into a chair, so that she could loom over him threateningly.
"Now you listen to me, young man. My Ginny is not one to be messed around, understand? I don't know what you're doing here, but I most certainly do NOT approve! A Malfoy! You are Lucius Malfoy's son, are you not?"
Draco thought it necessary to answer, so opened his mouth to explain about the whole 'disowning' incident. Unfortunately, Molly Weasley was in no mood for listening. She wanted to talk.
"Don't even think about opening that smug mouth of yours, young man! I know what you Malfoys are about - that Lucius tried it on my friend Jude when we were at Hogwarts; slimy man, if ever I saw one!" By this point her face was beyond flushed, and red hair was falling into her face as Molly took on her role as 'scolding mother'. She was very good at this after all these years of practise. "And, if you think you can march in here with your expensive clothes and your 'pureblood' talk, take my baby and use her like you do everyone else, you've got another thing coming!"
At this point Elaine decided to insert a gossipy "So you better watch it!" Molly smiled at her in appreciation, as a slightly dizzy looking Draco turned in his seat and looked at her in confusion, went to speak, but thought better of it. There was a brief and painfully tense silence, when all that could be heard was the faint pitter-patter of running water coming from the bathroom, and Ginny's off-key singing. Without warning, Molly pounced, pushing Draco off his chair and onto the hard, cold floor of the kitchen. She began throttling him as Elaine 'whooped' from the safety of the other side of the table. It was at this point that Ginny emerged from the bathroom, wrapped securely in a towel.
"What the - Mum!? What are you." Ginny's eyes shot down to the beautiful blonde specimen looking very dazed on the floor. He looked vaguely pained and very embarrassed. Then she looked back up at Molly who had a furious look on her face, and a woman who she recognised as Elaine, her mum's friend - who, to her annoyance, was looking very pleased with this situation. Probably thinking up how to tell it to her friends at the Coffee Group right now, Ginny thought vaguely.
"Dear, we're saving you! We've only just found out about this monster living in your home! A Malfoy! Who'd have -"
"Mum! Draco was disowned by his family! His dad's dead! And, need I remind you, I am 22 you don't have to baby me - I can handle myself!" Her eyes were bright with fury.
It was Molly's turn to look embarrassed. She quickly offered a hand to Draco, smiling apologetically as he scrambled to his feet, smoothing the rumples in his shirt. "I'm terribly sorry Draco, dear," she pulled him into a motherly hug, her eyes shining with tears. "You poor dear - disowned! What is the world coming to, hmm?"
After practically dragging Molly off of Draco, they all sat and had biscuits and tea (or black coffee in Draco's case), talking about family gossip and other useless yet entertaining things. Ginny found out that Hermione was planning on going back to her job as an Aura as soon as possible after the birth, Harry had recently got a promotion and Arthur was considering retirement. Draco yawned a lot.
Eventually they managed to gently urge a beaming Molly and a slightly disappointed looking Elaine out of the door, waving them off with bright smiles. Once they turned down the stairs, Draco shut the door and both he and Ginny collapsed against the door. They slid down to the floor together, and sat in silence.
"Ginny,"
She turned to look at Draco - his eyes were closed. "Mmm?" She breathed it more than spoke it.
"Look at me a minute,"
Obeying, she turned fully, wondering what he was on about. "Like this?"
"Yes. Like that,"
He studied her face carefully a moment, deep in thought. He finally shrugged his shoulders, and leant in. Ginny's breath caught in her throat and she began choking, violently.
"Ginny! Are you ok?" Relief and disappointment was evident in his voice. He began slapping her on the back, and, eventually the choking ceased. Ginny Weasley looked up at him, tears still streaming down her pink tinted cheeks, and smiled.
"Ruined it, didn't I?"
"No, it's not quite so romantic, but how's this?"
Draco smirked, cupped her face and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. Her eyes widened, but Ginny didn't hesitate in returning the favour, their two bodies locked together on the kitchen floor. There was no doubt about it - this was love.
A/N: So sorry about the humongous wait! I really am - I'm sure you don't want to hear my lame excuses. I'll tell you anyway: I got my fic set up at FictionAlley.org and I've basically been getting it off the ground over there. It's incredibly different, really. all the chapters are around 7 pages; so if you want to read that one to compare, feel free! Here's the link: http://www.astronomytower.org/authorLinks/Hells/ Hope this is good enough for you wonderful and amazing reviewers - it's slightly longer and, at long last. they kiss!!!! Please review and I'll love you forever! I have no idea what's happened to my beta Melissa, but if you want to be my beta from now on, just email me: hellsgate55@btopenworld.com - so I'm sorry about any mistakes here, it's completely unbeta-ed.
Ginny Weasley meanwhile was sitting in the far corner of the room rinsing her hands under a small and rusty tap sticking out the wall. The water didn't look what you might call clean but it still beat the sight of your own (and possibly somebody else's) blood. Drying her hands on her extremely tattered robes, Ginny pushed herself backwards, sliding along the floor to rejoin Draco. Her leg killed but she just couldn't have sat there looking at her hands with all those stains. But now they were clean.
When Draco's eyes finally focused Ginny was sitting next to him again with a look of sheer terror and pain.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled, leaning her head back against the stonewall, "I'm sorry for being so stupid, I'm sorry I got myself kidnapped, I'm sorry you had to come and get me, I'm sorry I almost got you killed, I'm sorry I -"
Draco reached an arm up and signalled for her to stop. Ginny obliged and they sat in silence for a while, allowing all that had happened to sink in. They both blinked back the tears as they recalled what had to have been the worst day of their lives:
Ginny - almost killed and tortured, had killed a person. Draco - stabbed by his own father, whom he had now murdered.
They shuddered in unison, suddenly feeling just how cold it was in the room - if you could call it that.
What felt like an hour passed without Ginny or Draco uttering a single word. It probably wasn't, but time only flies when you're having fun - and they most certainly weren't. Eventually, Draco decided it was time they got out of there, and told Ginny so before taking her hand and together they apparated back to the apartment. Standing (or at least, trying to) in the warm and welcoming flat made the whole thing seem so surreal. The god-awful skin-cat could be heard mewing on the stairs outside, the tap dripped in the kitchen and the argument of the not-so-happy couple above them came through the ceiling in muffled yells. They were home.
Ginny was bruised, cut and in no way comfortable but, realising that her state was practically luxuriously pleasant compared to Draco and his leg, she placed his arm on her shoulder and helped him hobble to her bedroom. They were halfway down the hall when Draco opened his mouth and spoke in a hoarse voice, "No," Ginny looked at him in surprise, staring into those all-too familiar grey eyes and seeing defiance shining in them. "Draco, you can't walk. I did do a summer school of Medical training, you know. And you don't have to be an expert to see that you need help."
Draco glared, removing his arm from where she had rested it on her shoulder, "I can walk just fine. Malfoys don't feel pain. That's not the way we're brought up. In fact, come to think of it, Malfoys don't feel much at all. Now, would you be so kind as to let me use your room to tend to my leg?" Ginny frowned, wondering what the hell was wrong, but nodded never the less, watching him hobble down the hall, her brow knitted in thought.
Draco Malfoy pushed himself forward onto the soft, springy bed, sighing in ecstasy. He glanced at his leg before muttering "Accio wand," His slender wand flew gracefully into his hand and he lay back for a few moments, thinking about the best healing charm to use. After a while of consideration he decided to do a quick Tempy Pix charm, leaving the skin of his leg intact once more. It wasn't the best of spells - merely healing the wound; the pain would be there for a while longer, but less than before. He could have asked Ginny for help, he thought, but for some reason he wasn't too happy with her right now. He couldn't quite recognise why, but he was in no mood to think about it, so he moved his train of thought onto a new track. Bunnies, he pondered, absently, desperate to distract himself from that damn redhead, what curious creatures, with those odd little snowball tails and twitchy noses. Silent, too.always just nibbling away at a carrot or something. Actually, he'd heard that they really preferred apples and the whole carrot thing was just a myth. Hmm.wonder where that came from then. Yes, he could easily avoid tricky thoughts, nothing to it, really.
The tricky thought sat in the living room, wand in hand, healing all her cuts and bruises until all that was left was an thick layer of grime and a troubled mind. Ginny had been sure that if she'd gotten out of the whole thing alive there'd be some sort of romantic ceremony between her and Draco involving butterfly kisses and tender healing sessions. Obviously, she had read one too many Trills & Swoon trashy Romance novels - they always got the difficult, brooding man and turned him into a sweet and kind father with little cute kiddies running at their feet. Yes, she had definitely been reading too many. But she could see it now.
"Drakey, hon! Timothy's just knocked the Christmas tree over!" Exclaimed a tired, but warm looking woman with untamed fiery hair. A tall, handsome blonde swooped the small child into his muscular arms, and ruffled his hair lovingly. "Now, little tyke, what do you say?" His tone was mocking and his eyes sparkled. "Sowwy," mumbled Timothy, his face buried guiltily in his father's jumper. Draco Malfoy lightly placed the little boy back onto the carpet, and sat down with his wife by the crackling fire "Oh, Gin.you truly are the most beautiful woman ever to walk this earth. How did I ever manage to be this lucky, eh?"
Ginny giggled, as he trailed soft kisses down her neck.
Ginny shook her head, pulling herself from the fluffy daydream. Was that what she wanted? A sweet, gentleman? If so, then what the hell was she doing chasing after Draco? Surely her school sweetheart, Harry, would be far better suited to the job. But, she admitted resignedly, she didn't want Harry anymore...an odd feeling jolted her very core. I want Draco.
"Yes.yes! No, no, no. Draco Malfoy. yes. Listen, Molly, I swear it's true. No, honestly! Look, I swear to Merlin.mmm - yep. No, I'll be right over to tell you. Mmhmm. Bye, then!"
It's easy to sit back and wonder at the ability for gossip to travel. Hermione had bottled this amazing piece of information up for a week, but she had finally burst - as everyone does - and she happened to burst by owl to Anna. And she kept it secret for a while, but then she burst to her long-term boyfriend George one night in a restaurant. And he didn't even bother to keep it a secret, but instead told Harry, who then rushed of and told his friend, Ben (who also happens to work with Arthur at the Ministry) who then told his wife, Elaine, who is a close friend of Molly's (due to the fact that when he and Arthur met for work meetings, Molly and her bonded over Cauldron cakes). And Elaine wasted absolutely no time in sending Molly a Chatterbox (Like a howler, only when it arrives the sender and recipient are able to talk to one another immediately. Think Wizard phones), and telling her all about Ginny's new flatmate.
So, Molly Weasley sat at the old, over-used wooden table in the kitchen of The Burrow, chewing her fingernails and waiting for Elaine to arrive with all the details. There was a loud banging on the door, and she excitedly flicked her wand at the door with a quick Alohamora spell, unlocking it for her guest. As expected, Elaine bustled in, her face flushed with excitement, "Oh, Molly! I'm sorry, but I just had to come and speak to you.can you believe it!? Ginny and Malfoy! I just cannot be - "
"Yes Elaine, dear, I'm finding it hard to believe, too. Her own mother and she didn't tell me! It seems that everyone else knows; I owled the kids and Harry today, but they didn't seem shocked at all! Come in, anyway and let's get you some nice hot tea - sugar, dear?" Molly rushed off to set the kettle off to make tea. Elaine nodded and sat down at a rickety chair.
They babbled for a while, talking about how 'shocking', 'terrible' and 'truly disturbing' it was that a Malfoy - of any generation - should be living with the youngest of Molly's children. After much thought they decided it would be best (best, that is, in the eyes of a mother on a mission to embarrass, and a nosy friend) if they went round there for a face-to-face confrontation. Molly needed to get a few things straight with this Draco boy.
Draco Malfoy heard a loud and rather urgent sounding knocking on the door - why these people had to be so dramatic and couldn't settle for the doorbell was beyond him - but since Ginny was making no effort to get off her arse and answer it, he thought that he might as well get it himself. Big mistake. No sooner had he slid the lock back, a rather plump and ageing redhead came bustling in, wearing a glare that reminded Draco faintly of Ginny; a tall dark-haired lady with the odd grey/silver streak and a pointed turn-up nose trailing behind - the sort of mischievous look on her face of someone who knows that they're interfering but doesn't care.
Before he could ask why Ginny's mother plus Little-Miss-Nosy over there were visiting, Molly Weasley forced him down into a chair, so that she could loom over him threateningly.
"Now you listen to me, young man. My Ginny is not one to be messed around, understand? I don't know what you're doing here, but I most certainly do NOT approve! A Malfoy! You are Lucius Malfoy's son, are you not?"
Draco thought it necessary to answer, so opened his mouth to explain about the whole 'disowning' incident. Unfortunately, Molly Weasley was in no mood for listening. She wanted to talk.
"Don't even think about opening that smug mouth of yours, young man! I know what you Malfoys are about - that Lucius tried it on my friend Jude when we were at Hogwarts; slimy man, if ever I saw one!" By this point her face was beyond flushed, and red hair was falling into her face as Molly took on her role as 'scolding mother'. She was very good at this after all these years of practise. "And, if you think you can march in here with your expensive clothes and your 'pureblood' talk, take my baby and use her like you do everyone else, you've got another thing coming!"
At this point Elaine decided to insert a gossipy "So you better watch it!" Molly smiled at her in appreciation, as a slightly dizzy looking Draco turned in his seat and looked at her in confusion, went to speak, but thought better of it. There was a brief and painfully tense silence, when all that could be heard was the faint pitter-patter of running water coming from the bathroom, and Ginny's off-key singing. Without warning, Molly pounced, pushing Draco off his chair and onto the hard, cold floor of the kitchen. She began throttling him as Elaine 'whooped' from the safety of the other side of the table. It was at this point that Ginny emerged from the bathroom, wrapped securely in a towel.
"What the - Mum!? What are you." Ginny's eyes shot down to the beautiful blonde specimen looking very dazed on the floor. He looked vaguely pained and very embarrassed. Then she looked back up at Molly who had a furious look on her face, and a woman who she recognised as Elaine, her mum's friend - who, to her annoyance, was looking very pleased with this situation. Probably thinking up how to tell it to her friends at the Coffee Group right now, Ginny thought vaguely.
"Dear, we're saving you! We've only just found out about this monster living in your home! A Malfoy! Who'd have -"
"Mum! Draco was disowned by his family! His dad's dead! And, need I remind you, I am 22 you don't have to baby me - I can handle myself!" Her eyes were bright with fury.
It was Molly's turn to look embarrassed. She quickly offered a hand to Draco, smiling apologetically as he scrambled to his feet, smoothing the rumples in his shirt. "I'm terribly sorry Draco, dear," she pulled him into a motherly hug, her eyes shining with tears. "You poor dear - disowned! What is the world coming to, hmm?"
After practically dragging Molly off of Draco, they all sat and had biscuits and tea (or black coffee in Draco's case), talking about family gossip and other useless yet entertaining things. Ginny found out that Hermione was planning on going back to her job as an Aura as soon as possible after the birth, Harry had recently got a promotion and Arthur was considering retirement. Draco yawned a lot.
Eventually they managed to gently urge a beaming Molly and a slightly disappointed looking Elaine out of the door, waving them off with bright smiles. Once they turned down the stairs, Draco shut the door and both he and Ginny collapsed against the door. They slid down to the floor together, and sat in silence.
"Ginny,"
She turned to look at Draco - his eyes were closed. "Mmm?" She breathed it more than spoke it.
"Look at me a minute,"
Obeying, she turned fully, wondering what he was on about. "Like this?"
"Yes. Like that,"
He studied her face carefully a moment, deep in thought. He finally shrugged his shoulders, and leant in. Ginny's breath caught in her throat and she began choking, violently.
"Ginny! Are you ok?" Relief and disappointment was evident in his voice. He began slapping her on the back, and, eventually the choking ceased. Ginny Weasley looked up at him, tears still streaming down her pink tinted cheeks, and smiled.
"Ruined it, didn't I?"
"No, it's not quite so romantic, but how's this?"
Draco smirked, cupped her face and kissed her like there was no tomorrow. Her eyes widened, but Ginny didn't hesitate in returning the favour, their two bodies locked together on the kitchen floor. There was no doubt about it - this was love.
A/N: So sorry about the humongous wait! I really am - I'm sure you don't want to hear my lame excuses. I'll tell you anyway: I got my fic set up at FictionAlley.org and I've basically been getting it off the ground over there. It's incredibly different, really. all the chapters are around 7 pages; so if you want to read that one to compare, feel free! Here's the link: http://www.astronomytower.org/authorLinks/Hells/ Hope this is good enough for you wonderful and amazing reviewers - it's slightly longer and, at long last. they kiss!!!! Please review and I'll love you forever! I have no idea what's happened to my beta Melissa, but if you want to be my beta from now on, just email me: hellsgate55@btopenworld.com - so I'm sorry about any mistakes here, it's completely unbeta-ed.