Chapter Eighteen; Reminiscence

Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in a corner of the common room, slightly apart from everyone else, and huddled round the Marauder album that lay open at the photographs of Sirius and his girlfriend.

Laying the photo from Professor Torr's office beside the formal dance photo, it was obvious that it was the same one.

Harry's head was spinning.  Was this girl and Professor Torr one and the same?  How could she be?  Sirius had never mentioned anything about having dated her before.  He'd acted like he'd never met her before in his life.  But then why would Professor Torr have so many photos of this young couple hidden away in her office?

The Marauders album yielded very little information.  There was not a single label bearing the name of the girl, but the initials  'S' and 'A' had been written beneath a few photos.  'S' was obviously Sirius, so it stood to reason that the girl was 'A', yet Harry knew that Professor Torr's first name was Tia, so that didn't fit.

'Ann Onymous' as Ron dubbed the girl, appeared only in the pictures labelled as being from the Marauders sixth year.  She didn't even appear in the background of seventh year photos.  The seventeen-year-old Sirius stood alone or with James, Remus or Lily.

All in all, the album only served to raise even more questions.

Even Hermione was at a loss for an explanation.  Everything they'd found so far just wasn't making any sense.

'She must be Professor Torr,' said Ron, indicating the girl in the album.  'She can't be anyone else.'

'There's no proof of that, Ron,' said Hermione sternly.  'Firstly, Sirius hadn't met Professor Torr until last year -'

'We don't know that for sure,' Ron pointed out.

'Secondly, her name is Tia; that doesn't begin with an 'A'.'

'Maybe it stands for a nickname?'  Ron suggested half-heartedly.

Hermione was holding a magnifying glass over one of the photos, shaking her head.

'She doesn't even look like Professor Torr.  See?  Her face is rounder and her nose is upturned.  I'm quite sure Professor Torr's nose is straight.'

'People change -'

'Not that much, Ron.'

'But what about all those photos in her office, then?  How do you explain that?'

'I don't know,' Hermione sighed.  'Literally, all we have is extremely vague circumstantial evidence that hardly proves anything.'  She looked apologetically at Harry.  'I'm sorry Harry, but I just don't know how to explain any of this.'

'I don't either,' said Harry, reaching for the album.  'But I know someone who might.'

He turned a few pages of the album, and then held it out to Ron and Hermione, pointing to one of the photos.

Sirius and the brunette were sitting together on the edge of the water fountain in the central courtyard, holding hands and smiling at the camera.  On their left were James and Lily, and over on their other side, next to the girl … was Remus.

*

The following night, Harry, Ron and Hermione sneaked out of Gryffindor Tower under the Invisibility Cloak and headed off to the South Tower.  Thankfully, there was no sign of Argus Filch or his mangy cat, Mrs Norris.  But they did have the misfortune to come across Peeves.  The poltergeist had come zooming down the corridor, bouncing off the walls like a giant pinball, smashing into as many suits of armour as he could, laughing manically.  Not wanting to hang around for when Filch came running, the three of them hastily backtracked to find a safer, alternative route.

Once in the Tower, Harry, Ron and Hermione stepped out onto the battlements to wait.  They watched the sky in silence.  The moon shone brightly overhead, almost full, and a thousand beautiful stars were scattered across the velvet black sky. 

'Hey, look over there,' said Hermione at last. 'Over the forest.'

Harry and Ron looked to where she was pointing.

A large dark shape was flying silently over the treetops towards the castle, two huge wings beating steadily as it gathered height, catching the wind and riding it up higher and higher, up to the tower.

Harry, Ron and Hermione hastily ducked and ran out of the way as a huge winged horse flew up and over their heads, its fifteen foot wingspan flaring as it tried to manoeuvre.  The four hooves clattered loudly as it hit the flagstone, cantering down the battlements as a voice called, 'Whoa, Trold!  Easy now.'

The horse snorted, folded its wings close to its body, turned and trotted steadily back towards Harry, Ron and Hermione, who slowly emerged from the shadows.

Its rider swung out of the saddle, holding the reins tightly as he coaxed the animal forward.

'Hello you three,' said Remus pleasantly.  'I hope I didn't startle you.  Trold's a bit of a handful, aren't you?' He addressed the handsome chestnut coloured horse, which tossed its head restlessly, pawing the ground.

As always, Remus looked tired and weary, the glow of the moon highlighting the premature grey of his hair.  But his eyes were sparkling and he smiled warmly at the young wizards.  He didn't seem at all perturbed by their strange request for his presence so late at night.

Harry had barely opened his mouth when Trold abruptly shied away, throwing Remus off balance, a shrill whinny piercing the night air.  Hermione, who at that moment had reached out a hand to stroke the animal, leapt back in alarm, treading on Ron's foot.

Still clinging to the reins, Remus swung round and grabbed hold of the bridle, pulling Trold's head round.  Moving swiftly back, Remus led Trold away from the startled teenagers, talking to the horse in a low, soothing voice.  Once Trold had his back to them, he seemed to calm down.  Slowly, Remus coaxed the horse back round.

'Sorry,' he said, keeping a reasonable distance this time.  'Trold doesn't like strangers touching him.  I apologise, Hermione, I should have warned you.'

'That's okay,' said Hermione, still a little shaken by the large animal's panic.  The winged horse was eyeing them nervously.  Remus promptly distracted Trold with a small lump of sugar, whispering reassurance. 

'Trold wasn't treated very well by his previous owner,' Remus explained sadly.  'It's taking a long time but he's gradually learning to trust me and accept a rider.  I took him on partly so that I wouldn't have to keep borrowing Buckbeak.  Not that Sirius has had any reason to leave Hogsmeade.' He looked to Harry.

A little awkwardly, Harry explained everything from Sirius not coming to see him at Christmas, right through to their search of Professor Torr's office.  Remus didn't interrupt or ask any questions, although there was mild disapproval in his blue-grey eyes at the mention of breaking into someone's office.  But when Harry revealed their discovery of the photographs, Remus seemed deeply disturbed.

'May I see this photo?' he asked.

Harry dug it out of his pocket and handed it over.  Curiously, Remus took the photo and looked at it.  His eyes widened in alarm.

'Allison?' he croaked hoarsely.

'You recognise her?' said Harry sharply.

Remus looked paler than before.

'Certainly I recognise her,' he said, not taking his eyes off the picture.

'Well, who is she?' asked Ron.

'Her name is Allison DeVice,' said Remus in a dazed tone of voice.  'D-did you say you found this in Torr's office?'

All three of them nodded.

'It's a duplicate of the one in the album that Sirius gave to me,' said Harry.  'But there wasn't anything written about her.'

'No … no, there wouldn't be,' said Remus sadly.  'It's rather a long story …'

For a minute, Remus didn't say anything.  He gazed at the photo in his hand, his eyes downcast.

Hermione and Ron glanced at Harry uneasily, wondering if it would be inappropriate to push for an explanation.  Harry didn't feel comfortable with asking if it was going to bring up bad memories for Remus … but they desperately needed answers.

'Could you tell us about her?' he asked softly.  'We don't know anything about her or how she's connected with Professor Torr.  But if you don't want to … we don't mean to pry, it's just - '

'No, no, it's quite alright, Harry,' said Remus quickly.  'I'm afraid I can't answer your second question but I can tell you a little bit about Allison.'

Sensing that they might be here for a while, they all sat down on the ground, wrapping their cloaks around them, preparing to listen. Remus continued to stare blankly at the photo, brow furrowed in thought.

'Well,' he said, somewhat reluctantly.  'Allison DeVice went to Hogwarts with your father and I; same year, different House.'

'Slytherin?' Ron suggested with a grimace.

'Oh, no, she was a Ravenclaw.  Very intelligent young witch; she worked hard and the professors liked her.  She was always very shy and withdrawn – except when she lost her temper.'  Remus shook his head.  'She didn't have any friends so she was an easy target for bullies, but I believe that after a while she got so mad about it that she started to fight back.

'Now Allison didn't lack for common sense, she knew that no one would believe that the quiet, shy girl was capable of cursing and hexing her fellow students if no one ever caught her in the act.  So she learnt a variety of hexes, all very discreet with which to exert her revenge on people that upset her.

'Most people caught on quickly enough and stopped picking on her.  Problem was, Allison had such a short temper that you couldn't walk by her in the corridor without displeasing her somehow.

'I can remember one incident in particular; a Slytherin boy named Glen was teasing her because she hated flying and wouldn't go anywhere near a broomstick if she could avoid it.  Understandably, Allison wasn't particularly happy, and over the next few days everybody noticed that Glen was scratching an awful lot, like he had fleas or something.  He ended up in the Hospital Wing covered with bloody cuts and scrapes, going absolutely crazy with this itch.

'But no one could prove that Allie was responsible.  None of the teachers would believe that the quiet, pretty little girl was capable of such a thing.  Her innocent demeanour was the perfect cover.  She could have gotten away with just about anything.  Though if truth be told, if she hadn't hexed Glen, someone else would have; he was a nasty piece of work.'

'So, how did you know it was Allie?' asked Harry.

'Because her methods were always very discreet.  Majority of people would simply throw a Furnunculus Curse or Tongue-Tying Jinx down the middle of a crowded corridor at their intended target, get caught by the professors or prefects, but happily serve detention knowing that they've got their own back.   Allie was never so reckless.  She planned her revenges carefully.  Among her favourites was a Diatribe Dictation curse; that controls someone's speech for a short period of time.  Allie could force people to insult whoever they were talking to – mainly the professors.  She landed a lot of people in detention with that one.'

'She sounds horrible!' said Hermione, nose wrinkled in disgust.  'I mean, I do sympathise with her being bullied, but to resort to that kind of behaviour …'

'They do say that children who are bullied early in life can easily become bullies themselves when they get older.  By treating others in the same way, they feel that it's a way of compensating for what they went through.  Not to say that that happens in every case, but it does happen unfortunately.' said Remus.  'But Allie wasn't all bad … not once you got to know her.'

'You don't sound too sure of that,' said Hermione.

Remus looked at her quickly.  Hermione dropped her gaze, as though expecting a sharp reprimand.  Remus, however, sighed, nodding thoughtfully.

'I don't suppose I do.  But then I did have the unfortunate experience of being on the receiving end of her retributions.'

Harry, Ron and Hermione all looked very shocked.

'Really?' said Ron, eyebrows raised.  'What did you do?'

Remus' eyes gazed sadly at the three of them.

'I had a friend.'

Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged deeply confused looks.

'But … why did she…?' said Harry, not understanding.

'Well, to be more specific, I was friends with her boyfriend.'

'She had a boyfriend?' snorted Ron.  'What idiot would have gone out with someone like her?'

'Ron,' Harry growled.  'That idiot would be my godfather.'

'Remember the photos?' Hermione added sharply.

'Oh.' Ron fell silent, looking abashed.

'Had to admit it was quite a surprise,' said Remus soberly.  'We all thought it was a joke or a rumour at first, but Sirius insisted it was true.'

'Hard to believe,' said Hermione.

'They got along surprising well,' said Remus.  'Although practically everyone was highly sceptical … there were bets as to how long it would take for them to hex each other into the Hospital Wing, or for them to break up over something petty.'  Remus shook his head in wonderment.  'But something clicked.  It was amazing the difference it made to Allie … she became more confident … she smiled a lot more … a much nicer person altogether.

'Sirius had had previous relationships with girls but he just felt different with Allison.  She wasn't considered to be particularly beautiful but Sirius simply adored her.  I think Allison was quite flattered by the attention to be honest.  She'd never had a boyfriend, much less someone she could talk to.  In fact, I think the only fault Sirius could find with her was her lack of enthusiasm for Quidditch.  She didn't think much of sports – couldn't tell a Quaffle from a Bludger if her life depended on it.  Used to drive Sirius up the wall, but they'd laugh about it anyway.'

'Hang on,' said Ron, raising his hand like he was in lesson.  'Sorry, but I have to ask; if they were such a great couple, why doesn't Allison show up in any of the photos of your seventh year?  She just disappeared.'

'Did they break up?' Hermione asked hesitantly.

Remus nodded.

'They stayed together for exactly six and a half months.' he said sadly.

'What happened?  Um … if you don't mind my asking,' Hermione added quietly.

'It's hard to be sure,' said Remus slowly.  'But I have reason to believe that Allie had become jealous.'

'Of what?' asked Harry.

'Us.  The Marauders.  The four of us, and Lily, were close friends, we had been for years and I think that Allie felt rather intimidated by that, not being to fit in easily.  Considering she'd never had any friends before, she just wasn't comfortable with anybody but Sirius. We tried to be friendly but it didn't help much; she deliberately distanced herself from us, preferring either her own company or to be with Sirius.

'It started to put a strain on their relationship when Allie would refuse to have anything to do with us.  She began keeping Sirius away from us, insisting that he ought to spending more time with her.  Sirius was happy to at first, but after a while Allie would have a hissy fit if Sirius spent any time with us at all.  I don't think it helped matters that Sirius and the others spent one night a month at the Shrieking Shack to keep me company.

'Allie loved anything romantic and kept on at Sirius to take her for a moonlit stroll, things like that.  But Sirius always had an excuse to avoid it because he felt obliged to stay with me during the full moons.' Remus smiled to himself.

'Padfoot's a very loyal companion.  I feel very lucky to have him as my friend … however, Allie didn't feel the same way.  As far as she was concerned, Sirius should be with her all day, every day, and never with anybody else.

'Needless to say, Sirius wouldn't have a bar of it.  He knew Allie was being unreasonable.  He tried to talk her round but she was adamant; we were getting in the way of their relationship and she wanted to rectify the problem.'

'By hexing you?' said Harry.

'She threaten to hex us.  I believe her rule went something like 'You spend time with your friends, I hex your friends; you spend time with me, I don't hex your friends.'  Believe me we all brushed up on our counter curses and mastered the basics of healing magic.  Made good use of them too.

'I don't know why she thought that that would work but she wouldn't give up.  It didn't take Sirius long to try and break up the relationship.  He wasn't stupid, he knew by now that this wasn't something they could talk about reasonably.  Allie wasn't going to change her mind.  There was no way that the relationship was going to work.  So he broke up with her.'

'How did she take it?' asked Harry anxiously.

Remus groaned, resting his head on his hand.

'Badly.  Very badly.  To Sirius' credit, he wasn't harsh about it; he tried to let her down gently but it didn't do any good.  She was furious, went into a screaming rage that it was all our fault, certain that Sirius didn't mean it and that we were responsible for trying to drive them apart.  When Sirius tried to explain it to her, she refused to listen.  She would not accept that he was finishing with her.

'For nearly a week, Allie took to following Sirius around, pestering him as to why he was ignoring her.  She just wouldn't take a hint.  Sirius thought that maybe if he ignored her for long enough, she'd finally get the message.  He was very wrong about that.  In her mind, we had 'stolen' her boyfriend deliberately to make her miserable.  So she sought her revenge.

'She didn't know about Sirius, James and Peter being Animagi, but she suspected there was something that she didn't know and she deduced that I had something to do with it.

'Hermione, do you know what is commonly used to kill werewolves?'

Hermione looked very surprised by the sudden apparent change in subject, as were Harry and Ron, but she answered anyway.

'Silver can be used, but I think that wolfsbane is more readily available,' she said nervously, uncomfortably aware that she was describing what could easily kill her former professor.  Remus didn't seem bothered in the slightest.

'Very good.  Now, the Wolfsbane Potion contains a very small, carefully controlled amount of the plant, and the effects are counteracted by other powerful components so that it doesn't cause any harm.  Unsurprisingly, Madam Pomfrey has medical records of every student in the school stored in the Hospital Wing.  Mine clearly states that I'm highly allergic to monkshood, another name for wolfsbane, and that I should not be exposed to it.'

Harry felt a sense of foreboding.  He didn't like the direction this conversation was going.

Remus continued.

'Allie must have found out somehow; luckily, I don't think she ever made the connection between monkshood and my lycanthropy, given my monthly disappearances.  Unfortunately, when I returned to classes after one of my transformations, we had salad at lunch.  Somehow she managed to slip some onto my plate.'

Hermione gasped in horror, clapping a hand over her mouth.  Ron and Harry looked equally horrified.

'Oh my goodness!' Hermione whispered breathlessly.  'What happened?'

'I swallowed it,' said Remus blandly.  He shifted uncomfortably, closing his eyes for a moment.  'I didn't notice anything at first … I was still feeling very tired from the night before … but after a minute or so I felt like I couldn't breath.  I can remember Lily pointing out that I'd suddenly come up with a strange angry red rash all over my face and neck, I could feel them swelling.  I was starting to panic because I couldn't breath properly … then I collapsed.  I woke up in the Hospital Wing a while later and was informed that I'd gone into anaphylactic shock, a serious allergic reaction.  I might have died if my friends hadn't gotten me to the Hospital Wing as fast as they did,' he added softly.  'They saved my life, and not for the first time.

'Sirius knew that Allie was responsible.   He couldn't believe that anyone could be so spiteful.  When he confronted her about it, all she cared about was the fact that he'd come back to talk to her.  Well, in situations like that, Sirius has all the subtlety of a brick.  He was so angry with her … he accused her of trying to kill me just because he didn't love her.  She refused to believe him, claiming that I deserved it for trying to keep him away from her.  From what I understand Sirius flatly told her that his friends had nothing to do with it.  She was far too controlling, possessive and narrow minded to ever understand the importance of friendship … only he used more words than that, and none too calmly.

'I think the only reason he didn't curse her was some underlying determination not to sink to her level, which took a lot of self restraint, considering that at that moment he hated her more than he did Snape.'

'Wow, I never thought that was possible,' muttered Ron under his breath.

'So what happened then?' asked Harry quietly, sorry that he'd brought up such memories for Remus.

Remus didn't answer straight away.  His eyes wandered up to look at the stars for a minute, lost in thought.

'Allie finally left us alone,' he said finally.  'She reverted to her old vindictive self, if not more so.  Strange thing though … she never once tried to hex Sirius, which was quite unnerving – it was completely out of character.  Maybe she was still in shock – no one had ever stood up to her the way Sirius had, and he was the only person to ever respect and care about her.  It was harsh but the general feeling was that she deserved all she got.

'After we left Hogwarts we all lost contact with her, not that anyone made much of an effort.  Sirius may have tried but if he did none of us knew about it. We never heard from her again.  We never knew what happened to her or where she is now.'

'I have a theory about that,' said Harry coldly.

'Oh?'

'I think this Allison and Tia are the same person,' he said. 'Why else would Professor Torr have a photo of Sirius and Allison in her office if she wasn't connected in some way? Allison disappears off the face of the earth … Tia Torr appears out of nowhere and everything she claims to be contradicts everything else she says! And her voice! It's dubbed! Hermione, do you have the Voice Box?'

Hermione shook her head.

'Not with me, no. But Harry, I think we're missing something.'

'What?'

'Why?' she said simply. 'Let's say for the sake of the argument that you're right, that Professor Torr is Allison … why would she be doing this? She must have a reason for it.'

Harry's face fell, looking slightly put out.

'She has a point, Harry,' said Ron.

'I agree,' said Remus.

'But,' said Harry, 'but don't you think-'

'I think there's a slight possibility Harry, I just can't see why Allison would want to get back with Sirius after all these years. I'll admit I don't like Tia but there's no proof that she's Allison.'

'Why don't you like her?' asked Hermione, curiously.  'The majority of people we know seem to love her.'

'That mirror at the Three Broomsticks told us about you and Sirius arguing about her,' said Ron. 

Remus frowned.

'You've been talking to that mirror?  When you went looking for Sirius?'

Guiltily, the three of them nodded.

'Sorry, Remus,' said Harry.  'It's probably not any of our business-'

'No, it's very much your business,' said Remus swiftly.  'Our main argument was over your safety; I wanted to know why Sirius had allowed a total stranger to be your second line of defence after that talisman – I assume you are still wearing it?'

Harry nodded, pulling it out from the neck of his robes to prove it.

'Good.  Although I don't know how you feel about Professor Torr being able to track you with that.'

'She knows where I am at all times?' Harry demanded, his stomach dropping unpleasantly.

'Not all the time, only if she activates the ring.  It acts like a homing signal, calling out to the talisman to indicate your position.  It's part of the reason why I was getting concerned; why wouldn't Sirius be the one to wear the ring?  He's made the effort to be here for you, yet he doesn't insist on being the one to go to your side first.  I am aware that the anti-apparition field surrounding Hogwarts is the main problem with that idea, but at least he'd know if you were in trouble and needed his help.  Knowing him, he'd still probably have figured out a way to get to you faster than you can say 'Quidditch'.

'However, when I asked Sirius about it, he just seemed completely indifferent to the whole situation, which is so unlike him.  He answered everything with a 'We can trust Tia, she knows what she's doing,' attitude.  When I got back the other day, I asked him why he didn't go to see you at Christmas and he just lost his temper with me, said it wasn't any of my business and told me to stop interfering with matters that did not concern me.  Personally I felt that Professor Torr had had more of an influence on him that he realised, and if what you say about this perfume is true, then I fear my suspicions could well be confirmed.'

'So what do we do now?' asked Harry, looking to Remus hopefully.

'I'm afraid we don't have any concrete evidence, Harry.  We can't prove that she's Allison, assuming that that is the case,'

'But there isn't any proof that she's who she says she is, either,' Harry insisted.  'We've checked everywhere.  There is no one in by the name of Tia Torr in the Quidditch field that she's supposed to be an expert in.  She confused two of the most basic fouls!  And you did say that Allison didn't know much about Quidditch.'

'But then why on earth would she pose as a professional?' asked Hermione, deeply confused.  'She must have known that it would be difficult to pull off, especially if she wasn't partially interested in the subject.'

'Maybe it was just an excuse to keep an eye on me,' said Harry,  'That way it would look like she was doing what Sirius asked her to do.  Sirius likes Quidditch, doesn't he?' he asked Remus.

'Harry, when we were at school we practically had to threaten Sirius with an Unforgivable to get him to give up his Beater's bat.  He loves Quidditch.'

'Well, there you go!' Ron said triumphantly.  'Something else that Sirius would find attractive in a woman; someone who can tell the difference between a Quaffle and a Bludger.'

Remus mulled it over.

'I suppose that could be a viable explanation,' he admitted.  'But I still don't see how we can prove it.'

'There must be a way,' Harry insisted.  'Couldn't you ask her something?  Something that only Allison would know?'

'Harry, I didn't know her that well. Sirius would probably be able to find out, but what's to stop her lying about the answer?'

'Assuming that Sirius would even ask her,' added Ron.

Harry felt his stomach twist. This wasn't fair. For a minute he thought he'd figured it out … but apparently not. Did they not have all the pieces? They did fit, if you pushed hard enough.

Remus must have read the look on his face because he said, 'Look, I'll have a word with Padfoot if you want me to, but I can't guarantee that I'll be able to find out what happened to Allie. As for Tia … well, I really think you should talk to Sirius, Harry.'

'But … I-I can't. Not after last time,'

'He misses you,' Remus said softly. 'I know Sirius can be a bit hot-tempered at times but he does care about you more than anything … anyone.' He gave Harry a hopeful smile. 'Think you'd be willing to bury the hatchet?'

Harry's face remained impassive for a moment, then he gave a small smile, hope kindling in his bright green eyes.

'He really misses me?'

'Only for twenty-four hours a day,' Remus chuckled and stood up. 'Now, I've got to head back down south, I need to check on Bella and pick up some Wolfsbane Potion. I'll be back the day after tomorrow and by then I expect to find you and Padfoot on speaking terms again, okay?'

Harry grinned. 'Yes, sir!'

They waved goodbye as Remus swung back into the saddle, turning the horse to face the open sky. Squeezing Trold's sides with his knees, the horse broke into a trot, then a canter and launched himself and his rider over the battlements, spreading his wings and catching a gust of wind, flapping in the direction of the forest.

Harry watched until they were out of sight before turning to the other two.

'Come on,' he said. 'Lets get back to the Tower.'

*

To Be Continued

*

Please review

All comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated

*

Author's Notes

Lil Lupin – Ah, the anagram is 'Traitor', but I don't think it applies anymore.  I just didn't consider changing it when it came to rewriting the whole fic.  I enjoyed writing that last one; in fact I loved writing the last ten or so chapters, all good fun! ^_^  Chapter 13 of the SF is coming along fine.  Blimey, it's struck me that there's only seven left to write.   Then I can start another one!  Well, first I intend to catch up on some fics I've been meaning to read – got a long list of them!

Lilmonster2 – Ooh, thank you!  I don't know what JK Rowling would think of it, but thanks for the suggestion. ^_^ 

Von – I'm being read in Australia?  Wow!  No wonder there's a bit of difference with the time zones.    Nope, Remus isn't keen on P.Torr, although he is trying to be fair and keep an open mind; he's nice like that.  ^_^

Evil spapple pie – Hee hee, yep my own room was the 'inspiration' for her office.  ^_^  My old carpet was presumably grey, although I often suspected that it was simply a very think layer of dust.  It's organised chaos as far as I'm concerned – I know exactly where everything is!    I did wonder what was going on with those seemingly random dots in your reviews, that solves that mystery then!  ^_^

Elbereth94 – I love plot twists!  I'd like to incorporate as many as possible, have a complex story with a decent outcome … I have yet to succeed.  ^_^  Not doing too badly on this one but hopefully my next fic will be more impressive.  Ooh, got to keep my mouth shut about that; can't go revealing everything before I'm supposed to!  You want her to be evil?  Have to wait and see.  ^_^

Corrie – Hope you liked the chapter.  ^_^ 

Dragon-gurl – Definably carrying on!  No fear of a sudden discontinuation – the fic is completely written and postings are twice weekly on Tuesdays and Fridays. (Assuming that the site doesn't crash or whatever.)  I've decided to adopt the policy of only ever posting complete fics, rather than post each chapter as I write them; it could take me forever to finish a fic that way. (Been there, done that, learnt from mistakes and vowed never again!)  ^_^  Enjoy the fic!

Christy –  'Obsessed' just about sums up her attitude, believe me!  Everything is 'weird' and not making a lot of sense at the moment, I know, but all will be made clear in later chapters … I hope.  Hhm, you know, you're really not far off with that thought.