A/N: This is set two weeks or so after last chapter...just to get that cleared up in case of any confusion. Yep, so now read onto what I'm writing at almost ten o'clock on a Monday night! Hey, I'm tired, give me a break if it sucks...(Head drops onto computer desk) zzzzzzzzz.....
Disclaimer: Still not mine- apart from plots and Shannon, and various backing characters.
Dedication:Fangz (good luck with the Quirrel outfit, lol). Also, hpfan1750 and lilmissperfect, two dedicated reviewers! In answer to ur question, a LOTR fan is a Lord of the Rings fan.
Harry Potter and the Crystal of Dreams.
Lily Potter laughed as she bounced her baby son in her lap. The child giggled too and wildly grasped a lock of her long dark red hair. Her joy turned to pain as the baby yanked hard on her hair.
"Ow! No Harry, please, not the hair!"
James Potter laughed from where he stood watching. "I think he likes you, Lily."
Lily's eyes narrowed at her husband. "Remind me of this and your own hair turns blue."
"As long as it's electric blue like Chloe's that time in third year." He collapsed into an armchair, laughing even harder now. "She didn't even notice! Oh, her face..."
"Yeah, but she didn't see the funny side of it." Lily smiled, detatching her baby's hand from her hair. "Neither did you when you landed up in the hospital wing with a black eye."
James composed himself at this reminder. "It was only a joke. She really had some temper on her that day."
Lily put her son down onto the floor where he sat watching them intently. Suddenly, his emerald eyes flashed brilliantly, a flash of green light that enveloped both of his parents. They both screamed in terrible pain.
And Harry Potter sat bolt upright in bed, sweating and shaking.
Eventually, he calmed himself enough to reach for his glasses. The room cleared into view as he put them on and he realised the digits on his glowing alarm clock read 3:00 a.m. With a sigh, he scanned the dark dormitory in case anyone had woken up; when he knew it was safe, he tried to settle back down.
It was stupid to get worked up about these reoccuring dreams. They'd woken him every night for the past couple of weeks, sometimes twice or more in a night. They weren't real. He knew that. This wasn't how his parents had died, nor how their final night had happened. Thanks to the Dementors in the third year, he knew that.
But this was worse- much worse. This way, he was feeling an overwhelming guilt. This way, it was all his fault. He had killed them.
Don't be stupid, he told himself firmly. You have to get up in a couple of hours for Quidditch. You'll be falling asleep on that broomstick if you don't get some rest.
Harry rolled his eyes as he took off his glasses once more and laid down, thinking how much his mind sounded like Hermione at the moment. Yet still his mind continued to play those pictures to him again and again, in full colour and sound.
His mother's laugh. His father's smile.
Their screams as he killed them.
"That's enough!" Harry hadn't meant to say it outloud as he sat back up, holding his head in his hands. He listened for a second, but the silence was only broken by Seamus's snoring and Ron's incoherent mumbling in his sleep.
It was stupid; it was pointless. Why was he worrying about something that he could not change and actually didn't even happen? But he did worry as he tossed and turned and he could not return to sleep. So it was that he rose and dressed as the first signs of dawn appeared on the horizon.
At breakfast, everyone was trying to get him to eat something, but he was refusing as usual. At least the routine made him feel safer than before, and it was more easy to dismiss the nightmare as nothing during the day.
Only one person wasn't joining in with the clamour, and that was Shannon. She looked lost in her own world as she sat next to Harry stirring her cornflakes around her bowl absentmindedly. To take his mind off of Ron waving a plate of sausages in front of his face, he leaned over and snapped his fingers an inch from her face. A second later she jumped and blinked at him.
"Sorry, what was that?" she asked, lifting her chin from her hand. She attempted a small laugh. "I didn't hear."
"I didn't say anything." Harry shrugged. "Are you OK?"
She shrugged as well. "Sure, fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
Harry scanned her pale face, the purple-black shadows of fatigue under her teal eyes, and shook his head. "No reason. Just wondered."
"Oi, Harry!" Harry looked around to see that Dean had just dumped a plate of fried breakfast in front of him. "Eat up!"
Harry groaned. Shannon smiled faintly, despite looking decidedly green at the sight of the greasy food. Hermione, remembering what had happened before the last Gryffindor Quidditch match, shot her friend a warning glance.
"Don't even consider it, Shannon." She warned. Shannon glanced up, eyes confused and wide.
"What? Oh right, 'Sea Food'. Just looking at that makes me feel sick." She rose from her seat. "I'll see you at the match." With that, she left the room quickly, with Harry watched her leave confusedly. A thump on the table made him turn again to see the Gryffindor fifth years had all set down plates in front of him, each laden high with food.
Harry buried his head in his hands and groaned again.
*****
"I want a good clean game." Madam Hooch insisted as Angelina shook hands with the Ravenclaw captain. "No fouls."
Harry wondered if she realised that it wasn't Slytherin she was talking to- Ravenclaw generally didn't try to cheat. Most of the fouls were accidents for their team, but Slytherin was a law unto itself. In the other line, he could see Cho Chang avoiding his gaze.
"Mount your brooms!" the referee called, whistle in her mouth. They obeyed. "On my whistle. Three...two...one..."
The whistle blew and the fourteen players, seven in scarlet and seven in blue, took to the air on their brooms. Of course, Lee Jordan was commentating again, ever watched by the very stressed McGonagall.
"The Quaffle is first taken in the posession of Gryffindor Chaser Alicia Spinnet. Neat pass there to Katie Bell- no, intercepted by Mandy Brocklehurst of Ravenclaw. Brocklehurst to Ackerley, Ackerley to Quirke, Quirke to- no, the Quaffle is taken there by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor. She's zooming up the pitch now, ducks a Bludger from Ravenclaw, passes to Bell. Bell to Spinnet and back again- near to goalposts now- she aims, she shoots, she...aw, no, she misses. Saved by Keeper Tolkien of Ravenclaw."
Up in the stands, Hermione was pushed up along the bench where the fifth year Gryffindors sat as someone joined them. She turned to see Shannon next to her with a weak grin on her face.
"Shan! Where were you?" Hermione demanded. Her friend shook her head and shrugged.
"Ah, you know. Around." She concentrated on the game, ignoring Hermione's somewhat worried gaze. "What did I miss?"
"Bryan Tolkien just saved a goal. I think Ravenclaw's in possession now."
As Lee Jordan called out over the magically amplified megaphone a second later, Ravenclaw were.
"Quirke to Ackerley, Ackerley to Quirke. Ducks a Bludger sent his way by a Weasley twin, probably George, can't really tell. He looses the Quaffle to Chaser Johnson of Gryffindor- nice catch, Angelina. She streaks past Chaser Brocklehurst, a Bludger, and Beaters Weasley of Gryffindor and Davies of Ravenclaw. Passes to Bell, who charges past Beater Stebbins and- no, dammit, looses the Quaffle to Ravenclaw."
Harry swooped telve foot above the game on his Firebolt, searching anxiously for the Snitch. Cho Chang wasn't far away but had opted not to tail him this time. And ten minutes into the game, when Geoga let in two goals and Bryan Tolkien one, neither had yet found it.
Lee carried on with the commentary. "So the score is twenty-ten to Ravenclaw, and we're all starting to think that something's very wrong here..."
"Jordan!" McGonagall growled.
He ignored her slightly and continued, "I mean, Ravenclaw are a load of brainboxes, so why should they-" Off of McGonagall's very angry and harrassed glare, he sighed and altered his words grudgingly. "OK, OK, Ravenclaw are a very strong side and deserve to win as much as Gryffindor, blah blah blah. Anyways, back to the match. Brocklehurst in possession, with Spinnet closing in on her. A Bludger sent her way by Fred Weasley, and halting like that has caused her to drop the Quaffle right into the hands of Katie Bell- no, snatched away by Orla Quirke at the last second."
Harry managed a grin as Lee swore loudly and McGonagall, looking just about ready to commit homicide, attempted to yank the megaphone away. Of course, unsucessfully. Still no sign of gold...yet.
"So it's Ackerley to Brocklehurst, who swerves Stebbins and Davies and passes back.Ackley aims, shoots...ha ha, he misses! Keeper Geoga Atkins of Gryffindor blocks his shot nicely there!"
Harry saw the third year Keeper punch the air triumphantly and Angelina take the red ball. Out of the corner of his left eye just then, he caught sight of a flash of gold. The Snitch?
"Johnson to Bell, Bell to Spinnet! We can hardly keep up here at the speed those Gryffindor girls are passing the Quaffle! Ackerley attempts to intercept but fails miserably!"
"Jordan, commentate in an unbiased manner or leave at once!"
The arguments between the professor and Lee sounded so far away now as Harry quickly turned the broom and began to fly in the direction of the gold. But there was no Snitch to be seen- only the reflection off of a Ravenclaw girl's bracelet.
"Johnson shoots...Tolkien trys to...yes! Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor scores! That brings the score even to twenty all! Wait- has Seeker Chang seen the Snitch?"
Harry turned quickly to see Cho on the other side of the pitch, at a greater height than him, nosediving towards a glimmer of gold a few feet above the ground. He quickly turned the Firebolt again and zoomed towards were Cho was. So preoccupied were most of the players that George nearly whacked Fred over the head with his Beater's club instead of hitting the Bludger, and Alicia and Katie both scored, earning twenty more points for Gryffindor.
Cho might have had a head start on him, but his broom was faster, and when he got to the other side of the pitch, they were even. They both plummeted towards the little gold ball, barely an inch between the brooms. Cho tried to knock him aside, a gesture which he returned, but both were without much success.
The Snitch was about two feet away, and Harry let go of the broom with his right hand. Not enough. He released it with both hands and stretched out wildly. Cho did likewise, face grim and determined.
Time seemed to be moving through thick treacle at this moment. The shouts of the students became oddly quiet and blurred, and all he could think about was the minute ball fluttering inches from his hand...inches from Cho's hand also.
He swiped out crazily for it with his right hand, but the lack of grip on his broom made him topple over to the left. His fingers brushed the smooth surface of the ball before he hit the pitch hard. The noise of the crowds became all too real then, as did the pain in his head and left wrist, which he had landed almost fully on. Lee Jordan seemed to be shouting out a stream of obsenities that were almost drowned by the erruption of cheers from one side of the stadium.
Harry slowly opened his eyes and glanced down at his hands. His empty hands.
Then he saw Cho approaching him, emerging from a crowd of Ravenclaws with the Snitch in her right hand and two brooms in her left- hers and Harry's. Harry struggled to his feet and straightened his glasses, clutching his pained wrist to him.
"Here, I caught your broom." Cho said awkwardly, handing it over. There was an uncomfortable pause. "Sorry you fell."
"Doesn't matter, thanks though." He took the broom with a small grin. "Good game."
She turned away and walked back to her supporters as Harry's friends and team members came up to him. Depression setting in, he looked at them helplessly.
"Sorry." he said, knowing that it probably wasn't enough. But Angelina managed a smile.
"One game, that's all. The way the other matches are turning out, we could still win if we beat Slytherin."
Hermione prised Harry's wrist away from him, face becoming downcast as she saw the bruising beginning to appear. "Madam Pomfrey will want to check that over."
Harry nodded but the last thing he felt like doing was checking in with the fanatical school nurse. However, he still let the team lead him away as his friends set off to meet him in the common room.
*****
Shannon yawned widely, setting down her quill beside her long Arithmancy essay. She could barely concentrate on the complicated equations because of her tiredness and it only made it harder than usual.
'Why did I take Arithmancy again?' she asked herself. 'Oh yeah, Frankie wanted someone to be in class with. If only I'd had enough sense to back out like Dario.'
Hermione looked up from her Ancient Runes translations. "Are you OK, Shannon?"
"Yeah, of course, just a little tired." Shannon hastily excused herself, looking down to recheck her homework.
Hermione frowned again and chewed her lip. "Are you sure? Because-" She wasn't quite sure how to word it, but decided for the direct aproach. "Because you don't seem to be sleeping that well."
Shannon's eyes flared up at her defensively. "What do you mean?"
Hermione knew she'd have to tread carefully. "Well, you know, you just seemed to sound a little...uneasy in your sleep. Maybe you were having a nightmare or something, I just wondered."
Shannon hesitated a little, then smiled. "No, sure, I'm fine. Absolutely. I...it's probably just the O.W.L. revision that they're piling on for us. Think we're all a bit stressed." She sighed. "Still, Hogsmeade trip soon. Should do us all good, eh?"
Hermione returned the smile reluctantly, deciding to let the matter drop. "Yeah."
*****
Another chapter! Sorry it wasn't up sooner...camp an' all that. But now I'm on Easter holiday, so my writing should go smoothly for a while. Please review! Happy Easter to everyone!
Disclaimer: Still not mine- apart from plots and Shannon, and various backing characters.
Dedication:Fangz (good luck with the Quirrel outfit, lol). Also, hpfan1750 and lilmissperfect, two dedicated reviewers! In answer to ur question, a LOTR fan is a Lord of the Rings fan.
Harry Potter and the Crystal of Dreams.
Lily Potter laughed as she bounced her baby son in her lap. The child giggled too and wildly grasped a lock of her long dark red hair. Her joy turned to pain as the baby yanked hard on her hair.
"Ow! No Harry, please, not the hair!"
James Potter laughed from where he stood watching. "I think he likes you, Lily."
Lily's eyes narrowed at her husband. "Remind me of this and your own hair turns blue."
"As long as it's electric blue like Chloe's that time in third year." He collapsed into an armchair, laughing even harder now. "She didn't even notice! Oh, her face..."
"Yeah, but she didn't see the funny side of it." Lily smiled, detatching her baby's hand from her hair. "Neither did you when you landed up in the hospital wing with a black eye."
James composed himself at this reminder. "It was only a joke. She really had some temper on her that day."
Lily put her son down onto the floor where he sat watching them intently. Suddenly, his emerald eyes flashed brilliantly, a flash of green light that enveloped both of his parents. They both screamed in terrible pain.
And Harry Potter sat bolt upright in bed, sweating and shaking.
Eventually, he calmed himself enough to reach for his glasses. The room cleared into view as he put them on and he realised the digits on his glowing alarm clock read 3:00 a.m. With a sigh, he scanned the dark dormitory in case anyone had woken up; when he knew it was safe, he tried to settle back down.
It was stupid to get worked up about these reoccuring dreams. They'd woken him every night for the past couple of weeks, sometimes twice or more in a night. They weren't real. He knew that. This wasn't how his parents had died, nor how their final night had happened. Thanks to the Dementors in the third year, he knew that.
But this was worse- much worse. This way, he was feeling an overwhelming guilt. This way, it was all his fault. He had killed them.
Don't be stupid, he told himself firmly. You have to get up in a couple of hours for Quidditch. You'll be falling asleep on that broomstick if you don't get some rest.
Harry rolled his eyes as he took off his glasses once more and laid down, thinking how much his mind sounded like Hermione at the moment. Yet still his mind continued to play those pictures to him again and again, in full colour and sound.
His mother's laugh. His father's smile.
Their screams as he killed them.
"That's enough!" Harry hadn't meant to say it outloud as he sat back up, holding his head in his hands. He listened for a second, but the silence was only broken by Seamus's snoring and Ron's incoherent mumbling in his sleep.
It was stupid; it was pointless. Why was he worrying about something that he could not change and actually didn't even happen? But he did worry as he tossed and turned and he could not return to sleep. So it was that he rose and dressed as the first signs of dawn appeared on the horizon.
At breakfast, everyone was trying to get him to eat something, but he was refusing as usual. At least the routine made him feel safer than before, and it was more easy to dismiss the nightmare as nothing during the day.
Only one person wasn't joining in with the clamour, and that was Shannon. She looked lost in her own world as she sat next to Harry stirring her cornflakes around her bowl absentmindedly. To take his mind off of Ron waving a plate of sausages in front of his face, he leaned over and snapped his fingers an inch from her face. A second later she jumped and blinked at him.
"Sorry, what was that?" she asked, lifting her chin from her hand. She attempted a small laugh. "I didn't hear."
"I didn't say anything." Harry shrugged. "Are you OK?"
She shrugged as well. "Sure, fine. Why wouldn't I be?"
Harry scanned her pale face, the purple-black shadows of fatigue under her teal eyes, and shook his head. "No reason. Just wondered."
"Oi, Harry!" Harry looked around to see that Dean had just dumped a plate of fried breakfast in front of him. "Eat up!"
Harry groaned. Shannon smiled faintly, despite looking decidedly green at the sight of the greasy food. Hermione, remembering what had happened before the last Gryffindor Quidditch match, shot her friend a warning glance.
"Don't even consider it, Shannon." She warned. Shannon glanced up, eyes confused and wide.
"What? Oh right, 'Sea Food'. Just looking at that makes me feel sick." She rose from her seat. "I'll see you at the match." With that, she left the room quickly, with Harry watched her leave confusedly. A thump on the table made him turn again to see the Gryffindor fifth years had all set down plates in front of him, each laden high with food.
Harry buried his head in his hands and groaned again.
*****
"I want a good clean game." Madam Hooch insisted as Angelina shook hands with the Ravenclaw captain. "No fouls."
Harry wondered if she realised that it wasn't Slytherin she was talking to- Ravenclaw generally didn't try to cheat. Most of the fouls were accidents for their team, but Slytherin was a law unto itself. In the other line, he could see Cho Chang avoiding his gaze.
"Mount your brooms!" the referee called, whistle in her mouth. They obeyed. "On my whistle. Three...two...one..."
The whistle blew and the fourteen players, seven in scarlet and seven in blue, took to the air on their brooms. Of course, Lee Jordan was commentating again, ever watched by the very stressed McGonagall.
"The Quaffle is first taken in the posession of Gryffindor Chaser Alicia Spinnet. Neat pass there to Katie Bell- no, intercepted by Mandy Brocklehurst of Ravenclaw. Brocklehurst to Ackerley, Ackerley to Quirke, Quirke to- no, the Quaffle is taken there by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor. She's zooming up the pitch now, ducks a Bludger from Ravenclaw, passes to Bell. Bell to Spinnet and back again- near to goalposts now- she aims, she shoots, she...aw, no, she misses. Saved by Keeper Tolkien of Ravenclaw."
Up in the stands, Hermione was pushed up along the bench where the fifth year Gryffindors sat as someone joined them. She turned to see Shannon next to her with a weak grin on her face.
"Shan! Where were you?" Hermione demanded. Her friend shook her head and shrugged.
"Ah, you know. Around." She concentrated on the game, ignoring Hermione's somewhat worried gaze. "What did I miss?"
"Bryan Tolkien just saved a goal. I think Ravenclaw's in possession now."
As Lee Jordan called out over the magically amplified megaphone a second later, Ravenclaw were.
"Quirke to Ackerley, Ackerley to Quirke. Ducks a Bludger sent his way by a Weasley twin, probably George, can't really tell. He looses the Quaffle to Chaser Johnson of Gryffindor- nice catch, Angelina. She streaks past Chaser Brocklehurst, a Bludger, and Beaters Weasley of Gryffindor and Davies of Ravenclaw. Passes to Bell, who charges past Beater Stebbins and- no, dammit, looses the Quaffle to Ravenclaw."
Harry swooped telve foot above the game on his Firebolt, searching anxiously for the Snitch. Cho Chang wasn't far away but had opted not to tail him this time. And ten minutes into the game, when Geoga let in two goals and Bryan Tolkien one, neither had yet found it.
Lee carried on with the commentary. "So the score is twenty-ten to Ravenclaw, and we're all starting to think that something's very wrong here..."
"Jordan!" McGonagall growled.
He ignored her slightly and continued, "I mean, Ravenclaw are a load of brainboxes, so why should they-" Off of McGonagall's very angry and harrassed glare, he sighed and altered his words grudgingly. "OK, OK, Ravenclaw are a very strong side and deserve to win as much as Gryffindor, blah blah blah. Anyways, back to the match. Brocklehurst in possession, with Spinnet closing in on her. A Bludger sent her way by Fred Weasley, and halting like that has caused her to drop the Quaffle right into the hands of Katie Bell- no, snatched away by Orla Quirke at the last second."
Harry managed a grin as Lee swore loudly and McGonagall, looking just about ready to commit homicide, attempted to yank the megaphone away. Of course, unsucessfully. Still no sign of gold...yet.
"So it's Ackerley to Brocklehurst, who swerves Stebbins and Davies and passes back.Ackley aims, shoots...ha ha, he misses! Keeper Geoga Atkins of Gryffindor blocks his shot nicely there!"
Harry saw the third year Keeper punch the air triumphantly and Angelina take the red ball. Out of the corner of his left eye just then, he caught sight of a flash of gold. The Snitch?
"Johnson to Bell, Bell to Spinnet! We can hardly keep up here at the speed those Gryffindor girls are passing the Quaffle! Ackerley attempts to intercept but fails miserably!"
"Jordan, commentate in an unbiased manner or leave at once!"
The arguments between the professor and Lee sounded so far away now as Harry quickly turned the broom and began to fly in the direction of the gold. But there was no Snitch to be seen- only the reflection off of a Ravenclaw girl's bracelet.
"Johnson shoots...Tolkien trys to...yes! Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor scores! That brings the score even to twenty all! Wait- has Seeker Chang seen the Snitch?"
Harry turned quickly to see Cho on the other side of the pitch, at a greater height than him, nosediving towards a glimmer of gold a few feet above the ground. He quickly turned the Firebolt again and zoomed towards were Cho was. So preoccupied were most of the players that George nearly whacked Fred over the head with his Beater's club instead of hitting the Bludger, and Alicia and Katie both scored, earning twenty more points for Gryffindor.
Cho might have had a head start on him, but his broom was faster, and when he got to the other side of the pitch, they were even. They both plummeted towards the little gold ball, barely an inch between the brooms. Cho tried to knock him aside, a gesture which he returned, but both were without much success.
The Snitch was about two feet away, and Harry let go of the broom with his right hand. Not enough. He released it with both hands and stretched out wildly. Cho did likewise, face grim and determined.
Time seemed to be moving through thick treacle at this moment. The shouts of the students became oddly quiet and blurred, and all he could think about was the minute ball fluttering inches from his hand...inches from Cho's hand also.
He swiped out crazily for it with his right hand, but the lack of grip on his broom made him topple over to the left. His fingers brushed the smooth surface of the ball before he hit the pitch hard. The noise of the crowds became all too real then, as did the pain in his head and left wrist, which he had landed almost fully on. Lee Jordan seemed to be shouting out a stream of obsenities that were almost drowned by the erruption of cheers from one side of the stadium.
Harry slowly opened his eyes and glanced down at his hands. His empty hands.
Then he saw Cho approaching him, emerging from a crowd of Ravenclaws with the Snitch in her right hand and two brooms in her left- hers and Harry's. Harry struggled to his feet and straightened his glasses, clutching his pained wrist to him.
"Here, I caught your broom." Cho said awkwardly, handing it over. There was an uncomfortable pause. "Sorry you fell."
"Doesn't matter, thanks though." He took the broom with a small grin. "Good game."
She turned away and walked back to her supporters as Harry's friends and team members came up to him. Depression setting in, he looked at them helplessly.
"Sorry." he said, knowing that it probably wasn't enough. But Angelina managed a smile.
"One game, that's all. The way the other matches are turning out, we could still win if we beat Slytherin."
Hermione prised Harry's wrist away from him, face becoming downcast as she saw the bruising beginning to appear. "Madam Pomfrey will want to check that over."
Harry nodded but the last thing he felt like doing was checking in with the fanatical school nurse. However, he still let the team lead him away as his friends set off to meet him in the common room.
*****
Shannon yawned widely, setting down her quill beside her long Arithmancy essay. She could barely concentrate on the complicated equations because of her tiredness and it only made it harder than usual.
'Why did I take Arithmancy again?' she asked herself. 'Oh yeah, Frankie wanted someone to be in class with. If only I'd had enough sense to back out like Dario.'
Hermione looked up from her Ancient Runes translations. "Are you OK, Shannon?"
"Yeah, of course, just a little tired." Shannon hastily excused herself, looking down to recheck her homework.
Hermione frowned again and chewed her lip. "Are you sure? Because-" She wasn't quite sure how to word it, but decided for the direct aproach. "Because you don't seem to be sleeping that well."
Shannon's eyes flared up at her defensively. "What do you mean?"
Hermione knew she'd have to tread carefully. "Well, you know, you just seemed to sound a little...uneasy in your sleep. Maybe you were having a nightmare or something, I just wondered."
Shannon hesitated a little, then smiled. "No, sure, I'm fine. Absolutely. I...it's probably just the O.W.L. revision that they're piling on for us. Think we're all a bit stressed." She sighed. "Still, Hogsmeade trip soon. Should do us all good, eh?"
Hermione returned the smile reluctantly, deciding to let the matter drop. "Yeah."
*****
Another chapter! Sorry it wasn't up sooner...camp an' all that. But now I'm on Easter holiday, so my writing should go smoothly for a while. Please review! Happy Easter to everyone!