"The way I see it, you have two options," Draco said from where he was
perched precariously on the edge of his bed. "First, you can let the whole
thing drop and stay out of trouble like a good little boy."
Huh, not likely. "And my other option?"
Draco grinned impishly. "You find the information yourself."
I raised an eyebrow, eyeing him warily. "Go on."
"All we have to do is get into your aunt's office. If there's anything to find, it'll be in there."
I stared at him, not entirely sure I'd heard him correctly. "You want me to break into Fae's office."
"Not you," he said, shaking his head. "Us."
"Draco, have you /completely/ lost your mind?" I asked, failing miserably in my attempt to keep my voice calm. "Fae's a teacher, one who wouldn't hesitate to separate your head from your body if she felt so inclined."
"Yeah, but what a way to go, eh?" Draco said cheerfully, totally unfazed. "Come on, it's going to bug you for ages if you don't do something about it."
Well, he had a point there. "There'll be wards," I warned.
"We can work around them."
"It's very likely we'll get caught." Despite my words, I felt my resolve weakening and my curiosity taking over.
"What else is new?" Draco smiled, sensing victory. "Don't be such a stiff, Blaise. If nothing else, it'll keep you out of those damn books for a few hours."
I pretended to think it over, but really I'd already made my decision. "When can we do this?"
*******
Draco's plan was so asinine, so unbelievably insane that it just might work. All we had to do was sneak into Fae's office and have a look around. With a little luck, we'd find something useful and not get ourselves expelled in the process.
Note to self: never, under any circumstances, listen to Draco again.
"You don't have to come, you know," I said for the ten thousandth time as we slipped out of the Common Room and down the darkened hallway. It was just about midnight on Saturday, so the corridors were eerily empty and silent.
"Yes, I do," Draco said firmly. "It's my idea. Besides, if you got expelled, who would get me through Ancient Runes?"
"Well, you could always ask Granger," I said slyly.
Draco gaped at me. "You're kidding, right?"
"Yes, Draco. I'm kidding."
We crept along the darkened corridors, hugging the shadows as best we could and keeping an eye out for teachers on patrol. Five staircases, three secret passages, and a handful of detours later, we arrived at Fae's office. I stood there for a moment, steeling my nerves, before pointing my wand at the lock and whispering, "/Alohomora/."
Nothing happened, but then, I really hadn't expected it to. "Well, looks like we'll have to do it the hard way." I reached into my pocket and pulled out what looked very much like a Swiss Army knife. The difference was, instead of having screwdrivers and scissors, it had several small rods of varying thickness and length, designed to pick any sort of lock if handled correctly. I smirked, remembering that it was Fae who'd given it to me and taught me how to use it.
"Keep an eye on the time, Draco," I said, picking a rod and inserting it into the keyhole. I'd figured we'd have maybe ten, fifteen minutes before Fae could get there if she did happen to have wards to alert her. It wasn't much, but it would have to be enough.
A few moments later, the lock disengaged with a satisfying /click/ and I pushed the door open. We hurried inside, leaving the door open a fraction of an inch. The last thing we needed was to be locked in.
We lit our wands and set about searching the room, Draco starting with the shelves, and me moving to check out the desk. There were papers scattered and piled haphazardly across its face, most of which seemed to be lesson plans in varying stages of completeness. I moved on to the top drawer, surprised when it came open without much urging, but found only a stack of pop quizzes Fae'd given the sixth year Ravenclaws the day before. I pushed the drawer shut and yanked open one beneath it, sifting through its contents as quickly as I dared. A letter from the French Minister of Magic saying something about a colony of trolls, a postcard from some school- friend of Fae's who was stationed in Germany... dammit, wasn't there /anything/ helpful in here?
I was about to give up and move on when a slightly crumpled piece of parchment caught my eye. Pulling it out from near the bottom of the drawer, I realized it was a letter. Curiosity peaked, I skimmed over the letter.
/Specter--I trust you are well, though I can't say the same for the rest of us.
The Order is on the move, and they aren't exactly happy with us. No doubt
you've already heard about Cub; he's only the latest and most publicized of
our losses at their hands. I was there when they found him, barely one piece
was recognizable as human. At any rate, I'm glad you're still with us, even
though you're tied down at the moment. Do me a favor and tell me if you
notice anything off, it could be useful. Give my regards to Artisan, and be
careful--Viper/
I blinked. What the hell? Before I could figure anything out, Draco glanced at his watch. "We'd better get going. It's almost been ten minutes."
I shook my head, trying to clear the jumbled mess of thoughts that were chasing each other around in my head. "Right. Let's go."
We put everything back approximately where it'd been before, then slipped out of the office, making sure to close the door quietly behind us. Doing our best to move swiftly and silently, which is a feat unto itself on stone flooring, we rounded a corner and were just breathing sighs of relief when a figure stepped out of the shadows. I froze as I found a wand aimed directly between my eyes. "Going somewhere?"
It took me a few moments to stop staring at the dark wand that could very well kill me, and look beyond it to see Fae, who had a glint in her eye I'd only seen once before and had hoped never to see again; the man it had been directed at last time hadn't been able to walk for three months afterward. I gulped, realizing I was in serious shit.
"Mr. Malfoy, go back to your dorm," Fae said, not taking her eyes off me. Draco looked about to protest, but thought better of it when I shook my head frantically. /Run, you fool! Save yourself while you still can!/
As if he heard my silent plea, Draco smiled apologetically, then made a hasty retreat. Once he was gone, however, I was on my own. Just me and Fae.
Sweet Lord, have mercy...
Fae motioned for me to turn around with her wand, then marched me back the way I'd come, finally stopping in front of her office. She unlocked the door and pushed it open. "Get in." Too terrified to argue, I obeyed without complaint, shuddering slightly as the door locked automatically behind Fae. "Sit." I sat.
Unlike our last meeting, Fae remained standing, glowering at me. "Blaise, what the /hell/ were you thinking?! Of all the stupid, idiotic things you could've done--did you honestly think I wouldn't find out, that I wouldn't catch you?!" I fixed my gaze on the floor as if it was the most fascinating thing I'd ever seen, unable to stand how she was looking at me. "I thought you were smarter than that, Blaise. I thought that, after all I've done for you, you'd respect me a little more than that."
"And I thought you'd trust me enough to give me a reason when you forbid me to do something," I snapped, unable to stop myself. "So I guess we're even."
Fae raised an eyebrow. "Is that was this is about? Here I thought it was something important." She moved so she was directly in front of me, but I doggedly refused to look up. "Blaise, look at me." When I didn't comply, she put one hand on the armrest of my chair and forcefully shoved my chin up with the other so I looked her in the eyes.
"I want you to listen very carefully, Blaise," she growled, her face inches from mine. "I don't care what information you feel I owe you; you have no business in my office. If you come anywhere near this room without my leave, or if I find you're digging where you shouldn't be, I will do everything in my power to make you wish you'd never crossed me. Do you understand?"
I nodded fervently, wide-eyed. "Yes, ma'am."
"Good." Fae straightened abruptly, still scowling. "As it is, you now have a week's detention and have lost fifty points for Slytherin. I hope that keeps you from playing detective in the future." I nodded again to show I understood. "Now get out."
I stood up and left the room with as much dignity as I could while trying to get away as fast as possible. Once I turned the corner, however, I forgot all about my dignity and broke into a run, sprinting the rest of the way to the Common Room.
Draco was waiting for me by the fire and looked immensely relieved when I turned up, gasping for air and clutching my side. "Are you alright? What happened? What did she do?" he asked as he helped me over to a chair, which I immediately collapsed into. Fighting to catch my breath, I filled Draco in on everything that'd happened and what was in the letter I'd found.
"Damn," Draco said, shaking his head in disbelief. "She's taken psycho- bitch to a new extreme."
"You can say that again," I said with a sigh. "I wish I knew what she was up to, though."
"I take it you're not about to let this go, then."
"Hell no. Fae is just an obstacle we'll have to work around." I leaned back in my seat and stared at the ceiling, thinking hard. "She's mixed up in something, and I'm going to find out what it is. Tonight was just a minor set-back."
"Well, at least you found something useful," Draco said. At my confused glance, he added, "The letter."
"Oh. That. It /would/ be useful if only I knew what the hell it was about."
Draco rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. "Well, those names--Specter, Cub, and whatnot--those have to be nicknames or code-names of some sort, right?"
"Yeah," I said, turning it over in my mind. "So Specter is obviously Fae, seeing as that's who it's addressed to, but who are those other people? How are we even supposed to guess?"
"I don't know," Draco said, shrugging. "What about this 'Order' you mentioned? Do you have any idea what that's all about?"
"No," I said regretfully. "But it doesn't sound like they get on very well, does it?"
"Do you know of an organization that'd be against your aunt?" Draco asked.
I shook my head. "No, the only people I know with vendettas against her are lone individuals, and most of them are in jail so they wouldn't be able to do anything about it anyway."
Draco rubbed his eyes tiredly. "How are we supposed to figure this out when we don't even know where to start?"
*******
We threw ideas back and forth for hours, each one seemingly more ridiculous than the last. Since there wasn't anything to prove or disprove any of them, it was rather pointless, but that didn't stop us. It wasn't until the sun had peaked over the horizon and its rays filtered through the enchanted window (it wouldn't do much good to have a normal window, being as we were underground) in our dorm that Draco and I finally called it a night.
I was awoken much earlier than I'd have liked by something landing on my face. Blinking sleepily, I realized it was a small roll of parchment. Who the hell would send me a note at this hour? "This better be important, or I swear I'm going to kill someone," I grumbled.
The note turned out to be from Ryan, asking if I wanted to meet up in the library later. I rolled my eyes (only a Ravenclaw could be so hopelessly boring) and was fully prepared to send the boy a Howler for disturbing my sleep, but then I noticed the clock on my bed-stand, which showed it was almost noon. I scowled; half a day gone and I hadn't even done anything yet. This was why I usually went to bed at a decent time.
Deciding it was about time I accomplished something, I dug in a drawer for a quill, flipped the scrap of parchment over, and scribbled an affirmative reply, then gave it to the waiting barn owl. As soon as the note was secure, the bird flapped hard on the dead air and flew into the enchanted window, disappearing as suddenly and completely as a person would under an Invisibility Cloak. I knew it would appear out of another such window, presumably in the owlry, that was set up for the express purpose of getting mail to and from the Slytherin dormitories. Our patriarch may have been a murderous sociopath, but he had to have been quite brilliant to think up something like that.
I dragged myself out of bed, my barely-functioning brain noting that Crabbe and Goyle had already left, and lazily sifted through my trunk for something to wear. On a whim, I threw a bundle of socks at Draco, who hadn't bothered to close his curtains, and smiled in satisfaction as it bounced off his forehead. Draco woke with a start, glancing around in search of his assailant, his gray eyes finally resting on me. I looked away and whistled innocently. For some unfathomable reason, this didn't deter him from grabbing his alarm clock and chucking it at me. He seemed rather disappointed when it missed and crashed loudly against the wall opposite.
"Damn it, Zabini! Don't you have someone else you can torment?"
"Sure I do, but they're not nearly as much fun as you, Dragon-boy," I said with a grin.
Draco glared. "Don't call me that."
"Why not? That's your name, after all, so--"
"Blaise, don't force me to kill you."
"Right, shutting up now..."
*******
A/N: Wow, I never expected such a strong reaction from that last chapter. I just hope this chapter lived up to your expectations. Who else thinks Fae needs psychiatric help? Don't worry, she /does/ have a decent explaination for her actions, she just chooses not to share it with the rest of the world. How was everyone else's holiday weekend? I was nearly trampled by a herd of cats and both my cousins had to work, so I was stuck with nothing to do but listen to the old people talk. It was /great/. At least the food was good, but the cats kept trying to steal it, especially the one my brother named Lawn Meower.
Next chapter: The excitement of the library. More classes. Possibly detention? Tune in next time to find out!
Gkey: Hope this one was worth the wait. I'm really mean, I know, but it couldn't be helped.
Faxton: Sorry, you'll have to wait a bit more to find out exactly why Fae's being so overly protective/extremely psychotic. I'm just evil like that. But hey, I gave you all a clue, right? You can't hate me for that... I hope...
JeanB: I'm glad I've got you wondering. I wouldn't be so sure you won't murder me just yet; I've got some very mean things happening in my head and the plot bunnies won't let me leave them. Well, I probably wouldn't change them anyway, but hey.
stubbornarse: Hey, the chapter wasn't THAT short! Not as long as most of the others, but still. I'm glad you liked it anyway, and don't worry; I won't forget about you guys.
Porphyrophobic Grape: Lucky you! I love the coast (even though I've only been there once), but I always get stuck on a farm for my holidays. Oh well. I'm glad you didn't think Hagrid's accent was too atrocious. I had to keep checking back in the books to see if I was at least getting it /sort of/ right.
Love it? Hate it? Think I should be thrown into the Ninth Precinct of the underworld? Tell me!
Huh, not likely. "And my other option?"
Draco grinned impishly. "You find the information yourself."
I raised an eyebrow, eyeing him warily. "Go on."
"All we have to do is get into your aunt's office. If there's anything to find, it'll be in there."
I stared at him, not entirely sure I'd heard him correctly. "You want me to break into Fae's office."
"Not you," he said, shaking his head. "Us."
"Draco, have you /completely/ lost your mind?" I asked, failing miserably in my attempt to keep my voice calm. "Fae's a teacher, one who wouldn't hesitate to separate your head from your body if she felt so inclined."
"Yeah, but what a way to go, eh?" Draco said cheerfully, totally unfazed. "Come on, it's going to bug you for ages if you don't do something about it."
Well, he had a point there. "There'll be wards," I warned.
"We can work around them."
"It's very likely we'll get caught." Despite my words, I felt my resolve weakening and my curiosity taking over.
"What else is new?" Draco smiled, sensing victory. "Don't be such a stiff, Blaise. If nothing else, it'll keep you out of those damn books for a few hours."
I pretended to think it over, but really I'd already made my decision. "When can we do this?"
*******
Draco's plan was so asinine, so unbelievably insane that it just might work. All we had to do was sneak into Fae's office and have a look around. With a little luck, we'd find something useful and not get ourselves expelled in the process.
Note to self: never, under any circumstances, listen to Draco again.
"You don't have to come, you know," I said for the ten thousandth time as we slipped out of the Common Room and down the darkened hallway. It was just about midnight on Saturday, so the corridors were eerily empty and silent.
"Yes, I do," Draco said firmly. "It's my idea. Besides, if you got expelled, who would get me through Ancient Runes?"
"Well, you could always ask Granger," I said slyly.
Draco gaped at me. "You're kidding, right?"
"Yes, Draco. I'm kidding."
We crept along the darkened corridors, hugging the shadows as best we could and keeping an eye out for teachers on patrol. Five staircases, three secret passages, and a handful of detours later, we arrived at Fae's office. I stood there for a moment, steeling my nerves, before pointing my wand at the lock and whispering, "/Alohomora/."
Nothing happened, but then, I really hadn't expected it to. "Well, looks like we'll have to do it the hard way." I reached into my pocket and pulled out what looked very much like a Swiss Army knife. The difference was, instead of having screwdrivers and scissors, it had several small rods of varying thickness and length, designed to pick any sort of lock if handled correctly. I smirked, remembering that it was Fae who'd given it to me and taught me how to use it.
"Keep an eye on the time, Draco," I said, picking a rod and inserting it into the keyhole. I'd figured we'd have maybe ten, fifteen minutes before Fae could get there if she did happen to have wards to alert her. It wasn't much, but it would have to be enough.
A few moments later, the lock disengaged with a satisfying /click/ and I pushed the door open. We hurried inside, leaving the door open a fraction of an inch. The last thing we needed was to be locked in.
We lit our wands and set about searching the room, Draco starting with the shelves, and me moving to check out the desk. There were papers scattered and piled haphazardly across its face, most of which seemed to be lesson plans in varying stages of completeness. I moved on to the top drawer, surprised when it came open without much urging, but found only a stack of pop quizzes Fae'd given the sixth year Ravenclaws the day before. I pushed the drawer shut and yanked open one beneath it, sifting through its contents as quickly as I dared. A letter from the French Minister of Magic saying something about a colony of trolls, a postcard from some school- friend of Fae's who was stationed in Germany... dammit, wasn't there /anything/ helpful in here?
I was about to give up and move on when a slightly crumpled piece of parchment caught my eye. Pulling it out from near the bottom of the drawer, I realized it was a letter. Curiosity peaked, I skimmed over the letter.
/Specter--I trust you are well, though I can't say the same for the rest of us.
The Order is on the move, and they aren't exactly happy with us. No doubt
you've already heard about Cub; he's only the latest and most publicized of
our losses at their hands. I was there when they found him, barely one piece
was recognizable as human. At any rate, I'm glad you're still with us, even
though you're tied down at the moment. Do me a favor and tell me if you
notice anything off, it could be useful. Give my regards to Artisan, and be
careful--Viper/
I blinked. What the hell? Before I could figure anything out, Draco glanced at his watch. "We'd better get going. It's almost been ten minutes."
I shook my head, trying to clear the jumbled mess of thoughts that were chasing each other around in my head. "Right. Let's go."
We put everything back approximately where it'd been before, then slipped out of the office, making sure to close the door quietly behind us. Doing our best to move swiftly and silently, which is a feat unto itself on stone flooring, we rounded a corner and were just breathing sighs of relief when a figure stepped out of the shadows. I froze as I found a wand aimed directly between my eyes. "Going somewhere?"
It took me a few moments to stop staring at the dark wand that could very well kill me, and look beyond it to see Fae, who had a glint in her eye I'd only seen once before and had hoped never to see again; the man it had been directed at last time hadn't been able to walk for three months afterward. I gulped, realizing I was in serious shit.
"Mr. Malfoy, go back to your dorm," Fae said, not taking her eyes off me. Draco looked about to protest, but thought better of it when I shook my head frantically. /Run, you fool! Save yourself while you still can!/
As if he heard my silent plea, Draco smiled apologetically, then made a hasty retreat. Once he was gone, however, I was on my own. Just me and Fae.
Sweet Lord, have mercy...
Fae motioned for me to turn around with her wand, then marched me back the way I'd come, finally stopping in front of her office. She unlocked the door and pushed it open. "Get in." Too terrified to argue, I obeyed without complaint, shuddering slightly as the door locked automatically behind Fae. "Sit." I sat.
Unlike our last meeting, Fae remained standing, glowering at me. "Blaise, what the /hell/ were you thinking?! Of all the stupid, idiotic things you could've done--did you honestly think I wouldn't find out, that I wouldn't catch you?!" I fixed my gaze on the floor as if it was the most fascinating thing I'd ever seen, unable to stand how she was looking at me. "I thought you were smarter than that, Blaise. I thought that, after all I've done for you, you'd respect me a little more than that."
"And I thought you'd trust me enough to give me a reason when you forbid me to do something," I snapped, unable to stop myself. "So I guess we're even."
Fae raised an eyebrow. "Is that was this is about? Here I thought it was something important." She moved so she was directly in front of me, but I doggedly refused to look up. "Blaise, look at me." When I didn't comply, she put one hand on the armrest of my chair and forcefully shoved my chin up with the other so I looked her in the eyes.
"I want you to listen very carefully, Blaise," she growled, her face inches from mine. "I don't care what information you feel I owe you; you have no business in my office. If you come anywhere near this room without my leave, or if I find you're digging where you shouldn't be, I will do everything in my power to make you wish you'd never crossed me. Do you understand?"
I nodded fervently, wide-eyed. "Yes, ma'am."
"Good." Fae straightened abruptly, still scowling. "As it is, you now have a week's detention and have lost fifty points for Slytherin. I hope that keeps you from playing detective in the future." I nodded again to show I understood. "Now get out."
I stood up and left the room with as much dignity as I could while trying to get away as fast as possible. Once I turned the corner, however, I forgot all about my dignity and broke into a run, sprinting the rest of the way to the Common Room.
Draco was waiting for me by the fire and looked immensely relieved when I turned up, gasping for air and clutching my side. "Are you alright? What happened? What did she do?" he asked as he helped me over to a chair, which I immediately collapsed into. Fighting to catch my breath, I filled Draco in on everything that'd happened and what was in the letter I'd found.
"Damn," Draco said, shaking his head in disbelief. "She's taken psycho- bitch to a new extreme."
"You can say that again," I said with a sigh. "I wish I knew what she was up to, though."
"I take it you're not about to let this go, then."
"Hell no. Fae is just an obstacle we'll have to work around." I leaned back in my seat and stared at the ceiling, thinking hard. "She's mixed up in something, and I'm going to find out what it is. Tonight was just a minor set-back."
"Well, at least you found something useful," Draco said. At my confused glance, he added, "The letter."
"Oh. That. It /would/ be useful if only I knew what the hell it was about."
Draco rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. "Well, those names--Specter, Cub, and whatnot--those have to be nicknames or code-names of some sort, right?"
"Yeah," I said, turning it over in my mind. "So Specter is obviously Fae, seeing as that's who it's addressed to, but who are those other people? How are we even supposed to guess?"
"I don't know," Draco said, shrugging. "What about this 'Order' you mentioned? Do you have any idea what that's all about?"
"No," I said regretfully. "But it doesn't sound like they get on very well, does it?"
"Do you know of an organization that'd be against your aunt?" Draco asked.
I shook my head. "No, the only people I know with vendettas against her are lone individuals, and most of them are in jail so they wouldn't be able to do anything about it anyway."
Draco rubbed his eyes tiredly. "How are we supposed to figure this out when we don't even know where to start?"
*******
We threw ideas back and forth for hours, each one seemingly more ridiculous than the last. Since there wasn't anything to prove or disprove any of them, it was rather pointless, but that didn't stop us. It wasn't until the sun had peaked over the horizon and its rays filtered through the enchanted window (it wouldn't do much good to have a normal window, being as we were underground) in our dorm that Draco and I finally called it a night.
I was awoken much earlier than I'd have liked by something landing on my face. Blinking sleepily, I realized it was a small roll of parchment. Who the hell would send me a note at this hour? "This better be important, or I swear I'm going to kill someone," I grumbled.
The note turned out to be from Ryan, asking if I wanted to meet up in the library later. I rolled my eyes (only a Ravenclaw could be so hopelessly boring) and was fully prepared to send the boy a Howler for disturbing my sleep, but then I noticed the clock on my bed-stand, which showed it was almost noon. I scowled; half a day gone and I hadn't even done anything yet. This was why I usually went to bed at a decent time.
Deciding it was about time I accomplished something, I dug in a drawer for a quill, flipped the scrap of parchment over, and scribbled an affirmative reply, then gave it to the waiting barn owl. As soon as the note was secure, the bird flapped hard on the dead air and flew into the enchanted window, disappearing as suddenly and completely as a person would under an Invisibility Cloak. I knew it would appear out of another such window, presumably in the owlry, that was set up for the express purpose of getting mail to and from the Slytherin dormitories. Our patriarch may have been a murderous sociopath, but he had to have been quite brilliant to think up something like that.
I dragged myself out of bed, my barely-functioning brain noting that Crabbe and Goyle had already left, and lazily sifted through my trunk for something to wear. On a whim, I threw a bundle of socks at Draco, who hadn't bothered to close his curtains, and smiled in satisfaction as it bounced off his forehead. Draco woke with a start, glancing around in search of his assailant, his gray eyes finally resting on me. I looked away and whistled innocently. For some unfathomable reason, this didn't deter him from grabbing his alarm clock and chucking it at me. He seemed rather disappointed when it missed and crashed loudly against the wall opposite.
"Damn it, Zabini! Don't you have someone else you can torment?"
"Sure I do, but they're not nearly as much fun as you, Dragon-boy," I said with a grin.
Draco glared. "Don't call me that."
"Why not? That's your name, after all, so--"
"Blaise, don't force me to kill you."
"Right, shutting up now..."
*******
A/N: Wow, I never expected such a strong reaction from that last chapter. I just hope this chapter lived up to your expectations. Who else thinks Fae needs psychiatric help? Don't worry, she /does/ have a decent explaination for her actions, she just chooses not to share it with the rest of the world. How was everyone else's holiday weekend? I was nearly trampled by a herd of cats and both my cousins had to work, so I was stuck with nothing to do but listen to the old people talk. It was /great/. At least the food was good, but the cats kept trying to steal it, especially the one my brother named Lawn Meower.
Next chapter: The excitement of the library. More classes. Possibly detention? Tune in next time to find out!
Gkey: Hope this one was worth the wait. I'm really mean, I know, but it couldn't be helped.
Faxton: Sorry, you'll have to wait a bit more to find out exactly why Fae's being so overly protective/extremely psychotic. I'm just evil like that. But hey, I gave you all a clue, right? You can't hate me for that... I hope...
JeanB: I'm glad I've got you wondering. I wouldn't be so sure you won't murder me just yet; I've got some very mean things happening in my head and the plot bunnies won't let me leave them. Well, I probably wouldn't change them anyway, but hey.
stubbornarse: Hey, the chapter wasn't THAT short! Not as long as most of the others, but still. I'm glad you liked it anyway, and don't worry; I won't forget about you guys.
Porphyrophobic Grape: Lucky you! I love the coast (even though I've only been there once), but I always get stuck on a farm for my holidays. Oh well. I'm glad you didn't think Hagrid's accent was too atrocious. I had to keep checking back in the books to see if I was at least getting it /sort of/ right.
Love it? Hate it? Think I should be thrown into the Ninth Precinct of the underworld? Tell me!