Finally, it's here! I'm REALLY sorry about the long wait! Every time I had the chance

to add the new installment, I just kept forgetting or had something else to do. But here it is.

Mr. and Mrs. Lupin sat with their son in a chilly room with white walls and a tile floor.

It was such a shame hospitals and laboratories couldn't have a better decorating scheme...

They had been waiting for an excruciatingly long time, but didn't know how long exactly, since

the doctor had no clock in his office. (Ever notice how this is usually true in real life, too?)

That reminded Remus.

"Mum? Dad?" he askde,"I forgot to ask you before, but could you put some kind of time

piece in thebasement from now on?"

They looked at each other shortly and agreed.

"One more thing," he continued, fidgeting nervously on the chair,"Would it be possible

for both of you to stay out of the kitchen when I'm...a werewolf...it's the blood nearby

that-"

He stopped short as the door handle turned.

"Yes," whispered his father discreetly as the doctor entered. He took time to shake hands

with all three.

"Good afternoon," he greeted them," I am Dr.Seal."

"I'm Thomas Lupin," said the father, standing up briefly,"This is my wife, Yvette, and my

son, Remus."

Dr.Seal got to the point quickly by opening a file he had carried in. "I examined the

x-rays and found a few things that need to be brought to attention. First, does your son play

any rough sports?"

"No," Remus answered for himself,"Why?"

The doctor pulled out the first image of his spine and held it up on display. A chill

ran through every one of the Lupins, but it had nothing to do with the cold air.

"There are a few cracks along the vertebrae that are associated with trauma to the spine

over a length of time," the doctor explained. He spoke for about five more minutes. "The damage

is not life threatening or serious at this point and there is nothing we can do medically to

it. The cracks must heal on their own. The process may take anywhere form six to ten weeks.

Take caution not to aggrivate the injuries and if there is any pain, first try an over the

counter medicine. If it doesn't help, come back and we can prescribe something stronger."

Remus couldn't tell the muggle doctor that he had only two weeks more to let them heal.

When he returned home, Cleo was waiting for him with a letter in her beak.

He took the owl inside and sat in the living room to read it. There were only five

lines of writing:



"Did I send this correctly? Things here are terrible. Explosive fight with Lily and

she isn't talking to me anymore.(Not like I want to talk to her, either.) Please write back.

-The Muggle Sister."

If the brief letter didn't say much about Petunia's situation, the even briefer

conclusion revealed her distress. It was about the witch/muggle division in her family.

Remus moved to the downstairs office aera and searched through a desk to find

supplies for writing a letter.

"Dear Petunia," it began," Cleo made the trip, but next time, make sure you tie the

letter to one of her legs..."



Back at the Evans house, the fight had begun with a careless remark from Lily, who

found that a potion she planned on making required the participation of TWO people. None of

her Hogwarts friends were available, and the careless remark had been something about her

sister's inadequacies at magic. At least, that's what Petunia got out of it.

She responded with,"How hard can potions be? I can imagine it's just like cooking..."

Lily then pointed out that Petunia was a terrible chef, while bent over her cauldron

in a contemplative way.

"At least I learn useful things at school," Petunia said, more to herself, as a way

of re-instilling her pride. Lily took it as an insult, but didn't say anything. That night

at dinner, Petunia recieved Lily's revenge in her food. It took hours for the green color

to fade from her skin. Lily hadn't even gotten in the slightest trouble for using magic on

Petunia as revenge. Their parents had found it a funny and good-natured joke.

Later that night, Petunia had discovered a note under her pillow. It read, simply,

"Because green is the color of envy."

That did it. Petunia would just have to get revenge, herself.

She sent a letter to Remus the next morning and thought briefly of sending a letter

to Cuba in Lily's name, praising Communism. "It would be incredibly funny," she thought,"when

they send back a load of propaganda for Lily." She went over this idea while sitting on a sofa

and staring at the picture frames on the opposite wall. Suddenly, the living room door opened

and Lily swept in pompously, accompanied by their parents.

"Were going to pick up supplies for your sister," said Mr. Evans,"Would you like to come

along and see Diagon Alley? Lily says it's amazing."

"No," Petunia answered softly. It was a lie; she really did want to experience a part,

any part, of the magic world. Unfortunately, she didn't want Lily to know this, so she was

forced to put up the front of not caring.

Minutes later, Petunia was left alone in the house. The clock ticked for some time, then

chimed twice. It was 2:00.

Petunia sought for a new memory to replace the one of her fight with Lily, which had

been plauging her for the last few hours. She settled on remembering the night the Marauders

came. Jmaes had gone upstairs after dinner for some nice bedside reading material...

Suddenly, Petunia fely very spiteful and malevolant. If she couldn't be at Hogwarts,

she could at least read about it. Surely, Lily wrote about Hogwarts...

The book was sitting right out in the open on Lily's bedroom floor, sticking halfway

out from under her bed. There was no lock or magic guarding it. Petunia was disappointed

that she wouldn't be able to tell Lily how easy she had made this. Before taking the book

up into her hands, Petunia noted the position it was in on the floor. That would help her put

it back exactly. Then, she lifted the cover.

Lily had used a purple pen.