Author's Note: I unfortunately don't own the idea of Harry Potter, so please, no lawsuits.
Chapter Ten: Death on the Doorstep
"Ron, I really need your help," Harry said as he quickly sat down next to his best friend at breakfast.
"With what?"
"I'm begging you to talk to Hermione," Harry commented strategically just as Ron stuffed a piece of toast into his mouth.
"I am not going to talk to her for you, Harry," Ron said, sounding slightly angry with him as he forcefully swallowed his toast.
"Why not?" Harry asked.
"Because, this is between you and Hermione. I am NOT getting in the middle of your stupid, immature argument no matter what," Ron explained before grabbing up his books and storming out of the Great Hall.
"What's wrong with Ronniekins?" Fred asked as he and George sat down across from Harry, next to Neville.
"I, uh, asked him to do a favor for me, and he didn't want to help," Harry said, trying to cover up what happened.
"He won't help get Hermione to talk to you again?" George asked before attacking his breakfast.
Harry was extremely baffled as he dropped his fork on to his plate.
"Before you ask how we know, Harry, we shall explain so you don't have to bother asking," George quickly commented.
"You see, you, Hermione, and Ron are the best of friends. Everyone can see that," Fred stated.
"So naturally, when the three of you stop talking with each other, there is obviously something wrong between you three."
"Right you are, George," Fred said as he gulped down some pumpkin juice. "And since you and Hermione are the two who have not really been too friendly with one another, it is yet again obvious that something is going on between you and Hermione. So, Harry, why don't you enlighten us?"
"That's the crazy part. I don't know why she's acting this way. She hasn't talked to me in about two weeks. Ever since that visit to Hogsmeade, actually."
"Well, Harry, we would help you, but we're afraid that if we go anywhere near Hermione while she's studying, which she is doing every minute of the day, she'll curse us and turn us into slugs," Fred explained.
"Got any ideas on how to get her to talk to you again, Harry?" Neville asked.
"No. Every time I try to talk to her, she either just ignores me or glares at me until I give up and go away."
"Well, Christmas is coming up, Harry. Maybe if you got her something nice, she would consider speaking to you again," George suggested.
"Yeah. Maybe," Harry murmured.
"Don't worry about it, Harry. She'll come around," George commented, reaching across the table, patting him on the back.
George really didn't have the faintest idea of how badly Harry wished she would. Without Hermione there to talk to him and help him with his homework, Harry was left with Ron, not that it was a bad thing. Ron just wasn't as academically gifted as Hermione was, and Harry needed some help with his current Arithmancy assignment.
"Come on, Harry," Neville said, standing up from the table as the bell rang, "we need to get going to Charms class."
After sliding his bag over his shoulder, Harry quickly joined Neville as they left the Great Hall in a hurry to climb the Grand Staircase.
"Do you know what we're supposed to be doing today?" Harry asked Neville.
"I think we're just reviewing over what we did last week," Neville replied.
"Uh...what did we do last week?"
"No clue," Neville replied again.
Review in Professor Flitwick's class usually meant that they would need their wands, so as they neared the Charm's corridor, Harry began to look through his bag. Just as he pulled it out, someone bumped into Harry, causing him to drop his wand. Luckily, he caught it before it could roll back down the stairs.
"I'm sorry, Harry. I was just so excited that I wasn't watching where I was going," Parvati Patil squealed as she helped him up from the floor where he had retrieved his wand.
"What's so exciting?" Neville asked.
"I just came from seeing Professor Trelawney. I was curious about how well I did last week in class."
"Me too!" Neville exclaimed. "So, how did you do?"
"Excellent. She really thinks I have the true making of a Seer."
"That, and she thinks that death is getting even closer," Neville commented sarcastically.
"What?" Harry asked.
"It's nothing, Harry. Professor Trelawney is just up to her old tricks, trying to scare us all into thinking that people are going to die soon," Neville explained.
"She's not tricking anyone, Neville. I have seen in the crystal ball what she has seen," Parvati interjected.
"Then name one person who is supposedly going to die," Neville fired back.
Neville's words instantly stopped Parvati from arguing back, and she almost knocked into both of them as she stormed into the Charm's classroom.
"Problems?" Harry asked.
"It's nothing," Neville said as he headed in.
When Harry sat down in each class, he usually sat between Hermione and Ron. However, Ron was now the one sitting in the middle, most likely at Hermione's request. Harry sat on Ron's right, setting down his bag and wand. Moments later, Professor Flitwick appeared as he climbed up to the top of his stack of books behind his wooden podium.
"Wands at the ready, class. We're going to review the stunning spell that we were beginning to practice last week," Professor Flitwick squeaked. "Now, before we begin, can anyone tell me how this spell works?"
Hermione's hand was in the air immediately. "The spell does not just work on its own. It feeds off of your emotions. The stronger the emotion, the more powerful the stunner."
"Correct! Fifteen points for Gryffindor. Now, who can answer how this spell is different from the stupefying spell?"
Hermione, yet again. "The stupefying spell puts you in a limited daze. This spell will only knock a person unconscious if the caster is experiencing an intense emotion. Otherwise, the person that the spell is cast upon may only experience short periods of lightheadedness."
"Correct, again! Fifteen more points for Gryffindor. Now remember, class. The incantation is as follows. Sparclas!"
One by one, each student got to step up and try the spell against one another. Harry stood behind Parvati in line, and when he looked over to see who was behind Neville (who was facing off against Parvati), he saw that he would have to be up against Hermione.
"How am I going to do this?" he quickly asked Ron. "I'm trying to get her to talk to me and now I have to try to knock her out with this spell?"
"Well, you might not have to if Parvati and Neville destroy the whole classroom."
"He looks really angry," Harry whispered back to his best friend.
"This could get bad," Ron replied.
Harry turned back to watch Parvati cast the spell at Neville, a yellow beam of light shooting out from the tip of her wand. It missed Neville by several feet, almost knocking over poor Professor Flitwick. Neville didn't wait another second. "Sparclas!" he cried. A red beam of light that was as dark as blood blasted from the tip of Neville's wand, sizzling through the air. It was headed right for Parvati. Everyone behind Parvati backed up a few feet, just in case it missed. Harry could tell that it wasn't going to miss, and judging by the color of the beam and the look on Neville's face, it looked as if Neville had experienced a very powerful emotion. Most likely, he was still angry over his argument with Parvati.
"Harry, look out!" Ron suddenly yelled.
Harry quickly turned to see that Parvati had jumped out of the way, and the red beam was coming right at him. He tried to jump out of the way, but it came in too fast and struck Harry square in the chest, knocking him backward into a large pile of books. Harry didn't even have time to try and get back up, for the spell quickly took effect, and Harry blacked out.
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The first voice that Harry head as he slowly came to wasn't the one that he really wanted to hear. "Are you alright, Harry?" Ron asked as he helped Harry sit up.
"Ugh, why do things always have the tendency to run in to me?"
Ron laughed lightly. Harry could begin to see again as he sat up completely. He was still in the Charm's classroom, but everyone else had gone, except for Professor Flitwick and Ron.
"Do you need to go to the hospital wing at all, Potter?" Flitwick asked.
"No, Professor," Harry stammered. "I'm fine."
"Alright. Get along to your next class then."
Harry and Ron quickly left the Charm's class, heading up towards the Gryffindor common room.
"How long was I unconscious?" Harry asked.
"Only for about six minutes. Professor Flitwick had everyone else leave early before reviving you," Ron said.
"I bet Neville feels really bad."
"He wanted to stay behind to say that he was sorry, but after Hermione yelled at him, I'm sure he wanted to be left alone."
"Hermione yelled at Neville?" Harry asked, astonished.
"She did. Mainly about him being careless and that he was lucky that Professor Flitwick could revive you from unconsciousness, because the spell could be deadly if the caster is extremely angry or something along those lines. It's funny, really. For someone being so angry with you right now, she was really worried," Ron explained.
Harry stayed silent for a few minutes before opening his mouth. "Ron, could you please..."
"Harry, I'm not going to talk to her for you."
"...help me with my Arithmancy homework?" Harry finished.
"Oh. Sure. Sorry about that," Ron replied as they came up to the Portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Pumpkin juice," Harry said. The Fat Lady smiled to them before swinging open, allowing them into Gryffindor Tower.
"We've got time before lunch. Should we grab our Arithmancy homework and go to the library?" Ron asked.
"Sounds good," Harry replied as he followed Ron up the spiral staircase that led to the boys dormitory. Both boys grabbed their things before heading back down to the common room. Just as Harry was about to push open the portrait, it suddenly swung open. Hermione suddenly bounded in, a large stack of books in her arms.
"Hello, Ron." she casually said before carefully walking off, trying not to drop any of her books. She made it look easy to ignore Harry.
"For someone as smart as she is, her immaturity is really starting to amaze me," Harry said angrily as he walked with Ron down the Grand Staircase, trying to mask his hurt feelings.
Ron sighed heavily. "What's your problem?" Harry asked.
"This may sound weird coming from me, since I am usually the immature one, but you should listen to my advice. I know why she's feeling the way she is. She told me at the Three Broomsticks, down in Hogsmeade. Hermione isn't angry at you, Harry. She's depressed because you hurt her."
Harry stopped abruptly, but Ron kept walking. "How did I hurt her?" he called after Ron.
"That is something that you'll have to remember on your own."
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After finishing their Arithmancy homework and having lunch, Harry and Ron headed down to Hagrid's with the rest of the Gryffindors, and unfortunately, the Slytherins. Hagrid spent the whole class telling everyone the various creatures that he saw while he was on "vacation". They got to hear about how Hagrid barely escaped a hag and how he had avoided an almost nasty run in with the 'pleasemen' in Germany. Harry especially enjoyed the tale about the Irish dancers at a small pub in Ireland, since Harry knew that Hagrid was making all of it up to explain why he was gone. Harry, Hermione, and Ron were the only ones who knew where Hagrid really went, except for Dumbledore of course. Ron only knew because Harry sat down and explained it to him a few days after Hagrid told them.
Later that evening after dinner, Professor McGonagall came around with the list of those that were going to stay at Hogwarts over the Christmas holidays. Harry and Ron eagerly signed up. Harry also noticed that Hermione had put her name down on the list, which brightened Harry's day a little. Holiday break was an excellent time to try and talk to her, since, Harry noticed, not many other Gryffindors were staying.
"Potions is going to be a pain in the ass tomorrow," Ron groaned as he flopped down next to Harry on one of the couches that were close to the fire.
"I wonder what concoction he will come up with now," Harry said.
"Who knows. Something nasty, yet maybe even greasy," Ron laughed. Snape's dark black hair always looked like he hadn't taken a shower in years, if not in his whole life.
But surprisingly, Ron was wrong. Both Harry and Ron were greatly surprised that for their last class before the holidays, Snape was only making them take down notes on his blackboard while he graded the essays that they had just finished turning in. Snape was silent the entire time, and when the bell rang at the end of the period, he simply dismissed them with a wave of his hand.
"Do you think he's sick?" Dean Thomas asked as the Gryffindors made their way out of the freezing cold dungeons.
"If he is, let's hope he freezes to death down in the dungeons over the holidays," Ron said, causing everyone to laugh.
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Later that evening, as the students heading home for the holidays congregated in the Great Hall, Harry and Ron sat up camp in front of the blazing fire in the common room. With hopes of having a homework-free Christmas, the pair slaved over their piles of homework all afternoon until Fred and George came in to tell them that the students were heading down to the Hogsmeade Train Station.
"Got all of your Christmas shopping done, Harry?" Fred asked as he sat down next to Ron.
" I have one more person to shop for."
"Well, you better hurry, mate, because Christmas is just a few days away," George commented with a wink.
Suddenly, as if a light went on in Harry's mind, he sprang up from his chair, knocking over a pile of books as he ran up the spiral staircase to his dormitory. "Where are you going?" Ron called after him. A moment later, Harry returned with his wand in his right hand, a winter cloak in the left.
"I'll be back as soon as possible," he stammered before pushing open the portrait and stepping out. It closed behind him and Harry was happy to see that none of them made a move to follow him.
Harry fastened his cloak on as he stepped through the main doors of Hogwarts and out on to the cold grounds. The wind howled with fury as the snow continued to fall. From time to time, Harry had to use the Lumos spell to make sure he was going the right way, because the darkness of night was not helping him see better. With the bitter cold and low visibility, Harry felt like he would freeze to death out on the grounds before reaching Hogsmeade. But he was soon there, walking through the streets, where the buildings shielded him from the wind. Many of the shops were already closed, and Harry was greatly disappointed when he reached Gladrag's Wizardwear to see that the lamps were out.
"Dammit," Harry muttered. Though disappointed, Harry needed to get inside the shop. After carefully looking around, and seeing that the street was empty, Harry quickly tapped the doorknob to Gladrag's. "Alohamora," he whispered, and the door silently opened. Harry quickly slipped in, shutting the door behind himself.
"Lumos," Harry said once inside. A beam of light emanated from the tip of his wand, illuminating wherever he pointed his wand. Harry maneuvered slowly through the store, trying to avoid knocking anything over until he reached his destination: the jewelry cabinet. The ring that Harry recognized as the one that Hermione liked glimmered in the wand light. He spent several minutes looking at the case, but he didn't find a lock. Finding no other way to open it, Harry carefully aimed his elbow and swung down. The glass shattered, shards falling on to the jewelry below. Harry quickly grabbed the sapphire ring before dropping a small bag of money on to the place where the ring was. The money amount was exact. Harry quickly placed the ring in a small gift box before slipping it into his pocket.
"Reparo!" Harry muttered, pointing his wand at the glass case. The shards instantly sprang back into place, making it look like no one had broken in to it. Harry made sure that the door was locked before quickly exiting and disappearing into the snowy darkness, heading back towards the castle. Although the wind had calmed down considerably, the snow raged on. With so much snow, Harry was greatly looking forward to a few snow fights that might ensue with the Weasley twins. Maybe even Hermione would join in, if she started to talk to Harry again. Harry hoped she would, and in a way believed that she would, especially after getting her Christmas present from him.
Ron was still seated in front of the fire when Harry returned through the portrait hole, but it appeared that Fred and George had gone up to bed. "You've been gone for nearly an hour. What were you doing?" Ron asked. Harry answered his best friend's question by pulling the small gift box out of his pocket and showing him the ring. "Holy crap, Harry. Where did you get that?"
"Down at Gladrag's Wizardwear," Harry replied.
"But all of the Hogsmeade shops should have been closed by now."
"Well, they were closed," Harry said as he slid his wand into his pocket.
"Harry, you didn't!"
"I did."
Ron laughed lightly. "You're lucky that you didn't get caught. Did you pay for it?"
"Of course I did. I'm not a thief, Ron," Harry replied.
"Well, if you paid for it, then I guess it's okay."
"Do you think that Hermione will like it?" Harry asked.
"If she doesn't, then I would be extremely surprised. And if that doesn't get her to talk to you again after what you did with Cho, I will personally jinx her until she does."
"What did you just say?" Harry asked, surprised.
"Nothing."
"Don't give me that. You said something about Cho and I doing something." The it finally hit Harry. "Hermione saw that?" he asked, astonished.
"Yes, she did. That's why she is so miserable. Hermione thought that you had feelings for her," Ron explained.
"But I did, and I still do."
"Well, I would suggest that you go talk to her, but she's busy doing homework in her dormitory, and she might hex you if you go up there," Ron explained.
"Alright. I think I will try to catch her in the morning."
"Good idea, Harry."
"Ron."
"What?"
"Nothing happened between Cho and me."
"Tell Hermione that."
"I will."
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Unfortunately, Harry couldn't find her all Saturday morning. In fact, he couldn't find her all day. Harry had looked all over the castle, including the library, the girl's dormitory, and even the kitchens. He had even sent Hedwig down to Hagrid's hut to check there, but Hermione wasn't there either.
"This is ridiculous," Harry said Sunday morning. "Is she deliberately hiding from me or is she just so busy that I can never catch her?"
"Don't feel bad. I haven't seen her either," Ron offered.
"If I don't get to talk to her soon, I'm going to go crazy."
"Why don't you write her a letter? You could put it on her bed with your present tonight. After all, tomorrow is Christmas Eve. She can spend a whole day wondering what your gift is," Ron explained.
"That's an excellent idea, Ron," Harry said as he grabbed a roll of parchment, a bottle of ink, and a quill from his bag.
Just as Harry sat down, he quickly looked back to Ron. "What did Hermione tell you about what she saw?"
"She said that she went to find you in the alley when she saw that you and Cho were about to kiss," Ron replied before his eyes suddenly widened. "Don't tell her that I told you."
"Well, that's great," Harry said sarcastically. "I didn't kiss her. She was trying to kiss me, and I said no."
"And Hermione thinks that you kissed her."
Harry sighed heavily as he moved his chair closer to the fire. Dipping the quill into the bottle of ink, Harry began to write on the parchment.
Dear Hermione,
There has been a big misunderstanding between us. I figured out, finally, why you won't talk to me. (Took me long enough, right?) That day in Hogsmeade, what you saw was not what happened. Please don't get angry at Ron for letting it slip. Cho did make a move to kiss me, but I told her no. I turned her down. You must have seen her moving towards me before going back to the Three Broomsticks. There are two reasons for me not kissing Cho. The first is because I don't have any feelings for her, despite my slight obsession and jealousy last year. The second is because I have those feelings for you. What I feel for you, I have never felt before. Please, talk to me again as soon as you open your gift.
Harry
After carefully folding the parchment and sliding it into an envelope, Harry wrote "To Be Opened on Christmas" upon the front.
"Done?" Ron asked.
Harry nodded as he crossed the common room to the spiral staircase that lead up to the girls dormitory. After making sure that the room was empty, Harry quickly placed the letter and gift on Hermione's bed before running back down to the common room.
Ron was down on the floor, petting Crookshanks when Harry sat back down by the fire. "What do you want to do tomorrow?" Harry asked.
"I think Katie wanted to have Quidditch practice. She somehow convinced the whole Quidditch team to stay for the holidays so we could practice."
"Sounds good, as long as their isn't any practice on Christmas," Harry replied.
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Early the next morning, Christmas morning to be exact, the Weasley twins dragged Harry and Ron out of bed around dawn, and told them to dress warmly. They anted them to meet them down on the snow covered grounds.
"What did they have to wake us up so early for?" Ron asked groggily as they walked out on to the grounds. "Quidditch practice isn't until this afternoon." His question was quickly answered when a round ball of snow collided with Ron's face, causing him to fall backward and into the deep snow. Harry had to hold on to a small bush to keep himself from falling over with laughter.
"That's not funny!" Ron roared as he pulled out his want. Seconds later, another snowball came flying towards them, but Ron blasted it to smithereens with his wand.
"Where are they at?" Harry asked quickly before getting hit in the back of the head by a snowball. Ron turned to defend his back, but Fred and George had them surrounded by floating snowballs. The twins suddenly burst forth from behind a tree, charging toward Harry and Ron with many snowballs following. A massive snowball fight ensued, just like Harry hoped one would. And once it was over, the four of them collapsed in the common room in front of the fire. Somehow, they made it down to the Great Hall for lunch, and Harry finally saw Hermione for the first time since their Friday Potions class. She was sitting not too far from them, talking to Ginny intently. He watched her, wishing he was sitting there instead of Ginny.
"How does a five o'clock practice sound, Harry?" Katie Bell asked suddenly.
"Huh?"
"I asked how a five o'clock practice sounded, Harry," she repeated irritably.
"Um...it sounds fine."
"You need to pay more attention, Harry. You're our only Seeker, and if you're not paying attention during a match, you could get clobbered by a bludger, again!" Katie exclaimed before walking off.
As soon as Katie was out of earshot, Fred spoke up. "Did anyone inform her that we aren't playing Quidditch right now?"
"Yeah, she's almost getting to be as bad as Wood was. Trying to live up to his rep, I guess," George added.
Harry silently agreed. Oliver Wood, their former Quidditch captain, was strict, but it helped them win more often. So, naturally, if Katie was just a strict, Harry wouldn't complain as long as they always won, which depended on him catching the Golden Snitch.
Once Harry was done eating lunch, he and Ron slowly got up, intent on heading back up to the common room. He looked over at Hermione quickly, and was surprised. She was looking back at him, and she even smiled warmly. Harry smiled back before leaving the Great Hall. They messed around in the common room, playing Wizard's Chess and Gobstones until it got close to 4:30 in the afternoon. At that time, Harry and Ron dressed in their Quidditch robes and grabbed their broomsticks before heading down towards the Quidditch pitch. Once they reached the school grounds, however, they flew the rest of the way. Harry's teeth began to chatter as they arrived inside the pitch. A light snow was falling, but there was no harsh wind.
Katie was already there, flying about with Ginny, Alicia, and the Weasley twins. They immediately began to practice. All three Chasers tried to score against Ron, while Fred and George tried to keep the bludgers at bay. Harry, meanwhile, zoomed back and forth across the pitch, catching the Snitch every so often before releasing it again. At one point, Harry thought he glimpsed Hagrid heading down towards Hogsmeade. He remembered that Hagrid had to pick up some items for their next class, and went back after the Snitch when it flew right past his face.
Harry was so concentrated and intent on catching the Snitch for the next hour of practice that he barely noticed an earsplitting scream that sounded like it had come from far away. He looked about suddenly as he stopped flying. Was someone hurt? He had heard the screaming, so maybe a Dementor could be near? A quick scan of the Quidditch pitch confirmed that his idea of a Dementor being once again on Hogwart's grounds was preposterous. Looking around, Harry could also see that the rest of the Quidditch team had stopped flying. Harry flew down towards them with haste.
"Did you hear someone scream?" Ginny asked as Harry joined them.
Harry nodded his head as everyone strained their ears to listen.
Seconds later, there was screaming again, but this time is was not just one voice. Several voices were now screaming. Harry looked frantically about, trying to see where the screams were coming from until something caught his eye. Something strange was going on down in the little village of Hogsmeade. As Harry began to fly forward, he almost felt like he had been at this exact moment in time before. It felt like something was drawing him towards Hogsmeade, and nothing he could do was going to stop him from moving. Indeed, Harry's mind screamed for him to stop flying, but his body pushed his broomstick on as he flew out of the Quidditch pitch and down towards Hogsmeade.
"Harry, where are you going?" Katie called after him. When Harry didn't respond, the whole team began to follow him.
As Harry got closer, the screams of terror grew louder. Whatever was causing such a scare was obviously still there, and it became very clear to Harry when he flew down over the train station. Standing outside of a small inn called the Hog's Head was a large circle of people, completely clothed in black robes and masks to cover their faces. Deatheaters were surrounding the entrance, keeping anyone from entering. Just as Harry's feet touched the ground after hopping off of his Firebolt, bright green light flashed from inside the inn. The door to the inn suddenly opened, and the Deatheaters rejoiced with laughter. One by one, they disapparated until only one person remained: Voldemort.
The look on Voldemort's face was of pure anger, yet it changed to immediate surprise on his eyes fell upon Harry. Harry's scar suddenly prickled with pain that was so intense, he collapsed to the snow, dropping his Firebolt as he clutched his forehead. Voldemort laughed out loud as Harry fell to the snow.
"Morsemodre!" Voldemort cried. The Dark Mark that Harry had seen only once before shot up into the air and hovered above the Hog's Head. Harry tried to get up, but the pain was so intense that he could barely even manage to get up on to his knees. The snow crunched underneath Voldemort's feet as he strolled over to Harry. His cold, murderous laughter only made the pain that Harry was experiencing worse. "Soon, Potter. Soon." The pain ended once the Dark Lord disapparated. Harry slowly regained his composure as he stood back up. His Quidditch robes were soaked from the wet snow.
The rest of the Quidditch team landed as Harry got back to his feet, and only Ron moved forward and grabbed Harry's arm. "Don't, Harry," Ron pleaded softly.
But Harry stepped forward, as if Ron wasn't even there. He slowly walked towards the Hog's Head, moving towards the window display. The glass was shattered, and the Dark Mark still hovered above the building. Harry knew that somewhere inside of the Hog's Head, someone that must have posed a threat to Voldemort. Harry's curiosity was answered as he looked in through the window, the body laying on the floor by the bar. His breath was caught in his chest, and his heart was shattered to pieces.
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Author's Comments: Thank you for being patient, to all of you faithful readers. I'm sorry that I haven't posted a new chapter in a long time, but I have been incredibly busy. However, I have gotten back into the writing spirit, and plan on cranking out many more chapters.