Hey guys, sorry for how long it took me to update this story. I have a lot of stories in another fandom, so I tend to update the more popular ones first. I will keep updating this, even if it doesn't seem that way, because I have a soft spot for this fic. Please be patient.
Replies to feedback are as usual at the bottom of the page, the lyrics are by Silverchair as usual as well.
Chapter Five: (dis)orientation
When your world's not feeling ugly
And the world's not too much
Take the world upon your shoulders
And burn, burn, burn, burn, burn
-- world upon your shoulders
"LET ME GO!!" Hermione screamed. A roar filled the air between them; a blinding yellow light and a horrible force exploded yanking them violently apart.
There is nothing so bright as sunlight across snow.
Five
Draco's body moved so fast, he didn't realise his feet had left the ground until his face had taken their place.
He could hear the wind blowing through his hair, his skull and brain. Cutting straight through everything.
Four
The corner of a coat rack is sharp, his limbs instantly became sickeningly loose when his temple met that sharp edge. He didn't move again. He gasped in air but the breath stuck in his throat, shuddering out in a poisonous rush. And something was wrong because it shouldn't hurt this much.
He could hear the ragged pants of his frightened breathing. Run, run, run, as fast as you can...
You can catch me.
Run.
Three.
Fumbling in the dark, the clouds, the sticky substance on his face. Feet don't work, and how is there light in the darkness? And the pain pain pain banging on his head like a drum. LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT! It hurts too much. He ran blindly through the dark.
He heard the crack before the fall, and his scream was drowned by the fast shift straight down, the smothering water that rose in a torrent above his face, the scream so silent--
"FAATH--"
Two.
He could feel the wall but he couldn't see it. The rattle of the garbage cans made his heart skitter in his chest. He was a sewer rat, nothing more. His aristocratic blood was burning in his veins, his cheeks squirming as if insects had invaded him and made their nest.
Pain, pain, splinters, suffocating, hands thrashing, can't swim, drowning, but the pain is WORSE, and ice BURNS, can't get out, mother! can't get out, closed over, not freezing but skin peeling back, and this is the opposite of melting and the pain is horrible, kill me, let me drown, let me die, and stabbing and ripping, chest concaving and....
One.
"Who's there?" The sounds of clicking heels and a feminine gasp. He stiffened. Repeated the question.
She said something, he felt it across his forehead. Couldn't see, could remember, could tremble and touch her back. Her voice was nothing but comfort.
"One more...kiss." He whispered drowsily.
"No...no more kisses for you, if I do, then I'll kiss you to death."
Her hand dropped away and he could breathe again.
Darkness.
Time.
He ran as fast as he could, not daring to look behind him, though he could hear the creature giving chase. It made no sound as it ran, no tell-tale crunch of footsteps through snow - instead he heard the ghostly whisper, like an unwelcome caress down his back, "Draco...Draco...Draco..."
He didn't stop to think what might become of his father, if he had followed close after. He was too terrified to think of anything but that horrid face, and those sharp transparent teeth that had grinned at him, gnashing over too-pale lips. Malfoy's protected themselves...and then their family. She'd touched his hand, pulled him to his feet and the chill invading his chest had plunged into freezing. The next thing he knew he was running, he didn't care how it happened, or how long he could keep it up, he was just running. Running for his life.
He had fallen, face first into the snow. He hated to travel by floo, he hated it especially when his favourite robes were damaged. Now he had nothing to fear, he gave no care to the fact he was covered head to toe in melting snow, water dribbling down into frost stalactites at the end of his nose. His lips were blue, but thankfully numb. His hand clenched around the rose his mother had given him, he could feel the thorns ripping into his palm and it was comforting. His blood was still warm. He sobbed a little more, wincing in pain as the pinch in his eye returned fiercer than ever. He couldn't help it, his body's reaction was only making it worse, but why should he care? He would be dead soon anyway.
The whisper continued and it was mocking him now, like his father sometimes did when he was displeased. Such a creature should never be so light footed, such a place should never exist in the floo connection. How could fire bring you to a Kingdom of ice? Draco stumbled, his small feet slipped sending him crashing to the ground. His hands shot out to brace his fall, leaving red stripes in his spinning wake when his hands scraped along the ice beneath him. He cried out in pain, pushing gingerly to his knees. He looked about him, he'd somehow run across a lake, almost to the other side.
The rose was crushed, a couple of metres away. Insanely Draco felt choked with horror, seeing it lying abandoned and blood sodden so far away. His heart lurched and he dove toward it, scrambling across the ice when his legs slipped. His hand closed around it and he grinned clutching it close to him.
"I want to go home mummy." He sobbed at the flower as if it was a portkey that would tug him safely back to her embrace. But the flower was wilted and it did nothing but lie limp and sneer at him.
When he sat up, a loud crack split the silence in half. But the sound hadn't come from a twig behind him. Beneath....him? Before he could scream, a sharp clap sounded again, the ice beneath him split out in fractures rather than a single schism, and he was falling. He opened his mouth to scream, but nothing more than a whimper sounded before he was completely smothered by water, the force stronger than the sound. From a distance the black smear that had been his fleeing form vanished completely. The blanket of white sky merged too closely with the iced lake for the horizon between to be visible. And underneath the ice, his figure thrashed beyond reason, completely unseen.
He was too panicked to swim toward the surface when his cloak was attacking him so ferociously, throttling him like a river faerie daring him to drown. He could hear a tune, hauntingly loud under water. He'd heard it many times, to comfort him through thunder and storms. He screamed underwater, but his hand still clutched the rose, and the soft sounds of a friendly voice continued to carol about a magic dragon.
His eyes burned and he couldn't open them the pain was too horrible. His brain was being squeezed, his stomach sliced open by thousands of tiny, tiny needles. And 'father, father, father, help' was drowned out by a smothering evil, all around, crawling down his throat and he couldn't Ibreathe./I
Suddenly a crack opened the ice above, and a pale hand shot down to him, yanking him fiercely from the water. His body slid limply along the lake to thicker ice, he was too tired to pay attention to the hag that was probably going to eat him. His whole body was shaking, his muscles cramped with rigour, his fingers hooking rigidly under until they hovered above the crucible of his palm. His lungs were choked by ice water, his chest heaved as he struggled to breathe.
"Draco..."
The voice was soothing. He tried to speak but could only grunt. Eyes wide and glued open, glassy with oncoming death.
"Who's there?"
"Draco..."
He didn't feel the hand that cupped his tiny face, arching it back, toward her. Her lips caressed his skin. His forehead prickled, and amazingly his body began to relax, his breathing steadied and the stabbing pain in his mind eased. He could feel her fingers now, tracing his brow. Her lips dropped again.
"Draco, can you hear me?"
He nodded against her arms. The weight on his chest eased slightly, his mind settled down from stasis. Magic, of course! He clutched on to her arms where they were wrapped around his slight shoulders. He clutched tightly. He could vaguely see her. Her hair was long and glowed etherally around her face, her blue eyes a stark contrast to her snow white face. Her lips were ripe with blood, but all other features merged together. She looked like his mother and maybe she was. She had said she would protect him and she had been with him under the water. Those blood red lips swiped his forehead again and Draco sighed. She swiped at the warm dampness on his face and he murmured childishly to himself.
"One more...kiss."
"No, no more kisses for you, if I did, I'd kiss you to death."
His eyes heavy with fatigue, closed slowly until sleep carried him away.
Hogwarts, present day.
"I gave you one day. I trust you're feeling a little more amenable today...lemon drop?"
Harry glared at the man twinkling annoyingly across the desk.
"There's no need for you to wear such a sour face if you aren't partaking of my lemon drops, Harry." Dumbledore unwrapped his own and popped it into his mouth, smacking his lips together with giddy pleasure. "They're quite good you know."
Harry turned his head away and looked out the window, he didn't need to be patronised or treated like a child about to have his first injection. He had not been a child for a long time.
"Do you want to talk about what happened with Mr Malfoy?"
"I'm sure Snape has already told you everything."
"Professor Snape, Harry." He automatically corrected with a wry, raised eyebrow. "I'd much rather hear it from you."
"I'm sure he told it accurately."
"Hmmm, that's a shame." Dumbledore drummed his fingers on the desk with a regretful sigh. " I think I would have rather liked to see you transfigure into your father and Lord Voldemort simultaneously. Quite a good party trick I wish you'd told me you could do that earlier, I could have added you to the acts for this years Christmas dinner." Dumbledore frowned at Harry in mock disapproval. Harry slammed his hand into the arm of his chair.
"Stop. Doing. That."
"I have far too many bad habits, Harry, perhaps you could be more specific."
"Stop making a joke out of this, it isn't funny."
"Hmm, what is it then?" Dumbledore looked down his crooked nose, in that concerned paternal manner that Harry had truly detested since July. But Harry had no answer. After a moment Dumbledore nodded to himself. "Would you prefer it if I reprimanded you in some way? You will have a detention, don't fret. I could dock you a few points as well if it will keep you happy."
"My happiness has always been a great concern of yours, hasn't it?" Harry snarled. Some of the light faded from Dumbledore's eyes and Harry felt a strange swell of pride in his chest. He'd wanted to hurt him and he wasn't sorry he'd succeeded.
"You could always break a few more of my trinkets, unfortunately your Spring cleaning venture the last time you were in my office only managed to put a dent into my collection. I do have rather too much clutter, don't I?" Dumbledore tilted his head back in his chair, his fingers drumming together. The portraits of past Headmasters all shuffled nervously as Dumbledore's contemplative eyes swept over them. A slight smile curled the Headmaster's lips. "So...Harry?"
"I attacked Malfoy." Harry said bluntly.
"Yes. You did. I did notice. May I ask why?"
"Because I obviously didn't hit him hard enough last year. When is my detention?" He hadn't looked in the old man's eyes since that initial glare. He was still aware of something that Dumbledore was trying his best to ignore. The hate inside Harry really did grow whenever he was around his Headmaster. Whatever they all said, Harry knew something that they didn't. He did have a snake inside of him, and it was getting stronger every day. He didn't need to tempt it to strike.
"Harry...I know you are angry with me, and you have every right to be. But don't be angry with yourself, and don't let that anger destroy you. You have suffered more tragedy than any person deserves especially a wizard with a heart like yours. I don't mean to make out like your tragedies are mere comedies to me...I've just always felt that when one wants to cry it is best to laugh, or you could drown in tears. It is much better to crack a rib with hearty guffawing don't you think?" The words were heard but Harry couldn't listen. He felt a pinching at the back of his eyes, a clenching in his chest where his heart longed to rail against his mind and scream until he passed out with fatigue. But there was also that gnashing sensation, that impatience which had been cutting the tether of his temper to a finer and finer string every day. Harry clenched his jaw to subdue everything and he stared at Armando Dippet's portrait on the wall. The old Headmaster had been gazing at him with admonishment and exasperation but when Harry caught him he quickly closed his eyes and rolled over in his armchair, opening his mouth in a large, stage snore.
"Harry?"
Harry's eyes snapped back to Dumbledore's. Away again.
"I want Professor Snape to teach me occlumency." He barely opened his mouth to grit out the words. Professor Dumbledore paused, eyes flicking over Harry's blank face, startled.
"Certainly, if that's how you feel. I am fully prepared to take on that occupation myself now ,as you well know. But Professor Snape can be made available if that is your wish. I am very glad you've decided to continue your study, it is very important Harry."
"I know. I would...I want Snape to teach me."
"I can't allow that if your intention is to stage some kind of disagreement with your Potions professor. He did tell me that you had attacked him as well, Harry."
"I didn't." Harry looked up into his Headmaster's eyes this time. Dumbledore was a legilimens too, he would see the truth. "I would be far more satisfied if I had. But I wasn't brave enough."
"Hmm, I had hoped it was sense rather than fear that dissuaded you from that course." Dumbledore sighed and leaned toward Harry over his desk. "I can't allow you to attack a teacher. In fact, I can't allow you to attack students. I can't keep asking Professor McGonagall to grant you concessions during your grieving period." Harry looked away. Period. He hated that word. He hadn't even known his parents and the grief was still there gnawing away in some corner of his heart. Sirius, he had touched, Sirius had died for him...because of him. There was no period. Grief was an abyss inside him that could never be closed up again.
"I never asked for your lenience." There was one thing that hadn't change between them. Harry couldn't help but reveal his emotions to the shrewd man, and the Headmaster was perfectly capable of drawing out the reaction that he wanted. His eyes twinkled.
"I won't expel you Harry, try all you like. But I am sure the lavatories will be sparkling quite nicely by the end of the term. I'm sure the lovely Miss Myrtle will be pleased by your company." He held back his laugh, but smiled warmly. "You know I won't expel you. I can't expel you."
"I don't want that." Harry's eyes shot back down, guiltily.
"Of course you do. But it's not that you don't want to be here Harry, you don't want to be anywhere. There are people here who care for you, who want to understand how you are feeling, to help you cope."
"Help. Me. Cope?" Harry appeared confused by the question.
"They can only help you if you help them understand."
Harry barely held in a bark of cruel laughter. Help them understand? "How could they possible understand??" He hissed without realising he had chosen to speak. No, he wasn't the first person to have grieved, but surely each instance was completely different and he knew no one that shared the guilt he felt.
"If you like I can invite Remus Lupin to the school--"
"Why would I want that?" Harry's bottom lip had started to quiver, his scar to itch.
"He did know...Sirius longer than you, Harry. They were very close. He's grieving as well. It is important to share what you're feeling with someone who understands wh--"
"I have to go meet Ron." Harry spoke quickly, he shot to his feet.
"Wait a moment, Harry," Dumbledore reached for his quill. Harry's confusion was the only thing that made him pause while Dumbledore took his time writing a note, then signed every single one of his names at the bottom. He smiled pleasantly while Harry glowered. "Give this to Professor Snape and I'm sure he'll be only to happy to oblige you with your extra lessons."
Harry snatched the note from Dumbledore's hand and hurried to the door. When it was closed behind him he paused for a moment, back to the wood, eyes closed tight. But soon he was walking, steady and slow, through the antechamber toward the spiral staircase.
Hermione drew her wand and walked toward the alley, cursing Viktor and Ginny and that stupid salamander charm that had smiled so wickedly at her this morning. She should have stayed at Hogwarts.
She walked into the mouth of the alley, he wasn't too far down, she could see him, a dark clothed figure, leaning up against the wooden brick wall. His forehead rested against the line of his wrist, his breathing was laboured, splintered with hacking coughs that made his body buckle weakly at the knees and collapse a little closer to the wall. She didn't call his name, she felt afraid. Not afraid of Malfoy, she'd never be scared of him. He was slow to draw his wand, all talk and very little talent as far as Hermione was concerned. So she was very confused by the fear making her diaphragm clench and her wand hand shake. A breeze cut through the alley, a wind tunnel sweeping with a force that stuck like a knife through Hermione. She gasped, her body tightening. He heard her, she knew because his shoulders stiffened.
When he turned it was to lie against the wall, his hands came up to cover his face and he flinched, his lips grimacing. "Who's there?"
She opened her mouth to snap 'who do you think?' but then he opened his eyes. A choked scream escaped her mouth instead and she staggered backwards.
"Who's there?" His voice was back to normal now, a cold, unnaturally hard hiss. But Hermione was too stunned to react like she normally would.
His lips were a twisted red, his chin was stained lightly with a trickle of blood, sticky but motionless. It was his eyes that caught her. They were still grey somewhere beneath the horror, still piercing and hollow and hateful, but Hermione couldn't see any of that. She only saw the lost, blind confusion and the tears. Those distinct, coloured tears; an unmistakable ripple of blood that shaded his iris a strange crimson. She stood completely still and watched one bloody tear trickle down his cheek, mesmerised, haunted, horrified.
He coughed again, arching slightly against the wall. He chuckled, not quite hysterically, but she guessed he wasn't far off because she saw nothing funny about this. Clutching her wand tightly, she jogged to him, crouching down to examine the steady stream of blood pooling on the rim of his eyelid before flooding and trickling down his cheek.
"Draco..." She said. Was she supposed to apologize? She wouldn't. He deserved something horrible to happen to him. She just hadn't expected it would be her giving him what he deserved, she's expected that, as usual, Ron or Harry would do something rash and she'd be able to condemn their ire later. That was how their system worked. She had never intended to hurt him in the first place. She pushed the thoughts building in the back of her mind further away. It would all be better once she'd cleaned him up, made him somehow kind enough to forgive and forget (HA!), walked back to Hogwarts, had a hysterical fit in the shower including a violent rant about Krum and the neck she wished he'd broken when he crashed into the ground during the world cup two years ago, then she'd go to sleep wake up and this would all have been a nightmare. Good plan. But first things first...
"Draco...can you hear me?" Her hand hovered over his cheek, unsure whether she should touch his face when she wasn't sure where exactly the injury was. She gasped when he arched off the wall, his face curled into her hand, nose nuzzling like an eager puppy's into her palm. Well, a puppy that had recently mauled something to death, she amended when she felt the blood on his cheeks swipe against her palm. She pushed back on his face lightly to lean his head against the wall. Draco was definitely delirious, he protested with a whiny groan, grappling with her robes and her hands blindly. This might have been amusing if she didn't hate him so much. Tentatively she removed her hand from his cheek. He protested instantly, sitting back up. She shoved him less gently to the wall again.
"Stay." When he obeyed she was tempted to murmur, 'good dog' but somehow held herself back.
"It burns..." He choked. She frowned with worry.
"Shhh. I'm not going to hurt you." She said, just in case he was aware of her even though he wasn't expressing it. She raised her wand and aimed it square between his eyes. "Scourgify." The blood on his cheeks and lips was instantly wiped away. But it didn't stop the flow of tears. Hermione frowned. There was no trace of a head injury, or cuts to his cheeks, mouth or forehead. It was just his eyes. "Oh Viktor...how do I fix this?"
"Just one..." He whispered.
"What?" She leaned forward to hear him better. She placed her head above his shoulder so that her ear was closer to his lips. He jerked his head back when her hair tickled his cheek. Her hand raised up to the side of his neck to keep him in place and calm.
"One what? Do you know how to fix this?"
"Just one more...kiss." He whispered, his head turned the slightest fraction so that his pointed nose scraped along the side of her cheek. Hermione reeled backwards in horror, jerking her hands from his face. Oh dear...one more for St Mungo's tonight. I fried his brain! True it had some dodgy circuitry to start with but she was sure she'd given him a bit more damage than there'd been a few minutes ago. One more kiss?? If only Ginny had a muggle video camera with her, she'd have all the revenge you could ever want against a Malfoy.
"Forget it, Malfoy." She snapped, and readied her wand to try some healing spells.
Her sudden motion caused him to break out of his stupor. He flinched, jerking a foot off the ground into the air, his hands shot out to grip her wrists and Hermione yelped. Eyes wide. He shouldn't be able to move so fast in this state, the shock made her body stiffen against him. His eyelids blinked rapidly, as if an eyelash had fallen inside, then he growled in frustration, squeezing her wrists tight.
"Damn it Pansy, just give me the damn cigarettes and stop acting like such a mudblood."
Hermione's mouth dropped open, she gabbled silently for a moment, jaw dropping open then shutting again. She was finding it very difficult to be compassionate and caring right at this--
"GIVE IT TO ME!!" He roared.
"LET ME GO!!" She yelled with the same passion.
He released her hands. It was done quickly, but without a trace of fear. In fact, his head tilted to the side, his finger sliding along her wrist as he released her. The stroke of his fingers felt almost intentional, which twisted Hermione's stomach up with disgust. It was the look on his face that made a weight plunge inside her stomach. He didn't look at Pansy like that. Thank Merlin, he couldn't see her.
She shuffled backwards and he tilted his head, listening to her but doing nothing to stop her obvious retreat. Blood had started to run from his eyes more earnestly. Hermione gagged, she shuffled backwards on her hands and feet, then shot to a standing position. With no hesitation she sprinted back toward Gladrags. If it was Pansy he wanted she had absolutely no arguments to offer.
Pansy was easy to find, fluffing her short dark hair in a mirror as the witch behind the counter handed her a large bag of purchases. Hermione froze. She stared at the Slytherin girl, trying to figure out a way of getting her into the alley without sounding like she was leading the girl into a trap, or incriminating herself.
"Is Malfoy still sobbing like Cho gone drag?" A girl's voice laughed behind her.
Hermione whipped around to frown disapprovingly at Ginny. From the corner of her eye she could see that Pansy had stopped moving away from the counter, she was lingering by one of the cloak racks pretending to be admiring the gauche leopard skin patterns of discontinued stock.
Hermione coughed. "I don't know, I went to er...pick up some books....and er...last I saw him he was wondering down the alley beside the shop, maybe he got something in his eye." Ok, so subtlety wasn't her strong point, but brains were not Pansy's strong point either. Best to be direct.
"Geez Hermione you don't have to talk so loud, I'm right here." Ginny chuckled, rubbing at her ear in protest. Hermione wasn't paying attention. A certain Slytherin pug had just shoulder barged past her, and taken out two Ravenclaws on her way out the door.
Harry didn't waste time, he was almost looking forward to it when he marched toward Snape's office in the dungeons. He ignored the warning making his heart pound faster. Snape had told him never to come back. It's a good thing Harry prided himself on not listening to Snape. His closed fist pounded into the wood three times.
No response.
Just to be annoying he started hammering his knuckled repetitively until the door was swung open.
"What?" Snape's eyes looked over Harry's smirking face with a sneer of distaste. "I should have known. What, may I ask, have I done to deserve the displeasure of your...visit?" The last word was rolled off his tongue so fiercely that it sounded more like a hiss.
Harry merely held up a slip of paper for the Potion's Master to read. Snape showed no emotion as he read over the note, but it certainly took him a long time to get through a paragraph. When he finished he slowly and precisely folded the piece of paper three times, then cast a tight lipped Iincendio/I to remove the evidence. The very precision of the Potion Master's movement made Harry think he wanted nothing more than to screw the piece of paper into a ball, or tear it to pieces.
Harry made to move past Snape, but the older man slammed his hand on the other side of the door to block his entry. "I don't have time to waste on you today, Mr Potter. Your remedial potions lesson will take place once a week. I'll tell you when your presence is required in my office, until then, strut your abnormally large head back to Gryffindor tower like a good little hero."
"Yes, sir." Harry saluted him, pivoted on his foot and did his best to do exactly what his Professor had told him to do. After all, he was determined to be a diligent student this semester. He heard the door slam behind him, but didn't flinch, he just steadied the exaggerated strut into his normal stroll and laughed sardonically.
He was so caught up with his own emotions that he didn't notice the figure standing further down the hall, watching him retreat with calculatingly cold eyes.
TBC...
iAuthors Notes: The line "No more kisses for you, if I did, I'd kiss you to death." is taken directly from the Snow Queen.
If you like this story, please leave feedback like these nice people:/i
foxxglove: Thankyou for taking the time to not just post a 'please update' message, but give me some real feedback. Most people don't have the time to do that, so I really appreciate it when it happens. I'm sorry about my occasionaly typos, aside from the obvious English/American spelling differences, I am sometimes a lazy editor. Hopefully it doesn't annoy you too much. I'm glad you're enjoying all the characters, because I was worried no one would be interested in the Harry subplot.
midnightdimunds: Hey there :) I am so, so, so happy you seem to be enjoying my story, just seeing feedback from you makes me happy. You will find out about the charm in time (zip). I think you can understand taking Ginny's character and running with it. lol She is a bit two dimensional in the books, so I did change some things, and exaggerate other things. She did pose for Dean, but they were in a serious relationship so I don't really see that as bad - until things went awry of course.
Crystallized snow: I'm sorry I don't update much, I primarily write in another fandom, and since my stories there are a little more popular - I prioritise them before this. I will try and update as fast as I can :) I'm glad you like the story.
human-amusement: hehe I love cliffhangers, but there shouldn't be too many in this story until later mwahahahaha.
one crimson tie: You totally teased me with an update the other day. I got an author alert about a new chappie of 'Everything I know' but when I clicked the link, the chapter didn't exist. You big tease!! I should spank you. Aside from that, thank you for dragging your cute self over here to leave feedback. Makes me feel all snuggly.
otakuannie: Adventures of Sparky the charm, coming up soon :)
Snow-Queen1: Thankyoouuu for leaving feedback all the time :) :) :) I love you so much. lol I hope you haven't caught on to the story too much, but I'm glad the direction is becoming clear for at least one person :) I'm certainly trying my damndest to keep you enjoying this fic. Sorry for the delay.
chibimecools: LOL You're very random :) I like it. The snow-queen is already starting to come into it. Especially in this chapter...and soon.
Sugar-coated Sushi: I'm sorry to hear that you hate Ginny (although to tell you the truth I really, really hate her character, I guess that hatred is bleeding into my fic.lol) If you like Draco's crying, stick around because the poor boy seems to always be in tears. He's a sap I tell you. hehe
RisingRen: Thanks for the constructive criticism, I always love that. I'm glad you're getting a little more interested in the story, and i'm very glad you haven't worked out the story yet, because that would ruin the mystery completely. hehe I planned this fanfic from the start so there is absolutely no chance of it going all over the place, I promise. On the subject of Harry taking over the story - his subplot will be integral for the Draco/hermione plot come the end of the story, so I hope it doesn't annoy you too much if I dabble with his concerns. I was going for realism, and I don't think it would be realistic if I didn't deal with Harry a little bit after Sirius's death. I'll try not to go overboard ;) Thanks again :)
autumnblues: Thanks for the encouragement. The lack of feedback won't dissuade me from writing this fanfic, don't worry. I'm not sensitive about my writing at the moment. Plus, this is my holiday fic :) I'll try and stay as close to canon as possible, that was the plan, but I hope you'll forgive a couple of changes here and there.
THANKYOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT AND SUPPORT!!
B xxxxxx
