Chapter 57 Close Calls
November 1980
Severus Snape let himself out the front door of the townhouse and strode briskly down the street, cloak pulled tightly round him against the cold, grey day. Snape took a deep breath and released it, watching the white vapour cloud as it drifted away. It was a relief to be outside and away from prying eyes; the Dark Lord's obsession with his newfound mortality was putting Snape and the others who performed experiments like his under a great deal of pressure, and Malfoy and some of the other bureaucrats were popping by continually to "check on things," as they put it.
Snape wasn't under any illusions; Malfoy and the others were making sure that none of them were going to crack under the strain. The Dark Lord's demands had been reaching a new level of unreasonability lately, and Malfoy knew they couldn't afford to lose Snape and his colleagues.
Little did Malfoy know, Snape thought with a trace of humour. They'd lost him months ago, and none of them knew it, even had an inkling. Still, the constant subterfuge had made Snape more irritated than usual with Malfoy's hovering. To make matters worse, Malfoy hovered over him especially; Snape had had to watch and plan carefully to have this time alone to deliver his message.
Assured that he was now a sufficient distance away from prying eyes, Snape drew his wand out from under his cloak and Disapparated.
"HARRY! NO!"
At these words, five adults immediately dove toward the baby, arms outstretched….and landed in an untidy heap somewhere to Harry's right.
Harry paused in the act of putting Peter's wand in his mouth to observe this odd new behaviour, his green eyes wide and innocent.
An arm shot out from somewhere in the middle of the dog pile and plucked the wand away from the baby. "No, Harry!" Lily said in her best Mum voice from amidst the jumble of arms and legs. "Don't eat the wand; they're dangerous!" But her Mum voice, possibly because it was a bit muffled, didn't have the desired effect. Harry, who up until this point had been deciding whether to find a new toy or cry over the loss of his old one, found his mother's warning outrageously funny and began to giggle.
"Nice parenting there, Lils," Sirius drawled from near the top of the stack of people. "Harry's right scared of you."
"Oh, shut it, Sirius," Lily snapped, "or I'll stick this wand up your –"
"Not in front of the baby!" Sirius interrupted, smirking. Not that Lily could see whether or not he was smirking, but she could definitely hear it.
"Not that this conversation isn't fascinating," Morwenna's voice, dripping with sarcasm, piped up, "but do you think you could possibly continue it when Sirius isn't SITTING ON THE LOT OF US!"
"Mmmmph," James, at the bottom of the heap, presumably agreed.
"I can't," Sirius defended himself. "Peter's the one who's sitting on the lot of us; I can't get up until he does."
"Why didn't you say something?" Morwenna asked Peter crossly.
"Or better yet, move?" Lily pointed out testily.
"I was in shock!" Peter defended himself. "I think I had the wind knocked out of me when I landed on Sirius' kneecap, and –"
"Whoever's up there, pinch him!" James snapped, having finally gotten his face out of the carpet.
"Make sure he squeals," Morwenna added ominously.
"All right," Sirius agreed nonchalantly.
"What do you mean 'all right?'" Peter demanded. "I don't go round pinching you lot when I'm – EEEEEEEEE!"
Peter let out a glass-shattering squeal and scrambled off the top of the dog pile, allowing everyone else to crawl, collapse, or stagger out.
"Air!" James gasped reverentially, flopping on his back like a landed fish.
"How on earth did that happen?" Lily wanted to know, finding Harry something relatively safe and clean to put in his mouth.
"One minute we were all running for Harry and the next we were in a badly done human pyramid," Morwenna recapped.
"And all of you were cutting off my air supply," James put in his two Knuts.
"I think it's all Peter's fault," Sirius announced, shaking his head vehemently in the hopes of doing away with the ringing sensation in his ears.
Peter, who had been standing to one side nursing his pinched arm, turned to glare at Sirius. "It was an accident!" he protested. "How was I to know Harry'd try to eat my wand if I set it down for a second!"
"Because he tried to do it last week when you set your wand down then," Sirius smirked, then winced at the pain in his ear. "Where did you learn to shriek like that anyway, Wormtail?" he complained. "What are you, a eunuch?"
Peter opened his mouth, but Lily cut him off before the argument could get worse. "No permanent harm done," she said, brandishing Harry as if to prove her words. "Harry's all right, nobody died or sprouted a beard, it's all okay."
Despite her casual words, Lily bit back a stab of annoyance. Having Peter underfoot almost always meant some sort of mini-disaster. Today's wand incident was only the latest in a long string of mishaps. Peter had always been nervous around things he was unfamiliar with, and babies definitely seemed to top that list. He had no clue about what sorts of things should or shouldn't be done round babies and seemed to want as little contact with Harry as possible. And quite frankly, Harry wasn't exactly fond of Peter either. Still, Lily reckoned, it was rather sweet that Peter came so faithfully even though he was obviously uncomfortable. Clearly Peter was worried about his friends, and for that Lily supposed she had to be grateful.
"Speak for yourself," James scowled, still resentful about being at the bottom of the pile. Lily shot her husband a you're-not-helping glare, but before she could think of a suitably meaningful hint to shut him up, a tapping noise at the window distracted her.
Lily glanced round to find an owl hovering just outside one of the sitting room windows, tapping its beak impatiently on the glass. Recognising the owl immediately, Lily hurried to the window, opened it, accepted the owl's scroll, and scanned it quickly before anyone could come to read over her shoulder.
"Who's it from, Lils?" Morwenna called from the sofa, where she was playing with Harry.
"Work," Lily prevaricated, stuffing the parchment into her pocket. "I've been trying out some stuff for them."
"You don't have to go in this week, do you?" James abandoned his injured pose and sat up. "Because I have to go into the office on Thursday and I can't get out of it." At this, he and Sirius exchanged a special annoyed glance typically reserved for one person: their department Head, Bartemius Crouch.
"No," Lily smiled reassuringly. "I don't have to go in. I'll just tell them that I'm still working on it." Conjuring parchment and a quill, Lily scribbled a response and sent the owl on its way. "Oh, here, Peter, before I forget," she handed Peter his wand. "You might want to put that away or something," Lily added as tactfully as possible.
"Thanks," Peter said vaguely, accepting his wand and twirling it absently through his fingers. Again Lily fought the urge to be annoyed with Peter. In another ten minutes he'd set his wand down again, she had no doubt.
"Peter!" Sirius snapped his fingers in front of Peter's face. "Put your wand away! Honestly! What's the matter with you?"
"Sorry!" Peter huffed as he stuffed his wand in a pocket. Clearly his mind was still elsewhere. Sirius and James eyed him narrowly but remained silent for the moment.
"I'd better go," Peter said at last, snapping out of it a bit. "I was just remembering this report that's due tomorrow, and I forgot to find these statistics about the connection between underage magic abusers and Azkaban inmates for my boss…"
Peter droned on as he collected his cloak. James and Sirius, who had tuned out from the moment Peter mentioned the word "statistics," were lying on the floor playing with Harry, so only Lily and Morwenna were pretending to listen.
"I'll walk out with you," Morwenna volunteered as she rubbed at a sore spot on her back. "I think I need to lie down; Sirius may have scarred me for life."
"Can you say: 'Auntie Morwenna's a bigger baby than I am?'" Sirius asked Harry, pointedly ignoring Morwenna.
"Ha, ha," Morwenna snorted as she ruffled Harry's hair in parting. "Harry knows better than to listen to you; he already has better sense than you do."
"Very true," James snickered, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from his best mate.
"Let me know when you need me to sit with Harry," Morwenna called to Lily over her shoulder as she made for the door.
"But you already do so much," Lily protested, following Morwenna and Peter to the door so she could hug them goodbye. "And besides, it's too dangerous –"
"You know I want to help," Morwenna cut her off. "Just let me know when you need me. See you lot later!" With that, Morwenna and Peter left the flat.
Lily stood at the closed door, trying not to worry. Morwenna really did want to help; ever since she and Harry had come to her door in a panic, Morwenna, along with Sirius, had been there for them almost constantly. Not that Dorcas, Peter, and Remus didn't do their part; they all did, and Alice and Frank would have if Lily hadn't insisted that it was too dangerous for Neville to be near Harry. But Morwenna and Sirius were either at the flat or on call twenty-four hours a day. It wasn't surprising that Sirius was there, but Morwenna, who until only recently hadn't wanted to be involved in order affairs or dangerous things, was a surprise.
"….I really did!" James was saying to Sirius when Lily rejoined them in the sitting room. "He was this mad-looking Muggle in matching short pants and a shirt and this stupid-looking hat, and he was carrying a really big bag – it was probably full of letters!"
"Sure it was," Sirius rolled his eyes at Harry, clearly unconvinced.
"But it was!" James insisted, obviously not for the first time. "The postman is real, I tell you!"
"You're beginning to sound as mad as Lily," Sirius told James severely, not noticing that Lily had re-entered the sitting room. "Next you're going to tell me that there really is a Muggle Queen of England!"
James threw up his hands in frustration. "Is this how you feel all the time?" he asked Lily incredulously.
"Pretty much," Lily couldn't hide her grin, especially when Sirius jumped and turned round guiltily to look at her.
"Then I'm surprised you haven't chucked the pair of us over a convenient cliff," James said, glaring at Sirius menacingly.
"You wouldn't hurt a man with a baby," Sirius smirked, seizing Harry and holding him up in front of him like a shield.
"Accio Harry!" James said triumphantly, pointing his wand at his son.
"James!" Lily exclaimed, snatching a laughing Harry up in mid-air. "After what happened last time, I thought we agreed – no Summoning the baby!"
"Right, sorry," James mumbled sheepishly, going a bit red.
"What happened last time?" Sirius wanted to know, looking expectantly from James to Lily.
"Nothing," they said in unison, both of them interesting shades of scarlet now.
"Aw, come on," Sirius protested. He always found stories involving parenting near-mishaps with Harry funny as hell – particularly the ones that didn't involve Sirius.
"Look at the time!" Lily exclaimed, jumping up and setting Harry on the floor with his toys once again. "I think I'll run down to the lobby and check to see if the post is here!"
"I'll go with you," James said hastily. "You don't mind keeping an eye on Harry for a minute, do you?" he asked Sirius "We'll be right back."
"Fine," Sirius snapped, disgruntled over not hearing the story. "You do that! Maybe the postman even left your post in a magical locked box with your name on it!"
James opened his mouth, but Lily shook her head and steered him toward the door. "I wouldn't even bother if I were you."
Peter waited until it was sufficiently dark outside, then, per his instructions, Apparated to the Dark Lord's presence to report his newfound information.
"I – I have news of the Potters, my lord," Peter squeaked, bowing to his master.
"Out with it, Wormtail," Voldemort hissed, his legendary foul mood still in place. "I do not have time for your sniveling."
Quickly, amidst much stumbling and stuttering, Peter related the afternoon's conversation to the Dark Lord, explaining how James had said that he'd be going to the Ministry on Thursday and couldn't get out of it.
"This is significant news," Voldemort praised. "Perhaps you aren't entirely useless after all. You will go to see our dear Mudblood on Thursday, Wormtail, and you will convince her to leave the safety of the flat. Once she does, you will alert us as to her whereabouts, and you will lead a team to her and to the child."
"A –a team?" Peter faltered, his heart in his throat. He couldn't afford to fail, and they both knew it. "B-but, after what happened – that is – after – er – last time, you said you wouldn't take any more chances, and next time you would send all of the Death Eaters."
"It is not for you to question my instructions, Wormtail," Voldemort said menacingly. He flicked his wand, and Peter felt the familiar bone-charring agony of the Cruciatus Curse spreading through his limbs. "Indeed, I do not intend to take any more chances, but circumstances change," Voldemort continued over Peter's screams. "Not for you, however; this is still your last chance. Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes, master," Peter sobbed, collapsed in a heap on the floor.
Voldemort didn't bother with a response. Instead, he swept out of the room, leaving Peter alone in the dark.
Lily blew a piece of her red hair out of her eyes in frustration as she struggled to stuff Harry into some clothes. But Harry, not inclined to cooperate, wriggled at the right strategic moment each time, neatly avoiding a neck hole or a sleeve.
"Please hold still," Lily begged the baby. Harry just grinned and wriggled a bit more; it felt too good to be clad in just his nappy to cooperate with his mother.
"You're going to turn out exactly like your father," Lily grumbled as she picked the shirt up again for another try. Her meeting with Snape was today, in an hour, to be precise, and she couldn't reschedule. There was no way of knowing when James would be out again, and Snape never asked to meet for an idle reason.
Lily squirmed at bit at the thought of James. He'd positively go through the roof (and probably not figuratively) when – not if – he found out about Snape, especially when he realized just how long Snape had been meeting with her. Lily fully intended to tell him someday – she didn't want to keep it a secret forever – but if Snape had some sort of information about Harry, then that had to be Lily's priority.
On the other hand, Lily reasoned, now might be a really good time to tell James, especially if Snape's information proved valuable. She'd never said anything before in case James' temper getting the better of him; James invariably, Lily thought wryly, did something stupid when Snape was involved. He and Snape hated each other too much for either of them to be rational about things, and Lily couldn't risk James hurting Snape or threatening him into giving up contact with Lily or the Order. But this time, if Snape had information that could help them keep Harry safe, maybe James would be grateful enough not to do something stupid.
"Ha!" Lily said triumphantly as she stuffed the shirt over Harry's head. She'd managed to catch him off guard and seized the opportunity, putting his arms through the sleeves and pulling the shirt all the way down.
Harry whimpered a bit in protest of his captivity, but allowed Lily to put the rest of his clothes on with minimal fuss.
"Finally you decide to work with me," Lily told the baby as she tried in vain to smooth his hair, which, like James,' had a remarkable knack for messiness. "Mummy's got her meeting in an hour, and we still have to get you to Granny and Grandpa's –"
Lily broke off as she heard a knock at the door. Even though she knew that it had to be someone she knew – the Order guards would have let her know if it wasn't – she still felt an illogical bolt of fear. Lily laid Harry carefully in his playpen before opening the door.
"Oh, hi, Peter," Lily breathed in relief, holding the door wide for Peter to come in. "You gave me quite a start."
"Sorry; I probably should have sent an owl first or something," Peter said in his squeaky little voice, smiling at Lily. "Where's the little one?"
"In there," Lily inclined her head toward the playpen where Harry lay, regarding the visitor solemnly. If it had been Sirius, or Morwenna, or Dorcas – anyone besides Peter, really, Harry would have been delighted. But for some reason, he'd never cared for Peter; Lily privately thought Harry could sense Peter's nervousness. "We were just on our way out."
"Oh?" Peter, who had been locked in a staring contest with Harry, glanced round at this. "I'll go with you then, shall I? Help you keep an eye out, and all that."
"Don't you have work?" Lily evaded the question, knowing it wouldn't be too hard to get rid of Peter.
"Yeah, but I thought I'd come and check on you and Harry since I knew James would be gone today," Peter explained. "I'm taking an early lunch."
"You didn't have to do that," Lily smiled. "Harry and I are only going to visit his grandparents; we'll be safe enough there."
"But –" Peter began
"Really, it's all right," Lily insisted. "It was sweet of you to worry, but we'll be just fine. Go ahead and go back to work; wouldn't want you to get into trouble on my account, especially after the whole episode with that statistic report."
"Right," Peter flushed, remembering. "You actually listened when I talked about that?"
"Sure," Lily replied matter-of-factly, her attention on Harry as she concentrated on extricating him from the playpen. "The connection between underage magic abusers and Azkaban inmates, am I right?"
"Yes," Peter replied slowly, a hot wave of guilt washing through him. "Yeah, that was it."
"Told you I was listening," Lily teased, flipping her hair back neatly before Harry could latch onto it. "Thanks for stopping by."
"No problem," Peter answered automatically, going to the front door. "See you later, maybe."
"Sure, if you like," Lily answered, giving him a little wave. Peter returned the wave and started toward the lift. Lily watched him go for an instant, then shut the door, ran to the fireplace, and threw a handful of Floo powder into the flames. "The Potter residence!" She shouted, shielding Harry's face from the heat as the two of them began to spin……
Inside the lift, Peter felt as though the guilt were eating him alive. Lily had actually listened when he'd talked about his day job at the Ministry. But nobody listened when he talked about it; Peter didn't even listen to himself, it was so boring. He only talked about it so no one would question him when he said he had to leave; he'd made up the entire statistic report. But Lily had listened, had even remembered enough to mention it.
The lift came to a halt on the ground floor and Peter strolled out of the building, waving casually to the Order members, Arthur Weasley and Emmeline Vance, who stood guard at the front of the building today.
Once he was safely around the corner, Peter pulled out his wand and took a deep breath, trying to shove the guilt out of his mind in preparation to Apparate. He didn't have much time to alert the other Death Eaters of Lily's plans.
But as he reappeared outside of a house only a few blocks away, Peter really wished that he hadn't known that Lily listened to him.
The door jerked open before Peter could touch the knocker, and a sea of masked faces regarded Peter expectantly.
"Well?" one of them prompted the moment the door had been securely shut behind Peter.
"She's going to visit her parents," Peter blurted before the guilt cost him his nerve. "Lily is taking the baby to the Evanses'.
Lily pushed back her hooded cloak as she hurried up the stairs in the Hog's Head, late for her meeting with Snape. She only hoped he hadn't left….
Dropping Harry off with James' parents hadn't gone smoothly. Used mostly to being at home, Harry had cried when Lily had tried to leave him in a strange house. It had taken a lot of soothing to get Harry to be calm enough so that Lily could leave him without feeling like the world's worst mother.
Not that she didn't feel terrible anyway; Lily felt awful about leaving her baby with her in-laws to sneak off and meet with someone her husband didn't even know she spoke to. Hell, James didn't even know that Snape was Dumbledore's infamous "Death Eater source." The one thing that she felt good about in all of this was her choice of who to leave Harry with. Mr. and Mrs. Potter were more than capable of defending Harry from any sort of attack, and it'd been incredibly kind of them to agree to take time from their busy work schedules to sit with Harry so Lily could conduct her "Order business."
I wouldn't be doing this if it weren't important, Lily told herself as she let herself into the appointed room. Snape might be able to tell me something about Harry.
"So good of you to join me." Lily turned to find Severus Snape sitting at the room's small table, regarding her with a distinctly irritable expression.
"Hello to you too," Lily retorted coolly, pulling her cloak off. She studied Snape for a moment. Lily hadn't seen him, she realised with a jolt, since before she'd had Harry. Snape looked better than he had, as though spying agreed with him. And it probably did, Lily thought with a twitch of her lips. In fact, there were few things that she could think of that would suit Severus Snape better than spying.
Snape did some studying of his own and came to the opposite conclusion. Lily Evans – Potter, he reminded himself with a snarl, didn't look well, as though she spent a lot of sleepless nights worrying. Which she assuredly did, he realised. Evans would be the sort to let her concern for her baby consume her whole life.
"What have you got for me?" Lily came straight to the point; long association with Snape had taught her that he preferred it that way.
"The Dark Lord is planning an attack on the Longbottom child," Snape reported crisply. "I don't know the precise time, but it is scheduled to take place either tonight or tomorrow night, presumably after the Longbottoms have had sufficient time to go to bed. They can expect anywhere from ten to twelve Death Eaters."
"Oh," was all Lily could manage to say at first before her Order persona took over. "I'll – I'll tell Dumbledore. They have a small Order guard because of the prophecy, but we can increase the guard and have them out of their flat and installed somewhere safe by the time the attack comes. Is there anything else?"
Snape hesitated, then continued. "The Dark Lord has decided to attack the Longbottoms because he does not wish to take any chances," Snape hesitated again, uncharacteristically uncertain. "But he believes the prophecy is about your son."
"He said so?" Lily asked quietly, her hands clenching convulsively.
"Not in so many words, at least not in my presence or in the presence of anyone I've spoken to," Snape was precise even when reporting gossip. "But it's clear that it's your child he views as a threat." Snape thought about Voldemort's rantings, his unpredictable, deadly moods of late and his obsession concerning everything related to the prophecy, his quest for immortality, and his plans for getting rid of the Potter child. "Views him as a threat" was a gross understatement indeed. "I thought you ought to know," Snape added briskly, busying himself with an invisible spot on the sleeve of his cloak.
"But why Harry?" Lily asked. Snape was probably not in a position to answer that question for her, but Lily had to ask. "He's only a baby; why does Voldemort see Harry as such a threat?"
Snape flinched at the sound of his former master's name spoken aloud. "I don't know," he said honestly. He had too much respect for Lily Evans' intelligence to offer her less than the truth. "Perhaps it's to do with his bloodlines, perhaps it's because of who the child's parents are." Snape's mouth twisted in disgust for a moment as he considered James Potter. "Whatever the reason, the Dark Lord feels that your child is more of a threat than the other; he plans to eliminate them both, but he doesn't speak of the Longbottom child the way he speaks of yours. You must be very, very careful." For just a moment, Snape wondered what Lily Evans' baby looked like; he'd never seen the child, of course, and didn't intend to, but he felt a fleeting curiosity about the child who had caused such a disturbance.
"I'd better be getting back to my baby," Lily said tightly. She pushed herself to her feet, and Snape did the same. "Thank you for telling me about the attack – and for the warning."
Snape inclined his head, an unaccustomed pang of sympathy touching him momentarily. "I'll contact you again if I learn any further information," he said formally.
Lily returned the nod; Snape was always formal and expected the same. "Thank you." With that, she hurried from the room, feeling a dire need to be with her baby.
Peter shifted restlessly in the back seat of the car he and the other Death Eaters were staking out the Evans house in. He'd been in this same spot for five hours now, and afternoon was beginning to fade into evening. The day had gone from bad to worse, he reflected gloomily, and it was bound to be blamed on him.
Thirteen Death Eaters had been dispersed to the Evans house in London, ready to Apparate into the house and kill all of its inhabitants. Lord Voldemort had given his instructions: he was done being patient, and he wanted Harry Potter dead.
That was when the first hitch had come. Lily's parents' house had powerful protection spells on it; old, strong magic that reeked of Dumbledore. They couldn't Apparate in, no matter what counterspells they tried.
Since it was clear they'd have to wait for the Evanses to come to them, Lucius Malfoy had ordered three Death Eaters who had undergone Voldemort's enforced car training to obtain a car, using any means necessary, in case they left the house that way. Half of them, Malfoy decreed, would have to leave; there was no way they could prevent Lily and her parents from noticing twelve people on the front walk.
So the group dispersed as subtly as possible, and approximately half an hour later the three Death Eaters returned with a car. The remaining six piled in, they chose a vantagepoint across the street from the house, and now there was nothing to do but wait.
In a way , Peter was relieved. If they'd been able to go in and do away with the lot of them as the Dark Lord had ordered, he would have been exposed as a spy. Lily had told him where she was going, and it would only have been a matter of time before the Order members guarding the flat remembered that he'd been there and made the logical conclusions. This way, Peter could keep his exciting double life and continue to see his friends…….
"Something's happening," one of the Death Eaters, a man whose voice Peter didn't recognise, nodded toward the Evnases' garage door, which was slowly rising. Immediately everyone turned to watch as a car backed out of the garage and onto the street.
"Be ready to follow them, but don't follow too closely," Malfoy instructed. "No need to risk exposing our spy if we don't have to."
The driver nodded and allowed the Evans car to reach the end of the block before moving to follow it.
"Any idea where they're going?" Malfoy asked Peter.
"She didn't say anything about it to me," Peter answered, beginning to feel a bit sick. He couldn't believe that this was really it.
"Dead is dead any way you look at it," Malfoy mused to no one in particular. "Get me close enough to the car to hit it with a spell. We don't know where they're going and we can't take the chance on waiting till they get there; they might be going to meet someone who would put up more of a fight than we're prepared to deal with. And this way we can make it look like an accident."
"Right," the driver accelerated, weaving through traffic.
Malfoy kept his wand trained on the car, waiting for a window of opportunity. Here it comes, Peter thought, his heart in his throat.
"Waddiwasi!" Malfoy projected a pebble into one of the rear tires with the force of a bullet. The tire punctured instantly, causing the Evanses' car to veer wildly as its driver fought for control.
"Incendio!" Malfoy added, pointing his wand almost lazily at the fuel tank. There was an explosion that reminded Peter of bygone days in Potions class, then the car burst into flames, fire consuming it totally before anyone could approach the car to help the passengers.
"Our master will be pleased," Malfoy smirked, pocketing his wand. "Get us away from this place immediately."
The faceless driver negotiated ruthlessly through the chaos of traffic, pedestrians, police, and ambulances, all drawn like a magnet to the scene of the accident. Peter could only stare in the rearview mirror at the receding car, the fire bright as a beacon in the darkening sky.
Author's Note:
Can you believe I managed this update? It's very late right now and I really shouldn't have stayed up to work on this chapter, but too late now. Oh well. )
I can't say thank you enough to everyone who's reviewed this story. As of the previous chapter, I have over three thousand reviews, which is absolutely flabbergasting to me. So thank you whether you've reviewed only once or are a regular reviewer, criticised or complimented, made me laugh or say "aww!" out loud, I truly appreciate you taking the time to let me know what you think. I read every review I receive and it always makes me smile.
And I want to thank witch at heart (it's supposed to be an at symbol but it won't show up) on her very, very kind review of the last chapter; after that review, I decided to do the unwise thing and stay up to complete this next chapter. So you actually have her to thank for the update.
Till next time!