Harry was glad that all the Gryffindor's were at supper when he returned from his shopping trip with Professor Snape. He went into the dorm and hid his board under the bed. After Ron's reaction to the broom and clothes, Harry didn't want to make him even angrier. Harry went back down to the common room and started his homework. He worked for a good hour before his friends showed up.
"So how was your day with Professor Snape, Harry?" Hermione asked with a smile.
"Oh you know, it was good. We had lunch at the Leaky Caldron and Tom made a great soup for us," well it was kinda the truth. Tom had made a great soup but Harry didn't really eat it. "We had a really good time at the toy store and I got to try out a new hover board. It was brilliant," Harry said with a smile.
Hermione was happy for Harry and gave him a little one armed hug.
"So did Snape buy you anything else?" Ron asked with a little edge to his voice.
"Just my school stuff and something at the toy store. It's no big deal though," Harry lied.
"Are you sure he didn't buy you another Firebolt 5000, just in case you break your new one or its gets a scratch on it or something?" Ron said sarcastically.
"Do you gotta problem with something Ron? I mean you've been riding me about Snape buying me stuff and I'm getting sick of it. If you have something you want to say then just say it!"
Ron looked a little angry and said, "It just seems like he buys you a lot of stuff and I don't know, maybe he's trying to buy your respect or something."
"He doesn't need to buy my respect Ron. He's been really good to me and I actually feel wanted when I'm around him. Not like I'm leeching onto someone else's family or unwanted like at the Dursley's. Can't you just understand that?" That was the first time Harry had mentioned the Dursley's since school started.
Ron said irritably, "No Harry I can't. I mean he's tortured you for five years and then all of a sudden he's like this Super Dad buying you cool stuff and taking you out of school for fun trips. I don't know, it just doesn't seem right. Do you really think he wants to be your Dad now?"
"Dunno, but he makes me feel … important or something. Like I'm not such a bother to have around. You know?"
"Just be careful Harry," Ron said "I still don't trust the git, I mean guy."
"Ronald, I'm surprised at you! Can't you just be happy for Harry and let him be happy he has someone other than the Dursley's?" Hermione said crossly.
Harry suddenly didn't feel so good and stood up and gathered his books.
"Well I think I'll turn in." Harry wanted to get out of there before all the Gyffindor's came back and started asking questions about his day with Snape. He said good night to Hermione and ignored Ron.
All night he tossed and turned due to the terrible pain in his stomach. He thought about telling Severus but remembered the condition of his back and thought he might feel better in the morning anyways.
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Harry was on his way down to Potions when he was suddenly struck with severe stomach pains. He stopped walking and leaned against the stone wall trying to catch his breath. Malfoy and Crabbe walked up behind him and smacked his book bag to the ground, sending his books sliding across the hall. Harry grabbed his wand and turned towards the Slytherins.
"Back off Malfoy! I'm not in the mood to deal with you," Harry said as he began to wobble a bit from the pain. He placed a hand on the wall to steady himself.
"What's wrong with Potty now? Not so brave without your Daddy here to watch over you, are you?"
"What the bloody hell are you talking about Malfoy? Get out of my way," Harry said as he tried to walk around the group of Slytherins.
"Are you gonna go run down to the dungeons and tell your Daddy on me?" Malfoy said as he punched Harry on the shoulder and pushed him back against the wall.
Harry wobbled a bit but held his wand up to Malfoy's face. "I said back off!" Harry had enough of being knocked around by people and he was feeling like hell and didn't have any patience left.
Harry gave Draco a huge push on the chest, knocking the Slytherin to the ground. Draco stood up with a smirk on his face and said, "Okay Potter, let's not use our wands then."
Draco and Harry both put there wands back into their pockets and squared off.
Harry's head spun and his stomach protested as he took a few steps towards Malfoy. He cocked his arm back and threw his fist into the surprised Slytherin's face. The connection was solid. Draco's nose began to bleed profusely and he sputtered out, "You'll pay Potter!" and wiped his nose with the back of his hand.
Draco quickly whipped out his wand and angrily yelled out, "Crucio!"
Just before Malfoy yelled out the spell Harry's stomach cramped severely and he fell to the ground in intense pain. Malfoy thought that his spell had hit Harry and he became frightened of being caught. He panicked as he looked at the expressions of pure fear on all the Slytherins watching Harry clutch at his stomach and moan in pain.
Malfoy didn't know what to do and just ran. All the rest of the Slytherins followed him down to the dungeons.
Harry knew he hadn't been hit with the Cruciatus Curse. He knew how that curse felt from his encounter with Voldemort and this pain was different. These were the same stomach pains he'd been having since returning to the Dursley's. He continued to pant as he tried to stand and hold the wall for balance. He heard people coming and decided to try and find a place he could hide until the pain passed. He painstakingly walked around the corner and saw the statue of the One Eyed Witch. Harry slowly made his way to it knowing that it was actually a secret passageway into Honey Dukes at Hogsmeade. If he could just rest in the passageway for a few minutes he knew he would feel better. He pulled his wand out and tapped the witch saying, "Dissendium!" The hump on the back of the witch opened up and Harry crawled in, sinking down to his knees in the dank, dark tunnel. Within a few minutes he had passed out, shivering with fever.
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When Harry didn't show up for Potions, Snape was at once concerned. Who wouldn't be after seeing the condition of the boy? Snape knew he hadn't been eating and could tell that he tired easily after spending the afternoon with him yesterday. Snape told the class the assignment for the day and then walked over to Hermione as she was beginning to collect the ingredients.
"Ms. Granger may I have a word?" Hermione followed Snape into his office and already knew that this was about Harry.
"Ms. Granger do you know where Mr. Potter is?"
"No sir, I was wondering myself. I saw him in Divinations earlier though," Hermione said with concern.
"Hmm, could you please ask him to see me when you next see him?"
"Certainly Professor. And professor?"
"Yes Ms. Granger?"
"Harry looked really happy last night," Hermione said as she went back to the potions lab.
Snape hid his smile at hearing those words. That was exactly what he wanted for the boy.
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Snape watched as the students filed in for supper and began to get an anxious feeling at the absence of Harry. During dessert Granger finally walked into the Great Hall with a look of panic on her face. Weasley stood up as she neared him but she waved him away and headed for the teacher's table. Snape stood up and walked around to the front of the table.
"Sir, I can't find him. I've looked everywhere and I can't find him." Hermione said in alarm.
Snape turned towards Dumbledore and told him that Harry had been missing since this afternoon. Dumbledore immediately requested the help of his staff and grounds keepers. All the teacher's were concerned for the pallid boy and they searched the castle with a great urgency.
Harry's books had been found on the third floor corridor but there was no other sign of the Gryffindor.
By midnight they decided to call in the Aurors from the Order. Arthur and Molly came as well to help with the search. All the members of the D.A. insisted that they wouldn't stop searching when McGonagall asked them to go up to bed.
Molly was beside herself with worry and couldn't hold back her tears any longer. Unfortunately Ron walked into the Great Hall at that moment and she rounded on him.
"Did you plan some sort of prank with Harry? You better not be holding back anything, even if it might get you into trouble! I mean it Ronald Weasley, you'll regret keeping secrets!" Molly yelled in fright at her youngest son.
"Mum, I haven't seen Harry since this morning. I swear I'm telling the truth!" Ron said with a mixture of anger at his Mum and fear over Harry's disappearance.
Ron wished the stupid Dursley's hadn't burned the Marauders Map or he could have found him easily. The "point me" spell hadn't helped either but Dumbledore said that some of the walls were spelled against it in case of attack.
When the sun started to rise, Dumbledore decided he could wait no longer and had to alert the Ministry. Within an hour the place was crawling with Aurors, Unspeakables, and Ministry officials. Fudge was angry at how this was going to look to the public. Finally they decided Harry must not be on the grounds and he might very well have been kidnapped.
Snape was beside himself with worry and still didn't stop searching. He just couldn't get the image of Harry riding that Wizard Board out of his head. The boy had looked so happy and carefree as if he didn't have a worry in the world. Snape was making arrangements to begin searching Hogsmeade when Dumbledore called him into his office.
After giving the password and walking up the winding staircase Snape walked into Dumbledore's office and was shocked to see Remus Lupin in there as well. It was a full moon last night and usually the werewolf needed a few days to overcome the effects of that. A haggard looking Remus grabbed Snape by the cloak as he stepped into the office.
"I trusted you! I trusted you to make sure Harry would be taken care of! Where the bloody hell is he!" Remus screamed with a ferociousness he normally didn't have.
Snape was taken aback at the usually composed man. "Get your paws off me!" Snape said in a low growl. There wasn't a person on earth who could match Snape's intimidating voice when the professor was angry.
Remus immediately let go and buried his face in his hands. "Oh Merlin, I couldn't take it if we lost Harry too. He's all I have left and I couldn't even be there for him when he needed me most. Severus do you have any ideas, any ideas at all?"
"Lupin I do not have the time or the patience to deal with you while my future son is once again in peril. I think you mistake my compassion for Mr. Potter's circumstance as a new shoulder to cry on for yourself. Get hold of yourself and begin to do something constructive in finding Potter," Snape turned on his heel after giving the headmaster a nod and went back to finding his son.
When Snape entered the Great Hall several Ministry officials gave him the run down of areas that had been searched. As Harry's legal guardian in the Wizarding World he would need to be the one to officially call off the search. Snape was not prepared to do that yet. He heard the terrifying news that they were going to begin to drain the pond in addition to sending divers to the Black Lake floor.
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Harry lay unconscious and shivering with fever within the castle, while half the wizarding world looked frantically for him.
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Molly refused to leave the school and stayed with Minerva in her rooms. After a few days most had lost hope of finding Harry at Hogwarts. Students couldn't concentrate in classes and several students would break down and cry. Most teachers did little more than post assignments then join in on talks with the students about Harry's disappearance. Everyone seemed to feel the weight of his absence.
Hermione would never forget when Professor Snape came into the room of requirement as all the D.A. were brainstorming on finding Harry. He stood at the door and looked at all of Harry's friends. The students were silent as he walked to the front of the room.
"Do not give up hope and do not cease your search. Mr. Potter … Harry, will be found if it is the last thing I do. Continue your meeting and please contact me if you have even the slightest clue." Snape strode out of the room to gasps of surprise from the students that didn't know about his and Harry's recent relationship.
All the members of the D.A. never gave up hope and continued searching as did all the teacher's of Hogwarts. On the third day all the Ministry Officials left, along with most of the Aurors and Unspeakables, to begin their search in other places.
Snape continued his search but began to go through his stores of veritiserum on many of his Death Eater friends. He met several for drinks in Hogsmeade and slipped the potion into their drinks. He heard some pretty interesting stories but none of them pertained to Potter.
Arthur was at the ministry but concerned for his wife and Ron and Ginny so he asked if the twins would check up on them. When Fred and George arrived they found the Weasley bunch and rest of the original D.A. members in the library going over a list of possible kidnappers. They were all trying to come up with ideas of how someone could have snuck onto the grounds and taken Harry without anyone seeing them when Fred said, "Well, they could have used the passage from Hogsmeade."
Everyone looked at Fred and he said, "Hasn't anyone checked it yet?"
They all scrambled up and followed Fred at a run through the castle and down to the passage with the 'one eyed witch'. Fred activated the hatch to open the witch and Ron climbed down into the tunnel. He groaned loudly at seeing his friend curled up in a ball on death's door.
"He's here, Harry's here!" George scrambled down and helped Ron lift Harry up the tunnel and handed him to Fred. Fred choked back a sob at the sight of his honorary "brother". Hermione immediately ran down to the dungeons for Professor Snape.
She found him in his office. He was gathering more potions to slip to Death Eaters and interrogate them without them knowing.
"They found him! He's alive but he needs you!" Snape followed after the girl at a quick run and thought he would be eternally grateful to her for this news.
They ran into the group of Weasley's and D. A. members just as they were turning the corner on their way to the hospital wing.
'Give him to me!" Snape demanded as he reached for the fevered thin boy. Fred looked like he might refuse but Ron said, "Give him to the Professor, he's Harry's dad now."
Snape shot Ron a look of surprise then felt his heart tighten at the thought of losing his son before the boy was even officially his. He hugged Harry tighter to his chest and continued down to the infirmary.
The entire group followed him into the hospital wing. Snape placed Harry down carefully on the bed and Poppy ran her wand up and down the length of Harry's body. Her expression was grim as she wrote notes on his waiting open chart. She asked Severus to remove the boy's shirt and began to collect several potions off the shelf. The entire D.A. stood back and watched wordlessly. Snape noticed them for the first time and pulled the screen around Harry's bed. Ron, Hermione and Fred stepped around it and kept their eyes on their best friend, Snape didn't protest.
Severus loosened the boys tie and unbuttoned his sweat soaked shirt. He pulled open his shirt and froze. The boy was covered in horrendous bruises across the entire front of his chest that looked as if they went past his stomach as well. Snape's hands were shaking as he quickly turned the boy onto his stomach and pulled the shirt completely off. He heard the students behind him gasp as the shirt was removed. His back looked worse than the front of him. Along with the wide welts there was also a deep cut that had been crudely stitched closed running across his lower left ribcage.
Snape dropped to his knees and covered his face with his hand as a low moan escaped his lips. He had promised Harry that he would take care of him and then the boy had been sent back to that hell hole. Now this was the result. What must the boy of gone through and why didn't he tell anyone. Snape was beyond angry at Dursley and the only thing holding him back from flooing to the Dursley's and ripping that man's head off was that he wouldn't leave Harry's side.
Madame Pomfrey was greatly grieved at seeing Harry in that condition once again. Severus rose up and turned towards Fred and asked him to get Professor Dumbledore. Within a few minutes Dumbledore threw open the hospital doors and strode over to the bed. He didn't say anything about Harry's condition but he must have been greatly affected because his hands shook as he took hold of Harry's hand. Madame Pomfry went into nurse mode and began to clean up the dried blood around the stitches.
"Wait Poppy, I need to bring someone back to see Mr. Potter in this condition." Dumbledore said and he left through the floo.
"Well, I guess I should address this fever first anyway. Severus would you please hold Mr. Potter while I give him a fever potion?" Poppy turned to find the fever potion amongst all the other potions.
Severus turned Harry over carefully and then put his arm under the boy's neck and shoulders to lift his head. Poppy slowly poured the fever reducing potion into Harry's mouth.
"Professor, you should know that Harry hasn't eaten much since we returned to school." Hermione offered.
"I don't think Harry had much to eat since I last saw him this summer," Snape said with worry. "His Muggle family didn't put much stock into feeding the boy it appears."
Hermione had giant tears rolling down her face and Ron was having a hard time holding back his own tears. They watched as the professor gently placed the boy back down on the bed and placed a cold wash cloth on his fevered forehead. Then Snape sat next to him on the bed and took hold of Harry's hand, rubbing it gently. He started talking to him about the day they spent together in Diagon Alley and Hermione stood next to him and watched Harry's face relax a little. Ron never thought he would see the professor be so gentle and caring with anyone, let alone his best friend. Ron knew he would never again call Professor Snape mean names after witnessing this scene.
Dumbledore came out of the fireplace followed by Minister Fudge, Percy Weasley, Sir Stanton and Madame Bones. Severus stood to the side so they could get a good look at Harry's condition.
"Who did this to him! Fudge demanded and looked towards Professor Snape for answers.
"His Uncle." Snape stated clearly.
"But- but that's impossible. Sir Stanton saw the boy every few days and said he was fine," Fudge said accusingly as he shot a quick look at Stanton.
"He didn't look like this the last time I saw him. He was excited about school starting and looked fine, "Stanton said with an air of self righteousness.
"Do these bruises and," Snape gently rolled Harry over onto his stomach, exposing the deep wound on his back, "does this cut look like they are less then a week old? The boy looks as if he has been someone's personal punching bag for weeks. Don't you dare stand there and say you were watching out for my son Stanton. Why don't you tell everyone who you really work for," Snape said in a voice so scary that Hermione backed away fearfully.
Sir Stanton shuffled his feet and said, "I don't know what you are talking about Professor!"
Madame Bones stepped in before the two squared off and said, "What happened to Mr. Potter, where was he Professor?"
"He crawled into a secret passage in the castle and passed out. He has a high fever along with these other wounds," Snape said as he once again grabbed Harry's hand and rubbed his thumb back and forth over the top of it.
Madame Pomfrey stepped over to the group and looked at Sir Stanton and said, "How dare you stand there and say you didn't see the boy's condition! It was quite obvious to everyone at the school that he hadn't eaten or slept in several weeks. If you saw him every few days then you must have witnessed something at the boy's home?"
Sir Stanton had definitely witnessed a few untoward scenes with the boy and his family but he certainly was not about to admit it.. He clearly remembered the time that Petunia had asked him to stay for supper. The house had smelled of pot roast and that happened to be Sir Stanton's favorite dish. During supper a drunken Vernon had punched the boy in the ribs for not eating his supper. Then seeing that Sir Stanton had no adverse reaction to that Vernon struck the boy on the mouth and told him to get up and clear the dishes. Sir Stanton thought back to how the boy looked to him for help and when none came the boy's shoulders sagged and he resigned himself to his punishments.
That was neither here nor there Sir Stanton thought as he didn't work for the boy, he worked for Vespa and she didn't want the boy removed from the house. Vespa had made it clear to him that all she cared about was Mr. Potter drinking the tea she had supplied for Stanton's visits.
Sir Stanton shook his head and said, "Well you know how these kids hide things."
"Madame Bones is this enough evidence to give me full custody of Mr. Potter now?" Snape asked with suppressed anger.
Sir Stanton panicked at hearing those words and quickly said, "Wait! Now wait just a minute. I am the boys official -"
Snape moved so quickly no one knew what happened. He grabbed the pompous man by the shirt and lifted him off the ground. "Do not say one more word or you will live to regret it!" He dropped the man and Sir Stanton fell to his knees with fear clearly written on his face.
Madame Bones pretended as if she hadn't just witnessed that scene and said, "Professor you will get full custody of the boy. Please file the appropriate papers and schedule a court date for the adoption. I feel the ministry needs a complete shake down and people should pay for this injustice. We will start with Vernon Dursley." She looked directly at Stanton.
"Maybe a few drops of veritserum will help Sir Stanton to remember exactly who he works for," Snape said as he looked directly at the man.
Fudge stepped in and said, "Now, now let's move along so Nurse Pomfrey can attend to matters at hand."
Severus looked down at the sleeping fevered boy and began to help Poppy rub healing cream into his wounds as the group of Ministry officials flooed back to the ministry. Poppy removed the so called stitches from the boy's back and waved her wand over that spot several times before the wound closed up. When they were finished Severus rolled Harry onto his back again. Poppy pulled out a pair of hospital pajamas and handed them to Severus.
Severus looked at the two Weasley's and Granger and said, "Perhaps you could let everyone know that Mr. Potter is back."
They understood that Harry wouldn't want them to witness Snape changing him and began to walk out. They stopped when Snape said, "You will never know how grateful I am to all of you for not giving up." The group nodded and left to wait out in the hallway with the rest of the D.A..
When the doors closed Severus put the shirt on Harry and then took the boy's socks and shoes off. As he pulled his pants off he saw the rest of the injuries inflicted onto the boy. Snape called Poppy over and she healed a deep wound to Harry's leg and applied the magical healing cream to the boy's battered thighs. When the boy was washed up and dressed again Severus tucked the blankets around him and sat down in a chair next to the bed.
Severus held his hand and talked of the new Quiddich field he intended to build at Snape Manor for Harry. Suddenly Harry sat up and started choking. Snape quickly stood up and patted Harry on the back becoming more alarmed with the boy as he began to turn red.
"Poppy! Poppy come quick!"
Harry suddenly stopped coughing and began to vomit violently. The only thing he had in his stomach was the medicine but that came up along with a purple foam. Poppy and Severus had never seen anything like that before and wondered if Harry ate something while he was down in the tunnel. The exhausted boy lie back against the pillows as Snape waved his wand and cleaned up the mess on the covers.
Harry looked around and tried to figure out what had happened to him. He felt so dizzy and tired. How did he get here? He looked at Snape's worried face and Snape put a cup of water to the boy's lips. Harry drank greedily and Snape had to pull the cup away before the boy made himself sick again.
Harry asked wearily, "What happened?"
"Your friends found you in a secret tunnel after three long days. Everyone was very worried about you."
Harry looked at him with confusion and said, "Sorry. I just needed to rest a bit and then … I don't know what happened."
"Harry why didn't you tell me about the bruises and cuts?"
Harry could hardly deny it as he could clearly feel they had been attended too. He didn't say anything and looked away.
"Harry look at me when I'm talking to you." Harry turned to face the teacher once again.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Snape asked again.
Harry shook his head and looked down at his hands. Snape grabbed his chin and forced him to look at him. "Why didn't you tell me?'
"Why? You couldn't do anything. You said you would before but … it doesn't matter anyways."
"Harry you were tortured by your uncle. Why didn't you tell the ministry when they checked on you?"
"Sir Stanton said my uncle was just trying to help me. He was Severus, Uncle Vernon was trying to make me better. It was kinda like punishment for killing Sirius and learning not to get my friends killed. For Sirius and .. for you." Harry held back his tears as he had been taught but it was with great effort and he began to lose that battle. A giant tear escaped and rolled down to Harry's chin. Snape caught it and looked at it.
Snape was heartsick thinking Harry had suffered silently like this for him. The boy had been tortured, thinking it would keep Snape safe in some mixed up crazy way. Snape's heart broke at that thought. He carefully leaned in towards Harry and wrapped his arms around the sick boy. Harry lost control of his emotions and cried into the Professor's shoulder. Snape rubbed the boy's back gently and promised him everything would be okay now.
When the boy calmed down a bit, Snape gave him another small sip of water. Harry started coughing and once again vomited the water up along with more purple foam. Snape flicked his wand and the mess was gone. Harry leaned forward and held his stomach.
Snape gave him a look of great concern, "Harry how long have you been feeling ill like this?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders and said, "Why does it matter?"
"Answer the question. We are not at the Dursley's and unlike that repulsive man, I do want to hear when you are feeling ill. Have you been feeling ill lately?" Snape asked in a no nonsense tone of voice.
"Yeah, I-I mean yes sir. It's just that my stomach has been bad since I went back to my Uncle's. I-I think it's just a muggle flu or something," Harry said just above a whisper.
"Did you eat anything while you were in the tunnel?"
Harry shook his head no and quickly regretted the move as his head began to throb and his stomach once again rebelled with the movement.
He sunk further into his covers and put his fist to his mouth to hold back another round of nausea.
"Do you think you could tolerate anything to help your stomach calm down Harry?"
"I wish I had some of that tea that Sir Stanton used to give me. It always made me feel better."
Snape's heart skipped a beat at hearing that. Stanton was the ministry official that checked up on Harry! Stanton gave Harry a tea?
Snape quickly sat straight up and a look of fury came over his face as he grabbed Harry's shoulders. Harry pushed back into the pillows and a look of fear crossed his face.
Snape saw what he had just done to the boy and could have kicked himself for forgetting that Harry was still so vulnerable and damaged. "It's okay I won't hurt you. Could you tell me about the tea that Sir Stanton gave you?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders and said a little shakily, "It was good. It tasted like berries and it was sweet."
"How often did you drink it?"
"On every visit. He used to watch over me until I finished it all. I guess he kinda knew I wasn't feeling so well."
"Did you tell him your stomach hurt?"
"No, I wasn't allowed to talk about how I felt but he must have just figured it out. He used to say that he brought the tea to settle my stomach. It was odd how he would stay just until I finished the tea and as soon as I was done he would leave."
"Harry you just drank the tea without question? Without knowing if it was poisoned or had something in it! Haven't you learned anything!" Snape yelled in anger.
"I had to! You just don't understand what it's like at my Uncle's house. You just can't … you just can't disobey anything," Harry yelled back emotionally.
Snape rose up and walked towards the floo. He didn't want to face Harry until he could control his emotions. Oh Merlin, this sickness was caused by Vespa! He just knew that tea had something to do with it and he knew Vespa was behind it. He turned back towards the boy and called for Poppy.
"Poppy we need to get a blood sample from Mr. Potter. I think this stomach ailment is a little more than a case of the muggle flu."
Snape called in Molly to watch over Harry as he made his way down to his lab. Within an hour it was confirmed. Harry had been given a highly toxic magical poison that there was no known antidote for.
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Okay people remain calm. The next chappy is coming soon!
So, I just want to thank everyone for the reviews. I had a horrible day on the ship with people getting sea sick and just being rude. When I could finally open up my mail I felt sooooo much better.
Write me!