AN: I'm gonna say this right now, I don't dislike Sachi at all, but in my opinion she definitely had a thing for Kirito. I'm not bashing on her, it just make sense story wise. Also, I've really no idea where to go from here. I don't even have chapter 16 started. So I might not be able to make next Friday.

Review responses:

Kurasabe- I'll be honest, I don't mean to frustrate you guys, as I didn't realize it might start bugging some people, but the sheer fact you over reacted so badly mademe giggle evilly. That said I'm really, really am sorry I'm driving you up the wall, it's completely inappropriate for me to be amused, it's literally just your reaction I found funny, not your actual frustration. I probably should put them together soon. I've actually already got Kirito's pov of the scene written out, along with part of Hanna's. Actually, I've got a 13 page document on my phone reserved exclusively for later scenes of this fic, and 23 pages written out for the confrontation with Sugou, and the end of that arc. To put that into a bit of perspective, last chapter was 21 pages. Exact word count obviously changes depending on how dense each page is. Anyway, I got off topic, I haven't gotten Hanna's pov of it written out yet, so I'm not sure if I'll get it in this chapter, but it's definitely coming.

KyoudaiDoushi- Normally I'd agree with you, but in this case she's just trying to help her friends. On the other hand, Argo is highly observant. She knows exactly what the issues between them are, but hasn't completely forced the because she doesn't want to cause more misunderstandings and hurt them.

July 21st 2023- 258 days since SAO launch:

Hanna sighed contentedly as she woke up. She was curled under her blanket, cuddled into Kirito's side. Wait, what? Blinking rapidly in confusion she sat up and looked around. Despite falling asleep in the forest last night, she was back in her bed. That wasn't really strange, but Kirito being curled up with her was. She didn't know what was weirder. The fact Kirito was sleeping in her bed, or the fact she'd been able to recognize it was him even being half asleep with her eyes closed. Shaking herself from that thought, she attempted to get up only to discover that Kirito was holding onto her. He whined in his sleep at her movement, then rolled towards her, looped his other arm around her waist, and tightened his grip.

She sighed, she hadn't wanted to wake him up, knowing how much he enjoyed his sleep, but he'd made it so she had to. Reaching over, she gently shook his shoulder, "Kirito. Kirito wake up."

His face scrunched up adorably, then relaxed as he drifted to consciousness. His eyes opened, and he squinted in confusion at her, "Hanna?"

She smiled fondly, "Good morning sleepy head. Mind letting go of my waist, maybe explain why your sleeping in my bed?"

He blinked rapidly in confusion for a moment, then looked down at her waist. Upon seeing that he was indeed holding onto her, he quickly let go and sat up while turning bright red. Shifting away from her nervously he answer her quickly hoping he wouldn't get slapped, "You fell asleep while we were out last night. I carried you back, but you grabbed onto my shirt at some point. When I put you in your bed you wouldn't let go, and I didn't want to wake you, so..."

Hanna's lips twitched in amusement as he trailed off awkwardly, "I see. Why didn't you just momentarily unequip your shirt?" He stared at her blankly, and she laughed, "It didn't even occur to you did it? Even worse, you clearly went to your equip menu, since you took off your coat and sword, yet you didn't even think of it then?"

He blushed heavier, "I-I don't know ok? I should've thought of it. Sorry."

She shook her head while grinning at him, "Don't worry about it, it's fine. Honestly, I'm more concerned how someone who's usually a genius didn't think about such a simple solution." He turned redder, and she laughed again, "Come on. Much as I've enjoyed this vacation, I can't go another day without doing something. I'll go crazy if I do."

Kirito didn't miss a beat, "You can't go somewhere that your already at."

She smacked his shoulder as he snickered, "You're one to talk. You're just as loony as I."

Kirito shook his head, "You've no proof of such outlandish claims. I'm perfectly sane, thank you very much."

He crossed his arms and nodded firmly. Hanna laughed, "If you're what's considered sane then I fear for the world."

He let out an indigent, "Hey!" She just laughed at him, he mock glared at her, "You'll pay for that comment Hanna."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh really?"

He nodded once firmly, "Really."

Her lips twitched, "How so?"

He hummed, then suddenly lunged at her. Grabbing her, he started tickling her mercilessly, "Like this!"

Wiggling and squirming while laughing, Hanna eventually broke free. Darting away she ran from the room, laughing all the while. Kirito gave chase, yelling at her.

Running to the dining area of the inn, she bought food, darted over to a table, and pulled the food out in record time. As he came over to the table, he eyed the food before grinning as he sat down, "Well, who am I to turn down such an apology?"

She grinned, "Like you could. It's food. Good food. Your incapable of ignoring good food."

He lightly kicked her under the table, "I will tickle you again."

She grinned, "You'll likely have forgotten halfway through the meal."

He huffed, "We'll see."

Much to Hanna's amusement, the combination of food and discussing what they should do, had in fact made him forget his promise of retribution. Eventually, they decided to just do something simple and straightforward, so they made their way to the labyrinth to grind.

The grinding itself was rather routine, it was when they were on their way back that trouble decided to visit. They had of course heard of people PKing, but they hadn't had any encounters with such people until that moment.

It had been fine at first despite being outnumbered 9 to 2 and being separated, then the PKers started switching with each other, always having at least two attacking both her and Kirito. Then things started going downhill. Though they both held up for quite a while, she started to grow frustrated as their health was slowly drained, whereas the PKers switched and healed every time one of them went into the yellow.

Then Kirito managed to stun the two he was fighting with Serration Wave. With them unable to rotate out, and Serration Wave only having a two second cool down, Kirito quickly landed a heavy combo on them, but hesitated when the health of one dropped dangerously low.

Hanna saw all this out of the corner of her eye, and shoved her opponents away with a few heavy attacks, not skills, then turned towards Kirito to interfere. Taking advantage of Kirito's hesitation, one of them immediately tried to decapitate him. Hanna felt a fury unlike anything she'd ever experienced burn through her, she just might hate that PKer more than she hated Kayaba, Dumbledore, or Potter. She'd never moved so fast in her life, whether in game or IRL. Blocking the bastards sword with her claw she didn't hesitate to counter-attack, cutting the man in half diagonally across his chest with her falcata. As he burst into polygons his cowardly friends ran away. That infuriated her even more. They'd kill other players indiscriminately, but the moment one of them properly fought back they turned tail and run? Fucking cowards.

Still, as angry as she felt, she was relieved she didn't have to kill anyone else. She'd never taken a human life before, partially because it went against her family's beliefs, but mostly because she'd never wanted to. Even so, she couldn't quite bring herself to feel much more than fury towards the man she'd just killed. He'd been about to murder Kirito, and that was unforgivable.

Sheathing her sword she turned to Kirito, who was intensely watching the PKers run away, no doubt wanting to be sure they left. She wavered, utterly torn. She realized Argo was right, they could die so easily here it was astonishing, she should admit how she felt to him. Yet at the same time she was still sure he didn't like her like that, neither was she sure she could handle getting rejected by Kirito, but she'd almost lost him.

The thought made her tear up, and lurching forward, she pulled him into a hug, clutching him tightly, she berated him, "Idiot! Hesitating while fighting PKers? You know better! You-You could've- You almost-"

Kirito had wrapped his arms around her waist, and began rubbing her back soothingly with one hand. Belatedly, she realized she was trembling. As she cut off, unable to continue, Kirito tightened his hold on her, "I know. I'm sorry."

She hid her face in his neck, "What am I supposed to do if you die, huh? I don't- I can't-" he made a confused sound, and she gave a frustrated huff, then shook her head, "I don't wanna talk about it anymore. Let's just go back to the inn."

Kirito didn't like this. Not one bit. He and Hanna had gotten attacked by nine PKers, two had immediately pushed Hanna away from him at the beginning of the fight. To make matters worse neither Hanna nor he wanted to take a life, so they were still holding back. It showed in the fact Kirito's health was in the red, and Hanna's was barely still in the yellow.

Realizing the current person he was attacking had less than 5% of their health left, he hesitated. That moment of indecision was the only opening his opponent needed. Kirito stumbled back, eyes wide at the blade rapidly approaching his throat to decapitate him. Oh god, this was it. There wasn't enough time to lift his sword, and his health was low enough that a neck or head shot would be lethal. Hanna was twenty feet away fighting two other PKers, but then suddenly she wasn't. Suddenly she'd somehow slipped between the tiny gap between him and his opponents blade, and blocked the incoming attack with her claw. Without hesitation she diagonally slashed the man from left shoulder to right hip, the pieces of him separated briefly, then it all turned into blue polygons. He forced himself to regain his footing, and mentally berated himself. This was no time to panic. He probably could've saved himself of he hadn't been freaking out in his head.

Apparently the PKers hadn't expected them to be able to kill them, as the other eight suddenly decided they didn't want to fight anymore, and fled. Cowards, they try to kill other players, but as soon as they meet one that actually fights back they run away? Once he was sure they'd left, he sheathed his sword and started to turn to Hanna. However, he was taken by surprise when her arms darted forward to wrap around his neck as she yanked him into a tight hug.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, then started rubbing her back when she started trembling, "Idiot! Hesitating while fighting PKers? You know better! You-You could've- You almost-"

He tightened his grip, "I know. I'm sorry."

She buried her face in his neck, "What am I supposed to do if you die, huh? I don't- I can't-" he made a confused sound, and she shook her head with an agitated huff, "I don't wanna talk about it anymore. Let's just go back to the inn."

July 24th 2023- 261 days since SAO launch:

Hanna pursed her lips. The boss raid meeting was called today, so she and Kirito had left their cozy room on the 24th floor two hours ago to attend. As it turned out, the Moonlit Black Cats had joined the frontlines recently. They'd actually been the ones to find the boss room this time around, so they'd been at the meeting to report what they had discovered of the boss. Afterwards, Keita invited them to lunch, his treat for all their help. She was impressed with their progress. She didn't know if it was them, the trainer Asuna lent them, or a combination of the two, but they'd managed to catch up to the other agility parties in a little over three months.

Hanna was happy for them, really, but right now she was furious. First she'd gotten mad when she realized Sachi was shyly flirting with Kirito. Then she got angry at herself for getting mad as she had no claim on Kirito. This led to her feeling hurt again, which only worsened her temper. Finally, her anger would shift briefly to Kirito for making her feel this way, before she became guilty for blaming him. Which of course, led her thoughts in a full circle when she remembered the person who was actually to blame for her foul mood, and the vicious cycle repeated in her head continuously worsening her temper.

If all of that wasn't bad enough, she also felt guilt. She liked Sachi, she was a sweet girl, but at the moment she was furious with her. To make it worse, Sachi wasn't even doing anything wrong, it wasn't like Kirito was dating anyone, even if that thought sent pain through her.

When they got back to the inn after lunch with the Black Cats, Hanna flopped angrily on her bed, then snapped at Kirito, "I'm going to sleep. Don't wake me up until it's time to leave for the raid."

There was a delicate pause, then her bed dipped as Kirito sat next to her, "Hanna? What's wrong?"

Hanna huffed, "Nothing."

She felt a hesitant hand began to card through her hair, "There's obviously something bothering you."

She batted his hand away in irritation, "Just leave me alone. Is that really to much to ask?"

There was a pause, and she could practically feel how that hurt Kirito. She squeezed her eyes shut in frustration. What the hell was she doing? He was trying to help, attempting to make her feel better, and she's lashing out at him? She flinched, the thought of her hurting Kirito made her feel like scum. Made her feel like she was the lowlife everyone used to think beaters were before they began thinking she and Kirito were just outright crazy.

A moment later Kirito broke her line of thoughts, he was definitely hurt, but clearly determined, "Come on Hanna. Don't be like that. First you act like I'm stupid enough not to notice that your clearly angry, then you snap at me? That's not like you. If whatever it is really is bothering you so much, let me help."

Despite how bad she felt for hurting him, she also almost felt like a wounded animal, hissing and biting at anything that disturbed her. So sitting up she attempted to shift his focus and snarled, "I didn't mean you were stupid, I just assumed you'd be to busy with Sachi to notice anything else."

He frowned in clear confusion, "What's Sachi have to do with anything? Why wouldn't I notice you bring in a bad mood because of Sachi?"

She gave him a deadpan look, then sarcastically asked, "Really? Are you seriously trying to tell me you didn't notice her flirting with you?" When stared at her in shock, she sorted, "Honestly! She may have been shy about it, but she was still flirting rather heavily. How did you not notice?"

Kirito flushed and looked away in embarrassment, "I... don't know why I didn't notice before that, but I was honestly more focused on trying to figure out why you were in such a bad mood."

Hanna stared at him in shock, then huffed as she flopped back. Throwing an arm over her eyes she sighed, "That's just sad."

Even she didn't know if she was talking about Kirito and his lack of attention to a pretty girl flirting with him, or herself getting jealous when Kirito hadn't been even been paying attention. There was a brief silence, then Kirito asked her, "Is that what was bothering you?" Her silence spoke more than even a direct confession, as it also informed him of her embarrassment over the matter, "Why? What's it matter if someone's flirting with me?"

Hanna scowled, then angrily snapped, "It doesn't."

Kirito sounded even more confused, "Then because it was Sachi specifically? Why would you care if she flirts with me? Why would it get you so worked up?"

Despite coming off of a vacation of sorts, the PKer attack four days previous and Sachi's flirting had left her incredibly stressed and frustrated. As such she didn't even think it through before she snapped at him, "You're such a dense idiot! I love you, and you almost got yourself killed four days ago, and then Sachi was flirting with you, and I-I-"

She cut herself off in horror, realizing what she just admitted. She moved her arm just enough to be able to see Kirito, who was gaping in shock. There was a heavy beat of silence, then Kirito touched her arm. She rolled away from him, "Just leave me alone."

She felt tears of frustration in her eyes as the tone of her voice broadcasted her heartbreak. Treacherous voice. First it sold her out, now it wouldn't even let her keep her dignity. Then Kirito grabbed her shoulder. She wanted to scream. He wouldn't even have the decency to let her be? She'd thought better of him.

When she ignored him Kirito tugged her shoulder. For a spilt second she contemplated resisting since she didn't want to see his expression now that the shock had faded, but then she let him roll her onto her back since she also didn't want him to get a harassment warning. She was completely taken by surprise when he kissed her.

Kirito's could swear he felt his heart hammering in his chest. Hanna just told him she loved him. How often had he longed for her to say those words? How many times had he dreamed of it? Was he dreaming now? Had he dozed off in the boss meeting when the DDA and KOB had been discussing boring guild stuff?

When Hanna shifted her arm to enough for him to see her, he decided that it wasn't the case. He'd never dream about making Hanna cry. Ever. And there were in fact tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. Which meant that this was really happening. Hanna loved him. The idea made him giddy with excitement on a level that not even his enjoyment of fighting could. The problem was that Hanna seemed to be under the impression he didn't feel the same. Well, he needed to rectify that, didn't he?

He gently touched her arm. She stiffened slightly, then rolled so her back was to him, "Just leave me alone."

Pain stabbed through him viciously at her heart broken tone. It caused him to hesitate a moment, then he gripped her shoulder, silently asking her to roll into her back. When she ignored him, he firmly tugged. For a brief moment it seemed like she'd resist, then she seemed to slump into herself and let him pull her.

He rolled her over and kissed her. God he'd wanted to do that for so long. Apparently though, he was an oblivious idiot who misunderstood something somewhere along the line. He'd been so sure she didn't return his feelings. The kiss stared off chaste, but quickly turned into something hard and desperate. When they finally pulled away he leaned his forehead against hers, "I may be a dense idiot, but you're just being silly. Sachi's sweat, I'll admit that, but why would I notice Sachi flirting when the person I love is clearly distressed about something? Though I never pegged you for the jealous type."

Hanna blushed, then looked away from him, "Even if I didn't have any claim on you, it just pissed me off. And I'll admit, I'm still kinda hung up on you almost dying to that PKer, which didn't help the situation at all, because it's admittedly made me more than a bit... clingy. On top of that, I've been trying to hide my being clingy from you, which has been kinda stressful."

Kirito cupped her cheek to get her to look at him. Once she was, he smiled gently, "Silly Hanna. Of course you've got a claim on me. You have for a while now, even if you didn't realize it. As for the PKer." He sighed, "I'm sorry. It was a stupid mistake that I knew better than to make, but I did it anyway. I can't apologize enough for scaring you like that." He paused for a moment then grinned reassuringly, "And I wouldn't mind you being clingy, so you don't have to hide it. I know I'd be ridiculously clingy and over protective if you almost died."

Hanna smiled lightly, then sighed, "I thought I was gonna lose you to that PKer. Don't you ever scare me like that again."

He nodded without hesitation. He'd never allow himself to repeat make such a mistake.

Sirius grit his teeth in anger. It took every thing he had to remember the self control lessons his parents all but beat into him as heir to keep himself from lashing out. He and Remus had been called to an Order meeting at Grimmauld Place, which he'd agreed to let Dumbledore use. The last few days Dumbledore and Potter had been frantically searching for Mike. They'd been furious to learn that Mike had gotten away, and Dumbledore had immediately had some of the Order begin looking for him.

Dumbledore sighed as another person reported a lack of finding even a single clue, "Has anyone found anything?"

There were head shakes all around, and Tonks leaned forward, "I don't see why it's so important we find him anyway. I mean, ok I'll admit he's in danger since You-Know-Who is definitely after him, but can we really afford to waste resources protecting one boy? We have a duty to the masses, we can't just push it aside for a runaway no matter his history."

There were nods around the table, and Sirius smoothly added, "Yes Dumbledore, why don't you tell them why you're so keen to find Mike."

Dumbledore sighed, "I had not wanted to say this, as I couldn't bee sure if there were any spys, but apparently I must. There is a prophecy, it states that a child born at the end of July will be the one to defeat Voldemort. I have since determined Mike to be that child."

There was frantic muttering amongst the gathered people. Sirius was more interested in the way Tonks narrowed her eyes at Dumbledore. She stood abruptly, glaring Dumbledore down, "A prophecy? This prophecy would've had to have been made before Mike was born, right?"

Dumbledore frowned, "Your assumption is correct, it was made shortly before Mike was born. It was, in fact, made to me. Sadly the place the Seer made the prophecy to me was not secure, and a Death Eater overheard the first half, causing Voldemort to attack the Potter home that fateful Halloween. Now that's he's returned, Voldemort will definitely be interested in learning the second half of the prophecy, for obvious reasons. We can not afford for that to happen, as such the Order will guard it as soon as we find young Mike."

Tonks glared at him, "There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to guard it. You already know the prophecy, if you're really so keen on making sure You-Know-Who doesn't get his hands on it then destroy it. Any other course of action is illogical, and frankly, insane."

Molly shot to her feet, "Now see here-"

Tonks cut her off with a cold look, "I will risk my life for my family, for my friends, for the Order, and to defeat You-Know-Who, but I will not risk my life over some cryptic words spoken almost 15 years ago."

Dumbledore lifted his hands in a placating gesture, "Now, now, there's no reason to argue. Nymphadora my dear, I can understand your reluctance, most no longer respect the art of divination, but it is absolutely crucial that Voldemort doesn't learn the full prophecy."

Moody snorted, "I agree with the girl. There's no reason to waste resources guarding it when we can just destroy it. It'll never fall into his hands then."

Dumbledore shook his head, "It won't work. Only those who the prophecy pertains to can remove it."

Tonks gave him a look of disbelief, "You don't need to remove it. Just cast a low powered reducto at it or something!"

Dumbledore sighed, "If it were that easy I would, but the shelf on which the prophecies are stored are heavily shielded against spells of all sorts, but particularly against destructive and summoning spells."

Tonks scowled, "Then why didn't you take Mike as soon as you realized Voldemort had returned and had him destroy it?"

Before Dumbledore had a chance to speak, Remus cut in, "Not to mention, you've been saying that you've long suspected Voldemort to return someday. So why didn't you train Mike properly. He's nowhere near prepared to face Voldemort."

Dumbledore sighed tiredly, "There was always a chance I was wrong and Voldemort had truly been vanquished. I did not want to take his childhood away if Voldemort was gone."

Moody huffed, "So you risk hundreds of thousands of lives so that one boy can be an immature brat?"

Molly bristled, "He's just a child, you can't just-"

Moody cut her off, "People will die. The longer it takes to get Mike ready to face him, the higher the number of casualties. What of your family, hmm? Your sons and daughter? Your husband? Every day Mike isn't ready is another opportunity to our enemies to kill them. Your family will be targeted. You're known supporters of Dumbledore and the Light, and at least three of your children are friends with Mike. Killing your family would be quite the blow to our side. So sit down, be quiet, and think about that. Once you've thought long and hard, then you can protest. Not that it'll make any difference. Your family isn't the only one in danger, there are thousands of families who will die, so Mike must be prepared. The needs of the many outweigh the wants of the few."

Molly was pale and shaky by the end of his tirade. For a minute the rest of the Order thought she'd argue anyway, but then her eyes glazed in deep thought and she lowered her head.

Dumbledore put a consoling hand on Molly's arm, "That is enough Alastor."

Moody snorted, "In all three years I've known you, you've never shut up about 'The Greater Good', but when it comes down to it you abandon your own philosophy?"

Dumbledore gave him a warning look, "I have my reasons. That is all that will be said on the matter. Now, Severus. Report, what has Voldemort been up to?"

Severus straightened in him seat, "He seems to be aware that Potter is missing. He's assigned a few Death Eaters to locating him, but there's been nothing so far. Other than that, he's keen on taking advantage of the public's denial of his return. He's mostly laying low, but he's using this time to adjust to being alive, gathering his forces, and recruiting the creatures that followed him last time. He's already got Greyback's pack, and they're trying to convince other werewolves. He sent out a group to negotiate with the coven of vampires that followed him in the last war, but he hasn't received word yet."

Dumbledore looked thoughtful for a few moments, "You said he's adjusting to being alive again?"

Severus nodded, "Yes. Though the ritual was successful in bringing him back, his prolonged time as a wraith left him considerably weakened. It will take him a bit to return to full strength." Seeing more than a few Order members began to mutter rapidly to each other, he slightly raised his voice, "However, he's well aware of his momentary vulnerability. Since he's keeping a low profile and can't send them on raids anyway, he's keeping his Death Eaters near him. There are already over a hundred, though they're under the impression that he's keeping them close by so that he may send them out on a moments notice, and so that he may re-evaluate their skills and usefulness to him. Besides, even weakened he could still easily kill most of you."

Moody huffed, "A shame. After how badly the last war went it would've been nice to be able to take the fight to that bastard."

There were more mutters around the table, then Dumbledore cleared his throat, "If no one else has anything to report?" He paused to give people time to speak up, "Then this meeting is adjourned. Continue your assignments from last week."

Sirius glanced at Remus as they got up to leave. Walking out they apparated to Lily's house. She was waiting for them in the floo room, which was the only room it was possible to apparate into. She looked them over as if checking for injuries, "How'd it go?"

Remus shrugged, "I'm pretty sure Dumbledore doesn't suspect anything, but you can never really be sure with him. They've no idea where Mike is though, but Voldemort's looking for him."

Lily frowned, "Does he have an idea where Mike is?"

Sirius and Remus both jolted in surprise when a voice spoke from behind them, "No. I'm fairly certain he hasn't the faintest idea where Mike is."

They turned to Severus. They knew Severus had fixed his friendship with Lily, but it was one thing to know that, and another thing to come face to face with him. Sirius glared, "Dear Merlin, don't startle me like that! Your almost gave me a heart attack!"

Severus merely raised an eyebrow. Sirius huffed in irritation, then to the shock of the other three, turned away without insulting Severus. Glancing in bewilderment at Lily, Severus questioned in confusion, "That's it? No 'Snivellus this' or 'Greasy Git that'? Did you receive brain damage? Not that there was much to damage in the first place."

Sirius whirled on him angrily, mouth already open to insult Severus. Then he snapped his mouth shut, closed his eyes, and forced himself to take a calming breath. When he opened them, he was glaring at Severus, and his tone was tense, but not insulting, "No. None of that. While I admittedly don't like you, I only originally started fighting with you because of Potter. He didn't like how close you were to Lily, it made him jealous. On top of that, my godson will definitely need your help if he's to survive this war, and my goddaughter apparently likes you, though I personally can't fathom why. Not to mention you're Lily's best friend. So I think we should at least attempt to no longer fight, even if it's entirely unlikely we'll ever get along."

Severus raised an eyebrow again, then nodded, "Surprisingly mature of you Black. Very well. If you attempt to be civil, I will as well."

Sirius nodded firmly. Then turned away. He scowled slightly when he saw Lily and Remus smiling slightly. Remus cleared his throat and stepped past him slightly, extending his hand to Severus, "We were never as hostile towards each other as you, Sirius, and Potter, but I agree. We should attempt to put our differences behind us, and stop arguing."

Severus eyed his hand a moment, then shook it. He let go quickly, but they all considered it a small victory that he even took Remus' hand to begin with.

Kurasabe- Hi again. I kinda misled you at the top. I'll admit that I didn't originally plan on getting them together this chapter, but since I didn't have an exact idea of when, I figured why not? It probably would've been next chapter or the one after that anyway, but there was no real reason for it not to happen this chapter. So here, I hope your enjoy and feel relieved knowing that I'm no longer "Making them pussyfoot around each other" anymore.