Standing There By You
Ch. 37-Remus Draws the Line
Disclaimer: Äåí åßìáé êýñéïò ôßðïôá.
A/N: Concerning the dream: For once, I meant to befuddle you.
And yes, my pen name is still EyesofEmerald. ::sigh:: I think I'm going to wait to change it till this monster's over. ::sigh::
Also, I'm having real trouble with the characters used to divide up the scenes; the only ones they're allowing are letters and slash marks, and the huge line seen below. If anyone has any suggestions on what I could use, I'd be mighty grateful.
Remus grimaced as James threw a sock across the room and missed his trunk, whacking him on the side of the head instead.
"Hey," Sirius observed, "picking up habits from good ol' dad, eh mate?"
"Yes," James replied sincerely. "Sock throwing is a tremendous sport in our family."
"Really?" Peter questioned, looking up at James excitedly. "We usually toss jumpers at my house."
"Uh..." James stared at his friend, scrutinizing his features to see if he were kidding or not. Coming to the scary conclusion that he wasn't, he continued, "Well our families will just have to get together and have a right old clothes toss, no?"
Peter nodded fervently. "I'll have mum set it up."
"Ugh," Remus scowled. "These socks are dirty, you nitwit!"
"Oh, they're not going to kill you Remus," Sirius sighed, shaking his head sympathetically. "You worry too much, you know that?"
"Still disgusting," Remus muttered, eyeing the fallen socks by his side with a dirty look and a frown.
James looked slightly put off. "Well maybe my socks think you're disgusting."
In a simple gesture to restrain from rolling his eyes or throw back any insults, Remus stood up and suggested they head down to dinner early. And really, it was simply that. In no way was it-
"Aw, you just want to see Grace," Sirius accused, rolling his head back with an expression of a love-sick puppy. "You can't fool us."
Remus crossed his arms, affronted. "I do not, I-" he cut off, suddenly his slighted frown changing into a thoughtful smirk. "You know, I do. Well if you're not coming I'll just see you guys later," with a simple wave he disappeared out of the dormitory and his footsteps sounded on the staircase.
Sirius frowned after his friend. "Well this is no fun," he pouted. "Now how are we supposed to annoy him?"
Just as soon as the words left his mouth, Remus peeked back into the room and reached for his schoolbag. "If you're not doing anything why don't you clean up in here? It's really disgusting, you know."
Sirius grinned as Remus left the room. "That works."
/
Remus felt a bit of a nervous shiver run through him as Grace caught his eye and wove her way across the crowded hallway. "Hello," she greeted, eyes twinkling at the sight of him.
"Hi," he responded through a growing smile. "Going to dinner?"
Grace nodded and began walking down the corridor, Remus by her side. "So how were your holidays?" she asked. "Do anything exciting?"
Remus shook his head. "We just-"
"Hello," Julie greeted buoyantly, bounding up happily to her friend. "What- oh," she cut off as she caught sight of Remus, and bit her lip. "Sorry, I didn't-"
"That's all right," Grace waved her apology away. "We were just going to dinner. Lucky that Potions assignment was easy, or I would've had to skive off and finish it up."
Julie and Remus laughed beside her, but Lily gave her the usual exasperated look. "You had the whole holiday," Lily shook her head. "That's an entire week."
"Let me guess," Grace countered. "You finished it the first day?"
Lily nodded. "Actually, I did."
Grace rolled her eyes incredulously. "Well I'll bet you're the only one," she turned to glance next to her, "right Remus?"
Remus gave her an affirmative nod. "Right." He decided to keep it to himself that he had finished it the first night. Well it was more like morning, really.
/
"Remus is going to kill you, you know."
Sirius dumped another pile of wrappers in his orderly roommate's pillowcase. "Well that's what makes it so much fun," came his chipper response.
"You done with that Pasty, Peter?" Sirius asked, and without waiting for a reply snatched the half-eaten sweet out of his hand. "Thanks!"
"And when he comes in," James said, watching with amusement as Sirius squished the pastry on Remus's front bedposts, "you're going to take all the blame, right?"
Sirius nodded distractedly. " 'Course."
Peter looked forlorn. "I was going to eat that, you know."
Sirius peered over at him with a raised brow. "Well there's no reason you still can't," he informed him with a shrug. "Later tonight just scrape it off; that'll come right off the wood floor."
Peter sank back onto his bed with relief, glad his sugary snack hadn't gone to waste. He fished something out from under his bed, brandishing it and handing an old flask of pumpkin juice to Sirius. "You can use this if you'd like."
Sirius grinned his thanks and accepted the spoiled beverage. Lifting Remus's sheets, he dumped the orange liquid between the bottom sheet and blanket, tucking the edges in securely and folding the thick comforter over the quickly spreading soaked area.
James erupted into laughter and rolled over on his bed, stuffing a pillow over his distraught ebony hair. "I can't wait to see his face," he chortled.
Peter scrunched up his nose. "That smells awful," he stated, turning away from the offending odor that emitted between Remus's sheets.
Sirius shrugged. "How old do you reckon it was?"
Peter looked thoughtful. "Three years at most."
/
Dinner went over well, it being Remus's first time not sitting with his usual comrades. The rest of the Marauders had arrived late, so he just remained seated by Grace and her friends.
After a peculiar speech from Dumbledore, the students were released and sent off to bed, or whichever late night activities they chose to partake. Most students set off toward their respective common rooms, but a few lingered behind in the darkening corridors. Lily and Julie went along with the former, while Remus and Grace moved at a much slower pace.
"I wanted to send you something for Christmas," she told him, folding her arms across her chest as an odd breeze flitted around the corridor. "Carlos was really sick, though, so I didn't get the chance."
Remus turned to look at her with wide eyes of concern, a comforting hand absently rising to her shoulder as a mixed look of pitiful worry came over his face. "I'm sorry," he said softly.
Grace tilted her head, eyes narrowing slightly with confusion. "Oh," she said suddenly, after a few moments of sharing this exchange of positions. "No," she laughed. "Carlos is my owl."
Remus looked relieved and slightly abashed at this information. "Oh," he said, a smile tugging at his lips as well. "I thought he was your brother, or something."
Grace shook her head. "Nope. I can't recall the last time any of my brothers were sick, actually. They're all too hearty for it," at this she rolled her eyes. "Or so they say."
"How many siblings do you have?" Remus asked.
"Three," Grace answered matter-of-factly. "All older brothers; I'm the baby of the family. They were really leery at my acceptance to Hogwarts... Sometimes they're much too overbearing."
"Ah," Remus nodded. "They're your adoptive family, all muggle, right?"
Grace peered at him curiously. "Yeah, how'd you know that?"
Remus cursed his cheeks as they tinted red against the shadows of the dim hallway. "I was curious," he explained. "So I asked Lily about it once."
"Oh," Grace replied, breaking their gaze and turning to face the upcoming corridor. She gave a taut laugh. "I feel bad, but... I haven't the slightest about your family."
Remus laughed as well. "That's all right," he said. "Not much to know. It's me and my parents, pretty quiet most of the time."
Grace smiled. "Quite the contrast; I never get a moment's peace at my house. Well, except when my aunt takes me out," she added after a second's thought. She brightened. "It's awesome though, I wouldn't give it up for anything. You should visit sometime," she offered lightly. "Maybe over the summer?"
Remus jerked his head to the side to look at her, mildly surprised at the invitation. "Oh, yeah," he finally responded. "That'd be nice."
Grace nodded slowly, as they gradually continued their trek down the hallway. "Oh!" she said suddenly, smacking her head at her foolishness. "Well we got slightly off topic, but I was going to say I got you a Christmas present." She dug through her robe's pockets and pulled out a small box, clumsily wrapped with bright orange and blue tissue paper.
"Sorry it's so sloppy," Grace apologized. "I'm horrible at wrapping."
"That's all right," Remus said, accepting the uniquely covered parcel. "Nice colors," he commented.
Grace smiled. "Custom holiday colors are so over-rated."
"Oh, I didn't forget you, by the way," Remus said quickly, pausing in his tidy tear of the wrappings, "I just... Well I was going to send it to you, but- You see I wasn't sure if..."
Grace laughed, "Don't worry about it, Remus. You forgot, didn't you?"
"No," Remus said hurriedly. He motioned down the hallway. "It's up in my dormitory, I brought it with me. We can go up and get it in awhile, if you'd like."
She nodded. "All right, but go on and finish opening up yours first."
Remus did so, and revealed a subscription card to Drugle's current magazine and an elaborate and brightly colored quill.
"For your article," Grace explained, as Remus skimmed the card. "I figured with your own subscription instead of the schools', you can cross out and mark on it however much you want."
Remus looked up and smiled at her. "Thanks," he said, replacing the card and picking up the bizarre quill instead.
"Oh and that," she further clarified, "is to keep you entertained while you're writing. Look, it writes in different colored inks and everything."
Remus's smile broadened. "Even purple?"
Grace grinned. "Especially purple."
/
Sirius sprinkled the last of the crumpled up parchments over Remus's bed with flourish. "There," he proclaimed, leaning back and admiring his work proudly. "Done."
James studied the mess that used to stand as Remus's bed. "A sickle says he yells at you for five minutes straight."
"Ten," Peter put in, digging through his trunk for some loose change.
Sirius furrowed his brows. "It's not that big of a mess." James and Peter just stared at him, towards the bed, and then back at their friend once more. Sirius turned around to take in the chaotic turmoil that had recently taken place in Remus's quarter of the room, and gave a thoughtful nod. "Right then. My bet's on fifteen."
/
"I think everyone else is up there," Remus said, as he and Grace climbed the staircase leading to the boys' dormitories. "Don't mind the mess. I'm a bit of a neat-freak, but my friends are real slobs."
They approached the top of the stairwell and stood before the door marked 'Fourth Years'. "I've never been in the guys' dormitories before," Grace commented, peering with interest at the wooden door before her. "I wonder if it's any different."
"Maybe," Remus grinned. He reached out hand and twisted the doorknob, pushing the oak door open. "I'll just get it out of my tr-truh-truh..."
Grace gaped at the sight before her. "Yeah," she managed to say after the blow of the shocking greeting. "Some neat-freak you are."
"Wh- who- truh, bed- mess-" Remus choked out, still staring open-mouthed at the scene and shambles that lay before his disbelieving eyes. His face began to redden as he took in the amount of disorder in his section of the room. "Who..."
"James did it!" Sirius announced, pointing an incriminating finger in his friend's direction.
James's mouth dropped open and he shoved Sirius off his bed. "You git!"
Grace covered her face. "Oh, what's that smell? Jeesh, Remus, I'm messy too, but this..."
Remus took a moment to glare at his friends, but restricted himself from yelling in front of Grace. Taking a very forced series of calm breaths, he replied, "I- it's not usually like this," his face fell as he took a glance at his erupting trunk and found Grace's present- while it had last rested on top of his neatly folded robes- now lay buried underneath his trunk's spilled contents. "Your present," he began half-heartedly, scratching his head and smiling weakly. "I know it's in here somewhere... I just-"
"You know, that's all right," Grace said, looking as if the stagnant odor was about to make her sick. She backed up hastily. "You can just give it to me when you find it, I'll see you later, then..." She was practically out of the dormitory before even finishing her sentence.
Not minding to calm himself now that Grace was gone, Remus turned to face his dorm-mates with a crazed look upon his face; scowling and wild-eyed.
Sirius flashed him an innocent grin and took a large stride backwards. "I don't know what happened..." he said with mock confusion, shaking his head with large angelic eyes. "It just... er... exploded, or something."
Remus growled, taking a menacing step towards his obviously guilty friend. Sirius's smile faltered as he looked over to James for help. "It wasn't me, right James?" he prodded him with a nod and hopeful grin.
"What, you want me to help you now?" James admonished, raising a brow incredulously. "And just after you tried pinning it on me?"
Sirius nodded fervently. "Sure."
"I don't care who did it," Remus seethed. "I just- oh, you know what?" Breaking his menacing stride toward Sirius, he whipped around and brandished his wand.
Sirius stumbled back. "Hey! There's no need for hexing!"
"I'm not hexing you, you prat," Remus grumbled as he pointed his wand to the ground. He muttered a spell, and a white spot appeared underneath it. As he dragged his wand along the floor, a white line appeared with it and by the time he was finished, framed his bed with several feet of space in-between.
Sirius nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think he's gone mad."
Remus tucked his wand away and stood firmly in front of the magicked band of white that encircled his bedtime habitat. "This is a line," he stated loudly.
James frowned. "You're only affirming our suspicions, you know."
Remus continued on, ignoring them. "Not one morsel of your grimy little entities is to pass this line, and if you do... Well, let's just say I've been reading a lot over the holidays and know some pretty good... Permanent... hair hexes."
Sirius covered his head with fear as James and Peter grimaced as well.
"Got it?" Remus prodded.
Three nods- one exasperated and two terribly frightened- were his response. "Good," Remus said. "Now clean up this mess."
When all of his friends remained frozen, he questioned them with an incredulous raise of his palms. Sirius shrugged. "You said we couldn't pass the line."
A week of the usual Herbology mishaps and Potion disasters passed by, only one class in particular standing out amongst the others.
For, in this class, James pestered Lily. And in this very same class, (yes, the exact same one, on the exact same day, at the exact same time), Lily did not retort.
Lily did not retort.
It left her friends in awestruck wonder and amazement.
Julie had beamed at her friend for taking the advice she had given before Christmas, while Grace checked her head for a fever.
True, the steaming red-head held fast onto her books with white knuckles, inhaling and exhaling in short breaths as if methodically channeling her anger.
Also true, her foot seemed to slip and stomp on his big toe, but that was merely an accident. All in all, it was progress.
This is why, when Grace and Julie left her alone in the common room to finish up her studying, she had to concentrate with all her might on the words of intellect before her, instead of the mischievous boy that sat unknowingly beside her.
/
James leaned back, letting out an audible sigh. It was a Friday night and he had nothing to do; Sirius was serving a detention for Professor Fluent, and Remus was explaining a recent Charms project to Peter in the library. He had conversed with his friend for awhile through their enchanted mirrors, but lately Professor Fluent's had become suspicious and started watching over their every move. It finally got too tedious, so they decided to give it a rest for the night.
Sighing again, James propped up his feet onto a chair neighboring his that he thought to be unoccupied.
Honestly, he did.
"Potter," Lily said slowly, still staring down at her book and not looking up to face him, "If you don't move your huge putrid feet right now I'll-"
James smirked and responded by inching his feet closer to her face. "There," he said mockingly. "I moved them."
Lily bit her lip to refrain from spitting out anything vulgar. "Fine," she said tightly. "It doesn't bother me."
Sighing yet again, James leaned further back and stretched out his arms. "You remember the first time we met, Evans?"
Lily frowned. "I try my best to forget such ghastly memories," she replied, fighting to maintain her unusually cool persona.
"I still have a mark from where you ran into me, you know."
Lily opened her mouth to shout back that it wasn't she but he that had ran into the other, but then quickly shut it. She refused to let him get to her.
At the unexpected lapse of silence that followed this comment, James had nothing to do but continue on. "Yeah, we've acquired loads of memories, haven't we?"
Lily flipped a page in her book to prove her disinterest.
James nodded to himself. "There were all those times I beat you in ranks,"
Lily gulped down a retort and stared determinedly down at her book.
"And that time you earned yourself a reward,"
An indignant noise escaped her lips, but she shut them tight and further pursued her reading.
"And that time I saved you from the-"
"You did not save me," Lily exclaimed, forgetting her anticipated coolness towards him and glaring at him with outrage instead. "I would never allow that!"
James tilted his head. "You know, a tremendous vein pops out of your neck when you're angry."
"Potter!"
"It's rather unsightly."
"Oh, shove off!" She whipped around and wrenched his feet away from her chair, thrusting them to the ground. "You're such an incredibly-"
"Wait," James said suddenly, straightening up in his chair. "What is that?"
Lily paid his question no mind. "-And I can't believe how much of a worit-"
"Evans, James stared at her meaningfully. "Would you shut up for a minute?"
Lily scowled. "How dare you-"
James ignored her and hopped on top of his chair, studying the nearly empty common room with a scrunched up face of concentration.
Lily trailed off her banter. "What are you doing, you idiot?"
"Shut up," he insisted, waving his hand for silence and continuing his search of the room. "Don't you hear that?"
Lily made a skeptical face. "Hear what? Nobody's saying anything, Potter."
James looked over at her with an incredulous face. "You don't hear that?" He shook his head. "I can't believe you don't hear that."
Lily crossed her arms and tried to look uninterested. "I don't care."
James's head jerked to the side abruptly. "You heard that though, right?" he whispered, leaning his head in the direction it had lurched. "Don't tell me you didn't hear that."
Lily huffed, finally giving up on her feigned indifferent attitude. Stepping closer to where James stood, she murmured quietly, "What?"
James beckoned her closer, and she wearily complied. Cupping his hand, he leaned forward to whisper his response.
His voice went a tad louder than foreseen.
"A semblance!" James shouted, leaving Lily to cringe at her wounded eardrums. "A semblance of an impassioned atmosphere!"
Lily performed an enraged motion, kicking out her foot and making contact with his shins, causing him to lose balance and fall onto the arm of the chair he previously stood upon.
James continued to mockingly quote her beloved book from his sprawled out spot on the edge of the chair. "Or is it is voice?" he proclaimed. "His flowing, warm, and beautiful voice-"
"I'd go with the semblance," Sirius's voice added to the conversation. James turned towards his unexpected friend, which Lily took grateful advantage of.
"Ow!" James exclaimed, clutching his ear. "Your nails are as sharp as blades, Evans!"
Lily looked pleased with herself. "That's because I bite them."
"That's disgusting," Sirius spoke up. "Do you know how many germs accumulate on your fingernails in one day alone?"
Lily shrugged, giving James one more swift twist of the ear before turning away from the boys. "I'll take my chances."
James grimaced at the pain, but shook it off as Lily clambered up her staircase. "Wow," he marveled, sitting back down and shaking his head with surprise. "Can you believe that?"
Sirius sprawled out on a couch across from James. "Believe what?"
"Don't tell me you didn't see that," James said, throwing Sirius an incredulous look. "Evans was all over me."
Sirius's face broke out into a broad grin. "Right," he simpered. "All over you, definitely."
A/N: Hm... You guys were so wonderful in giving me tons of book suggestions, and since everyone here enjoys fantasy (most likely) or at least reading, I was wondering if you'd like me to include the list of recommendations in the next update. I was going to put it in this one, but it takes up a slightly monstrous amount of space, so I decided to see if you'd want it first. Thanks!
Molly- Lol, sorry if I scared you with the beginning : ) Hm.. well yeah, the chapter was rushed, but it was sort of supposed to be that way, you know? I don't really know how to explain it. Ah yes, and I'm glad you liked the view of Sirius's family (even if it were only their retreating backs) and the L/J predicament. Thanks for the review, and thanks for the luck on the name! (I really need it...)
SeCrEt LiLy- Perhaps they would've, we'll never know, will we? Anyone in mind for Sirius? Psht. Like I'm going to tell you. ; ) Thanks for the review!
Ieyre- Hm... Yes, yes it would. Thanks for the review!
Windowseat Wonderer- When you said you were confused about the chapter, 'mostly' at the end, were there other parts you were confused about as well? I'm not going into the dream, but I just wanted to make sure you weren't confused too badly about anything else. Okie doke, thanks for the review!
Oliverwoodschic- Glad to help, and I can understand why you might not remember the purple hair.. that was 34 chapters ago, after all. Wow. That's much too long, isn't it? Oh well... Thanks for the review!
Ninde Annare- Ah yes, it was sort of a cliffie, wasn't it? Unfortunately, the cliffie shall not be continued/explained for a while. Not being mean, it's just the way things have got to go ; ) Thanks for the review!
TenniStar514- I'm glad you liked the chapter and dream, and an ominous feeling, ooh nice. : ) Thanks so much for taking the time to review, it means a lot!
Curiousknowitall- I dunno why, sometimes we all just need a slight change. I might wait to switch names, though fanfiction is really good about that. The only thing that changes is the name, so everything else stays where it is (It'll still show chapters under my new name and all) Wow! Thanks for the incredible amount of books, I appreciate that soo much. : )
EW4eva- Hmm... the joke about the duck and a grape will be told, if you'd like. Probably through MSN though, unless I can think of a way to fit it in the story. Lol yes, the Marauders are bad at making up stories. Thanks for the many reviews, I appreciate it very much!
Padfootz- Yeah I know, the length was misleading, wasn't it? I tried to make this chapter longer, but unfortunately the review responses will probably still deceive you : ( Well I'm glad you liked the chapter, thanks for the review!
Blood Emerald- Hehe, glad you like the review replies. I worry that it's too much sometimes, I hope it doesn't bother people. (I know I like when author's respond, too, it makes you feel special) Ooh pink flamingos do rock! L/J? Keep it going I shall.
ImperishableStars- Hehe yes, the writing style was a tad different. Very big 'KA..boom' indeed. ::sigh:: I liked the pen name too... yikes, decisions, decisions. Thanks for the review!
Espergirl04- I'm very happy you liked all those parts (and I understand loving Sirius, not much can compare, can it?) Yes, Mrs. Potter is just lovely like that, a scary contrast to evil Mrs. B. Thanks so much for the review!
Dance-flirt- Lol, yes, I did that on purpose. Wow! That was a very long review indeed, thanks ever so much! Hm... Not quite sure about the FFC challenge, (and now I have 'It's a Grand Old Flag' stuck in my head, thanks) ::sigh:: I absolutely love that movie too. Ever After forever! Er, yeah. Um.. oh, glad you liked the comforter description, I was thinking of you when I wrote that (since you pester me about description so much) All right now, I think this is long enough, ta ta!
Sadiler- Aw, thanks! I'm so glad you like the story, and that review made me feel awesome ; ) Thanks again for that incredible review, farewell until the next response...
Misakichi1- Yes, you'll catch on, don't worry ; ) Oh, I'm glad you like the new penname (I never thought changing it would cause such a conflict!) ::sigh:: I'm still not sure if I'm going to change it or not. Thanks so much for the fabulous review!
Mistyrious- Yay! Congrats on being the big 900, and thanks so much for all the reviews leading up to that! Ooh and I agree, let's throw a party : ) You're hosting!
Eiko- Wow! That review made me feel so good, I'm really glad you like it so much! Yeesh, I feel ya, mothers just don't understand fanfiction, do they?
Sparky-285- I'm happy you like the story, thanks so much for the awesome review! I didn't mind checking your story out, and in fact I'm glad I did ; ) Hope to talk to you soon, thanks again!
Jess- Oh good, glad I could amuse you ; ) Don't worry, Lily and James's 'togetherness' shall commence soon (If you can't tell by this chapter, it's sparking as we speak). Thanks for the review!
Dracapotter12- I've heard the DaVinci Code is really good, too. Thanks for the suggestions! I'm glad you liked the story, and hope you had fun on vacation!
Jillie- Thanks for all the suggestions! Even the ones that I don't choose for my summer reading, I'm still going to try and make a point to read them. They sound really interesting, thanks for taking the time to review and recommend!
WoW-Girl- Well your suggestion is great, but it's not exactly what I'm going for. While the boys are grand pranksters, the only reason they have a 'group name' is because they're proud of that, and the girls (although not goodie-goodie's) don't favor just pranking for the fun of it. Thanks for the idea though, and I'm glad you liked it!
MissBlueAngel- How do I get reviews? I threaten them, every last one of 'em. I threaten them until they're so scared that they'll click the purple button in trembling fear, and leave several lines of response. Sometimes I even fly out to their houses and stalk them until they review, but occasionally I go too far and that results in flames. It all depends on the sort of day, really.
MysticPrincess-the angelicspunkgirl- I'm glad you like it, and don't worry, more L/J soon. I can't just rush into things, you must understand. I'm trying to make this as realistic as possible, and to have them suddenly like each other or something wouldn't fit those terms. Happy you liked the 'E' conversation, thanks for the review!
Pline- Hmm... Why does James pick on her especially? Who knows how that boy's twisted mind works. Well actually, I know... but I'm not going to tell you : p Lol, thanks for the review!
Californiagurl- Hey, I know you! You're that Lily Enchanted girl ; ) I'm pleased one of my favorite authors would take the time to read my story, thanks ever so much!
Siriusismine- Phew! I must say, I was worried about you. How was vacation? Good, I hope. Sorry about last chapter's shortness, hopefully this one shall compensate. Yeah, I don't think I'm changing my name. Thanks for the review!!
Gaby-Malfoy- Yay!! You're back : ) I'm really glad you enjoyed England, you lucky duck, you. Yeah, keep reading (you were reviewing ch. 33 when I updated this) because Remus does get better. Thanks for the review!
Khasmin- I'm really glad you like it, it's always wonderful to get new reviewers : ) Thanks bunches for the review, tootles!
A/N: Er... By the way the 'semblance...' and 'warm, beautiful...' lines were from Lily's book. In case you didn't catch that : )