Christmas Break Part I: Christmas Break

Harry and Dudley were subjected to Petunia's monologue about Hogwarts not giving families proper time to Christmas shop the whole way to the parking lot from King's Cross station. After loading their trunks in the back of the car, the cousins were informed that they would be going directly to Diagon Alley to beat the rush that would surely be there tomorrow. As they set off, Harry was excited to get to talk to Remus Lupin in a more relaxed setting. But that was not to be, the man dozed off in the back seat almost as soon as the vehicle started moving.

"Don't bother him," Petunia said from the driver's seat as she eyed Harry in the rear view mirror examining Remus, "he had a rough night."

It didn't take but a moment for Harry to realize what she meant. You can't attend weekly astronomy classes, even ones using two hundred year old equipment, and not eventually get a rough feel for when astrological events happen. He knew that tonight was the winter solstice, but this year that meant that last night was the full moon.

Harry kept his voice low, "He didn't have to be here today, he could have taken a day off or something."

"He wanted to be there the first time you and Dudley see Diagon Alley at Christmastime." His aunt answered, "I always avoided it in the past because I felt I would be out of place, but apparently wizards go all out for Yuletide celebrations. I was quite impressed."

Harry examined his Uncle Moony in a new light, taking note of how tired the man looked. He was paler than he had been back in November, and looked exhausted now that he wasn't actively hiding it as he was back at the station. He also had a slight spasm in the back of his neck, probably from a pulled muscle. Harry was already thinking of something he could get the man for Christmas that could help with his "days after."

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"Wow!" Harry and Dudley said in stereo as they took in the magical Christmas decorations along the Alley, causing the tired werewolf to grin happily as well. It was like a competition that had long since gone out-of-control, and no two storefronts seemed to have bothered to coordinate their themes or colours. A classical nativity scene, with magically moving camels, was situated on a glass storefront right beside another store where a gigantic tree with traditional Celtic ornamentation stood over a burning log that was advertising 'everlasting hearthfires.'

Vernon fought to keep the sense of wonder off of his face as he took in the sights as well; he had met the others at the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron after taking care of some last minute paperwork at the office. Unfortunate, but at least he wouldn't have anything to do with work until after Christmas now. The more he saw of the magical world the more he was entranced by it, though his internal salesman cringed as he observed the apparent arms race of decoration that was going on all down the Alley. Someone should have explained to these shopkeepers that there could be "too much of a good thing."

"We have to go to Gringotts first." Petunia said to get everyone's attention again as she indicated the pure white structure that was the only thing not decked out in some theme of Christmas ornamentation, "Harry, while we are there we need to collect a copy of your parents' wills. I know it's not the best time, but be thinking on the way there if you'd prefer to open them here or at home."

"Okay Aunt Petunia." Harry replied. He had done his best to put that out of his mind since this morning. When they first learned of the wills in his parents' vault Harry had been keen to find out what they said, but as time passed and they were out of reach he lost that feeling. In its place was an odd kind of worry, that actually opening the wills and 'officially' handling his parents' estate would mean he was supposed to put them behind him as well. Harry wasn't ready for that.

By the time they were several floors underground, Harry had decided to open the wills at Gringotts and rip the bandage off, so to speak. They couldn't officially execute the wills no matter what they said, but having legal advice nearby might be helpful anyway.

What they found in the drawer with the wills changed his mind instantly; a pair of letters, signed by his parents and intended for him at ages eleven and seventeen. Harry Potter had enough self control to know that if he read the "Harry at Eleven" letter then he wouldn't be able to shop today, and they weren't planning to come back to Diagon until after Christmas.

With the letter from his parents and copies of the wills, magically created and verified as authentic by the goblins (just in case), in his aunt's purse, Harry and his family set out into Diagon Alley. After minor deliberation, which both children suspected was prearranged, Petunia and Vernon left Remus in charge of the boys and headed off after sharing a conspiratorial look.

"We should start at the Quidditch shop!" Dudley said once his parents were gone.

"We should stop and figure out where all we're going first." Harry countered, nodding his head towards Remus, "The Quidditch shop is near the entrance to the Alley and we can't be going back and forth, Uncle Moony needs to be alert tonight."

"You don't need to worry about me Harry, but thank you." Remus replied.

"You don't understand," Harry added, "Dudley can go forever. If we don't plan a little we'll be going from one end of the Alley to the other until evening."

"You're just frustrated that you aren't as fit as you were." Dudley countered. Harry hadn't been joining them in the unused classroom they had appropriated for working out in very often, and when he'd decided to rejoin them in earnest midway through December he'd been significantly behind everyone except Hermione (she was probably going to get told off by her parents for hardly participating at all) in endurance. Seeing Ernie Macmillan, who had joined the group relatively late in the term, do almost double the number of pushups he could seemed to have finally convinced Harry to stop relying on Quidditch once a week for all his exercise.

A couple minutes to plan a route through the main Alley and they were off, each armed with a small pouch of Galleons, to get things for their magical friends. Moony was invaluable in offering suggestions for things that they could get that their friends weren't likely to already have or be receiving, as well as shrinking bags for the boys so that they wouldn't be totally laden down by the time they were done.

The three waited at the Leaky Cauldron for Vernon and Petunia, who arrived fifteen minutes late grinning like loons. Harry and Dudley tried to pry what they had done out of them as they ate dinner at the tavern before heading home, but to no avail. Neither boy noticed Remus smirking at them as he thought about how their faces were going to light up on Christmas Day.

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"At least we know that if we have to go public with them we won't risk losing you." Petunia said as she held a quietly crying Harry after they had read his parents' wills. Sirius Black, Alice Longbottom, and Petunia Dursley; after all the legalese and bequeathals those were the first three names listed to raise Harry if his parents were killed. Black was still in jail, though Remus had left the room after reading the name, and Alice Longbottom was confined to a hospital room.

Dudley and Vernon were in the kitchen rather than the family room to give their loved ones some space, and were startled when Remus entered with a spaced look in his eyes. After standing at the window, seemingly lost for a few moments, the werewolf began making tea; they were going to need something to help stay calm as they discussed the implications of what they'd read.

With two pots of tea to ensure there would be enough for everyone, the five sat around the table in the family room and offered emotional comfort where needed. Harry, with Dudley's arm around his shoulder for support, had read the letter from his parents several times now, trying to commit every word to memory. Meanwhile, Remus explained to Vernon and Petunia a rather vexing issue with the wills, specifically the order of succession for raising Harry.

"It says here, 'Sirius Black, Godfather by Oath,'" the werewolf was explaining, just far away and quietly enough to be out of earshot of Harry talking to Dudley.

"That's just more horrible than I had even imagined." Petunia muttered under her breath, "I believe I met Black one time, Lily introduced me to a few of their friends just before their wedding, Alice Longbottom was there too. I can't believe he would betray them, even breaking an oath to do it."

"That's the thing." Remus said, speaking quickly to keep Petunia on task and not ranting, "Breaking a Godfather Oath should be impossible. It's a variant of the Unbreakable Vow. If the will is correct, and Sirius really swore the Oath, then something is wrong."

"What do you mean?" Vernon asked, "What is an Unbreakable Vow? How is it unbreakable? Does fate keep you from breaking it or something?"

"No," Remus answered, "if you break an Unbreakable Vow then you instantly die. In the case of the Godfather Oath, the vow is to never betray the greater interests of the child."

"But he's in jail?" Vernon's confusion spread to Petunia as they tried to puzzle that out.

"I will need to go to Gringotts again tomorrow and ask around. Maybe the Ministry as well." Remus concluded, "If there really was an Oath taken then it has to be recorded somewhere. Gringotts and the Ministry are the most likely locations. There's probably no record at the Ministry though, it would have come out at trial. That leaves Gringotts. I'll also see if I can find out what happened to the things that were in their home when You-Know-Who attacked. It could have been there."

"When you go to the Ministry, see if you can get a hold of trial transcripts or something. It might have come out and Black got around it." Petunia added, "Maybe he said something at trial that would answer how he broke the Oath, assuming there was one."

"Yes ma'am," he nodded, before looking forlornly at Harry and thinking about what the last part of the letter from James and Lily had said, "now we just need to figure out what to do about this so-called prophecy they mentioned in the letter."

"...Just after you were born, Dumbledore came to your father and I and informed us of a prophecy that potentially concerned you. The prophecy was about Voldemort as well, and Dumbledore tells us that a Death Eater heard the first part of it, the part which seemed to specify 'who.' Your father and I firmly agree with Dumbledore that the only safe place for the true wording is a well-occluded mind, so you will have to ask Frank and Alice or Sirius about it now that you know it exists. Dumbledore may try to tell you that you aren't ready to hear the truth. Do not listen to him..."

It was unfortunate that it seemed the only person who knew the prophecy was Dumbledore. Especially so because James and Lily's letter suggested that they were already suspicious of Dumbledore's methods. It was highly likely that he wouldn't tell any of them if they asked. Or worse, would lie.

"We can start worrying about that tomorrow." Petunia announced as she stood up to check on her son and nephew, "The boys have agreed to sleep in Dudley's room tonight so you won't have to be on the couch Remus. Thank you again for staying tonight."

"No problem at all ma'am." He responded, "After Amos' threats, I don't mind offering you peace of mind."

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Remus slept lightly that night, a feat considering he'd suffered a transformation the night before, but he was aided by a rather sensitive alert ward he'd placed on the property that woke him up twice during the night when Hedwig passed through it.

When Petunia came down the next morning she found Harry already up and preparing tea. He'd pulled out a pair of extra cups, obviously unsure of whether Remus would be joining them early. There was no way the extra was for Vernon or Dudley, those two would likely sleep for another hour or two since there was no school or work today.

"There was a note by the pot from Uncle Moony." Harry said as he gave his aunt a cup of tea to doctor up. He was never brave enough to try and do her cup himself, she never put the same amount of sugar in from one cup to another, "He made a note of whenever something woke him up. I'm gonna have to apologize about Hedwig, she woke him up a couple times and that was it."

"He's still upstairs isn't he?" Petunia asked.

"Yeah, Najash said he was still in my room when we walked by it to come downstairs." Harry took a sip of his tea, finding it still too hot, "Can we meet up with Hermione and her parents to go shopping for our non magical friends today?"

Petunia frowned, "Hermione will be with her parents until Friday, she's grounded. The only exception will be when we meet with your friends from non magical school tomorrow."

"Over Christmas?" Harry whined, drawing a minor glare from his aunt. "I know she didn't keep up with exercising, but she's the top student in our year for a reason! I didn't go to all Dudley's workouts either."

"At least you know better now." Petunia raised an eyebrow to make sure Harry knew that he did know better, "Hermione's parents aren't punishing her, not really. The only thing she's grounded from is talking too much about magic and coming over here. Her parents want a relatively non magical Christmas before they have two extra witches staying in their home for a week. Hermione being in trouble gets her parents their 'normal' Christmas with their extended family. Don't push it."

"Okay." He drug the answer out just long enough to grate on Petunia, but not long enough for her to mention it.

The pair spent the next half hour drinking tea while Harry told Petunia about his favorite classes in Hogwarts. It hurt her to know that Harry's favorite class wasn't potions; but rather charms, at least that class would also be helpful for what he wanted. It also sounded like fun. She wasn't sure how much she approved of Harry and Dudley being two of the top students in defense for their year, though after remembering the story of Harry and Theodore Nott she could imagine how that came to be.

"Have you made any progress on that shrinking spell that Professor McGonagall mentioned?" Petunia asked as they heard the sounds of stirring above them, "I know that you've enjoyed those special classes with him, but I still don't think you should spend too much time around the headmaster. He seems too keen to have your trust, I don't like it."

"Uh, I don't know really. I need to keep practicing opening the bond with Najash while I'm here." Harry looked down into his empty cup, "I think you're right, though. About the headmaster I mean."

"Oh?" Petunia asked as she put her own empty cup down, "Do tell."

Harry looked up at her, "It's something Ron noticed the night before last, after his brother had come and taken Norberta."

"Who? Norberta?"

"Uh, Hagrid tried to raise a baby dragon," Harry confessed, "and Ron's brother Charlie works on a dragon preserve. So we wrote to him and asked him to come get Norberta the Dragon since she was breathing fire earlier than Hagrid was ready for."

"Why in heaven's name would anyone name a dragon 'Norberta?'" Petunia mused aloud.

"Well," Harry explained, "Hagrid thought it was a boy, so he was originally named 'Norbert.' Charlie told us that it was a female because they're more aggressive."

"As if 'Norbert' was any more reasonable." Petunia shook her head, "Anyways, what about the headmaster?"

"Oh, well. Ron noticed that the headmaster calls me 'Harry', but he calls all the other students 'Mister This' or 'Miss That.'" Harry answered, "I'm pretty sure I asked him to be formal the first time I was in his office, and I'm not sure when he stopped. Ron noticed it when the headmaster left us at the entrance hall that night, and I was going to ask him to stop when I went back next term."

"Good luck." Came Remus' groggy voice from the stairwell, "He's done that as long as I've known him. Though he usually does it to his peers. Personally I think he's trying to subconsciously put people off balance. But I suppose doing that would have the opposite effect on most eleven year old boys."

"Good morning Remus, would you like some tea?" Petunia offered upon seeing how exhausted the werewolf looked, "And regardless of how he acts among adults, it simply isn't proper to be so casual with a child that isn't related to you without permission."

As she handed him the steaming cup, the phone began ringing. Petunia hurried to answer it before it woke Vernon and Dudley and left Remus and Harry to talk.

"So this is Najash?" Remus managed to ask after taking a few sips and wincing at the heat, the serpent hadn't come out from under Harry's sleeve during their trip yesterday due to the cold, "I didn't pay too much attention to him in the hospital wing last month. But he is rather entrancing isn't he."

"Thanks, I think he's great too. I just hope he doesn't grow too big." Harry said as he pet Najash and relayed Remus' compliments to him in parseltongue, "He's grown almost four inches since going to Hogwarts. I need a new book for pressing the shed skins already."

"You keep them all?" Remus asked.

"Yep, sort of a history of growth, you know." Harry answered, "I did it because Aunt Petunia did something like it with me and Dudley." He pointed to the doorframe of the cupboard under the stairs, "She made marks to track our height there, so I did something like it for Najash. Not quite sure what I'm gonna do if he grows to be over a meter long or something. If he did then I would need to get bigger books."

Harry's eyes were mostly on his tea as he laughed nervously at the prospect, which kept him from seeing Remus tense up and almost reach for the snake as he slithered into a comfortable spot on his wizard's shoulders and around his neck. That is going to take a lot of getting used to, the werewolf thought to himself as the serpent eyed him curiously again.

"Harry," Petunia said as she reentered the room, "would you be a dear and fix another pot of tea? Andromeda will be here soon." As she finished speaking, she folded up the Daily Prophet. Remus noted that she folded it to hide the frontpage headline from them.

"Is something wrong?" Remus asked once Harry had left the room.

"Mister Diggory apparently made his play last night." Petunia answered, "Andromeda is coming over to speak with us about damage control, that was her on the phone."

"What did he do?" Remus queried.

"I want you to understand that this isn't your fault." She began, "Harry will feel the same way when he gets back and reads this, I just wanted you to get a chance to see it first."

Petunia handed Remus the paper, "Black Scion Usurps Potter Regency, Appoints Dark Creature as Steward" was the top article. A massive "expose" by Rita Skeeter about how the Black family was trying to "finish what Sirius the Traitor started" by ending the Potter family; literally and politically. Apparently, Amos Diggory had accused Andromeda Tonks of corrupting Harry Potter with Dark ideologies, and cited Remus' position as the primary evidence. The article couldn't decide if Remus and Andromeda were going to murder Harry in an "accident" or if they were going to turn him to the dark, so it seemed to present both arguments and left it up to the reader to decide which is true. There were calls for the Wizengamot to overturn the Regency posting and to pass legislation banning werewolves from holding any sort of official familial position mentioned at the end of the article.

"I knew this would happen." Remus said, sadly, "I'll look for a suitable repl-"

"You most certainly will not!" Petunia hissed at him.

"Something wrong Aunt Petunia?" Harry asked as he returned to the room.

"Read this." She answered, handing Harry the paper after he set the tea down. "Then help me explain to your Uncle Moony that he isn't allowed to run away."

Harry didn't need to read more than the headline before he launched himself at Remus and grabbed him in a hug. Remus staggered, both from his exhaustion as well as Harry's exuberance, before slowly returning Harry's embrace. No, he couldn't run away. Not again.

"I've told you that you need to work on your self esteem, Remus." Petunia muttered as she watched the two embrace. He tearfully nodded to her over Harry's shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He replied, "It won't happen again."

"Why don't we send a letter to the Daily Prophet explaining or something?" Harry asked as he looked at the headline again, "It's not even in the right order! You became Steward first."

That thought was put on hold as the doorbell rang. Harry offered to answer it, and returned momentarily with a rather stressed looking Andromeda Tonks in tow. Upon seeing the woman's bedraggled state, Petunia wordlessly presented her with a cup of tea and offered a seat.

"Last night could have gone better." Andromeda said after she'd taken a few sips of tea and verified that the family had read the article. "The meeting was scheduled let out around midnight, and he waited until the last minute to throw around his accusations. The chaos went on another hour or more. By the way, you'll need to change apothecaries for your Wolfsbane Potion."

"You're joking?" Remus angrily replied, "Is that how he found out?"

"He presented receipts from an 'anonymous concerned apothecary' who he claimed was initially worried that Harry Potter himself was secretly a werewolf. Then Diggory brought out a magical photo of Remus on the platform by the Hogwarts Express and had an expert on werewolves point out all of the visual and behavioural evidence that you were suffering the after effects of a transformation. The real problem is that the expert insinuated that you would be excessively irritable and pose a danger to those around you that day, and therefore shouldn't have been on the platform."

"That's ridiculous!" Harry shouted before covering his mouth and glancing at his aunt, who put a finger to her lips to have him lower the volume before he continued in an inside voice, "The only person Uncle Moony was a danger to yesterday was himself, he looked like a strong wind would have done him in."

"That was all I saw when I looked at those pictures too." Andromeda answered with a sigh.

"That was the same day as the Wizengamot meeting." Remus muttered.

"The couple of times I've stepped into public in the magical world you have been there." Petunia mused, "You have also served as my go-between in a few instances. He might have assumed that you would accompany me to the platform since, for whatever reason, many people still seem to think I'm a muggle. Even though the paper mentioned that I'd been to Hogwarts."

"I still can't believe that my aunt visiting me at school for a Quidditch game made the front page of a newspaper." Harry said as he shook his head.

"That article actually used your maiden name of Evans to connect you to Harry in the minds of wizardkind." Andromeda explained, "But because everyone 'knows' that you are Lily Potter's muggle sister, they are jumping to the conclusion that Remus or I are escorting you places that you aren't really meant to go. People are pretty split on that, to be honest. Most don't want muggles in the magical world, but others think that at the very least an exception could be made for you."

"What do you think about Harry's earlier suggestion?" Petunia asked, getting a confused look from her guest and a smack to her face, courtesy of her own hand, when she realized that Andromeda hadn't been there when he made that suggestion, "I'm sorry, right before you got here he thought of writing a letter to the Prophet to try and clear the misunderstandings." She frowned as she thought about it herself, "Would you think on that while I go wake up Vernon? I feel that he should be a part of the conversation as well at this point."

Petunia returned after a couple minutes with her husband in tow, already filling him in on what had transpired the night before. He was blustering about libel laws that apparently aren't strong enough in the magical world to do anything at all only five minutes later. However, his reaction to finally seeing the article on the paper itself left the two magically raised in the room confused.

"Wait a minute." He said, stopping at the byline, "Why does this even matter? I can't understand what that paper is thinking about, putting a gossip columnist on the front pages like this."

"Gossip?" Remus asked.

"Rita Skeeter," Vernon replied, "she's like the paparazzi in our world, following people around and making up stories. I'm not even magical and I can tell that. Some of the things she writes are so outlandishly exaggerated I keep them for when I need a laugh."

"While I'm normally inclined to agree with you," Andromeda said, "Skeeter is somehow a well respected journalist for the Prophet. Also, aside from timeline errors like what Harry pointed out, most of the article is factually correct. She spends a lot of time talking about the history of the Black family, and I know that most of what she wrote is true. I wouldn't be shocked to find some minor retractions later, forced by Lucius Malfoy, since I'm not technically a Black and for them, calling me such would be considered an insult to the family. But for the common witch or wizard that nuance will be lost."

"That being said," she continued, "an official statement from the Potter family, particularly one that includes a new photo of Harry in a relaxed setting, could keep some of the light and light-neutral families from jumping ship."

"I still think that you should look for another Steward." Remus muttered, only to get a sharp retort from Petunia.

"Absolutely not, Remus!" She hissed, "Like you said at Harry's Quidditch game, if you quit then you let them win. We are going to fight this because if we don't then I will never be able to feel secure that Harry will be safe." Remus gaped at her, "If they push you out, then what's to stop them from doing it to Andromeda? You both have warned me that the Wizengamot likes to change its laws to avoid being in violation of them. What would I do when they make a law that says squibs can't be magical guardians?"

Vernon put a hand on his wife's shoulder to calm her down, handing her her tea with the other. Once she had calmed down enough, she concluded her rant, "I'd already spoken with Axegut and Griphook about having the paperwork ready to file at a moment's notice, back when I was worried Albus might become overly antagonistic upon learning my identity. If the laws are changed against us then we will be citizens of Magical France the very next morning. Harry's family owns a vineyard in that country that Albus had shut down. I'm sure he would love the chance to work the ground there while we prepare to potentially transfer schools as well."

"Isn't that the same as quitting?" Remus asked, though a half-hearted smirk made sure everyone understood that he agreed.

"No," Petunia replied, "it's playing by their rules. If the game is going to be changed whenever the other side starts losing then we can find better people to play with."

"I agree, sadly, that that might be the only way to ensure Harry stays with you." Andromeda nodded, "Though I will do absolutely everything in my power to stop that from happening, if it does come to pass, I will work tirelessly to ensure everyone knows why and because of whom that it did."

As she finished speaking a brilliant flash of fire exploded in the center of the room, causing all those gathering to shout in fear as the two adult magicals hastily drew their wands to point at the intruder. An intruder that turned out to be none other than Fawkes, the headmaster's phoenix. The bird hovered in the air for a moment, releasing a calming cry that cause everyone in the room to relax. With his wand now lowered, Fawkes landed in front of Remus on the table and presented his leg with a letter attached.

"Remus my boy, I hope this letter gets to you before you beat yourself up over what happened at the Wizengamot last night. If there is anything I can do to help you or 'Ms. Acacia' then all you need do is ask. I was hoping to speak with you before Christmas anyways about something else. I have in my possession a most extraordinary garment that once belonged to Harry's father. I thought you might like the honor of returning the heirloom yourself. If you are free, this morning would be a wonderful time to meet and for me to hand over the garment in question and discuss how I might be of service otherwise.

~Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore"

Remus frowned over the letter as Dudley came down the stairs, groggily asking what the commotion was. Upon seeing the headmasters phoenix, which he recognized from Harry's description, he couldn't help but grin and reach out to pet the gorgeous bird's head. Fawkes simply leaned into the affection and trilled contentedly.

"Everything alright at Hogwarts Fawkes?" Harry asked as Dudley rubbed under the bird's beak, which elicited a glance and a nod.

"Dumbledore wants to meet me," Remus announced, "it's mostly about what happened last night, but there's something else as well. Fawkes?" He asked, looking down at the familiar, "Could I ask you to wait just a minute longer? I need to ask Petunia something before I go back with you."

After taking her into the kitchen to keep Harry out of the loop, Remus explained to Petunia about James' Invisibility Cloak. As well as the fact that the headmaster apparently had it now. She wasn't too happy with giving Harry a tool for sneaking around at school, something she knew he still did sometimes, but she couldn't argue that having it wouldn't help protect him if someone came after him again. In the end it only took three minutes to convince her that the cloak would make a wonderful sentimental gift from Remus for Christmas, though they agreed that they would need to tell Harry where it had been for the last ten years.

After Remus left with Fawkes, Andromeda thanked the Dursleys for tea and biscuits and made to leave as well, only to be stopped by Petunia once more.

"Before you go," She began, "there is one other thing that happened last night. I was going to get Remus to visit the ministry today and make some inquiries, but that might not be the best plan now."

"Inquiries into what?" Andromeda asked.

"Into why my sister's and her husband's wills state that Sirius Black is Harry's sworn godfather."

AN: Sorry it has taken me a little longer than planned to get this chapter uploaded. The delay is almost directly proportional to how much longer the Christmas Break arc is than I intended. I hope you enjoy, I'll be back to weekly posting now, but in the future I'm NOT going to let myself run out of chapters. If I catch up to myself again I'll start delaying a week or two at a time to keep a few chapters in the revision stage.