I do not own Harry Potter or Ed, Edd n' Eddy, they are owned by J.K. Rowling, AT&T and Warner Media (sorry if this is a little short, I couldn't think of anything to say).

Strange Correspondence

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go

Take a look at the five and ten, glistening once again

With candy cane and silver lanes aglow!

The rich crooning of Bing Crosby drifted through the bedroom of a certain sock hat wearing child prodigy. The early December snow had hit Peach Creek, Wisconsin hard. School had to be canceled for the first day of it while the trucks fought to keep the roads clear. While they were lucky to get just snow, most of the rest of the state had gotten sleet as well, freezing the roads. While most of the Cul-de-Sac would consider this to be a time to stay inside with a roaring fire and a hot chocolate watching old films like It's a Wonderful Life or White Christmas, Eddy saw it as the perfect opportunity for another one of his scams. 'Why do I keep getting myself involved in these?' Double-D thought miserably as Eddy showed a diagram for his latest scam idea. It was called Eddy's Winter Wonderland, a miniature ski resort complete with a mini restaurant. Apparently Eddy had found a series of bare hills about three miles outside of Lemon Brook that were large enough and steep enough for Eddy to utilize and with how expensive ski resorts were, he saw an opportunity to exploit the market. Never mind that barely anyone in the area knew how to ski or snowboard, that they only had five hills, that both the Rhinelander and the Granite Peak Ski Resorts were only an hour to 90 minutes away, the fact that they needed a license to operate lifts, none of them could drive a motor vehicle or that Double-D was the only one that had been trained to conduct emergency medical services, he was going to get those quarters and those jawbreakers somehow.

"Now I was able to pick up some clothes poles and some old crane cable from the junkyard so if we get started on the winch we should be able to get in business by the weekend. I can already hear the quarters jaggling." Eddy declared excitedly. "Oh Eddy, will we be able to get buttered toast and potato skins as well?" Ed asked dimly, a gleeful smile spread from ear to ear on his face. Eddy wrapped his arm around Ed's shoulder, a smug grin on his face. "Of course we will ya big lug. This is the most foolproof idea we've had yet!" Double-D rolled his eyes. "Eddy, do you even know how to ski or snowboard?" Eddy froze and then turned to give a slight glare at Double-D. "Why do I need to know that? I'm going to be working at the grill and the ticket office." Double-D restrained himself from pinching his nose bridge. "Eddy, not many people in the neighborhood know how to ski or snowboard. Someone is going to have to teach them." Eddy rubbed his thumb and index finger against his chin. A lightbulb appeared over his head, followed by an excited grin. "You're right Sock head!" He then reached and grabbed a pair of skis and ski poles from out of hammer space. "You're great at teaching, you can do it!" he exclaimed as he shoved his pile into Double-D's arms.

Double-D stumbled back, partly from the force to Eddy's push and partly from shock. "Me Eddy?! But I've never gone skiing before!" he conveyed panically. "Mother and Father never had the time to teach me!" "So just read it in a book and practice." Eddy replied uncaringly, a sly, satisfied grin on his face. "You have the entire week to figure out how to ski. Ed and I will focus on setting everything up." "That doesn't reassure me in the slightest, Eddy." Double-D muttered. "Oh come on, when have I ever steered you wrong? Don't answer that." Double-D sighed as he put the winter gear in the corner of the room. "Okay, but even if I do learn how to ski by the end of the week, we have nobody to teach anybody that would want to snowboard. And don't say you're going to have Ed do it, you know what happened the last time you used him as a tutor." Eddy glowered, remembering how he used Ed as a tutor after he somehow won the spelling bee. "Well what do you suggest Sock head?" "Well, we could ask Kevin to help. He's been snowboarding for years and is part of the sking club." "No way! I'm not giving Shovel chin any cut of our profits!" Eddy exclaimed angrily. "Besides, why would he help us, he hates us!" 'More like he hates you and is annoyed by Ed.' Double-D thought, though he didn't voice it.

"Look guys! It's the giant owl from the outer moons!" Ed shouted gleefully as he looked out the window at the dark purple sky and dusty grey snow that dominated the night. "It's come to grant us wishes! Let's let him in!" "Wait Ed!" Eddy and Double-D shouted as he slammed open the window, letting a cold burst of air to rush into the room. "Dang it Ed, are you trying to freeze us to death?!" Eddy exclaimed angrily. A large great grey owl rushed into the room, the tight squeezing through the window scattered a few feathers around the room. Double-D quickly closed the window and grabbed a dustpan and a hand broom. "Ed, can you take that animal outside before it molts more feathers? Mother would be apocalyptic if she found out I had animals in the house." Ed frowned glumly, idly stroking the owl that had perched on his arm. "But Double-D, he won't grant us our wishes if we chase him away." Eddy scoffed. "Get real Ed. Everyone knows that all owls do is dump exposition and annoy you with things you already know." He then glared at the owl and saw that the owl was also glaring at him, as if he understood the insult. "Freakin' bird." he grumbled. He looked away and saw that something had been dropped on Double-D's desk.

'Hmm, what's this?' he wondered as he picked up a large envelope. It was a strange envelope. There was no return address, no stamp, there wasn't really a sending address on it. The only thing on the envelope was Eddward Vincent, Peach Creek Wisconsin written in untidy script. Black ink blots dotted the envelope, as if someone was trying to use an inkwell pen for the first time. The only thing that could seem personal about it was what seemed to be a misshapen dot in Double-D's last name. 'Who would be writing to Double-D, yet not leave a return address? It's not from his grandmother, I've seen her handwriting and she's very particular in the return address. His Mom and Dad would leave sticky notes if they wanted to communicate with him and I don't know anybody that he had been seeing at school outside of our neighbors and the people of the chess and science club he hangs out with sometimes.' He squinted closely at the writing. After a few seconds, his eyes widened. The dot of the i wasn't an i, it was a heart.

A smirk grew across Eddy's face. "Hey Ed! Come look at this!" Ed stretched his neck completely across the room to look over Eddy's shoulder. "What is it Eddy?" Eddy shoved the envelope under Ed's nose. "Double-D's got a letter! And it looks like it's from some lady love." he said in some combination of mocking sauvness. Double-D, who had just finished throwing away the broken feathers and down fluff, was confused by this. "What are you talking about Eddy?" Eddy turned to him with a smug smirk on his face, his eyes dancing in merriment. "Why this letter of course, the one with a heart in your name." His finger tapped the i dot in Vincent. He chuckled at Double-D's redding face. "What? But I've never even seen this letter before." he conveyed as he took the envelope from his friend's hand, staring at the front of it in bewilderment. "How on earth did this even get in here?" 'Did May leave this when I was at chess club earlier today?'

"Who cares?" Eddy declared as he put his arm around Double-D's shoulders. "You've been holding out on us, you stud. Looks like those lessons from the Edmistro have finally paid off." Double-D's face was now as red as tomato paste. "Please don't say that Eddy, I get enough grief from Kevin over last year's spring fling as it is." Ed then grabbed Double-D in a crushing hug, nearly cracking three of his ribs. "Oh Double-D, don't let the wicked succubi of the netherrealm take you from us! They'll drag you to a monster school and get you involved with unfunny romance antics!" Ed blubbered, tears rushing down his face as he sobbed. "Uh, Ed, I'm not going anywhere. I don't even know who sent this. And even if I did, I wouldn't leave you like that." Ed sniffed and looked at Double-D with hope glistening in his eyes. "Really?" Double-D gave a small smile as Ed released him from his grip. "Of course Ed. I'm not planning to go anywhere anytime soon." A massive grin spread across Ed's face before he grabbed Eddy and Double-D and brought them into a group hug. "Hurray! The three amigos stay together and surge forward into the future like the space vikings of Diatron-5." "ED! Can't breathe here ya big idiot!" Eddy screamed.

Ed let them go, each of them crashing to the ground wheezing. "I swear Ed, you've got to learn how to control that strength of yours." Eddy grumbled as he cracked his spine back into place. Double-D himself rolled his now sore shoulder, feeling the phantom burst of pain from a few months prior. "Indeed Ed. I for one would not like to have my shoulder dislocated." 'Again.' he thought. He had never told his friends what had happened in his last contact with Marie and he wasn't planning anytime soon if he could help it. Too many unwanted questions. With an apologetic look from Ed, he walked over to his desk and removed a pen knife. With a quick flick of the wrist he had opened the envelope. Out of it came two items. The first was a folded piece of parchment that had been folded rectangularly four times so that it could fit in the envelope. The other was what seemed to be a polaroid photo, about 9"x9". Deciding to look at the supposed photo later, Double-D opened up the missive. He froze, his pupils shrinking to the size of pins and his entire body turning ash white. Eddy watched this, his concern growing as Double-D seemed to stop breathing. "You okay there sock head?" Double-D didn't respond, his eyes fixed on the page. He removed the letter from Double-D's slack grip and read the first line.

Hey Ovenmitt!

At that single opening line, Eddy saw red. "Kanker!" he growled, his teeth clenched so tightly together that the last of his baby teeth cracked and fell from his mouth. "Ed, destroy this." Ed, a firm and resolute look upon his face, saluted. He took the letter from Eddy's hands and opened his mouth to eat it. Unfortunately, Double-D, while still in a slight catatonic state, was still aware of the natural world. When he saw Ed about to eat an object that wasn't food, he reacted on instinct and ripped the letter from his mouth. "Ed, how many times do I have to tell you not to eat things that aren't food?" he asked snippedly. "But Double-D, I wasn't eating a mattress this time." Ed replied morosely. "It doesn't matter if it was a mattress or not." Double-D said, his nose lifted up in the air in a dignified manner. "It's the principal of the matter that you need to observe." Eddy seethed. "Can we please get back to getting rid of that thing?" Double-D looked down at the letter, glazing past the introductory line to the paragraph that followed.

God it's been awhile hasn't it? It's been, what four months since we last talked? I hope you have been missing me, cause I've certainly been missing you! You'd definitely be a big help with all the homework I've been swamped with. You're a practical research wiz, I'm sure you could cut my time working on it by half. And speaking of research, I actually need some help with that. You see I'm working on this project with some friends of mine, we're supposed to choose a historical figure and do a paper on it. We decided to choose Nicholas Flamel on a lark and after we got to the library, we realized we had no idea where to look and the librarian wasn't much help either. Now you're probably wondering 'Why don't you just use the internet?' Well you see, the school I go to is in northern Scotland. Like, as far north as you can get on the mainland Scotland. So yeah, no internet in this neck of the world. So I was wondering if you could do some quick research on the computer and send it to me, as the paper has to be done by the end of winter break. Don't worry about giving me an extensive essay on it, just a few general pointers to send us in the right direction are fine.

A sigh of relief escaped from Double-D. While there was a bit of catty flirting in the letter, it was a mostly reasonable request for information it seemed. It also looked that from the following paragraphs (which just described a bit of her time from her school and complaining about the exhaustion she was suffering, the weather and some of the teachers, with that Snape fellow sounding particularly unpleasant) that it was just an update on how she was doing. It was surprisingly normal.

"Gentlemen, I don't believe we have to worry about this too much about this. It's just a simple research request, nothing more." "What!?" Eddy screeched. "But it's from a Kanker! Your Kanker!" "And all she's asking for is some assistance with a research paper. There is literally nothing untold about it." "But!...But!" Eddy sputtered, trying to find some reason to detract from it. "But Double-D," Ed stated helpfully (for Eddy at least). "What if the evil sorceress of the dark crypt cast a spell on the paper, compelling you to do unholy deeds?" "Now that's just silly Ed." Double-D chuckled. "What, you think that Marie would be able to cast magic on me, or that there's some potion that could affect how I act just by smelling it? There's no such thing as magic and Marie has no way to afford that kind of aphrodisiac." He patted Ed's head and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't you worry."

With his friends somewhat placated, Double-D went over to his Dell Optiplex GX620, a gift that he had been given when he had turned 11 back in March. "Besides," Double-D reassured as he booted it up. "We don't have to worry about this for too long. I just need to print out the wikipedia article and send it back to her. Then we can throw the letter away and we could forget everything about it. Just as soon as Windows Vista boots up." The spinning blue circle indicating the loading of the admin screen spun continuously as the loading bar slowly filled. A minute went by. 25%. Three minutes. 31%. Eight minutes. 39%. Fifteen minutes. 46%. Twenty minutes. 41%. "Arghhhh! Come on you stupid thing!" Eddy shouted before slamming his fist down on the back of the harddrive. In an instant it jumped up to 100%. "Freakin' finally." he muttered as the home screen of Double-D's computer appeared (the atom structure of iodine imposed on a dark gray background) and Double-D scrolled over to the firefox icon at the bottom left of his desk top.

"Okay, Nicolas Flamel, Nicolas Flamel. God I hope nobody has inappropriately edited the page recently. Okay, here it is. Lets see, born in 1330, yadda yadda yadda. Oh fascinating, have to check that out later. Ah, good. Nothing seems inaccurate about what's in here." He scrolled up to the corner of the screen and printed out the page, the whining and spot-start screech of the printer next to it, the two pages of information coming out of the exit slot. "See, nothing untold or stressful involved. You really blew this out of proportion Eddy." Eddy huffed, crossing his arms like a disappointed child. He looked away, refusing to give Double-D any satisfaction on being right. He then spotted the second piece of paper that had fallen out of the envelope. He didn't notice it before, but now it piqued his curiosity. The paper was glossy and on the back was back scribble. He walked over to the desk and cautiously picked it up. 'I hope you enjoy my Christmas Present. What?' He flipped it open and his eyes widened.

"I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT! I KNEW THAT A KANKER WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS!" His shouts of combined exaltation and fury permeated throughout the room. "What is it Eddy?" Ed asked, both he and Double-D looking at him in concerned fright. Eddy stormed over to Double-D and shoved it under his nose. "Sockhead, look at this! Ed, check the envelope again! I don't put it out of her capabilities that she left something else in there!" Ed, his unibrow perched firmly on his head, saluted and shoved his head into the depths of the envelope. Double-D meanwhile took the paper from the red faced and shaking body that is his best friend. He gazed down at what was on what he had thought was a photo earlier and had his suspicions confirmed in probably the worst way possible.

The photo wasn't tasteless, thank heavens for that, but what was shown in it still pushed the boundaries. The photo showed Marie in a seductive pose, wearing a private school girls uniform. A grey sweater lay off to the side, suggesting that it had just been removed. The white, collared button down shirt hung loosely on her figure with the top two buttons unbuttoned. A red and gold tie was secured loosely under the collar, the knot placed underneath the highest secured button. Between the gap in the shirt he could see a pair of B sized breasts, which astonished him considering that Marie was nearly half a year younger than him. She was sitting in a kneeling pose, her visible eye gazing coyly at the camera, a shy looking smile on her face. One hand was on her face, its index finger resting on her lip, while the other hand was in front of her grey skirt.

"You see! That Kanker played you so that you could let your guard down again!" Eddy raged at Double-D's blushing face. "You can never trust them not to have some kind of ulterior motive. I bet you that she isn't even working on a paper and just made it up as an excuse." "I found something Eddy!" The two of them looked over to their friend, who had the envelope over his eyes. Two pieces of paper fell out from the envelope. Double-D picked up the pieces of paper, dreading the worst. One of the pieces of paper had a simple message of For all the ones that you've missed, and was covered in rogue red lipstick. The other paper was another letter, this one longer than the one that he had originally read.

Hey, I hope you didn't think the other letter was what I really wanted to send you. Not that everything on that letter wasn't true, it was and I really need your help on the Nicolas Flamel thing. But I wanted to talk to you about somethings that I didn't want my friends to know about. I've been thinking about you alot. I know, big shock, but I'm serious. Everyday I have to focus on my homework, extracurricular activities, my painting, my new friends, anything just to get through the day. My thoughts keep going back to you in some way, whether it's Hermione's neuroticism and focus on her homework that reminds me of your intelligence and motherly attitude, Harry's shyness and kindness reminding me of yours or Neville's earnestness and passion for plants reminding me of your cactus. I am literally struggling not to think about you in some way.

I don't know what it is I feel for you. Is it lust? Love? Desire? I can hardly tell anymore. I know this isn't some simple school yard crush. Hear my soul speak, of the very instant that I saw you, did my heart fly at your service. I love you more than words can wield the matter, dearer than eyesight, space and liberty. You are my goods, my chattel, you are my house, my household stuff, my field, my barn, my horse, my ox, my ass, my...everything. I know you don't believe me, but it's true. Imaging your gap toothed smile is what gets me through a rainy day, your intensity whenever you're working on one of Shorty's scams or on some science project inspires me to better myself when it comes to my school work and the way that you show kindness to others has made me want to improve myself as a person (not that I'm still not going to act like a Kanker sister when necessary, I'm not going to change myself into something I'm not).

Now I know what you're thinking, 'If you think this, then why do you keep hurting myself and my friends, destroying my equipment, and practically molesting me against my will?' Well I can't say anything about my sisters, you'll have to ask them yourself (good luck getting anything out of Lee. When she doesn't want anyone to know her reasons behind doing something it's like pulling teeth) but really, I just don't really know how to approach you. I never really thought about how to talk to you, and the first impression that we made for each other wasn't really the best.

"Yeah no kidding, taking us into their house, giving us food and replacing our wet clothes all in an attempt to let our guard down. I'm sure that they still have our clothes." Eddy muttered bitterly. Double-D sighed. "Eddy, it's not like we were the best guests to begin with." "Does it matter? Even if we were the perfect guests they still would've done what they did." Tellingly, Double-D didn't have an answer for that.

I mean it's not like I had anything to talk about with you. Science doesn't really interest me outside of Chemistry and Astronomy, the only Math that I like is Statistics, nonfiction doesn't interest me on any level outside of Art History, and I don't find discovering more knowledge just for the sake of knowledge a good use of my time. As for my own interests, I know you don't like sports, you're very disinterested in cars and I feel that I'll feel very dumb if I talk to you about art, mainly because I feel you'll know more about it than I will. And as an artist I find that kind of embarrassing. And now, I find myself in a position where even if I could find a way to talk to you about anything, this distance makes it nearly impossible.

I'm struggling here. I've presented myself as someone who I feel like I'm not. I've been making an effort to get along with my roommates, I've made friends for the first time in my life, I've been mostly respectful to my teachers (not Snape though. He doesn't deserve it), and I've been making an effort to enjoy where I am. And there is this charm to it. I like the rustic nature of the place. The sun rising over the massive forest just off the school grounds and it setting through the small channel that connects the fjord to the sea is one of the most relaxing sights I've ever seen and being able to live inside of an actual castle is something that I never thought that I'd enjoy experiencing. I like looking at the paintings and the suits of armor, walking along the many hidden passages and watching the owls deliver the mail at breakfast every morning. But I miss alot of things back home. I miss the deciduous trees back home as they change their colors from green to red, yellow and brown. All we have here are conifers. I also miss the river. The Black Lake is nice, even having a giant squid living in it, but it doesn't have the swift moving waters that I liked washing over me. And of course, this is a castle, and they are kind of big on historical preservation, so no heater and no electricity outside of anything battery operated. So the only thing electrical that works here are the radios and I've had to rely on oil and gas lamps for light. Because of how traditional everything is here, I feel like I'm stuck in the middle of the 19th century. I'm actually surprised that we have hot water heaters, let alone modern plumbing. Though I'm certain that I'm going to find some old drop hole somewhere, considering that this school is more than 1,000 years old.

Apologizes, I started to go on a bit of a tangent there. But this whole place feels isolating. Tends to happen when you're the only American at a school for English kids. Maybe I'm just not used to the fact that I have to stay here until June. Whenever class time ends I half expect to see a school bus ready to take me back home at the base of the mountain. And I haven't found someone who's family either isn't already here, or is going to come here in the future (least not the ones that aren't only children). So, my thoughts turn to home (at least whenever I'm not busy). And I find myself facing a lot of regret. I didn't leave my mother or elder sister on good terms, and now that I have the time to look at the things I did to you objectively, I find myself cringing in disgust. How can I say that I love you when I essentially brutalize you? How can I have this high opinion of you, and yet degrade you worse than Kevin on a bad day? I just look back at what I've done, who I was and in most cases still am and, I just absolutely loathe her (God, maybe my time here has been affecting me more than I thought because I certainly wouldn't have thought this back in August). I'm not sure just what will happen when I come home. Maybe I'll fall back into a familiar pattern and learn nothing or maybe I'll turn over a new leaf. Maybe somewhere in the middle, I don't know. I wouldness be myself if I wasn't unpredictable, though in this case I'm not sure if that's a good thing.

I hope Christmas is going well over there. Don't expect to see me around that time, I'm staying here. One of my friends' family are complete and utter a-holes and he's not leaving either, so I'm going to be helping him have an actual proper christmas this year. Try to enjoy it, I know I will (met a pair of twins that are the best pranksters I've ever met and I'm trying to convince them to take me on as their disciple). But seriously go wild, shove snow down Kevin's pants, drink alcoholic nog if you're feeling dangerous. Just get out of the house and do something stupid, you've done it plenty of times before. I'll see ya this summer and if you want me to write, well, send a reply back with the owl (I should ask Professor McGonagall if I could purchase a school bird, I really like this guy and I've seen him hanging out with Harry's bird, Hedwig, for the last few months. Harry and I could then be owl buddies). Have a Merry Christmas and don't let Ed eat any coal.

Sincerely, Marie

P.S. Can you send me a copy of The Great Gatsby, or The Killer Angels? I promised Runcorn that I'd get her some American literature to check out.

Double-D put the letter down on the desk. That entire thing had left him exhausted, as if that letter had dropped a quarter ton anvil on his head. He sat down and put his head in his hands as he tried to dispel the weariness from his soul. Ed and Eddy looked over at him in uncertainty. He finally sighed. "What do you guys say to just take a break on the ski resort idea and walk around town for a bit?" he asked wearily. Ed and Eddy quietly nodded. The three of them got their coats and headed out into the evening cold, Ed leaving a small bowl of water out for the owl they had nearly forgotten about.

The sky was unusually bright in winter. The white undisturbed snow on the ground reflected the light that had slipped through the thick layer of clouds up above and had tinged the sky a hazy purple that was nearly orange. Even though it was nearly seven, the streets were devoid of anyone or anything, the only sound being the buzzing of the street lights that circled the cul-de-sac. There was a dead serenity that hung in the air and weighed heavily on the trio as they breathed the air. The air was crisp and sharp, almost painfully to breath as it cut through their throats and stabbed the inside of their lungs, driving their bodies awake, each breath's continuous attack forcibly bringing them to a kind of hyperawareness, making them more focused on the slightest brush of the wind, the haze of fuss on the horizon that gave the illusion of a dying light bulb, the crunch of snow at their feet that sounded like a combination of crushed chip bags and gravel. Their breath lay thick on the air, like a cloud of cigar smoke, following them as they trudged towards the bus station. The ride was as silent as the night itself, nobody on it willing to talk about what they had just read on the barren bus.

When they got to town, it felt as if they had entered an oasis that had sprung up in the desolate tundra. Lights of blue, orange, green and red were strung from lamp posts and store fronts. The smells of gingerbread and peppermint coffee wafted through the air and garlands hung from every door. It was uplifting as the trio walked through the crowds of shoppers, listening to them talk about the holidays that were two weeks away, their vacation plans and about the family members that they were going to see. They spent some time silently window shopping before Double-D entered a bookstore. Eddy scowled as he followed after him.

"What do ya think you're doing?" Double-D winced. "I'm just looking around." "You're actually going to get that book for her? Why on earth are you doing that?" Eddy growled. "It's not for her, it's for someone else." "Semantics. Why are you doing a favor for her anyway?" Double-D didn't really understand why either. Eddy had a point about not needing to purchase a book gift for Marie. In fact Double-D didn't even want to. But he also knew that Marie would likely keep hounding him until he did, whether by letter or through May. "So that I don't have to deal with the headache." Eddy grew thoughtful at this. "You're right. You shouldn't have to get more than one letter from her. Let's get this over with." Double-D was rather relieved that Eddy didn't press the issue and gave him a small smile. "Thank you Eddy. Now let's find Ed before he eats a bookshelf."

After persuading Ed that no, cookbooks do not contain real food, the three of them set out across the bookstore to see if they could find some of the American literature that Marie had asked for. Ed wandered over to the comic section, where Double-D saw him reading a copy of All-Star Superman (his eyes flickering between reading the comic and glaring at the most recent edition of All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder. Double-D wondered why, but then again, he didn't really read comics), so he decided to leave him be. They initially tried looking through the romance section, but most of the works were from england and the ones they found from america were, let's say less than thrilling (Double-D in particular had to remind himself that arson was against the law after he finished skimming through Blood and Chocolate). So they abandoned that and decided to just focus on the kinds of books that Marie had requested, immersing themselves in the kinds of books that flooded middle school and high school book lists.

"Can you just pick something? We came to get that Runcorn girl a book, not for you to expand your own personal library." Eddy wasn't exaggerating as Double-D was surrounded by a small pile of thirty books that he was eagerly skimming through. "Oh this one would probably work, but then again I'm not sure she'll understand the subject matter. Maybe this one, this is well written. No, probably too long winded her our age. But maybe…" Eddy snapped his fingers in front of Double-D's face, bringing him out of his musings. "Hey, the store's closing in an hour and we don't have enough cash to get all of these. You need to narrow it down quickly. I didn't come down to town to spend it in a nerd store." "Eddy." Double-D said reproachfully. "A book store isn't a nerd store. Or should I start calling the store you and Kevin get your video games a 'nerd store'?" Eddy went silent and scowled. "Though you are right. We should get home before your parents get concerned." Eddy scoffed. "No kidding. That woman is practically smothering me the older I get." Double-D looked around the pile he had and picked up a copy of Of Mice and Men. "This should be a good introductory piece." "Finally," Eddy murmured. "Lets get Ed and see if the jawbreaker store is open."

After getting Ed and agreeing to buy his comic the trio went down to the checkout line. The line round around two long tables of books like a snake and the five checkout counters were all full. Eddy started tapping his foot in irritation as the trio slowly inched towards the front of the line. "Jeez, what's taking them so long?" "Early christmas shopping most likely." "This is insane! I mean look at that guy." Eddy pointed towards one of the stands where the cashier was scanning two large stacks of books for a middle aged man with dirty blonde hair and wire rim glasses who was wearing a business suit. "How many family members do you have that you need to get that many books? And how many of those family members actually like books?!" "Eddy, not everybody focuses on getting video games and sports equipment for christmas or for their birthdays." "Double-D, it would be a better world if that was the case." Double-D glared at him. "I'm not even gonna dignify that with a rebuttal."

Double-D looked away and scanned the new release shelf, figuring that he could get something for himself while he waited. As his eyes scanned the shelves, he caught something that surprised him. 'Hold on, this can't be right.' He reached out and pulled the book off the shelf and read the cover. 'It is. But why?' He leafed through it quickly, recognizing that it is rather well written, but it was still stunning to see something like this at that moment. 'I should put this back and keep looking. Fantasy isn't really for me anyway.' Just as he was about to put it back though, a thought entered his head. Not a sinister thought or even a vindictive one, but definitely a devious one.

"Hey Eddy, do you think this would help Marie's research?" Eddy turned to him, annoyed and exasperated, when he saw Double-D's sly grin. He looked at the book that was in Double-D's hands and read the title, a wicked grin growing on his face as he did so. "Yeah, I think it will. In fact, I think that that will be more helpful than the research we're giving her." "Well of course, after all this has more information than we can get from wikipedia and we want her to do her best, don't we?" Double-D replied faux politely. "Yeah, because if she ended up coming home due to our negligence, that would be a tragedy." Double-D pretended to look wistfully into the distance, his hand on his forehead. "Yes, we must do our best to keep here at the school so far away." Eddy draped an arm over his shoulder in consolation. "It is regretful that she has to be so far away from us, but it is for the best." The two of them chuckled as they approached the cashier. "Hello there. Did you have a good time finding what you're looking for?" Eddy gave his best suave smile. "Indeed we did sweetcheeks. The holidays seem to make even shopping better." Double-D noticed the cashier, who looked to be at least seven years older than them, roll her eyes as she scanned the books and swiped their card. "Indeed sirs, you have a nice day now." Eddy fingered banged the cashier as they left, heading out with his friends back into the snow, their troubles temporarily forgotten.