Hello! Lately I've been drowning my self in Harry Potter material to keep from succumbing to withdrawal (it's over, it's so sad!) so in the meantime I forgot to write and I kinda struggled to finish this chapter today so it might have some errors (more than usually, I mean).

To all of you adorable reviewers:

Jolly001: Thank you for your understanding. Sam will be around…

Red Hardy: Thank you so much!

Thunderknight: Thanks for still reading!

Shallowbunny: Thanks for the encouragement!

Whitetigers: Thank you for commenting!

Dr drew: Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Mom: Thank you for… wait, she hasn't read a word of what I've ever written… not that I'd allow her to… so no thanks to her…

XOXOXOX

Life of the Party

The next day Joe woke up a little before noon when Frank knocked on his door and entered without waiting for permission.

The day before had passed uneventfully as far as the boys were concerned. After much fun at the Morton farm they had given Callie and Biff rides back home and then went to see Tony at Mr. Pizza because of a school assignment and ended up eating pizzas for dinner with the Prito-family. Then they had returned home, gotten reprimanded by their aunt for not finishing their work in the garage, and gone to their rooms to finish some studies. By then, their father still wasn't back and after calling Sam Radley, Gertrude had shooed them to bed.

"So what happened?" Frank eagerly asked.

"Huh?" Joe blinked, still half asleep.

-"With Iola? Yesterday?"

-"Oh. That," Joe smiled at the impatience in Frank's voice. "Well, we're going together to Fabiana's party so that's something…."

"I knew it," Frank grinned and Joe threw a pillow at him. Frank threw it back and then acted like he was going to jump on the bed.

"Don't you…UH!" Joe exclaimed but his words got muffled under Frank's weight.

They wrestled for a while until Joe managed to push his brother off. "There! Take that…" then he suddenly froze. "My god… What am I going to wear?"

They both burst out laughing.

After the laughing fit had passed, Joe looked seriously at Frank. "Is dad home?"

XOXOXOX

Gertrude entered her brother's bedroom and closed the door behind her. The stale air smelled bad and she breathed through her mouth while she shook Fenton by the shoulder.

"Fenton, where were you last night?" He just turned on his other side and Gertrude snapped, her worries turning into fury. "Answer me, damn it!"

Fenton groaned and sat up in the bed. "I was talking to Michael Hooper…"

"Were you drinking again?" she asked angrily.

He didn't answer.

Gertrude nodded knowingly. "Watch out, Fenton. It's an easy pit to fall into; almost impossible to get back out."

XOXOXOX

"Is dad ok?" Frank asked while he and Joe were eating breakfast which was really lunch.

Gertrude's lips were drawn in a thin line. "He will be… I hope," the last words she muttered to herself.

The doorbell rang.

Joe stood up to answer it.

"Oh, Mr. Hooper, hi," he greeted a little surprised, not knowing what he could be doing there. His aunt was being very discreet about his father's goings.

"Hello, Joe," Michael greeted back, "Is your dad up yet?"

-"No, actually he's not but…"

-"You don't mind me going upstairs and see how he's doing, do ya?" the tall man cut in and brushed past Joe without waiting for an answer, leaving the teen confused.

"O-K… Help yourself then," he muttered and closed the door.

XOXOXOX

Fenton growled annoyed at the sound of someone knocking, thinking it must be Gertrude. "What is it?" he asked in a gruff tone.

The door opened and Michael Hooper came in. "Hey, I see last night was hard on you, huh?"

"You have no idea; my head's splitting," Fenton said.

Michael shrugged. "Actually, I do. Which is why I brought you this, it's gonna feel better, I promise." He pulled up a flask from the inside pocket of his jacket.

Not caring what it took to rid him of the headache, Fenton accepted it and took a big sip from it. Then he handed it back to its owner who –before downing some of its content for company -lifted it in a 'cheers' manner; "To the Hell that is life!"

XOXOXOX

Life still went on. Slowly. Almost like it was teasing him: "Look, you're going to live for a long time and die in your bed at an old age, near sightless and with gray hair. –All alone." After the weekend, came another week. The boys went to school and Sam came to the conclusion that getting Fenton's mind off of past events was the best way for him to carry on. So he found him a case to solve. Something simple to begin with.

Fenton looked at paper before him incredulously. "Tax fraud? Embezzlement?"

Sam looked back at him. "What? Is that below you?"

Fenton shook his head. "No, that's not what I meant. It's just… Isn't this a police matter?"

"The man was convicted. His mother –a Mrs. Sanderson -believes he was framed, she wants us to find out who did it," Sam was watching Fenton with a critical eye. He cocked his head to the side. "Are you not ready?"

-"Yes, I am. God, I am. –I'm dying to get out of this house. But this report seems to indicate…well, all the evidence seem to lead to this man."

Sam smirked. "Well, you know them mothers. They can be more stubborn than the Devil."

Fenton smiled a little, trying to hide the sting of pain in his heart at Sam's implication. He wanted to get away from that subject.

"What are you going to do?"

Sam sighed. "I'm still trying to track down the person who set you up the other day. He's good at hiding. But I'll get him, don't worry."

Fenton nodded. "All right, let's get back to business."

XOXOXOX

All the Hardys felt that the week passed surprisingly fast and almost normally –except of course for the hollow space that Laura had left in everybody's' heart when she left this world.

By the end of the week only Callie and Chet had asked Frank and Joe 'how they were doing.'

Joe got a B-plus on a history pop quiz and celebrated with his friends at Mr. Pizza.

Fenton solved his case.

Sam and Ethel came by late in the afternoon. Fenton was finishing his report.

Sam tapped on the door. "Fenton? How's it going?"

Fenton looked up from his laptop. "Fine. Hello, Ethel."

Sam's wife smiled. "Hello to you too, how are you?"

Fenton looked away. He hated the sympathy in her voice. He cleared his throat. "Just fine." He looked back at Sam. "Simple case. Mr. Sanderson did it after all. But he almost had me when he framed his working partner to make it look like he had been framed himself –stashed some documents at his home. But I managed to get a hold of his telephone and e-mail records…" while talking, Fenton found himself staring at the couple's entwined fingers and it annoyed the hell out of him; the way Sam unknowingly rubbed the back of Ethel's hand with his thumb. He wanted them to stop but couldn't say it. So he tore his eyes away from the sight and looked back at the laptop screen while speaking. "I repaid Mrs. Sanderson."

Sam frowned a little before he nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess that makes sense…"

None of them spoke for a while.

"Are the boys at home?" Sam then asked.

Fenton nodded. "Yes. Yes, they were coming from the mall. They're going to a party tonight."

XOXOXOX

Frank was coming from the shower and passing his brother's room when something caught his eye. He stopped and peeked through the doorway.

Joe stood in front of a human-sized mirror and admired himself while putting hair wax into his damp hair. Then he noticed Frank looking him up and down and smiled.

"What?"

Frank crossed his arms and tried to suppress the grin. "Joe… I… I just have to ask –the leather pants?"

Joe turned around to face him. He was also grinning. "What about them? Iola said they'd look hot."

His older brother sneered. "Oh! Iola said they'd look hot," he mimicked.

"Screw you, Frank," Joe shook his head but blushed a little. He swung a light-blue Burberry-patterned shirt over his shoulders and pulled the sleeves over his arms. "When do we pick up Callie?"

Frank looked at his watch. "In 30 minutes or so. Iola's coming with Chet?"

Joe nodded. "Naturally." He rubbed his hands together. "Now, let's see what we can do about that hair of yours."

-"Hm? What's wrong with it?" Frank instinctively brought up a hand to his head.

Joe gave him a sympathetic smile. "Wavy just isn't your style, bro."

XOXOXOX

The Prito family was large. There had been a gathering for the adults over the day and the last of them were leaving when the first teens arrived. Giancarlo and Isabella Prito had five children; Tony being the youngest and the only son, a year younger than Fabiana. Their older sisters; Elettra, Domenica and Antonella were all over twenty years old. Elettra and Domenica were in college while Antonella had gone back to Italy to study architecture so Fabiana and Antonio were the only ones still living with their parents.

The Pritos had a large basement, decorated as a recreation room for the teens. That was where the youngsters gathered.

The floor vibrated with the strong beat of the loud techno music as the teenagers filled it bit by bit. A table with multi-colored sodas was in one corner of the room. Maybe someone spiked some of them with something stronger, who knew? Beside that table there was another table full of plates with pizza slices, canapés and bruschetta and the spice smell hovered faintly in the air. The lights had been dimmed except for the flashers that made all movements slower and more exotic.

Fabiana had long black hair and eyelashes, dark sparkling eyes and she was wearing a black, short skirt and a black bikini top under a football jacket with the name of the team on it and a peaked cap with the name of the soccer team as she took interest in most sports. She was the head cheerleader and adored by most boys of the school as her two older sisters had been before her -so no one as much as thought about picking on Tony.

She greeted all of her guests with kisses on both cheeks.

"Hi, guys! Welcome, did you bring me presents?" she asked the Hardy brothers and Callie when they arrived, with a gleam in her eyes.

"Hi, Fab…We just might have," Joe smiled as he conjured up the wrapped gift from behind his back and was rewarded with a peck on each cheek. "Hey, have you seen Iola around?" he then asked.

She nodded as she shook the present against her ear. "Uh-huh, she's somewhere talking to Tony and Diego. Oh and Joe, I really like your pants…"

Joe grinned and turned briefly to his brother and his girlfriend who were simultaneously rolling their eyes. "Catchya guys later." And then he was off.

"Well, it's ridiculous. I mean, seriously, how can football be 'football' when you don't touch the ball with your freaking foot?" Tony, a soccer team player, raised an eyebrow at Biff who was a football player.

Diego Santoro, another soccer team member, nodded in agreement. "Exactly." Then he noticed Joe coming towards them. "Hey, Hardy… Wow, that pimp-look really suits you…"

Joe smiled sweetly. "As the loser-look suits you, Santoro."

They weren't enemies although they weren't exactly friends either. They were on different sport teams. There was certain coolness they had to maintain.

"What should one call it then?" Biff said, continuing their earlier conversation.

"Rugby," Diego answered.

"Legal brutality?" Tony suggested.

"That's a whole different thing…" Biff said, ignoring Tony.

Joe observed a smiling Iola who was sitting on a table, watching the boys amusedly.

Diego turned his eyes towards her. "Hey, what did you say your name was? Julia? How come I haven't noticed you before?"

Iola snorted. "It's Iola… and I've noticed you, Diego… you used to pick on my brother a lot back in the days."

"Oh…" Diego looked embarrassed. "Um, who's your brother?"

"Chet Morton," Biff answered, "He's my friend." -Yet another reason why Biff couldn't stand Diego.

"Oh…" Diego repeated and then shrugged, "Well, I've matured since then." He leered at the girl.

Iola frowned, stood up and approached Joe.

"Hey. You look…" he really wanted to say 'beautiful' but didn't want to come off too cheesy, "Great."

She was wearing a wine-colored halter top, a short denim skirt, fishnet stockings and low-soled suede boots. "So do you," she said and smirked. "I told you those pants would look hot on you."

Joe laughed and looked over the room and then back at Iola. "You wanna dance?"

XOXOXOX

'God, I'm bored,' Fenton thought to himself. He was alone in the house and hadn't a clue where Gertrude had gone.

Every single TV channel was boring, all the paper work was finished and he was running out of those peanuts that had occupied his time for a while.

He drummed his fingers on the arm of the sofa while thinking. He felt like life had just stopped. At least his life. He suddenly wished he was younger and had more things to do. 'Is this like a middle-age crisis?' he wondered. He was only 42. No, his pointless thoughts were just a way of avoiding even more pointless thoughts –thoughts of Laura.

He quickly stood up from the sofa and grabbed the phone and dialed 411.

"Hello? Good evening, could you please give me Michael Hooper's cell phone number….?"

XOXOXOX

Iola flopped onto a chair next to Callie. She leaned her head on her friend's shoulder and sighed deeply. "Life is good. –And if the next song will be a slow one, it'll be perfect."

Callie smiled. "You're weird."

-"What? Why?

-"Because it's Joe Hardy you're talking about."

-"I know. Isn't he just the very embodiment of hotness?"

-"Speak for yourself."

-"Why are you so grumpy?"

Callie sighed. "It's nothing. It's just…Lydia."

Iola looked up and noticed a blond curly haired girl talking to Frank. Lydia Lachlan. She was one of Fabiana's friends and the next most wanted girl in the school. She was rather known to be a nympho and she had that 'naughty-girl'-stereotype reputation.

Iola shook her head. "I wouldn't worry too much. She's not his type. Frank wants smart girls."

"He's still a guy. I mean, look at that, could she expose herself any further?" Callie watched the girl disgustedly.

"Well, if she bends over, she's in trouble," Iola remarked.

As if on a cue Lydia dropped her purse. The two friends groaned painfully as she bent down to pick it up and the boys around her whistled.

Frank walked over to his girlfriend and handed her a glass of soda. "There you go."

"Thanks. Is all well with the queen of Slutland?" Callie nodded towards Lydia.

Frank and Iola exchanged brief sympathetic but amused looks. Then Frank put his glass down and came to stand behind Callie. He gently pulled the hair behind her ears and reached down to kiss the top of her head. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous," he said into her hair.

"What, are you kidding me? She's killing me," Callie whimpered although she was enjoying the caresses.

"But she's so…" Frank paused to breath in her smell, "Easy…. Where's the fun in that?"

Callie turned her head a little bit, wanting his lips on hers but he teasingly pulled back and kissed the side of her neck and nibbled on her earlobe instead.

Iola was getting restless beside them. "Eh...erm… I think I'll just leave you two and go find Joe now…"

She passed her brother Chet where he was trying to steady a quite drunk Fabiana. She only stopped to give him a mischievous wink when he turned his desperate eyes to her.

A slow song started playing and Iola smiled when she noticed Joe coming out of the bathroom, towards her. They met in the middle of dance floor and he pulled her into his arms, wrapping them around her waist. She leaned her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes and murmured: "Mmh. Life is good."

Chet wasn't sure what to do. Fabiana clung tightly to him even though she wasn't that drunk. She could very well stand on her own. She was just a little… jolly –and then a little moody and whiny in between.

"Come on, Fab. Let's get you outside. I think you need a little fresh air," he finally said. He led her up the stairs and out to the back yard. She brushed the dry snow off the porch and sat down and he sat beside her.

She sighed. "You know, Chet, everyone just see me as a piece of ass."

Chet was bewildered. Where was that coming from? He cleared his throat uneasily. "And… you don't think you're giving them a reason to?"

"That's not the point."

Chet waited.

"All the guys around here are just trying to get me to bed with them, they never want to stick around to see if there's anything more to me. I'm not even worth of a second go…"

Combined with the fact that she was sliding her hand over his chest, he was starting to understand the tone of her voice and implications of her actions.

"What makes you think I feel any differently?" he asked stiffly.

She laughed. "Because… you're a nice guy, Chet, and tonight, when you could have taken me up to the bedroom, you took me out here."

"I don't take advantage of my friends," he answered.

-"See?"

Chet shook his head. What the hell was happening here? "Look, why don't we go back in now? I think you've had enough fresh air."

"Will you dance with me then?" she blinked at him.

-"Fab…"

-"Pleeease."

-"Whatever," Chet rolled his eyes.

He helped her to her feet and led her back inside. When they were downstairs, she dragged him into the middle of the crowd on the floor. Since he wasn't sure what to do she put his hand on her waist where she wanted them and wrapped her arms around his neck. With a petrified expression Chet turned his head from side to side and noticed people looking, Biff and Tony smirked and raised their glasses.

Chet just gulped.

XOXOXOX

It was about two a.m. when the Haryds, Mortons, Callie and Biff went outside for air.

"Hey, guys, wanna go for a drive? My feet will fall off if I dance much more," Joe complained.

Iola smiled, nodding. "I'd like that."

"Sure, why not? Night's young and all," Biff shrugged.

"Your car, Chet?" Frank said in an agreement.

"You bet," Chet glancing half-panicked at the door.

"Anything to show off the car, huh, Chet?" Callie raised an eyebrow.

"Anything to get away from Fabiana," Chet corrected.

Biff shook his head. "The hottest girl in school-" Callie and Iola shot him narrow-eyed glances. "I'm sorry –one of the hottest girls in school wants you and you run away with tail between your legs?"

Chet didn't answer but headed towards the car, fumbling in his pockets for the keys.

"Hey, Chet, can I try it out?" Joe asked hopefully.

Chet gazed at him. "My car?"

-"Oh, come on! Just a little…"

-"Did you drink anything tonight?"

-"Loads. But nothing spiked. Chet, I promise, I'd feel it. And I've got all of you to look after me, ok?" Joe reasoned, meaning Chet, Biff and his brother who all had driver's licenses.

"Fine, but if you ruin anything I swear to God…" Chet threatened.

-"Lighten up, it's gonna be fine," Joe snatched the key from his friend's hands.

There was a middle seat in the front of the car in which Iola sat with her brother next to her on the passenger side. Biff sat behind Chet, Callie in the middle and Frank beside her behind Joe.

Although he had only been driving for a few months under supervision, Joe was good at it. He confidently shifted gears without looking at the stick or without the car yanking as he did so. He took it as a compliment when he looked into the rearview mirror and saw that his brother was paying no attention to his driving but was focusing on this girlfriend's lips. Joe smirked and moved his hand to the gear shift since they were nearing a red traffic light. His hand brushed something warm. He quickly looked down. Iola's thigh. If she had felt it, she didn't mind because she didn't move away.

After some time he reached the conclusion that she had put her leg there deliberately because he kept brushing against her skin and she did nothing. Joe wished her older brother wasn't sitting beside her or he would have just left his hand there.

Despite the cold, the young people of Bayport seemed to be in a gallivanting-mood this night. Although the traffic was slow, it was quite heavy. The sound of people laughing inside the bars and the music of the night clubs was easily heard on the street. People tripped on the icy sidewalks, whether it was because of too much alcohol or high heels. Teens they knew from school waved or nodded at them and two or three showed fists or made vulgar gestures. 'Base ball teammate' each of the boys thought to themselves, except Frank who didn't notice. He and Callie were still making out.

Suddenly Biff gasped sharply.

Joe looked into the rearview mirror. "What is it?"

"Can we park somewhere close?" Biff asked between clenched teeth.

"I'll try," Joe said and looked around. Luckily a car was leaving its spot in front of a bar and Joe hurried to take its place.

The car had barely stopped when Biff rushed out; slamming the door behind him so harshly that Chet winced.

The teens all turned in their seats to see what Biff was up to. Their eyes landed on the enormous blond man. He was reeling dangerously on the slippery street. Someone grabbed his arm but toppled himself.

Frank and Joe's eyes widened. They exchanged brief looks and both dashed out of the car.

"Dad!" Frank exclaimed.

Biff stood in front of the two men with his arms crossed and shook his head disgustedly.

"You're sickening," he said icily, pointing the words towards his father.

Michael clumsily wiped the stupid grin off his face. "It's nottin', Allen, surreshly, we're just…" he slurred.

"Oh, shut up!" Biff said angrily. "Does mom know you went out?"

"I'm a grown man, I don't haffta report erything I do t'er…" his father also sounded like he was getting angry.

Although Biff was large compared to many of his peers, Michael towered over him but the boy didn't falter under his gaze. "Well, you look like a baby to me."

Fenton decided to come to Michaels aid. "Now, now, Biff… he's your father, you should show him-"

"Respect?" Biff quirked an eyebrow and looked back at his dad. "Why? When have you ever shown us respect?"

No one said a word. Only sounds of visible breaths.

Biff groaned. "You know what? Forget it. Let's just get you home."

"Allen…" Michael began.

"Dad," Biff said, "You were supposed to watch over Jimmy tonight, remember?" Jimmy was Biff's 12 year old brother. He had recently come down with a bad cold and then the flu.

"I assure you that at the moment I have no qualms about knocking you out if that's what it takes," Biff eyes shone with fury.

The Hardy brothers shifted uncomfortably. This was an uncomfortable scene. As raged as Biff looked, he seemed to have it all under control, like perhaps, he was used to this kind of thing. He grabbed his father's arm and held him still as if he thought he'd try and run away while he groped his pockets for his cell phone. He turned to his friends.

"Hey, guys, you just take your dad home, I'm calling a cab."

"Biff, are you sure…?" Frank started.

-"I've got it," the blond boy interrupted. "Just go."

Frank nodded reluctantly and took his own staggering father's arm and led him to the car with Joe following.

While all this had been going on Chet had moved to the driver's seat and Callie to the front passenger seat so Fenton sat in the middle in the back with each son on his sides.

The drive home was silent but full of thoughts.

XOXOXOX

Ahem. Again with the editing skills… It just kind of stretched, and I thought the characters deserved a little fun too, anyway…

Like I said before, I haven't been writing since I read Harry Potter and so I don't know whether I'll manage to write a whole chapter in a week, I honestly doubt that since work doesn't leave much time for such difficult tasks so the story may very well be going on hiatus for a while (isn't that the word you use?)… but school starts soon and amazingly enough that'll probably leave me with more free time than summer vacation… But for now it's all kind of uncertain.