Disclaimer: If I owned Harry Potter, do you think I would be writing FanFiction? Didn't think so; I am not the owner of the recognizable characters, places, ideas, etc… I shall never own Harry Potter, unless I win the lottery and purchase him from J.K. in a strange takeover situation; but I highly doubt she's selling, anyway.
IMPORTANT: For all of you following the story, I screwed up last chapter a bit; the part about naming godparents. I went back and changed it, but to save you all time the godparents are as follows: Remus & Rina godparents to Neville, Lily & James godparents to Callidora & Arcturus, Sirius & Rose godparents to Harry & Hallie, Frank & Alice godparents to Mira & Carina and Regulus & Holly godparents to Lucinda. Also, I said before that Ted was a muggle; he is not, he's just muggleborn. You can forget the part about him needing special spells to see Hogwarts and what-not. Sorry for the confusion!
WARNING: This chapter contains a slight torture scene; while it may not be that bad, I just thought I'd warn you anyway. It's in Alice's POV if you want to avoid it, but it's really not that bad and the rest of the POV is very important so you should read it.
Chapter 11: Heaven and Hell
Song: Far Away
By: Nickelback
-James' POV-
James was sat in the living room with Lily, Hallie and Harry. It was about four days until they would leave for their vacation and they were all looking forward to the trip. They were playing peek-a-boo; or, rather, James was playing with the kids while Lily watched. They had been playing for a few hours, but it never seemed to get old. Cover your eyes, say 'where'd you go' a few times in a mock-confused voice, and then take your hands down, smile and say 'peek-a-boo, I see you'. It was highly entertaining to watch the twins' reactions. Harry would giggle and Hallie would squeal in delight, their faces crinkling up with laughter.
"You know, I'd bet anything they both make prefect then Heads; it only makes sense, doesn't it? I can't wait to see what they're going to accomplish; it will be simply amazing, what with their magical ability and their smarts. It's going to be amazing." Lily said, sliding off the couch and onto the floor with the others, taking Hallie in her arms. "My little Head Girl, she's going to do so well."
"And Harry, don't forget future Head Boy and Gryffindor Quidditch Captain. He'll be just like his dad, and Hallie will be just like you; smart, beautiful, fun, everything. Hogwarts won't know what hit it when these two get there."
"You got that right; they won't know what to do with themselves with eight Mini-Marauders running about. How ever will Minnie cope with it all?" Lily said with fake sarcasm in her voice. "I can't wait to take them shopping for wands and their school books and robes. It'll be wonderful, won't it?" she had changed her tone to one of wonderment and excitement.
"That it will; of course, we'll have to get them quidditch gear as well, they'll have to be properly equipped. Oh, and think of their first time to Florean's. All that ice-cream, they won't know what to do with themselves." They both laughed; the twins had been given a bit of ice cream one day when Sirius had wanted to see what they'd make of it. They had both enjoyed it, apparently, as both had wanted more.
"I wonder what their first words will be; Harry's will probably be something to do with Sirius, with the amount of time the man spends with him. Hallie is more of a mystery; I think she's going to be a daddy's girl though."
"You think? That would be great, I just hope Harry isn't a momma's boy; we don't need him getting picked on by Sirius' kids." James chuckled at the thought; his and Sirius' kids would be growing up together and would probably be best friends like James and Sirius were. James stood up then. He lifted Harry up and began tossing him gently into the air and catching him. Harry smiled and giggled madly, enjoying his flight. "He's a natural born flyer, this one. He'll have no problems on a broom; I'll have to start teaching him soon, not that he'll need much instruction." James was grinning broadly at the prospect of passing on some of his knowledge to his children. He bent over and took Hallie from Lily, giving her Harry. "Let's see how she does," James began doing the same thing. Hallie lifted her arms up above her head and laughed and squealed with joy. "Her as well then; we've got ourselves a quidditch team in the making here."
Lily laughed at James' fantasizing. "So long as they're both happy and healthy, then I'll be good."
"Yeah; the rest of the stuff is just bonuses." James put Hallie down next to Harry, sitting up against the couch. James was watching his children attempt to play peek-a-boo with each other.
They had mastered the fine art of rolling over a few weeks ago; the first few nights they were able to do it, Lily had panicked thinking that they would roll over in their sleep and smother themselves. As a result of that fear, they had slept without anything but one blanket for a week until Lily felt they would be safe with other things in their cribs again. The two stopped playing peek-a-boo and were now looking at the TV stand in the corner of the room.
Hallie began rocking back and forth, like she was trying to propel herself forward. Harry started trying to 'help' her by putting his hands on her back. She eventually managed to get forward onto her hands and knees. Harry then started doing the same thing until he too was on his hands and knees. Lily and James just watched, wondering what new development would occur and what their children were up to.
Harry and Hallie began crawling, their first time ever, towards the TV stand. Lily and James were grinning profusely now; their children had just learned to crawl. When they reached the cabinet, they began to reach up for something. James looked and saw their rattles. He was just getting up to grab them, as they were out of the reach of the two babies, but they began floating down. James, shocked by this, turned to look at Hallie and then Harry. The little boy had stopped trying to get up and had a determined look on his face. Hallie had stopped trying to reach the rattles by now. Both of the rattles landed in front of Harry, and then Hallie got the same concentrated look and one of them levitated over to her.
"What in the name of Merlin was that?" James asked.
"Their magic is starting to develop. Dumbledore did say about three or four months, so I suppose it's natural; well, natural for them. We should firecall him; he wanted to hear when their magic began to develop." Neither Lily nor James wanted to go though, so they resolved to tell him the next time they saw him. They figured it could wait because nobody had been hurt and it was a simple enough bit of magic.
Lily and James sat there for a while, watching their children play. They sat like that for an hour or so, watching as Harry or Hallie would levitate something over to them if they couldn't reach it. The two adults were mesmerized by the control the twins seemed to possess over their magic already. It was a short while later that Lily spoke.
"I think they're ready for a nap, they're starting to rub at their eyes." Lily and James took them upstairs to the nursery. Lily took them both in her arms and sat in the rocking chair, gently rocking back and forth and singing softly.
Baby mine don't you cry;
Baby mine dry your eyes.
Rest your head;
Close to my heart;
Never to part;
Baby of mine.
James was sitting next to them on the floor, leaned up against one of the cribs, listening raptly. Lily was so beautiful, his children were wonderful. This was a perfect moment; one that James would treasure all his life. He mentally took a picture of the scene, memorizing everything about it; what the room looked like, what it smelled like, what Lily and the kids were wearing, how she sounded. Her voice, a gentle caress, continued on with the song.
Little one when you play;
Pay no heed what they say.
Let your eyes sparkle and shine;
Never a tear;
Baby of mine.
James was absolutely enthralled; he couldn't explain why, but he was captivated by the scene and he never wanted it to end. He was smiling broadly, looking forward to many more moments like this one. He often missed the times Lily sang to their children, but he vowed to be there every time from now on; he didn't want to miss another moment like this one.
If they knew all about you;
They'd end up loving you to.
All those same people who scold you;
What they'd give just for the right to hold you.
James was beginning to drift off now as well. While Harry and Hallie could sleep through the night, Mira and Carina were still having difficulties making it the whole night and those two could wake the dead with their screaming if they tried; not to mention Neville was slightly colicky and had been sleeping at odd intervals and screaming when he was awake. James was being lulled by the music and enjoying every moment of it. It was so peaceful just then, at that place. He wanted to stay in his peaceful haven with Lily and their children, leaving the war wrought world to the others.
From your head down to your toes;
You're not much goodness knows.
But you're so precious to me;
Sweet as can be;
Baby of mine.
By the time Lily had finished the song, the children had fallen asleep. James smiled at the pure blissfulness of the scene. He got up, slightly dazed, and took Hallie from Lily to put her in her crib. He smiled down at his daughter, adding to his memory just how perfect she was, laying there with her eyes closed and a slight smile on her face, wrapped up in her blanket and cuddling a teddy bear. He and Lily switched places at the cribs, as they did whenever they put the kids to bed together.
He walked over to Harry's crib and watched his son sleep. Another addition to his perfect memory was added; that of his son covered by a blanket, sleeping peacefully, with a stuffed dog, a smile firmly in place on his face. He couldn't help but be soothed by the sight. He and Lily walked got up, closed the curtains and turned on a nightlight. On their way out, they closed the door gently so as not to disturb the children.
They went back down to the living room, both smiling contentedly. This was more than they ever could have hoped for when they began their lives together; blissful, peaceful, joyous lives with their friends, children, and each other. They sat down on the couch, Lily putting her head in James' lap and James putting his arm loosely around her neck. They sat in silence for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet that was hard to come by nowadays. The silence was broken by James, who got curious about their friends' whereabouts.
"Where did everyone get off to anyway?" he asked his wife, who always seemed to know everything.
"Frank, Alice and Neville went out to lunch with Mrs. Longbottom; they won't be back until after supper." It seemed that James wouldn't be disappointed in Lily's extreme wealth of knowledge. "Rose, Sirius, Calla and A.P. went to Hogwarts to visit Andy and Ted, Dora loves playing with the kids, they also won't be back until after dinner; Remus, Rina and Lucinda are at Rina's parents, they'll be spending the night I think; and Regulus, Holly, Mira and Carina are visiting Holly's parents' house, Regulus wants them to know some of their biological grandparents, they'll also be gone for the night. That sums it up, I guess. You know what that means?" Lily had a devilish look on her face, and the mischievous grin currently spreading itself across James' face matched it perfectly.
"We have the house all to ourselves until the kids wake up. I say we put it to good use," James wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. Even though they were extremely tired, they still liked to make time for each other. James leaned down and gently placed a kiss upon each of Lily's ears, and then he moved to her forehead, trailing down to her eyes next. He placed another kiss on her nose, then on each of her cheeks and finally on her lips. They stayed like that for a while, enjoying the shared moment and not wanting it to be broken by movement.
"Let's go upstairs," Lily suggested when they finally had to break.
"Too far, let's just stay here," James countered.
"And if someone comes in?"
"Then they can sod off."
"Upstairs, James, or this will stay a snog session."
"I'm too tired to go all the way upstairs. Let's just stay here; we have hours before anyone is expected home and we should enjoy that time."
"Not like that down here, we won't."
"Wait, I have an idea to suit the both of us." He pulled out his wand and said a silent spell, aiming it at the ceiling. Not a moment later, something silvery was floating down the stairs. It was James' invisibility cloak. James smirked at his ingenious idea, but quickly changed it to a mock-serious face. "What do you say, all or nothing; completely invisible to all but Alastor."
"It does have a certain amount of appeal, I must say that. But still, what if…"
"That's what the privacy wards will be for; they'll alert us if someone comes into the house. This shouldn't be this difficult, really it shouldn't. We're a married couple in our own house; our own empty house."
Lily didn't need any further prompting than that statement and she didn't say anything back, just began kissing James. She sat up, grabbed the cloak with one hand while firmly holding onto James' hair with the other. She leaned into him and pushed him back into the couch, throwing the cloak over them, making James grunt in surprise. They began stripping each other of all clothing that would take away from their plans; in their opinion, this meant all of their clothes came off. They barely stopped kissing to carry out the act of disrobing each other. They were just about to move on from kissing to something more pleasurable, when one of the secrecy sensors went off.
They both froze, not knowing who was coming. Lily began putting on some of her more basic clothing on the off chance it was Moody. She had her jeans back on, and was moving towards her top as discreetly as she could manage, when Mrs. Longbottom came in.
"Is anyone home?" she called out.
Lily slipped on her shirt and pulled out from under the cloak, leaving James covered as he still had to dress. She made it look as though she had just woken up from a nap on the couch. Pretend yawning, she popped her head up to address the woman.
"What's the problem, Mrs. Longbottom? Weren't you out to lunch with Frank, Alice and Neville?" It was then that Lily noticed Neville being cradled in his grandmother's arms.
"I was, but there was an attack. Frank and Alice fought some Death Eaters; it seems that there was a break in at Azkaban last night. Well, that Lestrange woman was there with her husband and his brother. Nasty business, nasty business; she attacked my Frank, and when Alice saw she went to finish the fight but she was attacked as well. They're at St. Mungo's right now, being treated. I'm not sure how they are yet; first I owled Dumbledore then I came here."
Lily had gasped when she heard her friends had been attacked. James, at least, had the sense to keep quiet and stay covered; he knew Lily wouldn't want to have to answer questions just then. She had gotten up, and he guessed walked over to Mrs. Longbottom; he couldn't see much of anything as he was still trying to wrestle himself into his jeans and remain under the cloak and silent. When did spending personal time with your wife become such a hard task?
"Why don't you go to the hospital and leave Neville with us. You can go see how Frank and Alice are doing; we'll take care of him. It's nap time anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem. We'll work on contacting the others as well."
"Thank you Lily that would be most helpful. I'll be going now." James heard some shuffling of feet and guessed that it was safe for him to come out of his hiding spot. He took off the cloak and sat up, searching for his shirt in the many folds of invisible fabric. He looked up and saw Mrs. Longbottom trying to suppress a laugh. She shook her head at him.
"You don't have to explain anything to me, sonny; I know exactly where you're coming from. Why, I remember sometimes when Frank was a small one, Mortimer and I would…" she trailed off, shaking her head; much to the relief of James. "Well, you don't want to be hearing about an old woman's love affairs. Your wife went upstairs to tend to Neville; I was just about to leave when I thought maybe I should go check on him one last time. I'll leave that to you; so long." She left the room chuckling and shaking her head. Well, at least someone else has a sense of humor at times like this and it's not just me and Sirius.
James went up to see how Lily was faring after the news. He found her in Neville's nursery, singing to him with tears in her eyes. He went over and knelt down in front of her, placing a hand on her knee. "They'll be alright, love." He kissed her cheek softly and brushed the tears from her eyes with his thumb.
He got up and went to contact the others then, leaving Lily to take care of Neville. Sirius and Rose would be told by Dumbledore once he received the owl, so he went to fire-call Holly's and Rina's parents' houses. Once that was done, he went back upstairs to Harry and Hallie's nursery; he stopped to make sure Lily was alright on the way up. He found them awake, looking at each other as though they were having a conversation; I suppose they could be, with all the different powers they posses, why not conversations with each other mentally.
He took them out of their cribs and brought them down to where Lily and Neville were; she was reading to him now, so he sat down with their kids and listened in. Once Lily had concluded Goodnight Moon, Neville was asleep. She put him in his bed and cast a monitoring charm to be sure she would know if anything amiss happened. They went downstairs again, the atmosphere completely different from that mornings.
"What did the others say?" Lily asked.
"Regulus said to keep them updated, but that they couldn't leave yet; Holly's mum has taken them hostage and barely let him answer the firecall, she misses Holly. Remus said that they'd be here shortly; they have to scour the house for all the toys and other things they brought. I didn't bother calling Sirius and Rose, because they'll get the message from Dumbledore, but they should be coming home anytime now as well. However, I should firecall the school to ask if there'll be a meeting so we can set up." He got up without another word and went to do just that.
"Albus, should we set up for a meeting?" James asked his old headmaster once his head was in the office.
"If you could James that would be lovely. I'll send out the message to everyone; the usual crowd, if you could be prepared for them, should be there within the half hour."
James pulled his head out of the fire and took a moment to let the spinning sensation currently taking place in his head cease. He got up and called in Tinker, asking her to prepare some food and drinks. He then went to the dining hall to conjure up the extra chairs. Once that was done, people had started to arrive. Andy, Ted, Sirius and Rose were there first. Ted wasn't a member, but he watched all the little ones. He had considered joining, but had thought better of it.
"What's this about Frank and Alice?" Sirius asked.
"There was a break in at Azkaban. Apparently, they were attacked by our dear Bella." James answered them, grinning when Andy scoffed at her sister's name. "Ah yes, I believe you know her, don't you?"
"Bugger off you sod; you know how I feel about my genetically forced relatives." She seemed upset about something though, so James wasn't surprised when Sirius spoke up.
"It's not your fault Bella's a crazed lunatic. It's your mothers; hell, my mother probably had a good deal to do with the lunacy of your sister, definitely more so than you." He always tried to make a joke, which generally helped with this particular person.
"I know that, it's just I feel I could have done more, you know? You and Regulus got on well enough once you talked, why couldn't I do the same with Bella or Cissy?"
"Because, they are crazed, pureblood-minded lunatics who don't care about anyone but themselves and their crazed, pureblood-minded fanatic husbands; you couldn't have done anything more than what you did; you set an example and it's their own damn fault they didn't follow it," Ted assured her.
"That's true, you know. You set a wonderful example; it couldn't have been much better, what with running away and marrying a man the whole lot of them disapproves of, you were a great example for anyone just willing to look at the signs." Sirius always had to add the sarcastic comment; even though this one was true, it was still said sarcastically. However, it did seem to do the trick and Andy was soon smiling.
-Alice's POV-
Mildred, Frank's mother, had insisted upon taking them out to lunch so they could visit and catch up. They had gone to The Wizard's Wand, a place in Hogsmeade, to get some lunch. They had just ordered their food, and were sitting talking.
"So, what have you been up to lately Mildred? It's been a while since we saw you; the meetings have been getting further and further apart, it seems." Alice inquired of her mother-in-law, knowing that Mildred would understand what Alice meant by meetings.
"Oh, not too much; just some work around the house. It's nothing to exciting. What about you, how's my grandson been faring?"
"Well, in fact. He's already rolled over and sat up by himself. He's sleeping through the night and he gets on well with the others. He's had a slight touch of colic, but nothing to serious. Things couldn't be going better," Frank answered.
"That's nice. Remind me again, who are the other children?"
"Holly and Regulus had twins named Mira and Carina, Remus and Rina had a daughter named Lucinda, Sirius and Rose had twins named Callidora and Arcturus and Lily and James had twins named Harry and Hallie. It's not as difficult as you might think having all the kids in the house though; all ten of us stay at home and we have two house elves that do a wonderful job cooking and cleaning. I think it's good for Neville to grow up in a family environment with lots of children his age; it'll be good for him." Alice gave Mildred a quick, to the point, run-down of how the house was run; Mildred liked to know these things, and even though she already knew most of this information, she asked as a way to make sure all was still well.
Alice heard a loud clanking noise, and looked around for the cause of the disturbance. She had handed Neville to his grandmother a bit ago so she could hold him; she rarely got to see him at all. There was a second noise, just like the first, and Alice found that it was coming from the kitchen. She pulled her wand out and got up, keeping the wand hidden in the folds of her robes. She walked over to the kitchen door, Frank following her.
He stepped in front of her and pushed the door open a crack to see what the noise was; it wasn't ordinary kitchen noises, that was for sure. After examining the room, he shut the door again and turned to her.
"Death Eaters, at least twenty of them and Lestrange is with them."
"Which Lestrange?" there were three of them, so Alice felt justified in asking; even if it seemed obvious.
"All of them; they've attacked the staff. We need to get in there and stop them." He raised his wand and conjured a patronus; after he sent it off, he turned back to Alice. "I've sent warning to Mad-Eye; he should be here shortly. Until then, we need to hold them off." She nodded her head in understanding and raised her wand, pointing it at the door.
Frank pushed open the door discreetly, to see what the situation was like again. Alice prepared herself for a fight, not wanting to be caught off guard. "I think it'd be best if we waited for back-up, we'd be overtaken quickly," Frank said. Again, she nodded her agreement. This was why they worked so well together, they came to the same conclusions about what to do so they didn't often fight over what needed to be done.
Before anything else could happen though, the door from the kitchens flew open to reveal several menacing figures. It seemed the Death Eaters didn't care about being found out. They began firing spells in random directions, hitting many of the civilians sitting about the place. Alice hoped Mildred had taken Neville someplace safe so they wouldn't be hurt.
Frank and Alice responded to the spell-fire with stunners and leg-lockers, anything they could think of to debilitate their enemy without wasting time they didn't have. Some of the figures began moving about the room, cursing the other occupants of the restaurant. Alice got lost in all the spells and people; she couldn't see anything except the person in front of her.
She took down four or five of the attacking figures and turned to find another. What she saw made her blood freeze. Bellatrix and Rodolphus Lestrange had Frank cornered. He was trying to stun them, but they blocked his every attempt. They kept closing in on him, until they were a mere four feet from him.
Alice watched, frozen in horror, as the pair began to torture her husband with the cruciatus. They both put it on him making him writhe in pain. They didn't let up though; they held the spell for what seemed an eternity. Rabastan, Rodolphus' brother, went over and joined in; he, too, cast the torture curse on her beloved Frank. By now, Frank was a writhing ball of mess. His ribs would be breaking by now, she knew, and they would begin to puncture his skin. If they held the spell much longer, he would probably go insane from it.
That thought shook her mind from its haze and made her move to help. She shouted to the Death Eaters, and they turned to her. They held the curse while they looked, but when they saw who it was, they pulled it off of Frank and cast it on Alice.
She fell to the floor, writhing violently. She tried to fight the white hot pain, to push away the millions of needles stabbing her everywhere they could, but she was trapped in the hell of the curse. She felt as if she were being stabbed hundreds of times over. The pain was relentless, it wouldn't stop and she couldn't ignore it. She cried out, not being able to stop the scream of agony from escaping her lips.
She hoped Frank would be alright, and that Neville was safe from this place. Her muscles were spasming from the continued use of the curse, as that was all this could be called; a curse. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, now. All of a sudden, she fell silent. She had felt a sharp pain in her chest, different from the pain caused by the curse. She knew at that moment that some of her ribs must have broken. At first, she had squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt at distracting herself from the pain, but now that she had opened them again she couldn't see.
She had been blinded by the pain and she wasn't sure if she would survive the torture long enough to find out if her eyes could be healed. She couldn't scream anymore, either, as her voice had gone from her after all the intense shrieks and yells and the pain in her chest was simply to intense to let her do anything but breathe very shallowly. She was still shaking about though, jostling her broken ribs and making the pain worse. She couldn't do anything to relieve it, she couldn't even scream to express her agony anymore and she could barely breathe.
Then, she lost herself in an attempt to subdue the pain. She was in complete darkness, nothing around her. She couldn't hear her heavy panting or the maniacal laughter of her torturers anymore, there was only silence. She wondered if she were dead, but thought that couldn't be because she still felt the torturous agony her body was in. In this place though, she had a different body; it held the same appearance, but it was unscathed. She was curious as to why she could feel the pain, but not be marked by it. And why couldn't she hear or see anything, either? The questions were flooding her mind, it was as if a dam had just broken, releasing her queries.
She tried standing up, not that there was much difference from sitting down in this dark, quiet place. She stood up and found herself firmly on the ground, or as firm as you could get without know what was under you and how long it would last. She began to pace, thinking about what could possibly be happening to her.
She thought she remembered Moody telling the class something about extreme situations of torture one day. Something about how some person had been held under the Cruciatus to long and had retreated to their mind, trying to find safety. She couldn't remember much, but she did remember him saying that the person never left their mind; they stayed in their own head until the day they died, having lived as an invalid the rest of their lives, barely able to move. Alice wondered briefly, if that was going to happen to her and Frank; if they would become lost in their minds, unable to leave. She felt a wave of grief over what could happen, and she collapsed to the ground and sobbed.
She sobbed for a long time, unable to overcome her grief. When she had finished, she noted a few changes in her situation. The pain had lessened; her chest wasn't burning as it had been and the needles had retreated. She supposed that Moody had gotten there and put a stop to the torture and that she had been taken to St. Mungo's and healed; or so she hoped. She hoped they'd found Frank in time, and that she had stopped the others in time enough to spare his sanity.
She sprawled herself out, spread eagle, on the 'ground' and decided to sleep; she had nowhere else to go, did she? She dreamed of the restaurant and what had happened. When she got to the part about her screaming at the Death Eaters, she woke up in a cold sweat and cried some more.
She didn't know how long she had been trapped in her mind, or how long she would be. She silently prayed to whoever would listen, asking that they help her and Frank out of this. It was all she could do, but it didn't seem to be enough. She turned to thoughts of Neville; the first time he opened his beautiful blue eyes, the first time he smiled up at her, his face the day he was born and handed to her, how she and Frank would read to him, how he giggled when you blew on his stomach, his laugh, everything she could remember. By the end of her stream of thoughts, she was in tears again; she had remembered that if they couldn't help her, she would miss him growing up.
She was getting rather depressed by this point, having thought of Frank and of their friends. Every time she thought of a happy memory, she began thinking of how she wouldn't share anymore with them. She couldn't win for losing; it seemed she was bound and determined to be miserable in her own living hell, for she was very much alive yet. She was sobbing silently again; everything here was silent, when she saw a faint glowing of light.
She looked up and easily found the source of the welcome light in this extreme darkness. What she saw shocked her nearly as much as seeing Frank tortured had. She froze in place, not that you could really tell she had, and looked upon the figure in the light. They were moving towards her now, at a slow crawl. She brought her hands up to cover her mouth when she saw the person moving towards her.
Never had she thought they could do this, not in a million years had she thought this possible. She had known, of course, that they were extremely powerful and mightily gifted, but somehow, this never crossed her mind as plausible. She began smiling, for no matter who it was, she felt hope swell up in her at the prospect of getting out of her own mind. When they came nearer, she knelt down and picked him up; for now she knew it was him. She hoped that his sister would be helping Frank, hoped that they would both get out of this.
When Harry picked up her hand and started pulling on her finger, she let him be in case this was her way out. He continued pulling her hand and began to squirm. He couldn't walk yet, so she stood up with him in her arms and waited. He pointed in some direction, who knew which it was, and she set off walking. The steps seemed endless, as if she would walk forever.
She gladly kept going though; it wasn't like she had any better ideas. His hand lifted again and pointed another way, so she turned and walked there. This happened a few more times, until she suddenly stopped. She looked around for a moment, wondering why she had suddenly stopped, and then noticed the light forming under her feet. It was getting brighter and bigger, going from black through the different shades of grey until it reached a brilliant white.
Once it reached this stage, Harry turned to her and grasped her tear-stained robes with his pudgy little hands. That was all she had for warning before she began to fall. She cradled Harry closer to her, wondering what was happening. She kept falling, plummeting towards an unknown fate. She was beginning to get dizzy, having spun so many times during her fall.
All of a sudden, there was a great thump and she landed on her backside with Harry still clinging to her robes. She stood up, in what must be St. Mungo's. She looked down and saw that she was a ghost-like figure; transparent. She looked around her and saw two beds next to each other and in them were her and Frank's bodies. Next to Franks bed sat Mildred, who was holding Neville, and James, who was holding Hallie. The little girl appeared to be asleep, but Alice had her suspicions about what was going on in the child's mind. She looked over to her own bed and saw Lily holding Harry and Molly with Ron. The others, it seemed, had scattered around the place. Remus and Rina were talking with a healer, sad expressions on their faces; Regulus and Holly were talking to some people Alice recognized as Holly's parents from the wedding; Sirius and Rose were talking between themselves, their children asleep in their arms.
She looked down at Harry with an inquiring look, feeling slightly foolish about the whole situation, but needing to understand what was happening. He pointed over to her bed and she walked over. She saw bandages around her torso and saw that her face was a pale color with bags under her eyes. She looked to the baby again, and saw him pointing at her; or was it the bed? She wasn't sure what he wanted.
She felt the same sensation as before, when she had stopped without knowing why, and found herself lying down on the bed; on top of herself. It was, quite possibly, the oddest situation Alice had ever found herself in. She slowly relaxed into the same position as her body, letting Harry go. He crawled over to her side and sat on the bed. Alice watched him curiously, and saw him slowly fade away. She began panicking; was she supposed to remain a ghost the rest of her life?
But then, she saw the Harry in Lily's arms stir and smile at her. She relaxed and waited. She couldn't explain what happened next, only that it felt as if she was joining with something. She began feeling the pain in her chest again, but it wasn't as bad as it had been before. She closed her eyes and focused on returning to herself; odd as it sounded. She waited a good five minutes, wanting to give whatever magic was working plenty of time to do its thing.
When she opened her eyes, she blinked rapidly from the light; apparently, she had been seeing everything with a tint and it was brighter in the room than she'd thought. She felt a sudden wave of tiredness overcome her, and she yawned loudly. She heard a gasp next to her and she saw Lily leaning over her, examining her.
"Healer Chapman, I saw her yawn and her eyes are open! She's coming around!" Lily exclaimed, quickly handing Harry off to an excited Molly. She saw another person that she didn't recognize hovering over her, waving his wand, and assumed that it must be the healer Lily had called for.
"Alice, can you hear me? How do you feel? Do you understand what I'm saying?" he asked.
"Yes, I can hear and understand you. I feel fine; just a little sore and tired. How's Frank?"
"Your husband has slipped into a coma after what happened to him; you were in one as well, you had retreated into your own mind. He might never wake up, I'm sorry to say. It's a medical marvel that you woke, considering the damage done to you was far worse."
"Please, would you check on him?" she sounded worried, like she needed reassuring even though she knew he would be alright shortly. The healer left and was replaced with Mildred.
"Are you well dear? You took quite the beating back at the restaurant."
"I'll be fine, so long as they check on Frank. How's Neville, did he get hurt, did he behave?"
"He is and was fine, Alice; he behaved beautifully." Lily looked relieved that her friend had come round. "Took his nap without a problem and he hasn't cried since we brought him here."
"Nurse, nurse, get over here now; he's coming round!" she heard the shout coming from her left. Alice smiled, knowing that everything would be well now, and let herself drift off into sleep. Her last thought, before slipping off, was; I'll have to remember to spoil Harry and Hallie rotten for this.
-Lily's POV-
They had left for St. Mungo's after everyone had gone home, which was nearly eleven at night. Regulus and Holly had finally convinced her parents that they would come back. Her parents, however, had come with them to make sure of it. They got all the children together and got them ready for the trip and possibly several long hours at the hospital. They were old enough by now to be taken side-along apparition, all but Mira and Carina. Those who could, apparated to the window that was the entrance to St. Mungo's, while the rest flooed there.
They got in and asked for directions, and were sent to the proper room where they found Frank's mother silently weeping over Frank and Alice's beds. Lily went up and questioned the woman on what had happened, but got little information out of her. Holly had looked around quickly before casting some spells on the two that would tell her their condition. When she saw what the spell revealed, being the only trained medi-witch, she gasped. The others had still been in the dark as to the goings on, but Holly had recovered slightly and told them that two of their best friends were trapped in their own minds. Everyone had gasped and stiffened, the reaction was one of horror at what had happened.
"Will they be able to get out?" Sirius asked.
"It's very unlikely; when it's happened before, the patients have always remained trapped in their minds. They occasionally get up and move around, but they can't form coherent words or sentences. It's a horrible fate, worse than dying."
Everyone nodded in agreement, feeling horrible that this had happened to two such wonderful people. They all sat down around the room, getting comfortable. Lily sat with Molly, who had come with them after the meeting as well. They just sat at Alice's bedside and watched her, Harry and Ron eventually falling asleep in their arms.
It was two hours before Harry woke up; Ron was still out like a light. He smiled at the bed and Lily nearly cried; he wouldn't be held by Alice again, and there was nothing she could do about it. She wondered how all the kids would deal with the absence of two of their care-givers. She looked up when she heard someone yawning, thinking that James might need a break, but saw Alice with her mouth stretched wide open and her eyes twinkling in the light of the room.
She called for the Healer, thinking that it might be her eyes playing tricks on her, but she felt overjoyed when Alice responded to the Healers questions. Her friend was going to be alright! But, what would they tell her about Frank? She didn't get the chance to consider it, as Alice had asked the question and been answered by the Healer; the twit, she'd just woken up, couldn't he leave her be to get some rest?
When Alice asked them to check on Frank, Lily's heart nearly burst from the wave of sadness washing over her; Alice's face looked determined and hopeful, she was going to be hurt when they told her the same thing as they had before. Alice began asking her about Neville, so she answered as best she could. She was more than a little shocked, but thrilled nonetheless, when she heard the Healer yelling.
"Nurse, nurse, get over here now; he's coming round!"
Lily rushed over as well, wanting to see if Frank really was waking up as well. She noticed that James was rubbing his eyes; guess he must have drifted off there; he was more worn than I thought. Hallie seemed to be waking up to; she smiled at Frank and then giggled. When Lily was stood next to James and Hallie, she saw Harry and Hallie look at each other and smile broadly.
"You think they know what's going on?" James asked, having also noticed the smiles. Lily began thinking; the twins falling asleep shortly after getting here, then waking up just before Frank and Alice and smiling at the beds. No, it couldn't be…could it? Her thoughts were swimming with possible reasons for the strange actions, but she couldn't come up with one that explained it half so well as her first thought. It made sense, too, the more she thought about it; they were supposed to possess certain gifts, and some of them had to do with the mind.
"I think they more than know what's happening just now; I think they did it."
"What?" James asked incredulously. "You mean, you think they pulled Frank and Alice from their minds? But how is that possible?"
"I don't know, but I intend to find out. I'm going to go speak with Dumbledore, you coming?"
"Definitely, I want to know what's going on here. Wouldn't that be something though, Hallie and Harry able to save people like that?"
Lily nodded, heading out the door for the fireplace. She quickly told Rose they were going to Hogwarts before she left the room altogether. She walked down the many halls with a determined stride until they got to the nearest fireplace; it was quicker than apparition for getting to Hogwarts. They went up to the fireplace, once they found one, and took the powder; once they had thrown it into the fire, the flames turned green and they stepped in, calling out their destination.
-James' POV-
They stepped out of the fire in Dumbledore's office, and saw him writing something. Without looking up, he greeted them.
"Hello Lily, James; take a seat. How can I help you?" he asked, finally looking up from his papers. His eyes were twinkling, though not as much as they usually did.
"We just came from St. Mungo's, Albus. Alice and Frank woke up, they returned to themselves a few moments ago." James saw the headmasters eyes light up with relief and happiness when he heard this. "We have a few things to talk to you about though, to do with Harry and Hallie."
"Oh yes, and what might that be?"
"Well," Lily began to explain that mornings events.
"Well, that is not unusual, as I told you before. Their magic will grow, just as their bodies will in years to come. It was a simple enough thing, but what they do will continuously become more difficult."
"That's another thing, Albus; we think they used their magic at the hospital today; if you catch my drift." James was trying to get his point across without having to say what it was; he hated to explain things, it came from having to explain everything he did to teachers or his parents growing up.
"I'm afraid I don't see James, I don't catch on as quickly as I used to. Would you please elaborate for me?" The man looked like he understood perfectly what James meant; he just wanted to hear it in greater detail from James himself. Lily, though, knew how James got uncomfortable when explaining things; how he got nervous and so on, so she took over the explanation. She told him about how she thought the twins were connected to Alice and Frank waking up, but that she wasn't sure how they'd done it.
"We'll have to talk to Alice and Frank for that part, but for the time being, I must say that I agree with your conclusions. It would appear that your children are developing their magic sooner than we thought. They also seem to have control over their magic, a great amount of it in fact. We will have to act accordingly, then."
"Albus?" James asked, not quite understanding what the man meant by 'act accordingly'.
"Oh, yes, you can't hear my thoughts, can you? I was just thinking how we'll have to focus on teaching them when to use their magic, and in what ways, instead of how to control it. Control will still be a factor, but not nearly as important as teaching them when to use it."
"Oh," James said. "Right, what should we do for now?"
"Alas, there is not much you can do. We cannot begin teaching them until they are old enough to better comprehend, though to what extent their comprehension goes now I could not tell you. For now, what you can do is only what any other parent can do; teach them right from wrong and hope they understand."
Lily and James both nodded. James was more than a little frustrated that Dumbledore couldn't help them more, if he couldn't who could, but he accepted it and thanked the man for his time. The family got up to leave then; they would go back to the hospital for a spell before going home.
When they were back in the room with their friends, they found out that Frank and Alice would be released in two weeks; the healers wanted them well rested before letting them go. Lily told Alice that they would be back tomorrow. St. Mungo's wouldn't let Alice care for Neville while she was there, so Rina took over as his Godmother, promising to bring him back the next day.
They departed for the house, all happy that their friends would be alright. Once home, everyone went to the living room to watch some telly; they were all wide awake after the days events, rather than tired. They put on some comedy station, and saw a Monty Python movie; they had watched Monty Python before, but it never got old. Sirius and James especially loved the show, and the others delighted in the impressions that followed the next day.
They finally went to bed around four in the morning, having exhausted themselves laughing. Lily and James set off for the sixth floor, cursing the fact that they were on the top floor, until James remembered that they could apparate within the house. They each had a child, grateful for the fact that the twins were now old enough to be side-along apparated, and apparated to the nursery.
"That would have been useful so many times before, why did it take us so long to remember?" Lily asked.
"I don't know, I guess we're just forgetful; but it's all good now, we know about it and can utilize it."
They changed the twins into pajamas; Hallie had on a cute little nightdress and Harry had on some flannel pants and a t-shirt. Lily took them, once again, and sang them a song; James sat silently and watched as their children fell asleep. He began drifting off again, soothed by Lily's soft, sweet voice. He was sitting with his back up against Hallie's crib, his eyes drooping shut. The last thing he remembered before falling asleep was Lily putting the twins in their cribs and sitting down next to him and cuddling up into his chest.
-Sirius' POV-
Sirius was in the game room lying on the floor by the couch with Harry and Hallie crawling on his stomach. He was thinking about the past, their friends, and all they'd been through together. He sat up, and pulled the twins into a sitting position in front of him.
"Story time," he said. "Who wants Uncle Padfoot to tell them about mummy and daddy when they were little?" They both smiled and giggled, so Sirius took that as the go-ahead. "Well, when your parents met, Prongs fell madly in love with Lily-Pad; don't tell her I called her that, by the way, I've been forbidden. Anyhow, he kept asking her out; twice a day, at least. He was a real cocky guy, back then, and arrogant to. She'd say no every time, nicely enough the first few times a day but then she'd get harsh, or start hexing him."
"Well, I remember, one time in fifth year Prongs was really getting to Lily-Pad. We'd just learned a new charm in some class or other, to make a person desire the first thing they saw; whatever, or whoever, it may be. The professor warned us that if the desired target was a person, the one who it had been cast upon would become smitten for a few weeks; irreversibly. Well, Prongs had asked Lily-Pad out seven times already that fine day many moons ago, and she was holding her cool fairly well, I must say."
"She snapped, though, as all people do at some point. She was practicing the new spell and Prongs went up and started pestering her to go out with him. She decided to have a go at him, and cast the spell; she explained later that she thought he'd see me first and begin pestering me instead. Well, things didn't go as planned, did they? Minnie, that's Professor McGonagall to you, had just walked in to make an announcement. Well, you can imagine what happened when Prongs saw her." The twins gave him an inquisitive look. "Then again, maybe not."
"Prongs had closed his eyes once he heard our little Lily-Pad cast the spell. Minnie, not knowing what was going on, went over to James and asked him what was the matter. He said he was just tired, and that he was trying to rest. She didn't buy into it and told him to open his eyes unless he was in his bed. He tried to argue, telling her that he needed to rest now; but she would hear nothing of it and eventually he had to open his eyes and look at her. He was immediately taken over by the spell and started using pick-up lines on her, the corniest things you'd ever heard came out of his mouth just then."
"She was shocked, to say the least. She tried to find out what had happened, and when she saw Lily-Pad snickering she inquired as to the cause of the stranger-than-normal Prongs. Lily-Pad explained that she had been 'practicing' her homework and the spell had 'backfired' and hit Prongs. Minnie was furious, you should have seen her. The spell lasted a few weeks, Prongs would follow Minnie about everywhere she went, trying to get her to take notice of him; the poor chap, nearly everyone felt bad for him. He had proclaimed his love for her every morning at breakfast and every evening at dinner for a week before she started eating in her quarters. Lily-Pad though, was thrilled; she got a few weeks of no Prongs asking her out constantly. I think she even considered casting it again for some peace and quiet, but it never panned out. Prongs was absolutely mortified when the spell came off, as he remembered everything he'd said and done."
The twins began giggling and looking up expectantly as Sirius. "That's it for that one, kiddies." They both looked disappointed about it. "Don't worry though; I've got plenty more where that one came from." They seemed to brighten up at that. Sirius went on to tell them about all the times Lily rejected James and about how they finally got together. "You know, I won't take full credit because it would have happened eventually, but your Uncle Padfoot had a lot to do with your parents getting together."
He told them about all the times Lily and James spent together, enjoying themselves. He told about the night they got engaged, their graduation, their wedding, when they moved in here, and when they found out Lily was pregnant. Story time lasted for hours, as Sirius recapped Lily and James' lives together for his godchildren. He knew he would tell them many of the stories again, later on in their lives, but he took joy in telling them now. It was nearing nap-time when Sirius' stories came to a close for the time. He started coming up with random stories; how excited Lily got about her NEWT scores and things such as that, and before long the twins were asleep in Sirius' lap and he was drifting off as well, occasionally mumbling something about Lily or James.
When he woke up, the twins were both sitting on his stomach attempting to play peek-a-boo. He laughed and checked his watch. It was nearing six; an hour left before dinner.
"Is that the only game you two know?" he asked. They looked at him, making him feel a bit awkward, but he pushed on. "How about you let Uncle Padfoot teach you a new game. Hmmm, what to teach them, what to teach them. They can't play quidditch yet; think two four month olds. What can you do at four months? It's been so long…" He was tapping his chin pensively, his brow furrowed in concentration. It was difficult with these two to gauge their abilities; they seemed more mentally developed than the other kids; more like they understood what you were doing. He decided on a game that Rose had tried teaching to Calla and A.P., but they hadn't quite grasped it yet. He figured he'd give these two a go at it; at the very least it would pass the time.
"Alright, little ones, this one is called patty-cake; I think it is anyway, it's another one of those muggle games that your Aunty Rose taught me. What you do," he said, sitting up and placing Hallie in front of him and Harry on his lap. "It's rather simple." He began going through the motions that Rose had taught him; clap your hands together then clap the other persons hand and so on. Hallie was just holding her hands up and Sirius was guiding Harry's hands in the proper movements.
He tried to teach them until it was time for dinner, but it seemed they weren't quite ready for it. He picked them up and brought them upstairs. It was his afternoon to spend with them, and he had spent it well in his opinion. They had worked out a little schedule of sorts; every couple of days, Lily and James and Sirius and Rose would trade kids for the day. Rose would take them in the morning and Sirius would in the afternoon, some days they spent the whole day together; they rarely left the house anymore after Frank and Alice's attack though.
They had been home for a month now. The trip they'd planned to the vacation house had been canceled, to be taken another time. Sirius went up to the dining room where everyone was convening. He went and sat by Rose, who took hold of Hallie with a big smile on her face. They loved spending time with their godchildren nearly as much as spending time with their own children, who were currently being spoiled by Lily and James.
Sirius saw James put on a mock-severe face when A.P. spit-up his food; A.P. looked upset for a moment, before James smiled broadly and began tickling him. A.P. laughed and giggled; he and Calla were almost five months old now. It was the 25th of November, and things had started to get back to normal with everyone after Frank and Alice's return.
Sirius began to feed Harry the mush that was titled baby food; he couldn't see where they got off calling it food, after tasting some one day. He had been feeding Calla, and getting slightly frustrated that she kept turning away from the spoon. He decided to show her it was alright, and that she should eat it, by taking a mouthful himself. But it had grossed him out and made him scrunch up his face in disgust, which made Calla laugh at her daddy.
They were beginning to make plans for Christmas; they were planning on a family dinner and presents on Christmas Eve and a party Christmas evening for the Order and anyone who wished to join in; everyone with security clearance, that is. Everyone was excited about the kids first Christmas, wanting it to be special. They were going to decorate the house to extremes never heard of before.
Harry was eating his food silently, without pushing it away. Sirius guessed he was a lot like James in that respect; when he was offered food, he didn't refuse it. Everyone said Sirius was the one with a large appetite, but nobody ever noticed how much James ate; except for Lily, that is, who cooked for them all for a few years. She would defend Sirius, saying that he only ate as much as any other man, but then would crack some joke about him to cancel out being nice.
They were like brother and sister with each other, had been for a time now; they would stick up for each other and defend each other, but they would also tease the other. It had started at school as a friendship when Sirius would try to find out why Lily wouldn't date James and had grown into a sibling type of situation when they started hanging out more. It suited them, fairly well, to have a relationship like that with each other; Lily had no brother and Sirius had no sister, so they filled that mold for each other.
Sirius looked around him and smiled; he thought his life was perfect, with just enough flaws to make it real. The flaws, though, were horrible and deadly; the war. Enough said at that; the war encompassed everything bad in their lives right now. Death, destruction, battles, everything, and Sirius could trace this all to one person; Voldemort. He hated the man with every fiber of his being, hated all he stood for and all he did.
For a time, at school, he had thought he would lose his brother to Voldemort, had thought Regulus would be overcome by the pressures of a dark pureblooded family. He hadn't though, and that made Sirius happy beyond belief, that he could share his life with his brother.
After dinner was finished, Sirius and Rose took Harry and Hallie upstairs for their bath. They put the twins in the tub in their bathroom and began gently washing them. Rose began humming a tune, one that Sirius didn't recognize.
"What is that?"
"What?"
"The song you were humming, what was it?"
"Oh," she laughed a little, "its Rubber Ducky. Here, I'll just sing the words for you. Rubber ducky, you're the one…You make bathing oh so fun. That's all I really know; my mum used to sing it to me when I was little, I had this little rubber ducky toy, but I don't remember it now." Her voice seemed to fill with pain at thought of her mum, who had died a several years ago.
"You know, I'm sure she'd be glad you remembered that much after so many years; you're 21 now and that must have been when you were what, two or three when you last heard it?" she nodded. "Well then, don't be sad love; she's watching down on you now and I'll bet anything she's proud of you." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, not being able to let go of Harry. "Shall we go get them dressed for bed, then?"
"Yes, let's." They got up and went up another floor to the twins' nursery, passing Lily and James who were on their way down a flight with Calla and A.P. When they got up there, they rifled through the wardrobe for some pajamas. Rose picked out a pair of green flannel pants and a pale green shirt with long sleeves and a frog on it for Hallie and Sirius picked out some dark blue flannel pants and a dark green t-shirt for Harry. Once they were both dressed and ready for bed, Rose picked a book off the shelf and sat down to read to them.
"You know, they like stories about their mum and dad just as much as those books. Found that out earlier today, didn't we?" he asked, aiming the last part of the question at Harry and Hallie who were sitting in his lap and looking from Sirius to Rose trying to figure out who was telling the story. Sirius laughed and turned to Rose; she had a different perspective on all the stories that Sirius had told them earlier. She put the book she had picked up back on the shelf and began her tale.
"How about the time Lily made James fall in love with Minnie for almost a month?" Harry and Hallie smiled in recognition of Minnie's name, they had taken a certain liking to their future transfiguration professor recently, and she to them. Rose proceeded to tell her point of view on the story; how Lily had thought it funny at first, then how she'd felt the slightest bit guilty, then how she couldn't look at James without a severe pang of guilt. Sirius had never heard about that before, he thought Lily had enjoyed every minute of it; when he voiced his thoughts, Rose assured him that Lily had enjoyed the peace and quiet but that she thought it came at to costly a price.
Hallie and Harry's eyes were drooping now, so they were placed in their crib and covered up with their blankets which looked well worn by now. Sirius and Rose left the room, turning on a nightlight and shutting the door behind them. They began walking down to the kitchen and met up with Lily and James on the way down. They all went to grab a snack, Sirius and James taking more of a second dinner, and went to the game room.
It was a Friday night, and on Friday nights they had some fun. Everyone would meet up down in the game room after putting the kids to bed for some recreational time. Sometimes Andy and Ted would come, having gotten one of the older students to watch Dora for the evening. Tonight, though, they had brought her with; there was a meeting early in the morning so they would just sleep here tonight. Dora had been put up in a room on the second floor; Andy and Ted would sleep on the second floor as well.
They played for a while, enjoying the adult time. They didn't get quite enough of it, with eight babies in the house and various children coming in and out of the place when their parents came for a visit or for a meeting. Several new couples had joined the Order as of late, and they all had children of a younger age. The Bones' had begun bringing their daughter, Susan, with them after the first meeting that they were initiated into. Since then the number of children had grown.
Sarah and David Wimbush had twin sons named Wyatt and Wesley that were three months old; Patricia and Carl Pinnock had a daughter named Paula who was six months old; Charles and Catherine Dorsey had a daughter named Daralis who was eight months old; Cynthia and Richard Thomas had a son named Dean who was seven months old; Heather and Stewart Abbott had a daughter named Hannah who was five months old; Hillary and Hugh Hedgecook had a daughter named Hazel who was four months old; and Frederick and Georgette Duckett had a son named Dale who was eleven months old.
Sirius kept getting all the kids mixed up at meetings; who wouldn't, with so many of them? But he was working on it. They needed all the help they could get, and if it meant learning twenty kids names he would do it; not that them joining was solely based on Sirius learning their kids names, but it never hurt to be polite. They couldn't stay up to late because of the meeting tomorrow, but they made the best of the time they had; they talked about everything that they couldn't in front of the kids. They finally called it a night around eleven and everyone went to bed so they would be rested for tomorrows meeting; little did they know what would be learned from that fateful meeting.
A/N: Okay, another chapter done. Sorry it took so long; FanFiction's site wouldn't let me post for several days, but I tried; hard. Was the chapter any good, do you think? You could always tell me in a review, you know. I haven't gotten many, and let me tell you, it's starting to get a little disheartening. I think I'll hold off on the next chapter until I get some feedback on the previous chapters; it doesn't have to be positive either, just give me your input. I do NOT own the songs in this chapter; the lyrics for the song Baby Mine are from the version Bette Midler sang on the Beaches album and the lyrics to Rubber Ducky, well I'm not exactly sure where they're from; probably some obscure episode of The Muppet's or something. Look for the next chapter in a week or so, I would say. Also, I'll address this now, school will be starting soon so I won't be updating nearly as much. I have a full schedule this year; Confirmation classes, Mock Trial, three honors classes, a college level class, and I'm looking for a job. If I sound stupid for taking so much stuff on my sophomore year, I probably am, but it's too late now and I need to do all the stuff anyway. I'll keep trying to update though, it just might take time; but don't give up!
Thank you to my loyal reviewer; BitterSweet Amusement. It is very much appreciated.