A/N - oh my. This chapter just took forever. This is one of the PROBLEMS
of writing together... we have to have time to meet up! Blame it on the
holidays, folks! Or maybe on the fact that Nancy has suddenly learned the
value of sleep. ;)
Anyway... after much waiting we bring you - chapter 14! Enjoy. Notes at the bottom.
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Jenni reached for the doorknob and pulled on it furiously although she knew it was useless. With a frustrated scream she kicked the door.
"They locked us in?" Nancy asked unbelievingly.
"They locked us in." Jenni glared at the door for a minute before trudging back to Bill's bed. "Not to mention they took our wands as well." She threw her shoe at the door, for good measure, and was pleased to hear the surprised yelps of the two men still listening on the other side of the wood.
The two girls grinned at each other before breaking eye contact. After several moments of silence, Jenni looked at Nancy. It was killing her to be in the same room as Nancy and not feel able to pour her heart out about everything that had happened. Enough was enough. Jenni took a deep breath and muttered out her apology.
"Nancy, I'm sorry."
"Jenni, I'M sorry." Nancy shook her head and looked away.
Jenni watched as Nancy sat on Charlie's bed facing her. "Nancy I really am sorry. I was such a prat earlier."
Nancy shrugged. "Yeah, you were." She watched as Jenni's mouth opened in protest. "But so was I."
Jenni gave a weak smile. "Yeah you were." She said mimicking Nancy's earlier comment. "But I should have never said the things I did. I didn't mean it, you know. Especially what I said about Charlie and Harry. It was so... wrong."
Nancy's eyes flashed. "You bet your ass it was wrong! Do you know how embarrassed I was?"
Jenni hung her head. "I know." Not lifting her head to meet Nancy's gaze Jenni continued. "I'm sorry you think that I treat you like an eleven year old. I never meant for you to feel that way. It's just I worry about you and I tend to overreact. And... you've got to admit that you weren't letting me in at all."
The fire in her friend's brown eyes faded. "Yeah, I know." Nancy's hand instinctively went to the still-sore gash. Jenni caught the motion, and walked over, sitting next to her on Charlie's bed.
"Can I see it?"
"It's... it's not all cleaned up yet." Nancy shot a rather nervous look at her friend. "I... it was so messy that I sortof, well, I missed that it was getting infected." She winced, her hand still resting on the pant leg which hid the sore, waiting for the explosion. Nothing happened.
When she finally looked up, Jenni's face was very sad. "I wish I could've helped..."
Nancy immediately looked guilty. "I... it seemed better not to get you involved." She flushed a bit, knowing how bad this was going to sound. "Why? Why on earth wouldn't you want me involved in helping you get better?" The indignant tone in Jenni's voice made Nancy sigh, and she flopped down onto the pillows, breathing in the comforting smell of Charlie as she searched for a way to explain.
"It... well, do you remember why I decided to get my own apartment?"
"It was some kind of, you needing to prove to people that you could handle it." Jenni's voice was gently disapproving. "Which was silly, since we all KNEW you could handle it... and I'm stuck living alone, now."
Rubbing a hand over her face, Nancy stared up at the ceiling. "Well, it wasn't so much PEOPLE, it was YOU. I'd spent the last few years of school living up to your legacy... proving my intelligence as it were..."
Jenni stood up with a sigh, "I've heard this before, Nancy... and..."
"Just listen, ok?"
Uncertain as to what was coming next, Jenni retreated across the dark room, throwing herself face down onto Bill's bed. "Go ahead."
"So... I was so excited to show you that I was as grown up as you. Which was stupid, of course, cause I WASN'T... but, hindsight and all. Anyway. I was trying to prove myself to you. And, when the dragon wound happened..."
"DRAGON WOUND?" Jenni shot straight up off of the bed. "DRAGON?" she repeated, stunned. "You... it... Romania... DRAGON?" Nancy nodded sharply. "Holy Merlin... do you KNOW how dangero..."
"YES. I know. Let me finish, please." Nancy's voice was strained. This explanation was hard enough without listening to more lectures about her own stupidity.
"Sorry."
"Well, I got hurt, and you dropped me at St. Mungo's the next morning, remember?" Jenni sat down, nodding her agreement. "I... they looked it over and told me that it looked suspicious and they asked me where I'd gotten hurt. Well, while I was waiting to be seen by the medi-witches I'd had a conversation with the receptionist. She said..." Nancy gulped, knowing that Jenni wasn't going to like what she was about to say.
"What?" Fighting her every instinct, Jenni kept herself quiet.
"She said that the Daily Prophet has great insurance for employees - the only thing that it doesn't cover is..."
"Dragons. Oh bloody hell... that's right."
"Yeah, dragons. So - the antidote I needed was rare, being as there aren't dragons IN Britain anymore, and expensive. I didn't tell you because... well, I knew that you'd feel obligated, and..."
"The MONEY?" Jenni couldn't keep the hurt out of her words. "You kept this from me because you didn't want to deal with the money?"
"I... neither one of us has 80 galleons to spare... and..." Jenni was about to interrupt, but Nancy waved her down. "No, I KNOW it was stupid. But a girl's got her pride, even if it IS stupid..."
"Not just STUPID! LIFE THREATENING! I mean, bloody hell Nancy! There's only one other way to counteract a dragon wound and those potions have been outlawed for..." Jenni trailed off, noticing an odd color flushing over Nancy's face. A terrible idea flashed into her head, along with a vision of Nancy's kitchen, the table covered by simmering pots of... Her voice went flat. "You tried to make it."
"TRIED being the operative word there." It was honestly a big weight off of Nancy's shoulders, knowing that she didn't have to come up with lies anymore. Now they could deal with the consequences, maybe it would be too much for Jenni, but at least the truth was out. "I couldn't get the last ingredient in time, and Charlie figured me out last night. He made me take his emergency antidote."
"As he damn well should have..." Jenni's mind was swirling. "So... you're telling me, for two weeks, you were fighting off DRAGON poison as you tried to make a HIGHLY dangerous and ILLEGAL potion because you wouldn't ask for money?"
"And because... I thought it was what you would have done." Nancy's voice was very small.
Jenni was momentarily speechless. "What... What. I. Would. Have. DONE?" Her blue eyes blazed, and for a moment, Nancy could almost SEE the anger from the other side of the room. "Ignore my friends? Take my life into my own hands? BREAK THE LAW!?! No, that is NOT what..."
"I meant," Nancy's soft sigh echoed louder than any yell would have. "I meant that you would have HANDLED it. You wouldn't have run to anyone for instructions."
There was a long silence as Jenni watched her anger fade in front of her own eyes. After a moment, a forlorn little sniff reminded her that Nancy was still waiting to hear her reaction. Without hesitation, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and padded over to where Nancy lay.
"You don't have to prove yourself to me."
Nancy's answer was another sniff.
"I'm serious. I know you didn't mean it this morning, but you probably ARE the smartest witch I know - and the most capable."
This time there was a snort, but Nancy did thaw enough to turn over and face her.
"Although, for one of the most intelligent and able witches in England, you certainly do test your limits enough." Jenni's voice was wry and a bit tired.
Nancy laughed, just a little - enough to diffuse a bit of the tension. "I'm really sorry to put you through all of this stuff. I mean, if Charlie hadn't been stubborn enough to follow me today... that was so stupid of me, running for my tree. I never would have made it out of the forest without help."
"Just... let's stick to a buddy system," Jenni suggested half-flippantly as she leaned over to hug her best friend. "No stupid stuff without a partner."
Nancy pulled out of the hug slightly and grinned. "Buddy system it is." Her smile turned downright mischievous. "Do redheads count as buddies? Cause Mrs. Weasley was insinuating that YOU have been practicing STUFF with a certain partner... Just HOW many times have you two kissed now?"
Jenni blushed bright red and grabbed Charlie's pillow from the bed, whacking her friend over the head with it. "Enough of THAT." She tried to muster up some dignity. "Bed time!"
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Jenni sighed and settled into the pillows. She listened to the steady sound of Nancy breathing and knew that she was sleeping peacefully. Her eyelids were getting heavy and she knew it would only be minutes before she was asleep as well. Jenni rolled over as she heard the door creak open. A small beam of light filtered in and she could see two figures standing by the door talking in hushed whispers.
"I told you they would be asleep." "Ok, fine. Let's just put the wands back and go."
Jenni sat up. "You'd better quiet down if you don't want to wake up Nancy." Her voice visibly startled the two. Charlie had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed. Bill glared.
Jenni returned the glare, ignoring Charlie as he made his way over to Nancy. "So, you decided to steal my wand did you?"
"And you gave me that candy from the twins." Bill snapped.
Jenni shrugged. "It was just a candy. I didn't know you were going to get so hacked off about it."
"Hacked off?" Bill's voice rose a notch. "You have no idea what that candy could have done. Those two are ruthless when it comes to that kind of stuff."
"And I bet if it had been anyone else to eat that candy you would have found the situation just as funny as everyone else did. Am I right?" Jenni shot a superior look towards Bill as he struggled to find words.
Jenni grinned as Bill managed to finally choke out a response. "It's not funny." However, he was unable to keep from smiling.
"I knew it! I was right!" Jenni was practically bouncing on the bed. "And you said Weasleys were always right! HA!"
Jenni was caught off guard as a pillow came flying across the room and hit her full on in the face. A quick look and a menacing whisper told her that Charlie was none too pleased with the amount of noise she had been making. "Keep it down," he growled.
Just as Jenni stood up to throw the pillow back, Bill had managed to cross the short distance and stop her.
"You wouldn't want that to hit Nancy would you?" he whispered in her ear. The soft sound of his voice sent a shiver through her and before she knew it, he was sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard and had pulled her down next to him.
Seeing that Bill had undertaken to control Jenni's exuberant outbursts, Charlie turned back to the girl who was sleeping peacefully in his bed. He set the beaker of potion that his mother had whipped up to combat the infection of Nancy's wound on the bedside table with a little note. Plucking her glasses off of her face, he laid them right next to the healing potion, hoping that she would notice it when she awoke.
His mind wandered a bit as he tried not to listen to the snippets of conversation he heard from the other side of the room and seized on the letter that now lay opened in his pocket. Although he hadn't really expected it, he'd been released from his contract in Romania. His overseer had written that his obligation to them was being transferred to one James Dorallen, UK Ministry of Magic. Although Charlie had never been keen on owing his allegiance to that tangled bureaucracy, he felt better knowing that he was at least going to be around to help his parents if the situation became as dark as they seemed to fear.
Until those fears came to light, however, he had another reason to be glad that he would remain in England. She was currently lying in his bed. Charlie grinned to himself and reached a hand out to smooth her hair.
"You'll be seeing more of me, Nancy-girl, you can count on it."
Jenni sat still for a few minutes, her head resting on Bill's chest, but she jumped when he spoke again. "So, am I forgiven?" The hint of mischief in his voice caused her to turn crimson, and she was thankful for the cover of darkness.
"Forgiven for what?"
The confusion in her voice made Bill laugh softly. "For stealing your wand and locking you in here."
"Oh, that." Jenni's voice held a note of sarcasm. "Sure. I guess you're forgiven."
Bill leaned forward and kissed the top of Jenni's forehead. "Thank you. Now I can let you go back to sleep."
Jenni flashed an evil smile as she watched Bill move off the bed. "Don't thank me yet. I only said you were forgiven. It's definitely not forgotten."
"That's all right," Bill shot back. "I haven't forgotten about that candy you gave me. I guess you could say we're even."
"Not even. I never get even, Weasley." Jenni flashed her most innocent smile at Bill as he headed towards the door. "I get ahead."
Bill turned and nodded his head, his eyes glittering. "Just watch your back, Ferguson." He stood at the doorway waiting for Charlie. His eyes wandered back to the small brunette who was currently burrowing under his covers, getting comfortable in his bed. He would definitely have to watch his own back around her. Although, he thought, he might just enjoy this.
Hearing his brother's footsteps, Charlie rightly deduced that Bill and Jenni had settled their issues for the night, and got up to leave. As he reached the door, a pillow caught him square in the back and the sound of stifled giggling wafted over from Bill's side of the room. GIRLS, he thought with a smile, tossing the pillow gently back onto his own bed next to Nancy and waving goodnight to Jenni.
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"Ok, so... how big a focus do we make her background?" Jenni's face was in deep thought as she posed the question.
"Nancy? NANCY!"
Her friend jerked to attention, hastily grabbing her notes on the Snape/McAuthor interview. "Um, yes, good idea..." she said quickly, hoping to make Jenni think that she'd been paying attention.
"Merlin's ghost, Nancy... that's the fifth time since lunch you've zoned out!" Jenni groaned. "What's WRONG?"
Sighing, Nancy laid her papers back on the table and got up to pace the small office. It had been three days since they'd left the burrow, and she certainly had been thinking about the Weasleys, and a certain Dragon Tamer, quite often. But that wasn't the problem today.
"It's this meeting. I can't figure out what he wants! I mean, do you think he knows about the..." she paused and looked around before pointing at her leg. It still bore a thin bandage, but now that the infection had been exposed, it was fading quickly.
"Nonsense." Jenni pushed a bit of hair out of her eyes and looked up at her friend, trying to act as though she didn't know a thing about why their boss had asked Nancy to meet with him this afternoon. "There's no way he could know about it, and even if he DID, it's none of his business. You still came to work, you didn't charge the Prophet for anything..."
"But what else could he WANT?" Nancy flung herself down into her chair in frustration. "Oh, it's no use. Here, give me the bit about the school. I'll write up some quick job descriptions for them."
"What are you going to say?" Jenni's suspicious look was met with an entirely innocent one as she gathered together the notes she had on the two professors.
"The truth, of course!" Nancy grinned, nervousness forgotten for a moment. "Professor Snape is currently employed as the resident BAT of Hogwarts, and spends his time sucking the points and blood out of Gryffindor house..."
"You'd better NOT!" Jenni could only hold her straight face for a few seconds. "You wouldn't want to misrepresent him. You forgot the full description - VAMPIRE bat."
Nancy stuck her tongue out and made a show of scribbling down VAMPIRE on her blank parchment. "Oh, EVER so sorry."
There was a moment of silence, as a still grinning Jenni scratched away at her draft and Nancy sat there, tapping the desk nervously and staring at the notes. Suddenly both of them looked up and spoke.
"I guess I can't ACTUALLY use that, huh?" "You do know you can't REALLY say that..."
Rolling her eyes, Nancy muttered an erasure charm and laid her quill down, reaching over Jenni's bent head for a very large, slightly dusty book on a low shelf.
"Never thought I'd be GLAD that you kept your copy of Hogwarts a History in the office, you know..." she muttered as she flipped to the descriptions of the various teaching positions.
Jenni bit her lip and flushed, not looking up. "You know perfectly well that I only brought it in when you gave me the new expanded edition for Christmas last year. And you can't mock me when YOU'RE using it," she added quickly, seeing the grin on Nancy's face.
Nancy just grunted in answer, her eyebrows already lowered as she started to focus on her work. She was so absorbed in the search for an explanation of living arrangements for married couples at Hogwarts that she didn't even notice when the clock chimed. Jenni did, however and looked up.
The hand was pointing to, "Hurry, or you're going to be late!"
"Nancy!" she reached over and pried the book from her friend's hands. "You've got to go."
"Hey! I wasn't done! I was just reading about how a Charms Professor in the 1500s pissed off the statue in front of his chambers and it walked away! He couldn't get into his rooms!" Nancy made a futile grab for the huge book, moaning as Jenni slammed it shut, before the full import of what Jenni had said sunk in.
"Oh CRAP!" She jumped up, stuffing papers into a sack and throwing her work robes on over the casual clothes she preferred when writing. "Why didn't you TELL me? I'm going to be late... oh man, what if he wants to know about... Do I look presentable?"
"Nancy, you're fine. Get going!" Jenni almost said that she'd see her friend tonight, but caught herself just in time and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, ok? I'm... I'm headed home now."
After making sure that Nancy was well and truly on her way to the meeting, Jenni cleaned up and set off with a grin. She knew that Nancy was expecting to head home to a long, dull, night of working on the profile piece on Snape and his fiancée.
In actuality, Jenni had carefully planned a nice dinner with Bill and Charlie as a surprise - a congratulatory one. She had been informed previously that the meeting Nancy had been called to was to promote her to be Jenni's full partner, big news in itself. But besides that, her friend deserved a night free from work. Jenni knew that Nancy would be thrilled to see Charlie, and even though some part of her hated to admit it, she was looking forward to seeing Bill again.
Reaching Nancy's apartment, she struggled with the bags in her hand as she rummaged for the keys to unlock the door. She just hoped she would have enough time to cook the spaghetti and meat sauce before Nancy got home. Oh well, she though, shrugging. At least she'd remembered to pick up extra meat, Parmesan cheese, and garlic bread.
Finally managing to open the door, Jenni deposited her bags on the floor and searched for the light switch. She and Nancy had enchanted it to activate a large chain of spells that carefully illuminated every room in the apartment; the only drawback being that the newly magical object sometimes liked to move around. Suddenly, a small rustling noise made Jenni freeze, every hair on her neck standing on end. Something wasn't right.
The bags were all but forgotten as Jenni reached for her wand. The noise was coming from directly in front of her. Tightening her grip on her wand, Jenni moved cautiously forward, praying that it was just a rodent or some small critter. Her heart began to pound inside of her chest as she heard another noise - the whisper of fabric as someone moved slightly, maybe raising an arm or shifting a leg. Her eyes went wide as a large dark figure separated itself from the shadows.
Jenni's mind raced a mile a minute - she had to stun it or blast it or scream. She had to do something! While her brain willed her to move she stood rooted to the floor. Her hand was shaking and she didn't think she'd be able to hold her wand steady enough to aim properly.
Before she could even open her mouth, much less steady her hands, a low sinister voice snaked its way across the darkened room to her.
"Home so early, my dear? I had hoped to leave you a... surprise. But it appears I will get to give it to you in person."
'He thinks I'm Nancy...' Jenni realized with a start. Her throat clenched as she wondered if Nancy knew about her apparent stalker, and had forgotten to tell her about yet another part of her life. The small burst of anger had the effect that her earlier panic hadn't - her hands stopping quivering and she raised her wand.
"Won't you come over here and take your... present?" His voice was cold and smooth; she could almost see the insincerity and malice dripping from it despite the darkness.
"Who are you?" Finally finding her voice, Jenni's harsh whisper hung in the silent room for a moment as she stayed right where she was, wand out and nerves humming.
"I don't think that's important now, is it?" His voice was closer, almost behind her. Jenni nearly panicked and spun around, but her mind registered just in time that the shadow was still in front of her. Suddenly, a small part of her brain that wasn't busy being very very afraid realized that he was definitely a wizard - and one who was using a voice throw spell quite nicely.
'I can handle this' she thought a bit desperately. How many hours had she spent practicing nasty hexes after a particularly grueling Potions Class? She knew how to defend herself. And the first thing to do...
"LUMOS!"
Light filled the room, revealing a rather large man in hooded black robes. He was indeed in front of her and not, as the voice had led her to believe, sneaking up to her back. This knowledge only made her feel slightly better, however, because she knew what those robes meant. She was being threatened by a Death Eater.
And now he knew that she wasn't Nancy. Shit, that hadn't occurred to her. Praying that he would just give up and go, she pointed her wand at him again and tried to summon up the focus for a stunning spell.
He was too quick for her. "Ah, not Miss Gwin? Too bad. But I suppose that I could leave you as the surprise... yes, that might be better - Jennifer, isn't it?"
Jenni's confusion and revulsion at his words - how did he know her NAME? - gave the man the time he needed to fire off a series of hexes. It was all Jenni could do to run over to the wall, dodging the blazing spells as they came at her.
Deciding to forgo the proper mindset that McGonagall had always stressed in her classes, Jenni fired off a half-baked "STUPEFY!" It hit him - he had not been expecting her to actually respond - but did no more damage than to throw him back against the wall.
His wand was up and he had thrown a binding curse at her even as he slammed backwards. It just missed her, but the explosion it caused when it struck the wall behind her was enough to send her flying face first into the kitchen table.
"Dammit," Jenni bit her lip and tried to make the room stop spinning, not wanting him to know how much that had hurt. She pulled herself up off the floor shouting the first spell that came to mind.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
It was a basic charm from first year, so ingrained in her now that she didn't even have to think about the swish and flick motion. Thus, her spell was powerful enough to lift a chair into the air and send it crashing down on top of him.
Or it would have crashed on top of him, but almost lazily, he sidestepped it. His face darkened however, and as he pointed his wand at Jenni again, his words sent chills through her.
"Is that all the head girl can do? My my, so disappointing. My master will not be pleased. He had such high hopes for you, you know. CRUCIO!"
Jenni's eyes widened, even as she instinctively dove to the side. An Unforgivable curse? She'd heard the rumors that the Death Eaters used them with impunity, but... she'd hoped to never find out.
"What do I care if your overlord isn't happy?" she managed to spit out as she racked her brain for a better defense. Unable to come up with any, she aimed and hoped that without his wand he'd be no threat.
"Expelliarmus!" "CRUCIO!"
Caught mid-spell, Jenni had no chance to duck or scramble. The pain hit her suddenly, starting at the spot where the spell hit and quickly spreading to every cell and bone in her body. She could hear someone screaming even as she struggled not to black out. If her spell had hit him... she needed to get to his wand. If only the poker-hot pain would lessen.
Suddenly, his hooded face loomed in front of her. "No... stay back..." she gasped out, clutching at her wand and trying to raise her hand to point it at him. To her horror, she couldn't summon the strength to stop him as he reached out a cold hand to run down the side of her face.
"Very pretty... maybe I will leave you alive. But you'll owe me, once my master has you. You'll owe me."
"Don't TOUCH me." The searing fire of the Crucio had just begun to lessen, and Jenni was able to put a decent amount of anger and revulsion into her words.
The hand gripped her neck suddenly, squeezing at her throat and cutting off her air. As she gasped and grabbed at his hands, his voice cut through the panicked fog of her mind.
"Say hello to Nancy for me. How about one more... STUPEFY!" He had stepped away from her to cast the spell, giving Jenni just enough time to throw up a shield with the last of her strength before it hit her.
The pain was duller than last time. The shield absorbed much of the blow and kept the hex from taking full effect, although it was a very weak protection and flickered out just as the Death Eater disapparated. Drained and still incredibly weak, Jenni fought the tears of frustration that sprang to her eyes as she realized that she hadn't even found out who the stalker was. Forcing herself to stand, she stumbled towards the couch, tasting the blood from where she had hit the table earlier. Her head spun, and she lurched forward for the last few feet, gratefully sliding into a dark oblivion as she felt herself tilt and crash onto the cushions.
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THANK YOUS:
Anaxandra... Blue Eyes... - whatever you call yourself, it's nice to see you around. ;) No, seriously... sorry about not realizing that you had just changed names. And thanks for the compliment! We both really loved writing chapter 13! Hope this one measures up. About the Hermione issue, they're not a big part of our story, so don't worry. If you don't like what happens you can just skip those parts. ;) And, sorry not to have gotten to your story yet, but as I said up top, it's been so busy!
Little Wolf - Oooh, welcome to our band of short people. :) 5'1 Nancy... that's short enough for all of us. I got particular enjoyment from that trick... although I'm not sure how Bill liked it. And fight Jenni? Hee hee. Well, I don't mind as long as you leave Charlie alone, but I'd better warn you, she won't go down easy!
Fracindy - stop being a catastrophe? NEVER! :) Percy wouldn't know what to do!
Zoe - you GIGGLED. Wow. :) Well, I'm sure we didn't leave you giggling on this one... although, you probably did enjoy that first bit.
Carrie - here ya go! Mini Bill was quite the hit. :-p Thanks for your help with the spells!
Heather - eek! Sorry we're so late! Hopefully we won't get so behind again... but it's neat to know that you're waiting on this one!
Gohansfollower - ANOTHER member of the band of short people. :)
Ronsspawn - that's RIGHT. How DARE they? Oh... I just can't stay mad at them... darn that Weasley charm.
Karen - glad you're enjoying it!
Louisa - Do I have to have a talk with Harry again? That boy. All hormones. Tsk tsk. ;)
Fuzzyfeelings - HI! A new reader! Twice in one night?? I'm so honored! :) Welcome and we're both thrilled to have you!
Olivia - Wow. what a nice compliment. That means a lot to us. Hope you enjoyed this one!
Deadsexy - HI! Yeah.. we, uh... well, there was this treasure, in Peru, and we met.. well, first we had to deal with the... OH FINE. We just had trouble with this chapter. Sorry!! ;)
Hey - do you folks realize that we're TWO reviews away from one hundred as of this posting?? HOW COOL IS THAT? You guys rock. We started this story just for kicks, but it's been so much fun to have an audience.
Anyway... after much waiting we bring you - chapter 14! Enjoy. Notes at the bottom.
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Jenni reached for the doorknob and pulled on it furiously although she knew it was useless. With a frustrated scream she kicked the door.
"They locked us in?" Nancy asked unbelievingly.
"They locked us in." Jenni glared at the door for a minute before trudging back to Bill's bed. "Not to mention they took our wands as well." She threw her shoe at the door, for good measure, and was pleased to hear the surprised yelps of the two men still listening on the other side of the wood.
The two girls grinned at each other before breaking eye contact. After several moments of silence, Jenni looked at Nancy. It was killing her to be in the same room as Nancy and not feel able to pour her heart out about everything that had happened. Enough was enough. Jenni took a deep breath and muttered out her apology.
"Nancy, I'm sorry."
"Jenni, I'M sorry." Nancy shook her head and looked away.
Jenni watched as Nancy sat on Charlie's bed facing her. "Nancy I really am sorry. I was such a prat earlier."
Nancy shrugged. "Yeah, you were." She watched as Jenni's mouth opened in protest. "But so was I."
Jenni gave a weak smile. "Yeah you were." She said mimicking Nancy's earlier comment. "But I should have never said the things I did. I didn't mean it, you know. Especially what I said about Charlie and Harry. It was so... wrong."
Nancy's eyes flashed. "You bet your ass it was wrong! Do you know how embarrassed I was?"
Jenni hung her head. "I know." Not lifting her head to meet Nancy's gaze Jenni continued. "I'm sorry you think that I treat you like an eleven year old. I never meant for you to feel that way. It's just I worry about you and I tend to overreact. And... you've got to admit that you weren't letting me in at all."
The fire in her friend's brown eyes faded. "Yeah, I know." Nancy's hand instinctively went to the still-sore gash. Jenni caught the motion, and walked over, sitting next to her on Charlie's bed.
"Can I see it?"
"It's... it's not all cleaned up yet." Nancy shot a rather nervous look at her friend. "I... it was so messy that I sortof, well, I missed that it was getting infected." She winced, her hand still resting on the pant leg which hid the sore, waiting for the explosion. Nothing happened.
When she finally looked up, Jenni's face was very sad. "I wish I could've helped..."
Nancy immediately looked guilty. "I... it seemed better not to get you involved." She flushed a bit, knowing how bad this was going to sound. "Why? Why on earth wouldn't you want me involved in helping you get better?" The indignant tone in Jenni's voice made Nancy sigh, and she flopped down onto the pillows, breathing in the comforting smell of Charlie as she searched for a way to explain.
"It... well, do you remember why I decided to get my own apartment?"
"It was some kind of, you needing to prove to people that you could handle it." Jenni's voice was gently disapproving. "Which was silly, since we all KNEW you could handle it... and I'm stuck living alone, now."
Rubbing a hand over her face, Nancy stared up at the ceiling. "Well, it wasn't so much PEOPLE, it was YOU. I'd spent the last few years of school living up to your legacy... proving my intelligence as it were..."
Jenni stood up with a sigh, "I've heard this before, Nancy... and..."
"Just listen, ok?"
Uncertain as to what was coming next, Jenni retreated across the dark room, throwing herself face down onto Bill's bed. "Go ahead."
"So... I was so excited to show you that I was as grown up as you. Which was stupid, of course, cause I WASN'T... but, hindsight and all. Anyway. I was trying to prove myself to you. And, when the dragon wound happened..."
"DRAGON WOUND?" Jenni shot straight up off of the bed. "DRAGON?" she repeated, stunned. "You... it... Romania... DRAGON?" Nancy nodded sharply. "Holy Merlin... do you KNOW how dangero..."
"YES. I know. Let me finish, please." Nancy's voice was strained. This explanation was hard enough without listening to more lectures about her own stupidity.
"Sorry."
"Well, I got hurt, and you dropped me at St. Mungo's the next morning, remember?" Jenni sat down, nodding her agreement. "I... they looked it over and told me that it looked suspicious and they asked me where I'd gotten hurt. Well, while I was waiting to be seen by the medi-witches I'd had a conversation with the receptionist. She said..." Nancy gulped, knowing that Jenni wasn't going to like what she was about to say.
"What?" Fighting her every instinct, Jenni kept herself quiet.
"She said that the Daily Prophet has great insurance for employees - the only thing that it doesn't cover is..."
"Dragons. Oh bloody hell... that's right."
"Yeah, dragons. So - the antidote I needed was rare, being as there aren't dragons IN Britain anymore, and expensive. I didn't tell you because... well, I knew that you'd feel obligated, and..."
"The MONEY?" Jenni couldn't keep the hurt out of her words. "You kept this from me because you didn't want to deal with the money?"
"I... neither one of us has 80 galleons to spare... and..." Jenni was about to interrupt, but Nancy waved her down. "No, I KNOW it was stupid. But a girl's got her pride, even if it IS stupid..."
"Not just STUPID! LIFE THREATENING! I mean, bloody hell Nancy! There's only one other way to counteract a dragon wound and those potions have been outlawed for..." Jenni trailed off, noticing an odd color flushing over Nancy's face. A terrible idea flashed into her head, along with a vision of Nancy's kitchen, the table covered by simmering pots of... Her voice went flat. "You tried to make it."
"TRIED being the operative word there." It was honestly a big weight off of Nancy's shoulders, knowing that she didn't have to come up with lies anymore. Now they could deal with the consequences, maybe it would be too much for Jenni, but at least the truth was out. "I couldn't get the last ingredient in time, and Charlie figured me out last night. He made me take his emergency antidote."
"As he damn well should have..." Jenni's mind was swirling. "So... you're telling me, for two weeks, you were fighting off DRAGON poison as you tried to make a HIGHLY dangerous and ILLEGAL potion because you wouldn't ask for money?"
"And because... I thought it was what you would have done." Nancy's voice was very small.
Jenni was momentarily speechless. "What... What. I. Would. Have. DONE?" Her blue eyes blazed, and for a moment, Nancy could almost SEE the anger from the other side of the room. "Ignore my friends? Take my life into my own hands? BREAK THE LAW!?! No, that is NOT what..."
"I meant," Nancy's soft sigh echoed louder than any yell would have. "I meant that you would have HANDLED it. You wouldn't have run to anyone for instructions."
There was a long silence as Jenni watched her anger fade in front of her own eyes. After a moment, a forlorn little sniff reminded her that Nancy was still waiting to hear her reaction. Without hesitation, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and padded over to where Nancy lay.
"You don't have to prove yourself to me."
Nancy's answer was another sniff.
"I'm serious. I know you didn't mean it this morning, but you probably ARE the smartest witch I know - and the most capable."
This time there was a snort, but Nancy did thaw enough to turn over and face her.
"Although, for one of the most intelligent and able witches in England, you certainly do test your limits enough." Jenni's voice was wry and a bit tired.
Nancy laughed, just a little - enough to diffuse a bit of the tension. "I'm really sorry to put you through all of this stuff. I mean, if Charlie hadn't been stubborn enough to follow me today... that was so stupid of me, running for my tree. I never would have made it out of the forest without help."
"Just... let's stick to a buddy system," Jenni suggested half-flippantly as she leaned over to hug her best friend. "No stupid stuff without a partner."
Nancy pulled out of the hug slightly and grinned. "Buddy system it is." Her smile turned downright mischievous. "Do redheads count as buddies? Cause Mrs. Weasley was insinuating that YOU have been practicing STUFF with a certain partner... Just HOW many times have you two kissed now?"
Jenni blushed bright red and grabbed Charlie's pillow from the bed, whacking her friend over the head with it. "Enough of THAT." She tried to muster up some dignity. "Bed time!"
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Jenni sighed and settled into the pillows. She listened to the steady sound of Nancy breathing and knew that she was sleeping peacefully. Her eyelids were getting heavy and she knew it would only be minutes before she was asleep as well. Jenni rolled over as she heard the door creak open. A small beam of light filtered in and she could see two figures standing by the door talking in hushed whispers.
"I told you they would be asleep." "Ok, fine. Let's just put the wands back and go."
Jenni sat up. "You'd better quiet down if you don't want to wake up Nancy." Her voice visibly startled the two. Charlie had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed. Bill glared.
Jenni returned the glare, ignoring Charlie as he made his way over to Nancy. "So, you decided to steal my wand did you?"
"And you gave me that candy from the twins." Bill snapped.
Jenni shrugged. "It was just a candy. I didn't know you were going to get so hacked off about it."
"Hacked off?" Bill's voice rose a notch. "You have no idea what that candy could have done. Those two are ruthless when it comes to that kind of stuff."
"And I bet if it had been anyone else to eat that candy you would have found the situation just as funny as everyone else did. Am I right?" Jenni shot a superior look towards Bill as he struggled to find words.
Jenni grinned as Bill managed to finally choke out a response. "It's not funny." However, he was unable to keep from smiling.
"I knew it! I was right!" Jenni was practically bouncing on the bed. "And you said Weasleys were always right! HA!"
Jenni was caught off guard as a pillow came flying across the room and hit her full on in the face. A quick look and a menacing whisper told her that Charlie was none too pleased with the amount of noise she had been making. "Keep it down," he growled.
Just as Jenni stood up to throw the pillow back, Bill had managed to cross the short distance and stop her.
"You wouldn't want that to hit Nancy would you?" he whispered in her ear. The soft sound of his voice sent a shiver through her and before she knew it, he was sitting on the bed, leaning against the headboard and had pulled her down next to him.
Seeing that Bill had undertaken to control Jenni's exuberant outbursts, Charlie turned back to the girl who was sleeping peacefully in his bed. He set the beaker of potion that his mother had whipped up to combat the infection of Nancy's wound on the bedside table with a little note. Plucking her glasses off of her face, he laid them right next to the healing potion, hoping that she would notice it when she awoke.
His mind wandered a bit as he tried not to listen to the snippets of conversation he heard from the other side of the room and seized on the letter that now lay opened in his pocket. Although he hadn't really expected it, he'd been released from his contract in Romania. His overseer had written that his obligation to them was being transferred to one James Dorallen, UK Ministry of Magic. Although Charlie had never been keen on owing his allegiance to that tangled bureaucracy, he felt better knowing that he was at least going to be around to help his parents if the situation became as dark as they seemed to fear.
Until those fears came to light, however, he had another reason to be glad that he would remain in England. She was currently lying in his bed. Charlie grinned to himself and reached a hand out to smooth her hair.
"You'll be seeing more of me, Nancy-girl, you can count on it."
Jenni sat still for a few minutes, her head resting on Bill's chest, but she jumped when he spoke again. "So, am I forgiven?" The hint of mischief in his voice caused her to turn crimson, and she was thankful for the cover of darkness.
"Forgiven for what?"
The confusion in her voice made Bill laugh softly. "For stealing your wand and locking you in here."
"Oh, that." Jenni's voice held a note of sarcasm. "Sure. I guess you're forgiven."
Bill leaned forward and kissed the top of Jenni's forehead. "Thank you. Now I can let you go back to sleep."
Jenni flashed an evil smile as she watched Bill move off the bed. "Don't thank me yet. I only said you were forgiven. It's definitely not forgotten."
"That's all right," Bill shot back. "I haven't forgotten about that candy you gave me. I guess you could say we're even."
"Not even. I never get even, Weasley." Jenni flashed her most innocent smile at Bill as he headed towards the door. "I get ahead."
Bill turned and nodded his head, his eyes glittering. "Just watch your back, Ferguson." He stood at the doorway waiting for Charlie. His eyes wandered back to the small brunette who was currently burrowing under his covers, getting comfortable in his bed. He would definitely have to watch his own back around her. Although, he thought, he might just enjoy this.
Hearing his brother's footsteps, Charlie rightly deduced that Bill and Jenni had settled their issues for the night, and got up to leave. As he reached the door, a pillow caught him square in the back and the sound of stifled giggling wafted over from Bill's side of the room. GIRLS, he thought with a smile, tossing the pillow gently back onto his own bed next to Nancy and waving goodnight to Jenni.
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"Ok, so... how big a focus do we make her background?" Jenni's face was in deep thought as she posed the question.
"Nancy? NANCY!"
Her friend jerked to attention, hastily grabbing her notes on the Snape/McAuthor interview. "Um, yes, good idea..." she said quickly, hoping to make Jenni think that she'd been paying attention.
"Merlin's ghost, Nancy... that's the fifth time since lunch you've zoned out!" Jenni groaned. "What's WRONG?"
Sighing, Nancy laid her papers back on the table and got up to pace the small office. It had been three days since they'd left the burrow, and she certainly had been thinking about the Weasleys, and a certain Dragon Tamer, quite often. But that wasn't the problem today.
"It's this meeting. I can't figure out what he wants! I mean, do you think he knows about the..." she paused and looked around before pointing at her leg. It still bore a thin bandage, but now that the infection had been exposed, it was fading quickly.
"Nonsense." Jenni pushed a bit of hair out of her eyes and looked up at her friend, trying to act as though she didn't know a thing about why their boss had asked Nancy to meet with him this afternoon. "There's no way he could know about it, and even if he DID, it's none of his business. You still came to work, you didn't charge the Prophet for anything..."
"But what else could he WANT?" Nancy flung herself down into her chair in frustration. "Oh, it's no use. Here, give me the bit about the school. I'll write up some quick job descriptions for them."
"What are you going to say?" Jenni's suspicious look was met with an entirely innocent one as she gathered together the notes she had on the two professors.
"The truth, of course!" Nancy grinned, nervousness forgotten for a moment. "Professor Snape is currently employed as the resident BAT of Hogwarts, and spends his time sucking the points and blood out of Gryffindor house..."
"You'd better NOT!" Jenni could only hold her straight face for a few seconds. "You wouldn't want to misrepresent him. You forgot the full description - VAMPIRE bat."
Nancy stuck her tongue out and made a show of scribbling down VAMPIRE on her blank parchment. "Oh, EVER so sorry."
There was a moment of silence, as a still grinning Jenni scratched away at her draft and Nancy sat there, tapping the desk nervously and staring at the notes. Suddenly both of them looked up and spoke.
"I guess I can't ACTUALLY use that, huh?" "You do know you can't REALLY say that..."
Rolling her eyes, Nancy muttered an erasure charm and laid her quill down, reaching over Jenni's bent head for a very large, slightly dusty book on a low shelf.
"Never thought I'd be GLAD that you kept your copy of Hogwarts a History in the office, you know..." she muttered as she flipped to the descriptions of the various teaching positions.
Jenni bit her lip and flushed, not looking up. "You know perfectly well that I only brought it in when you gave me the new expanded edition for Christmas last year. And you can't mock me when YOU'RE using it," she added quickly, seeing the grin on Nancy's face.
Nancy just grunted in answer, her eyebrows already lowered as she started to focus on her work. She was so absorbed in the search for an explanation of living arrangements for married couples at Hogwarts that she didn't even notice when the clock chimed. Jenni did, however and looked up.
The hand was pointing to, "Hurry, or you're going to be late!"
"Nancy!" she reached over and pried the book from her friend's hands. "You've got to go."
"Hey! I wasn't done! I was just reading about how a Charms Professor in the 1500s pissed off the statue in front of his chambers and it walked away! He couldn't get into his rooms!" Nancy made a futile grab for the huge book, moaning as Jenni slammed it shut, before the full import of what Jenni had said sunk in.
"Oh CRAP!" She jumped up, stuffing papers into a sack and throwing her work robes on over the casual clothes she preferred when writing. "Why didn't you TELL me? I'm going to be late... oh man, what if he wants to know about... Do I look presentable?"
"Nancy, you're fine. Get going!" Jenni almost said that she'd see her friend tonight, but caught herself just in time and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, ok? I'm... I'm headed home now."
After making sure that Nancy was well and truly on her way to the meeting, Jenni cleaned up and set off with a grin. She knew that Nancy was expecting to head home to a long, dull, night of working on the profile piece on Snape and his fiancée.
In actuality, Jenni had carefully planned a nice dinner with Bill and Charlie as a surprise - a congratulatory one. She had been informed previously that the meeting Nancy had been called to was to promote her to be Jenni's full partner, big news in itself. But besides that, her friend deserved a night free from work. Jenni knew that Nancy would be thrilled to see Charlie, and even though some part of her hated to admit it, she was looking forward to seeing Bill again.
Reaching Nancy's apartment, she struggled with the bags in her hand as she rummaged for the keys to unlock the door. She just hoped she would have enough time to cook the spaghetti and meat sauce before Nancy got home. Oh well, she though, shrugging. At least she'd remembered to pick up extra meat, Parmesan cheese, and garlic bread.
Finally managing to open the door, Jenni deposited her bags on the floor and searched for the light switch. She and Nancy had enchanted it to activate a large chain of spells that carefully illuminated every room in the apartment; the only drawback being that the newly magical object sometimes liked to move around. Suddenly, a small rustling noise made Jenni freeze, every hair on her neck standing on end. Something wasn't right.
The bags were all but forgotten as Jenni reached for her wand. The noise was coming from directly in front of her. Tightening her grip on her wand, Jenni moved cautiously forward, praying that it was just a rodent or some small critter. Her heart began to pound inside of her chest as she heard another noise - the whisper of fabric as someone moved slightly, maybe raising an arm or shifting a leg. Her eyes went wide as a large dark figure separated itself from the shadows.
Jenni's mind raced a mile a minute - she had to stun it or blast it or scream. She had to do something! While her brain willed her to move she stood rooted to the floor. Her hand was shaking and she didn't think she'd be able to hold her wand steady enough to aim properly.
Before she could even open her mouth, much less steady her hands, a low sinister voice snaked its way across the darkened room to her.
"Home so early, my dear? I had hoped to leave you a... surprise. But it appears I will get to give it to you in person."
'He thinks I'm Nancy...' Jenni realized with a start. Her throat clenched as she wondered if Nancy knew about her apparent stalker, and had forgotten to tell her about yet another part of her life. The small burst of anger had the effect that her earlier panic hadn't - her hands stopping quivering and she raised her wand.
"Won't you come over here and take your... present?" His voice was cold and smooth; she could almost see the insincerity and malice dripping from it despite the darkness.
"Who are you?" Finally finding her voice, Jenni's harsh whisper hung in the silent room for a moment as she stayed right where she was, wand out and nerves humming.
"I don't think that's important now, is it?" His voice was closer, almost behind her. Jenni nearly panicked and spun around, but her mind registered just in time that the shadow was still in front of her. Suddenly, a small part of her brain that wasn't busy being very very afraid realized that he was definitely a wizard - and one who was using a voice throw spell quite nicely.
'I can handle this' she thought a bit desperately. How many hours had she spent practicing nasty hexes after a particularly grueling Potions Class? She knew how to defend herself. And the first thing to do...
"LUMOS!"
Light filled the room, revealing a rather large man in hooded black robes. He was indeed in front of her and not, as the voice had led her to believe, sneaking up to her back. This knowledge only made her feel slightly better, however, because she knew what those robes meant. She was being threatened by a Death Eater.
And now he knew that she wasn't Nancy. Shit, that hadn't occurred to her. Praying that he would just give up and go, she pointed her wand at him again and tried to summon up the focus for a stunning spell.
He was too quick for her. "Ah, not Miss Gwin? Too bad. But I suppose that I could leave you as the surprise... yes, that might be better - Jennifer, isn't it?"
Jenni's confusion and revulsion at his words - how did he know her NAME? - gave the man the time he needed to fire off a series of hexes. It was all Jenni could do to run over to the wall, dodging the blazing spells as they came at her.
Deciding to forgo the proper mindset that McGonagall had always stressed in her classes, Jenni fired off a half-baked "STUPEFY!" It hit him - he had not been expecting her to actually respond - but did no more damage than to throw him back against the wall.
His wand was up and he had thrown a binding curse at her even as he slammed backwards. It just missed her, but the explosion it caused when it struck the wall behind her was enough to send her flying face first into the kitchen table.
"Dammit," Jenni bit her lip and tried to make the room stop spinning, not wanting him to know how much that had hurt. She pulled herself up off the floor shouting the first spell that came to mind.
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
It was a basic charm from first year, so ingrained in her now that she didn't even have to think about the swish and flick motion. Thus, her spell was powerful enough to lift a chair into the air and send it crashing down on top of him.
Or it would have crashed on top of him, but almost lazily, he sidestepped it. His face darkened however, and as he pointed his wand at Jenni again, his words sent chills through her.
"Is that all the head girl can do? My my, so disappointing. My master will not be pleased. He had such high hopes for you, you know. CRUCIO!"
Jenni's eyes widened, even as she instinctively dove to the side. An Unforgivable curse? She'd heard the rumors that the Death Eaters used them with impunity, but... she'd hoped to never find out.
"What do I care if your overlord isn't happy?" she managed to spit out as she racked her brain for a better defense. Unable to come up with any, she aimed and hoped that without his wand he'd be no threat.
"Expelliarmus!" "CRUCIO!"
Caught mid-spell, Jenni had no chance to duck or scramble. The pain hit her suddenly, starting at the spot where the spell hit and quickly spreading to every cell and bone in her body. She could hear someone screaming even as she struggled not to black out. If her spell had hit him... she needed to get to his wand. If only the poker-hot pain would lessen.
Suddenly, his hooded face loomed in front of her. "No... stay back..." she gasped out, clutching at her wand and trying to raise her hand to point it at him. To her horror, she couldn't summon the strength to stop him as he reached out a cold hand to run down the side of her face.
"Very pretty... maybe I will leave you alive. But you'll owe me, once my master has you. You'll owe me."
"Don't TOUCH me." The searing fire of the Crucio had just begun to lessen, and Jenni was able to put a decent amount of anger and revulsion into her words.
The hand gripped her neck suddenly, squeezing at her throat and cutting off her air. As she gasped and grabbed at his hands, his voice cut through the panicked fog of her mind.
"Say hello to Nancy for me. How about one more... STUPEFY!" He had stepped away from her to cast the spell, giving Jenni just enough time to throw up a shield with the last of her strength before it hit her.
The pain was duller than last time. The shield absorbed much of the blow and kept the hex from taking full effect, although it was a very weak protection and flickered out just as the Death Eater disapparated. Drained and still incredibly weak, Jenni fought the tears of frustration that sprang to her eyes as she realized that she hadn't even found out who the stalker was. Forcing herself to stand, she stumbled towards the couch, tasting the blood from where she had hit the table earlier. Her head spun, and she lurched forward for the last few feet, gratefully sliding into a dark oblivion as she felt herself tilt and crash onto the cushions.
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THANK YOUS:
Anaxandra... Blue Eyes... - whatever you call yourself, it's nice to see you around. ;) No, seriously... sorry about not realizing that you had just changed names. And thanks for the compliment! We both really loved writing chapter 13! Hope this one measures up. About the Hermione issue, they're not a big part of our story, so don't worry. If you don't like what happens you can just skip those parts. ;) And, sorry not to have gotten to your story yet, but as I said up top, it's been so busy!
Little Wolf - Oooh, welcome to our band of short people. :) 5'1 Nancy... that's short enough for all of us. I got particular enjoyment from that trick... although I'm not sure how Bill liked it. And fight Jenni? Hee hee. Well, I don't mind as long as you leave Charlie alone, but I'd better warn you, she won't go down easy!
Fracindy - stop being a catastrophe? NEVER! :) Percy wouldn't know what to do!
Zoe - you GIGGLED. Wow. :) Well, I'm sure we didn't leave you giggling on this one... although, you probably did enjoy that first bit.
Carrie - here ya go! Mini Bill was quite the hit. :-p Thanks for your help with the spells!
Heather - eek! Sorry we're so late! Hopefully we won't get so behind again... but it's neat to know that you're waiting on this one!
Gohansfollower - ANOTHER member of the band of short people. :)
Ronsspawn - that's RIGHT. How DARE they? Oh... I just can't stay mad at them... darn that Weasley charm.
Karen - glad you're enjoying it!
Louisa - Do I have to have a talk with Harry again? That boy. All hormones. Tsk tsk. ;)
Fuzzyfeelings - HI! A new reader! Twice in one night?? I'm so honored! :) Welcome and we're both thrilled to have you!
Olivia - Wow. what a nice compliment. That means a lot to us. Hope you enjoyed this one!
Deadsexy - HI! Yeah.. we, uh... well, there was this treasure, in Peru, and we met.. well, first we had to deal with the... OH FINE. We just had trouble with this chapter. Sorry!! ;)
Hey - do you folks realize that we're TWO reviews away from one hundred as of this posting?? HOW COOL IS THAT? You guys rock. We started this story just for kicks, but it's been so much fun to have an audience.