a/n: Have fun, and happy reading! Thanks for checking this chapter out.
Just as long as you stand by me
Ben E. King
"What the hell!" Albus cried, snatching the paper from Uncle Harry's hands. "This has got to be a joke." Uncle Harry rubbed his scar fervently, continuing to stare in somewhat disbelief at the article. His eyes skimmed the words briefly, trying to process all the information that was given.
"Harry, stop," Mum said softly, and he lowered his hand to his side. Uncle Harry's frantic eyes searched Mum and Dad's imploringly. "You don't think it's true, do you?" Uncle Harry asked the question tentatively, as though afraid of the answer he would receive.
Dad shrugged. "I mean, Rita's a nutter, we all know that. Jesus, I'd be surprised if it was true. Lily's a good kid, mate."
Uncle Harry sighed. "I've got to tell Ginny. I'll Floo you later, all right?"
"I'm coming with you, Dad," Albus said. "C'mon, Rosie." He reached for my hand, but I took a step back. "Al, I don't think – given the circumstances –" I whispered. But Albus looked at me through pleading eyes. "C'mon, Rose, just come with me." I looked at him and knew that I couldn't deny him; after everything he'd done and been for me these past few months especially. And so I slid my hand into his and let him lead me to the Floo.
"In GOD'S NAME, Lily Potter, I DO NOT understand!"
"Mum, I swear it's not -"
"There'd better be an explanation for this!"
"I promise! I'm not –"
Aunt Ginny's shrieks could be heard from the balcony. The Potter's house had a large open, wraparound balcony on the upper level, giving anybody upstairs a clear view of the downstairs and vice versa. Aunt Ginny was standing with her hands firmly on her hips, and Lily was holding what looked to be the Daily Prophet. Uncle Harry whipped down the steps, but Al and I shrunk ourselves small and hid beneath the bars of the balcony, as we had done so many times as children. I almost giggled at the two of us getting into mischief and spying yet again, but a knock on the door interrupted both my inner thoughts and Aunt Ginny's yelling.
We watched as Lily dried her eyes on her sleeve and opened the grand front door, gasping when she saw who was behind it.
"Max."
I gave a small shriek, and Albus clapped a hand over my mouth. "Shh, I want to hear."
"How are you?" Max asked, nervously shifting from foot to foot.
"I'm fine," Lily responded quizzically. Her head moved to one side, and I could imagine her confused expression as to what Max was doing at her house at this late hour. I could, however, guess at exactly what he was doing. I tried to telepathically send him signals that tonight was not the night, but alas, he didn't seem to receive them.
"I came to ask what your plans were on next Saturday, because the thing is, um, well, I think I'd quite –"
"Who is it, Lily?" Aunt Ginny called just then. "Hurry, we haven't finished our discussion."
"It's Max," Lily called, turning to direct her voice toward her mother. Her arm swung around the door, and the paper went flying out of her hand. "I'll be there in a minute." She faced Max again, but he had already stepped down to pick up the paper, and was starting intently at the front of it. His expression turned hard and confused. Lily turned back to him, her eyes glancing to the paper. "Oh –"
"I think I'm just going to go," Max said softly. "Er. Okay. Sorry, Lily." And he sped away faster than I'd ever seen a boy move before. Lily picked up the dropped paper and turned, and we finally got a look at the expression on her face. She looked worn and tired, and confused. The guilt bubbled up within me in waves. I turned to face Albus, and he swore under his breath. I looked at him and knew we needed to leave. He must have felt similarly, so he helped me up and we dusted ourselves off. Together, we crept back into the room with fireplace and made our way home.
"I just don't understand." I muttered. I had the article spread in front of me, trying to gather as much information as I could.
"My sister's pregnant," Al said from his place resting against the sink. His hands were wrapped around an old mug that said World's Best Sister. His eyes looked glassy and his hair was rumpled in all different places. He sipped his tea slowly as I turned my eyes back to the paper. Scorpius placed an arm on the table and munched his cookie, effectively spreading crumbs all over the paper. "Sorry," he said hastily, brushing them away. I waved him off, letting him know it was no big deal. He read the article over my shoulder before addressing us again.
"It doesn't seem like Lily. I mean, Lorcan? It doesn't make sense."
Albus rolled his eyes. "You didn't see how she's acted lately."
I shifted in my seat, sitting cross-legged when Benedick jumped into my lap. I scratched behind his ears and wondered if I'd been remembering to feed him. "I mean, I guess the only person who knows for sure is Lily.
"Trust me, she's not pregnant. It's a rubbish reporter trying to scam a few Galleons from whoever will read this rubbish."
Trust me. Those were the words from last night, in the kitchen. I shifted them through carefully, wondering why Scorpius had chosen to utter them again Of most importance, to trust someone, I thought. To believe that everything you knew about a person was true, to believe that everything they told you was real and genuine. To trust someone with yourself was giving yourself over to them in an act of love, and to trust yourself was the highest form of self-acceptance. I poured over these thoughts before turning my attention to him.
"Is there something that you know that we don't?"
Scorpius ran a hand through his hair. He bit the edge of his lips, and shut his eyes briefly before looking at us both.
"You're my friends. I'd tell you anything." He took a breath. "But yeah, kind of. I've really got to talk to Lucy." He grabbed his jacket from the rack and turned to Al. "Listen, mate, don't stress yourself out, all right?" He pulled him in for a hug, the manly sort with the claps on the back. Turning to me, he smiled and grabbed a bright yellow Post-It from the stack by the telephone and hastily drew a doodle before handing it to me. I smiled wide, touched by his gesture. His blue eyes met my own brown ones, as I tried to search his face for what he was hiding.
"What's the big deal? Why can't you just tell us?"
He contemplated for a moment. "I want to be someone who is worthy of trust." Covering the length of the kitchen, he brought his hand to the base of my neck and left a petal-soft kiss on the crown of my head before swiftly moving to the door.
"Great," Al groaned. "Our whole lives will soon be filled with nappies and baby bottles. I'm not ready for this life, Rosie. I'm not ready to leave my twenties behind. I just feel like this is happening so fast."
I laughed. "They're not your kids, Al." He turned to put his mug in the sink and headed into his room, while I stared at the Post It that had a light feather drawn in the middle of it.
"Hope is the thing, Scorpius," a seventeen year old me called to him one morning with the sun shining, the blueberry muffins warm and the tea strong.
"The thing of what?" He answered, smile bright on that June morning before classes.
"With the feathers, of course," I responded. He told me I was crazy, but we said it sometimes, to sound like young and silly philosophical teenagers. But other times we said it as a reminder. A reminder of the hope. What's good if there's no use hoping, my mother used to say.
With the feathers, indeed.
I turned my attention to the article at hand once more.
Lily Luna Potter, daughter of the world-famous Harry Potter (Boy-Who-Lived, Man-Who-Defeated) has rumoured to be in a fair amount of trouble these days.
While the family enjoys a quiet life, rarely having been seen in the spotlight since that fateful day in May, it seems that their peaceful life may be over with pregnancy of their youngest child and daughter. Being only nineteen, the shock that this is to their families is quite extensive. Sources say that while the family is handling the news well, are no doubt disappointed with the choices their daughter has chosen to make.
"It was a surprise, sure, but that's life," says a source close to the family.
This shocking news may be a shock to the family, and it is an even bigger one for the Wizarding World. But, not to lose hope –the Wizarding World is gaining another baby to carry on the legacy of the Boy Who Lived.
Next week; are the Potters are as put together as they seem? Albus Potter, finishing his third stint in rehab?
My eyes flew open just as I was drifting off to sleep that night. My head was nestled deep into the soft pillows, but I forced myself to open my eyes and grab the article from my night stand before running into Albus' room. I slammed the door open and jumped onto his bed. He was buried underneath his dark green comforter, spread all over the bed and breathing heavily. He looked so peaceful – oh, well.
"Albus!" I said, bouncing up and down to wake him up. "Get up, get up, get up!"
"Oh my God, Rosie, what the hell are you doing in here. Get out," he groaned, shoving his face in the pillow. "It is the middle of the night and I do not want to see you right now."
I ignored him. "Trust me, Albus, you want to see this." I collapsed on the bed and leaned over to turn on the lamp on his bedside table. Leaning against the headboard, I handed him the Prophet. He sat up and rumpled his hair, grabbing his reading glasses from the table.
"Rosie, I've read this so many times, I don't think –"
"Read it," I said stubbornly. "Or I won't leave."
"Wish you would," he muttered, turning his attention to the article, rubbing his eye sleepily under his glasses. Once again, I simply ignored him. He skimmed the article and threw it to me. "There."
I rolled my eyes, growing frustrated, Crawling underneath the covers, I shoved him over to make room for me and pulled fistfuls of the soft duvet over me. I leaned over his shoulder and pulled the Prophet back into my lap. "Look, right here." I pointed at the fine print that hadn't stuck out to me before, the part that mentioned Albus and his stint in rehab.
"Okay, so, me in rehab, what's the big –"
And then he got it.
He turned to me with wide eyes. "You mean – my date the other week, you don't think – you don't think I was actually with Rita Skeeter, do you?" He gave me an incredulous look, his face a picture of how I felt.
I shook my head. "Maybe, I'm not sure. I just know I'm positive your date had something to do with her. Did you mention anything to her that night, do you remember saying anything at all about Lily?"
"Early on, I told her that one of my family members was pregnant, but we didn't get into it." I threw a light punch to his arm.
"You dummy, why would you tell her that!"
"Ow!" He rubbed his arm impatiently. "I don't know, it just slipped out. I didn't mean for it to, but she brushed it off so easily I didn't even think she heard."
I sighed. "I'm not entirely sure what this means, but I think it's something. Who knew your disastrous dates could come in handy one day?"
"None of this would've happened if it wasn't for my disastrous date," he muttered, slumping back down against the headboard. He yawned, removing his reading glasses.
"So. Lily's not pregnant?" Albus clarified. He sighed, throwing himself down onto the bed. "It's too early for this. Or too late." He pulled the covers over his head, but a few beats later I heard him muffle through the covers "This whole family's bloody insane."
"Poor Max," I whispered after a heartbeat. "He didn't ask her out over this article, and he's probably crushed by the news." I leaned down next to Al, and flicked the lamp off. I felt like everything was hanging by a thread; that there was miscommunication between everything and at any moment this thinly constructed maze of hurt would come crashing down on us. But then again, maybe I was wrong. I wasn't sure what to perceive, and everything blurred before my eyes as I drifted off to sleep.
Pieces of guilt clung to me the next morning as I thought about Lily and our fight. In fact, it was the whole situation that made me uncomfortable. I thought about all of us, somehow all tied together in a mix of confusion and miscommunication. All the information jumbled together in my brain and began to turn it to mush, and it wasn't even ten o'clock yet.
My family had always been close. We rarely got into fights as cousins, because we really didn't let much bother us. We also all had our own friends growing up in school, so there were times when we wouldn't interact as often, which actually made for fairly healthy relationships. My little confrontation with Lily was the biggest fight I'd been in with a family member and in truth it made me very uneasy. Because this was Lily – my tiny cousin with a big mouth and an even bigger attitude, and I loved her. Her outburst over Max was no match for our relationship, and that morning, sipping green tea from an even greener mug, I knew that what I wanted was to find Lily and make peace.
Having her angry felt like a piece of my safety net had been ripped out from under me. I couldn't imagine what it would be like if Albus and I ever were to turn our backs on one another for more than a day.
Benedick wandered around my ankles, waiting to be picked up, but I was too lost in thought to even think about putting him on my lap. I drained my green tea and continued to think, staring out the window into the cloudy day until I heard footsteps enter the kitchen.
"Uh oh," Al joked when he walked in, "I know that face. That's your thinking face. I think I'll stay out of the kitchen this morning – I'll be in my room if you need me."
"Ha ha," I replied, rolling my eyes at him. "You're a real crack up, you know that?"
He made his way to the cupboards and opened the door, contemplating which cereal to bring out. I sat there which my chin propped in my hands, watching him carefully. His blue pajama pants fit loose around him, his baggy black t shirt the same inky colour as his hair. I knew when he turned around he would fix on me his brilliant green eyes, his forehead creased in a scowl he usually wore until he properly woke up.
I looked around the kitchen, with its worn walls and appliances, the peanut butter jar I ate out of almost every day, with knives or with celery, the now-wrinkled post it note with the feather, the bill with the doodles. I looked at the mugs that piled in the sink, and the leftover plate that held the chocolate cake. For the very first time in my life, everything in front of me was enough. This space in time, this moment that had been given to me – nothing was above it or below it. It was enough to know I would have a conversation with Lily later this afternoon. It was enough not knowing which new baby would soon be brought into our family. It was enough having a life of messy doodles and scribbled post its, old mugs and people who I loved counted on my fingers, people who I loved deeper than anything else in the world.
"Love you," I said to Albus as he was pouring cornflakes into a bowl. He looked at me with a quizzical eye and one eyebrow raised ,getting the milk from the fridge. "Do you have a fever or something?"
I shook my head, giggling. He shrugged, and sat down at the table, bringing the Prophet close to him as he began to shovel cereal into his mouth at an alarming rate. Which, of course, I pointed out to him and told him he would choke if he didn't slow down. He used the spoon as a rocket and mushy cornflakes as the ammo and flung a spoonful at me without saying a word, dirtying my cheek and forehead, and I just laughed, going to stand up with a washcloth to clean it up.
It was enough.
"I'm going to see Lily today," I mentioned casually as I was cleaning up the cereal. I couldn't read his expression, but I knew he was surprised.
"I'll come with you. I want to talk to Dad about this Rita Skeeter character and see what he makes of my date."
"You're such an idiot, Al. Who tells people stuff like that on a first date?"
"I thought you just said you loved me."
"Doesn't make you less of an idiot." I took two steps forward and wrung the soapy washcloth on his head, the suds dripping down to his ear. He gasped when the cold water reached his ear and spun around to face me. "Are you mental!"
"You're the one who flung cereal at me not three minutes ago and I didn't say a word, in case you've forgotten," I retorted, using my haughtiest voice. Albus stood and reached for the washcloth. "That's because you're mental," he shot, trying to bite back his laugh. "Now give me the washcloth."
"No way! I just washed my hair this morning, I don't want you getting dirty dish soap in it."
"I won't wring it out on your head, idiot, I'm just going to put in the sink."
"No, you're not, idiot."
I wiggled my way onto our countertops, standing up on them and held it above my head. He was trying to haul himself up when his foot caught the fish tank and it came crashing to the ground. He froze, one leg halfway up the counter and we both stared at the three brightly coloured fish floating in the water on the kitchen floor. At that moment, Scorpius chose to walk in, and looked at us – I on the counter, with a washcloth above my head, Albus halfway up in baggy pajamas, and broken glass, fish and water strung all over the floor.
"It's always something with you two," Scorpius muttered.
I raised my head from the horrific scene below me, and met his gaze. "Five Galleons for you to clean it up."
"Dead fish? Yeah, right."
Albus got down, and gave me a hand down as well and we gathered around our deceased pets. Benedick pawed at the water, but quickly thought better of it and scrambled to the living room. In the end we ended up vanishing the water and glass, (I protested that we could have easily done that part by hand) and Levitated the fish to the toilet bowl where we said our tearful goodbyes.
"Probably for the best," Scorpius commented, "I don't remember the last time any of us fed them."
Albus snorted, and we stumbled back into the kitchen. "Too true, mate. I don't think we'll be getting any more fish any time soon."
Scorpius pulled the peanut butter jar from the shelf and grabbed a knife and a piece of toast, while Albus and I situated ourselves at the kitchen table.
"So, I may or may not have discovered interesting news last night," I told Scorpius as he joined us. I plucked the knife and the peanut butter jar from him and grabbed a knifeful to snack on. "You remember the article from yesterday?"
Scorpius nodded. "'Course I do."
"I think I may have a theory about that. And I think you're right – Lily isn't pregnant."
"I told you that already."
"I know you did, but you didn't tell me how you knew. So I found evidence to support your claim." And I relayed to him the whole story; of Albus' date and the information at the bottom of the article. After I finished, Scorpius looked at me in surprise.
"You don't really think it was Rita, do you? I mean, Polyjuice Potion is illegal."
I shrugged, biting peanut butter off the knife. "Al? What do you think? What do you remember?"
Albus sighed, swirling his spoon in his cereal bowl. "You remember the night of the party, a few months back?" I nodded, looking at Scorpius, who looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Well, I made out with a girl that night, short, blonde – remember her?"
I nodded, vaguely recollecting whisking the fish tank out of harm's way as he had propped her on the countertops. The fish tank that was now smashed and discarded of, mind you.
"Right, well, I ran into her again at the club, and she introduced me to Bergita. But she told me to call her Bee for short. She had long, dark hair and brown eyes, and she told me she was a year younger than me. We got on really well that first night at the club, so I asked her out for a nice dinner, because, as you know, I'm a stand up guy. But then she got all strange and question-y. I didn't think anything of it because it's happened before. But now.." he trailed off, spoon suspended in mid air as he made his point. "Why don't these people just leave us alone?"
Scorpius let out a low whistle. "I'll remind you of this the next time you tell me you're into brunettes, mate."
"I'm right here and can hear you," I threw to Scorpius, who just shot me a wink, and turned back to Albus. "But hold on – why would the article claim Lily to be pregnant instead of Lucy?"
I leaned forward, forearms pressed to the table. "Easy – Albus never told her which family member was pregnant. All he said was there was one. Either she just picked the girl who generate the most buzz, or she genuinely believed Albus was talking about his sister." I paused. "I want to know why thought it was Lorcan who got her knocked up, though. That's the only part I can't figure out."
Scorpius shifted uneasily in his seat. "Listen, Rose, you should probably go talk to Lily. Y'know, get her parents off her back. It'd do her good."
Albus shoved his hair back with his fingers and leaned back on his chair, letting it balance on two legs. "I'm just glad my sister's not pregnant," he said, slamming the legs back down onto four legs. I however, ignored both and stared intently at Scorpius once again. I knew in my bones, without a shadow of a doubt that there was something he wasn't telling us. And yet, as I looked at him, I realized I did trust him to keep whatever information he had to himself. Because everything about him was good. I was grateful to have loved someone who had been that good. And there was, of course, lots of me that was still in love with him, would probably even be in love with him forever. He had placed a mark on some of me, had helped shaped some of me into who I was, and I hoped that I had done half as much as he had for me. I was content with the love I had offered him, and the love I had been given, although my heart wished for more. It was enough.
"You'll tell us one day what you're hiding from us?"
"Of course I will."
One day, I would look back on him as my first love, my first who made me live on a roller coast of emotions, who had taught me to trust everything that was good in the world. And yet, I had given and received so many types of love in my life that I knew whatever was around the corner for me beyond him would be just as wonderful, if not different.
I let it be enough. I chose for it to be enough.
"Lily?" I called, stepping out of the fireplace. Albus and I made our way into to the kitchen, where it looked at though Harry and Ginny were having a late breakfast. I eyed Albus and squeezed his arm in encouragement. He gave me a small grin and made his way to the table. "Mum, Dad, there's probably something I should tell you.." I greeted Harry and Ginny quickly and left Albus with the article and his parents.
I took the stairs two at a time to Lily's room, where she was lying on her bed. Her eyes were vacantly staring at the ceiling fan. She looked up when she saw me, and I gently closed the door behind me and crossed the room to sit on her bed.
"So," I started hesitantly, picking at a loose thread on her comforter. Before I could get any words in, she sat up and put her arms around me. "Rose, I'm so sorry."
I grinned into her hair, and pulled her close in my embrace. She smelled like my childhood; something flowery with a hint of lemon, and I let myself forgive her.
"I know, Lily, it's okay."
She drew back and wiped her eyes. "It's not okay. I said some things that were totally out of line, and I know that. I let my jealousy get away from me and shouldn't have." She drew a breath. "I want you to be happy, with whoever that is. I can let go." She paused. "It's been very eye-opening having your face splashed all over the news in a horrible light. It's really isolating.
"Even more isolating when almost nobody believes me, but I promise, Rose, I'm not pregnant. You're the smartest girl I know, you have to believe me.'
"That's a lot of sentences for a tiny person," I joked. I took a breath, trying to figure out where to start. "It was hurtful, some thing you said. I never mean to make you jealous. I didn't know that you were jealous. But Lily, I can't control if you think that my life looks more glamourous than it is – trust me, it really isn't.
"And your brother is one of, if not the, most important person in my life right now. But he loves you Lily, you're his little sister."
She nodded. "I know, I'm so sorry."
Then I gave her a tickle in her side. "And what was the rubbish about Max? Or did you not see him arrive at your door last night looking like a lost puppy who just wanted a bone?"
Lily groaned, putting a hand on her face. "I don't even know what that was about Rose. It was strange, I can't believe you saw that! Why would he show up here?"
I couldn't contain it any longer. There was so much that was being cleared that I wanted to clear this, too. "Because he likes you Lily, a lot. He wanted to ask you out!"
Her eyes grew round and she clapped her hand over her mouth. I giggled at her expression, so happy to see her so surprised. "Wha – what?" She asked softly. "I don't understand. I saw you with him so many times. And when I ran into Scorpius the other day, I asked him if he noticed if anything was up."
"What'd he say?"
"He said he saw us at the club and you denied it, but you were definitely spending more time together these days. We thought maybe you were just hiding it. He seemed down about something that day though, maybe he could've just been in the wrong headspace."
"Lily! That's hardly any basis for confirming we're together, or even that we're interested." I tsked. "I always told you your impulsive nature was going to get you in trouble one day."
"I know," she sighed. "What do I do now? He thinks I'm pregnant with Lorcan Scamander's child!"
We looked at each other and burst into the laughter. The whole situation was actually quite laughable, once you got over the tangle of it all. "Sod it," I said between breaths, "we'll grow old and grey with nobody." We were still wiping tears from our cheeks when Albus walked in.
"Looks like you're getting along better," he grinned, stepping into the room. Lily stood and flung her arms around her brother, apologizing.
"Yeah, whatever," he murmured, smiling, "next time it happens I'll personally disinvite you to my wedding, though, so make sure you watch your step." He turned to me.
"Listen, Rosie, my parents were not actually as mad as I thought. They're heading to your parents' house right now, and I think we should head over there."
Lily looked back and forth at the two of us. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Albus said, "but you're not pregnant."
Lily rolled her eyes so hard it was a wonder they even came back from out of her skull. "Don't you think I know that? Mum and Dad have been tiptoeing around me like they're scared I'm going to fall apart, no matter how many times I tell them I'm not. I can't take it anymore." She frowned. "But how do you know?"
So we relayed her the whole story, of how I found out the hint in the fine print of the bottom of the article, and how it matched with the strange date Albus had been on. "Rose, you're a genius!" Lily cried, after I'd finished, "you're brilliant! I can't wait to clear my name!"
We were halfway down the steps when she turned back around. "But wait – if I'm not pregnant, than who is?"
Albus and I just looked at one another and didn't say a word.
"Is there something somebody would like to tell me? Rose?"
I gasped. "No way, Lily, I promise. C'mon, we'll go to my parents house and talk about everything there." I grabbed my cousins' hands and headed for the fireplace.
"So, Hermione, what do you think?" Harry asked my mum, after we all relayed our story.
"Yeah, Hermione," Dad piped up, "what next?"
Mum's face was screwed in shock and concentration. "I'm trying to think of the last place I saw Ria Skeeter. We've obviously got to go and confront her, I can't imagine her spreading more lies, and of course we've got to clear Lily's name." She turned and stood, grabbing coats for her friends. "Let's go. I've got a fairly good idea of where she could be." Hermione turned to Mum. "Gin, can you get us into the Prophet offices? I'd like to have a word with the editor."
Mum nodded. "I mean, the timing of the article makes sense. Sales have been slow lately, since Quidditch season ended. I knew Rugger was thinking of pushing something that upped the sales, and we had a meeting about it, but none of us knew Skeeter had sold him the article." She rolled her eyes, much like Lily. "I'll bet anything he was embarrassed to have trash on his paper."
"Breathe, both of you," Dad joked. He turned to Albus. "But, Al, who did you say got knocked up if it wasn't Lily? Doesn't make sense, mate." He threw on his coat, and they made to leave as Albus exchanged eye contact with me quickly. I knew he felt guilty giving up information that wasn't ours to share, but this had spiraled into something out of our control.
"Lucy," he said, addressing the whole room. "And er, well it's a little strange but it's Scorpius who got her knocked up. We were pretty shocked about it, but he's doing all right."
"We had a little party, and I guess one thing led to another," I offered, blushing furiously. I brushed a crumb off the table, taking in the adults shocked expressions. "Oh my God," Ginny mouthed.
Dad let out a low whistle. "Way to go, Percy."
We sat in silence for a moment, before Lily cut in.
"That doesn't make sense. Lucy never even slept with Scorpius."
a/n: Some of this mess is beginning to untangle. thank goodness. We're in the heart of the story and the mess here. Thankyou for sticking around. Review if you want to. Most likely one more chapter to go.
