Hermione woke up deep in the throes of belated post-coital panic bright and early on Sunday morning. She lay there for several minutes –ignoring a finally soundly sleeping Harry– and went over all the events of Friday in her head. She forced herself to take several deep breaths as the panic overtook her normally rational mind. It wasn't the first time she had woken up in the guest suites wanting to hide under the silk covers and hibernate until things calmed down, but it was definitely the first time she was doing so because she wanted her marriage with Draco to mean more to him than it did. She absent-mindedly played with her wedding ring, comparing it to her brief glimpse of Aurelia's. Her ring strongly resembled a dress ring, especially next to Aurelia's unmistakably Slytherin-influenced one. Maybe her initial defence to Harry and Ron about Draco liking unique things was just wishful thinking?
She stretched herself out, untangling Harry's arm from where it was lodged painfully in her hair, allowing a small wave of self-pity to wash over her. Hermione wasn't sure how she had ended up feeling so strongly for Draco, but it was clear that she wanted to feel needed, to feel like what they had was just as real as the tangible evidence of Aurelia. The only problem was the fact that it was always such a no-go area with Draco that she wasn't even sure how to bring it up, even if she somehow found the guts to.
Harry stirred. "Morning," he mumbled sleepily. "Did you sleep okay?"
"I suppose," Hermione answered, breaking out of her depressing thoughts. "I wouldn't mind us just laying in bed today though. The last couple of weeks have been really intense for us all."
"I'm with you on that," Harry agreed wholeheartedly. "But shouldn't you want to stay in bed all day with your husband instead of your best friend?"
Hermione shrugged miserably, forcing herself to sit up and lean against the fluffy pillows with a dejected thump.
"What's wrong Hermione?" Harry asked instantly, running a hand through his hair. "Did Malfoy do something?"
"I don't even know where to begin Harry," Hermione traced the delicate pattern of the coverlet, reluctant to open up. "I still feel surreal half the time that I'm married to Malfoy.I just don't know if this marriage even has a shot of working. I mean, come on, it's him and me. How could anyone think that this was a good idea?"
"You know, Malfoy really has changed," Harry began cautiously. "In some ways he kind of reminds me of how my dad used to be when he was younger. From what I've heard, he was just as much of a prat as Malfoy was, but when he got older he became more mature. It's odd now that I think about it, but you're a lot like my mum, and from what everyone tells me, my parents were great together. You won't be happy with Malfoy unless you give him a sincere chance. You don't have to open up about your marital problems to me, but you owe him some honest communication."
"Thanks Harry," said Hermione finally, unable to think of a polite way to counter Harry now that he had compared them to his dead parents, and feeling a strong upsurge of sympathy for the late Lily Evans.
Harry gave her a reassuring smile and left to get dressed for the day. With all the uproar of Rookwood's murder, Draco's office being destroyed and the blood-tracking being approved for Vaisey, it was a miracle that he had managed to get any sleep at all. An hour after Harry left for the Ministry –after distractedly giving her a kiss on the forehead– Hermione was interrupted from her reading back a sharp knock on the door. She called out permission to enter, her heart rate increasing at the thought of having to face Draco.
"Morning beautiful," he said, as he walked inside and surveyed her with slight surprise. "You're still not dressed?"
"I was thinking of just lounging about in bed until I have to see the girls tonight," Hermione replied, determinedly avoiding meeting his eyes and turning a page of her book.
Draco smiled languidly as he crossed the room in four strides and perched next to her on the bed. "Sounds like an excellent plan," he whispered suggestively against her earlobe. "Mind if I join you?"
Hermione looked up from her book. "Feel free to bring any reading you need to catch up on."
"Right," Draco quickly hid the flicker of hurt and confusion that crossed his face. He Summoned several heavy scrolls of parchment and settled himself on the bed, as far away from her as possible. Despite the crackling awkwardness between them, Draco insisted on having lunch sent to the guest suites. It was only halfway through the silent meal that Hermione realised that he was only clinging to her to avoid having to face his parents. Somehow, the realisation only served to depress her further, and to frustrate her with her own mixed feelings to the point of wanting to scream.
The second their lunch was cleared away, Hermione all but leapt off the bed, tossing a hasty excuse about needing a bath over her shoulder. She blissfully sank into the swirling bubbles as she let the teeming thoughts overtake her mind. One thing was certain, she felt a lot more strongly about Draco than she could ever hope he would feel about her. Sure, he might want her sexually, but if his actions during the fire had been any indication, Aurelia lurked between them as surely as if she had come back as a ghost. Hermione ended up staying in the bath long enough to have to cast four Warming charms through pruny fingers, and only reluctantly left the sanctuary of the bathroom when it was time for tea –the singular meal Narcissa had categorically insisted they make an appearance for so that they could discuss plans for Julius' birthday party next weekend while he was away at Andromeda's with Teddy.
At tea it was abundantly clear that while she and Draco had been sulking around the house, Narcissa and Lucius had been thoroughly enjoying each other's company. Throughout the stilted family meal, Narcissa couldn't stop herself from beaming and fussing over her husband. Hermione had to avert her eyes from them, their happiness only reinforcing how truly lonely she felt. Next to her, Draco miserably picked at his scones, utterly bewildered about why his wife was suddenly acting distant towards him. After she had come to visit him at work on Friday, and the events following that particular night, things should've been looking up, not getting worse.
To Ginny and Pansy's amusement, Hermione had arrived for their girls' night with Draco in tow. As Hermione bought the first round, Draco awkwardly apologised for the intrusion and briefed the girls on Lucius' return and the following tension in his family.
"It must be difficult," Pansy commented, giving his hand a sympathetic squeeze.
"It is," Draco replied, looking pained. "I never thought I would say this, but I am relieved to have Potter around. Somehow, neither of my parents interrupts when I am spending time with him."
Ginny's head snapped up. "Harry's still living with you both? Where is he tonight?"
"Working," Draco shrugged. "It's been a pandemonium, what with Rookwood's murder and Vaisey still missing."
"I read about that in today's Prophet," Pansy lit up a cigarette. "Mustn't be much fun for Audrey if Blaise is working all the time."
Draco surveyed her shrewdly. "I suppose not, but do try not to look so pleased about the murders. We're still ex-Slytherins and people are more likely to believe you're happy about this because you're downright evil and not because it's giving Blaise less time to spend with his girlfriend."
"Sorry," Pansy immediately looked contrite.
By the time Hermione returned with the tray of drinks, she was pleasantly surprised to see the three of them deep in easy conversations. Moments like these, she was filled with a happy sense of belonging. Sometimes her and Draco's lives seemed to have blended together so seamlessly that it was almost poetic. Other times, Aurelia reared her translucent head…
"So, how are you coping with everything Gin?" Hermione asked, as she passed out the drinks.
Ginny reached over and stole one of Pansy's cigarettes. "Like shite," she admitted, fumbling with the plastic lighter. "I guess I always thought that Harry and I would end up together. I always figured that no matter what the problem, Harry would never just walk away from me and all our history without even trying to fix things."
"He was irrational about that," Draco agreed, surprising the women.
"Harry really does care about you Ginny," Hermione offered tentatively. "Even though it was his idea, the breakup hasn't been easy on him either. I'm sure if you just give him some time to miss you, you both will get back together."
Ginny shook her head vehemently, irately ashing her cigarette. "It doesn't matter if he regrets this or if he misses me. He walked away from me once earlier and I forgave him, I can't keep doing that. After a point one of us has to hold our ground and lay down the law. He cannot keep walking out of my life as and when he pleases."
Pansy blew out a perfect smoke ring as she leaned back into her chair. "I completely agree."
"The last time you and Harry broke up the circumstances were very different," Hermione argued, waving the smoke away from her face. "And even when you both were broken up, he used to sit in the tent staring at your dot on the Marauder's Map for hours at a time."
"He did the same thing with Malfoy's dot for nearly a year," Ginny shot back, tossing her vivid hair.
Draco yelped. "What? What map?"
Hermione threw him her best wifely 'not now' look. "It doesn't matter, and Ginny, I'm pretty sure you cannot compare the two unless you are suggesting that Harry has romantic feelings for Malfoy."
"Why do we always end up on this arc?" Draco grumbled, as he drained his drink.
"No matter how bad things would've gotten, I would've never abandoned Harry the way he has repeatedly abandoned me," Ginny insisted forcefully. "I can barely walk past places Harry and I went to together, and I can hardly even begin to contemplate the fact that we will never wake up together again. Harry looked at our entire relationship and everything it had to offer, and then walked away from it over something so trivial."
"I'm sorry," said Hermione, feeling guilty. "I didn't mean to upset you."
Ginny viciously rubbed away a tear. "I know that, and I'm sorry I got so defensive. I guess it's going to be a sore point with me for a really long time that Harry can just walk away from something that meant so much to me that leaving him was never an option. Even in the unlikely event that we get back together, things will never be the same because clearly he is capable of jumping ship when things don't go his way. Unless, he was feeling unhappy in the relationship for a long time and was just looking for an excuse to get out of it, in which case I've basically been living a lie for Merlin knows how long."
"Don't go down that path," Pansy advised, flicking her cigarette into the ashtray. "It will only hurt you to wonder what the fuck is going on in his head. Right now, what matters is that the breakup has happened and that you are responsible for your own happiness. It will take you even longer to get over this if you keep thinking about his motivations."
Ginny nodded, drawing a deep breath. "I guess so, thanks. I needed to hear that."
"I know it's hard," soothed Pansy, gently rubbing her hand over Ginny's arm. "Suddenly being single after such a long relationship, suddenly watching the future you thought you had with someone just disappear."
"I think the worst thing is that I've suddenly lost all my security," Ginny mumbled, as she stubbed out her cigarette. "Now, a loser hitting on me isn't just a loser, it's a full-fledged panic attack that I will never find someone new that I can actually like. Suddenly I'm back into the dating world as an adult when the last time I was single, it was at Hogwarts and it was all so much easier. I'm always freaking out that I won't love anyone as much as I love Harry, or that the next guy I meet will be a total asshole that completely breaks my heart. What are the odds that the next guy I meet will be the One? How many losers and lonely nights will I have to go through before I find him? What if I never find him?"
Draco looked panicked. "I'm going to the bathroom. Excuse me."
"See!" Ginny pointed after him hysterically. "Men."
"He did down his drink rather quickly," Hermione pointed out reasonably.
Pansy rolled her eyes. "As charming as it is to discuss dying alone devoured by cats and Draco's urine production, can I suggest we change the topic to something slightly more neutral and less disturbing?"
Amidst the continued feelings of guilt for accidentally setting off the reaction, Hermione was filled with a sense of perverse gratitude that Draco wasn't going to be abandoning her anytime soon. Even though they hadn't been married for more than a few months, she already couldn't imagine what she would do if she didn't have him around anymore. From his boyish winks when he was being cheeky to their domestic nights of reading and drinking tea in bed, somehow Draco Malfoy had wormed his way into her life and if her feelings were any indication, she wanted him there for a long time… When Draco returned, relieved to find that the girls were now discussing the murders again, Hermione impulsively held his hand under the table. Draco gave her a smile so full of warmth –and faint confusion– that Hermione found her mood automatically lifting. For that moment, the table was free of ghosts.
By the time Draco and Hermione Apparated back to the Manor, it was fairly late and both Lucius and Narcissa appeared to have gone to bed. By mutual decision, they popped into Julius' room to quickly check on him before retiring. To their surprise, when they quietly opened the door to his dimly lit bedroom, Lucius was hovering over an unmistakably crying Julius who was jerking away from him.
"What the fuck is going on here?" Draco roared, as he raced across the room and grabbed the front of his father's robes.
"Let go of me and I will explain," said Lucius, his voice strained.
Draco looked over to Julius' trembling form, and swore with horror at the dark stains that covered the royal blue bed sheets. "Why is there blood all over his sheets?"
"Don't come near me Daddy," Julius cried, backing away.
Hermione squeaked in fear and ran to Julius' side, checking him over anxiously. "I can't find the source of the bleeding," she announced frantically, trying to both examine and soothe her distraught stepson.
Julius cried louder and tried to wriggle into his bed sheets. "Stop! Stay away."
"I haven't done anythi–" Lucius started, trying to wrestle Draco's fists away from his collar.
"Tell me the truth this instant," Draco hissed dangerously, tightening his grip and shaking his father thoroughly. "Tell me, now."
"Let go of your father this instant Draco," Narcissa ordered coldly from the doorway, her wand trained at the blond Malfoys. "I will not be repeating myself."
Draco reluctantly released Lucius, his head still clouded with rage. "He hurt Juls, Mother, surely even you cannot forgive that," he spat out, shaking with wrath.
"I didn't so much as touch him Cissy," Lucius insisted quietly, his voice lacking its usual polished tones. "If you will all come outside, I will tell you what happened."
"No," Draco growled, pulling out his wand. "If you didn't do anything to Juls then why can't you say what the issue is in front of him?"
Hermione finally put down a squirming Julius and walked over to her husband. "Draco–"
"Stay out of it Granger," snapped Draco, folding his arms.
"Listen–" Hermione tried again.
Draco held up his hand. "Enough. Let him speak."
"Very well," said Lucius, his eyes glinting with suppressed anger. "I heard crying from his bedroom so I came to check up on him. When I arrived, Julius was adamant that I not approach or touch him. When you came in, you found me trying to convince him to let me clean him up."
"Clean him up from what?" Draco thundered, looking at Julius' shuddering body. "What did you do that is so dreadful that he wouldn't even let me touch him?"
"Draco," Hermione answered, when Lucius failed to reply. "I don't think your father did anything. Juls appears to have had a little accident."
Julius wailed loudly at that. "I'm sorry Daddy, I didn't want to tell you."
Narcissa lowered her wand and tenderly approached her grandson. "It's okay Juls, these things happen. Let me help you and everyone else will go back to bed. Okay?"
"Okay," Julius nodded, sniffling.
"What are you all talking about?" Draco demanded hotly.
Hermione leaned over and softly whispered in his ear. "Juls has clearly wet his bed and all of us being here is embarrassing him. Just let Narcissa handle this for now and we can iron this out in the morning."
Draco instantly deflated, the fight going out of him. "Oh Merlin," he mumbled miserably. "I probably just scarred him for life. I'm an awful father." He stalked away from the bed, pausing only at the threshold of the door. "Sorry Juls, I didn't mean to embarrass you. I just wanted to make sure you were safe." With that, he was gone.
Lucius' shoulders sagged, but he courteously offered Hermione his arm. "Let me escort you to your rooms."
When Hermione and Harry Apparated to the Ministry the next day, they were met by an ocean of reporters that had apparently camped out in the Ministry atrium. Harry pulled out his wand and put an arm around Hermione's shoulders as he guided them through the jostling crowd.
"What on earth is going on?" Hermione whispered, as she pulled out her own wand.
"I have no idea," Harry whispered back. "Either they are here about Malfoy's release or something else has happened."
"Mr Potter," one of the reporters pushed his way to the front of the crowd. "What can you tell us about Lucius Malfoy's surprise release, Augustus Rookwood's and Conrad Vaisey's murder?"
"Mrs Malfoy, how do you feel about having your father-in-law out of Azkaban given his position in the war?" another reporter pressed, nearly knocking Hermione off her feet.
"Excuse me," Harry pushed the reporter out of the way with the tip of his wand. "No questions please."
Yet another reporter planted himself directly in their path. "Mr Potter, what would you say was greatest loss in the war?"
"My owl," Harry muttered sarcastically.
"Move," Hermione snapped at the reporter. "Please," she bit out as an afterthought.
The reporter obliged with a withering glare, finally allowing Harry and Hermione escape the manhandling reporters and retreat to the sanctuary of Harry and Ron's office. Ron and Blaise were already present when they entered, both bearing grim expressions that gave Hermione a lurch of foreboding.
"We ran into a mess of reporters downstairs," Harry scowled, as he sat down. "What's this about Vaisey's murder?"
Blaise pinched the bridge of his nose. "After you left, we gathered a team to get to Vaisey's location just in case he had been kidnapped. We ended up in this wasteland, all around his dismembered body."
Hermione paled. "Who did it?"
"That's the strange part," Ron groaned. "By the looks of it, he was torn from limb to limb by wild jackals."
"Do you think it's a coincidence?" Harry frowned.
Blaise wearily rested his head in his hands. "I wish, but I don't think we're lucky enough to catch such a break. Maybe someone tried to Portkey him there like they tried to Portkey Hermione and Draco, only Vaisey didn't escape unharmed."
"Which gives you an official reason to stop proceeding as though the two cases are unconnected," Hermione pointed out.
"Why do you think he was Portkeyed there?" Harry probed, as he examined the notes in front of Blaise.
"There was an empty glass near his body," Ron answered.
"Completely uncracked," Blaise added. "And it looked an awful lot like the ones at Flint's, which was supposedly the last place Vaisey went to according to his wife. Maybe the only reason we didn't see him there is because he was whisked away before we arrived."
Hermione sat down with a thump. "Are you sure it was one of the glasses at Flint's?"
"Flint is bringing one of them by today so we can compare," Blaise informed her. "We should know by lunch."
"I should go to my own office," said Hermione, standing up.
Blaise cleared his throat awkwardly. "Wait one second. There is more, especially regarding Lucius. We have good reason to believe that there is more than meets the eye regarding his release. For one, the Wizengamot records are completely sealed, even from us Aurors."
"For another?" Hermione prompted.
"For another, there are a number of other correctional facilities that he could've been sent to instead of to his own house," Blaise added. "Call me paranoid, but I can't help think that something is fishy."
"I'll look in to it," she promised, as she left their office.
The morning passed in a blur of paperwork that kept Hermione so busy that she thought twice about stopping for a sandwich. She wistfully longed to Floo back to the Manor where Draco was working from home until his office was repaired. By the time Lucius had escorted her to their rooms the previous night, all she had seen was Draco's unyielding back as he pretended to be asleep when she had gently touched his arm. Accepting his need for space, Hermione had let the issue drop and had turned over to her own corner of the bed, keeping a careful distance.
There was something about absence and distance that made her crave Draco even more. While Hermione toiled away on the documents, she reflected on their relationship in the back of her mind. Maybe if she hadn't seen how cut up Ginny and Harry were regarding their breakup firsthand, she wouldn't have felt the keen need to build something stronger with Draco? Maybe if she hadn't seen Pansy pine away for something she couldn't have, she herself wouldn't have appreciated the amazing husband she did? And maybe, just maybe, if she had just spoken to him regarding Aurelia, the padlocked wall of distance that had sprung up between them would've melted away?
By the time Hermione arrived at the Manor, she was completely exhausted. Barring the quick Floo call by Blaise confirming that it was in fact one of the glasses at Flint's that had been made into a Portkey, Hermione had worked steadily but had come nowhere close to finishing the mounds of paperwork thrown at her. She arrived in the master suites feeling irritable and out of sorts.
"Evening," she called out, scowling to herself.
Draco looked up from the scrolls he was studying intently. "Good evening. You look tired, long day?"
"Very," Hermione groaned moodily, as she collapsed onto the bed.
"Wait here," he instructed, as he abandoned his scroll and made his way into the bathroom. Hermione lay face down in the fluffy pillows while she waited for him to return.
Five minutes later, Draco walked back in, looking extraordinarily pleased with himself. "I ran you a bath," he announced proudly. "Come, it will make you feel better."
"Sounds perfect right now," Hermione half-moaned appreciatively, as she pulled herself out of bed and padded into the bathroom. Draco averted his eyes until she was settled in the swirling, bubbly water before he perched on the side of the marble tub and began slowly massaging the knots out of her sore shoulders.
"Why was your day so long?" Draco whispered huskily against her temple, as he expertly kneaded her nape.
Hermione arched her back, allowing herself to sink into his clever hands. "So… much… paperwork…" she managed, as his fingers stroked firm circles against her shoulder blades.
Draco leaned so close to her that his silky hair tickled her cheekbone. "Poor baby."
"Better now," Hermione assured him, as she closed her eyes with pleasure. "How was your day?"
"I made up with Juls," he informed her, as his hands dipped along her spine. "Things are still awkward with Mother and Lucius, but apart from that it was better than I expected. I'm surprised at myself for overreacting to the stains on the bed sheets and automatically assuming they were blood."
"It happens to the best of us," said Hermione sincerely, as she stretched her limbs out in the soothing water. "The room was dimly lit and his sheets were rather dark to begin with. It was an easy mistake to have made. I myself couldn't see any actual blood on Juls but still assumed the stains were blood too."
"Thanks, that actually makes me feel like less of a colossal shit."
Hermione smiled at that. "By the way, I forgot to mention earlier, Kingsley will be dropping by after dinner."
Draco's hands stilled. "Kingsley? As in the Minister for Magic?"
"The very same," replied Hermione, leaning her head into his palms. "I needed to speak with him today but we were both so busy all day that we decided it would be best he come straight here. Hope that's okay?"
"Of course it is," Draco resumed his ministrations. "This house is yours as much as it's mine, Granger. You don't have to take my permission or inform me every time you have someone over."
The moment of tenderness was broken by the pattering footsteps of Julius, who was audibly in the master suites looking for either of his parents. Draco reluctantly left a delectable looking Hermione to her bath, trying to force the image of her creamy neck and shoulders out of his mind while he played a vigorous game of toy soldiers with his son.
"Come in Kingsley," Hermione invited, as she surreptitiously checked the clock. Exactly quarter past eight, just when he had said he would arrive. "Have a seat."
"Thank you Hermione," said Kingsley warmly, as he politely shook hands with Draco and settled into a plush armchair.
Hermione offered him a tray of fresh fruit. "Thanks for meeting me on such short notice."
Kingsley flashed her a genuine smile. "Anything for an old friend. How can I be of assistance to you tonight?"
"I was searching for records of Lucius' trial," said Hermione, going straight to the point. "As an MLE member, I have all the necessary authorisation. However, I found that all the records were sealed, including the ones pertaining to his recent release. Why would that be, Kingsley?"
"Hermione," Kingsley shifted uncomfortably. "You know I cannot discuss something like that with you. The records were voted to be sealed by the Wizengamot. I do not have the authority to overrule a majority vote, and you know that."
"There hasn't been an instance of sealed records in years," Hermione objected calmly. "They are only permitted in rare cases where the information is deemed to be harmful to the public. I fail to see how giving Lucius an early release would harm anybody."
Kingsley put down his plate. "Hermione, I can't answer that. If you have an issue with the Wizengamot, you may appeal it and they will respond to your concerns within thirty working days."
"By then it might be too late," replied Hermione significantly.
Draco spoke up for the first time since Kingsley had arrived. "Why do you think that?"
"If I give you my suspicions, will you confirm or deny them?" Hermione asked craftily, addressing Kingsley. "You're forbidden to discuss it with me, but a confirmation is hardly the same as a discussion. You wouldn't be revealing anything, you would simple be affirming."
"That's not a good idea–" Kingsley started uneasily.
Hermione cut him off. "Please don't make me remind you of the instances of a particular night before Harry's seventeenth birthday," she said pointedly. "This is my family Kingsley, I do not want to call in the debt, but I will not hesitate to do so."
"The Minister for Magic owes you a life debt?" Draco asked incredulously.
"That is correct," Kingsley confirmed. "I understand what you're saying Hermione. Rest assured, if it were my family, I would be doing the same thing. What are your suspicions then?"
Hermione smiled gratefully before she turned sombre again. "I think that the reason Lucius' records are sealed is so as not to cause an uproar when the real reason he is released is revealed. I think that the Wizengamot has elected to use Lucius as bait to capture whoever it is that is behind these killings."
Kingsley looked pained, but nodded once, very briefly.
"How much danger is he in?" Draco asked, in shock.
"It's hard to say. The Wizengamot hopes the killer will try to hunt him, but we can't know for sure. I –and several others– were opposed to this plan but we were overruled by the majority."
"I take it he is being monitored then?" Hermione asked briskly.
Kingsley nodded again. "We are trying our best to make sure he comes out of his alive. Some more than others, but we're trying nevertheless."
Hermione reached over and patted his hand. "Thanks Kingsley. I'm sorry to have put you in this position."
"No apologies needed, Hermione," Kingsley assured her. "I'll be on my way. Got an early start tomorrow."
Long after Kingsley had let himself out, Draco and Hermione sat in silence in the opulent living room. Draco rested his head in Hermione's lap, allowing her to play with his silky hair while he contemplated the danger his father was in, and what he could possibly do to help him.
A/n: Hello everybody! I would like to give you all a sincere apology for this long wait. I feel as though I owe you all an explanation for my sudden disappearance. My fiancé/boyfriend of six years broke up with me early on in December, and since then it's been incredibly difficult for me to focus on a romance story. Even with all the dialogue revolving breakups in this chapter, every single Dramione interaction was hard for me to write. I'm sorry that this chapter isn't up to my usual standards or particularly funny, but it does advance the plot quite significantly. Hopefully, by the next chapter, I will be able to write some more romance and smut without wanting to crawl under a rock and hibernate.
I don't want to give you any false promises about the date of my next update, but I will definitely not leave a month-long gap again. The next chapter is more focused on the humour so it's proving slightly harder to write amidst the visions of dying alone devoured by cats :P
If any of you have had a bad breakup in 2011 (or at any point for that matter) I'd love to hear about anything you would like to share regarding your experience. Hope that you all had a very intoxicated NYE and that 2012 brings you all happiness.
As always, reviews make me smile!