The Half Blood Prince Revealed Chapter 24, a harry potter fanfic

The Half Blood Prince Revealed

Summary :

Harry's summer before sixth year is no different from the others. Around every corner surprises, good and bad, and adventure of all kind await. And it looks like the gods have finally granted Harry a possibility for a nicer life. What will this mean for his 6th year at Hogwarts ?

General Disclaimer :

I am just playing in the sand of JKRowling's literary produced beach and am attempting to build my own sandcastle for others to enjoy.

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24 Birthday Surprises

The room was filled with people. At first glance Harry noticed all the Weasley's were there, Neville and his gran, his Mrs Figg (rather than the one working with Paul Watkins), Hermione and several order members of whom the tall Kingsley Shacklebolt, the pink haired Tonks and Mad-Eye Moody stood out. He'd hardly had the opportunity to take all that in when they'd all burst out in a not completely in tune rendition of "Happy Birthday".

Harry was totally surprised. What with the events of the past few days and the full moon his own birthday has escaped his attention. So a surprise birthday party for him with all his favourite people ! This was fantastic.

Harry was overwhelmed and smiled like crazy until he suddenly remembered Remus was still at Black Manor. As he turned to his Headmaster to enquire after Remus, the man himself rushed into the door and took hold of Harry in a good manly hug and said "Happy birthday my boy".

It seemed to be a sign to the others, as he received hugs and kisses from all the females in the room and handshakes and pats on his shoulder from the men. He was guided further into the Ballroom and now saw what they'd done with decorations. The ceiling was invisible from all the colourful balloons that bobbed up ahead. When one exploded it rained down coloured confetti that never made it to the floor. Banners were hung horizontally around the room. There was nothing on them but they kept changing colours until on the one closest to the doors a snitch suddenly appeared. Mere seconds later a figure on a broom looking a lot like Harry himself was seen tearing after the snitch. And, a bit like he'd seen on summer days happening to muggle airplanes, the seeker was trailed by the message "Happy 16th Birthday Harry !". The snitch and seeker disappeared off the first banner only to reappear on the second one, message still trailing along. The message changed to "and many more" and "from all of us" as the snitch and seeker kept making their way cross the room. Zooming around from banner to banner, the text was first replaced with bursts of fireworks and then wiped blank only to restart the whole cycle as the snitch and seeker made their fourth turn of the room.

By now Harry himself had made it to the other side of the people gathered in the room to end up by the largest round table Harry had ever seen. It would seat all those gathered. Without a head of the table, one seat stood out as it was not only larger than the rest but had been decorated. Dobby, Winky, Blythe and Beatrice appeared, beaming up at him. They gave him their own version of "Happy Birthday" as they led him to his seat. When they'd arrived by the chair all four of them waved, much like the Headmaster would do at the opening feast at Hogwarts and said "Harry, sir, your birthday lunch is ready."

The table was instantly filled with many plates piled high with delicious looking and smelling food, many of which containing Harry's favourites. Everyone took a seat and soon they were all laughing and talking and eating their way through the vast amount of food the elves had prepared. Rather than serving dessert immediately, everyone was too full to do it justice anyway, Harry was handed his first present. From Hermione he got an Extended Deluxe Broom Servicing Kit that would come in very handy once he got his Firebolt back. Ron, Fred and George had joined together to get him a massive present. It was well over ten inches thick and the twins made a whole spectacle of laying the obviously heavy but prettily wrapped package in front of him. Harry prepared for the weight as he handled the package and was surprised when he felt the package shoot up at the force he'd mistakenly used. The thing was as light as a feather ! People around the table were grinning at the confused look on Harry's face. Obviously a few were aware of what present Harry was receiving. Once the wrapping paper was removed Harry himself let out a hearty laugh. The large tome was titled "Pranking Praktices - All you ever wanted to know about pranks but were too afraid to ask". Harry wanted to have a look inside the book but was already handed the next present from Neville. He too gave Harry a book called "Estate Management for Dummies : A beginner's guide to Money and Properties and how to keep them."

"Neville, that reminds me," muttered a seriously embarrassed Harry, "It's your birthday too and I have a present for you at home. I'll give it to you when we get back OK." The others wished Neville a happy birthday too and Ginny in the mean time had handed over her small present. The wrapped up package turned out to be a small simple hand made wooden box which contained a wrist-band and necklace, both obviously also hand made, crafted from very fine interwoven strips of red and gold leather. Both items had a small glass coloured stone worked into it and Ginny explained that Charlie often provided her with small pieces of dragon skin to use. The combination of dragon leather and stone were supposed to protect the wearer but Ginny did warn that there was no proof and even if it did work would most likely only work for small and weak spells. Harry thanked her profusely for the jewellery. It might not be as expensive as most of the items he'd seen in the Black and Potter vaults but meant all the more because she'd made them for him personally. A few more presents followed from absent DA members, most of them containing either books, or chocolates, sweets or pranks from Zonko or WWW or a combination of the three.

Finally Tonks placed a small package in front of him, nicely wrapped in paper but adorned with a bow at least ten times bigger than the actual package itself.

"Everybody in the Order pitched in to their own ability and Remus cleared the remainder of the sum in name of Sirius and your parents, Harry, I ehm, we hope you like it."

Harry looked up at Remus when Tonks mentioned his parents and Sirius but all he got from that man was a very – too – innocent look. Harry first dismantled the bow, which turned out to be harder than expected, the wrapping paper posed no problem and it left him staring in wonder at a small smooth piece of pale wood. Harry was puzzled. Did he miss something about this wood ? Was it in any way special ? Harry reached out to pick it up. Not larger than a little over an inch by two inches, no thicker than maybe a third of an inch it fitted perfectly in his hand. As he touched the pale wood however it gave off images and feelings, just like the Marauder books had done. He saw impressions of a growing forest, a wizard shooting a spell at him, the sensation of falling and the loving and respectful handling of a craftsman. Harry got flashes of cupboards and bookcases, a desk and wall hangings and first a feeling of anticipation followed by patience. Harry was confused until it suddenly made sense : a trunk, he held a very special trunk !

"Wow guys, this trunk is wonderful, how does it work ?" gushed Harry. Tonks and Mad-Eye looked a bit baffled but Kingsley had to laugh. "See, guys, I told you he would know."

"Harry, how did you do it ? Or who told you ?" asked a slightly miffed Tonks.

"Tonks, nobody told me, but what else could it be ? It was just a lucky guess ! What can you tell me about it and how does it work ?"

"Remus has the manual the maker included for you. But to enlarge it for the first time you tap it twice and say your full name." said an enthusiastic Tonks.

Harry placed the block on the table in front of him, dutifully tapped it twice while saying "Harry James Potter" and it enlarged into a decent sized trunk. The first thing Harry noticed was that his initials in slightly darker wood were on the trunk together with what he vaguely recognised as the Potter Family crest.

Harry was puzzled. "How did you … Where did you … ?"

"Mad-Eye remembered you'd liked his trunk and suggested we get you a similar one for your birthday. So Kingsley, Mad-Eye and I were meeting Remus at the best trunk maker in England. We were a bit early so we decided to check out the trunks already available while waiting for Remus and ended up in the back of the shop talking specifics with the maker himself. In comes Remus and he starts walking toward us, when he stops halfway through the shop and asks why we're over there when THE trunk we want is over by him."

Kingsley took over the story for a moment : "You should have seen the maker's face light up at Remus' words and he makes his way over to him and says something like "You are connected or related to Harry Potter, sir ?". By the time we made it over we were completely baffled. That trunk had not been there when we were looking through the shop."

"It turns out to have several very special features, one being that it looks like an ordinary trunk to the general public but changes appearance when the owner or his relatives are close." said Remus as he took on the rest of the story, "Your grandfather ordered the making of the trunk for your dad's entry into the Auror department after his training finished. The making took a good few months and the storeowner tells us that your grandfather came by on a regular basis to keep an eye on the progress and even provided a few small trinkets for the decoration of it as the trunk neared completion. And that's when disaster struck. Just before it was finished your grandfather passed away unexpectedly. Feeling awkward at contacting your dad so soon after his loss the maker decided to wait a little while. He believes your father wasn't aware the trunk existed as he never came to claim it. Then the storeowner went through a bad time himself. All this took place in the course of 1980-1981, and as you might gather, the maker was too late contacting your father about the trunk as he too passed away. So the trunk has been waiting for a Potter or a relative to show up for the last fifteen years."

Harry was thrilled. A trunk made following his granddad's specifications for his dad and with Potter family heirlooms of sorts in there, was truly an amazing present. He couldn't wait to see the inside.

Remus continued "Harry, before you open it up, the maker suggested you read through the manual so that you know what to expect and what you need to do to make sure no one but those you trust enough would be able to enter into it or even touch it. I've looked through the manual myself and it is explained very well, but it's also clear that not reading the manual is a bad option. And Harry, the maker also invited you over for a visit should you so wish to talk about your grandfather and he's even willing to share his memories with you if you should be interested."

"Just so you know already, Harry" came Tonks, "the trunk has 5 compartments. First is a slightly more luxurious version of the general trunk, second is for clothes storage, the third is a library and supplies room, fourth is a study and the fifth compartment is a deluxe travelling home."

The last statement drew spectacular reactions from the aurors present but others looked just as clueless as he so Harry didn't hesitate to ask about the travelling home.

Mad-Eye gave the explanation the compartment was in effect a small flat. It provided a bathroom, bedroom and kitchen/dining room. Even the most basic version was not only an expensive addition to any trunk, but gave better comfort than some real houses so a deluxe version was unheard of. For an auror to have access to a trunk with a travelling room could make the difference between success and failure of an investigation.

Harry stood thinking, his fingers trailing over the Potter Family crest on the trunk, it made sense to have a trunk with a travelling room made for an only son about to enter a most dangerous profession in very troubling times indeed.

"Thank you all very much. Not only for the idea to buy me a trunk, I had started thinking I'd need to choose between taking either books or clothes to school this year, but for finding me this one. You all know I don't have much to remember my parents and the Potter family by, so this is a treasure for me."

"You are very welcome, Harry." said a solemn Tonks.

"Just keep us informed about the deluxe state of that travelling room, will you, so we know what we're missing out on !" quipped Kingsley.

Harry grinned up at Kingsley and promised he'd tell them in full detail about the wonders of his deluxe travelling room and then turned over to Remus to ask for instructions to reduce it again. It was so tempting to open the trunk Harry wanted to play safe and remove temptation so to speak.

Once the innocent looking piece of wood had been tucked inside Harry's pocket the room was suddenly plunged in darkness and in came Dobby and Winky carrying the most scrumptious looking birthday cake. Sixteen candles were burning on top along with several muggle sparkles. Clearly visible in the dark they emitted a variety of colours and to Harry it put all cakes Dudley had ever received on his birthday to shame.

With the sparklers finished sparkling and the candles blown out Dobby and Winky cut the cake and served the pieces. Harry quickly demolished his chocolate-and-cherry cake with gusto and got a second serving. Shortly after several order members came to say goodbye and wished Harry a nice end to his day. After thanking Hestia Jones for coming and her part in his present Harry saw Professor Dumbledore was free so made his way over. After thanking him for the surprise party he asked about magical paintings.

"Ah, yes, Harry, Remus told me about your new portraits. But I was under the impression you didn't mind them being static ?"

"Oh, Professor, I'm very happy with those as they are, but I was thinking of Uncle Black. I mean, I know the people in the Hogwarts paintings keep visiting each other, but what enables them to move from portrait to portrait in the first place ? For the moment he'll be fine where he is, but once we're off to school again … I'd like to offer him some moving possibilities."

"I see. Well, it's different for the Hogwarts portraits, Harry. They've been together for so long that it works like a charm so to speak, but it took a lot of time. Headmaster Nigellus, like all the other headmasters, on the other hand can move between two locations because he has specially made portraits of himself in both places. In all other cases painted landscapes are used to allow inhabitants to move to other locations. Have two paintings made of the same landscape. Hang one next to your original painting and the other goes to your destination. The inhabitant can then move to the landscape 'next door' and then move within the landscape to the next location."

"So I need to find either two similar landscape paintings or a painter to make them for me. Since I also learned of the Potter tradition to have a family painting made the summer the heir is 16 I think the second option would be best. I've been thinking of having a portrait made with Remus and me, and with the painting of my parents and Sirius in the background to show the complete family. But I have no idea how the process works or how to go about finding a reliable good painter, and arranging everything."

"There are several painters you could use, most of them are Hogwarts alumni, but I would recommend Paul Enseel. Not only is he good, he's also one of the few magical painters who will enjoy the challenge to include what is in effect a muggle painting. Paintings-in-paintings are tricky to begin with and a combination muggle-magical … You have hired a legal counsellor, have you not, Harry ?"

"Yes sir, under the circumstances I thought it would be best."

"Very true, Harry. I would recommend you ask him to make first contact with the painter. That way you will avoid the awkwardness of your fame playing up in the negotiation process."

"I didn't think of that. Thank you professor."

"Don't mention it Harry. I already look forward to seeing the finished family portrait. And I'll say goodbye for now, I expect quite a few letter will be waiting for my attention when I get back to Hogwarts. This is one of the few truly busy days in the otherwise calm summer months."

Harry and his friends stayed at Grimmauld Place until well after dinner. They'd still been talking to some of the guests from the lunchtime party when the first order members arrived who'd been unable to attend due to their job and so the party had continued on.

Due to the lack of a traditional afternoon tea, the house elves served dinner a little earlier than usual and this too became a very festive occasion. For dessert once again a birthday cake appeared but much to Harry's surprise this one was made of ice cream.

By the time they returned to Black Manor they were all exhausted but Harry still got Neville's present out. One of the books in the Black library on herbology had had Neville nearly in tears when he'd first seen it. The volume, Harry had learned, was rare and finding the book and being able to read it was making Neville's stay even more special. But Harry had spotted no fewer than four additional copies of the book on the Potter library list. They might have different publication dates but Harry was convinced he wouldn't miss the one copy. Neville didn't want to accept the book at first and it took Harry's Potter library list to convince the other birthday boy that the offer was genuine.

A little later that night Harry found he couldn't sleep. The idea of the trunk made especially for his father kept him wide-awake. So rather than going to bed, Harry decided to read through the manual that came with his new trunk.

30 June 1996

Dear Mr Potter,

First of all I would like to thank you for bringing Voldemort's return out in the open last week. It is sad to see how the Minister has managed to bury his head in the sand this past year, at the same time allowing the evil forces to become stronger and larger.

This is the sixth version of this manual. Originally the instructions were contained on a single parchment as I was certain I'd be able to pass on the information to your late father in person. When your parents passed away however I realised it would be some time before you would be able to come and claim this trunk. Uncertain I'd be around long enough I proceeded to create this manual for you to tell you all about the wonders of your new trunk, the Potter Family Bespoke Deluxe Auror Trunk.

Before I start to explain the security spells and different compartments to you, you might like to know the following.

All the wood used for this trunk came from an old oak tree that grows on the Potter estate. Since I harvested the wood nearly 17 years ago and the tree will have almost fully re-grown to its original size by now it is good to know this as you might well feel the pull of said oak when walking the woods surrounding your ancestral home. As you are muggle raised, you might find the section on "Life Trees" interesting in a book called "Nature's Treasures : a complete guide to magical and muggle plants".

Your grandfather contributed to the making of this trunk by adding several family secret spells and charms at various stages of the creation process. You will also encounter a few family heirlooms that have been used in the general decoration.

Security Measures

Appearance : Your trunk has a standard notice-me-not charm. The general public will see a very plain trunk (only one compartment). People who know you better (friends, classmates etc) will see the trunk in partial glory (the Potter crest, its appearance and 5 of the 7 available compartments). Only your guardian and yourself will see the 7 compartments.

Touch : As it is recommendable that any object made of wood be touchable by anyone (wood is very tactile), only the intent of that touch is measured and acted upon. Any person touching the trunk with malicious intent will be stunned for up to 12 hours.

General : Feather-light spelled. Wand, voice and touch-recognition upon first use. Password settings are available for each separate compartment. (See instructions for general use after the compartments section.)

Extra : the Potter Security Movement Protection : will be discussed in the Study Compartment

Compartments

First – General trunk compartment :

Used for last-minute packing, or often-used items. Can expand to twice its original size.

Potter Family Extra#1 : Upon first time use of the trunk you will find a replica of your trunket (your trunk in shrunken size, name your grandfather came up with) in this compartment. Please remove and keep it with you always. Part of the Potter Security Movement Protection. Explanation : see later.

Potter Family Extra#2 : Additional storage for smaller and/or valuable items can be found. The double row of small knobs around the inside rim of this compartment will give you access to a container each. They automatically resize to fit your needs.

Second – Clothing compartment :

Walk in cupboard with shelves, drawers and hanging space for all your clothes and general dress accessories. All cupboards come with the usual refreshing charm.

Potter Family Extra : The slightly separate cupboard unit to the right will give you additional access to any clothes cupboard in any of your other residences to allow retrieval of additional or forgotten clothing.

Third – Library and storage compartment :

Providing bookshelves, drawers and cabinets to store all books, supplies, potions and ingredients. Will expand to three times its original size.

Potter Family Extra : The slightly separate cupboard unit to the left will provide storage conditions as per need to keep items either warm or cool as per requirement (useful to keep certain potions and/or ingredients fresh)

Fourth – Study Area

Pleasant room decorated in Potter style containing large desk, cupboards, bookshelves, easy chair for reading

Potter Family Extra#1 : Modified Muggle Portable Radio installed. Plays non-stop original music by both muggle and wizarding singers and bands. There is the possibility to set up several different play-lists with music of your own choice. Also possibility to select several specialised radio stations (playing one type of music only).

Potter Family Extra#2 : Two bookshelves and two drawers (recognisable by the presence of a small Potter crest) will give access to your family library collection. Displaying random books in general the contents of the shelves/drawers will change per your need. (Your grandfather called it the requirement shelf, providing you with just those books you require.)

Potter Family Extra#3 : Main Part of the Potter Security Movement Protection. Your grandfather did not tell me in detail how this feature works (you will find his full explanation in the top right hand drawer of the desk) but what little he did tell makes this trunk a secret weapon in its own right. The study room contains five wall hangings. At the moment 4 depict a general pastoral view of meadows and trees. The fifth, hanging closest to the desk, depicts your ancestral home and surrounding areas. These hangings are useable as a sophisticated connection to 5 locations of your choice. That is the first one has already been set to the Master Study Room in Potter Manor. You might find that – because of your underage status – you cannot make use of this passageway just yet. The 4 others however will connect to any destination of your choice. The pictures on the wall hangings will alter accordingly if so desired.

Fifth – Deluxe Travelling Home

Suite of rooms consisting of bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, sitting room and work out room

Potter Family Extra#1 : All rooms have Potter input of some kind be it minor decorations, family heirlooms or furniture.

Potter Family Extra#2 : The kitchen area has a never-out cold box and the cupboards will be automatically filled when the suite is in use.

Potter Family Extra#3 : An unexpected but very welcome addition for any auror on active duty is the First Aid Healing power of the bedroom. It offers, in case of need, a diagnostic check and provides potions as required. Minor injuries (like cuts and bruises) will be healed overnight by the magic in the room itself.

Sixth – Requirement Compartment #1

As the name suggests, this compartment can be anything you need, be it a swimming pool, prison or garden

Potter Family Extra : If a room is required for a longer period (for storage while continuing to travel for instance) the compartment can provide up to six more similes, making this a 7-in-1 compartment.

Seventh – Requirement Compartment #2

Same as above, this compartment can be anything you need, be it a bedroom or a potion lab

Instructions for General Use

First Use :

If in trunket form, tap with wand twice and state full name. Trunket will enlarge to trunk.

Once in trunk form, you will see seven thumb size indents lined up in the middle of the front rim of the lid. Each indent represents a compartment. Place thumb in first indent and open lid. Speak following phrase "I, your name here, want to set your password here as my password for this entire trunk." A new trunket can now be found on the bottom of the trunk. Please remove and keep with you always. Please note this trunket can be distinguished from the original by the small "1" visible on the rim. (The original is marked with an "0".) Please refer to your grandfather's instructions on how to use these trunkets.

Your trunk is now ready for further use.

After the first time

Tap trunket twice and it will enlarge. Tap trunk twice and it will shrink. This can be done both by wand and finger.

To open any of the seven compartments after first use, place your thumb in relevant indent and speak your password. Please note : a security measure has been set up so that no one will actually hear you speak said password.

Allowing others to open your trunk

Please refer to your grandfather's notes with explanations on how to set this up.

Harry had read the instructions a few times, just to be sure he didn't miss a thing. He then put the instructions to one side and got out his little trunket. Taking a closer look he indeed found the "0" on the rim.

He tapped twice and the trunket became the beautiful trunk again. Now clearly noticing the seven indents he placed his thumb in the correct place and opened the lid. Still touching the lid he spoke "I, Harry James Potter, want to set "Marauder Son Forever" as my password for this entire trunk." A wave of warmth seemed to wash over him and the next moment a quick flash of light lit up the inside of the trunk. Just like a flashlight of a camera it was gone immediately, but on the bottom of the trunk now lay, just as it said, a second trunket. Harry bent to pick it up and before putting it on his bedside cabinet looked out for the "1" that stood on the rim.

The first compartment was not really that interesting. It smelled like trees and strangely, like the sea. But it was just a trunk, albeit very smooth and tactile. When he pulled one of the little knobs it was attached to a long thin box lined with soft cloth and it had Harry wondering what it could be for. Pushing the box back, Harry picked up the manual to reread the part on those knobs and realised that with only his wand in hand at the time, the compartment had wanted to provide him with a space to put his wand in.

Closing the lid, Harry now placed his thumb in the second indent, lifted the lid again and spoke the password. But rather than the lid opening up, a wooden door, just as pale as the trunk, seemed to rise up from within the trunk. Harry had expected to find something similar to Mad-Eye's trunk with a rather clumsy way to enter the different compartments. Instead, here was a door that had taken the place of the front panel of the trunk. He pushed the door handle down and opened the door. The space in front of him looked huge. The outside walls were a collection of cupboards, offering hanging space, shelves and drawers. In the middle of the room four low dressers stood back to back. They had three deep drawers and a shallow fourth one at the top each and just like Harry had seen in some muggle department store the top of the dresser was made of glass, so you could see the contents of the top drawer. The cloth lining gave him the idea it was meant for jewellery. If Harry had thought he'd bought far too much new clothing, this cupboard quickly changed his mind, as his entire wardrobe would not even fill a quarter of the available space.

He stepped outside of the room, back into his bedroom at Black Manor, and as he closed the door behind him, it looked to be shrinking down, leaving behind the closed trunk.

A similar door appeared as he opened the third compartment. The library, empty as it was, turned out to be big enough to fit most of the Black library in it. It was the next space however that took Harry's breath away. The bookcases and cupboards were bare bar two shelves that were filled with books. The bureau –you couldn't call this masterpiece a desk surely – looked a lot like the one Harry had seen in the Potter vault. It was stained slightly darker than the rest of the furniture and had a honey colour. But the tapestries were the true eye catchers in the room. The four similar ones depicted beautiful views of a forest edge offering trees, shrubs and flowers, accounting for a lot of colours. But the one closest to the desk showed a beautiful castle situated on the edge of a field, with the sea to the back and a forest to the side. That was his ancestral home ? No wonder there was so much furniture in the vault ! Harry sat down by the desk, eyes still fixed on the tapestry as if trying to take in the smallest details.

Having lost track of time Harry had no idea how long he'd been staring at the tapestry. Somehow he'd felt the wind in his face and smelt the salty air of the sea. Having never gone to the sea he wasn't even sure where the impressions came from but right at this moment his 17th birthday couldn't come quick enough.

Paying more attention again to the rest of the room Harry was actually thinking that he wouldn't mind working hard if he could do it in this room. He found the radio and turned it on. Classical music filled the room and Harry experimented with the different buttons to finally settle for a station that seemed to play soft rock music he kind of liked. Now remembering the instructions his grandfather had left behind, he opened the top drawer and found apart from a sheaf of parchments a picture frame holding the smiling moving faces of his grandparents. They stood side by side in a loose embrace both smiling and waving at him. He switched off the radio, picked up the parchments and the picture frame and with a last look at the wall hanging made his way out.

It was quite late by now so Harry decided to wait until morning to explore the Deluxe Travelling Home. He carefully put his grandfather's notes away, gave the picture frame pride of place on his desk and proceeded to crawl in bed. Soon he was dreaming of flying with the seagulls and being hit by the salty spray of the waves.

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Author's Note :

Thanks for reading. Would love some feedback from you though. If you have any questions about the story, I've opened up a forum you can access from my profile page. Please don't be shy. I'll be checking at least once a day so you can expect an answer within 24-36 hours maximum.

Sadly, for the next two-three weeks I will not be posting. A medical emergency in the family is and will be creating havoc in our schedule, so I've no way of knowing if and when I'll be able to write. I'll keep you posted on any progress through the forum.

Have you enjoyed this (and previous) chapter(s) ? You might be interested to know the story is a few chapters further along and offers a little extra info and pictures on my yahoo group (for link see profile page).

cheers

kadedeetje