"It would be so nice if something would make sense for a change!"
-Alice (Alice in Wonderland)
After Fred had left, George and Scarlett said goodbye to Percy and thanked him one last time before hurrying back to Muriel's themselves. By the time they were opening the front gate and stepping into the protective charm boundaries, Fred was already at the front door, letting himself into the house.
"Go," George whispered. "Go after him."
Scarlett just looked at him. He gave her a comforting smile and gently pushed her forward a few steps. Sighing slightly, Scarlett followed Fred into the house. "Fred," she called, trying to keep up with him. "Fred, come on, we have to talk."
"What's there to talk about?" he asked as he began climbing the stairs.
"I haven't had time to really explain or defend myself," Scarlett said, trailing behind him and trying to move as quickly as possible to catch up to him. Why did his legs have to be so long? It would be so much easier to catch up if he hadn't been taking such big steps. She followed him up a second set of stairs in silence and he was halfway down the hallway to his room before she spoke again. "Fred, stop and let me talk to you."
"No."
"Fred!" She practically lunged forward and grabbed his arm, turning him to face her. "Talk to me."
"There's nothing to say," Fred said, managing to keep his expression passive.
"Fine, then let me ask you something. How long? How long have you been in love with me?"
"Since the night you broke up with Justin," Fred answered, still keeping his tone formal and emotionless, "but if I'm being honest with myself, it all started the night my dad was attacked. I told you that was the night I started developing feelings for you and little by little, I fell in love."
"So you never loved Angelina?"
"I expected myself to, but it never happened. We were only dating for about three months when I started to have feelings for you."
"Why didn't you break up with her sooner, then?"
"I was confused. I didn't know what to make of my feelings. I thought at first it was the vow starting to go to my head or that I was letting what Ginny, Erica, and my mum kept saying get to me. So, I stayed with Angelina, hoping for some sign to tell me, well, anything. I wanted a sign to figure out if what I was feeling for you was real. I thought if I fell in love with Angelina, it would mean-,"
"That you didn't really love me," Scarlett finished.
"Yeah," Fred whispered, "but I never actually fell in love with her. I really liked her, but I never loved her. And the day everything made sense and I knew I was in love with you was the day things ended with her anyway. All the feelings I've been feeling for you have been real from the beginning, Scar. It's been so long now, that I'm totally sure of my feelings. It's real."
"Erica once told me that she didn't think there was such a thing as fake love. She said people sometimes have some kind of love for each other but it turns out it's either not the kind they thought it was or they find someone they're more compatible with. That's how I think it was for me and Justin. Maybe it's how it was for you and Angelina, too."
Fred nodded and his expression softened a bit. "I think I'm more compatible with you than I ever was with Angelina. I always thought that falling in love was obvious and easy." He snorted. "But it wasn't. If it were obvious, Angelina would've been the one, but she wasn't. And when I sat down and was honest with myself, I knew I didn't love her and I knew how I felt about you."
Scarlett took a deep breath and let it out. "Why didn't you say anything? I never knew you even had feelings for me until-,"
"After you broke up with Justin," Fred said. "That's exactly why I didn't say anything. You were with him and I knew he didn't like me all that much and I wasn't very fond of him either…but you loved him. At least in some way, like you said. I know you told me that night on my roof, but I had kind of suspected it beforehand. It was after I started having feelings for you and I knew from the way you acted that you felt something for Justin. I knew from the way you looked at him and talked to him and about him. I knew because you were trying to hang onto him for as long as possible and worrying about his reaction to the vow. Granted, you overthink everything anyway, but it was so different than how I was feeling about Angelina. I didn't want to lose her, but I definitely wasn't on the same level of worry as you."
"Yeah, and I always wondered about that," Scarlett said.
"I know," Fred sighed. "When we got back from Christmas holidays during seventh year, well, seeing you with Justin almost every day made me dislike him even more. I found myself wishing you would tell him the truth just so that you would break up. A few times, I even considered telling him myself just so I could gloat about having to marry you and break you two up in the process, but in the end, I never did because I knew you would hate me. I just…I wanted to be in Justin's place so badly. There were times when you and I were together where I just wanted to kiss you. All of it scared me at first. I felt like I shouldn't have been feeling like that. But the night you broke up with Justin and I kissed you, I just knew I loved you. It was more than just a crush and I couldn't deny anything anymore."
"I did love Justin," Scarlett said. "I think some part of me in some way always will, but not in the way you're thinking. You read his letter. He was right about all of it. I do still care about him, but it's not exactly love. Not romantically, anyway. Like Erica said, I'm more compatible with someone else and that's you. I'll admit it. With you, there's something more than there was between me and Justin."
"So why didn't the vow indicate that you're in love with me just now?" Fred asked, his anger returning as he crossed his arms and stared at her.
Scarlett raised her eyes to meet his. "I'm afraid, Fred. That's what I think it is. I mean, I've fallen so hard for you over the past few years and I really think I am in love with you, but at the same time, I think I'm trying to convince myself that I'm not. Some weird voice in my head always tells me it's not a good idea."
"Why?" Fred asked, wrinkling his nose. "It's not like anyone will get hurt from you loving me."
"Maybe I will!" Scarlett exclaimed in frustration. "That's just it! Don't you understand? I'm afraid of losing you! If I'm in love with you, then yes, the vow's fulfilled and we aren't relying on each other to stay safe anymore, but that's just it. It's not 'I die, you die', anymore after that. Everyone I love is being taken away from me one by one and I don't want you to be next. I don't know if I can handle it."
Fred was silent for a moment. "That's bloody selfish," he finally said.
"What?" Scarlett blinked at him in alarm.
"You're purposely convincing yourself loving me is a bad idea in order to protect yourself because you're afraid you'll fall apart if I die."
"It's not just about me falling apart, Fred. I just don't want anything to happen to you. I don't want your family to have to lose you. The idea of having to watch all that happen terrifies me. And I'm not purposely doing anything!" Scarlett's voice was rising with every word. "I'm afraid! What if, for whatever insane reason they concoct next, Umbridge, Scabior, Greyback or any of the Death Eaters come after you? What happens if they find out you and I are connected? They could decide to use you, interrogate you, torture you, kill you…whatever they have to do to get to me. I don't know if they will, but you've said it yourself: they're crazy and you never know what they'll do next. And you've seen how I am after I lose someone important to me. I'm a mess and I don't know how much more I can take. You were the only one who could make me talk. I opened up to you about my dad, and I opened up to you about Justin and my mother. If I lost you, I'm afraid nobody could get me to talk. I don't want to go back to that place I was in when my dad first died and the place I almost went in when Justin and my mother died if it hadn't been for you."
Fred's expression softened for a moment before he rearranged it back into a glare. "You said you could easily fall in love with me. What if it's like Percy said where the feelings are there, but you just need to admit it to yourself?"
Scarlett shook her head sadly. "It's not going to be that simple Fred. I can't just turn on a switch….And Percy also said I actually have to believe in them, which I think is more of the issue here as opposed to me just not admitting my feelings. It's complicated and it's all up to me to do this, but like I said, it's not simple. And I'm so, so sorry that I'm messing this up, but I can't help it. I'm just…afraid, like I said."
"Well you need to stop being afraid," Fred demanded. "Don't you think I'm afraid to lose you? I'm in love with you. You're not just my friend anymore, even though you're that, too. You're that and more. You're my whole world, Scar. I've been prepared to make this vow for a while and I would—will—do anything and everything in my power to keep you safe even after it's fully completed. How do you think I would feel if I failed?"
Tears were filling Scarlett's eyes and beginning to fall down her cheeks. "Fred, I-," she began, but Fred interrupted her.
"What happens if you don't let yourself fall in love with me and Scabior and Greyback come back for you? Or what if we don't fulfill this vow before time's up? You'll die and I will too, but see, I have a family," he snapped. "Unlike you, I feel like I have something to lose! You said yourself that you didn't want my family to lose me. Well, I'm actually aware of the fact that there are other people here who would miss me if I was gone. My family would be in pieces, George especially, and he's not connected by a vow. If I die, he stays here! I do love you, Scar, but I can't just willingly give up the possibility of life just like that. I have a family."
"Do you have to keep saying it?" Scarlett asked irritably. "I know you have a family!"
"But don't you understand? You do too! We're your family. We always have been. These same people would miss you too if you were gone! You belong with us, Scarlett, but you're willing to just give it all up because you're scared!"
"Well I'm sorry I'm not like you. I'm sorry I wasn't in wonderful, brave Gryffindor, where nobody has any fears! I'm sorry I'm just a little Hufflepuff!"
"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuff! Nobody said the other houses couldn't be brave! Don't make up excuses for your own personal faults! You're scared and you're selfish. You only care about how you'll feel if you lost me, but you never stopped to think about the rest of my family!"
"Of course I care about them! How dare you even say that? Didn't I tell you I was worried about how they'd feel?"
"Well it doesn't seem like you are," Fred snapped. "If you really did care about them, then you'd complete this vow. Who cares about all of this admitting it to yourself and believing it and how it's not simple? If I can do it, you can do it. You actually said you could! But you won't because you're a coward that only cares about herself." With that, he turned and began walking down the hallway. He took two steps before pausing and looking back at her over his shoulder. "I suggest you get your feelings in order because if we both die simply because you refused to let yourself fall in love with me when you're perfectly capable of doing so….If we die because you're afraid to take a chance…if we die because of your selfishness, well I'd like to say I'd never forgive you, but what would it matter, right? Neither of us will be around anymore."
"Do you think I want to die?" Scarlett asked furiously. "What I really want is both of us safe. I want a guarantee—"
"Well life doesn't always have guarantees!"
"Will you shut your bloody trap for two seconds and let me talk?" Scarlett yelled.
Surprise flitted across Fred's face, but only for a moment before he returned to his stony faced glare. "I don't think I can talk to you anymore, though," he scowled, "since everything coming out of your mouth is utter rubbish." He gave her a look of contempt before continuing down the hallway.
"Fred Weasley! Don't walk away from me! I'm not done talking to you!" Scarlett yelled, storming after him. He reached his room and turned in the doorway.
"But I'm done talking to you. You want to be alone so badly? You want to isolate yourself? Congratulations. You got your wish. I'm done here, Scarlett. I'm done trying when my efforts clearly don't pay off at all. Clearly, being with me isn't worth it. I've done nothing but help you and want the best for you and it's me you're afraid to love. You had no problem loving Justin, who did nothing for you, but—"
"Shut up!" Scarlett screamed. She was so angry and upset that tears were pouring down her face. "You're such a jerk!"
"Yeah, that's me." Fred nodded sarcastically. "The jerk who sat up with you night after night while you screamed your head off and cried your eyes out. The jerk who came out in the pouring rain to bring you back here after you went and threw yourself on top of your ex-boyfriend's grave."
"I know what you've done! I've appreciated everything! But—"
"Save your breath, Scarlett," Fred said, glaring at her. "And just do us both a favor and don't talk to me unless you've decided to stop hiding from everyone that wants to help you." With that, he slammed the door in her face.
"Fine, run away like a little boy!No wonder you like Peter Pan so much. You're just like him!" Scarlett aimed a kick at the dark wood, then turned and all but ran back down the hallway, wiping her eyes as she went. When she reached the stairs, she saw George waiting about halfway down, but he wasn't alone. Ginny and Erica were with him and the fact that they had all heard the argument just irritated Scarlett more. George was leaning against the wall while Ginny and Erica stood by the banister and when they saw Scarlett, they all turned to stare at her.
"We heard everything from all the way down here," Ginny said as Scarlett stormed down the stairs to where they were and stopped in front of them. "We were kind of afraid to go up."
"Great, I'm glad I can count on you three to listen to my private conversations," Scarlett muttered.
"Scarlett, stop being such a-,"
"A what, Erica?" Scarlett asked, meeting her eyes. "What exactly am I being? Because I've already heard that I'm selfish and a coward."
"To be fair, it was kind of hard for us to not hear your loud, public argument," Ginny said. She rolled her eyes before muttering, "Private conversation, my eye."
Scarlett glared at them. "I suppose the three of you agree with Fred. You think I should forget about my fears and just fall in love with him."
"Well, I actually think your fears make sense, but yes, I do think you should face them. Take a chance, you know," Ginny shrugged. "Like Fred said."
"I don't want to listen to anything Fred said at the moment," Scarlett fumed. "He's being irrational."
"I think," George said slowly, "that he's more hurt than anything else."
Scarlett looked at him. "What?"
"Scar, he's in love with you. How do you expect him to feel? And you're so close to returning the feelings that he's frustrated. He feels helpless. You know, like he can't do anything to help you be less afraid."
"He can't do anything," Scarlett whispered. "It's my own personal issue. I'm terrified. I can't help it. He doesn't seem to understand, though."
"Just give him time," George said. "He'll come around."
Scarlett snorted. "Maybe not. I bet I actually got him so angry that he fell out of love with me."
George let out a quiet laugh and shook his head. "I don't think that's possible, Scar. He's always going to love you."
Scarlett looked down at the ground. "Do you think I'm good for him?" she finally asked, peering up at George.
"I do," Ginny said immediately.
"Yeah, you two are perfect," Erica added. "Everyone can see that."
Scarlett half smiled, but continued to look at George as she awaited his answer. He was Fred's twin and his opinion was the one that was going to mean the most. "I just…." she took in a deep breath before continuing. "I just feel like maybe he could've done so much better. Maybe there's another girl out there who's better for him than I am. Someone who isn't so messed up and selfish and cowardly. Someone who doesn't need fixing."
"You don't need fixing," George said. "You went through a rough time, and from what I observed, you would've been fine to pull away and not let anyone help you, but Fred wanted to help. If he didn't want to, he would've stayed away. Trust me. And you let him help you. You aren't messed up, selfish or cowardly. Not truly, at least. Everyone's scared of something. Everyone has moments where they're selfish, or jealous, or just plain stupid, but the trick is to not let those moments win. You can't let them control you. You have to show them who's boss and put them in their place." He smiled. "You're a good person, Scar, and I think you and Fred are very lucky to have each other. I've told you this before, but you'll take good care of him. I know it and he knows it. Really, he does." Still smiling, he pushed off the wall and headed up the rest of the stairs. "I'm going to go talk to him now."
Scarlett nodded. "Okay."
George comfortingly squeezed her shoulder as he passed and Scarlett half-smiled. Once he was gone, she turned to Ginny and Erica. "Why can't anything be easy?" she sighed.
"So, you and Fred did it, then?" Ginny asked, ignoring Scarlett's question. "You got married?" She was examining her nails and she asked the question casually, but Scarlett saw right through it.
Scarlett nodded. "Look, I wanted both of you to be there, but I didn't know how many people would've been too many, you know? And I couldn't invite everyone but your parents, Ginny. And it's dangerous anyway. Just going out for the funerals was bad enough. You didn't have to even go to my mother's considering how unsafe it is. If I didn't mention it to anyone else, no one would be able to insist that they come. I wasn't going to ask everyone to be travelling for this."
"We wanted to," Ginny said, finally looking up. "I wanted to be there so badly. And I mean…Percy?" She looked down at her hands again and when she spoke again, it was in a whisper. "I would've liked to see him."
Scarlett tilted her head and looked at Ginny curiously. "Why, have you missed him?"
Ginny looked up again and smiled, shrugging one shoulder. "Yeah, I have. When I wasn't too busy being angry with him, that is."
"He's missed you, too," Scarlett reassured her, reaching out and putting a hand on Ginny's shoulder comfortingly. "You have to believe me when I say I wish you could've been there, but…." She sighed and looked at the ceiling. "We thought it would be for the best." She looked at Erica. "What about you? Are you furious?"
Erica shook her head. "I'm upset that I wasn't there, because I really wanted to be, but I know it wasn't because you didn't want me there."
"Believe me, it wasn't all that great," Scarlett sighed, sinking down onto the stairs and resting her chin in her hands. "I mean, it ended weirdly and even though we finished the ceremony and Fred and I are legally married, we didn't even kiss. We didn't get to it because we found out about the vow not being completed. It just…it was not how I pictured my wedding. At all. And now I'm even more confused than I was originally. I mean, I'm thrilled that Fred and I got married, but now I keep thinking about the love stuff. Like I said, I'm so afraid to just let it happen even though I want to. And I know how much I'm hurting Fred, and that doesn't make me happy in the least. I hate myself so much." She buried her head in her hands for a second before looking up. "I thought I had all the time in the world to sort out my feelings and fall in love with him. I thought I could take my time, but no, I was an idiot and practically wrote my own death sentence when I was nine!"
"Scarlett, you are not going to die," Erica said firmly. "You can do this. You and Fred will be just fine."
Scarlett swallowed as her stomach churned with nerves and fear. "I hope so," she sighed "I really do."
Things were incredibly tense between Scarlett and Fred after their wedding and everyone could feel it. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley tried to figure out what was going on, but everyone simply told them that there had been an argument, which was the truth. It just wasn't the whole truth. Scarlett, Fred, Ginny, Erica and George had unanimously agreed—with George serving as a messenger between Fred and Scarlett—that telling Mr. and Mrs. Weasley about the wedding and about the new vow information would just upset them both more than they needed and it was best to just keep quiet. They believed the vow still wasn't completed and that's how it had turned out anyway, despite the wedding, so why get them worked up when, essentially, what they believed was correct. So, Fred and Scarlett had taken their wedding rings off in order to keep things a secret. Doing so and hiding the ring in her drawer had practically made Scarlett burst into tears.
Fred hadn't spoken to Scarlett once since their fight. He was even going as far as avoiding her. He would sit on the other side of the table at meals, eat quickly, and leave. Once or twice, he came into the kitchen while Scarlett was making tea and immediately left the room. He had stopped sleeping in her bedroom to comfort her after her nightmares and he wouldn't even meet her eyes when they did see each other.
Scarlett missed him to say the least. She was crying herself to sleep now and whenever she did wake up with an occasional nightmare, she would remember Fred wasn't there and she would cry some more. She blamed herself more and more each day, and she would sometimes sit in her room trying to make sense of what she felt. Something inside of her wasn't good enough to complete the vow and she simply had to figure out what that was and how to fix it. That way, Fred would speak to her again. And she needed him to speak to her. It was agony being in the same vicinity as him and knowing he was ignoring her.
"Do you want to know what I think?" Ginny asked, exactly one week after Fred and Scarlett had tied the knot.
"What do you think?" Scarlett asked, digging her hand into the box of Every Flavor Beans at her side and sifting through her handful for the marshmallow ones. Her heart practically ached when she was reminded of Fred. She was sitting on the floor of Ginny and Erica's room while Ginny sat behind her, braiding her hair. Erica was lying on her stomach across one of the beds, painting her nails. They were having their own little sleepover to cheer themselves up. They had grabbed every kind of junk food they could find from the kitchen and had pooled all of their nail polish and hair stuff together so that they could immerse themselves in activities that weren't sulking and being miserable.
"I think that you'rein love with Fred and you're aware of it," Ginny said, "but what went wrong with the vow is that you aren't fully…willing to love him. Like you said, you're afraid. Losing him scares you so much that you'd rather die yourself than deal with it. It's like you fully understand how dangerous it is for you to not fall in love with him, but then that crazy part of your brain is saying yeah, but if you're dead you won't have to worry about this anymore and nothing will matter because you'll be gone. And that one part of you that's pulling away is being picked up by the magic of the vow and that's what's messing it up."
"That actually makes a ton of sense," Scarlett sighed, rooting through the Every Flavor Beans some more. "I mean, I do have such strong feelings for Fred. They're so strong, that I did think I was in love with him before the vow said I wasn't. That's mostly why I'm confused and why I started thinking that maybe I actually wasn't in love with him at all. But your theory makes perfect sense. It's such an insane way of thinking, though. I feel like some sort of psychopath."
"No, you're just an overthinker who's been through a lot and doesn't want to go through any of the bad stuff again, but also wants to make everyone happy," Ginny stated.
"In other words, a psychopath," Scarlett said.
"No," Ginny said with a laugh.
"Yes," Erica said from the bed. "Most definitely a psychopath."
"Erica," Scarlett sighed. She paused. "Fred was right. I am a coward."
"You've been through so much, though, to be fair," Erica reasoned. "You're just underestimating how strong you really are."
"I can't live without him, Erica," Scarlett said, shaking her head. "I can't do it. I know I can't."
"See? You're definitely head over heels in love," Erica said with a smirk.
Scarlett didn't answer for a moment. "How much popcorn is left?" she asked suddenly. She tilted her chin up and craned her neck to see how much popcorn was left in the bowl at Erica's side.
"Plenty," Erica said. "Have some, by all means. Continue to drown your feelings in junk food."
"I can't reach the bowl. Pass it to me."
"Can't. Nails are wet," Erica said, rolling onto her back and wiggling her fingers in the air.
"Scar, tilt your chin down," Ginny ordered from behind her.
"Ugh," Scarlett groaned in frustration. "So, Ginny," she said after a pause. "How do you suggest I go about fixing my issues sometime within the next week?"
"One week, six hours and…two minutes," Ginny said, glancing at her watch.
Erica snorted. "The countdown's begun, apparently."
"Erica," Scarlett scolded. She paused. "Really, the countdown began the day I found out about the vow. It's like my life was a giant ticking clock."
"I just want to help and I want to know exactly how much time I have," Ginny said. "Anyway, my suggestion would be to get all the positive stuff into your head about the vow, like the fact that the rest of us won't be devastated and torn up about you and Fred dying."
"I don't want that to happen. That's already in my head as a positive thing," Scarlett said.
"Okay, well then next I'd say to tackle your fear of something happening to Fred, which will cause you to lose him. True, nobody knows what'll happen, especially with this war going on, but that's just it. Nobody knows. There's a good chance Fred will be fine and you'll be able to live happily ever after like I know you want to. I know it's not definite and that's what you want, but you have to fully understand that there is no guarantee and that's life, even if we don't like it. And after that, you have to tell yourself that you can't save everyone. You can't always prevent death. Again, it's inevitable and part of life."
"Yeah, that's the hard part," Scarlett said. "I can't just easily overcome that fear or change the way I am and all of a sudden not want to help every injured person I see. It's stuff that takes time and I don't have that. You're right though. Those are the things that I have to do and it's up to me to do them. I just wish I knew how to do it easily and quickly. I can't stand the fact that Fred hates me right now."
"He doesn't hate you," Erica said. "He loves you too much to hate you."
"He doesn't talk to me anymore," Scarlett said. "He leaves the room when I'm in it. He won't even look at me."
"He's hurt," Ginny said. "According to George, who knows more about both boys and Fred than I do, it's hard for Fred to always be around you when he knows how you feel. Or rather, he thinks he knows how you feel. He thinks you don't love him at all, which, as we've established, isn't the case."
"Well, then shouldn't he be trying to change my mind?" Scarlett asked.
"He doesn't see the point," Ginny said, finishing off Scarlett's hair and standing. She grabbed the bowl of popcorn from the bed and took a handful before passing it to Scarlett. "Firstly, he knows that even if he did try, it's ultimately up to you. Secondly, there's not a lot of time. And thirdly, he thinks he has to start from scratch and doesn't know where to begin." She smiled. "He probably thinks that if none of his tricks have worked on you by now, they never will."
"This is hopeless," Scarlett muttered. "It's over, isn't it? I should just start apologizing to your family now and then finish off all the junk food since I'm going to die anyway."
"Scarlett, stop it," Erica said, sitting up and giving her a stern look. The one that said she wasn't joking around anymore and that she meant business.
Scarlett looked away and blushed. "Sorry."
"You still have time," Ginny said gently. "Things like this can happen quickly. Sometimes it can just take one little thing to change a ton of emotions or to make you realize something you should have realized ages ago."
"Like with you and Harry," Scarlett said with a smile.
"What?" Ginny asked.
"Fred told me he was eavesdropping on Harry and Hermione once…maybe two Christmases ago…and Harry said it took seeing you kissing Dean behind some tapestry to realize how much he actually liked you."
Ginny smiled and blushed. "I never knew that," she said quietly. "But yeah, that's what I was getting at."
"I hope it happens to me, then," Scarlett said. "And sometime in the next week."
"I hope so, too," Ginny answered. "Now, pass me those Every Flavor Beans."
"And pass me the popcorn again," Erica said, "before Miss Misery eats it all."
"Take it," Scarlett said, mock-angrily as she handed the popcorn to her friend. "And I hope you get fat off of it."
Erica snorted. "Thanks, I hope so too," she said, her voice full of fake enthusiasm.
Scarlett rolled her eyes and flopped backwards onto the floor, hoping that she would make it past next week and that this wouldn't be the last time the three of them got to do this.
A/N: Okay, so to clear up any confusion about the last chapter, there were three things around Fred and Scarlett's hands because one symbolized their marriage and the other two were symbolizing each of them falling in love. Fred's was glowing red because he's in love with Scarlett, but Scarlett's wasn't glowing because she's afraid to let herself be in love with him and that's why it didn't work for her.
Also, there are about 6 or 7 chapters left of this story, so we're getting towards the end, but there's still the final battle to look forward to and it'll definitely be an exciting few chapters.
Thanks for reading!