August 30, 2026
"I think we all know who's fault this is. . ." James said as he readjusted the icepack on his head. "'Twas Fred's. He hit that bloody bludger!"
Everyone groaned in annoyance. They were all seated by a table in the back corner of the canopy. Quidditch had just finished twenty minutes ago with Harry catching the snitch.
It had been quite an eventful twenty seconds leading up to the snitches capture. To start it off, Fred had shot a bludger towards James. He had been flying slow, talking to Hugo for a moment, when he noticed it at the last second and flew right into Hugo as he tried to escape it, forgetting he was right there. Hugo was pushed out of the way and the bludger hit James on the side of his head, causing him to go careening into the path of Roxanne who had the Quaffle. The Quaffle went flying into Dominique - who wasn't really expecting it and was momentarily dislodged - and she tossed out her arms to regain her balance where she then clotheslined Scorpius, who at that moment was just about to pass her while in high pursuit of the snitch. Scorpius was completely knocked off his broom and landed, winded, on his back. The snitch was caught at that moment by Harry, as he dodged the pileup of his nieces, nephew, and son.
The game was done; everyone was tired and hungry. The adults collected the brooms and were returning them to the broomshed while the kids limped back to the Burrow. Molly and Lucy filled some bags with ice and passed them around. Almost everyone had some minor bruises and scrapes.
They were seated in a circle, half of them at the table and the rest laying out in the grass. The only exception was Louis. He was sitting by himself at another table in close proximity, picking dirt and leaves off his robes with a disgusted look on his face. He rarely played Quidditch with the family, no matter how much cajoling from them or how many jibes he received. Louis really preferred to sit on the sidelines, keeping himself spotless so the fact that he played today rather confused everyone.
Everyone was rather quiet besides James. Scorpius had been on his team and James really didn't like losing, especially to his own dad. James kept muttering under his breath and glaring out whenever he noticed someone looking at him.
James and Roxanne were both seated at the table and holding ice packs to their heads, Dominique had one held to her elbow as she sat in a chair, and Scorpius kept switching the icepack from his shoulders, to his arms, to his legs, to his back while seated on the grass on the other side of Molly.
"Oh you big baby," said Fred as he started grooming his broomstick. He brought his own instead of using the ones from storage. "It's Quidditch, not some nursery game. You win some, you lose some."
James scowled at Fred and then happened to look at Hugo who was trying to put the chain back on his flying muggle bicycle. "No wait, it's not your fault . . . it started before the game. It was Hugo's fault!"
"James, no one cares. Just drop it!" said Dominique.
"And James, next time you speak I'll give you another lump on your skull," Fred said menacingly. James scowled and was most likely about to shut up, but then –
"Why is it my fault?" Hugo asked.
Everyone groaned in exasperation. It was known in the family to not let James get fired up about a topic because he could easily blow up over next to nothing when he was feeling moody, i.e. when he lost. Everyone was supposed to ignore him and not ask questions or respond to his statements, no matter how rude or insistent they were.
"Hugo!"
"It's not your fault," said Teddy as he bounced Nina on his knee. She was chewing a spoon and grinning like mad. "It's not anybody's, really."
"Well, really, I didn't do anything! I was just playing the game," added Hugo.
"You did do something. . ." mumbled James. "We have injuries! And you don't! You're the one who got away unscathed. You and that stupid bike."
"Oi!" said Fred and true to his word he leaned over and whacked James on his head with his broomstick.
"You didn't think this bike was that stupid a few hours ago. It's not my fault!"
"Hugo, shut up! Don't respond to him," Dominique said, getting annoyed.
"It's your fault because you wouldn't ride a broomstick like everyone else!" cried James as he rubbed his head and switched the icepack to where he was just hit.
"Good grief James, it was supposed to be a family game. It was okay to have fun. Hugo's flying bike was pretty fricken cool," commented Lily. "Even though the Cleansweep 7's did fly faster. It was just for fun! Give it up already."
"Eh! Little kid here, no swearing!" said Teddy.
"She's too busy chewing on the spoon to notice; you know she's going to wreck her teeth!" Lily said.
Lucy snorted. "Better the spoon than my ankles again! Honestly, the part-werewolf thing is getting old already."
Teddy, apparently pleased by the comment kissed his daughter on the head.
James returned back to the conversation. "None of us would be like this if it wasn't for Hugo," he stated, pointing to everyone who was nursing injuries.
"Why do you have to play the blame game? Are you that torn up you lost?" Roxanne asked.
"Are we not ignoring him? Did no one learn last time?" muttered Dominqiue, more to herself than Roxanne since everyone seemed to be disregarding what she was saying.
"James none of the rest of us are complaining . . ." Rose said exasperatedly while Molly and Lucy nodded in agreement.
"I'M NOT –"
Lucy cut off James. "Where is Riley when you need her?" Riley was the only one who could moderately control James and wind him down.
Molly nodded. "James, I'm surprised you're not blaming Riley at all –"
"Molly!" hissed Rose and Scorpius at the same time. They both looked at each other and Rose froze. She quickly turned her gaze to the ground.
Molly continued, quite oblivious. "Because we could blame it on Riley, you know. Usually you and her disappear halfway through the game to go snog in the bushes and don't show up until food is served. And when that happens you really don't care who won or not!"
"Hello apocalypse. Molly you just don't use your brain sometimes, do you?" said Dominique and then covered her hands with her ears.
Molly's response turned James red. "RILEY'S FAULT? ARE YOU BLOODY WELL KIDDING ME MOLLY! She's not here! You can't blame her! That's the most preposterous . . ."
"You just had to!" Dominique muttered, tuning out James.
". . . heard and she's in Romania, WORKING . . ."
Rose rubbed her temples and groaned. She was getting a headache from him. The yelling was fraying what little nerves she had at the moment. She glanced around at everyone and nobody looked ready to step in and stop him. Once James was set off, it was best to just let him run out of steam. . . but yelling! It was - he couldn't -
She finally stood up. She grabbed the glass of water out of Lucy's hands and threw it on James. His voice died down and he stared at her, simmering and surprised.
"James, shut up! You're being ridiculous right now and it's annoying the hell out of everyone. Calm the fuck down!"
"AHEMM! Rose!" Teddy said pointedly.
"Sorry."
James's face got redder, and he picked himself off the ground to walk slowly towards Rose. "LIKE YOU CAN SPEAK! You weren't playing your top game today either Rose. What the hell do you call that out on the field? And why have you been acting so bizarre? You look like you haven't slept in a week and then you sent that letter asking for the –"
BANG
Louis slapped his palm down on the table. "ALRIGHT JAMES. That's quite enough," Louis said, standing up. James stopped talking abruptly.
In fact, everyone stopped talking and looked at Louis and he sat back down, smoothing out his shirt. Louis always considered himself above petty arguments with James, and considered James weak that he could lose his temper easily. The fact that he actually spoke up for once was astonishing in itself.
Louis folded his long fingers in front of him and leaned forward slightly. "You have said more than you need to and I suggest you shut it before someone helps you to it."
James sat down on the grass with a thud, his mouth open. The only sounds in the area were the adults voices as they came closer and closer.
"What the hell was that?" whispered Lucy to Rose.
Rose caught Louis's eye and he gave a slight nod to her without changing his facial expression. She had an ally.
"Sooo, anyone want free tickets to mine and Fred's next game? I've got three!" asked Roxanne.
It was nearing four o'clock when the rain started. The big ominous cloud in the distance didn't look so ominous up close and it produced a steady drizzle that looked like it was going to persist all afternoon and into the evening.
Luckily the canopy had been set up for hours.
Rose was enjoying herself. It was easy to enjoy the day when there were constant distractions that kept her from thinking too much. All the same, she had been keeping her guard up from James, Molly, and Scorpius. James had been stopped by Louis, and he just seemed embarrassed that he had yelled at her so he likely wasn't going to approach her anytime soon. Scorpius acted like he wanted to talk to her as much as she wanted to talk to him (none at all). That left Molly.
She thought Molly had forgotten all about the conversation of the previous day, because not once during the day did she say anything or look at her in a way to suggest she was waiting for it. So naturally, Rose let her guard down and sat across from Molly for supper.
Just to be safe, she was sure to avoid James and Scorpius. She figured she was okay with Molly for she had Hugo and Lucy on either side of her. Scorpius was a good three people down from Molly and James was way at the other end of the table. Rose thought Molly had forgotten. She didn't know how wrong she was.
It started after all the food was brought out. The table was laden with food of all sorts: potatoes of all sorts: baked, mashed, and creamed; salads upon salads: greek salad, caesar, garden, avocado; barbequed pork and chicken; corn on the cob and all sorts of fresh veggies. It looked amazing. The cooks all received a round of applause and then it didn't take anyone much effort to dig right in.
Rose was so concentrated on loading up her plate that she didn't feel the kick to her legs. They were all rather squished together so a foot accidentally kicking her was no big deal. Then there was another kick to her shins. This time she looked at everyone around her and said, "watch your legs! Someone's kicking."
Hugo had already dived into the food and was only able to grunt at her from very chubby cheeks.
Rose flicked him in the ear. "Don't even bother, I don't speak warthog."
Rose had just finished putting greek salad on her plate when she was kicked so hard she dropped the salad tongs and her eyes started to water.
"Ouch. . .?" she managed to gasp out and then reached down to rub her shin. By some instinct she looked at Molly who sat with her eyebrows raised. She didn't have chubby cheeks like Hugo but she didn't say anything. Just sat looking at her contemptuously.
"Molly?" asked Rose confused. "Did you. . . ?"
Molly pointed to Rose's plate. Rose's eyes slowly traveled down to her plate and she just about jumped out of her seat in surprise. Her food was rearranged from their piles and spelt out 'ASK HIM.'
Rose hastily took her fork and smeared the message away. She could feel her face warm up and she silently shook her head at Molly.
The second she looked down at her plate again to properly take a bite, the words were there again.
How the hell is she doing that? thought Rose. I can't even think of what spell she would be using!
She again smeared out the message and decided to outright not look at Molly. She scooped some food up onto her fork, but the second her fork was lifted from the surface of her plate, the food scuttled off and rearranged to form the words.
Rose smeared out the message again and tried to take another bite. The exact same thing happened.
"Bloody hell . . . ! Molly, can I talk to you a second? Over there?" She pointed to the large oak tree a few metres out from the canopy. Molly rose without question and started walking. Rose brought her plate with her so no one could read the words when they reformed.
Molly ran to not get wet, but Rose didn't care. She walked slowly, fuming the whole way. As soon as Rose was a few feet away, she started berating Molly. "What the hell Molly? What's with the spell?"
"Well, are you going to get advice from Scorpius?"
Rose sighed. "Molly, for real? I don't need to. I just want to enjoy the day and not think about that stupid thing. It's not even a big deal. It's nothing. And it's certainly not something I can't handle," lied Rose with vigour.
"I don't care. I don't care!" Molly shouted. She crossed her arms angrily. "I don't care if you think this isn't a big deal. I do. I think there must be something wrong with you if you don't. Rose you almost died! This is serious! You have some sort of cursed bracelet on your arm! Stop lying to yourself and to me. I can see right through it." Molly waited for the message to sink in before continuing. "Look, you see where your mum is sitting at the table, right next to dear ol' Uncle Harry, and oh! look, your dad. Who else is there? Grandad Weasley, Aunty Ginny, James and Victoire. They'd love to hear of your little adventures. But I bet as soon as I start talking, the whole table will quiet down to hear. You don't go talk to Scorpius today while you have a chance, I'll tell everyone. Don't think I won't."
"Molly. . ." Rose said weakly.
"No. Don't Molly me. I honestly won't say a thing if you just talk to Scorpius. You don't have to explain this messed up thing you're in, but just ask for general advice. Now, I'm going back to eat. Lucy's eyeing me down and I know she's going to want to know what is going on. You better ask him quick. I will go to your parents before we leave for today.
"Wait! How am I supposed to eat?" cried out Rose when Molly was a few paces away.
Molly shrugged like it was the most obvious answer in the world. "Just say you'll talk to him." She then took off running through the rain back to the supper table.
"Say I'll talk to him! She's crazy! It's like she doesn't remember what happened at Hogwarts!"
You know she's just looking out for you, right? Marta said to her.
I don't like her methods, replied Rose. She put a hand on the oak tree and stared at the plate. Those stupid words stared right back.
It's too bad stunning family members is frowned upon. . . Greg said.
Word. Fucking Molly. . . If her family found out about anything, she knew they help her or try and arrest the organization. She didn't want to risk her life, or theirs.
"I'll talk to him. Are you happy now Molly? ARE YOU HAPPY?"
This time when she smeared the words away they didn't reform. However, nothing was distinguishable on her plate. All her food was mushed together so much she couldn't even remember what their original form was. Unfortunately for her though, the food didn't separate into the original piles she had put them in. She walked back to her seat, her mood turning gloomy.
"You're missing all the food Rose!" called out Hugo when Rose made it back under the canopy. She sat down and Hugo looked curiously at her plate.
"What did you do? It's like a food catastrophe!"
"You doesn't like mixed food. . ." Rose said sullenly. It was surprising how fast the family could eat; almost all the food on the table was gone. Practically all the dishes on the table were empty.
"Here, I'll switch you plates," Hugo said. "This is my fourth helping so I'll whatever that is on your plate and you can have this fresh, normal looking food."
He took her plate and switched it with his own. Hugo's plate with heaping with food and Rose's stomach started growling at the sight of it. One simple action could just turn her mood around.
"Thanks Hugh." Rose smiled at him and gave him a one handed hug before plunging into her food as though she had to prove she was truly a Weasley.
When the wine was passed down to her, she actually took a breather and sat up. She poured herself a glass and looked around at everyone.
Her gaze eventually zoomed onto Scorpius and remained there. He was sitting beside Alexia and seemed to be telling her a story by the way his hands and fingers were moving about. She looked enraptured with him. Even Nina was captivated; the metal spoon in her mouth wasn't being chewed.
She felt an elbow in her rib and her gaze was broken.
"Don't be so obvious," Lucy whispered to her.
"What?"
"You're staring at Blondie. Blatantly."
"No."
"Like you could even pretend you didn't notice."
Why did she stare at him? Rose couldn't even remember what she had been thinking a moment before.
"Since when does he play with kids? How does he get along so well with Alexia and Nina?"
"You do realize that Teddy and Scorpius are like second cousins or something. So Alexia, Nina, and the twins are basically related to him as well. And well, he's a good storyteller apparently. I don't know. If you care that much go ask."
"I don't."
"Whatever. I know what you don't like though. You just don't like the fact that he's appearing more human right now. You've made him out to be this large, horrible, menacing man and you don't want that to change."
Rose felt a kick to her shins and instead of replying to Lucy she picked up one of the only carrots in front of her and chucked it at Molly.
"I know!" Rose got up and left the table before Lucy OR Molly said anymore crazy things to her. She wasn't ready to talk to Scorpius yet either so stalked past him and went inside the house. Once inside, she noticed legs sticking out of a couch and peeked around the corner to see who it was. Albus, apparently tired by his morning exertions of cooking, was fully conked out and snoring.
Not without consequences however. There was permanent marker all over his face in various squiggles and circles. Rose sat beside him and sunk into the couch, leaning back, and relaxing for a moment. She pulled the blood bracelet out from under her sleeve and lifted up her hands so she could see it.
It looked so harmless. It looked like an ordinary black bracelet, besides the small engraving on it. What if. . .
She yanked the bracelet off.
For a moment, nothing happened and Rose shot up straight almost about to laugh; believing that everything was false, she had been duped the whole time, there was no Reds Inconnu, no red handkerchief, no contract –
But it started slower than last time. When her mind slowed down, she realized there was a small tingling in her hands. She could feel, literally, feel the tingling travelling up her arms, both arms. Instead of putting on the bracelet, she waited; waited to see what would happen. There was still a chance it was fake – right?
She could feel her instincts kick in. Not a good idea. . . put the bracelet back on.
But she didn't. She had this morbid but hopeful curiosity about what would happen.
The tingling reached her shoulder and she shuddered as it crept to her heart and lungs. It was like icy, cold hands creeping inside her body. Her whole body was lightly shaking, rebelling at the intrusion. It felt horrible.
It travelled down. . .
Then she felt the first sharp pain in her stomach.
She gasped and bent over. It felt like someone was stabbing her with a red-hot knife. Then more pains, over and over.
Her vision disappeared – or she shut her eyes, but she couldn't seem to open them again. It was agony to move any part of her body. Her tingling hands felt like lead, and she tried desperately to put the bracelet back on. Never before had she felt such violent pain and all the food that she just ate seemed to be burning inside of her.
When she finally succeeded in putting the bracelet back on, the pain backtracked through her body and she could almost feel it resting in the thin metal, waiting. She felt an insane amount of nausea and didn't move as she slowly tried to collect her mind.
She was disorientated.
She was lying on the carpet. Where was she? Her eyes slowly focused. She saw black socks from her position and her eyes travelled up the legs to Albus's face. Albus. She was at her grandparents. Rose, her name was Rose.
Slowly Rose pushed herself off the floor and the nausea subsided. Bright red clogged her vision and she nudged her hair away from her face with the back of her hand. Her face felt wet, and she wiped some of the tears away.
She didn't know if she had been crying because of the pain or the truth of the situation.
By the time she was standing, she was more lucid. Albus was still snoring, apparently noticing nothing. There was nothing marring her body to show for the brief episode but she felt shaken inside. She didn't feel very good.
Sadistic. The whole thing was sadistic.
She felt stupid for believing it was all fake. So stupid.
But, if there was one positive thing about what just happened, it was that she was going to go find Scorpius and interrogate the hell out of him.
Just as she put her hand on the door to go outside it opened. Lo and behold, Scorpius was standing right in front of her.
He was like a deer caught in headlights. He stood staring at her for a moment before he determinedly looked past her and said, "I'm just waking up Albus." He didn't meet her gaze as he walked past.
"Wait!" called Rose. Scorpius stopped abruptly and slowly turned around to face her. He had a confused look on his face as he assessed her but then his demeanour changed.
"Something happened," he said slowly. His eyes roamed up and down Rose. His whole mood turned professional. It was Rose who shrunk back, feeling nervous now.
Scorpius took a step towards her. "You're shaking. Your thumbs bleeding."
Her thumb was bleeding? She hadn't even noticed. She took a step back. She didn't want to talk to him any longer, not when he was perceptive.
"You were crying. Your hair looks like some animal had a dying struggle in it. Something happened."
There was the insult, and she regained a bit of her confidence.
Don't let emotions get involved. Be empty.
"It's not important. I need to talk to you."
"You're talking to me to me right now."
She heard laughter coming closer from outside the door so grabbed two empty bowls from the counter. "Not here." She shoved one of the bowls into his hands and walked to the front door. "Follow me."
She didn't even look back to see if he was following her. She walked out into the rain.
She stopped when she reached the raspberry bushes down the path, a sufficient enough distance from the house that she couldn't hear any of the noise coming from the back and that she would notice if anyone started to come towards them.
Scorpius was a standing a few feet away from her. "It's raining," he said.
"No shit Sherlock. You could have brought an umbrella," said Rose.
"Why?"
Rose didn't think he was asking her why he didn't bring an umbrella. She took a deep breath.
"How do you do your job? Track people and find them?"
He wasn't expecting that question and the bowl fell from his hands - but he caught it before it the ground and straightened up just as quick.
"Why do I have a bowl?"
He was avoiding her question?
"To pick raspberries. Gran was wanting someone to do it a few hours ago. Whatever. Answer the question."
Instead of answering right away, he turned and plucked a few raspberries and set them in the bowl.
"Why do you want to know?"
Rose threw her hands up. Molly, I'm trying! He's an annoying prick!
"It doesn't matter why. How do you find someone?"
"Who are you looking for?"
"Fucking MALFOY! Just answer the question!" Rose half-yelled, trying to hold back her temper. Why couldn't she remain calm and collected like him? Her being empty didn't work so well.
He had such a smug look on his face as he stood casually in front of her, occasionally picking one of the raspberries. She didn't know how he did it, but even with his hair falling down to stick to his face he was insanely attractive. Noticing his hair made her madder.
Scorpius popped a raspberry in his mouth. "Language."
Rose could feel a blood vessel throbbing in her head. It was one thing for her mother to say something to her; it was another for someone to say something when there were little kids around, but SCORPIUS FREAKING MALFOY!
Hex him, whispered Greg.
So tempted. She was so tempted.
That vessel was still throbbing but by some supreme strength of will she ignored it
"How. Do. You. Do. Your. Job. Just – can you just answer it. I don't want to be here as much as you. Just. answer."
"Why'd you ask me to come out here if you didn't want to be here? You have other family members capable of answering your question. I assume it wasn't just to stare at me in the rain. I am wearing white as I'm sure you're aware as you keep looking."
Her eyes involuntarily flickered down his body and traveled back to his face. He looked even smugger.
Rose couldn't do it. She couldn't. "Malfoy. . . please."
Scorpius seemed even more surprised than Rose.
She waited in silence. She had nothing else to say. At least she tried. She was just about to leave when Scorpius spoke.
"It takes time, lots of time. And patience. You start out watching; keep your distance. Observe until you know the person like the back of your hand. You know their habits, their weaknesses, their strengths. You know who their friends are, and where they like to spend time. You find patterns in their life, and talk to everyone who is approachable, but never ever let on who you are and never tell anyone your name. No matter what, you cannot trust anyone fully."
Scorpius stopped and looked at Rose. She just stood there. She couldn't even begin to imagine what she looked like, or what was visible on her face. Whatever was there though was enough to keep Scorpius talking.
"Never completely trust the information from one person; always verify information by two people, or more. You can never get caught somewhere you aren't supposed to be. Always have a plan. You can't be impulsive with this sort of job. The wrong decision could cost your life. Don't enter buildings unless you know at least two exits, and don't enter buildings unless you've scoped out everything you can from the outside. Always make sure at least one person knows you are out and what time you expect to be back. If you are going to be later, contact them. Always have your wand with you, extra water, and food. Always expect the unexpected and be prepared for anything."
Malfoy stopped again and Rose took a moment to process the information. The way he described it made it all seem. . . well, impossible.
"How. . . how do you go about finding information from other people about the person you're tracking?"
It took a while for him to answer. He just stared at her, hard; trying to read what was behind her eyes.
Her shaking had stopped and she was feeling a little better. She was fully concentrated on him, and Scorpius was aware of it. He was aware and a little scared that she was asking these questions. He wanted to know why she was. Why, why, why!
"It takes time," Scorpius said slowly. "You can't ask right away. You have to see the person regularly, be chummy, get them to trust you. Or if you need to be quick, buy them drinks out at a pub to loosen their tongue. There's many a people that don't particularly care what they share, they just need a little motivation and a kind ear. You can't be obvious in your questions; they have to be wide ranging but subject-specific to what you need. You can't let an informant know that its information you want, some people will exploit you. You have to make sure the person you're tracking doesn't also go to that person for information. Disguises are important."
Scorpius had just given her a lot to think about. Quite honestly, Rose didn't know how she was going to afford it. She had no income. She only had that muggle money from when the purse thief was brought in. That money wouldn't last forever. And time! She didn't have time! She had a schedule she had to stick to; it was more than just catching a person for the Ministry. This was her life.
She was soaked now, and Scorpius was much the same. But he still stood there, staring at her, with indecipherable eyes.
Rose shuffled her feet together and looked at the ground. Her feet were extremely muddy. She had also collected next to no raspberries.
"Thanks," she finally said.
Scorpius narrowed his eyes at her.
"What do you want to know that for? Why were you asking?"
"It's not important." Rose turned around and started walking away.
"Bloody fucking hell!" growled Scorpius. He ran to her and grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around. "You can't just ask for that and not say why. That's bullshit. Absolute bullshit. You obviously asked for a reason. What-is-that-damn-reason!"
"It doesn't concern the likes of you," spat out Rose. "And like you even care. You're only asking for Albus or James. I'm not saying anything for my two nosy cousins. Now, let go."
She pried his fingers off her shoulder one by one. Her hands were so cold that she could barely bend her fingers, but Scorpius didn't offer any resistance. As soon as the last finger was off, she let his hand fall back down to his side.
"I will find out," Scorpius told her. "It is my job."
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, Rose thought. She hadn't thought farther than the asking. Of course he was bloody curious.
We can take him, Greg said.
Or get him to help, supplied Marta.
Oooor just walk away, said Rose and she turned and hurried around the corner away from his gaze.
When she reached the back, some people were cleaning up, and others were lounging around on the chairs just talking. She was going to help with the clean-up but Lucy told her to get back to the flat before she caught a cold. She was kicked out of the kitchen and told to go take a hot shower. Not that she was complaining. She was tired.
It was a good half hour before she got out because there were so many people to say goodbye to. She didn't see Scorpius before she left.
It was not a nice walk past the apparition boundary by herself. She was wet, cold, miserable, and scared. It was not a good combination. Rose had a feeling though, there might be worse days to come. Some better, but some worse.
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