Marik

Where does one get this much garland? Was all that he could think of as he made his way up to the Great Hall for breakfast. The entire castle had been covered in Christmas decorations for over two weeks now, but the house elves seemed to have added even more decorations throughout the castle since yesterday.

At every corner of the castle now there was at least two tall, fully decorated Christmas trees. He even noticed a new tree had been put up next to his history of magic classroom that only had small socks as ornaments. Normally, for most people, these decorations would create an excitement that only would add to the holiday spirit they already had. He however was the Hogwarts scrooge this year.

Yesterday had been Chistmas Eve, normally one of the best days of the year in his opinion. He had been excited for Christmas Day, so much so that it took all of his self control to not open the presents Alina, Harry, and Hermione had left for him a day early.

He had started yesterday off just as he had been doing the entire holiday break so far. He walked around the grounds and took in all the snowy white sights in the morning while he woke up and his coffee kicked in, then he proceeded to lock himself into their potions lab to get some good work done on his end of year projects the rest of the day.

Over the break he had again been one of the few students to stay behind at the castle, and the only one of his friends who had not left for home. Thanks again to his dad's work with the military around this time of the year, he was now able to get ahead in his work, which at the rate third year had been going was very much needed, especially in herbology.

So far this year he had been spending a large portion of his time struggling to come up with a good herbology end of year project, and so far he had come up with absolutely nothing. No matter how much he motivated himself and no matter how hard he tried the subject was just too damn boring. He had desperately tried to find a way to combine his charms or dark arts project with a herbology one but even those ideas he found to be either impossible or just garbage.

In the end he knew that he had to find something though. Even if he managed to get three 'M' marks again this year it would not be enough to beat Hermione for the number spot again. She was just too consistent across the boards, and his herbology and potions grade were the two places that were killing his rank the most.

With that thought in mind he had brought almost every book on the subject of herbology from the library that he could find down to their potions lab yesterday. After over six hours of desperate searching through all of the books though still no ideas came. In the end though he simply had to admit defeat and he had decided to try again another day.

In an attempt to get in a better mood he had started to work on some ancient runes. He was always excited to work on runes, especially since he had been working on another rune tattoo idea. This time instead of his shadow magic he was working on a rune that would infuse the wingardium leviosa spell to him.

For the most part the rune work was coming along quite well. He had always found carving runes to be something that came easy to him and was relaxing in times of high stress. However his opinion of runecrafting quickly changed yesterday, and was the reason why he was still grumpy even today on Christmas.

The runes to infuse the wingardium leviosa spell were much simpler than the first runes he had created for his shadow magic rune tattoo infusion. Everything had been moving along smoothly and he had been nearly done when all of the sudden his hand had cramped. With one little cramp he accidently carved one of his lines just a little too far. The result could not have been worse.

In a powerful release of energy the rune exploded in his hand and sent part of the stone like a bullet at his head. He had immediately been knocked out. It would not have been the worst thing in the world to make such a small mistake, what made it the worst thing in the world was that he had been knocked out for the entire afternoon yesterday.

So here he was now missing an entire day of studying, work, and relaxation because of a small stupid cramp. He had woken up on the floor of the potions lab only a few minutes ago to find that it was indeed now Christmas Day. If missing practically an entire day wasn't bad enough his head really hurt too! After cursing the stone with a few choice words he had then proceeded to make his way out of the lab deciding that he needed a break from the stupid potions lab for a little while, plus he was starving.

After passing another fifteen Christmas trees, each one with stranger decorations than the next, he arrived at the Great Hall. The Great Hall was completely empty of inhabitants, just as it normally was over the break. The only thing stirring throughout the hall were the enchanted lights, glimmering on the large tree Hagrid had brought in from the forest and placed behind the teacher's table. It was always so odd being in there by himself.

He found himself a seat in the middle of the Slytherin table, figuring he ought to at least sit at his house's table once during his time at Hogwarts. After staring at an empty table for a few moments at last some trays full of holiday themed breakfast foods appeared before him. He immediately dove into the bread bowl and began drowning rolls one after the next in the butter tray next to him. The buttery bread wasn't as satisfying as it normally was though when he didn't have to fight Alina the whole time to get at least once piece dipped in the butter. He frowned, and felt a wave of sadness flow over him when he thought about his best friend.

Ever since the trip to Hogsmeade back in the end of November, Alina had said probably three words to him, and none of them were very nice. He had been carried all the way from Hogsmeade to the hospital wing here at the school following his duel with Bellatrix, and as soon as Alina found out that the cruciatus curse would wear off quickly and that Marik would be fine in no time she had shunned him completely.

Over the entire month of December he had tried countless times to defend himself and apologize to Alina, but she wasn't having it. She continued to ignore him and keep away from him. So pretty much of all December had sucked for him after that day. That day at Hogsmeade was supposed to have been one of the greatest days of his life, and honestly at the beginning of the day it had started off that way. He would never have dreamed it would have ended as bad as it had.

Ever since the night Marik had first met Alina by the lake and their lives had intertwined themselves he had found himself slowly getting closer to Alina. She had started off to him as just the mysterious, beautiful girl by the lake, but by the end of last year she had honestly become his best friend.

Being with Alina was easy, simple, and different than the times he was with his other friends. He was stupid, but he wasn't stupid enough to not know that he had obviously felt something for Alina ever since that night by the lake. At first what he felt was unclear, and what he was supposed to do about it even unclearer. However, one thing that had become painfully clear over the first few months with her at Hogwarts this year was that he wanted more with Alina. Being her best friend was no longer enough for him.

After taking the entire month of October to grow a pair he had finally decided to do something for Alina. He had written his mother, pleading for ideas, words, or gestures to express to Alina how he felt. Unfortunately though most of his mother's ideas were either much to embarrassing or much to weird, so he was still stuck at square one.

Over the first few weeks of November he had tried multiple times to do something. In the first week he had invited Alina outside to build a snowman with him, knowing how much she loved playing in the snow. At first things had been going well and he had even managed to get the courage to start talking to her when things began falling apart. Stupid freaking ginger Ron Weasley had crashed his broom into their snowman and all of Marik's intended words for Alina turned into jinxes at Ron.

After that attempt to express his feelings none of his other attempts had gone much better. In the end he just found it impossible to tell Alina with words what he was thinking and how he felt about her. So in the third week of November he decided that he would tried to show her with actions, remembering one of his father's favorite quotes actions speak louder than words.

Romantic gestures however proved themselves to be even harder than transfiguration class was though. No amount of research and brainstorming shed any light on a possible idea for a romantic gesture.

After failing to be creative enough to think of any good ideas he had turned to Hermione. Explaining to Hermione what he was trying to do had been one of the hardest, most embarrassing things he had ever done in his life. He couldn't even put what he was trying to do into words for himself let alone her. Thankfully even through all of his stammering, stuttering, and failed sentences Hermione seemed to somehow understand what he had been trying to tell her and offered her help.

It had taken Hermione exactly five minutes much to Marik's amazement to come up with the idea to do something during the trip to Hogsmeade, and a measly fifteen seconds after that to come up with a plan. Hermione let him know that Mrs. Puddifoot's Tea Shop was known as most girls' favorite spot in the village, and it was easily one of the most romantic spots too. Hermione had promised him that she would drag Harry off to go look somewhere else so that he and Alina could go there by themselves.

Hermione's plan had ended up coming together perfectly. They were able to use his birthday as a good excuse for he and Alina to go separate ways, even though he knew both Hermione and Harry had already bought his presents.

The entire time he was alone with Alina his heart was pounding and he was panicking. Thankfully though he seemed to somehow calm down a little though as they both entered the first shop. Like he said before, being with Alina was easy, and spending time alone with her calmed him down. The time they spent inside the clothing store seemed to fly by, and he had done his best to make the experience a good one for Alina.

Even after buying her an expensive coat he still had wanted to give her more. Buying a coat wasn't enough to tell her how he felt. According to Hermione's plan the two of them had made their way to Madame Puddifoot's shop. For a short while the two of them had just sat and talked, as if they were the only two people in the world.

The entire time Marik had been gathering the last bits of courage he needed to make a move. Eventually he had grown a pair of balls and had made his way over to her side of their table to sit next to her. From there on the next few minutes were as close to perfect as things could get. Alina had laid her head on his shoulder and the two of them just sat there in silence for a while. For what felt like hours he just sat there, taking in the rosy smell of her hair and listening to the humming of her breathing. While neither one of them had actually said much it felt as if many silent words were spoken.

When the eventual time came for their fairytale day to end he had been upset when her head had left his shoulder. Even with as close to perfect as their time in the tea shop had been he still felt like he needed to do more. As they walked through the shop towards the exit he continued to think desperately for something else to do. At the front of the store he quickly grabbed a piece of mistletoe off the counter when he paid for their tea as a crazy idea came to mind. Trying to be smooth and unseen by Alina as soon as they had exited the shop he had levitated the mistletoe above the two of them, trying to put the perfect ending to their time together in Hogsmeade.

They had been so close. . .

That perfect ending never came though. Out of the corner of his eyes, just as his lips had been mere centimeters from Alina's waiting lips he had seen Bellatrix Lestrange walking towards some other students. Something idiotic inside of him made him act stupid and he pulled his lips away from Alina's.

He had quietly cast a quick leglock spell on Alina and ran towards Bellatrix while she had her back turned. It was a stupid thing to do though. In just a few seconds he had found himself barely conscious on the snowy wet ground, and his fairytale with Alina over. Instead of riding back to the castle where he had planned on then taking Alina to his favorite spot on the grounds, he instead rode back with an angry McGonagall, shouting at him the entire way.

From what he was told of the cruciatus curse he learned that it was supposed to be one of the most painful things one can ever experience. Surprisingly though no pain had come when he was hit with the unforgivable curse though, he hadn't felt a thing. He had not been able to move at all and all his muscles had spasmed but he had felt no pain at least. Only worry, as he mentally pleaded the entire time all this was happening that his leglock spell on Alina would not break and she would stay safe where she was.

Thankfully Bellatrix had apparated when the professors showed up before anyone was seriously hurt. He had been taken to the hospital wing where the entire time McGonagall shouted at him for being dumb enough to try and fight a witch as powerful as Bellatrix. He had not argued with her, it was pretty dumb what he did.

He understood that Alina was upset at him for not only being rash and attacking Bellatrix, but for keeping her from moving as well. He honestly had acted out of instinct when he cast the spell on her. He had been trying to protect her, but never realised that she wanted to protect him too, and he had kept her from doing that. Even though he knew why she was upset it made no difference. She was still not giving him an inch.

It really did suck how far apart they felt now, especially when they had been so, so close. Ever since the break had started he had sent a letter everyday to Alina hoping that she might finally reply and respond to him. The only letter that came though was from Hermione telling him it might be best to let Alina be for a little while longer. So he was letting her be for now, even though it fucking sucked.

Trying to shake his mind of thinking of Alina anymore he started looking over the table at all the different types of food around him. Thankfully after failing to pretend eggs were interesting enough to distract his thoughts a ministry owl flew into the hall and dropped a copy of the Daily Prophet on his plate. He gave the owl a piece of his bacon before it flew off and he opened up the paper.

DEATH STRIKES AGAIN

For the second time in less than a week the Dark Mark has been sighted over yet another home in London. Similar to the last few attacks no survivors were left at the scene. The attack that started around 4:17am this morning lasted less than a minute. Aurors, who have been on high alert ever since the first attack in the small village of Hogsmeade made by Bellatrix Lestrange in late November, arrived at the scene in no less than two minutes, but were still too late. The victims, this reporter was told, were all killed by the killing curse.

Although no survivors were found, thanks to a muggle device called a video camera (which is similar to a camera but takes hundreds of pictures and combines them to make the muggle pictures that move) two confirmed death eaters have been confirmed to be guilty of this crime. The first confirmed death eater is none other than Bellatrix Lestrange who has been sighted over eleven times since her escape and has been linked to five of the six attacks in London so far. The other death eater has been confirmed to be the feared werewolf Fenrir Greyback. Both death eaters managed to escape and the ministry stresses that if anyone may sight one of these two to report it immediately.

The victims of this attack were the McNair family. The McNair family were a muggles, making them the fifth muggle family attacked since the Azkaban breakout. The McNair's youngest boy was attending his sixth year at Hogwarts, where he was a Gryffindor. Our thoughts go out to the McNair family and hope that these attacks can be stopped before more blood is spilled.

"Merry Christmas," a quiet voice said from behind his paper as he finished reading the article. He put the paper down on the table so that he could see who it was. He had expected it to be one of the professors but was surprised to see that it was a young blonde Ravenclaw girl. If he remembered correctly he thought her name was Luna something. . .

"Merry Christmas," he replied, trying to put on a smile. The article in the paper had only added to his bad mood though and made that even more difficult though.

"Do you mind if I join you? I'm not quite used to being alone during the holidays yet," she asked him. He was caught off guard at her question but quickly motioned for her to sit.

"It's Luna right?" he asked her, already knowing the answer but wanting to make sure before he made a fool out of himself.

"Yes it is. I'm surprised you knew that," Luna said as she put a big chunk of apple pie onto her plate.

"I remember your name from the dueling tournament last year and the recognition ceremony this year. My friend Alina had told me a few times that you are one of the best in your year too," he replied.

"Alina said that about me? I was quite upset when I lost to her in that duel last year, her strategy was quite smart though," Luna replied. The small blonde girl was certainly a different girl than most girls at Hogwarts. Luna had almost white-blond hair that went all the way down to her waist. She had eyes that were greyish-silverish like his were, although hers were much darker than his were now. Luna was certainly pretty he thought. She was also certainly a little mysterious too though, especially the way she seemed to be off somewhere else in her head whenever she spoke, but overall she was a pretty girl. She had a sort of appealing mystic auror to her, whatever the hell that meant.

"Yeah, it was a good duel from what I remember. . ." he paused, trying to think of something else to say. "So if I'm not being too intrusive you said you are not usually alone on holidays, why are you still at Hogwarts this year then?" he asked the girl. Normally he was the type of person to want to be by himself, especially when he was as grumpy as he was today. But as bad as the month he was having was he welcomed the distraction.

"You're not being intrusive at all. My father got invited to eastern Lithuania to do an exclusive article with a moon frogs breeder there. He unfortunately could not bring me with him if he went so I insisted he go alone and that I would stay here this year. After all it is an opportunity he could not miss out on," Luna answered him, grabbing another slice of pie in the process.

"I'm not familiar with moon frogs," Marik replied.

"They are a rare type of frog that only come out during a full moon. The rest of the time they are invisible to the naked eye. They are actually famous for croaking songs more beautiful than even birds can sing," Luna answered him. They certainly sounded like something rare.

"I wonder if I ever saw one before when I lived in Lithuania," he pondered, thinking back to the short amount of time he had spent there.

"I doubt it. Only a few breeders have ever seen them That's why I insisted my father had to go. When did you live in Lithuania?" she asked him, staring at him curiously.

"When I was eight. My dad works for the U.S. military so we moved around a lot when I was young," he answered the blonde girl.

"That sounds fascinating, I'm sure you saw all sorts of interesting places," Luna added.

"Yeah, I did. Lithuania was actually one of my favorite places that I lived," he started to answer, finishing the roll in his hands before continuing. "So could you not stay with your mom or did she go with your dad too?" he asked her, grabbing another roll instinctively as he did.

"My mother died when I was young," Luna answered him, he immediately felt guilty.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know. . ." he tried to scramble for words but nothing came.

"Oh it's quite alright really, it was a long time ago. Why are you staying here over the break?" Luna asked him, thankfully changing the subject.

"My dad had work overseas so my parents told me I could stay here. I'm okay with it though, I actually wanted to stay," he answered her.

"Well, that's good then. Was it good or bad news today?" Luna asked him, pointing her fork at his paper.

"Bad. Another attack by the death eaters," he answered her, pushing the paper over to the girl so she could read it.

"Another muggle family I see. How terrible," Luna said after reading the article, her face never really changing its expression though.

"Yeah, it is," he replied, taking the paper back and setting it to the side.

"Didn't you have a run in with Miss Lestrange at Hogsmeade? I heard you almost beat her in a duel," Luna asked him, her eyes never leaving his.

"Not even close. She kicked my ass. But yeah I did have a little run in with her, if you want to call it that," he said.

"You should be proud then. From what all these articles have shown most people that meet her don't even get the chance to get off a spell. From what I heard you got off quite a few," Luna added, flashing him a smile for the first time since she sat down.

"I guess so. . . Thanks Luna," he said returning the smile.

"Anytime," Luna said, flashing him another warm smile. "I was going to take a walk around the grounds this morning after breakfast. Do you want to join me Marik?" Luna asked him as she stood up.

"Yeah sure, let's go," Normally he would have said no. He barely even knew the girl plus he had tons of work to do. However he was dreading going back into the lab at the moment, and the idea of carving more runes right now didn't sound as fun as it normally did. He stood up from his spot at the table and followed the blonde girl out of the Great Hall and onto the grounds, making sure to stuff one more roll into his pocket before leaving.

Even though it was the end of December and the ground was covered in snow it wasn't too cold out today. The sky for the first time in a while was almost cloudless and the sun's light was reflecting off the snow all around them.

"It's pretty out today," he commented as they started heading towards the lake.

"Yes it is. So what have you been doing over the break?" Luna asked him.

"Ancient runes mainly. I tried coming up with an herbology project but am failing quite spectacularly with that," he answered her, once again getting angry thinking about his dead end in the course.

"I'm excited to take Ancient runes next year. From what I have read it seems like a very interesting subject," Luna responded.

"It is really interesting yeah. It's one of my favorite classes now," he added truthfully.

"So why are you having such a hard time in Herbology?" Luna asked him. They turned the corner of the castle and headed towards Hagrid's hut.

"I just have no interest in the course. I can think of countless ideas for other courses but none for herbology," he answered her.

"I can see why that would make it tough. Why don't you do something with runes?" She asked him.

"I already have a project I'm doing for runes," he answered.

"No I'm afraid you misinterpreted what I meant. Why don't you do something with runes for your herbology project," Luna tried to explain again.

"Hmm. . . That isn't actually such a bad idea. I've been doing work with infusing spells into runes maybe I could infuse ingredients into a rune or something," he said, thinking out loud.

"Or you could just infuse another spell into the rune like you have been doing. For example I know that Tangleweed grows better when people sing to it. Maybe you could infuse a singing spell into a rune," Luna added.

"That is a perfect idea Luna! But you came up with it all on your own, I can't use it now. You should use it though, it is genius!" he said to the blonde girl. It really was a fantastic idea.

"No you should, I insist. I already have a project for the class anyways. I am crossbreeding Flobberworms with Dabberblimps. Their offspring produce excrement that is extremely fertile fertilizer for magical plants," Luna explained to him.

"Wow that sounds impressive too. You definitely seem to know your herbology. And thanks for the idea and your help, I really needed it today," he told the girl truthfully. Finally having an idea for a herbology project was a heavy load off his shoulders, even if he felt guilty that Luna practically did all the work coming up with the idea.

"No problem. And why today?" Luna asked them as they made their way around another one of the castle's corners.

"What?" he asked her, confused.

"You said you needed help today. Why just today?" she asked him again.

"Just been having a bad month and yesterday a lot seemed to go wrong. I was just getting frustrated is all," he tried to explain in simplest words.

"Well is there anything I can do to help?" Luna asked him. He noticed how sincere her eyes seemed to be when she talked to him. As strange as he may have the thought the girl was before today there was no denying the girl's honesty and sincerity. It made him feel good to know she was willing to help him even though they had only just met.

"You already have in more than one way, honestly. Things are already getting better," he answered Luna truthfully. She really had put him in a much better mood today. Besides just giving him an idea for a herbology project, which had been part of the root of a lot of his issues, just her company and words alone had helped make him feel a lot better.

"Well I'm glad I could be of service," Luna replied, her eyes leaving his to look at something in the sky above them. He followed her eyes up towards the sky as she stopped talking.

"They're quite the spectacular creature aren't they?" he asked her as he noted the Thestral flying over their heads in the sky. It stood out like a black comet cast against the bright blue sky.

"You can see them?" Luna asked him curiously.

"Yeah?" he answered, confused.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Do you mind me asking who it was?" she asked him. Her grey eyes seemed to sadden when they looked at him this time.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean," he answered her.

"Thestrals can only be seen by those who have seen death. They are really quite gentle, but people tend to avoid them because they are quite. . . different. Even though they are associated with death they are truly beautiful beasts," Luna explained to him.

He honestly had not known that about thestrals. He had researched them briefly when looking up the properties of thestral hair for his cloak back in his first year, but he never had read that they could only be seen by those who had seen death before.

"So who was it that you watched die Marik?" Luna asked him. Her eyes seemed to glow extra silvery in her curiosity,

"I don't know. . . No one I can think of," he answered truthfully. He never had seen someone die. "Unless a mountain troll or basilisk counted," he answered her.

"You've seen a basilisk and a mountain troll die? I take it you are the source of some of the rumors I have heard then. But no, those would not count. Only a human's death would," Luna answered him.

"I'm not sure then. . . I saw thestrals back in my first year too so I guess I had to have seen someone die before then. . ." he tried to think again, but nothing came. "Who have you seen die Luna? You don't have to answer me if you don't want too," he asked her, feeling he might be prying to much with his question.

"My mother," Luna answered. They had stopped walking by this point and Luna's eyes went back up to the thestral that was now circling them overhead.

"I'm sorry. . ." he apologized as Luna's mother had been brought up for the second time today. "How?" he asked her.

"Don't be sorry. Like I said before it is quite alright. My mother would often experiment with magic. She was a well known spell creator during her time, and was even more well known because of how she liked to experiment a little too much. When I was nine she accidentally cast a spell that backfired on herself. She died instantly," Luna answered. The two of them just stood in silence for a few moments after that. Both of them watching the thestral fly through the air.

"They really are incredible creatures," he said, trying to change the subject from the darker topic.

"Yes, they are," Luna replied, a smile returning again to her face.

"Hey Luna, if you ever need help with anything too let me know. I owe you for today," he said, staring at her as she watched the thestrals overhead.

"You don't owe me anything. But I will keep that in mind. I'm sure I can think of something to use your help on," Luna replied, her eyes turning from the sky to meet his.

"Mr. Ose!" a voice from somewhere on the grounds, interrupting them from their conversation and thestral watching. Across the grounds he could make out the Headmaster and his beard trailing in the snow as he walked towards he and Luna. "Mr. Ose would you please follow me to my office, we have something we need to discuss in private?" the Headmaster asked him. He noted the Headmaster's usual twinkle was nowhere to be found and the Headmaster looked quite. . . sad.

"Of course Headmaster. Could you possibly discuss it with me here though, me and Luna were having a good walk? And I don't want to leave her alone out here," he asked the Headmaster. The Headmaster looked troubled at his question. "What is it sir. . ?" he asked the Headmaster, sensing from his body language that something was off.

"Mr. Ose, I would prefer if we could have this conversation in my office," the Headmaster started to say.

"Just tell me sir!" Marik shouted, which he knew he should not be doing at the Headmaster. Something was wrong though. Never in the time since he had started at Hogwarts had he seen the Headmaster look like this, nor had the Headmaster ever approached him directly like this. And it was never a good thing when the Headmaster came outside of the castle to find you. Something was definitely wrong.

"Marik it's okay. We can finish our walk another time. You should go," Luna said to him. She flashed him another pretty, warm smile. She was too kind.

"Please sir, I know something is wrong. Tell me. It doesn't matter where you tell me just tell me. . . Please," he told the Headmaster. Dumbledore again looked like he was having an argument with himself internally.

"Very well Mr. Ose, if you wish. I'm afraid I have bad news. There was another attack today. . ." Dumbledore started.

"Alina? Harry? Hermione?" he shouted the names of his friends out, interrupting the Headmaster. His stomach was doing flips at the thought that one of his friends had been attacked and was hurt, or worse. His body was shaking in fear. He had not felt a pain like this in his chest since Alina had been taken into the Chamber.

"No Mr. Ose, thankfully your friends are safe at home with their families enjoying the holiday." the Headmaster again started to answer him. A quick wave of relief came over him. He thanked the magic gods that Alina and his friends were all safe. The shaking returned along with the stomach pains as he continued to think things through though.

"Then who was attacked sir?" Marik asked the Headmaster. For a second he thought he saw the Headmaster's eyes get watery.

"I'm so sorry Mark. It was your parents. Your parent's were attacked. . . They didn't survive. Your parents were both killed. . . They are both dead," the Headmaster answered him.

His parents. . . Were. . . Dead. . .

Luna and the Headmaster both continued to speak and say words around him, he heard none of them though. All he heard was the thud of the ground as his knees fell into the snow along with the crying neighs of the Thestral flying overhead.

He looked up at the creature overhead to see that another thestral had made an appearance. He watched the two beasts flew in a circle around the castle, one chasing after another before they headed off somewhere over the forest and into the horizon.

Mom. . . Dad. . .

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