(A/N: Because the loader is being screwy, all shifting laguages as going to be in bold, until I can figure out something else.)
Lone Child
Chapter 38: Of Accepting Loss and Gaining Guilt, a Confession and the End
"Lily, what are you doing up?" James Potter asked with a yawn. Sitting on the couch in the middle of the common room was Lily Evans, bent over an album of photos. The one she was currently looking at was of Sara and Holly on the first day they were born. Both were pink and fussy, but beautiful in their own right. Now both little girls were almost 4, and still identical in every way.
"I couldn't sleep," Lily replied, drying her now tear filled eyes.
"Sweetheart, why are you crying?" Jim asked, sitting down next to his wife.
A choked sob escaped Lily's throat. "I feel so guilty. She told me she didn't want to be part of it, and tried to tell me why but I ignored her, and cast the spell anyway. It's because of me that their baby is dead," she cried, leaning into her husband.
"No Lils, it's not your fault. You just did what you were told by Dumbledore. It was all just one big accident," James cooed, rocking his wife back and forth.
"James, can I tell you something? Will you promise not to get mad?" Lily asked, looking into her husband's eyes. James nodded. "Do you remember when I went missing for several days after we got married?" Another nod. "Well, I wasn't at my sister's baby shower. I-I'd been kidnapped, by Death Eaters," Lily whispered. James looked at her in shock.
"They did horrible things to me Jim. They beat me, and cursed me, but on the night before I was rescued, one of them raped me. Severus Snape found me, and got me out soon after. A few weeks later I found out I was pregnant. I wasn't sure if you were the father, or if it was the Death Eater. When he was born, we ran a test, and he wasn't yours," Lily whispered, latching on to the front of Jim's nightshirt. Jim just kept rocking his wife, petting her hair and offering her comfort.
"Du-Dumbledore said it would be in the best interest of myself and the baby if I put him up for adoption. I was scared, and I didn't know how you would respond, so I agreed. He placed him with his friends, Alex and Emma Keller. When he was 5 they were targeted and killed by Voldemort. It'd happened so fast they hadn't even been able to scream. They just swept through and killed all of them," Lily sobbed.
James just stared ahead of him in shock. Of all the things he'd thought she'd say, this wasn't it. Come to think of it, Jim realized how pale she had been at the topic of the Kellers. Vowing to 'speak' with Dumbledore in the morning Jim rocked his wife until she cried herself into a deep sleep.
"Tessa, it's time to wake up," James whispered, tickling his girlfriend with a newly conjured feather.
"It's to early James, leave me be," Triss groaned, puling her pillow over her head.
"Come on Triss, it's a new day and you need to go face the world," James whispered, giving Triss a lingering kiss on the neck. She turned to face him, and with no warning, shoved him off the bed. Blowing him a raspberry Triss pulled the blankets up to her chin and pulled the pillow back over her head.
Glaring at the lump in the bed, James snapped his fingers, and the blankets and pillows disappeared. "Grrr, James! I really don't like you," Triss groaned, easing herself up.
"Madam Pomfrey ordered that you get up and move around, she said it'll make your stomach feel better, and you need to take this. It'll remove any lingering pain, and heal anything else that's still damaged," said James, producing a pale pink potion. Triss nodded, and downed the potion in one gulp.
With James's help, Triss stood, and dressed in a loose dress Madam Pomfrey provided. After a while of walking the two of them reached the dorms, where Triss took a long shower, and dressed in clean clothes. "That feels so much better," said Triss, pulling her long hair into a ponytail.
"I'm sure. But Triss, I have a question, and I want you to answer truthfully. Are you okay?" James asked, sitting her down on his bed.
"In all honesty, I don't know. I'm really confused. At first, I really didn't want a baby, but the more I thought on it, the more I warmed up to the idea. Now that there is no baby, I'm just confused," Triss admitted.
"How so?" James asked.
"Well, it's like hearing about a murder on the muggle news. You feel bad about it, but there's nothing you can do so you kind of just let it go. Our baby was a life, sure enough, but it was barley formed, little for then nerves and things like that, so it's just kind of unreal," Triss explained. James nodded, he understood, sort of.
"I can sort of see what you mean. I'll tell you what, it's Hogsmead weekend, so lets go down and we'll go shopping and get some lunch," James suggested.
"Sounds like a good idea," said Triss nodding. At that moment Draco burst through the door, holding something. A few nights after the ball the gang had gotten together and discussed what was going on with Draco, and all came to the decision that it was safer for him if they kept a distance, and also revert back to formal first names.
"I don't think you guys want to go up stairs," Draco gasped, shoving a paper into James's hand. The headline was in dark bold letters, reading "CHAMPION # 4 THREATENS HEADMASTER AND ASSAULTS POTIONS MASTER!" Under the title of the story was the name Rita Skeeter.
"Oh no," James groaned. In the center of the page was a blown up picture of Snape's black eye. "How bad is it up stairs?" James asked.
"Well, most of the Gryffs are hailing you for hitting Sev, but a lot are freaked because you threatened the Headmaster. It's not everyday you see Albus Dumbledore backed into a corner by a student," Draco commented.
"Yeah, but no one else was in that hallway," Triss commented.
"Unless Skeeter is an unregistered Animagus," said James.
"I say you need to go speak to the Minister that is held so tightly under your thumb," Draco suggested.
James nodded. "Come on. No better time than the present," said James, pulling Triss out of the dorm and into the common room. Even with all of the students in the room, no one commented on Triss being in the boy's dorm, as it was no secret that she and James were involved in every aspect of the word.
Upon entering the Great Hall, all talking stopped. Spotting the Minister, James yelled, Cornelius, we need to speak to you, before turning and exiting the hall as fast as he'd come in.
Less than a minute later Fudge appeared, "What the devil have you gotten yourself into this time Cage?"
"It seems we have an unregistered animagus in our hands. One Rita Skeeter is spying on people in her form. I'm guessing it to have been very small. An insect maybe. It's my suggestion that we do something about her. There is no other way she could have seen or heard any of what went on in the hall yesterday," said James.
"Really? I'll look into it, however, do us all a favor and hit Snape again, snarky bastard that he is…"
"Rita Skeeter, Under Arrest For Being An Unregistered Animagus!" Was the headline the next morning.
"That was fast," James muttered, showing Triss the paper.
"Look here, they caught her in a set up classified conference late last night. Well, it seems Fudge is our new best friend," said Triss, speed reading the paper.
"Yeah. It's kind of weird, all the people who didn't like me, are starting to be my best buddies, and people who did, are becoming a pain in the ass?" James asked.
"I don't know. Has there been any word on Dragon?" Triss asked, folding the newspaper.
James shook his head in the negative. "No, if there had been Jewel would have contacted me. It seems there have been several disappearances in the past few weeks, no bodies though," said James.
"Do you think this could have something to do with the Voldemort rumors?" Triss asked.
James shrugged. "It's possible, but unlikely, I would have picked up on at least a flicker of something if he had any power, regardless of the fact that my powers are being wacky. You would have picked up on it too," James pointed out. Triss nodded.
"So, are you guys ready to go for the Yule ball?" Rome asked, sitting down across from the two.
"Yes. We got dress robes before we came to school," said Triss.
"They were on the list," James added. "Gin, are you still going with Draco?" he asked.
Ginny nodded, tossing a look to Draco who was stuck sitting between two gorilla like boys looking utterly bored. Across from him was a pug face girl smiling coyly at him. Draco looked at her with nothing less than complete disgust.
Turning back to James, Triss saw his image flicker out of the corner of her eye. Looking at him fully, she saw a look of intense concentration on his face. "Are you alright?" she asked, switching over to elven as easily as he switched to parseltongue.
"It's getting harder to hold everyday. I don't know how much long it's going to be before everything shuts down," James growled. His eyes flickered to their natural emerald green for a moment, before righting themselves. Placing a hand on his temple he cemented to image into place as well as he could.
Triss didn't miss the look of pain that crossed his face, nor did Severus and Potter. It has to be a glitch, or something in the air. "You'll be fine," said Triss, more to reassure herself then him.
"Damn straight. Can't very well keep the twins out of trouble if I'm incapacitated," James said with a grin. Again, Triss didn't fail to notice how he didn't have his arm wrapped around her waist or shoulders as he normally did. It had become apparent to her very quickly that he was more affectionate, but not as intimate as he had been before. Triss didn't like that, but didn't say anything, at least for the time being.
"I can see your point, but sometimes I think it's the twins keeping you out of trouble," Triss commented, taking a large sip of fruit smoothie.
James mock glared at her. "No, that's your job," he said, somehow managing to keep a straight face.
"Well, now that you have admitted I have full power over you, I must tell you that if we are not to be late for Evan's class, we have to leave now," said Triss, pulling James from his seat.
"Yes Master," he said following Triss at the heels like a lost puppy dog.
"He is sooo whipped," Rome said, wrapping an arm around his girlfriend as they left the hall to go to their morning classes.
"Like you aren't," Mel said under her breath as she and Vlad followed them.
In charms, Evans couldn't even look Triss in the eyes, and hardly managed it with James. While James was down right furious, Triss was only angry. She could feel the guilt radiating off of Evans, and couldn't help but feel a bit bad. The woman had enough baggage to carry having lost several of her own children, and didn't need that of another, even if it was partly her fault.
It was all Triss could do to stop James from releasing a bit of stress on the teacher. After explaining her point of view over the teacher, he agreed, and redirected his fury to the one at the top of the chain, Albus Dumbledore.
Triss couldn't bring herself to feel anything but pure fury towards her grandfather. If she had her way he would be rotting in the dungeons by now. She had yet to be told the great story of James's threat to Dumbledore, in James's words anyway.
Time went by quickly. The Yule Ball went by with relative ease, if you don't count Rome getting into a fistfight, and winning, against Victor Krum, for grabbing Kat inappropriately. Fred and George went with Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell, their long time girl friends. James ended up dancing with just about every girl at the dance, but danced with Triss the most. For reasons unknown to even James, Dumbledore went around sporting a black eye for almost two weeks. Triss swore it hadn't been her, so James could only imagine what had happened. (A/N: A small talk with James Potter anyone?)
The third task came and went with ease as well. James walked away with little more than a dislocated shoulder from being tossed into the wall by a Irish Lightning Bolt, the second most dangerous dragon in the world, second only to the Hungarian Horntail, deemed to dangerous to be used in the tournament. As of the third task, James had collected three of the weird medallions. It was only by fluke that Triss figured out that the three fit together, and were missing only one more piece. This was in late March.
In late April, it was announced that Evan's was once again expecting. It was too early to tell whether it was to be a boy or a girl, but James had the feeling it was to be a boy. Snape, while still his bastard self, had toned down a little, his way of giving James an apology.
By May, James and Triss's relationship was back to normal, though she wasn't staying in his room as often as before. Kat had had a minor pregnancy scare, but was assured by both James and Triss that she had nothing to worry about. This, however, gained her and Rome a very long lecture from Draco, James, Severus, Remus and Sirius, both of whom had been visiting the school very often.
Dragon was still missing, along with several more wizards and witches. James and Triss were both very worried about their mentor, but weren't aloud to leave the school because of the tournament, otherwise both would have been out searching for him, regardless of the turnout of their last meeting.
All to soon, it was time for the fourth and final part of the tournament. James had been informed by Fudge to be out at the Quidditch Pitch by no later than 8p.m., only minutes before the sent was to set.
"Are you sure you feel up to this?" Triss asked, one final time as James pulled on a plain white shirt. As he thought it would be easier to move around without his robes, James had opted to dress only in a pair of old carpenter jeans, steel toes work boots, and a t-shirt.
"Tessa, I already told you, I'm fine. I know I'm having a few problems holding my images, but it's nothing to be worried about. It's been going on since November, and I'm still doing fine. In fact, I think I'm starting to get better, it's not as hard as it was say, in April," James responded, giving his Soul Bond a light kiss on the temple.
"Alright, but if you have any trouble in the tournament, don't hesitate to get out of their. Jewel isn't around to keep you out of trouble at the moment," Triss warned. James grinned at her. "You have your wand, right?"
"No Triss, I left it sitting under my bed," James responded sarcastically.
"Ass. Well, lets go then," said Triss, heading up to the main hall for dinner before the tournament. In the middle of the meal Potter came over to the table.
"Mr. Cage, have you seen Lizzy? She's supposed to sit with her Aunt during the tournament, and I can't find her," Potter said, mild concern crossing his features.
"I haven't seen her since noon. I think she's playing with some of the first year Ravenclaws. I wouldn't worry about it, the girl can hold her own," said James. He left out the fact that he had provided her with a temporary wand via Ollivander and had been teacher her spells.
"Thanks," said Potter, a bit of relief crossing his features. He quickly returned to the head table, ready escorting his slightly showing wife to the Pitch no doubt.
"I'm going to go ahead and get out there. I'll see you in the after math of all of this," said James, giving Triss a small peck before heading out the door. As it was very near 8, James was the last of the champions to leave.
Triss was quick to join the rest of the spectators in the stands. The usher, for some reason unknown to Triss, sat her right down next to Evans and the twin Potters. The elder Potter was patrolling the pitch should any of the champions need assistance.
Evans made a point not to look at the younger woman, but Triss would have none of it. "Did you ever find Lizzy, professor?" Triss asked.
"No, Jim and I figured she just decided to go sit with her friends. I can only imagine how boring it must be to only be able to hang out with people much older or much younger than herself. I should think it'll be easier for her next year," Evans said, her voice a little stiff.
"What house do you think she'll be in?" Triss asked.
Evans looked at her strangely. "Lizzy isn't a witch," Evans said, her voice now holding a confused tone.
"I don't think so. James has been teaching her, and I've seen her pull a spell or two," Triss said, thinking back on the powerful unlocking charms she'd seen from the younger girl.
"I'll have to look into that," Evans said, turning her attention to the starting tournament.
"Alright, do all of you have the pendants you collected over the past few months?" Fudge asked. The four champions held up the pendants. Only James' and Cedric Diggory's were connected. Fudge went through a quick lesson on how to connect them, taking a point off of Krum and Fleur for not having figured it out.
"Now that everyone is one the same page, you have to find the last piece of the puzzle. Mr. Cage, your piece will be white, Mr. Diggory, your piece will be yellow, Mr. Krum, your piece will be red, and Ms. Delacour, your piece is to be pink. Each of you will start out in a different part of a maze. Once you find your piece, connect it to the others, and you will be transported to the next stage, the same set up as the first, a maze. Your goal in the next stage is to get the cup before anyone else. Good luck to you all," said Fudge.
Seconds later James was standing in his own separate box at the start of the maze. He took a big breath and ran a scan on his power level. It was just as low as it had been before. A small amount of dizziness swept over him. 'Maybe I should have listened to Triss and backed out,' James thought, catching himself on the side of the box.
Shaking it off, James was ready to go just in time for the starting bell. Pulling his wand, James cautiously walked out of the box. Walking as fast as his feet would permit, James followed the twists and turns until he came to a cross section. "Point me!" said James, holding out his wand. It pointed to the path to his right. Turning onto the path, he hadn't gotten more than ten feet before he ran smack dab into Cedric.
"Having any luck?" Ced asked.
"None, I haven't even run into a bloody obstacle yet," James responded.
"I think this is the obstacle course until we get to the next round," Cedric said before turning and running down the path, away from where James was going. 15 minutes and no monsters later, James finally found what he'd been looking for. Inter locking the white piece with the others James felt a slight tug before he was dropped into the beginning of another maze.
"Fantastic," James groaned. It wasn't very long before he reached the first obstacle, a rather pissed off Black Mamba. Let me pass! James commanded. The snake looked at him in defiance, before finally backing down at the determined look in James's eyes.
After that he can to a three way interchange. "Point me!" he said for the second time that night. His wand spun to point to the path to his left.
After 5 minutes of running he narrowly missed a spell from a jumpy Fleur Delacour. James glared at her, looking at his singed pant leg before continuing on. Not too long later James came to his next obstacle. A giant Lioness stood in his way.
"Dear Lady, I beg you to grant me access to the rest of my journey," James said, bowing.
"I will let you move on, as I did the others, if you can answer me this.
'Alive without breath,
As cold as death;
Never thirsty, ever drinking,
All in mail, never clinking.'"(A/N: ã J.R.R Tolkien)
James knew the answer immeadiatly. Since his first year he had made an oath to himself to read the 'Lord of the Rings' series at least once every year, the Hobbit was his favorite.
"A fish," he said easily.
"Very well, I bid you good luck, you will need it," the Lioness said, moving enough that James could pass.
James continued on his way. After several more minutes of running, James nearly jumped out of his skin when two loud screams echoed through the air. Picking up speed, he whipped around a corner to see Fleur and Cedric writhing on the ground under the wand of Victor Krum.
"Reducto!" James shouted, pointed at Victor's feet. The ground exploded, sending Victor hurtling through the air and through one of the bush that made one wall of the maze. "Are you two alright?" James asked, puling the two off of the ground.
"Fine," Cedric answered, shakily pulling himself to his feet. Fleur tried to stand as well, but found herself unable.
"Just lie down Fleur. Cedric, are you still up to continuing?" James asked.
"Yeah. Should I hail someone?" Cedric asked. James nodded and checked Fleur over for any nerve damage. The curse hadn't been held very long, but he wanted to check any way. While James did this, Cedric pointed his wand straight up and muttered an incantation, shooting red sparks into the air.
"Come on, they're both still alive. Krum isn't in the best of states, but he's alive," said James.
"What about Fleur?" Cedric asked.
"Fine. No nerve damage, and no small cuts or anything. Aside from that small cut on your forehead, you're fine too," said James, motioning to the before unseen cut.
"How do you know that?" Cedric asked.
"My secret," James responded before taking off down one of the paths, leaving Cedric to take his own way. Less than 15 minutes later, James came to what only could have been the last obstacle. Sitting in the center of the path was a spider. A very large spider. James had his claws out within seconds. He knew this type of spider, the ones from the forest. They weren't the friendliest bunch.
The spider hissed and jumped at him, but James was no longer anywhere near that point. "Back down now, or I will have to kill you," James said. He knew very well that these spiders understood English. Unsurprisingly, the spider just jumped at him again, catching his leg and tossing him further down the path. "Fuck this," James said, pulling his wand. "Decollo!" (A/N: ã Serry Snape.) The spider's head rolled to the ground, leaving the body dead.
Easing himself up, James surveyed the damage on his leg. "Medicor," he muttered, point his wand at his leg. It closed up enough from him to be able to walk, but not enough to stop it from bleeding. "Stupid fucking spiders," James muttered, continuing on.
Finally, he reached a large, open area. In the center was a large, golden cup. The thing James noticed, however, was Cedric, and the Lioness chasing him. "Stop!" James yelled. The lioness turned to him.
"Badger child was unable to answer my riddle, I must kill him," the lioness growled.
"What was the riddle?" James asked, as Cedric stood behind him.
"What has roots as nobody sees,
Is taller than the trees
Up, up it goes,
And yet it never grows?" the lioness asked.
"A mountain," James responded. The lioness nodded.
"You have solved the riddle for the badger child, you are both free to proceed," she said, return from the path she started.
"I owe you for that one," Cedric breathed, relieved that he wasn't to become cat food.
"No big. I ran into her too, both of her riddles were from a muggle book I read in first year," said James, turning back. "Go ahead and take the cup, you got here first," said James, leaning against the hedge wall.
"No way. If it weren't for you I'd be getting picked out of a lion's teeth at the moment," said Cedric.
"I'm not taking the damn thing. I don't want it, I don't need the fame, or money. I have more money than I know what to do with right now anyway," said James.
"Fine, we'll take it together. It'll still be a win for Hogwarts, and we'll be totally even," said Cedric.
James thought on it. Cedric was a Hufflepuff, there was no doubt that he would sit there and wait until either James took it by himself, or with Cedric. "Fine," said James moving towards the cup. "On the count of three. One- two- three!" James shouted. Both boys grabbed the cup, to be hit with a tugging sensation.
Seconds later they were dropped on the ground. The ground was soft and wet, and the air smelled stale and wet. "What the fuck?" James asked, helping Cedric to his feet.
"Think this is another part of the tournament they didn't tell us about?" Cedric asked, slipping his wand away, unseen by James.
"I don't know. I doubt it, someone rigged the cup," said James, looking down at the gold cup sitting on the ground.
James was about to reach down for the cup, when a hair-raising voice yelled, "Kill the spare!" "Avada Kedavra!"
"No!" James yelled. The curse was heading towards Cedric, so James did the best he could on such short notice, he jumped in front of the older boy. The curse struck James in the side, more or less blowing a small whole at the impact point, making walking almost impossible, and blowing his shift, sending him back to his normal appearance.
Cedric stared at him in horror. "Oh my go-" He never finished the sentence, as James levitated the cup into the older boys hands.
"Tell Triss I lover her," James whispered before Cedric disappeared, leaving James alone and wounded. Unable to do much else, James dropped to the ground, ready to face his fate, whatever that might be.
(A/N: I'm still alive! I lived through Hurricane Charley, only to deal with another one --'. Sorry this took so long to get out. I've been dealing with the horror that is high school. Actually, I'm still trying to get my schedule fixed, a week past 'No Credit Day'. For some giant reason unknown to me they dropped me in a computer typing course, (They keep telling me that it's state required, and the state keeps saying that's bullshit, and I know several people who aren't having to take it. Who thinks they're just giving me a hard time?) And I type faster than the teacher! The teacher, in turn, is the biggest ass I've ever met. He apparently remembers my brother, who fell on him and broke his leg, or was it the other guy? Right now I'm balancing AP Biology, English 1 Honors and Spanish. The computer thing doesn't count, as I'm either going to get out and take Algebra 1 Honors again as a refresher (already have a credit for it), or beat up the teacher (my daddy said that if he keeps insulting me, or my family, I can make use of my vocabulary ), which ever happens to come first. Well, there is an update on my sad, sad life, and why I got this chapter out so late. And if I don't get he next chapter out before September 19th, HAPPY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO LC! I feel so special… Also, keep in mind that I responded to most of the reviews before I wrote this chapter, so they may be a bit inaccurate.)
Review response:
Shadowface: Thanks.
ShadowWolf255: As of right now, I have more or less written out how Lily and the rest of the teachers find out about James's parentage. However, the first idea about Lily thinking about something she forgot might work. A flash back of James's birth could be something to toss in…
Gaul1: I'm not sure what, if anything, Triss is going to do to Evans. Maybe a catfight? I don't know yet, but whatever I decide should be in the chapter above. No there won't be a funeral, and who said the kid was a boy?
Athenakitty: Right now, James is annoyed with almost everyone. As far as the argument goes, two words. Rita Skeeter. I'm not sure about how guilty Lily will be, I haven't written the chapters yet, so. Much later in the future, Triss will have another baby, I'm not sure if it will be a boy or girl. Yes, Randal Black is Sirius's nephew.
Malach: I'm not too fond of those ideas either, but going through revelations and what not sounds good. I'm just trying to stay on a certain track so I can set off certain events like I want to, but I think I have an idea now.Michaelrccurtis: Thank you.
Beea20: You're right, kind of. The way the soul bond is set up, a person can dissolve it temporarily, temporarily being the key word. However, if one of the party in the bond is unwilling to break it, but does anyway, they become very ill. What I was thinking is that Triss would ask to have the bond dissolved, so she can have some time to think and get her emotions straight, but she doesn't know how the bond works. James knows, and even though he doesn't want to, breaks the bond for Triss's well being, and between the end of the tournament and an encounter with Voldemort is very ill, to the point that he will die if Triss doesn't reset the bond. I still may pull something like that, and if I do, that's how Evans will find out. Regardless, however, Lily will find out at the end of the tournament.
RunningInCircles: Thanks.
LizaGirl: Thanks. The summary was no problem, I just hope I got all the main events. Because it is summer, my memory fails me.
Jenaleyn: Do you have a pop-up blocker? If you do, hit 'ctrl' in the bottom left corner of your keyboard. It allows the screen to by pass the blocker with most programs. The baby won't be born, no matter what I do. If it had been a dream, then it would have happened before she conceived, giving her a chance to avoid it, but I don't think I'll be doing that. If I do break them up, it won't really even be a break up, more like a hiatus on their relationship. I won't do something everyone will hate, I promise.
Websurffer: That idea, I like. However, because of Fawkes neither Lily, Potter, nor Dumbledore's minds will revert back to the thought of James being the son of the Kellers. Both Dumbledore and Lily know that James went to the Kellers, so it would be a dead give away. I don't know about James hitting Snape again, but he may hit Dumbledore or Potter.
Serry2: Evans is going to have a guilt trip, but she will not find out about James until after the tournament is over.
Callie Marie Black: Well, so far everyone is against the prophetic dream, but you never know. I guess we'll find out when I write the chapter.
Tower: I could, see Beea20's response, that explains the background of it. I think I have a solid idea now so…
Iced Flame: I thought you guys would have liked that.
Dannigurl9488: Yeah, I have clarified that a few times, but oh well. I'm not going to skip ahead, I promised more tasks, and I'm going to give my extra tasks if it kills me!
lmill123: Wow, you're close. Dumbledore will get a clue though, via James. Notice, Fudge isn't being as much of a troublemaker anymore.
Pheonixrising: Thanks. I was thinking the same thing, except for the soul bond. If you want to see the background of it see Beea20's response.
Jennifer: Thanks, and I will update if it kills me!
Leeanna-Marie-Malfoy: As I've told everyone, Lily will find out, regardless of how I run the chapters. Also, I don't want to drag it out, because I'm going to have other things that are more important to the story going on at the same time. I may have one large portion of a chapter dedicated to that, but I'll have to see how I can set it up.
Kagome's Arrow: Thank you. Draco, as you can see above, is still friends with them and all, but not publicly. By this time, rumors are already going around about Voldemort rising, and in order to protect himself and his friends, Draco is playing spy, along with his father, and maybe Snape, I'm not sure about that yet. Potter and Lily's reaction will be up soon, I promise.
Burzrog Gurthiel: It's only that long because I have to do the other tasks. I'm probably going to do two more tasks, not including the very last task, and each task is going to have some kind of an event, so more like around Chapter 42, give or take.
Wytil: I'm forecasting that Lily'll find out somewhere around Chapter 42, depending on how I set this up, and cast it and what not. That reminds me, I still have to think something up for the next task…
Bookgodess15: I always thought Snape needed a good ass kicking. I don't think I will be breaking James and Triss up, but we shall see.
Ookami Kage: It will all come together, you have my word.
Anna Banana: I love you and all, but I still say you need a good anal probe via alien abduction.
Agge: I've been trying to stay away from doing that, but I might in one of the next chapters. It's kind of confusing when an author is constantly changing POVs.
Sweet Sakura Curls: Lily will find out about her relation to James some time around the 42nd chapter, give or take. Snape just is a bastard, enough said. James's power issues will be explained around the same time Lily's discovery of James will. I'm still working on what is going to happen between James and Triss, if anything at all.
Andine: Thanks, I guess…Sorry, I don't like peanuts…too nutty. I only like the big kind of nuts… hee hee. No just kidding, that's Anna.
Starlight Dreams: Thanks. No worries, there be lots of angst ahead! (Pirates... --)
Musicstarlover: I know the feeling, trust me. Next summer the "People to people: Student Ambassador Program" wants me and a handful of other kids to go with them to Australia and New Zealand for 20 days next summer. I have a shit load of 2nd cousins, plus Aunts and Uncles living in both places. The only thing I think would be fun is that I could go scuba diving on the 'Great Barrier Reef', which is something I've always wanted to do. The other good thing is, I get 20 days off from school and a credit if I do this in 05. My friends don't think it's a good idea though…and I really don't like flying. One of my friends was nearly killed flying back from Seattle when his plane stalled out when it was lifting off.
SiLvErFaTeD: Thanks.
The Wizened Wizard: That's going to tie in later, after the tournament.
The wise Sir Ivan the Shadow Lord: I think I could do something like that. I don't know if I can pull fireworks show, but I can definitely let some sparks fly between them.