June 1945
"We have to go and get her," Minerva said, her voice faltering as she spoke.
Augusta had an expression of despair on her face, but she nodded all the same. "You don't think she'd have heard the blasts and run out after everyone else evacuated?"
Poppy shook her head, looking remarkably calm though Minerva could see the fear in her eyes. "She can sleep through anything; she probably hasn't even woken up."
"Can I have quiet to assign everyone their roles?" Professor Merrythought called from the centre of the Room. "The NEWT Defence students make up two fighting units that clear the path between here and either the Hufflepuff or Slytherin Common Room, then spread out and secure the ground floor entrances. The rest of the seventh and sixth years will accompany them to evacuate the Hufflepuffs and Slytherins, to protect the younger students. Fifth, fourth and third years will be selected on an individual basis for other missions. No-one else is to leave the Room of Requirement on any circumstances unless when you have been explicitly instructed to, is that clear?"
There were a few nods from around the Room, the seventh and sixth years standing up to be given further instructions. "The Hufflepuff Rescue Party will be lead by Professor Aurelius and consist of Augusta Brown, Alastor Moody, Filius Flitwick, Bertha Maurice, Daniel Prewett, Hiro Shafiq and Cecil Fawley. The Slytherin Rescue Party will be lead by Professor Epsilon and consist of Rutna Patil, Fleamont Potter, Lester Longbottom, Brutus Scrimegeour, Euphemia Lovegood, Damien Inglebee and Ashley Sanders. Everyone else in seventh and sixth years, Gryffindors will go to Hufflepuff and Ravenclaws will go to Slytherin. Line up behind your party leaders and wait for my signal before you depart."
People started moving in all directions, so Augusta had to practically drag Minerva and Poppy to get to Professor Merrythought who was busy briefing Professors Aurelius and Epsilon. "Edith, take your party into the Entrance Hall, and Walter you'll secure the other entrances on the ground floor. Tell Horace and Herbert to bring their entire Houses up here, NEWT students included, and I'll assign them roles once the roll call is taken and we know we've got everyone. I've told Armando to stay in his office, he's too frail to duel these days, and once we've got all the first years together I'm going to send them to him with an escort where we can Floo them to a safer place. If all goes well we'll get the second years down there too. What's the matter Augusta?"
"We're missing a third year, Professor, I didn't think she was still in the Tower so didn't evacuate her. It's Rolanda Hooch."
Professor Merrythought closed her eyes momentarily in a silent groan. "That's all I need. I can't spare you from Professor Aurelius' party, Augusta, so I'll have to send someone else but I will make sure she gets back here. Off you go now with Professor Aurelius."
Augusta patted Minerva's shoulder before running off to join her allocated party. "Minerva, pick three people to take with you and get there and back as soon as possible without getting mixed up in the fighting." Professor Merrythought instructed, "Poppy, I want you for a special mission. I'm sending the most medically aware students to the Hospital Wing to help Madame Quinine bring back as many emergency supplies here as she can. Will you do that for me?" Poppy nodded determinedly and Professor Merrythought smiled at her. "Good girl. Now, did you two see anything you think we'll need to know of from the Astronomy Tower?"
"The Auror Guard are already fighting more of Grindlewald's soldiers in Hogsmeade," Minerva started, racking her brains. "I think Professor Olwen's unconscious in the North Tower, I didn't see her get up after the wall was knocked in. And Professor Callisto's still fighting at the top of the Astronomy Tower, but she's injured."
"I'll send patrols up there to get them as soon as I can." Professor Merrythought nodded, "Poppy, wait here while I gather the rest of your special patrol. Minerva, go quickly to get Rolanda and report back to me as soon as you return. Best of luck, dear."
Professor Merrythought left them then to continue calling out orders, and Poppy threw her arms around Minerva in a brief hug before she ran back to where Irma and Millicent were on the floor with Septima. "What did the Professor say?" Irma asked as she came within earshot.
"Poppy's going up to the Hospital Wing with a special patrol to gather medical supplies. I've got to take three people with me to Gryffindor Tower and bring Ro back." Minerva explained, looking pitifully at Septima who hadn't moved since Minerva last saw her. "I think Millicent should stay with Septima, but would you mind coming?"
"Of course," Irma said immediately, and Minerva's shoulders sagged in relief. "Who else?"
"We are," a voice behind her made Minerva turn around to see Larry and Nancy stood there. "There's no way you're going back up there without us," Nancy continued before Minerva could say anything, "Half the Tower's falling down and you'll need our help." Nancy's words made Minerva's throat clench up; her voice failed her so she just nodded and the four of them set off at a run towards the door.
The corridor was clear when they left the Room of Requirement, the only sign of the battle raging around them was the shouts echoing up from the lower floors. The Fat Lady had fled her portrait, but it was already ajar and there was smoke billowing out from the Common Room.
"Merlin's Beard," Minerva heard Nancy mutter under her breath as they flung back the empty portrait to reveal the Common Room filled with choking smoke. The Gryffindor banner that hung from the ceiling was ablaze, as were the curtains flapping in the wind around the smashed window. The staircase to the boys' dormitories had been completely destroyed, but there was enough left of the girls' staircase for them to be just about useful.
"You two get Ro, we'll put out the Common Room," Nancy pushed Minerva and Ro towards the girls' staircase before shouting "Aqua Eructo!" and shooting a powerful jet of water from her wand. Larry copied her, and together they started to douse the flaming upholstery as Minerva and Irma carefully climbed the stairs. When Minerva pushed the door open, the first thing she saw were the dust littering the floor where the tower had taken a direct hit and the walls shaken apart. Her heart filled with dread until Irma shook her arm and pointed to a shape of a person huddled below one of the beds.
"Ro?" Minerva asked hesitantly, and the person looked up at her before scrabbling to her feet and sprinting towards her. She practically flung herself into Minerva's arms, nearly knocking them both backwards onto the landing.
"I thought you weren't coming back," Ro sobbed, "I thought you'd left me!"
Minerva attempted to soothe her by comfortingly patting her back, but it did little to calm the violent shivers that racked her frame. "We'd never leave you," Minerva said softly, "we're here to rescue you; me and Irma and Larry and Nancy. It's all going to be fine."
A shout of "Have you got her?" echoed from the Common Room, reminding Minerva that they weren't out of danger yet. Irma had run back into the dormitory and emerged from under Poppy's bed with Godric the puffskein cradled in her arms, and Minerva almost laughed at his happy humming despite their dire situation.
"We need to go," Minerva said to Ro, "make sure you've got your wand, you might end up needing it." Ro nodded, releasing Minerva from her vice-like grip to pick up her wand before they all ran back down the stairs. Larry and Nancy had managed to put out the fires, though the damage it had caused would take a little longer to fully repair. A nod from Nancy and they were running back out into the corridor, heading towards the Room of Requirement and the safe haven that lay within.
A deafening boom made Minerva yell in alarm, the five of them knocked backwards by the force of the floor being blasted upwards mere feet in front of them. She lay dazed on the ground for a moment before coming to her senses and surveying the damage to the corridor. There was no way they'd be able to get across now; there was a gaping hole in the floor through which she could see Professor Bishop, Mr Spinnet and Filch clashing with a group of Grindlewald's soldiers.
"What now?" Nancy shouted, wiping blood away from a graze on her chin.
After a moment's pause, Larry was on his feet and looking around intently. "I know another way," he announced, rushing over to the nearest statue and hitting it twice with his wand. The statue seemed to shuffle forwards slightly, revealing a gap in the stonework and a downward-leading spiral staircase.
They wasted no time in rushing into the secret staircase, treading carefully to avoid a repeat of what happened to Septima. "How in Merlin's name did you know about this?" Nancy asked in wonderment, "and where are we going to be popping out?"
"My best friends are Cleatus Weasley and Maggie Jordan, does that answer the question?" Larry grinned, and Minerva had to agree with his point. "And this only leads straight down to the ground floor, there aren't any other exits before then. We'll have to run into the Entrance Hall and use the grand staircase to get back to the seventh floor on the other side of that hole."
Minerva nearly stopped still as she remembered Professor Merrythought's instructions to Professor Aurelius. "But that means we'll be right in the middle of the fighting," she thought aloud, glancing desperately up at the doorway above them.
"Then we'll have to duel our way out," Nancy said, "better that than trying to leap a hole wider than you are tall, don't you think?"
It felt like they'd been running for an age by the time they emerged on the ground floor of the castle. As they rolled out from behind a tapestry they were greeted by Slytherin House sprinting down the corridor in the direction of the Entrance Hall, lead by a puffing Professor Slughorn and flanked with a few older Ravenclaws. The sounds of battle echoed from further down the corridor, so Minerva, Irma, Ro, Larry and Nancy didn't hang about under their tapestry before following them.
The Entrance Hall was in absolute carnage. Bits of stone and wood littered the floor, and a loud smashing sound signalled the destruction of the House Point Hourglasses which added hundreds of tiny sapphires, rubies, emeralds and topaz gems to the mess. Professor Aurelius' battle party were fighting fiercely to try and push Grindlewald's soldiers back out of the door, but as Minerva watched they were slowly being forced back towards the grand staircase. At Professor Slughorn's call, the younger Slytherins started to doge between the fighters to reach the staircase while the older students drew their wands and jumped into the fray.
"Come on!" Nancy shouted, her wand in her hand as she broke away from the wall and followed the fleeing Slytherins through the Entrance Hall.
Minerva pushed Ro ahead of her before hurtling after Nancy, ducking under the flying spells and making sure not to run headlong into anyone. A Stunner heading straight for them caught her attention, but she flicked her wand and hollered "Protego!" before it could hit anyone. The red flash dissolved into nothing, and Minerva wasted a second to realise with triumph that she'd used a defensive spell properly for the first time.
As Minerva turned to carry on towards the staircase, her heart stopped momentarily upon discovering one of Grindlewald's soldiers stood in her way. "Expelliarmus!" she shouted, but he reflected the spell back at her and she only just pulled up her Shield Charm in time. After two failed attempts at Stunning him she decided to try something more inventive, and grinned as her perfectly aimed Jelly-Legs Jinx sent him stumbling back with a look of faint surprise on his face. He slumped to the floor as Ro Stunned him from behind, and they shared a moment of elation at their victory before ducking suddenly as bright white spell flashed over their heads.
The offending soldier was quickly floored by Alastor Moody, who looked absolutely terrifying as he then started to duel two soldiers at once. The only other Hogwarts fighters who Minerva could recognise nearby were Augusta and Filius Flitwick, who were both absolutely thrashing their opponents despite Grindlewald's soldier towering over the tiny yet ferocious Filius. Minerva and Ro had lost sight of Irma, Larry and Nancy in the chaos, so with a shared glance of determination they jumped to their feet and started to take on Alastor's second opponent together. It was much easier fighting with a friend to protect your back than it had been alone, so it wasn't long before Ro managed to disarm him with a neat flick of her wand and Minerva knocked him unconscious with a Stunner seconds later.
The soldier Alastor was still fighting looked at his fallen comrade with an enraged expression, and made the mistake of turning his back on Alastor to aim his wand at Minerva and Ro. He glowed orange for a second before shrinking down and changing into a ferret before Minerva's astonished eyes. Alastor barked with laughter as the ferret looked at itself and ran away between the other duellers.
"Alastor! You've been accepted for Auror Training and the best thing you can think of is turning him into a ferret!" Augusta shrieked with exasperation without looking away from her rival.
"Thought it might lighten the situation a bit!" Alastor shouted back, smirking at the ferret's retreating form before turning around to throw a Stunner at the soldier that Minerva hadn't even noticed sneaking up behind her and Ro. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he roared as they both backed hastily away from the duel that erupted between them.
Surrounded in all directions by individual fights, Minerva looked frantically around for a gap they could squeeze through in order to escape to the stairs. She was about to make a move between two duelling pairs when she recognised one of the duellers and realised with a jolt that it was Irma. Having shared her Defence lessons with the Ravenclaws for the past three years Minerva had never seen Irma duel, so she watched with wonderment at the way Irma twisted and turned with almost a dance-like grace as she fired spells at her adversary with Godric still tucked under her left arm. Her concentration wavered as her gaze flickered to Minerva and Ro for a split second, allowing Grindlewald's soldier to shoot a jinx at her that she didn't have time to dodge. She was thrown backwards with a loud bang, though seemed only dazed rather than Stunned as she kept hold of Godric and wobbled to her feet only seconds later.
As Grindlewald's soldier aimed at Irma with a curse forming on his lips, Ro brandished her own wand and shouted an incantation that Minerva had never heard before or seen in any of their spell books. The soldier clamped his hands around his nose for a moment as his eyes bulged, then gave a panicked shout as several large black bats flew out from his nostrils. Minerva and Ro took advantage of his predicament to take hold of Irma's arms and drag her away from the thick of the fighting, crouching behind a thick stone pillar in order to get a moment to catch their breath.
"Alright Irma?" asked Ro, her chest heaving.
Irma nodded, though when she touched the back of her head there was blood on her hand from her collision with the ground. "Fine, fine. What was that last spell?"
"Bat-Bogey Hex," Ro beamed, "Invented by one of Erika's friends just after they left school. It's her favourite spell to use against Kurtis when he gets too bossy."
They all covered their heads as the pillar exploded upon impact with a Reductor Curse, waiting a moment before dodging around the heap of rubble and continuing on towards the staircase. Irma threw a couple of Knockback jinxes behind them once they'd reached the marble steps and climbed to the first floor, using the banister as a barrier they could hide behind while trying to figure out where in Merlin's name Larry and Nancy had got to.
A swish of blue fabric in the corner of Minerva's eye made her turn around to see Professor Merrythought standing behind them. Her iron grey hair flew around her shoulders and she was bleeding from a slash on her neck, but it somehow only served to make her look more intimidating. She held her want aloft and said commandingly "Piertotum Locomotor!"
The statues and suits of armour around the Entrance Hall seemed to stir, then as one they jumped down from their plinths to land with a crash. Brandishing a whole range of weapons from swords to truncheons, it looked like an army made of stone and steel had come to help Hogwarts chase out their invaders.
"Hogwarts is threatened!" Professor Merrythought shouted over the clamour of the battle, "Man the boundaries, protect us, do your duty to our school!"
As the last words left her mouth, the statues and suits of armour sprung into action. Rather than join in the battle in the Entrance Hall, which had turned in Hogwarts' favour since the arrival of the Slytherin students, they ran through the doorway into the Ground Floor corridor where Minerva had heard Professor Epsilon's battle party fighting.
"I have got to try that spell one day," Minerva whispered, causing Ro and Irma to giggle next to her.
"Minerva, what in Merlin's name are you three doing here? You were meant to be back in the Room of Requirement!" Professor Merrythought asked, crouching down beside them.
"We couldn't get back through the seventh floor corridor, there was a hole blasted in the floor." Minerva explained as quickly as she could. "We found a secret passage that led us down here, so we were going to use the grand staircase to get back up."
Professor Merrythought shook her head. "You can't, there aren't any stairs between the second and third floors anymore. That's why we're down here, we were trying to get down to the second floor when the staircase was hit so I had to bring them another way."
"Them?" asked Ro in confusion, and Professor Merrythought motioned with her handless wrist to the other side of the grand staircase. Hiding behind the banister just like they were doing was the entirety of the first year students, the fifth year prefects sat around them with their wands raised. Minerva remembered that Professor Merrythought had wanted to take the first years to safety in the Headmaster's office, which as far as she recalled was accessed via the second floor of the castle. To her surprise she recognised Larry and Nancy sitting with the fifth years; they must have reached the staircase before Minerva, Ro and Irma escaped from the thick of the battle.
"I need to get them to Professor Dippet's office," Professor Merrythought said, confirming Minerva's thoughts. "If you three join my escort, then we'll all go back to the Room of Requirement together."
Unable to think of any better ideas, Minerva nodded and stood alongside Irma and Ro. Professor Merrythought beckoned the first years towards them, and they hurriedly ran across the staircase with the fifth year escort surrounding them like a protective circle. Minerva, Ro and Irma slipped in between Nancy and Larry, before Professor Merrythought called out a command and as a single unit they ran for the stairs leading to the second floor.
There were duels already going on when they arrived in the second floor corridor, their protective formation broken up as they were forced to dodge through the fighters down the path that Professor Merrythought carved for them. The defenders consisted of Professor Bishop, Mr Spinnet and Filch who Minerva had seen on the sixth floor what felt like hours ago, and Professor Beery leading a group of Hufflepuff fighters, the numbers matching fairly evenly with those of the Grindlewald soldiers fighting them. Minerva had no time to work out which side were winning and which side weren't, too preoccupied in making sure they didn't lose any first years in the chaos that surrounded them.
"NO! GARETH!" Professor Bishop's terrible scream pierced the air, and Minerva's head whipped around to see Mr Spinnet lying motionless on the floor while glowing an eerie bright green colour. One look at Larry's stricken face told Minerva that he'd seen exactly what had happened, so Minerva gently took hold of his hand to make sure he kept moving despite his shock.
Another green spell flew high over their heads and hit a window, which it bounced off of and shot straight towards a few of the first years. Minerva forgot to breath for a moment when she realised it was Malcolm, Emery, Winston and Atticus, and without thinking she propelled herself towards them with her hands outstretched. She dimly heard Ro screaming her cousin's name and Larry's frightened shout, the noise making the four boys look up at the ominous curse heading fast in their direction. Malcolm, Emery and Atticus dove out of the way while Winston just stopped and sheltered his neck with his arms; as Minerva leaped forwards to push him out of the way she closed her eyes and prepared for the world to end.
Except for her it didn't, but a howl of grief and fear from somewhere behind her told Minerva that it had for someone else. "MARIA NO!" wailed a voice she recognised as Imogen Farley's, and hauled Winston to his feet before rushing over to see Imogen frantically shaking the unmoving form of her friend while sobbing hysterically.
"You can't save her now," said Irma in a small voice, trying to pull Imogen away from Maria.
'That curse kills?' Minerva thought with horror, ice spreading through her chest as she realized that the young girl was dead but it could have been her or Winston instead just as easily.
Larry was suddenly at her side, making sure Winston was unhurt before looking Minerva in the eye and taking her hand again. "You saved his life," he said in a deeply shaken voice, "Thank you."
Minerva was about to reply before Professor Merrythought's enraged shout startled her; shot several Stunners in quick succession out of her wand and the soldier responsible for Maria's death didn't get up again. "Keep moving!" she yelled at the first years and their escort- they'd all stopped uncertainly when Maria had fallen.
"We're not saved yet," Ro said, grabbing Minerva's shoulder and pulling her into motion.
Thankfully they left the worst of the duelling behind as they ran the rest of the way to Professor Dippet's office, though the badly damaged gargoyle guarding the door made it obvious that the fighting had been there previously. Professor Dippet was waiting outside his door, dressed in blue and white pyjamas and a nightcap that reminded Minerva of a character in her mother's Nursery Rhyme book.
"Galatea, the Ministry's under attack!" Professor Dippet cried the moment he saw Professor Merrythought. "Internally and externally, they used the Floo network get from here to the Atrium!"
Professor Merrythought groaned, wiping away the blood pooling around her collarbone with a wince as her hand brushed the long wound. "There goes that plan then," she laughed dryly, "I'll leave them with you anyway, they'll be better off somewhere quiet away from the action. When the castle's clear I'll send word that all's safe."
As Professor Dippet started shepherding the scared first years into his office, Professor Merrythought turned to the escort and said "Back to the Room of Requirement then you lot." She swept down the corridor, not back to the Grand Staircase but to what Minerva assumed was another secret passage, beckoning for them to follow her.
Still holding onto Larry's hand and gripping the handle of her wand tight in the other, Minerva ran on weary legs until they reached a painting that swung forward when Professor Merrythought spoke a password to reveal a hidden staircase. They emerged on the sixth floor not far from the hole in the ceiling that had made their lengthy detour necessary, and after only one flight of stairs they finally arrived back in the Room of Requirement.
Minerva's eyes were drawn immediately to the blond haired figure that was Poppy, who was in the centre of the Room with Madame Quinine and the rest of her medical volunteers. Professor Olwen lay unconscious on a stretcher with a second year watching over her, and Professor Callisto was sat down looking very worse for wear with blood dribbling from several deep gashes. Poppy herself was tending to a Hufflepuff student with a long wound down one arm, and Minerva felt a rush of pride when the wound closed over and the bleeding stopped.
Hearing her name called made Minerva look away to see Millicent waving at them. Larry and Nancy left them to sit with Maggie and Cleatus, while Minerva, Irma and Ro joined Millicent and Septima. Her knee had been put back into place though was still secured by a splint, and there was a bandage wrapped around the gash on her head. She was dozing on Millicent's shoulder, but looked up sleepily when they sat down.
"What happened to you three?" Millicent asked, glancing at her watch. "You were gone for over an hour!"
"A lot," Irma said with a wry smile. She nudged Ro's arm as she added "but we've got what we set out for."
Ro laughed, every trace of her earlier distance gone. She yawned widely, reminding Minerva that if she had been tired earlier she was probably absolutely exhausted by now, and lay down with her head on Minerva's knee.
"Hi," said a voice, and they all glanced up to see Poppy smiling down at them.
Minerva went to say a hello in return, but then caught sight of the deep crimson stains all over her hands and the apron she was wearing. "Poppy, your hands." Irma said faintly, clearly sharing in Minerva's concerns.
Poppy glanced down with her hands with a look of surprise as if she hadn't noticed how bloodied they were before. "It's not my blood," she said dismissively, wiping them on her apron. She sat down beside Minerva and motioned to the now sleeping Ro, asking "Is she alright?"
"Actually, yes." Minerva nodded. "She was upset while we were in the Tower, but joined in with the duelling very eagerly. Could you take a look at Irma's head though?"
Poppy nodded tiredly, shuffling over to Irma and peering through her blood-slicked hair at the wound on her scalp that was still slowly oozing with blood. She drew a bottle labelled 'Dittany' from her apron pocked and dribbled on a few drops of the potion, nodding satisfactorily as gradually stopped bleeding.
"Hey Poppy, does this remind you of sheltering from the Blitz in those Anderson shelters?" Millicent asked.
Poppy laughed, stoppering her bottle and placing it down beside her. Godric started humming excitedly upon seeing Poppy, who was still his favourite human, and bounced onto her lap to settle down quite contently in her bloodied apron. "Yes I suppose it is. But living in London we sheltered in the Underground Stations, and people were always singing those wartime songs. I loved those old songs, they seemed to make people feel more hopeful."
Millicent sat up a little straighter, taking care not to knock Septima's head off her shoulder. "Then let's give it a go," she suggested before starting to quietly sing "There'll be bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover, tomorrow, just you wait and see."
"There'll be love and laughter, and peace ever after." Poppy joined in, a childlike grin on her face. There were people all over the Room lifting their leads and looking over in their direction, most with expressions of surprise and nostalgic smiles. "Tomorrow, when the world is free."
"The shepherds will tend their sheep, the valley will bloom again," Minerva didn't know the words well enough to join in, though remembered the tune and hummed along as Poppy and Millicent sang. "And Jimmy will go to sleep in his own little room again." More voices joined theirs, Muggleborns who recognised the songs of peace that they'd sung before coming to Hogwarts.
"There'll be bluebirds over the White Cliffs of Dover, tomorrow, just you wait and see."
Author's Note:
If anyone else is wondering what on earth happened to my usual 3000 word chapter limit, I have no idea either. 4800 words exactly this one is, I can't quite believe it.
But I didn't want to split the chapter in two, as it does flow very nicely and I wanted to get most of the battle in. I had a lot of fun writing this as you can probably tell. It would take an age to write down all the little things I most like about it so I'll just list two: Minerva loving the Piertotum Locomotor spell (that we all know she will use one day) and Alastor turning one of the soldiers into a ferret (I'm guessing he quite liked that spell). Writing Irma, Ro and Minerva duelling and Poppy using her healing skills warmed my heart. They've grown as characters and in ability so much since the start of their first year. The end passage while Millicent and Poppy are singing is one of my absolute favourite scenes in the story so far and also one of the first I planned when writing my story notes. It's nice to write the six of them together again, it hasn't been quite the same without Ro there for the last couple of chapters.
Erika's friend is Miranda Goshawk, canonical author of the Standard Book of Spells series and inventor of the Bat-Bogey Hex. She was born in 1921 and I've got Erika's birth year as 1922 (8 years before Ro) so it seemed realistic that they'd be in the same school year.
The nursery rhyme character Minerva thought of when she saw Professor Dippet is Wee Willie Winkie. Look him up and you'll see what I mean!
The next chapter should tide us over until the start of fourth year unless I go massively over my word limit again xD I've tried to stick to an average of 10 chapters per school year, so fourth year will definitely get started within the next couple of chapters.
Unfortunately this marks the end of the more regular chapter updates; for the next two months until my A-Level exams are over, they won't be quite so frequent. It'll probably be between a week and two weeks between each chapter, as I just won't have so much writing time. But I just want to say since I've reached chapter 30 which seems fairly milestone-ey to me a very big thank you to every single one of you. I never imagined that this story would reach the popularity that it has, and it's probably thanks to that that I'm still going after nearly 100,000 words. Your reviews never fail to bring a smile to my face :3