Yo! I'm sorry about the long wait. It's been a rough year, lol. 2021 just kind of ended super fast (we're already more than halfway through 2022, can you believe it?) and I ended the year with what was probably covid and started the year off with what was probably long covid (which I'm still dealing with). Then my mum got covid and long covid, and then my eyes started acting up. And then in March, my older brother passed away extremely suddenly and, well, yeah, I haven't been in much of a mood for updating things since. After that, I got sick again with what might have been covid and my eyes acted up again, and thanks to what happened to my brother, my mental health's an even bigger disaster than it already was, lol. But I finally finished this last night and here we are. Thank you to all readers so far!

They were fools. All of them. Damned, pathetic, ignorant fools who had only made it all the more obvious that they failed to understand the meaning of the word discrete.

It was true that he wanted the public to know he was returning. It was true he wanted them alert and afraid. But doing something so disgustingly blatant wasn't going to help him. If anything, they were going to ruin his plans with this sort of behaviour. Why did they never think before they did anything!?

It was partially his own fault, he knew. He should have trained them better and it was unfortunate he was in no position to discipline or punish them right now. He expected they were very pleased with themselves at the moment, thinking he would appreciate their actions.

But why would he appreciate something so foolish and reckless? Why couldn't they understand doing something like this was only going to set him back? And then another thought came to him. The girl. Violet.

He'd been told the Potter twins had both been in attendance at the location of the raid. He cared little for Rose Potter but Violet... Had she been harmed? She was not dead, he'd been told that much, but though he didn't understand, he found himself thinking about her. What did she think of the raid? Did she know why it had been conducted? Did she approve of it?

He found himself laughing quietly in the darkness. He doubted very much that Violet Potter approved of the raid any more than he did. She was certainly a Slytherin and did indeed have some Gryffindorish tendencies, but despite her young age, she already had a better head on her shoulders than the vast majority of his followers.

His smile faded and his anger began to grow again as he recalled what his most loyal had told him about the raid. Well, at least he knew he had one sensible follower who understood and respected what his plans were.

...Useless imbeciles.

The night passed shockingly slowly for Violet. Mr Weasley told them all to get some sleep, but she knew she wasn't the only one struggling to relax. After the chaos from earlier, the current silence felt unnerving more than anything. She had so much on her mind as well, and she figured the same could be said about Rose and Ginny, although she couldn't tell for sure since neither of them said anything. Well, it wasn't like she was talking either...

They left the campgrounds just a few short hours later, Violet trying not to look too hard at the destruction around her. How many people had been injured? How many had been killed? She couldn't stop the questions from springing up in her mind, and nor could she force away the nausea she felt when she thought them. The portkey they had to take to get back didn't help her queasy stomach either.

When they finally made it back to the Burrow, Violet wasn't surprised to see Mrs Weasley standing in front of the door. She looked very pale and was clutching what looked like the newspaper in her hand. Violet wasn't surprised by that either. She didn't know how many of these magical newspapers existed in their part of the world, but she was sure all of them were featuring the raid on their front pages this morning. They had to be.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed when she saw them approaching. She pulled Mr Weasley into an embrace the instant he was close enough. "I was so worried when I saw what happened in the paper!" she half-sobbed. Releasing her husband, she began to pull her children into a hug one at a time, hugging them hard and fusing over what minor injuries she could see. She hugged Rose too, checking her over the same way she did the others, worry still visible on her face.

Violet stood aside as this happened, watching the whole thing in a mixture of awkwardness, relief, and vague jealousy. If the Matron had found out she'd ended up in some sort of deadly situation, she would only be irritated that she'd managed to survive it. Violet had to admit, even if it was a little reluctantly, that it was kind of interesting to see what a normal reaction Mrs Weasley was having. Panic and concern were normal, she was sure. Not irritation and disdain.

And then all of Violet's thoughts went flying out of the window when, after letting Rose go, Mrs Weasley turned to her and pulled her into a shockingly tight hug too.

"Are you alright, Violet dear? Are you hurt?" asked Mrs Weasley, worry audible in her voice.

Standing stiffly in the embrace, Violet only blinked rapidly, unsure of what to do or what to say. This was new to her. very new and she had absolutely no idea how to react. "No, er, yes, I mean, I-I'm fine," she eventually managed to stutter out.

"Good. That's good," said Mrs Weasley. She released Violet and quickly wiped her eyes, sniffing once or twice, though it looked like she was finally beginning to calm down, no doubt relieved they were all safe and mostly unharmed. "Well, come in inside then, you lot," she said after taking a deep breath. "Let's get some breakfast in you all."

Whether she thought they really were hungry, or whether she just needed something to do with herself, none of them were sure, but they followed her inside anyway, piling into the kitchen and gathering together at the table as Mrs Weasley started bustling away, wand in hand as she summoned various pots and pans to her. The others started talking quietly, but Violet didn't pay much attention to the conversations that had started up all around her. Her mind was on something less pressing but still confusing.

The hug.

Mrs Weasley didn't like her and she'd certainly never pretended to, even with Violet staying over at the Burrow. She'd never said anything outright, but she'd been pretty curt with her the entire time. So why the sudden hug? It couldn't be that she'd been mistaken for Rose. No, she thought. Maybe Mrs Weasley had just been caught up in her relief of seeing everyone safe and alive and had grabbed her without thinking. Yes, that was probably it.

...Right?

The rest of the break passed a little strangely for Violet.

Mr Weasley was barely at home anymore, having to rush off to the Ministry early every morning to deal with whatever happened as a result of that riot from the World Cup. He didn't talk about it too much when he was around, so Violet wasn't sure what exactly was going on other than that it sounded like a lot of work for him. She felt kind of bad about that. It didn't help that she could see the rest of the Weasleys quickly growing frustrated as well.

But at the same time, she wondered why Mr Weasley of all people was the one having to do all of this work, to begin with. His job involved dealing with Muggles, so of course, he had to be involved to a certain extent considering the owners of the campgrounds they'd all been on were Muggles, and those Muggles had also been attacked during the riot.

Yet, according to what little they'd been told, he'd finished with that stuff within a couple of days. So why did the Ministry keep calling him in? What else were they making him do? And why couldn't they get someone who actually worked in the relevant departments to do these tiresome jobs?

Percy, meanwhile, seemed to think his presence at the Ministry was incredibly important too, so he always left and returned with his father. It seemed pretty obvious to the rest of them that he was just trying to make himself feel important, because he really wasn't doing anything related to the riot like his father was, even though he was Crouch's assistant.

Mrs Weasley was too busy worrying about her husband to pay much attention to anything else, the twins were plotting something they weren't telling anyone else about, and Ron and Rose kept sneaking off to whisper about something or another. Ginny tried her best to keep Violet company, while Bill and Charlie were stuck trying to keep up with and placate everyone else.

When Violet wasn't with one of the Weasleys, she generally found herself talking to Sauron. This usually happened in Charlie's room when he wasn't around though. She was staying in Ginny's room herself, but Ginny was still struggling to be around snakes thanks to the whole Chamber of Secrets thing. Violet couldn't really blame her, so she had no problem hanging around Charlie's room when she could. Working with literal dragons for a living meant Charlie wasn't particularly intimidated by snakes, and since Sauron didn't seem to mind his presence, Violet took it as a win.

She told Sauron all about everything that had happened at the World Cup, of course, and while he didn't understand everything, he listened to her curiously as she spoke, asking occasional questions. It was hard to say how much he really cared-he was a snake, after all, and it wasn't like this had any real impact on him, but Violet was just glad to be able to talk about it with someone she knew wouldn't judge her for saying the wrong thing in regards to the Dark Lord.

"What do you think their plan was?" asked Sauron. "Why did they bother doing something like this?"

"I really have no idea," said Violet with a sigh. "I kind of doubt they were told to do it though."

"From what you have told me, this does seem, sss...unlike him."

"I thought so too." Stroking Sauron's smooth scales, she sighed again. "I wonder if he even knows it happened?"

"I expect at least one of those followers has told him," said Sauron, starting to sound a little bored.

"...Maybe," said Violet after a pause. "I don't even know if any of them know he's still alive."

"That is true." Sauron coiled up close to her so she could pet him more. "They sound like fools, those supposed followers."

"...Pfft." Violet really could only agree.

The booklists arrived a few days later and they were promptly dragged off to Diagon Alley so they could do their back-to-school shopping. Mrs Weasley was the one who took them all, but she decided to drag Bill along with them to help her keep an eye on them. Charlie had to take a floo call about something work-related, so he got to stay behind with Sauron.

Violet didn't see any of her friends, but she did see some familiar faces and got a few odd looks from some of the older Slytherins when they saw her with the Weasleys. She only shrugged when she noticed the looks and when she ran into Marcus Flint coming out of Gringotts, she nodded reassuringly when he paused and eyed the Weasleys and Rose suspiciously.

They all knew she was pretty friendly with Fred, George, and Ginny, but she'd never cared much for Mrs Weasley and Ron, and while they didn't know how she felt about Bill, they knew for sure that she and Rose didn't get along at all. It only made sense they were confused and suspicious seeing them all together. Violet appreciated that concern but also wondered whether her spending a couple of weeks with the Weasleys was going to have any impact on the Slytherins when they returned to Hogwarts. Flint had always been the leader in keeping an eye on her and unless he'd somehow failed again, he wasn't going to be around this year.

The rest of the shopping trip ended up being pretty awkward too, now that the passing Slytherins had set the mood. Luckily, not all of them had been affected by it. Bill didn't really seem bothered and neither did Fred and George. Violet really appreciated that and stuck closer to them, because the glares Rose and Ron were shooting her were very annoying. Ginny just seemed hesitant about the entire thing and Violet couldn't blame her for it, knowing she wouldn't hold it against her if she tried to hang around with both her and Rose.

And then the awkwardness turned into confusion when they found out the boys had to buy dress robes and the girls had to buy dresses. That was weird. Neither Mrs Weasley nor Bill would tell them WHY they needed these clothes either. That was even weirder. They split up there, the Weasley twins and Ron going with Bill, while the Potter twins and Ginny went with Mrs Weasley.

While Mrs Weasley seemed excited about looking at the dresses, Violet couldn't help but feel rather uncomfortable. The price difference between the dresses she and Rose were looking at compared to the ones Ginny was looking at was noticeable, to say the least. A lot of the cheaper dresses were actually very pretty, but it still made Violet uncomfortable. She could choose a cheaper dress too, but then she'd worry about Ginny thinking she was patronizing her, and she really didn't want that.

"Have you seen anything you like yet, dear?"

Violet blinked, surprised, and turned to find Mrs Weasley standing behind her. "Oh, er, no, not yet," she replied.

"You could choose a nice purple one," said Mrs Weasley, "to go with your name. I think Rose is looking at some red ones herself, so perhaps not red for you. I think..." she hesitated slightly, and then gave Violet a smile that looked only a little forced. "I think green would suit you very well. Your eyes are a little more vivid than Rose's and I think green would compliment them nicely."

She was trying, Violet realized suddenly. Whatever prejudice Mrs Weasley held against her, it seemed like she was genuinely trying to get past it. "I'll-I'll look for something green, then. ...Thank you."

"O-of course. I'm sure you'll look beautiful no matter what you choose," said Mrs Weasley with another smile. And then she spotted Ginny, who'd emerged from the changing room, and her smile widened. "Well, look at you!" She hurried over to her daughter to look her over properly.

Violet watched them for a moment and then turned back to the dresses. She saw Rose examining two dresses, one in red and one in pink, and sighed softly. Something green, huh...?

The last few days of the break passed relatively peacefully and soon enough it was the first of September. While Violet was glad she was finally able to return home, she had to admit she hadn't hated her summer break this year. Things at Starlight hadn't been that bad compared to previous years, and frankly, staying with the Weasleys, while a little awkward, hadn't been all that bad either. She wasn't sure if she would be willing to do it again or anything, but she was also kind of glad she'd had the chance to at least once.

It was a quiet and cloudy morning. Mrs Weasley had made sure everyone finished packing the night before so there was a pleasant lack of chaos that Violet was grateful for.

They gathered together at the table for a surprisingly (or not so surprisingly) hearty breakfast that everyone ate in a rather subdued fashion. It seemed like she was the only one who'd really been waiting for the break to end. She was sure she would be feeling the same way if she wasn't, well, her.

And then the floo went off, catching everyone's attention.

Violet was only a little startled when she saw Mr Diggory's head sticking out of the green flames. She'd heard plenty about floo communication before, but this was her first time seeing it in person and it was definitely an interesting sight. People living in flats wouldn't be able to do something like this though, would they? Flats didn't have fireplaces. More interesting, however, was what Mr Diggory had to say.

He was rather rushed with the details, but apparently, there'd been some kind of attack or something like that at Mad-Eye Moody's house earlier that morning that had resulted in Muggles witnessing magic. Mr Weasley had to go right away to take care of some enchanted dustbins or something, but Violet was more focused on some other bits.

She'd heard of Moody before, which wasn't unexpected. A fair few of the Slytherins had mentioned his name before and none of them seemed to like him very much, citing him as the reason their relatives were locked away in Azkaban. She'd never bothered telling them she didn't particularly share in their disdain, but she figured they already knew that. Theodore had told her Moody had tried to arrest his father more than once but never had enough evidence to make anything stick and Draco had once said something similar.

Wasn't this situation a little strange though? She'd heard Moody was incredibly paranoid, and Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George were all basically confirming that as they chatted about what they'd just heard. Moody, it seemed, was convinced there'd been an intruder, but according to Mr Diggory, there was no actual proof for it. So, had he imagined it because he was too paranoid? Or was he right and had only noticed it because of that paranoia?

Violet didn't know enough about him to say anything for sure, but she did find the timing of this supposed intruder and attack to be more than a little interesting, if not rather suspicious. First the raid at the World Cup and now a possible attack on a very well-known Auror with an extreme distaste for Dark wizards? An Auror who, by the sounds of it, had captured numerous Death Eaters in the past? Death Eaters connected, in some way or another, to the ones who'd probably taken part in the raid?

It definitely felt suspicious but maybe she was just thinking too much.

The group left the Burrow an hour later and it wasn't long before they were all gathered on Platform Nine and Three Quarters. Ignoring Rose, who stood by impatiently, Violet looked at Mrs Weasley.

"Thank you for inviting me and letting me stay with you these last two weeks."

Mrs Weasley almost looked a little surprised at first, but then she smiled. "It was no trouble at all, I-we enjoyed having you with us."

And while Violet said her thank-yous and goodbyes to Mrs Weasley, she heard Bill and Charlie talking to the others, insinuating in very non-subtle ways that they'd be seeing them all again pretty soon. Violet had no idea what they meant by that, and they only laughed when their younger siblings questioned them about it, telling them they'd understand soon enough.

Spotting Theodore getting on the train a few cars down, Violet said her goodbyes to Bill and Charlie and then excused herself so she could catch up with him before he ended up getting compartment with Draco or something, though she doubted he would. Theodore liked the beginning of term just as much as she did and after dealing with his father for two whole months, he generally preferred sitting quietly during the train ride rather than listening to Draco prattle on about whatever he generally bragged about.

Sure enough, Violet found Theodore alone in one of the compartments and they traded hellos when she entered. They talked quietly for a few minutes and were soon joined by both Hermione and Neville, the train setting off just seconds after they'd taken their seats.

The train travelled through the city for a while, the grey clouds spitting out some occasional, mostly unsteady rainfall.

"Did you guys hear about what happened at the Quidditch World Cup?" asked Neville suddenly.

"The riot? It was in every paper," said Hermione with a frown. "I'm glad I wasn't there."

"Wish I could say the same," said Violet with a humourless laugh.

"You were there!?"

"Yeah, the Weasley twins and Ginny invited me to the World Cup since their dad had some extra tickets from work. Rose was there too, of course, so it was pretty awkward." She started telling them about what happened, starting with the more pleasant things, including the match itself, before moving on to the sudden riot that had taken place that night. And while Hermione and Neville seemed shocked, the same couldn't be said about Theodore and Violet already knew why. His father must have been one of the Death Eaters taking part in the riot.

"The Dark Mark, huh...?" said Neville slowly once Violet had finished speaking. "According to Gran, it's been a long time since anyone's seen it."

"What do you think it means?" asked Hermione hesitantly. "Do-do you think he..." she trailed off, unsure.

"...Father said the Dark Lord had no hand in the raid," said Theodore, speaking for the first time since Violet had started recounting what had happened. "Hell, half of the Death Eaters don't even think he's still alive."

When Violet didn't so much as blink at the words, Hermione and Neville traded a hesitant glance. While they were all Violet's friends, sometimes the two of them forgot that Violet was in Slytherin and had likely gotten used to hearing about these kinds of things ages ago. They trusted her, of course, and so they trusted Theodore, but they had to admit it still made them somewhat nervous.

"Sauron and I were talking about that too, actually," said Violet, stroking the snake that lay curled up in the seat next to her. "We figured Voldemort had no clue about the raid because it just doesn't seem like his style."

"I don't think you're wrong," said Theodore, frowning. "Actually, there's something father said that's been confusing me." He leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. "He made it sound like they weren't expecting to see the Dark Mark. He was really shaken up when he came home after the raid and it took him a while to say anything other than, 'The Dark Lord' and 'The Dark Mark' and 'The sky'."

Deciding not to comment on what Theodore had just said (and frighteningly casually as well) about his father, Neville said, "Do you think maybe someone else conjured the Dark Mark? Someone who isn't a Death Eater?"

But Theodore shook his head. "I don't think that's possible. From what I've been told, only the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters know the spell used to conjure the Dark Mark. The Dark Lord is the one who teaches it, and it's only ever to people he's marked."

"Actually, I think Neville might be on to something," said Hermione hesitantly. She opened her pet carrier to let Crookshanks out, where he stretched languidly before flopping down near Sauron. "What if it was a Death Eater who conjured it, but one who wasn't part of the riot? What if it was a Death Eater who didn't agree with what the others were doing and conjured it to, well, I don't know..."

"That makes sense to me," said Violet slowly. "I really don't think Voldemort would've been okay with that raid. I wonder if maybe he sent someone he trusts more to conjure the Dark Mark to remind the other Death Eaters of their position or something like that. Or maybe this other Death Eater wasn't invited to be part of the raid for whatever reason and decided to conjure the Dark Mark on his own. If Theo's father didn't know about the Dark Mark, then I doubt any of the others did either."

Frankly, they could speculate about it all day, but they all knew it wasn't going to give them any real answers...

It started raining harder once the train made it to the countryside and in their compartment, the group had decided to move on to a less stressful topic to discuss.

"Anyone know who the new Defence professor will be?" asked Violet as she opened up a chocolate frog and glanced at the card. Merlin again. Meh.

"No clue," said Theodore. "Draco doesn't know either, and his father's generally in the know about these sorts of things. Whoever it is must've been decided on very last minute if Mr Malfoy never found out about it."

"Speaking of Defence professor, have-have you heard from Professor Lupin yet?" Hermione asked a little hesitantly. They all knew about the relationship between them, and they knew she'd been pretty upset when he'd resigned the other month.

"No," said Violet, feeling her stomach sinking at the thought. "I haven't heard anything at all. He hasn't sent me anything yet."

"You were at the orphanage for most of the summer though," Theodore pointed out. "Maybe he didn't want to risk sending you an owl while you were there."

"...Maybe." The real test, she supposed, would be to see if he sent her anything once she was back at Hogwarts. He wouldn't have any excuses then. She knew she could always borrow Theodore's owl and mail him herself, but she was far too nervous to do it. What if he didn't actually want to have anything to do with her? She couldn't risk that rejection. No, it was safer to wait for him to make the first move.

It was pouring like crazy when the train finally stopped at Hogsmeade's station and the students all hurried to get into the closest carriage they could find, Violet, Theodore, and Neville all eyeing the thestral pulling it warily even as Hermione walked right past it without even noticing it.

It was pitch black out and the dirt path had turned into an incredibly muddy path instead, so even the thestrals were going along it slower than normal. But eventually, Violet started seeing the torch-lit windows in the distance, the only pinpricks of light in the darkness, and she watched as they grew closer and closer. And soon enough they were walking through the massive front doors, entering the Entrance Hall which was already filled with other students.

Violet looked around, noticing that both McGonagall and Flitwick were waiting nearby, tossing drying and warming charms on the students as they headed into the Great Hall. Violet was grateful for it because despite only being out in the rain for a few seconds, they were all absolutely drenched and she was already starting to shiver.

The Great Hall was filled with students and chatter, and Violet's group said their goodnights and split up, Neville and Hermione heading to the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables while Violet and Theodore made their way over to the Slytherin table. And the first thing Violet noticed when she sat down was that there were no new faces up at the Head table. Who was the new Defence professor, then?

The hall filled up, the first years entered, and then the Sorting Hat sang its new song. Violet watched in vague curiosity as the Sorting happened and noted that the empty seat at the Head table remained that way throughout the entire event and during the feast that swiftly followed as well.

Violet listened to her housemates as she ate but none of them said anything particularly interesting so she gave up and focused on her meal. After the feast ended and all of the dishes cleared away on their own, Dumbledore moved over to the podium so he could begin his welcoming speech and he was just telling them that Quidditch was cancelled that year when it happened.

It started with the ceiling above them. It had started storming outside during the feast and the ceiling, magically enchanted to show the sky, reflected the current weather. No one had paid the occasional flashes of lightning much attention, but it seemed the storm had worsened considerably and the enchanted clouds above them looked rather menacing. And then there was an extremely loud clash of thunder and almost as if it had been timed, the doors to the Great Hall slammed open at the exact same moment.

Every head in the hall snapped over to the door, and what they saw there didn't help with the sudden ominous air that had taken over the room. It was a man.

He wore a dark cloak, his hair wild and still dripping from the torrent outside. He was leaning on a wooden staff and a single glance down showed that one of his legs wasn't exactly real. But the same could be said about one of his eyes. His face was badly scarred and while one eye looked normal, the other was definitely fake. It was big, round, and coloured an electric blue that weirdly matched the way it whizzed around as if trying to look at everything at once. It even went all the way around to the back of the man's head until they couldn't see anything except whiteness.

Creepy.

The man started limping his way through the Great Hall and the clunk of his staff echoed loudly in the deafening silence. Everyone watched him, wide-eyed, no one saying a single word. Violet was no different, but she wondered what the chances of him being the new Defence professor were. She didn't think there were any other reasons for him to be here. At least not right now.

The man greeted Dumbledore quietly once he'd approached him, and then walked past him to the empty seat at the Head Table where a plate of food appeared in front of him. Ignoring the eyes on him, he started to eat, and Dumbledore cleared his throat, bringing everyone's attention back to him. Violet wasn't sure if she was surprised or not when he informed them the man was Alastor Moody, their new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. That was when the whispers broke out.

Violet looked at the man again. So this was Mad-Eye Moody. A Death Eater raid at the World Cup, an intruder at Moody's house, and now Moody himself was a new staff member? She'd already been suspicious that morning but that suspicion was only growing. The timing for all of this was just too coincidental. She didn't have time to think about it for too long though because Dumbledore continued with his speech, explaining just why Quidditch was cancelled that year.

The Triwizard Tournament.

Shocked and excited voices rang out through the hall, so many students talking at the same time that Violet couldn't make out a single word anyone was saying. She didn't know much about what this tournament was and fortunately, Dumbledore explained, everyone listening to him eagerly, all concern about Moody having vanished almost as quickly as it'd appeared.

But most of the excitement about the tournament turned into anger when Dumbledore announced that only students who were of age were going to be able to try to enter. Violet wasn't surprised. It sounded pretty dangerous.

They were dismissed soon after that and Violet and Theodore followed their housemates down to their dungeon common room. Everyone was talking about the tournament, she realized, most of them sounding gleeful. How many of the of age Slytherins would try to enter, she wondered?

She didn't actually know any of the seventh years in her house, though she recognized some of them-the ones who'd taken it upon themselves to start watching over her in her second year. Would any of them try to enter? Did they care about a thousand galleons and 'eternal fame'? The money was unlikely to be much incentive for them-they were rich Purebloods anyway, and a thousand galleons probably meant nothing.

"Eternal fame, huh?" Theodore muttered. "Wonder if that's even legit? I haven't heard of a single winner of the tournament. How's that eternal fame?"

That was a good question, but Violet had no answer for it. And there was something else she was wondering that she had no answer for.

When Dumbledore had been telling them about the tournament, she'd kept glancing at Moody, who'd been sitting at the Head table. His magical eye had been whizzing around like crazy, passing over the faces of most of the students but she couldn't help but wonder if she'd imagined that fake eye landing on her more than once.

But maybe she was the one being paranoid now.

That's it for now. I didn't realize how little dialogue there was in this chapter until I was editing it. Whoops? Oh well. Again, I really am sorry about the long wait. Despite my casual tone, I'm still trying to cope with my brother's death and I couldn't read or write anything even remotely negative for a while because I'd just end up getting triggered. Not squicked out, but legit triggered. I'd just break down crying. It's a lot better now, but it's still an issue. I don't think I've gone a single day without thinking about him at least once, so once again, you'll have to forgive my lack of updates on everything. Anyway, looking forward to reviews! Laterz!