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Chapter 10

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It was the morning after his discussion with Ron that he was sitting in the Great Hall and couldn't help himself from giving a good look at every other student there. What Ron had said about Luna getting rescued from Malfoy Manor shocked him.

He and Sirius had rescued her, and it hadn't even registered with him. He remembered Ollivander being there but had barely looked at anyone else holding onto that rope they'd conjured.

There had been plenty of people that the two of them had freed or prevented from being harmed and he hadn't even thought about them, only of the Death Eaters or Snatchers they had captured or killed. Those were the only names that he remembered.

The Muggle family in Norfolk they'd rescued? He had no idea their surname. The girl that he'd rescued from Corban Yaxley? He could barely remember what she looked like. The only faces he could recall from when they'd come to take Dumbledore away had been his previous Professors and Ron and Hermione. He didn't even remember Neville or Seamus being there, and they must have been.

Now he was looking at every student that he could see in his line of sight and trying to figure out if they were at all familiar.

"You look like you're having an intense morning," Ginny said as she sat beside him.

"Hey," he greeted her in surprise, he hadn't heard her walking up to him. "Yeah, just… thinking."

"And does it hurt?" she asked teasingly. "I might have a headache potion if it's too much for you."

"Ha ha," he deadpanned.

She had been another person he hadn't paid any attention to before or during the war. He observed her now as she assembled a plate of breakfast for herself and took a sip of coffee. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail and there was a hint of make-up around her eyes that looked really good on her. She looked lovely, and he couldn't help wishing they were at a place in their relationship where he'd be allowed to lean over and give her a kiss good morning.

Those lips of hers looked inviting and just from the sight of them he could recall the faint fruity taste those lips held from the last time they'd snogged.

She turned to look at him with her first bite of toast in her mouth and raised her eyebrows in question.

That was what it took to remember himself and turn back to his own breakfast. He then looked over to the Head Table and saw Headmaster Flitwick chatting with Professor Sinstra.

"Why do you think it was Flitwick and not McGonagall that was made the Head of Hogwarts?" he wondered aloud.

"McGonagall didn't want it," Ginny told him, sounding like she knew this to be fact. "She said she didn't have the patience left in her to deal with the Ministry, particularly when they were going to be wanting to impose new rules and such after everything that happened. I'm just glad she didn't retire before I was done here. I couldn't imagine having to break in a new Head of Gryffindor right now."

Harry looked back at her at that comment. He knew she was referring to the wall of shame in the Gryffindor common room and how she and the other students from last year had their own special rules imposed. McGonagall must have known about it and still let them handle things how they did. Even he had noticed how some of the new students seemed grateful to have that 'watch' there blocking the stairs at night; they must have heard some stories from their dorm mates and other students.

Thus far it had just been he, Ron and Hermione that had been posted on the wall and given the punishment and hazing.

"Were you there when Dumbledore was taken away?" he asked her quietly.

She stopped eating her breakfast then and finished what was in her mouth, swallowing it down while her eyes were locked on his. Her beautiful, brown, calculating eyes.

"Were you?" she asked in return.

He felt a chill of regret over asking the question now. Merlin, he wanted to tell her. Things between them might not be so strange if he told her. He wondered if she would turn back into the shy girl he had known her to be or if she would open up to him more if she knew.

"You know I didn't go here then," he relented after a moment.

"I didn't ask if you were a student here when he was taken away. I just asked if you were here," she countered. "Because I know he didn't make it to St. Mungos or where ever the Death Eaters were going to take him, so I know that at least one person in the group that carted him out of here wasn't actually a Death Eater." Her eyes were piercing into his soul now.

He remained as calm and collected as he could manage. "You don't think I'd be a bit young to have been infiltrating and impersonating Death Eaters two years ago?" he tried to ask lightly.

"You would have been the same age I was last year. So, no," she told him straight. "And this isn't really breakfast conversation. Next time you've got a question like that for me, can you wait until I've finished my first cup of coffee?" Her raised eyebrow and frown told him that wasn't a request, it was an order.

He relented and focused on his own breakfast. They finished up at the same time and started heading out of the Great Hall.

"You've a spare block of time right now, don't you?" Harry asked her.

"Yeah."

"Then, I think it's my turn to ask you to study in the library or somewhere, isn't it?" She had cooled off now that she'd finished her breakfast, and he hadn't asked her any more leading questions.

"That it is. I don't really feel like studying right now though. Care to do something else?" she asked.

"Like what?"

He'd thought she might want to go for a walk or down to the pitch. Instead, she'd brought him to an alcove behind a tapestry on the third floor and made it plainly obvious how she was interested in passing the time.

He had no objections.

She was wearing the lip gloss or whatever it was today as well.

It was bloody awesome how she was so direct. She'd yanked him behind the tapestry and a moment later her hands were in his hair and their lips were pressed together. He'd managed to pull out his wand to silently silence and freeze the tapestry before his mind completely went to mush.

He really hadn't known how good snogging would be. He'd pictured it, wished he could experience it and fantasized about it and yet until she'd drunkenly snogged him that first time he just hadn't realized. It wasn't just about their lips touching; it was feeling her breath on his cheek, her hands in his hair setting all his nerves on end. It was about these little sounds she made and the way her body pressed up against his own.

He might not know exactly what they were to each other, but this part they were getting down pretty damned well.

As they grew more wrapped up in each other his hands found their way down to her thighs and hoisted her up so she could wrap her legs around him. She let out a little giggle when he did and that too sounded so good coming from her lips. She was at a good height now and he found himself affixing his lips to her neck. Her skin tasted good. She let out this loud moan when he reached the dip at her collar so he stayed there for quite a while as she made the noise again and again, tugging a bit harder on his hair each time.

The last time she tugged more insistently, and he tilted his head back so their lips could meet again.

He really wished they were somewhere that they could do this laying down though. It was nice to have the wall for support, but his arms were growing tired. "Gin," he muttered in fair warning that he'd be having to set her down soon.

She got the message and their kisses cooled off, then he lowered her back down so her feet were planted on the ground. He moved slightly away from her, their lips still touching though. He was incredibly aroused and if their bodies were still touching there he didn't know where it would lead, and he didn't have the brain power to know whether it was a good idea.

"You're getting much better at that," she told him, her arms now wrapped around his neck.

"Oh yeah?" he grinned and leaned down to kiss her some more. "Not so bad yourself."

"Hmm, bet we can work our way up to it being exceptional."

"Sounds like a worthy goal." He was growing dizzy again. Maybe doing this in an uncomfortable location such as this was a good idea, and vertically. If they were laying down right now, or say, in the Prefects bath, then who knew how carried away they'd get.

"I need to get my books and things from the tower," she said after a few more minutes.

"Okay." He managed to pull back from her completely and rest back against the stone wall on the other side of the alcove, willing his body to calm down from how worked up he was. Even in the darkness he knew she had a self-satisfied look on her face of how she'd been responsible for putting him in this state. It made him grin and want to chuckle.

It wasn't fair how it was so obvious when men were worked up and there wasn't a way to tell for women. He'd love to be able to see if she was as aroused.

"All good?" she asked in a slow and low voice after giving him a minute.

The tease.

He cleared his throat and collected himself. "Yeah. All good." He removed the spells on the tapestry and could see the smirk on Ginny's face when she pulled it back and the light hit her. Internally he rolled his eyes, externally he too was smirking because of how messy her hair was now and how his hands had caused that.

Snogging in darkened corners of the castle was definitely going on the list of reasons why coming back had been a good idea.

Walking back along the third-floor corridor to get to Gryffindor Tower beside each other, again he wondered if it might be okay if he took her hand. They had just reached the intersection that led off to the Headmasters Office when the Gargoyle moved aside and out walked Draco Malfoy, someone who had not returned to school this year, nor had he completed his NEWTS at the Ministry so far as Harry knew.

Harry stopped in his tracks seeing Malfoy there, Ginny stopped right beside him.

He hadn't seen Malfoy since the Battle, and even then it had only been for a moment in passing. Malfoy had always been a little spoiled brat and Harry had no regrets about burning his manor home to the ground. No doubt he had some other property somewhere that he could live in, though from the war reparations the Ministry demanded there was gossip spread around that the Malfoys had little left to their name besides material goods.

"Weaslette," Malfoy sneered as he drew closer.

"Malfoy," Ginny replied. She didn't sound angry about seeing him there, she sounded smug. "What brings you here this lovely day?"

Malfoy's jaw clenched and there was a slight twitch at his left eye he gave when Ginny drew out her wand, casually twirling it between her fingers. "None of your business." He gave Harry a once over. "Found someone willing to shag you finally?" This sounded like it was meant to be a taunt, but the Malfoy's had fallen so far so fast that the usual venom behind his voice wasn't there. It sounded sad. His lack of conviction for war crimes didn't stop him from going back to his old reliable Weasley baiting. "Must have had to dig pretty low if he's willing to get blood traitor all over him."

Ron or the twins might have gotten physical or yelled at him for that, Ginny though continued to twirl her wand between her fingers. "How's your daddy enjoying Azkaban? Mummy dearest making do without her husbands or Voldemort's cock to suck? Heard you lost quite a lot, but it looks like you've still managed to find a whole new stick to shove up your bum. Good for you."

Harry was surprised by Ginny's choice of retort. Kind of amused by it actually. Clearly she saw Draco Malfoy to be as much a threat as he did; which was none.

Malfoy did take a step towards her then and she still didn't point her wand at him, instead she took a step closer to him as well, looking defiantly up into his face. "What?" she snarled. "Got something to say? A point to prove?"

Malfoy's hands clenched at his side and Harry gripped his wand in his pocket, waiting for Malfoy to make a single false move.

"Do it," Ginny dared Malfoy. "Give me a reason to do to you what was done to all your little friends." She was practically shimmering with the power she was putting behind her words. There was an evil glint in her eye that looked like she was hoping Malfoy would give her a reason to use her wand on him.

Harry recognized that glint as the one he felt in himself when he was angry or depressed and just hoping for a reason to blow up and get it all out of him.

Harry didn't know the full meaning of what she'd said, but that didn't matter, it looked like Malfoy knew what it meant, he went impossibly pale, then nearly grey, and took a step back, trying to compose himself again. "I have things to do that are more important than getting in some crude pissing match with you," he sneered.

"Like rebuild a manor perhaps?" Harry chimed in casually. "I would suggest you leave a dungeon out of the plans for this one. Wouldn't help your family name at all if people found out you had one of those again."

Malfoy regarded him and narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

He had to fight back a smile at that question, coming from Malfoy of all people. So many years of Draco Malfoy being a thorn in his side, the damper to his day, and here he was dethroned and destitute with no clue they had once been rivals. "No one," Harry told him, holding his placid expression.

"Then keep your comments to yourself," Malfoy bit and then turned on his heel to head towards the staircase.

"That gilded bathroom on the second floor of the East Wing looked ostentatious. Wouldn't recommend the same decorator," Harry couldn't help calling out to him.

Malfoys steps faltered and his head snapped back around to look sharply at Harry. Harry could feel Ginny's eyes on him as well, making out an amused expression on her face in his peripherals.

"Who are you?" Malfoy asked again.

Harry shrugged, "I told you. I'm no one."

Malfoy huffed and raised his nose in the air once more to regain some sense of dignity, then continued on his way out of the castle.

Once he was out of ear shot Ginny started chuckling. "Had you actually been in his Manor before?" She might have been amused with his taunts but there was a deeper question there.

"Maybe I just heard someone talking about it," he shrugged evasively. Then the laughter in her eyes turned slightly stern. Harry gave a sigh, "I promise you, I am not now, nor have I ever been, on the same side as the Malfoy's."

"Wow, way to give an open-ended answer. You could go into politics." Her eyes narrowed at him, her head slightly tilted with a smile playing at her lips.

"What is it you did to his friends?" Harry asked her by way of turning the tables, giving her expression right back to her.

She rolled her eyes dramatically in relent and grinned. "Fine, don't tell me." Then she took his hand, clasping it in her own and they continued on their way back to Gryffindor Tower.

That's right; she took his hand. He was suddenly quite indifferent to the interaction they'd just had because her taking his hand made it worth seeing that ferret brat again and all the memories that came with him. She continued to hold his hand as well until they reached the sixth floor and she had to let go because the staircase they were on decided to move and they needed to grab the railing to steady themselves.

The rest of the day and then a week passed with the two of them growing noticeably more comfortable with each other. He joined her for a few study sessions at the library while Ron and Hermione were indisposed, they wound up sitting beside each other during a few classes and there was one evening that she joined him on the couch in the common room in front of the fire, their sides almost pressed against each other.

He was really enjoying her attention and company. In fact, he wanted more of it. He wanted to be able to put a definition on what they were doing. She, however, was an expert at evading the question and he didn't want to seem like an insecure little girl by pressing the matter.

So, he let it go and tried to just enjoy the few times they wound up 'passing time' together during spare class time or after Quidditch practice. There was even one morning that she did wake up early enough to join him on a run and he'd had to slow down to half his normal pace so that she could huff and puff and try to keep up.

Now it was nearly winter break and there was one more Hogsmeade trip meant for everyone to get in their last-minute gift purchases and Harry didn't know if he should be getting Ginny anything, let alone if they were going to be going together.

It was the day before the scheduled visit and he'd been sitting at a table in the common room finishing up an essay when Demelza came and sat across from him.

"Hey, Harry," she greeted him happily.

"Hey Dem, how're you doing?" he asked distractedly as he was finishing up his summary.

"Just wondering who you were going into the village with tomorrow," she asked casually.

He looked up and blinked at her once. "Er, don't have plans actually." He'd been hoping that Ginny might mention something about it, but she hadn't. It was her turn after all.

"No plans to go, or to go with anyone?" Then she gave him this obviously coquettish look that had him very confused.

Was she trying to get him to ask her? Weren't she and Ginny friends?

"What are you doing?" came that familiar voice from over shoulder just behind him. He turned his head and saw Ginny standing there and staring at Demelza, her expression very unamused.

"What?" Demelza asked innocently. "Just seeing what Harry is getting up to tomorrow. Being friendly, you know."

He kept looking back and forth between the two of them, completely lost in what was going on. Ginny was looking really angry with her and Demelza appeared to be very happy with herself.

"Go away Demelza," Ginny said in a sigh after a minute of their stare-down.

Demelza chuckled and then was quick to clear off and Ginny immediately took up in the seat right beside him.

"Er, what just happened?" Harry asked her.

Ginny picked up his quill and started playing with it. She appeared like she'd rather be anywhere else than here. "She's just… being a shit is all," she said quietly.

"By asking me what I'm doing tomorrow?" He knew he was missing something, and her huffing like he was completely oblivious confirmed that.

"She was trying to make me jealous," Ginny said through gritted teeth.

Oh. "That was her attempting to ask me out?" he wondered aloud. "It, er. Wait, that would make you jealous?"

"Well, it isn't like we're… anything official," she said delicately. "Thus, you don't need to feel, um, obligated." She was mumbling and rambling a bit.

"We could be though," he told her. All at once, his palms were a bit sweaty and his heart felt like it was racing a mile a minute. Was this it, he wondered, was this going to be them making it official? The ball had been completely in her court on that. "I, er, kind of do feel, well, not obligated, but. Well, you know." He hoped that made sense to her.

Fuck, it was easier using the Cruciatus Curse on a Death Eater than dealing with these social anxieties of his.

Ginny turned her eyes on his and chewed her lip. "I can't help thinking I'd be a really shit girlfriend," she admitted.

"You already know I don't have anything else to compare you to. I'd like to give whatever this is a name though," he indicated between the two of them, speaking quietly.

There was so much conflict going on behind her eyes. It was like she was having an internal argument about the pros and cons of them being together. He knew she liked him, and he was sure she wasn't snogging anyone else. She might have been revered rather than pursued by most of the rest of the student body, but he knew of at least two other guys that were vying for her affection, and there where loads of guys in her friend group too.

"I don't want to go to Hogsmeade with, or snog, anyone else," he told her boldly.

Her expression softened then. "Okay."

"Okay?" That word could cover a lot and a little. "Okay, like if I were to kiss you right here, right now, you wouldn't get angry with me?"

Her lips twitched up and she took a quick look around the common room to see if anyone was watching them, then smiled at him and was the one to lean forward and initiate the kiss. It wasn't a chaste peck on the lips either, it was a kiss that confirmed it, they were officially together.

There. Now he did have to get her something for Christmas, he thought happily as he kissed her back. It was a short one, but it was in full view of the other students in the common room, so that was new.

"Does this mean we're going to Hogsmeade together again?" he grinned at her.

"Do you promise to be less weird this time?" she grinned back.

"Hey, it ended on a good note. It just started really bad," he laughed.

"That's true. Fair warning, I've got a lot of family to buy presents for."

"I'll be your pack mule if you need it," he shrugged.

"Sounds lovely. Now you need to get back to your essay and I'm needed over there," she nodded in the direction of the corner table where he saw Romilda and Euan, his dorm mate, sitting.

"Is she seeing him now?" he wondered. That would have been three guys in the span of a single school term he thought Romilda was dating.

"No, she's still with Anthony. Euan is just tutoring her in Herbology, and I said I'd lend a hand."

"You're good in Herbology?" He hadn't heard her mention that before.

"No. I've just listened to one of my friends prattle on endlessly about it and retained some of the information. Plus, we have to go over the schedule for the break. Most of the students are going home but there are some that… don't have that option."

War orphans.

He was glad someone was thinking about them, because even though he was one himself, he hadn't questioned how many others there could be attending Hogwarts right now.

"You're going home with Ron, aren't you?" he asked. It was nice of her to be making sure those staying over break felt comfortable, but that shouldn't have required her going so far as to stay behind just to make that happen.

"No, I've opted to take a shift a few extra nights next week before the break so that I meet my quota for the month," she assured him.

"Should I be signing up to do that?" he asked her. He knew Ron and Hermione hadn't spent any nights in the common room, the twins and Anthony had though, and it felt like it was an 'inner circle' thing, like only the students who had been here last year were allowed to guard the stairs at night.

"Nice of you to offer, but no." She gave him a pat on the hand and stood up, leaning back over his chair to give him another kiss before heading off. "I think I like being able to do that now," Ginny admitted.

He gave her a crooked grin and then watched her walk away, her ponytail swaying slightly with each step.

He had a girlfriend, he thought sappily.

Harry dove back into his assignments, wanting to get everything out of the way so that he didn't have to work on any of them come the weekend. Plus, once he was in the groove he needed to keep going, he knew that if he put any of the essays off it would take some serious nagging from Hermione to get him motivated again. Also, she and Ron were off on Prefect rounds right now and he didn't have anything else to do.

It was past the school mandated curfew when the seat opposite him was filled again. This time it was by Dean.

"Hey mate," Harry said after glancing up. "How's your evening been?" They may not have talked much lately, but they had gotten along when he first showed up at the school, so he thought they could still be friends.

"You staying here for the holidays?" Dean asked.

"No. I'm heading somewhere with my Godfather."

"Right, right. Did he go to school here?"

"Yeah, along with my parents. They were all in Gryffindor."

"Oh, so you've actually got some generational history with Hogwarts."

Harry stopped writing then and focused properly on Dean. He seemed agitated. "What's going on?"

"You're dating Ginny?" Dean asked, cutting through any preamble.

"Er, yeah. You knew that already, didn't you?" He knew the answer to that. Dean had been snubbing him for a solid week after that first Hogsmeade weekend, but he thought he had gotten over it.

"I didn't know you two were, like, properly dating." He looked a little baffled and angry about it.

Harry didn't understand what Dean's problem was with that. "Well, we weren't. Now we are. Like, we just decided a few minutes ago. Why?"

"Ron's going to be mad," Dean said, as though this would change Harry's whole perspective.

"Ron already knows about she and I," Harry stated. "He's cool with it."

Dean gave him a hard stare. "I don't think you know what you're getting into."

Now Dean had passed the point of being irritating and moved onto aggravating. "What?"

"She's… difficult."

"What?! Is that why you were wanting to go out with her again at the start of the year? Because you like 'difficult'?" Harry was completely taken sideways by this conversation. What the hell kind of attempt was this to get him to dump her?

Dean shook his head. "You don't know her like I know her. She's great fun one minute and then dangerous and scary the next. Her mood swings are bizarre and she's… she's just a lot."

"Aren't you dating someone else?" Harry asked him harshly. He was sure now that he remembered Dean was taking a sixth-year Hufflepuff to Hogsmeade tomorrow, how he and Ginny dating had anything to do with Dean, he didn't understand. "Why are you trying to make her sound mad? She's been through a lot of shit, we all have, I get it. So far, I've been able to deal with her just fine."

That wasn't the complete truth, his confusion over Ginny's behavior had nearly driven him to distraction plenty of times. There was something about her though that he felt was worth the struggle. There was a darkness there that told him they would understand each other when all their cards were lain down.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Look, I know she's a fantastic snog, but her being like she is, she was like that before the Death Eaters took over the school."

"So, you're trying to warn me solely for my benefit?" Harry asked flatly. He didn't enjoy being reminded that she'd dated Dean before, and that he wasn't the only person she'd ever laid her lips on.

"Just. Just keep it in mind, yeah?" Dean said, not answering the question. He did get up after that and headed up to their dorm.

Harry still didn't get it. Was Dean trying to warn him off Ginny for his own sanity, or was he simply giving him advice about her mood swings?

It didn't matter to him what Dean had to say though. They were all a bit damaged. Ginny didn't realize yet how damaged he was either. He'd been putting up a decent front with those that he didn't know well before he left Hogwarts at the end of his fourth year. With Ginny, he didn't feel like he needed to try so hard to act a certain way. He could be a broody bastard and she was allowed to be the same. Them starting off this year on the wrong foot was probably for both their benefit with how things had developed.

The next day that conversation with Dean was the farthest thing from his mind as Ginny and he had finished up their Christmas shopping and found themselves back at the Shrieking Shack, this time it hadn't been nearly as awkward wandering around the village. Now they were happily snogging on the old mattress, after applying several cleaning charms to it, with their purchases left on the floor in the center of the room.

He'd told Ron and Hermione last night about his conversation with Ginny and both of them were happy for him, Hermione more than Ron.

Now Harry was thoroughly enjoying the horizontal snogging that was going on. Each of them were still bundled up in their winter coats but it was so much more comfortable to be laying down, it felt so much more satisfying to be rolling over each other and taking turns in control. It was so fucking hot having her straddle him and hold his hands up over his head while she snogged the breath out of him.

Feeling her hips moving against him was getting him overly worked up though.

"We, we should probably slow down," he panted as she kissed down his jaw line. Fuck, how did that feel so incredible?

She wasn't slowing down though. He couldn't even tell if she'd heard him. If he didn't stop them soon, he was going to embarrass himself.

He had to yank his hands out from her grasp and grab her wrists before forcing her to roll onto her back to try and gain control of himself. It didn't work though. Even with her beneath him he was still between her legs and her calves were locking his legs in place. All he'd managed to do was pull her lips away from him, so now her head was thrown back against the mattress and she was focusing all her energy on where they were still joined.

She kept grinding against him and he couldn't stop himself from grinding back.

He didn't know how they'd wound up going from only just acknowledging they were a couple yesterday, to being here on this moldy old mattress in the throws of passion. They'd come into the shack, dropped their bags and pounced, no thought process involved.

There was no sense in fighting it. At least, there was no reason he could drum up in his randy brain that was enough to stop these movements from repeating themselves again and again.

"Ginny," he whispered in warning, it sounded more like he was crying out her name in his hazy mind though.

"So close," she panted back.

Oh fuck. He knew he was about to lose it, but hearing she was close as well made him lose all control. His left hand let go of her wrist, instead holding both of her wrists with his one hand, and clamped down on her thigh so he could grind harder against her.

"Yes! Oh, yes," she groaned and wrangled one of her hands free from the hold he had on them, threading her fingers through his hair and pulling his lips to her own shortly before her whole body tensed and she let out a muffled cry.

His own finish wracked through him as well a moment later. "O-ow," he groaned as he rolled over to lay beside her. It had felt incredibly good in the moment but the chaffing he felt now he'd not been prepared for.

They lay there beside each other; he could hear her still breathing heavy while he grit his teeth and wondered how he could feel so good and so uncomfortable all at once. He was going to need a healing charm on the underside of his cock.

Fumbling around for his wand, he applied one and gave another groan of relief.

"You okay," Ginny asked. She sounded satisfied and ready for a nap. It was a good sound.

"Worth it," he admitted, feeling about ready for a nap himself. He waved his wand a few more times, casting a cleaning spell and a numbing charm on his privates, then he felt much better. "Mind if we just have a kip?" he asked tiredly.

She hummed in response and cuddled into his side.

He couldn't remember being more comfortable in all his life. That was his final thought before drifting off into the best nap.

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