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Shadow of the Serpent | ||||||
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Category: Post-OotP Characters:Harry/Ginny Genres: Action/Adventure Warnings: Death, Extreme Language, Violence Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 537 Summary: **June Dumbledore Silver Trinket Award Winner for Best Angst, and May winner for Best Author** Harry is whisked away to an ancient island to be trained in Occlumency. What he finds is another complication to add to his already complicated life. Will friendship, love, loyalty, bravery, and honor be enough to save him from the Shadow of the Serpent that haunts his life? H/G angst/action adventure. Hitcount: Story Total: 152120; Chapter Total: 5394 Awards: View Trophy Room |
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Disclaimer: The characters and situations of Harry Potter depicted in this story are the legal property of J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury, and AOL Time Warner, and have been used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is being made off this story. It is for entertainment purposes only. “Found” It was a little after eleven o’clock when the group gathered out in the grounds near Hagrid’s hut to prepare. When Ron had come to find him with the news that Hermione had solved the puzzle box and that it might be a way to get Harry back, Stephen could scarcely believe it. He had read the prophecy about the Key summoning the Prince, but he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t put it all together himself. He had to hand it to Hermione Granger… she was one clever witch. Stephen had immediately tried to locate Dumbledore, but the Headmaster seemed to have disappeared once again. He had been doing that more and more lately — disappearing without telling anyone where he was going or when he would return — but Stephen assumed that it was most likely related to Harry. If anything, Stephen thought Dumbledore was out tracking leads himself, working on a way of getting Harry back. In any case, he wasn’t here now and, according to Hermione, they had no time to lose; tonight was the last night of the full moon. If they didn’t perform the spell tonight they would have to wait another month before they could try again. “What do you think will happen when Miss Weasley performs the spell?” he asked Hermione, knowing instinctively that she would have already researched it. Hermione shrugged. “I’m not sure,” she answered uncertainly. “The box doesn’t say anything about what will happen after the spell is performed, only that it will summon him… and I found no reference to anything even remotely similar to it in any of the texts I’ve read.” Stephen nodded his understanding as he examined the object thoroughly. “That’s because I didn’t give you the right books. This is a Motenehua Box… I’m sure of it,” he said, turning it over and examining the carvings underneath. “I have only heard of them, but I’ve never seen one,” he admitted. “The spell seems very simple… but that’s not unusual since most Mesoamerican spells aren’t very complicated, especially the old ones. Who did you say that Harry got this from?” “He just said that he got it from some old lady in the market when he was on the island,” she said. “She insisted that he have it, but he gave it to me because he knew I’d enjoy the challenge of solving the puzzle.” “What exactly is a Motenehua Box, Professor?” Ginny asked curiously. He was pleased to see her with some colour back in her cheeks, although she was still pale and thin. “Roughly speaking, the word ‘motenehua’ means to call one’s name,” he explained. “The Mixtecs have a legend — an old folktale really — that says that a box similar to this one was given to Quetzalcoatl’s mate to call him back to the stars when she was about to give birth to their sons. At certain points in history it was common for a Mixtec man to give his wife a box like this on their wedding day. It could only be used during a time of great need to summon the husband. This box is amazingly detailed…” he said, looking it over with interest. “What happens if Harry doesn’t come? And if he does show up, what happens if he’s all… hacked off in a really big way?” Ron asked, breaking him out of his musings. Stephen looked up. “I think there’s a good possibility that if he shows up at all, he won’t be happy about it. But we have a secret weapon at our disposal,” he reminded them. “You wouldn’t hurt him, would you Professor?” Ginny asked him, suddenly sounding afraid. She was holding together nicely, but it was obvious that she was in a lot of distress. Even so, she had a determined look on her face that Stephen hadn’t seen for a very long time. Stephen shook his head. “Not if I can help it. No… I’m talking about you, Ginny. From what Severus said, there’s a good possibility that Harry thinks you’re dead. We need to prove to him that you’re alive and try to re-establish the connection between you.” He looked at them all carefully. “I’m afraid that I haven’t been very honest with you lot these past months. I haven’t told you everything that I know.” “You mean about Harry… not being Harry anymore?” Hermione said carefully. “Or about how he’s been taken over by that sodding bastard, Tom Riddle,” Ron added. “And how he’s been using Harry’s power to hurt people… even kill them,” Ginny said quietly. “…How he’s locked Harry up inside his own mind where even I can’t get to him.” Stephen couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “How long have you three known about all this?” Ginny raised an eyebrow defiantly. “We’ve known since just after Harry was taken in October, but we’ve been keeping our eyes and ears open since for additional information.” She reached in her pocket and brought out a piece of long fleshy string. “Fred and George’s Extendable Ears,” she said. “…They come in very handy when people in your life want to keep things hidden from you ‘for your own good’.” “We’re not children, Professor,” Ron told him without apology. “We’ve been hanging around Harry too long to be treated as such by you, or anyone else. Harry is our friend, and we did what we had to do in order to make sure we knew everything was being done to get him home.” “We’re really sorry we had to eavesdrop,” Hermione told him, “but you didn’t leave us much of a choice.” Hunter conceded; he knew he had not spared much time to keep them abreast of the situation. He was guilty of viewing them as mere children in this fight. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I won’t make the mistake of underestimating you lot again. I should have learned my lesson about that with Harry, but I didn’t. However,” he said, checking the sky, “we are almost at midnight. I think we should table this discussion until afterwards, all right?” They agreed. Hermione and Ron spread out and took positions behind a clump of trees while he and Ginny set the box on the ground and prepared to do the spell. Ginny looked over at Hagrid’s darkened hut. “Where is Hagrid?” she asked as they waited for the right time. Stephen had the impression that she was trying to keep herself calm with idle conversation. “I think Dumbledore said he’d be away for a few days,” Stephen said. “I’m not sure why, but I think it has something to do with his brother.” “It’s a shame,” Ginny said quietly. “Harry really loves Hagrid. I know he’d like to see him…” Stephen put his hand on Ginny’s shoulder comfortingly. “He will see him soon,” he reassured her. “I just know that this is going to work.” Ginny nodded silently and then turned her eyes back towards the waiting box. “Do you know what to do?” Stephen asked her. “Do you remember the correct pronunciation?” “Yes.” She drew her wand, not taking her eyes from the box. It seemed to be entrancing her, which Stephen took as a good sign. “Just tap the box and say the incantation when I say it’s time,” he said, checking his watch and then the sky. It’s almost time…” He paused and then said, “On the count of three, Ginny… One… two… wait!” A cloud had moved over the moon. Nervously, Stephen checked his watch. They still had 30 seconds… It seemed to take forever but the dark cloud gracefully slid out of the way. At the last possible second Stephen shouted, “Now!” “Notza Nican Nimanic!” she said clearly as she tapped the box three times with her wand. A brilliant green radiance seemed to erupt from the box. It shot up in the air and bathed the clearing in emerald light. On the other side of the box a bright white circle was forming, like a portal of some kind. Stephen held his breath as a figure stepped deliberately through the opening. He was dressed in a black cloak that flowed around his ankles and covered his head. As soon as the portal had closed, he whipped the hood off and turned his head in all directions, searching… his wand drawn. Stephen gripped his own wand tightly. The green light was distracting the figure for now, but any second he would see them as it faded into nothingness. Stephen only had time to shove Ginny behind him before Harry spotted them. His lips curled in a half smile, half sneer. Stephen drew a breath at how pale Harry’s skin was against the backdrop of the black robes and the black shock of messy hair. He wasn’t wearing glasses anymore, and he looked taller… like he had grown a few inches in the eight months he had disappeared. The healthy tan he had gotten on the island was gone, but he had filled out in other ways. Still not as tall as Stephen or even Ron, he was solid and muscular. There was nothing boyish about him anymore at all — he was a man, with a man’s command of the situation and showing absolutely no fear whatsoever. The expression on his face was one of annoyance, and when he turned his red eyes on them they were angry. The thing in Harry’s body laughed. “I was wondering how long it would take,” he said in a cold but amused voice. “I knew you’d catch up with us eventually, Hunter, but I have had quite a lot of fun staying one step ahead of you all these months. You’re losing your touch, I believe.” Stephen stood tall. He recognized the voice of Voldemort coming from Harry’s body and had to remind himself that he couldn’t hurt Harry in order to exact his revenge on the monster that had held him captive for two weeks and tortured him repeatedly then murdered his family — an innocent woman whose life goal had been to heal people and an infant child. He deserved to die ten torturous deaths for every innocent life he had taken. “We’ll see about that,” he told the creature darkly. He held Ginny fast with one hand behind him out of sight and trained his wand on Harry, his body rigid but alert. “I’m here to bring Harry home, Voldemort. It’s time for you to leave.” The creature frowned at the callous way that Stephen used his name but did not comment. Instead he cocked an eyebrow questioningly. “Come now Stephen… you know that’s never going to happen. The boy belongs to me now, and I’ve grown quite used to inhabiting this body. It is a regular power conduit. The Potter boy has always been a nuisance and I would have preferred to kill him outright, but his body was too valuable to destroy. He hasn’t seemed to mind much, really. He’s been quite… distracted.” “I bet he has,” Stephen said angrily. “You tricked him into thinking that the woman he loves was dead, and then you convinced him to lower his Occlumency shield. That’s appalling… but just your style.” “What can I say?” he said, unabashed. “The boy is weak when it comes to his feelings. I’ve never been ruled by my emotions — they just get in the way. But Harry is different, and you certainly can’t blame me for preying on my enemy’s blatant weakness. It’s what you would do in my place, isn’t it Hunter?” Stephen felt the anger rise in his chest. “Unlike you, I’d never stoop to something so low!” “Wouldn’t you?” the thing inside Harry’s body said with a sneer. “I understand that your past isn’t as squeaky clean as you would like Dumbledore to believe. My informants tell me that you’ve been walking a very thin line these past years.” “That’s a lie!” Stephen yelled in rage. “I may have come close, but I never crossed the line.” Harry’s face reflected a knowing smirk. “Tell that to Lucius Malfoy. He shared some amazing artefacts with me that you recovered. He tells me he paid you handsomely for the recovery of some of the more controversial items. I have to say that I was surprised that the Ministry’s golden boy would taint himself with such Dark objects, but it just goes to show how people can surprise you. Take Harry, for instance.” He held up a hand and displayed the bands there that allowed him to perform wandless magic. “I had no idea that he was hiding such delicious secrets. It makes me wonder what else that little island has to offer me.” “You stay away from there Voldemort, or I’ll-” “You’ll what, Hunter?” Voldemort laughed. “I’m not even here, remember?” He waved a hand over Harry’s body. “This is all an illusion. It is a mere vessel, and if I chose to end the boy’s life now the real me would still be out there, laughing at your stupidity.” Stephen felt Ginny jerk. “You’re nothing but a sick monster!” she yelled, wrenching out of Stephen’s grasp and sidestepping him as he tried to pull her back. She advanced on the creature menacingly, her eyes flashing. “You were a monster at sixteen, and now you’re beyond reproach!” she said scathingly. Harry’s face registered surprise. Stephen thought he saw something flicker inside the red eyes, but it could have been his imagination because immediately the bravado was back on Harry’s face as the monster inside regained control. *** Harry had grown used to watching what was happening outside his body. Since Voldemort had taken over, the snake liked to torment him by giving him glimpses of what his body was doing. Mostly it was like a grey veil over his eyes when it happened, and the things he saw were terrible. They made him want to retch and scream in rage, but he couldn’t do any of those things. It was dreadful seeing what the snake was seeing, hearing what the snake was hearing. The worst part was knowing that he didn’t have control over his own body. The only time he ever had the strength to fight back was when the snake was about to do something really terrible, like kill an innocent person. Once, the snake had raised his wand to kill a Muggle child. Harry had surprised himself and Voldemort by causing him to miss. It had shaken Voldemort so much that he had never tried to kill an innocent again using Harry’s body. Harry, himself, had revelled in his small victory until Voldemort had sent him image after image of Ginny’s dead body, making him weaker than he had been before. The next time Voldemort raised his wand to another person he had let Harry see, probably to test him. He had killed an insurgent in his ranks, a Death Eater who was trying to gain some power for himself, bragging overconfidently about killing the Dark Lord and becoming the new leader. Harry had watched from inside his prison as Voldemort used his body to kill this Death Eater — he could feel the magic forming inside his body, and he was powerless to stop it. Some part of him was even glad the man was dead, just like he’d felt with Wormtail. Death Eaters weren’t innocents; they had made their choice, and they certainly didn’t spark the ability for Harry to take back some control like innocent Muggles and children did. He only had so much strength left in him, and Harry had decided early on that he would save it up for special circumstances — to do what he could to save innocent lives. He refused to allow his body to be used to kill an innocent person, especially a child. Now that Ginny was gone, it was the only thing he could seem to care about… the only thing worth holding on to. Ginny. The snake had lied about helping Ginny. That was what made Harry the angriest — what tortured him the most. The monster had promised to help Ginny, but once he’d gotten into Harry’s mind, he’d let Ginny die. Without her to go home to, Harry wasn’t sure he even wanted to live anymore. He had opened the door willingly to save her life, and it had been for nothing. His sacrifice had been pointless, and he had fallen into the Shadow — just like the prophecy had foretold. The Shadow… He now knew why the Ancient Ones had said it was his greatest weakness, why they had warned him to stay away from it and not fall victim to it. The Shadow was horrible — so horrible that it defied description. It was the most awful place Harry had ever been or could ever dream up, the place where nightmares formed and despair ruled. It was the room inside his mind that contained every bad thing he knew about the world and himself but could not escape from — the part of his mind that Dementors were drawn to and why they affected him more than others. To Harry, it felt like one of the creatures had taken up permanent residence in his mind, and he was powerless to perform a Patroness to drive it away. The snake had been making a personal appearance to a cell of Death Eaters in London when the call had come. It sounded like phoenix song, and when Harry heard it his heart immediately surged with hope. Like a magnet, the song drew his body towards a portal that appeared suddenly out of nowhere. The snake had tried to fight the call at first, but not even he could ignore it. The magic of the call had been very strong, and it had forced the snake to step through the portal that appeared even though he didn’t want to. Inside the Shadow, Harry kept his mind alert for any possibility. Whatever had called him here could do his body harm. The snake, too, was on edge. He instinctively felt this as a threat of some kind; he was afraid of it, and this pleased Harry greatly. As soon as the green light had faded, Harry was aware of Stephen’s presence and his heart sang with relief. Finally… someone had come to help him. The question was did he want to be saved? Stephen and the snake exchanged words… both were angry. Then Harry’s world flipped upside down. Ginny flew out from behind Stephen and Harry’s heart hit the floor. The shock of seeing Ginny alive and well, her eyes flashing fire and her hair billowing around her shoulders like an angel, was surreal. She flew at the snake with venom. Harry tried to meet her halfway, but the snake held him firmly in his grasp — Voldemort wasn’t giving him up that easily. Even so, Harry’s heart cried out in relief. Ginny was alive! And then he got angry. *** Ginny couldn’t stand listening to Tom talk from Harry’s mouth anymore. She rushed out from behind Stephen and began spouting off before she even thought about the consequences of such an action. Now, here in front of Tom and looking into Harry’s impassive face, she realised how foolish she had been. Harry smiled, but it such an un-Harry smile that it caused her to want to step back from him in fear. Stubbornly, she held her ground. “So… we meet again Ginny Weasley,” he said in that same overconfident voice that he had used last summer when he had been flitting in and out of Harry’s body. The difference was that this time Ginny didn’t feel Harry inside at all, and that scared her more than anything. “What have you done with Harry?” she demanded angrily, her jaw set in a stubborn clench. “I know he’s in there, and I want him back,” she practically growled. “Oh, he’s still around,” the beast agreed with a sneer. “But I’m not sure you want him back after being where he’s been.” He took out Harry’s wand and began twirling it between is fingers idly. Rage bubbled up in her chest at his callousness. That was her Harry he was talking about. Her worst fears had been confirmed. She had hoped that her nightmares had been just that — nightmares. But it seemed that it had been the real Harry she had been trying to connect with during those times, although she had failed to make contact. Then she felt something that gave her pause. It was just a flicker — only a tiny flicker but she felt him. Harry — the real Harry was inside the beast and trying to make contact with her. It had been so long since she’s felt him and she knew that no matter what happened, Harry was suddenly determined to come back to her today. She tamped down her anger and tried to keep her emotions impassive. “Tell me, Tom,” she said knowing that he loved to gloat about his accomplishments. He might have changed in a lot of ways from the sixteen year old that she had known, but she knew from Harry that not everything about him had changed. He still couldn’t resist letting others know how clever he was, and that might give her the chance that she needed to grab hold of Harry and pull him out. “How did you manage to get Harry? However you did it, you were very clever. Only a very powerful wizard could have pulled it off.” Tom looked at her shrewdly like he knew what she was trying to do, but unbelievably he answered. “I am the most powerful wizard on this planet, am I not? Don’t be foolish, girl, and try to play games with me.” He stepped closer to her — so close that she could feel his breath tickle her cheek. In an almost seductive whisper so that only she could hear he said, “I see now what the boy sees in you, Ginny Weasley. You are something extraordinary, aren’t you? Most witches would have quailed in fear by now just at the mere thought of me, but you stand here toe-to-toe, challenging me. I find that most… intriguing.” She felt paralyzed with fear. Still standing close, he reached up and touched her face with a cold finger, and Ginny fought the urge to throw up. “There’s something special about you, isn’t there?” he continued to whisper. “I can feel it. It’s more than just your bond with Harry. There’s something else inside of you… something that makes you... mine.” Ginny shivered, locked in the embrace of his eyes. Flashes of her first year at Hogwarts came back to her, and he seemed to take it all in — every last emotion and feeling and memory. “You wrote in my diary,” he said quietly, understanding permeating his voice. “I knew that Lucius had given it to you, of course, but I was under the impression that it was destroyed.” Fear course through her body at the words. It was like he was exposing a secret of hers — a terrible secret that she had kept from everyone — even herself. But she had a job to do, and she willed her mind to focus on her mission. Making a deliberate choice to ignore the monster inhabiting Harry’s brain for now, she concentrated on Harry. At that thought, she felt some of her terror ebb away. ‘If you can hear me Harry,’ she sent to him with everything she had, ‘I’m coming. It’s really me — I’m not dead. I’m your Ginny. It was all a trick, Harry, and it’s time for you to get your arse out of there. You need to fight like you’re never fought before! ’ Unbelievably, she felt another flicker and then a pulling sensation, like something was trying to latch on to her mind. Without planning it, she grabbed Voldemort and smashed her lips to his. In shock, he tried to fight her off, but it was like a magnet pulling them together. The physical contact was more than he could stand, and the love that Ginny poured into Harry’s body was like poison to the snake, causing him to writhe in pain and fight her embrace. Ginny tightened her grip on Harry’s connection and anchored him, hoping that he was strong enough to sense her there supporting him. All the while her mind battled the snake, which tried to strike and bite at her, screaming in pain as its efforts were rebuffed. Soon the snake stopped fighting Ginny’s advances and amazingly seemed to succumb to the feelings roiling between them. As the kiss deepened, the magic inside Harry’s body intensified and the connection between the real Harry and Ginny grew stronger, pushing out the presence of Voldemort. As Harry fought to come back, the snake’s hold on Harry’s mind began to fade. Soon Ginny found herself in Harry’s consciousness, like she had before when she had helped Harry repair his broken wall. It was foggy inside, heavy with a black mist that seemed to be dulling her senses, but she focused her attention on the connection. Soon the light was pouring off of her, pushing away the darkness. The snake gave one last hiss of rage, and then his presence was all but gone. Suddenly, she was back in her own body, still locked in the kiss and amazingly, Harry was there kissing her back. She felt him emerge from his own mind like a flower blossoming, and she met him with a ferocity that both surprised and delighted her. It was like coming home after a long time away, and she welcomed him with open arms, almost crying with the intensity and the rush of feelings flooding her senses. He was back! Harry was home! *** Harry was angry now. Once he decided to fight, he focused all his energy into fighting his way out of the blackness and into the light of Ginny’s love which suddenly seemed to be all around him. It was like she had thrown him a thousand ropes, and all he had to do was choose one and hoist himself out of the pit. He no longer felt weak or powerless; in fact, the power was bubbling up inside of him now. It started in his chest and radiated up to where he was, giving him more and more strength and power until he felt like he was practically bursting with energy. Desperately, the snake fought him back, trying to push him back down into the pit, but he clawed his way out inch by inch until he was standing in his own body for the first time in months, tasting Ginny’s sweet kiss of life. The snake gave one last angry hiss, and then he was gone. They were alone. He opened his eyes and there she was, only this time it wasn’t a mirage… it wasn’t a trick. She was really here holding him, and she was alive. In an instant, the horror of the time he’d spent in the Shadow came back to him, and he slumped on the ground like a broken doll, aching for the loss of contact but not feeling clean enough to touch her. He felt tainted, touched by evil, and he couldn’t bear to corrupt her with the darkness that still billowed through his soul. Voldemort had retreated for now, wounded by Ginny’s assault, but Harry had a feeling he’d be back soon. He didn’t want Ginny to be anywhere around him when the beast came to claim him. For all he knew, Ginny might get sucked in there with him, and he couldn’t chance that. She was the light in his darkness, his beacon of hope. If she got pulled back in with him, they’d both be stuck. It was enough just to look at her, alive and well, and to feel her closeness. She seemed hurt by his retreat, but there was also fear and understanding. Compassion. “Harry?” she said tentatively, reaching out to touch him. Instinctively, he jerked away. Words wouldn’t form in his mouth; he hadn’t talked to anyone in so long, and it was like he had forgotten how. Eventually, he was aware of other presences around him. They were both familiar and comforting but painful at the same time. Stephen was there, and Ron and Hermione. They tried to approach him, but he scrambled away and huddled at the base of a nearby tree. “What’s wrong with him?” he heard Hermione whisper to Stephen in alarm. He couldn’t hear Stephen’s response, but his mind imagined the answer. Stephen probably sensed the darkness in him too and was trying to warn them to stay away. Harry looked around wildly, his eyes wide with terror. He had to get out of here… he had to get away from them before the snake came back. Gently, he felt a tap on his mind, and he flinched. He didn’t fear it because he knew it was Ginny, but he fought an internal battle with himself between wanting to push her away and wanting to pull her closer. The result was that he stopped looking for an escape and stilled. ‘Its okay, Harry,’ he heard her say lovingly. ‘No one is going to hurt you any more.’ ‘Stay away!’ he thought back, his mind in unnerved overdrive. He tried to calm his emotions, but he knew the panic and pain was evident on his face because he felt it right down to his very bones. He moved just a tiny bit further away but resisted the urge to run. ‘Stay back, Ginny. I might hurt you. Voldemort…’ ‘He’s gone, Harry,’ Ginny said gently, creeping towards him slowly. ‘I sent him away, and I’m not going to let him come back, love. I won’t leave your mind until you’re strong enough to fight him on your own. We’re going to build that wall again and make it so strong that you will never have to worry about him breaking through it, no matter how much he tries. Remember what Professor Hunter told us? I’m your strength. Together, we are strong enough to do anything.’ She was right in front of him now. Tentatively, she reached out a shaking hand to touch his cheek. Harry felt the feather-light touch and shivered. He wanted to believe her so much. ‘Trust me, Harry,’ she said with her mind, reaching out her other hand for him. Patiently she waited, witness to all the emotions jumbling through him. Finally, he came to a decision. Ginny was here, she was alive, and she was reaching out to him. If he didn’t take this chance now he’d be lost forever, and he couldn’t bear the thought of going back to the Shadow — of living without her. Frantically, he searched his mind but found no sign of the snake lurking there, ready to pounce on him or on Ginny. Slowly, painstakingly slowly, he raised his hand and grasped hers. At the contact, Harry felt their hearts join and beat in unison; he did feel stronger, and he realised that the closer they got, the better he felt. She helped him to his feet. He staggered, but she supported him and he was soon righted. Together, they made their way toward the school and the hospital wing, the others trailing behind them, silent and concerned. They had done the impossible; he was home, but nothing was resolved. Harry looked up into the sky and felt the Darkness searching for him. Voldemort was still out there, and the Dark wouldn’t rest; it would always be there waiting for its opportunity to reclaim him. He turned away and leaned into Ginny, shivering despite the warm night air. This battle may have been won, but he knew that there was a greater battle coming — one that would decide the fate of the world. The question was would he be strong enough to do what needed to be done in order to defeat the Enemy forever? [A/N: Thanks to my support team for helping me get this ready in time for a Friday publication. Arnel — you’re wonderful, and a good friend. Melinda — what would I do without you? Christine, my comma guru — you are the best cheerleader on the net. Dan — you’re insight and advice is proving invaluable. Casey — I know you didn’t see this one in advance, but I still value your opinion so keep giving it. To everyone who reviewed — thank you SO much. I didn’t have time to reply this time to individual reviews AND make my deadline, but I read every one and they really kept me motivated. Next chapter is called “Reconnecting.” I am going to try to have it by next week, but I’m out of pre-written chapters and this last one was almost not finished in time. That means that there are no guarantees, but I will do my best. The new chapter was just begun, and I’ve only gotten about three pages written so far. I’d love to skip a week and try to get caught up to a point where I’m more comfortable (three chapters ahead is good, two would be okay, or even one ahead would be nice) and not so rushed, but I also know that I committed to Friday updates. I’m trying to stick by my word, but I don’t want to rush them so we’ll just see how it pans out. So, until next time (hopefully Friday)! *waves* Goodbye for now, and thanks for reading.] |
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