A/N: More Tom, some foreshadowing, and Ginny having absolutely no chill
~~~
The Slytherins were in a state of turmoil.
Lena knew that it wasn't them doubting her, as they all knew she was smart enough and had the magic to back it up... but she got the vague impression much of the house kind of viewed her as almost a sort of motherly or sisterly figure as she was always there to look out for them even if their own families wouldn't.
Ginny and some of the younger students who'd become more attached to her as they'd come into the house under her guidance were almost in hysterics at the beginning, and with great reluctance, she called a day off.
For the next day, the halls and passageways of the castle were barren of any Slytherin.
Not for breaks, nor classes, nor quidditch, nor meals did they come out.
Instead, they all talked and ate and read as a group.
Lena and the older students helped small groups with essays or questions or even casting spells, taking breaks to talk with friends, and sometimes even falling into short naps.
The Common Room was their escape for the day, taking this time to be with everyone as they reassured each other that even as this was a house for the school, it was also the house of their family.
At least the school was mostly okay with her.
Most of the Hufflepuffs that hadn't been swayed by her swear (or didn't know what it meant) had been swayed by Diggory and most of the Ravenclaws knew enough to know she wasn't lying. The Durmstrang students knew her and had easily accepted her swear, but a majority of the Gryffindors and Beauxbatons students thought she was essentially a lying fame-seeking worm.
The Weasley twins had made it clear that they supported her, setting off a firework that colored Karkaroff's hair Slytherin green and silver (to which the Durmstrang students in particular enjoyed) the breakfast Slytherin came out of their 'day off', and the Beauxbatons champion named Fleur Delacour had also been very supportive.
Though her mood darkened when during lunch of the fourth day after the Goblet of Fire had spit out her name, she found a wide-spread group of people wearing badges that read: Support CEDRIC DIGGORY, the REAL Hogwarts Champion!
Most of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw were just looking at the few people that were wearing the badges with mild disgust, but she could feel the Slytherins' mood growing fouler as the meal went on, the French students and the Gryffindors babbling loudly about how 'she was a lying cheat' and 'a fame-greedy bint'.
One Ravenclaw girl and the boy that she was hanging off, however, seemed to be the last straw. "I just don't understand. She should be stripped of her magic rather than be able to compete!"
With a noise of pure outrage, Ginny sprung up from her seat, seeming to forget she was able to use a wand as she tackled the girl, punching her cleanly across the face.
"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" She stood, her voice laced with ice, echoing across the hall and the girl froze as well as the rest of the house that had just a second ago looked as if they were ready to join the girl. Walking over with sharp steps echoing on the stone, she stopped in front of the girl and crossed her arms. "What in the name of Salazar Slytherin do you think you are doing!"
"She shouldn't have said that. No one should say that." The girl's mask was defiant, but her eyes betrayed apprehension, as if afraid of what Lena would think of her.
Letting her face soften just slightly, she shook her head and took the girl's shoulders in her hands gently. "Ginny, dear, do you think I can't defend my own honor?" When the girl shook her head after a second, she offered up a small smile. "Then let me do just that, okay?"
"But you won't!" The girl sounded as if she wanted to cry. "You'll just sit back and take it because you don't want to hurt anyone and- and you don't care about what people say! But they shouldn't say it! They don't know anything about you!"
Lena sighed. "If I can't change their minds, then neither can you. And you definitely won't by punching everyone who has that thought." She heard the Slytherins chuckle and the girl flushed with embarrassment. Shaking her head, she cupped the girl's cheek fondly. "We don't want you to hurt your hand on their thick skulls anyway. Now go sit down and eat your lunch. We will talk about not acting like a rash Gryffindor later."
Nodding, seeming chastised, the girl moved back to the table.
"She- she attacked me! You should put a leash on her, the wild animal! How dare you-"
Lena turned slowly to stare at where the Ravenclaw girl sat, cheek red and eyes wide. "Be quiet." Grabbing the girl by the front of her robes, she dragged her up to eye level, her voice almost a hiss. "I am allowing you to insult me because I've known bitter, resentful, jealous little children like you and they don't bother me anymore- but the second you talk about my house like that you are also insulting my family. That is a punishable sin in my book."
"Miss Farland!" McGonagall was looking at her sternly. "If you would please, sit down. Both you and Miss Weasley will be talking to Professor Snape after dinner!"
Releasing the girl with a sneer, she stalked back to the Slytherin table, sitting down.
There was no way that Snape would do anything but tell both of them off of making a scene and then send them to the Common Room.
Not when he too was glaring at the girl subtly.
Dumbledore stood with a tired and worn look to his eyes. "Students, we all come together this year not to outcast certain groups or individuals, but to make acquaintances and possibly long term friends between schools. This is not a time to be divided. Miss Farland has already said she will be representing the house she is Heir to-"
"SHE IS THE HEIR OF SLYTHERIN!" One of the Hufflepuffs stood, pale and seeming hysterical, pointing at her with a shaky hand. "SHE DID OPEN THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS THEN!"
The hall dissolved into whispering and muttering.
Ginny's face was now red with indignation and amidst the chaos, she stood with a shout across the hall. "No, she didn't! I did! "
The hall went silent.
Lena put her head in her hands.
"As was found, an object of great power was possessing Miss Weasley to open the Chamber of Secrets. However, at the end of the year when the object tried to kill Miss Weasley, Miss Farland intervened by destroying it and claiming the heirship so no other could do the same thing." Dumbledore sounded tired, worn thin.
She blocked out the rest of Dumbledore's speech on 'friendship' and 'community', sighing heavily and resting her head on Draco's shoulder.
What a mess.
"You, girlie, are avoiding me."
Sitting on a bench by the lake she'd made her second year, Lena let her switchblade dance through her fingers as she watched the still lake. "You knew I didn't want to compete." As the Fake Moody sat down next to her, she stabbed the bench in between the fingers of where he'd put his hand down, looking into his mismatched eyes with a sharp glare. "So why'd you put my name in? I gave you what you wanted."
The man was all sharp lines and complete stillness, slowly pulling his hand away from her when he was sure she wouldn't move her knife. "I didn't."
"You didn't." Repeating this softly, she stared at the man. "What do you mean? Of course you did, you're working for-"
"I have the suspicion that Lucius Malfoy got his directions mixed up, using his political pull and Barty Crouch Sr's hateful tendencies to enter your name." The man sneered at the second name as if he loathed even speaking of the uptight Ministry man, before offering up a crooked smile to Lena. "Personally I can't wait for my Lord to wake and find that his least favorite peacock has once again botched something important because of a personal grudge. I'm sure the outcome will be interesting, to say the least."
Lena blinked, half surprised by the dislike Fake Moody was showing another Death Eater, half wondering what the plan for her was if she wasn't supposed to be competing. Instead of asking either of those questions though, she smiled slightly. "I find Narcissa much more pleasing company too."
Fake Moody gave her a somewhat critical look but nodded all the same. "She's a lot like you in a way, with the whole nice and innocent mask hiding a will of steel." Then, as she only hummed and nodded (she'd gotten the same impression from the woman), the man looked out to the lake. "My orders- they are to protect you, in case you were wondering."
"Hmm." She didn't let her surprise show on her face, standing. "Sounds like you're doing a fairly bad job of it then."
"Are you coming back to class then?" The man didn't try to follow her, just raising his voice to yell after her as she walked away. "All those other brats 're giving me a migraine!"
Smirking to herself, she didn't make any motion to respond, leaving the imposter Auror sitting alone on the stone bench.
She supposed going back to defense class wouldn't hurt... after all, she found him a fairly adequate teacher.
Walking down the hall holding hands with Blaise so he could guide her as she read, her book floating in front of her and her free hand flipping the pages, she felt a squeeze and stopped just before crashing into a smaller boy wearing Gryffindor robes.
Letting the book fall into her waiting hand, she blinked at the boy. "Yes?"
"I... I have to get you for- for some photograph thing?" The boy fidgeted awkwardly, even as he was only a bit shorter than her.
Looking to Blaise, she reluctantly took her hand back and put her book in her satchel. "Fine then. Please- lead away."
Walking along after the smaller Gryffindor, ignoring the whispers following her in the halls and the glow of the "Helena Sticks" badges, she just took care to hold her head high and walk quickly.
Led to a small classroom, Lena almost sighed in relief when she saw Cedric and he pulled her into a warm hug. "I think I hate this more than I did when the whole school thought I was sticking Slytherin's familiar on people."
"Ah, but my dear, if you could learn to ice skate while under that pressure then I wonder what you will do to astound us now!" Dumbledore ambled in, holding out a lemon drop and winking. "To take the edge off."
Trading him for a peppermint, she quickly popped the candy in her mouth, purposefully ignoring Snape's huff from off to the side.
"Oh, so we have a rule-breaker!" A high-pitched voice came from a woman who was wearing the ugliest green dress Lean had ever seen, toting around a scale handbag, a quick-quotes quill zooming across a pad of paper. "No wonder Miss Potter is in this tournament! I hear your late father and his friends were quite the-"
Scowling deeply at the woman, Cedric's arms wrapping around her to get her to not just attack the woman, she used her magic to reach out and snap the woman's quill. "If you have any respect for the House of Slytherin, you will keep your quill to yourself, Miss Skeeter. I will not hesitate to take you up for slander, as I get along quite well with the goblins."
Shrinking back at her venomous tone, the woman nodded slowly and eyed her from where she retreated to the wall of the room.
Lena looked at the photographer with an icy gaze. "And you will not take photos of me outside this room, or you too will be hearing from the goblins."
Viktor moved into the room with Fluer and Janus at his sides, the three looking at where she was being held/restrained by Cedric.
"You okay there Lena?" Janus moved to them, Cedric letting her go so the taller male could fuss over her while Fleur and Viktor moved closer to where they were as well. "Theo told me you've been sleeping less, with nightmares now too- not that he's doing any better."
"I'm fine." She pushed him away with her magic, sighing slightly as she reached up to rub at her eyes tiredly. "It's not a big deal." She neglected to mention that she and Theo stayed up in the Common Room tangled in each other's arms talking quietly about how trapped they both still felt in their dreams. (That would only make Janus worry more and wasn't really necessary.)
"May I introduce Mr. Ollivander? He is to be checking to make sure your wands are in working condition before the tournament." Dumbledore caught their attention, motioning to where the man who had sold her the wand she was carrying was sitting at a small table.
The same wand that she had stopped using because it refused to work half the time.
Lena watched the others be praised for their wands before the man with the white hair looked at her with his abnormally wide eyes.
"Ah. Miss Farland... You have grown more beautiful and most likely more brilliant... the heart of stone, however, we will see." His smile was wide as if telling a fantastical story and not repeating Jack's words back to her like he'd done when they'd met.
The best word she'd use to describe the man was 'manic'.
"Your wand?"
Ah, well, all truths must come out in the end.
"It doesn't work. I rely mostly on my internal magic and if I'm feeling dramatic, a flick of the dead lump of wood."
The man just held out his hand anyway.
Sighing, she let him take the ashen wand.
Inspecting it for a long moment, the wandmaker's eyebrows raised dramatically. "The ice core... it has melted." Ollivander then looked at her, as if trying to imply something but she kept her face blank. The man looked a bit tired as he opened his bag and pulled out a different wand that's wood was a bit longer and had more of a tan-ish color. "Please, hold this... if just to sate an old man's curiosity."
Taking the wand with a small sigh, she flicked it once and then hissed as it seemed to implode in her hand- wooden shards clattering to the floor and she clenched her jaw as her hand started slowly bleeding onto the table as she uncurled it.
"What is this?!" Snape started forward, looking enraged.
"I'm fine, I'm fine... Just surprised." Slowly, she pulled the wood pieces from her hand, making sure she got them all out before healing herself. She glanced at her godfather and gave a slightly wane smile. "I've had much worse and still been alright, no need to worry."
Then she looked at where Ollivander had snatched up the orangey feather that had been in the wand and was soaked in her blood, bent over and muttering to himself as magic whirled around him like a hurricane of raw energy.
Finally, looking exhausted, the man held out a pale wand- this one with a snake design curling the handle, unlike her last plain wand. "Go on then. Try it."
Taking the wand hesitantly, she gasped softly as a wonderful warm feeling overtook her body as if she was holding one of Riddle's consciousness items.
Ollivander smiled knowingly. "Yew, with water from eternal ice, a phoenix feather, and your own blood. Ten inches, slightly flexible, but unyielding at the same time. Made especially for someone who would burn the world down to protect the ones they care for... and almost an exact twin to another I sold almost sixty years ago."
She could guess by the way the man's eyes were watching her with that same fear and awe, who the man was talking about.
Plus, who else did she know that would have been eleven about sixty years ago?
"You-... you sold the same wand to- to him?"
The man stood with a smile. "The phoenix feathers are from the same bird, the wood from the same tree... as Jack would say, that's too much in common to be a coincidence."
Lena blinked, something raw aching in her chest as she remembered- this new Voldemort couldn't be the three she'd gotten so attached to and even then there were only two of the consciousness shards left... and she had no clue where they were. "He also said that correlation doesn't equal causation though, and I would very much like to forget just about everything you just told me, thank you." Before the man could respond, she tucked her wand in her messy bun and pulled her money pouch out of her bag. "The price? For fixing my wand?"
"Same as before, as it is a new wand."
"... indeed it is. Very well then, I agree to your terms." She nodded. The price of having one person that she could never point her wand at was steep, but she trusted the man had no ill intentions towards her.
Plus, she had friends that could always do it for her.
Chuckling, the man nodded back to her and then Dumbledore before wandering out.
"Wonderful! Now I would like to have Mister Krum sitting on this chair facing left but looking at with the camera-" As soon as the door closed the man with the camera and the face she didn't trust one bit was pushing and pulling the others around a chair in the center of the room. "Let's put Miss Delacour standing just to the side of him, leaning on the back on his chair with one of those sultry looks to the camera..." The cameraman seemed not to notice that the girl's eyes darkened and her jaw clenched, instead pushing Cedric to the space just slightly behind and to the left of Viktor. "Mister Diggory here, and Miss Potter-"
Lena growled lowly as he went to grab for her, her wand pressed to his throat before he could. "The second you touch me without my permission?... I break your hands." She heard Janus snort softly in the background, even if they both knew she would do it.
Chuckling nervously, the man backed up slowly. "Right- uh- Miss Potter, you're going to be leaning slightly on Mister Diggory, with his hand on your shoulder. To- ah- symbolize the teamwork of the Hogwarts Champions of course."
Her bullshit meter was going off the charts with that one.
But then again... did she really care?
"Whatever." Stowing away her wand slowly with a pointed look to the man, she moved to Cedric's side, smiling easily up at him before leaning into his taller frame and letting him move his arm to lay around her shoulders comfortably.
"Now... smile!"
She looked up to Cedric, raising an eyebrow at the charming smile he tried to wear without it being too wide, and the boy shook with a silent laugh before rolling his eyes and letting his face smooth into a picture of silent strength.
They both then looked to the camera, Lena knowing all four of them were now fixing the camera with masks of impassiveness.
They were here to compete, not be objectified, after all.
The small group entered the Great Hall for dinner, her and Viktor moving towards the Slytherin table while Cedric moved to his group of Hufflepuffs, but it was only a few steps the hall that she realized Fleur had paused. Turning slightly, she looked at the girl with a tilt to her head, as if to ask what she was doing.
Gesturing to herself, the girl nodded her head towards the Slytherin table.
Lena smiled slightly, nodding and giving a short wave of her hand that beckoned the girl to where she and Viktor were standing.
With a glance back to the Ravenclaw table, they watched as Fleur moved to the side of a girl with white-blonde hair, saying something and then walking over to them with the girl following. "We are allowed at your table? I will not leave Luna, but I do not wish to sit there, as zee girls follow the-... girl with auburn hair? The one zee red-head punched, oui?" Fleur's eyes narrowed back on where a girl was sitting and whispering while looking at them.
It was indeed, the same girl who had insulted her and then Ginny in the same sitting.
"Of course, you are friends of my House, therefore are welcome at our table." Her eyes moved to rest on the girl she now realized was the same one she was almost certain was a seer. "Have you any news for me before I leave you to find your seats?"
"Only that he will wake to see your face in the newspaper and you will get another gift soon enough."
Lena blinked, before snorting softly and turning, knowing they would be able to hear her as she walked away. "Sit wherever you want, as you are both friends of my House."
What a strange girl.
The Quad-Wizard Championships!
By Rita Skeeter
Yes, lovely readers, I know- you all are wondering about the title- but wait no longer! I have just come back from Hogwarts, where the Triwizard Tournament is being held, but to my surprise, there were four champions rather than three waiting for me!
Apparently just the other night the Goblet of Fire made quite a commotion by selecting three champions (one for each school) and then choosing one more to top it off!
Helena Ivy Potter, the girl rumored to actually be the 'Chosen One', had her name drawn from the goblet. According to my sources in the castle, the girl was distraught about this, in tears as she begged the officials not to make her compete and then almost considering being stripped of her magic just to get out of the competition.
But... was this just an act?
There is a lot of students and staff I talked to that say the girl was entered against her own will, but one group of students say otherwise.
"She was just too over-dramatic when her name came out, you know?" One Ravenclaw girl said when I asked her about this, her eyebrows pulled together in frustration. "It just didn't fit. She's known to be the Ice Queen of Slytherin- like- she never would cry normally- In fact, I don't even think she has emotions!"
This same sentiment was shared with me multiple times in confidence, though when I begged a few of the students to go on record about Miss Potter's obvious lie to the whole of Hogwarts, one Hufflepuff boy had this to say: "I- I don't think you understand. I mean, yeah, I'm in a different house but... I've heard the whispers. She put a prefect in the hospital wing her first year because he tried to compliment her and- and she killed the last Heir of Slytherin so she could control its monster... well, if I speak out... I'm afraid I might not even wake up in the morning."
Many others have come to me just in that one day at Hogwarts, expressing their concerns about Miss Potter and saying things in hushed voices that even scared me.
Readers, I ask you this- With all the horrible people I have faced down with just my Quill alone... why does this one fourteen-year-old girl scare me so much?
Well, I might have an answer to that from a brave Gryffindor, who said this to me the other day in a hushed whisper: "I've heard her... talking with Dumbledore? The Headmaster, he used to be childhood friends with Grindelwald before the man went insane, but- well- I heard Dumbledore say that she reminded him of the late Dark Lord. It's obvious to anyone who opens their eyes... she's plotting to be the next Dark Lady."
Readers, I am worried about the state of our beautiful country, with this monster in our midst.
More about the Potter Family on page 3
The man opened his eyes, staring at the cream and gold designs on the opulent ceiling for a long while before sitting up slowly.
What a strange dream.
He could swear that Barty had come to him holding-
His eyes landed on where a newspaper was laying on the bedside table, a blood-red stone weighing it down. Reaching out slowly for the stone as if to check he wasn't seeing things, he paused once more at the sight of his hands.
First off- He had hands.
Second- Unlike the sickly almost white-blue skin that he'd become used to seeing along with serpentine eyes and the small patches of scales that covered his skin... his hands bore the soft flush of life they'd had before he'd gone through all those different rituals while traveling, his skin a soft peach-ish color in the morning light.
Standing on slightly unsteady legs, he moved to the attached bathroom, staring at his face in the mirror.
The coloring of a normal healthy man covered his whole expanse of smooth skin with no scales to be seen, his lips a light pink rather than the pale white lines they'd become, and his hair... moving a hand to touch the silken dark brown strands, he smiled- and then marveled at that too.
He had been made anew.
Finally, he was closer to the body that made up most of his memory and personality instead of the sliver of madness that he'd been quick to squash as soon as he'd first woken from a healing sleep in the Malfoy Manor.
No more days of possessing muggles or weak wizards so he could have the chance of glimpsing his green-eyed obsession. No, now he would be able to make himself known to her as he really was... As she would remember him.
Moving back to the soft bed, he put aside the stone carefully and then reached for the newspaper. On the front page was a large picture of four teenagers, but the one his eyes snapped to was leaning on another boy, seeming to be scolding him playfully for the friendly (and slightly goofy) smile the boy wore.
Hands clenching, he instead focused on the girl, because if he focused on how the boy's arm was laying around her shoulders he was going to light the paper on fire before he even read the article.
Lena was twice as stunning as he remembered her in his mind, wide green eyes framed by thick black lashes that blinked slowly as if she didn't have a cruel bone in her body and long black hair that reminded him of the night sky.
Making a note to- if there were no other pictures of Lena- cut this one out (and then remove the other boy from sight), he moved on to read the article.
"-was distraught about this, in tears as she begged the officials not to make her compete and then almost considering being stripped of her magic just to get out of the competition..."
Frowning deeply, even as he skimmed through the lies of the notoriously drama-seeking reporter, he couldn't get that one line out of his head.
Something ugly twisted in his stomach at the thought of Lena even suggesting to give up her magic- as he knew her and he knew that she'd never do that without a strong enough and equally daunting idea- he slid out of the bed and padded to the door, grabbing a robe as he did.
It seemed that Narcissa and Lucius weren't expecting to see him up, much less in a robe and sleep pants in their dining room.
"My Lord, you should be resting." Narcissa frowned slightly at him, as she was a healer first and a follower second. "Until I am sure that you are fully healed you should not strain yourself..." But she flicked her wand to pull a chair out for him at the small table anyways, knowing all too well his stubbornness.
Lucius bowed his head low as he sat down. "What- what can I do for you, my Lord?"
Letting the newspaper drop to the table with a smack, he looked at Lucius with a purposefully blank mask. "Is it true... that Lena Farland really considered giving up her magic instead of competing?"
"It is." Something akin to satisfaction showed in the man's eyes. "Barty Sr. even told me that she begged Dumbledore to bury her next to the man that isn't even her father- said he'd never seen the old goat look so defeated, not that I wouldn't bet when the brat kicks it he'll-"
Narcissa stood suddenly, chair squeaking against the tile, her eyes cold as ice and jaw clenched. "It would break Draco's heart to know one of his best friends was so cruelly pushed into this ridiculousness by the father he so admires!" The woman hissed as if she was channeling Salazar's basilisk, voice venomous. "You can sleep in a guest room because you're not the man I married."
Lucius watched the woman stalk from the room and turned to him as if embarrassed for the woman's behavior when neither of them could hear the click of heels anymore. "She got too attached to the girl over the summer, Milord, apologies that you had to hear such a thing."
"Yess..." Leaning back, his voice on the edge of slipping into parseltongue, he watched the man with slitted eyes, trying to restrain himself from just killing the idiot. "I too am sorry, as you seemed to have failed my instruction... It is times like this I wonder if I marked the wrong Malfoy..."
"M-my Lord?"
He hissed slightly, letting his mask fall so the man could see the furious anger he was holding back. "I thought I told you that the girl was crucial to my plans? You were supposed to set up the Tournament and Barty Jr. was the one who was supposed to put her name in... though she willingly gave me the items I needed for my ritual, hence Barty being ordered just to stand back and keep her safe." Leaning forward, he looked at the man coldly. "Why, if she had already completed what I had needed her in the tournament for... did you enter her unwillingly?"
The man's surface thoughts showed nothing but shock. "You- you think her a valuable asset? I thought- I thought the tournament was planned to kill her?"
Hissing at the very thought of Lena being in any way harmed, his voice lowered dangerously. "Kill her? I do not want her dead!" When the man paled, he narrowed his eyes. "What did you do."
"The tasks- well I thought-..." The man was pale now, not meeting his eyes.
"Tell me." He hissed.
Swallowing thickly, the man waved his wand, summoning something that looked like a folder of papers and handing them his way with shaky hands. "The first task..." The man flipped to a picture that had his stomach twisting painfully in dread. "It- it's dragons."
The resulting curse had the Malfoy Patriarch on his knees, begging for a chance at redemption.
He sneered, releasing the curse and moving to stand before the crumpled figure. "For every single scratch Lena gets from your idiocy, you will get that back tenfold. Did you not think about the other three magical children competing before you made this tournament a deathtrap? I bet it didn't even cross your mind... Now go-" he kicked the man lightly, "-and fix this. Make this an actual tournament and not just some stupid plot to kill four children."
Watching the man scramble up and run out unsteadily, he turned to the mirror sitting above the fireplace across the room, touching his cheek lightly.
He was still in awe of his new skin, marveling over how much better and whole he felt with more than half his soul returned to a body that was his once more.
"I wonder..." His voice was soft, eyes glancing at the picture in the newspaper as if speaking to the girl in the photo- as if she could somehow hear his soft mutter. "How you would like this new form of mine, my dear..."
It was a twisted obsession, he was sure.
But from that twisted obsession, that patient craving, the meticulous need... came something new.
He had been reborn from the ashes of Tom Riddle and Voldemort... as Thomas Gaunt.
~~~
A/N: I know that I don't answer comments much, but I do appreciate the love and support! Know that I do love you all and you're all valid and if you ever want to scream incoherently at me about any of my stories I will happily listen (and maybe scream back) ^-^