Blast from the Past

Blast From The Past - Part Eight

Author: Wintermoon

---

The Surge

It was getting late. The students were coming back from Hogsmeade and Harry and Draco knew they would have too many questions to answer if they didn't show up for dinner in the Great Hall. That's what Draco was thinking when they left his room and started in that direction. Of course, neither of them realized what had been going on all day.

It would appear that somehow, for some unknown reason, the people in Hogsmeade had begun talking about the growing friendship between the well-known rivals. It's not difficult to imagine the wide variety of reactions to such news, but if Draco had known those reactions were going to lead to so much trouble, he would have kept suggested they stay in his room forever.

Nevertheless, he didn't, and they were walking along the hall, minding their own business when suddenly. . .

~*_*~

"How dare you!"

Harry turned quickly, to search for the owner of that voice and found himself looking at none other than Preston Bates, seventh year Hufflepuff. This was confusing. Harry knew Preston, he'd spoken to Preston a few times over the years. He knew that Preston was good in Herbology and not so good in Transfiguration. He knew that Preston had started dating Cho Chang last year. None of this knowledge explained why Preston was suddenly, very obviously, in a complete rage over something Harry had done.

"How dare I, what?"

His calm tone and perfectly innocent expression seemed to anger Preston even more. The fury was a bit startling to everyone around (and by this time there were at least two dozen people around), because it's not often that you see a Hufflepuff get THAT upset about anything. Before Preston could answer, though, he was joined at the front of the crowd by Megan Diggory, a third year Hufflepuff. She had been quickly liked by most everyone and gained the support and protection of many, having come to school the year after her brother's death.

"Harry," Megan said calmly. "Tell us what's really going on, please?"

"I'm sorry, Megan. I don't know what you mean."

"People are saying that you've become friends. . . with . . .." she flicked her gaze in Draco's direction, refusing to actually look into his eyes. "Malfoy."

"Yes, actually. That's true." Harry looked from Megan to Preston, then skimmed across the waiting faces in the ever-growing crowd. "Draco is my friend," he announced, loudly enough for everyone to hear him. "He's not a Death Eater, and he's not Voldemort," he paused for the obligatory gasp that came after saying that name. "I'm sorry for those of you who have a problem with this, but maybe someday, you'll understand."

With that, Harry turned, glanced at Draco for a moment to assure himself that the boy was all right, and they continued their path toward the great hall. Or, rather, they started to. The booming voice behind them brought them to a quick halt after only a few steps. It was Preston again.

"You should know better, Potter." The disgust with which he said Harry's last name could easily have rivaled every confrontation Harry'd ever had with Draco. "You, yourself, told everyone that Lucius Malfoy was there when You-Know-Who came back. His whole family is guilty, including his son. By befriending him, you're supporting what they stand for. You're belittling Cedric's death."

Harry turned on Preston, green eyes stormy and dark, and slowly began to advance on the Hufflepuff. His face seemed perfectly calm, the only indication of his unhappiness was in his eyes, now growing so dark that they appeared nearly as black as Snape's, but with just a tint of green.

"I will say this again, but only because I like you, Preston." The tone in Harry's voice clearly said that his 'like' for the boy was quickly fading. "I'm sorry if you have a problem with this. Draco is not his father. Aside from childish teasing, he's done nothing to you, or anyone else here. Draco's never killed anyone. He is not at fault here."

"Honestly, Potter. Don't you think anyone but yourself these days? No, what am I saying. The Great Harry Potter doesn't have to think of anyone else. Everyone loves the Golden Boy, everyone will ALWAYS love the Fucking Golden Boy. Who cares if our precious Golden Boy Harry Potter is supporting the enemy. Who cares about all the people that are dead now. Hell, Potter, you might as well start the killing yourself. You might as well have killed Cedric yourself."

"And Justin." Cried a voice from the crowd.

"And Charlie Weasley"

"And your godfather"

"And . . ." there were murmurs running throughout the crowd now and Draco was now beyond irritated with the way they were treating Harry. He was about to let Preston Bates know exactly how irritated he was when Harry's booming voice caught everyone's attention.

"STOP IT!" As they all looked at Harry, Draco picked up on something the rest of them didn't notice. Harry was levitating. Not much, but an inch or two off the floor. Draco wondered, not without some trepidation, what was going to come next. He stayed still, watching, silent, yet prepared to step in and defend Harry if the need should arise.

Harry stared intently at Preston, making sure he had the boy's complete and undivided attention. "Preston. You've always been a nice kid. And I've always been proud of my understanding and forgiving nature. Because of that, I'm going to give you the chance to apologize nicely so I can decide whether or not to forgive you for that statement." Draco was shocked and a little confused at the tone of his boyfriend's voice. It sounded NOTHING like Harry. It sounded much more like Crabbe's father, or even Draco's own father.

Oddly enough, Preston didn't back down. He seemed to be completely oblivious to the power with which he was dealing. He glared at Harry with the hatred of the betrayed and said quietly, yet firmly, "I won't apologize for the truth. How do we know you didn't kill them all?"

In a flash, time seemed to stand still for Draco. He saw the following events in slow motion, saw Harry take a deep breath and slowly raise his hand. He saw Preston flinch ever-so-slightly, and then relax when he realized Harry was not holding his wand. He felt himself reaching forward, desperate to pull Harry away before. . . before something. Before whatever Harry was about to do. Just as his fingers brushed Harry's sleeve he heard the near whisper, "Cruc.."

"NO HARRY, NO!" Draco pulled Harry around, desperately seeking eye contact, believing that he could keep Harry distracted and keep that curse from being completed if only he could connect with Harry's emerald green eyes. After mere moments, it seemed to work. He could feel Harry slowly come back to the ground, he could see the darkness in his eyes begin to lighten, he could sense the tension draining from Harry's muscles. Without taking his hands off the young man or breaking the eye contact, he quietly suggested to the rest of the students that they leave the corridor immediately, which they did.

Once the hall was completely empty Draco pulled Harry to him, holding him tightly and waiting for the angered shakes to subside. As he felt his boyfriend beginning to calm down, he finally allowed himself to take a much needed deep breath.

"What were you doing, Harry?" Draco's voice was very quiet, just above a whisper. He searched Harry's face and eyes for an explanation, seeking an answer to the question he was almost afraid to ask.

"I was arguing with Preston. I thought that was rather obvious." Harry's expression and voice gave no answers, no explanation, no emotion of any kind. He stood like a statue, eyes cold, face hardened. It frightened Draco, the image of his Harry, closed off and emotionless, much like the fathers of his friends often appearing at Malfoy Manor after a Death Eater meeting.

"Harry," Draco glanced around the corridor, and decided that it was too open for this conversation. "Come on, let's go back to my room for a little while." Harry narrowed his eyes momentarily, then seemed to snap out of his . . . mood, mask, trance, whatever. He grinned, suddenly looking perfectly boyish and joyful, eyes twinkling and everything. "Wow, Dray, I thought we agreed to wait a while," he teased.

Draco didn't move. He simply stood in shock, amazed at the complete and sudden change he had just witnessed. He vaguely remembered hearing about some Muggle disorder where a person has more than one personality in their head. He hoped sincerely that this wasn't going to be the case with Harry. He honestly didn't think he could handle it. Meanwhile, Harry released himself from Draco's grasp, caught the blonde's hand and began to move in the direction of the Head Boy room they had just left. Draco felt he had no choice but to follow.

~*_*~

At the other end of the castle, in a large, round office behind a hidden staircase guarded by a stone gargoyle, the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry sat quietly, analyzing the surge of power that had just run through his school. Realizing that the 'something' he'd been waiting for during the last twenty years was finally coming to pass, he looked to his fireplace and called for Professor McGonagall to join him in his office.

~*_*~

Back in the privacy of Draco's bedroom, Harry pulled his boyfriend into a sweet and explorative kiss. Draco's first reaction was to break away but his intentions were quickly squashed by the firm hands on his waist and the gentle tongue flitting across his lips. When Harry paused for a moment, Draco opened his mouth to speak, but gasped instead at the tingles caused by Harry's lips gently brushing the corner of his mouth.

'How can something so innocent make me feel so excited?'

Draco had no further time for thought as he felt Harry tangle his fingers in the loose blond hair again. Diving into the moment, Draco pulled Harry closer, thrilling in the feel of the warmth along his body. As their kiss deepened, lips caressing, tongues exploring, hearts pounding, souls joining, they lost themselves completely in that moment.

Finally, breaking apart the two young men stood, intrigued, aroused, completed.

Harry spoke first, "wow".

Draco replied, "yeah".

They knew. Each of them knew that they needn't go any further into the physical aspects of the relationship. Not just yet. Each of them also knew that something had changed. Just when they thought there was nothing greater, invisible forces seemed to show them differently.

After untold moments standing there, staring into each other's eyes, Draco finally remembered his real reason for suggesting they return to the room. His eyes darkened noticeably as he thought about what he had almost witnessed, that image burning in his mind's eye, the one image he thought he would never see.

Harry noticed. He knew what Draco was thinking about. He was so overcome with his own emotions that he couldn't quite 'hear' Draco's thoughts, but the look on the Slytherin's face was enough of a clue. Harry walked to the armchair and sat down, took a deep breath and then looked up into the upset face of the one he loved.

"Go ahead, ask."

Draco stood, silently, considering. After a moment, he walked over and knelt in front of the chair, searching the green eyes he had come to know so well. "I don't think I want to."

"But you feel you have to, don't you?"

"Harry, please, just tell me I was wrong. Tell me you were just upset and you were going to yell at him or something. Please, just tell me you were not about to cast an unforgivable curse on that guy."

"I can't." The two of them sat in silence for a few more moments. Harry was caught up in the thoughts of how angry he was with Preston Bates, how close he'd come to breaking the law and - though he couldn't tell anyone this - how exhilarating it had felt. Draco was caught up in the thoughts of how much Harry had changed and how he wasn't sure how he felt about those changes. The idea of Harry being dark had entertained him for years, but the reality of it was a bit frightening. Perhaps he could talk to Harry's friends about it, they knew him better, after all.

Still considering these thoughts, the two of them finally headed out to get dinner, sitting at their individual tables with little conversation.

~*_*~

Dumbledore looked across the desk at Minerva McGonagall with a touch of sorrow in his sparkling eyes. He knew that she couldn't understand, at least not yet. As headmaster (not to mention the most powerful wizard in the world) he had the ability to sense shifts and changes in power, almost as easily as the scales held by the Ministry.

"It's happened, Minerva."

"Albus, there have been many things to happen in this school, especially since Harry Potter first entered it nearly seven years ago. I'm afraid you'll need to be more specific as to ~what~ precisely has happened."

"The darkness. To be completely specific," here he paused a moment and reached for a bag of lemon drops, offered it to the Professor, and then took one for himself. "About half an hour ago, I felt a powerful surge of power from one of the students in this school. The unusual thing, is that it was a shift in power as well. I believe this to be the shift in power seen on the Ministry scales. We should be expecting some unusual events around here until this is straightened out."

"You still believe that James Potter and Lucius Malfoy will be able to do something about this? And that it won't cause havoc within the school?"

"I intend to catch them as soon as they arrive and place some mild appearance charms on them so they won't be recognized. It obviously wouldn't do for anyone to know who they are. We'll also need to keep their contact with the students to a minimum so they won't learn too much about their future. We wouldn't want to change any major events in history, now, would we?" His tone and the ever-present twinkle in his eye showed that he clearly would love to changes some major events.

"I'll be watching for them. Ironically, I have to meet their sons for detention tomorrow evening. They were caught trying to sneak into the kitchens. It seems they have indeed become quite good friends."

"That's something I had almost expected, though I have to wonder if that's the reason for this power shift."

"Sir, are you saying the shift was within Harry Potter? That boy couldn't possibly be involved in the Dar - oh" Her eyes went wide as she placed all the puzzle pieces together. "Oh, Merlin." Neither of them said another word as the implications of the 'Savior of the Wizarding World' being on the wrong side were too heavily hanging around them.

~*_*~

It was nearing midnight when Draco heard a knock at his door. He jumped up, happily running to greet his boyfriend. He spoke as he swung the portrait hole open. "Hey sexy, I didn't know you were coming by tonight!"

Only after the statement was out of his mouth did he realize that he was speaking to a worried looking red-head. Ron stepped into the room, not bothering to wait for the invitation he felt sure would never come. "Okay, Malfoy, listen," he spoke quickly, hoping to all the gods that Harry was right when he said Malfoy could be trusted. "I know you and Harry are friends, and he trusts you. Harry's my best friend and I feel like I should trust his judgment and all, but I'm getting a little worried now because I can't find him. And, see, well," he paused, unsure how his friend would react to this particular secret being exposed.

After a moment, he decided it was worth the backlash, so long as Harry was safe, and right now he saw two possibilities for help; Malfoy or Dumbledore. With that thought, he pulled a rolled up piece of parchment from his robes, along with his wand. At the sight of the wand, Draco's eyes narrowed slightly, but he made no move for his own wand, deciding to trust the frantic red-head.

"I solemnly swear I am up to no good." Draco watched in awe as the map of Hogwarts appeared on the parchment. "Now pay attention Malfoy. This map shows where everyone is on the grounds. See, here's you and me. There's my dorm mates in our room. There's Filch. There's Hagrid in his cabin. The thing is, Harry's not on here. I can't find him anywhere and I don't know what's happened to him. I thought about going to Dumbledore, but I was afr. . ."

"Weasely, Stop!" Draco looked over the map carefully, checking some of the places he knew that Harry like to go to get away from things. He checked the lake, the pitch, the broom shed by the pitch, the Astronomy Tower, the alcove behind the third knight in the North corridor, then just to be certain, checked Harry's bed and his own room. He didn't see a dot labeled Harry Potter anywhere.

"Maybe he's got his invisibility cloak with him," Draco suggested. He knew that the cloak was safely folded in his own trunk, but he wasn't about to tell Ron that Harry could disappear at will.

"No, the map sees the person, no matter what form they're in. Even if he were transfigured into an animal, it would still know it's him." Ron was getting more and more upset. He couldn't face the possibility that something bad could have happened to his best friend.

"Okay, let's do this," Draco said. "Let's look through the map and see if anyone else is missing from the grounds. Maybe that will help us figure out what could be going on."

Ron looked at the concern on Draco's face and felt more worried than before, yet comforted at the same time. He realized that Harry had been right about Draco, the Slytherin really did care for him. Cared for him as more than a friend, if Ron's observations were correct. His worry increased, though, once he saw it validated by someone else. The two of them sat down together, carefully scanning the map and mentally categorizing the people they found.

Ron found all the Gryffindors in their beds, all the instructors appeared to be accounted for, and there seemed to be an adequate number of Hufflepuffs. Draco was highly unsure about the Ravenclaws, having never paid much attention to them in the past. He felt certain that all the Slytherins were present, though. Scanning the grounds, he noticed something rather odd.

"What's this?" Draco pointed to the edge of the map where it appeared that someone was at the very edge of the Hogwarts grounds. Ron looked, watched closely as a dot halfway appeared, then disappeared again. It was so quick that the name didn't completely show up, but Ron saw enough to know. That dot was familiar to him. That dot had lived with him for years. That dot was most certainly NOT supposed to be on school grounds.

"Peter Pettigrew"

---

It's Time

1976

James took a deep breath and looked around at the carefree group gathered in the Gryffindor common room. He knew this was going to be difficult, but he also knew that it had to be said.

"Hey, guys?" He paused, waiting until he had the attention of the other three. "I, uh, I have something to tell you."

Sirius looked at his best friend and carefully took note of the nervous expression on his face. "You finally did it, didn't you?" He smiled widely, certain the he knew what James wanted to tell them.

"Did what?" Peter looked from Sirius to James in confusion.

"Don't you pay attention to anything, you silly git," Sirius replied. "He finally asked Lils to marry him!"

"No, Padfoot, I didn't," James looked around nervously. "It has nothing to do with that. I mean, I love her but, marriage is pretty heavy, you know?" He glanced around again, mild panic in his dark eyes. "It's about the project for Dumbledore."

Remus leaned forward then, still concerned that his friend was using such strong magic with Lucius Malfoy. "What about it?"

"I can't tell you everything, Dumbledore said it would be too dangerous. But I wanted to tell you all that this big plan, the final stage of the project, we're doing it tomorrow evening. I don't know what to expect, and I'm still not sure why he chose us, but it's some Dark stuff," he paused, looking around at the three best friends anyone could ever wish for. "It's really big, this step. It could. . . well, it could change things. And I just. . ." His voice cracked like it hadn't done since he entered puberty. He cleared his throat and looked down at the floor as if it held the answers to the universe.

Remus and Sirius moved to the couch, finding places on either side of their friend. Peter followed suit and kneeled at James' left. The three of them understood exactly what was happening here. James was afraid. The recent deaths and the continuing war had not gone unnoticed by the students at Hogwarts, no matter how much their Headmaster tried to hide it. Anything this serious and connected with Dark Arts activities could be disastrous. Simply put, James was afraid that he wouldn't survive this 'project'.

Peter seemed concerned, yet slightly relieved. Sirius was very obviously shaken by the prospect. Remus, however, was once again beginning to show signs of the easily-angered wolf within. "I can't believe that fool would put you in this position. You're a student! Has he informed your parents? Do they know that he's putting you in danger?"

"Stop Moony. I'll be fine. He's not forcing me. . ."

"What do you call this, if not force?"

"He asked. It's as simple as that. He requested that we work on it, and he's requesting that we try to use it. We've tested it once, on something small, and it was fine. This is a bigger event. It's major, Dumbledore says the future depends on it."

"I thought changing the past was against the law?"

"It is, Padfoot," James replied. "But in case you missed it, I'm not going to the past, I'm going to the future."

"Wait, you're actually GOING - TO - THE - FUTURE???" Moony was dumbstruck. He looked at Padfoot and Wormtail, hoping to see something calming from one of them. He relied on his friends, after all they'd been through together, to keep his rage under control. This time, however, he saw his own disbelief and anger being reflected on the faces of his friends.

"Prongs," Sirius began in a quiet tone, "you have to think about this. Dumbledore may be a good wizard, but. . ."

"Dumbledore's a GREAT wizard," James interrupted.

". . . but he still doesn't know everything. He can't even tell you if you'll come back safely! And to send you with Lucius Malfoy? That's utterly and completely daft! It's insane to think that Malfoy would actually help you with anything, especially anything that won't directly benefit him!"

"Malfoy's not really that bad, guys. I've spent a lot of time with him on this project and I think he puts up a front because of his mother. You know she's a direct descendent of Magnus, right?"

Peter swallowed hard at this news. "Magnus, the dark wizard? Morgan Le Fay's son? Malfoy is related to them?"

James nodded. "I'd heard rumors, but Lucius told me about it, too."

"LUCIUS?" Sirius and Remus spoke in unison. They looked at each other momentarily before Sirius continued. "You seem awfully defensive of him, James. Is there - ehm - anything . . . ELSE - going on?"

James looked at his friends, one at a time, in utter confusion. 'What's he getting at?' he wondered. Finally, realization dawned on him. "You think I'm shagging Malfoy?" He looked from Sirius to Peter and finally to Remus in complete horror. "Listen guys, you know I'm as open and accepting as the next wizard, but even if I were interested in shagging guys, I would never do that to Lily!"

Realizing that James was being honest about that, his friends relaxed and went back to the issue at hand - his safety and their belief that he should turn down this project. As the discussion began to heat up again, James stood up and quietly walked out of the common room, effectively quieting the other three Marauders.

~*_*~

Lucius quietly walked into the Slytherin common room, grateful that the rest of the Slytherins were still in the Great Hall celebrating something or other. Severus was the only person in the room and luckily, Severus was the only person Lucius wanted to see right now. He smiled at the dark- haired boy who was staring at absolutely nothing and completely lost in thought.

"Sev?"

The onyx eyes that turned to him shimmered in the flickering firelight. The future Potions Master smiled at his closest friend. "Lucius, I thought you would have been celebrating with everyone else, and spending the evening with Narcissa."

"I'm not in the mood for celebrating, nor do I feel like subjecting myself to the likes of Narcissa Black this evening." He smiled and joined Severus in front of the fire. "I need to talk to you Sev."

Severus Snape had always been quick to pick up on emotions, especially from those he cared about. This was no different. He could feel the anxiety and fear rolling off of Lucius in waves. He turned to the blonde with concern on his face. "What's wrong?"

"I'm a bit - well - nervous about this project with Potter. We're supposed to finish it tomorrow evening and I've got the distinct feeling that it's not exactly the safest of detention assignments."

"You don't think the headmaster would allow you to get hurt do you?"

"I think he would if he honestly believes in this project."

Severus considered that statement for a moment before speaking. "I think it's time you told me the details of this project. You can't expect me to understand what you're nervous about if you don't tell me what it is that you have to do."

Lucius took a deep breath and proceeded to explain the project in detail, the work they did, the test, the incident with the Pritchard girl, and Dumbledore's explanation about the Scales of Power and something that would happen in 21 years.

"He won't tell you what's going to happen?"

"He claims he doesn't know, that they can't see the details, only light turning toward darkness."

"And he expects a couple of students to fix the future?"

"Apparently."

~*_*~

Lily's vibrant green eyes filled with tears but she refused to shed them. She had to be strong, had to be supportive where his friends weren't, at least for now.

"You'll be careful, won't you?"

"Of course I'll be careful. And I'll be fine," he added with a little more confidence than he felt. The one thing he couldn't stand was to see Lily upset.

"Do you know how much I love you James Potter?"

"About half as much as I love you Lily Evans." He smiled at the familiarity of their 'I love you' routine. He honestly felt it must be true because he didn't see how anyone could love anyone else more than half as much as he loved Lily Evans. It was this thought that prompted his next question to her. "Lily? Will you marry me?" He watched as the unshed tears that had almost disappeared made a sudden reappearance and started quickly running down her cheeks. "Oh gods, I'm sorry Lily, I didn't mean to . . . I was just. . . I know we're young and all, and it's not because of this project, I just love you so much and I want to know that we'll be spending the rest of our lives together."

Lily smiled, the dazzling smile that melted his heart, and leaned towards him for a gentle, yet thorough, kiss. "Of course I'll marry you. Haven't you heard? Girls are supposed to cry when they get a proposal!"

They laughed together and lay on the bed wrapped in each others arms, thankful once again that Lily had her own room as Head Girl. As they talked and kissed into the night, they both tried to focus on the joy of being in love, rather than the uncertainty of what was to come.

~*_*~

James and Lucius offered cordial nods to each other the next evening. One look told both young men that they were not alone in their anxiety over this project.

"Now, Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, you do understand the situation?"

"Yes sir," Lucius said.

"We're to follow where the charm leads us, and trust our instincts," James repeated.

"You must also trust each other implicitly. I hope that will not be an issue?"

They looked at each other. This project, though it had started as a one week detention, had been dragging on for nearly two months. They had spent a great deal of their free time in each other's company and had grudgingly become friends. But implicit trust? Brown eyes met blue and both recognized that the trust was, surprisingly, solidly there. The tiniest of smiles graced both faces as they turned back to Dumbledore.

James was the first to speak, "I don't think it will be an issue, sir."

"Very well, then. I'll leave you now. I understand this is a big step you're taking and you may want a few minutes before you drink the potion. I won't rush you, but I will implore you to drink at the same time. I believe it will make the transition easier." He smiled at the two of them and his eyes still held their familiar twinkle as he turned and walked out, leaving James Potter and Lucius Malfoy alone in the Transfiguration classroom.

"Do you need more time?"

"No, I just want to get it over with."

"Do you really trust me?"

"Is there a reason I shouldn't?"

"Aside from the fact that I'm a Slytherin, and a Malfoy? No."

"Are you saying that I should base my trust on your house or your name instead of your trustworthiness or my intuition?"

"No, just. . . Listen, Potter. I want to get this over with too, and I'm hoping it works out the way that old coot thinks it will, but, well, I guess I'm just trying to say thank you."

"For what?"

"For looking past my name and my house and getting to know me. Not many people would honestly trust me, not even my own housemates. I appreciate it."

"You deserve it. Especially for what we're about to do. Are you ready to drink up?"

"You bet."

They drank the potion, shuddering at the bitter taste and slimy consistency of it. They stood there, looking at each other, brown and blue eyes locked together as they both reflected on this newfound friendship and respect, and both wondered if their other friends would ever understand or accept it. They were so caught up in their thoughts that neither of them noticed the swirling lights around them. Both boys snapped to attention at the voice that intruded their thoughts quite suddenly.

"Ah, I'm pleased to see you are both still here. I apologize for being late, but perhaps waiting will teach you to respect the school rules. Now, I think polishing the suits of armor on the third floor will be sufficient punishment. I won't be hovering tonight, I've no time or patience for that. Please be assured that I will check your work and I don't expect to see either of you sneaking into the kitchens again." With that, Professor McGonagall turned and left the room, completely oblivious to the confused looks on both faces in front of her.

~TBC~

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