Unofficial Portkey Archive

Harry Potter and the Wanderer by The Shadows
EPUB MOBI HTML Text

Harry Potter and the Wanderer

The Shadows

There is a long author's note at the end of this piece, dealing with wands, ages, Death Eaters, the elven warrior I mentioned last chapter, and the ever popular question: Why hasn't Harry said the three words to Hermione yet?

Well, the question is partially answered in this chapter, but the full explanation will have to wait for later, I'm afraid. I will touch on it down below, though.

Enjoy!

------------

Chapter Twenty Seven: The Moon's Reflection

It didn't take long for Harry to figure out just where Luna wanted to go for their walk. He barely even noticed when she entwined her fingers in his and started leading him outside. She had told him of her retreat before, but now it appeared that she was actually going to take him there.

"Will you be okay in that thin cloak?" he asked quietly as a gust of wind picked up, sending his own cloak flapping behind them. "It is winter, you know."

"I'll be fine," she promised him. "If I get really cold, you wouldn't let me freeze, would you?"

"Of course not, Luna," he replied quickly. He wanted to ask her what was on her mind, but figured that he might as well let her set the pace for everything - she had thus far anyway. "I'll keep you safe."

"Thanks," she whispered.

As the two crossed the windy grounds, Harry's light green cloak seemed to become a little thicker, and his hood went up of its own accord to keep him warm from the chill. He'd have to remember to thank Talisien the next time he saw him. He wasn't as concerned as Ron was about the elf's sudden disappearance - in fact, neither was Hermione, which was one of the first things that set him at ease.

Hermione had told them right after his first retelling of what the falcon had said that he'd be back in less than a week. From what she knew of the elven defenses, the Death Eaters who were heading there now didn't stand a chance. All it meant was that they were without a teacher for the next few days.

That was actually what worried Harry more, given what had happened the last time Talisien was unavailable to teach.

When they reached the edge of the lake, Luna tugged on his arm to keep moving around it. Once they were clear of the wide opening and at the edges of the forest, she stopped and motioned to the large ironwood tree behind them. It was obvious that this was a place where someone had sat for quite some time in the past - the tree itself seemed to almost have developed a curve for her.

Harry sat down first at her insistence, and then she sat down next to him, leaning into him for his warmth. "This doesn't bother you, does it?" she asked. "I'm not getting closer than I should?" She sounded worried suddenly, but Harry shook his head.

"No, it's fine," he reassured her. "Your cold, and I'm not. This works well to fix that, right? Besides, Hermione trusts me for good reason."

"Thank you, Harry," she whispered again.

The two sat in comfortable silence for almost half an hour before Harry really started to look around at their surroundings. Aside from being on the edge of the forest - which was oddly quiet that night - the lake was quite calm as well. The large full moon overhead reminded him of his godfather, who was probably locked away in his small cell at home.

Home. That word still sounded odd, even in his thoughts, when thinking about good things. He knew Lupin was going through a rough time right now with the moon and all, but he knew he was probably happier than he had been in a long time. He had work to do and a place to live, and was looking forward to having Harry back for the beginning of the summer, too.

As he looked back down from the night sky, he saw the same thing mirrored back to him from the surface of the lake. The few ripples of the water gave the lunar spectacle an almost eerie look, but it wasn't disconcerting, really.

"Do you think Ronald really cares for me?"

"What?" Harry asked in surprise. He hadn't expected that to be an issue with Luna at all. "Of course he does. Even if I didn't know him as well as I do, I'd have no question that he doesn't only care for you - to him, you are his world. Just look at how much he's calmed down with you around."

"But he's changing for me. Isn't that wrong? Shouldn't he be able to change at his own rate? I feel like I'm forcing him to be someone he's not just for me."

He looked down to find her silvery-grey eyes moist with unshed tears, and he pulled her a little closer to him despite himself. It was a look he had never really seen in her - not even when she spoke of her lost mother - and it was a look he had no interest in seeing ever again. He vowed to himself again that if Ron did anything to hurt her, he'd have to return the favour tenfold.

"Ron is growing up," Harry said after a moment of trying to figure out what to say. "To say he's changing for you wouldn't really be right... but he's changing because of you. I think he wants to become a wizard that you could be proud of, while still keeping that craziness that makes him Ron. He's still the one to crack the jokes and make all of us laugh, but he can be serious and doesn't complain when he would have before." He then shrugged and grinned despite himself. "Besides, you're actually one of the few people around who Ron doesn't have to change a lot for to be appreciated. You like his quirks."

Luna had to admit that was true, but didn't say anything for a few minutes. Finally, she looked up to him again. "He believes in you now," Luna offered quietly. "I know when he thought you slipped your name in the goblet hurt you terribly, and so does he. He told me that nothing will ever make him do that again. He trusts you more than he trusts himself now."

"And I think he trusts you even more - he's given you his heart after all."

"He has?" To his amusement, she started looking through the pockets of her robes. "He'll need that back, really. Without it, I'm not sure how long he can last."

He caught one of her hands in his own to stop her, and managed to surpress his chuckles at her antics - he knew that she was actually being serious, which was one of the things that intrigued him about her. "It's a figure of speech," he told her calmly. "Like how Hermione has my heart, and I have hers. It just means that two people care for each other more than anything else. It's one of those things that makes it so you don't want to do anything to disappoint the other, but at the same time you want to be yourself to keep them happy."

"Thank you, Harry," she said softly as he released her hand and she relaxed a bit more against him. He thought suddenly that this position would probably look rather suspect to anyone who happened upon them, but for whatever reason, that thought didn't bother him. He knew that Hermione trusted him completely - just like he trusted her - and he was sure that Ron wouldn't jump down either of their throats either (at least, not after he heard what the conversation had been about thus far).

"You're saying that a lot tonight," he said with a chuckle, finally letting it out after holding it for so long. "But don't worry about it. Just consider this one of my lesser 'saving-people-thing.' "

"So you've accepted that fact, have you?" she asked with a grin. "Not going to get mad the next time someone suggests that might be driving you into doing something stupid?"

"I wouldn't go that far," he said with a broad smile. "But I'm not about to sit back and let anything happen to my friends if I can help it."

They sat in the comfortable silence for another few minutes before Harry started to think that they should probably start to head back soon. Ron and Hermione's rounds would be over before too long, and if Ron - or more likely Hermione - realised that he wasn't in his bed yet, then there'd probably be a bit of a panic.

"Can you fly on your own now, or did you just gain the ability to talk any language?"

"Oh, I can't actually fly. Hermione suggested I try it to find out - just in case I ever decided to jump for the snitch again - but I can't. I do seem to fall a lot slower now, almost like I'm floating, so I guess..." he trailed off suddenly as he looked down to her again. No one was supposed to know that he was a magical animagus, but the question she had asked made it obvious she knew more than she was letting on. "Alright, what tipped you off?"

"To the fact that you are a lyra animagus, or the fact that Hermione is that cute kneazle Willow?"

Harry tensed beneath her instantly at the accusation. He hadn't expected them to be caught so bloody early on in things. He had no doubt it would happen eventually, but... "You know about Willow?"

"Don't worry," she promised him quickly, apparently sensing his fear. "I didn't tell anyone, and I don't plan on it. I was just curious. I find it simply amazing that both of you managed to become magical animagus. They are really rare, you know."

"Yeah," he said absentmindedly. He was trying to figure out just what had tipped her off, but nothing was coming to mind, and she didn't seem too likely to just come out and tell him. "Last registered one could turn into a basilisk."

"I bet there's quite a few non-registered ones, though. Since so many of the abilities seem to transfer over and all..." She looked back out to the lake and sighed. "I can't be burned by any amount of heat now."

"That's good news," Harry said before catching himself. "Why not?"

"Oh, I'm a magical animagus too... at least I will be, once I can convince myself to relax enough, that is. I find listening to my own heartbeat does an excellent job, though listening to Ron's works even better. I somehow doubt that would be much help to you, though."

An involuntary shudder went down Harry's spine, causing Luna to laugh suddenly. "I think I'd rather listen to Hermione's," he replied. "But..."

"I know why I'm a magical one, and I have a pretty good idea about why you are, too. Hermione... she's a complete mystery. Sometimes, magics aren't meant to be explained, though." When Harry said nothing, she decided to keep going. "You have an overabundance of magical energy in you, thanks to your scar and what Voldemort did to you as an infant." The name just rolled off her tongue, and Harry couldn't help but notice - with a touch of pride - that another member of the DA seemed to be unaffected by it. He should have known Luna would be rather early on in the affair.

"So what about you?"

"My mother." Luna's voice had dropped down to a whisper, and Harry tightened his hold around her shoulder to try and provide a little comfort. "The experiment that killed her, I never told you what it was about, did I?" When Harry shook his head, she shuddered a bit - though of tired nerves or surpressed sob, he wasn't sure which. "She was trying to ensure I would have an interested animagus form. We decided on heliopaths."

"It worked, then?" Harry asked as quietly as he could.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Mum just didn't survive it."

"I'm sorry, Luna."

"I'll see her again, Harry. Just like you'll see Sirius Black again."

------------------------

"Hermione, just stop for a minute and let me answer!" Ron shouted into the empty Great Hall corridor to get Hermione to stop. Ever since they had started on their rounds, she had been talking a mile a minute, trying to get Ron's opinion on something - though by this time, he wasn't entirely sure he knew what that was. "Could you narrow it down to a few words or less?"

He turned to his bookworm friend to find tears in her eyes as she turned away from him. "I think Harry's scared of me."

"Right," Ron said firmly. "If he's scared of you, I'll not only sit and eat at the Slytherin table for the rest of the year, I'll start taking baths with Draco Malfoy." Hermione couldn't help but giggle a little at his answer, which in turn made him feel a little better about the whole thing. "Now, how about you start over? Why would you possibly think he's scared of you?"

"Well, to start off with, he didn't sit to study with me much at all over the holidays. After New Years, he'd make it a point to sit at a different table to do his work unless he was helping me with translations," she explained. "And he's still very hesitant to make any show of affection when there are a lot of people around, and..."

Ron cut her off again, much to his own surprise, before she could go any further. "This is Harry we're talking about, right?" he asked. Knowing Hermione as well as he did, he didn't give her a chance to answer - as that would mean he'd lose his train of thought by the time he could speak again - before going on again. "Of course it is. Now, in all the time we've known him, when did he ever like being the centre of attention? Do I really have to answer that for you, Hermione? You've always been the smart one out of us... if you start to change that now, then I'd say we're doomed, because there's no way I can even lift half the books you've read, let alone get through them in my lifetime!"

She recognized his attempt at humour, but didn't really react to it. She needed a serious answer from him. "What about the studying, then?"

"He's a guy, Hermione."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that if he were to sit right next to you - or have you in his lap, as I've seen you do once already, by the way - then there's no way his mind would be on his schoolwork at all. It would be on..." he trailed off then, not really wanting to admit to anything like that. He had just about treated her like 'one of the guys' again, and he knew she didn't always appreciate that.

"On what?"

"Do I really have to spell it out for you?" Ron asked in surprise. "His mind would be on what's under your robes, not what's on the parchment!" Hermione let out a soft 'oh,' of surprise, and Ron couldn't help but chuckle. " 'Oh,' is right. What did you think, he didn't want to be close to you? Well obviously he does, but if he is when you've asked him to study, then he'd let you down by not studying. But now when he's not with you, he's letting you down and you get upset. You realise this is the kind of situation that guys usually call buggered up, right? Harry can't win here, can he?"

This time, she couldn't help but laugh. He was right, and she knew it, and she actually felt a little embarrassed that she hadn't picked up on that fact. She made a note to thank Luna again for helping calm Ron down - last year at this time, he probably would have had a riot laughing at her stupidity.

"Then why can't he tell me he loves me?" The question escaped before she could stop it, and all humour drained from Ron's face as he looked back to her. "I've told him more times than I can count, but he's never said it to me. Not once!"

"Remind me to crack him a new one when I see him next, alright?" Ron muttered under his breath, not sure if he meant it or not. "He does, you know. There's no way he can't. I know that look in his eye when he looks at you - it's not just lust or anything (though I can't promise there's never any of that there, too...) - but it's the same look that I have when I look at Luna. She's my world, Hermione. Everything."

"Have you told her?"

"So often I thought she'd be sick of hearing it by now."

"And she's told you, too."

"Yeah," he said softly before snapping himself back to the matter at hand. "Look, I warned you that if I have to do the thinking for both of us, that we were in trouble, right?" Again, he didn't give her a chance to reply before going on. "Why do you think he hasn't said it yet? But before you answer, consider what I just said. He does love you, Hermione. And so help me, the next time I see him... for hurting you like this..."

"Don't hurt him, Ron," Hermione said quickly.

"Truthfully..." Ron said slowly. "I'm not sure if I could anymore. But that doesn't mean I won't try if I have to! He..."

"Loves me," Hermione cute him off. "But he can't say it because he thinks that by admitting it out loud, I would be in more danger. He admitted that he loved Sirius like a father, and look what happened to him. If he admits it to me, maybe he thinks I'll be taken from him, too!"

Ron looked at her for a moment before breaking down into laughter. "And to think all it took for you to figure that out was me threatening to attack him the next time I saw him!" he laughed. "I wonder what actually attacking him would do!"

"Try it and find out," Hermione said with a grin. "I suspect I may have to use that curse I found the other day... do you think Luna would find you cute with rabbit ears?"

"Alright, alright," Ron said quickly, mirth still bright in his eyes. "Let's get back to the dorm. Our rounds are done now anyway, and we couldn't find anyone out of bed."

The walk back to the Gryffindor common room was filled with Ron needling Hermione about how obvious things between her and Harry were, and how she was completely oblivious to it, as usual. It was taking a great deal of restraint on her part not to curse him from behind... but she didn't want to risk getting in trouble.

They separated in the common room as Ron went upstairs. Hermione stayed down next to the fire for all of a minute or two - just to give Ron time to change before she went up to join Harry as Willow - before he came barrelling downstairs again, a shimmering cloak in one hand and a scrap of old parchment in the other.

"C'mon!" he said quickly, throwing the invisibility cloak over them both as he hauled her to her feet. He didn't even stop to consider that it was longer and bigger now than it had been in the past before pulled her out of the dorm.

"What's going on?" she hissed, well aware that this time out, they certainly could get in trouble if they ran into Filch or his cat - or worse yet, the Wanderer. She knew he could spot them, despite the cloak.

"Look at this!" Ron whispered fiercely, shoving the old parchment beneath her nose. She forced him to stop so she could look down at the Marauder's Map. It took her very little time to figure out what he was pointing to - the two dots next to the lake labelled Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood. "I thought I asked him to take her to her dorm, not take her to the lake to do..."

"Ronald Bilius Weasley!" Hermione snapped in a hushed voice. "Have a little faith!"

"Yeah, but..."

"But nothing!" she cut him off. "Didn't you just spend a short time ago reassuring me about Harry's feelings for me? And didn't you spend most of that comparing Harry's feelings for me to yours for Luna? So what's the problem?"

"The problem is figuring out how I'm going to kill him if he's had his hands on my girl..." Ron said darkly. It was a long time since she had seen the jealous streak from Ron, but it was something she was used to from the past.

"Can you let Harry cast a lumos spell first?" she asked, trying to come up with a way to convince him. She knew that, despite how bad it may have looked, she had to calm Ron down. She wasn't concerned herself. "Before you jump to any other conclusions?"

"And just what good would that do?"

"I told you about the oath he swore, didn't I?" she hissed as they stepped out into the cold winds. She was never happier to be wearing the elven cloak around her shoulders, but she was sure Ron was probably a bit cold - not that he would admit to it. "That Harry would reject any girl who tried to get close to him except me?"

"He swore what?" Ron asked in surprise, stopping halfway to the lake. "Seriously?"

"If he can't cast a spell, then you can deal with that then," she said confidently. She trusted him completely - simply because she knew Harry. Knew him better than she knew herself, better than her parents, better than anyone.

"He'd be a squib..."

"Or less," Hermione said, urging him to keep moving again. She really wanted to curl up with Harry again, but that wasn't possible until she got back inside with him. "Now c'mon. Let's go get them both inside. They'll get in trouble without the help of this cloak."

Hermione and Ron stopped a few feet away from Harry and Luna. Luna was curled up next to Harry, leaning against him, and Harry had one arm around her - either for protection or warmth, it was hard to say. To their surprise, Harry looked up and directly at them, despite the fact that they were under the invisibility cloak.

"You two sure are loud coming down here. It's a wonder you didn't wake Luna," he said calmly. "Speaking of which, any chance of you giving me a hand here, Ron? Like picking her up, maybe? I didn't want to wake her."

Hermione pulled the cloak off both of them. "How did you know it was us?"

"I heard you bickering," Harry said with a grin. "Talisien told me that I should start listening more. You'd be surprised what sounds echo off the lake."

"Cast the spell, Harry," Ron deadpanned, looking down at how comfortable Luna looked. "I'll pick her up then."

"I thought we were passed that, Ron," Harry said with a sigh. Despite that, however, he reached down to his belt and pulled out his normal wand. "Lumos." He wasted no time in uttering the counter - "Nox." - before tucking his wand away again. The bright light was proof enough. "Happy now? Have a little faith. She wanted to talk to me about you, anyway," he added as Ron picked her up gently and she snuggled into his arms, despite the fact she was asleep. "Wanted assurance that you loved her and all that."

"What a coincidence," Ron muttered, looking over to Hermione with a grin to find a small blush on her face. Surprising himself yet again that night, he let it drop, even though Harry hadn't heard the comment. "C'mon. Let's get back inside. It's freezing out here... don't know how you two stood it for so long."

"It's the cloak," Harry said with a shrug as he accepted Hermione's hand to get back on his feet. "But you're right, it is cold out here. I'm looking forward to our warm beds - that tree trunk is a little hard for my liking."

It was either good luck or very good forethought that let the cloak cover all of them at once, including Ron while he was carrying the diminutive Luna in his arms. Harry made a note to himself that he would have to thank Fey for thinking of the cloak later.

As they made their way through the corridors, they passed by the Great Hall and Harry lifted a hand to wave to Talisien and Kailyn, who were inside practicing. Despite the fact that they couldn't be seen, Talisien lifted a hand in return, confirming Hermione's suspicions, but thankfully, the Wanderer did nothing else.

After successfully avoiding Mrs. Norris in the western part of the castle, Ron ended up waking Luna to have her go into her own common room so she could go to her bed. She gave him a chaste kiss and winked to both Harry and Hermione before heading in. The trio then made their way back to their own common room, easily dodging past Snape, who seemed to be prowling the halls again looking for students.

Once they were inside, Ron turned to wish Hermione a good night, and then started up the staircase. He wasn't even on the second step before Hermione had turned into Willow to follow Harry. Harry's heart almost stopped when Ron turned to speak to him on the steps, thanking him for keeping Luna company and reassuring her about their relationship.

"I guess she really is like a sister to you, huh?"

"Just like Hermione to you," Harry said with a nod. He opened the door for Willow first, and then motioned Ron through before closing the door behind him. "Good night, Ron."

"Night you two," Ron said in response, starting to pull his curtains closed even before he had started to change.

"Two?" Harry asked in surprise.

"Yeah..." Ron said, shaking his head in disbelief. "Or did you forget that kneazle lying on your pillow?" He gave Harry no chance to reply before closing his curtains, though Harry couldn't help but notice the grin on his face, as though he was sharing some private joke. He'd have to ask him about it later.

For the moment, however, all he had to worry about was getting ready for bed. He pulled off his cloak and robes before joining Willow, and then pulled his own curtains closed so she could change back into Hermione again.

*That was awfully risky, changing so early like that,* Harry purred to her as she sat up on the bed. She was still dressed in her robes. *What if Ron had turned around and caught you as you changed?*

*He wouldn't,* she purred in return. *Have you cast the silencing and privacy charms yet?* she added, looking back to him before he could question her further on the matter.

*I do it as soon as they're closed now.*

*Good,* she mewed softly to him. *The fake me is in my bed already, too.* She said nothing else as she started to undo her sash on her robes.

*Uh...* Harry turned away from her quickly, assuming she would want him to. *Sorry, I should have thought to bring you something to change into...*

*Who says I wanted anything?* she hissed into his ear, making him turn back quickly to her. She had already peeled away her robes, and was now sitting on his bed in just her bra and knickers, looking a little concerned suddenly at his scrutiny.

Harry felt his mouth go dry at the sight, and unconsciously licked his lips as he leaned closer to her. *You're beautiful, you know that right, my angel?* He kissed her lightly on the lips before pulling her into a warm embrace while still sitting on the bed. He was acutely aware of how much skin contact they had, and how little was truly separating them now. *My 'Mione. My Mia. Mine.*

*Yours,* Hermione purred into his ear, licking the tip of it with a grin. *Just like you're mine,* she added, pushing him down on the bed and pulling at the sheets. *It's okay if I sleep like this, right?* she asked suddenly, stopping before climbing under the covers with him. *Because if not, I can always...*

Harry cut her off by pulling her down next to him again. *It may take me a little longer to get to sleep,* he purred softly, smiling into her eyes. *But it will be well worth it.* He then pulled back just a little to look at her face clearly. *What I said before stands... you know that, right?*

Hermione nodded quickly. *I know,* she reassured him. *I know, don't worry. I just wanted to be a little closer to you, that's all. I just want to sleep with... er, sleep next to you like this. That's okay, right?*

*Wonderful,* he corrected her as she curled up next to him under the blankets, using his chest as a pillow, which let her hear the soothing sounds of his heart beating beneath her. As he put an arm around her to hold her close, he couldn't help but broaden his smile. *Purrfect.*

*I love you, Harry.*

He kissed her temple and pulled her even closer to him, so one of her legs swung over his, having her half lying on top of him while still keeping her on the mattress as well. *I know,* he promised her. *By Merlin's grace, I know.*

------------------------

First of all, I thought I'd deal with two errors with this fic - errors that I couldn't have accounted for before, and won't be changing now, despite knowing to the contrary. This is because JKR released the information only recently (I guess it was a bit more than a month now, maybe more), and it wasn't around when I started this fic.

Hermione's wand is not (as I knew, but I was guessing) oak and phoenix. Instead, it is made of vine wood and dragonheartstring. The vine wood is because that is the Celtic wood associated with her birthday (Harry, Ron, and Hermione's wands all are based on their birthdays, actually, though no one else's are). As for the core, it is dragonheartstring as that is the third of the three common cores for wands sold at Ollivander's. Phoenix, Unicorn, and Dragonheartstring are the main three cores for wands. She does not say that these are the only cores, but just the main ones.

As for the other error I made, that deals with Hermione's age - a mistake many of us made based on assumptions. Once again, assuming something only does one thing, but that fact hadn't entered my mind. Oh well. She is actually the oldest of the trio, and turned twelve shortly after arriving at Hogwarts for her first year. This does explain a bit of her maturity level, but I'm sure her home life has more to do with it that that.

Like I said, those two mistakes will not be corrected for this fic, sorry.

Now, the other issues I said I'd mention... let's start with the simplest one to answer, shall we? The elven warrior Talisien spoke of has no relation to Harry whatsoever. He is (or rather, was) Talisien's grandfather, and lived almost six thousand years ago at this stage. His name is Noyad - a name some of you might recognize, if you happened to have read the beginning of one of my novels (I did provide a link before, and I'll give it again here, too - www.fictionpress.com/read.php?storyid=1737541), and yes, I did give away a rather large part of that story in that small explanation from Talisien, sorry about that.

Now, Death Eaters. I was questioned by one reviewer on my thoughts on the matter of how many Death Eaters I think there are. My answer was a bit long and involved, but I'll repeat it here. I know the inner circle is reportedly relatively small - reading the books carefully and checking the lexicon can tell us that much. However, I never thought that he wouldn't have other forces, large amounts of forces, that worked for him. On that vein, it would be difficult for some people to differentiate between those working for Death Eaters and the Death Eaters themselves, despite the Mark. Maybe everyone assumed that they were new recruits being tested? Or maybe something else entirely... again, not something easily covered. My own thoughts are rather simple overall - Voldemort is a terror to the Wizarding World, and we are told that numerous times. It's rather hard to be a terror to a world with a force of about twenty people helping you, right?

Now, of course, the biggest question that most people have: What's with Harry and the three simple words? Well, first of all, those are three of the hardest words to say, while at the same time being three of the most important. It is hard enough for many people to come out and say them, but with Harry's past, it is even harder. All I can ask is for your patience - he will tell Hermione how he feels in time, trust me. And no, it won't be on his deathbed, nor hers. He will try to explain himself first, however, and Ron thinks about smacking some sense into him, but in the end, he just tells her outright. One of his greatest fears has ended already, so he feels that he can tell her and not worry. Confused? Don't worry, it will all make sense in time.

Speaking of time, by the way... what is better for people here? Weekly updates, or updates as soon as the chapter is ready? Because I actually have a few chapters ready and waiting - I just have to edit them first - but otherwise, I was planning weekly updates (for now). Any opinions on the matter?

Thanks for your time and patience in reading such a long note.

And thanks to all reviewers, too!

Until the sun sets upon a broken world…

The Shadows