Hmm. I'm not sure what I would do. In the wizarding world, I think I would punch Voldemort in the face and then claim that I'm the reason he doesn't have a nose, because I punched him so hard that I flattened it. And in the muggle world... I think I would take a few weeks off school and just write and work on my plan to possibly in the future convert this fanfic into an original novel and maybe even try to publish it. I'm not sure.

~~~~

Lacy hardly let us go downstairs the next day. After we'd been down for breakfast and to open our Christmas presents with Albus, she insisted on staying upstairs so she could work, with only a quick break for lunch. And work she did. I wasn't sure if she used magic or not, but the finished product was stunning. I hardly recognized myself.

My normally flat dirty blonde hair was piled up on my head, and I wasn't sure if it was just the afternoon light or if Lacy had somehow made it sparkle. My dress was stunning, and it twirled out when I spun (which made me spin even more, until I got dizzy and fell onto Iris and Lacy made me sit down so I wouldn't mess up her "masterpiece").

I hadn't thought I would get this excited over a ball, but as Lacy forced Colette into a chair so she could do her hair, too, there were butterflies in my stomach. I liked dancing, thanks to Marcus. I didn't really consider myself the type to giggle over boys and dresses and hair, but that afternoon, I did, and I had to admit that it was a little fun.

Lacy told us that it was best to make an entrance, and while she wasn't able to stop Colette from slipping out the door at 6:30, long before the ball was supposed to start, she kept the rest of us until 7:55, giggling and excited.

"I'm a bit sorry I said yes to Henry," Lacy said, sighing and sinking down on her bed. "I should've waited; this boy from Beauxbatons kept glancing over at me during dinner last night."

"Henry's not too bad," Iris said. "Sure, he can't dance at all, but at least he knows you're not interested in him, and won't make a fuss if you dance with other people."

"Easy for you to talk," Lacy said, perking up. "Oh, you've got to tell us all about how it goes with Eric! Obviously, I'll give you two some private time."

Iris blinked. "Um... I don't think we'll be doing anything remarkably private..."

"Of course not, you're fourteen," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I didn't mean that! I meant conversations and things," Lacy said, shaking her head. "Really, that's scandalous."

"Can't we go down now?" Wren asked. She'd been watching the clock, quiet as always. "I don't want to be late..."

"They can't start without Astra," Lacy said dismissively. "Anyway, wouldn't you rather go down and have everyone watching, than just be in the middle of everyone else?"

"No," Wren said. "People stare at me enough already."

Lacy glanced at me. "Um... I suppose five 'til is late enough."

So we went down. The common room was empty save the younger students. The girls all looked at us longingly as we waltzed through. I caught Elcie's eye and smiled, and she grinned back and mouthed, Don't fall on your face!

Students were already steaming into the hall as we descended the steps, though Lacy was rewarded with many gasps and lots of staring. I squeezed Wren's hand as we walked down, and she gave me a weak smile.

"Astra, where have you been?" Professor Longbottom descended on us as soon as we reached the bottom of the steps. He seemed nervous, and I wondered why on earth he'd been put in charge of rounding up the champions, as he apparently had been.

"Sorry, Professor," I said, glancing at Lacy. "We got held up..."

"Well, at least you're here now. The champions are to wait over here until everyone else has gone in." He motioned towards the doors. Gathered to one side were Étienne, Faith, Kirsten, and Matthew Hopkins, the Headboy.

I turned around, to say goodbye to my friends, but Lacy and Iris had already vanished. Wren was standing on tiptoe, trying to peer over the top of people's heads. "Do you see Albus anywhere?"

"Right here," Albus said, as he pushed through a group of Hufflepuffs to our right. He grinned at us. "You look stunning, both of you."

Wren smiled widely and glanced at me, with a look in her eye as if she knew something I didn't. Before I could ask, Marcus appeared just behind me.

"Ah, there you are." He smiled. "Looking more beautiful than ever, might I add."

I felt myself blushing, slightly flustered for some reason. "Thank you..." It took me a second to get my thoughts in order. "Um... Professor Longbottom said we're to wait over there..."

Marcus nodded, and offered me his arm. "Shall we?"

I took his arm, smiling over my shoulder at Wren and Albus. "See you two soon!" For some reason, their smiles didn't seem as bright.

We joined the other champions, and Professor Longbottom finally let out a sigh of relief. "Wonderful, wonderful. Now, we simply wait for everyone to be settled."

The entrance hall quickly emptied. I caught sight of several of my friends passing through. River and Luke were carrying a large, heavy-looking bookbag between the two of them. River mouthed Music at me, and put her finger to her lips. Someway, somehow, Luke Castel and River Towning planned to hijack the music. I wasn't sure how, but I knew they were planning to start with the Macarena, and it would go downhill from there, and I probably wanted to get all my dancing in before that point.

I caught sight of Pouri talking to James and Ciara in a far corner. He made them hold hands (or tried to; it took several tries), then cast some sort of spell on them. Finally, he let them go.

"Pouri put a bloody charm on us," James complained as he passed me. "We can't be more than ten feet away from each other until he lifts it after the ball's over. Isn't that awful?"

"Come on, Potter," Ciara said, scowling at him as if she could simply melt him with the heat of her glare. "It's bad enough I've got to go with you, but we don't need everyone staring when we walk in."

"Too late," James said, glaring back at her. He hurried off anyway, though.

I glanced around. For the first time I realized that the only extra people here were Marcus and Matthew Hopkins, who was standing next to Kirsten and looked like he was unsure whether to grin at his good luck or be intimidated by her. Étienne and Faith seemed to be alone. I took a few steps closer to Faith. "You came with Étienne?"

She nodded, leaning closer to me, and, in a conspiratorial whisper, said, "His girlfriend from Beauxbatons broke up with him because she was jealous, so he thought he'd find someone who couldn't be, hmm?" She winked, and I couldn't help chuckling.

"It's time!" Professor Longbottom finally announced. "Line up, and follow me."

The students applauded as we walked through the large doors of the Great Hall. We seemed to be headed towards the round table at the top of the Hall, where Felicity Eastchurch, Roger Davies, and the headmasters and mistress of the school's were already seated. I glanced around the hall and caught sight of James, Ciara, Wren, and Albus sitting with some other Gryffindors at nearby table.

The Hall itself was enough to take your breath away. The walls were covered in silver frost, which glittered almost as much as the stars overhead. Garlands of ivy and mistletoe hung across the ceiling. The long House tables were gone, replaced by dozens of smaller, round tables.

Marcus was smiling broadly at everyone, and a nudge in the side reminded me to do the same. I could admire the Hall from my seat just fine, and not have everyone staring at me while I gaped like an idiot.

I ended up seated next to Pouri, which was fine with me. It meant I wouldn't have to try to sound intelligent to practical strangers on subjects I might not know anything about. As I sat down, he leaned over and said, "If anything happens with James and Ciara, would you please let me know?"

"Of course, Professor," I said, frowning. "You think something's going to happen?"

"When you put two personalities like theirs together, it's always good to be on the safe side," he said, smiling. "You have quite an influence over them both, really."

"Not Ciara," I said skeptically.

"You'd be surprised." With that cryptic answer, Pouri's attention was drawn away by Davies asking if the menus worked the same as they had at the last Yule Ball at Hogwarts.

I looked down at my plate. There was a menu, but there were no waiters around. Glancing towards Pouri, I saw him look over his menu and tell his plate, "Steak, medium-rare." Instantly, they appeared. I glanced at Marcus, who looked just as surprised as I felt. We both quickly turned to perusing the menu.

When I'd finally chosen a dish, I turned my attention back to the conversation. Professor Eide was asking if the stew had onions, because they didn't agree well with Kirsten and he didn't want anything happening to his prize student.

"She is my goddaughter, you do see," he said. "A very good student, and very good vith a vand."

"My Étienne ees vairy good, as well," Madame Máxime said instantly, smiling maternally at Étienne. "'E reminds me of my bruzzer when 'e was young."

"Though much smaller, I'd think," Marcus whispered, and I had to pretend to choke on my potatoes so Madame Maxime didn't think I was laughing at her.

Faith and Étienne were ignoring everyone else, already in deep conversation. "Beauxbatons, eet is not like zis. We 'ave ice statues at Chreestmus in ze dining chamber, and zere is not zis much cold zere. I am always being cold 'ere at 'Ogwarts."

"It's worse down in the dungeons," Faith said, nodding. "It gets so cold that first year, I had mum send me extra blankets so I could sleep. But it makes it cozy, too, when it's cold everywhere, but the common room is nice and warm."

"We do not 'ave 'common rooms' like you do 'ere. We 'ave each year, a dormitory, and ze boys and ze girls are in separate... 'Ow do you say it? Wings?"

Kirsten was largely ignoring her date, taking much more interest in the judges' conversations. I happened to find them boring, a lot of rubbish about international Magical cooperation and the Ministry and things like that. Instead of listening to them, I turned to Marcus.

"This is amazing..."

"I know," Marcus said, staring up at the ceiling. "I don't think I've seen the Great Hall this nice since... Well, I don't think I've seen it this nice ever."

"Me neither." I smiled. "If only we could have a ball every year."

Marcus chuckled. "That would be great. Put those classes Mum made me do to use, right?"

"At least you'll have tonight," I pointed out. "For as long as it takes Luke and River to take over the music."

"They're actually doing that?" Marcus seemed surprised. "I thought that was just talk."

"It's never just talk with those two," I said seriously.

Eventually, the food was gone, and Professor Pouri stood up, then asked everyone else to do the same. With a wave of his wand, all the tables flew over to the walls, clearing a large area in the middle of the floor for dancing. A raised platform erected itself, and instruments appeared. A band trooped onto the stage, and Marcus offered me his arm. "Champions lead the first dance. Shall we?"

Together with Faith and Étienne, and Kirsten and Matthew, we walked out into the middle of the floor. Butterflies had appeared in my stomach, and I began to regret eating so much. What if I tripped? I wouldn't just make myself look bad, but Marcus as well. Then, the music was starting and the nervousness melted away.

We twirled around the floor, and I almost felt like we weren't touching the floor. We danced through three songs before taking a break, and I sat down at a nearby table where Wren and Albus were watching as Marcus went for punch.

"Having fun?" Wren asked.

I nodded. "This is amazing!"

"People watching is better," Albus said. "For example, I bet you didn't notice when Henry Tinter stepped on Lacy's foot, lost his balance, and fell over onto my dad."

"You also missed James's dances with Ciara. They looked like they were being tortured..." Wren winced in sympathy. "Poor James."

"Serves him right," I said, shrugging.

"I happen to think Pouri couldn't have chosen any better punishment," Albus said, grinning. "Nothing else would be this funny."

"Where are they now?" I asked, scanning the dancers, hoping to see the awkward couple somewhere among them. "They're not done, are they?"

"Pouri only made them dance for three songs," Wren said.

"Dang it."

Marcus returned just then, two punches in hand. "Hello, lovely to see you two again," he said to Wren and Albus, handing me a punch. "Good dinner?" Wren nodded, but Albus seemed to have gotten lost in his thoughts. He was probably trying to figure out a way to get James and Ciara on the dance floor again.

For the next half hour or so, Marcus and I danced and laughed and talked. I kept tabs on River and Luke, who seemed to simply be biding their time. Whenever they put their plan into action, dancing would end, I knew.

When the Macarena blasted out through the Great Hall, it seemed to shake the walls. It didn't help that many muggleborns yelled out, "Yes!" when they recognized the music and began dancing. I could scarcely hear myself think as the song played through and Marcus and I wove our way through the crowds and to a table near the doors.

"Want to go for a walk?" Marcus yelled over the noise, when it became clear that River and Luke had no intentions of giving the music back soon. I nodded, and followed him out. We passed James and Ciara, who were sitting next to each other and glaring in opposite directions. Wren and Albus slipped out behind us, I noted. It was a little chilly outside, and Marcus put his arm around me as we began strolling through the grounds.

"Nice night," he said after a minute.

I raised an eyebrow. "You're outside, alone with a girl, and all you say is 'Nice night'?"

Marcus smiled. "Sorry. How do you like the ball?"

"Best I've ever been to," I said, a smirk spreading across my face.

"Oh, haha, very funny," Marcus said, rolling his eyes. He was still smiling, though. "Really, do you like it?"

"It's been amazing," I said seriously. "Really, I've loved it. Even the Macarena."

Marcus chuckled, then took a deep breath. "Listen, Astra, I wanted to ask—"

"Hold that thought." I'd just heard someone talking nearby, coming near us. Normally, that wouldn't have been a reason to cut Marcus off, but this someone sounded like Haverna. She didn't sound like she was lecturing a student, so I had to wonder what she was doing outside, when she could have been inside busting couples for PDA. Even if she wasn't up to no good, she was still coming nearer, and I didn't fancy running into her.

Holding a finger up to lips to indicate that we needed silence, I quickly pulled Marcus into the bushes next to us, as Haverna rounded the corner with none other than Pouri.

"—and that's why she doesn't belong here." Haverna came to a stop just in front of us. I could have reached out and touched her. I held my breath, hoping she would start speaking soon.

"Elaine, I'm just wondering why you have such an... an animosity towards Wren Predatel. I know you think she shouldn't be at this school, but she's been proven innocent," Pouri said. I frowned. Obviously, she hated Wren because Wren was a traitor to her cause.

Pouri sighed. "You must remember, I gave you this job on Sulcan's recommendation. That doesn't exactly speak well for you."

"I'm not involved in anything, if that's what you're implying," Haverna said coldly. "I don't like the Predatel girl because she didn't get what she deserved."

I wanted to jump out of the bush and defend my friend, but I had a feeling that wouldn't go over well. As I tried to stay perfectly still, my mind was whirring. What exactly did Haverna mean she said Wren "didn't get what she deserved"? That she should be punished for betraying her family?

"May I remind you, Brutus, that Sulcan tried several times to start conversations about the dark arts with me, and I always refused to talk about them," Haverna continued.

"Allegedly, yes." Pouri frowned. "Still, I would like to know why he suggested you, if it didn't benefit him."

"The ravings of a lunatic," Haverna said, starting to walk again, "should not be examined for a logical cause."

As soon as they were out of earshot, I stumbled out of the bush. Marcus followed suit, looking highly confused. It probably didn't help that Wren and Albus ran up a few seconds later, with eyes as wide as mine undoubtedly were.

"You heard all that?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

Albus nodded, glancing back in the direction Haverna and Pouri had gone. "Sulcan suggested her... She must be the one who put your name in, them."

"Wait, what?" Marcus asked. "You mean un the Gob—"

"But why isn't Pouri doing anything about it?" I asked, shaking my head. "If he knows Sulcan is the reason she got the job, why hasn't he turned her in?"

"It's not enough evidence," Wren pointed out. "As far as anyone can prove, she hasn't done anything wrong."

"At least Pouri's suspicious," Albus added. "We're on the right track."

"What are you talking about?" Marcus asked. I would've filled him in, but unfortunately there wasn't enough time just then.

"We've got to find Colette and James." I started running, Wren and Albus and a highly confused Marcus close behind.

Let me tell you something: if it can be at all avoided, don't run in a ball gown. It is the most frustrating thing you'll ever do, not to mention the fact that you're constantly scared you'll rip it or stain it or something along those lines, and your great-aunt will be mad because you ruined the dress.

Of course, I probably could have avoided running in a ball gown. A quick walk would've done it. Nothing called for sprinting. However, I was so excited at this news that I knew simply walking to the castle would've driven me crazy. So run I did, flying past couples and surprising them out of heavy snogging sessions. We even ran past Kirsten Sorensen, who abruptly cut off her conversation with a boy I didn't recognize, probably someone from Durmstrang, though I didn't remember seeing him before.

I rounded a corner, and suddenly there was a person and I knocked him completely over.

"Oi! Astra, what the—"

It was James. Albus andar us quickly pulled me to my feet as James sat up, feeling the back of his head and cursing under his breath. "Where's the fire?"

I quickly checked over my dress. If I'd ripped it... Luckily, it seemed to be fine. Wren glanced over the back and nodded. "Good, it's okay..."

"Yeah, sure, your bloody dress is fine, but what about your friend?" James asked.

I ignored him, pushing some of my hair out of my face. "Lacy won't be happy," Colette said. She'd been with James, it seemed. I saw an annoyed Ciara standing behind her. Obviously, James had managed to drag her outside. "You ruined her masterpiece."

"Hello! I am still on the ground!" James exclaimed. "I think I'm a bit more important than Astra's hair!"

Marcus and Albus both looked him over, then said, "Don't think so." They glanced at each other, surprised, but Marcus grinned and gave Albus a high five. "Nice one."

James huffed as Wren slipped past me to help him up. "Oh, yeah, such wit."

"Why were you running in the first place?" Colette asked. "Marcus turn out to be not as great as you expected?"

"I think I was just fine," Marcus said indignantly.

"No, he was great. Listen, we overheard Pouri and Haverna talking—"

"And that can wait until after we lose Malfoy," James said loudly, talking over me. Ciara glared at him.

"All right, fine," I said, rolling my eyes. "Why are you outside?"

"We were trying to get away from the twins. They're mad at Malfoy, obviously, and mad about me. It's annoying."

"They were going to try and poison Ciara, actually," Colette informed us. "I mean, I don't know if they were really serious, but I told them off, though, and they came to their senses. You're welcome, by the way," she said to Ciara, who rolled her eyes.

Marcus had a look of horror on his face. "They... What?"

"They're were probably joking, calm down," Colette said, sounding exasperated. "They were just mad that Ciara 'stole their date.'"

"As if I would've gone with them," James said, shuddering. "I almost prefer you, Malfoy."

"Shove off."

We were still gathered at a bend in the hedges, and I suddenly realized that we were probably disturbing the couples around us who were trying to have a nice, private moment before a teacher caught them. Ew.

"It's kind of cold..." Wren said after a minute. "Can we go back inside?"

Ciara muttered something like, "Go ahead and freeze to death," but I chose to ignore her. "Yeah... Probably a good idea." James offered Wren his coat, and we started back toward the castle.

I glanced back at my cousin. "Your goons leave you to fend for yourself, then?"

Ciara glared at me. "Unlike you, dear cousin, my friends have standards."

"Standards that say they only hang out with other prats?" James suggested instantly.

"Scum stays with scum," Colette reasoned. "I can see why they wouldn't do to well with civilized society like us."

"Makes sense why you're with them, too," James continued. He lowered his voice, and I couldn't hear what he said next. Wren gasped, and I turned around and saw that Ciara had gone white, and was reaching for her wand.

"What?" I had a pretty good idea what he'd said, because he went white too when he saw me looking at him, but I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"James, you said you wouldn't..." Wren whispered, her eyes wide.

Ciara glared at all of us. "You see why I can't stand you? You're all a bunch of hypocrites. How do you put up with it, Astra? If they hate your family, they're bound to hate you eventually."

"That's not true," James said defensively. "Astra, I didn't mean to, it just came out, I swear."

"You we're thinking it, even if you didn't mean to say it," I said, shaking my head. "James, really?"

"I..."

I frowned. "Say sorry."

"What? No."

"James..."

He glared at Ciara, then me, then the ground. "Sorry."

"Don't say that again." I glanced at Ciara, who was staring at me, obvious surprise on her face. As soon as she noticed me looking at her, her eyes narrowed, but I didn't glare back. I simply glared at James, then turned and flounced off. Marcus was so startled that he had to jog to catch up.

~~~~

The ball was quieting down by the time we got back inside. Luke and River had finished with their hijacking, it seemed, because a Weird Sisters song was playing, and the dance had gone from ballroom dancing to your average high school dancing, minus the PDA (the professors were making sure of that). Many couples had already drifted off to hidden corners of the castle and grounds, and a few were slipping out the doors as we came in. I spotted the twins sitting dejectedly at a corner table, but they perked up as soon as James walked in. I heard both he and Ciara groan.

"Quick, Wren, dance," James said, pulling her towards the floor, and dragging Ciara along by the strength of the charm. She stood there, glaring at them sullenly while James completely ignored her, twirling Wren around like he had no idea how to dance (because he didn't) but didn't care. Very soon, they were both laughing much more than they were dancing.

Marcus and I sat down at one of the tables. Colette had gone off to delay the twins, and Albus had disappeared somewhere else, so it was finally just us.

"What was all that about Professor Haverna?" Marcus asked in a low voice.

I sighed. "Well..." I didn't know if I could tell him or not. Would my friends mind? Taking a gamble, I gave him a general overview of our suspicions.

"Oh. Oh, I see..." Marcus frowned. "I guess that would make sense... She's pretty awful. Is she really that bad to Wren?"

I nodded. "I hate her."

"I can see why." Marcus frowned. For a minute, we fell into silence as I thought over this new development.

"Wow. This evening hasn't gone at all the way I expected it to," Marcus said after a minute.

"What do you mean?" I asked, pulling my attention back to him.

"Well... Just before Professor Pouri and Professor Haverna showed up, I was going to ask you something."

"Yes?"

He frowned. "Okay. Well... I was wondering if, maybe, you'd want to... If you'd be okay with... You know... If you'd want to go out with me?"

I blinked. "Are you asking me on a date? Or if I'll date you?"

"Um... Both...?"

I stared at him. Would I want to date Marcus Dillum? I thought about the idea... It didn't seem half bad, honestly. I liked Marcus a lot, now, actually. Romantically? I wasn't exactly sure, but I had a feeling I could like him romantically. A small smile spread across my face. "I'd like that."

"You would? I mean, okay, brilliant!" Marcus beamed at me, his dark eyes lighting up his face.

Before I could say anything else, I was interrupted by the blasting of the Macarena yet again (though luckily not as loud this time), and loud cursing from some annoyed pureblood. The muggleborns who were left in the Great Hall quickly dropped whatever they were doing and started the dance, leaving some of the purebloods and halfbloods baffled, and some eager to join in, though they couldn't quite get the choreography down. James was one of those halfbloods, making up his own version of the Macarena and trying to convince Wren to join him. I glanced at Marcus, raising an eyebrow. "Want to learn?"

He shook his head, smiling. "Sure."

~~~~

Back in the common room that night, I couldn't keep a smile off my face as I got ready for bed. Colette didn't notice or didn't care, I couldn't say which. Wren noticed, I was sure, but didn't say anything. That was good, because I wanted to tell her Albus what had happened at the same time. After all, they were my best friends. Lacy and Iris hadn't come up yet, so I had no one peg into the reason for my smile.

"So, Colette, how was your date?" I teased once the silence weighed down on me too much. "I actually don't remember seeing you two together much at all..."

Colette shrugged. "Well, he wanted to dance, and I didn't want to dance, so I introduced him to Lacy and they danced. Apparently, he's much better at it than Henry Tinter."

"I'm pretty sure anyone would be better than Henry Tinter," Wren said, shaking her head.

I frowned. "You just let Lacy take your date?"

"Why not?" Colette shrugged. "She cares more than I do."

I stared at her. Sure, we were only fourteen, but most girls at least liked dancing and boys by now. "You... You do like boys, don't you?"

"Well, I don't like girls, if that's what you're getting at," Colette said, rolling her eyes. "I don't particularly like anyone at the moment."

I thought back over my night. I might have been falling for Marcus a bit at that point, actually. He'd made a complete fool of himself with me doing the Macarena, and it's hard not to like someone who's willing to do that for you. It seemed strange that someone had never experienced that. Not even a crush. Slightly distracted, I asked, "Why not?"

"Because I don't ever really want to be tied down in a relationship, maybe?" Colette said, sounding annoyed.

"What?" I glanced toward her, snapping back to the present. "You don't want to be 'tied down'?"

Colette glared at me. "I don't ever want to be in a relationship, or get married, or any of that. I don't want to end up like my parents, all right? I don't want to do that to a child. Leave it alone."

Stunned, I opened my mouth, but found no words. Apparently satisfied, Colette climbed into her bed, lying down facing the opposite direction. I slowly slid into my own bed. I'd never thought of that. I'd had bad role models, of course, but they were nothing compared to the little I knew of Colette's family. Her mum had sent her to Beauxbatons to basically get rid of her. I couldn't imagine the first twelve years of her life. I'd thought living with foster parents who hated was bad. I couldn't imagine if my own mother had hated me enough to send me away like that, never to see me again. Suddenly, Colette's stance on relationships made much more sense, and I felt bad for not realizing it sooner.

~~~~

Just wondering, but if I wrote a story that was basically Ginny Weasley's perspective of Chamber of Secrets, would any of you read it? It would definitely be a side project—shorter chapters, longer updates—but I'm just wondering if I should bother. I really like the idea, but I'm not sure if anyone else would be interested. I mean, I'm still going to write it, but I'm wondering if I should publish it or not. What do you guys think?

Question of the Day: If you could choose one thing to change in the movies, what would it be? (Yes, this is a license to rant about the movies, so use it well!)

Vote and comment! This chapter is the halfway point in this book! How cool is that? We are officially halfway through this series! We're over the hill! So exciting!

~Ellie