Re: Wishing Life Was A Movie (HP,XO,UC,Adult) Pt.30 p.17 9-7-09
Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 4:55 pm
Hey guys thanks for the replies to the last part! Thanks...
pandas2001
AvalonRose
alexceasar
Please let me know what you think of this new part!
Part 31
Draco was anxious for Liz to return to him. He knew she had survived the first test when he felt a burst of satisfaction coming from the Dark Lord. Liz and Alex had obviously done something to deeply please the hard to appease Dark Lord.
His mother fussed about the room asking if he needed another cooling spell. He was still not happy that his mother had to worry over him while Liz was away. Draco felt foolish for acting like such a baby just because his arm felt as though it was going to fall off.
“Draco darling please,” his mother sighed.
“Oh alright,” he sighed sticking out his arm for his mother.
In public his mother would never worry over him in such a manner it was very unflattering and a weakness. Pureblood wizards had to appear cold and uncaring to the public even amongst their own kind. Showing too much affection to children was seen as a weakness of mudbloods who needed to be coddled. It was considered a great embarrassment to be fussed over by a mother when you are over six.
“What is it Draco I can sense a change in you?” His mother asked as she tapped her wand against his arm.
“Liz passed,” he sighed looking thoroughly relieved.
Narcissa smirked at her son and nodded. She too sensed the Dark Lord’s satisfaction as well as that of her husband. It was a rare connection she had to her husband but a handy one at that. During a pureblood marriage the husband and wife must slice their hands and exchange blood in a form of the unbreakable vow which allowed the spouses to know where the other was at all times and what they were feeling. Many times in their service of the Dark Lord that connection saved Narcissa from many sleepless nights.
“You never doubted that she would though.”
“No, never. She is far too determined to fail.”
Lady Malfoy sighed a deliciously cunning smile on her face. “Once those four pass their tests there will be no stopping the Dark Lord. He will unlock all of your powers.”
Draco smirked at his mother knowing exactly what she was thinking. The dark mark was a link to the Dark Lord a link that allowed him to have free access to all of his followers. It was this special access that allowed his loyal death eaters to unlock their full potential with his help.
“Mum when will the bloody mark stop hurting?” he ground out looking at the offensive black stain on his arm.
Narcissa gave her son a rueful grin. “It will stop hurting in a few days. After awhile it will only hurt this badly when you are first called or when the Dark Lord is angry.”
“So it will always hurt?” he groaned.
Narcissa laughed at her son’s sullen look. “No Draco it will not always hurt. After awhile you get used to the pain and it becomes a background annoyance.”
“That is not very comforting mother.”
“It is the truth my Draco.”
Narcissa was saved from one of her son’s groaning sessions when Liz burst into her bedroom. The poor girl looked tired and dirty but there was no hiding her pleased glow. Draco sat up instantly grinning at her as the small brunette pulled him into a careful hug.
Narcissa could not hide her smile when she saw how happy her only son was. He looked at peace with Liz beside him. Her son who had always been a high-strung young man but with Liz Parker in his arms he looked at ease. The young woman was good for her son and Narcissa knew her son was in good hands.
Draco pulled back and his grey eyes roamed over her small frame. His eyes narrowed when he saw the bruises forming on her neck and shoulders and the scrapes his girlfriend bared. He tried to mind his temper when he saw her battered state but the burning in his stomach was winning out.
“Bloody hell Liz!”
“Language Draco,” his mother scolded.
Draco shot his mother an annoyed look before he turned his worried eyes onto his girlfriend. “Look at you what happened?” he asked running a careful finger over her sore neck.
Liz winced when he brushed against a painful spot on her shoulder. “It is nothing.”
His cold glare silenced any further protests from her. She could feel his temper rising and a sickening knot developed in her stomach. Liz knew her boyfriend had a temper Lucius had warned her about it. She was afraid that she was now going to be on the receiving end of that temper.
“Liz, what. Happened?” he ground out. “And don’t lie I have already gone through the trials.”
“The vampires got me and dragged me under water I got out though.” Liz quickly answered.
“That wasn’t water Liz,” Narcissa snickered but stopped when her son turned his angry glare on her.
Sometimes her son reminded her too much of his father. They both had terrible tempers. Her only comfort was that neither of them was physically abusive…anymore. When she and Lucius had first been married he had been acting on his father’s example and hit her when he was displeased with something she said. The Dark Lord quickly tortured that habit out of Lucius. The temper still remained but at least Narcissa did not have to fear the physical repercussions.
“I know it was blood.” Liz whispered trying not to anger Draco any further.
Narcissa did not understand why her son was angry with Liz. She was not at fault for getting hurt and yet her son seemed to be angry. As she watched her son angrily twitch in front of his girlfriend Narcissa had the sinking feeling her son was very much like his father.
Draco turned to his mother and shot her a look. Narcissa knew that look all too well and quickly scurried away to go and find her husband. She shot a supportive look at the young girl and rushed away before her son blew.
Nancy looked up when she saw her old school friend rush out of her daughter Liz’s room. The redheaded woman raised an eyebrow at her blonde friend who looked fearfully at the closed door. Nancy could sense a silencing spell surrounding the room and her eyes narrowed.
“What is going on in there?” Nancy asked as Narcissa inched her way towards the door.
“Draco is a little upset that Liz got hurt.”
Nancy knew the look on her friend’s face. It was the same anxious look Cissy had when they were at Hogwarts when Lucius would return to the common room angry. Nancy jumped to her feet a murderous look on her face.
“You left my daughter alone in there with him!” she roared heading towards Liz’s room.
Narcissa hurried after her friend. “Nancy he won’t hurt her I promise. He knows what the Dark Lord would do to him, what his father would do to him.”
Nancy did not look convinced. She banged on the door ignoring Narcissa’s cringe. Nancy growled when she realized no one was going to answer the door on the other side.
The redhead turned her fiery eyes onto her friend. “You best hope he doesn’t touch her Narcissa Gemini Black or by Salazar I will curse you and your son into oblivion.”
“What is going on here?” a familiar silky voice drawled from the front room of the Parker home.
Narcissa braced herself as her husband and Jeff Parker came towards the two women. Jeff cautiously moved to stand next to his wife who was visibly shaking in her anger. Narcissa held her own as her husband eyed the closed door wearily.
“It seems Draco is angry.” Nancy spat.
Lucius’s cold eyes narrowed at that. He twisted the head of his cane revealing his wand. Jeff stiffened as he watched his old friend twirl the black thin wand between his fingers. In a movement so swift the other three almost missed it Lucius blasted Liz’s door away before he reattached his wand to his cane.
The elder Malfoy straightened his black robes before he stepped into the room. Narcissa and Nancy stuck their heads in nervously and gasped. Lucius turned to the two women and sneered. “Well they are not fighting anymore.”
Nancy closed her eyes shaking her head trying to dispel the image burned into her eyes. It seems that Draco and Liz had decided that fighting was not productive and a tumble in the sack was the better option. The two teens stared wide eyed at their parents who stood in the doorway unmoving.
“Father,” Draco greeted uncomfortably as he tried to keep Liz as covered as possible.
“Your mothers thought you were fighting.” Lucius said unmoved by the sight of the embarrassed teens before him.
“I wouldn’t call it fighting,” Draco said making Liz groan her embarrassment reaching an all new height.
“So I see,” Lucius sighed. “Very well carry on.”
Lucius moved the women and Jeff out of the room casting a spell to fix the door; wooden shards reforming the blasted door. Narcissa was stunned as she entered the kitchen with a shocked Nancy. She had been so sure her son was going to release his anger on the young Parker girl.
“Oh that was an image I could have done without,” Jeff Parker groaned rubbing his eyes.
Lucius eyed his wife wearily. He wanted answers but he was not sure he wanted them in front of other people even if they were close friends. Deciding that he didn’t have the patience to wait Lucius turned to his wife ready for an explanation.
“Explain.”
“When Liz came back hurt Draco was angry.” She said in a calm voice. Narcissa knew from experience that acting excitable was not the way to deal with her husband.
“And…”
“He looked very angry.” She amended trying to get him to understand without her having to actually say the words.
A spark of understanding flashed in his grey eyes before he covered his emotions. “I see,” he hummed.
Jeff and Nancy looked between the husband and wife knowing that they were having a silent conversation. It was something that couples developed after long years of fighting in the trenches of marriage together. Their service to the Dark Lord only strengthened the skill.
Nancy watched her friends closely picking up on the subtle tick in Lucius’s jaw. It was a tell she was all too familiar with. He was upset and hurt but he would never show any other outward display of negative emotion.
Jeff studied his friends through narrowed eyes. He would normally let them have their silent spat but it involved his daughter and he did not want to wait around for answers.
“Start talking all of you,” he ground out in a deadly hiss.
Nancy chanced a look at Narcissa who subtly fluttered her lashes. It was a trick they had started in school for when the heads of the other houses would question all of the Slytherin students about the latest attacks on the other students. A twitch of the nose meant don’t tell, curling your lip meant only give a little and batting your eyelashes meant squeal like a pig.
The redheaded woman turned to her husband anxiously. “Narcissa thought Draco was going to have a fit to rival Lucius’s.”
Lucius sniffed offended by the accusation even if he knew it was true. “I have much more control over my temper,” he ground out.
Narcissa patted her husband’s arm mockingly. “Whatever you say darling.”
Lucius huffed pulling himself up straighter. “I have not destroyed something in months.”
Jeff felt a headache coming on as he stood before his wife and friends. Part of him wanted to hex Narcissa for leaving his daughter alone with Draco but another part of him also understood. He has known Lucius all his life and Jeff knew just how volatile the blonde was. If Draco was anything like his father then the more people around him when he was angry the worse the damage was. It was as though the Malfoy’s fed off the energy of others; the more people that were around the more the energy poured into them and the worse their anger became.
Lucius looked uncomfortable as Nancy and Jeff stole glances at him out of the corners of their eyes. If there was anyone besides the Dark Lord who could make him feel terrible about his temper it was Jeff Parker. His old friend had a temper but unlike Lucius, Jeff was never physically violent with his wife.
Lucius cleared his throat as Liz and Draco joined them in the main room. “While Draco might have my temper he does not have my inclination for physical violence,” Lucius said.
Draco shifted nervously beside Luz. He did not like talking about his father’s abuse of his mother in front of others. Liz was lucky in that she never had to deal with the after effects of a violent parent. The abuse stopped before Draco was born but he still remembers his mother flinching every time his father came into the room.
Liz grabbed his hand sensing his growing discomfort. “You don’t have to worry about Draco’s temper,” she giggled. “He knows how to channel it productively.”
Draco chuckled uncomfortably as his father raised an amused eyebrow. “What can I say she pulled a pout and I couldn’t resist.”
Lucius looked to his wife and a rare smile tugged at his lips. “I know what you mean.”
*****Order Headquarters*****
The Order sat around the conference room waiting for Dumbledore to begin the meeting. Everyone could sense something was wrong as Snape paced the front of the room behind the headmaster. He looked ill and kept stealing glances out the windows his hands touching his wand holster every moment or so.
“What do you think has Snape so worried?” Hermione asked Harry softly.
The green eyed wizard looked closely at the bat like man. It took a great deal to unsettle the death eater spy. Seeing the frightening man spooked did not sit well with the-boy-who-lived.
“I don’t know,” Harry whispered. “Whatever it is though, it can’t be good.”
Dumbledore cleared his throat gaining the attention of the room. “As you all know Severus has had to slip away many times throughout our stay here in Roswell but it seems that this last time something terrible has happened.”
“Have you been uncovered?” Tonks asked.
“No,” Snape hissed.
Dumbledore shot the two a disappointed look for interrupting his introduction sending them back to their corners. “As I was saying…Severus please enlighten us as to what has transpired.”
The glowering man glared at the headmaster before he pushed off the wall sneering at the room. His voice was barely a whisper as he spoke but they all heard him very clearly. “Elizabeth Parker and Alexander Whitman have started the death eater trials.”
Harry and his friends froze in their seats. Several eyes around the room glanced at Harry worriedly wondering how the news of his cousin joining his enemy willingly was affecting him. The young Potter male tried valiantly to control his face to not let on how terrible and alone he was suddenly feeling.
Thousands of questions flared in his bright mind, but there was one that kept coming back to him the most. How was it that his father’s sister could so easily join the man that killed her brother. It seemed odd to Harry that such a person existed. Sirius his godfather shifted in his seat next to him and a sinking feeling pulled at his stomach. The same thing happened to Sirius. His brother and family held different ideals and blasted him off the family tree for it.
Harry tuned out the rest of what Snape was saying as new plans formed in his young mind. He still wanted to contact Liz now more so than ever. There was still a chance he could have a relationship with his cousin and he now knew he needed to move quickly.
pandas2001
AvalonRose
alexceasar
Please let me know what you think of this new part!
Part 31
Draco was anxious for Liz to return to him. He knew she had survived the first test when he felt a burst of satisfaction coming from the Dark Lord. Liz and Alex had obviously done something to deeply please the hard to appease Dark Lord.
His mother fussed about the room asking if he needed another cooling spell. He was still not happy that his mother had to worry over him while Liz was away. Draco felt foolish for acting like such a baby just because his arm felt as though it was going to fall off.
“Draco darling please,” his mother sighed.
“Oh alright,” he sighed sticking out his arm for his mother.
In public his mother would never worry over him in such a manner it was very unflattering and a weakness. Pureblood wizards had to appear cold and uncaring to the public even amongst their own kind. Showing too much affection to children was seen as a weakness of mudbloods who needed to be coddled. It was considered a great embarrassment to be fussed over by a mother when you are over six.
“What is it Draco I can sense a change in you?” His mother asked as she tapped her wand against his arm.
“Liz passed,” he sighed looking thoroughly relieved.
Narcissa smirked at her son and nodded. She too sensed the Dark Lord’s satisfaction as well as that of her husband. It was a rare connection she had to her husband but a handy one at that. During a pureblood marriage the husband and wife must slice their hands and exchange blood in a form of the unbreakable vow which allowed the spouses to know where the other was at all times and what they were feeling. Many times in their service of the Dark Lord that connection saved Narcissa from many sleepless nights.
“You never doubted that she would though.”
“No, never. She is far too determined to fail.”
Lady Malfoy sighed a deliciously cunning smile on her face. “Once those four pass their tests there will be no stopping the Dark Lord. He will unlock all of your powers.”
Draco smirked at his mother knowing exactly what she was thinking. The dark mark was a link to the Dark Lord a link that allowed him to have free access to all of his followers. It was this special access that allowed his loyal death eaters to unlock their full potential with his help.
“Mum when will the bloody mark stop hurting?” he ground out looking at the offensive black stain on his arm.
Narcissa gave her son a rueful grin. “It will stop hurting in a few days. After awhile it will only hurt this badly when you are first called or when the Dark Lord is angry.”
“So it will always hurt?” he groaned.
Narcissa laughed at her son’s sullen look. “No Draco it will not always hurt. After awhile you get used to the pain and it becomes a background annoyance.”
“That is not very comforting mother.”
“It is the truth my Draco.”
Narcissa was saved from one of her son’s groaning sessions when Liz burst into her bedroom. The poor girl looked tired and dirty but there was no hiding her pleased glow. Draco sat up instantly grinning at her as the small brunette pulled him into a careful hug.
Narcissa could not hide her smile when she saw how happy her only son was. He looked at peace with Liz beside him. Her son who had always been a high-strung young man but with Liz Parker in his arms he looked at ease. The young woman was good for her son and Narcissa knew her son was in good hands.
Draco pulled back and his grey eyes roamed over her small frame. His eyes narrowed when he saw the bruises forming on her neck and shoulders and the scrapes his girlfriend bared. He tried to mind his temper when he saw her battered state but the burning in his stomach was winning out.
“Bloody hell Liz!”
“Language Draco,” his mother scolded.
Draco shot his mother an annoyed look before he turned his worried eyes onto his girlfriend. “Look at you what happened?” he asked running a careful finger over her sore neck.
Liz winced when he brushed against a painful spot on her shoulder. “It is nothing.”
His cold glare silenced any further protests from her. She could feel his temper rising and a sickening knot developed in her stomach. Liz knew her boyfriend had a temper Lucius had warned her about it. She was afraid that she was now going to be on the receiving end of that temper.
“Liz, what. Happened?” he ground out. “And don’t lie I have already gone through the trials.”
“The vampires got me and dragged me under water I got out though.” Liz quickly answered.
“That wasn’t water Liz,” Narcissa snickered but stopped when her son turned his angry glare on her.
Sometimes her son reminded her too much of his father. They both had terrible tempers. Her only comfort was that neither of them was physically abusive…anymore. When she and Lucius had first been married he had been acting on his father’s example and hit her when he was displeased with something she said. The Dark Lord quickly tortured that habit out of Lucius. The temper still remained but at least Narcissa did not have to fear the physical repercussions.
“I know it was blood.” Liz whispered trying not to anger Draco any further.
Narcissa did not understand why her son was angry with Liz. She was not at fault for getting hurt and yet her son seemed to be angry. As she watched her son angrily twitch in front of his girlfriend Narcissa had the sinking feeling her son was very much like his father.
Draco turned to his mother and shot her a look. Narcissa knew that look all too well and quickly scurried away to go and find her husband. She shot a supportive look at the young girl and rushed away before her son blew.
Nancy looked up when she saw her old school friend rush out of her daughter Liz’s room. The redheaded woman raised an eyebrow at her blonde friend who looked fearfully at the closed door. Nancy could sense a silencing spell surrounding the room and her eyes narrowed.
“What is going on in there?” Nancy asked as Narcissa inched her way towards the door.
“Draco is a little upset that Liz got hurt.”
Nancy knew the look on her friend’s face. It was the same anxious look Cissy had when they were at Hogwarts when Lucius would return to the common room angry. Nancy jumped to her feet a murderous look on her face.
“You left my daughter alone in there with him!” she roared heading towards Liz’s room.
Narcissa hurried after her friend. “Nancy he won’t hurt her I promise. He knows what the Dark Lord would do to him, what his father would do to him.”
Nancy did not look convinced. She banged on the door ignoring Narcissa’s cringe. Nancy growled when she realized no one was going to answer the door on the other side.
The redhead turned her fiery eyes onto her friend. “You best hope he doesn’t touch her Narcissa Gemini Black or by Salazar I will curse you and your son into oblivion.”
“What is going on here?” a familiar silky voice drawled from the front room of the Parker home.
Narcissa braced herself as her husband and Jeff Parker came towards the two women. Jeff cautiously moved to stand next to his wife who was visibly shaking in her anger. Narcissa held her own as her husband eyed the closed door wearily.
“It seems Draco is angry.” Nancy spat.
Lucius’s cold eyes narrowed at that. He twisted the head of his cane revealing his wand. Jeff stiffened as he watched his old friend twirl the black thin wand between his fingers. In a movement so swift the other three almost missed it Lucius blasted Liz’s door away before he reattached his wand to his cane.
The elder Malfoy straightened his black robes before he stepped into the room. Narcissa and Nancy stuck their heads in nervously and gasped. Lucius turned to the two women and sneered. “Well they are not fighting anymore.”
Nancy closed her eyes shaking her head trying to dispel the image burned into her eyes. It seems that Draco and Liz had decided that fighting was not productive and a tumble in the sack was the better option. The two teens stared wide eyed at their parents who stood in the doorway unmoving.
“Father,” Draco greeted uncomfortably as he tried to keep Liz as covered as possible.
“Your mothers thought you were fighting.” Lucius said unmoved by the sight of the embarrassed teens before him.
“I wouldn’t call it fighting,” Draco said making Liz groan her embarrassment reaching an all new height.
“So I see,” Lucius sighed. “Very well carry on.”
Lucius moved the women and Jeff out of the room casting a spell to fix the door; wooden shards reforming the blasted door. Narcissa was stunned as she entered the kitchen with a shocked Nancy. She had been so sure her son was going to release his anger on the young Parker girl.
“Oh that was an image I could have done without,” Jeff Parker groaned rubbing his eyes.
Lucius eyed his wife wearily. He wanted answers but he was not sure he wanted them in front of other people even if they were close friends. Deciding that he didn’t have the patience to wait Lucius turned to his wife ready for an explanation.
“Explain.”
“When Liz came back hurt Draco was angry.” She said in a calm voice. Narcissa knew from experience that acting excitable was not the way to deal with her husband.
“And…”
“He looked very angry.” She amended trying to get him to understand without her having to actually say the words.
A spark of understanding flashed in his grey eyes before he covered his emotions. “I see,” he hummed.
Jeff and Nancy looked between the husband and wife knowing that they were having a silent conversation. It was something that couples developed after long years of fighting in the trenches of marriage together. Their service to the Dark Lord only strengthened the skill.
Nancy watched her friends closely picking up on the subtle tick in Lucius’s jaw. It was a tell she was all too familiar with. He was upset and hurt but he would never show any other outward display of negative emotion.
Jeff studied his friends through narrowed eyes. He would normally let them have their silent spat but it involved his daughter and he did not want to wait around for answers.
“Start talking all of you,” he ground out in a deadly hiss.
Nancy chanced a look at Narcissa who subtly fluttered her lashes. It was a trick they had started in school for when the heads of the other houses would question all of the Slytherin students about the latest attacks on the other students. A twitch of the nose meant don’t tell, curling your lip meant only give a little and batting your eyelashes meant squeal like a pig.
The redheaded woman turned to her husband anxiously. “Narcissa thought Draco was going to have a fit to rival Lucius’s.”
Lucius sniffed offended by the accusation even if he knew it was true. “I have much more control over my temper,” he ground out.
Narcissa patted her husband’s arm mockingly. “Whatever you say darling.”
Lucius huffed pulling himself up straighter. “I have not destroyed something in months.”
Jeff felt a headache coming on as he stood before his wife and friends. Part of him wanted to hex Narcissa for leaving his daughter alone with Draco but another part of him also understood. He has known Lucius all his life and Jeff knew just how volatile the blonde was. If Draco was anything like his father then the more people around him when he was angry the worse the damage was. It was as though the Malfoy’s fed off the energy of others; the more people that were around the more the energy poured into them and the worse their anger became.
Lucius looked uncomfortable as Nancy and Jeff stole glances at him out of the corners of their eyes. If there was anyone besides the Dark Lord who could make him feel terrible about his temper it was Jeff Parker. His old friend had a temper but unlike Lucius, Jeff was never physically violent with his wife.
Lucius cleared his throat as Liz and Draco joined them in the main room. “While Draco might have my temper he does not have my inclination for physical violence,” Lucius said.
Draco shifted nervously beside Luz. He did not like talking about his father’s abuse of his mother in front of others. Liz was lucky in that she never had to deal with the after effects of a violent parent. The abuse stopped before Draco was born but he still remembers his mother flinching every time his father came into the room.
Liz grabbed his hand sensing his growing discomfort. “You don’t have to worry about Draco’s temper,” she giggled. “He knows how to channel it productively.”
Draco chuckled uncomfortably as his father raised an amused eyebrow. “What can I say she pulled a pout and I couldn’t resist.”
Lucius looked to his wife and a rare smile tugged at his lips. “I know what you mean.”
*****Order Headquarters*****
The Order sat around the conference room waiting for Dumbledore to begin the meeting. Everyone could sense something was wrong as Snape paced the front of the room behind the headmaster. He looked ill and kept stealing glances out the windows his hands touching his wand holster every moment or so.
“What do you think has Snape so worried?” Hermione asked Harry softly.
The green eyed wizard looked closely at the bat like man. It took a great deal to unsettle the death eater spy. Seeing the frightening man spooked did not sit well with the-boy-who-lived.
“I don’t know,” Harry whispered. “Whatever it is though, it can’t be good.”
Dumbledore cleared his throat gaining the attention of the room. “As you all know Severus has had to slip away many times throughout our stay here in Roswell but it seems that this last time something terrible has happened.”
“Have you been uncovered?” Tonks asked.
“No,” Snape hissed.
Dumbledore shot the two a disappointed look for interrupting his introduction sending them back to their corners. “As I was saying…Severus please enlighten us as to what has transpired.”
The glowering man glared at the headmaster before he pushed off the wall sneering at the room. His voice was barely a whisper as he spoke but they all heard him very clearly. “Elizabeth Parker and Alexander Whitman have started the death eater trials.”
Harry and his friends froze in their seats. Several eyes around the room glanced at Harry worriedly wondering how the news of his cousin joining his enemy willingly was affecting him. The young Potter male tried valiantly to control his face to not let on how terrible and alone he was suddenly feeling.
Thousands of questions flared in his bright mind, but there was one that kept coming back to him the most. How was it that his father’s sister could so easily join the man that killed her brother. It seemed odd to Harry that such a person existed. Sirius his godfather shifted in his seat next to him and a sinking feeling pulled at his stomach. The same thing happened to Sirius. His brother and family held different ideals and blasted him off the family tree for it.
Harry tuned out the rest of what Snape was saying as new plans formed in his young mind. He still wanted to contact Liz now more so than ever. There was still a chance he could have a relationship with his cousin and he now knew he needed to move quickly.