This tale is as old as time,
And its song as old as rhyme.
Yet this fairy tale has a twist;
Things will happen that shouldn't be missed.
So open your eyes and open your mind;
You never know what you might find...
The sight that stood before Harry was peculiar for more than one reason.
The first of those was that Mr. Oliver stood in the flesh in front of Harry's stables. The second, although it may have seemed quite materialistic, was that he seemed to have trailed mud and the fecal matter of horses outside of the stable itself, in which Harry prided himself in being spectacularly clean. The third reason had to do with Adeline. Harry had never seen such a mixture of anger and fear strewn upon her face, and she had endured the Beast at the beginning of her stay in the castle. To be honest, this one hurt Harry more than it should have, but he understood the fear on her face was not for her own life, but the life of the fourth reason of peculiarity: his own loss for words or action, something for which Harry was not famous. In fact, he was famous for quite the opposite.
Maybe she feared what Harry may do in shock, but there was only one phrase that came to Harry's bewildered mind.
"Adeline, since when could you communicate with the dead?" Harry let out a small laugh, yet neither Mr. Oliver nor Adeline returned the sound.
"Harry, there's something I need to discuss with you--," Mr. Oliver started, but he did not get a chance to finish.
"Because," Harry cut off Mr. Oliver, "if you were not present, then I would think I have actually gone insane, more than I already am. "
Mr. Oliver stood and started towards Harry, extending his arm in an act of peace. It was not accepted, however, as Harry stepped back to where he began, lowering his eyes at the man.
"Do not come any closer," he threatened through clenched teeth, "or I will--"
"Or you will what?" Mr. Oliver rolled his eyes. "You won't do anything to me." He shook his extended arm towards Harry and found his gaze that was trying so fervently to avoid him. "Are you going to come and listen to me, or are you going to pout and act like a child all day?"
"Hey!"
The voice briefly started Harry, forgetting that Adeline was still there. She walked between the two men and crossed her arms before turning to the dead man.
"Mr. Oliver, you are being quite unfair!" Adeline admonished. "A man come back from the dead appears before his eyes, and I think he is being completely sane in his hesitation."
"Exactly!" Harry huffed in agreement, his chest puffed out and a smirk drawn across his face.
"Oh, do not be so quick to place blame," Adeline snapped to Harry. His shoulders dropped and his smirk faded, but the air of confidence surrounding him did not fade. "Harry, while I realize how absolutely mad this must sound and be, you have to listen to Mr. Oliver." Adeline's eyes softened, and she held Harry's gaze, immediately soothing any irritation he still had.
"But why should I?" Harry retorted. "If there is anyone here that deserves an explanation, I am him, yet I find it very hard to believe any of this to be real. For all I know, I'm dreaming!"
As soon as the words dropped from his mouth, the corners of Adeline's mouth perked, and she skipped the few steps to Harry. Bringing him close to her, she bounced on her tippy toes, close to Harry's face, then pinched his arm as hard as she could.
Harry let out a howl of pain, and Adeline turned back to her previous spot.
"See, you're not dreaming," she spoke. Looking back to Mr. Oliver, her gaze hardened and she took a deep breath. "Now get talking before I run out of patience."
~.~
Harry's unsure of what to expect,
As his father figure has just come back from the dead!
Mr. Oliver shall reveal all Harry never knew,
But you'll have to wait until Chapter Thirty: Part Two. . .
~.~
WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!
HI ALL IT'S BEEN A WHILE.
BUT I PROMISE ANOTHER PART WILL BE OUT SHORTLY BEFORE THE NEW YEAR!!!
HARASS MY NOTIFICATIONS UNTIL IT HAPPENS, AND I SHALL DELIVER.
I'm so grateful for all of you reading. I logged in on a spur of the moment to return to my story (my baby), and was completely shocked to see all of you new faces in my notifications!! I know I said this before, but would y'all want a short little get to know the author chapter along with the other one?
I know this was short, but I saw how much attention this story got when I was gone and I just had to let you all know what was going on and just put something out there to let you know I was here.
And I'm curious: comment how you found this story!!!!
Again: thank you all so much for your endless support even when I went MIA for a couple of months. I don't wanna leave this story before it ends, and I've promised it to myself, and now I'm promising it to you. School's a little busy, but I'm hoping to find a schedule that will work since writing this has always made me so happy and even more to know so many people are enjoying it :)
Love you all and I'll be back soon!!
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