Aurors

Orion was leaning against the wall next to the young Malfoy's room trying to keep his emotions in check. Sorrow was whirling around inside him like a tornado and he was trying his best not to let it overtake him. He and Cyril had met Zacharias just outside the Slytherin common room. As they were about to enter the dark wizard had told them that Septimus was telling Artemis what had happened with Eminence. The blond had of course noted that she was awake and that was the reason for their entry into the dorm but as they had approached the door, for once, Zacharias had been forward-thinking and dropped the silencing charm on the door just in time to hear a glass explode. Both of the other wizards had looked to Orion but he quickly realised that it was not Artemis's fault that only left Septimus. The three wizards had decided to put up the silencing charm again and stand outside of the door. If something happened Orion would feel it through the bond and they could enter if needed.

With his eyes closed, he was now listening to Cyril telling what had happened to Zacharias.

"I swear I have not seen Ace this mad in a long time. He destroyed that crystal with one Reducto like it was paper." The dark wizard whistled impressed.

"Oh, and the spell marks on one of your training dummies are from him blasting it the second we stepped out of the fireplace when we got back."

"Duly noted." Orion took a deep breath as he opened his eyes and met the worried looks of the other two.

"I'm fine. Continue." Cyril gave him a sceptical look before continuing.

"As we were covered in glitter we took a shower and changed clothes and gave the uniforms to Mips for cleaning." Zacharias held up his hands then.

"Wait, glitter? Is that why your hair is sparkling like a unicorn?" The Jack huffed at him as he rubbed his eyes in frustration.

"Don't get me started, I already got yelled at by Mips. Anyway, while we were showering Septimus told me that he blames everything on himself. If he had searched Eminence that day when he was questioning her, he probably would have found the blood and taken her in immediately." Orion frowned.

"That's not something he could have known at the time. He trusted her, we all trusted her but she still decided to do it anyway." Queen crossed his arms as he leaned against the wall with an uncharacteristically serious expression.

"So why did she take the blood then?" Anger flashed over the other wizard's face.

"Just out of morbid curiosity." Orion had to bite the inside of his cheek not to let out a shout of anger again, even though this was the second time he heard it was almost too unbelievable for him. By the looks of it, Zacharias had the same reaction as shock was evident on his face.

"Th… that's fucking insane." Sudden realisation crossed the dark wizard's face.

"Wait, she didn't know exactly what she was doing but she never questioned it either? She really believed she was helping Prince somehow? Why the fuck didn't she just tell us about her vision in the first place?" Orion had thought about the same thing since he had been told, no matter how he twisted and turned the woman's reasoning he still could not believe it. Cyril shrugged in response.

"She 'has problems asking people for help', apparently. She didn't know about the branding mark either. Artemis never told her about that part so Septimus did it for her after she thought Orion was hurt as well." Orion closed his eyes again as the sorrow came flooding over him again even more prominent than last time. Septimus must have finished with his story he reasoned as every other emotion drowned in the waves of sorrow. He heard Queen let out a huff of frustration before he started to talk.

"So what? She cares more about Orion than Artemis now? She in love with the man or some-" He stopped himself before he finished the sentence and the blond could feel the two pairs of eyes on him. Opening his own eyes again he snickered.

"Hardly. You don't really think so, do you? She has never given out signs that she loves me in any way shape or form." Both of them looked like they were thinking about it as Orion rolled his eyes at them again before closing them.

They all stood in silence as the blond focused on his breathing. He tried to his best abilities to send calming emotions through the bond but the sorrow that crashed against them was too much for him to handle and he had to go back to focusing on not letting himself be pulled under. He hated Eminence for what she had done; even if she was just trying to help, it was within normal reasoning to tell them about the situation in the first place, not trying to solve it on her own. The blond knew he needed to have a private talk with her one of the next days as this could not be ignored and if he knew Artemis as well as he thought he did she would not be talking to her anytime soon. She needed time to think and adjust.

It was good that it was Septimus who was the one to tell her the truth. He would never lie to her, even if it would hurt her to this extent. That was where he was, in many ways, a better man than Orion was. The other wizard always told her the truth and had done so from the beginning of their friendship. The blond knew that it had pained him to take that Unbreakable Vow back then to keep Snape's death a secret from her but stupid as Orion was he deemed it necessary to lie.

Artemis's emotions finally calmed down as a sign that the witch had fallen asleep. Orion opened his eyes then removed the silencing charm on the door and listened. Not a sound escaped from the other side and he gave signs at the other to be quiet while he opened the door carefully.

~𓅃~

His eyes met those of Septimus who was lying facing the doorway. The sky-blue eyes seemed dimmed like the usual light in them had turned off and the man looked exhausted. Jealousy bit Orion's core when he realised what kind of position the pair was lying in. The wizard had her in a secure hold with her facing his chest, one of his legs were thrown over hers and his arms were wrapped tightly around her. Orion walked quietly over to the bed as he studied the scene. Artemis was fast asleep, obviously knocked out by her own crying. Septimus looked up at him with an apologetic expression but the blond wizard understood that there were no romantic feelings behind the situation. This was not the first time the brunette had gone to Ace for support and it would not be the last.

The others had walked into the room and closed the door after them but none of them got closer and rather chose to stay put by the door. Artemis stirred in her sleep and the man tightened his hold on her and whispered sweet nothings into her ear. On reflex, Orion put his hand on her shoulder and rubbed it slowly. Almost immediately the witch relaxed into their touches and a faint smile was visible on the other wizard's face.

"The Ace is really nothing compared to the King." The blond jumped a bit in surprise from the use of Legilimency as Septimus rarely used it. He had too much information stored in his head for it to be safe but this situation seemed to call for it.

"The King is really nothing without his court." The man rolled his eyes but the small smile returned.

"You told her the truth then?" Ace gave him a pained look and the smile faded.

"Of course, what else should I have done? She deserves to know the truth better than anyone else. No matter how painful." Orion squashed down the jealousy he felt when the other wizard tightened his hold on her again as he pulled back his own hand. Tears were evident in the other man's eyes as he looked down at the top of her head.

"Loftwind needs to get consequences for what she has done. I have gathered a plethora of information about what the witch has been doing in the last couple of years. Of course, nothing comes close to this. I could have her placed in Azkaban by the end of the week if I so wished it and I will have to admit that it is a tempting thought." The standing blond sighed deeply.

"I understand your reasoning, Ace. But she is Artemis's friend if someone is going to decide it's her. However, I am going to talk with Eminence before she does decide on what to do. If I know Artemis well enough she will need a few days to gather her thoughts about the whole thing. This is when I will strike while I still can." The wizards' eyes met again and Ace studied him intensely for several seconds before he nodded courtly.

"I understand. You are of course right, King. I apologise for my behaviour." Orion shook his head in disappointment.

"You don't have to say sorry for anything Septimus. Like I said already I understand your reasoning but we need to be careful about this. For everyone involved." The wizard nodded courtly again and turned his eyes downward. Orion sighed again as he studied the man in front of him. It was a long time since he had seen him like this if he ever had, so fragile and small. He was holding on to Artemis like his own life depended on it or if he let go she would vanish in a burst of smoke.

"It was not your fault, Septimus." Septimus turned his eyes on him suddenly and anger was swimming close to the surface.

"I could have checked if she actually had a blood vial on her person before I left. I could have given out orders to the Juniors to look for it. I could have made her tell me but I did none of these, Orion. None of them. I trusted Loftwind to be the good friend she wanted to be. She did not just betray Artemis, she betrayed all of us!" The wizard was beginning to lose his cool again as his voice was getting nearly hysterical by the end. Orion got a bad taste in his mouth as he thought about what the man was saying. He had a point of course. None of them would have guessed that she would actually go this far with her projects. Especially not on the cost of hurting Artemis but on the other hand if Cyril were to be believed she had genuinely not thought she was doing anything wrong. Which didn't make it any better or less forgivable but it did pose more questions than answers.

Orion sat down carefully on the bed to reach over Artemis to touch his friend on the shoulder softly shaking it in the progress. He looked at him with a strict expression that was met with confusion.

"I was not your fault, Septimus. I will keep telling you this until you believe it and do you really think Artemis believes that you have any fault in this? Truly?" Ace was quiet for a long time only studying him for a few moments and sometimes his eyes wandered over to the other two behind him. He was obviously having a conversation with one of them as well but in the end, his eyes returned to meet Orion's.

"No, I do not believe she does. She is a fragile soul, Orion, you know this better than anyone. She needs to be protected, something I failed to do. That guilt will never go away." Orion smiled a reassuring smile to the other wizard who relaxed a little.

"I know and she knows that you will be there for her when she needs you. I do not doubt this. Stay here with her for the night send a Patronus to me if something happens. Try to get some sleep. That's an order, Ace." The blond smiled at him again as he carefully got out of the bed touching Artemis on her back and rubbing it slightly. The witch was sleeping soundly in the other wizard's arms and again Orion had to swallow the jealousy that was clawing at his insides.

He then noticed that they were lying on top of the bed covers and turned to get Zacharias to help him. The blond took out his wand and motioned for Queen to do the same. The wizard was quick to understand when he mumbled a Levitating charm on Artemis as he quickly did the same to Septimus. Cyril then went over and dragged the bed cover from underneath them so that they could use it. The two wizards slowly levitated the pair back down on the bed as Cyril put the bedsheets over them.

Orion stepped away slightly from the bed then as the man in question leaned down over Artemis to kiss her cheek softly. He mumbled something that the blond could not hear and said something quietly to Septimus who nodded in response before he moved back. Orion said a soft good night to him and walked silently out of the room followed by the other two.

~⚡︎~

It was breakfast the next morning and Harry was sitting with his eyes glued on the entrance to the Great Hall. His legs were bouncing up and down in a nervous tick which got him a weird look from Ginny on his left, which he ignored. He had done what he had promised Malfoy after he had seen him go into the tunnel to the Slytherin common room and waited patiently for the other Aurors to show up. The ravenhead had gotten a weird look from Auror Silver as he had passed him but other than that they had said nothing, and when it was clear that he would not be informed that night on how everything had ended up he had made his way back to the Gryffindor tower.

Finally, Harry breathed a sigh of relief when Malfoy entered the hall closely followed by the Zabini brothers. Frowning he noticed that none of the other Aurors was present and wondered what had happened the other night. Malfoy looked tense, tired and simply grumpy. Which on its own was nothing strange for the blond in the morning but it still made Harry worried. Suddenly, Ginny put her hands on his leg for it to stop bouncing making him jump slightly in surprise.

"Harry! Could you stop that? It's driving me nuts." Not bothering to answer at that moment he just smiled apologetically to her and went back to studying the Slytherin table.

They had all sat down now and at that moment Auror Zouch entered the Hall followed by the rest of the Aurors, including Auror Blackmoore. Harry looked at the woman with his mouth slightly open in shock. He didn't know what the emergency had been but physically the witch looked the same as yesterday. But on the other hand, when he studied her closer there was something that was not right. It was like something heavy was on her shoulders, pushing her down. She didn't look at anyone as she sat down at the table and just started to eat more out of habit than that of wanting to.

His face turned into a frown again when Auror Silver went up to the teachers' table to sit next to Burns as he had done previously. Ginny started to poke him in the shoulder then to get his attention and he had no choice but to look at her.

"Harry? Did you just hear what I asked you?" The wizard blinked confused for a second before he shook his head. The redhead witch rolled her eyes at him before repeating the question.

"Why are you staring at Auror Blackmoore so intensely? Did she do something to you?" Harry laughed at the question.

"No, not at all. Aren't I allowed to look at her? Just been a while since she's been in the Great Hall for a meal. That's all."

"That's true, mate." Ron shot in from the other side of the table between mouthfuls of toast.

"She's probably very busy. They still have to do all of their other Auror duties while they are here, you know?" Hermione stated matter-of-factly from the other side of Ron. She looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow, like she tried to understand a problem. The ravenhead shrugged at all of them and took a bite of his own toast while sneaking peeks up to the teacher's table. Auror Silver was indeed a true Slytherin as he managed to hide his disgust perfectly and had it not been for that Harry had studied Malfoy so much over the years it would have fooled him as well. The wizard had a perfect smile on his face as he talked to the Defence Professor who, to Harry anyway, looked slightly put off. Like something was hiding underneath that sweet smile of hers. When he squinted he could barely make out a shimmer from a Glamour and snorted.

The witch was still looking for her classroom it seemed so he was excited to see if they would be able to find it in time for the class they were having the next day. For a quick second, he wondered where the woman had been sleeping seeing as her living quarters were connected to the classroom. He started to giggle quietly to himself which got him a puzzled look from Ron as Ginny huffed next to him.

"What is it now Ginny?" The witch looked at him with slight annoyance.

"You are paying too much attention to those Aurors and you never told us what Malfoy wanted yesterday." Harry looked at the girl with a frown.

"I don't know what he wanted with them. He didn't tell me. and don't start with me Ginny, you aimed your wand at him!" The witch huffed as an angry flash was seen over her eyes.

"There is something sinister going on, haven't you noticed all the weird things happening at school after the Aurors arrived here? You never paid Malfoy any attention before that! Besides, he deserved it." The ravenhead had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his anger in check.

"He was unarmed. What could he have done? If you have forgotten he is on probation, he can lose everything he owns if he is not careful. Do you honestly believe Malfoy would do something to compromise that?" She was glaring at him and he was not afraid to return the glare. Everyone around them had gotten quiet now and Harry could feel the anger flowing closer to the surface at every second that passed. Ginny had suddenly started acting like this after a few days after the Aurors had arrived and for the life of him, he did not understand why. In a quick decision, enough was enough and he got up from his seat.

"I'm not talking about this again. I'm going ahead to class." Not bothering to wait for an answer he grabbed his bag and walked in the direction of the exit to the Great Hall, however, before he managed to leave completely a voice shouted his name.

"Potter! Wait!" Puzzled he turned around to see Malfoy hastily getting out of his seat and walking up to him with the rest of the eighth-year Slytherins. Auror Blackmoore was also following them with Auror Zouch.

"Malfoy?" The blond looked down on him a little awkwardly before he straightened to his full height.

"Walk to class with us? Seems you ditched your other friends. Can't have the Saviour go lonely now can we?" For once thankful for the sarcastic comments Harry had to grin at the other wizards.

"Sure, someone's gotta protect you lot. Ah, no offence, Sir, Miss." He blushed slightly when the two Aurors gave him an amused look each.

~⚡︎~

Divination was the first class of the day and as always Harry dreaded it. It was an easy subject to pass sure, but it got a little tiresome every time Professor Trelawney gave him a fortune of death. Sadly he was not alone with Malfoy or Auror Blackmoore so he could not ask either of them what had happened the day before. Not that he needed to know everything but the blond had seemed so desperate when he had run up to him that he thought it would be a little more serious. On the other hand, Malfoy had said that he would update him on what was going on later and probably didn't get the time yet.

Auror Zouch had mumbled something incoherent about how stupid Divination was and had taken the first opportunity to run off to his office to do other work, which left them with the female Auror. Normally, she would talk to them like a normal person and not act all super professional but today she kept herself to the back and didn't speak unless she was spoken to first. The short witch looked like she was wandering around in a daze and only her feet were moving her without her head knowing. Harry didn't miss the worried looks that Malfoy kept sending her either from time to time.

When they entered the classroom on top of the Astrology Tower the Professor was waiting for them as usual. However, they were a little early as she was in the middle of reading something in her crystal ball. Malfoy motioned at a table in the back and Harry quietly followed. It was weird, sharing a table like this with the blond and not just because a teacher had told him to first. He actually wanted to sit here and he had to grin when the other Slytherins looked at him weirdly.

"Sorry, Potter but are you really going to sit here? Wouldn't it be better if you were sitting with your Gryffindor friends?" Nott's question was an honest one the ravenhead realised as his voice was filled with curiosity.

"I'm good. Unless it makes you uncomfortable? I can move." All of them gave him weird looks but no one said anything until Nott just shook his head.

"Fine by me. You're the Saviour. You can do whatever you want I guess." A snicker came from behind them as Auror Blackmoore had been listening to their conversation.

"Don't worry, Mr Potter. You're not the only Gryffindor among all these snakes." She winked at him then and he had to smile in return.

"Oh yeah! You were a Gryffindor, Auror Blackmoore! I would never have guessed. You act like a true Slytherin." The witch snickered again.

"It rubs off after a while Miss Parkinson." Parkinson and Bulstrode giggled at their table as the Auror smirked at them. It was then the rest of the class walked in and Harry was quick to meet the eyes of Ron. The confusion was evident in his eyes as he sat down next to Neville. Hermione had refused to take the class again this year and Parvati, Goldstein, Bones and Macmillan had followed suit saying that the subject was a waste of time. But for the most part, everyone was now present.

Luna cleared her throat to get Trelawney's attention and the wide-eyed witch looked up after a few seconds. She looked confused at all of them for a second before shaking her head.

"Oh! My is it time for class already? My apologies my dearies! Well well let's begin sha-" Auror Blackmoore mumbled a curse behind him then as Professor Trelawney almost ran up to where she was sitting. Her eyes seemed even wider than they usually did as the older witch looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Oh my… oh my, Miss Blackmoore… You are alive after all these years? I swore that Death would have come knocking on your door by now." The whole class was now watching the conversation with growing interest. Auror Blackmoore smiled sweetly and it sent a shiver down Harry's spine.

"Funny, I keep inviting him in for tea but he doesn't want to come in." Professor Trelawney took hold of the witch's hands and studied her hands for a second.

"I see, I see. You have been through a lot, my child. Tell me, my dear, when was the last time you saw Death?" Without even blinking the witch answered.

"In which form, Professor?" Harry's eyes grew wide and he could see from the corner of his eye that Malfoy's expression was mimicking his own. The older witch only looked at the Auror for a minute before she clicked her tongue.

"I see, I see. Do remember to stay out of the dark, hm? Never go into the dark, my dear." The witches just looked at each other for a long time until the Auror broke the eye contract and gestured to the rest of the room. Professor Trelawney jumped in surprise as she looked around again.

"Oh! Hello class, it seems it is time to start. Well then everyone we shall repeat some of the tea leaf readings today to get a little refresher. Ah, please Miss Blackmoore if you wish, do take a cup of your own." To Harry, it sounded like the Auror didn't have a choice as the Professor looked her dead in the eye when she had said it. To his surprise, Auror Blackmoore patted him on the shoulder so that he could move a little to the side so that she could sit between him and Malfoy.

"How much you betting that we are all gonna be dead in the matter of the next week?" She whispered with a glint in her eye. All the Slytherins around her smirked in return while they all held up their fingers to how much they were betting.

"I bet we are going to be dead before the weekend." Zabini whispered back to her and Nott was nodding in agreement next to him. Her eyes glinted again as she smirked at him and nodded.

"You're on Mr Zabini. Anyone else wants in?" The brunette looked to Harry who grinned in return as Bulstrode, Parkinson and Malfoy also nodded in agreement as well. Maybe this class was not going to be that bad after all he thought while the Professor went around and filled everyone's cups in turn.

~ཐིཋྀ~

The classroom fell into silence for a while and Artemis had trouble staying focused. Suddenly, Potter let out a snort next to her and he tipped his cup towards her.

"Does that look like the Grim to you?" She studied the mess of tea leaves in the bottom of the cup and it really didn't to her but she had to giggle when she looked at his face. His grin was almost blinding with mischief as he showed it over to Zabini who rolled his eyes. Artemis barely remembered anything from her own classes back in the day but she did get surprised by how much Potter actually knew about the different meanings as Parkinson had asked if anyone knew what a bird at the bottom of the cup would mean.

"Birds can mean a lot of different things. For example, a parrot can mean you have a lot of trustworthy friends and you can relay your secrets to them, however, a swan can mean you are not trustworthy to your friends and they don't trust you with their secrets but it all depends on the bird, really." He smirked again when all of the Slytherins looked at him weirdly.

"What? It had to be convincing if I was going to predict my own death every week." That reply did it for the others as all of them burst out laughing. Artemis herself had to cover her mouth with her hand to not let her own smile show as Professor Trelawney came hurriedly over to their little group of tables.

"Something humorous is happening in your lives it seems? Let's have a look. Come, come, Mr Malfoy your cup, please." The blond was hiding his smile to the best of his ability as he gave the witch her cup. Trelawney studied the cup for a minute with her big eyes wide open, suddenly, she looked up from it and met his eyes.

"You have something following you. It wants you, my dear. Oh, I see death coming for a visit in your imminent future, my boy." She carefully placed the cup back down with a sad smile then turned around and clapped her hands.

"Who's next?"

"Over here, Professor." Abbott had her hand up in the air to get the older witch's attention and Artemis watched her go. The boy was shaking slightly in his seat next to her and Artemis patted his back.

"Death comes for everyone eventually, Mr Malfoy. Don't think about it." Draco looked at her with slight fear shining in his eyes while she gave him a reassuring smile.

"What's in your cup, Miss Blackmoore?" Bulstrode asked her from her shared table with Parkinson in front of her.

"Let's see, hm?" Artemis gave it to Draco to read as he frowned while he turned it around and looked at the book for reference.

"This looks like scattered lilies around the bottom of it which means 'you have problems with devotion, purity and humanity'. That also looks like a cockatoo at the top of it so that means that 'you need to take a fragile approach to the situation present to you." The brunette thought about it while the blond huffed and mumbled about how ridiculous it all was. It was closer to the truth than she was willing to give it credit for, especially the last part.

Her mind drifted back to the night before at what Septimus had told her about Eminence. She felt hollow. Instead, she should have felt anger but to her, it seemed that all the anger she felt Septimus was feeling for her. The glass breaking was a good example of how much it pained the man and he probably felt just as betrayed as she did in many ways. The wizard took honour in trust, it came with the job. If he showed you trust all he wanted was the same in return. This was how she knew he was telling her the full truth, if she was being honest with herself she might have doubted it if any of the other Slytherins had told her. They had both spent the night in Draco's room, lying tangled together for comfort.

Artemis had slept more than her partner as on the occasions she had woken up he had been awake every time even though he insisted that he had gotten enough sleep when they got up that morning. Someone touched her shoulder suddenly and she jumped. Looking confused around at the classroom that was starting to empty.

"You alright, Miss?" Surprisingly, Artemis met the eyes of Nott who was looking at her puzzled. Quickly getting her mind back on track she smiled at him.

"Yes, a lot of work to think about. That's all. Thank you, Mr Nott." The wizard did not look convinced as he turned around to walk towards the door only pausing in the doorway to wait for the rest of the Slytherins who were also flocking around her giving her worried looks.

"You totally zoned out for the rest of the class, Miss." Zabini looked at her with a sceptical look, not unlike what his own brother often did in her direction.

"Do you need Madam Pomfrey?" Draco asked with just as much worry in his voice as his eyes showed. The rest of the worried faces of the young wizards and witches around her broke a piece of her heart then and all she could do was laugh at them. Shaking her head she motioned for them to move towards the door. Professor Trelawney was watching her closely as she passed her desk but the witch didn't say anything, for once.

~ཐིཋྀ~

The next class on Draco's plan was runes which Artemis was not a fan of, to begin with, but only got her to think of Eminence even more and she was thinking about a way out as they were walking towards the classroom. Suddenly, a shiny galleon was flying in front of her face and she grabbed it out of the air turning to see Zabini pointing his wand at it.

"I lost the bet. Stupid Potter wasn't supposed to die until next week." Surprisingly, Potter was still walking with them but none of the others seemed to mind as much anymore. The ravenhead didn't take runes, Artemis knew that much, so he was probably just killing time until his next class. He started to laugh at Zabini's comment but quickly turned serious when he scowled at something down the hall. Artemis shifted her eyes in the direction he was looking and saw Burns marching towards them, sweet smile in place. On instinct, she placed herself a little in front of the students as the witch stopped in front of their little group.

"Auror Blackmoore. Just the witch I was looking for." The brunette raised her eyebrow.

"Really? What can I do for you, Professor?" Burns's smile widened a tad before she spoke again.

"You are well aware that my classroom, and office with it, are lost somewhere in the school. I've talked to the Headmistress and it is going to be your job to find it for me." The Auror looked at her dumbfounded.

"I'm sorry, Professor but that is not in my job description. Besides, the castle will return the classroom eventually. It will be impossible to find it in this huge castle, are you even aware of how many rooms there are?" Annoyance flashed over the witch's face for a second before she shook her head.

"Hundreds, maybe thousands."

"Better get started then." Artemis was struck speechless by what the woman was telling her that she didn't even say anything when the Professor walked past them. However, she did manage to stop Potter from pointing his wand at her in anger.

"She can't do that! How are you supposed to find a room in this big place!" Parkinson was fuming with anger as they watched the other witch walk away from them.

"Bloody bitch." Everyone looked to Malfoy who just shrugged in return. Artemis bit her lip as this didn't make sense to her at all. She needed help on this and a certain ghost came to mind immediately. Seemed like it would be a long night.