So this is pretty much exactly what the chapter heading says it is- An Interlude. It's been a long time since I updated, I know- more reasons than I can name for that...the main one being, COLLEGE. And the accompanying time commitment. To answer a question I have been asked several times now, YES, I do want to finish this story, as I know exactly what it supposed to happen from here to the end...my only issue is exactly HOW it's all going to happen. I've kind offallen out of the SM fandom, also, and taken a very active interest in the HP fandom- specifically the Hermione/Draco ship (lol, don't ask, my mind works in strange ways) so I feel even more alienated from this story. Also, because of my more than a year-long hiatus, I'm kind of out-of-sorts where this story is concerned, and while I still remember what was supposed to happen, the methods I was going to employ to make those things happen seem very flimsy now, and so until I iron out all that stuff, this is all I've got- but it's substantial-- may not seem like it, but there is stuff going on here to think/wonder about...this interlude IS here for a reason, remember, it's not just filler...I assure you, I don't usually appreciate filler at all, and so I certainly wouldn't intentionally put in my own work. As to whether I will in fact finish this story or not...well, that has yetto be determined.With summer coming, and the ensuing boredom that usually accompanies it, there's a greater likelihood I will continue this, but nothing's certain- it's mostly contingent on 1) If I can figure out this main obstacle that's completely preventing me from writing the next chapter, 2) If I can actively re-interest myself in the S-D romance long enough to see this thing through to completion. Hopefully it'll happen, but there's a chance it won't. That said, here is the poem that ties this whole story together...enjoy! And tell me how you like it too!

I won't tell you not to love some vagabond,

but for the sake of your soul, don't ever trust one…

Neither thought nor understood

The first time my body wished, yearned

You must know every moment

the memory of me will make you burn

I'll keep a nightly vigil

And sleep will not come to you

My love, I speak only the truth.

Beautiful stranger, my stranger, don't go and leave me

Wanderer, I beg you, keep your promise that is mine

Remember me, wrap memories of us in lavender

Don't forget me in the winds of time

What sickness of the heart is this?

It's punishment from heaven above

Though it be strewn with thorns or rosebuds

It is still that cursed road of love.

Cut open my heart and look within

It bears in blood only your name

I dance within this fire of passion

The fire for which you were the flame.

Wanderer, I beg you, keep your promise that is mine

Remember me, wrap memories of us in lavender

Don't forget me in the winds of time

It seems only those in love

Know what madness truly means

And indeed, you are within my sleep

The reflection of a thousand dreams

So cold, such a mystery are those,

The emotions you never seem to feel

Yet your eyes are filled with the

Scars of love, and they can never heal.

Beautiful stranger, my stranger, don't go and leave me

Wanderer, I beg you, keep your promise that is mine

Remember me, wrap memories of us in lavender

Don't forget me in the winds of time

It was you who grabbed my hand in jest

Now don't spare me, hold it, clasp it for life

Don't fly away, leaving only wispy memories

Lest I take for my lover a knife

Having cast me aside, what will

you do, where will you go?

Who will gather the broken pieces

of me, who will ever know?

Beautiful stranger, my stranger, don't go and leave me

Wanderer, I beg you, keep your promise that is mine

Remember me, wrap memories of us in lavender

Don't forget me in the winds of time

You swept into my life so suddenly,

A flower to mark the advent of spring

Then the season passed away, and you put

Endless tears in eyes that were laughing.

The fate of lovers, after all, is

Loneliness, nothing more,

Desire's closest companion is loss

And together they've left me lying on the floor

Beautiful stranger, my stranger, don't go and leave me

Wanderer, I beg you, keep your promise that is mine

Remember me, wrap memories of us in lavender

Don't forget me in the winds of time…