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A Little Frustrated
Author: Blossom
Date: 12-31-08 18:16
"You didn't have to come, Daria."
"I know, but Dad's covering at Weasley's this morning and Parker's going to take over this afternoon. Mum's certain she's got enough help for the day at Blossom's."
Blossom picks up a fussy Georgie, putting the baby against her shoulder. "Yes, but you've surely got better things to do on a free Saturday than come help me with the little ones."
Daria shrugs, "I want to be useful."
Blossom, patting the colicky baby on his back, gives her sister a frank look. "I understand perfectly."
Blossom does understand. She understands all too well the need to help, to be useful, to do something. Unlike others, however, Blossom doesn't have any particular skills that stand out or special talents. Anything she's capable of doing, others do as well or better.
All in all, Blossom has felt entirely useless when it comes to anything having to do with the Order of the Phoenix or the Resistance. Even doing what she's doing today, which is taking care of all the children, doesn't make Blossom feel like she's truly aiding the cause. Not even the knowledge that some of the huge influx of cash to the Order and Resistance is directly through Blossom from her grandfather Dexter helps Blossom feel like she's done much.
Blossom knows she's helping and that those with children appreciate her caring for them when needed, but it's not like Fred being on the line almost daily with the illegal wireless broadcasts he's doing. And George. George is right there along with Fred doing those broadcasts and helping to gather the information for them. Then there's Maj. She's making potion after potion, such as all that Polyjuice Potion the Order has gone through.
Daria, Ron, Ginny, Charlie, Bill, Hermione, Janine, and, oh, just everyone else, have actively taken part in one mission or task or something needed. Blossom's just stayed with the children. She shifts Georgie, finally getting him soothed, and tries not to look angry or impatient as she doesn't want Daria thinking she resents doing nothing but keeping the children.
Blossom doesn't resent the children. Not at all. She loves and adores them all. Blossom simply wishes there were something else she could be doing as well.
Just then Hendrika walks, setting Little Arthur down. "Go play," she urges the child, "but this time no pouring your milk on your head."
Hendrika hasn't done anything but help with the children either. Blossom wonders how she could have forgotten that fact until now. Sitting down with Daria and Hendrika where they can keep an eye on the playing children, Blossom continues rubbing Georgie's back until the baby falls asleep, all the while wondering if Hendrika is as frustrated as she is. Now, with Daria here, is not the time to ask.
Why Isn't This Working?
Author: Jet
Date: 12-31-08 22:53
Ignoring the cloud of dust he's just stirred up, Jet plops down on an overstuffed footstool gone lumpy with age and neglect. "I don't understand. This is the third time Blood Hound has brought us here."
Hermione, who is busy opening drawers and cupboards that she's gone through the two previous times they've been here, asks him, "Do you think the calibration is off?"
"We checked it the last two times so I don't think so but I suppose it's possible," Jet mournfully replies. "I don't get it. We've checked it and it's worked perfectly. We put it on Dumbledore's scent and it brings us here."
Here is a house on the Hogwarts grounds neither knew was there. It's surrounded by a thick growth of trees and brush. From the looks of it, no one's been to the house in a very long time.
Standing up, Jet joins Hermione in poking around even though they found nothing helpful the other two visits. As he looks behind a hutch to see if there's anything interesting hidden there, Jet idly comments, "You know, the place is bigger on the inside than one would expect."
"I noticed that," Hermione says from where she's going through a large built-in bookcase along one wall, her voice muffled by the large stack of books she's shifting.
Jet bends to peer under the hutch. Standing upright again Jet notices something. "The floor's thick with dust and dirt but our footprints from the other two times aren't visible. There must be a strong enough draft through the house to blow dirt over our tracks."
Following Jet's line of thought Hermione says, "That means anyone who's been here before us or since one of our other visits wouldn't have tracks showing either."
"We looked in here, didn't we?" Jet's standing in the doorway to another room. From the wan light coming through the shuttered windows, the form of a bed and nightstand cast odd shadows.
"Yes, I did a quick look see that first time we were here. It was when you were poking your head up in the attic space."
"Right, I remember now."
Jet holds his wand out, the glow from it's end illuminating the room more but with the overcast sky and rain outside, it's still fairly dark in the room. Looking around, Jet finds candles to light. Turning away from lighting a candle on the nightstand, Jet nearly jumps at seeing movement in a corner.
From the doorway Hermione laughs. "The reflection from that mirror startled me too."
The mirror is large and stands at an angle in one corner. "Looks old," is Jet's comment, "but then, so does everything else in this place."
"I wonder if it was once one of the caretaker's cottages or a professor who had a family but didn't want to live inside the castle."
"Could be, or even one of the headmasters," Jet says from where he's checking out a small nook that might have been used as a closet or for dressing or even for a reading chair and table. It's empty now and Jet doesn't see notice anything that might suggest a hidden doorway or anything like that.
He finally turns and starts putting out the candles, asking Hermione, "Ready to go?"
"We can apparate rather than walk in that icy rain. It's unfortunate the invisibility cloak doesn't protect us from the elements. Let's go back to the manor. I'll get you a new test subject for Blood Hound."
Jet frowns at the thought of testing the device yet again but nods anyway. "Don't tell me who it is. I'll stay in the foyer and you can get something for me to use and have whomever it is go somewhere."
"Let's get to it, shall we?"
Hermione smiles encouragingly at Jet then vanishes with a CRACK. Jet disapparates less than a second after her.
(St. John's Wood) Feeling Guilty
Author: Ginny Weasley
Date: 01-01-09 09:23
Standing with arms folded Ginny watches on as Pinky attempts yet again to reach Harry. The House Elf's entire body quivers and when he disappears with a loud POP Ginny's heart beats faster, hope flooding in. That hope dies in a flash when Pinky reappears seconds later. Rocko barks loudly, frolicking around Pinky who looks distinctly anything but in the mood for a frolic.
A flicker of guilt fills part of the now empty space. Ginny can't believe she's experiencing guilt but there it is. What's that expression she's heard Harry use? Hard to ignore like the elephant in the corner? No, that's not quite it but close she thinks. Pinky's wail interrupts Ginny's thoughts on sinking into the mire of guilt and wallow in it for a bit.
"Pinky failed again!"
Rocko adds barking to go along with Pinky's wailing. The urge to sit and do some wailing and barking herself flairs up but Ginny quickly tamps it down. In a semi-crouch to bring herself to the House Elf's eye level Ginny says with a forced positiveness, "You've been a massive help, Pinky. Don't ever think you've failed."
"But Pinky can't get to Harry!" he wails, lips quivering, large ears sagging.
"Because of you, we now have Harry's location narrowed down a great deal." She gestures to the large map on the wall. "It's tremendously helpful that we've ruled out the whole of the south Pacific and the islands in the Indian Ocean. Because of you, we're fairly certain Harry's somewhere in the Caribbean."
Movement at the door has Ginny looking up. It's Janine with the most hopeful of expressions on her face but taking in Pinky and Ginny, the expression falls away. Ginny gives a half smile of apology, glad that Pinky's got his back to Janine. Seeing her might send him into an even worse downward spiral.
Disconsolate, Janine nods then wordlessly walks away. Returnign her attention to Pinky Ginny suggests, "Instead of trying to go straight to Harry, why don't you try a spot nearby that's not swathed in a mass of spells?"
Pinky gets a resolute look on his face. "Pinky will try again."
Ginny smiles encouragingly, stepping away from him. As he once again flickers from sight, the guilt shoves its way in again. Ginny can't help but keep thinking she should be worrying this much about her own brother. It's not that no one's looking for Percy, it's that Ginny feels guilty that she's personally put more time and effort into finding Harry. Harry who is just a friend and who looks on her as a sister over looking for her own brother.
Letting the guilt take over, Ginny tells herself she'll only wallow for the short time Pinky will most likely be gone.
Charms Are Not Charming (Caerwyn)
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 01-01-09 14:01
Feeling rather defeated Caerwyn slumps back on his bed. From the other side of the room Gus asks, "Taking a break? Want to play chess then?"
Pushing up from the bed Caerwyn dully says, "Sure, might as well. I'm not getting anywhere with this."
"I keep telling you that you're trying too hard."
Caerwyn snorts, "This is Professor Yaxley we're talking about. If I can't get this down by Monday, I think I'm going to be ill to go to Charms."
"Wouldn't it be worse to skive off?"
Caerwyn harshly laughs. "Who'd be skiving off? I'm telling you I will literally be too ill to make it to Charms if I can't get it."
"I feel that way about Potions right now and I am so scared of Carrow I'm too afraid to open my gob to ask questions," Gus confesses.
The two boys stare at the chess board, starting a match suddenly not having any appeal. Caerwyn meets Gus's gaze across the board. "How about we go to the library to use one of the Spell Checks and one of the Perfect Potions?"
Gus jumps up, gathering up what he would need to practice the Potion they're on in class. "Excellent idea!"
It's not the best way to spend a Saturday but between the awful weather outside and what awaits them in Charms and Potions next week, it's a great use of their time.
Possibilities
Author: Hermione Granger
Date: 01-01-09 14:41
Some time later, Hermione met Jet in the foyer at the mansion in St. John's Wood and gave him a single ski glove. It was green, of average size, and so androgynous in style that Jet couldn't guess whether it belonged to a man or a woman. Thanking her for the item, he set to work attuning his Blood Hound device to the glove as Hermione looked on in silence.
She, like Jet, wondered why time and time again, the device had taken them to the previously undiscovered house on the Hogwarts grounds. In all their visits and searchings of the abandoned building, they hadn't found anything to indicate that Dumbledore was there or that he had ever even been there. But surely the device wasn't wrong in sending them to the house? There had to be something they were overlooking, but what?
As Jet's device started to process the glove and seek its owner, Hermione wondered if she could find some reading material that could help her figure out why they couldn't find Dumbledore, assuming the Blood Hound hadn't made a mistake. She longed for the library at Hogwarts and had thoughts of breaking into the school again to get what she needed but also wondered if there was another way. Perhaps she could get someone to go to the library in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley.
Of course, she didn't exactly know what she was needing to research. Invisibility spells? Magical barriers? Hidden chambers? It could be anything, really.
She remained seated on a bench against the wall in the foyer and mulled through various thoughts while waiting for Jet to return, hopefully with someone in tow. More time passed and then first one crack and then another sounded. Jet appeared in the foyer, holding his Blood Hound device, and beside him stood Neville Longbottom, holding his glove.
Hermione stood up and smiled. "It worked!"
Jet nodded. "Yeah, it did." He looked pleased as well as confused. Why would it work now and seemingly not the several times they'd searched for Dumbledore?
"Where did you go, Neville?" Hermione asked.
"Kensington Gardens in London," he replied. "Jet's device definitely works, so I really don't understand why it can't find Dumbledore."
"Neither do we," Jet answered, looking pensive.
Hermione thought about what she'd been considering while waiting for Jet to return with Neville. "I think it has to be finding him," she started slowly. "He's probably right under our noses, but we just haven't noticed."
She started pacing as more ideas sprung to mind. "You know, it almost makes sense. Dumbledore wouldn't have just disappeared on his own without saying goodbye or telling somebody. At least, I can't imagine him doing so... It certainly wouldn't make sense for him to go on secret sabbatical with everything going on in the world today, would it?"
Jet and Neville shook their heads.
"I don't think he put himself in hiding, but I can well imagine someone did. He's a threat to the wrong sort of people, isn't he? Getting Dumbledore out of the way would free up so many possibilities. So... maybe the Blood Hound device is taking us to the right place. We just have to look a lot harder, and by that I mean we need to think outside the box. There's something in that house that's preventing us from finding him directly. The question is, what?"
Reflecting
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 01-01-09 15:40
Over a week ago, a silver crane had flown over the tops of the snow-covered trees and dissolved in front of Ethan's eyes, but not before softly relaying a message in a voice Ethan recognized and hadn't heard in years:
Is it you, Ethan? Stay strong. Help is coming for you. Sláinte chugat!
Since that night, Ethan practiced conjuring his patronus with a message of his own, but so far hadn't had any success in mastering both spells without a wand. It didn't help that he didn't have enough time to practice nor did he have enough energy to sustain his efforts to get the spells just right. He'd been exhausted at Brecqhou for longer than he cared to remember, but it seemed to be taking a toll on him more now than ever.
The bitter winter that had started so early seemed unending. Surely spring lay just ahead, but so far Ethan saw no signs of it. He loathed the cold, the way it made his joints ache and his skin raw. It certainly didn't help that he didn't have clothes warm enough to keep himself marginally comfortable.
Also, the labor was so intense and backbreaking at times that Ethan's muscles wanted to give out, plain and simple. He wanted, no, needed to rest, but at Brecqhou, resting was absolutely out of the question. He was truly surprised that he hadn't fallen ill or severely injured himself yet, but then he was probably one of the stronger individuals in the community, even in his current state of being.
Ethan wondered what Dierna meant by Help is coming for you. Would she even be able to find him? Then again, she had received his patronus and he'd gotten her message, so he didn't appear to be completely unreachable. Did she merely mean that she would try to locate him and liberate Community Brecqhou, or did she already have a plan in place?
Ethan could hardly wait to find out, particularly since another day at Brecqhou was never guaranteed. Just yesterday, someone had died after doing something that had displeased Warden Lestrange. Of course, just breathing caused Lestrange displeasure, so one never knew when one would take his or her last breath. Most of the deaths had no valid reasoning behind them, if there was indeed any reason at all for cold-blooded murder in the first place.
"Stop daydreaming and get to work!" barked a guard, startling Ethan from his thoughts. He'd been working automatically, using a pick-axe to chip away at some boulders within the community's borders. Several of the other men and even a few of the stronger women were also working with him. He knew he hadn't slacked off while his thoughts had wandered, but perhaps his face had given away an expression that didn't reflect his backbreaking work.
As difficult as it was to do, he stopped thinking about Dierna and her message and put his mind onto his chores, even though he would much rather be thinking about getting the heck out of Brecqhou.