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Errands: Botanicals and Beyond and McFustys
Author: Karma Davyd
Date: 06-26-11 09:25
I’d managed to survive my first two weeks of classes at St. Emry’s, and things were going to be good for as long as I was only juggling one thing at a time. It would be interesting to see what happens when the fall term starts at Hogwarts and I will be teaching as well as attending courses at St. Emrys in the evening. I’d loved the time I spent at the Spring Social at Hogwarts with Bronwyn and Toby, and it was definitely a treat to see more of the grounds than I had during my interview. I needed to head to Botanicals and Beyond and grab a couple of more owl order forms from Travis as soon as I got a chance, probably it would be my break while I was working on my paper for Advanced Ancient History and then working on my translations for Advanced Ancient Runes.
I stretched languidly and pushed up from my desk, massaging my hand, and I really needed to get a quick quotes quill and make life easier. However, short cuts come with their own set of drawbacks. I padded into the kitchen, it was Saturday morning and I’d yet to actually change out of my pjs because I had no plans to go anywhere at the moment. I’d already owled out the grocery list to the delivery company, and I still needed to run to Botanicals and Beyond and I wanted to head to the fitness club and see how much a membership would cost. Right now, I was starving. I’d been up since about eight, and it was bordering on about ten now, and I needed something to eat, however, I didn’t have the energy to cook anything. I needed a house elf, seriously, and I’d still have to get around to replacing Suri, my cat who passed before Mum’s last visit – so, I’d probably have to go to Indigo’s over in Hogsmeade and see about getting a pet. I’d heard wonderful things about one of the employees there who could talk to the animals.
“Screw it.” I said as I turned and headed into the bedroom and rummaged through my closet. I picked a pair of my favorite jeans, a pair of boots that would do well in the rain, a three-quarter sleeve top that had a cute little floral pattern on it. I also grabbed my umbrella and my favorite hand-made poncho from Mexico and slipped it on. Within moments I was ready and apparated to Hogsmeade where the rain had thankfully stalled for the moment. Moving quickly I headed into Botanicals and Beyond.
“Good morning Travis.” She said as she stepped into the shop, seeing the woman she’d briefly met at the Ice cream station a week before at the Social. “I need a few more owl order forms, and I think I’ll take a pint of that marigold ice cream that you had at the Social last week. As well as a bag of that new Kona coffee.”
She and Travis talked for a few minutes, while Travis worked on getting the order together and once everything was bagged and it was ensured that the ice cream would not be melted by the time Karma finished her errands and got home, Karma left the shop and headed down to McFusty’s Pets and Clinic. Slipping into the shop she looked around, gaze drifting over the interior of the shop, smiling as she heard the sounds of the animals alerting the employees that someone was here. A young woman came in from the back.
“Hi. I’m looking for a pet, I recently lost my cat, I’d had her for years.” She said lightly, still not quite used to the idea of replacing Suri just yet, but it was needed.
Research Interrupted
Author: Jared
Date: 06-26-11 10:57
"Thought I might find you here," Sage says, pulling out a chair at the library table where Jared is waste deep in books.
"With the weather I figured now is as good a time as any to finish researching a paper," Jared tells him.
"Alanna's busy this morning, is she?"
"What makes you ask that?"
"Rainy Saturday morning. You could be snuggling with your girlfriend but no, you're here at uni doing an assignment."
Jared tosses a crumpled piece of parchment at Sage. "Yeah, Alanna's busy."
"Her birthday is a week away. Why aren't you the usual stressed out?"
"Oh, I am, believe me. I'm just not showing it as much. My coursework this term is keeping me too busy."
"She still doesn't suspect a second party?" Sage asks.
As with just about every year, Alanna's grandmother is having a birthday gathering for Alanna with family and a handful of close friends invited. That's on Alanna's actual birthday, this next Saturday. On Friday, there's a party Jared's put together with a bunch of their friends and of course family is invited as well.
"If she does suspect, she's not let on."
Jared eyeballs all the books spread out before him then says, "I'm tired of this. Let's go grab something at the Wyrding Way or in Diagon Alley. I need to drop off some money at that new spa?"
"It's good you're doing spa treatments. Your skin's looking better already."
"Ha ha. My main gift to Alanna is a spa day with a friend. She might like to take Ariella or Katherine, or even Bronwyn or Plum, or Mrs. Beck for that matter."
"Bronwyn might fight the others to be the friend who goes," Sage chuckles.
"I can totally see that," Jared agrees with a grin in return.
He finishes putting his things into a leather satchel then hoisting it to his shoulder the two exit the St. Emrys library, laughing over the image of Bronwyn Dewhurst Beck taking on all challengers to be the one who takes the spa day with Alanna.
OWL Prep (Etta)
Author: Jared
Date: 06-26-11 11:20
At the same time that her brother is doing research at the St. Emrys library, Etta is sitting in the library at Hogwarts going through some practice OWL questions. She finishes a Transfiguration based question then drops her quill to massage her hand.
It figures that the weather was nice all week but come Saturday morning we get that," she says with a disgusted wave in the direction of one of the windows where rain can be seen coming down in heavy waves.
"What does the weather matter when you vowed to work on OWL prep this morning anyway?" Marjani asks.
"It matters because spending a Saturday morning studying outside would be so much better than cooped up studying inside."
"You mean outside where you'd get distracted watching the giant squid or by interesting clouds or with wanting to see if anyone was at the pitch looking for a Quidditch match?"
"Well, when you put it like that... "
Jill looks up from a Potions essay she's writing. "I've got two more sentences then what say we go to the commons and get snacks?"
"I could do with a fairy cake or hmmm, maybe some popcorn." Etta starts packing up her stuff, eager to go for a snack. She'd not been overly hungry at breakfast so had only had one toast triangle with a dab of blackberry jam.
"I need to get in some practice for the Dueling Club tournament," Olive says. "I think I'll grab a snack I can take with me to one of the DADA practice rooms."
Etta, one of her OWL prep books posed to shove into her bookbag, says, "I'll go too. The practice will be good for both Dueling Club and the DADA practical."
Decision made, the group of friends leaves the library for the commons to get snacks and then for any interested in getting in some dueling practice to head to the second floor DADA practice rooms. In Etta's opinion that's a much more fun way to spend a dreary morning in which Deak is in an apparition lesson, than sitting in the musty library writing out answers to possible exam questions.
Dropping Off Gifts
Author: Ginny Weasley
Date: 06-26-11 13:28
Five year old Schuyler answers Ginny's knock after he's peered out through a window beside the door. "Aunt Ginny!" he happily says, throwing open the door.
Ginny shifts the gift she carries so then scoops Schuyler up, "Hello, yourself."
He makes a grab at the pink, yellow, and white wrapped gift. "For me?"
"I do have something for you but this isn't it."
She sets Scuyler down and moves from the door so that it can be shut against the chill from the rain soaked morning. No sooner has she done that then Artie is there, wrapping his arms around both her legs. Ginny bends to hug Artie back as he woefully tells her, "Mummy's mad 'cause I'm making noise and baby is sleeping."
"Aw. Tell you what, after I say hello to your mum and give her this gift for Ava, you, Schuyler and me will go do something out of the house?"
"Yay!" the two boys yell, jumping up and down.
This pulls Hendrika in from somewhere at the back of the house. "Boys, you'll wake the baby!" she admonishes in a loud whisper. "Oh, hello, Ginny. I didn't know you were here."
"I just got here. Schuyler let me in."
"I looked out the window first, Mummy," Schuyler proudly informs Hendrika.
"Very good. Mummy is proud of you for looking before opening the door. Come sit down, Ginny."
"You look tired. Why don't you sit down and I'll make you some tea."
"Would you? That would be lovely."
Hendrika takes a seat on the couch, with Artie and Schuyler instantly pressed to her sides. "Aunt Ginny said she'll take us somewhere," Schuyler is saying as Ginny goes into the kitchen.
Fixing tea and putting some oatmeal raisin biscuits on a plate doesn't take all that long so Ginny is soon serving a steaming cup to her sister-in-law. Ginny settles on a chair, an oatmeal raisin biscuit in her hand. Remembering the gift she put down when going into the kitchen, she gets up again to grab it.
"For Ava," she unnecessarily says when giving it over to Hendrika.
"Thank you, Ginny. She's in Charlie's and my bedroom if you want to look in. Boys, do you want to help Mummy open this present for Ava?"
They eagerly help Hendrika rip into the box. Ginny's dying to get another peak at the baby but waits for them to finish opening the gift. Hendrika laughs as she pulls out tiny slips of material of pale green with little flowers of pink, yellow, and white. "This is adorable!"
"What is it?" Artie asks, clearly perplexed.
"It's a bikini, a bathing suit, for Ava."
"I could resist getting it when I saw it," Ginny tells her. "I got equally cute ones for the other girls. There's just something about tiny little bathing suits for girls I find irresistable."
"What did you bring me?" Schuyler asks, remembering what she'd said at the door.
"Yeah, what did you bring?" Artie wants to know as well.
Ginny has their presents in a pocket, which she now brings out. The boys tear into the small boxes faster than they'd helped Hendrika with the gift for Ava. Each gets a shiny train engine, Schuyler's in blue and Artie's in red much like the Hogwarts Express.
"They puff steam from their smoke stacks and have bells that ring and a whistle," Ginny tells them.
They are immediately enthralled and after being reminded to thank their aunt, they beg to have the steam come from their engines. Hendrika does the activating spells for them then sends them into the kitchen where they can be a little louder while playing. Hendrika then starts to get up to take Ginny into the bedroom but Ginny waves her back down.
"Stay here, enjoy your tea. I'll just go take a quick peek."
In the bedroom, Ginny stands as enthralled watching her newest niece sleeping as the boys were to play with their new train engines. She'd love to pick Ava up but doesn't want to disturb the sleeping baby so after another couple of minutes watching the baby sleep, she rejoins Hendrika.
"She's soooooo cute," Ginny gushes.
"Isn't she? I keep counting fingers and toes and checking on her countless times when she's sleeping just to make sure I didn't dream last Saturday up."
From the kitchen Artie is getting overly loud but then quiets down on his own. Ginny looks that direction with a grin. "I'll take them out for awhile. At their ages it's not easy being cooped up and quiet at the same time."
"They were really good earlier. Charlie was here and keeping them extremely occupied and somewhat quiet while I got a little more sleep. Just after I'd gotten up to feed Ava, he was called to the dragon preserve on an emergency. A dragon somehow broke through the preserve barrier and they needed his help getting it wrangled back onto preserve grounds and the barrier hole recharmed and fortified."
"Sounds like a lot of work. I hope the dragon didn't hurt anyone before they recaptured it."
"I've not heard anything yet, which means Charlie's been too busy to even let me know how long he'll be. You don't mind taking the boys out? I don't want you to go to any trouble."
"It's no trouble at all. There are indoor games at down at Blossom's, there's popping in at the Burrow, visiting cousins, oh, and I saw something posted somewhere about a children's program at the Hogsmeade library. We'll go check that out."
"Thank you!"
"Anything to help, plus I get to spend time with two of my nephews." Ginny gets up and goes to the kithen door. "Get your rain kits on, boys. We'll have some fun tramping through puddles on our way to the library. How's that?"
"Yeah!" Schuyler says with Artie echoing him a half second later.
It would be easier to apparate or floo to the library but letting the boys run and jump through puddles will also serve to help them work off some energy. Five minutes later Ginny is following Artie and Schuyler out the door, having to run to keep up.
Another Letter (Drucilla)
Author: Sirius Padfoot Black
Date: 06-26-11 16:11
Drucilla walks into the parlor looking for the flyer on today's children's program at the library. Hearing a rap rap rap at one of the windows she goes over and moves back a curtain to find a sodden owl looking miserable on the sill. She opens the window to let the drenched bird in, accepting from it an envelope.
"You poor thing. How about you dry off at the fire here and I'll get you a treat before you go on your way."
As with so many owls used by witches and wizards this one seems to understand what Dru has said, flying over to perch on the fireplace tool stand, spreading its wings as if relishing the warmth eminating from the fire. Even though it's now May, it's still Scotland so days can still have a chill, especially days like this when the rain has been coming down in absolute buckets.
Walking in the direction of the kitchen Dru tsks, "Who would send an owl out on a morning like this? For an emergency, but this doesn't seem like one."
The envelope has her name on it but there's nothing to indicate its contents are pressing so Dru retrieves a snack from the kitchen for the owl and only turns her attention to the envelope again after she's given it a few morsals to eat. The envelope is wet and the ink of her name is running so Dru holds towards with fire with one hand while patting her robes for her wand with the other. She'd just had it, right before coming to the study, using it in combination with a cleaning potion to get a huge gloopy stain off the front of one of Mira's tops. Remember now that she'd put the wand down when looking through a drawer for that library flyer, Dru puts the envelope down on the hearth stones to continue soaking up heat while she retrieves her wand.
About that same time she notices water on the floor at the window. She uses her wand to mop it up, sees that she didn't get the window shut well but before firmly latching it turns to see if the poor owl is ready to face going back out. It blinks at her as if debating and Dru thinks to ask, "Are you to wait on a reply?"
It gives a soft hoot then takes off from its perch, gliding towards her and the window as a way of replying. Dru holds back the drapes and watches it seem to brace itself against the wind the storm is whipping up. This time she gets the window shut properly, sops up the water that just came in, then goes back over to the hearth. She carefully dries the envelope and its contents before pulling the single sheet of parchment out.
Her heart sinks when she sees it's much like one she received not that long ago, a note she took to be a malicious prank. The handwriting is the same as is the shade of red ink, though both are running from getting so wet just as the ink on the envelope had. This time the sender didn't bother attempting to write in verse.
Remember when you pretended to fall for an Order of the Phoenix member and married him?
Oh. That's right. You don't.
Or are you faking as much now as you were then?
"Honey, you in here?"
Dru shoves the letter and envelope deep into a pocket just as Sirius pokes his head in looking for her. "Found the flyer. It was in the study under a batch of second year essays."
Hoping she doesn't look flustered Dru smiles. "Oh good, I was starting to think I'd imagined ever bringing one home. What time does everything start."
"At one, so we've plenty of time yet."
"I was thinking I'd ask Charlie and Hendrika if the boys would like to go. A day like today with a new baby and two active boys has got to be hard." Dru tells him reaching for the floo powder.
"Good idea. I'm going to go work on grading some of those essays before time to fix lunch. I'll be in the study if you need me."
Alone again, Dru sticks her head in the floo to learn that Ginny has the boys and was going to find out what time things were starting at the library. After chatting a few minutes with Hendrika Weasley, Dru heads up the stairs to check on her own two children who have been playing a little too quietly in James's room and then she's going to stash this new letter away with the first one. She'd been going to throw that one out but then thought better of it. She might need it - them - as evidence against someone later even if for now she's keeping them a secret from Sirius.
Finding the twins are so quiet because they are pretending to be just like the mime they saw performing earlier in the week, Dru goes and hides this letter with the first then heads to the kitchen to check the simmering soup her something of a cook husband got going a couple of hours earlier.
Dominique
Author: Bill Weasley
Date: 06-26-11 18:11
The birth of Ava Olivia Weasley had been quite the surprise for everyone, especially Charlie and Hendrika, who hadn't even been expecting her arrival. When Victoire saw her new cousin for the first time on her own second birthday, she'd decided that Ava was one of her presents. She'd been very disappointed to see Charlie and Hendrika leave with the baby at the end of their visit.
Now it would seem that the very much expected arrival of Bill and Fleur's second child was near. Fleur had woken up with a funny feeling in her stomach, but she hadn't thought much of it. When the feeling progressed to pain, she realized that she was probably going into labor.
Bill immediately sprang into action. He put his head in the floo and contacted Briar, who was mercifully at home. He asked if she could watch Victoire while he took Fleur to the hospital.
Originally, when Bill and Fleur discussed who might watch Victoire, they'd settled on Charlie and Hendrika, but they didn't want to bother them now that they had a newborn in their home. Bill and Fleur knew very well that Charlie and Hendrika would happily watch Victoire if asked, but they still didn't want to burden them with their two-year old.
After ending the conversation with Briar, Bill grabbed a small bag that had been packed with some toys and board books and helped Victoire put on her shoes. Then they flooed over to Briar's house.
When he got back home a minute later, he grabbed the bag that had been packed for weeks with some personal effects of Fleur's, a nightgown and a change of clothing. Fleur flooed ahead of him to St. Mungo's, and when he got there a second later, she was already being rushed to the maternity ward.
Everything happened very quickly after that. The baby entered the world with little effort and let out a healthy cry to announce her arrival. She was named Dominique Ginevra Weasley. Dominique was a name Fleur had favored more so than Bill, but over time he'd come to like it very much. It seemed to suit the little baby perfectly.
Ginevra obviously came from Bill's sister Ginny. Since Bill and Fleur had already used Gabrielle's name with Victoire's, it seemed only fair to use the name of Bill's sister with Dominique. Bill well-imagined what Ginny's reaction would be upon learning that her newest niece was named for her.
Now he just had to spread the word that Dominique had been born!
Making A List, Checking It Twice
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 06-26-11 18:53
Feeling as though the day is a bust for far, Viktor enters the West Lane house he recently bought in Hogsmeade. The Humbatas were to have had a full, regular practice and usually a "little" rain wouldn't put a stop to that but with all the lightening, Viktor saw no point in putting players in harm's way just for the sake of a practice. The team ended put in time in the training room but as everyone worked at his or her own pace, each person finished at different times. Viktor has someone at the shoppe covering all morning since he was supposed to be at practice for several hours. Because of that, Viktor came straight home when he finished his workout and helped several others with theirs by serving as a spotter.
Viktor switches on the WWN, the voice of an English speaking announcer for a Quidditch match between Italy and Turkey filling the room. He cracks open a lager, only feeling slightly guilty at having a beer before lunch. After taking a long pull, savoring the flavor, he reaches for notepad on which he'd been making a list.
Viktor needs to line up some people for the next flying and Quidditch workshop at Hogwarts. The next Hogsmeade weekend isn't until the end of this month but Viktor doesn't want to wait until the last minute. He also doesn't want to keep using Humbatas players, sometimes feeling as if his being the team owner somehow coerces them into volunteering. He hopes that's not the case but still, he does think he takes too much advantage there.
Viktor thinks it also wouldn't hurt to go on and start making a short list of potential Kendra Beck Hogwarts Scholarship recipients. Viktor continues to remain anonymous as the person behind the scholarships but sometimes he gets the impression that a few people have figured it out, or at least think they have.
Viktor puts the notebook and beer aside for a moment to go into the kitchen. Finding little there to choose from he heads back to the couch to start a third list, this one for groceries. Sometime today he also wants to check in on Ethan Somerset. His friend seems to be doing better but after such a loss and with such a young baby as a reminder of that loss, it will be a long time before Ethan is anywhere near what could be consider fully recovered.
Listening to the Italy-Turkey match, Viktor finishes off his beer, works on his lists then starts thinking about where to grab some lunch once he does go out again today.
Muggle Conventry
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 06-27-11 15:18
Exiting a Muggle shoppe in Coventry that's having a really great sale on the trainers he favors, Harry turns in the direction of a nearby chippy. It's a little early yet for lunch but as he'd skipped breakfast, Harry's hungry now and wants something more than a snack. It had been raining heavily when Harry first arrived to the shoe shoppe but he's caught a break as he leaves with the rain coming down more like a sprinkle. Still, he walks quickly to the chippy, shaking off his umbrella when he reaches the door.
After a quick study of the menu Harry orders, "I'll have the haddock, mushy peas, gravy, and I think onion rings instead of chips. Oh, and a cola."
"For here or take away?"
"Here, please."
The cashier rings up Harry's order and after pulling out a wallet he takes out the required number of pounds. A quick check of what's left has Harry making a mental note that it's time to make another galleons for pounds exchange at Gringott's. Meandering over to a booth, Harry decides to sit while waiting for his order. He pulls out a slightly damp copy of the Coventry Telegraph, wishing he could zap it dry with his wand but given his location, even that little spot of magic would be like a beacon to the Ministry, earning him a scolding for using magic in the presence of Muggles.
With the time still a little early for lunch, Harry's order is quick coming up. He retrieves it, grabs extra napkins, makes sure there's a fork for the mushy peas then returns to his booth and the paper. With his house Wildwood just on the outskirts of Coventry, Harry likes to read the local Muggle paper to keep up with what's going on. He also takes the London Times in addition to the The Daily Prophet. It's not that he's a great reader like Hermione but the older he's getting the more able he is to see the value in staying up on current events in both the Wizarding and the Muggle worlds.
Harry takes his time eating and reading the paper, periodically looking up to stare out the window. It's coming down in sheets again, greatly reducing visibility, making it difficult to see the sidewalk curb just a few feet out the window. He keeps getting the feeling of being watched. With Griff and he so close to arresting Rufus Henshaw, the continuing mystery of who's behind the attacks on Ron and he (including the one that seriously injured Pinky), his job in general, and being who he is, Harry can't easily dismiss the feeling.
When he's done eating, he deposits the trash in one of the bins provided, folds up the newspaper and shoves it down in the bag with the trainers he bought and grabs up his umbrella. There's a small striped covering at the fish and chip shoppe's entrance where Harry pauses to unfurl the umbrella, his eyes straining to see through the murk of pouring rain for clues as to why he's got the being watched feeling.
It's nearly impossible to see more than a few feet in any direction but Harry keeps his eyes and ears open as he sets off. It's raining so heavily that instead of catching the bus back to a stop just a short walk from Wildwood, he can duck into an alley and apparate. He won't even have to go very far down the alley.
There's an alleyway two down from the chippy. Harry turns the corner to take a few steps down, searching for signs anyone's lingering about though doubting anyone is with the weather being what it is at the moment. After the quick check down the alley, Harry turns to look back in the direction from which he's just come. To his surprise there's someone there, looking straight at him. Harry strains to make out the face even as the person steps into the alley, drawing nearer.
There are a handful of people Harry would not have expected to see today and the person standing there is one of them. Even though carrying the bag with the trainers in the same hand as the unheld umbrella was unwieldy, Harry had done just that so he could have a hand on the wand in his coat pocket. Gripping the handle tighter, pointing it without withdrawing it from the pocket, Harry hears himself somewhat lamely saying, "You."
Fitting A Pet With A Person
Author: Coco Nutt
Date: 06-27-11 17:57
Coco had opened Nutt's & Bolt's but had only stayed around a half hour after that. She got a couple of errands done then, with Pea in her pocket, floo'd to Hogsmeade rather than apparating after finding out that the gray, overcast skies at home was a massive thunderstorm over Hogsmeade. In the short time since arriving for a shift at McFusty's, Coco's removed splinters from the paw Bailey Grey's crup Ares, given a check-up to a pygmy owl, and waited on a customer on the shoppe side of the business.
She'd just stepped back to the clinic side to restock one of the cabinets when she hears the bell over the shoppe door. No sooner has she gotten back to the other side, a greeting on her lips than the customer, a woman, speaks.
“Hi. I’m looking for a pet, I recently lost my cat, I’d had her for years.”
Coco nods, stepping around the counter. This being someone she's never seen before, Coco puts on her best grammar and diction, determined for once not to let a single h drop or utter a single rhyming slang. "Are you wanting a dog, a cat, or something else?"
"I was thinking of another cat but I'm open to suggestions."
"What is your living environment like? Are you home much?"
"Right now I'm in a small apartment but I'll be in a flat at Hogwarts come fall."
"Oh, new staff are you? What will you be teaching?"
"First through fourth year history."
Coco gets a nostalgic look on her face. "I liked History of Magic and I think I'm one of the few who liked having Professor Binns as a teacher." She quickly goes back to being all business. "If you will be teaching in the fall, that means you will be out of your flat a number of hours each day. You'll want a cat that does well in flats, though a number of cats do roam the castle and grounds; and you'll want one that's not going to constantly need attention. I presume you'll want one that's also more social, get on well with people and with other animals."
As she's been talking Coco's been walking, leading the customer to where a pen of kittens in various states of play and sleep is located.
"Everything you've said sounds about right," the lady tells Coco, her eyes going to the kittens in the pen.
"Right now we've three breeds that fit the bill but if you don't like any of them, finding one that suits the criteria wouldn't be difficult."
Coco points to a couple of kittens. "Ragdoll. We've two right now, a male and a female. They're easy going, generally undemanding, sweet temperament, very much lap cats, and can be extremely devoted to their people. They do well in flats and aren't much for the outdoors."
She points to several other kittens. "These are British Shorthairs. We've got several males and females. These are all gray striped but we can get you another color or pattern if you prefer. The color most think of as being British Shorthair is a dark gray that's known as blue. They're loyal, smart, tend to be quiet, are very friendly, and love to be lap cats. They do well with other animals but aren't overly fond of highly energetic kids."
"Lastly, there's the Ocicat. They tend to have a dog like devotion but aren't clingy, needy for attention cats. They love people and are fairly extroverted but do love a lap to curl up on."
"As you can see, we do have a few other breeds but they are all more high maintenance."
Coco goes silent to let the woman check out all the kittens to determine if she wants one (or two) or if she would prefer to have Coco find her something else.
Last Apparition Lesson (Deak)
Author: Kody
Date: 06-28-11 16:27
Deak moves his hoop further away then walks back to the starting point. With this being the twelfth, and final, apparition lesson he's gotten fairly good at apparating. Still, he's glad that his birthday was in March because being seventeen now means only having to wait another week to take his apparation licensing test. There are some who will have to wait a few weeks, maybe even until August, before being eligible to take the licensing exam.
Deak's also glad that today marks the final day of having to hear Professor Twycross's three Ds mantra. He seems a a nice enough person, a likeable man, but his repeating the three Ds ad nauseum for hours on end, for twelve weekends in a row is blood irritating.
Deak reaches his starting point, clears his mind while trying to block out Professor Twycross's continued stating of the three Ds - Destination, Determination, Deliberation. Focused now on the hoop clear on the other side of the Great Hall, Deak concentrations and with the distinctive cracking pop that generally accompanies disapparating, he's vanishes from the starting spot and reappears in the dead center of his hoop.
Deak moves the hoop all the way to the wall, placing it so that one section of the rim abutts against the stone. He starts to walk the length back to his starting spot when Professor McGonagall appears at his elbow to remind Deak, "Don't forget, Mr. Bennett, that you are now allowed to apparate from your hoop back to your starting position."
"Right. I had forgetten," Deak tells her. "Thank you, professor."
How he'd forgotten that he's not sure, especially since now that he looks around and pays better attention to what others are doing, he sees that just about everyone else having successful attempts are apparating from starting point to hoop then back again rather than walking.
Feeling slightly like a doodoo, Drake returns to the center of his hoom, looks across the Great Hall to the spot from where he'd just come, clears his mind again of everything but making it across to that spot, then with another crackling pop, Deak apparates from his hoop back to the imaginary X he'd envisioned as marking his starting position.