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No Hard Feelings?
Author: Griffin Price
Date: 05-09-07 14:31
"Sure you don't want to meet privately in my room?" Jacob's laugh is harsh and sarcastic.
Griff has been on pins and needles for just over a week now. He's been certain that Jacob will say something to Mercutio and Belladonna. What exactly, Griff isn't sure but nonetheless Griff has steeled himself for something to happen and has put Ruth on alert.
When Griff doesn't reply Jacob makes that harsh laughing sound again. "Can't blame you I suppose after the last time. No hard feelings, eh."
Griff blinks. "Excuse me? No hard feelings? You tried to kill me. Again. You did kill my whole family. I'd say any feelings left towards you are nothing but hard."
"Blame for your father for all that. Patrick got soft. If he'd stuck to the plan my sister,"
"Don't call her that. You lost the right."
Jacob's shoulder rises in a shrug. "Susannah, Joseph, Hailey, and their child would all be alive now."
"That's rich that you blame Dad. What about the other two? You were going to kill them all along and they didn't back out on you."
Jacob gives another unconcerned shrug. "They weren't much more than lackeys who couldn't be trusted in the long term."
"They were two of your best friends."
"And your point is?" Jacob asks, honestly not getting why Griff would be upset over the deaths of those other two.
"I have to get back to work. My break's nearly over"
"Don't forget my last name's Hawthorne now."
"Oh, I won't forget," Griff snaps. "Just be thankful I like my job too much to turn you in."
Jacob smirks. "Have I mentioned how happy I am I didn't kill you afterall?"
Griff represses a snarls as the stalks away from the table and leaves the Hanged Man to return to the shoppe.
Jacob's barking laughter follows Griff as the man calls out, "Let's do drinks again when you have time to sit awhile."
Just Another Day Closer to O.W.Ls and End of Term
Author: Oreileah McCoi
Date: 05-09-07 15:40
Orei yawned lightly, eyes sliding closed a moment as she headed toward Arithmancy, it was eight thirty and she had been up most of the night making study guides for her O.W.Ls which would be taken soon...and she was going to make certain that she did very, very well on them.
She settled into her seat, eyes sliding closed a moment as she looked at the clock...muttering, class didn't start for another twenty minutes...she should have stopped at the Great Hall and gotten some breakfast first. No, because then she would have been late...and she was very rarely late to class. She was however, quite thankful that she had a large break between this class and the larger block of her Monday classes, which didn't let out until dinner time.
She turned, thankful that her desk was by the window, turning her gaze to look out the window, watching the world go by until class was scheduled to start. Listening to the other students filter and and eventually the Professor.
OWL Review (Evan)
Author: Plum
Date: 05-09-07 17:26
Evan looks around the Arithmancy classroom. All the 5th years' heads are bent over a chart but raise when Evan says, "All right, lots left to be done so let's go over the Chaldean method. How does it differ from the Aprippan method? Madeline?"
"The number 9 isn't used in the calculations."
"Correct. For the charts you just filled out, what of our letters equating to the Hebrew alphabet are assigned to the number 7, Viola?"
"O and Z."
"Yes. To the number 3, Sage?"
"C, G, L, and S."
"Absolutely right." Evan points his wand to one of the two sided blackboards. It flips over to reveal a filled in Chaldean method chart. Compare the rest of your charts and quickly work the two problems on the board."
The rest of the class flies by quickly, the time devoted to reviewing, just as last week's class had been. Last week had been spent going over information from 3rd year and part of 4th. Today has been spent reviewing the rest of the 4th year information and what they've covered this year.
When the time for class to end comes, Evan says to the students he'll not have in a formal classroom setting again until the fall, "Come find me if you need me, even if it's during a time I'd be in my flat or even if I have another class going on. Use the study guides. Don't forget the practice tests in the box next to my office door. I've put copies on file in the library as well and this morning I put a stack of them in the common common room. Good luck to all of you!"
As the 5th years leave, Evan gives them each a box that has study snacks in them and coupons to owl in to some of the Hogmeades shops for more snacks. He still remembers how much snacking he did when studying for NEWTs and OWLs. The 5th years only think they've been stressed up to now. With this their final week before their OWLs begin, they will find out what stressed really means and the amount of snacking a number of them do as they study is definately going to increase.
Thinking about snacks, Evan is suddenly hungry. With his next class not until 3:30 this afternooon but with a need to be in his office for 5th and 7th years who might need his help, Evan makes a quick visit to the common commons. He picks out a bag of potato crisps, a banana, and a bottle of fruit juice then hurries back to his office.
Plotting (Euphemia Smythe-Jones)
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 05-09-07 18:54
Euphemia listens to an update on a matter she'd asked Percy Weasley to stay on top of. She is very much looking forward to the day that she no longer has a use for the little brown nosing suck up. It's really too bad those two brothers of his were found in one piece and still breathing. Two less goody, goody Weasleys in the world is something Euphemia could have definately lived with.
Percy finishes speaking and stands expectantly waiting for Euphemia to say something. Forcing a smile she tells the noxious young man, "Excellent. Thank you."
She gives a dismissive wave of her hand, her thoughts already on other things. Tonight another of the older members of the Wizengamot will take her last breath. Euphemia has a replacement picked out but will of course wait a proper length of time before naming him.
Since Amelia Bones's stroke, other members of the Wizengamot have had incidents. Most of the older ones have had health related issues. Of those that didn't die the members have been too incapacitated to continue their Ministry duties. One ninety year old gentleman had a nasty fall down a set of stairs right here in the Ministry building. Euphemia pushed the old geezer herself though no one suspected her of a thing. Others using that particular set of stairs reported nothing untoward. Monty just mistepped and lost his balance. He went down so quickly no one had time to so much as pull out a wand and cushion his fall.
Euphemia chortles aloud, though not so loudly anyone in the outer office hears. Pushing Monty herself had been as delightful as slipping that stroke inducing potion to Amelia Bones. Sighing, Euphemia thinks it's such a shame she can't do more of the hands on work.
There was that chap last week and what fun it was too! A nice man, not even middled aged. Up and vanished, leaving behind a suicide note stating his intentions to jump into the Thames. His body has, as yet, not been recovered. It won't be either, not even if the most sensitive locater spell is used. Euphemia had blood on her hands, literally, but the act of killing him was so wonderfully visceral, Euphemia would do it all over again.
The next person Euphemia has pegged, the one tonight, is one of the oldest women working in the Ministry and is the oldest on the Wizengamot. Every night Bess drinks a cordial. Tonight won't be any different except that Euphemia's arranged for an addition to the cordial. Bess will expire within the half hour of an apparant heart attack. At her age, around the 170 mark, no one will be shocked. Saddened to be sure but not shocked.
Albus Dumbledore, that odious do-gooder, is 160, give or take a year or two. His death would get rid of a giant obstacle. Euphemia's not acted towards Dumbledore yet, however, because she's having difficulty deciding who to name as Hogwarts Headmaster as his demise. The only thing Euphemia knows for certain on that matter at the moment is that it will NOT be that hag Minerva McGonagall. In fact, within another year, Euphemia plans for Hogwarts to need a new Deputy Headmistress as well.
Coma No More
Author: Nymphadora Tonks
Date: 05-09-07 20:10
Tonks woke up a few days after arriving at St. Mungo's and found Remus Lupin at her side. Seeing him there had taken her by surprise but had made her very happy. He'd been by her side when she left St. Mungo's and had hardly separated himself from her since, leaving only to buy her groceries or to attend his classes at St. Emrys.
From Lupin, Tonks had learned what had happened to her in the catacombs. After she blasted a hole in the wall, the wizard she'd stabbed in the neck and who she'd expected to be incapacitated, had found a surge of adrenalin in the last minutes of his life and knocked her into the water, holding her head under until she stopped moving.
Then the French aurors had come, pulling the dying wizard off of Tonks, and assessing her situation. They'd managed to get her breathing again and had immediately whisked her off to the wizarding hospital in Paris for treatment. After the healers there had determined her stable enough to go home, she'd been transfered to St. Mungo's.
Lupin also told Tonks what he'd learned about what had followed in the catacombs. There'd been a great duel between the French aurors and the other members of the Parisian Resistance. It had almost gone against the aurors, but they'd prevailed in the end and managed to shut down the office, though many of the enemy had managed to flee. They'd spent the last week hunting down those they managed to identify, and had even managed to catch a couple.
Tonks had been pleased to learn that she'd once again helped, however little, to shut down another branch of the Resistance.
But she was even more pleased that Remus had finally gotten over the fact that his little werewolf problem and their age difference really didn't matter in the end. All that mattered was that they had each other. It was just a shame that it took Tonks nearly dying for Remus to finally get the picture!
Sickness at its Worst
Author: Bill Weasley
Date: 05-10-07 19:54
"I forgot to tell you," Fleur said, squeezing Bill's hand, though she did it very carefully, as if he were the most fragile creature on earth. "Tonks woke up from her coma, and she eez home again."
Bill smiled, though he had to strain his face to accomplish even something as natural as smiling. "I'm glad to hear it," he whispered.
"And eet looks as eef she and Remus Lupin are dateeng now," Fleur added.
Bill was glad he hadn't stopped smiling, because trying to do it again might have been too tiring. "That's great," he said, and then the corners of his mouth fell and he closed his eyes.
"'ermione eez steel tryeeng to 'elp you, Bill. She 'as looked een many books for references to rare, poisonous powders. I zink she will find somezing soon."
Bill didn't want to say it, but he thought "Not soon enough." He could feel his body weakening every moment, and knew that it wouldn't be long before he'd slip out of consciousness and perhaps even die. In truth, he'd thought it would happen much sooner. The symptoms he'd experienced upon inhaling the mysterious substance had remained stagnant for weeks after an initial worsening, but had since declined drastically. Everyone had noticed, and though no one said anything, Bill knew they feared the worst, despite what Hermione might discover.
He opened his eyes, unable to focus clearly on Fleur's face. "Can you do something for me?" he whispered.
Fleur nodded her head. "Anyzing."
"Tell my family I love them."
Tears welled in Fleur's eyes and her voice choked up, making it difficult to say anything for a long moment. "Bill?"
"Tell them, please," Bill whispered.
"I will, I will do zat," Fleur promised quickly.
Bill smiled again, only it was very small and very sad. "I love you."
Fleur started sobbing. "I love you, too," she managed to say between shuddering breaths.
Bill closed his eyes again, small, sad smile still on his face, and soon slipped into unconsciousness.
Presenting A Final Project
Author: Brett Kingston
Date: 05-11-07 21:24
Brett puts on his best show of being poised and calm. He's anything but. Sometime in the next three to five minutes Brett has to present his plans and model for a house he designed. There is no written final examination in this particular course, just the creation of architectural plans of a home along with a to-scale model off those plans. With St. Emrys still such a relatively new school, there isn't a tradition yet in this course but so far each time the course has been offered, the final project has been different.
This term the final project has been to design a three bedroom home for a typical, British, Wizarding family of five - husband, wife, a son, and two daughters - along with two cats and a dog. The students were given mock bios of each family members and what each family members would like to see in a new home and what each would not want to have.
The one variation is that the students drew card on which the location of the home is to be. The locations ranged from in the middle of Muggle London, to a London suburb, to a smaller sized city, to a town, to a village, to out in the middle of nowhere. Brett's card informed him the home was to be located on the outskirts of a small town, with a brook bordering one side of the property.
The person presenting immediately before Brett comes out into the hallway. She gives a weak smile to those remaining and nods at Brett to go in. His model is already there, turned in yesterday, giving the professor time to look it over. Notecards in hand, though he doesn't think he'll need them, Brett enters the classroom with the tube holding the house plans.
Smiling and greeting the professor, Brett clips the plans to a display. Brett had a total of ten minutes for the presentation then there's roughly a five minute question and answer period. With a word from the professor, he begins talking about his design, keeping his voice even and confident.
Is She Acting?
Author: Sirius Padfoot Black
Date: 05-12-07 20:05
The sand in the hour glass runs out. Sirius double checks the time on a pocket watch then calls out to the students still in the classroom, "Quills down."
In the quietness of the room, the scritch one quill still in use after Sirius speaks is easy to hear. Heads turn and Sirius reprimands, "Quill down, Vince."
"Yes, sir. Sorry, professor."
Sirius collects the exams and adds them to the stack of those who'd already completed the test and left. Wishing those leaving the room good luck on their remaining examinations and to have a great summer, Sirius takes a moment to tidy the room then gathers up his things. A few students waiting to take their own exam in the same classroom are already getting seated when he exits.
Back in his office Sirius tosses the exams on his desk. He's just going to pop round to one of the canteens and grab something refreshing then it's he'll slog through grading the exams. Sirius would like nothing more than to take the papers home and grade them there but he really needs to be on campus for any of his students who might need him.
Sirius hates more than ever the time away from home. Although Drucilla seems to actually be giving James attention and to care about their son, Sirius still is highly suspicious of whatever game his wife is playing. Thelma has had only good things to report and no matter how often Dru tells Thelma she's really doesn't need to hover constantly, Thelma is no more trusting of Dru than Sirius is. So far, Thelma's not witnessed a single incident to indicate Dru's faking this amnesia crap but that does't mean anything other than that Dru's being extremely careful not to get caught.
Sirius returns to his office with some perfectly chilled lemonade that's got the right balance between sweet and tart. Sipping the drink, quill raised over the first exam in the stack to be grade, Sirius wonders if there's a way he could get some veritaserum and slip it to Dru without her realizing. Then he'd see how much of an actress she really is. Lowering his eyes to read the first answer on the exam before him, Sirius's mouth turns up in a tight, nasty grin at the decision to try out veritaserum on the wife he doesn't think as being all that dear at the moment.
Hyperventilating
Author: Emerald Green
Date: 05-12-07 22:22
Ancient Runes notes and textbook open before her, Emerald sees nothing but words, symbols, and pictures blurring before her. Never in her life did she ever imagine she'd be this tired and stressed out over school before she was in college. OWLs start next week.
Next! Week!
Emerald's throat feels as though it's constricting. It's that hard to breath, tight throated sensation that usually goes with hard crying. Emerald's done that a few times over this past year, most recently in early May on the anniversary of her parents' death and then again on the anniversary of their funeral.
Clearing her throat and reaching for her glass of water, Emerald uses her other hand to massage her forehead. She's had a headache building steadily since the middle of History of Magic and nothing she's taken has helped. Continuing to massage her temple as she drinks more water, Emerald looks around the Hufflepuff common room. She notes how stressed most everyone else looks. All the fifth and seventh years she sees appear as though they are worried and don't want to think about what Monday brings. To a lesser extent the others gathered in the common room look a little ragged around the edges even though they don't have final exams for a few weeks yet.
Emerald looks around again at all the faces screwed up in concentration. Emerald doesn't want to think of herself as being more stressed and pressured than any of them but with the headache and the growing stricture of her throat, she can't help it. None of them came to this witch and wizard thing so late in their lives, dumped into it by the extremely sad circumstances of both parents dying the same day. None of them had to try and learn four years worth of magic while also learning the fifth year of it on top of prepping for these all important OWLs.
The tightness in Emerald's throat grows and next thing she know she can't breath at all. Olivia O'Toole and Katharina Lounders, sharing the same common room table with Emerald, are instantly on their feet and by her side. It's Olivia who produces a paper bag for Emerald to breath into and Katharina who offers to walk with Emerald to the hospital wing. Clutching the paper bag in one hand, Emerald just nods at them both, letting Katharina lead her out of Hufflepuff House.
What has Quidditch Got to do with History?
Author: Eithne ni Domhnaill
Date: 05-12-07 22:34
Eithne sighed grumpily. In response, two of the boys who sat near her started snickering. Her face in a pout, she turned and glared at the pair, daring them to start teasing her. One opened his mouth, but Eithne saw peripherally that Francis shook his head "no" at his fellow Gryffindor.
She turned back around and smirked at him. She wasn't sure she really cared for his interfering, but, then there was something kind of nice about his looking out for her. Professor Binns continued to drone on about yet another revision in the Quiddich rules, blissfully unawares of the activities of his students.
"What's Quiddich got to do with history, anyway!" Eithne hissed at Francis. Ever since she had lost out at the History SAT due to a Quiddich question, her previous disenchantment with the sport had grown. Francis smiled but wrote out the name "Aine" and drew a bat with a questionmark. His contention was that Eithne hated Quiddich which was not true - she hated it being a history topic.
Eithne reached over and wrote "Everything in its place - cousin Aine understands." Cousin Aine was, of course, Aine McGeoghan, the chaser for the Ballycastle Bats and a current obsession with Francis. When he had found out that Eithne had gotten her Secret Santa pal Jack Emerson a personally autographed Quiddich card of the chaser, he had begun pestering her for one for himself. Eithne had every intention of complying, but was purposely not committing at the moment, just to torment him. They were at that age where tormenting passed for courting.
Behind her, the two "comedians" were commenting in loud whispers, intended no doubt for her to hear, "Professor Binns has an unusually interesting lecture this day, wouldn't you agree?"
"Oh yes. Who knew that this was the origin of that rule."
"I do believe he should lecture more on Quiddich, don't you."
"That would be brilliant, it would."
This time both Francis and Eithne turned and glared at them.