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Wanting To Stay Busy
Author: Ginny Weasley
Date: 11-12-07 16:02
No sooner has Ginny walked up from the basement storeroom with another case of U-No-Poo then she's beseiged by some young men in their early twenties. When she reaches the display table she's got only three bottles left from the box. Putting them out, she turns to go retrieve another case, telling Fred as she walks by him, "We're almost out of U-No-Poo."
"We've got more due in the morning," Fred assures.
Ginny returns to the basement to get the last case there, glad it's almost time to close the shoppe. She's also thinking that she would never had dreamed that U-No-Poo would be one of this years top three holiday items for them. Ginny wouldn't want to take any of it and she wouldn't want it as a stocking stuffer. She guesses that glee in giving it is more of a guy thing.
"Hmmmm," Ginny thinks with a chuckle, "maybe I should give some to Ron and Harry."
Thinking about Ron, Ginny gives herself the mental reminder to ask him tonight if he's thought of something for Hermione. Thinking about Harry, Ginny tries not to feel the twinge of sadness she's been getting way too often lately when thinking about Harry, when he's mentioned in conversation, or when she sees him. She had her chance with him and now he's happy with someone else.
Making it to the U-No-Poo display table with a full case this time, Ginny empties the box, arranges the bottles, and after chucking the box back down into the basement, goes to help a woman asking about the shoppe's tea line. Ginny tries not to think about Harry any longer but she finds the harder she tries, the more she thinks about him. Maybe it's not so good that the shoppe will be closing soon afterall because as long as she's busy with customers, Ginny has less time to think freely about someone she doesn't want to be thinking about.
Shopping in Diagon Alley
Author: Isolde
Date: 11-13-07 16:40
Isolde slowly walked down Diagon Alley, occasionally stopping to admire something in a shop window. More often than not, she'd enter the same store and buy something as a Christmas gift for someone near and dear to her. Her list wasn't overly long. Pyrrhus was at the top of course. Then there were her parents. She always got something for Py's adoptive parents and even for Majandra and her growing family. Now she even had Py's biological father to include on the list. The other names on her list consisted of family members, like her cousins Azaelia and Mark, and a few close friends from her days on the Salisbury Snakes Quidditch team.
She was determined to find something for everybody today. It wasn't that she didn't like shopping. Isolde had always enjoyed visiting Hogsmeade with Azaelia and Alexis Black when they'd been at Hogwarts together. She was just slower these days because of her Quidditch injury and didn't always have the energy to make multiple trips to the same place.
While she was in Diagon Alley, Isolde stopped by the library to see Azaelia. Azaelia was the children's librarian. Every Monday she conducted a play-group for children between the ages of six months and four years, and every Wednesday she had story-time for children between two and five. She'd once told Isolde that she didn't know if she liked children enough to be a children's librarian, but she'd come to find out that she actually enjoyed working with them.
Azaelia sat at the reference desk and cut out shapes from colored construction paper between answering questions. Her face lit up when she saw Isolde.
"Hi!!!" she exclaimed, jumping up. She went around the desk and gave Isolde a big hug that almost knocked her off her feet.
"Hi," Isolde said, smiling. "Have a minute?"
"I can't go on break now but it's so dead this morning, so we can chat until someone shows up needing my help. What are you doing here?" She spotted the bags Isolde carried and grinned, "Oooh. Shopping!"
"Yes, Christmas shopping, and you can't peek."
"That means there's something for me in there." Azaelia grinned.
"Maybe." Isolde motioned in the direction of a chair. She was getting tired standing.
Azaelia walked with her and they sat down together. "So, how are you?"
Isolde shrugged. "I'm doing okay. How about you?"
"Pretty good. I've been meaning to come out and see one of your games. Can you send me your schedule?"
"Sure can, but you better hope we play better. We've lost the last two matches."
"I read about it in the Daily Prophet. How are you handling it?" Azaelia knew from experience that Isolde HATED losing, especially when Quidditch was involved.
"As long as things turn around, I'll be fine. I don't want to get fired because my team isn't doing well."
"You won't. You're Isolde Farnon. They'd be morons to fire you!"
Isolde shot her cousin a look. "Playing Quidditch and coaching Quidditch aren't exactly the same."
"But you were Quidditch captain at Hogwarts. That's almost like coaching."
"That was Hogwarts," Isolde reminded. "This is real life."
Azaelia fell silent and leaned back in her chair. "Do you miss those days?" she asked after a while.
Isolde nodded. "Sometimes."
"Me too."
They talked a bit more about Hogwarts and their jobs before Azaelia had to get back to work and Isolde back to shopping.
Talk Of Gifts (Wenlock Cousins)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 11-13-07 18:38
Hadrian, Hunter, Alastor, Jill, Alexa, and Daniel have gathered in the common commons to discuss what they want to contribute to a family gathering over the holidays. Everyone provides some form of entertainment and this year this group of cousins has decided to do something together.
Alastor asks, "Where's Cora?"
"Hospital wing," Jill answers. "She felt feverish."
Alastor frowns, "Wish we'd known sooner. We could have met up in the Pures Only common room. Better snacks there. Hey, we could still go."
Hunter gives Alastor a poke in the side. "We're here so let's stay here. Anyway, Cora could still show up."
"Yeah, we should stay," Alexa concurs before asking out of the blue, "Did any of you get my name in the Secret Santa?"
Heads shake back and forth prompting Alexa to then ask, "Would you tell me if you had?"
Again, heads shake back and forth. She sighs. "Can't blame me for trying to find out. I've got Jared Wynbourne's name."
"What did you get him?" Jill asks.
"Etta gave me some good ideas and I went with one of those. There's a Quidditch game Jared saw advertised in Quidditch Weekly and mentioned he'd like to have."
Jill laughs. "I have Sage Porter's name and got him the same thing I think."
Alastor looks quickly around to double check that their "cousin" Deak has not entered the room before saying, "I drew Deak's name. With Aaron's help I got Deak tickets to a Muggle sporting match."
Hadrian volunteers, "I got Catriona Amherst."
"Who's she?" Alexa asks.
"Ravenclaw, Hunter's year."
"I think I know who that is," Daniel nods. "She borrowed a quill from me the other night in our common room."
"I got her a scarf with matching hat and gloves. Blue though much lighter than Ravenclaw blue. Oh, and there are spangly things on each that sparkle in the sun."
"You mean Mum did," Hunter grins at his older brother. "Cat's nice. She'll like it I'm sure, especially if it's like what Mum got for Aleydis Vanderbilt. Same thing but in some sort of pink. If there were some boy colors without the sparkles and a hat that's more for a guy, I'd like a set. The wool is really soft and warm."
Five pairs of eyes turn to Daniel. He shifts uncomfortably. "What?"
"Who did you get?" Jill and Alexa ask at the same time.
"I can't say."
Hadrian grins and gives Daniel a good natured shove. "That means it's one of us. Who?"
"I can't say."
Daniel spends the next five minutes refusing to tell them he's got Hadrian's name and that he got Hadrian a Quidditch book his cousin had expressed an interest in and a bunch of sweets. Finally he gets them back onto the topic that brought them together today in the first place, the Wenlock family party coming up soon.
Thursday Just Like Tuesday
Author: Charisma Stone
Date: 11-14-07 06:33
Della, Isma, Blake, and Eric sat around a table in the library after Herbology. They'd had a review session this morning in herbology going over everything they'd learned on herbs and fungi. It was quite a list: catmint, dill, flirtwort, valerian, ladybug mushroom, spore-expelling fungus, ticklish truffle, tiny toadstool,
apple mint, bog labrador tea. She'd liked the lessons they'd had this term entirely. The four were actually getting stellar marks in their courses this term quite simply because they are studying together and actually getting their homework in. Though she knew some nons who were not getting good marks because they weren't turning in their homework, they weren't doing much of anything. Even some pures were falling behind in their marks when previously they'd done fantastic.
"Mum so wanted to transfer me to Beaubaxtons when she heard about the crap going on here. But, with the new law, I'd have to move to France or quite simply out of the British Isles to go to any other school." Isma said, at least at Beaubaxtons she'd be closer to Charlie.
"I know. Mine wanted me to go to Watlings or the Salem Witches Institute." Eric said. "But, we are all stuck here, so we might as well make the most of it."
The four talked for a few more minutes, before working on getting the last of their homework done. An owl dropped off a letter to each of them, at the same time, and they all blinked. Reading it, lightened their moods quite a bit and they were all ready for the end of term tomorrow.
Business as Usual
Author: Bill Weasley
Date: 11-14-07 07:04
Bill kissed Fleur goodbye and walked back to Gringotts from the Imperial Crown and Cauldron where they'd had lunch. Because it wasn't terribly busy and he didn't have a lot of paperwork to catch up on, Bill went into the vaults to check on the security wards in place. Since the branch was so small, it didn't employ a full-time wizard to perform charms or break curses. Every once in a while, someone from Diagon Alley would come out to perform tests and update security but it wasn't a very regular operation.
Therefore, when Bill had a some downtime, he didn't mind getting his hands dirty. He went into the stairwell next to his office and descended the narrow, spiral space until he got to the first underground level. Most of the vaults belonged to somebody, but there were a few that were vacant. Some had once had owners and now were empty, but there was a small handful that had never been in use.
Hogsmeade was certainly a growing village, but Bill didn't think Gringotts needed another level added to the vaults just yet. The level below the one he currently stood in had a good many empty vaults, though plenty were filled there too.
Bill systematically worked through the top level, stopping only when a goblin requested his presence in the main part of the bank. He stowed his wand in his pocket and went upstairs, where a young couple stood.
"The Dimsdales would like to open an account," Clipchin said, gesturing to the couple with his long-fingered hand.
Bill smiled at them and offered them his hand. "Hello. My name is Bill Weasley. Please step into my office."
"I'm Lentullus and this is my wife Rosalind. We just moved to the village."
"Welcome to Hogsmeade." Bill led them into the office and offered them each a chair in front of his desk. He went through the procedure of getting them a vault and then showed them to a medium-sized one on the second underground level.
A Little Lonely (Catriona)
Author: Fionna
Date: 11-14-07 08:18
Cat's been studying and doing homework practically all day. After Herbology she went to the library, taking a break for lunch then returning to do more work. Tomorrow is the last day of term so there are many assignments due tomorrow and several exams. Cat had thought Polly would study with her but when she first saw the Gryffindor first year at breakfast this morning, Polly was grumpy and didn't want to talk. On the way to Herbology Polly was in an even worse mood and stalked away from Cat when Cat tried to walk beside her like usual. After class Polly hurried away and Cat would have had to run to catch her but decided that if Polly wanted to be away from her that badly, Cat wasn't going to waste the energy it would take to go after her.
Cat did look around after getting back inside, finally finding Polly by herself in a library study carrel. Cat knocked on the pane of glass and Polly turned to look then shook her head and turned back around. Cat had gone to find her own study spot, wondering what she might have said or done last night to have Polly so obviously ticked off at her this morning.
When Cat left the library for lunch, she saw that Polly had left already. She looked for her in the Great Hall but didn't find her nor did she see her back in the library. Of course then the first person Cat seens upon entering the common commons is Polly. Cat walks right over to where Polly is talking with Wilhelmina Kluck.
"Are you angry with me?"
Polly gives Cat a hard stare. "What do you think?" she snottily replies.
"Why? What have I done?" Cat asks, not caring for how she sounds likes she's begging.
Polly rolls her eyes, says to Wilhelmina, "I'll go get that assignment you wanted to see," then walks out of the room without looking at Cat again.
Wilhelmina shrugs. "Sorry, but I don't know what's wrong. She's not said anything to me."
Cat, feeling near to tears, nods, "All right."
Cat chooses not to stay talking with Wilhelmina and instead goes over to the tree to place a gift under it. Cat had put her name in for the Hogwarts Secret Santa gift exchange. The name she drew is Bailey Gray's. With Cat being just a first year she doesn't know Bailey at all. She learned he's a seventh year, a Gryffindor, is on his house's Quidditch team, and dates a girl called Jewel.
Cat also learned that through Muggle Studies, Bailey has become fond of a Muggle sport called baseball. Cat got Bailey a book on the history of baseball and got him a baseball cap with a team logo on it. If not for thumbing through the book before wrapping it, Cat would still be clueless about what baseball is.
Sticking the present under the tree, Cat then decides to leave, forgetting to even look for a gift with her name on it. Feeling terribly lonely and not understanding why Polly's so mad at her, Cat spends the time until supper back in the libary though she doesn't get anything accomplished.
Ready For The Day To Be Over
Author: Sage Porter
Date: 11-14-07 16:17
Sage enters the Great Hall more than ready to sit down and eat. Thursdays are always long with Charms, DADA, Potions, and Transfiguration but this being the last Thursday of the term, today seemed more jammed packed making for a day that has felt twice as long as normal. Thank Merlin tomorrow is only Herbology. Sage needs to read over what he wrote on embelia, the homework assignment from Tuesday, but he's fairly sure he won't need to fix anything before turning it in tomorrow.
A girl's voice calls his name so Sage stops to look around. He can't help but sigh when he sees it's Georgia Copperpot at the Ravenclaw table. Damn that Jared for making Sage kiss Georgia when winning a beg he'd had with Sage. Since then the girl acts like she and Sage have some sort of relationship. Sage has nothing against Georgia. She's cute and seems to have quite the personality. It's just that Sage isn't interested yet in dating again.
Sage gives Georgia a half-hearted wave then continues on to sit at the Hufflepuff table, hoping that one of tonight's offerings is a cheesy potato soup that is one of the Hogwarts kitchen House Elves specialties and is one of the best potato soups Sage has ever had. That's saying a great deal for someone with a famous chef for a father.
Another Ravenclaw face catches Sage's eye before he sits down. Seeing Daria out of class and here where there are Christmas trees all over reminds Sage he needs to deliver Daria's secret Santa gift. Sage got Daria a bracelet that Saffron assures him any girl who likes jewelry will like. Shoving his hand into his backpack, Sage double checks that the gift is there. He'll either give it to Daria after supper or go put it under the common common's tree.
Lunch (Hank)
Author: Rolf Haaken
Date: 11-15-07 14:50
Herbology not being Hank's favorite subject, he's more than a little happy to have the class done with until after the new year. If not for his Muggle Studies class being set for Fridays at 3:30, Hank would be entirely done. He can't even skiv off from that class because Professor Marcasite warned the seventh years that it would be in their best to attend then actually said, "Hint, hint, that means there will be an exam."
Hank's not overly fond of Professor Marcasite and such warnings certainly don't help improve his feelings. Come to think of it, Hank can't say he's overly fond of any of his professors. Yaxley is a prat of the worst sort; Professor Closterfob isn't a half-bad teacher but something about her personality rubs Hank the wrong way; Professor Flume is sort of blah; Professor Masterson... Hank gives a mental shrug. There's just something about the guy Hank doesn't care for and teaching a course Hank dislikes a great deal despite having good grades has Hank decidedly indifferent to the man. Professor Askew Hank dislikes simply because he's not the very nice to look upon Professor Sacheverelle. Professor Whitehorn's okay so Hank supposes that out of his professors, he can admit that one of them is sort of all right.
Sitting down at the Ravenclaw table for lunch, Hank overhears someone mention the Secret Santa gift exchange. He strains to hear in case the person mentions a name to go with whatever the gift is just in case the name mentioned in his. Hank wants to know what he got and that reminds him he's not checked under either tree - the one in the common commons or the one in the Pures Only commons - in several days. He's got to get Cornelia Vanderbilt's gift put under the Pures Only tree after lunch so that she's sure to get the gift before leaving this weekend.
Hank had been more than a little stumped as to what to get the third year Slytherin. She seems to be a terror in the making on the Quiddith pitch and from what Hank hears she's a terror in general all around. That put Hank in mind of Terror Tours so he got some information from the agency and found out about some half day and one day tours. Then he asked about student discounts or two for one discounts and ended up getting both. Cornelia is going to open a small box that has two vouchers to be redeemed for two tickets to a half-day tour that visits two Wizarding castles with long and bloody histories. Hank found it interesting enough that he nearly kept one voucher for himself but figured that a single voucher for such a tour for a young teen of Cornelia's age would be worthless. Worthless that is unless she lied to her parents about where she would be all day. Maybe she'll still end up doing that. Hank wouldn't be at all shocked if she did such a thing.
Hank hears a name in the conversation and it's not his so he stops listening. Reaching to fill a soup bowl from a tureen of what looks to be creamy tomato soup Hank senses a stirring around him. Looking about, Hank sees a few people sitting in spots they shouldn't be. Only a teeny bit curious about what it's about, Hank looks around more but then decides he really doesn't care. Ladeling soup into his bowl Hank then reaches for a grilled ham and cheese sandwich while trying to decide if he's going to bother looking over his Muggle Studies notes for the promised exam.