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Sticky Situation
Author: Ron Weasley
Date: 04-27-08 11:48
On the one hand, Ron wishes Ginny weren't coming along to the grocer's. It would have been nice to be alone with Hermione. On the other hand, if coming along meant Ginny would shut up for a bit about them not doing anything, then Ron's happy to have her along.
Ron understands Ginny's impatience. He's feeling it too. From things Harry's said, Ron knows that Harry's wanting to take some sort of action against the Ministry. If they're going to be on the run, living in hiding like fugitives, they might as well do something to be labeled a fugitive. Something that has nothing to do with who's got what blood status or who helped bring down You-Know-Who.
Walking through the campground, each carrying a rucksack that they'll fill with groceries, Ron tries to appreciate the Welsh scenery. It's not all that easy though when this campground looks much like the last, which looks much like the one before it. In other words, Ron's a little tired of getting back to nature and thank Merlin they aren't doing true backwoods camping where they'd have to use some sort of Muggle tablets to purify water or boil the water to death first. Worse, Ron gives a shudder, would be digging their own latrines.
Just off the main entrance to the campground is a bus stop. They'd been going to walk into town and take the bus back but it's just pulling up so they decide to go on and ride into town. Ginny's a little hesitant, having ridden the Knight Bus a few times, but Hermione and Ron assure her it's nothing like that. Ginny takes a seat on the aisle across from where Hermione and Ron sit with arms around each other and to Ron's disgust she promptly starts flirting with a guy a couple of seats ahead of her.
Thankfully they're soon in town. First they go to a small grocer store and then wander through an open air market. Ron's not sure what first alerts him to being watched but whatever it was has Ron looking all around. Hermione pokes him and whispers, "Why are you suddenly acting paranoid?"
"There's a man in a green shirt who's watching everything we do," Ron hisses back.
Just then Ginny comes up and speaking in a low tone tells them, "There's a woman in a pink dress who keeps staring at me."
All three are more alert now. Hermione spots another, telling them while pretending to inspect tomatoes. "Man in a brown jacket near the fishmonger."
Ron casts his eyes that direction then shoves Hermione and Ginny to the ground, yelling, "Wand!" as a flare of yellow light flashes overhead right where they'd been standing.
Their own wands out now, they scramble backwards under the tomato stand table, trying to assess whether it's just those two men and one woman or if there's more. Ron wonders how they were found, even if it was only by chance, but quickly focuses on getting out of this situation, with their supplies, and back to the campground. Hermione, thinking ahead to needing to move to another location once they get away from these Ministry people, sends a patronus to Harry and Janine so they'll have the tent packed up and ready to move once the others get there.
Duck and Cover
Author: Hermione Granger
Date: 04-27-08 12:39
Several thoughts went through Hermione's mind as she huddled under the tomato stand with Ron and Ginny. First, how would they get the supplies they needed without stealing them as they ran for safety? Next, what about all the Muggles at the market? Would the Ministry of Magic send out an official obliviation team or would the Snatchers take matters into their own hands? She couldn't really dwell on either thought, since the three individuals, perhaps more, were still somewhere in the market area and determined to make their captures.
Beside her, both Ron and Ginny were breathing heavily. Hermione's own heart hammered away in her chest.
"I think we need to risk moving," she finally whispered, when she couldn't determine with any certaintly where the three Snatchers were and if there were any others.
Ron and Ginny nodded. "I think you're right," Ron replied softly. "We need to cover each other, but I don't think we should stay clustered."
"We're any easier target as one than if we're apart," Ginny agreed.
They started to edge out from beneath the stand. An elderly woman with a very big frown on her face glared down at them as if they were heathens. "Young people today," she muttered disgustedly, before turning away to see to other produce.
"Sorry," Hermione mumbled softly, though she knew she had greater things to worry over. She searched for any sign of green, pink or brown while hurriedly purchasing fruits and vegetables from the various stands she passed. Sometime she didn't accept any change from the vendors, preferring to overpay and get what she needed than to leave the market as a thief. Hermione, Ron and Ginny moved in the same general direction, but kept their distances from each other to minimize the chances of getting targeted simultaneously.
Suddenly, a melon exploded next to Hermione. She ducked, pressing herself against the side of the stand, and cautiously peered out from the corner. She saw the witch in pink duck down behind an adjacent stand. The next moment, the witch peered out again but before she could utter whatever spell she intended on casting, Ginny stunned her from behind.
One down, two to go, Hermione thought to herself, picking herself up from the ground and trying to tune out the stand-owner who was complaining over his lost melon.
"I think she fainted," Hermione heard someone say about the witch in pink.
"She'll still need to pay for... well, for whatever she did to my melon!" the stand-owner shouted.
Hermione swiftly walked away, sticking close to one side of the aisle in case she needed to do another quick duck and cover. She was very close to the last stalls of the market and would soon have to make a beeline for the very open bus stop.
She looked over her shoulder and saw the wizard in green pop up in front of Ron. "Stupefy!" he yelled, but Ron swiftly blocked with "Protego!" Several heads swiveled in their direction and gawked at the pair.
"How are they doing that?" "Are they using lasers?" were just some of the questions asked.
Hermione almost felt like she had a moral obligation to adjust the memories of these poor Muggles but knew she didn't have the time. She stunned the wizard in green from behind, leaving him crumbled on the ground.
"Thanks," Ron mouthed. He jerked his head in the direction of the bus stop.
Hermione nodded. As much as she wanted to take out the last known Snatcher, she knew they should probably head back and help Harry and Janine, if they hadn't already gotten everything packed up and ready to go.
Ginny sprinted away from the stalls towards the bus stop. Hermione took a deep breath and followed, her sack of purchases bouncing wildly against her hip and in her arm. She heard a splitting noise, and the load in her arm lessened, as tomatoes, apples and orange spilled out onto the ground. She dropped what remained of the bag and whirled around, only to find the wizard in brown pursuing her with his wand at the ready.
Nugger!
Author: Ginny Weasley
Date: 04-27-08 13:24
Ginny's nearly to the bus when she senses that Hermione's no longer right behind her. She turns in time to see Ron beaning the Snatcher in brown on the head with a plastic jar of peanut butter that they'd bought in the grocery store.
Ginny's skidded to a halt and changed direction to help Hermione pick up their supplies. They aren't hurting for money just yet but they also don't need to leave behind perfectly good supplies already paid for if they can help it.
The man in brown is on the ground but wasn't knocked out by Ron. He's lost his wand though and Ron's shouting, "Nugger! He's trying to nug us!"
Hermione's grabbing up the scattered fruits and vegetables, correcting Ron, "Mug. He's trying to mug us."
An burly young man comes from around a table piled with corn on the cob. "I saw him attack these people."
A woman selling runner beans nods, "I saw him and two others acting strange. I couldn't see what he was doing exactly but that one did seem to be threatening that young woman."
Others in the market start adding their voices to the chaos. Ginny's helped Hermione pick up the last of the dropped supplies. The man from the corn on the cob stall has grabbed the Snatcher in brown up from the ground and is holding him tightly. Other men have hold of the Snatchers in green and in pink, and the woman from the runner bean table says something about calling the police. While this was going on, Ron's located the man in brown's wand and would like to have taken the wands of the other two but it's a good time to go.
Ginny frowns, tilting her head at the bus stop. "We missed that last one and it's going to be at least fifteen minutes until the next."
"We can't stick around that long," Ron states the obvious.
While the people in the market are still focused on the three so called Muggers and talking about the strange things they saw, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny dart into a narrow alley and disapparate for a heavily wooded thicket near the campsite where they'd pitched the tent.
The Outsider
Author: Don Thomas
Date: 04-27-08 19:43
"Don! Don!"
Don ignored her mother's calls from the other room as she rolled onto her stomach to pick through her new pallet of paints. She needed the perfect paint for her project. The project to christen the brand new walls of her mother's new apartment with a mural. Well it wasn't her mother's. Her step-father was the one paying the bill. He had recently replaced an Auror position in England. Don wondered why they picked someone from Canada when they could have picked someone from their own stupid country. To top it all off, he was hired 2 1/2 months ago. It took this long to check everyone's records, including Stefan and Don's. The two youngest were exempt from the record checks because they were Don's mother and step-father's birth children. They just wanted to make sure everyone in the family was a Pure, which they were. But being a Pure meant squat to Don. She didn't even know what a Pure was and no one seemed keen to telling this outsider anything. Not that Don had asked anyone. Mostly because she hadn't left her room. She was still moving in and now that everything was put away, it was time to christen the walls. Maybe a gold duck with a purple heart on one of them. Or a green duck with a purple heart. That sounded better.
"Don," Mrs. Poplar said as she entered her daughter's room to see her looking at paints. "Don Thomas! What in Merlin's name are you doing?"
"I'm skydiving." Don's eyes never left her paint pallet as she touched the purple with her left index finger.
Mrs. Poplar propped a hand against her slim waist and rolled her eyes. "Stop being sarcastic. You'll never make friends that way."
"And the fact that all of the kids my age are in school right now has no effect in my making friends."
It was true. Don Thomas had attended her 5th year at the exclusive Middleton Magic, a school that was located in Vancouver, Canada. Middleton Magic was different from the local magical school, or so Don had read in the book her step-father had bought for her. For one, this Hogwarts school was broken into houses. Slythery, Hufflepoop, Gryffindork, and Ravenclod. Middleton had functioned alot like a Muggle high school. Instead of Quidditch, a game Don had never really been interested in, Middleton played Boys VS. Girls, which was a week where classes were cancelled and there were several competitions between boys and girls. The winner would be crowned the dominant sex. Don was going to miss out on that a bunch in the coming year. Another thing was that Middleton started their school year in mid-August, but ended it in May. Which made Don, an incoming 6th year student at Hogpox, possibly the only teenager her age outside of school in the English Wizarding Community.
Mrs. Poplar had dismissed Don's last remark and went on to her next subject of conversation. "You aren't painting the walls again. This is a rented place. Your step-father paid so much money on the last apartment because of your childish mural."
"It's art," Don said as she sat up to face her mother. "Which means it's not childish. And we can paint over it when we move."
"Which costs money. And that reminds me, I'm going to the bank. Would you mind watching Lilly, Stefan, and Brody?"
"Sure," Don said as she went back to examining her paints. She could hear her mother tell the eldest, Stefan, that Don would be watching them. Don sighed and put her paints away.
The living room itself was crowded by pillows and blankets, making it look like just what it was. The children's bedroom. One child sat in a playpen and Don instantly remembered this child's name. Brody. Brody had been born only a year before. Don called him Little Donnie because he cried in everyone's arms, but hers. That phase soon passed and he became Brody, which was his given name anyway. Another child was coloring on the walls. This was 3 year old B. Lillian Poplar. Mrs. Poplar was known for naming her kids odd names, if you haven't noticed the name Don for a girl, and had named her third daughter Barnaby. Mr. Poplar did not like this. He was the one who named Brody for just that reason. He was also the one to give Lilly her nickname. Don had personally nicknamed Lilly the new Little Donnie, especially since she was in her new 'let's write on walls' phase. The last one was Stefan, who happened to be reading. Don't be fooled. Stefan, the 5 year old, was a girl and not a Poplar.
When Don was 6, her father ran out on her, leaving her mother alone with a young child. Five years later, Madeline Poplar, incase you were wondering Don's mother's name, got married to a man by the name of Joel Hopps. Joel and Madeline didn't last long and a year later, she had married Paul Poplar. By that time, Stefan Hopps was already born.
"Don," Stefan's voice rang out. "Can you read this word for me?"
Don nodded and walked over to the girl. She looked over the book. "Water," she said as she began reading the next word of 'to'. Next thing Don knew, she was reading the entire book and even Lilly had stopped to listen.
Friday Night Boredom
Author: Oreileah McCoi
Date: 04-28-08 16:46
Orei sat in her room, arithmancy book open in her lap as she read over the homework for the weekend. She had homework to do for both Herbology and Arithmancy this weekend, and planned on spending time with Brett. Speaking of! She needed to Owl in an order to Briar's for breakfast in the morning, because she intended on heading to the house in Hogsmeade first thing.
She snagged the order form from her Arithmancy book and filled it out quickly. She'd have to go to the owlry and would do that on her way to dinner. She made note on the order form that she would be picking the order up in the morning so there was no need for it to be delivered.
For now, she would settle in at getting a start on her Arithmancy homework. Everyone else was busy and she for the first time all term had a day to herself. She heard Maddie come in and she looked up offering her a smile. "Half way through my Arithmancy homework, thankfully." Orei said as she shifted things around.
"I can not wait for this term to be over." Maddie said, though she was uncertain what would happen to their friends who were nons once the term was over. She'd heard the rumors, and knew that many thought that they had no one to go home to because of the "Snatchers."
"I have a decision to make at the end of the term. I can move t Japan with Mom and Dad, or I can stay here." She sighed softly and slumped back against the pillows on her bed. "If I leave I risk loosing Brett, and I don't want that." She'd been head over heels for the older boy since her first year at Hogwarts.
"At least you have a boyfriend..." Maddie said and stuck her tongue out at her best friend. "I mean, I can't even keep a guy interested for more than two weeks!"
"If you'd stop flirting with every other guy when you get one interested, he'll stick around longer." Orei said tossing a small heart shaped pillow at Maddie.
"Hmm..I'll have to try that at some point." Maddie tossed the pillow back and laughed.
"Alright, I think it is time for dinner, though first, I want to stop by the owlry and mail off this order form for Briar's because I am picking up breakfast in the morning for Brett and I." The order was much smaller than usual, because Aussie and Yuri, Brett's sister and brother-in-law no longer live in the house in Hogsmeade, or anywhere in England.
"Alright. I'll meet you in the Great Hall in about twenty minutes?" Maddie said. "I want to take a quick shower." So the two parted ways and Orei headed to the owlry and quickly sent off the order form, hoping that it wasn't too late, and that she'd be able to get the baked goods first thing in the morning. She then headed down to the Great Hall and waited for Maddie who showed up about ten minutes late.
After dinner they returned to Gryffindor Tower and settled back into doing homework, and were relatively bored.