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Too Comfortable
Author: Ella
Date: 02-06-09 08:02
"Ella, you're going to miss breakfast and be late for History of Magic class if you don't get out of bed," Cornelia said from her side of the room as she got dressed in her Hogwarts robes.
"Mmmpf," murmured Ella incomprehensively. Her thick comforter went up to her chin, and she hadn't moved from her current position since falling alseep last night. Her bed was perfectly warm in all the right spots and she simply didn't want to move from it. With the curtains pulled around her four-poster bed, it also appeared dark enough in the room for Ella to think it wasn't yet morning. It probably hadn't helped that she'd gone to bed very late last night.
Cornelia leaned over the side of her bed in search of her shoes. She found one and pulled it on over her pristine white knee-high sock. "Are you sick or something?" she asked Ella, before bending down for the other shoe, which had somehow gotten kicked under her bed.
"Nmm," Ella replied after a long pause.
Cornelia pulled on her other shoe and then got up and reached for her History of Magic textbook and the notebook she used for the class. She stuffed the items into a shoulder bag and checked to make sure she had a couple of quills and a bottle of ink.
"Do I need to draw the curtains and pull back your blankets?" Cornelia asked, wondering if Ella just needed some motivation to get out of bed.
Ella finally spoke coherently. "I'll get up in a minute."
Because Ella didn't sound too sleepy, Cornelia shrugged her shoulders and left the dormitory room for breakfast in the Great Hall.
Ella didn't move for ten whole minutes before she finally kicked off her comforter and bedsheets and pulled back the curtains around her bed. It was then that she realized she really would be late for History of Magic if she didn't hurry and that she would probably have to miss breakfast just so that she could make it to class on time.
She cast her eyes on a Weird Sisters calendar pinned to the wall. It was the end of March, and there were still three full months of school left! Ella was really looking forward to summertime, both because she tired of having to get up and go to class and also because she was sick of winter.
She forced herself to get out of bed and to get ready for yet another day of school.
Up To Nothing
Author: Ron Weasley
Date: 02-06-09 16:55
Pinky insistently taps a boney looking finger. "Here."
Sirius shakes his shaggy head, "No, here," stabbing out with a finger.
"What about here?" Ron asks with a finger jab of his own.
"What are you lot up to?"
"Nothing," they chorus as Ginny walks in, Ron shoving a map out of view.
Coming in behind Ginny, Hermione tells her, "That's what they told me earlier."
"You didn't believe them, did you?" Ginny asks.
"No."
Ginny sidles up to Pinky and says in a sweetly wheedling voice, "You can tell me, Pinky. What's going on?"
Pinky's already big eyes grow larger. Ron moves around to put himself between his sister and the House Elf. "Leave him be, Ginny."
Sirius says under his breath, "Don't taunt her, Ron."
"Who's taunting?" he asks, turning to look at the older man. "I'm just telling her not to harass a poor, innocent House Elf."
By this time Ginny's got her arms folded and is giving Ron that look younger sisters give older brothers, the look that says the older brother is a raging idiot. Hermione comes to stand by Ginny, her arms also folded. "What has you acting like you're guilty of something?"
"Way to not draw attention, Ron," Sirius hotly mutters.
"You think it's only Ron who's got us wondering?" Ginny whirls on Sirius, eyebrows arched, voice frosty.
Hermione unfolds her arms and reaches over, snatched at the map they thought was out of sight. Pinky shrinks back more, Sirius looks like he's ready to hit something out of frustration, and Ron is torn between being indignant that Hermione and Ginny are checking up on him and being even more guilt riddled than he already is at not including them. Hermione quickly scans the map then hands it to Ginny.
"What are you planning?" Hermione asks in that no nonsense way she has sometimes.
"What makes you think we're planning anything?" Sirius retorts.
"Please," Ginny says with a roll of her eyes. "It's a map of the island group we think Harry and Hagrid are."
Hermione smiles sweetly at Ron. "If you're planning some sort of rescue before whatever the Order takes action, you are not leaving me out."
Ginny slaps the map onto the table. "Or me and I'm betting Janine will want in as well."
Sirius grudgingly nods. "Might need you. Here's what we've discusses so far," Sirius begins, smoothing the map out, their heads drawing together over the table.
In Ron's ear, Hermione hisses, "I love you, Ron Weasley, but I swear some days I would gladly throttle you."
Dropping a quick kiss on Hermione's cheek, Ron whispers back, "You can throttle me after we've got Harry back safely."
Sirius impatiently taps the map. "Are we discussing strategy or going to play footsies under the table."
Ginny sniggers, earning her an elbow from Ron. Before long though Hermione and Ginny have been brought up to speed and are as hotly debating ideas as Pinky, Sirius, and Ron had been before they joined in.
(Cornelia) Nostalgia
Author: Griet
Date: 02-07-09 10:24
Cornelia stood at the very edge of the Hogwarts grounds, where the line of trees that led into the Forbidden Forest began. She nibbled on a piece of toast and stared into the foggy depths of the forest, wishing she could go in but knowing she could not without facing strict penalty. Instead, she searched for any sign of movement but knew quite well that anything she happened to see wouldn't be that for which she looked.
It had been nearly two years since Cornelia had set free Fido, the acromantula she'd raised for the Scholastic Aptitude Tournament's Best in Show: Magical Creatures event. She remembered with painful clarity the day of the release. She'd stubbornly sat in Hagrid's hut, not wanting him to convince her what she'd known was the right thing to do, when all she wanted was to keep Fido for herself. It had been Dumbledore that had ultimately urged her to put the young acromantula where he rightly belonged, in the Forbidden Forest with the others of his kind.
It had been the three of them, Cornelia, Dumbledore, and Hagrid, who had gone into the forest and set Fido free.
Cornelia sighed and turned away from the line of trees. She made her way to the barn, feeling a little down-hearted. Fido was gone. Even Hagrid and Dumbledore were gone. Nothing was the way it had once been, and Cornelia didn't like it at all. She missed her pet and her old teachers. She missed Griet, and she even missed her half-blood cousins Sadie and Ramona. She missed Hogwarts the way it used to be, when there had been houses and real Quidditch teams. Cornelia just wished things could go back to normal and that she could have back everything she had lost.
She arrived at the barn to find her other two classmates, a surly-looking Zuberi Batuti, and Francis Yao, waiting inside already. Professor Kent leaned against one of the stables with a clipboard in his hand. Upon Cornelia's arrival, he checked off her name and then set the clipboard aside.
"Welcome, Cornelia. Now that we're all here, let's get started."
Cornelia joined her classmates, where they were gathered in front of a wooden pen. Pinkish-red creatures that looked strange and smelled just awful hobbled around the hay flooring haphazardly.
"What are those?" Cornelia asked, wrinkling her nose in digust.
"Those are blast-ended skrewts," Professor Kent replied.
"Never heard of them," Zuberi stated flatly.
"They are a relatively young species," Professor Kent answered, "and were actually bred by one of my predecessors here at Hogwarts."
"Isn't that illegal?" Francis asked. "I mean, creating a species as opposed to one coming about through evolution?"
"Yes, there are very strict laws on breeding, which will be your homework assignment, actually. But more on that later. There are very few blast-ended skrewts in existence, because as they mature, they become hostile to one another. They have not yet realized the importance of their survival as an entire species, and as such are threatening themselves with extinction all on their own. In fact, with the exception of the few I have in captivity, the only others I can vouche for live in the Forbidden Forest––assuming they haven't already killed themselves off."
Francis raised his hand again. "Maybe they are supposed to die off, since they weren't supposed to exist at all," he supplied.
"You make an excellent point, Francis. Blast-ended skrewts are a hybrid of manticores and fire-crabs, but since they did not evolve into being, they lack certain natural instincts, such as the ability to thrive as a species. That said, since they do exist today, I believe it's important we try to conserve them because we want to better understand how they function and how, if at all, they will acquire the traits they are currently missing."
Cornelia briefly forgot all about Fido and all the things and people she missed and concentrated intently on Professor Kent's lecture on the fascinatingly grotesque blast-ended skrewts.
Getting Through The Day
Author: Georgia Copperpot
Date: 02-07-09 10:58
Connie Copperpot plucks ripe fruit and drops in into the basket at her feet. She would love to sink her teeth into the meaty, sweet flesh and eat until physically unable to eat anymore but the guard overseeing her work group is being more vigilent and keen eyed than usual. It's as though he knows they've all been sneaking fruit when possible, not just for themselves but for the others as well.
Everyone does it when assigned to a food detail, be it picking mangoes or harvesting shrimp. No matter the job assignment, the work is hard and long. The food they're given has enough nutrition to keep the workers from starving to death, but only just.
Connie doesn't know what motivates the others to remain on their feet, slogging away day after day. For Connie, it's the thought of being reunited with her husband and children. Until Harry Potter arrived at Community Q, Connie had thought both the girls would have been with Bob over the summer with Georgia back at Hogwarts once fall was once more upon them. Connie can't decide if it's a blessing or a curse that Harry told them that children still at home were taken away and those who'd been at Hogwarts were put on the Hogwarts Express but never arrived at King's Cross Station in London.
Harry arrived at Community Q in September. It's now April. Not a day goes by that Connie doesn't worry and wonder what has happened to Libby and Georgia wherever they are. And what of Bob? What of her parents and others in the Muggle world? What could Bob possibly tell them about why Connie and the girls are missing? What sort of stink would her family and the families of other Muggle borns or Halfbloods raise?
It's these thoughts of family that keep Connie going and the thought that soon those at Community Q will escape. Connie can't think of it terms of attempt to escape or might escape or try to escape. She has to think of it as will escape.
They will go soon. The weather has been awful, the island plagued by violent, out of season storms. The finishing of additional rafts has been slowed as a result but the weather did aid in helping to keep the rafts hidden from the guards.
The guard's voice cuts into Connie's thought. "Oy, you lazy lot. Five minutes left here then we move on to the orange trees."
Connie picks up speed to make sure she reaches her quota, then glad for the respite that comes with moving from picking mangoes to walking over to the orange grove.
(John) Less Talk, More Work
Author: Johanna Steele
Date: 02-08-09 04:33
John looked at the metal bracelet in his right hand. There was no way of removing it since it was attached to his body by a spell. With a sight he continued his work, putting together Ministry booklets. At the beginning he was curious of what was written there and when the guard wasn’t looking he managed to read the whole text. Now he just wanted to ignore those atrocious words.
He was surprised when he met some familiar faces at City of Hope. Even more surprised when he met a girl who had been in Happy Haven – Emerald Green. John wanted to have a conversation with her, telling her all about the escape but he hadn’t had the opportunity yet.
“So, Merlin , how many booklets have you put together so far?” Asked Christopher Bagshot.
He was from Agrippa College in St. Emrys. He called Merlin to John since he was from Merlin College. Every day they did some kind of competition to see who put more booklets together. At the beginning Christopher was always the winner, since he had spent the lasts moths doing that chore. But now John was starting to catch him.
“Hum… since last time you ask me 23. You?”
“27. You’re almost catching my rhythm Merlin! You learn fast. “
“You two there! Less talk and more work” shout one of the guards.
John and Christopher changed a looked and continue their work in silence.
Twenty-Two
Author: Isolde
Date: 02-08-09 17:07
Iseult Farnon carried an armful of festively-wrapped packages into the living room, where her only child, Isolde, sat on the sofa looking radiant in a pair of black dress pants and a lavender linen top. Her hair had grown out enough so that she could pull most of it into a French twist, with tendrils of hair framing either side of her face. She looked very grown up.
"What are those?" Isolde asked her mother, feigning ignorance.
Iseult smiled brightly. "Why, what do you think they are? They're your birthday presents, of course!" She set them down on the coffee table and then sat down next to Isolde on the sofa.
She took both of Isolde's hands into her own and looked into her eyes. "Twenty-two. You really are grown up!"
"Mum," Isolde said, with a playful roll of her eyes, "I've been an adult for several years now. Today's just another birthday."
"Nonsense! It's the anniversary of the day we first met you, and that's why we're celebrating today." Iseult turned her head in the direction of her husband's clinic. "Now where is your father?"
Isolde gently extricated her hands from her mother's grip and started to get up from the sofa. "I'll go check on him."
"When are Azaelia and Pyrrhus due to visit?" she asked Isolde, rising as well.
"Azaelia can't get away from the library until her lunch break, and then she'll have to go right back. They are severely understaffed. She said she'd come back after work, though." Isolde grabbed her cane and started walking to the clinic, which was a part of the house. "Pyrrhus told me he had some business to take care of and then he'd be right over."
"Good. We'll open presents when they're here." Iseult started murmuring to herself about what to serve for lunch and dinner and when the best time for cake would be, allowing Isolde to reach the door to her father's clinic without having to answer any other questions. She slipped inside the clinic and found her father returning a kitten to its kennel.
Upon seeing his daughter he smiled. "Happy birthday, Isolde." He pecked her on the cheek.
"Thanks, Daddy. Did you have a lot of patients today?"
"Just a few boarders." He washed his hands in the sink and after drying them, put an arm around Isolde's shoulders. "Let's go see what your mother is up to."
Isolde let her father guide her from the clinic and back into the main portion of the house, where they found Iseult fussing over some fairy cakes in the kitchen. Isolde eased onto a stool by the island countertop and took one of the pastel frosted cupcakes. Gorman sat beside her and did the same. Father and daughter exchanged smiles as Iseult started to fuss over them eating dessert when she wasn't ready to serve it yet. In the end, she grabbed one herself and joined husband and daughter, who were enjoying themselves immensely.
Acceptance
Author: Alanna Beck
Date: 02-09-09 08:20
Alanna commandeered a table in the library after lunch and spread out books and parchment. With the N.E.W.T. exams just months away, she needed to make an effort to study each and every day so that when the time came, she wouldn't feel too overwhelmed by all the material she needed to know. Unfortunately, she wouldn't get to spend all afternoon in the library since she had Muggle Studies at 3:30.
She really didn't want to attend Muggle Studies because Professor Parkinson's idea of the course differed greatly from what Professor Miller taught when he was still a teacher at Hogwarts. Alanna didn't want to hear about pureblood superiority and Muggle inferiority. She wanted to know about Muggle technology and history. She wanted to know about people and literature and all the things that she, as a witch, didn't know much about.
Alanna had a feeling the Muggle Studies N.E.W.T. exam would look much like the material Professor Parkinson covered in class and not like the topics she learned when Professor Miller had been her teacher. She frowned at the thought and debated accepting a failing mark on that exam, especially since she didn't feel comfortable spouting off the ideals of the Ministry of Magic when they differed so much from her own. But then she had to remind herself that she was pretending to be someone she wasn't so that she could continue to attend Hogwarts and so that she didn't put herself in jeopardy as some of her family had.
Alanna sighed and pulled her Muggle Studies notes closer to her. She had just started to review material from the very beginning of the school year when an owl squawked overhead, having flown in through an open window high up on the wall. It completed a circle over Alanna's table and then swooped down, landing on top of her Muggle Studies notes. It dropped a thick envelope onto her parchment, hooted and bobbed its head once, and then took flight again.
Curious, Alanna flipped over the envelope. The St. Emrys University crest stood out above everything else. With beating heart, Alanna broke the seal and pulled out the parchment pages inside.
Dear Miss Beck,
We would like to congratulate you on your acceptance to our university...
Alanna exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been keeping and then broke out into a smile. Up until that point, she hadn't known what she might be doing next year. Now she knew. She'd be attending St. Emrys!
Day Dreams
Author: Cailyn Spicer
Date: 02-09-09 13:42
With the end of the school year fast approaching, Cailyn had a sense of relief filling inside her soul. She was relieved to be leaving Hogwarts and not very sad at all. There were so many things she found that she wanted to do and she just couldn’t decide if she wanted a career or not. According to her father, she didn’t really need one. He was willing to take care of her, until she felt the need to leave his side and that was very comforting to know. She had plans of traveling to America and possibly going to Alaska and the other states she had always wanted to see as a child. Maybe take a trip to Hawaii. Of course she could do all that easily enough as a witch. Floo Powder and other things would make her traveling expenses very easy and light.
With a little skip, Cailyn rounded the hallway leading down to her dormitory. It would be nice to get away from the segregation that was going on at Hogwarts and England the ridiculous purple fluffy all around the school. For half a second she wondered if Paige was alright and then shoved the thought out of her mind. She was trying to forget about Paige.
“You’re late.” Came a disapproving voice from somewhere deep within her dorm.
“I have a lot on my mind” Cailyn answered as she stepped into the room she shared with Gaia and peeked her head under a bed where she found the quidditch player.
“I know, I know, you’re day dreaming about the future after you leave Hogwarts. You should be studying for your N.E.W.TS.” Gaia reminded Cailyn.
“Yeah I know.” Cailyn stated plopping onto her bed.”Well are you ready? Or do you want to stay here all night?”
“Where are we gonna go?” Gaia asked crawling out from under the bed.
“I don’t know but away from Hogwarts. I doubt anyone will notice we’re even gone.”
“How are we gonna get away from Hogwarts? You don’t have an Invisibility cloak do you?”
“No but I have a winged horse.” Cailyn answered with a grin.
“Alright and then you are going to study for your N.E.W.Ts and I am gonna help you. Like I was supposed to be helping you study for tonight.”
“Sounds fair.”
Regret
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 02-09-09 18:24
"I can count on you tomorrow night," Lisette Valentine states rather than asks.
Julian stands up from where he was stooped over a box, his brow furrowing at his mother's words. "Why do you keep asking that?"
Lisette's hand flutters to play with a pendant on a short chain around her neck. "This party is quite important to me."
"Yes, I'm aware."
"I want it to go perfectly. Is that too much to ask?" Lisette is starting to sound huffy.
"No, but I've been telling you ever since you told me your plans that I'd attend the party. It's your anniversary. Of course I'll be there."
"The party tomorrow night is adults only but you are bringing Grace and Charlotte earlier in the day?"
Julian, bent once more of the box of books, replies, "Yes, we will be there and Lysander will be at the party tomorrow night."
"Such a shame Caerwyn can come tomorrow as well, though perhaps if I spoke to that Snider woman. Why, you know, I think I shall offer her an invitation for tomorrow night. There will be some big names there and I hear she does love to mingle with celebrities."
Julian hides a smile and stifles a snort of laughter. That Snider woman is the last person Lysander would want to see in attendance. Come to think of it, the way Harriet Snider ogles him as well, Julian doesn't care much for the idea. He holds his tongue though. If it means having Caerwyn at the small gathering of family and friends and having him there would make Lisette happy for her anniversary, then Julian supposes he can tolerate having to avoid Harriet Snider's pincing, grasping pudgy fingers.
"What are you doing, Julian? Must you forever fuss with books while I'm here?"
Standing again, this time Julian doesn't hide his grin. "Well, Mum, I should point out this is a bookshop and that I am a proprietor."
"Don't sass me, Julian."
"I'm a little big to turn over your knee," he chuckles, earning himself a scathing look. Nodding to the boxes he explains, "I'm checking the inventory list against the contents of the boxes. Lysander and I bought these at auction and I'm making sure we were sent everything we bought."
"While it is good that you keep yourself busy, I have never truly understood why you insist on lowering yourself to such demeaning work as being a sales clerk and stockroom boy," Lisette says disdainfully in the elitist, snooty tone Julian knows so well.
The entire time they've been talking, Lisette's been pacing, fiddling with her jewelry and doing a number of other fidgety movements. Putting the inventory list on the counter, Julian walks over to his mother to directly ask, "What has you so anxious, Mother?"
Lisette's does a quick scan of the bookshop, ensuring that they are alone, that not even Lysander is within earshot. "You know what Sunday is. As each year passes I find March 30 more difficult to bear. I had thought it would be the opposite."
"So, you do regret what Dad and you did."
Lisette's eyes widen, her entire body flinches and for a second Julian thinks she might even slap him. Instead, his mother turns away from him, her voice tremulous when she speaks. "How can you ask that? Of course I do!"
Julian asked because until now he'd never been sure. His parents have never shown remorse or regret for the views they've hold, for the things they've done. Actually, even now he's not sure. Lisette's always been good at saying the right thing, saying what someone wants to hear.
Tiberius and Lisette Valentine are both excellent at playing the socio-political games, so good that Julian doubts he'll ever reveal to them what Grace is already capable of magically at her young age.
Now is not the time to have his mother mad at him. It would make tomorrow extremely strained and not attending is not an option. Both his parents would give him grief about it for years to come. Excellent at playing games as well, Julian puts on his best shamed face and moves to hug his mother.
"I'm sorry. I was out of line to ask. Now, why don't we walk over to see Grace? She has an annivesary present she wants you to have before tomorrow."
Lisette, seeminly placated, starts for the door, pausing only long enough for Julian to flip the OPEN sign to CLOSED.