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That was a Bad Idea
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 04-25-10 14:30
When Lysander first thought to tell Astrid about the mysterious, threatening notes he'd received over the past year, he thought it would be just a straightforward statement of facts with Astrid offering her sympathy and possibly brainstorming with him on who the author might be. Instead, she'd wondered why he'd kept them to himself and not gone to the authorities. She thought he should do so without delay and couldn't understand why Lysander would rather wish to keep them to himself.
How could he explain his feelings without giving her the whole truth? Although Lysander trusted Astrid deeply, he didn't know how she might react to learning the darker parts of his past. Would she leave him if he told her that he had murdered wizards? Would she turn him in? Lysander knew her well, but not well enough to gauge how she might react to his big revelations. He hadn't even told her about obliviating the entire Fox family, which was most definitely one of his lesser crimes.
Lysander had eventually told Astrid that he didn't want to burden any aurors or hit wizards with the notes, especially when they seemed all talk and no action. Perhaps it was one big joke, anyway. Astrid didn't necessarily buy it, but at Lysander's insistence had left it alone.
Unfortunately, since that day, their relationship had taken a notable shift. Astrid often seemed quiet with Lysander, and sometimes he had the feeling that she didn't quite trust him anymore. He pretended not to notice any change in her demeanor, hoping that with time she would come around and be like her old self again.
It was difficult for Lysander to ignore it, though. He desperately wanted to say something, but he knew there was no way he could explain himself without being perfectly honest with her. As much as she might want there to be no secrets between them, Lysander truly believed that there were probably some things she really wouldn't want to know about him.
The fact that she still came to see him regularly meant something, though. Maybe she was upset with him for his do-nothing attitude when it came to notes she personally found to be a very serious matter, but she hadn't called things off between them and at times was very affectionate towards him. Lysander believed with all of his heart that she still cared for him and that she was just extremely concerned about his situation. He just wished things could go back to normal again.
Astrid certainly did not understand why Lysander wouldn't try to protect himself from whoever wrote the threatening letters. For now, she respected his decision to not come forward about them, but she cared for him so deeply that she couldn't just sit idly by and do nothing, even if Lysander could. Astrid wanted to know who the author was and why he or she had sent them to Lysander. And if she couldn't figure it out in a reasonable amount time, she would go to the authorities, whether Lysander wished it or not. She didn't want anything to happen to him ever.
She just didn't know where to start.
She had entered his life only recently and knew very little about some of the people he had had dealings with, whether personally or in business. Astrid knew she couldn't go to Lysander for ideas since he would most definitely tell her to drop it. All she could do was pay attention to his surroundings and hopefully pick up clues along the way. It was one of the reasons why she had gotten so quiet in recent weeks. Her mind was working all the time, trying to sift through what she saw and heard when she was around him. Of course, she was a little mad at him, and she wondered what the real reason for his hesitation to go to the authorities was. Obvioiusly, the notes really did mean something to him, but what?
She was determined to find out.
(Alanna) Quick Visit to the Cemetery
Author: Beck
Date: 04-26-10 19:06
Gray clouds were thick in the sky over the small, wizarding cemetery in Manchester, where Alanna had just apparated to visit the grave of her parents and sister Kendra. She'd been wanting to make the visit all week but had found herself busier than anticipated with the return to classes at St. Emrys and her work schedule at the Ministry of Magic. Alanna hoped that it wouldn't rain, but she could already smell it in the air.
She hurried down the familiar path to the headstone that bore the names TOBIAS BECK, KARINA BECK and KENDRA BECK. Someone had recently planted daffodils and tulips on the grave. Alanna would have grabbed a watering can and watered the colorful flowers, but she didn't see any point in doing so when it seemed a certainty that the sky would open up at any moment.
Instead, she knelt at the grave and pulled away some stray leaves and other debris. Alanna also pulled up a few weeds that had sprouted in between the other plants. She only had a handful to carry off to one of the compost bins, and just as she dumped it all in, the first raindrops started to fall. At first it was just one or two here and there, but then they fell more frequently. Alanna didn't wish to get caught in a torrential downpour, especially since it wasn't high summer yet and it still felt quite nippy at times. She heaved a sigh, cast a final look at her loved one's tombstone, and then disapparated.
A moment later, she appeared in her room at home.
"Alanna? Is that you?" called her grandmother from downstairs.
"Yes! I'm home!" she shouted back. She slid her backpack off her shoulders and unzipped it on her bed, pulling out all of her school books and class notes. She had a lot of homework ahead of her.
"Dinner's ready!" Josefine called up from the foot of the stairs.
Alanna bit her lip. She was hungry, but she had so much to do! When her stomach rumbled, she made her decision. She would go down and eat, but then she would have no choice but to hit the books.
Fantastic Fuschia
Author: Sage Porter
Date: 04-26-10 20:59
"Fifteen days. I can't believe I only have fifteen days left to get everything perfect," Jared moans.
Sage puts down the quill he was about to dip into a bottle of ink. "There is such a thing as overplanning."
"I told you I'm obsessed with getting Alanna's party and gifts just right. Is that ink bright pink?"
Sage glances at the ink bottle. "Uh. Yeah. Fantastic Fuschia, according to the label."
"Why are you using Fantastic Fuschia ink?"
"This diagram has to be labeled with six different colors. I had the standard shades of black, blue, and green and borrowed three others from Saffron."
"And you chose Fantastic Fuschia?"
"I chose the first three that weren't standard black, standard blue, or standard green."
"So what are the other two?"
"You seriously want to know what ink colors I'm using when you have Alanna's birthday to obsess over?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"So that I have something other than Alanna's birthday to obsess over."
"They're just ink colors."
"The other two are as girly as Fantastic Fuschia, aren't they?"
"Sort of."
Jared fixes Sage with a level, unblinking gaze. Sage sighs, reaches down into his bookbag and brings out the other two bottles of ink. One is sort of orangy yet not and the other is medium shade of purple. "Colorful Coral and Lovely Lavender."
"I'm thinking next time you borrow ink from someone, borrow from Aaron."
"I'm thinking that one night I'll slip you a sleeping draught so that you oversleep the morning a big paper is due then when you go to turn it in you see only when it's too late to do anything about it that the ink has been changed to something like Peachy Keen or Blushing Rose."
"I'd say you wouldn't dare but that would just put you in mind to show that you would dare and then I would be forced to clevely retaliate."
"Ah, but you are so busy obsessing on Alanna's birthday that your efforts at clever retaliation would fall short."
"There's always after Alanna's birthday."
"No, not really, because after Alanna's birthday you will immediately start obsessive about her birthday next year or the more immediate problem of what to give her for Christmas."
"True. So very true" Jared grudgingly acknowledges.
"You do realize that if you get everything as perfect as you want this year, next year you will be even more obsessed with outdoing this year."
"You think?"
Sage just quirks an eyebrow at his friend.
"So you're saying I should make this year's not so great?"
"Are you turning into an idiot before my eyes?"
"That didn't come out right. I meant that I shouldn't work so hard to get everything absolutely perfect and then some."
"Yeah. The party is planned, invitations have already been sent with instructions about the surprise element. The menu's in place, the cake is ordered, and you've gotten her some nice gifts. So what if every single, minute detail is not absolutely, one hundred percent perfect?"
"Can I help it if I want my girlfriend to have a great birthday?"
"Who says it won't be great? The party's going to be fun and Alanna's going to like her gifts. Look, I'm not saying don't make this a nice birthday for her. I'm saying don't overdo to the point that come next year you become even more obsessed in outdoing this year's and the year after that even more obsessed about doing next year's. If things go as you'd like, you plan to be with Alanna a hundred years from now, right? So what then? Birthday trips to outer space?"
"That would be cool." Jared takes in Sage's pointed expression and holds his hands up. "Okay, okay. I get what you're saying."
"Good, because we both have assignments due tomorrow and I don't want to be here in the library until the wee hours when they kick us out to close."
"I don't see why not. That Fantastic Fuschia is bright enough that even if they were to turn the lights out on us, that stuff would give off enough light you could see to write."
For that, Jared earns a flick of Sage's quill point just after he's dipped it into the pot of Fantastic Fuschia ink.
Talking to Sebastian
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 04-27-10 19:15
"You should go back to bed."
Bronwyn stifled a yawn with the palm of her hand and shook her head before answering Seb's question. "I want to keep you company."
Seb offered her the smallest of smiles. "I appreciate that. I really do, but you've been up all night and you really need to get some sleep."
"I am terribly sleepy," Bronwyn admitted, "but I did get a little bit of a nap when I first came home."
"It wasn't enough," Sebastian said, sadly. "You do so much for me on top of your job and family life. I would hate to be the cause for you not getting enough rest."
Bronwyn, who was in her PJs and had a bad case of bed head, reached over the kitchen table where they both sat and placed her hand on top of his. "You're not to blame," she said. "And anyway, you're not getting enough rest either."
"No," Seb admitted. "Sometimes, I find it hard to sleep at night. I'm always thinking about Arley, wondering where he is, how badly he is hurt, what his father might be doing to him now. I haven't heard anything in so long..."
Bronwyn gently squeezed his hand. "Some people say that no news is good news. Didn't Mr. Montgomery say that Arley would be okay if you didn't go looking for him? Maybe the silence is a good thing... or as good as it could be, given the whole situation."
Seb nodded his head slowly. "Yes, but I've been thinking..."
"Yes?"
His gaze had shifted elsewhere during their talking, but now he focused his large, sad eyes on hers. "I want to go to the authorities. I should have before, but..."
"You were scared that Mr. Montgomery would find out and do something to Arley."
"Yes. Do you think I'm too late?"
Bronwyn had no idea, one way or the other, but she felt that she might as well come clean about one thing. "Seb, when we went to talk to Desi about everything after you first arrived here from New York, she went ahead and started doing some digging. She's also got a friend stateside doing some investigating. None of it's been totally official, but it's been something."
She frowned. "It just hasn't yielded any results yet."
Bronwyn wasn't sure how Seb would take the news of them going against his wishes, but he took it so well that he exhaled a sigh of deep relief. "Even so, I'm glad Desi chose not to listen to me. I don't want Arley's father to control the situation any longer. It's time to find Arley and bring him home, safe and sound."
"So you want to launch an official investigation, then? You're sure?"
Seb nodded. He hadn't been this sure about anything in a long time. "Yes. I will go to the Ministry and speak with Desi directly if she is there."
"I'll come with you," Bron said. She got up. "Just give me a sec to change."
"You should go back to bed," he said, also rising from his chair.
"I'm not ti––"
He cut her off with a look.
"Okay, I'm tired, but..."
"Bronwyn," Seb said, coming around to take her by the shoulders. "Thank you for everything, but you should get some sleep. I can do this by myself."
Bronwyn didn't want to argue with him and nodded, just as another yawn escaped her lips. "Very well. Let me know if Desi has any news. And tell her that I want to have dinner with her and her boyfriend sometime this weekend if they're free!"
Seb smiled. "I will. Sleep well."
"Thanks."
Bronwyn turned and headed for her bedroom, pausing only once to watch as Seb made his way to the fireplace, where he would floo to the Ministry of Magic.
O.W.L. Review
Author: Jolyon
Date: 04-28-10 18:56
Because the O.W.L. exams were just a month and a half away, Jolyon thought it prudent to reserve the last term of the school year for a proper review. He did the same for his seventh years in anticipation of the N.E.W.T. exams. The major examinations covered not only what the students learned in that year, but everything they had learned since coming to Hogwarts. Since it was unlikely that they remembered everything since their very first Care of Magical Creatures class, Jolyon found it especially important to devote all remaining classes until test time to reviewing old course material.
Sometimes he opened up the class to questions, while other times he would pose a topic and ask questions to see what people remembered about a particular subject. He did this when the class didn't seem very talkative, such as today.
"How many Ministry of Magic classifications are there for magical creatures?" he posed the class at large.
Because the weather was decent, they sat outside the barn at the picnic tables located there.
Georgia Copperpot raised her hand. "Five, ranging from X to XXXXX, X being the most harmless and XXXXX being extremely dangerous and untrainable by wizards."
"An easy question to answer, I grant you, but five points for a job well done," Jolyon replied. "And what is the Ministry of Magic classification for a hippogriff?"
Cornelia Vanderbilt raised a hand. "XXX."
"An Abraxan?"
"Also XXX."
"A ghoul?"
"XX."
"Nicely done, Cornelia. Five points."
He continued to pose questions to his students until the end of class, when he dismissed them with the reminder to think of questions to ask next time they met. Jolyon had no intention on giving them homework. He knew they had enough on their plates with all the studying they needed to do for all of the O.W.L. exams they would soon be taking.
They wandered off in twos and threes, leaving him alone to take care of a few things in the barn. He fed some of the creatures and mucked out the stalls and cages of others, and before he knew it, it was supper time. Jolyon stopped by his quarters first to wash up and then entered the Great Hall, where he was met by none other than the man who had raised him.
Emanuel Kent looked at Jolyon with disdain. "You kept me waiting."
"I didn't know you were coming," Jolyon replied, annoyed. He gestured for his father to follow him outside. Jolyon cut straight through the entrance hall and went out the front doors into the waning daylight.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, after whirling around to face Emanuel. He had a bad feeling about his father's visit and didn't care for anyone to witness or overhear any of their conversation. The grounds weren't deserted by any means, but they definitely weren't as crowded as the Great Hall at this time.
"Your mother told me the truth," Emanuel replied coolly.
"And? You knew all about it from the very start," Jolyon responded hotly. "I suppose it explains why you treated me the way you did––the way you still do."
Emanuel look unfazed. "I treated you exactly the way you deserved. As for what I'm doing here," he went on, reaching for the interior pocket of his sports coat, "I wanted to give you this."
He presented Jolyon with a folded envelope that was surprisingly thick, considering it hadn't been noticeable through Emanuel's jacket.
Jolyon didn't take it and asked, "What is it?"
Emanuel threw it into the grass. "Something you should know about your dear old dad."
He sidestepped the fallen envelope and Jolyon and started across the grounds for the gates of Hogsmeade. Jolyon let him go and stared down at the envelope, both wanting to leave it there and pick it up. Curiosity got the better of him in the end. He knelt and scooped it up in a swift motion, but instead of unfolding it or opening it for the contents, he marched straight into the castle, across the entrance hall and into the Great Hall, where dinner was still very much underway.
Visit From Lisette
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 04-28-10 19:05
Julian's just flipped the shoppe sign from OPEN to CLOSED and started for the counter to get the cash register till to do an end of day count when there's a TAP TAP TAP on the door. He's about to call over his shoulder, "We're closed!" when a woman's voice loudly orders, "Julian, let me in."
Swiveling around, Julian points his wand at the door to unlock it then turns back to continue to the counter and cash register. As the door opens he asks without looking, "Why didn't you just use the back stairs to the flat entrance, Mum?"
"Don't be silly, Julian. I came to the shoppe door because I could clearly see you were still here in the shoppe."
Unable to argue with that logic Julian lets the matter drop and asks instead, "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
Lisette has come around to stand in front of the counter. "Hello to you too," she chides in a no so stern motherly tone."
Julian leans across the counter and kisses Lisette's cheek. "Hello, Mum! So very nice of you to drop by!"
"You've always been too cheeky for your own good, son."
"Yes, but you know you find it endearing."
"Someone must and given the fact I am your mother it falls to me by default."
This earns Lisette a deeply dimpled grin accompanied by a chuckle before Julian points to the office. "I need to count the till so we might as well go into the office where you can sit on something more comfortable than this stool behind the counter."
"No, that's all right. I'm only here for a moment. I know this is extremely short notice but there is a function tomorrow your father and I would like you to attend."
"When tomorrow?"
"It's a luncheon and garden party, so let's say from noonish until two."
"I'm sorry, but I can't be there."
"Surely you have someone to run the shoppe. Lysander and you do have other employees from time to time, do you not?"
"That's not it. There's something at Hogwarts tomorrow afternoon and I've already promised Caerwyn that Grace and I would there and if Charlotte wants to go, I'll take her along as well."
"Can't you be a trifle late?"
"Mum."
"Oh, fine. Promises to my grandson are important though I do wish you'd find a way to compromise."
"Why is it so important to you that I'm at this luncheon?"
"There's someone we want you to meet."
"Oh?"
"It's high time you settled down."
"I am settled."
"Dating a different woman every week is not settled."
"You have two grandchildren. I have a business that I like and have stayed with it for years now and haven't moved around in a very long while. That should be enough for you."
"I'd like a wedding."
"So renew your vows with Dad."
"That's not what I mean and you know it."
"If I ever marry, Mum, it will be on my terms and in my own time."
"You really won't try to pop in just for a short time tomorrow?"
"Not if it means missing out on time with Caerwyn at Hogwarts, no."
"All right, but I will simply plan another function or a more intimate dinner party that you will not have an excuse to miss."
"Whatever you say, Mum."
"I need to be off. I'm meeting your father for drinks with two other couples then we are off to a new restaurant for supper."
Julian walks Lisette to the door and stands there watching until she disapparates. Locking up again, Julian is met by a loudly meowing Dexter. He puts counting the register on hold once more to give Dexter attention, including feeding the cat, finding himself slightly curious who this woman is his parents wish him to meet.