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Blood Status
Author: Nathaniel Ross
Date: 11-25-10 07:17
Celia had locked them inside one of the cleaning supplies' room. It was a tiny dark room, filled with buckets, mops and normal brooms. Nate took his wand out of his pocket and said Lumos . Now with the small division illuminated, he could see an annoyed Lilac leaned up against the wall, her arms crossed.
“I’m still not going to say a word.” She muttered.
“You just did.” He gave her a shy smile, happy because finally Lilac had no place to run and they could speak. “Tell me what’s going on.” Nate begged. She didn’t reply. He sighed and sat on a bucket. “You know, we used to be best friends. And we talked about everything. What had changed Lilac?”
He looked her in the eyes waiting for an answer. He saw the fear there and he wondered what happened to fearless Lilac.
“Blood status.” She ended up saying.
Nate found himself laughing and Lilac raised an eyebrow wondering what was going on. He explained himself:
“That is the most pathetic excuse I have ever heard. “
“I’m serious Nathaniel.” The fact she used his entire name made him understand Lilac had spoken the truth. “You’re a Pureblood and I’m not. I…I suffered a lot when those Non rules had been instituted. I don’t want to pass by that again.”
“So you’re saying you don’t talk to me because I’m a Pureblood and you’re afraid I’ll hurt you. Is that it?”
Lilac nodded, still leaned against the wall. Nate sighed and stood up. He was taller than her and as he moved towards her, he noticed how she trembled. It hurt him to think she was afraid of him, but he couldn’t really blame her. He had heard what had happened at Happy Haven, and probably Lilac’s traumas would stay with her forever.
“I never cared what your blood status was when I first met you at the Hogwarts Express. I never cared for it even when things had changed here at Hogwarts and in the Wizarding world. I’m your friend Lilac, even if you now see me like your enemy. I would love things to go back to normal between us. It has been a while and I miss you. “
Lilac was going to reply but Nate put his finger on his lips asking for silence.
“Don’t reply to me yet. Just thinks of an answer and come to me when you feel ready. I’ll respect you if you don’t want to be my friend again, and I promise I’ll leave you alone. But think first Lilac. That’s all I ask of you. And in case you see me like this bad Pureblood, go talk with some other friends of mine. The majority of them had been at Happy Haven like you and still we get along. “
There was nothing more to say to Lilac. He couldn’t push her towards him. It had to be her decision to move on with things. He hoped Lilac would decide to speak to him again. He liked her a lot and he didn’t want to lose her.
Nate unlocked the door with an Alohamora spell and left Lilac alone with her thoughts.
(Ariella) Shopping List
Author: Beck
Date: 11-25-10 09:22
After her shift ended at Briar's Bakery, Ariella grabbed a quick bite to eat at Burger Wizard (a cheeseburger and chips dipped in warm, gooey cheese) and then produced a shopping list from the pocket of her dark purple peacoat. She wanted to get as much of her Christmas shopping done as possible, as well as find a birthday gift for her husband.
With classes at St. Emrys beginning in the early afternoon, Ariella only had a small window of time in which to get at least part of the task done. She started at the end of the village and worked her way forward, stopping in many of the stores along the way.
For Sydney, the old cat Lawrence had had for years, Ariella picked up a few toys, like catnip mice and little balls with bells in them that she could bat around for entertainment. Despite Sydney's advanced age, she still liked to play.
At Dervish and Banges, Ariella found a brass eyeglass that she thought her grandfather might like. He had taken up amateur astronomy recently and while an eyeglass wasn't a telescope, it was an object she thought he still might like to have. It came with a desk stand so at the very least, he could display it somewhere in the house.
As Ariella passed by Petals, she marveled at the fact that the business still existed. She would have thought that the citizens of Hogsmeade and the other business owners would try to have the adult entertainment facility shut down, especially with it being just up the road from Hogwarts.
She shook her head and moved on to Gladrags, where she did the bulk of her shopping. She bought a few jumpers for various members of her family, some warm woolen socks for Alanna, who always complained of cold feet in the winter time, and soft, downy mittens for herself.
Ariella realized that time was running away from her and charmed all of her purchases to travel to her quarters at Hogwarts. She also made it so that Lawrence couldn't snoop around in case he found time between his classes to stop by their rooms. One of the jumpers she'd gotten was for him, though she hadn't yet decided if it would be his birthday present or Christmas present.
It was a v-neck, woolen sweater in the brightest red imaginable. It was soft to the touch, and while it looked thin, Ariella had no doubt it would keep him warm.
Hoping he wouldn't notice the shopping bags or snoop around even if he did, Ariella left Hogsmeade for St. Emrys. She had two classes this afternoon, Charms and History of Magic.
A Long Ago Memory
Author: Bill Weasley
Date: 11-25-10 10:20
Amicia Ivrea, the current head of Gringotts in Diagon Alley, walked along one of the underground corridors with an entourage of individuals, both wizard and goblin alike. Bill was among them, touring the facility as not only a high-ranking employee of the bank firm himself but as a member of the system's security committee.
"We haven't had any incidents to speak of," Amicia said, as she led the group past the secured vaults of some of Gringotts' longest members.
"All of the changes we have made over the years to secure our customers' properties have been effective, though we haven't had any attempted break-ins to test that theory. I am confident, however, that if some individual were to get past our initial checkpoints, he or she would have no luck whatsoever in penetrating our vaults."
Someone asked a question, and while Bill heard it and the beginning of Amicia's answer, he soon tuned out as a memory from long ago came to the forefront of his mind. He remembered bringing Adriana Fairchild to this very level of Gringotts to retrieve her inheritance from her newly deceased father, Robert.
"Hey, look at this," Bill had said, as he pulled out a photograph of a very young Adriana playing outside a huge English manor. She waved happily and then continued with her imaginary tea party. "So you're not American after all?"
Adriana shrugged, "I'm American in every sense of the word, believe me. But, yes, I was born here." She flashed him a sly smile. "Come on, what do you expect with a name like Fairchild?"
Bill's smile faded. "Who was your father?"
"Robert Fairchild." Adriana didn't like the look on Bill's face. "Why, what's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing's wrong." Bill sighed. "It's just that I've never heard of him... and the wizarding world isn't very big."
Adriana flipped through one of the albums until she found a picture of her mother and father. "Here he is with my mother. Apparently, he and Dumbledore were good friends."
Snapping the book closed, she moved on to the rest of the trunk. They found all sorts of old family heirlooms and treasures until the trunk was completely empty.
"Well, it looks like that's it." Bill started to put the items back in the trunk.
Adriana quickly placed her hand on his and whispered. "Wait."
She pressed down on the bottom if the trunk, and knocked. "Aha! There's a false bottom, I knew it!"
It was guarded with an enchantment, and Bill couldn't crack it. Adriana tapped him aside, "It's a family trunk, so maybe I have to do it."
She was right. Within seconds, the wood disappeared revealing an old book and a thin box.
The book was a leather-bound journal, with For Adriana glittering in gold letters on the front cover. The pages were all blank. Adriana shrugged. "It must be a journal."
Next she opened the thin box. She and Bill were shocked to see a brand-new wand. Adriana grasped it gently, but her touch started an eruption of light and silver sparks. All at once Adriana felt a power unlike any other. She pointed her wand at one of the old chairs and within a flash in became a monkey. Laughing, she turned it back and smiled at Bill. "This wand is amazing! It's like it knows what I'm thinking!"
Bill frowned. "Adriana, I don't think you should use that until Dumbledore has seen it. This is strong magic."
Although a little defeated, Adriana knew he was right. She wrapped up the wand and put it in her purse along with the journal, a photo album, and a handful of galleons. "Right then, let's go."
They strolled back through Diagon Alley, arm and arm. Bill didn't say anything, but he was worried. Things just didn't add up. Although, now he at least was aware of Adriana's own innocence. Anything troubling in her past was that way because of her parents.
Bill felt a hand on his arm and looked to see Irene Manutius, from the records division, watching him with concern.
He offered her a small smile to let her know he was all right and tried to concentrate on what Amicia was saying, but all too soon he found himself standing before the vault that had once belonged to, or perhaps still did, the Fairchild family.
Before Adriana's disappearance and death, her life had been troubling. She had confided her desperate situation in Bill, but with the passing of time, he'd gradually forgotten about everything. It had been so long ago, after all.
Bill knew it was impossible, just as it was impossible that Adriana was writing him from beyond the grave. But what if it wasn't? What if her dark past was somehow still very much in the present?
Going Mad
Author: Furnella Hodfuffer
Date: 11-25-10 16:02
I hear a sound close by but it doesn't really register with me. My eyes are fixed on a point beyond one of the windows, far off in the distance with my mind many more miles away. It's not until a male voice somewhat irritatedly says, "Two for dinner."
My eyes jerk to the spot right in front of me, at first a little unfocused but as I give myself a mental shake I'm more alert and it dawns on me that the sound I heard was this gentleman repeatedly clearing his throat to gain my attention. I shoot him a very sheepish smile. "I'm so sorry. I was woolgathering. Right this way."
I'm normally not so spacey here at work and can't believe I let this couple stand there as long as I did. It's a wonder they didn't leave in a huff. After I see them to a cozy garden table, warmed by charms and made all the cozier by an outdoor brazier crackingly merrily, I tell their waitress, "Offer them champagne on the house and a free starter. If they don't want the champagne, give them something comparable."
She looks at me curiously but doesn't ask why but if she had I would have truthfully said that I kept them waiting far longer than necessary and since they were polite enough to stay until they were seated, then I'd really like make it up to them and hopefully ensure their repeat business. I start back towards the hostess station but end up asking someone else to cover it for me while I take a break.
Down in the office, mercifully empty of both Phlagmelina and Lars, I sink down on the leather couch there, lean back, and shut my eyes. The second I close them the scene from Aberdeen plays again. My eyes pop back open before it gets very far. I think about seeing if Prunella's free to talk but then I decide no, I've bothered her enough. Sometimes I think I should contact Aspen or Dave and Jane only to decide against it. Until we know more, until I know more, why make their pain raw again?
Prunella and Kingsley Shacklebolt both agree that if the man I saw in Aberdeen isn't Forest, then he's a doppleganger. Kingsley himself arranged for someone to keep watch of that section of street where I lost sight of Forest but after several days and no one even remotely fitting that description being sighted, he saw no reason to continue the surveillence.
It's really little comfort to know I'm not going insane; that these sightings aren't figments of my imagination. If it's Forest then why hasn't he contacted anyone? Did they obliviate his memory that severely that he remembers no one and nothing of his life before being arrested and sent to Azkaban? Was he sent to one of the prison camps and the record of it lost or misfiled? Was the name on the file change because he'd already been Obliviated? What was it that repeatedly led that Blood Hound device to one of the mass graves when specifically in search of Forest? Where has he been these last two years?
I jump up off the couch, wanting to scream. This is all so bloody effing frustrating! I was wrong. I am going insane, driven to madness trying to figure out what's become of Forest Woods!
Clomping back up the stairs I let a few know that I need to leave then, using the floo, head for the Ministry to see if I can convince someone to help me again. If not, I'll just go do my own bloody damn stakeout in Aberdeen.
Frequent Apparition Miles
Author: Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen
Date: 11-27-10 08:11
"Bis Freitag*," says Fritz, as he hands Frau Hockenheim the wallet she gives him when she sends him to run errands around the city. He just came back from the grocery store and put everything in its proper place––perishables in the refrigerator, a few items on the counter and in certain cabinets, and bulk items in the basement or out in the garage.
Frau Hockenheim waves goodbye without tearing her gaze from the TV.
As Fritz cuts across the house for the front door, he wonders what Frau Hockenheim would do without her television set. He steps out into the frigid cold, makes sure the front door is locked securely behind him, and then makes the familiar trek up the street to the out of the way place from where he can safely apparate.
Traveling between England and Germany the past three months, three times a week, has made Fritz a little tired at times. Apparating is hard work wherever one goes, and while mainland Europe isn't horribly far from the British Isles, it is still nonetheless farther than an average person would apparate on any given day.
By car, it takes approximately 7 1/2 hours to travel from London to Trier. The journey includes a trip through the Chunnel, across northern France, southern Belgium, southern Luxembourg and then Trier, which is just on the other side of the border. If it took that long to apparate, Fritz would have no doubt delayed going to St. Emrys a year so that he could live in Trier fulltime while completing his government-required community service there.
Very rarely does Fritz make the trip in one giant leap. 400 miles is a great distance to apparate, after all. He knows he can splinch himself if he's not careful, and frankly is surprised it hasn't happened yet. Sometimes he's been a little careless and forgotten to concentrate on the three Ds. Then again, when he thinks of them, he's always reminded of Gerti Crouch and the apparition lessons he and the other "nons" had taken outside on the Hogwarts grounds in the middle of winter. It's not a happy memory at all.
Most of the time, Fritz breaks up his trip with a stop in a park not far from Lille, France, which he and his family had visited when they had moved from Germany to London when Fritz had been a small boy. They had taken a picnic there and allowed Fritz to run around and stretch his legs.
Occasionally Fritz stops a bit more, but usually he doesn't stay in any particular location for more than a few minutes because he has to be in class by early afternoon.
More recently, it's crossed his mind that there must be wizarding families in the Trier area. After all, it's the oldest city in Germany and surely old wizarding families had settled there along with Muggle ones. If he knew any, perhaps he could use an international floo rather than apparate all the time. Perhaps even the Germany Ministry could arrange a portkey for him, which would certainly be easier as well.
He's gone this long traveling by apparition, though, and there are only six months of his service left. Fritz finds it incredibly difficult to believe that so much time has passed already! Soon his finals at St. Emrys will be upon him. Soon it will be Christmas time!
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* Until Friday
The Hog's Head
Author: Illyria
Date: 11-27-10 09:17
When the letter had arrived at breakfast, Illyria had had half a mind to toss it into the nearest rubbish bin or incinerate it on the spot with her wand. Rather than cause a scene in the Great Hall, she'd taken it to her quarters and after a long moment of deliberation had opened it.
Illyria hadn't heard anything from Roland since the trial of Marcus Hubbs. She'd heard that he'd gotten off easy and wouldn't have to do any time in Azkaban. Whether he deserved a more harsher punishment, Illyria couldn't honestly say. His greatest crime had seemed to be his own stupidity more than anything else.
In his brief letter, he'd written to ask her to meet him in Hogsmeade in the early afternoon. Illyria had debated ignoring the note. Then, she started to write a reply declining the offer to meet since she did have office hours beginning at 2. In the end, her curiosity got the better of her and she wrote back saying that yes, she would be there at the appointed place and time.
Before leaving the castle, Illyria put a note on her office door saying that she would be in later. Then she dressed warmly and walked across the grounds to the gates of Hogsmeade. The sun was out, though it did little to warm her. Overnight it had been extremely cold, and a fresh layer of snow lay on the cobblestones beneath Illyria's feet.
She walked to the alley that led to The Hog's Head and turned, spotting Roland leaning up against the wall near the door. He was smoking a cigarette.
"Since when do you smoke?" she asked him. She stopped a fair distance from him, both because she didn't want to be anywhere near him and because she didn't like the smell of cigarette smoke.
"A while now," Roland said. He stubbed out the cigarette on the heel of his boot and then tossed the smoldering remains into the snow.
He went to the door of the pub and held it open for Illyria. She hesistated a moment, and then went inside. Roland came in behind her and gestured for her to pick out a table for the both of them.
She found one not too far from the door, but also not to close so that she wouldn't feel cold air each time the door opened. Roland ordered a couple of drinks at the bar and then brought them over. Illyria hoped hers didn't have alcohol in it and wouldn't drink it if it did. Her work day hadn't really begun yet. To her surprise, he came back with a steaming mug of hot chocolate.
It even had tiny marshmallows floating on top. Illyria hadn't known one could get hot chocolate at The Hog's Head, but then she rarely ever came here.
She took a sip and then fixed him with a hard stare. "Well?"
Roland shot her a small smile. "I know you wrote that you would come, but a part of me thought you really wouldn't."
"Why did you ask me here, Roland?" she asked him impatiently. The only reason she'd come at all was because of her overwhelming curiosity to know what he wanted from her.
The smile slowly faded from his face. "I realize I never apologized for what I put you through. I should never had dragged you into my affairs. Deep down I knew I was putting you at risk, but I really didn't think it would end the way it did."
"You're lucky I'm still alive," Illyria replied. "He could have killed me. As it is, Ronan almost killed him. Imagine what that would have done to him if Dumbledore hadn't been there to intervene."
"I don't know him so I couldn't really say," Roland replied. He cocked his head sideways as he assessed Illyria. "What's he to you anyway?"
Illyria narrowed her eyes. "It's not what you think. I was his legal guardian for a brief time. He's like my little brother."
"I see." Roland believed Illyria, but he knew so very little about her nowadays. He didn't know Ronan at all.
Illyria took another sip of her hot chocolate. "So, is that it? You just wanted to apologize to me for putting my life in danger?"
"Yes. I owe you more than an apology, and I know I can never repay you. I just wanted to tell you from my heart that I'm very sorry."
Illyria frowned. Roland looked very sincere. He looked sad, even.
"It's in the past now," she finally said. "Let's just move forward, okay?"
"I would like that."
Illyria felt a bit awkward, since she and Roland weren't exactly friends anymore, but she didn't want to leave so soon after arriving.
"How's work?"
"Better now. I was on probation for a while, because of what happened."
"And is everything... better now? In your life, I mean."
Roland nodded. "I'm done with that life, Illyria. I won't even step foot in Knockturn Alley anymore. I know that if I screw up again, I won't get off as easy as I did this time. I don't want to chance it."
"That's good, at least. I hope you don't suffer any relapses." She knew that gambling was an addiction.
"So far, so good," Roland replied. "So, how about you? How's life?"
Illyria told him about Hogwarts and about her family. The more she talked, the more easy it was to act as if nothing awful had happened between them. By the time Illyria finished her hot chocolate, it had gotten later than she'd expected. She left with the promise to meet up again sometime and hurried to Hogwarts to sit through what remained of her office hours.