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Chocolates, Cards and Houses' Exchanges
Author: Johanna Steele
Date: 03-09-11 15:26
“Hey Gus, want a chocolate?” Felicia asked with a mischievous smile.
“Hush, will you?” Gus replied annoyed.
It was no surprise when Gus had been showered with Valentine gifts on Monday. It seemed that all his admirers wanted to show how much they cared for him and they didn’t spare any efforts to make their presents unique.
But Gus did not paid attention to the cards, or the expensive gifts like a golden watch sent by an anonymous girl. His attention had been focused on the chocolates and other types of sweets and he had fed himself with those the whole day.
For everyone’s dismay he did not show up for dinner; he had to stay at the Hospital Wing under the cares of Madam Pomfrey with a huge stomachache.
He had not attended classes on Tuesday and that caused a huge affluence of girls to the Hospital Wing, but Madam Pomfrey knew better and she only allowed Johanna, Felicia, Kate and Mark, to visit him.
But Gus was now back to classes although he still seemed a bit ill.
“Are you all right?” Johanna asked, worried.
“History of Magic. How can I be fine?” He sat on the back of the class next to Felicia. Johanna on the other hand went to the first row, ready for another interesting class with Professor Binns. Interesting for her, at least, since it was her favorite subject and the one she was good at.
But Johanna did not hear much of today’s class not only because the old ghost decided to fall asleep in the middle of his lecture about medieval goblins but also because Roger Gesner had sat next to her.
“Did you get my Valentine card?” he asked.
“I did, thank you.”
“Well…did you like it?” Roger seemed a bit apprehensive. Johanna had been so worried about Gus and she had spent her last days telling the other girls he was fine and that it was a fake rumor that he had been transferred to St. Mungus for a serious magical intervention, that she had forget about Roger and his card.
Suddenly she felt guilty about forgetting about him and his gesture. He had been sweet, he had remembered her and it was true that they were getting to know each other and they were getting along well. It was nice spending time with Roger, although most of the time they just did homework together or talked about the IQT.
“I liked the card a lot. So thank you.” She gave him a fast kiss on the cheek and then she stood up and joined Gus and Felicia since Professor Binns had just dismissed them.
“What was that? Interested in the nerdy Ravenclaw are we?” Gus teased.
“Mind your own business.” Johanna replied, looking back to where Roger was sat, but he had already gone.
The three Slytherins then went to their Ancient Runes class. Kate was already there and Johanna claimed a seat next to her. Gus sat on the other side and Felicia on the back.
“I was thinking we should talk to Dumbledore and ask him to put you into Slytherin, Kate. You’re too cool to be a Hufflepuff.” Gus said.
“Coming from him it was the best the compliment someone could get.” Johanna explained.
Kate thanked them with a smile but she said she was happy with her house and Gus had no time to contest because Professor Hodfuffer entered the classroom ready to start his lesson.
(Anthony) Deceived
Author: Beck
Date: 03-09-11 17:31
"I need caffeine."
Anthony looked up from the parchment on his desk and saw Desi standing before him. She had bags under her eyes and looked like she hadn't slept in days.
"Going for a coffee run?"
"That's the plan. Want any?"
"Someone was drinking something that smelled like hazelnuts earlier," Anthony thoughtfully said.
"I'll see what I can find," Desi replied. She stepped away a half second later, leaving Anthony with his pile of work. Only, he found himself distracted a minute later.
"Hudson? Feeling better?"
Hudson Hayes had just walked into the office, looking a bit worse for wear. He'd sent an owl yesterday, after his lunch break, indicating that he'd come down with food poisoning or a stomach bug of some sort and that he wouldn't be in for the rest of the day and possibly the next day as well. Anthony was rather surprised to see him now.
"I'm not throwing up anymore," Hudson replied with a half smile, "so I do feel somewhat better. Not 100%, but well enough to come to work."
What Hudson said sounded convincing enough to Anthony, who had no idea whatsoever that Hudson was lying––that he had been lying ever since the first day he'd stepped foot into the Auror Office.
He hadn't come down with food poisoning or a stomach bug, though he was in a lot of pain and had thrown up some yesterday afternoon.
While in the bowels of The Hanged Man, he'd revealed to his leader everything he'd learned so far about the investigation on their group. It was, of course, something he'd stumbled upon quite accidentally. His assignment had just been to get his foot in the door at the Ministry and relate any pertinent details back to the group. That he would learn something so quickly and so significant had been a total bonus.
Unfortunately for him, he'd waited a whole week to tell anybody. Truth be told, he'd tried getting in contact sooner and had made arrangements for yesterday's meeting, but he should have made it plain that what he had to reveal needed to be said immediately and not at a later date.
As consequence, Hudson––whose real name was Henry Hamm––had been the victim of the Cruciatus Curse, over and over again.
"You should take it easy today," Anthony said, picking up a couple of files on his desk. "Do me a favor and read over some of these and see if you notice something I've missed."
Hudson took the files in question and said, "Sure."
He went to his own desk and gingerly sat down. His whole body hurt, the pain a not-so-subtle reminder that he had disappointed his leader and that he needed to make amends somehow.
He looked at the files Anthony had given him and felt a grin slide across his face. They were about him, his other self, and his possible connection to the organization under investigation.
Lunch and Memories
Author: Lawrence Masterson
Date: 03-09-11 18:14
Lawrence's last class had ended at three and since Ariella was still at St. Emry's he headed into the village for a quiet bite to eat and look through a few things that had been sent by the lawyer handling his parents estate, which had finally been dealt with just before Christmas of last year. He had had several items sent directly to his vault in Gringotts, and some were kept close. They were memories he had not yet found the courage to share with his wife, and he knew he should.
At the moment, he was sitting at a quiet table in the Crown and Cauldron sipping from a glass of butterbeer and looking through a photo album, set up muggle style (the pictures aren't moving) of one of the last family vacations that they'd taken. They'd gone to California and had spent two weeks at Disneyland, vacationing like Muggles. It had been a thrill really, perhaps he could do the same thing with Ariella at some point.
The photo album was currently open to a family portrait, Lawrence couldn't have been more than twelve in the picture. The three of them were standing in front of a pair of topiary in the shapes of Mickey and Minnie Mouse. It was one of the last photos that they'd taken together that Lawrence could remember, that two weeks was something that he cherished.
"Ready for something to eat?" The waitress' voice cut into the meloncholy that had descended upon him and he nodded.
"Yeah, I'll have a half portion of the grilled chicken caesar salad please, and I think I'll try the soup of the day."
The waitress nodded, said she'd return with another glass of butterbeer after gathering the menu and headed off to put in his order.
After several moments of silence Lawrence closed the photo album and tucked it back in the box that he'd carried to lunch with him and set it on the seat beside him. He ate his lunch in that same meloncholy silence and then decided he needed to dust it off before he headed back to the castle and his quarters to grade some exams since none of his students had scheduled appointments, but that would change as the term wore on and it got closer and closer to the time when his fifth years would be taking their OWLs and his seventh years would be taking their NEWTs.
Ariella was already back by the time he got back to their quarters. She was spread out on the small table working on homework for one of her classes, and he placed a quick peck on her cheek. "Won't disturb you love." He said before moving to sit at his small desk and work on a few things.
Girl Talk
Author: Adina Blackwood
Date: 03-10-11 14:28
Adina had only grabbed something quick to eat for dinner after a couple of laps to expend some extra energy. She was going stir crazy, and she was anxiously waiting Friday when she could go out actually running and really kill some of the extra energy.
She offered Arthur a quick smile before she headed up to her room, she'd spent most afternoons with him since Valentine's Day and managed to avoid the twenty questions from her four roommates - classes already helped her avoid the questions as well. However, today there would be no such escape the bombardmant of questions, the moment she slipped into the dorm room.
Daisy grabbed her arm and yanked her over to her bed where Lucy, Whitney and Kida were already waiting. "Alright, spill. What is with you and Arthur Fu?"
Adina blinked and then broke into giggles collapsing with her head in Whitney's lap and started talking. "I guess he has had ac rush on me since Start of Term, and why he didn't do anything sooner I don't know. I guess he was hoping that I would do something first, but we'd only been classmate and study partners..."
The five of them talked for a few hours longer before Adina was finally released from the clutches of her roommates and allowed to take a quick shower. The five girls tossed pillows in the center of the room for a little while longer once Adina got back from the shower and tugged to her the box of baklava that had come earlier this morning from her mom.
"Alright. I realize we all have Astronomy tonight, but, I feel like absolutely doing nothing until then." Adina said, quickly plaiting her hair into a thick braid.
"That would be all well and good if we didn't have an exam tonight. So, we should be studying." Daisy said and that got her a series of pillows launched at her head.
"Alright, alright. No studying, besides we all know the material." Daisy surrendered and snipped a piece of baklava from the box.
Little Owl
Author: Ronan Eastwick
Date: 03-11-11 17:34
The brown and white speckled Little Owl that had just delivered an order form to Ronan hopped back and forth at the edge of his desk. Occasionally, it darted forward and attempted to ensare the feathers of Ronan's quill with its beak. At first, Ronan had found it amusing, but after several attempts of filling out a companion form and having interruption after interruption, he had grown annoyed.
"Shoo! I don't have any more treats and I can't finish this form if you keep messing with my quill!" Ronan scolded it.
The owl cocked its head to the side and observed him with large, unblinking eyes.
Dashiell, whose desk was opposite Ronan's, got up from his seat and moved around to the side of both desks.
"I know how to solve your little problem, Eastwick," Dashiell said, and before Ronan could reply, the older wizard scooped the little owl up in one big hand.
Only the owl's head and feet stuck out on either end of Dashiell's clutched hand. Its eyes seemed to be bulging.
Ronan exclaimed, "Stop it! You're crushing him."
"Her, and I'm not. I'm very familiar with handling fowl of any species. In my lifetime alone I've had twenty-three owls."
Dashiell was only a decade and half older than Ronan, so he found the statement rather difficult to believe. Unless, of course, Dashiell was delusioned into thinking he knew how to handle owls, and that all of his had lived shorter than expected.
"What is the average lifespan of an owl anyway?" Ronan questioned aloud.
"It depends on the species," Dashiel answered, while still keeping a firm grip on the little owl in his hand. It did not appear to be turning blue under its feathers, so maybe it was all right.
He looked at Ronan's work with a pointed expression and asked, "Are you going to fill that out? I'm doing you a favor here."
Ronan glanced down at his paperwork and then at the little owl in Dashiell's hand. It was being surprisingly docile, but it really didn't appear to have much wiggle room.
"Just let the bird go," Ronan stated.
Dashiell shrugged. "Fine."
He gently set the owl down, where it shook itself like a dog might after getting wet, and then nipped at its own feathers for a little while. Ronan watched it for a second and then got to work, but before long, as his quill moved across the page, it drew the attention of the little owl all over again.
Chadwick Yeates
Author: Coco Nutt
Date: 03-11-11 20:39
Bracing herself against the stiff wind the buildings here are funneling down the street, Coco double checks that Pea, nestled beneath the coat in a pocket of her tunic style top, is snug and warm. The small dog is old enough now that he feels the cold more sharply so Coco's taken to putting a piece of charmed fleece in the pocket with it. The charm allows the fleece to be even warmer than usual plus it adds an extra soft, padded liner to her pocket for her diminutive companion.
Directly across the street from where she stands houses the office of the man whose name Glenn Davies and his wife Rona had given Coco. Since the day last week when Glenn Davies had been in Hogsmeade and come into McFusty's to buy kittens for his two children Coco found herself thinking more and more about a man she's never met, whom she knows nothing about, has never even had initials much less a full name, yet helped create her. In a single day she gave him more thought that she probably has her entire life.
As much as her father has been on her mind Coco hasn't said anything to Fritz, other friends, or her family. She didn't want to say anything then have nothing come of it. Maybe Mr. Davies wouldn't get back to her. Or he couldn't come up with the name nor could his wife or any of their friends remember it. No photos could be found. The person they remember is no longer in the UK and no one knows where he is and it would turn out he's not wizarding afterall so there would be no owling him... The list of possibilities Coco came up with is long and totally out of character for her. Coco is rarely ever negative and hardly ever lets anything get her down but for some reason she's had trouble thinking of this in positive terms - that the Davieses would have a name and location for this man Glenn Davies remembered as having been especially close with her mother in that time period that Bryony "Butyr" Nutt became pregnant with Coco.
When Rona and Glenn Davies came into the shoppe yesterday bringing glowing reports about the kittens and bearing not only copies of pictures of that summer that Coco could keep but a name along with a little information. Chadwick Yeates is a solicitor who works closely with the British Ministry of Magic with international law though he also has his own practice. He's well liked and respected. Never married but for the past fifteen years he's had an on again-off again companion, Letitia Rufford who's a healer at St. Mungo's. In the pictures from that summer, Chadwick Yeates is tall, tanned, darked headed, and brown eyed. He's always smiling in the pictures and looks like he is, or at least was, a nice chap.
Coco says down into her coat, speaking to Pea, "Can't stand 'ere awl day. Gorta do this." Clutching the envelope in which the Rona Davies had put the pictures, Coco takes a deep breath and starts across the street, reminding herself to speak with good diction when asking whether Chadwick Yeates is in.
Catching Up
Author: Oreileah McCoi
Date: 03-12-11 12:46
Orei currently sat at a little sidewalk cafe in wizarding SoHo sipping from a mug of peppermint tea and willed the lingering effects of her morning sickness ebb off. Jim had classes, she had gotten done early and had the day off at the Ministry. She'd taken some work home the other day and gotten it done, and dropped it off ealrier in the day before she'd come to the cafe.
"Thought I'd find you here." Christian's voice poked itself through her thoughts and the copy of Wizarding Times she was currently thumbing through.
"Well hello there stranger. Long time no see. How are things with you and Daniel?" I said, shifting, and folding the magazine and dropping it on the table and turning her whole attention on Christian.
"Fantastic. We just got back from a two week vaca in the Bahamas on a wonderful cruise, muggle style actually. Fabulous to be certain." He said, and ordered a Venti half-caf skinny vanilla latte from the waitress. "Now, what is going on with you?"
"So glad you guys had fun. Did ya get me anything pretty?" She asked with an impish grin. "Things are going well. Jim and I are going to be having a baby, and we are both still studying quite a bit. He's doing well in his introductory classes thus far and I have been doing so many translations that my head is spinning."
"Well, congrats my dear, and I will start shopping immediately for gifts and when should I start planning a babyshower?" Christian asked going into full Diva mode.
"Alright, calm down mama hen." Orei said laughing and taking another sip of her tea. "I'm only two and a half months, nearly three gone. Don't go getting into a fit on me yet."
Christian sombered and stuck his tongue out at her before taking a sip of his newly arrived latte. "Fine. I'll be patient. Are you and Jim gonna get hitched?"
Orei was expecting this question and gave a light shrug of her shoulders. "I don't know yet, I mean we are both still in school, I'm going to be done in another two terms more than likely and Jim is just starting out this term. We haven't even really discussed it."
The conversation continued and soon enough Jim joined them and Daniel not soon after and they agreed to meet at the Indian place where Christian and Orei often had lunch when working at the Ministry at about seven thirty for a late dinner.