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Morning Routines
Author: Carys
Date: 03-30-11 05:11
With a young child in the house, Carys didn't need to set an alarm to get up each morning. Tristan, ever the early bird, did his part to make sure mummy got up in time to feed him, dress him, and play with him. Even if she didn't have Tristan in her life, Carys probably wouldn't have needn't to wake herself up for classes or work because her grandfather Alun was an early riser who drank a whole pot of coffee each morning.
The aromatic smell inevitably wafted through the whole house and woke up Carys. She wasn't much of a coffee drinker herself but she liked the smell. Having the rich scent fill her nostrils each morning was a nice way of waking up, much nicer than having a 4 1/2 year old jumping into bed and subsequently on top of her.
Tristan cracked open her bedroom door and spied on Carys, who had a pillow over her face and one arm outstretched over the edge of her bed. With a grin, he entered the room and tiptoed to her bedside. Then, with one giant leap, he jumped into the bed and then collapsed against her tummy, causing Carys to wake up and exhale with a loud whoosh.
Tristan started laughing hysterically. "Good morning!"
Carys, after she caught her breath, ensnared him with both arms and tickled him until he shouted out that he had to go to the bathroom. She released him then and laughed as he hurried out of the room to use the loo.
Sometime later, after she'd taken a shower and gotten dressed, she found Tristan in the kitchen with Alun, who was fixing French toast.
"Morning," she greeted her grandfather, with a kiss on his cheek.
"Morning, Carys. Ready for your last week?"
"Am I ever," Carys exclaimed.
She had final exams this week. It was the last week of Hilary Term at St. Emrys. Carys had gotten in as much studying as possible and thought she was ready for everything.
"When do I get to go to school?" Tristan asked. He was wearing red pajamas with little blue train engines on them. He sat on a stool and kicked his legs enthusiastically.
Carys put a hand on his knees to still his frantic wobbling. She had been thinking about sending Tristan to daycare. She knew Alun didn't mind caring for his great grandson, but at the same time, he wasn't getting any younger, and it wasn't his responsibility to raise yet another generation of children when his had grown up a long time ago.
She knew there was an excellent daycare facility in Hogsmeade, and at one time, there'd been one in Diagon Alley too. Carys sort of wished the one in Diagon Alley were still there, if only because Griffin worked in London and would be close by––not that apparating or flooing would hinder him from reaching Tristan in Hogsmeade in a short amount of time, if that was where he wound up.
Tristan looked up at his mother expectantly. "You won't get your letter to Hogwarts for many years yet," Carys told him, "but you will get some schooling very soon."
"How come you go to school? Mummies are grown up and don't go to school."
Carys debated how to answer her son. She hadn't really broached the subject with him about the fact that she had had him when she should have been a student at Hogwarts. One day, she would explain it to him as a cautionary tale––not that she regretted his existence one instant. She just wished she'd have been older and more responsible when she'd had him.
"Well, sometimes adults want to continue learning," Carys told him. "Sometimes they want to change careers and need to learn something new before they can. In my case, I want to learn as much as I can so that I can be brilliant and very good at my future career."
"Pho-to-gra-pher," Tristan intoned, syllable by syllable.
"That's right," Carys replied.
"Just like your grandmother," Alun said, turning to Tristan with a small plate of French toast. He handed a slightly bigger one to Carys. "Now eat up, the both of you."
Carys took the plate and sat down next to her son. She shot him a sideways glance, amazed by how much he'd grown and wondering what he would be like as a young adult.
Finals
Author: Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen
Date: 03-31-11 03:34
Fritz ducks out of The Wyrding Way and looks both ways before he crosses over to the St. Emrys campus. In the morning, he wrote an exam for his Potions class. This afternoon, he has the practical.
Fritz feels good about what he wrote this morning. Potions was and still is his best subject, and his favorite one too. He's not at all worried about his practical exam, and is, in fact, rather looking forward to it.
Between exams, he grabbed a cup of coffee and a sandwich. Around him, other students had their noses in their books, but not Fritz. He took the time to relax and reenergize.
He enters the building and immediately goes downstairs, where the bulk of the university is located. Once Fritz gets to the main part of the building, he bumps into Coco, who had just come in via floo.
They smile at each other and seize hands as they walk down the hall to their respective classrooms. Fritz reaches his first and gives Coco a quick kiss before releasing her hand.
"Good luck!" she tells him, pausing in the hallway for a moment to see him off.
"You too!" he replies. He gives her a wave and then turns and enters the Potions laboratory, which looks like a typically lab with work tables and cauldrons spaced out evenly across the room.
Fritz sets his backpack along the wall, where other students have stowed their things, and takes his place at one of the empty work stations. A short time later, instructions appear on the blackboard, and the practical examination begins.
Tired Of Studying
Author: Kody
Date: 03-31-11 20:05
Kody flips over the last flash card in the stack, frowning even though he'd given the correct answer to the question printed somewhat neatly on the other side. Across the table from him Ophelia mirrors his frown as she reads over a list of essay questions that might appear on one of her final exams. Catching him watching her, Ophelia's frown turns into a lopsided smile. "Remind me again why I wanted to continue with course work when I would have done on the job training."
Drake, sitting to Ophelia's right, is the one who responds. "Because going to wizarding university was something new and different."
"Nearly over now though," Kody sighs shoving the stack of flash cards away from him. "I'm not sure I'm ready to be a responsible working adult."
Ophelia giggles. "So graduate school it is for you then."
Drake flashes a grin at that then says more seriously, "If you aren't ready now, imagine how unready you would have been if you'd gotten a degree on time."
"I shudder to think." Kody reaches for the stack of flash cards again, picking them up only to start shuffling his thumb up and down the stack. "You know, while I wish none of the reasons that slowed my progress - our progress - down even existed, one good thing that came of all that was to give me more time to think about what I wanted to do."
"Same here," Drake agrees. "Other than wanting to play more Quidditch competitively, I can't say I had any real direction for what I wanted to actually do. Aaron tried to get me thinking about life after Hogwarts and even though I took the OWLs and NEWTs seriously, I never gave serious thought to doing something productive with my life. Sure, Aaron's got money and now I do too but he made it clear that I wasn't going to sit on my arse living off the trust fund."
Kody finally stops playing with the flash cards. "Sounds like my parents." He eyes the flash cards with the thought of going through them again but reaches for his bookbag instead. "I know the library is open all night but I'm tired of this place."
Ophelia reaches for her own bookbag. "If you're going to twist my arm about it, I'll go with you."
Reaching for his own bookbag Drake says, "I sort of wish we'd gone when Kordelia did."
"She's got work in the morning so I can't say I blame her for leaving when she did. I think I'm going to my parents' to get a late night snack. Mum said she'd have a few things on hand if I wanted. Come with?"
"Count me in," Drake says as he rises, his bookbag and Ophelia's in hand.
"Me too. No more coffee though. Tea maybe or something else before I crawl into bed and snuggle with my honey."
Drake gives Ophelia a teasing lear. "How about ditching your honey and coming to snuggle with me."
"If you too keep it up, I might lose my appetite."
"Excellent. Means more for me." Drake grins at Kody.
"If you and Daria would get back together, you too could be making others lose their appetites," Ophelia says with a knowing smile.
"You'd think after all this time you would have it in your head that Daria and I weren't a couple so there was no breaking up which means there would be no getting back togeter."
"Sure there would be. You two did date at one point and you did break up," Drake points out.
Kody's reply is to simply roll his eyes and keep walking in the direction of the nearest Floo.
Workhorse
Author: Hermione Granger
Date: 04-01-11 06:06
"I haven't known you all that long, but I have a suspicion that you're a workhorse," Lizetta Gorper said. She was a healer on the Potion and Plant Poisoning floor and had been for many years. She had an easygoing way about her and very much enjoyed what she did for a living.
Hermione shrugged. "Doing my job and doing it well are important to me."
"As it should be," Lizetta replied, "but you are allowed to take time off every now and again. Don't you have a wedding to plan? Isn't it just around the corner?"
"I'm very good at time management," Hermione answered, again shrugging her shoulders. "I've learned how to balance my work and what I do outside of work."
"Something tells me you didn't have to learn anything. I think it just comes naturally to you."
Hermione smiled. "Maybe it does."
"So, when are you taking off? Don't tell me you plan on working straight up to your wedding day."
"Actually, this is my last week. When I come back, you can call me Mrs. Weasley." At that, Hermione's smile widened. She'd never been one to scrawl her name over and over again on a piece of parchment as Hermione Weasley or Mrs. Ronald Weasley. But at the sound of her upcoming name, she couldn't help but feel a bit giddy.
Morning Sickness and Exams
Author: Oreileah McCoi
Date: 04-01-11 12:15
Orei and Jim currently sit at a table in Orange going over lecture notes and various other notes for their respective exams for the rest of the week. Both have the week off work, and have dedicated the week to ensuring that they end the term on a high note. During the break between terms, they will be working on the baby's nursery, as well as pondering wedding plans - if that is going to be their next step. Orei has already cut her days down to three at the Ministry, only one of which is a nine hour shift (that is usually the day she ends up working a court case).
"Alright, I think I am actually ready for this one. Besides, it's almost noon, and you've a potions exam to get to." Jim said breaking Orei's train of thought.
"Crap! I almost forgot about it." She said, and with Jim's help shoved her things back into some semablence of order and packed her bag. "I'll see you at home, this is my last for the day, thankfully. I've been nauseated since about eight thirty."
"Alright, I'll see you at home. After potions, pick up something to eat and head home. I have to stop in and see one of my profs about next term, and then I will be home." Jim said and bid her goodbye so she could go take her exam.
Adamu Visits
Author: Kissy Isuki
Date: 04-01-11 21:12
Pursing her lips while contemplating the wording of an essay exam question Kissy welcomes the interruption of a knock on the open office door. The purse quickly changes to a smile as she looks up and beckons Barnaby Barlow in.
"Morning, Barnaby. Needing some help?"
"Morning, Professor Isuki. I was wondering if I might use one of the dueling dummies."
"Right now?"
"Yes, ma'am."
Kissy gives a quick glance to the small pendulum clock on one of her shelves. The last class block before lunch will be starting soon. "You won't be skiving off from a class?"
"No, miss. My only Tuesday class is Arithmancy & Divination and it's met already."
"Then I don't see any reason not to let you." With these words Kissy is on her feet. "Professor Somerset may be using one of the practice rooms. Let me check so you don't accidently interupt his class."
Barnaby walks side by side with Kissy to the practice rooms where she lets him into one of the rooms. Before returning to her office she tells him, "I'll check in on you in a bit. If you need anything before then, I'll be in my office."
"Thank you."
On the short walk back to her office the perfect wording for that essay exam question pops into Kissy's mind. She walks a little more rapidly so that she can hurry and get the question written down before something else distracts her with a possible result of her forgetting how she wants to present the question on the exam. Sliding behind her desk, Kissy quickly jots the question down then rereads what's she's written for the entire exam so far. She's just dipped her quill in ink to write one last question for the test when there's another knock on the door.
"Dad! This is a surprise. Come in."
Despite Kissy's invitation, Adamu tentatively enters as if unsure he should even be there. Rising again, Kissy asks, "Everything all right?"
"Yes, fine. I'm not bothering you, am I?"
"No, I was just finishing up writing an exam. The only thing you are interrupting is I was going to tidy up some of my files. Would you like some tea? Coffee?"
"Tea if you have it."
Kissy nods at the tea kettle she keeps in her office. "Some freshly brewed. A dollop of cream and one sugar, right?"
"It's nice you remember. It's been a long time since you've served me tea."
Kissy says nothing to that, thinking there's nothing gained by pointing out why that is. She hands Adamu the slightly steaming tea then sits not behind her desk but in a chair identical to the one he's in.
Adamu takes a sip of the tea then setting it on the edge of the desk looks directly at her. "Now that I'm fully free of the spell on the Traditions jewelry I wanted to come apologize to you."
Kissy opens her mouth to speak but her father holds up a staying hand.
"I cannot speak for your mother though I'm sure she feels the same way. Under a charm or a curse or whatever the magic on that jewelry is doesn't give me an excuse not to say I'm sorry."
"Yes, it does, Dad."
"Nice of you to say so but what we did...," Adamu shakes his head. "I'm thankful you did not shut us out so completely that you turned Akina away. If you had, we might have been bespelled for years. We might have gotten sucked fully back in to Traditions and made more attempts to draw you in as well. We could have ended up harming you."
Kissy lays a hand on her father's arm. "Before realizing there was magic involved that caused all of you to act as you did I waited so long to hear apologies. Once what was done to the Traditions jewelry came to light, those apologies no longer seemed relevent."
"That does not erase the guilt I feel. If I had not been so hell bent on having a daughter who was 100% traditional and obedient even though your mother and I did not raise you to be a meek, obedient Japanese girl we might never have been drawn into Traditions in the first place. I fully accept blame."
"Thank you for saying so. All this will soon be entirely behind us. The trials will be starting soon. If the group continues after all that, perhaps it will do so without using magic to force its members to do things they would not normally have done."
Adamu slowly nods then pulling a small wrapped box from his coat pocket he says, "I have another apology. With everything that's happened these past few weeks, we forgot your birthday. I am so sorry. Your mother is planning a special belated supper and would very much like to know if you are available one night this week, even tonight if your schedule allows."
Kissy had turned thirty on Valentine's Day but aside from a few close friends she'd not made much of what some consider a milestone birthday. The past several years she'd gotten used to not having her family celebrate it with her so this year she hadn't thought much about it one way or the other. Now, suddenly, she feels a little misty eyed that her mother wants to give her a special dinner and that her father is sitting here now with a gift.
"Tonight would be fine or tomorrow if that's better for all of you."
"No, no. Tonight would be wonderful. Here is a little something from me. We will have other presents tonight and your favorite cake but I'd like it if you opened this one now."
Kissy accepts the gift, slitting the spellotape on one side to pull away the paper. The box is surprisingly heavy for such a small box, making Kissy all the more curious as to what's inside. Lifting off the top she finds a paperweight shaped like a crane in swirling irridescent pastel colors. A grin creases her face as Kissy lifts it from the box asking, "Is this ?"
"Yes, the one from your grandmother's desk that you loved so much as a child."
Kissy leans over to give Adamu a hug. "Thank you! I thought this had been lost or broken."
"It was misplaced for a long time. When I found it recently I remembered how you'd play with it whenever we visited your grandparents. I thought you might like to have it now as a remembrance of my mother."
"I loved this as a child and was so upset when it seemed to go missing." Kissy hugs Adamu again and once more says, "Thank you!"
Clearly pleased to have given Kissy something she had wanted for years Adamu returns Kissy's hug then says, "I should be going."
"You don't have to. You could stay and have lunch. I need to check in on a student but other than that we could talk or walk around or both."
"I would like that but I have already told some of my friends I would meet them for lunch and a card game."
"Another day then."
"Yes, definitely."
Adamu rises to go. Kissy gets up to walk him out then checks on Barnaby before returning to her office where, instead of tidying her files as she'd planned, she straightens her desk then fiddles around with finding the best spot to use the crane paperweight.
Sick
Author: Illyria
Date: 04-03-11 04:53
Illyria had always been a night owl, even before she took up the Astronomy professor's post. In the olden days, she would stay up late and tinker with inventions as they came to mind. Nowdays, she had her classes and then sometimes she stayed up even later to mark papers or plan out what she might do the next day.
Despite the late hours she kept, she still woke up each day in time for breakfast in the Great Hall. Some mornings she was more tired than others, but mostly, she felt quite all right. Illyria rarely needed a full night's rest, and if she ever felt the least bit tired, then she took a nap during the day.
Today was an exception, however. Sometime yesterday afternoon, she'd felt a sore throat coming on. At first, she'd merely felt extremely parched, and had drunk quite a lot to satify her thirst. Only later on did she realize it was something more than just a dry throat.
By the time she realized, it was already nighttime and Illyria was in the middle of teaching her first years about the constellation Sirius and then her third years about the constellation Puppis. At the end of the night, which was actually the beginning of the next morning, Illyria had gone straight to her quarters. As much as she'd wanted to swing by the Hospital Wing and beg Madam Pomfrey for a medicinal potion, she'd not done so since the school nurse was undoubtably sleeping.
Now, the next morning, Illyria could only moan and groan in her bed. She didn't want to get up for breakfast. All she wanted to do was sleep off the cold that had gone from just a sore throat yesterday afternoon to the whole works overnight.
Maybe in a few hours she'd feel well enough to get up and seek out Madam Pomfrey. For now, however, all she wanted to do was sleep.