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Busy B
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 05-13-11 14:08
The morning show had been off the air for just under an hour now. Bronwyn sat at her cubicle and perused various publications like The Daily Prophet and Quidditch Illustrated for ideas for tomorrow's sportscasts. Whenever she found something of interest, she jotted it down with the plan to research it further sometime before she left for the day.
Other newsworthy tidbits, like scores from any matches taking place tonight, couldn't be researched until first thing tomorrow morning (unless Bronwyn took the time to do so outside of work).
She was beginning to understand why Desi threw herself into her work whenever something was bothering her. It was an easy distraction to real-life troubles. Bronwyn still didn't know what was going on, other than it likely had something to do with Xavier Schoonmaker. Desi had come to Easter supper at the elder Becks, which had been quite the surprise since Bronwyn figured Desi would work through the holiday or sleep through it.
The image of a hovering stream of blood haunted Bronwyn whenever she allowed herself to think about it. She didn't know what it meant, but she knew it couldn't be good. It prevented her from wanting to make any other headway into recovering the rest of her lost memories. A little voice inside her told her she needed to, though, which was why she'd gone back to St. Mungo's for another appointment.
So far, she hadn't remembered anything else. She wondered if her fear of learning the truth prevented her from freeing it. Or maybe it was simply buried too deeply and would need considerable more probing before it could come to the surface.
There was some good news in Bron's life, though. Last night, she'd talked with Karma via the floo and learned that her new friend would be teaching at Hogwarts next term. Bronwyn had found History of Magic frightfully dull when she'd been a student there, but then again, Boring Binns had been her professor. Maybe Karma would make the course substantially more interesting. For her students' sake, Bronwyn certainly hoped so!
Morgan Blakely
Author: Griet
Date: 05-13-11 15:38
Griet couldn't decide if it was better being back at Hogwarts or whether Easter break should have lasted longer. Since resuming the school year on Monday, she'd found herself overloaded with assignments and study questions. The dreaded N.E.W.T. exams were just around the corner, and though all of Griet's professors had been preparing their seventh years for the end of year exams, now it was truly crunch time.
She felt enough pressure that she wondered if she even had time to fit in Quidditch practice, much less the actual matches. She wouldn't be able to play in the next one anyway since it fell on the day before the full moon. Griet always felt sick leading up to her transformation and wouldn't be any good in the match against Beauxbatons Academy of Magic. She didn't want to spend the day in the Hospital Wing but already anticipated that she would be doing that very thing.
The trip to Brighton over Easter break hadn't been without incident, which was why Griet couldn't decide what she preferred: an extended beach stay in the hometown of the girl who'd tried to kill her sister or the pressure of studying for exams that would make or break her future career (not that Griet had any idea what she wanted to do with the rest of her life).
She and Cornelia had both wondered and worried about meeting anyone from the Blakely family. Neither had had any problem with the youngest sibling, Kelly, nor with her parents. Only Morgan, the eldest sibling, and Clover, the imprisoned one, had given Griet and Cornelia reasons to avoid them forever.
Funny how Morgan and Clover didn't even get along. Before Clover had tried murdering Cornelia, she'd attempted to poison Morgan––not once, but twice! It had been Griet who'd saved his life, even though she'd never liked him. She hadn't seen him since he'd gone to the hospital, and she hadn't seen Clover since her arrest.
She hadn't expected to see Clover, since as far as anyone knew, she was still incarcerated. Morgan was an unlikely choice, too, since last she'd heard, he'd been in a coma.
Morgan had been in the coma for exactly seven weeks. That had been five years ago. His recovery had been gradual, but within a few months he'd been back to his old self again. Rather than re-enroll in Hogwarts to resume his magical education, he'd finished out his studies at home until he could legally "drop out".
He moved into his parents' basement (for some semblance of independence) and lived off their knut. They babied him for being the second son they'd nearly lost, even though he'd been responsible for the accidental death of Devon Blakely many years ago. He didn't have to lift a finger around the house and very much liked it that way. For him, he lived the good life, and all thanks to the sister who had poisoned him.
When Griet had bumped into him on the beach, she'd barely recognized him at first. His face had matured. He'd been unshaven and had grown taller and more muscular. It had been his eyes that had given him away, though. They'd still held an intense gaze and revealed the inherent evilness that resided within him.
He'd had no trouble recognizing Griet but had seemed surprised to see her in his territory. As usual, unpleasant remarks had fallen from his lips, that time mixed with inappropriate ones as his eyes had raked over Griet's bikini-clad form.
Cornelia had wasted no time giving Morgan a piece of her mind.
Not once had Clover's name come up by any party.
Griet reflected that it had been better that way, though curiosity nonetheless had her wondering how Clover fared in Azkaban after all these years.
Luckily, the encounter with Morgan had happened on the Vanderbilt family's last day in Brighton. They hadn't bumped into him again and hopefully never would.
Sign On The Dotted Line
Author: Kissy Isuki
Date: 05-13-11 15:53
"Now?" Nyoko Isuki asks, looking hopeful.
"No, not now. Mum, go home. I will see you later."
"You said that yesterday."
"Nearly eleven o'clock last night was hardly the time."
"Which is why I came in person today."
"And as I explained to you an hour ago, I have classes until noon and then again at one."
"Yes, and I patiently waited. That first group of students are off to wherever they go now and this group coming in isn't all here yet. I only need you long enough for you to sign right here. I have a quill ready."
"Mother, I am not signing that."
"Do you still not trust me? I am fully free of Traditions influence. The spells nad charms are worn off. You were there when the healers certified as such and even your Professor Dumbledore said it is so."
Kissy pinches the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache building. "It's not that, Mum."
"Then what? There are no magic attached to this document."
"It's a contract. I will not be legally bound to something I have no interest in." Turning away from her mother Kissy says into the classroom to the gathering fifth year Gryffindor and Slytherin students, "Go ahead and start if you wish. The list of spells to practice are on the board."
Nyoko is the one with a pained expression now. She gives a sigh of the long suffering. "Kisiaki, you are thirty now. Thirty!. With your stubborness and obstinate ways it was hard enough to get anyone interested in you before, now... ."
Nyoko says something low and in Japanase. Her mother doesn't use swear words very often but when she does they are doozies. Kissy is glad that as far as she knows none of her students speak Japanase and that even so, her mother said what she did under her breath.
"Mum, I won't have you diminish me in front of my students and as it's now time for me to start class, it's time for you to go."
"What will it hurt to sign? Hikaru Ohara is the best nakoda* in Great Britain. All of Europe for that matter."
Kissy sets her jaw and says in a very low warning tone, "Mother, I am not interested in a nakoda's services so just get that out of your head. I am not signing that contract and don't you dare sign it for me."
Kissy gives Nyoko one last hard look then pulling the door shut behind her enters the classroom, slowly expelling air and reminding herself not to take out her frustrations with her mother on these Gryffindors and Slytherins.
*A nakoda is a Japanese mid-woman or professional matchmaker.
No
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 05-13-11 17:02
As promised, Ethan had met with Penn yesterday, but not before he'd taught three classes in the morning and early afternoon. Penn had been in the middle class from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM. He'd worn a dark expression on his face–-the same one that had unsettled Ethan before he'd gotten to know Penn better––the entire time. Ethan had realized that Penn had been disappointed about the rain check but he'd been unsure about the exact source of the young boy's obvious dislike.
Prior to yesterday's classes, Ethan had wanted to talk to Dumbledore about the sneakoscope, but Dumbledore had been in a meeting with Professor Flitwick about something. A lunchtime effort had also proven fruitless.
Because of those attempts, Ethan hadn't made it to his office yesterday until after his last class. When he'd arrived there, he'd found something quite unexpected. The sneakoscope hadn't been in his desk drawer anymore. Although he hadn't pulled open the drawer the previous day when he'd heard the sneakoscope whistling, he'd known without a doubt that it had been in there.
Two questions came to mind: Who removed the sneakoscope, and why?
Ethan had probable answers, but he didn't understand them one bit.
The meeting with Penn had gone smoothly, despite what Ethan suspected about the boy. Gone had been Penn's darkened expression, replaced by the look of interest that had been plastered on his face ever since he'd confessed to Ethan the accidental injury he'd caused during the Dueling Club meeting.
Penn had gone looking seemingly happy, while Ethan had been left as confused as ever. When he'd again tried to approach Dumbledore about the sneakoscope that evening, he'd learned that the Headmaster had left the building. When McGonagall also seemed unavailable, Ethan had turned to Snape, who had helped him through a few adventures over the years.
Snape tended to regard Ethan with skeptism whenever the younger man approached him about something off the mark, but Snape knew from experience how outrageous life could be. He'd been through his fair share of ordeals thanks to Voldemort.
It had been his idea to summon the missing sneakoscope. Ethan had done it in the Great Hall at dinnertime, hoping to at least get Penn's reaction when it sailed into the room. It never came, however.
Someone had obviously cast an anchoring spell on it so that it couldn't be summoned. Ethan knew that Penn had high abilities when it came to spellcasting and wouldn't put it past the boy to do something extraordinary. But again, why? Had he anticipated that Ethan would try to get the sneakoscope back in a bid to determine who had stolen it?
Ethan had pondered about it all night. His restlessness had disturbed Rosamond, who'd wanted to get in as much sleep as possible between Lilly's feedings and diaper changes.
The next morning, both had been dead tired. Only Lilly, with her own strange sleep habits, had seemed well-rested.
Ethan had gone to work feeling like a zombie and had barely made it through his first two classes without yawning twenty times. By the third hour, he'd felt marginally better. It had certainly helped that Rosamond had sent a quick note to let him know that she and Lilly would swing by for lunch.
Class went by quickly then. Ethan sent his second years off with a "Have a good weekend" and then followed them out to the Great Hall, where he'd asked Rosamond to meet him.
He never made it that far because there was deep congestion around the marble staircase. Ethan looked over the heads of the shorter students to see what the commotion was about and then started to push his way through in his capacity as an authority figure. A path opened up for him on the stairs, revealing to him a sight that would forever be seared in his memory.
Rosamond lay crumpled on the ground beneath the bottom step. Her eyes were wide open and unseeing.
She was dead.
(Ariella) The Body
Author: Beck
Date: 05-13-11 18:05
Ariella stepped into the castle after leaving Briar's Bakery and prepared to head for the grand staircase for her quarters. Lawrence didn't have class on Fridays until 2 in the afternoon and his office hours didn't start till 12:30, so Ariella supposed she would find him in their personal chambers. That, or the Great Hall.
The castle was quiet because other classes hadn't let out just yet, but they would in short order. Ariella adjusted her hold on the box of fairy cake rejects she carried and moved forward, but she didn't get very far when she saw someone lying on the flagstones. The witch lay very still. Too still.
The moment it hit Ariella, she dropped the box and rushed forward, coming to a stop on her knees by the witch's side. She recognized her as Rosamond Boggs, the mother of Ethan Somerset's newborn child. She didn't see the baby anywhere, though.
Rosamond was definitely dead. Ariella could only guess that she had fallen down the stairs and broken her neck, although it didn't look very broken to her. Ariella didn't know what broken necks looked like, though, so she couldn't say for sure whether it was or wasn't.
She felt hysteria coming on and looked around wildly. Why was the castle so empty in that moment? There weren't any figures in the portraits either. Where had they all gone?
Ariella climbed to her feet and shouted, "Is anybody there? I need help!"
She thought about running upstairs to get Lawrence, but she didn't want to leave the body alone for somebody else to find.
Then Mrs. Norris appeared up the steps leading from the dungeons, followed by Mr. Filch.
"What's the matter here?" he rasped unpleasantly.
His eyes took in Rosamond on the ground. "Merlin's beard. What happened?"
"I-I d-don't k-know," Ariella stuttered, finding it hard to keep it together. "I just got here."
"Fetch Dumbledore," Filch started to say, but then he reconsidered. "No, you stay with the––with her. I'll fetch Dumbledore."
Ariella nodded wildly.
Filch made a wide arc around Rosamond's body and then climbed the stairs. Mrs. Norris padded up the stairs behind him.
Before he could return with Dumbledore, class let out. Ariella could hear conversation and footsteps and knew that students would be arriving from all directions to go to their dorm rooms or the Great Hall for lunch. She didn't want them to see the body. They didn't need to see something as terrible as death itself.
It couldn't be avoided, though. They filled the entrance hall and stopped in shock at the sight of Rosamond, just as Ariella had done when she'd first entered the room. A moment after that, Ethan Somerset appeared at the top of the stairs. Ariella's heart broke when she saw the expression on his face when realization dawned that the mother of his child was dead.
He rushed down the stairs and fell to his knees at Rosamond's side. He swept her up into his arms and patted her face as if he could wake her up from unconsciousness.
A moment after that, Filch and Dumbledore appeared. Ariella pulled herself together then and started sending students into the Great Hall. Some were very reluctant to go but all did as she asked.
Meanwhile, other professors converged upon the entrance hall, including Ariella's husband Lawrence. He came to her side where she hovered before the Great Hall doors and put an arm around her shoulders.
Dumbledore questioned Ethan about what happened. After Ethan managed to state what he knew, Filch pointed out Ariella to Dumbledore.
"She might know something."
Ariella told Dumbledore exactly how she'd come to find the body.
It was then that Ethan asked for his baby.
"She's supposed to be here," Ethan expressed, looking around wildly for his newborn child.
Ariella shook her head. "She's not here. She's––"
And that was when a young student with dark hair and a pale face emerged at the top of the staircase. In his arms was a little baby.
Ariella didn't understand the look on Ethan's face. Such a mixture of emotions formed his expression that it was difficult to tell how he felt upon seeing the boy with his baby.
Dumbledore climbed up the stairs and took Lilly Somerset from the boy's arms.
"What did you see, Mr. Ellison?" Dumbledore asked him.
"Sir, I found the baby in that alcove, there." He pointed to a darkened recess off the first floor corridor.
Dumbledore said nothing for a moment and then addressed the nearest professor. "Professor Jones. Would you please escort Mr. Ellison to my office?"
"Of course. Come along, Penn."
Penn followed Illyria out of sight. Dumbledore slowly descended the staircase and handed the baby to Ethan after he climbed to his feet to accept her.
"Professor Masterson. Would you be so kind as to escort Professor Somerset to the hospital wing?"
"Of course." Lawrence released Ariella and stepped forward to guide his colleague upstairs. Ethan was reluctant to leave Rosamond behind but did as Dumbledore wanted.
"Ariella," Dumbledore said, turning to her with kind eyes. "Please find Professor Snape and ask him to wait for me in my office."
Ariella felt relieved to have an official task to do and turned for the dungeons after acknowledging Dumbledore's request with a brief nod of her head. She passed the discarded box of fairy cakes, not even seeing them on the ground.
As she descended the stairs, she heard Dumbledore speaking to Professor McGonagall. They conjured a stretcher, placed Rosamond on it, and covered her with a sheet.
Tapas Bar For Lunch
Author: Fionna
Date: 05-13-11 18:31
Bored with the usual, limited fare along Diagon Alley Basilia and Fionna decided to try out a new tapas bar they'd seen advertised in the newspaper. Walking inside the place Basilia grumbles, "I hope it's not one of those that you stand and walk around."
"If it is, we'll go somewhere else."
"I don't want to waste my whole lunch roving from restaurant to restaurant."
"I swear to Merlin, Bas, I'm going to smack you."
"What?"
"You know, it's a good thing you're already my best friend."
Basilia smiles and bats her eyelashes. "You know you love me."
"Yes, but sometimes we hurt the ones we love most."
"Party of two?" they're asked.
"Yes." Fionna says then looks to Bas. "It's just us, right?"
"Right, Malcolm can't make it. Why didn't you ask Jericho."
"Just two," Fionna replies again then as they are led to a table she answers Basilia's question. "He's busy setting up some dates for Dragon. The guys are trying to keep two Fridays and two Saturdays a month cleared so they can keep playing. It's not easy with them all having jobs and some with families now but they love the band and don't want to let it go. With Emrys Fest and a couple of other big events over the summer, they want to keep in practice and work on new songs."
"So Emrys Fest is a definite this year?"
"I don't know but there's nothing to indicate it won't be held again."
The two take a few moments to look over the menu before continuing their conversation. Basilia takes a sip of the water that's just been set before her then says, "Graham came to see me last night."
"Did he? I take it he wasn't there as an old friend."
"He wants to get back together."
"He didn't know about you and Malcolm?"
"Oh, he knows. They're best friends and Malcolm could only keep it from Graham for so long. He said he was okay with it."
"Obviously not."
"Graham said it was a mistake us busting up and if I think rationally about it all, I'd see I only got together with Malcolm as a rebound."
"Did you tell Malcolm any of this?"
"No, not yet. I can't decide if I will. I gave Graham a piece of my mind then sent him off. Unless he's just going to be an absolute arse he won't bother me about it again and Malcolm need never know. I hate to have their friendship go to ruin."
"If Graham says anything again, let me know and I'll have a talk with him."
"Thanks. Are you working tomorrow?"
"No, but I am busy. Mum and I are doing a spa day together."
"You're joking? You and your mother without an intermediary?"
"I know. She's finally coming around after all this time that I will not be partnering her in the antiques shoppe. Of course, Leslie showing an interest in the business might have factored into that."
"Since when is your cousin into antiques?"
"She says always though I always pegged her for a more modern asthetic. Personally, I think it's because her current crush likes antiques. He's loaded and you know Leslie loves having some man spending money on her. Still, if it gets Mum to stop being such a bitch about me working for Terrortours then I don't care."
"Is that our food?"
"I think so."
"Good, because I'm hungry! Okay, so, you aren't free during the day tomorrow. What about tomorrow night? Malcolm wants to go to a Quidditch match. We can easily get two more tickets if Jericho and you want to come."
"We were just going to get dinner and listen to a match on the WWN while he did some songwriting. I'll ask him when we're both back in the office today and let you know."
The two friends talk as they eat and before they know it, their lunch break is almost over.