|
|
Romantic Evening Away From the Kids
Author: Jefferson
Date: 05-11-13 21:31
"You ready, love?" Jefferson stepped up to Melinda, who was watching the girls downstairs.
"Hmm? Oh, yes. I'm ready Jeff."
"They're going to be fine; Lawson won't let them get into too much trouble. I hope."
"You hope? See, I knew we should have sent them to stay with my mother."
Jeff sighed and pulled his girlfriend into his arms. "Mel, trust me. My sister won't let anything happen to them. Or she'll regret it."
Lawson had come upstairs from her apartment in the basement; she overheard everything Mel and Jeff had said about her. "So, you're leaving me alone with Remedy and Camden, but you don't trust me? I seriously thought you guys had stopped hating me. Why did you even let me move in to your home if you can't trust me?" Lawson checked the time and sighed, debating on running off. "Look, just go out and have a good night. You guys deserve it."
"Thanks, Lawson. If you need someone else to watch her, owl Mel's momma and she'll come right over, okay?"
"Got it. If I go crazy with the brats, call in reinforcements then hit the bar!" Lawson chuckled at the look Melinda was giving her. "I'm kidding!"
Mel just shook her head and looped her arm through Jeff's. "Seriously, Laws. Behave or you will be moving out."
Lawson sighed and looked over at her nieces. "I think I realize that by now."
Remedy waved over at Mel and her father. "We'll keep Auntie Laws in line, Dad, don't worry!"
"That makes me feel better, coming from a ten year old. I love your sister Jeff, and I'm glad we can help her out by living with us, but still, she needs to use her common sense more."
"She does, I agree. Now, hold on to me while we apparate to dinner." Jeff wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and they apparated off to a very quiet romantic restaurant Jeff had found. The place was busy, but Jefferson had secured a table in the back, away from the bustling main section of the restaurant. Dinner was amazing, and Mel and Jeff had even booked a hotel room nearby to enjoy some time away from their daughters.
Meanwhile Lawson sat at home, relaxing on the couch while Rem and Cam sat and talked. She was trying to ignore a pesky owl that was tapping on the window. She opened the door and smiled a bit. A new friend of hers had been begging her to go out tonight, but she had turned them down to watch after the girls.
She skimmed over the note and laughed.
Hey you!
I know you said you had to watch someone tonight, but I was bored, wanted to come see you. Now open the door!"
Love ya.
Laws quickly scribbled another note to he friend, they would meet up after Mel and Jeff got home. Tonight was proving to be a very good night, so long as the girls were quiet, and she would go see her friend after they were in bed. Tonight was a good night, a fantastic Valentine's day. Maybe moving from New Orleans to Hogsmeade was going to pay off after all.
Secrets Of The Past
Author: Christina Sorcha
Date: 05-12-13 00:36
Sorcha sat in nearly total darkness, only a small lamp as her only source of light. She had the lamp floating above her, just off to the side. The lamp provided just enough light for her to see the files she was flipping through. Still trying to complete her main job, finding what happened to His body, she had settled into a routine that allowed her to look through the records for an hour or two every night.
It was very slow going. She had started in the V's, but 'Voldemort' could not be found. Then an attempted at 'Lord Voldemort' came up empty as well. Frustrated, she had remembered there was another file she wanted to look at. With her time tonight nearly over, she was about to give up when she found it. The file that read SORCHA, CHRISTINA
She pulled it out of the drawer. It was thicker than she had expected. About twice the size she had thought it would be. None the less, she opened the file. There was nothing to interesting in it, a picture and vital information about her. As suspected, the court transcript was included in the file.
Sorcha read the charges, at the same time hearing the voice of Amelia Bones, "You are accused of kidnapping one Tennille Bastet-Jolie, and turning her over to the Dark Lord, an act which eventually resulted in her death. You are also accused of the kidnapping of one Dierna ní Ciaran, and turning her over to the Dark Lord. You are further accused of entering a Ministry office under false pretenses and removing secret documents from that office. Furthermore, you are accused of acting on the Dark Lord's behalf to threaten and intimidate the few remaining Giants into joining with his forces."
She glanced through the rest of the transcript, remembering more of the event, instead of reading it. Old butterflies formed in her stomach. She had broken into the Ministry before, just as she was doing now. Would she get caught this time? Would she own up to her crimes as before? Before her thoughts could run away with her, a line in the transcript caught her attention.
Personae Divisio was what Dumbledore called the curse used on me back then. Sorcha mused to herself. She had forgotten the name of the curse when Adriana had asked her about it. The curse itself was not in the file, but that wasn't important. The guilty verdict was in there as well, as it should have been.
The report of her two weeks at St. Mungo's was included in the file. The doctor's finding her healed, cured of whatever had been done to her. The Ministry had placed her under two years of probation as an assurance she was done with her crime spree. The reports from that were included as well. It was amazing how much was saved in the file.
However, where the file was expected to end, it didn't. Sorcha flipped through more reports, filed after the Ministry was to leave her alone. As she traveled to various sites around the world, someone was keeping tabs on her. Three years after she was done reporting to the Ministry, it kept following her. They kept watching her, secretly. Until just before the birth of her son, someone was watching her.
Sorcha sat in silence, her file in her hand. She was unable to fully process what she had just learned. After a few minutes of staring at the file, she stood, slowly, she lowered the file until the corner touched the lamp's flame. It caught fire quickly. She held it for a moment before dropping it into an empty waste bin. She watched as the file burned and became nothing but ash.
Once the fire had burned out, Sorcha picked up the bin and quietly carried it out of the room.
In A Mood (Etta with Basil)
Author: Jared
Date: 05-12-13 16:48
As Valetine's neared and the fervor over it increased Etta found herself wishing she were currently dating someone or that there were someone to ask, or to do the asking, just so she could say she attended the Valentine's party her seventh year. She considered asking one of her male friends but could never decide if that's what she wanted to do. Spending a romantic date with someone who is just a friend might be somewhat disappointing. It made her wish she still dated Deak but every time she had that thought she would remind herself that even if she hadn't broken up with him, Deak is no longer a Hogwarts students. If still dating, she still wouldn't have anyone to attend the party with.
Come Valentine's Day itself, Etta was glad not to have a date and did her best to avoid a last minute invitation. She'd received a letter that morning from her parents with news of Jared. They were still trying to learn what exactly was going on so there wasn't much to the letter. The rest of Wednesday and so far this morning, Etta's concentration has been off and she's been overly quiet. She definitely was not in a mindset last night to have attended the party if she'd had a date for it.
Trudging along the well traveled path in the ice and snow between the greenhouses and the castle Etta finds herself watching for any sign of an incoming owl. Nothing has been in the newspaper yet, which Etta supposes is a good sign, but she's growing increasingly impatient for an update, for her parents to let her know there's been some sort of mistake made and Jared has been released with profuse apologies from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Someone comes along side, matching her step for step. It takes her a second but she recognizes the shoes as belonging to Basil. She glances his direction, wondering why he'd shorten his much longer stride to walk beside her when the temperature is trying to rival those found in the Arctic.
At her head movement Basil states, "You're in a mood."
"Just tired."
"Dad owled me this morning about Jared."
"He didn't do anything."
"I didn't say he did. All I said was Dad let me know what's going on."
The redness in Etta's cheeks is now no longer just from the cold. "Sorry. I shouldn't have snapped."
"All Dad said is that Jared's being held on something to do with sexual assault."
"That's pretty much all I know too. Mum and Dad have been trying to find out more."
"It's got to be some sort of mistake."
"That's what I think. Jared would never do anything like that."
"Maybe the woman is mad at him for something and this is her sick way of getting him back."
"No matter what it is, I hope it's straightened out soon."
Basil, for the first time in many years, puts a comforting arm around Etta in a hug. They walk the rest of the way to Charms talking about the need to start putting more time into prepping for the NEWTs.
Irritation
Author: Celeste Quigley
Date: 05-13-13 12:02
"Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy!" Celeste exclaimed to herself as she circled the word Uranus and added a question mark next to it.
She was in her living quarters at the 6th floor, correcting some of her fifth year's essays. Eric Ling from Gryffindor had made an enormous mistake by mixing Uranus and Venus. Clearly his mind was not in the right place when he was doing his homework.
Celeste wrote a commentary in his essay and she passed to the next one, dipping her quill in the red ink. Eric had not been the only student making unforgivable mistakes in his essay. Celeste knew that the reason for such wave of sloppy homework had been caused by the Valentine's day. She believed that with the agitation of such day most had placed the Astronomy essay on the bottom of their priorities' list.
Poorly done, she wrote in Felicia Flaversham's scroll. So far only Ramona Mickle from Ravenclaw had been up to her expectations, but she still had a bunch of essays to correct, so she was sure other students had also done their homework properly.
"You don't seem very satisfied," Eugene said entering to room and kissing Celeste's cheek.
He took off his hat, scarf and gloves and pet Leo, who was lying in his armchair. The cat ,seeming to guess his owner's intentions, stood up and left his seat a bit annoyed the place was being taken from him.
"I don't think I had ever seen such bad essays in my whole life!"
"You are exaggerating, I am sure."
"Perhaps. But I cannot help to be preoccupied. Thank Merlin the OWLs are not in February."
"Ah," Eugene replied with a smile. "Young love. Who can blame them, darling? If they don't date during this age when will they do so?"
"Perhaps during the summer? Or maybe once they graduate?" she replied with irritation, crossing an entire line from Darren Storm's essay.
Quite a disappointment, she scribbled in the Ravenclaw's student work. He had copied most of his work from a book pretending the words belonged to himself. Celeste was able to identify the book.
"I sense all that anger has another source that it's not Valentine's day. You could have owled me, you know? I would have left work earlier."
"What for? It's just a newspaper article, Eugene."
"Words can be as sharp as a dagger, my dear. Skeeter is very talented."
"You still compliment her?!" she raised her eyes to him, offended.
Eugene laughed.
"You can't take this too serious. Most of the things she wrote about you are very absurd and it is all just a lie."
He took an exemplar of the Daily Prophet and opened it on page 7. He cleared his throat and he started to read parts of the article Rita Skeeter had written about Celeste. But the Astronomy teacher was not ready to hear such things out lout. With her wand she stole the newspaper from her husband's hands and she set it on fire. The ashes fall on the carpet but she did not do anything to clean them.
"Enough of foolishness, Eugene. I have work to do and a class to give later tonight. So please stop taunting me."
She adjusted her reading glasses and started to read Nana Minuet's essay, her quill already ready to attack.
Classes
Author: Marzipan
Date: 05-13-13 12:43
The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff first year students worked on pruning Drimys winteri, or winter's bark, a slender tree native to South America and first introduced to England in the late 1500s. The plant grew best in cool, moist climates and produced clusters of white, jasmine-scented flowers.
A sweet-scented aroma filled the air in the greenhouse and set everyone into a relaxed state. Professor Ravenscroft saw more than one pair of heavy eyelids, but everyone nonetheless managed to stay awake for the duration of class.
The extra sleepy students received a bit of wake-up upon exiting the greenhouse for the grounds. The cold, fresh air had ways of reviving a person, at least temporarily. Even Marzi took advantage of it by standing in the open doorway for a brief moment. When she felt too cold, which happened sooner rather than later, she shut the greenhouse door and began cleaning up the work table.
This morning, Marzi had taught her third year Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students about the willow tree and her Ravenclaw and Slytherin fourth years about flirtwort. A few students in the latter class had not worn their protective gear correctly, which had led to amusing, awkward and completely unintentional flirting on their part. Marzi had quickly nipped every instance in the bud before anything improper could happen. Still, it had been a very lively and entertaining class period.
Last night, she had chaperoned the activities in the Common Common Room. Marzi had not had to give many warnings to students about getting too amorous, though there'd been a few incidents of inappropriate conduct, such as when a boy put his hands on a girl's bottom during a dance.
She and Weston had celebrated Valentine's Day with a lunch date in Hogsmeade. The restaurant had been crowded, but Weston had made reservations and the service had been very efficient.
"Professor Ravenscroft?"
Marzi turned to the sound of the voice and saw one of her former students standing in the now open doorway to the greenhouse.
"Robin? What can I do for you today?" she asked the fifth year boy.
"I was wondering if I could ask you a quick question about one of my assignments. Professor Masterson is busy with another student and I've got class in about five minutes. Can you help me?"
"Sure, and I'll write you a note so that you aren't penalized for being late to your next class," she said, beckoning him over to the work table.
He smiled and said, "Thanks!"
Robin showed her his assignment and asked his question, which didn't take very long to answer. Soon he was on his way with a note in hand to give to his next teacher in case he needed it.
(Siegfried) Newly Single
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 05-13-13 13:36
The dark room at Quidditch Illustrated was a tiny, narrow basement room that might have made Siegfried feel claustrophobic if he weren't always so absorbed in his work. Somehow it also felt less stifling with another person in the room with him. He wasn't the only staff photographer and often had to share the cramped space with someone else.
For the moment, he worked alone. He hung up a series of photographs from a Valentine's Day charity Quidditch match, which he had volunteered to photograph since he'd not had anything better to do. Asa had dumped him a week ago and was already dating a professional Quidditch player, who had only recently come out of the closet.
In the week that had passed, Siegfried had experienced the five stages of grief. First, he'd been in denial. Surely Asa had made some sort of mistake. Surely Asa hadn't replaced him with a better model (the Quidditch player in question was broad-shouldered, lean and had chiseled, good looks.).
Then, Siegfried had gotten angry. How dare Asa dump him right before Valentine's Day! How dare Asa take up with another wizard so soon after getting rid of him!
Then came the what-ifs. What if Siegfried had worked out more instead of practically never? He'd always been thin but he'd never been fit, other than the brief time he'd played Quidditch himself. Would Asa have stuck with him if Siegfried had more muscles?
Next, Siegfried felt depressed. All the ice cream and chocolate bars in the world couldn't make him feel any better.
Finally came acceptance. It hit Siegfried like a ton of bricks. Asa had moved on, and while it had come as a surprise––there had never been any indication that Asa had lost interest or become unhappy––Siegfried knew his relationship was over and also knew, despite what his heart wanted, that it wouldn't do to dwell on the past.
That was why he had made the decision to try out Magical Match. He hadn't actually enrolled in the service yet, but he planned to do it as early as next week. Maybe going out on dates with others would help him get over Asa that much faster, and if not, at least it would get him out of the house.
Post Valentine's Depression
Author: Sage Porter
Date: 05-13-13 15:24
Valentine's had been a little depressing. Sage had bought Georgia something a long while back and several times throughout Wednesday he'd pulled the small case from his pocket, trying to decide what to do with it. Should he hold on to it to gift to someone else? Should he go on and give it to Georgia with an explanation? Should he see if the shoppe will take it back?
There was also the question of why was he even carrying it around with him all day? On some level he thinks it's because he was hoping to spot Georgia. If he saw her, he is pretty sure he would have approached and given it to her even though she's probably moved on to dating someone else by now.
Not helping yesterday was the big party Da threw at one of his restaurants. Though heavily Valentine's themed it was not a couples only affair. With nothing better to do other than study, Sage found himself agreeing to attend when Birdella came begging him to reconsider his previous answer of no.
What Sage hadn't know is that Birdie's cousin Esperanza has recently broken up with her long time boyfriend. With both Esperanza and Sage single Da and Birdie conspired to throw them together at the party. The two did hang out with each other more than anyone else and Sage does enjoy Esperanza's company but they are both agreed that nothing beyond friendship is going to happen between them no matter how much pressure is exerted on them to actually date.
That he enjoyed himself at all, with or without Esperanza there to help make one of Da's grand parties more bearable has had Sage feeling guilty all day. His best friend is being held at the Ministry on possible sexual assault charges. It seems a little wrong that he was at a party, even if it was just one of Da's, while Jared is sitting in a cell.
Realizing the time Sage puts down Georgia gifts on the coffee table, not even remembering pulling it out again. If he doesn't leave right now he'll be hard pressed to get to a class on time. The course professor is known to make a huge, haranguing productions out of latecomers and then tends to tell the tardy person to leave. So close to being finished at St. Emrys, at least for the current degree he's pursuing, Sage doesn't want to risk getting on a professor's bad side.
Backpack slung over one shoulder, Sage grabs some floo powder, hoping that his distracted thoughts of Georgia and Jared won't screw up his getting where he needs to go on the university campus.