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(Ramona) Boys
Author: Griet
Date: 04-11-14 17:05
While Professor Knight gave a few closing announcements, Ramona jotted down the homework assignment from the blackboard and then gathered up her things. She got up to leave the classroom and met Gus Hodfuffer's eye. He was taking an extra long time packing up his belongings, with Caerwyn elbowing him in the side every so often.
Ramona shot Gus a small smile and then left the classroom, debating between heading upstairs to swap out her school supplies or eating lunch first. A loud stomach growl made the decision for her. She went to the Great Hall, but instead of going to the Ravenclaw table, Ramona went to sit with her sister Sadie, who was sitting at Gryffindor with Hunter Rabnott.
"Hi," Ramona said, leaving her things on the empty seat next to her and sitting down beside Sadie.
Sadie looked at her in surprise. "You hardly ever sit with me at lunch, and you never, ever sit with me when I'm at Hunter's table. What's wrong?"
"Nothing's wrong," Ramona said, "except for boys."
"Ah," Sadie said, shooting Hunter a quick grin before turning her attention fully on Ramona. "What's the matter?"
"Well, you know how Gus asked me to be his Valentine's date the night before last?"
"Yeah," Sadie said. Her eyes briefly left Ramona when she noticed Gus and Caerwyn enter the Great Hall. Gus scanned the Ravenclaw table first, and then expanded his search for Ramona to include the other house tables.
"Well, you know I said yes, and he seemed happy and I was happy, and still am, of course, but I just don't know what being his Valentine even means. Is he going to spend the day with me, carrying my books between classes, sitting with me at meals? Is this just a Valentine's Day thing or is it something more?"
For the first time, Ramona looked around to see if Gus had made it to the Great Hall and spotted him standing near the door with Caerwyn elbowing him in the side again. "It's been like that since yesterday," Ramona murmured. She managed a small smile and said, "I think he's confused."
"He's not confused," Hunter put in, glancing over Sadie's lunch dish to look at Ramona. "He's so mesmerized by your Mickle beauty--I can say that since I am dating your mesmerizing sister--that he doesn't even know how to speak with you. He's probably got the bruises to prove it." Hunter touched his own ribs as if Caerwyn had been elbowing him there instead of Gus.
"Yeah," Sadie concurred, nodding her head enthusiastically. "I know Gus and I wouldn't call him bashful, but there's something about you that stops him in his tracks. Look at him," she went on, smiling, "it's like the bottoms of his shoes are spellotaped to the flagstones."
Gus seemed to want to move forward to join Ramona at the Gryffindor table, but he couldn't quite force himself over. Caerwyn eventually grew tired and went to the Hufflepuff table. Gus hesitated a minute longer and then joined his best friend there.
"I think you need to take the lead," Hunter said. "Just go over there. Don't wait for tomorrow to come around, especially if he gets cold feet and ends up getting an elbow in his ribs for his efforts."
"Lack of effort you mean," Sadie said. "Yeah, go for it, Ramona."
Ramona nodded. "Okay." She grabbed a dinner roll and stuffed it in her mouth for fortification. She got up, chewed and swallowed as quickly as she could, and then plopped down on the bench next to Gus.
"Hi," she said breezily, reaching over to grab a carafe filled with fizzy water.
Gus found his speech surprisingly quickly and said, "Hi."
Ramona shot a look over her shoulder at the Gryffindor table and saw Hunter and Sadie give her a thumbs up. She turned back to Gus and smiled.
Not Bitter At All
Author: Dante Knight
Date: 04-11-14 18:57
After the sixth years have filed out, Dante debates whether to go to the Great Hall for lunch, go on a run on the grounds before his afternoon office hours, or go into Hogsmeade to grab a bite there then go on a run around the outskirts of the village. In the short time it took him to prep the room for Thursday morning's Hufflepuff and Slytherin fifth years and the seventh year NEWT course, he'd decided upon the latter. In his office he doffs his professorial robes, under which he was dressed for running. After grabbing a jacket to help ward off the cold until he's warmed up from running, Dante left the castle for he village.
Shoppe windows, even in establishments such as Dogweed & Deathcap, are adorned with a profusion of red, pink, and white in the form of hearts, flowers, arrows, cupids, and anything else that might possibly be associated with Valentine's Day. With Hogwarts abuzz with students either looking forward to tomorrow or wishing the observance would be outlawed, Dante is overly aware of his lack of even a casual dating life. This is the first time he can think of being so keenly aware of how lacking his love life is and it comes at a time when he'd be least likely to make any sort of step to rectify the situation. The Rita Skeeter article may be months in the past but he has no doubt it would be dredged up by many a potential date. He's not quite ready for that.
Entering Brews & Stews with a mind to get something that won't sit heavily on his stomach when he goes for that run, Dante sees yet another advert for Valentine's themed items, in this instance hearts and flowers marzipan. After getting some soup, he sits with it, thinking about the Valentine's marzipan. He decides that after his run or later this afternoon when his office hours have ended, he'll get sweets of some sort to pass out in his two classes tomorrow, maybe also getting enough for those sections not seeing him on February 14th. At this stage, Honeydukes may be his best bet and going sooner rather than later would probably be best. This evening, shoppes with anything Valentine's related may be swamped with those waiting until the last minute to buy anything. Perhaps the thing to do is go after he's finished with his meal and do the run later today.
Mind made up, the run put off, Dante now wishes he had something along to read as he eats. That thought almost immediately flies away when a woman sits down across from him. She appears middle aged, chestnut hair with a scattering of grey mixed in. He's never seen anyone with this particular visage but there is a familiarity about her eyes.
A tight smile, somewhat forced but with a hint of warmth, pulls at his lips. "Sunshine."
"Hi, Tag. How have you been?"
"I can't complain though I'd be a hell of a lot better if I knew whose Skeeter source was."
"It wasn't Rocky or Dad."
"You know that for a fact?"
"No, but I believe them. We would never do that to each other."
"Yet Rocky once threatened to reveal me to Albus Dumbledore."
"An idle threat. Nothing more."
"I wish I could believe that." Dante puts down the spoon he's been tightly gripping. "If you came to find out how I am, you've gotten when you need. You should go."
"You're going to report this to the Ministry, aren't you?"
"I have to."
"No, you don't, but I understand what you mean."
"Do you really because I doubt that very much. I know exactly the what you've been through. What you're going through. I've lived it. You, on the other hand, have no idea what this life is like."
His sister nods as if to agree to his point. Her next words take him by surprise. "You weren't there in the beginning. You don't know. I vaguely remember that explosion. Mum and Dad's panic. Those first months constantly moving, never staying anywhere more than 24 hours. They were scared and it showed. Rocky and I had no idea what was going on and we wouldn't have understood, not fully, if it had been explained but we both knew something bad was happening. Something bad had happened. When you were born, they were no longer frightened every second of the day. We were very nomadic but we weren't sleeping in a new place very single night. You do know the life to a point, but you didn't experience all of it."
"You almost sound as if you blame me for that. Put it where it goes, squarely at our parents' feet."
"No bitterness there at all."
"You don't need to be sarcastic, especially when it's true. They chose to be people who did horrible things to others. They chose to go on the run with their two children. They chose to have a third child while living on the run. They chose a life as con artists. They chose to use magic to bilk money from the unsuspecting. They chose to shut me out when I wanted something else in life. So, no, no bitterness at all."
"Now who's being sarcastic."
Tired of this Dante looks directly across the table at her. "If you are done checking on how I am, for whatever the hell reason, since you don't seem interested in leaving any time soon, I'll be the one going."
"Does there have to be a reason other than you are my brother and I want to know how you are? Or is Mum always being worried about you reason enough? Or how about the fact that Dad is forever concerned?"
"Dad tells me I'm no longer a member of the family. Mum supports his decision. You want me to care that they're concerned and worry for me?"
"Don't sit there pretending you don't give a damn about them when you do."
"How do you know what I do or don't care about these days?"
"You forget, I'm your big sister. You never could lie very well to me."
"According to them, I don't have a big sister any longer."
Sunshine reaches out as if to pat Dante's hand but he pulls it out of her reach. She looks dolefully at him before moving to stand. "I'll let them and Rocky know you are well and just as stubborn and obstinent as ever."
Dante shrugs. "As I don't exist to them, I don't see the point but, hey, it's your time and energy wasted."
Sunshine stands there a second longer, sorrow written across her face. Her hand flutters towards him for a parting touch but she stops herself. Hand dropping back to her side, Dante's sister walks away. He doesn't turn to watch her go, instead focusing on cleaning up what's left of the soup he no longer wants.
After waiting a few minutes, he too leaves Brews & Stews, walking down to Honeydukes to see what sort of Valentine's candies the sweet shoppe is offering that might appeal to his students.
(Andromeda) Tomorrow is Valentine's Day
Author: Capri Brycin
Date: 04-12-14 14:06
It had been more than a week since Capri and Andromeda had gotten into their fight in the Slytherin Common Room and the subsequent howlers that came the day after the fight.
It had been extremely embarrassing for Andromeda to receive a howler from her parents during breakfast the morning after the fight and the fact that her parents had been called in to talk to Professor McGonagall and Snape about the fight.
Now Andromeda sat with Cierra and Kirby in the Common Room. The three sat around and talked about Capri and Mark for a long time but Andromeda was growing weary of that conversation. She hated her sister and she knew she should keep it in the family but it was hard. She hated Capri with a passion and making her life miserable was always something she enjoyed doing.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore." Andromeda drawled.
"Valentine's Day is tomorrow." Cierra said with a smile. "Are you two looking forward to it?"
"Not really." Andromeda said. "I could do without the lovely dovey crap."
Kirby sighed softly he really liked Andromeda and wanted to ask her out but every time he thought about asking her, and this time was no different, she would say something about bad about being in love or in a relationship with someone.
"It's just another day for people to buy over priced gifts for each other that mean nothing." Andromeda said flatly. "I could care less."
"All that being said." Kirby said, "Would you like to go out with me?"
Andromeda tilted her head to the side and just stared at Kirby. "Are you stupid or something? I just said I don't like Valentine's Day and all the lovey dovey crap what makes you think I'd want to go out with you?" She said her voice harsh and cold.
"You always acted like you liked me. I thought maybe…" Kirby stopped talking when Andromeda started laughing.
"The one thing that my sister had right was that you were just the flavor of the day."
"Fine." Kirby said and stomped off and out of the Common Room.
"Wow! That was just mean." Cierra said and followed Kirby out of the common room leaving Andromeda alone.
Not Telling (Hunter)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 04-12-14 18:00
Turning from the bar with the drinks for Sadie and him, Hunter thinks about the question Alan Birdwell recently asked. Do you ever have moments when you're tired of of spending so much time with Sadie?
Sadie and he do spend a great deal of time together. Today, for example, they ate breakfast at the Hufflepuff table then both attended History of Magic followed by Transfiguration. Lunch was spent together at the Gryffindor table, which was then followed by the shared classes of Potions and Ancient Runes. Now, they're here in commons.
They don't spend every single waking moment together. Their schedules aren't identical. They each have Quidditch practice on their respective teams. Hunter and Sadie sometimes study separately, spend time with their respective friends without the other one present, and don't eat every single meal together. In the big picture, however, they are together in some fashion a majority of the time.
When Alan had asked his question Hunter had honestly answered, "No, never." He hopes there never comes a time when his reply to such a question would be, "Sometimes."
Joining her now, he can't help but smile at the way Sadie's hair has fallen forward as she studies the book in front of her, fetchingly framing her face. She looks up as he sets the drinks on the table. "What?"
"What what?"
"You've got a look."
"I do?"
"It's because you're going to tell me, aren't you?"
"Tell you what?"
"You know."
"Oh, that."
"Yes, that."
"I'm not telling."
Sadie's pout is very pretty but it combined with her, "Pleeeeaaase?" doesn't sway him.
"No."
"There's no need to make me wait until tomorrow."
"Valentine's gifts should be given on Valentine's when possible."
Sadie's pouty frown turns to a grin. "Gifts. Ha. That tells me I'm getting more than one."
"Or, I was speaking generally."
"But, you weren't."
"You're right. I wasn't. Instead of a single piece of chocolate you're getting two."
She makes a silly face at him. "Two whole pieces! I have the best boyfriend in the universe!"
Hunter makes a comical face at her in return. They grin goofily at each other then turn their attention to the assignment they've decided to work on before time to go to the Great Hall for supper, Sadie having no clue just how much Hunter actually does want to spill on what her gifts are. Sadie's favorite flower is the daffodil and she also loves the color purple so one gift she'll get tomorrow is a bouquet of vibrant yellow daffodils mixed with purple tulips. There will be the expected chocolates along with a pendant of daffodils with hummingbirds.
(Kate) After History of Magic
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 04-13-14 11:00
Kate filed out of History of Magic class, which saw congestion at the door because Professor Douglass was standing there handing out foil-covered chocolate hearts and wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day. Kate held out her hand for a chocolate and stepped out into the hallway to wait for Johanna and Felicia, but Hugo found her first.
"I think every class should end with chocolate, don't you?" he asked.
"I'm in full agreement," Kate replied, grinning. She took the foil off her chocolate heart and popped the whole thing into her mouth.
Hugo waited for her to finish and then held out his piece of chocolate, which just happened to be dark chocolate, her favorite.
"You don't want it?" Kate asked.
"I want you to have it," Hugo replied, pressing it into her hand.
"Well, if you insist."
"I do, and there's more where that came from," Hugo added.
"Oh?" Kate replied, arching an eyebrow. "Do you really think you can convince Professor Douglass to give you more, or are you planning on lifting the entire bag straight from his hand?"
Hugo laughed and said, "No, nothing as extreme as that." He reached into his book bag and extracted a rectangular box that was longer and thicker than a jewelry box but was still relatively small.
"Happy Valentine's Day, Kate."
Kate looked at him in surprise and asked, "What's this?"
"Open it."
She took the box and put the extra chocolate heart candy in with her own books so that she had two free hands. She opened the box, revealing a chocolate covered rose. Like the heart, it was also wrapped in foil. The stem was green and the flower itself was a shade between red and pink.
"Don't get any ideas about saving it for eternity," Hugo said jokingly. "You're meant to eat it."
"Oh, I plan on it," Kate said, looking up at him with a smile. "Thanks, but you didn't have to––"
"I wanted to," Hugo said. He glanced down at her mouth, and for a moment, Kate wondered if she had chocolate on her lips. The next thing she knew, he was kissing her right there in the hallway.
(Devon) Presents
Author: Diana Clarisse Thatcher
Date: 04-13-14 13:11
Friday, and tomorrow is Saturday. But Devon is in the Ravenclaw common room getting the presents he will give Diana. Yes, he knew that Diana is a second year and they are both young still. But being friends and giving and receiving presents are fine. He will wait until he could really date her.
He got the presents that he carefully wrapped in wrapper that is full of hearts. He was thinking he would give it to her until the day ends.
He had DADA after Potions and all he could think about is Diana. As if on cue, he thought of something. He would ask her if she could make him an essay for Transfiguration. Maybe just an idea.
Just then somebody said hi.
" Hey, how are you? I'm Laura, second year." she said smiling.
" Hey, yeah I remember you." Devon said.
"So, what's new?"
"Ive had this presents for Diana."
"Oh that's nice. You mean Galadriel's friend?"
"Yeah. "
"I have some too for him."
"That's nice. So, happy valentine. I got you a card."
"Really, oh thanks."
"So we could be friends now?"
"Of course! Well we're in the same house! Goodluck on Diana!"
"Goodluck on Galadriel." with that she went out of the common room. Devon still thinking about Diana.
(Mark) Impulse
Author: Isolde
Date: 04-13-14 13:34
When Mark woke up halfway into what should have been his Herbology lesson to an empty dormitory room, he decided to go to the Hospital Wing and feign exhaustion from studying for the N.E.W.T.s. He'd hardly done any studying for those very important end of year exams, but he knew that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't doubt him if he walked through her door and pretended as if the stress was simply too much for him.
He did just that, bringing his book satchel with him so that he could make it to Charms class, assuming Madam Pomfrey found him fit enough to attend. After forcing a rather foul-tasting potion down his throat, she sent him on his way with a note for Professor Masterson. As Mark had no intention of attending what remained of that class, he took his time walking from the first floor to the third, where his Charms classroom was located.
Along the way, he stopped off on the second floor, opting to use a back staircase instead of a more convenient one, since he had some time to kill. He didn't realize he was in the vicinity of Kate until he turned a corner and saw her kissing Hugo. Mark stopped in his tracks. The longer he watched them kiss, which was going on for a frighteningly long time, the more angry he became.
Mark itched to march up to Hugo, pull him off of Kate, and punch him squarely in the nose, but excited titters stopped him from moving forward. His eyes traveled across the crowded hallway to Johanna and Felicia, who had just spotted the kissing couple. Mark backed away, deciding to go back to the main set of staircases. The image of Kate and Hugo was burned into his mind.
Reaching the staircase, Mark pushed a first year out of his way and then took the steps two at a time. Luckily for him, the staircase stayed put and didn't take him on an unwanted detour. When he reached the third floor landing, he found Capri at the top.
She looked at him questioningly. "Where the hell were you?" she asked him, referring to his absence in Herbology class. "Professor Boringston was extra lame today. I can't believe you made me suffer through that class on my own."
Mark didn't reply. Instead, he grabbed Capri by the neck and crushed his lips against hers. She pulled back and slapped him hard across the cheek.
They glared at each other for half a second, and then Capri seized him by the front of his robes and kissed him.