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(Franciscus) Lame Birthday
Author: Griet
Date: 05-16-16 18:50
Not for the first time that day, Franciscus cast his cousin a sour look and complained, "Why did term have to start on my birthday of all days?"
"Because you're lucky that way," Paton replied, with a lopsided grin on his face. He chucked Franciscus in the arm and said, "Hey, look at it this way. You've gotten extra attention from all the teachers and some students today. That doesn't happen everyday."
Franciscus shot Paton another look and retorted, "Saying 'welcome back' because it's the first day of Spring Term is not extra attention or anything special, and it certainly hasn't been directed at me alone."
Paton laughed. "Are you going to complain all day?"
Franciscus looked sullen. "Maybe. It's my birthday. I can do whatever I want."
Paton laughed again and said, "Fine. Let's have some lunch. Maybe the house-elves have left you a birthday cake."
They hadn't, but one of the dessert selections of the day was chocolate lava cake. Franciscus had a couple of slices of pepperoni pizza, pumpkin fizz, and the chocolate cake.
The two had gone home for the Easter holiday but hadn't made it out to the Quidditch World Cup Opening Ceremony in Greenland, despite very much wanting to. Instead, they'd listened to the broadcast over the WWN and bemoaned the fact that some of their classmates were there and would probably boast about it come Monday.
The other thing they'd done over break, albeit a bit reluctantly, was figure out what courses they wished to take as sixth year NEWT students next term. They decided to drop Astronomy and History of Magic, and Paton added Fitness & Athletics, which he currently wasn't taking. Assuming the more demanding teachers like Professor Snape allowed them into his class, then their class schedules would be identical.
Before they became sixth years, they had to write their OWL exams. Neither boy had given the end of year exams much thought yet, but that would soon change.
Notices
Author: Minerva McGonagall
Date: 05-17-16 18:52
Before going down for supper, Professor McGonagall made visits to each of the four House common rooms and the Common Common Room to post notices on the bulletin boards. One of the notices was a reminder regarding elective choices for the new school year. Another had to do with Careers Advice for fifth year students, in which they were to discuss their future fields of employment with their respective Heads of House. Some of the House Heads had met with students prior to Easter break. It was absolutely imperative that any student not yet advised do so promptly, in order to know what OWLs to focus on and which NEWT courses should be taken for their chosen career.
The other notice Professor McGonagall pinned to all the bulletin boards had to do with next year's Scholastic Aptitude Tournament, or SAT. Now that the schedule of competitions had been finalized, she wanted to give all students the opportunity to think long and hard about which events they might like to participate in. Actual enrollment wouldn't take place till next term began, but all the Headmasters of the participating schools agreed to give students plenty of time to mull over the possibilities and to come up with ideas for events that required long-term planning.
The notice described the SAT, which only students with older siblings who may have participated in the first one almost ten years ago would have any knowledge about. It listed the seven participating schools: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, La Escuela de Hechiceria, Okapi École de Sorcellerie, Watling's Wizarding Academy and Sydney's School of Wizardry. Then it listed the events with a only a tagline for a description and with a promise that more details would follow at a later date. The events were listed in alphabetical order: Arithmancy Challenge, Astronomy Event, Best in Show: Magical Creatures, Best in Show: Magical Plants, Broom Racing, Cauldron Clash, Divination Event, History Quiz Showdown, Invention and Design Competition, Mock Trial, Non-Magical Event, Runic Rodeo, Spelling Bee and Transfiguration Tournament. The other details to follow would include the actual schedule, location of events, staff sponsors, and more.
After hanging all the notices on the bulletin boards, Professor McGonagall finally went to the Great Hall for supper. She took her place at the High Table next to Professor Flitwick, who told her about his eyewitness account of the near incident at the Quidditch World Cup Opening Ceremony, in which one of the magical creature performers nearly abducted a Greenlandic teenager who was up to no good. Professor McGonagall, being an avid Quidditch fan, had listened to the coverage on the WWN. She would have loved to have attended the event itself, but she'd been on Order duty, following up on a bit of intelligence Doge picked up on a visit to Adriana Fairchild's lair. The tip hadn't panned out, which made Minerva missing the opening ceremony all the more disappointing.
Saucy Conversation
Author: Sirius Padfoot Black
Date: 05-17-16 20:39
Ivaylo Rakovski swallows bite that was a mix of beef, Yorkshire pudding, and gravy before saying to Drucilla, "This is the third time you've had me to eat and each time you've had at least one type of sauce or gravy. I thought the first was excellent, and the second time even better. Tonight's is superb. The best yet."
"Just a simple, so easy anyone can make it gravy, but thank you." Dru beams.
Mira tells him, "Mummy makes the best food. Except for cakes and pies. Grace's mum is best."
"Grace's mother is Briar of Briar's Bakery," Sirius helpfully explains. He then adds, "I don't know though, when Dru puts her mind to doing a sweet, I think she rates right there alongside Briar."
"You're only saying that so you can get extra slices of cake tonight," Dru says with a laugh.
Sirius waggles his eyebrows and grins back, causing the children to laugh as well.
"Are all your sauces and gravies as wonderful as what I've had?" Ivaylo asks once the laughter had died down.
Dru shrugs. "I think I do all right. I think of it as good and even tasty but I wouldn't describe my cooking as wonderful or excellent or superb."
"You're selling yourself short, Dru," Sirius tells his wife.
"f what I've had is any indication, I agree with Sirius." Ivaylo takes another bite, making sure to get both the beef and Yorkshire pudding dabbed in the gravy first. "Of course, I should probably have a wider sampling before knowing definitively if all your cooking, particularly the sauces and gravies, are as excellent as this is."
Sirius guffaws causing James to ask, "What's so funny, Dad?"
Ivaylo answers for him. "I've somewhat politely hinted that your parents should invite me to eat here more often." To Sirius he also says, "I should thank you, by the way. I know today was the first back to school at Hogwarts. Mira mentioned you usually eat there on such occasions."
Sirius and Dru both give Mira a pointed look to which she asks, "What did I do?"
Sirius then exchanges a look with his wife before they shakes their heads at Mira. "It's nothing," Dru says.
Not wanting to make the moment more awkward than it is, Ivaylo comments to Dru, "You should consider marketing your sauces if all of them are as good as what I've had."
Dru starts to shrug off the suggestion only to end up saying, "Hmmm, something to think about." She does do some part-time work still at the Ministry but has long thought she should consider something else. She just hasn't known what.
Sirius recognizes the gleam that comes into his wife's eyes. Her cousin's suggestion is something they'll end up discussing further, if not tonight then sometime soon. Picking up the platter of beef, he adds more to his plate and asks, "Anyone else want more?"
A Secret Revealed
Author: Zabrynna
Date: 05-18-16 21:36
Zabrynna has gotten into the habit of packing a lunch on days she works hours that include that meal. Every now and then she'll leave the museum to meet her sister or friends for lunch or will pop over to Hogsmeade to either eat lunch with Declan in the village or at Hogwarts. Today she felt too lazy to put together a lunch, thinking she'd dash out to pick something up and bring back to eat either in her small office or in the break room. The museum is in the process of installing a cafe but it won't be open for several more weeks.
As the morning wore on she gave thought to waiting until after she's finished for the day and grabbing a snack before going home only to find herself too hungry to wait that long. Zabrynna ends up leaving and, deciding just to eat wherever she goes rather than getting something to go, she selects a table for two tucked into a corner near the restaurants largest window, which overlooks a picturesque spot near a brook bordered by a forested area.
She's just tucking into a salad and sandwich plate, a book opened to one side when Mercy Carlyle cheerily says, "Zabrynna! I thought that was you. I've not seen you since term ended. How are you?"
"Have a seat. I'm good and you?"
"I was going to get take away but, thank you, I do think I'll join you. I've been great. Keeping busy."
"Me too. Now that term is over I'm on a more full time schedule at the museum."
"I'm working though only part-time and it's just in one of Daddy's offices."
"Yes? Doing what there?"
"A little of everything. He wants me to be familiar with all aspects of his various businesses for when I eventually take over the company."
"Sounds like you could be under a great deal of pressure."
"In some ways but there are also those who don't take me very seriously because I'm the owner's daughter. They can be bloody patronizing."
Before she can reply a male voice says nearly the same to her as Mercy had when coming over. "Zabrynna? I thought so."
"Mr. Towler, so nice to see you." Zabrynna pushes her chair back to get up to more properly greet Flynn Towler but he shakes his head and wags a finger. "No, no. Don't get up. I only wanted to say hello."
Noticing the face of her companion for the first time he speaks to Mercy as well. "Mercy Carlyle! I'm sorry I didn't say hello straight away. I only saw you from the back and the side and didn't realize you were someone I knew."
Mercy puts out a hand. "How are you, Mr. Towler?"
"I'm excellent, and you? Zabrynna?"
After both young ladies have replied they're doing well he says to Mercy, "I heard your father remarried. Is that correct?"
"Yes, that's right. Do you know Margretta Mathau?"
Flynn Towler gives an amused snort. "I do and that explains why I wasn't invited to either the wedding or the reception."
At Mercy's confused expression he enlightens her. "I had a relationship with Margretta that did not end on a positive note."
He looks to Zabrynna then back at Mercy then turns his head to see them both at once. He waves a hand back and forth between them. "Is becoming step-sisters how you know each other?"
Zabrynna visibly cringes and Mercy, even more confused now, says, "Step-sisters? No, we've been classmates at university. Do you perhaps know a different Margretta Mathau? Though I shouldn't think there would be two in the British wizarding community as Margretta is not that common a name."
Flynn looks apologetically at Zabrynna. "I'm sorry. I should have waited until I could speak with you privately before jumping to a conclusion your mother's patched things up with you."
"What? Wait. Is this true, Zabrynna? Your mother is the same Margretta?"
Zabrynna, face scrunching, nods slowly. "Yes, your stepmother and my mother are the same person."
"Why didn't you ever say anything when I first told you who my father was marrying?"
"Because if you were to ask Margretta about ever having children she'll tell you she has none. As far as she's concerned I don't exist."
Mr. Towler jumps quickly in to say, "I'm so sorry to you both. I should go now."
"No, stay and chat more with Zabrynna. I'm going to go. I need to think about this, process it. I don't even know whether to be angry with you, Zabrynna, or with Margretta, or both of you. I don't know if she's told my father about you or if it's even my business to know if she has." Mercy hastily gets up and as she just as hastily walks away says over her shoulder, "I'll see you soon, Zabrynna, if for no other reason than to tell you off for keeping secrets."
Flynn Towler drops into the vacated chair. "I can't say I'm sorry enough."
"No, it's all right, Mr. Towler. You couldn't know and, really, Mum - that is, Margretta - should have said something to her new family. Maybe she has to her husband and they chose not to share with Mercy. I don't know though if I had to put money on it, my bet would be she never said a word."
Mr. Towler feels badly enough that he ends up staying while Zabrynna finally gets to her lunch, ordering himself something as well, and picking up the bill afterwards. Over the meal they talk no more of Margretta, her secrets, or her new family, instead talking about Mr. Towler's fabulous new granddaughter, Zabrynna's adorable niece, and of being somewhat of a stepmother to Rand, in the process also filling Flynn in on how Rand came to live with Declan and her.
Project 25 Reunites
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 05-19-16 15:53
There were lights on in the small farmhouse in St. Bridget's Well, County Clare, Ireland, where Ethan found himself after finishing up his office hours. He stepped up the cobblestone walk and had his hand raised to knock on the door when it opened. A familiar face smiled welcoming at him.
"You made it, good," Maverick said. He gestured for Ethan to come inside, then looked right and left before shutting the door and securing it. "You're the last one to arrive."
Maverick clapped Ethan on the shoulder and then steered him down the narrow hall to a cramped kitchen-dining room combination. A dozen people sat around a solid wood table. It had been years since Ethan had seen some of them. A few hadn't aged a day, but others had changed in the passing years––a few for the better, but some appeared haggard or just plain old. The twelve––fourteen including Maverick and Ethan––were the surviving members of Project 25.
Besides the ordeal of being brainwashed slaves to Lord Voldemort, all had spent time in Azkaban and had gotten transferred to the various communities for Nons for being Muggle-borns. They had suffered tremendously, both physically and mentally, so it was little wonder that some hadn't aged well.
In addition to those traumas, some of the former members of Project 25 had had difficulty rejoining the real world. Not every employer wanted to hire a felon, even one who'd been brainwashed into doing terrible things. Others lived in hiding to avoid the stigma of being an ex-con or to keep truly criminal relatives from dropping in unwantedly, since some of the families surrounding Project 25 were still on the lam.
The hostess, as the farmhouse wasn't Maverick's, rose from her place at the head of the table and greeted Ethan.
"We're glad you could come," Monica Caufield said. She was one of the former Project 25ers who chose to live quietly. Her adoptive parents were in hiding after getting prematurely released from prison, and though Monica kept in touch with her adoptive sister Ally, Ally had no idea where Monica actually lived.
"I'm glad we could all get together at long last," Ethan said. He slid into the seat Maverick pointed to and accepted a beer from Monica.
"We have you to owe for all this," Maverick said. "If you hadn't come to me about what you know about a possible resurrection of Project 25, then we'd all be ignorant of what might happen. Better to have some forewarning than to be sitting ducks without even realizing it."
"I agree," said Josie Hepplewhite said. Her adoptive parents had been on the run for nearly eleven years. Josie lived in a small flat in London and worked as a part-time seamstress at Madam Malkin's in Diagon Alley.
"What news can you tell us, Ethan?" asked Monica.
Ethan looked from face to face. He didn't have any new news, which he supposed was good news, but the possibility that Adriana had Project 25 somewhere on her radar was still worrisome. He wished he could reassure everybody, but Ethan wasn't certain about anything. Everyone seemed to be looking to him for answers and advice, maybe because he'd been the only one of them all to break the hold Voldemort had over them.
"Unfortunately, I don't have any updates," Ethan began, "but I think we should prepare for the worst. Let's talk about what happened last time and see if there's something we can do to prevent us from losing control over ourselves. I don't know about you, but I was aware something was the matter when I first started transforming into Voldemort's pawn. The problem was, I had no idea what was happening to me. We have an advantage now. We've been through this already. If it happens again, and it is an if, not a certainty, then we know what to expect. Early detection just might help us."
There were nods and murmurs. Some spoke up about ideas of what to do if one notices a change in one's self. Others suggested coming up with a buddy system to check up on one another. There was an even number of them, after all. They could all pair up and keep an eye out for personality changes.
Once this was settled and agreed upon, Ethan was asked to describe how he reversed Voldemort's magic. Ethan didn't really have an answer to that, because it had seemed to just happen at first. Only when he became aware of himself again, did he work to fully remove himself from Voldemort's thrall.
Maverick suggested that perhaps Ethan could train the others to do the same. Ethan agreed that he would try. Besides sharing information and giving updates, they would have a training session the next time they met.
(Andromeda) What to do Now?
Author: Capri Brycin
Date: 05-20-16 18:27
Andromeda paced the bathroom he stomach was in knots she knew she needed to go to Madam Pomfrey. She had not had her monthly visitor in a while and she was getting worried. She had after all spent several nights in various broom closets with Kirby. Now she was starting to wonder if that was the brightest thing to do.
Her stomach turned again and she ran into a toilet stall and threw up. When she was done she straightened up and wiped her mouth and then walked out of the stall only to see Cierra standing there.
"I see you are still not feeling well." Cierra said.
"No." Andromeda shook her head.
"Kirby was asking about you."
Andromeda rolled her eyes, but Cierra did not notice. "I am going to go to Madam Pomfrey I really don't feel good." Cierra nodded her head and turned as Andromeda walked passed her.
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"No. I will be fine."
Cierra nodded and watched as Andromeda walked out of the bathroom.
******
"NO!" Andromeda cried. "The tests have to be wrong!"
"I have done three tests, Andromeda Dear. They all gave the same answer, you're pregnant."
Under her breath Andromeda cursed and she wanted to scream. How was she going to tell her parents that she was pregnant? What was Capri going to say? Not that she really care what Capri thought of her. But she was not ready for a baby. And then there was Kirby, what was she going to tell him?
In a daze she walked out of the hospital wing and began wandering the corridors of the castle. Time passed and she finally found herself in the common room and she ran into Kirby and Cierra.
"How are you feeling? What did Madam Pomfry say?" Cierra asked.
She looked from Kirby to Cierra and then back to Kirby. For a long moment she stared at Kirby and then whispered, "she said that I am pregnant." And then she pushed passed Cierra and Kirby and went to her room and flopped down on the bed.
A minute passed and Cierra entered the room and sat on the edge of Andromeda's bed. "Girl what are you going to do? What are you going to tell your parents? Your sister and brother? What about Kirby? " The questions kept coming and coming and Cierra would not shut up and Andromeda who had been staring at the canopy over her bed quickly snapped her head towards Cierra and yelled for her to shut up before she rolled over so she was facing the other direction. Cierra just got up and walked back downstairs to find Kirby so she could try and comfort him; she found him sitting by the fire place.
Coincidence
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 05-20-16 19:06
Dylan sat in one of the comfortable chairs in Twice Told Tales with a blanket covering his legs and a picture book in his lap. He was running a low fever and felt fatigued, but he wasn't sniffling or coughing. Because he wasn't feeling well, Lysander had kept him away from the daycare, where Dylan would surely infect the other children.
While Dylan studied the pictures in his book, Lysander straightened a nearby shelf and Julian checked out a customer. After the customer left with a sack full of books on garden slugs, Julian stepped out from behind the counter and went to help Lysander with tidying up the shelves. He glanced at Dylan as he passed the chair.
Dylan had dark curls and brown eyes. He was a handsome boy, and he was at an age where he was starting to show his personality.
Julian picked up a couple of books left on the end of a shelf and handed them to Lysander, since they belonged where he was straightening. "Have you ever noticed how much Dylan looks like Charlotte did at that age?"
Lysander glanced over at his son and shrugged. "They have the same coloring."
"They do, but the resemblance really is uncanny."
Lysander chuckled. "He does mimic Charlotte sometimes. Perhaps his looks have adapted in the same manner."
Julian laughed too. "Do you think Dylan has mastered the art of human transfiguration at such a young age?"
"You have a gifted child. Maybe I do too!"
A customer came in at that moment and requested personal assistance, so Julian stepped out of the stacks to help. Lysander continued straightening the shelves and then went to check on Dylan, who was quietly paging through the picture book. Lysander ran his hand over Dylan's curls. Julian was right. Dylan really did look a lot like Charlotte. It was nothing more than a coincidence, though.