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Puppy Love
Author: Carys
Date: 02-27-17 17:58
Carys sat at one of the tables in the lunch room at Tristan's school and talked to another parent who was also there visiting for Valentine's Day brunch. She'd made arrangements at work so that no one scheduled any appointments during the time she was set to be away, though the studio remained open for drop-ins. Juliet wasn't a photographer, but she knew all about the various photography packages and would no doubt be helpful to any unexpected customer who might turn up at the studio.
"How does Tristan like having a baby sister?" asked the other parent, a stay-at-home dad with two rambunctious little boys over whom he had absolutely no control.
"Oh, he doesn't," Carys replied with a little laugh. She dipped her chin to place a light kiss onto Meg's head. Meg was nestled in a sling strapped to Carys' chest. For the moment, the baby was looking around, taking in every sight and sound. There was a lot to see, too, since the lunch room was decorated for Valentine's Day.
"In fact," Carys went on, "Tristan has decided that Meg isn't his baby sister. He says she's actually his baby brother, whose name is Greg."
The wizard laughed. "You would think with the age difference he might not mind a baby sister for company. She'd be someone he could look after when they're both a little older. In my case, having two boys close in age probably worked out for the best, though––" He stopped suddenly, shot up to his feet, and shouted, "JACOB! JUSTIN! STOP THAT RIGHT NOW!" He then mumbled an apology to Carys and went to his two sons.
Carys chuckled while soothingly touching Meg on the head. The other parent's sudden shout had startled the baby a little bit. Meg relaxed quickly, however, and went back to watching her surroundings. Carys looked around, too, but didn't see her son anywhere. He was usually with Tyler, but Tyler was talking to one of the teachers.
Carys got up to see where her son had gone off to. While she wandered, she wondered if Griff would make it to the brunch after all. He'd said he might be busy at work but would try to show up if he could.
Carys eventually found Tristan. He was with a girl, and they were holding hands. Carys stopped in her tracks, shocked, and then backed away since neither had noticed her. She didn't want to embarrass them, but she also didn't know what to think. Was Tristan old enough to hold hands with a girl? Was this pigtailed girl his… girlfriend? This was brand new territory for Carys and she didn't know what to make of it. Puppy love. That had to be it. Carys went back to her seat, wondering if Tristan would come clean to her about his little crush.
Valentine's
Author: Plum
Date: 02-27-17 18:56
Coming from Muggle Studies Nathan and Justin enter the Great Hall where they are immediately showered with confetti of tiny white, pink, and red hearts. "At least it's not glitter," Nathan comments, flicking hearts from one shoulder.
As they know there is the possibility of being showered with glitter Justin chides, "Don't jinx us."
As they make their way to the Hufflepuff table, both mindful of not dawdling. They both have Potions in slightly less than an hour. They'd both prefer to be able to eat at a somewhat leisurely pace and still have plenty of time to get to the dungeons.
After he's put enough food on his plate to create a small mountain Nathan asks, "Did I tell you? I went with the Briar's Bakery Valentine's package."
"To which one?"
"All of them."
"All of them? Four? You sent four girls Valentines?"
"They're in different houses and I couldn't decide on just one." Nathan shrugs.
"Did you at least send them anonymously?"
"What would be the point in that?" Nathan is incredulous at the question.
With a shake of his head and a roll of his eyes, Justin reaches for a pitcher of juice. He also glances in the direction of the Slytherin table. He'd sent a bouquet from Botanicals & Beyond and one of the bakery packages, the card with each signed From A Secret Admirer. He doesn't know if either has been delivered to Willow Westwick though they both should have been by now. Justin hopes Willow likes them. If she does then maybe if he ever gets up the nerve to speak to her before the end of school, he'll mention being the sender.
Or not.
For the rest of lunch he mostly listens to Nathan and Kay, who joined them late, while trying not to dwell on his becoming painfully shy whenever a girl he likes is around.
Dinner at Home
Author: Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen
Date: 02-28-17 18:24
Rather than go out to eat for Valentine's Day, Fritz and Coco decide to stay in. It's a weeknight, after all, and both have work tomorrow. Fritz also has his St. Emrys assignments on top of everything else. And yet, because it is the most romantic day of the year, Fritz and Coco still want a nice meal together––nice, but quick!
They work together to prepare a salad, garlic bread sticks, and spaghetti with pasta sauce and meatballs. Once the food is on the table, they uncork a bottle of wine and sit down to their meal.
"This is our second Valentine's Day in this house," Fritz remarks.
"Time flies, doesn't it?" Coco responds.
Fritz nods. "We've been engaged a while, too."
"So your mother reminded me the last time I saw her!" Coco quips.
"Maybe we should consider setting a date, just to appease her."
"Do you think she'd mind if we set it ten years or so after your proposal?" Coco teases. "Not that I want to wait that long, of course, but we dated about that long before you bought me the ring."
Fritz laughs. "I'm all for waiting for when the moment is right, but we were also children for most of the time we were dating."
"True," Coco replies. "Okay, so let's come up with some options. Then, we'll have to discuss location."
Fritz nods. "If we can get something set up, then my mother might leave us be for a while."
"Somehow I think she'll shift her pestering to something else, like grandchildren of the two-legged variety."
"Oh, speaking of…" Fritz says, rising from his chair to leave the room for the moment.
Coco remains where she's seated and hears him walk through the house, open a door, and then walk back into the dining room. He's holding a birdcage, inside of which are two very colorful birds.
Fritz grins and says, "Lovebirds for my lovebird." He then waves his wand, undoing the silencing charm that's been on the birds since he snuck them home after work. They start chirping so loudly, that the various dogs lying around lift their heads and cock their ears. The cats, meanwhile, seem simultaneously startled and interested.
The birds were rosy-faced, one green and one yellow. Fritz asks, "So, what are you going to name them?"
Errand in Hogsmeade
Author: Illyria
Date: 03-01-17 18:33
Illyria looked out of the window of her chambers and debated whether to set out for Hogsmeade now or wait a little longer for the weather to clear. With her office hours beginning at 2 pm, Illyria didn't have a lot of time if she wanted to go into the village and do more than rush at finding a birthday gift for her mother-in-law. She should have taken care of it over the weekend but had found herself busy with work obligations and then had wanted to avoid the crowds conducting last minute shopping for their Valentines.
Heaving a sigh, Illyria decided to bundle up and set out for the village. According to the weather report, the icy drizzle was supposed to be ending soon, and it had already lightened a bit.
Illyria put on a warm, water-resistant coat, cap and mittens. Then she dressed Ian just as warmly and draped a woolen blanket over his stroller. They set out, navigating the castle before they reached the castle grounds. The icy air bit into Illyria's face, causing her to pause and readjust the bunny-eared hoodie on Ian's head. She also tucked the blanket up around him. As usual, he was alert, and he seemed quite keen to be going on a journey.
Illyria pushed the stroller over the barren lawn and then passed through the gates into Hogsmeade. Not too many people were out, though that was sure to change with the predicted improvement of weather conditions in the early afternoon. The pathway was icy in patches, but it wasn't too treacherous.
Illyria tried to think of a thoughtful gift for Nathan's mother. She didn't want to go with a gift basket of some kind. Hopefully something would jump out at her.
When Illyria came upon Gringotts, she saw a familiar person emerge from the bank. The witch, who was in her 50s or 60s, wore a cloak made from quilt squares. At the first meeting of 14-15-14 survivors, she had mentioned that a hobby and coping mechanism was quilting.
Illyria called out to her, "Esther!"
Esther turned and smiled when she recognized Illyria, though she couldn't quite remember her name. "Iona, was it?"
"Illyria, and this is Ian."
Ian's nose was a bit pink, but he seemed content.
"An icy day for errands, isn't it?" Illyria went on. "I need to find a birthday gift for someone. What about you?"
"Oh, I was just making a deposit. Heathcote has started something great, don't you think?"
"Er, yes… I think you're probably right." Illyria still didn't know what to make of Heathcote Hamstead and his survivors group, but then he hadn't given her any cause for concern.
The two chatted a brief time more before parting ways. Illyria was on a time crunch, not to mention, she wanted to get out of the cold!
Geneva
Author: Lucius Malfoy
Date: 03-01-17 19:02
Moving to stand behind Draco, who is slumped tiredly in a chair next to Astoria's hospital bed, Lucius gently places a hand on his son's shoulder, asking in a low tone, "How is she?"
"Physically, she'll be fine. Emotionally, I have no idea. This is the fifth miscarriage since Scorpius was born."
"Fifth? I only know of two."
"There were three before we had even announced the pregnancies. We kept those to ourselves. Astoria didn't even tell her mother."
Astoria stirs, prompting the two men to fall silent. Through barely raised eyelids she looks towards her husband and father-in-law, groggily asking, "Scorpius?"
"He's fine. On an outing with Carina," Draco tells her.
"I'm off soon to check on them," Lucius adds for reassurance.
Astoria's head moves ever so slightly in what might be a nod before her eyes close again, the sleeping draught she's been given pulling her back down in slumber. Draco waits a moment then eases his hand from hers then heaves himself out of the chair. Lucius and he step into the corridor where he says, "The healers have yet to determine why Astoria keeps miscarrying. She's becoming increasingly depressed and with each she grieves more deeply and for longer. I'm not doing well myself. We're concerned that Scorpius is beginning to suffer from out emotional and mental states."
"Consider having Scorpius stay with me for an extended stay or splitting time between the Greengrasses and me. You two take some time alone, talk with a counselor, maybe visit some specialists."
Draco glances back through the hospital room doorway then back to his father. "I'll discuss it with Astoria."
Lucius stays a little longer, sitting with Astoria so that Draco can stretch his legs, then leaves to join Scorpius and Carina on their outing.
Classes
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 03-03-17 16:11
In Monday's class, the Gryffindor and Slytherin fourth years had listened to a lecture on the Flagrante curse and learned about its purpose, uses in defensive and offensive situations, and some real-life incidents involving the curse. Now they were putting the curse into practice, albeit on a smaller and extremely contained scale.
Ethan had arranged large, heat and break-resistant cases around his classroom. Inside the cases were different objects, from an ordinary frying pan to a votive candle. An opening in the front of each case allowed the students enough room to cast the Flagrante charm on the object inside it.
Alice Acker practiced on a copper tea kettle. Stefan Carondolet had an iron, which burned the cloth underneath it. Mulberry Jones worked on the frying pan, in which was an egg. Unfortunately, she cast the Flagrante charm on the egg and not the pan, which resulted in a sudden explosion of yolk. Fortunately, the burning hot yolk didn't go anywhere, thanks to the protective case.
Soon thereafter, class officially ended. Ethan dismissed everybody and spent the time between classes casting countercurses, cleaning up egg yolk and candle wax, and stowing the protective cases for later use.
His next class consisted of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first years. They had spent the last few classes discussing the Wizengamot. As it was a fairly large topic, the plan was to continue and probably conclude the discussion during this morning's class.
In the short time before the first years began trickling in, Ethan thought back to two days ago, Valentine's Day. The holiday was a busy one for Briar, and having fallen on a Monday this year, Ethan had been occupied for much of the day as well. That evening, however, he'd gone over to Briar's house and prepared dinner for them. He'd debated inviting her to Hogwarts for the Valentine's Day meal there but had thought she might prefer a quiet evening after the hectic and very long day at the bakery.
Ethan had given her a bouquet of red calla lilies and a silver necklace with an infinity symbol woven through a heart. Briar had sent him back to Hogwarts with an assortment of "seconds" from the bakery. Thinking about the sweets made Ethan feel a bit hungry, but he had one more class to get through before lunch. Luckily, he'd brought some of the sweets with him to class. They were in his desk drawer. Ethan helped himself to a misshapen butter cookie heart, finishing it just as his first students entered the classroom.
Office Drop In
Author: Sage Porter
Date: 03-03-17 20:02
Though famished Sage sits down at his desk as soon as he's returned to the Ministry after handling a misuse of Muggle artifacts complaint. He wants to get the incident report written while it's fresh on his mind though he doubts he'll soon forget having to deal with a toy model airplane dive bombing anything that moved, its guns shooting minuscule, but painful, pellets.
He's not quite halfway through the report, mind starting to stray far too often to thoughts of food, when Birdie, with Senna in tow, interrupts. "Sage! Thank Merlin you're here."
"Birdie, is everything all right?" he asks, hastily rising only to be nearly bowled over by a happy to see him Senna.
"No, plans are in chaos. I'm to meet your father out of town but the nanny is ill. You have to see to Senna."
As the child in question is nearly strangling with with a tight hug Sage has to disentangle himself before he can say anything more. In that short time Birdie has produce a sparkly pink suitcase. "Here are some of her things and I've included a note on bathtime, bedtime, permissible snacks, and so on. Senna, come give Mummy a kiss."
The girl, who turns five at the end of March, obligates. She doesn't seem overly upset at being left though Sage guesses that could be because Da and Birdie are often off somewhere without her.
"How long will you be gone?"
"Oh, two, possibly three weeks. I told Nanny to take some time off once she feels better. Thanks ever so, Sage. Ta, Senna." Birdie turns to leave.
"Wait! Where are you going to be?"
"That's in the note."
"Why didn't you take her to Sassy or Saffron?"
"They're working."
"I'm working."
"Yes, but it's all that silly Muggle artifact nonsense."
Sage holds his temper, though barely. He doesn't want to yell at his stepmother in front of Senna. "Does your leaving Senna with me mean you're finally accepting that Georgia and I are getting married."
"Of course not. Your father does not approve and I support your father but this is an emergency, dear. Now, I must dash or risk being late and you know how Lohengrin hates any tardiness not his own." And she does dash, moving far more quickly than Sage would have thought her possible.
He stands a moment staring at the spot filled by Birdie a second ago. Sighing, he picks up the suitcase in one hand and scoops up Senna with the other. Arthur will hopefully be understanding that Sage may take longer than usual for lunch so he can get Senna settled. He's thinking either the daycare at Hogwarts or the daycare in Hogsmeade. She's familiar with both.
Sage's reaction to Birdie leaving Senna with him isn't that he dislikes having his little sister about. He does not view looking after her as an imposition. It's the last minute, no warning give ditching her with him in the middle of the workday and the insinuation that his job is so insignificant that he can drop everything on a moment's notice.
The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office is not large, though not as tiny as it once was when it was reduced to an employee of one, Arthur Weasley, so the walk to the chief's office is not at all far. Once he's had a word with Arthur, Senna and Sage head for the nearest bank of lifts, Sage asking Senna if she's had lunch and getting a reply in the negative, asking what she would like.