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Waiting For Melanie
Author: Zabrynna
Date: 05-04-17 19:12
Mariposa pops a stuffed mushroom into her mouth just after asking, "Do you think she'll really show?"
Zabrynna selects a mini quiche from the try. "I'm skeptical. Whose idea was it to have hors d'oeuvres before lunch?"
"As we aren't eating until sometime after 2 AJ and I thought they'd be a good idea."
Nolan grins at them, a devil on horseback in one hand. "If I keep eating them I won't need lunch. Isn't she past due?"
"Yes, but not by much. She, or someone, hadn't been exact when letting Rand know she'd be visiting. In one to Declan she asked what our plans were for today. He let her know we'd be coming to your house, Dad, and gave her the address. She then wrote Rand again to tell him what time to expect her."
"Maybe she's having trouble finding the house," Mariposa muses.
"More likely she's going to let Rand down again."
"If it's not her writing why would someone else be that cruel to the boy?" Nolan reaches for a mini Yorkshire pudding with beef and horseradish.
"That's what we can't figure out. If something happened to Melanie we can understand that group not wanting to let on and having someone sending how are you type letters. What we can't figure is why lead Rand on in what would surely end with him devastated when she doesn't come."
They are interrupted by Rand rushing through the front door loudly proclaiming, "She's here! She's here!"
He runs back to the door, disappearing through the opening. Mariposa, Nolan, and Zabrynna exchange looks then rise to follow. Rand is coming up the walk hand-in-hand with Melanie. The woman is smiling and nodding as Rand chatters happily away at her.
Looks like Melanie.
Sounds like Melanie.
But...
Melanie is walking stiffly, talking stiffly, smiling stiffly. Coming up behind her AJ uses the word robotic. Zabrynna isn't familiar with that word. Also behind her now and beside AJ Declan quietly wonders aloud if Melanie is under a spell or if that's someone else who's used Polyjuice or some other means of transfiguration, perhaps even a metamorphmagus. Whatever it is, Mariposa, Zabrynna, and the three men even more quietly agree to watch her closely. They're unable to say anything more just then as Rand and Melanie reach them, Rand saying with a flourish of his arms, "Here's Mum!"
Kaycee - Spies
Author: Lee Sickleby
Date: 05-05-17 14:22
Kaycee sat on her bed at home and looked through the spy box she had found during the Easter egg hunt at Hogwarts. The box had been inside an egg that had blended in so well with the grass that Kaycee had almost overlooked it. When she picked it up, the egg changed colors so that it seemed to match her skin tone. Inside, was the spy box, which contained a number of objects such as a sneakoscope and invisible ink.
She'd never really been interested in spying but with the kit in hand, the possibilities seemed endless. Kaycee thought more that it might be useful in defending herself from the likes of Gerry and Will, though she could probably also use it to act proactively against them.
Kaycee still wondered how Gerry had figured out that she had been the one to give him U-No-Poo. At least, she thought he'd sorted out that she had been the one behind his digestive troubles, but he'd never flat out accused her of anything. All the more likely, he'd simply messed with her the way he always did. This time she was completely guilty, though.
"What are you doing alone in your room, Kaycee?"
She drew her gaze to the doorway and saw her cousin Lee leaning against the frame. He was holding a beer bottle in one hand.
"No offense," Kaycee began, "but there's no one my age here. Everyone's… well… old."
Lee chuckled. "Some of us aren't as old as others, but yes, you're by far the youngest. What have you got there?" His gaze fell onto the open box on her bedspread.
"I found it in an Easter egg at school," Kaycee explained. "What do you know about spying?"
Lee seemed to pause for a minute and then he said, "Well, I know that spying can be done for good or bad. For example, the Ministry of Magic utilizes spies to stop dark wizards, and dark wizards use spies to get Ministry secrets, among others."
"Let's say I want to get ahead of someone by detecting what he might do before he does it. Do you think I could with the things I've got here?"
Lee grinned. "Spying on a boy, are you? Aren't you a bit young to have a crush on someone?"
Kaycee colored and fiercely replied, "I do NOT have a crush on him."
Lee held up his free hand and said, "Okay, okay. Sorry I suggested it."
Kaycee shook her head by way of accepting his apology and said, "He and his friend pick on me all the time. I want to know what they are planning so I can avoid getting embarrassed."
Lee entered the room and sat down on the edge of the bed to take a closer look at the spy kit. "You've got Extendable Ears. Those will let you overhear conversations. You've just got to get them where the boys might be." He made a few other suggestions.
"Thanks," Kaycee said, feeling a bit more confident about her potential spying abilities. "I'll come out now and socialize with you old folks."
Lee laughed. "Don't look too closely, or you might find my gray hairs."
The cousins left the room then to spend a little more time with the family on this Easter Sunday Eve.
(Ariella) After Dinner
Author: Beck
Date: 05-05-17 18:16
Ariella grabbed two dirty plates from the dining table and carried them into the kitchen, where Alanna was busy washing dishes in the sink. The entire Beck clan and their individuals families had gotten together for dinner, and now that all of the guests had gone home, the girls were cleaning up while their grandfather read a bedtime story to Karina and Adam.
Ariella started to go back to the dining room, but she paused in the doorway and then turned back to her younger sister, who was concentrating very hard on washing the dishes. She'd noticed that Alanna was gradually becoming less withdrawn as time went by, but there were still times when she seemed to retreat into a dark place. Ariella had suggested that Alanna seek counseling for what she'd been through, but Alanna insisted she was fine. She was obviously not fine, but Ariella wasn't going to argue her point.
Alanna looked up from the sink and warily asked, "What?"
Ariella hesitated and then said something completely different from what she'd been thinking. "I was just wondering if you planned on going back to work soon."
Alanna lowered her gaze back to the plate she was working on and said, "I was thinking I would start searching the week after next, since tomorrow's still somewhat a holiday and all."
"That's good," Ariella said, nodding at the satisfactory answer. "Very good. Back to the Ministry, then?"
Alanna shook her head. "Oh, I can't go back there."
"Well, why not? We're all there, and it would be strange if you weren't there with us," Ariella remarked.
Alanna leveled her with a disbelieving glance. "Toby doesn't work at the Ministry, and neither do Gillian or Katherine for that matter."
"So…" Ariella hesitated. "Is it bad memories because of Reed?"
Alanna didn't immediately answer. Reed was certainly part of her reluctance to return, besides the fact that she'd gotten arrested and sent to Azkaban by Ministry officials. However, the main reason she didn't want to go back was because she wasn't sure she could face Jared. She often thought about writing to him, but she didn't think anything she wrote would be enough for him to forgive her. The fact that he hadn't reached out to her after the truth came out spoke volumes.
"Ah," Ariella finally said. "It's him, isn't it?"
Alanna tossed the sponge into the sink and mumbled, "I don't want to talk about it." She dried her hands on a towel hanging on a hook and added, "I'm going to go into private practice, and if I can't find anything, then I'll just start a new career. Can you finish on your own? I'm suddenly tired."
Ariella nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. Good night."
"Night." Alanna stepped out of the kitchen and went straight to her room.
Ariella sighed deeply, feeling bad for upsetting Alanna. She finished cleaning up and then kissed her kids and grandfather good night before going to bed herself.
Making Plans (Zuberi)
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 05-06-17 19:33
Leaning on a counter Zuberi flips through a calendar. "You don't have a preference?"
Olive shakes her head no. "With Hunter and Jade almost finished with seventh year we don't have the Hogwarts schedule to consider."
Depending on what dates they narrow their choices to the St. Emrys schedule may need to be consulted. As long as they give plenty of notice to those family members and close friends with jobs there shouldn't be problems though Olive and Zuberi are both aware that there's never a one hundred percent certainty when trying to pick a wedding date.
Zuberi looks up a thought having suddenly come to him. "Hogwarts Quidditch matches. We should ask Viktor if those are already scheduled."
Olive turns the calendar to thumb through to October. "First match is almost always November, right?" She taps the calendar. "How does sometime in October sound?"
"Works for me."
Olive writes on a notepad the Saturday October dates of the 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, an 29th. "When else?"
"We could go through and pick pretty much every weekend to start with," Zuberi chuckles.
"I know. I never realized doing something as simple as picking a wedding date would turn out to be not so simple."
Zuberi touches a binder Olive brought with her. "I had no clue how many details there are to figure out. Even picking the food can be involved."
"Which is harder to do without a date to give. At least we don't have to worry about a venue."
Aunt Blythe and Uncle Woody have offered the house. Viktor has offered his. Emerald's mother-in-law Furnella has offered one of the restaurant's special event rooms for the reception, or even the wedding if desired, but does need a date as soon as they decide so the room doesn't get booked by someone else.
Studying the calendar again Zuberi says, "I'm starting to feel partial to either the 15h or the 22nd. Customer."
He comes from around the counter to approach the man who's just come into Krum's Completely Quidditch where Zuberi is helping out today. A few minutes later he's run the man up and back with Olive who says, "Let's get lunch at the restaurant and we can talk to Furnie if she's there."
"Sounds like a plan."
Olive kisses him goodbye. Promising to be back soon to go to lunch with him, she leaves the shoppe to walk down to another to see if any bridal gowns appeal to her.
On Holiday
Author: Carys
Date: 05-07-17 12:43
Carys sat on the edge of a beach chair under the shade of a giant umbrella and watched over Meg as she sat in the sand, holding a plastic shovel. The almost nine-month-old wasn't at all coordinated enough to shovel up sand and put it into the red pail by her side. Instead, she alternated striking the sand with the shovel and trying to put it into her mouth.
Griffin and Tristan were in the water, which was so clear blue that one could see straight down to the sandy bottom. Brightly colored schools of tiny fish darted this way and that. Tristan grasped at the fish as they swam past, but they were too fast for him to catch.
Tristan splashed around in his failed efforts to catch the fish, and his laughter carried all the way to where Carys and Meg sat. When Griffin looked over to check on the girls, Carys waved him over, signaling that it was time to reapply sunblock.
The guys raced the waves to the beach and then came over to the giant umbrella, dripping water everywhere. Carys held up the tube of sunblock, which Griff used on Tristan before applying some to himself.
"This was a good idea," he said to Carys, referring to her wish to go on holiday to a sunny location. They'd decided on a wizarding resort in Cancun, Mexico and left Britain this past Saturday. The family of four celebrated Easter yesterday right there on the beach.
"Of course it was," Carys replied with a smile. "It was my idea, wasn't it?"
"Mum, won't you come into the water with us?" Tristan asked, eager to get back into the ocean.
"Yes, but not for too long. I don't want Meg to get too much sun."
Griff handed Carys the tube of sunblock so she could put more on the baby's skin as well as her own. He and Tristan ran into the waves again, and Carys carrying Meg soon followed for a short swim.
A Visit
Author: Illyria
Date: 05-07-17 17:43
Illyria stepped into the maternity ward at St. Mungo's and made her way to her sister's room. Arsinoe had given birth late yesterday to her fifth––and she swore last––baby, a girl named Amalia Coralie Crumm. Illyria would have come sooner to meet her newest niece and offer her congratulations to the parents and older siblings, but she had just gotten back to town after an extended weekend away with Nathan and Ian.
The family had made a quick trip out to the Cotswolds, where they'd stayed in a cozy bed & breakfast, gone for long walks in the countryside, and simply enjoyed the peacefulness of being away from their normal lives.
Illyria arrived at her sister's room and poked her head into the doorway. "Knock, knock," she said. "Is it too late for visitors?"
Arsinoe and baby Amalia were the only ones in the room at the moment. The eldest Jones sister looked up from watching her baby sleep in her arms and smiled at Illyria. "Come on in," she invited.
Illyria entered the room and put a decorative pot with daffodils on the bedside table, which already boasted various flower arrangements and greeting cards.
"She's adorable," Illyria said. Arsinoe offered her the baby and said, "She is, isn't she?"
"Are you sure you don't want another?" Illyria teased.
"I think I've reached my limit," Arsinoe answered with a grin. "You've only got the one, so you could have a few more. Where is your little lad, anyway?"
"At Hogwarts with Nathan," Illyria replied. "They're both tuckered out from the traveling. Also, I think my magic number is three."
"So two more, then. Good. Ian needs siblings."
"Speaking of, where are Amalia's?"
"At home with Quin. They'll visit in the morning again."
"When are you getting out?"
"Tomorrow afternoon, if all goes as scheduled." Arsinoe adjusted the pillow behind her back and asked, "Your Astronomy thing is happening soon, isn't it?"
Illyria nodded and sank into a nearby chair, all the while snuggling with Amalia. She told Arsinoe about the upcoming Astronomy Event, which would be taking place at Watling's Wizarding Academy in the USA. The trip to Colorado on the magical RV was only a couple weeks away. Illyria believed her students were ready for the competition. Hopefully they would do well!
Babysitting (Mason)
Author: Pyrrhus
Date: 05-07-17 20:07
Mason looks down at his nephew who is lying on a mat playing with the interesting to a baby objects dangling over him. Mason's nose and mouth wrinkle in disgust and he moves his shirt up to cover half his face. "God that's awful."
Boris, his voice muffled behind the hand blocking his own nose and mouth, comes over, wand raised. "I got this."
He says a spell Mason doesn't know. Giovanni's nasty nappy is gone and a fresh one is swaddling itself around the baby.
The aroma of poop lingers but is dissipating. Mason asks in wonderment, "Where did you learn that?"
"That girl I've been seeing, Mamie, has a baby stepsister and her brother has twins who turn one in another month or so. I was wanting to do something to impress her and in looking for something found this spell."
"So where's the dirty diaper?"
"Vanished to the nappy bin."
"Wait! We have to clean Giovanni's bottom," Mason looks to the gurgling baby, still enraptured by the dangling objects, "Don't want a rash, do we, Gio."
"Charm does that too. If you look, his bottom is clean and fresh."
Mason considers it as he doesn't want Pyrrhus and Isolde mad at him when finding their son has poop on his butt. He hesitates thinking to take Boris's word but then decides he'd better check. Sure enough, Gio's bottom looks clean. Mason doesn't smell for freshness.
He asks his friend, "So did you?"
"Did I what?"
"Impress Mamie."
"Yeah. She loves the spell. Sometimes I think she loves the spell more than she loves me."
Mason laughs at that. "So keep trying if you really like her."
"That's the plan. Say, you never did tell me how you're the one babysitting tonight."
Mason shrugs. "Something last minute came up and I was already here at Py's so volunteered."
The almost seven month old baby happy for now, though starting to show the first signs of sleepiness, Boris and Mason return to the nearby table to finish the pizza Boris has brought and continue the strategy board game they'd been playing.