|
|
Relaxing The Body and The Mind
Author: Desdemona Diamond
Date: 07-08-12 01:16
Bronwyn and I had spent an hour getting a message this morning. I couldn't remember the last time I had felt so relaxed. It was nice. I may be treating Bronwyn, but I totally needed this day too. Now, the two of us lay chin deep in mud.
We had been lying in silence for a rather long time. I had nearly dozed off more than once. Bronwyn certainly had to be snoozing by now, but, I figured I'd try anyways.
"Bron?" I asked quietly.
"Hmmmm?" came the sleepy reply.
"I just remembered something."
"Hmm?" She sounded slightly more awake.
"Toby's birthday. I haven't gotten him anything."
"I'm sure you'll find something."
"Yeah, I'll figure something out," Silence descended upon us again. Several minutes later I broke it, "Bron?"
"Hmm?"
"Thanks."
"For?"
"Everything. The List, your help and support…"
"You don't have to thank me, but, you're welcome."
"I know I'm a bitch sometimes, but I wanted you to know that I really do appreciate everything you've done for me. And I may not say it, ever, but, I love you, I couldn't ask for a better friend and sister."
A Surprise
Author: Mildred
Date: 07-08-12 03:23
Mildred watched as Queenie opened another of her Easter eggs. She got a pink bracelet and Queenie ,who had always been a little bit tomboyish, discarded it right away, raising it in the air and asking who wanted it. Amelia showed interest in the bracelet and so did Melpomene. Wesley made them all laugh when he snatched it from Queenie's hand and put it on, saying he liked it. A little bit later he removed the bracelet and put it inside his pocket. Mildred wondered if he was going to offer it to Rylee Marks, the Slytherin girl Wesley used to spend time with.
"My turn now!" Amelia said, and she chose an egg from her purple basket. Inside there was a chocolate frog, that she quickly grabbed and ate. She put the Albus Dumbledore's card that came with the frog in a small pile of other cards that she had won. This was her third Dumbledore card. Then it was Melpomene's turn and she screamed in panic when a scorpion jumped out of her egg.
Queenie used her wand to touch the animal, realizing it was made of plastic, but it was probably under a spell that made it move and look real. Amelia asked if she could keep it; she wanted to play a prank against her sister Alcmene who hated scorpions too.
"Of course, take that thing out of my view!" Melpomene replied, still trembling a bit.
It was Mildred's turn to open one of the eggs she collected when someone approached, casting a shadow over the circle of the first years group seated on the grass. They all looked up to see who the intruder was and Mildred gasped. This was probably some joke; her mother couldn't be here at Hogwarts. She wondered if this was a dream and if she was still in her bed at the Gryffindor tower.
"I'm sorry for interrupting but can I steal my niece Mildred from you for some moments?"
"Aunt Helen!" Mildred stood up and hugged the woman. She didn't have that many memories of her aunt but seeing a member of her family here ,at Hogwarts, was the best thing that happened to her in a while. he told her friends to keep opening their eggs and then she and her aunt walked away from the group. Mildred sensed they had a lot to say to each other.
She wanted to ask her a lot of questions but she held herself. She wondered if she did well hugging her aunt. Maybe she didn't like hugs, just like her grandmother didn't. Aunt and niece walked in silence for a bit and Mildred felt her aunt was inspecting her. Finally Helen spoke:
"I am sorry for not letting you know I was coming, but I wanted it to be a surprise."
"It was a good surprise," Mildred assured her. And then not knowing exactly why, she started to cry. Soon her aunt was hugging her again. And then the little witch couldn't help herself and started to say how much she missed her mother and that she wanted her back. That she wanted to go to Azkaban and take her father out of there so they could be together. She also said she had been afraid Helen didn't want to take care of her, since she didn't came to the Parents Weekend. She assured Helen she behaved well and she was having good marks in all her subjects at school.
"It's all right, Mildred. I am here now and things are going to get better, I promise. I went to visit your father and during your Easter holidays I am going to take you to see him. "
She offered Mildred a handkerchief and the little witch felt embarrassed because she noticed some people looking at her. She then apologized to her aunt for crying and for saying all those things.
"There is no need to apologize. You have the right to cry and I want you to tell me what you are feeling. And for the record, I do want to take care of you. I already told Mr. Northman my intentions of doing so and I am waiting for him to organize the documents of your custody so I can sign them."
"Really?" Mildred asked, giving her aunt a shy smile.
"Of course! I want to take care of my favorite niece."
"But I'm your only niece."
"And you're still my favorite."
Mildred laughed and then her aunt told her she was trying to find a bigger house so Mildred could move in with her and her husband. She showed Mildred a photo of her husband Daniel and the little witch found her uncle handsome. Then, reading her thoughts, Helen assured Mildred that Daniel was thrilled to have her living with them. He liked children and he even had a brother who was only one year older than Mildred. Maybe they could meet one day as well.
She told Mildred she painted for a living and that is why she needed a bigger house because right now the spare room she possessed was her atelier. She wanted to show Mildred her paintings and she even suggested she could use her niece as a model.
The tears had dried and now Mildred could not help to smile. Her aunt Helen was a kind and fun witch, with good mood. She reminded Mildred her mother and she wondered how it was possible that her grandmother had two amazing daughters when she was a bitter old witch. Maybe her grandfather had been a nice man and they had inherited all their good qualities from him. Mildred could not know since he died before she was born.
Suddenly they found himself in front of the Sims family. Achilles turned his head away pretending he didn't know Mildred. This morning ,while having breakfast at the Great Hall, he told Mildred his parents were coming to the castle for the egg hunt and that he was going to lie to them, saying he hasn't spoken to her since they had told him so. Achille's brother, Hercules, had his mouth filled with chocolate and her mother was lecturing him, asking him where his manners were. She stopped abruptly when she saw Mildred and Helen. Her eyes were cold and Mr. Sims had to tell his wife and children to keep walking, in an attempt to break the ice. The Sims walked away and Helen looked back observing them.
"Who are they?"
"The Sims. The older boy, Achilles, is my friend. We play chess together all the time. But his parents don't like me, so he is pretending he doesn't like me either while they are here."
"Sims…" her aunt told to herself. "Interesting."
"What about it?" Mildred asked with curiosity.
"It's not important. Have I told you that I am thinking of getting a pet? With a bigger house we would have room for a dog. Maybe we can go together to an animal shelter and you can help me pick one!"
And Mildred forgot about the Sims,excited with the perspective of having a dog, already thinking about what she was going to name it.
(Kate) Finding Johanna
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 07-08-12 11:15
"I'm going to get something to drink," Kate told Mark, after they'd been sitting by the lake for a while. "Want me to bring you anything?"
"Butterbeer, thanks," Mark said. "I'll, erm, chaperone the lovebirds over there." His eyes traveled a few feet away, where Felicia and Batlus were still locked in a passionate embrace.
"I think that means you're just going to keep an eye out for Professor McGonagall or one of the other teachers so that Slytherin doesn't lose anymore points!" Kate exclaimed, laughing. She got up and moved out of his reach. "Let them get caught. The more points your house loses, the better chance Hufflepuff has of catching up!"
"Hufflepuff will never catch up!" Mark replied with a grin.
Kate pretended to scowl and then headed off in search of drinks. Along the way, she passed a giant pavilion that she thought was a refreshment stand until she realized it atually belonged to one of the visiting families. Embarrassed for nearly having gone in to see about getting drinks for herself and Mark, Kate hurriedly moved on and then stumbled right into Johanna.
Kate reached out to steady her friend, who seemed just as surprised to run into someone as Kate had been.
"Sorry," Kate said. "I didn't see you."
"Me either," Johanna said. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Are you okay?" It took Kate only seconds to realize that Johanna was unhappy about something. "Is it Gus?"
Johanna's frown only deepened. "He can be such a jerk sometimes."
"That's because he's a boy who can be very oblivious about certain things. What did he do?"
"It's not even worth talking about," Johanna replied. "Where is Mark?"
"By the lake, making sure Felicia and Baltus don't get into any more trouble. They already lost points today for acting inappropriately," Kate said. "I was just going to get us some drinks. Want to come?"
"Sure."
They walked together in silence for a little while. Kate didn't want to pry into Johanna's business, but she hoped that Johanna knew that she could confide in Kate if she wanted.
A short while later they carried five butterbeers between them and headed back to the lake. Felicia and Baltus weren't in the middle of a liplock for once, but that was probably because Felicia's parents had shown up.
Kate and Johanna said their hellos to Mr. and Mrs. Flaversham and passed out the extra butterbeers they'd picked up during their run for drinks. If they'd known the Flavershams would arrive in the meantime, they would have picked up two more bottles. The Flavershams didn't mind, though. They were more interested in having Felicia take them around campus.
A little while later, the Flavershams and Baltus left, leaving only Kate, Mark and Johanna on the lakeside. The giant squid still swam in lazy circles on the surface of the lake, making Kate wish it were warmer so that she could take a dip too.
She rummaged through her Easter basket for more chocolate eggs and shared them with her friends. Chocolate wouldn't solve Johanna's problem with Gus, but hopefully it would make her feel a little better.
Jasmime The Speed Queen
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 07-08-12 13:01
When Julian first got Xavier and Jasmine to Hogsmeade, they were so poorly socialized even at only six months of age that it was easy to overwhelm the babies. Thankfully, babies being babies, it did not take them long at all to get used to be around so many other people, all wanting to hold them and kiss them. Julian has no idea what he would have done if for weeks or even months he'd had to make Grace show restraint in giving those two affection. At least being around other small children such her "cousin" Ava Weasley, Grace has a very good grasp of the proper way to hold them and what to expect when trying to play with infants.
The Hogwarts Easter Egg hunt is a good time for them to be out in the fresh air, with lots of activity going to help stimulate them. They'd both been a little developmentally delayed when Julian saved them from Vanessa, but with clean bills of health, regular feedings, and people who actually give them love and affection, Jasmine and Xavier are nearly on track. Neither knew how to crawl properly back in December but now they can both be difficult to keep up with.
That is exactly the case at the moment. Julian had been pushing the twins in a pram, their seats angled up so they could see everything going on around them when Jasmine got a little fussy. He quickly determined she was in need of a nappy change so he'd spread a little changing pad on the ground and made quick work of it. Jasmine had seemed content watching clouds scudding overhead that he'd turned away to drop the dirty nappy in one of the extra bins spread around the grounds for the day's special event. He turned back and she was well off the pad, charging across the grass like a tiny bull.
As when Grace was an infant Julian cannot understand how someone so small can move so, so fast. Stuffing the changing pad and wipes into netting at the back of the pram, he takes off pushing Xavier after Jasmine, keeping her in sight while trying not to go so fast that Xavier gets scared or jostled too much. As the sound of happy squealing and laughing as only a giddy baby can do emanates from his nephew, Julian realizes he need not have worried. In the meantime, though it should not be possible, Jasmine has actually increased her lead.
Julian brings the pram to a stop, hurrying around it, Xavier's infectious laugh causing him to smile even as he's feeling frowny at just how darned quick Jasmine is. A grown man should not have to be practically running to catch up with a crawling 9 1/2 month old baby, for pity's sake!
Julian reaches Jasmine just as she's slowing then stopping. He tells himself he would have caught up with her regardless of whether she'd decreased her speed or not. Jasmine's attention is on something glittery gold, her hand reaching for it. Before he can stop her, she's brought it to her mouth, but as it's an egg big enough she's having to use both hands to grasp it, at least he doesn't have to worry about her getting the thing in her mouth.
Jasmine happily coos at him as Julian picks her up to deposit back in the pram, not batting an eye when he takes the egg to make sure it's clean enough for her to keep chewing on. Not far from the glittery gold egg is a metallic blue one. It's also large enough not to be a swallowing threat so Julian gets frees Xavier from the pram to see if the boy has any interest in the shiny object. The sun glints off it just right, catching Xavier's eye. A few minutes later, Julian is strolling along pushing the pram again while the twins each happily gum the newest eggs collected for their baskets today.
Pale Yellow With Pink Speckles (Caerwyn)
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 07-08-12 14:16
While his father is chasing down Jasmine, Caerwyn is eating lunch with his sister Grace, cousin Charlotte who's not really related by blood but might as well be, Briar, and his best friend Augustus. Until Briar has sent Grace and Charlotte over to tell the two boys they were welcome to come eat, he'd thought much about food but then when he did think about it, Caerwyn was famished. He'd eaten a good breakfast and gotten snacks a few times, though he'd not yet gone through his stash of eggs in search of sweets.
Sitting now at the picnic blanket Briar has so carefully arranged on the ground with a variety of food to choose from, Caerwyn isn't sure he'll be digging into his eggs with sweets in mind anytime soon. He will, however, finally be getting around to opening an egg. Two, actually. Two is what has been agreed upon so that Grace and Charlotte can get a little satisfaction of getting the gifts hidden inside each egg while waiting on Uncle Lysander and Dad to get there.
Before sitting down to eat, neither Caerwyn or Gus had been in any hurry to open eggs. Stopping to open eggs, ooohing, and ahhhing over each prize took valuable time away from finding more eggs. Plenty of time to open them later. As long as they're sitting and having a lunch break, there's no extra time lost from the hunt. With this in mind Caerwyn finds himself excited at the prospect of opening his first egg of the day.
When Grace says, "Hurry so I can see," Caerwyn holds his backet towards her. "Pick one for me? Charlotte, you pick the second one."
Gus has his mouth full so without saying anything puts his basket closer to them so they can each pick one for him to open as well.
Grace hands Caerwyn a pale yellow egg with pink speckles. It's not very masculine looking but when it comes to getting a potentially brilliant prize, he's not going to be particular about the outer shell color. If the swag inside is girly, he'll give it to Grace or Charlotte but, then, he would have done that anyway, no matter where he was opening eggs.
Caerwyn looks up from the egg he's been handed to find Grace and Charlotte only inches away. It doesn't take much to imagine them with faces pressed against a window longingly peering in at whatever on display they covet. He takes the egg and lightly taps it on top of each of their heads in turn then slowly pulls the two sides apart, drawing out the tension of waiting to see what's inside.
What comes out looks like nothing much and both the girls visibly deflate somewhat. Then, Caerwyn picks up the nondescript square of heavy, thick parchment and notices the logo at the top as that of Emrys Fest. A quick scan has him thrusting the parchment to Gus.
"Am I reading this wrong?"
Briar is leaning forward asking, "What is it?"
Gus reads through then passes to her, shaking his head. "I think you read it right."
Grace, exasperated not to know what it is, stands up and crosses her arms. "Tell me!"
"Me too!" Charlotte chirps.
Accepting the parchment square back from Briar who's nodding that yes, he's read it correctly, Caerwyn grins at the two little girls. "It's a backstage pass to Emrys Fest this summer, which means I get to meet the bands."
"Wickedly cool," Gus assesses.
"Yep, very cool. Now open one of yours," Caerwyn unable to stop grinning.
Two Teachers Talk
Author: Illyria
Date: 07-08-12 15:12
Illyria made her way to the surprisingly empty picnic benches next to the stables and wondered if the reason they weren't in use was because nobody else had stumbled upon them yet. She climbed up onto one of the tables and used the bench facing away from the barn as a footrest.
From her vantage point, she spotted several so far undiscovered eggs. No doubt some student or visiting guest would find them eventually.
She reached into the pocket of her lightweight coat and pulled out a bag of butterbeer flavored gummies. She'd picked them up during her last shopping trip in Hogsmeade and had gotten rather addicted to them.
"Hiding out?"
Illyria turned to look over her shoulder and saw Jolyon standing near the stable doors. He had just stepped out and came over to sit next to Illyria on the picnic table.
"Not exactly," Illyria said. She offered him the bag of gummies.
He raised his hand to decline and said, "No, thanks. It's a nice day to be outside, yeah?"
"Yeah," Illyria agreed. "I've been walking the grounds all morning and decided it was time for my lunch break."
"Butterbeer gummies for lunch?" Jolyon asked, quirking one of his eyebrows.
"Why not?" Illyria asked. She smiled. "It's what I had in my pocket and I didn't feel like getting anything more substantial. Maybe later."
"Fair enough. So what's new in Illyria's world? We always talk work but we don't ever talk about anything else."
Illyria chewed on Jolyon's question for as long as it took to chew up one of the gummies in her mouth. "Three of my sisters are pregnant."
"Really? Wow. Congratulations to them."
"Yeah." Illyria left it at that. She was certainly happy for Arsinoe and Erigone, but she couldn't help but feel jealous that Urania was carrying Nathan's baby.
"And what's new in Jolyon's world? How are you holding up?" she asked, referring to the recent death of his father.
"My father and I never got along. At least not until the very end," Jolyon explained. He shrugged. "It is what it is, you know?"
"Yeah. Your mum is all right?"
"She's having a more difficult time with it but I think she'll be okay in the end."
"That's good."
Laughter drew both of their attentions. They soon saw a group of students come running, eager to be the first to find the eggs hidden around the stables. Illyria and Jolyon watched them but offered no hints when asked where else the students might look to find Easter eggs. Both had seen some here and there, but even they didn't know where the house-elves had hidden every last egg.
Muggle Movies then Lunch
Author: Araxie Loren
Date: 07-09-12 15:12
Giggling Nichole and I stepped out of the muggle cinema that we'd gone to to spend the afternoon instead of staying cooped up at either home. She had spent some time in her studio working through a few things earlier in the day until she'd opted to go to a movie and instead of going by herself pulled Nichole with her.
"I love coming to the movies..." She said as they headed from the theater toward the Wizarding SoHo a couple of blocks from where they'd gone to see the movie.
"I know, me too. I bet you are going to miss being able to go see them when you go to school in the fall..." Nichole said.
"You have no idea. I'm also going to miss my studio as well, but I will have to be certain to ensure that I have enough sketchbooks to last me until breaks."
They headed toward one of the eateries there and ultimately found a place to settle. "I'm however going to pick out my wand when the time gets here. Though, it kinda sucks that I won't actually be able to do magic away from school..."
"I know it, but you will have to tell me EVERYTHING about your first year and I'll have to see if I can come with your Aunt and Uncle when they come visit you - if they allow that kind of thing." Nichole said with a grin and they shared a large chicken caesar salad and sipped their own glasses of butterbeer.
"Of course, you know it and I will be writing you as often as I possibly can. I think my Aunt and Uncle are going to see if I can have Charlotte and an owl so that I won't have to use the school owls for each and every letter that I send."
Nichole and I talked for a little while longer as we finished our lunch. "We should probably head back to the house. I've got stuff to get done for my lessons tomorrow and I know your Aunt and Uncle are considering taking you to Azkaban again to see your dad, not that you want to go..."
I rolled my eyes and sighed. "I am really looking forward to going Hogwarts because that means that they won't be able to drag me to Azkaban whenever they feel like it. Though they will probably make me go on holidays."
We talked for a few minutes longer and ultimately headed back to my house to listen to some WWN and Nichole wanted to see what projects that I had been working on in my studio.