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Matchmaker In The Making?
Author: Fionna
Date: 07-31-10 21:53
At the start of Emrys Fest, Fionna worked a shift at a booth for Terrortours. They have an assortment of freebies, pamphlets on the various holiday packages, and a raffle for four different trips. She'd signed up for the first shift so that she could then spend the rest of the day enjoying the music festival without having to watch the clock. It also meant she'd be done working at noon, just in time to be able to fully enjoy Dragon's performance at 12:15.
Leaving the booth, Fionna had gone to where her brother, Fergus, and cousins Leslie and Catriona Amherst, and friends had staked out a spot. After accepting a lager from Fergus, she'd moved to stand with Leslie and Fionna's best friend Basilia Broomshull. They'd not had much chance to talk in the lull between the ending of Spellorama's set on stage 1 and the beginning of Dragon's set on stage 2. Fionna had let out a loud whoop, looked down to double check she'd pulled her Dragon t-shirt on after leaving the Terrortours booth, then danced in place to the music, singing along to all the tunes, a couple of which were being debuted today but were already old hat to Fionna.
At one point Basilia had nodded in Catriona's direction and said loudly enough for Leslie and Fionna to hear her, "Cat's boyfriend is a cutie."
To which Leslie said, "Speaking of cuties, have I ever mentioned how hot your boyfriend is, Fi?"
She'd looked up at the stage where Jericho Japes was shirtlessly playing keyboard then she grinned over at Leslie. "He is pretty amazing, isn't he?"
"I wish Graham's stomach looked that nice and firm and all washboardy," Bas said wistfully.
Leslie shot Basilia a confused look. "Why would you wish that about your ex-boyfriend?"
"He's not my ex anymore. We're on again."
Fionnay cut in, "They've been on again, off again since about this time last year."
"We're very on again at the moment. We're getting a place together in Kent, on the outskirts of Dover."
"You have Graham. Fi has Jericho. I am woefully single. My baby sister is doing better than I am," Leslie lamented. She suddenly brightened. "Is Jericho's brother single?"
All three sets of eyes went to the stage where Ronan Japes was belting out another song as Dragon's lead singer. "For now," Fionnay finally said then with an impish grin added, "Maybe not for long."
When Dragon's set ended Fionna, with Leslie, went to where Jericho had said he'd come after they were down breaking down their stage so that The Wicked Wizards of the West could get ready for their set after Charmed down on stage 1 finished the set they were just getting ready to start. When Jericho came out, Ronan was with him as Fionna had hoped. After Jericho and Ronan dealt with some groupies and autograph seekers, Fionna and Jericho walked hand in hand to where the others are, leaving Leslie to walk with Ronan, making sure he knew where to go.
Caught
Author: Ella
Date: 08-01-10 10:57
In the minutes between the end of Dragon's performance and the start of Charmed's set, Ella excused herself from the company of Francis and Ashleigh to get something to drink. It had been nearly a month since she'd last seen her friend, and while she would have preferred to have him to herself, she figured she could tolerate one day with Ashleigh in their company too.
It wasn't that Ella didn't like Ashleigh. The girl was nice enough. It was just that all Francis ever did upon his first meeting with her was talk nonstop about how great she was, so much so that it drove Ella up the wall. Seeing them in person together kind of made Ella sick, but she vowed that she would be nice and try to accept that Ashleigh was a meaningful part of Francis' life.
The line for the concession stand was long, so it took Ella a while to get an ice cold bottle of butterbeer and rejoin Francis and Ashleigh at their spot located conveniently between stages one and two. Charmed was already playing, and people were bobbing up and down to the music.
Francis and Ashleigh were sucking face when she got back. Ella rolled her eyes and turned away from them, when she caught sight of someone she didn't expect to see.
Zane had spotted her and was moving towards the crowd to meet her. Ella felt her legs turn to jelly, and just when she thought about moving away from Francis and Ashleigh to meet Zane, he'd reached them.
He didn't look very pleased to see Ella.
"I thought you said you had other plans and wouldn't be able to come to Emrys Fest with me," he shouted at her, to be heard over the music.
"I wasn't lying," Ella shouted back. "I did have other plans. My friend Francis invited me to come with him," she went on, gesturing to Francis, who was still making out with Ashleigh. "I didn't think to ask him if you could tag along with us."
That last bit was a total lie. Ella would have loved to have gone with Zane and Zane alone, except that no one was supposed to know they were dating. What would everyone think to see her with an older guy, and what would he think if he ever learned the truth about her age?
Zane still didn't look happy but he seemed satisfied with her answer. He stepped closer to her and started to put an arm around her shoulder, but Ella dodged it and started to dance to the music. She felt extremely nervous and wondered how she could get out of what could potentially become a sticky situation.
But then she felt hands around her waist and felt Zane's breath on the back of neck. Maybe she could pretend he was just some stranger who wanted to dance with her and, um, kiss her neck. Surely such things happened at dance clubs and parties.
Ella tried to keep her back to Zane, but somehow he managed to turn her around and bent to kiss her deeply. Ella almost lost hold of the butterbeer bottle she was holding, and when Zane broke the kiss, Ella's gaze first went to where Francis was. He wasn't kissing Ashleigh anymore. He was staring right at Ella.
The Unavoidable Finally Happens
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 08-01-10 12:49
Lysander had opted not to go to Emrys Fest this year. Besides, Charlotte was running a slight fever and couldn't go to the annual music festival. Caerwyn and Grace had promised to bring back all sorts of goodies for her so that she wouldn't feel like she'd missed anything.
Charlotte sat in one of the comfy chairs in the reading area of Twice Told Tales and thumbed through a picture book about a cat who goes to Hogwarts and learns magic as a student. She'd protested when Lysander had insisted she stay in bed, but Charlotte knew just how to win her father over and had promised she would go if she felt any worse than she already did.
As he worked, Lysander constantly looked her way to check on her. So far, she looked content in the oversized chair. Dexter, who hardly ever cuddled up with anybody, sat between her small frame and the padded armrest of the chair.
Lysander himself didn't feel 100% well. He'd made great improvements since nearly starving to death, but he wasn't quite normal just yet. Sometimes he lacked an appetite, other times his hunger was so voracious that it made him sick to his stomach. Occasionally, he found it difficult to stand for too long, though he had regained most of the strength in his legs. His neck, shoulders and upper back often felt stiff, such that he'd started going to a chiropractor.
Upon returning home, Lysander had had to purchase a new wand, since his other had gotten damaged and been collected into police evidence. To his surprise, the wand that had chosen him at Ollivanders had been a twin of his old one: hornbeam, 9 inches, with phoenix ash as its core. Perhaps he was something like a phoenix himself. Twice now he'd nearly died, and twice now he'd miraculously escaped with his life. He felt reborn.
Astrid was one person Lysander hadn't seen since returning home. He'd sent her a letter via owl once and never received a reply. He feared that Astrid had done something foolish in Argentina, and with no word from her, he also feared the worst. He wanted to go to Santa Cruz to find out for himself what had happened, but so far he hadn't managed to get there.
Charlotte wiggled out of the seat and went to exchange the picture book she just read for another one. Dexter looked up and then settled his chin back onto his paws.
The doorbell chimed, and Lysander looked over to greet the new arrival, but before anything could come out of his mouth, the words left him and he could only gape, speechless, at the witch who'd just entered the bookshop.
Aralyn Fox looked very angry. "I need to talk to Chyler about her cousin," she said.
It took Lysander a great amount of effort to formulate a reply and to remember that Aralyn thought Chyler was still alive and that Chyler was Charlotte's mother.
"She's not here right now," Lysander managed. "Can I take a message?"
Aralyn still looked a bit cross but then her features softened and she said, "I'm sorry, Lysander. I didn't mean to barge in here without saying hello to you. Merlin's beard, but it's been a long time."
Lysander reminded himself that Aralyn thought they hadn't seen each other since Hogwarts. "Yeah, it has. So what's going on with, erm, Chyler's cousin?"
"Astrid," Aralyn clarified, in case Lysander didn't know which one she meant. "I could be wrong but I think she's raving mad. She showed up on my doorstep a couple of weeks ago saying I'd had you kidnapped and probably killed, blah blah blah. That's crazy, right?"
"Erm, yes." Lysander thought it best not to mention that he really had been kidnapped and almost killed, only that the suspected Foxes had had nothing to do with it.
"Anyway, she had her wand out and was threatening to kill me if I didn't tell her where you were. She really is protective of you, or maybe she's just that close to Chyler. They really do look alike, don't they?"
"Yes, so where is Astrid now?" Lysander pressed.
"Jail, but I will drop the charges against her if Chyler will collect her and put her in a mental institution where she belongs. Does she have a history of, um, problems?"
Lysander sucked in a breath. "I don't know. Look, can you give me the information I need to, erm, pass on to Chyler, and then we'll come pick up Astrid when we get the chance?"
"Sure," Aralyn said. She jotted down the information on a piece of parchment Lysander gave her and then looked around the place. "Wow, this place is great!"
And then her gaze fell on Charlotte, who had just emerged from the stacks with another book in her hands.
Lysander held his breath.
"Is this your daughter, Lysander?" Aralyn questioned. "She's so adorable."
"She's sick, so don't get too close," Lysander said. He could hardly bear it that Aralyn and Charlotte were in the same room together.
"Oh, you poor thing. Well," she said, turning back to Lysander, "I should be going. Let me know when you are in town. If there's time, perhaps we can meet for dinner."
"Sure." No way in hell.
Aralyn smiled. "Nice seeing you again." She turned to Charlotte. "Bye, sweetie."
Charlotte waved and watched as Aralyn walked out the door and down the street.
"Daddy," she finally said, turning to him. "I think I know that lady."
Lysander froze. He had taken Charlotte to see Aralyn when she'd been younger, but he'd hoped that she would have forgotten all about it. He didn't want to lie to his daughter, but he did.
"I don't think so, Charlotte. That lady went to school with Daddy a long time ago."
Charlotte looked doubtful, but then she shrugged and went back to her comfy chair.
You're What?
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 08-01-10 14:16
After Ethan obtained the book from Meadow's flat, he'd gone straight to Severus Snape to find out whether or not there was a potion or spell that the potions master knew of that could track what spells had been read from the book and if it could be determined whether any of them had been cast. Snape didn't know of any offhand but agreed to look into it.
Meanwhile, Ethan also researched it, but so far he hadn't found anything that might help. He didn't even know if such spells existed. While it was true one could determine what spells a wand had cast, a wand was the actual medium used for spellwork. A book didn't channel the spells of the spellcaster; it was just the script.
If all else failed, Ethan could try to get the information directly from Meadow. He didn't necessarily want to meet up with her again, and then he wasn't sure she would tell him what she did with the book, but if he had to, he would give it a try. If she'd done anything more than read the book, then she could get arrested for practicing dark magic. Ethan suspected she'd used one or more spells in the book, but so far he couldn't prove it.
"You're thinking about work again, aren't you?"
Ethan turned toward Rosamond, who was standing next to him in the thick of the crowd on the grounds of St. Emrys University, where Emrys Fest, the annual music festival, was currently underway. She had her hand clasped in his and smiled at him teasingly.
"You should be having fun, not thinking about serious stuff," she chided playfully.
Ethan kissed her. "I'm sorry. I can't help it, though."
"I know you can't. A day can't go by where you aren't thinking about stopping a bad guy or rescuing a damsel in distress."
"I can't think of a time when I did any such rescuing," he responded with a grin.
"No? Well, I guess in a way, you rescued me. Without you, I could be dead... or, I don't know, in prison for life. Still evil, even."
Ethan squeezed her hand and gestured for them to move away from the thick of the crowd to someplace where they didn't have to shout at each other to be heard. Besides, it was getting a bit warm, not only from the sun of the most perfect summer day, but also from all the bodyheat in the crowd.
Rosamond allowed herself to be led to the shade of a tree some ways off from the stages. They could still hear the music perfectly well, and in some ways, it almost sounded better from farther away.
Ethan started to sit down against the trunk of the tree, but Rosamond pulled on his hand.
"Wait. There's something I need to tell you."
Ethan stopped. She had grown serious rather quickly, and she almost looked nervous.
"What's the matter?"
"It's nothing, really. Well, it's not nothing. It's definitely something. It's just... I don't know how to tell you. I mean, I don't know how you'll react to the news."
"Rosamond, you can tell me anything. What is it?"
Rosamond sucked in a deep breath, and then expelled it along with a rush of words. "Ethan, I'm pregnant."
Insecure (Daria)
Author: Blossom
Date: 08-01-10 15:27
Daria is enjoying Emrys Fest immensely but she nearly hadn't come. Blossom's is open today, both the day care and the gaming area, and she's come close to saying she'd work. Now she's glad she didn't even though it has meant seeing Kody up on stage when Dynamic Duo opened the festival and catching sight of him several times since then. One of those times Daria could see Emma Crusher standing with him. At least Emma wasn't hanging all over him and at least she didn't have to witness them making out.
Daria looks at a fab little purse at one stall, little on the outside but fairly large on the inside, but was thinking it might be slightly pricey for what it is. Reluctantly putting it down she turns and literally bumps into Ophelia Darling. "Sorry! I hadn't realized anyone was so close."
"No harm done, Daria. How are you?"
"I'm all right. And you?"
"Excellent. What a cute purse!" Ophelia reaches past Daria to pick up the same clutch Daria had just put down. As she reaches with her left hand, her engagement ring flashes and sparkles in the sunlight and reminds Daria of something to ask.
"I thought Drake and you were getting married this summer."
"That was the original plan but with it winter in Australia and Cara and Dillane in school, we decided to wait until near Christmas. They'll be on their summer holiday and family and friends here still in school will be on winter break. To be quite frank, you would already know this if you and I were more in touch. I miss seeing you regularly and you hardly ever write back when I owl."
Daria's face warms a little and she looks sheepishly away. "I know. I'm sorry."
"Just because you aren't with Kody doesn't mean we can't be friends any longer."
"Kody and I were not together. We were just friends."
"Yes, so you both keep saying though no one believes it. I would very much like for you to be a bridesmaid but if you don't want to continue the level of friendship we used to have, while I don't understand, I won't push the issue."
"I do want to be friends and I've long thought of you as a best friend, but ," Daria lets the sentence drop with a sigh.
"But?"
"But Drake and Kody are long time best friends. The only way Kody would not be Drake's best man if is Deak were. Either way, Kody is part of the wedding and part of Drake's life which means he's part of yours."
"Ask yourself this, Daria. If you and Kody were just friends, then why did you get so angry with him? Angry about something you made up at that?"
Daria shrugs prompting Ophelia to grab her by both shoulders and look her straight in the face. "Shrugging is not an answer."
"I don't know what to tell you."
"I'm not the one you should be telling. You need to answer that question for you. You've been miserable, Daria. I don't have to see you regularly to know that. Kody loves you and if you didn't act so pettily jealous, particularly over things that take place only in your imagination, he'd be estactic to be with you."
"Kody doesn't love me and even if we had been together he's over it now because he's here with Emma Crusher."
"There you go again."
"I saw them."
"You saw Emma here with friends. She's here with us. Not him. Us. She's here with us as a friend along with her date."
"Her date?"
"Yes, a lovely boy called Dennis. I think she would have have liked to go out with Kody but she knows he's no longer interested in her that way. Dennis and she have been dating since May."
"Kody turned her down?"
"Not in so many words. He simply never showed her the slightest inclination of wanting to date her again. Tell me this. What has he ever done to you to cause you such distrust."
Daria shakes her head, "Nothing concrete."
"Does that mean you've had unfounded suspicions?"
"Yeah, I suppose so."
"So another question you need to answer for yourself is why do you persist in finding reasons to be jealous?"
Daria looks away again, shrugging once more before very quietly saying, "I'm insecure."
Ophelia leans closer to hear over the music. "What?"
"I'm insecure." She gets very close to Ophelia, saying right next her friend's ear. "I'm the girl who slept with a boy just so he wouldn't break up with her even though the boy never once suggested he would break things off if the girl didn't put out."
"You should talk to someone or find some way to deal with your insecurities. Kody won't wait for you forever."
"What do you mean?"
"That's a fairly straightforward statement."
"But it indicates he's waiting for me now."
"He is. Kody is waiting for you to get over your snit and he would sort of like an apology for instigating a fight based on accusations you pulled out of thin air."
"Really?"
"Really."
Ophelia eyes the cute little purse again then says, "I'd best be getting back before a search party is sent out."
"Ophelia!"
"Too late." Ophelia turns with a smile to the young who's just come up on them. "Daria, you remember my brother Aiden. Aiden, you remember Daria I'm sure."
"Yes, hi, Aiden."
"Daria, nice to see you again. I'm getting butterbeers for several people. You want one? Daria?"
"Yes," both reply, falling into step with him to go wait in line at the nearest concession stand selling butterbeer. Aiden talking non-stop about a girl he just met. That's fine with Daria as it gives her time to think about what Ophelia said and to decide whether to go back to the group with them when that group will most definitely include Kody.