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(Mark) At the Feast
Author: Isolde
Date: 07-10-10 10:23
The fact that Slytherin had come in dead last this year irked Mark severely, but he tried not to let the loss ruin his evening. It was, after all, the End of Term feast, which marked the end of classes, homework and exams and also marked the start of summer holidays. Besides, the food was simply too good to sulk while eating it.
Mark had already had his fill of appetizers, like pita bread with hummus, and had long moved on to the main course of the meal. He ate chicken breast that had a delectable, smokey taste to it, creamy scalloped potatoes, corn on the cob, and a green salad with a sweet vinaigrette dressing. Mark plucked a roll off of a passing platter and bit into it. It had a slight pizza flavor to it.
He sat next to Gus. Johanna and Felicia sat opposite them. The girls had the Hufflepuff table in view before them and would often steal a glance at Mark and then look over his shoulder at someone at that table. Then they would smile knowingly at each other.
Mark, for his part, didn't even notice. He was too engrossed in eating and was listening to Gus speak between mouthfuls about what he planned on doing this summer. Gus held a giant turkey drumstick in his hand, and his fingers glistened from the juices and fat.
"Going to Emrys Fest, anyone?" Gus asked Mark and the girls.
"I'm not sure yet," Felicia answered. "I want to, though."
"Me too," Johanna added. "When is it exactly?"
"The end of this month," Gus said, swallowing a huge bite of turkey. "The 31st, I think. I wonder who all will be playing." He bit into the turkey leg again and then turned to Mark. "What about you?"
"I haven't yet decided," Mark replied. He probably would go, unless something better came up.
Gus started chatting about something else, and Mark tuned him out. He thought about what he might do this summer, other than possibly attend the music festival at the university. His parents' hadn't mentioned anything about going on a trip, so he assumed he'd just be home most of the summer.
That would suit him just as well, though. Being at home for the next slightly less than two months meant being away from teachers and others from whom he needed a break. He immediately thought of Kate over at the Hufflepuff table. A break from her and his mother's false insinuations about her was just what he needed!
Weighty Issue
Author: Sirius Padfoot Black
Date: 07-10-10 15:24
Although Schuyler and Artie Weasley are at the Eternal-Black house this evening while Charlie and Hendrika host a party, Drucilla and Sirius are sitting in the Hogwarts Great Hall, at the head table, enjoying great conversation and excellent food. Remus and Tonks Lupin are visiting for a few days with their son Teddy and although Sirius had invited them to come to Hogwarts tonight, they'd declined, saying that it would be an imposition. They insisted instead on staying in Hogsmeade watching the twins if Sirius and Dru wanted to go to the End of Term Feast without James and Mira in tow. Shortly after that, Tonks had also offered to have Charlie's boys and Bill's daughter Victiore as well.
Remus and Tonks love Santorini but they both would also like to return to Great Britain. They've been talking of spending part of the year in each place and are considering a home there in Hogsmeade. Sirius does like having Ron Weasley right next door but if Ron hadn't bought the house and it were still empty, he would have loved to have had them buying it. It would be good having them around more often, no matter where they end up buying, even if not in Hogsmeades, though Sirius does hope that's where they end up.
Sirius reaches for a plate of cottage pie made with a very savory minced beef. Beside him Dru reminds, "If you have too much more you won't have room for dessert and that's all you've talked about for days."
He grins sheepishly then turns it into a teasing one. "You've tucked in quite nicely yourself."
"Yes, and if I hear one hint this next week of my putting on weight, you won't be sleeping in my bed."
"Don't you mean our bed?"
"No, it's mine. I've only been letting you use it."
"Rather nice of you."
"Yes, I think so. In fact, you should buy me something nice to show your gratitude."
"Ooooh, you know you set me up to make a joke there about needing a new dress and implying you can't fit into your old ones."
Dru smiles sweetly, "Would I do that?"
Sirius chuckles, nearly choking on a bite of the cottage pie. "Yes, and I love you all the more for it!"
"Keep saying nice things and I suppose you can sleep in my bed tonight afterall."
The first of the desserts begin appearing on the tables. Sirius eyes a tall cake iced with chocolate frosting before saying, "I will do my best but pudding's on so I may gain a stone* or two just from it, which would mean I might be given to making remarks about putting on weight."
"As long as those remarks are not about my weight, you may sleep in my bed, though if you do put on 2 stone just from dessert, we might need to reinforce the frame."
Laughing again, Sirius affectionately squeezes Dru's arm before reaching past her for some frothy yellowy merangue confection.
* A stone is approximately equal to 14 pounds, so 2 stone would be 28 lbs.
At The Feast
Author: Johanna Steele
Date: 07-11-10 07:40
The environment at the great hall was amazing. Johanna was a little bit upset because Ravenclaw had won the cup, and her house was in the last place, but her mood changed with the great food and the happy environment around.
Summer was here, and she didn’t need to be stuck at the library studying. Mark had mentioned the St. Emrys Fest and Johanna was making plans to convince her father to let her go. John would be there, so it would be easier to get an authorization.
Johanna finished her pumpkin juice and wondered who would replace Professor Ivy. She had helped her a lot along the year, and Johanna made a lot of progress at Charms due to her patience. She hoped whoever the new teacher would be, he or she would have her kind smile, and wise words.
“…and not to mention we will be able to go to Hogsmead.” Felicia was saying, excited.
Mark replied that the village was interesting but in two or three visits you would eventually get tired of it. He then looked away, and guessing where his eyes were travelling, Johanna winked to Felicia, who giggled. Gus was too concentrated on his chocolate cake to notice.
There was no doubt next school year would be interesting.
Johanna’s thought then went to her cousins who would come to Hogwarts. It would be fun to see their naïve faces when they crossed the Great Hall to be sorted. Plus she could tease them because they were too young to visit the village. It was a double victory for Johanna because in terms of age she could have gone there this year.
Gus started to say he planned to do the tryouts again for quidditch next year, assuring the team needed someone like him to win the cup. Gus wasn’t at all brilliant when it came to flying but he was searching for glory and fame. They all wanted that but Johanna would never get the courage to try it via quidditch. Too much aggressive for her.
The topic changed to the holidays again. Johanna had no concrete plans yet, but she hoped that aunt Angela would invite her to come over to her house in Greece. She missed the golden beaches and the boat rides with her uncle Luke. Maybe John would take her to Spain. She was curious to see the house he was raised. Isabel had revealed herself a nice witch and there was a time in the past Johanna had wished to be her daughter so she could have the pure blood status. Thank Merlin that didn’t matter now. Times had changed again, and the wizaring world was at peace.
End of Year
Author: Griet
Date: 07-11-10 13:01
Griet's sixth year at Hogwarts had definitely had its share of ups and downs. It had started out with a return to normalcy, or as normal as life could be after a year of segregation in the castle, a stint in what was essentially a prison camp, and then a period of hiding. Being back at Hogwarts in happier times had been more than Griet could have ever hoped for during those dark times.
Her relationship with Oberon, which had been hidden for so long, had finally come to light, though not under the best of circumstances. The discovery had left the couple alienated from their friends and had caused problems between Griet and her family. The issues that had arisen from their relationship going public had already mostly been settled, though Griet's sister Cornelia still hadn't entirely come around yet. They got along better, certainly, but they weren't the best of friends like they had been.
The Slytherin Quidditch team which Griet had captained, had done all right this year but not its best. Hopefully next year would be better. On a purely positive note, Griet had taken the apparition lessons this year and had successfully earned her license. She'd also finally taken the OWLs, and while she had a good feeling about most of the subjects, she hadn't received her scores yet.
"I'm full," Griet complained, pushing her plate away from her.
"You haven't even tucked in to dessert yet," Oberon said, indicating to the dessert dishes that had only just recently appeared on the table.
"I meant to take it easy," Griet began, "but it's really hard when all the options look and smell so good."
"The feast isn't quite over yet," Gervaise reminded, "so why don't you take a break from eating for now and have dessert a bit later?"
"I'll try," Griet said. At the very least, maybe she could take something to-go since she'd probably get hungry later. She hadn't even started packing her trunk yet, and she was leaving on the Hogwarts Express first thing tomorrow morning.
The boys, meanwhile, and Cornelia too started helping themselves to dessert. The options were vast: various ice cream flavors, puddings, cakes and tarts, cookies and even candies.
After a while, Griet found room in her stomach again and helped herself to a little bit of everything.
Making Room For More Cake
Author: Kissy Isuki
Date: 07-11-10 13:53
Sitting at the head table with AJ then Declan to her left and Majandra with Majandra's husband George to her right, Kissy is staring at a lemon chiffon cake, at at least that's what she thinks it is. She could ask someone who's had a slice but it really doesn't matter to her whether it's lemon or not. It simply looks heavenly and she would very much like a taste. The only trouble is that she's already so full she's not sure where she'd put even a few small sampling bites of it.
"I never made it that far, either," Majandra sighs beside her, eyes also on the lemon chiffon. "Maybe I'll take a slice home for later. I did promise Miranda to bring her something, though I haven't yet decided what that will be. She's going through an all pink phase so maybe a slice of the cherry vanilla cake."
Kissy's eyes move down the table, "There's cherry vanilla? How did I miss that?"
"At Start of Term Feast I do believe I shall take an empty platter and go from one end of the table to the other, getting a bite or two of every single thing and then I shall walk up and down the four house tables with the platter just in case there are desserts on those tables that the head table didn't get."
"I'll have to join you," Kissy agrees. "And also skip eating anything else. Or better yet, let's start with desserts next time."
"That's something one of the students would suggest," AJ says.
"Well, you do have some very intelligent students here," George joins in, "though none quite up to the level Fred and I were."
"You know, I do seem to recall an incident during your first year at Hogwarts for which no one was ever caught though Argus Filch spent the rest of the term searching for the student or students responsible. He was convinced there was a bicorn in his office and even after Professor Dumbledore proved to him there was not, Mr. Filch refused to go into his office for at least a week, swearing every time he went near the door he could hear the bicorn moving about inside, waiting to eat his flesh."
George snorts with laughter. "That was a good one! Not that Fred or I had anything to do with that little hoax."
"Of course not," Majandra drily agrees.
Kissy laughs, "Just like it was neither you nor Fred who turned all the water at the Burrow a very bright fuschia back when Charlie and I were dating."
"It was more of a magenta as I recall and nope, wasn't us. Must have been Percy. He was always sneaky that way."
This leads to a discussion of other incidents at the Burrow and at Hogwarts that also were not the doing of the Weasley twins. By the time their conversation has moved on to another topic Kissy's decided that she does, afterall, have a teensy bit of room left for a tiny slice of the lemon chiffon cake. She'll spend the next two weeks working off all the calories from tonight's feast but as she takes her first bite of the cake, finding it is indeed lemon chiffon as she'd suspected, Kissy tells herself that when she's mentally grousing about doing all that working out, she'll think back to how lusciously good the sweets tonight were.
Master Criminal No More
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 07-11-10 18:52
It was quite dark in the seaside shack Lysander had found himself in since his kidnapping from Hogsmeade. The only light that filtered in through the cracks in the roof and walls and through the dingy windows came from the moon and illuminated a body on the floor. The body belonged to Khalid Adallah, who only yesterday had accidentally killed himself with Lysander's wand.
"Well, now it's time for me to say goodbye. We will not meet again, Mr. Stratford, for you will shortly be dead," Khalid Adallah had said. He'd produced a wand from the folds of his robes, one Lysander had recognized as his own. It had sustained damage when Lysander had gotten stunned at the bookshop, but the damage didn't look severe enough to render the wand unusable.
Looks were sometimes deceiving, however. Khalid smiled at Lysander and said, "I thought I might use your wand rather than the one I carry now. I do not anticipate ever being imprisoned again, but should I be apprehended, I'd like to not have the proof of your murder on my hands. Wands can be checked for the spells they have cast, you know."
Lysander wanted to stall his eventual death as long as possible and in his state, the only course of action had been to talk. "Why would you hide it? As a master criminal, don't you bask in the glory of all your evil deeds?"
Lysander had been well-aware that flattery went a long way too.
"Master criminal. I like that." Khalid smiled. "While I'm certainly not ashamed of what I've done, I'm aware that the more crimes linked to me means the more time I'll be forced to serve in prison––if I am caught. Then again, I've broken out before, who's to say I can't do it again?"
"Isn't your wrap sheet long enough that they'll just lock you up and throw away the key anyway?"
"True enough. Now, enough dilly-dallying. I came here to kill you, not hold a conversation with you. Goodbye, Mr. Stratford!"
Khalid held up Lysander's wand and pointed it right at Lysander's chest. Lysander, unable to bear what he'd simply known would be coming, squeezed his eyes shut and thought about only one person, his daughter Charlotte.
And then the words came.
Avada Kedavra!
But nothing seemed to happen, at least not to Lysander. He heard a thump and a clatter, and when he cautiously opened his eyes, he saw Khalid on the ground in front of him with his eyes wide open and blank. Lysander's wand lay nearby on the sandy floor.
Now it was the next evening, and Lysander was hungry and thirsty. He hoped that someone would find him soon, or else there might soon be two dead men in the shack!
London Calling
Author: Oreileah McCoi
Date: 07-12-10 02:50
Orei had gotten a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the next couple of nights, mainly because she intended on being at Kings Cross in the morning to welcome Jim back and congradulate him on completion of his time at Hogwarts.
At the moment, she was wandering through a muggle market place, fingering a few bangles that she was pondering buying, they would look fantastic with her kimono when they were in Japan. Deciding she should get them or risk not being able to again, she paid the clerk and slipped the silver and emerald bangles on her wrist and headed toward a quaint cafe where she was supposed to be meeting Christian while he was on his dinner break. She had yet to fill him in on the falling out between her and Maddie.
She ordered a cappucino with extra foam and vanilla flavoring, a raspberry danish, and a glass of water and curled in the seat, pulling out a book. She'd taken to reading Muggle Authors, one of her favorites was a man named Stephen King, and it was one of his that she was currently reading, called IT.
Christian and her food arrived at the same time, he settled across from her, placed his own order and then looked toward Orei. "So, who am I going to gossip with for the next two weeks while you are off galavanting in Japan with your heartthrob hunk?" He teased.
"There is always Nora..." She said, knowing that he did not like the plump woman who worked in the cubicle next to Orei, but the woman had the hugest crush on him, oblivious to the knowledge that the man was decidedly not interested in the fairer sex.
Christian shuddered and glared at Orei before breaking out into a grin. "It would put her on cloud nine if I gave her more than a sparing glance and passing smile." He said, and rolled his eyes. "She'd then start persuing me all the more after it. Already have to keep my dear heart from spelling her into oblivion."
Orei nodded and shifted in her seat, legs curling up beneath her as she sipped her cappucino. "So, don't expect to be seeing Maddie much when you come to the house, she's gone." Orei said simply, knowing well that there would be one hell of a reaction.
Indeed, she got the reaction she'd been expecting, Christian spewing a mouthful of hot coffee after a moment. "Gone? What happened?" He asked after regaining his composure, he would have to clean his jacket before he went back to work, but in a muggle cafe it wasn't an option at the moment.
"She accused me of being a horrible friend, of replacing her with you and your other half, and Jim, who is mind you still at Hogwarts until tomorrow." She said, rolling her eyes lightly. "We got into an argument yesterday morning before she left."
Christian nodded lightly, and had known that the accusations were misplaced, it was perhaps just the best way for Maddie to sever connections with her former best friend. "Don't let it get to you love, I've heard it rumored, that she's actually working at that place Petals in the village, but I could be wrong." Christian said.
"Good lord." Orei said, rolling her eyes and sank back into the expanse of the chair. "I honestly, do not know what has gotten into her. She's gone round the bend."
"Anyway, things are all set for the trip, and Jim will be home tomorrow. He'll be moving into the house in the next couple of days. Also, we'll be doing my birthday dinner on the eleventh before Jim and I head to Japan on the twelth." Orei said, and finished off her danish. "And, you've gotta get back to work." She said and pushed herself up and gave him a hug. "I will see you monday at work. I've got the weekend off for a change." She said, and stuck her tongue out at him.
"Good, then I will make certain to have loads of translations waiting for you upon your return on Monday." Chritian said with a smirk and headed toward the door.
Orei lingered a bit longer before heading back to the Leaky Cauldron and her room. She wanted to take a nap, she didn't often get those.