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Rylee the Helpful
Author: Rylee
Date: 05-18-12 07:54
As she had no desire to be out in the cold, get sweaty, or otherwise be involved in a sport she sat curled in a heavily padded chair near the fire in the Slytherin commons and was currently flipping through the latest issue of TeenWitch, marveling at the fashions that filled the pages - she also was quite a fan of the tailored dress robes that Professor Isuki had worn at the Valentine's Banquet not too long ago.
Tongue danced over her lips as she reached for her mug of hot chocolate, sighing and shoving a hand through her hair she debated heading up for a shower and then down to the Common Commons to maybe find someone to have a conversation with or perhaps listen to the WWN and see if any of her favorite bands had released a new single - it would at least be something to do. She also pondered lunch, now that the Great Hall was open. Being a first year, she was not allowed to go to the Village despite her attempts to skirt the rules and she hadn't been stupid enough to try and sneak out, mainly because she knew most of the students in her house disliked the fact that she flaunted her money and various other things.
Pushing up from the chair, she finished the mug of hot chocolate leaving it for the house elf to clean up, she grabbed her issue of TeenWitch and headed to her room to grab her toiletries and take a quick shower. Toweling off her hair, she quickly plaited the strands and dressed in a pair of yoga pants and long sleeved shirt that had the image of the Muggle band The Backstreet Boys, because she'd seen them with her mother at a thing in the states when she was nine and had fallen in love with their poppy sound and added some of their merchandise to her expansive collection.
She slipped on her button up cashmere sweater that was inky black and trimmed with Slytherin emerald and silver. Slipping into her favorite pair of Maddens she slipped out of the common room and headed up to the Great Hall and easily found a place to sit at the Slytherin table for a quick lunch.
"Rylee?"
She'd brought the issue of TeenWitch with her and was flipping through the pages while she enjoyed a delicious bowl of baked potato soup topped with sour cream, shredded cheese, bacon and green onion and just a dash of salt and pepper. Along with her soup she'd selected a ham and swiss on sourdough that had been grilled to perfection.
"Rylee. Earth to Rylee," this time there was a tap on her shoulder accompanying the words that she hadn't heard spoken the first time. She flicked her gaze up and offered the individual a smile.
"Hi, can I help you?" Rylee asked.
"Um, actually I was hoping you could, I need some help with the potions assignment that is due in the next class, if you don't mind could you help me walk through it? And maybe with the proper form for the spells that we learned in Charms the other day."
Rylee blinked for a moment, someone was asking for her help? Well, she was after all a perfectionist in all things academic, and fashion - but who was counting?
"Um, sure just give me a few to finish lunch and I will meet you in the Slytherin common room and we can work on things there."
"Alright." The other first year girl skipped off and left Rylee to finish her lunch and flip through a few more pages of the magazine while she ate a slice of triple chocolate cheesecake and then headed back to the Slytherin common room, stopping at the portal long enough to issue the current password before stepping in, and nodding to the girl who had asked for her help.
"Just let me grab my things and we can begin." Rylee went to her room and exchanged the magazine for her school things, bringing her bag down to the commons she settled down at the table across from the girl, and pulled out her notes from Professor Weasely's last potions class.
They settled in and started working on where the girl was going wrong with her Boil-Cure potion, which was truly something simple to do, but could have rather icky results if not done properly. They walked through the steps without the aid of cauldron, and Rylee only hoped that the girl would retain her current new-found confidence when she had to create the potion in class on Monday. That done, they moved on to where the girl was struggling with her History of Magic essay, Rylee pointed out a few things that the girl was missing that would give her a boost in her grade as well as help her reach the required length.
You will began by creating a base for your potion. A half a gallon of pure clean water is added to the cauldron. Bring it to a boil before adding any ingredients. Start with the Dried nettles. They must be added to the clear boiling water and allowed to steep for at least 7 minutes before adding the next ingredient to allow for proper concentration in the cauldron. Now some wizards prefer to strain out the remains of the nettles at this time but I find that they add a little texture to the completed potion and leave mine in. The liquid base in the cauldron should be a translucent green in color. Once the nettles have been steeped in the boiling water, you should add the finely crushed snake fangs; precisely 2 grams. Stir the cauldron sixteen times in a counter-clockwise rotation at the rate of one stroke every three seconds then reverse the direction and repeat. The color of the potion will lighten slightly and take on a chalky look. Let the potion boil undisturbed for 2 minutes before adding the stewed horned slugs. You need to add 5 grams, which is generally three, three and a half slugs. DO NOT THROW THE SLUGS INTO THE POTION WILLY NILLY but gently dip them in using the end of your stir rod. You do not want to bruise the potion. You will find, I believe that this is a key step that can be taken to ensure quality results. Stir the potion gently in opposing strokes for about 5 minutes Your potion should now be starting to thicken. Let the potion boil undisturbed for another ten minutes. At the end of this time, your potion will have the consistency of watery grave and should be the approximate color or ripe mold.
"Alright, charms once more and then we break for dinner," Rylee said with a smile and the girl nodded. "Alright."
Asking Caerwyn
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 05-19-12 16:03
Julian hadn't said anything to Lysander about Iola Carew's visit. Lysander has enough worries with Aralyn and Kristos for Julian to bother him with what could be something extremely incidental in the grand scheme of their lives. The possibility that Iola Carew is exactly who she said she is and that her reasons for wanting to see Caerwyn are perfectly innocuous does not keep him from envisioning an endless stream of scenarios, many of them centered on a nefarious revenge scheme for being responsible for Afton's death. That Iola could not possibly know Julian killed her sister gets shoved to the background every time the logical reminder pops into the middle of one of his thoughts.
Typically, he's not given any outward sign of being deeply concerned about something or that anything is amiss or even that he's being hypervigilant. When Caerwyn, and Augustus, do put in appearance Julian gives his usual greeting before saying, "Caerwyn, come into the office. I've got some extra spending money for you."
Gus follows behind. Actual blood and DNA aside, the only thing keeping Caerwyn and Gus from being conjoined twins is the shared body parts, Augustus Hodfuffer is going to learn soon enough the other reason Julian's asked Caerwyn into the office so there's no point in bothering to ask for privacy.
Counting galleons into Caerwyn's hand Julian, somewhat impassively, asks, "Do you know if your mother had a sister?"
Caerwyn gives him the expected odd question look before screwing his face up in thought. "Ummmm, yeah, I mean, yes, sir. Sort of. Why?"
Julian doesn't answer right away. "Do you remember her at all? What her name is? What she looks like?"
"I think I've a picture. I was a few months old. Mum is holding me and there's another woman. I asked her about it once and she said it was her sister, said they no longer spoke, and that was it."
"Do you know where that picture is?"
"In the box of photos from Mum's house. Want me to find it?"
"If you don't mind looking, yes, please do. A woman who says she's your aunt has asked to see you today. She's to bring me proof she's who she says she is. If you can find that photo, I'd like to have it when she comes back."
"She's not like Mum?"
"A metamorphmagus? She implied she isn't."
Caerwyn turns to Gus, "If you want to go on without me, I'll catch up later, or you can come to the house with me."
"I don't mind helping."
"Your things are in the last bedroom on the left. The box of photos should be stacked there somewhere. I've not done much to your room at all because I thought we'd do it together over spring holiday. Aegean's there with the twins but here are your house keys."
A nod from Caerwyn at this information and the two boys leave, waiting at least until out on the lane to start running to the recently moved into house on the West Lane. In no time at all it seems, they are back, Caerwyn waving a picture at Julian. "The box was easy to find and even though there are a lot of pictures, with Gus helping the search was short. Mum's and my name are on the back along with the other lady's. I-o-l-a."
"Iola. That's the name she told me. You two go on and have some fun. Check back after lunch to see if she's here."
They leave again, though Julian can tell it's with great reluctance on Caerwyn's part. Caerwyn also doesn't see the point in doing nothing but hanging around the bookshoppe for a woman who might show up a bit later. Might as well get in some wizard's laser tag in the meantime and grab some snacks from Briar's.
***********
That was a couple of hours ago. Julian is expecting Iola Carew to walk in the door at any time. If she turns out to be anything like her sister, he won't hestitate to use the killing curse on her just as he had on the much deserving Afton.
Study Group
Author: Karma Davyd
Date: 05-19-12 21:02
"We aren't keeping you from anything are we?" Natalia asked as I sat down across from her in the library at St. Emrys on this chilly Saturday afternoon.
"Only freezing my behind off as I wander the village looking for children who are misbehaving. It's Hogsmeade Saturday this weekend, and I'd already put some time in this morning for those who were not at the apparation lessons earlier in the day," I said taking a sip from my travel coffee mug and savoring the warmth of the tea within it.
"Ah, I remember those days fondly. It was always a tricky thing your third year, trying to gauge if you had enough sweets to last you until the next trip, or if they would be gone half way between trips," Mitchel Hawthorne said as he took a seat across from Karma.
"We didn't have anything like it in Mumbai. It was interesting though, we usually spent as much time as possible in the shade even in the summer," I said, tugging free my Advanced History of Magic textbook.
The others followed suit and soon enough they were deep in discussion over the topics that would be covered on the examination that they had coming on Thursday. "If we can get this study guide done we won't have to meet again later in the week, because unfortunately, I've got a variety of things going on this week," Kyle Nolan said as he ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair and made a few notations on his study guide.
"I know what you mean. I'm just glad I'm only teaching lower years History and I do not have to worry about the stressing of my students getting ready to take the O.W.Ls or N.E.W.Ts in a couple of months," I said with a grin. "I still remember my various leveling exams and I hated them with a passion, or rather I hated the waiting period between taking the examinations and the arrival of my marks."
"I know it. It was seriously the most stressful time, especially after my seventh year marks," Natalia said with a laugh. "I mean I think I gained ten pounds after my final examinations and until I got the owl saying I'd gotten the highest marks possible."
The break in history talk was brief and soon things evolved back into the topic at hand, preparing for their exam come Thursday and they spent several hours breaking down the questions and adding all the information that they possibly could. They took a break and agreed to meet at Natalia's after a break for lunch and some time refreshing before delving once more into the expanse of Advanced History of Magic.
Instead of going directly to lunch, I'd poked my head into the language lab and grabbed a copy of the assignment that was due on Friday afternoon, I looked it over before I floo'd off campus and came out at the curry place in Wizarding London that was one of my favorites. I still had about an hour and a half before I had to be at Natalia's for the rest of the study meeting, and I intended on enjoying some good curry before I went - if I couldn't make it myself, this was my go-to place for curry (and if my mum's wasn't available).
A Course of Action
Author: Abdul Hazrat AlGunud
Date: 05-20-12 11:38
The library was quiet. It would have been on a Saturday regardless, but now it seemed completely deserted. His fellow students seemed to be captivated by the Flying and Quidditch workshop. Those not attending the workshop were out visiting Hogsmeade. This left only the few, the odd, the disgruntled to attend to their business in odd corners of the castle. One such individual sat in the library, scanning through musty tomes. All three of those qualities could be assigned to him. Not that Abdul minded. His mind was far away, contemplating what he had witnessed on Valentine's Day.
For what seemed the 10,000th time, he pondered possible courses of action. The most obvious course of action would be to inform Professor Dumbledore. The more he considered that possibility, the more unsure he became as to its advisability. What had he seen? The only other witness had been a poltergeist. A spirit renowned for pranks and who was generally unfriendly towards students. Abdul almost thought that what he had witnessed was a hallucination. He wanted to believe that it was a hallucination. Unfortunately that sort of self-delusion was not a luxury he could afford. The only way to confirm what he had seen was to speak to Peeves. The spirit's behavior seemed to imply greater level of knowledge about the caretaker. Perhaps, Peeves could be persuaded to share information about Filch.
Abdul had been extremely cautious around Filch. Since the caretaker was unpopular with the entire student body, it was relatively simple to keep track of his whereabouts. It had proven easy to avoid areas where Filch was lingering. Conversely, Peeves had been extremely scarce. There had been one case of the poltergeist pulling a prank on one of the History of Magic professors, Professor Davyd by another student's account. Other than that one instance, sightings of the poltergeist had been remarkably few.
Asking casual questions about the location of the caretaker was easy. If he started to ask other students about the location of Peeves, someone might well wonder why. That left the ghosts who inhabited the castle. They would probably know where the poltergeist was hiding. If he was hiding. It might only be his imagination, but it seemed as if Filch had been lurking about eyeing all of the ghosts with a queer gleam in his eye. Perhaps the absence of Peeves meant something entirely different. Abdul closed the tome he had been perusing and left the library. Walking down the hallway, he checked his robe to ensure that the hilt of the jambiya was within easy reach.
Parole for the Pilots
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 05-20-12 14:12
Rarely was court ever in session on the weekend, but the dockets had been rather full as of late, resulting in a few hearings being scheduled on Saturday. Among them were the parole hearings for Enoch and Leona Pilot, who'd gotten arrested almost six years ago for their involvement in Project 25. Ethan had shown up in support of the Pilots, whom he'd gotten to know during his own investigation of Lord Voldemort's special project.
Unlike all the other adoptive parents of the Project 25ers, Enoch and Leona had stopped supporting the program early on and had gone into hiding to avoid the Dark Lord's wrath. They were good people who had once believed in something less than good but had seen the error of their ways.
Beside Ethan sat Maverick Pilot, who despite their past, had turned out to be a friend. The Pilots had raised him as their son, and though they had raised him to serve Voldemort, he didn't have any hard feelings because of the regret they felt for what they'd done to him.
The parole board assessed first Enoch and then Leona, touching on good behavior and other factors that would normally lead to a prisoner's release from Azkaban Fortress. Then the terms of release were decided upon. Both would be assigned a different parole officer, with whom they would meet on a regular basis and who would make random visits to their home. Maverick had found them a flat in London, not far from the Ministry of Magic.
The Pilots were allowed to travel within the country using any magical means, like the Floo Network or Apparition, but they were strictly forbidden to travel abroad. If they met all the requirements of their parole after the period of one year decided upon by the board, then they would be considered free citizens once more.
And just like that, Enoch and Leona Pilot were freed from Azkaban.
Ethan and Maverick got up to congratulate them. Maverick wasn't particularly close with his adoptive parents, but he did want to be a part of their lives. He wanted to take them to their new flat and help them get what they needed, like new clothes, toiletries and groceries. They would also need new wands.
Ethan eventually excused himself to leave the family to themselves and so that he could go to Hogsmeade for the last patrolling shift of the student trip into the village. Before he left, he gave the Pilots a long look. In some ways he felt a bit jealous of Maverick. The wizards who'd raised him were quite decent, despite all they'd done. Ethan couldn't say the same thing about the Somersets, who were still at large. He didn't think about them much, even though he ought to with Hattie Harsnip on the loose.
Thinking of Hattie put Lilly to mind and had Ethan change course. First he would visit Aveline, who was babysitting her niece. Then he would go to Hogsmeade to patrol the village.
(Ariella) Crowded Café
Author: Beck
Date: 05-20-12 15:43
Like many of the establishments in Hogsmeade, Brews and Stews Café teemed with activity. Ariella, Lawrence and Gillian sat at a corner table, feeling very much boxed in from all the chairs, tables and people around them. But as they were in no special hurry to be anywhere else, they didn't mind their temporary confinement.
"I know I've already asked you, but how does it feel to be a part of the Beck family?" Lawrence asked his newest sister-in-law.
Gillian smiled. "Great, actually. I went from having no family to having a great big one. Everyone's so nice, too. I don't think there's a mean person in the whole family."
"I think that's why most of us ended up in Hufflepuff," Ariella said, dipping a piece of bread into her bowl of creamy corn chowder.
"Hufflepuff is the nice house, then?" Gillian asked.
"Some wizards say so," Lawrence said. "We're the loyal ones, but we also get a bad rap because we're perceived as weak or dumb. It's an insult to some wizards to get sorted into Hufflepuff."
"To each his own, I guess," Gillian said. "Would you say that the other Hogwarts houses have certain reputations too?"
"For sure," Lawrence said and proceeded to fill Gillian in on Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Around the time he concluded his explanation, Anthony appeared in the crowded doorway of the café. He stood taller than some of the students, which was how Ariella spotted him so easily. She stood up and waved at him to draw his attention.
Navigating the crowded room posed a problem, but he eventually made it to the corner table where his sisters and brother-in-law sat. He pulled an empty chair over from another table and sat down.
"I didn't know you would be in the village today," Ariella told him.
"I wasn't planning on it," he said, "but my colleague who was supposed to be here caught some sort of stomach bug, so here I am."
"I didn't know law enforcement patrols the village," Ariella said in surprise.
"Not normally, though I know the Merchants' Association has discussed having regular patrols, either from the Ministry or a private firm."
"So you're here because of the Hogsmeade trip?" Lawrence asked. As a Hogwarts professor, he thought he might have known that the Ministry of Magic sent law enforcement to Hogsmeade to keep any eye out for trouble.
"Yes, and no," Anthony explained, tearing off a piece of Ariella's bread and dipping it into her bowl of soup. She shot him the evil eye, which caused Gillian to giggle and think that maybe the Becks weren't always perfectly nice after all.
"There has been some trouble on Hogsmeade weekends in the past," he said between chewing and swallowing. "Not every trip, I know, but there have been injuries and at least one fatality." Everybody but Gillian thought about Theodosia Batuti, who had been killed on the very first Hogsmeade trip of the school year. "Besides, there's that whole mob mentality thing. The more people in one given place at a time, the more likely something will happen––even if these people are mostly just kids."
He reached for another piece of bread. Ariella rolled her eyes and shoved the little plate it sat on in his direction. "Thanks," he told her, grinning. "Anyway, the main reason I'm here is because of the anniversary that is coming up soon."
Ariella wrinkled her forehead. "What anniver––" she started to say, but then it dawned on her.
"You-Know-Who's death," Lawrence said.
"Right. This is where it all ended, you know? And I know he's long gone and he doesn't really have a following anymore, but the Ministry is always on the lookout for trouble around this time of year. They might not act like it, but it's true."
"Nothing's ever happened, though, has it?" Ariella asked.
"Not to my knowledge," Anthony replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "I just know I'm supposed to be looking out for anyone who might be making the pilgrimage to the site of his death."
"Don't you think wizards on both sides of the war might do that?" Ariella questioned. "Those who wanted him dead and those who might be mourning him?"
"I guess so." He finished Ariella's bread and got up. "Should get back to it, then."
"Be safe," Ariella told him, while Gillian said, "See you later," and Lawrence told him, "Take care."
Anthony wound his way through the crowd and slipped out the café door to resume his patrolling.
"I'm afraid I didn't understand half of what he was saying," Gillian admitted.
"I guess You-Know-Who didn't really impact New Zealand," Lawrence said thoughtfully. "We can fill you in if you really want to know."
"Is it hard to talk about?"
"Not really," Ariella said. She started talking, and Lawrence jumped in when he could.
Tracing The Owl (Drucilla)
Author: Sirius Padfoot Black
Date: 05-20-12 16:24
James and Mira have gone to the Lupins to play with Teddy. Sirius bundled Zaria up and has her with him while taking a turn patrolling a Hogwarts student filled Hogsmeade. Drucilla had been going to slip into a foamy hot bubblebath, practically salivating at the thought of a long, luxurious soak with no interruptions from two rambunctious five and a half year olds, no baby crying to be fed or changed, and no well meaning husband knocking every two minutes asking if she needs anything. Her plans for a leisurely afternoon were shot to hell when the owl showed up with another anonymously written letter.
There had been a long enough gap between this letter and the last that Dru had begun to hope that the sender had tired of the sick game. How foolish of her.
Dru had been changing out the locator potion primed into her wand on a regular basis. The potion has a relatively short shelf life and Dru hadn't wanted to be caught with a batch too degraded to be of use. Holding her wand up and out to spritz the owl before it got out of range, she was also damn glad that she'd kept up with it even when about convinced the messages had stopped.
Ripping the envelope open on her way to the bedroom to change into clothes suited for travel, Dru uttered quite a few words she'd long gotten out of the habit of saying because of impressionable little ears generally about. Mira would not only parrot them back at appropriate moments but she'd school James on properly saying such words. After it happened the first couple of times Dru and Sirius have paid much closer attention to what they say around the children and in what context.
Throwing a scarf around her neck, Dru carefully went through the steps Tonks taught her to uses the locator potion once activated. With Remus away at the first every university level conference for Defense Against the Dark Arts professors, Tonks is alone in watching Teddy, Mira, and James. With the locator potion having a small window of use, Dru doesn't want to lose time getting the three children to Blossom's so that Tonks would be free to go with her. There would also be the chance that Sirius would catch them in the process and question the change of plans.
Wand gripped firmly in hand, Dru had performed the necessary spell to allow her to apparate to a location on the owl's path, then disapparated. She'd taken a quick look around to see if she could tell where she was but all that was visible were trees and the second spell involved in the process, to determine if the owl was still in the vicinity was negative. The twelfth such apparition later Dru finds herself in an open meadow but can make out a house in the near distance. She second spell process tells her that the owl is nearby, in the direction of the house.
Concerned that the distinctive crack associated with apparating would carry in this open place, Dru doesn't risk apparating in closer to the property. Employing a camouflaging charm, Dru moves forward slowly, With no way of knowing if whomever is in that house can detect her despite the charm, she wishes there was better cover along the way than mounds of snow broken by tufts of brown grass poking through.
Nearer to the fence surrounding the house and yard, Dru pauses to better inspect the place. Dirt road. No Muggle trappings of those wires and poles that so many of their houses have. No Muggle mode of transport visible. Another locator potion check lets her know this is indeed where the owl is.
What to do now?
Go in or go home and wait until Tonks can return with her?
The sound of the front door, which is directly in Dru's line of sight, has Dru dropping from her crouch to flatten against the snow, going absolutely still. A woman emerges, a basket of laundry on her hip. She moves to some empty clothes lines where she begins to methodically hang sheets to dry in the afternoon winter sun.
She clips the last one up, picks up the basket and turns to go back inside, freezing on the spot at the sight of Dru standing there, wand pointed, cold smile on her lips. "You always did love the smell of sheets dried outside."
"Drucilla, so nice of you to stop by. I was beginning to think you'd forgotten all about me," the woman says bitterly, her own smile brittle.
"Why the letters, Vasilka?"
"You needed to be reminded of some things." Vasilka gestures to the house. "May we at least go inside where it's warmer?"
"Keep your hands where I can see them."
Vasilka leads Dru into a sitting room where a fire is blazing in a hearth of flat stones marbled in browns and grays. "Sit. Should I make tea?"
"I'm not about to trust any drink you set in front of me so sit down as well and start talking."
"Answer me something first. Why are you still with that odious man?"
Confusion flits across Dru's face, enough so that Vasilka clarifies, "Sirius Black."
"Sirius isn't odious. Why would you say such a thing?"
"Stop with the amnesia act, Drucilla. It's beneath you."
Dru leans forward slightly, looking her cousin in the eyes, replying with a very firm, "It's no act, Vasilka."
"No?" Her tone drips with skepticism.
"No. There was an accident. I don't remember it or the handful of years before it."
"What sort of accident?"
"We don't know even that."
"You don't remember me talking up a cause and how we should both join?"
"No, when was that?"
"Clearly, it's in some of your missing time, nearer the beginning of it most likely."
"We'd been exploring the uses of certain dark spells. We both wanted more but laws in many countries being what they are, progress in perfecting spells and potions and being able to experiment with more was hampered. I joined a group and convinced you to join with me. You didn't want to at first because like admittance to schools such as Durmstrang, the group was picky about the purity of bloodlines of its members. I convinced them that having someone of Veela blood would be useful. You embraced the ideals of the group and become a fervant and loyal follower, secure in your position because your Veela charms did aid the group. If you'd successfully completed the last mission you'd been sent on, you would have been safe from any persecution for not having the pure blood such as I possess."
"What group? What are you talking about?"
"Oh, you know. You had to have sussed it out from my letters."
"Death Eaters. Voldemort."
Vasilka touches her nose then holds out her arm, pushing a sleeve back from a wrist to reveal the Dark Mark. "Excellent first guess."
"But I don't have a mark."
"No. With the work you did for the Dark Lord, it wasn't prudent for you to have one. That way, it could not be uncovered accidentally."
"What sort of work?"
"The type where you used your Veela wiles. You work out the details from that."
Drucilla blanches. "I let myself be prostituted?"
"Cousin dear, you eagerly volunteered, especially for that last mission. You wanted the glory for successfully worming your way into the Order of the Phoenix."
"Getting close to Sirius was a mission?"
"Of course. What I don't get is why stay when you don't have to? Loss of memory aside, why would you stay in a sham of a marriage?"
"It's not a sham. Sirius is a wonderful man, an excellent husband, and a great father."
"That's right, you have rug rats, don't you. Such dedication to the mission."
"Stop that! Whatever I did then I don't remember. I don't believe in anything Voldemort stood for. I helped bring about his downfall."
"All this time I thought it was just an act, you playing your part to the hilt. It's really all because you don't remember?" Vasilka gets up, moving to the fire, bending to add another log. "I ended up in prison for a little while, you know? My association with Igor Karkaroff was traced. I tried claiming I'd been Imperiused since that worked for some after Voldemort's first rise to power. It was in Austria. They didn't fall for it. I was only freed after a year and a half because an attorney found some errors in my prosecution and got my sentence overturned. I've not been back to that country since, which is a shame because Austria was always one of my favorite countries."
"My mother mentioned you'd been in some trouble but when I'd ask, she wouldn't go into detail. Why the anonymous letters? Why do you feel you had to remind me of the past?"
Voice dripping with venom Vasilka turns from the fire to glare at Dru. "I paid, why shouldn't you have to suffer as well?"
"I'm sorry you feel such hatred towards me, Vasilka. I have suffered, but in other ways. I've worried and wondered about those missing years. I've been told stories of how after my twins were born, I doted on my daughter but ignored my son. I know I had to have had a dark side, I simply never thought it was as bad as you say."
Dru rises. "Are you done tormenting me or should I expect more?"
"Why should you have everything without having to pay like some of us did?"
"I'll take that as a no then. All right. I know what I have to do."
"What's that?"
"Tell my husband everything. Good bye, cousin. I wish I could say it's been nice seeing you again."
(Kate) These Friends of Mine
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 05-21-12 19:08
At some point during the course of the day, Kate and Mark caught up with Johanna and Gus. Kate immediately noticed that Johanna wore a very mixed expression on her face. She looked both angry and disappointed. Kate wasn't sure what the source of Johanna's feelings was at first and didn't want to ask in front of the boys, deciding it could be something they could talk about as girls later, if Johanna felt like it. But it didn't take long for Kate to notice that the feelings Johanna expressed on her face were directed at Gus. What had he done to get such a reaction from Johanna? Kate wondered to herself.
For once, Gus didn't seem totally oblivious to everything around him. He appeared to know that something was bothering Johanna, but it wasn't clear if he really knew what. For all he knew she was suffering from female problems, and he certainly wasn't going to ask her about that.
Mark didn't seem to notice that anything was amiss. He held onto Kate's hand and carried both of their purchases with his other. Kate hadn't gotten much. Mark, on the other hand, had loaded up on sweets from Honeydukes.
Eventually, they were joined by Felicia and Baltus, who were either attached at the hip or the lips, depending on their mood. Right now they were walking side by side with their arms draped around each other's shoulders.
"The day's almost gone," Mark commented, once the group had assembled. "Should we head back?"
"How about one last round of drinks at The Three Broomsticks?" Gus suggested.
"No, thank you," Johanna said.
Kate could see the protest forming on Gus' lips and burst out with, "I'm with Johanna. I'd much rather get a cup of cocoa from some place like Briar's Bakery. What do you lot want?" she asked, turning to Felicia and Baltus, but they were making out again.
Mark snorted. "A room, I think."
Kate shoved him playfully. "Be serious."
"I am!" he exclaimed. "Just look at them. I can already see Crane Jr. being born."
"So are we going to get cocoa or go back to the castle?" Gus asked.
"Cocoa," Kate said, "then castle."
And so it was decided. The group headed off for a warm, chocolately drink, and even Felicia and Baltus managed to separate long enough to drink their cocoa while it was still nice and hot.