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Poisoned Quills
Author: Wendy Mills
Date: 12-10-13 06:19
Wendy was seated by the pitch, watching some other students, including Andrina, at the Quidditch Workshop. She had participated on a few workshops before, but today she wasn't feeling on the right mood to do so. Many were the people who didn't lose a chance to mount a broom, but Wendy had no problems in rejecting such opportunities: she still thought Quidditch was a violent sport and she was afraid to play it.
She watched Bran Hyland up in the air. He was only a first year and had made the Ravenclaw team, which had caused a lot of admiration and respect for the boy, as well as some jealousy.
"Look at him showing off," a voice commented not far away.
Wendy looked around and she noticed Titus Nott was seated only a couple of chairs away from her. He had his arms crossed and he too was observing Bran. His position was tense and she noticed the envy in his dark eyes, behind his glasses. The cold wind blew and Wendy adjusted her coat, deciding she was not going to pay attention to Titus. But he seemed to be in a talkative mood because he continued:
"It's like he is rubbing in everyone's face that he made the team. He can play in real matches while the rest of them have to settle themselves with these occasional silly workshops."
"If they are so silly, then why are you even watching them?" Wendy couldn't help to ask. Her tone was soft: she was not trying to provoke Titus; she just wanted to know the reason for his presence at the pitch today.
"There's nothing better to do," he replied with a shrug.
There was a moment of silence, where Wendy turned her attention back to the workshop. Andrina flied close to her spot and she waved. Wendy waved back at her, noticing Andrina's eyebrows rising in surprise at the sight of Titus Nott closer to her. Meanwhile he had gone to the pocket of his jacket and took a large package of sugar quills from it. He took one to his mouth and then noticing Wendy's eyes on him, he stretched his arm, offering the sweets to her.
The witch hesitated.
"Come on, now, they aren't poisoned…" he encouraged.
Finally she took a quill from the package and ate it, tasting the soft sweet texture of it.
"Thank you."
Titus didn't reply, already devouring another quill. His eyes went back to the flying figures. Wendy did the same. Although they weren't talking she enjoyed his silent company, thinking that he seemed much more pleasant without Anton Avery around.
Chosen
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 12-10-13 06:20
Hattie pushed past a group of children hurrying towards the sweetshop and turned to look over her shoulder at her companion, who happened to look like a ginger-haired tween but really was a notorious criminal. Adriana looked totally at ease in her surroundings and gazed around with the calculating eye of a predator.
Hattie, on the other hand, felt completely exposed. The ski mask she wore covered the face of Penn Ellison to hide him from anyone, former classmate and teacher, or member of law enforcement who might recognize him, but nevertheless gave the feeling that she stuck out like a sore thumb. Besides, it wasn't that cold outside, and she was beginning to feel uncomfortably warm.
Hattie led the way to the less used alley where the Hog's Head Pub and Brewery was located and leaned against the cool wall of the pub. Adriana followed at a more leisurely pace and then stopped in front of Hattie. To the untrained eye, they looked like a young couple meeting in the alley, though there would be no necking or other amorous shenanigans.
"Well, that was disappointing," Adriana stated.
Hattie had no idea what assignment Adriana had given the bookseller, but she sensed that while Adriana was displeased at the lack of information he had for her, she did not appear as if all was lost. Already, the gears were working in her mind as to how to next approach the subject of whatever she was searching for.
Adriana sighed deeply when Hattie didn't respond and then asked, "Did you enjoy your outing?"
Hattie, who longed to remove the ski mask covering her face but settled for scratching where the bottom of the mask rubbed at her chin, nodded. "Yes, thanks for choosing me."
"I thought you would be perfect, considering you're just a kid."
The words stung, because Hattie wasn't just a kid and she knew that Adriana liked to tease her regarding her appearance. But she kept her cool and responded, "I'm pleased I could be of service."
She turned her head towards the commotion on the High Street then, and gasped inwardly when she saw Ethan Somerset stop in the road to address a pair of boys, who had just purchased a sack of dung bombs from the joke shop.
Adriana followed her gaze and said, "Patience, Hattie. When the time is right, you can do whatever you want to him. Come on, we should go."
Adriana reached for Hattie's arm. The last thing Hattie saw was her prey, glancing in the direction of the alley with a confused expression on his face.
Seeing Iola (Caerwyn)
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 12-10-13 19:42
Reaching Hogsmeade, the first place Caerwyn and Gus Hodfuffer visit is Twice Told Tales. Caerwyn's father has promised some extra galleons to spend though Caerwyn would have wanted to say hello to Julian and Uncle Lysander, and give Dexter some attention, even if there were no money offered. As long as he's at the bookshoppe Caerwyn also locates copies of several of the Book Group's readings. Always something of a reader and becoming even more of one after coming to live with Julian, who owns a shoppe filled with books, Caerwyn already had a copy of the first Book Group selection, The Lion, the Muggle, and the Wardrobe and a copy of another of the books but needed the rest for the meetings through December until Christmas holidays begin.
Books in a cloth bag along with some selections Gus wants, the two boys plan to retrieve the bag before returning to Hogwarts this evening. A few minutes with Dexter, a short time only because the cat got extremely distracted by the swishing ponytail tied with bright, trailing ribbons of a fourth year girl, and they exit Twice Told Tales, their thoughts on food. Walking the short distance to Briar's Bakery, Caerwyn stops short. Gus, not immediately noticing, goes several steps farther then has to backtrack to where Caerwyn is greeting his Aunt Iola.
She nods an acknowledgement to Gus and says, "I had no idea it was a Hogwarts Hogsmeade Saturday. I might have put off errands until tomorrow if I'd realized. Of course, I'd miss getting to see you even if this is by chance."
"I'm glad I saw you." Though Caerwyn does sometimes got odd vibes from his aunt, he's sincerely happy to see Iola and is thankful his father finally relented in allowing him to get to know her better. "I have a few more boxes to go through of Mum's. I'm hoping that pendant will be in one of them."
Caerwyn doesn't notice the tightness of Iola's smile at the mention of the pendant. "Thank you for having looked at all. I so appreciate you taking the time to locate something with such sentimental value to me."
"I don't mind looking and going through everything has been interesting."
Iola gives Caerwyn a hug. "I know it's got to be hard on you as well." Taking a step back she gestures to the bakery. "I'm guessing that's where you were both going. I won't keep you. If you're at the Crown & Cauldron around noon, I'll treat you both to lunch."
Gus and Caerwyn exchange grins but not because they've been offered a free lunch but neither tells Iola they wouldn't have to pay for lunch at the Crown & Cauldron because of Gus's connection there. Gus simply says, "Or maybe we can treat you."
Iola laughs lightly, thinking they are joking. She's been getting to know Caerwyn better but doesn't know much about his friend to make a connection between Gus Hodfuffer and the owners of the Crown & Cauldron. She bids them goodbye until lunch, continuing on to the next stop on her to do list. Caerwyn and Gus head on to the bakery where Caerwyn opts for a chocolate cream filled pastry while Gus selects a slice of lemon tart, their thoughts going to strategy for the laser tag game they've got planned with a couple of other friends.
Coping
Author: Hermione Granger
Date: 12-11-13 17:51
Hermione sat on the back patio dressed in a pair of loose-fitting, cotton pants and a long-sleeved, thermal top. Her hair was up in a sloppy ponytail, and she wore slippers Majandra had knitted for her on her feet. Crookshanks sat next to her on the bench, while Hero darted after something drifting in the wind.
In the distance, Hermione could hear the sounds of happy school children making their way from shoppe to shoppe along High Street and the side alleys. Ron had just left to patrol the village, but he had been very hesitant to do so.
The Thursday before last, Hermione had woken up in a hospital room, hooked up to various monitors that had beeped noisily. At first, she'd felt very disoriented, but then it had all come back to her. She'd gone for her meeting with Leda, John Radcliffe Hospital's academic advisor who also happened to be a witch, and then somebody had pushed her down the stairs.
It came out soon after that the woman with whom Hermione had met hadn't been the real Leda. Lucky for the real one, whoever had pretended to be her hadn't used Polyjuice potion, or if she had, she'd assumed a completely different guise from how Leda looked in real life. Security footage pulled by Oxford police showed the supermodel-esque woman walking through various parts of the hospital, and though she was spotted in the stairwell where Hermione was later found, the camera position hadn't actually shown the moment when Hermione was pushed. It was assumed the false Leda was behind Hermione's fall, but there wasn't definite proof.
The hospital personnel who'd found Hermione had searched her purse for identification and had found none. Instead, she'd found Hermione's wand, which was later passed off as being a child's toy. Fortunately, Hermione hadn't been carrying any magical objects that couldn't be explained.
The back door opened and Fleur emerged from the house, carrying two steaming mugs in her hands. She sat down on Hermione's other side and said, "Drink!"
Hermione took the mug from her sister-in-law and inhaled the aroma of the tea. It was still too hot to drink in her opinion, but Fleur didn't seem to think so. She sipped from her own mug, never once grimacing.
"Victoire zinks she eez a good babysitter for Rose," Fleur finally said, referring to the fact that Ron had dropped Rose off at her house before starting his shift in the village. Bill was actually the one babysitting the children, but Victoire, as the oldest, got it in her head that she was actually looking after everyone.
A faint smile crossed Hermione's face. "I'm sure she is."
Fleur set her mug down on the ground, which neither cat showed any interest in for the moment, and turned directly to Hermione.
"'ow are you really, 'ermione?"
"Coping," Hermione replied.
"Eet takes time," Fleur murmured, "and zough you won't forget, you can 'eal. You can try again."
Hermione ventured a sip of her tea, found it still too hot, and lowered her mug to the ground. She sighed and said, "I feel empty."
"I know."
"But I'm also angry. Is it murder, what she did?"
"I zink so, yes."
"I hope she's caught. I wish I knew who she was and why she lured me to the hospital."
Fleur nodded in agreement. "Me too."
Hermione balled her hands into fists, but then relaxed and touched her stomach. A little more than a week ago, she'd been carrying a baby, but she'd suffered a miscarriage from her tumble down the stairs.
Fleur reached over and placed a hand on Hermione's arm. "Drink your tea. Eet will soothe you."
Hermione looked down at the mug at her feet and decided not to argue with Fleur, who had suffered more than one miscarriage in her life and knew better than anyone what it felt like to lose an unborn child.
With Mum At The Burrow
Author: Ginny Weasley
Date: 12-11-13 20:43
Molly gives Jamie a hard cracker to chew. He's got a tooth coming in and chewing on something like the cracker helps. It also serves to increase the amount of drool dripping on anything in his path. Reaching to wipe his mouth yet again Ginny says with a shake of her head, "I never imagined something so small could put out so much fluid or semi-solids. I swear sometimes his dirty nappies are heavier than he is."
"After Bill was born, I often wondered the same thing. I think all first time mums do."
"I read some of the pregnancy and parenting books but they can't really prepare you, can they?"
Molly smiles, patting Ginny on the hand then asks, "Have you been to see Hermione and Ron?"
"Only Ron so far." Ginny lays a hand on her rounded stomach. "I wasn't sure she'd want such an obvious reminder of what she's lost."
"Hermione would never begrudge that you're pregnant and she no longer is."
"I know but it just seems like such an obvious, in your face so soon after." She has a sudden thought. "Do you think they'll still want to have the big gathering in a few days for Rose's first?"
"Very good question. As it's here, they won't have to deal with preparing food and having so many over; but, I don't know if even if not in the mood themselves if they'd want to skip over Rose's first birthday celebration or not. I'll ask and let them know that they are free to leave early if they wish. Everyone would understand."
Molly looks to where the first stages of dinner preparation are underway. "If you'll keep working on supper, I think I'll pop over to see Hermione, feel her out on the party. I shouldn't be overly long."
Making a face at Jamie, who gurgles around what's left of the cracker, Ginny rises. "Take your time, Mum. Jamie and I have everything here under control."
Molly leaves and Ginny sets to work finishing the meal preparation, feeling awful about not having seen Hermione yet but still thinking that seeing her so visibly pregnant might cause Hermione undue pain at this point.
Frustrated
Author: Maggie Hawthorne
Date: 12-12-13 06:16
It was Saturday, and I was currently at the WWN getting handed off to another staffer - which had been common place since Bronwyn went missing at Emrys Fest. Learning anything seemed nearly impossible, unless I actually managed to get someone who would actually teach me instead of getting someone who thought that I needed a babysitter.
However, I did manage to prove one guy wrong when he couldn't figure something out after fussing with it for over half an hour. I stopped by his desk to see if he wanted coffee, and proceeded to fix his problem in about five minutes. Much to his dismay that the intern actually knew something after all.
Either way, things were not like they were when Bronwyn had been around, and since she'd been missing they'd already tried replacing her half a dozen times but none of them could keep up the quality of work that she did and were gone a couple of weeks into the position. However, this most recent woman, was unfortunately showing some actual potential, and that depressed me because she wanted absolutely nothing to do with having an intern roaming about and following her around - nevermind she'd already stolen three of my ideas for promotions for new material coming out from a couple of different bands.
To make matters worse, she couldn't even be bothered to remember my name - really?
"Margaret..."
"Maggie."
"Yes, yes...go get those flyers from the printer, and stop and get me lunch from that little cafe near the ministry."
I barely managed to restrain myself from heaving a sigh as I plastered on my fakest smile, and nodded. "Sure Lenora. Anything else?"
"No, that'll be all."
I turned, without another word and headed to the floo, so I could go to the printers and grab those flyers and ultimately grab her lunch at the cafe where I worked part time still, and would be in to work later this evening once I finished at the WWN. Lunch, and flyers I was back in the office within an hour with lunch for everyone.
"Megara...those fliers look fantastic!"
I gritted my teeth, "It's Maggie."
"Oh, it is isn't it?"
Deep breathing and counting to ten did very little to ease the frustration and irritation that rose within me with Lenora Fairweather's arrogance and blatant dismissal of my existence.
"Lenora, my name is Maggie, not Megara, not Margaret or anything else of that sort. I realize you dislike having me around, but I need this internship for credit toward my communications degree at St. Emrys. I would GREATLY appreciate it if you would stop treating me like a flea and worst off stealing all of the credit for the ideas that I came up with for the promotions and other things that I've done in the three weeks you've been in this office."
My breaking point, I'd found it, and yet I'd gone off on her, but I shouldn't have - not that it matters, I knew that the supervisor wouldn't cut me out of the program, but I had a feeling I would be meeting with my professor after this outburst with Lenora.
I couldn't be in the office anymore after I went off on Lenora, and there were others in the office that had already proven that I'd rather not be there - so I decided I was done for the day - before I said something that really could have gotten me in trouble.
"I will see you all tomorrow."
With that I flooed home to shower, and ultimately headed in to the cafe early for my shift. I would have to owl Toby or Lawrence to see if they'd heard anything about Bronwyn lately.