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Prefects
Author: Griet
Date: 07-01-09 18:59
After an easy parting from her family, whom she hadn't had all that much time with since returning to Canterbury from North Carolina earlier in the summer, Griet followed Cornelia onto the Hogwarts Express and to the compartment reserved for prefects and the Head Boy and Head Girl. Griet and Cornelia were the Slytherin sixth year and fifth year prefects, respectively, and wore their shining silver badges on the front of their shirts.
It wasn't very long at all before the compartment was packed with as many prefects as had chosen to ride to Hogwarts on the train that day and the Head Boy and Girl, Curtis Fiennes of Ravenclaw House and Freya Abbott, also of Slytherin. Even before the train started to pull away from Kings Cross Station, Curtis started to speak. He droned on and on about the return to normalcy at Hogwarts, the need for prefects to serve as mentors and how especially understanding those who'd gone through the same horrors as many others experienced during the last few years would be. He talked of taking points, of house passwords, and a number of other items all prefects should take into consideration while they served in the position.
When at last Freya could get a word in, she said only a few and then polled for questions. A few were asked, but not too many, and then the prefects were dismissed to do as they pleased. A few chose to stay in the compartment, but most dispersed to find their friends.
Griet and Cornelia were among those to leave. They weren't sure where they might go but had pretty much decided that they would sit together. Sadie and Ramona were somewhere on the train, as were Aleydis and the newest Vanderbilt to attend Hogwarts, the youngest sister, Beatrix. The oldest sisters didn't run into their cousins or their siblings, however. They spotted Gervaise sliding open a nearby compartment and ushering them inside.
"We saved you a seat," he said, mainly to Griet, but there was clearly enough room for Cornelia as well.
"Thanks," Griet replied. She cast quick eyes at Oberon but sat down next to Gervaise on the opposite cushion.
Cornelia took the empty space next to Oberon.
"So, it's been a while, yeah?" Gervaise asked Griet.
"Yeah. How's things?" She directed the question at both boys.
"Things are good," Gervaise replied. "Back to normal, I guess. Well, not really, but getting there."
Oberon had a slight smirk on his face and gazed out the window. The train had a steady pace by now.
"So, prefect? That's quite an honor, isn't it?" Gervaise prattled on, looking from Griet to Cornelia and back again. "Who got it for the boys?"
"Barnaby Barlow in our year," Griet replied, "and––"
"John Worsley in mine," Cornelia replied. "He's a repeater, like you lot, so I can't say I know him all that well compared to others." She shrugged her shoulder and glanced out the window on the sliding door.
"Say, has the trolley come by yet?"
"Not yet," Gervaise replied, "but I'm guessing soon. I don't know about you lot, but I'm starved for sweets." For emphasis, he started rummaging through his pockets for coins and counted some out on his palm.
Griet looked at Oberon. She hadn't seen him in quite a while and really wanted to kick out Gervaise and Cornelia and have herself a good fight and then a good snog, but perhaps there would be time for that later. As if sensing her gaze on him, Oberon glanced her way. He cleared his throat loudly.
"I need to use the loo."
He got up abruptly, slid open the door, and stepped into the hallway.
Griet waited half a beat.
"Me too, actually."
She got up swiftly and stepped outside, spotting Oberon indeed heading for the lavatories on the train. They were generally quite cramped for a single person and would likely be doubly so for two, but she had an itch to try it out anyway. She shut the door behind her and headed down the corridor after Oberon.
Something New
Author: Hermione Granger
Date: 07-02-09 08:49
"So, what exactly are we doing here?" Ron asked, as he and Hermione stood outside The Health Nut in Diagon Alley. Although Hermione wasn't the lazy type by any means, she tended to exercise her mind more than her body. Nonetheless, she stood in front of the wizarding gym in a pair of yoga pants and a matching top.
Although it was the middle of Monday, a work day at that, it so happened that Hermione and Ron had time off. Ron and Harry and many of the others currently working at the Ministry of Magic had put in extra hours in their efforts to correct many of the problems left behind from the previous administration. The additional work was certainly necessary, since there was still so much to do until everything seemed completely normal again, but sometimes they were forced to take a vacation day or comp time so that they didn't overwork themselves.
Hermione smiled at Ron and took his hand into hers. "When Harry and Janine get here, I'll tell you."
"Are you saying we're not really going to workout?"
"Just wait," Hermione teased.
They didn't have to wait long before Harry appeared, but instead of Janine, Ginny was at his side. They were similarly dressed in workout wear.
"Hi Harry, Ginny," Hermione greeted. To Harry she asked, "Janine couldn't make it?"
"Something came up with her father," Harry replied, "and since you told me I had to bring somebody, I asked Ginny if she wanted to come along."
Hermione smiled. "That's perfect, actually."
"So, will you tell me now why we're really here?" Ron asked.
Harry and Ginny looked from Ron to Hermione questioningly.
"You mean we're not working out?" asked Harry, dark eyebrows raised.
Ginny was the first to spot the new sign hanging in The Health Nut's window. Her eyes lit up. "Ballroom dancing?!"
The boys turned to the sign with dread.
"Dancing?" Ron croaked.
Hermione beamed. "The Health Nut is offering dance classes now. I thought we might check it out and see how we like it."
"I think I know how I'll like it," Ron replied, as Hermione dragged him into the building.
They followed the signs that led to a reasonably sized dance studio on the second floor of the building. Sevaral couples were already inside, and they all had something in common. They were older, retired witches and wizards.
Hermione let out a little laugh. "I guess we're going to bring down the average age." And to Harry she said, "I'm glad you brought Ginny and not somebody like Fred or George!"
"Though I'm sure they're excellent dancers," Ginny quipped, smiling.
The foursome waited for the instructor to get things started and then broke into pairs to begin learning basic dance steps.
Don't Want To Go (Liannah)
Author: Aaron Miller
Date: 07-02-09 23:37
Before the troubles, Liannah MacDougal had never considered herself clingy, needy, or babyish. Before the troubles, she'd always imagined her first time on the Hogwarts Express to be thrilling. An exciting new adventure. Liannah had pictured herself standing on the Hogwarts Express, waving to Marlow and Lauren, looking smugly down at her sisters on the platform as they watched with envy as the train pulled away from the station. Liannah would then go into a compartmet filled with other first years and become instant friends with all of them.
The reality of heading to Hogwarts has been anything but a thrill. Liannah hasn't once lorded it over her siblings that she's old enough for Hogwarts while they're going to be stuck at home for another few years, two in Marlow's case and four for Lauren. As the days counted down to September 1st, Liannah got more and more whiny about anything Hogwarts related, be it getting fitted for school robes or having to pack her trunk.
Liannah is very fearful that she'll get to Hogwarts and the troubles will begin again; that this return to normal, as everyone calls it, is just temporary. She'll never see her parents or sisters again and the cousins attending Hogwarts will all be separated.
This morning she was so sluggish that her father yelled at her. Out and out yelled.
Liannah had found herself to be weepy, didn't want to get dressed, and couldn't face eating breakfast. Even if she'd been the tiniest bit hungry, the tight lump in her throat and the whorling vortex in her stomach wouldn't have let her get anything down anyway.
Once at the train station, her mother Madeline had ended up walking Liannah by hand onto the train and helping her find a compartment. Her father Scott came behind with her trunk. Marlow and Lauren came behind him, whispering to each other, most likely about how Liannah was being such a baby.
Liannah had tried to follow her family off the train but Madeline had turn, bent to her daughter's level, and told her in no uncertain terms she was not to get off the train before it reached Hogsmeade. Instead of the grand farewell with Liannah standing on the top step of one of the carriages and waving at her sisters with an air of superiority, she'd stayed seated in the compartment, which just happened to overlook the train platform, and gave one half-hearted wave goodbye.
With no one else in the compartment and with the train picking up speed, Liannah's extreme anxiety about the troubles not really being over returned in full. She was in the midst of a full blown hyperventilating panic attack when someone thrust a paper bag in her face and ordered her to hold it up to her mouth and nose to breath.
It took Liannah a few minutes to calm down enough to even see who'd shoved the paper bag at her. Her cousin Jasper is seated beside her, one hand on her back, the other helping her hold the paper bag. He offers her a tentative smile. "Better now?"
Liannah nods, continuing to breath with the bag covering her mouth and nose, relieved somewhat that at least she has someone now to share the compartment with.
Almost Time
Author: Illyria
Date: 07-03-09 10:24
"They'll be arriving soon," Illyria mused over the cup of tea she sipped.
She and Marzipan sat in one of the staff lounges at Hogwarts, which had only recently been vacated by the other professors following a last minute meeting led by Professor McGonagall. The meeting contained nothing everyone already knew and once again emphasized the need for staff to not only serve as teachers but as mentors, too. A fair number of the incoming students had suffered in the various communities last year, as had some of the staff, and there might be a general feeling of vulnerabilty and a need for some counseling from time to time.
Illyria herself still woke up from nightmares about her experiences at 14-15-14, so she could well imagine that the others hadn't yet healed either. She had absolutely no problem lending a hand, shoulder or ear to any student in need.
"I'm excited," Marzi said. "I can't wait to see the children again and to meet the new ones."
"The new ones won't know you as Professor FitzRoy but the old ones will, and I suppose not all of them are new to Hogwarts––just new to us," Illyria added as an afterthought.
Marzi nodded and then laughed. "I'm sure the old ones will forget to call me by my new name. Sometimes I can't believe I'm married."
"Getting married seems to be going around right now," Illyria replied with a smile. "I think everyone has the carpe diem mentality right now. Life is short, bad things happen, let's not waste any more time."
"Have you heard from your sisters?" Marzi asked, referring not only to the married ones but the single ones too.
"Erigone is loving every minute of Mumbai. Arsinoe and Quin are back in the country and have resumed their old positions at St. Mungo's. Olympia and Urania have also returned and are back at the Ministry of Magic."
Illyria shifted in her seat. "I should probably check on things for my classes."
She knew she was ready, that she had been ready for quite some time, but Illyria did feel a little out of practice and just wanted the reassurance that she had everything prepared for tomorrow night.
She drained her teacup and started to rise. "See you later, at the feast?" she queried Marzi.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," her friend answered with a smile.
Hogwarts Express
Author: Ronan Eastwick
Date: 07-03-09 10:54
Ronan was one of the prefects to stay behind in the compartment after the meeting led by the head boy and girl ended. He sat by the window and watched the trees whip by as the train sped ever onward to Hogwarts. Beside and across from him, the other remaining prefects talked amongst themselves. Ronan listened but didn't say much himself.
His mind wandered to his mother. He'd visited her yesterday at Azkaban. She looked reasonably well and in good spirits, considering the environment. Ronan promised to write often but wasn't sure if he'd leave Hogwarts for Christmas and Easter or just stay at the castle the entire school year. Besides Enid, he didn't really have anybody to visit outside of the castle.
Enid warned him not to get too lonely and to make friends. She sensed his isolation and found it especially disheartening, considering everything he'd endured in recent times. She hoped that if he had someone to rely on and talk to, someone his own age, it would help him forget what troubled him.
Ronan didn't feel particularly worried or depressed about anything, despite his experiences, but he found himself deep in grave thought quite often. He thought about Happy Haven, about Caden, about his mother––about serious things that often left him with a deeply furrowed brow and the occasional headache. Some levity in his life would do him well.
He knew his mother was right and that when he returned to Hogwarts, he should look upon Illyria as a professor and not a friend.
Ronan turned to those in the compartment with him and, when there was a lull in the conversation, brought up a subject most energeticallly received by all.
"Is anyone going to try out for Quidditch this season?"
There was a chorus of "oh, yes!" and just a few who said no. Those planning on trying out named the positions they held an interest in and then asked Ronan if he would try out and which he wanted.
"I think I'm going to try for keeper again," Ronan went on, remembering the last time he'd played for the Gryffindor team. Gryffindor hadn't made it to the Championship Game that year, but maybe this year would be different.
Oh, how he hoped this year would be different in every possible way.
Reminders
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 07-03-09 11:35
Lysander stood outside Scrivenshafts and stared through the window, where he could clearly see Astrid talking to her boyfriend Varus. She had a smile on her face and her eyes were large and twinkly. Varus smiled too and took a strand of Astrid's hair between his fingers. She laughed about something and then he chuckled loudly enough for Lysander to hear it through the glass.
He stood outside the stationary shop for a long time, wanting to go in an break up the happy couple but at the same time resisting. He had to remind himself time and time again that Astrid was not Chyler. Lysander knew it, and admired Astrid in her own way, but he knew that the primary thing that drew him to her was her resemblance to his deceased wife.
Sighing, he turned away from the window and glanced to the end of High Street, where the gates of Hogwarts separated the grounds from the village of Hogsmeade. He had just come that way, from a meeting with Professor Dumbledore and the new librarian, Azaelia Bramble.
Ever since last February or so, Lysander had worked on a needs assessment project for the school's library. The task had been given to him by then-Hogwarts Headmistress Harriet Snider, and Lysander had been handsomely compensated for his troubles. With her removal from the position and subsequent arrest, Lysander hadn't finished the job, which had more or less gone into limbo.
The meeting with Dumbledore and Azaelia, whom he'd know when she'd been a student herself at Hogwarts and who had visited Twice Told Tales on Hogsmeade weekends with her friends Pyrrhus Fine, Isolde Farnon, and Alexis Black, had resulted in a contract to finish what he started and to turn over any helpful resources to Azaelia so that she might keep up with a similar project in the future. Dumbledore wouldn't be paying Lysander the obscene amount of money Snider did but would be generous nonetheless.
Lysander forced himself to move away from Scrivenshafts. He went back to Twice Told Tales and entered to the merry tinkle of the overhead bell. Julian looked up from the front counter and shot Lysander a small grin.
"Go all right?"
"I've been given clearance to finish the project," Lysander replied with a slight shrug to his shoulders.
Chyler had been alive when Azaelia and the other kids had come to Twice Told Tales and perused books in the now-defunct secret room. Seeing Azaelia on a fairly regular basis would be just another thing to remind Lysander of Chyler. He knew he shouldn't fault Azaelia by any means, but he just couldn't control his runaway mind.
It had been absolutely ages since Lysander had seen the doll that looked, walked and talked like Chyler. He'd almost forgotten about its existence, until that day when Lysander had found Julian with it. Lysander had resisted the urge to take it and look at it too, knowing that he would probably waste all his time with it for company. He had to remind himself yet again that Chyler was gone and that he needed to move on with his life.
He stepped into the office to do some paperwork, when an owl flew into the building behind a customer through the front door. It was small, black, and had glowing yellow eyes. Lysander shrank from it immediately, recognizing it as the owl that had delivered him a threatening, anonymous note quite some time ago. He'd nearly forgotten about it, being so wrapped up with Astrid.
The owl landed on the desk and held out its leg, upon which another scrap of parchment was tied. Lysander hesitated and then untied the string. With trembling hands, he unfurled the small note and read
I still know what you did.
Before he could stop the owl from flying away, it took off and sped out the open front door, unsettling the hat of an elderly customer coming inside the bookstore.
"Oh my goodness. That owl nearly took off my head!"
Lysander came out of the office, still holding the note, and apologized to the witch, just as Julian was doing the same. Julian noted the look on Lysander's face and glanced at the parchment scrap in his hands.
Lysander waited for the customer to wander into the stacks to do some browsing and then showed the note to Julian. In hushed tones he said, "It's not the first I've received," and filled Julian in on everything.
Offering Assistance
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 07-04-09 08:40
"Our wanted list is growing smaller," Jaiden Peters said, waving a small stack of papers in her hand for emphasis, "but as you can see, we still have a lot of work ahead of us."
Ethan held out a hand to look at the lists. "You know you can count on me to help, if I'm ever needed," he said, scanning the lists for familiar names. They were mostly in alphabetical order, though some were starred or underlined to denote their urgency in relation to some of the others.
Jaiden smiled. "Of course, but you have your duties at Hogwarts now, and your first priority should be to your students."
Ethan looked up from the lists, just after his eyes had zoned in on the names of his adoptive parents. "Absolutely, but I have a history, whether direct or indirect, with a fair number of the names on these sheets. I definitely have an interest in their capture."
"We won't forget you, Ethan, not to worry," Jaiden replied, laughing. "We know you're an invaluable resource when it comes to some of these cases, and believe me, we'll ask you assistance sooner or later."
"Good." Ethan grinned and handed Jaiden her papers again.
Sometimes he wondered if accepting the DADA professor position at Hogwarts had been the wisest thing. There was so much he could be doing at the Ministry of Magic, especially now, but even into the future. He had an interest in many pending cases and wanted a more active role in tracking down people like the Somersets, Nero Noir, and others involved in Project 25. Some individuals had never been captured. Others had been and later let go under Euphemia Smythe-Jones' administration. There was simply much he could, and wanted, to do.
At the same time, he wanted to be at Hogwarts. He wanted to do right what he'd done wrong many years ago. Ethan respected Dumbledore tremendously and felt honored and grateful to know that the Hogwarts headmaster thought him worthy of filling the role he'd so abruptly abandoned.
"I suppose I should head back to the castle," Ethan said, glancing at the watch on his arm. "It's nearing arrival time for the students."
"Oh, it's the first of September! I'd nearly forgotten," Jaiden exclaimed. "Go on then, and eat a good dessert for me at the Start of Term Feast!"
Ethan laughed. "I'll do that. I'll see you later, and––"
"––And I'll send you an owl if I or anyone else here needs your input," Jaiden broke in with a grin.
"Thanks."
Ethan ducked out of the auror office, deciding to stop by the Department of Magical Games and Sports to see Rosamond before continuing on his way to Hogwarts.