|
|
Bidding Hogwarts Farewell till September
Author: Adina Blackwood
Date: 09-10-11 09:08
All but her messenger bag had gone to the Hogwarts Express station in Hogsmeade earlier this morning or sometime last night during the feast. She'd showered before bed, and packed her toiletries away once more, before leaving her clothes out. Her pjs could be tossed into the bottom of her messenger bag for the train ride.
She'd gotten up early this morning and ensured that she had everything for the trip. There would of course be the discussion of summer plans and the like (again) as well as potential meet up plans for Emry's Fest at the end of the month. When it was time, she met Arthur in the commons and headed down to the carriages that would be taking the students to the station.
They were going to try and grab a cabin and hold the other two seats for Kida and Whitney so that the four of them could enjoy the train ride home. Adina also thought about Marlow, someone she'd not spent much time with since last summer. Then again they had been in different houses and were a year apart, but that didn't mean that...she was a horrible person and needed to spend more time with those she considered friends.
Right now, she was looking forward to getting home and hoping that her mum had made a fresh batch of baklava because she was craving the nutty, sweet, sticky pastery and simply being home. For now, she and Arthur soon found a cabin and settled in, waiting for Whitney and Kida to join them. Adina made sure she had enough money for the sweets trolly that would come through at some point on their journey toward platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station in London.
The Perfect Dress
Author: Ginny Weasley
Date: 09-10-11 13:42
"That's a lovely one. My favorite so far." Molly taps the wedding dress being modeled on a magazine page.
"I love the back but the front isn't my favorite." Ginny turns the page but neither of those dresses appeals to her so she immediately turns to the following page.
"Do you think Maj could take the front of this one and the back of that one?" she asks, touching the picture on the left page then turning back two pages to tap the one Molly likes so much.
"Majandra is extremely talented so, yes, I think she could do it. She could also design an original for you if you prefer."
"She and I have discussed that but before I can even begin to tell her what I'm looking for I have to get some ideas."
"Given any more thought to setting the date?"
"Some. Harry's happy with whatever date I want but I can't decide. I've narrowed a few down."
"Such as?"
"Such as Sunday, November 13th, or Saturday, November 19th, or Saturday, December 10th, as well as dates next year."
"November 19th would work nicely. We've enough time to do proper planning."
"I'm not looking for a huge wedding that requires massive planning, Mum."
"Nonsense. My only daughter is getting married and we are going to do it up proper. We'll have it here, of course, unless you have strong objections."
"I was thinking we'd have it here. What do you think of this dress?"
"The sleeves are too poofy. Did you invite Harry to come for lunch?"
"Yes, but he had a break in a big case last night so is busy with that. I told him to come for lunch anyway and to bring Griffin Price with him. That's who he's working with on this particular case. Oooooh. That's the dress I want."
Molly looks at the page Ginny's on then looks to her daughter and back again to the page. "I certainly hope you are joking, Ginny."
"You don't think it's the perfect dress?"
"It's bright yellow, practically flourescent, with large, equally bright pink dots. The neckline plunges so low you can see the model's bellybutton. I shudder to think of what the back looks like."
The model in the picture obligingly turns.
Molly actually does shudder. "You can see her knickers, Ginny."
"But they match the pink dots, Mum. They are part of the ensemble. Look, there are even slits up both sides that go high enough to see them."
"What little there is of the top must be charmed to stay up because no amount of dress adhesive would do the job. I think someone made a mistake putting this in a bride's magazine. It was probably supposed to go in some other sort of magazine."
"She's wearing a pink garter that matches the dots and a yellow veil that matches the dress and is carrying a pink and yellow bouquet, Mum."
"If you were to insist on having this dress, Ginny, I think the invitations would accidently be printed with the wrong location for the wedding."
Ginny bursts out laughing and after a pointed look at her daughter Molly starts laughing as well with Ginny making things worse by describing what rest of the wedding party would wear if the bride worse the glow in the dark yellow and pink barely there dress.
(Kate) Homeward Bound
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 09-11-11 17:06
The Hogwarts Express had already travelled more than halfway to London. Kate sat at the window in the compartment she shared with the usual suspects, Johanna, Felicia, Gus and Mark, and looked out the window at the passing landscape. It seemed like a nice day outside, too nice for an entire day inside a train compartment. Yet at the same time, Kate couldn't imagine not taking the Hogwarts Express home. Looking around at her friends, she knew she would miss their companionship all summer long.
The girls sat on one side of the compartment, while the boys sat on the other. Mostly, Gus and Mark discussed the upcoming Quidditch Con they were both going to. They were both terribly excited about attending the first ever convention for worldwide Quidditch.
The girls mostly talked about more girly things, like Johanna's almost relationship with Ravenclaw Roger Gesner.
"You should have invited him to sit with us!" Felicia said to Johanna.
Kate nodded in agreement. "Definitely," she said.
"Maybe," Johanna murmured, "but I'm sure he would want to sit with his own friends too."
"You should at least go see where he's sitting," Felicia said. "I'll come with you, if you want."
Johanna nodded. "All right. Coming, Kate?"
"No, I think I will stay behind for now."
Johanna and Felicia got up and slid open the compartment door. They paused in the entryway long enough for Johanna to say to Gus, "The trolley lady is down the hall."
Gus immediately sprang up from his seat and started fishing in the pocket of his jeans for some coins. "I'm not waiting for her to make her way over to us, in case she runs out of all the good snacks before she gets here." He followed Johanna and Felicia out of the compartment, leaving Kate and Mark alone.
Kate turned back to the window, watching the posts of a farmyard fence fly past.
Mark cleared his throat. "Are you going to Emrys Fest?"
Kate turned to him. "I haven't asked my dad if it's all right, but supposing it is, I plan on going. What about you? It doesn't conflict with that Quidditch convention, does it?"
"The Con is the weekend before," Mark replied. He shrugged. "I'll probably go to Emrys Fest."
"Then I suppose I might see you there."
"Yeah, you might."
An uncomfortable silence fell between them.
Then, Mark cleared his throat. "Do you still have the necklace? The one from the Easter egg hunt?"
Kate touched the place just below her throat and then fished the emerald-strewn necklace out from beneath the high-neck, sleeveless top she wore. The top had been a gift from her cousin Bronwyn and was hot pink in color with emerald green embroidery along the hem. Kate had paired the top with a pair of dark blue jeans.
"It keeps slipping under my shirt," she said, as she moved it into place over the silky material.
"It's nice," Mark said.
Kate smiled. "You're only saying that because it has emeralds, which are the official Slytherin gemstone."
Mark almost grinned. "Maybe, but it is a good color on you too."
Kate hadn't expected the compliment and would have blushed the color of her shirt if Gus hadn't stumbled back into the compartment with an armful of snacks.
"I lucked out," he exclaimed, plopping down next to Mark on the bench. He dumped his booty onto the space between them. "She still had plenty of good stuff for purchase. Do either of you care for anything? I'm more than happy to share."
"Have anything gummy?" Kate asked.
Gus picked through the pile of sweets and then handed over a package of gummy worms.
"Thanks," Kate said. She opened the package and bit one of the worms in half. She turned back to the window and watched the landscape some more, knowing soon it would change from fields and trees to buildings and streets.
Free Meals (Caerwyn)
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 09-11-11 18:06
Caerwyn looks at the last crumbs of his breakfast, wondering if anyone would notice - other than Augustus that is - if he licked the plate. The Crown & Cauldron really should consider doing breakfast daily if the scrumptious meal he's just had is anything to go by. Maybe he'll say something to Gus's aunt when he says thank you for fixing him - them - breakfast. Gus's Aunt Phalgamelina had let Gus know in an owl that if he was sticking around Hogsmeade with Caerwyn instead of riding the Hogswarts Express to King's Cross, she'd make them breakfast here at the Crown & Cauldron.
The boys were up early, eager to get their holiday started. They didn't have to wait on their belongings to be taken into Hogsmeade but also didn't want to lose track of time once in the village and leave their things sitting around unattended for hours. So, they'd eaten a little of the breakfast offered there at school and at the appointed time bid fairwell to their friends taking the train, grabbed up the cat carrier, put Velvet inside, and climbed aboard the carriage going into the village. Once in the village Caerwyn's dad helped them get everything upstairs to his flat above Twice Told Tales. They'd let Velvet out of her carrier, who promptly went in search of Dexter to play with or try to groom, something she's fond of doing, then immediately headed here to the Crown & Cauldron for a proper breakfast. Caerwyn hardly thinks the snack he had at the castle was breakfast. It was more of a starter for breakfast if breakfast had appetizers like lunch and dinner sometimes have.
Gus is polishing off the last of his bacon as Caerwyn contemplates licking his own plate. He decides against it, not wanting to be seen by one of the adults and that ending up with him not being invited back for another free meal. Instead he says, "Briar's next or you want to wait?"
"Let's get there and get something we can carry. That is if you're still wanting to go down to the stream."
"Still want to do that. I want to see if I can tell if the fishing there would be any good."
"Okay, so a stop at Briar's for dessert. How come there isn't really dessert after breakfast when there is after other meals?"
"Don't know but it's a good idea, I think. I was wondering the same thing about starters just a minute ago. You can get starters with lunch and supper but I've never seen breakfast appetizers on a menu."
"Sort of weird when you think about it. Sort of like how fish and chips are considered lunch and supper food but not breakfast food while pancakes everyone calls breakfast food. Why is that?"
"Good question. Anyway, Briar's, then the hike, then back to the village for lunch, then paint ball?"
"Yeah, let's just find Aunt Phlagmelina first."
With a nod Caerwyn slides from the booth as Gus does the same on the opposite side then follows his friend in search of Ms. Hodfuffer to thank for an excellent breakfast. A few hours later when returning to the Crown & Cauldron for lunch, also free - it's good to have a best friend with relatives who own a restaurant and who are always offering to feed them - Caerwyn realizes he never made the suggestion this morning that the restaurant should offer a breakfast service. As he demolishes an equally wonderful lunch, he reminds himself to definitely say something about that this time and then Gus and he will go back to Briar's for something else free from her.
An Interruption
Author: Nathaniel Ross
Date: 09-12-11 09:43
Nate had managed to find a compartment just for himself and Lilac. With the exams it had been hard for them to spend time together but now Lilac and Nate were alone. She was leaned against him and Nate played with her hair, as they watched the landscape from the other side of the window.
“Next year it’s going to be even harder.” Nate said. He was going to be in his last year at Hogwarts and so he would have to take the NEWTs. Has for Lilac, in the 5th grade, she would be busy with her OWLs. The fact that they didn’t even share the same house would make things even more difficult for both of them.
“You’re worrying too much. We still have a whole summer ahead of us.” Lilac replied. “We will spend a lot of time together and you will probably be sick of me when it’s over.”
Nate laughed, doubting that would be the case.
“Hope I’m not interrupting.” Cee, Lilac’s cousin, entered the compartment with a smile. “Lilac can you borrow me some money? Those chocolate frogs are more expensive than I thought.” Lilac gave money to her cousin and Nate felt better when he found himself alone with Lilac again. But it didn’t last long. Soon Cee was back as well as the rest of the Middleton horde and their respective friends. They were all in search for an empty compartment and they installed themselves on the empty seats, chatting, laughing and eating their candies.
Nate found himself as being the oldest in the compartment and little Thomas Middleton started to ask him questions about what things did upper year students learned at Hogwarts. In another time Nate would find this amusing, since the little Ravenclaw who just finished his school year was more interested in learning than going on vacations. But Nate couldn’t avoid being a little irritated because of the interruption. He wanted to be alone with Lilac.
“I’m sorry, I can try to shoo them off but I don’t think it will work.” Lilac told him in a whisper. “And it’s also hard because they are family. Most of them, that is.”
“I’m just not used to this. I’m an only child and I don’t have close cousins. But I must learn to deal with all of them since you’re part of it too.”
Lilac smiled and kissed Nate’s cheek.
“Thank you. And I promise this summer I’ll find a way to keep them away from us, so we can have some moments on our own. “
“I think I know a spell or two.” Nate suggested.
They laughed together and then they joined the other in their conversations.
Heading Home
Author: Charisma Stone
Date: 09-12-11 15:26
Isma curled in her seat near the window and rested her forehead against the glass. Soon enough they were allowed to take off their robes and stow them within their bags. There had been pleanty of sweets on the train when the trolly cart had come through, and Blake and Eric had busied themselves with a game of wizard chess, Isma had spent the time reading and napping.
"You alright?" Blake asked, as he put away his wizarding chess set and sank back into the seat next to her. "You've been awefully quiet this trip." He nudged her lightly, before drawing her from the window and pulling her to snuggle against him.
"Yeah, just I don't know. Ready to have some down time and just relax now that school is done for the term. I'm looking forward to Emry's Fest at the end of the month, and ultimately just being lazy for a while."
"I know the feeling, and I'm definitely looking forward to some downtime." He said and brushed a kiss upon her head. "But, nothing's bugging you is it?" He asked, a touch of worry in his voice.
She shook her head near violently at the question. "No, everything's fine...especially with this." She said, and squeezed his hand and settled all the more into him.
"Alright, I swear if the two of you go all lovey-dovey for the rest of this trip I am going to ensure that you get nothing but sardine or bogey Bertie Bots for a month when we get back to school." Eric said, and the trio burst into laughter.
Soon enough however, they all had to go their separate ways for the time being, though Blake and his parents were joining Isma and her parents for dinner tonight before they headed home. Eric had been invited, but his family was leaving in a day for their holiday in Asia, and thus he needed to get home and get things situated.
Nearly There
Author: Ella
Date: 09-12-11 18:09
"We're almost home," Francis said, as he peered out the window of the compartment he shared with Ella. They were in the city now, and the train had already begun to slow down in anticipation of arriving at King's Cross Station.
"Good. I'm tired of sitting," Ella complained. She shifted in her seat and rubbed her bottom with her hands.
"Who's picking you up?" Francis asked, turning away from the window to address Ella properly.
"My dad offered to, but I told him I could find my way home. I suspect he might still be waiting for me at the platform when we arrive, though." Ella stopped massaging her behind and leaned back in her seat. Usually her mum had been the one to drop her off or pick her up from King's Cross Station. Dad had always been too busy with work.
"I'm sure he'll be glad to see you," Francis said. He did not forget that this would be Ella's first summer home from Hogwarts without her mum around for company.
Ella nodded. "Yeah. So, what about you? Are your parents picking you up?"
Francis shook his head. "Not this time. Ashleigh said she wanted to meet me at the platform and then take me to some Muggle restaurant in the area she's fond of. Should be fun."
"I'm sure," Ella murmured.
"Hey, you should come."
"No," Ella said, shaking her heads. "That's okay, really. I'm sure Ashleigh wants you all to herself anyway."
"No, seriously. If your dad isn't there to pick you up, then you should definitely come out with us. I don't know when I'll see you again before term starts, since you're going to see your grandparents and everything."
Ella really didn't want to be the third wheel. It was why she'd decided not to go to Emrys Fest this year. She knew that it would be her, Francis and Ashleigh, just like it had been last year... though last year had had quite a bit of drama in the form of Zane showing up.
No, this summer she intended on being utterly drama free.
Troll Spake
Author: Georgia Copperpot
Date: 09-12-11 18:16
Edith peers out the window at the passing scenery. "Not much longer now, me hearties."
Isabella sighs. "Enough with the pirate speak, Edith."
"Arrrgh. Walk the plank if ye not be liking me way of spaking."
Catherine gives a shake of her head. "It's Georgia's fault."
"Whaaaaaaat?"
"You know, you and your troll dance.
"Catherine, I am complete and utterly confuzzled so I repeat, whaaaaaaat?"
"We found Viking clubs and horned hats and even fake Viking beards so Edith is now feeling Vikingish."
"You are making about as much sense as long woolly knickers in the Sahara at high noon, me barmy chum."
Izzy sighs heavily again then very slowly says, "Georgia, Edith is feeling exceedingly Vikingish but as she does not know how to speak Viking she is improvising."
Edith smiles as if agreeing with Izzy then points out the window as we reach the outskirts of London. "Avast, land ho!"
Or perhaps she is just happy to have reached London as that means it's not all the much longer until we reach Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station.
Or she has gas.
I look at each of the three in turn then do my own hugely dramatic sigh of one suffering fools though not all that gladly. "Starkers, all of you. It's the TROLL dance. T-R-O-L-L. The clubs and hats to to complete the TROLL ensemble. We are not Vikings. We are not Vikings who Spake Like Pirates. We are TROLLS. Trolls grunt and growl and burp and make other sounds involving bodily functions. And, in your case, Izzy, drool a little from the left side of the mouth when tired."
"Hey! I don't drool, Georgie Porgie."
"Aw, but sadly, Izzy Wizzy, you do."
She looks to Edith and Catherine for confirmation. In return, they look away, only nodding when she gives them each a poke with her troll club. Edith offers, "Tis only a wee bit, me lass. Yer sex god Wilbur wouldn't have noticed as he's too busy taking a gander at yer dungbie."
"In TROLL spake that's grrrrr, grunnnnnnt grunnnt grunnnnnttttt, grrrrrrrrrrr."
"Belay the daft miss there. She be so addled she talks nothing but bilge."
Izzy, ignoring me, looks from Edith to Catherine and back again. "Does Wilbur look at my bum because it's nice or because it's too big? It's too big isn't it?"
Edith grabs up a bottle of spiced pumpkin juice leftover from their binge from the sweets trolley. "Have a caulker. Will make you feel better."
"You've a very nice bum, Izzy. That is, if I were a lezzie and looked at girl's bums, I'd think you've a quite nice one. Double cool with knobs even."
"You really think so, Catherine?"
"Absobloodylutely."
"Gruuuuuunt grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr grr growwwwwwwwl burrrrrrrrrrp."
Izzy continues to ignore me and smiles brightly at the other two. "You are the bestest pallys in the universe to say I've got a super nice bum!"
"And they don't even mention your red bumosity," I throw in, dropping the Troll spake for a mo.
Izzy glares.
"Grrrrrr burpity burrrrp," I grin in reply.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, grrrrrrrruunty grunt errrrrp!" Izzy Troll spakes back.
What a sailor's - err Troll's - mouth she has. Time to break out the soap and wash out someone's mouth, only Troll's don't use soap.
Translations:
confuzzled = tres vair confuuuuuuuused
spake = speak, speech, language, you get the idea
sex god = Really? I have to explain this one again?
gander = a lookie loo
dungbie = rear, bottom
belay = ignore
addled = barmy, starkers
bilge = foolish talk
bum = yer dungbie
caulker = stiff glass of alcohol taken to round off a drinking bout or in this case, spiced pumpkin juice taken to round off depression at having an overly large dungbie
red bumosity = having the red bottom, all hot and bothered trying to attract someone of the opposite sex