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New Year's Tea
Author: Jolyon
Date: 01-16-11 14:45
Jolyon had been in the barn, tending to the various magical creatures when an owl had arrived with a note from his parents, inviting him to visit them for afternoon tea. Like many, he'd been up late last night to ring in the new year. Jolyon had spent the evening with the Abbott family and Sarina Saltwood. It had been a night of party games, good food, and great company.
As much as he'd wanted to lounge in bed this morning, he'd gotten up at a decent hour to check on the animals, including the two Araripe Manakin birds he'd gotten from Julietta Wynbourne for Christmas. At first, he'd thought about keeping their cage in his quarters at Hogwarts, but then they would be for his enjoyment only. In the end he'd decided to hang their cage in the barn, so that his students could enjoy them every class period.
He'd wanted to give them Brazilian names and had borrowed a book from the library in Hogsmeade for ideas. The white, black and red male Jolyon named Timo. The olive female, he called Pia. Timo and Pia had a lovely cage with branches and a basket, as well as bowls for food and water.
After receiving the letter from his parents, Jolyon sent a quick reply that he would be there for tea. He hadn't seen them over Christmas because they'd allegedly been on the Muggle cruise of the Caribbean. He supposed he would soon find out if he'd been duped by his father.
Once he finished checking on all the magical creatures, Jolyon set about making sure that everything was ready for when term resumed on Monday. His sixth years would be learning about goblins and would be taking a field trip to Gringotts in Diagon Alley.
When it seemed as if he'd done everything he needed to, Jolyon decided to go ahead and set out for his parents' house, even though it was a bit early for afternoon tea. He pulled on his jacket, gloves and scarf, which he'd peeled off after entering the cozy barn, and set off at a clip down the slope to the gates that separated the Hogwarts grounds from Hogsmeade village.
The minute he got off the grounds, Jolyon disapparated. He appeared a moment later outside Glasgow, in front of the small, stone cottage his parents called home. Jolyon walked right up to the front door, knocked, and then let himself into the house.
His mother was already moving down the hall to greet him when he entered. She had the biggest smile on her face.
"You will never guess where your father took me for Christmas!"
Jolyon pulled off his jacket, scarf and gloves and set them on a side table in the hall. "Where?"
"He took me on a Caribbean cruise!"
Jolyon smiled, unable to hide his relief that for once, his father hadn't tried to swindle him. "That's great! Tell me all about it."
"Oh, I will! I have pictures too."
Bridget ushered him to the living room, where his father sat reading The Daily Prophet. He grunted his hello but otherwise didn't look up from the paper.
Jolyon sat down on the couch, and his mother plopped down next to him with a large photo album in her arms. She'd gotten the pictures developed yesterday after returning home from her holiday abroad.
The whole time Jolyon listened to his mother enthusiastically show off her photographs, he couldn't believe his father had done something decent. Now the questions would be whether or not he'd pay Jolyon back for the loan!
New Year's Resolutions
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 01-16-11 16:02
Sometime in the morning, Ethan had managed to get out of bed and stagger into work. Although there were staff members who lived at Hogwarts, some had gone on holiday or simply needed a day without any responsibility, which is how Ethan came to spend his New Year's Day at Hogwarts. A handful of students hadn't gone home for Christmas and so there needed to be at least one staff member around to keep an eye out on them. There were plenty of others in the castle, of course, but Ethan felt it necessary to volunteer for at least one holiday.
His time away from the castle had been quite nice. He'd split his Christmas between his family in Bristol and Rosamond's in Crowborough, a small town in southeast England. Unlike the Towneleys, the Presnalls had found it difficult learning about the wizarding world and how the daughter they'd never thought they'd see again had grown up to be a witch. Rosamond, or Libby, as they'd named her, had been their only child. Now they were expecting the grandchild they never thought they'd have.
Ethan and Rosamond had also gotten to see Rosamond's adoptive sister, Aveline, who was captain and chaser for the Salisbury Snakes. Aveline was so unlike her parents, who had been loyal Voldemort supporters and who had gone into hiding with the recent push to recapture everyone who had been imprisoned prior to Minister Smythe-Jones' massive pardon of certain criminals.
Ethan and Rosamond had spent New Year's Eve together at his flat in Greenwich. Although they still hadn't discussed the possibility of one day getting married, they had talked about her moving in with him. Since they would soon be raising a baby together, it seemed like a good idea for them to live together.
Ethan had left Rosamond tangled in the new bed sheet set he'd gotten for Christmas from Hadrian Rabnott and sequestered himself in his office for some lesson planning. Most of it would be the same from last year. He just wanted to tweak what didn't work and to add in some new ideas he'd come up with.
While he was working and trying to let his mind wander or his eyes close for a nap, someone knocked on his door.
"Enter," Ethan called out.
The door opened and Penn Ellison came in. He had stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas break.
"I thought you would be here more often during the holiday," Penn said, sounding a bit sullen as he sat down in the chair opposite Ethan's desk.
Ethan frowned. "I'm sorry if I disappointed you, Penn. I didn't know you were staying here. Don't you have a home to go too?" he asked, thinking about Penn's aunt, Meadow O'Guinn.
"My parents went on a kayaking trip to Nova Scotia," Penn replied.
"Still, wasn't there anyone you could have spent Christmas with?" Ethan asked.
"You mean my aunt," Penn said.
"For example," Ethan replied, with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Why don't you like her?"
"I never said I didn't like her," Ethan replied.
"Well, she doesn't like you," Penn said.
Ethan quirked his eyebrows. "Oh?"
"It was obvious when you two were talking at the Fall Fair, and whatever you say, I still think you don't particularly care for her."
"Be that as it may," Ethan said, "why couldn't you have spent Christmas with her?"
"I wanted to stay here," Penn honestly replied. "I thought maybe we could practice spells together or, I don't know, talk."
Ethan shot Penn a small smile. "If I'd known you were sticking around, I would have made an effort to visit."
Penn didn't look very appeased but he asked, "How long are you here today?"
"Until after supper, and I'll be here tomorrow when everyone else returns with the Hogwarts Express."
Penn considered this and then questioned, "Did you make a New Year's resolution?"
Ethan chuckled and shook his head. "I never keep them so I don't bother. What about you?"
A smile tugged at the corners of Penn's lips, and for a moment, Ethan saw in the boy's eyes the look that had worried him since the first time he saw Penn at the Sorting Ceremony.
"My New Year's resolution is to resolve a conflict I have with somebody."
Ethan hesitated to ask, "With whom do you have a conflict?"
"With my nephew," Penn said.
Ethan looked completely blank. "Your nephew?"
Penn carried on as if what he'd said wasn't the least bit bizarre. "I have a brother who has a son. Three sons, technically, and a daughter. The son I have a problem with is the adopted one, not because he's adopted but because we had a––disagreement, if you will. Anyway, I want to resolve our conflict so that things can go back to normal again, or as normal as they can be from this point forward."
His gaze, which had focused on an invisible point in space, found Ethan's again. "Family shouldn't fight with one another."
"I don't disagree with you," Ethan said, thinking about his past family troubles.
It wasn't off the wall that an eleven year old might have a much older sibling who had children himself, but it did take Ethan some contemplation to wrap his mind completely around the idea.
"I'm going to get a snack from the Common Common Room," Penn suddenly announced, jumping off his chair and heading for the door. Before he left completely, he turned around and asked, "Want something?"
"Some biscuits would be fine," Ethan answered distractedly.
"Okay," Penn said, before disappearing completely.
Ethan picked up his quill and tried to continue on what he'd been working on before Penn's arrival, but he'd completely forgotten where he'd left off.
Unexpected Announcements
Author: Ella
Date: 01-17-11 15:59
The atmosphere at the dinner table at Ella's house was tense and uncomfortable. Perhaps against her better judgment, Rosemary Harville had invited her ex-husband and his girlfriend to have dinner on New Year's Day. She'd done it for the sake of their daughter, who deserved a holiday with both of her parents present.
Ella had spent Christmas Eve with her father and Christmas Day with her mother. Last night, she'd gone to Muggle London with Francis and his family to see the fireworks display over the buildings of Parliament.
Ever since her parents' divorce, she'd been holding her breath on ever seeing them together for any holiday celebration, and now that she'd finally gotten her wish, she was regretting it. Rosemary looked like she might burst into tears or start an argument with Dunstan and/or Delilah. Dunstan seemed oblivious, though pleased to have such a young and vibrant woman at his side. Delilah looked smug and superior.
"So, you're going back to Hogwarts tomorrow?" Delilah asked Ella.
The question came as a surprise, since usually Delilah didn't show much of an interest in anything Ella did or didn't do.
"That's right," Ella replied. "Winter Term begins on Monday."
Delilah turned to Rosemary. "I bet you'll be sorry to see Ella go. You won't have her for company anymore, and you won't be able to keep an eye on her anymore, lest she resume her affair with that man."
Before Rosemary could make any sort of response, and before Ella could tell Delilah to mind her own business, Dunstan asked sharply, "You aren't seeing him anymore, are you?"
"What? Of course, not. Zane and I are finished, and have been for a long time."
As far as she knew, her professors hadn't written her parents about Zane possibly stalking Ella, and Ella hadn't brought it up herself since she didn't need them worrying about her. It was bad enough that they knew that she had had a relationship with Zane. She didn't need them fussing over her because he couldn't seem to leave her alone.
And just like Ella thought, Francis had had nothing to worry about. Ella hadn't seen Zane a single time since coming home for the holidays.
"Did you take her to a healer?" Dunstan asked Rosemary.
"What? Why?" Ella cut in.
"There's no telling what he did to you," Dunstan said, waving his hand in a vague manner in Ella's general direction.
Ella kept her mouth open for a moment and then stated, "Dad, if he'd gotten me pregnant, we would already know about it by now."
"Speaking of pregnant," Delilah announced, "Dunstan and I have something to tell you both."
"First off," Dunstan said, smiling at Delilah, "we eloped yesterday."
Rosemary's expression fell. Ella stared open-mouth.
"And I'm pregnant!" Delilah squealed.
Ella looked at her mother, who looked couldn't hold back her tears. She mumbled her congratulations and then got up and stumbled into another room to get a tissue. Ella, meanwhile, didn't know what to say. Her dad had gotten married yesterday, a year after first introducing Delilah to his family, and now he was having another kid. Ella would get a sibling that she wasn't even sure she wanted to have.
She pushed back her chair and got up. "I'm going to check on mum," she said, and she left the room without another word or another look at either of them, not that they'd noticed because they'd only had eyes for each other.
Big Bang
Author: Bill Weasley
Date: 01-17-11 16:34
Although the days were gradually getting longer again, it was still close enough to the Winter Solstice that they days were short and the nights long. Although the bank was usually open for a little while on Saturdays, it was closed today because of the holiday. That suited Bill well enough, since today was also Artie's birthday, and Charlie and Hendrika had held a little birthday party for their second born earlier in the day.
Not only had all the Weasleys been there, but Sirius and Drusilla had brought the twins, and Remus and Tonks had brought Teddy. They were in the country visiting Tonks' family and were talking about moving back home. Santorini was a lovely place to live, but there was no place like home.
Now that it was evening, Bill, Fleur and Victoire were back home in their cottage. Marguerite prowled around restlessly and occasionally yowled at nothing in particular.
"What's the matter with you?" he asked the cat, who looked up at him with an expression that stated, "What do you think, you idiot?"
"Sometimes I wish I could speak cat so that I could know what's going on in her head," Bill told Fleur, who sat on the couch and practiced knitting a baby blanket. She'd gotten some lessons from Majandra.
"Ze young lady who zometimes works at ze pet shop can speak to animals, eencluding cats," Fleur replied.
"To have that talent," Bill stated wistfully.
Suddenly, there was a loud ruckus outside the house. It sounded like fireworks going off.
"Probably teenagers," Bill commented, as he went to the window to check it out.
"Or Fred and George," Fleur remarked with a smile Bill could hear but not see since his back was turned to her now.
"Or them," Bill admitted, but what he saw when he parted the curtains wasn't his redheaded twin brothers or teenagers of any sort. It was a woman wearing a red cloak. She bent to the ground at the end of the walkway that led up to Bill's home and lit another firecracker, one Bill definitely recognized as coming from the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes line.
As soon as the fuse lit, she took a few steps back and then looked up as a bright showering of color lit up the night sky.
Bill had stiffened as he watched, but Fleur, intent on her knitting, hadn't noticed.
"I'm going to step out for a moment," Bill murmured.
"Tell zem not to continue for much longair. I don't want Victoire to wake, and I don't want to 'ear firecrackers all night."
"I will," Bill answered distractedly. He opened the front door and stepped outside. The woman was kneeling again to light another firecracker.
Bill noticed that no one else seemed to be out on the street. He didn't even catch glimpses of anyone else looking out their window to see who was shooting off fireworks so close to their homes.
He drew closer to the woman, but stopped far enough way not to get hit by any stray sparks.
"Hello?" he asked, after a long moment of debating what to say.
"Hello," the woman replied, though she kept her back turned. She took a few steps back and looked up as more color lit up the sky.
Bill held his breath. "Do you live on the lane?"
The woman shook her head. Her hood was still on, so Bill couldn't see the color of her hair or even her face.
"No, Bill."
Bill sucked in a breath. "How do you know my name?"
The woman reached up and removed her hood, revealing long, brown hair. Then she turned to face him.
"Because we knew each other well once upon a time."
Adriana Fairchild smiled. "Didn't I tell you this new year would go off with a bang?"
Settling Things
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 01-17-11 18:00
On the street in front of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes Harry looks to the shoppe door, debating whether to go up to Ginny's flat that way. After a few seconds he decides against it. He'd mainly go in that way to say hello if Fred or George, or both, were there but as he's going to be seeing them shortly at the birthday party for Artie Weasley, it's best to go on up to the flat.
Going around to the outer stairs Harry takes them two at a time, unsure of where all this energy is coming from when he got to bed so late and was up relatively early. He's also not sure why he's so eager to get upstairs, other than getting out of the cold that is. Things are still tense between Ginny and him. The only reason he's come to her flat today instead of just going to the birthday party in awhile is because he's determined to talk with her again about clearing the air.
Harry knocks on the door, almost immediately hearing Ginny call from within, "Just a second!" When the door opens half a minute later, Ginny's got one hand on the door knob and one is holding a towel. Her hair has a slightly damp, toussled look so Harry surmises she showered not long ago. Ginny, not expecting to see Harry until the party, says with surprise, "Oh. Hi. Did you tell me last night you were coming by? If so, I'm sorry but I don't remember it."
She stands aside to let Harry in as he shakes his head. "No, this is sort of spur of the moment." Harry turns to face Ginny whose now standing with her back to the closed door.
"Coming to personally escort me to Artie's party?" Ginny tonelessly says, brushing past Harry, towel going to her hair, scrubbing vigorously.
Harry audibly sighs, turning to follow Ginny. "I came to figure out if we're a couple or not. We hardly speak anymore. You rarely look directly at me and when you do it's to glare. For months before Janine and I broke up things between us were tense and uncomfortable and very distant. I'm not going through something like that again for as long as that went on."
"Are you saying you want to break up?" Ginny now stands with the towel hanging limply at her side, her hair almost comically sticking out.
"No!" Harry says more forcefully than he means to. "I said I want to figure out where we stand. That's not the same as saying I want to break up."
"Isn't it? Don't men usually say something like that just before breaking up?"
"Why are you purposely twisting this?"
"Why do you insist on treating me like I need taking care of?"
"I don't treat you that way. I treat you like someone I care about."
"I'm not a child to be ordered about."
"I didn't."
Ginny quirks an eyebrow at Harry.
"Okay. I did but I didn't mean it disrespectfully. I only said it because I care and have been so worried and stressed."
"I know you have but that doesn't mean you can make major decisions for me. My parents don't do that anymore, though they'd like to, and no way in bloody hell are you going to."
"You're absolutely right. We should discuss things and I have to accept that you aren't always going to agree with how I think things should be and I'm not always going to agree with you."
"You do also understand that though compromise is ideal, sometimes that just isn't going to happen but that doesn't give you permission to decide for me how things will be."
"I know. I know. I shouldn't have said you were having a bodyguard and that was that but I can't help that I want to keep you safe. I love you, Ginny."
Harry is as surprised as Ginny that he said that aloud. He's known for years that he's got deep feelings for Ginny even if for some of those years it was to view her as a little sister. He simply hadn't expected to say those words yet to her when they're still nearly together as a couple again and definitely not when there's a possibility they won't be a couple much longer.
After a brief moment of somewhat stunned silence Ginny tells him, "I love you too, Harry. As for worry, I know about that too. Over the years, seeing you hurt time and again, at times not knowing where you were or if you were safe or even alive... And let's not forget the time you died. Died. You can't go around trying to keep me in a cocoon of security while not taking the same safeguards. I'm an extremely capable person, Harry, and I'm not the one who always had a target painted on me."
"I can't promise I won't from time to time say something regarding your safety that's going to drive you mad."
"And I can't promise that I'm never going to get angry with you again because you aren't treating me as an equal. Now, I really need to finish getting ready for the birthday party are we'll be late."
"So we're good?"
"No, I am just keeping you around because I need a boy toy."
Ginny pops her towel at the now grinning Harry then swivels around to sashay down the hall, leaving Harry to make himself comfortable on the couch until time to go together to the party.