|
|
(Alanna) None of Your Business
Author: Beck
Date: 06-04-12 17:58
"So, is that an engagement ring or what?"
The question came from someone with whom Alanna had no desire to discuss the ring on her left hand. She stood straight, squared her shoulders and stated, "What business is that of yours, and what are you doing in on a Saturday anyway?"
Reed Wycombe, junior lawyer at the Ministry of Magic, perched himself on the edge of the desk Alanna had just been leaning over and sipped from his steaming coffee mug. He had often told Alanna in his unfailingly superior manner that only interns worked Saturdays. The fact of the matter was that he had somehow managed to avoid working his scheduled Saturdays since his employment began with the Ministry of Magic, citing illness or death in family as reasons he couldn't make it into the office.
In reality, he was too junior to be above working on the weekends and his workload had just increased thanks to the abrupt exit of Christian Evans, who had left the Ministry of Magic to start his own legal enterprise.
The smug expression on Reed's face soured. "I'm here because I have to pick up the slack, since that jackass Evans resigned without giving notice."
Alanna wanted to tell Reed that Christian was a hell of a lot nicer than he was, even if Christian's sudden resignation had inconvenienced many of the others in the office.
"Poor you," Alanna said. The false windows in the office showed a dreary cityscape. Alanna wondered if it was still raining outside for real.
"So, is it?"
Alanna picked up a file she'd been rearranging and carried it to a nearby filing cabinet. "What are you talking about?" she asked, pulling open a drawer and thumbing through the file folders for the correct place to stick the file in her hand.
"The ring. Are you engaged?"
Alanna made a noise that sounded like both a sigh and a groan. "What does it matter, and have you really only just noticed it? I've been wearing it since the holidays."
"You might recall I spent the holidays abroad with my family," Reed coolly replied.
Alanna stuffed the file in its appropriate location, slammed the drawer shut and whirled around to face Reed. "Yes, and as the holidays ended in January and we are currently in March, I think you might have had plenty of opportunity to notice it before now."
"You think I pay attention to your hands?"
"Since you often ask me to bring you your coffee or hand you this file or that, yes, I suppose you might," Alanna retorted.
Reed took another sip of his drink and then set the coffee mug down on the desk. "So, say I have noticed it before now. Are you going to answer my question or not?"
Alanna shook her head. "Not. My personal life is none of your business, and I will thank you not to ask me again." She glanced at the clock on the wall and added, "My shift is done, so I'm leaving now. Goodbye."
She retrieved her purse and spun on her heel, eager to put as much distance between herself and Reed as possible.
Can't Believe I Did That (Etta)
Author: Jared
Date: 06-04-12 18:42
Massaging hand to temple Julietta looks on as Marlow MacDougal is handed the quaffle for a foul shot. "I cannot believe I just did that," she says aloud, though with the steady cascade of water falling from the sky, the noises of the spectators, and the distance from her to the nearest other player no one could possibly her hear.
The foul in question was blagging, which is grabbing another player's broom tail. That it had been entirely accidental thanks to a bludger and a massive gust of wind made no difference. That it lasted less than two seconds made no difference. Refereee Morgana Flowers was, serendipitously for Hufflepuff, in the perfect position to witness it despite the gallons upon gallons of water dropping down upon them, obscuring vision. She'd rightly made the call for which Etta cannot fault her one bit.
It's that Etta can't believe she'd done it in the first place. She had not meant to grab Marlow's broom. The bludger hit had gotten her on the upper arm. Gus could not have time it more perfectly if he'd tried to coincide with that wind blast. The bludger had knocked her off balance slightly. The wind shoving into her had caused her to overbalance the other way to compensate. Next thing she knew she was flailing and though she'd meant to firmly grab onto her broom handle with both hands, somehow one of them snagged Marlow's.
All Etta can do now is watch as Marlow lines up the shot and hope that Hunter Green able to make the block or that Marlow's throw is off.
Which it is not.
It's a beautiful throw given the meteorlogical conditions but to Etta's relief Hunter's able to stop the shot. Marjani takes possession but now that the beaters are free to smack bludgers every which way, Caerwyn does just that. Marjani's barely out of the optimal scoring area for this end of the pitch when the bludger gets her on the hand. She reflexively loosens her grip and the quaffle literally falls into Jasper's waiting hands.
Etta accelerates to get in front of Jasper but he's already hurled it to Marlow, who in turn takes another shot. Hunter goes in for the block but the quaffle slides past him. Feeling somewhat responsible for this third Hufflepuff goal even though it wasn't made on the foul attributed to her, Etta scowls as Hunter Rabnott flies over to retrieve the quaffle and put it back into play.
Slytherin Symbol (Basil)
Author: Jared
Date: 06-04-12 20:37
Hair more than a little damp still Basil enters the common commons heading straight to the refreshments bar where he gets an oversized mug of piping hot cocoa with a liberal dollop of cinnamon sprinkled whipped cream. Only after taking a sip of the searing warmth, savoring the rich chocolate flavor does he turn, leaning against the bar, to survey the room. Spotting Ivan Grimsby who'd not gone to the Quidditch match, he shoves away from the bar, slowly walking that direction while sipping more of the cocoa.
When the mug of cocoa is set down while a chair is simultaneously being pulled away from the table Ivan looks up from a magazine. "Hi. Match over?"
"No. I got tired of being wet so I decided to come back, change into dry clothes, and do nothing for an hour or two."
"Thought you took an umbrella."
"I did but the wind keeps whipping up, which would send water under it at an angle and sometimes it was coming down at an angle all its own. It was annoying constantly having to shift the umbrella all the while trying to avoid hitting those around me and avoid being hit by their umbrellas."
"All the more reason to have gone back to bed after the apparition lesson ended. Still, I figured you'd slog it out since Aleydis is playing."
"Can we get through a conversation without a mention of her?"
"Sorry, mate. Don't know why you are still so touchy on the subject of Aleydis Vanderbilt."
"Are you purposely being an idiot?"
"What about that statement makes me an idiot?"
"You have to ask?"
"Obviously."
"So I have liked someone. No big deal only when others found out they made it into one even though every single one of them has had or do have their own crushes. People have been placing bets. How would you feel if it were you?"
"I'd think it funny to be such the center of attention."
"Sure you would."
"Okay, maybe not," Ivan concedes, "but I sure as hell wouldn't react in a way that pushed the issue bigger. Not helping is how you've never made it any secret just how much you detest non Slytherins."
"You've been every bit as elitist so no pointing fingers."
"I was and am still admittedly something of a snob. The big difference is that I dislike the other houses but not necessarily the people in them."
"Semantics."
"No, not in this case. You hate the other three houses and you carry that hatred over into intense dislike of every single member of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. You look down on all of them, finding few of them to be anything above tolerable. You enjoy seeing them suffer. You revel in using bludgers to inflict pain during a Quidditch match. Is it any wonder people took great glee in finding out you are crushing on a Hufflepuff, when you are the very symbol of all that's negative about the Slytherin reputation?"
Basil's initial instinct is to slam the mug of cocoa back down, get up and stalk out. He refrains, just. He does get up, slowly moving the chair away from the table, mulling over exactly how he should respond. In the end, he says nothing. Basil gives a curt nod to Ivan, picks up the mug of cocoa, and returns to Slytherin House where he plans on taking a nap so he doesn't have to think about anything, or anyone, for the rest of the afternoon.
(Isma & Blake) Ten Point Lead Regained
Author: Charisma Stone
Date: 06-05-12 01:25
Things were getting tedious, everyone was ready to be somewhere warm and yet still the match somehow dragged on. Neither Isma nor Aleydis had yet managed to find that glimmering ball of gold that would give the Seeker's team one hundred and fifty points and finish this match.
After missing the foul shot the next goal had been made by Marlow, tying the score at 30, Isma and Blake had made plans for hot chocolate and cuddling before the fire (if they could manage to find a spot at any of the fire places given that just about EVERY student would be hunting for a warm spot).
Isma was blissfully thankful for the warming charm on her gloves, she'd also made sure that Blake had one on his as well. She would not be surprised if any of the fourteen students on the pitch missed classes due to catching cold from playing in the rain today. Either way, while Blake had just sent a bludger to attempt to dislodge the quaffle from Hufflepuff Chaser Marlow, Isma continued her circuits around the pitch, hunting for the glimmering, golden ball.
She was up a touch higher than the rest of the players, hunting for the snitch, not wishing to get hit with a stray bludger or get tangled up in any of the constant back and forth across the pitch.
Unfortunately being so high up meant that she missed some really epic plays, but she knew that Blake would tell her about the ones she didn't see because he was a good boyfriend like that and she hated missing the good plays.
As the six chasers and four beaters raced toward the Hufflepuff hoops, Blake launched a bludger in the path of the quaffle that had just been sent from Sadie to Marlow. He cheered when he hit the quaffle, sending it spinning in a free fall, but it was quickly snatched up by Marjani, who sped closer toward the Hufflepuff hoops.
Quick pass from Marjani to Hunter R, then the first attempt at the fourth goal was made, but blocked effectively by Glori, however the quaffle was picked up by Etta and quickly tossed back to Hunter who immediately threw it in a successful pass back to Marjani who was closer to the hoops than he was, and in better shot range.
With a quick moment to take aim, Marjani shot the quaffle through the right most hoop with Glori a hairs breath too late the red ball soared through the hoop close to the outside edge and sent the crowd cheering.
Something had sent the crowd cheering, and Isma thanks to a gust of wind, missed the full announcement, but it seems that Gryffindor had made up from the foul shot that had tied the score and thanks to a fantastic play by Marjani and Hunter R there had been a fourth goal scored for Gryffindor.
Isma was eager for the play by play of that one later, and for right now, focused on finding the glimmering, golden ball and bringing this match to a close with a Gryffindor victory.
Playing In A Waterfall (Marjani)
Author: Viktor Krum
Date: 06-05-12 10:19
Playing in the cold rain such as this is one of the few things Marjani misses about being on her Okapi École de Sorcellerie Quidditch team. They would get rain, of course, but not this frigid one step above ice stuff. At least her hair being wet means no stray flyaways to get in her face. As she thinks this, her hand goes unconsciously to her hair as if to smooth down those nonexistent flyaways.
A short distance away Hunter Rabnott is accepting the quaffle from Coach Krum. Gryffindor had been in possession of the quaffle when a time out had been called so that Jasper Jenkins could thoroughly inspect his broom after a particularly hard blow from a bludger created a cracking so loud as to be easily heard over the waterfall-like noise of the rain and the cheering coming from the stands. Time out over, the quaffle comes back to Gryffindor.
Hunter R. puts the ball back into play with a quick throw to Etta. Marjani jockeys with Sadie Mickle to get around Aleydis Vanderbilt who'd neither had noticed being so near. Luckily, the two chasers are able to avoid hitting the Hufflepuff seeker and avoid hitting each other. On the other hand, it does enable Sadie to put herself squarely between Marjani and Etta, cutting off a pass Etta had been about to make Marjani's way.
Etta instead passes back to Hunter R. as Marjani darts this one then that to shake free of Sadie. Ella Harville helps somewhat with that by sending a bludger. It wasn't meant for Sadie but she ended up being in its path. In ducking it, Marjani was able to get into a position to accept a hand off from Hunter R.
Clutching the quaffle in close to her torso, Marjani hightails it in the direction of the Hufflepuff tended goals where Glori Hodfuffer is no doubt eager to get in on the action once again. Her cousin Gus has other ideas, however, catching Marjani with a bludger to the back. Wind knocked from her lungs, she gladly passes to Etta to give herself a moment to breathe properly again.
Etta's nearly within scoring range when she passes again, this time back to Hunter R. The wind hinders the pass, making the ball take a more curved trajectory. Hunter R. can't compensate in time to meet the quaffle as Marlow MacDougal dashes in to intercept. Pivoting her broom around, Marlow takes off the other direction with the three Gryffindor chasers directly behind, intent on regaining the ball.
Strain In The Rain (Gloria)
Author: Phinfilius
Date: 06-05-12 15:06
Marlow, Sadie, and Jasper get the quaffle to the Gryffindor end only to have Hunter G. block four different goal attempts before the other Hunter is able to catch the rebound. Hunter Rabnott jetted back Glori's way, flying in formation with Etta and Marjani. Not worried about a long throw of a goal attempt with the wind and rain playing the havoc it has been the entire match, Glori again looks to see where the two seekers are. The rain combined with stiff gales of wind have made things bad enough without having already been uncomfortable to begin with.
Yesterday morning on her way to the Great Hall for breakfast, Glori had had one of those trip over your own feet incidents that resulted in more than being embarrassed at her own clumsiness. She'd ended up smacking one foot badly enough to badly bruise, slight swelling at the ankle, and smacking her knee enough to crack the knee cap. Madam Pomfrey fixed her right up so that her ankle didn't swell even more and getting the cracked knee cap mended. The school nurse had not forbidden Glori to play today but she'd tsked and said it wasn't the wisest thing to do. Though still bruised, stiff, and sore, Glori did feel in shape enough to play today. That, and she'd not wanted to leave Hufflepuff in the lurch of finding another keeper with only hours to go before this match against Gryffindor.
Mostly, she's been fine, but the longer Glori's had to sit her broom with that knee, ankle, and foot dangling down has put strain on it and in the last little while that leg has started to ache something fierce. She's tried using the broom's foot rests, or stirrups as some call them, but that still put pressure on everything and made her leg start cramping. Aleydis needs to hurry and find that snitch. If not, Glori might just be in enough pain to start hoping Charisma also spots and it and ends the game.
The chasers reach her at last, Etta now with the quaffle. She throws to Glori's right at the same time Caerwyn hits her with a bludger. A shade sooner and the throw might have been really off. As it is, Glori has to hustle. Thanks her positioning when the goal attempt is made, this means flying backwards, but that's no problem in blocking because Glori simply swats the quaffle away using the flat of her broom tail.
Jasper grabs the ball but before he's got firm hold, Hunter Rabnott wrests it away. Hunter throws more to Glori's left but towards the center hoop, not the one farther from her. Shooting forward, she uses both hands to knock the quaffle back. It goes straight into Hunter's hands though Sadie does try to grab it away.
Hunter launches the quaffle again. It's lower and back to the right. Gritting her teeth, Glori takes the best course of action to stop the quaffle this time, kicking it with her bad foot. Marlow dives to catch the quaffle and, much to Glori's relief, the action sprints away, giving her respite to bore holes in the wavery, watery outline that is Aleydis, willing the Hufflepuff seeker to end this.
(Aleydis) Game Over
Author: Griet
Date: 06-05-12 21:28
As a child, Aleydis had loved playing in the rain, but only in the summer when a nice downpour had served as a refreshing reprieve to an otherwise warm day. In fact, most of the Vanderbilts had found pleasure in being outdoors on rainy, summer days––all but Cornelia, whose naturally curly hair tended to frizz more than the sleeker hair of her siblings.
Aleydis hadn't spotted Cornelia all match and suspected that she had decided to stay in the castle on account of the bad weather. Nowadays, Cornelia used a straightening potion on her hair, but any amount of moisture in the air brought back her curls.
Because it wasn't summer, and perhaps because Aleydis wasn't exactly a child anymore, she didn't feel very comfortable in the rain at the moment. There wasn't a dry inch on her body. Her fingers were shriveled, as if she'd been in the bath for too long. And it was cold.
For the most part it wasn't terribly windy, but every once in a while, a chilly gust would blow through the Quidditch Pitch, causing Aleydis to shiver.
She really needed to find the snitch. As if on cue, it materialized a short distance away from her. Aleydis immediately charged after it, which drew the attention not only of the Quidditch commentator, but also of Charisma, who was quick to come upon the scene. The girls chased after the snitch together. The golden orb was relatively easy to see at their distance, but the silvery wings blended in well with the rain and gloomy sky.
The small ball took them on a path around the Pitch, both up and down and this way and that. The beaters on both teams began directing bludgers at the two seekers. Aleydis flinched when one came at her face, but luckily Charisma drew back to avoid the same ball.
The seekers scrambled to close the distance between themselves and the snitch, but it always seemed to stay that much farther away from them. Then the unthinkable happened. Two bludgers struck Aleydis in the arm, which had been outstretched in an effort to reach the bludger. One struck her forearm and the other just above her elbow. Aleydis cried out in pain but refused to give up. She let her injured arm hang limp and urged her broomstick forwards.
The rain let up suddenly. Charisma seemed certain that she would catch the snitch, but then it jerked suddenly to the side, the side Aleydis was on. She let go of her broom handle and swiped out her uninjured arm, enclosing the ball in her fist. Her leg muscles worked to keep her upright on her broom, since her other arm was currently useless.
Aleydis wanted to smile, but her arm hurt too much, so all she managed was a grimace. But she had done it. She had caught the snitch for Hufflepuff.