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Nervous?
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 03-22-10 09:10
Lysander sat at the kitchen table and studied the three scraps of parchment he'd carefully arranged on its surface. The first read simply I know what you did. Written on the second one was I still know what you did. The newest and last had only one word: Nervous?
He was and he wasn't. The first letter had arrived nearly a whole year ago. It had given him cause for concern because he had done plenty of things that could warrant such a note, things that could land him in Azkaban. The second letter had arrived around four months later, and though enough time had passed for Lysander to nearly forget about the first note, the second one's arrival had once again caused him to worry.
It had been in between the second letter and most recent one that Varus Ingram had threatened him via note before doing so in person. Lysander had been almost certain that Varus hadn't sent the previous letters and though Lysander had never brought up the first two to the authorities, Varus had confessed to writing a single threatening note to Lysander.
The third anonymous letter's arrival came a little over a week ago, around seven months after the last one. Why had there been such a long delay between notes? Lysander almost started to believe that whoever was sending them to him was playing a practical joke or was bluffing. Surely an honest threat would come more frequently? He wished he knew who the author was and wracked his brain trying to come up with possibilities. Lysander was certain he'd covered his tracks with the Foxes, so he didn't think the notes stemmed from any of them. So who could have sent them?
There was a knock on the door and then it opened. Astrid poked her head in and then stepped inside, closing the door behind her.
"Hey," she said, coming up to Lysander and kissing him on the cheek. "What's that?"
The only person Lysander had confided in about the notes was Julian. Although he trusted her completely, she didn't know about all the terrible things he'd done and he would rather like to keep it that way. Still, he saw no harm in telling her about the notes.
He sat her down at the table and started from the beginning.
Easter
Author: Linnea Rose
Date: 03-22-10 12:35
Today was the day Linnea’s relatives would come and stay with them. Linnea was so expect when she waked up this bright sunny morning. She looked through her new room, it was not that familiar as she had been to her other room in the house they us to live in. Linnea walked up from the bed and got dress and then head to staircase so she could walk down to the dinner-room. When she came in she found her parents and sister Maria’s sitting and eating breakfast. She walked to the end of the table and sat down and started to eat her breakfast.
When the breakfast was over Linnea walk in to the big palour and sat down to read a book while Maria who came in some minutes later sat by the piano and started to play some tunes. We sat there until the doorbell rang and some people where moving in the hall, I went up from the chair and went in to the corridor which lead to the hall and I saw my little cousins Maybelle and Charlotte-Sophia. Maybelle came running and hugged me in fast speed, so when she hit me it felt like I would tip backwards. Charlotte-Sophia came after in slowly.
So we gathered in the palour and handed out gifts to eachother and spend so wonderful time together before the feast. I got a necklace made with a very rare stone from my grandma. From my cousin’s and aunt I got a book and from Mama and Papa I got a white dress with purple rosettes on it. We also sang little when Maria started to play piano and just enjoy ourselves. Then when we had enjoyed ourselves a bite it was time for the feast lunch and we went in to the dinning-room and sat down to eat.
When we sat there the adults was talking about going to grandpa little later our tomorrow so that he could celebrate Easter together with his family. They decided that they should go tomorrow and that my aunt, cousins and grandma should sleep her and then we could go together and visiting grandpa. We ate for some hour and then I helped Maria to prepared the guestrooms so that they could sleep some where when the night came and then we went to sit in the palour and Maria played a little more on the piano while I read for my cousins. I like my family looked forward to tomorrow when we was going to visiting grandpa at St. Mungo's Hospital.
Making Plans and Work
Author: Oreileah McCoi
Date: 03-22-10 14:50
Orei sat at her desk, thankful that she was now back on the day shift - after two weeks working nights up until Easter, her body was now back to her normal sleep schedule. She was also glad that she was taking the rest of the week off for a much needed vacation. It was timed perfectly because her boyfriend was currently on spring holiday from Hogwarts.
"What are you doing this afternoon Orei?" Came the question that snuck into her stream of consciousness - and she answered in Fey instead of English. She blinked, and looked up seeing the form of Cristian standing in the doorway to her cubical.
"Going home to spend some time with Jim actually." She said, offering him a grin. "Why don't you and Daniel come over tonight, and we can have dinner?" Orei asked, shifting in her chair and pushing the translation upwards a bit.
"Sounds like a plan. However, make it tomorrow night, because Daniel has work tonight. He's off tomorrow night however, will that work?" Cristian asked, leaning against the doorway.
"That sounds like a plan, because I didn't actually get to spend time with Jim the last couple of days - due to the fact that I spent Easter in Japan with my parents, and he was here at home with his. So, be over at the house tomorrow around seven thirty?" She said, shifting, pushing herself up and walking with him to the lift.
"Sounds like a plan, I will talk to Daniel later about the dinner plans tomorrow. I've got a few more briefings that I have to look over before I call it a day, what about you?" He asked as they stepped into the car of the lift.
"I'm almost done on the disposition that I'm translating for one of the trials tomorrow, and then I've got some bits of information that I need to translate for law enforcement, and beyond that no a whole lot more." She said, and gave him a wave, before he got off the lift. She continued toward the canteen, needing to get something to eat before she went back to work.
Doing Lesson Plans
Author: Lawrence Masterson
Date: 03-22-10 14:58
Lawrence and Areilla had spent Easter with the Beck family and then returned to the Castle, which was currently devoid of most of the student life. Most had gone home to spend the spring holidays with family, and Lawrence was currently working on lesson plans for the coming spring term. This mark meant that there were only a couple of months left within the calendar of the school year. Which meant that there would be more pressure on the fifth and seventh year students because their standardized tests were coming up at the end of the term.
He had several mock examinations set up to prepare his students for their herbology O.W.L.s and N.E.W.Ts. He also wanted to ensure that they had all the information that they would need to move on in their educational career in Herbology if they so chose to do such.
He was working in his interior office, rather than in the Greenhouse because he hadn't felt like making the trek to the Greenhouse this morning. Ariella was currently at work, and he would be meeting her in the village for an early dinner.
By the time he was going to meet Ariella for dinner, he had gotten his fifth year lesson plans completed for the next couple of months - and was starting on his sixth year lesson plans. He would hopefully have the remainder of the lessons completed before the break ended - which was required.
(Ariella) Dinner Options
Author: Beck
Date: 03-23-10 17:31
Ariella carefully slid a freshly baked crushed peppermint cheesecake into a square box, secured it, and then passed it over the counter to the customer waiting to purchase it. It seemed like the perfect dessert for a Christmas party, not a post Easter-one, but who was Ariella to judge? Maybe that particular person just liked peppermint a whole lot.
She rang up the requisite funds for the cheesecake, gave the customer her change, and then said farewell with a smile and cheery wave. Her shift ended a moment later, and grabbing her coat, she said goodbye to her boss and coworkers and then ducked out of the bakery.
As it happened, Lawrence was only a building away from her. He had his hands in the pockets of his coat and the tails of his scarf flapped in the wind. His face lit up when he spotted his wife.
"You have good timing," she said, rising on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss.
He removed one of his hands from his pockets to wrap his arm around her shoulders.
"I guess it helps that I knew when you got off work," he replied with a playful grin.
"I suppose so," Ariella said, laughing.
"So, the Crown & Cauldron?" asked Lawrence, beginning to steer Ariella in that direction.
"Let's try somewhere else tonight," Ariella suggested. She certainly liked eating at The Imperial Crown & Cauldron but it seemed like they always ate there when they were in the village. Hogsmeade didn't have a lot of other dining options, though, other than the two pubs and Burger Wizard.
"Where then?"
Ariella thought about it for a moment and then slipped out from under his arm. She turned around so that she was walking backwards and pulled on one of his hands.
"Let's be spontaneous," she said, smiling. "Let's go to London!"
Lawrence chuckled. "All right. Any particular place you have in mind?"
"Wizarding Soho has a lot of options," Ariella said. "Oh, I know! The Bamboo Forest! Doesn't Chinese sound good to you right now?"
"Lemon chicken, or sweet and sour prawns?" Lawrence murmured, already weighing his options. He smiled at Ariella. "Well, let's go then."
Ariella gently extricated her hand from his, stuck her tongue out at him, and disapparated from Hogsmeade with a resonating crack.
Seriously
Author: Jet
Date: 03-23-10 17:59
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Obsidian."
KNOCK. KNOCK.
"Jet!"
KNOCK. KNOCK.
"JET OBSIDIAN!"
Startled, Jet nearly drops the item in his hand that he's been working on since arriving to work at the Ministry this morning. He blinks owlishly at the man standing there. "There's no need to yell."
"There is when I've been knocking on the table directly in front of you and saying your name for several minutes."
Jet's brow crinkles. "Really? You're exaggerating." Jet is met with a look that has him saying, "You're not exaggerating."
"Not even a little. Some of us are heading out for drinks and some of us are thinking about grabbing a bite to eat after that. You almost always turn us down but we thought we'd try again."
"You're heading out now for drinks? Isn't it a little early in the day? It's not even lunchtime."
"That's it. I'm not taking no for an answer. You're getting out of this lab, coming with me to join the others."
"I don't normally drink before lunch and even though I did bring a sandwich I suppose it would be nice to get out and have something to eat with colleagues."
"It's not lunchtime, Jet. It's evening. Night really. Other than those working later shifts, the Ministry has pretty much emptied out."
"Oh, now you are joking. I nearly believed you there for a second."
Jet's grin rapidly turns to one of confusion when told, "No joke."
"Seriously?"
"Very serious. Now, let's go. Also, I think I'm going to suggest to someone that you take a take off tomorrow."
"What? Why?"
"It's my turn to ask, seriously?"
"So I got carried away with my work and lost track of time."
"If you only did it every now and again, then no big deal but, Jet, you are doing this nearly every day. And when you are holed up in this lab, you are feverishly working in the field to get more data on whatever improvements you've made to Blood Hound."
"There are still so many missing and unaccounted for."
"Yes, but you are not tasked with closing every one of those cases and making it your personal mission to do so is affecting your health."
Jet knew he'd lost weight and the only time he's outside lately is if doing work with his latest version of Blood Hound, so he's not as tan and fit looking as he once was. On the upside, with some archaic spells Professor Dumbledore found, Jet hasn't been having a problem with the Salazar Slytherin thing or whatever it is... was.
If it really is the end of day instead of the middle of it, then he missed yet another meal. Reluctently, Jet puts down what he's working on. "I guess I should eat at least once today. Lead on."
A few minutes later, the small group is leaving the Ministry via Floo to a pub in Manchester on of the ladies in the group favors, Jet's mind already back in the lab, making a mental list of all he'll do in the morning to catch up for slacking off tonight. He'll show up and get to work and only leave if one of his higher ups orders it and then he'll just go home and work from there instead. So many missing still and with each passing day the chances of accounting for them diminish. Jet wishes he could figure out once and for all why the Blood Hound works so well most of the time but still is so far from perfect.
Sleeping In
Author: Lawrence Masterson
Date: 03-24-10 05:46
With this week being the spring holiday, and most of the students off home, or elsewhere for the week it meant that the staff wasn't teaching classes, and had some time to relax. In honor of the occasion, or perhaps just to be spontaneous (which of course they rarely had the time to be as of late) Lawrence and his wife had gone to Wizarding Soho in London, and eaten at The Bamboo Forest the night before. This morning, since Ariella's shift was a later one, they had both decided to sleep in after their night out.
The fact that the sun was not yet out, and the skies were full of dark, rain heavy clouds were not all that "rise and shine" encouraging. Lawrence shifted and rolled over, curling an arm lightly around his wife's form and tugged her closer to him. He nuzzled her neck and pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek. "Eventually, we will be welcoming our children home for spring holiday, and then in a couple of days sending them back to Hogwarts." He said softly, a smile curving his lips, but there were traces of meloncholy within his voice. His parents would never get to meet their grandchildren, and that was something that unsettled him slightly.
Ariella turned and snuggled into him a bit more. They hadn't actually talked about a family yet, he knew they were both busy - she with her shift at the bakery, and taking courses at St. Emry's to get her education back on course, and he was teaching and working at Slugg and Jiggers over the summer holidays.
They settled into each other once more - no further conversation passed - as they simply savored each other's company, and listened to the rain against the windows. Soon enough however, the serene moment was broken when Ariella had to slip free of the blankets and her husband and begin getting ready for her shift at the bakery. It was about that time that, he decided he would get up, and put some finishing touches on his lesson plans.
"I'll meet you at the bakery at the end of your shift and we can grab some dinner." He said, kissing her good bye, before she headed to her shift, and he headed to his office in the Castle, not wanting to trudge out in the rain. He would check on the plants in the greenhouse when the skies cleared (if they cleared today).