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Family Fun
Author: Griet
Date: 06-21-11 17:39
The Vanderbilt parents arrived at Hogwarts promptly at noon for the Spring Social. Griet, Cornelia, Aleydis and Beatrix had all waited together for their parents near the entrance of the castle, knowing that Johannes and Catharina would want to see their children all at once. They arrived with Franciscus in tow, who would be attending Hogwarts next school year, and who was the first to announce, "Happy birthday, Cornelia!"
Griet hadn't forgotten about her sister's birthday, but she'd pretended as if she'd had. She'd even gotten Oberon and Gervaise to overlook the landmark day, which had garnered the exact result on which Griet had been counting. Cornelia had huffed and puffed at breakfast, and probably all through her apparition lesson. In hindsight, having her angry at everybody on a day the parents were coming to visit probably wasn't the greatest of ideas, but Griet didn't have any regrets just yet.
"Oh, is that today?" Griet asked with mock surprise. "How old are you now, sixteen?"
"Seventeen," Cornelia growled. "I'm a legal adult as of today."
"That's hard to believe," Griet murmured with a grin. Then she reached into the pocket of her jeans and produced a small, black jewelry box. She held it out to Cornelia.
"Happy birthday, kid."
Cornelia snatched the box from her sister's hand, and though she tried to look fierce, a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. She popped open the box and gasped. Inside were a pair of sterling silver earrings in the shape of spiders. The body itself was made of onyx.
"I love them!" she gushed, no longer able to keep up the pretense of being angry. She hugged Griet and then turned to her parents and little brother. "Did you bring me presents too?"
They had. Her mother gave her a cute cosmetics bag with purple flowers on a beige background, in which she'd placed a set of rhinestone haircombs and three shades of lipgloss. Cornelia wasn't exactly a tomboy, but so far Griet's gift was more her style. After opening everything they'd brought her, she still favored Griet's gift above all the rest. She asked everybody to wait while she stashed everything in her room.
As soon as she left them, Griet's mother asked, "Is she still dating that boy?"
"Yes, she's still dating Gervaise."
"And are you still dating yours?"
"Yes, I'm still dating Oberon."
"And I trust there are no sex mattresses involved?" Catharina had no compunction about using the same phrase Griet had uttered during a very public fight with Cornelia on the Hogwarts grounds in front of her parents over a year ago, nor did she see any problem with talking about sex in front of her other, much younger children.
Aleydis and Beatrix dutifully pretended to show interest in other things, while Franciscus appeared totally oblivious.
"Um, no. There's... none of that." She wasn't about to say anything about what she and Oberon did or didn't do to her parents. And she certainly couldn't speak for Cornelia and Gervaise.
"Where are they?"
"With their own families, I suppose," Griet said, wishing now that Cornelia would hurry up and return. She looked at her dad, who seemed to be studying the brickwork of the outer stairs.
"So, what do you want to do today, Mum?" Aleydis helpfully interjected. "There will be games, and ice cream, and of course a picnic. Are you hungry for lunch? I am. I ate only toast and jam for breakfast. The house elves sometimes cut the toast straight down the middle, but other times they do it diagonally. Today they'd cut the crust off all the bread. I wonder if they know that some people don't care for crust, or if they just got it in their heads today to serve us crustless bread. What do you think, Mummy?"
By the time Aleydis had finished her rambling soliloquy, Cornelia returned wearing the spider earrings Griet had given her.
"Are we ready, then?" she asked the group and large. "Let's have ourselves a picnic. Unlike you lot, I had a class this morning and now I'm starved!"
She led the way to the lawn, where people sat at picnic tables or on blankets and ate lunch.
Burden Lifted?
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 06-21-11 18:05
Following Toby's advice, Bronwyn had gone to bed undecided on what to do about the matter of Bianca, Desi and Xavier and woken up the next morning with a decision made.
Maybe.
Some more discussion followed at breakfast, with Bronwyn deciding to leave it be, for surely it would all blow up in Bianca's face eventually, wouldn't it? But then she changed her mind again. She couldn't leave it be, because every second that passed was another second that Xavier was unknowingly living a lie.
So off to the Ministry of Magic Bronwyn went, with Toby as her escort. He knew how much she wavered on the subject, and though he had his own concerns since he liked Desi very much and didn't want to see her in any sort of trouble, he believed that in this case, the right thing needed to be done.
There was only one person Bronwyn felt comfortable talking to, and that was Anthony, who Toby had suggested all along. Anthony listened to everything Bronwyn said, which had started backwards at first but had eventually turned into a cohesive story––a soap opera, if it could be called anything else.
But then the moment of real truth came. Anthony asked where Bronwyn had gotten her information. A squeeze of Toby's hand was all the assurance she needed. "Desi told me."
At that, Anthony sat back in his seat and looked deep in thought.
"I'll have to verify all this before anything can come to action," he said.
"Did I do the right thing, Anthony? Did I?" Bronwyn asked, desperate to hear that she wasn't a bad person by coming forward with the information Desi wouldn't or couldn't come forward with herself.
"Yes, you did the right thing, Bronwyn. Don't let this be a burden on you. Go out and enjoy the rest of your day."
Bronwyn took Anthony's advice to heart. She and Toby immediately went home and debated what to do with the rest of their Saturday. A mention of the Spring Social at Hogwarts had been in The Daily Prophet that morning.
"Let's go to Hogwarts this afternoon," Bronwyn told Toby.
He was amenable to the suggestion. "Why don't you see if Karma is free to come along. I don't know how much she's seen of Hogwarts since her interview."
"That's a great idea. I'll just pop my head in the floo and see."
Bronwyn went into the living room and put some floo powder into the fireplace. She ducked her head inside and said, "Davydd residence!" and then "Karma? Are you there?"
She heard some footsteps and then Karma came into view.
"Hi, Bronwyn. How are you?"
"That's not even worth talking about. How are you? How was your first week at St. Emrys? Actually, we can talk about that in person if you are interested in doing something together today."
"Sure, what did you have in mind?" Karma asked.
"Well, there's this thing going on at Hogwarts today. I don't know if you heard. It's called the Spring Social. It's basically this big outdoor picnic-type thing and guests are invited. I have a cousin at Hogwarts, so technically I have us an in, if you want to go...?"
Back To Azkaban
Author: Griffin Price
Date: 06-21-11 18:41
Since that last conversation with Agnes Halford thoughts of Jacob LaBranche have been eating at Griffin. By Saturday, he couldn't stand being unable to get his mind off that man. Even though Griff has other plans for today, he finds himself standing on a small dock staring at the front facade of Azkaban. He has no idea how long he's been rooted to the spot when the ferryman drawls, "Most who bother making the trip over actually go up to the entrance."
Griff stands a few seconds longer then, with feet feeling like lead weights, he makes his way up the path to the prison entrance. After going through the various levels of security he's shown into a room much like the one where he'd so recently seen Agnes, though there's a chip on one corner of the table in this one. Two, maybe three minutes go by before the opposite door opens. Griff had been pacing behind the chair provided on his side of the table but stops to face Jacob as the man saunters in.
Jacob looks as young as the day he was brought to Azkaban though not as vibrant. Being inside long term will do that to a person. He appears every bit as cocky though and seeing that his visitor is Griff a slow grin works its way up his face. "Griffin, my boy! Now this is a pleasant surprise! I'd shake your hand but I'm told the barrier charm is firmly in place in this room."
Jacob slides into the chair bolted down on his side of the table about the same time Griff sits as well. They stare at each other for half a minute before Jacob says, "I don't suppose you brought me anything like new socks or a sweater."
Seeing Jacob so near, looking youthful, and speaking as though they are friends has Griff seeing red and it takes a moment for him to finally speak. When he does, Griff gets straight to it. "Why didn't you kill me with the others?"
Jacob's smile turns to a puzzled pucker as his brows knit together. "What do you mean?"
"You killed Mum and Joseph at the house. You needed Hailey alive until you did the ritual. You were angry at Dad and wanted him to witness everything. Why did you not kill me at the house too?"
"There were," Jacob gives a small, one shouldered shrug, "well, without getting into details, plans."
"Plans?"
"Yes. For you."
"What sort of plans?"
"None of it would have happened if Patrick hadn't backed out."
"You said that once before but don't try to change the subject. What plans?"
"The book."
"What about it?"
"There was a series of intricate spells with rituals and potions that led to immense power. We needed you. It would have made us, and you, known the world over. People would have worshipped at our feet."
"But you ,"
"Tried to kill you. So it seems but not really." Jacob gives that small one shouldered shrug again. "Patrick and those two idiots made me angry. After Karl and Ed got testy with me and I dispatched them, I was fairly worked up. I wanted Patrick to suffer for what his cowardice had wrought by letting him think I was going to kill you too. I wasn't going to carve you up much more than I did and I figured to take care of your memories anyway. Couldn't expect you to go along with the other plans after what you'd witnessed, now could I?"
Griff closes his eyes and rubs them for a moment before looking his uncle in the face again. "You're saying you were going to go through with whatever those spells and rituals were?"
Jacob's own eyes widen in surprise as if he can't believe Griff would ask such a question. "Yes, that was the idea but Patrick had ruined everything again."
"He didn't want you murdering his daughter-in-law and unborn grandchild," Griff practically snarls.
"That wasn't the original plan. You know this, Griffin. Patrick backed out. We had to act fast before he turned us in. We had someone else picked out but her baby wasn't far enough along yet. We were patiently waiting but then Patrick changed his mind."
"The fact that Hailey wasn't the originally intended victim does not absolve you of anything, Jacob."
"Patrick forced our hands. We needed to act right then. Unfortunately, Hailey and her baby were our only alternative."
"No, your alternative should have been not to go through with it. You should have gone to the mainland and disappeared."
"That wasn't an option. The book wouldn't let us. If Patrick hadn't been a coward, we would not have been forced to act when we did. We would not have been forced to kill Susannah and Joseph. Do you really think I wanted to see my dear, beautiful sister dead? Or such a talented healer in training as your brother?"
Jaw clenched tightly, eyes narrowed Griff says in a deadly calm voice, "Stop blaming my father. He got his mind clear of that book and was doing the right thing. You didn't blink when killing them all and haven't shown a speck of remorse for those crimes or any of the others you've committed since."
Jacob hangs his head, his voice going soft. "I wish I could make you understand, make you see. We could have achieved such greatness; still could if I weren't locked away here."
"What do you mean, still could? Are you saying you still have the book?"
Much to Griff's irritation Jacob just gives him another of those one shouldered shrugs. Griff takes that as confirmation. He'd long thought the book destroyed but now that he knows it's not, he'll need to speak with a few people at the Ministry to see about getting the book's location from Jacob.
His uncle looks up again, offering a tentative, albeit small, smile. "Think about the power we could have. It's not too late to go through with the plans. "
"You're more psychotic than I thought if you think I want any part of that. And why me? If you've wanted all that power all these years, why not find someone else?"
"Has to be you. If you read that part of the book, you'd understand."
A memory of another incident comes to Griff's mind. "Why then did you try to kill me that time in Knockturn Alley?"
Jacob shakes his head, brows knitted together again. "What are you talking about?"
"At The Rotting Flesh. You stabbed me."
"I've never been to that place. I've seen it but never been inside."
"Yes, you were there at least once. It was before I knew you were doing business with Mercutio Wolfsbane and his half-sister Belladonna Barkwith."
"Who?"
"The owners of Wolfsbane & Belladonna," Griff snaps, extremely irritated and frustrated now.
Jacob holds both his hands palms upward and shakes his head, a blank expression on his face. This leads Griff to ask a series of probing questions before finally giving up as Jacob once again insists he never dealt with either of those people nor had a run in with Griff at The Rotting Flesh.
Griff insists, "It was you with your alias of Hawthorne. Someone's tampered with your memory."
"Why would someone have done that?"
"Someone who didn't want anyone finding out about the business dealings with you."
Griff abruptly stands and, turning without so much as a goodbye to Jacob, goes to the door to let the guard know he's ready to leave. Jacob is throwing more questions at him but Griff ignores the man, glad of the magical barrier that keeps Jacob from being able to cross to the same side of the room. On the walk back to the dock Griff finds his mind is still just as cluttered with thoughts of Jacob, only now with wondering who Obliviated the man's memory, what was covered up, and where is that dark arts book?
The Sociable Amherst-Chang Family (Cat)
Author: Fionna
Date: 06-22-11 14:17
Blair Chang pokes through the picnic basket for a third time. "Honestly, Leslie, what were you thinking when you packed the basket? That's four items that I know of so far that didn't make it in."
Leslie rolls her eyes behind Blair's back though doesn't bother to cover the sarcasm when she answers, "I was thinking how utterly lame it is being dragged to yet another Hogwarts do. I've got better things to do you know."
"No one dragged you," Willem Chang points out.
Blair nods in agreement with her husband as she usually is. "You were told there was a Spring Social here today and that you were invited if you wished to attend. No one cornered you and insisted."
Leslie makes an I surrender gesture with both hands. "Fine. Whatever. I came to a school function for a school I never attended and where few good looking prospects are of suitable age and all because I adore spending beautiful spring afternoons with my bickering parents, overbearing stepfather, and much younger little sister."
"Do not speak about Willem that way! Apologize this instant!" Blair's immediately defense of Willem comes as no surprise.
Leslie sets her jaw and squares her shoulders. "No. It's the truth."
Willem sneers at Leslie, "Kiss your allowance goodbye."
"I don't need your money."
"The hell you don't. Try to make it a week on what Hamish gives you."
"Dad gives me more than enough plus I have a job."
Blair's eyes widen. "You have a job? Since when?"
Leslie rolls her eyes again. "For ages and ages now, Mum. Aunt Moira's shoppe."
"You're working for Moira? Why is this the first I'm hearing of it?"
"It's not the first, Mum. I've told you. Aunt Moira's told you. Hell, you came in two weeks ago when I was working. Since you married Willem you never pay attention to anything not directly having to do with him."
Willem and Blair both speak at the same time, contradicting Leslie. Across from them, sitting in two portable canvas chairs, Hamish Amherst leans over to Catriona and says soto voice, "Grin and bear it a little longer. Your mum said they aren't here long. Willem's got a work related function. We'll go find the Chants right after."
Cat squeezes her father's hand though sighs at the spectacle before her. At least her dad isn't joining in as he's been known to do, especially when Willem's getting snotty with Leslie or Cat. Just once at one of these gatherings it would be nice if Mum, Leslie, Willem - and Dad - could be civil for the duration. Reaching for the strawberry ice at her feet Cat thinks that it's probably a good thing that Mum and Willem aren't staying long if all they're going to do is snipe at each other.
Leslie, catching the look on Cat's face, gives her a wink and mouths, "Sorry," then says aloud to Blair and Willem, "Enough! I want to eat in peace. Cat, there's roast beef and there's chicken salad. Dad, I expect you want the roast beef."
"Chicken salad, please," Cat says at the same time Hamish tells Leslie, "Yes on the roast beef."
Leslie hands out the sandwiches to Cat and Hamish and gets one for herself. "Crisps, anyone?"
Willem meanwhile is also digging into a roast beef while Blair spoons up some fruit salad into a bowl. Hamish makes a toasting gesture with his sandwich after taking a bite. "Always did like your roast beef, Blair."
Nibbling on her chicken salad sandwich, Cat is wondering how long this respite from the bickering will last. Knowing her family, she gives it all of three minutes tops.