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How to End the Evening
Author: Lawrence Masterson
Date: 07-12-07 21:45
They stood, paused outside Ariella's doorway. Neither of them quite sure just what should happen. Should he kiss her cheek? Should he give her a hug? Should he just turn and walk away? It seems that they were both waiting for the same thing to happen...well correction, waiting for -something- to happen.
He then made the decision, leaning forward he would press a simple, chaste kiss to Ariella's lips, and drew her into a simple hug. The kiss didn't last more than a few seconds, and he was smiling when the kiss broke. Then he waited, anxiously to be berated, to be smacked something that would tell him that the advance hadn't been wanted.
When the smack or her yelling at him didn't come he looked at her, and saw that she was blushing furiously and smiling at the same time. "So, you aren't mad at me, does that mean I can do it again?" He questioned with a grin. He'd barely heard the reply, as Ariella was very, very shy. "Was that a yes?" He questioned, seeing her blush deeper, her cheeks now a brilliant shade of crimson, as she nodded her head.
He leaned forward and pressed another kiss on Ariella's lips, this one however, he let linger a little longer, allowing her to be the guide of this kiss...to be the one to say when it broke or if it went any further.
Eventually, she broke the kiss and blushed brighter than he possibly thought she could. "Well, I'll say good night now. I am fairly certain that we will be spending some more time together before you head back to Hogwarts and I head off to Switzerland." He said, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek and turning to head down the path away from her home.
He'd already planned on keeping in touch with her while he was in Switzerland, simply because he enjoyed touching base with old friends and it was decidedly beginning to look like something more than friendship could blossom between the two of them.
Research
Author: Roane
Date: 07-12-07 22:13
“I was wondering if you kept a collection of old Daily Prophets in your store?”
Roane watched the patron hopefully as he scratched his head thoughtfully. They probably didn’t carry a record of the Daily Prophet at Twice Told Tales, and it would have made much more sense to have gone to the library instead, but Roane being the young adolescent that she was, wasn’t about to miss an opportunity to stop in and see the handsome patrons of the book store.
“As a matter of fact,” replied Lysander with a twinkle of mischief in his eye, “my friend Julian has an odd obsession of keeping old newspaper copies. They’re down below in the basement, if you don’t mind the dust and spiders.”
Roane gave what she hoped to be a seductive smile, but more than likely came across as silly. “Bugs and spiders don’t bother me,” grinned Roane. “Just as long as Julian doesn’t mind.”
Lysander’s smile slipped away from his face briefly, but then flashed back as quickly as it left. “I’m sure he won’t mind,” he murmured as he directed Roane to the door that led to the basement. With a flick of his wand, a warm light filled the basement. “I’ll leave you to it,” he said as a ring from the door stole him away from her.
Feeling slightly disappointed that Lysander wouldn’t be joining her, Roane made her way into the basement and quickly found Julian’s “collection” of newspapers. Thankfully, Julian was very organized and Roane quickly found the paper she was looking for.
Pulling out the paper dated September 1st, 1997, Roane stared at the picture of Jet Obsidian. The headline read “Vanished”. Delving further into the story, Roane read the story carefully. Half way through the news article the reporter quoted a student who had seen him vanish. According to Ginny Weasley, she had read an inscription on a quartz pendent and then Jet had turned into a snake and then… vanished.
“But what happened to the pendent?” Roane asked out loud, knowing this pendent must contain a lot of power in order to make Jet disappear.
Taking out her wand she waved it over the paper copying the text, and then transferred it over to a blank piece of parchment she had stored inside her bag. Staring at the picture for a moment, she carefully refolded the newspaper and placed it back in it’s proper spot in Julian’s collection.
Translation
Author: Hermione Granger
Date: 07-13-07 09:19
Hermione went to the library and checked out a book on Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics, which she brought back to her flat and used to help her translate the documents Lysander Stratford had copied for her. Hermione didn't know how many pages the entire Book of Kem Heka had, but she hoped it was a small volume so that the probability of her having the pages she needed was excellent. Lysander's source in Burma only owned four pages of the entire text. What were the chances they were the right ones?
Hermione busied herself with a translation of the glyphs. It was easy identifying the various symbols but putting them together to form complete, coherent sentences was marginally more difficult. She decided she would simply start by identifying all the individual hieroglyphs and then try to make sense of the text.
What she discovered was that the first page and half of the second consisted of the latter portion of a chapter on cobra venom and its various dastardly uses. To Hermione's great surprise and delight, the bottom half of the second page discussed mummies. Regrettably, the chapter seeemd incomplete by a page or two. This was unfortunate because Hermione felt certain that the antidote was actually on those missing pages, judging how page four ended.
At least she knew what pages she needed next and could better ask Lysander, or someone else, to help her locate them. What would be best, though, was if Khalid Adallah got arrested and the books he stole recovered––assuming he hadn't destroyed them.
Hermione scooped up the pages Lysander had brought her and those she'd written her translation on and went to Twice Told Tales to share her knowledge with him. She found him at the front counter, ringing up a purchase for a customer. Hermione waited until he finished to approach him.
"Any luck with the translation?" Lysander asked.
Hermione handed him the papers. "It's exactly what I need––starting on page 2. Unfortunately, I'm short a few pages. Do you think you could try again, now that I have something more specific to go on?"
"I'll certainly try," Lysander replied. He scanned the text, reading some of it aloud.
"Cursed mummy powder is a rare poison that affects the nervous system. When inhaled, it causes the victim to experience extreme pain in all extremeties and to sweat and shake uncontrollably. After time, the victim slips into a deep sleep and then dies. The rate at which this happens varies from person to person."
There were some illustrations intertwined with the text, such as Ancient Egyptian wizards cursing a mummy, others grinding the mummified corpse into powder, and others still showing someone being poisoned and then suffering the consequences.
Lysander read the final sentence from the last page. "Rarer still is the antidote for the poison. Found only in desert oases..."
He looked up. "That's it?"
"That's it. All I want is the rest of the chapter."
"I'll see what I can find," Lysander said. "Let me make a few notes and then I'll contact some sources to see what they might know."
Hermione stroked Dexter the cat while Lysander took his notes and then decided to peruse the shop a bit for some books. She never grew tired of expanding her personal library and wound up buying three books before she left Twice Told Tales for her flat again. Hopefully Lysander would have good luck again this time around!
Bright Yellow Goo
Author: Majandra
Date: 07-13-07 12:21
Miranda sits in the middle of the living room floor covered in something that's such a bright yellow it almost seems to glow. The nearly eleven month old child giggles loudly, working the stuff between chubby fingers.
Majandra steps into the room, takes one look at her daughter and yells, "George, what is all over Miranda?"
From upstairs George calls back, "It's harmless."
"But what is it?"
"We're not sure yet."
"What?" Maj rushes over to Miranda and starts pealing the stuff off the baby, frantically yelling up to George, "How do you know it's harmless then?"
Maj can hear George coming down the stairs. She's just about got all the yellow stuff off Miranda when he comes in. "I know it's harmless because Fred and I have been working on it for days. Nothing in it that would harm someone."
"Not even if ingested?" Maj pointedly asks.
"Not even if Miranda were to eat that entire glob of it. You okay? You look a bit green and peaky?"
"I'm fine. Just tired," Maj tells him, scooping Miranda off the floor and handing her over to George. "Make sure she's not got anymore on her. I need to grab the presents."
Seconds later they're walking over to Fred's and Blossom's for the triplet's birthday party, Maj wondering if the queasiness she's feeling is because of George saying she looks peaky and green.
Don't Even Think About It (Mary & Plum)
Author: Plum
Date: 07-13-07 14:21
Plum opens a box and starts taking the contents out, checking titles and numbers of copies of the assorted workbooks and sheets.
Flicking her wand to straighten a slightly off kilter poster of the phonetic sounds of each letter in the Goblin languange of Gobbledegook, Mary instructs Plum, "Make sure there are twenty of each item."
"Isn't twenty of each a bit much, Mum?"
"Definately. I'd rather have too many and have the extras for next year then have more students per year then anticipated and not have any materials for them."
"Where did the funds come from for all this," Plum waves a hand holding a Mermish language workbook to show she means everything in the room, not just the materials she's taking from the box.
"There was a language club in the past. I think it was even around still when you were just starting here. Students paid a small fee. Apparently very little was ever purchased so each year the fees were added to an increasing fund, just sitting there earning interest. Professor Dumbledore got my name added to the account and located a vault key for me."
Hearing the Headmaster's name, Plum asks with concern, "Any word?"
Mary, in the process of putting together a lively bulletin board on Mermish, stops and turns to look at Plum. "Nothing. I understand that Professor McGonagall is having Muggle hospitals checked through Great Britain and Ireland."
"Wow! That could take awhile."
"Oh yes, definately. It's a good move, very logical."
"What do you and Dad think of that woman, Snider is it?"
"That's right. Harriet Snider. I."
Mary stops talking, goes to the open doorway, peers out then pulls the door shut. Going back over to the bulletin board, she starts talking again but in a much lower voice.
"I'm not sure I care very much for her. She comes off as very snooty. Absolutely sure of her rightness."
"Rightness about what?"
"Everything far as I can tell. She's got a very smug sense of superiority. She's also," Mary's voice drops to a conspirtatorial whisper, "got enough hair in places woman don't usually that some are calling her Hairy Harriet."
"You're joking," Plum laughs.
"Swear to Merlin. She's got a thick, shaggy unibrow and enough hair on her upper lip that Hagrid said it reminds him of the rare furred flash-eating slug."
"Furred flesh-eating slug? I've never heard of such."
"I hadn't either. Hagrid says their just like the regular flesh-eating slugs but live in extremely cold climates."
By this time Plum has finished counting and sorting the materials from the box. "Where do you want these?"
"That shelf there. Are you staying for supper?"
"No, I'm meeting Anthony."
"His brother and your friend Bronwyn really eloped while all of you were visiting in Australia?"
"They really did."
Mary turns away again from the bulletin board, one hand on her hip. "If you and Anthony ever get such a notion in your head, I will track you down myself and knock some sense into both of you."
"We're of age, Mum. Why would our eloping, if we were to think of doing that, be a knocking sense into us offense?"
"You are our only daughter. Excluding us from your wedding would be the offense. I'm sure Bronwyn's parents are still trying to come to terms with it even though it's been a few weeks now. Why, the other day when I took Alex in to Blossom's for some time around other infants, Molly Weasley made a comment about one of her sons having eloped and still being a little upset about it even though it's been four years. That son isn't even her only one. She's got five others."
"Anthony and I aren't thinking of eloping, Mum."
"You'd better not be," Mary brandishes her wand at Plum before turning to use it to finish putting up a border on the bulletin board. "Don't even think about. Get all notions of elopement out of your head."
Plum rolls her eyes and goes back to arranging the workbooks and sheets on the shelf.
(Canterbury, England) Stranger in the Backyard
Author: Griet
Date: 07-13-07 15:20
Griet just happened to pass by the big bay window that looked out on the Vanderbilt family's sprawling back yard when she spotted a deer spring out of the woods that lined the property. Its hide was covered in beads of small sweat, which Griet only noticed because it was very sunny outside and the light reflected off the water condensing on the frightened animal. Suddenly, a boy hardly any older than she burst forth from the trees. He was dressed in all black that seemed to cover just about every portion of his body, which Griet thought odd since it was high summertime. She noticed that he had a maniacal look in his eye and gasped aloud when he tackled the deer. Her mouth fell open even wider when she saw him pin it to the ground and sink his teeth into the poor animal's neck. She was rooted to the spot, watching in horror as the boy killed the deer by sucking its blood.
With the deer limp in front of him and blood dripping from his lips down his chin and onto his black shirt, the boy started shaking violently. As suddenly as a the spasm started, it stopped. Griet wondered if she should stick her head in the floo and contact law enforcement but before she could give it a second thought, the boy spotted her watching him. He stood up, very alert. Griet suddenly became very frightened. Would he try to attack her next? She was locked in the house and the windows were charmed to keep intruders out, but she nevertheless felt a chill run down her spine at the sight of the bloody-mouthed boy staring at her.
He stepped over the deer's body and started walking towards the back door. Griet watched him through the window, suddenly wishing that she weren't home alone. Her father was at work and her mother had taken the other children shopping.
Griet didn't have her wand on her because she wasn't allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts, but she itched to get it from her room and use it against the boy, should he try to get in.
To her surprise, he didn't try the door handle. He didn't try to kick open the door or do anything else that a psychotic wizard might do. Instead, he raised his fist to the door and knocked.
Griet moved to the door but she didn't dare open it.
"Who are you? What do you want?" she shouted. She knew he'd seen her through the window, so she couldn't well hide and pretend like no one was home.
Working on a Case
Author: Nymphadora Tonks
Date: 07-13-07 15:57
When not working on other projects, Tonks read through every entry in all the journals Weston Ravenscroft had given her. His father, Constantius, had written very thoroughly about his quest for invincibility, which he'd intended to gain through ritualistic means. He even wrote the name of the text in which he'd found the ritual, which Tonks intended to pick up and peruse in an effort to build up the case against Constantius. Constantius wrote in very general terms what the ritual involved, so Tonks knew that he'd needed Percival FitzRoy for the ritual and that no other witch or wizard would have sufficed. The ritual called for the blood of a best friend––someone very much like a brother but without the same blood.
Tonks thought that the journals alone were enough to implicate Constantius on the charge of attempted murder, among other things; however, because Weston took the items from his father's possession and they weren't seized under official Ministry business, they might not be admissable in court. Still, they were enough for her to warrant the need to conduct an official search of Constantius' home. Maybe something else would turn up and implicate Constantius Ravenscroft further.
But first, she wanted to check on any old records that might exist about Percival FitzRoy's slaying of Daniel Lyttle. According to Marzipan FitzRoy's statement, Percival had told her that Constantius' father Valerius had been a top Ministry official during the time and that he and Percival's father had been the best of friends. Somehow, the murder had been ruled an accident rather than one of self-defense and the entire ordeal had been swept under the rug. Marzi had said that Valerius had done it as a favor to his best friend, even though the accused, Percival, had killed one of Valerius' own kin.
Tonks went to the Records Division.
"Hi, Tonks. What can I do for you?"
"Hi, Friday. I was hoping you could pull up some records from the mid 1960s, 1966 to be specific. And anywhere between May 14 and, let's say, June 14. I'm looking for mention of a case involving one Percival FitzRoy, accused of killing Daniel Lyttle. Both were Hogwarts students at the time. Other names that might come up in the search are Constantius and Valerius Ravenscroft, Bors Blackmore and Lionel Wickham."
Friday Knight jotted down the information Tonks supplied him and said he could get to her request in a couple of hours. Tonks thanked him and returned to her cubicle to continue reading the journal entries while she waited to see what records existed, if any still did.
Presents
Author: Griffin Price
Date: 07-13-07 16:01
Griff holds Tristan to the top of the little slide then supporting the boy both front and back, lets Tristan slide down. The slide, a toddler swing, and a sandbox charmed against things like cats using it as a littler box, are an early birthday present for Tristan. Griff finds it hard to believe that in just about two weeks, his son will be a year old.
Listing Tristan up to slide again, Griff turns his head as Alun Hanham approaches to ask, "Going to eat with us, aren't you?"
"I'm not sure, Mr. Hanham. I don't want to intrude."
What Griff really means is he'd love to stay but since it's not Carys doing the asking he doesn't want to impose himself and make her feel uncomfortable.
"Nonsense. Wouldn't be an intrusion unless you invited yourself to stay and we weren't planning on having you."
From the kitchen door Carys calls across the yard, "You are welcome to stay, Griff."
Picking up Tristan for another go on the slide, Griff ends up handing the child over to Mr. Hanham when the older gentleman suggests, "How about we try out that new swing, Tristan."
Griff approaches Carys, who stands leaning against the doorframe, arms folded, watching Tristan gurgling as the swing starts moving. "I'd like to stay for dinner but only if it's truly all right with you, Carys."
Not taking her eyes off their son, she curtly says, "I just said you're welcome to stay."
"Yeah, but,"
"But what?"
"No, nothing. Nevermind. I have a present for you."
"You do? How come?"
"Tristan's not the only one with a birthday coming up."
"Griff, you don't have to give me anything."
"I know I don't have to, Carys, I want to. I've done some checking at St. Emrys. If you want to go part-time or full-time come October, I'd pay the tuition and for your texts and supplies. I'd also like to pay any fees at that place in Hogsmeade, Blossom's, if you ever want to let him have some time there."
Carys, eyes still on her grand-father and Tristan at the swing, softly says, "Thank you, I'll think about."
Griff glances the direction she's looking them back to her. "I think it's best I go on and go. Give you some space."
Griff quickly strides over to bid Tristan and Mr. Hanham goodbye then disapparates from the Hanham yard.