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Enid Turns Herself In
Author: Ronan Eastwick
Date: 05-18-09 08:22
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ronan asked his mother, not for the first time.
They'd been in London for several days. The house that Enid had taken over after Caden's death had remained perfectly in tact during her absence, thanks to the loyal pair of house-elves in her employ. They'd kept the place spic-and-span and free from intruders.
Enid wore a look of fierce determination on her face. "It is the right thing to do, and if I'm to make amends for everything I have ever done in life, then this is how I must begin."
Her face softened as she appraised her only remaining son. He had no other family but she, unless his former guardian Illyria Jones were to be considered. Ronan was, however, a legal adult and fully capable of taking care of himself.
"You have money, you have a home. You'll figure out what to do with yourself while I'm away. Perhaps a job to keep yourself busy?"
Ronan had already been wondering what he'd do with himself. He had no idea if Hogwarts would allow him and everyone else who'd gone to Happy Haven last year to repeat the year of schooling they'd missed. Then again, he'd have been a seventh year last year, so did that mean he had no chance of returning to school? What about the NEWT exams he never got to take? Could he attend St. Emrys University without them? Maybe finding work was his only option.
Enid got up from the chair she'd been sitting him and closed the space between herself and her son. She hugged him and kissed him, and he hugged her back. Funny, how only recently he'd thought her the worst sort of person imaginable.
"It's time," Enid said, breaking away from her son. She crossed to the fireplace and threw some floo powder into the flames. She got on her knees and leaned forward until her head entered the fire.
"The Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Ronan heard her state.
She had a brief dialogue with someone on the other side of the floo and then pulled her head through the flames. She turned to Ronan and said, "They're coming for me."
Ronan frowned but didn't say anything, and soon a pair of aurors arrived through the fireplace. They talked to Enid briefly and then took her into custody. Suddenly, Ronan found himself very much alone.
He got up and looked around the house. His mother's house-elves didn't provide him any comfort. They hovered around to see if Ronan needed anything but he gently dismissed them from his sight. Merlin, Ronan's owl, was marginally more welcome. Merlin had been on the Hogwarts Express when Ronan's train had detoured to Happy Haven. Someone had released the owl at some point, so Merlin flew between Hogwarts and the house in London until he was reunited with his owner.
Ronan sighed quietly to himself. Today was the first day of the rest of his life, and he had no idea where to start.
Where Do They Put Their Tips?
Author: Phinfilius
Date: 05-18-09 21:03
A very buxom, very curvy redhead who also seems to be all legs walks into the Crown & Cauldron followed by a slightly shorter, slightest less buxom brunette who is even more voluptiously curvy than her friend to the point that if her body wasn't so very obviously toned, some might call her pleasingly plump.
Phin isn't working as host today but he is standing in for a couple of minutes so Aunt Phlagmelina could go to the loo. He smiles and greets the two women, trying not to stare at their chests. "Welcome to the Imperial Crown & Cauldron. Table for two or are you with the Haversham party?"
"Haversham party," the redhead says with a nearly blinding smile.
As Phin shows them to where the bridal shower for Heather Haversham is being held in the garden the redhead says with a giggles to the brunette, "I nearly asked wasn't it obvious we're here for a party then remembered that Flora was picking up my gift."
"Chipped in for it? That's what Fawna and I did."
"No, I got it on my own but what I wanted wasn't in stock so I had ordered it. I got the owl that it was in when Flora was going to the same shop so she picked it up for me."
"Here we are, ladies," Phin says, glad that as they'd walked out to the garden he wasn't in a position where he'd be tempted to stare at their grand assets.
Before turning to go back in to station the entrance, Phin takes the two newcomers' drink orders then that of a third woman who's come around to the garden on her own. Reentering the building, Phin can see his aunt has returned from answering her call of nature so instead of handing the drink order off he fills it himself.
Back outside he sees that more women have arrived. As he deposits the three drinks with the women who ordered them, Phin can't help but wonder if all the women invited to this bridal shower work at Petals or are strippers somewhere else, or if there are some with other jobs. For all he knows most of them are solicitors, healers, and economists. Phin doesn't think that's the case but he hates to think he's the type who'd be so quick to jump to conclusions just because he knows that the bridal shower is for a Petals employee.
A hand slaps Phin across the back of his head.
"Ow!" Turning to see Aunt Phlagmelina standing there giving him the eye, Phin asks, "What was that for?"
"Don't oogle the customers."
"I wasn't oogling," Phin protests.
"You've been standing there not moving, looking at the women for the bridal shower. I'd call that oogling."
"I wasn't just standing here. I'd brought out some drinks and was standing out of the way so some newcomers could get seated before I asked what they'd like."
"Twenty seconds."
"Huh?"
"You were standing for a full twenty seconds, just staring."
"Twenty seconds isn't very long at all."
"It can be longer than you think. Sometime when there aren't customers to be served, you can stand with tray in hand for a full twenty seconds, doing nothing else and see for yourself."
"If I was staring, I didn't mean to do it; not consciously anyway."
Glancing over to where the woman are laughing and eating from the large trays of starters just brought to the tables, Phin says in a low voice, "I didn't know strippers got married."
"I think they prefer to be called exotic dancers and why wouldn't they get married?"
Shrugging Phin says, "I don't know. I don't think I'd like having a girlfriend, fiance, or wife who gyrates around in next to nothing for drooling men."
"If Emerald came to you right now and said she'd taken a job at Petals or somewhere similar, would you break up with her?"
"No!" Phin nearly is loud enough to draw attention so dropping his voice he repeats, "No. I wouldn't like it but I wouldn't break up with her. Or at least I don't think so."
"So think of those women over there as a bunch of Emeralds."
"Where do they put their tips when they dance?"
"As I've never seen that sort of dancing take place, I have no idea."
"Emerald say that most Muggle countries have paper money and that's what would be used for tipping a dancer during a performance."
"Don't let me catch you in that place just to see how they handle getting tips while in the middle of dancing."
"I'm an adult."
"Do you think that matters to me?" Aunt Phlagmelina says in that sweetly menacing way she has.
"Where's that cute waiter?" the brunette Phin had brought out to the garden a short time ago calls. Spotting him she beckons.
Shooting his aunt a smile to show he knows she doesn't expect him to actually answer her question, Phin approaches the brunette, "Yes, ma'am?"
She giggles and first waving a hand then putting it on his arm she says, "I'm not so much older than you for you to be calling me ma'am."
"He's just being polite to the customers, Misty," the redhead says to the brunette. To Phin she says, "My name's Jasmine. I don't mind if you call me ma'am, or call me Jasmine. Just call me."
The brunette named Misty giggles again. "That is such an old line, Jasmine. But I agree, he can call me anytime as well."
Phin, feeling himself blushing, says, "Uh, thank you, I think, but I do have a girlfriend."
Another brunette, one with a lighter shade of brown, joins the giggles of Misty as she says, "Oh, but honey, it never hurts to look. Us look at you that is. You're a cutie."
Blushing more, Phin says, "Thank you."
"Very cute and very polite," Jasmine says.
Misty, whose still got her hand on Phin's arm, says between giggles, "I nearly forgot why I called you over. I decided I want more than just water. I'd like sangria if you have it."
"Yes, ma'am, we do."
"Ooooh, sangria. That sounds good," yet another woman, this one a blonde, chimes in. "Bring a couple of pitchers, why don't you."
"Two pitchers of sangria. Anything else at the moment?"
Misty shakes her head, "I think that will do for now."
Once inside, Phin's cheeks finally start feeling as though they're beet red. Adding fresh fruit garnish to the two pitchers of sangria and adding glasses for the sangria to his tray, Phin starts wondering again where those dancers put their tips while dancing when Wizarding money, at least in Britain, is all coins.
Cardiff, Wales: Home
Author: Carys
Date: 05-19-09 19:02
Alun's home in Cardiff had suffered broken windows and looting during his absence, but all of the items that were important to him––old photographs, for example––hadn't been all that important to the thieves and squatters who'd broken into the home. He, Carys and Griffin, when he had time, cleaned and repaired the house to the best of their abillities and hired a contractor to handle the bigger repairs they couldn't fix themselves. Now it was perfectly suitable for living again, especially for a young child like Tristan.
Although the family had moved out of the beach front home Griffin had purchased for them and himself, he'd found it worth holding on to and planned on renting it out for vacationers. In the meantime, he'd moved back in with Ruth Gainsborough, which eased his commute to the Ministry of Magic considerably.
Carys vowed to continue her French studies and currently did so with books, though she hoped to take a course or two at St. Emrys starting Michaelmas Term. She practiced what she learned in letters to her father, whom she wrote weekly.
One thing she hadn't done yet that weighed heavily on her mind was find a job. Although she knew that she could probably get her old job at McMerlins if she really wanted, she really didn't want to work in fast food ever again. She knew that she needed to find something, though, because she had not only her own mouth to feed but that of her son and grandfather. Griffin, certainly, would help her, but she didn't want to rely completely on him. She wanted to show some responsbility herself.
"Did you see this?" Alun said, shuffling into her old bedroom with a copy of The Daily Prophet in his hands.
Carys took the paper from him and looked at the article he meant. The headline blared EMRYS FEST TO ROCK ST EMRYS and followed with a blurb about the annual concert.
"You should have a little fun this summer and go to the concert. Take Griffin with you."
"What, like on a date?" Carys asked, jesting.
"Why not?" Alun replied, with a shrug of his shoulders. "He's a responsible young man and he obviously cares about you and my grandson. I think he's fond of me too."
"Of course he his," Carys replied, smiling. "Who wouldn't like you?"
Alun, appearing happier than he'd been in a long, long time, shrugged his shoulders again and started to leave his granddaughter's room. "Just think about it."
Carys wouldn't mind going to Emrys Fest, even with Griffin. Perhaps she would ask him if he wanted to go with her.
Running Into Anissa Weaver
Author: Plum
Date: 05-19-09 19:21
After stamping her time card for Blossom's, Plum grabs her purse then walks into the daycare classroom where Alex's group has just finished a game involving the circle, square, and triangle shapes. Crouching in front of her brother she says, "I've got band rehearsal. Do you want to come back to Auntie Laura's with me or stay here?"
"Me swim?"
"Yes, if you want," Plum says with a smile. Alex's idea of swimming is splashing ankle deep in a small fountain the Reese-Emerson's have.
"Dolly too?"
"If Dolly's mum says it's all right and if Dolly wants to. I'll have to stick my head in the floo."
"Hokee," Alex nods, mispronouncing okay as he's prone to do.
Standing back up, Plum retraces her steps back to the office area where she can use the Floo to contact Dolly's mum. Less than five minutes later Plum is walking down High Street with one hand holding Alex's and the other holding Dolly's. The two are happily burbling at each other, Plum only half listening as she runs through a mental list of songs she wants to be sure they get to when Dynamic Duo rehearses.
When they reach the Imperial Crown & Cauldron, Plum is glad to see that the establishment directly across the street, Petals doesn't seem to be open yet for business. She knows they open each day in the afternoon but isn't sure of the specific time. Nothing against the place or anything but Plum would prefer that while she's got two toddlers with her to not to have in view any of the scantily clad women who sometimes dance in the windows to attract people inside.
Just inside the restaurant Plum and the two children are met by Phin's aunt Phlagmelina. "Phin's just finishing up. Want to wait inside or in the garden or just go on without him? I have it on good authority there are some still hot b-i-s-c-u-i-t-s that are broken but perfectly edible. Chocolate dipped."
"Small, broken pieces for Alex and Dolly would be fine. I think they'd probably love you for it."
Phlagmelina chuckles, "Love from children their ages is so easily bought. How about this booth. Do they need boosters?"
Dolly loudly says, "Yes!" at the same time Alex just as loudly says, "No!"
Plum grins over their heads, "He always says no then as soon as he's seated demands to see better, which means a booster seat."
Though no children of her own but from a large family and having a number of nieces and nephews, Phlagmelina nods knowingly as she summons to booster seats. She leaves Plum to get the kids seated, tells one of the waitresses to bring out a few of the broken cookie pieces and milk in toddler cups, then returns to her station near the entrance.
Plum gets first Dolly then Alex into their chairs and after making sure each is situation to their liking, she magically affixes the boosters so they don't slip or tilt should either child get fidgety. Just as she moves around to sit down as well, she hears her name.
Looking around the dining room, Plum sees Anissa Weaver rising from one of the tables. The woman gets right to the point of why she'd gotten Plum's attention, not even saying so much as hello. "I was going to send you an owl in the morning but I can get a verbal confirmation from you. If I am able to get ten confirmed students, I'll be offering a new class in the fall that I hope will become a series of courses. I think it might be something of interest to you. Fairy dialects."
"Yes, I think I would find that interesting and useful. Are you also contacting Kordelia Reese-Emerson?"
"She's on my list."
"I should be seeing her within the hour if you'd like me to have her contact you. That would save from having to owl her as well."
"That would be appreciated, thank you."
"Pwum, milk!"
Turning her head slightly to look at Alex, Plum tells him, "Milk is coming for you and for Dolly."
"Milk then swim?"
"Yes, you'll swim later when we get home."
Dolly giggles then says to Anissa Weaver, "Hello, I is Dolly."
The professor smiles fondly at the child, "Hello, Dolly. How old are you?"
"Tree," Dolly replies, holding up four fingers.
"She's not yet three actually, but almost," Plum supplies. "And Alex is two and a half."
"Babysitting?"
"Yes and no. Dolly is just coming home with us to swim. Alex chose to come with me instead of staying at Blossom's where I work, and we got permission for Dolly to come along."
Anissa Weaver's brow crinkles slightly. "I wasn't aware you have a two year old child. Are you single or are you married and have chosen to continue going by Lancaster?"
As they'd been talking the milk and broken biscuit pieces have arrived as has Phin. He gives the children their milk and passes out the cookie pieces, looking over in surprise when the professor asks, "Is this Alex's father?"
Plum shakes her head. "This is Phin Hodfuffer. His mother is one of the restaurant owners. I date Anthony Beck."
Anissa Weaver inclines her head towards Phin, "Nice to meet you."
"Phin, this is Anissa Weaver, a linguistics professor at St. Emrys."
"Ma'am," Phin says with a nod. "Plum, sorry I was running late."
"That's all right. They aren't expecting us for rehearsal for another half hour."
"If I might be so nosy, what sort of rehearsal?"
"We're in the band Dynamic Duo," Phin says at the same time he's reaching over to wipe dribbling milk off Dolly's chin.
"The band is slated for Emrys Fest," Plum says.
"I'll have to make a point of catching your performace. I should get back to my dining companions and let you finish up so you can get to that rehearsal."
"And swim!" Alex reminds.
"Yes, and swim. Good to see you, Plum, and I'll let you know if there are ten interested in that course."
It's a little while later, just after Plum's seen to Dolly and Alex stomping around in the fountain at the Reese-Emerson's, which is still home for Alex and Plum at the moment, and left them with Laura wading in right beside the toddlers, that it dawns on Plum that she never set Anissa Weaver straight on who exactly Alex is.
She also wonders if Anissa Weaver has realized that Plum knows that Anissa is her grandmother.
Plum doesn't dwell on these thoughts for long because Anthony arrives and then Drake with Drake bearing a new song he's just written and hopes they can perform at Emrys Fest.
Second Sighting
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 05-20-09 18:22
Lysander found it very difficult to concentrate on work. He kept thinking about the almost threatening note he'd received last month and the woman he'd seen more recently who looked remarkably like his deceased wife. It also didn't help that it was a gorgeous summer's day outside and that several women from Petals had strolled by Twice Told Tales' storefront windows or even stepped inside to do a little browsing.
In the end, Lysander forced himself to do something productive. He decided to change out the window display to travel guides, since summer holidays, at least for Hogwarts students, had only just begun. He starting removing the old books and stacking them in pile when a woman walking down the street caught his attention. He jumped up and very nearly pressed his nose to the glass.
Could it really be? he questioned no one but himself. It was the first time he'd seen the Chyler lookalike by daylight, and the resemblance truly was uncanny.
Without tearing his eyes away from her, though she continued to drift away from the shoppe, Lysander called out to Julian that he'd be right back and bolted out the front door, nearly running over an elderly witch in the process. Without offering an apology, he hurried to catch up with the woman and seized her arm, turning her to face him in the street.
"What are you doing?" the woman demanded, extricating her arm from Lysander's grasp.
Lysander searched the woman's face a long moment before answering. It's not her, he reluctantly acknowleged, and how could it be when she'd died so many years ago?
Still, the woman greatly resembled his dearly departed Chyler. She had the same eyes and hair and even her face had a similar shape. She was shorter than Chyler had been but not by much. Her figure was similar, too.
But she wasn't Chyler, and she never could be.
"I'm sorry," he said at last, and turned to begin walking back to the shoppe.
"Wait," she called.
Lysander turned. "It's just that you look so much like someone I used to know."
The woman wore an inquisitve look on her face. Her gaze shifted from Lysander's face to over his shoulder, where Twice Told Tales stood in the background. She studied Lysander again.
"I think I might know who you are," she finally said. She wracked her brain for a name but couldn't remember if she ever really knew it. "One of my cousins, not a first cousin but maybe a second cousin––I've never been good with keeping track of all my extended family––lived here and had a bookstore. That one there, I think."
"Who is your cousin?" Lysander croaked, already knowing the answer.
"Chyler Thomason. I thought you might be her husband."
"What gave it away?"
The woman smiled Chyler's smile and it gave Lysander shivers to look at it. "The way you've been looking at me. I've been told that I look the way she did when she was my age."
"How old are you?" Lysander asked.
"23. How old are you?"
Lysander felt old in comparison to the young woman who looked just as he remembered his dead wife, who'd died at the tender age of 25.
"I'm 32," Lysander answered.
A silence followed, as Lysander wrapped his brain around Chyler's young relative standing before him and she waited for him to gather his thoughts.
It then dawned on him that he didn't even know her name.
"My name is Astrid," she replied, "Astrid Thomason."
An Offer
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 05-21-09 17:38
Many of the prisoners who'd been prematurely released from Azkaban during Euphemia Smythe-Jones' Ministry had been recaptured, though many more were still at large, such as Dorian and Maren Somerset and Nero Noir. Other cases that had been pending before everything had gone sour in the wizarding world were slowly being given attention again, though in some instances the trails had gone too cold to follow in the meantime.
Ethan kept himself very busy tracking down wanted criminals and conducting other investigations into new situations that arose almost daily. He truly felt like his old self again and in some ways had never felt better. Things were finally more or less back to normal, he had a loving family whom he saw often, and an issue very close to his heart had finally been resolved: all victims of Project 25, like Maverick Pilot and Rosamond Boggs, did not have to return to Azkaban. They were free wizards, as they should have been nearly three years ago.
In fact, Maverick and Rosamond had gotten jobs at the Ministry of Magic. Maverick worked in the records division of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, as he had when he'd pretended to be Grady O'Neill. Rosamond had also gotten her old job back in the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
Ethan decided he wanted to get something to drink from the canteen, so he left his cubicle and headed for the lifts. When the grate slid open, he found himself face to face with none other than Albus Dumbledore. No one else occupied the lift, but a few paper airplanes hovered above the Hogwarts Headmaster's head.
"Well met, Ethan. Going up?"
"Hello, Albus. To the Atrium," Ethan replied, stepping into the lift beside Dumbledore. He tried to remember the last time he'd truly spoken to the older wizard. He could only recall his own time as a professor at Hogwarts, but surely they'd conversed since then?
"I'm glad we're run into each other," Albus said, as the lift began moving from floor to floor. "I have a proposition for you, if you are willing to hear me out?"
"Of course," Ethan replied, with interest. "What is it?"
"A teaching position at Hogwarts," Dumbledore replied.
Ethan wasn't sure what Dumbledore had planned to offer him but a teaching position at Hogwarts was the absolute last thing he expected.
"With all due respect, but why me? I'm not sure I'm your best candidate."
"I wouldn't offer if I didn't think you were a good teacher, Ethan."
When Ethan thought about Hogwarts, the first thing that always came to mind was what happened to him there. "I did enjoy my classes and the students, at least at first," Ethan finally said, "but I'm not sure I can go back after everything that occurred while I was there."
Dumbledore placed a hand on Ethan's shoulder and fixed him with a reassuring stare. "What happened do you had nothing to do with Hogwarts and everything to do with Voldemort. Remember that he is nothing more than a memory now and that you have been free from him for these many years. Please consider my offer, Ethan. I think a return to Hogwarts would be as good for you as it would be for us all."
Ethan still wasn't entirely convinced, though a part of him had already warmed to the idea. Albus Dumbledore certainly had a way of making it difficult to say no.
"Do you need an immediate answer?"
Dumbledore shook his head. "No, but if you can give me one within the week, it would save me an awful lot of trouble."
"Within the week you'll have your answer, then," Ethan said. "Thank you for thinking of me."
The lift came to a stop and the grate slid open.
"I look forward to hearing from you, Ethan. Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
Dumbledore headed in one direction and Ethan in the other, his mind a whirl as he considered the possibility of returning to Hogwarts as a teacher.