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The Time For Shopping Has Come
Author: Charisma Stone
Date: 06-11-09 14:36
Isma, Blake, Eric and the parents of all three second years entered the Leaky Cauldron after meeting up out in front of the building. "We are going to go get our supplies, you guys can have lunch here, we will grab some stuff at the Deli between bursts of shopping." Isma said, looking at the six adults.
Emily went to say something, and Isma shook her head. "This will help all of you, remember what the Therapist said Mum. Talking about it is not a bad thing." She herself was taking her own advice, she'd been owling the Therapist, well phychiatric healer for the past couple of weeks and would continue to do so, especially when the nightmares got really bad.
"I will get money out of the vault at the Bank, we'll be fine." Blake told his mum, and soon the three second years would head toward that back wall, that secret and magical wall. A muttering escaped her, she had no wand! She'd not gotten it back from when they'd left Happy Haven.
"First things first is I need to get a new bloody wand." Isma said irritably, Eric and Blake nodded in agreement, they each needed new wands as well.
"Allow me." Came the voice of a girl about their age from behind them, and she quickly pushed herself past the trio. "No wands, must be first years, or..." She didn't bother to finish the statement, having recognized Isma. "Welcome back you three."
"Well, hello to you as well Bianca. Nice to see you are catty as always." Isma said with a smirk, waiting for the third year Slytherin to open the entry way into Diagon Alley. Bianca and her parents stepped through and then so did Eric, Isma and Blake.
After Bianca and her parents wandered off to tend to their own to do list, the trio began discussing where they would start this trip. "Alright, where do we need to start? Wands? New robes? Quills, parchments, inks? The bank?" Isma said, taking charge and flashing the boys a bright little grin indicitive almost of the small amount of Veela that thrived within her bloodline.
"Hmm....lets hit the bank first, to make sure we have enough money on us to get every thing we need." Eric said, shifting lightly as they soon began heading toward the bank. It was going to be busy in there, and all three had prepared themselves for the lengthy lines that would be in -every- store they stopped in.
"Thank god I do not have to deal with Bianca all year in class...not that I like having to repeat second year, but this puts her a year ahead, and hopefully out of our hair." Or more importantly out of Isma's hair so that the firey temper of hers did not get her expelled because Bianca did something stupid that went and got her punched in the face.
At the bank it took them a lot less time than they thought it would and soon they were once more fighting through the street, heading toward Olivander's to get new wands first and foremost.
Moved In
Author: Lawrence Masterson
Date: 06-11-09 16:14
Lawrence tugged Ariella into his lap, wrapping his arms around her and pressing a kiss to the jucture of neck and shoulder. "I love you." He said against her skin, sighing lightly. "So, are you going to continue working in the village or..." Hinting that maybe she would want to go the Emry's and finish what she hadn't been given a chance to at Hogwarts.
Ariella said nothing, merely shifted in her husband's lap. "Do you have your lesson plans figured out yet?" She asked, clearly changing the subject off herself.
"I have a few ideas, but haven't fleshed everything out yet. Am debating on having a treat day, where like I did before, have one day during the week when there are samples of foods using the herbs we are talking about. I may also go into some of the more medicinal qualities of the herbs, I've not decided yet." He said, allowing her to change the subject, simply at this point content to just hold her and have her close to him.
"If it stops raining long enough, care to accompany me out to the green houses, I want to check on a few things before the start of term?" He asked, nuzzling her lightly.
"Hmm...I think I just might..." Ariella said.
"Good." He said and planted a kiss to her lips, letting his fingertips lightly tease over her form, a contented sigh slipping from him.
New Addition
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 06-11-09 17:39
After Emrys Fest, Desi and Bianca had returned home but Arley and Seb had hung around longer, given Bronwyn several more opportunities to meet up with them. They went shopping and dining in both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade, took a tour of the campus at St. Emrys in case either had an interest in going back to school (and moving back to Great Britain!!!), and watched some of Toby's Quidditch practices with the Falmouth Falcons.
She reintroduced them to old Hufflepuff classmates like her brother Siegfried and some of the others in the Beck family like Anthony, whose band's performance they'd missed at Emrys Fest. Bronwyn made sure she took Arley and Seb to see a weekend performance of Dynamic Duo at The Imperial Crown & Cauldron, so that they could see what they'd missed at the larger concert.
All too quickly they had to return to New York, though not without promises to visit again soon. Bronwyn wanted to visit them too, having never been to New York City before and already imagining the wonderful shopping opportunities available to her there.
Presently, she and Toby lounged on the couch in the living room of her father's home. He'd gone off to work at the architectural firm Wren, Inc. and Siegfried had also left the house for his photography job with Quidditch Illustrated.
Bronwyn and Toby made excellent use of their privacy, until they were rudely interrupted by someone exclaiming, "God, can't you two get a room?"
They broke their kiss and turned their heads in the direction of the fireplace, where they saw Desi standing and brushing off the soot that had collected on her clothing during her journey over.
Toby sat up and said, "Hey, Desi. What brings you here?"
Bronwyn adjusted her clothing and then her hair and sat up, studying her friends face. Desi looked happy. Really, really happy.
"Oh. My. God. Did Annabelle have the baby?"
Desi grinned wider. "Yes!"
Bronwyn jumped off the couch and threw herself at her best friend. The girls jumped up and down and squealed, a move very uncharacteristic of Desi.
"His name is Wolfgang Vincent Diamond."
"It's a boy?!"
"It's a boy!"
"I have another brother!"
"I have a brother!"
"HEY!!!!!" Bronwyn stopped bouncing and said. "It's your birthday! Happy birthday! Ohmygodthat'sthebestbirthdaypresentever!" Then she pouted a little. "Possibly even better than what I had planned for you and Bianca."
"Possibly?" Toby questioned from behind his wife.
"Okay, nothing is better than the birth of our new brother. But my present to you and your sister is a close second."
Desi took a step toward the fireplace. "Do I even want to know?"
"Oh, you do. I'm sure of it. But I really need to tell my dad that he's got another son. And I need to tell Siegfried about it too. We'll probably come visit, if that's okay..."
"Oh, yeah. Definitely. We're expecting you. I should probably get back," Desi added, moving back to the fireplace. "Come as soon as you can."
"We will," Bronwyn replied, grinning widely.
Desi smiled and then flooed home.
Bronwyn turned to Toby. He was already grinning and waving his hand toward the fireplace. "Go, tell your father and tell your brother. I'll wait here for you to return."
She kissed him and then seized a handful of floo powder. She threw it into the hearth and exclaimed, "Wren, Inc.!"
A moment later, she was gone.
Thanks, Coco (Indigo)
Author: Travis
Date: 06-11-09 19:15
Lisi pokes her head into Indigo's office. "Injured cat just brought in. Coco's talking to her now to calm her down."
"Thanks," Indigo nods, already on his feet.
"Two. It's a stray so no chart yet," Lisi tells him.
Indigo strides down to Exam 2. Coco Nutt is talking in low tones to the cat, a Cornish Rex by the looks of her, and standing a little back are two boys Indi has come to know fairly well, Augustus Hodfuffer (often called Gus) and Caerwyn Valentine.
Keeping a hand lightly on the cat Coco straightens up. "She's fairly beat up. Says she was going fast then fell. To me that sounds like she were, was, tossed from a moving vehicle."
"She is more of a Muggle breed," Indi says, fingers gently probing the cat as Coco once again bends to speak soothingly to it. "In case I've not mentioned it today, I'm envious of your ability to speak with animals."
"First time today but you told me three times yesterday so Oi, I, don't hold it against you for taking so long today to mention it," Coco says with a wink to the two boys.
As Indi sets to work cleaning a number of cuts and abrasions as well as gently picking out debris from the wounds, Caerwyn explains how they found the cat. "We had been at the Humbatas stadium. She came limping out of the bushes, meowing at us."
"We brought her straight her. Is she okay?"
"She is, as Coco said, pretty beat up, but I'm not finding anything major as yet." To Coco Indi instructs, "The standard potions."
"What sort of potions?" Gus asks.
"To keep her healthy from things like rabies and a variety of worms. Fleas. That sort of thing. Are either of you keeping her?"
"We both are," Caerwyn answers. "There's already Dexter but Dad won't mind, I don't think."
"I know I can keep her. My mum LOVES cats," Gus chimes in. "And once school starts, we can have her at school. Share her."
Returning with the potions, Coco tells them, "She says her name is Calm The Hell Down You Damned Cat."
"I think we'll change that," Gus gravely says.
"Good idea," Indi concurs. "Getting all the wounds properly tending and giving her a more thorough exam is going to take a little while. You could leave and come back later, Gus and Caerwyn."
"If you think we should," Caerwyn says, "then all right."
The boys start for the door, stop, exchange whispers, then Gus asks Coco, "Will you ask her if what name she prefers, please?"
"Will do."
A few minutes later someone else is standing at the door to Exam 2. Indi glances up long enough from the Cornish Rex to say, "Hi Anne. What can I do for you?"
Anne Kendrick smiles brightly at him. "I was hoping you were free to take a break, maybe get a drink at the Three Broomsticks. I see you're busy though so I'll come back another time."
"I keep telling you, Anne, I won't go on a date with you until you've graduated Hogwarts."
"I know but a drink while you're on a break isn't a date, is it?"
Coco snickers and says under her breath, "She's got you there."
Indi shoots Coco a glare before telling Anne, "This is going to take awhile."
Coco sweetly offers, "I can take care of cleaning the wounds and dressing the worst of them."
"Oh?" Anne looks hopefully from Indi to Coco then back to Indi.
"There's still the exam to be done."
"Which you weren't going to do until after you got most of the scrapes and cuts dealt wif," Coco blinks then amends, "with."
Indi glares again at Coco who shrugs, "It's only one drink." In a lower voice she adds, "Maybe she'll back off some if you go and since you do need to get back, it's not you have to stay longer than a fifteen or twenty break. Even a ten minute one."
Indi gives her a baleful look then turns to Anne, "Let me tell Lisi where I'll be."
"Great!" Anne squeals. She gushes a rushed, "Thank you," to Coco then follows Indi down the hall.
Preparations
Author: Minerva McGonagall
Date: 06-12-09 15:43
With the start of term just around the corner, Professor McGonagall found she still had plenty to do before she considered herself ready for the first of September. Having taught Transfiguration for decades, she knew her lesson plans backwards and forwards, but she wanted to make adjustments to accommodate her focus on only the upper year classes.
What to do about the incoming sixth year students who'd been at Happy Haven and who'd missed taking the OWL exams was another item over which to ponder. Would they need special review sessions to prepare them for the exams, particularly since they'd effectively missed a whole year of schooling? Should they take the exams at the end of the school year with the fifth years, or should they have individualized testing sessions spaced out throughout the school year? Professor McGonagall found merit in both options, as did Professor Dumbledore and many of the other professors polled. They didn't have long to reach a decision.
An agreement had been worked out between the Ministry of Magic's Wizarding Examinations Authority, Hogwarts, and St. Emrys University to accommodate the students who'd completed their seventh year before entering one of the communities for nons. Since Professor Snider had denied them their right to take the NEWTs, reviews and makeup exams would be available to them at the university. Rumor had it, officials from the university intended on broadening the sessions to anyone interested in attending.
At least one item of business had been completed already. Hogwarts was fully staffed, with professors old and new in the various positions. Professor McGonagall was proud to share the post of Transfiguration instructor with Sirius Black, who'd taught the course at St. Emrys University. He would, without a doubt, do well in the position.
(Seattle, Washington) First Look
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 06-12-09 16:18
Bronwyn, Toby and Siegfried sat together on the couch in Desi's living room and waited to meet their half-brother, or half-brother-in-law in Toby's case. Wotan, unable to sit still, paced the room with his hands clutched behind his back, while Desi kept a post by the window, which had a few of the street and the driveway.
Bronwyn was ecstatic to meet Wolfgang, whom she'd already nicknamed Wolfie in her head. Toby, who already had a half-sibling and knew the feeling of gaining an unexpected addition to the family, was pleased that his wife was pleased. He liked to see her smiling and thought it only appropriate that no one fault the baby for the circumstance of his birth. Siegfried was keen on meeting Wolfgang too, if only because he finally had a brother of his own.
Wotan had mixed feelings. On the one hand, he was thrilled to be a father again and couldn't wait to meet his newborn son. He wasn't as young as he used to be and his two oldest children were fully grown and at an age when they might have children themselves. Having a child at his age didn't make him feel so old.
On the other hand, Wotan had the slightest feeling that he wished Wolfgang had never been born, if only because he'd been created with someone other than his wife. He felt guilty and cornered and didn't think he would ever forgive himself for his indiscretion.
"They're here!" Desi exclaimed, spotting Bianca's car pull down the street and into the driveway. She took the bend to the front of the house and then killed the engine.
Desi hesitated for the briefests of moments before going to the front door and opening it. She stepped outside, just as Bianca was helping her mother out of the passenger side of the car.
Bronwyn, Toby, and Siegfried, meanwhile, had gotten to their feet. Wotan finally stopped pacing, his eyes fixed on the open front door.
Flanked on either side by her twin daughters, Annabelle carried the newborn Wolfgang to the front door. She stepped inside, where the Dewhursts and Becks received their first glimpse of the baby.
Annabelle approached Wotan first and said, "Wotan, this is your son, Wolfgang Vincent Diamond. Would you like to hold him?"
For a moment, the awkwardness that had resided between them these many months passed. Wotan nodded his head and held out his arms for the little baby.
Annabelle gently transfered Wolfgang into Wotan's arms and then took a step back.
Wotan gazed down at his son and smiled.
(Ariella) Memories
Author: Beck
Date: 06-12-09 17:03
Being back at Hogwarts brought back many wonderful memories for Ariella. She'd enjoyed most of her classes and professors, had a lot of fun playing beater for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, and although she hadn't really socialized with Lawrence when they'd both been students there, it was the place where they'd first met.
Ariella also had not-so-wonderful memories of Hogwarts. Her last year there had resulted in her butting heads with then-Headmistress Snider, which ultimately led to her expulsion right before she was to have taken the NEWTs. Getting caught kissing Lawrence, who'd been her Herbology teacher at the time, had certainly been the deciding factor in removing Ariella from campus, but Ariella had always suspected that Snider had used the unfortunate act as a means to an end.
Lawrence and Ariella had put their relationship on hold as soon as the school year started, knowing that they would be treading a fine line if they didn't. The kiss at The Three Broomsticks had been their only slip-up, and it had given Professor Snider exactly what she needed to get rid of the non sympathizers at her school.
Sometimes Ariella wondered what Professor Dumbledore made of the situation, though he probably wouldn't have offered Lawrence his job back if he'd felt that Lawrence had been improper with Ariella during that time. Dumbledore was very wise and had likely come to the correct conclusion without anything or anyone to influence him.
As for Ariella, she intended on keeping her job at Briar's Bakery. She rather enjoyed it, and it was nice having her own source of income. She could walk to and from work everyday, and work off the pounds she put on from eating too many sweets!
She'd also heard murmurs about makeup exams for students who'd missed out on taking the OWLs and NEWTs two years ago, when Professor Snider had, quite out of the blue, announced that only the purebloods would get to take their exams. Ariella's situation had been quite different, but she wondered if it would be possible for her to take the NEWTs once and for all.
She decided to visit Professor Dumbledore and find out if it was even a possibility. She met him in the hall on the way to his office.
"Greetings, Miss Beck. Feeling nostalgia for the "good old days" ?"
Ariella smiled. "It is nice being back here, though it does feel very different since I'm no longer a student. I was actually coming to see you. Do you have a moment?"
"Several, actually. Why don't you accompany me to my office?"
She fell into step beside him and found it impossible to contain the question already forming on her lips. "Do you think it would be possible to make up my NEWT exams? I would really like to attend St. Emrys and take university level classes, and without my NEWTs, I'm not sure what I can do."
"As a matter of fact, there is a program you might be interested in..."
Dumbledore escorted Ariella into his office and provided her with some information and a contact at St. Emrys University. She left his office a short while later with a beaming smile on her face. She went straight to the greenhouses to find Lawrence and give him her good news.