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Play Date
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 09-05-14 17:12
The start of Ethan's summer passed peacefully, just the way he wanted it. He always wondered if something would change, knowing there were wizards out there who wanted to do him harm, but he tried not to worry overly much. After all, what kind of life would one have if it was always spent worrying?
And so, he went about his leisurely summer days enjoying every moment. Just like they had done a few times last year, Ethan brought Lilly to Hogsmeade for play dates with some of the children who lived in the village and were around her age. At three, she was already fairly independent. She walked ahead of him with a slight skip in her step, eager to get to the flat above Briar's Bakery.
"Lilly, stay closer," Ethan called out. He smiled when she reluctantly slowed her steps and threw a look over her shoulder at him that obviously suggested he was walking much too slowly for her liking.
They reached the bakery soon enough and entered to find Briar behind the counter. Lilly was all set to head for the stairs but found herself immensely distracted by a miniature chocolate cupcake with the most delectable-looking chocolate swirl for icing.
Ethan greeted Briar, whom he had seen off and on throughout the year, sometimes with Lilly in tow.
"What can I get you two?" Briar inquired.
Lilly pointed at the cupcake she wanted and said, "That, and then play time." As an afterthought she remembered to say please.
Briar laughed. "Coming right up," she said, getting the mini cupcake for Lilly and a vanilla bean scone for Ethan. "Aegean told me just this morning that she was looking forward to Miss Lilly's visit," she went on, placing two small plates onto the counter and then accepting Ethan's payment.
Lilly beamed. "'Gean is fun," she said.
"The twins are already upstairs. Why don't you head on up?" Briar asked, adding the coins to the till.
"K!" Lilly exclaimed. She made a beeline for the stairs and completely forgot about her cupcake.
Ethan chuckled and reached for both plates. "Probably better I carry it up the stairs for her in any case," he said.
Briar shrugged and smiled. "Plates can be mended and sweets can be replaced, but you're probably right."
Ethan started to follow his daughter, who was already out of sight, but an impulsive feeling suddenly overcame him. It may not have, had there been others in the bakery at that very moment, but it was just the two of them. He turned back to Briar and asked before he could change his mind, "Would you like to go out for coffee sometime?"
She looked a bit surprised by the spontaneous question but also pleased. "Sure. I'd like that very much."
"Great!" He started to go but then wondered if they should make firm plans already. Briar answered his question for him.
"Bring Lilly her cupcake and then we can talk about it," Briar said.
Ethan nodded. "Right." He turned and headed for the stairs leading to the upstairs flat, unable to stop a goofy grin from crossing his face.
Prefect Badge (Hunter & Jade)
Author: Emerald Green
Date: 09-05-14 17:51
Staring at the prefect badge in his hand, Hunter's mouth puckers as if he'd been sucking on a lemon. With a sigh he sets it on the chest of drawers along with the envelope from Hogwarts with his fifth year textbook and supply information, wondering if he'd be allowed to say thank you but no to being prefect if needed. Another sigh and he grabs his broom then leaves the house to catch up with Jade.
Uncle Woody has a fallow field within a few minutes walk that's perfect for playing Quidditch over or improving broom maneuvers. The twins are halfway between house and field when Jade asks, "What?"
"Nothing."
"There's something."
"It's a nothing."
"It's a something you're trying to pretend is nothing."
"Are you mad?"
"That you won't say what's the problem? Or do you mean that you've been named prefect and I haven't?"
"Yeah. That."
"Have I seemed mad?"
"No, but sometimes you hide it well."
"Hardly ever from you. Just like I know when you're mad or hurt or bothered when no one else does."
"Hardly ever isn't always. I don't understand why me and not you."
"Why not you?"
"Because I've roommates who are worthy. I don't know if I'd want to be prefect anyway."
"You don't?"
"Prefects have extra duties. Patrolling the halls for one. That's time I could be spending with a club, reading, studying, getting in some extra Quidditch practice, sleeping. You get the idea."
"I thought you'd want to be one."
"If I were selected, I'd be happy enough about it and do those duties the best I could. I'm just not sad or mad that I didn't get picked because that is time I can spend doing something else."
By this time they are standing in the middle of the fallow field. Uncle Woody helped them set up some hoops and obstacles and as they both take to the air, Hunter has begun wondering if he should see about giving back the prefect badge for an entirely different reason.
"You are just as worthy."
"But why not you?"
"Because like you I have roommates just as worthy."
Foolish Mistake
Author: Finley
Date: 09-06-14 11:50
It was a hot day to be outside, but the children at Winchcombe Children's Home had nothing better to do. Most of them didn't seem very bothered by the heat and instead focused on their footie matches, jump roping, and other outdoor games. As usual, Finley didn't participate. She sat in the shade of a rather thin tree and watched the others at play.
She saw Leroy attempting to run after the black and white football, but as he had gotten older, he had also increased in girth. He couldn't keep up with the others no matter how hard he tried, but at least he made the effort. Since being home, Finley had witnessed Charla tease him relentlessly about his weight and the fact that his head looked like a big tomato because he was always pink in the face with exertion. The last time it happened, Finley told Charla off using words Mrs. Gill found inappropriate. That resulted in a temporary revocation of her privileges. As there were limited privileges at the orphanage anyway, Finley didn't feel so bad about her punishment.
She looked around the playground but didn't see Charla anywhere. For some reason, this gave Finley a very bad feeling. She waited a moment and then scrambled to her feet, narrowly missing the ball when somebody accidentally kicked it in her direction. She went inside and headed straight for the dormitory room, which was completely empty.
From a distance, Finley could see that there was something on her bed. The nearer she got, the more sure she was of what was there. When she finally arrived at her bedside she stared in horror at the destruction on top of the thin white sheet. The golden cloak she'd found in an Easter egg at Hogwarts was a mangled mess.
At first, Finley's eyes brimmed over with tears. Who could have done such a thing, and why? But she knew the answer already. Charla had gone through her things before, just last summer after Hagrid had taken Finley school supply shopping in Diagon Alley.
When the late realization arrived that maybe the destroyed cloak could be fixed with magic, Finley started to go for the suitcase stuffed under her bed, where she kept her wand, but then she remembered she couldn't legally do magic outside of school. She wasn't sure how anyone would know, but she wasn't about to test it. Just her luck, she'd find herself in deep trouble.
Finley stopped crying before ever truly starting and grew angry instead. What she wouldn't give to stun Charla with a spell, but she knew she couldn't do that either. Muggles weren't supposed to know magic existed. Maybe she could secretly give Charla a big wart on her nose, or make her butt so big it couldn't fit in any of her clothes anymore. Finley daydreamed all the possibilities while gathering up the scraps of cloak. She pulled the trunk out from under her bed, knowing Charla would have gone through it to find the cloak in the first place.
That gave her a fleeting moment of panic. Her wand, her school books… all sorts of things Charla should never see were inside that suitcase! Hagrid had told her to keep it secure last year, but she'd totally forgotten to lock it up this time.
Finley frantically whorled through her things, but only the top layer of items appeared disturbed. Her books and other school supplies seemed untouched, if not completely unnoticed. The only things missing were the cloak, now in pieces, and Finley's wand.
"Looking for this?" came a sneering voice from across the room.
Finley turned and rose with her fists clenching a handful of golden cloth and saw Charla approaching with her wand in hand.
"I knew you were a freak but I didn't peg you for a total nerd!" Charla exclaimed. "A magic wand, really?" She waved it around in a pantomime of casting spells, but nothing happened.
"Give that back," Finley demanded.
"Or what? You'll hex me? Turn me into a toad?"
"I really wish I could," Finley said. She held up the fabric scraps in her hands and said, "You had no right to go through my things and to tear up my cloak!"
Charla smirked. "Going to cry about it, Finley?"
"Give me back my wand!"
"Make me!"
Finley got so mad, she couldn't help herself. The ground started to tremble, causing the beds to rattle on their feet. Charla dropped the wand and backed away slowly.
Whe Mrs. Gill rushed into the room a moment later, Finley relaxed. "Come, get in the doorway!" Mrs. Gill insisted, waving both girls over, but then she seemed to reconsider it when the ground stilled and wondered aloud, "Was that an earthquake?"
There hadn't been one in the county for centuries. The most recent one had been across the country in Lincolnshire, though it had been felt widely in England and Wales.
"Mrs. Gill!" Finley exclaimed, picking up the wand Charla dropped. "Charla went through my things and destroyed something that belongs to me!"
Mrs. Gill looked sharply at Charla. "Is this true?"
Charla started to deny it, but the evidence was plain, and Mrs. Gill knew better anyway.
Mrs. Gill said sternly, "Go to my office this instant."
Charla shot Finley a dark look and did as she was told. Finley felt like crying again.
"I'm sorry, Finley. I don't suppose it can be mended?" Mrs. Gill looked at the golden cloth wonderingly but didn't question its origin. She assumed it was something Finley had picked up in boarding school.
"I don't know," Finley said. She felt stupid for leaving her trunk unlocked.
"There, there. I can't make Charla replace it, as I'm sure you know, but you can be assured that she will be punished for her actions. I wish you two wouldn't quarrel so much."
Finley didn't say anything. Instead, she went back to her suitcase where she replaced her wand and the scraps of fabric. She locked the suitcase tight and then stowed it back under her bed. She heard Mrs. Gill's footsteps retreat and thought to herself that she and Charla would probably never be friends. They were like the opposite poles of magnets, or like oil and water.
On her way back outside, Finley heard Mrs. Gill berate Charla for her behavior through the office door. It gave her a small sense of satisfaction, but she mainly felt like a fool and was sad about her shredded cloak.
Leroy intercepted her as soon as she stepped foot out the door and took in her downcast appearance. "Hmm. I finally found something you're scared of," he stated, entirely misinterpreting her expression. "Earthquakes."
Finley looked at him in a confused manner for a moment, but then she realized what he was suggesting and dumbly nodded her head. "Yeah."
He clapped her on the shoulder. "It wasn't so bad, Finley. Probably not even a 1 on the Richter scale. Probably less than, even. I barely felt it!"
Finley shot him a weak smile. "I guess I'm just a wimp."
Leroy shook his head. "Not you, but it's nice to know you aren't superhuman. You do have weaknesses. Sometimes I think I'm the only one…" He drifted off, thinking about all his inefficiencies.
Finley touched his arm. "Hey, I'll play something with you."
"You will? Truly?" Leroy was aghast since Finley never played anything with anyone.
"Sure."
"Kick the ball to one another?"
"Okay."
Leroy trotted off to get a kick ball. HIs enthusiasm eventually rubbed off on Finley, and before she knew it, she was laughing and grinning with him.
New Job, New Boss…
Author: Capri Brycin
Date: 09-06-14 13:37
Capri sat in her new office and looked out the window and watched the London traffic and people walking. She smiled to herself and was happy that she found a job so quickly and one that she had potential to really love.
The project she was currently assigned was a biography on Leopoldina Smethwyck the first witch to referee a Quiditch match in Britain. The reading was interesting and there were very few mistakes so far; which made for easy reading.
"Hello beautiful." A voice said from just inside her office door and Capri expected to see Mark standing there, as she was expecting him for lunch, but it turned out it was her boss.
Quirking an eyebrow she looked at her boss in mild shock at him calling her beautiful. She knew it was inappropriate for him to talk to her like that but she wasn't sure what to do because she was new. She hoped that it was a one off thing him calling her beautiful because it made her feel uncomfortable and it made her wonder what else he was up to.
"I just came by to check on your progress on the Smethwych biography."
"I am almost done reading it through for the second time."
"Good…good. I want it finished and on my desk by 5pm today."
Capri nodded her head and looked down at the manuscript sitting on her desk and knew she could have it finished by then.
"Then I have two other manuscripts for you to work on."
"Okay." Capri said.
"All right beautiful I must be off." Capri almost choked at his words and when she looked up she saw Mark walking up behind her boss.
Her boss turned from the room and almost walked into Mark, "excuse me." Mark said and walked past him into Capri's office. "Hello, beautiful."
Capri groaned at hearing his words, "Sorry, it's not you it's this boss...I am starting to think he is a first class jerk. He has been calling me beautiful."
Mark looked out the office door in the direction that her boss had walked and then back to Capri. "If he tries anything you let me know."
Capri sighed softly, "I don't think he will. He is probably just a harmless jerk. You ready for lunch?" He nodded at her and the two headed off to lunch in London.
Cabin In The Clwydian Range (Caerwyn)
Author: Julian Valentine
Date: 09-06-14 14:36
Iola steps from the fireplace behind Caerwyn, casting a critical eye about the room into which the Floo disgorged them. "Where is this?"
"The Clwydian Range," he answers, swiveling around, taking in what he can see of the cabin.
Iola has moved to a desk, slowly opening one of the drawers. "Why didn't you mentioned it before?"
"I only just found out about it. Had a letter from a solicitor with the information. It was only to be sent once I was an adult and after I was out of school."
"But your father ?"
"Didn't know. It wasn't listed in Mum's will."
Caerwyn pushes open a door to reveal a rustic looking but well appointed bath. "I thought this might be where the pendant is. I've looked everywhere else I know to look."
Iola has another desk drawer open, poking carefully around in its contents. "I've told you to stop worry about the pendant. It's probably been lost or, as you once suggested, buried with Afton." Iola knows there's no truth to that theory. Not after secretly checking her sister's grave.
Glancing over his shoulder as he opens another door, Caerwyn says, "Why don't you check in here. I'll see what's in this room."
The room is a small bedroom, also in a rustic style. He doesn't think it would have been the room his mother used when at the cabin but nothing he's seen so far is what he remembers of Afton. From what he recalls of Mum, cozy, woodsy looking, rustic cabin was not to her taste. Then again, what does he really know of Afton Carew's tastes? The mother he knew was not the woman she actually was.
The only think he finds in this bedroom are a couple of extra blankets neatly folded on a shelf in an armoire. Exiting the room he finds Iola done with the desk and now checking out the built-in bookshelves to either side of the fireplace. He's not sure why she'd be checking books for a pendant but says nothing. He's curious about the books and objects lining those shelves.
Caerwyn goes further down the hallway. Entering another bedroom, this one larger and with a bed that's antique looking but not of the same woodsy look of the other furniture he's seen so far. This, he thinks, was Mum's room. There's another armoire but this one has a few items of clothing. Caerwyn brings the skirt of one to his face, inhaling deeply, the lingering scent bringing a rush of memories of Mummy hugs and snuggles.
In a trunk at the foot of the bed Caerwyn finds a jewelry box. There is a pendant but not the one he's been searching for. This pendant is one he recalls picking out with help from a nanny, a Christmas gift from him to Mum. Inside isn't a photo of Caerwyn but a picture he'd drawn of Mummy and him.
The pangs Caerwyn feels for his mother are the strongest he's had in a very long time, almost as strong as in that first year after she died.
Poking through the rest of the jewelry in the case, Caerwyn finds a letter in the bottom. A letter addressed to him. He stars to open it but Iola calling out, "Where are you?" has him pocketing the envelope. He thinks he would prefer to read the letter when he's assured of some privacy.
Calling out, "In here," Caerwyn steps to the doorway, offering a smile in his aunt's direction as she starts down the hall.
There's another small room that looks like something a small boy would have liked. Caerwyn has no memory of ever coming to the cabin but that only means he was young if he has indeed been with Afton. There is a kitchen, also on the small side but well appointed and with a square dining table Caerwyn has some sort of vague deja vu over upon seeing it.
"No pendant," Iola says, sitting down, putting on a smile as if the lack of discovery does not bother her.
"Not that one, no. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."
"You haven't wasted my time. That said, I do need to be going. I've a date with that bloke Nils I told you about."
"I think I'll stay for a bit, look around more."
Iola nods and rises, dropping a kiss on Caerwyn's cheek. "Thanks for inviting me."
"Thanks for coming."
Rather than using some of the Floo powder they'd brought, not knowing if there'd be some on this end, Iola steps back into the cozy den and disapparates. Caerwyn disapparates too but only to get something to drink and snack on while he's taking a closer look around the cabin, especially the items on the bookshelves and in the desk.
Fail To See The Problem
Author: Sage Porter
Date: 09-06-14 18:27
Sage looks up from a form he's writing when an all too familiar voice says, "Ah. There you are. People should learn to give better directions."
Quill dropped, Sage rises. "Da. Hello. What are you doing here?"
That's when Sage sees two year old Senna peaking from behind Lohengrin's legs. "And Senna. Hello to you too," he says, receiving a big grin and, "Hi," from his youngest sister.
Lohengrin looks disdainfully at Sage's office space. "This is where you work?"
Ignoring the dripping condescension in his father's tone Sage cheerfully replies, "Yes, when not in the field."
Lohengrin makes a throaty notes that indicates displeasure, an all too familiar sound for anyone who's ever lived with the man.
Senna has come around Lohengrin's legs to hug Sage's. He bends to pick her up asking, "Birdie visiting Dolores and you decided to come by and see me while waiting on her?"
"Birdie is in Dubrovnik at a friend's vow renewal."
"Oh, so this is a visit just to see me. That's nice of you."
"I'm here because the nanny has taken ill and neither Sasafrass nor Saffron are home nor are their spouses. I have a function showcasing my culinary masterpieces. You shall see to Senna."
"Da, you can't just come by my work and drop off a toddler without any sort of notice."
"Yet that is what I am doing. Here is a bag with some of her things."
When Sage doesn't immediately reach to take the bag, Lohengrin sets it on the floor. "Da will see you in two or three days, Senna."
"Two or three days?" sputters Sage. "Da! Seriously. You can't do this."
"I bloody well can. You'll do as I tell you."
"I'm not a child any longer, Da. You can't snap your fingers and expect me to jump to do your bidding."
"Do not think you are special in that regard, Sage. I expect that of all my underlings and a goodly number of others as well."
"I'm not your underling, Da. I am your son. This is my place of work."
"Unimportant."
"This being my work is unimportant?"
"Yes. It's a non issue."
"And why is that?"
"It's only Misuse of Muggle Artifacts." Lohengrin says this as if it leaves a foul taste in his mouth.
"If I worked in a different department, would that mean you'd show more respect towards my employment?"
"Depending on the department, perhaps. Now, I really must be off."
"You can't leave like this, Da."
"I'm beginning to think you do not care for your sister."
"You know that's not true."
"Then I fail to see the problem."
Lohengrin stiffly turns, walking away, ignoring Sage calling after him.
Senna's lips have gone pouty, knowing from the tone as much as what has been said that Sage is irritated. He smiles at her, giving a hug, kissing her on the forehead. "How would you like to go play with other kids your age?"
"Wike me?"
"Just like you."
"Ya!" Senna's curls bob with her enthusiasm.
Shifting her into an easier position to carry her, Sage swings Senna's bag to one shoulder. After seeking out Arthur Weasley, head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office, and explaining the situation, Sage and Senna take a lift to the Atrium and from there Floo to Hogsmeade. After apologizing for the drop-in and making sure Senna is happy with a group of other children her age at Blossom's Day Care, Sage returns to the Ministry of Magic, telling himself he can't leave work without remembering to go pick up his sister.