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Braving Diagon Alley
Author: Rylee
Date: 09-23-15 18:20
"I've still got to go collect my robes, as well as a few other things. I'm also meeting Caroline," Etana said, a smile danced upon her raspberry stained lips. The gloss she had also made her lips shimmer slightly.
"Just met Raz and I back here in two and a half hours, so we can floo home."
Etana nodded, before gathering the pouch of coin for her school supplies and her lunch and other things from Rylee's hand and slipping it into her messenger bag. She had somewhat similar fashion sense as Rylee, and that made it easier for her to shop for when it came to birthdays and things.
"So, what do you want to do first?" Raz said, sliding a hand down to lightly take one of Rylee's and squeeze gently.
"I'm thinking we get everything we still need supply wise before going to collect our robes. Then lunch at Delia's or McMerlin's?"
Raz pondered a moment, "I'm thinking Delia's, they have more options for me than McMerlin's."
Rylee squeezed his hand and nodded, "I know. I'm definitely looking forward to it, since it's only on holiday that we get to eat there."
The pair of soon to be fifth years headed off toward the already crowded shops along the row. Stopping in here and there to double check what supplies were needed for each of them as well as double checking their supply lists to ensure that they've gotten the proper books for their upcoming courses since they will now be taking OWL level courses.
Eventually bags, that had been charmed to ensure that they were easy to carry by the shopkeepers, in hand they were heading to Delia's for lunch. Their quiet twosome for lunch quickly turned into a foursome when Etana and Caroline joined them and proceeded to chatter the entire time.
Eventually, the four split off into two once more so that Rylee and Raz could head to collect their robes and Etana and Caroline could finish their last minute shopping before the foursome once again to head home.
Temper Tantruming Ten Year Old
Author: Calliope Torres
Date: 09-24-15 15:20
Calliope had begged for weeks to be able to get her own school shopping done, however her mother continually refused to allow her to go to Diagon Alley with her brother and a few of their classmates, insisting that they would be doing their shopping together closer to the start of the new term. It made no sense to get their robes, when she was ninety-nine percent certain that Lev or she would go through a growth spurt sometime before they boarded the Hogwarts Express on the First of September.
Finally, the week after her twelfth birthday they were finally going shopping. There would be time allowed, Ilaria, explained to her eldest two children, for them to go spend time with their friends if they wished but it would not be for lengthy periods of time as she would be keeping an eye on at least one of their three remaining siblings.
Once the bulk of their school supplies were purchased and robes properly sized and fitted, purchased and tucked in to bags that Ilaria had charmed to ensure she would be able to carry them...or Calli and Lev would be able to carry their own purchases she allowed the two to go meet up with friends, giving them a strict two hour time limit.
No sooner had Calli stepped away from her mother, Calypso, who was not going to turn eleven for another year, put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot, demanding that they go to the wand shop and pick out her wand. Ilaria quickly explained to her daughter that she would not be getting a wand for another year because she was not going to Hogwarts yet.
"I. Want. A. Wand." Calypso's voice rose to be heard over some of the din of the crowd milling about the street. Zadie, who was in a sling against Ilaria's chest, peered wide eyed at her sister. The nearly one year old watched to see what was going to happen.
"Calypso Tamsin Torres. If you raise your voice at me once more you will be grounded for a month and I will return the things I bought you while we were here."
Her bottom lip quivered for but a moment, before the ten year old glared at her mother and turned on her heel, "I'm going to get a wand! You can't stop me!"
Ilaria took two deep breaths and marched forward, laying claim to her daughter's arm and pulling her close, the ten year old squirming a bit attempting to pull out of her mother's grasp as she was guided out of the main thoroughfare of foot traffic.
"Lemme go!"
"Absolutely not. We are returning your purchases and you will not be going anywhere for the next month. That means your friend Esmerelda's birthday party, you are no longer going. The trip to the aquarium with your father next week, you are no longer going. Am I quite clear?"
At this point in time, reality came crashing down on Calypso and she quickly began stuttering out apologizes and attempting to convince her mother that she should still be allowed to go to the birthday party and to the aquarium because those things had been planned in advance.
Ilaria would not budge, "Absolutely not. Now, we will go find your brother and sister. They will be allowed to remain with their friends. We are going home."
It took not even ten minutes for Ilaria to find Calliope and Lev, informing them of the events that had transpired and granting them permission to remain, lifting the two hour time limit, so long as they flooed home before dinner.
That done, Ilaria took Calypso's hand, the other holding the bags of things purchased for her eldest two for the school year and disaparated with a loud crack.
Finally, A Letter
Author: Declan
Date: 09-24-15 19:57
Declan crumples the letter and with a muttered oath tosses it into the cold fireplace. Zabrynna looks up from her book. "I take it that means the owl isn't what you were hoping for."
"It's from Rand's grandmother. Finally." He looks to the ball of parchment, sighs, then retrieves it, smoothing it out then reading it aloud.
Declan,
Melanie and I have not had any contact since she insisted on living in a manner neither her father nor I approved. I have formally, legally cut her off. She is, in essence, dead to me and therefore I do not recognize any offspring she might have.
I can offer no assistance on the whereabouts of her father. The last I heard of him was several years ago. He was living with some filthy, classless Muggle.
Chloe
Zabrynna's mouth forms an O then after a second, "She sound a major bitch."
The sound of the door has both refraining from saying more. Rand, sweaty from running around with the cats Raven and Claw in a nearby park, heads straight to the kitchen to get something to drink, checking the cats' water bowl as well. They trail him as he comes into the room to join Zabrynna and Declan, Raven jumping up to sit on his lap while Claw takes a spot pressed against Zabrynna's leg.
"Have fun?" she asks.
"Yeah. I didn't know cats sometimes play like dogs. Not that I ever got to play with many dogs. Or cats. I like both but Father doesn't care much for either so no one at home had them as pets. " Father being the head of the communal group where Rand was raised.
Declan, not in a mood to get off on a conversation about Father and his followers, inquires, "How are you today?"
Rand seems to understand what Declan is really asking is, "Are you okay after the incident with that Vanessa woman?" Rand shrugs. "Yeah, fine." A somewhat noncommittal response. "Is Grace's brother okay?"
"Caerwyn's doing well and should be back at home by now. He was being released from hospital sometime today. The skull fracture is fixed but because of having a concussion he'll have to take it easy for a bit." Declan offers a smile then asks, "Would you like to go by and see for yourself?"
"Yes, please."
Zabrynna suggests, "We can see if Mariposa and AJ are free and go to dinner afterwards."
"And Grace?" Rand hopefully asks.
"And Grace if she's up to it and her parents say yes," Declan nods. "You go clean off some of that park grime and I'll contact Julian to find out what time would be good to come by."
Rand, flashes a happy grin, then dashes off to do as requested. With the hour, Declan and Zabrynna also freshening up, the three Floo to AJ and Mariposa and from there walk to the Valentines' where Caerwyn went from the hospital rather than to a cabin of some sort that he owns and that he and AJ's nephew Gus are sharing now that both are finished at Hogwarts.
Conrad
Author: Ellis
Date: 09-25-15 16:55
Conrad Ellis was the third eldest of the very many children in the Ellis brood, but he was the first and therefore eldest boy in the family. He was a happy-go-lucky sort of boy who loved to make people laugh and got along with just about everybody. In many ways, he and his sister Blakeney were alike.
He was in Diagon Alley with the two sisters already enrolled in Hogwarts, Blakeney and Alys, and also the twins Daphne and Emily. Their father served as chaperone, while their mother and the rest of the Ellis children remained at home.
It was not Conrad's first trip to Diagon Alley, but it was probably the most important of his young life. He was there to buy his school supplies for his first ever term at Hogwarts. Conrad already had his books, a pewter cauldron, a set of glass phials, a telescope, and a set of brass scales. He still lacked his uniform and wand.
Blakeney led the way to Ollivander's. The shoppe was a bit busy, so the Ellis family spent time looking around at the many boxes of wands stacked haphazardly up every single wall. Alys fought the urge to straighten the boxes she could reach and almost started to twitch from the effort. Conrad, meanwhile, wondered Mr. Ollivander ever found any of the wands in his shoppe. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to their arrangement. That didn't bother him the way it did Alys, though. Conrad wasn't exactly the tidiest member of his family.
When it was finally his turn to buy a wand, Mr. Ollivander gave him a good look, greeted his two eldest sisters and father and reminisced about their wands, and then turned to the wall of boxes behind him. After a moment's deliberation, Mr. Ollivander pulled out a narrow box that visually seemed to support a great many others but did not cause an avalanche by its removal. He opened the box and presented Conrad with the wand.
The wood was very light red in color and had a faint, sweet scent, which surprised Conrad immensely. He expected it to smell musty, since it had probably been untouched in that box for ages. Conrad held out the wand and tested it. A few boxes not yet returned to their haphazard display suddenly piled themselves into a very neat stack. Alys seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the sight of them.
With that, Conrad had his brand new wand: Apple, dragon heartstring, 11 1/2 inches. Now it was time to get his uniform.
Getting A Start On School Shopping (Jaclyn)
Author: Saffron
Date: 09-26-15 18:14
Henrietta Rex runs a finger along the list of textbooks given on a first year's school supply list for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. "Allison has an Astronomy for us but I think we should get you your own star charts so you can do any marking on them you need. Do we get those here?"
Jaclyn scans along a couple of rows of books in Flourish & Blotts before seeing something that might be star charts on an end display. "These, Mum?"
Henrietta squints, thinking she either needs to get glasses or see if her eyesight can be improved with a charm. "Yes, I think that's they. You'll need one packet according to the list. Charms, check. Defense Against the Dark Arts. Check. Herbology. Hmmm. Where's the Herbology section?"
"Savannah and Rex aren't giving me their book for that?"
"Allison said it's one all years must have. Your cousins each other additional books but still use the one listed for you. But, you know, I've just had a thought. The editions for this year for these other books might be different from the one your cousins used." Henrietta chews her lower lip, mulling this over. "We'll get certain ones today and come back for the others if needed." She gestures back to the Astronomy section. "I'll just make a note of the edition offered and ask Allison what theirs is when we see them tonight."
After making the same edition notation on her list for Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts, Jaclyn and Henrietta locate the Herbology section for One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore. Keeping to the alphabetical order by subject they move on to the History section. "That's it unless we do need to get you your own copies of some of these others."
Before queuing up to pay for the books, Jaclyn picks out two in a series geared toward pre-teens while Henrietta decides to splurge and get the latest by her favorite historical fiction writer rather than waiting for it to be available secondhand or her name finally comes up on the reserved list for it at the library. When they exit the book sellers they pause while Henrietta consults the list again.
"Madam Malkin's is right here so we'll do that next. It's a shame Savannah was just enough shorter than you her first year that you can't wear her robes. I checked the hem on them and there's not enough there to work with."
They're in luck at Madam Malkin's. No one else is currently waiting to be measured. They're quickly in and out, Henrietta saying as they leave, "Don't let me forget to come back and pick your robes up later."
"Where now, Mum?"
"I'm feeling peckish. We'll get a spot of tea and something to go with it. I'll double check what we have so far and what we still need to get and decide out next stop from there." As an afterthought she adds, "I'm glad your father was keeping Wallace busy today. If he were with us he'd be endlessly pestering to look at racing brooms and then pestering to buy him one."
Jaclyn nods in agreement. If not racing brooms her younger brother would be wanting whatever the newest joke item Weasleys' is offering. Not that Jaclyn minds either racing brooms or Weasley's joke items. She's actually rather fond of both but hearing Wallace go on and on and on does get on her last nerve. Turning her thoughts from how little brothers can be annoying, Jaclyn thinks about what she'd like to go with her tea and thinks about seeing her Applewhite cousins, Savannah and Rax, later this evening. She's thought of a dozen or so more questions to ask them about Hogwarts, the classes, its teachers, and that thing called the Sorting Ceremony.
Burning Question (Ingrid)
Author: Saffron
Date: 09-26-15 19:07
Ingrid stands at the backdoor, hand on the knob, hesitant to go through with what's been on her mind for months. Her mother is outside lounging with a book. No one else is currently home. Now is a perfect time to ask the question that's been weighing on her since it first entered her thoughts.
The question is, she surmises, somewhat delicate. She's started to ask it any number of times but then decided against it. She's contemplated asking her father but found approaching him with the question was no easier. Ingrid considered asking one of her mother's closest circle only to reject that idea.
Nibbling on a fingernail, her other hand still on the doorknob, Ingrid gives herself a mental push. Frowning at the now ragged fingernail she says aloud, "Just do it already, you bloody coward."
The knob under her hand turns, forcing her to take a step back or be hit in the face as the door opens. Dagmar starts in surprise. "Ingrid, I'm sorry. I didn't notice you through the pane. Are you going out?"
Say it! Ingrid's mind screams. Mustering her normal voice, or what she hopes is normal, she replies, "I was just coming out to ask you something."
Dagmar gives one of those smiles only mothers seem to have mastered. "Yes?"
"You and Aunt Bryn became friends with Aunties Allison, Rosalea, Margeaux, and Janet in an exercise class, right?"
"Right, but you know this."
"A class for pregnant ladies and ones who'd just had babies."
"Again, yes, but again, you know this."
"Just checking because "
Ingrid's voice trails off leaving Dagmar to prompt, "Because?"
"Because, um, Hope is adopted."
"Ah. You've found the flaw in the story, have you?"
"So you didn't meet them there?"
"No, I did. Here, come sit down."
Dagmar walks to a sofa and pats the spot beside her. When Ingrid is seated and turned facing her she explains, "Dad and I weren't sure we'd ever get pregnant. There is an issue with each of us that made things difficult. We'd begun looking at adoption when, miracle of miracles I did get pregnant."
Ingrid opens her mouth but shuts it at when Dagmar waggles a finger. "Let me finish. I joined that exercise class. I enjoyed the class a great deal and made some very good friends in the process. When I was almost seventh months along, I lost the baby. Dad and I had never withdrawn any of the adoption applications. We got very lucky. About the time I would have been giving birth, we were allowed to bring Hope home."
Ingrid, close to tears and mentally chastising herself for bringing up the topic, blubbers, "I'm sorry, Mum! I shouldn't have asked."
Dagmar pulls Ingrid into a hug, feeling sniffly now herself. "It's fine you asked. It's part of your family's history. He was our miracle pregnancy but you are our miracle baby."
"He?"
"We named him Cecil Victor."
"After Dad's middle name and Granddad. CVH. That's on that little box on that shelf in your bedroom."
"So he's always with us."
"Do Hope and Bran know?"
"No, but only because neither has ever thought to ask. The aunties and uncles all know, of course. I couldn't have made it without the aunties in those days and weeks after we lost Cecil. I don't think your friends or cousins know. If any of kids do, none of their mums have said anything to me. Also, I should think I'd know if Katheryn, Estella, or Theo knew."
Dagmar pauses then asks, "When did you figure out something was off with the how we all met story?"
"Mooooonth ago. I've been dying to ask but couldn't get up the courage until now."
Dagmar pats Ingrid's knee. "Well, my smart little Ravenclaw, what say we get some ice cream or make a bakery visit?"
Ingrid grins. "Fab idea. Let's go!"
Less than a minute later the two are walking along Diagon Alley to Florean Fortescue's.
Beyond Salvation
Author: Mildred
Date: 09-27-15 15:11
Mildred and Melpomene were inside the first's bedroom. Their brand new school supplies were all over the bedroom. They had just returned home from a trip to Diagon Alley. Mildred was spending the last weeks of summer at her grandmother's house and she invited Melpomene to come over. In the past Regina wouldn't want another child under her roof, but now that Mildred was fifteen she didn't seem to mind to receive Melpomene at her house.
The two girls had a deep conversation during the St. Emrys Fest where they ended up with their quarrel. Their group of friends was reunited once more and Mildred had a lot of fun at the festival. It had also been good to be with Wesley who she hasn't seen since they left Hogwarts.
Mildred was convinced she had seen her father at Diagon Alley tday, but she couldn't be sure because of the way he moved and the clothes he was wearing. Lately his father had been acting really odd, leaving the house at strange hours, always without a plausible reason for it. Going back to her grandmother's house had been a relief. She was trying to explain that to Melpomene as she put her new school robes inside her wardrobe.
"At first it was pleasant. He would ask me all sort of things, trying to get to know me. He wanted to know all about my favorite classes, to tell him about my friends, my favorite food…but then we were starting to run out of topics. And it became awkward. I have the feeling he still sees me as a child."
"He's not been in a trip or something while he was away, Mildred. He was in prison. It must be hard for him to have been released and learn that his only daughter is no longer a child. And remember that he missed part of your growth. He's probably still adjusting to spending a lot of time with you. As you are adjusting yourself to his company. I say you should give him and yourself some time. Things will work out."
"Maybe…but…" she closed the wardrobe's door with a sigh, not saying her thoughts out loud. "Never mind."
"What is it?" Melpomene asked, closing the Potions textbook she had been checking out.
"I want to ask him about Erica and what happened that day. I thought he would eventually brought the topic up. Tell me how it was a tragedy and that she was beyond salvation. That he did the best he could to help her. But he didn't say a word about it. And that can only mean one thing: he killed her."
Melpomene didn't seem to have any arguments against what Mildred had said. She put the Potions textbook over the pile of other books on the floor, stood up from the bed she was seated and went to hug Mildred as she was saying she didn't know if she should just ask him, or accept her father's silence on the matter. The hug comforted Mildred. When the girls split Mildred suggested they went to the kitchen and have some pie made by her grandmother's house elf.
Mildred tried to put the issues with her father behind her back as well as everything related to the past, once again. She had even made peace with the fact that she would never find out about what her mother wanted at Achilles' parents summer house. Sarah was dead. Would it really matter now to know such information?
The mood lighten up as they ate the pie and talked about the upcoming school year at Hogwarts. Mildred was glad to have Melpomene there with her. Regina joined the girls and she even shared some stories about her own school days. It was a very well spent afternoon.