Stepping Out
Author: Helena Tufton
Date: 09-01-03 10:48

Helena slipped inside Julian's office and perched herself on the edge of his desk, watching him as he scribbled information onto a roll of parchment. He didn't look up as he wrote, but his free hand slid across the surface of the desk and grasped Helena's hand from where it was resting on her leg.

"What's up?" Julian asked. He dotted an "i", crossed a "t" and put a period at the end of his sentence before looking up at the blonde witch.

"I'm feeling a bit stir crazy," Helena answered, smiling slightly. "I thought I might go for a walk, get a little fresh air. It's looks absolutely lovely outside."

"Breaking out of hiding, then?" Julian questioned, dimples gracing his handsome face as he grinned.

Helena returned his grin and shrugged her shoulders. "I'm going to have to sooner or later. Do you need me around here?"

"Always," Julian replied, massaging her hand with his thumb, "but I can survive a few minutes without you, I think. Just barely, mind you."

Helena felt a warm flush creep up her cheeks and she leaned across the desk and delicately kissed Julian on the lips. "Good. I shan't be long."

She jumped down and threw a loving look over her shoulder at Julian as she left the office. The store was relatively empty as Helena strode through it, with only a few patrons browsing the many shelves for books.

There was a fresh breeze in the air as Helena stepped onto High Street. She breathed deep and savored the crisp wind on her face before setting off in the direction of Hogwarts. Although the distant sounds of cheers could be heard from the school, Helena had no intention of attending the Quidditch match. Instead, she just moved along from window to window, admiring items on display and watching other Hogsmeade residents shop and talk. It had been a while since she had had any contact with anyone other than Julian, and before that the only person she had seen regularly was Adriana Fairchild. It was nice seeing other faces, hearing other voices...although she had absolutely no complaints about being alone with Julian all day and all night.

So far she hadn't seen anyone she knew...not Avery nor Allison, and certainly no Weasley.

Helena paused outside the swinging sign of The Three Broomsticks and considered getting a drink. It didn't take her long to decide, and soon Helena found herself sitting at the bar with a frothy mug of butterbeer in her hand.

As she sat there, she exchanged brief conversation with Madam Rosmerta but kept to herself for the most part. Her mind was on many things...Julian, Adriana, Charlie, the other Weasleys...

Suddenly, a familiar voice cut through her thoughts and exclaimed, "Helena?!"

Feeling Blue
Author: Coco Nutt
Date: 09-01-03 12:14

Wrinkling her nose in dismay as Slytherin evens the score, Coco loudly calls out cheers of encouragement to the Ravenclaw players. Sitting beside her, Fritz adds his voice to the din. Coco scans the stands to see how many blue heads she can spot, wondering if she's started a trend among her housemates. At least a very tiny trend anyway for this championship match.

After classes yesterday and this morning before people began trickling down to the pitch to find seats, a number of Ravenclaws of all years came asking Coco to borrow some of her hair dyes. It was a very good thing that one of the seventh years who sought Coco out the day before had thought to put a replenishing charm on the canister of spray on dye for those wanting very temporary effects as well as the bottle for those wanting to sport blue tresses for a longer period.

Some had chosen to only to do a stencil of the Ravenclaw mascot, some did other designs, some only tipped their hair in blue, while others did as Coco and dyed all their hair.

As Coco jumps up again to cheer, she thinks that perhaps for the first Ravenclaw game next term, every person in her house attending the match will show up with blue hair, even the Ravenclaw head of house Professor Flitwick. Coco giggles at the thought and as soon as both she and Fritz are seated again, she leans over to share her thoughts with her friend.

Feeling Queasy
Author: Cho Chang
Date: 09-01-03 12:37

Cheers went up in the stands as Su's bludger knocked the quaffle out of the Slytherin's path and into the hands of Sykra. Cho manages a small smile, watching the game, careful to avoid any stray players.

Sykra scores and shouts, "SCORE RAVENCLAW!!" The highlights in her hair were blue, of course, for purple was not Ravenclaw's color. She circles up around Cho and gives her a tender high five, "How you feelin' Cho?"

Cho winces after the high five, nodding meekly, "Still holding on to m'broom." Fynn and Su hit their beaters' bats against each other, jubilant.

Regular play resumes, suddenly a glint of gold appears in the midst of the players. Finally! Cho thought. Carefully, she glides down, nonchalant until Draco sees it as well. She dives after it, hand outstretched, attempting to dodge players with only one hand on her broom. It was just her look that the self-same beater happened to move...again. Cho was barrel rolled out of the way, barely hearing Hooch's whistle.

Fynn swoops through the air, taking hold of her broom to steady it as her head rolls onto his shoulder, "Cho...Cho wake up."

She lifts her head, coughing and taking an extra grip on her broom, face pale, "I'm fine. Go on!" She lifts her broom into the air above the clamor of game resumption, suddenly feeling febrile to be so high up. She shakes her head to clear it, eyes focusing back on the game, looking only for the Snitch, no more crazy dives!

Bludgers
Author: Alexis Black
Date: 09-01-03 16:24

Alexis grinned at Cho's wounds. The Ravenclaw tried to hide the pain, but it was obviously pretty bad.

They might as well chalk the game to Slytherin right now.

And there was Fynn, simpering over the seeker as always. Alexis frowned, wondering why she even bothered to like him, seeing as how he had been head over heels for Cho since the start of term.

The game recommenced, and with no less fervor than before. Alexis was still feeling pretty good about the game in general. She aimed a bludger for the now carefully flying Cho, but missed, cursing as the female Ravenclaw beater deflected it toward Mary.

As much as she would have loved to see her sister's skull cracked open, Alexis didn't want the team a player short for the championship match. Alexis hit the bludger away from the first year, who didn't seem to notice.

Come on Ravenclaw
Author: Amerah Patterson
Date: 09-01-03 20:06

Amerah watches the game with apprehension, knowing what is at stake. It was Hufflepuff that won last year, and it was a HUGE victory for them. The Quidditch cup is just as huge for any team. Naturally, it was disappointing Hufflepuff wasn't back defending their title and playing against Ravenclaw. But Ravenclaw deserved it too. Just as long as Slytherin didn't win, she'd be happy. She watched as Cho appeared to be losing her grip, obviously the pain from what ever injury she suffered when the bludger hit her, was getting to her.

"Come on Ravenclaw," she says through gritted teeth. "Beat Slytherin!" Seeing Cho tentatively flying Amerah calls out, "COME ON CHO!! MOVE YOUR BLOOMIN' BROOM!! FASTER!!"

Me? Play Quidditch?
Author: Orieliah McCoi
Date: 09-01-03 22:15

Orie sat on one side of Brett and Aussie on the other, she knew Aussie has been worrying about her NEWTs, and she also knew that Aussie was going to miss being a student at Hogwarts. There was little Orie could actually do, except help keep Aussie happy and make sure that she passed her NEWTs, even though Orie didn't know a lot of the material that Aussie was being tested on.

Her gaze flashed from the quidditch pitch to Brett as he spoke once the game had resumed. "I...I don't know if I'll be any good." She bit her lip, but smiled. "I promise I will at least try out next year. Hopefully this summer we will have a chance to get together and you can help me practice?" She nudged him a bit.

"But, for now you and Aussie both have a lot to worry about as this year draws to a close." They both nodded, taking their eyes way from the game for a bit to look at the first year. Orie smiled and turned her gaze back to the game at hand and shifted lightly in her seat and lightly rested her head on Brett's shoulder.

"Maybe you and Aussie can spend some time with me and my parents in London after school is out?" She said off handedly, she had been toying with the idea for a couple of weeks now, and she had written her mom about Aussie and Brett, and she knew that they both wanted to meet the two students that their daughter had so quickly befriended.

Cairo, Egypt: An Unexpected Holiday
Author: Darksong Shadowhart
Date: 09-01-03 22:33

Shadowhart roamed the busy streets of Cairo, frowning. She had owled her parents, and gone there to stay for a week, supposedly, when they had surprised her with the trip to Egypt. Evidently, they were trying to take her as far away from her work as possible. So she was alone, with only the tourist sights to distract her from thoughts of the work she should be doing. So far, the score was work: 3, distractions: 0. She shook her head and headed for the cafe the woman at the hotel had recommended, deciding that if she was going to be forced away from work, she had better do it on a full stomach.

Goal n Goal Lost
Author: Sykra Sawyer
Date: 09-01-03 22:52

When the quaffle fell right into the hands of Sykra, she grinned and scored.

"SCORE RAVENCLAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Grinning about her goal she flew her broom in a few loops, her blue highlights flashing, then went to make sure Cho was doing okay. Then went back to the game.

After awhile, Sykra received the quaffle again. She went to pass it to Terry who was closer to the goal, but Clara hit a bludger that knocked it off course, and into the hands of a Slytherin chaser.

Cursing, Sykra flew down the field towards where Baine was protecting the goal, hoping to get the Quaffle back.

No Goal
Author: Mary
Date: 09-02-03 13:51

Mary grinned her thanks to Clara as she deftly caught the quaffle. As it were, she was close enough to the goal to duck under an enemy chaser and make the shot. Unfortunately for the Slytherins, the Ravenclaw keeper barely caught the quaffle through outstretched fingers.

Mary swung her fist disappointedly, whispering a fervent prayer that Draco catch the snitch soon. Though, judging by Cho's condition, that should be no problem at all.

Just a Little Stressed
Author: Briar Rose
Date: 09-02-03 21:00

Molly Weasley gives Briar a peck on the cheek and then with the *POP* that goes with apparating, vanishes from sight. After staring at the now empty spot for several seconds, Briar spins on one foot and walks into the storeroom to start doing an inventory of what needs to be ordered. She quickly changes directions toward the employee water closet tucked under the stairs as the now familiar feeling of morning sickness suddenly hits.

A moment later, Briar trots up those very stairs to her flat to brush her teeth. On her way back to the kitchen, she pops a breath mint into her mouth and the thought that she could probably make such mints, and better tasting ones at that, fairly easily flits through her mind. Stopping at the employee wash basin long enough to thoroughly wash her hands, Briar heads to the storeroom to start putting together the supply order.

As Briar works, she also thinks back to Easter Sunday at the Weasley household. Molly had tut tutted about how peaked Briar appeared. A few days later she showed up in Hogsmeade, in her own words, "to make sure you aren't coming down with something, Briar dear." Molly of course visited Bill during his lunch break from Gringotts, glad to have the legitimate excuse of checking in on Briar to also check up on her son in person.

Briar very quickly realized that Molly finds it difficult not to be right by her two elder sons' sides these past months. Percy's life, as always, moves at a sedate (or as some might put it, tedious) pace and his job, though seemingly dull to most others, appears to be fulfilling to him. The twins are their usual independent selves and their shop is going gangbusters. Ron and Ginny are safely at Hogwarts with no reason for Molly to pop in for regular visits. Molly has been very much craving someone to mother. And not just anyone. Someone who in Molly's opinion needs mothering and would not tell her to back off. That someone turned out to be Briar.

While it's true that Briar would never be purposely rude to Bill's mum, the unannounced visits, five since Easter so far, are a little stressful since Molly has no idea the real reason behind Briar not looking her best. To make it worse, Briar's morning sickness is not odor induced like for so many woman, nor does it come on just because as it does for some. It is stress induced. The greater the stress, the more bouts of it a day she gets and the worse the bouts are. Catching sight of Julian passing by through the shop windows. That day in her flat when talking to Bill. Molly hovering to make sure Briar is eating correctly, not working too hard, and getting over the flu Molly thinks Briar has had while also preventing a relapse.

Of course, the more stress there is from Molly showing up to see that Briar is all right, the more morning sickness Briar has, which in turn brings on more remarks from Molly about how peaked and pale Briar is. Sort of a vicious circle but Briar isn't ready to tell Molly what's really going on. She's not sure she'll ever be ready to share. Bill knowing is bad enough.

Finishing up the stockroom inventory, Briar moves back into the kitchen and starts inventorying all the cabinets and storage bins while wondering if maybe she just needs to take a long vacation. A very long vacation.

Hit Before Hitting
Author: Clara Devaki
Date: 09-02-03 23:54

With a violent swing, Clara managed to knock the quaffle Sykra had just passed off course and into the waiting hands of Mary. Clara smirked as Sykra glared at her.

Course Sykra needn't have worried, as Baine managed to save the quaffle from going through the hoop. Sykra caught her eye and smirked.

Clara was about to hit a bludger towards the girl, but then found instead, herself being hit by one. She fell off her broom, but met up with it before she hit the ground. Cursing, she looked around for who hit the bludger.

Memphis, Egypt: Battle Zone
Author: Ethan Somerset
Date: 09-03-03 10:19

Taz-Marah was a witch of Taiwanese heritage, and she had obviously quite adapted to life in Egypt. Her sun-kissed skin and highlighted hair gave her the appearance of someone enjoying a perpetual summer vacation. Her loyal supporters were all of different nationalities, shapes and sizes, but they all seemed to agree on one thing: Taz-Marah was their leader and they'd do everything to serve her will.

As Ethan spoke the name of the man she had abandoned and betrayed, her almond-shaped eyes grew large with fear. She instinctively took a step backwards and cast a furtive glance at the dark-skinned man on the floor next to her. He immediately rose to his feet, towering above Ethan and the Taiwanese wizards next to him. Other followers of Taz-Marah followed suit, and some even reached for their wands.

"Kep-Tian?" she repeated, staring Ethan straight in the eye. She no longer looked pleased to see him. In fact, she looked murderous.

Ethan nodded his head, remaining utterly calm despite the sudden tension in the room. "That's right, Kep-Tian. He told me all about you."

"Who are you?" Taz-Marah spat venomously.

"I haven't lied to you about my identity," Ethan explained truthfully. "My name is Ethan Somerset, and I serve the Dark Lord.

Taz-Marah narrowed her eyes and retrieved her own wand. She held it out before her, aiming it at Ethan's chest. "How do you know Kep-Tian?"

"I met him during my trip to Taiwan."

Suddenly, one of Taz-Marah's friends shouted and pointed at the disguised Kep-Tian. His face and skin color were changing, as were those of Chichang and Yeilan. It didn't take long for Taz-Marah or the others to comprehend what was happening, and soon all wands were out and curses were flying in all directions.

Ethan shot a stunning curse at a wizard to his left, knocking the man out cold. A flash of red grazed his own left arm, numbing it immediately. Cursing loudly, Ethan fired another curse at his assailant and dodged behind the over-turned desk to seek some protection from the battle zone. A flash of green light erupted next to him and one of Taz-Marah's servants collapsed into a crumpled heap on the ground next to Ethan's huddled form.

Briefly, the image of a young girl with long, brown hair and large, frightened eyes entered Ethan's memory. The image disappeared as quickly as it had come when a bolt of red light zipped past Ethan's head and met its target. Another one of Taz-Marah's followers hit the ground and ceased to move. Ethan quickly jumped up to fire a curse at an advancing enemy, when another flash of green light illuminated the room. Meilan fell to the floor and didn't move again.

The exchange of curses continued for many minutes with several people dying, including Chichang. Ethan deflected Taz-Marah's "Stupefy!", but she quickly maneuvered from its return path. Kep-Tian fired the killed curse at one of her supporters, and the witch was quick to follow this with a killing curse of her own, ending Yeilan's life in a heartbeat. Now only four remained.

Ethan jumped out from behind the over-turned desk and battled a wizard with a long, black beard while Taz-Marah and Kep-Tian dueled. With a quick flick of the wrist, Ethan knocked the wizard out and bound him with cords issued from the tip of his wand. He started to bind the other stunned bodies when Kep-Tian shrieked loudly. Ethan whirled around to see the wizard's wand fly from his hand and crash against the far wall. Without a moment's time to think, Ethan raised his wand and pointed it at Taz-Marah, who had just started to do the same to Kep-Tian, the man she had once served in Taipei.

"Avada Kedavra!" Ethan shouted, and a flash of green erupted from his wand and encompassed the body of Kep-Tian's enemy. She fell to the ground, no life left within her.

First Sighting
Author: Bill Weasley
Date: 09-03-03 10:35

Bill had been walking to Gringotts on Saturday morning when a familiar figure stepping into The Three Broomsticks caught his eye. "It can't be," Bill muttered aloud, halting in his tracks out of surprise. Was it really...Helena Tufton?

Gringotts forgotten, Bill resumed his walk but made a beeline for the pub. He stepped inside and allowed a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the room. They focused on a blonde woman sitting at the bar, the same woman he had seen entering The Three Broomsticks only moments earlier. She looked to be deep in thought and was visibly startled when Bill called out, "Helena?"

The unmistakable familiar face whirled around and eyes grew round and large at the sight of Bill standing in the doorway. He quickly walked towards her and exclaimed, "Helena! What in Merlin's name are you doing here?"

Helena regained a sense of calm and turned away, casting her eyes downwards on the surface of the bar table. "Just here for a drink, Bill," she said quietly.

A brief period of silence elapsed as Bill stood there trying to organize his thoughts and as Helena readied herself for an intense line of questions sure to come. Finally, Bill sat down on the neighboring bar stool and ordered a drink from Madam Rosmerta. He turned to Helena and asked, "Why haven't you contacted any of us, Helena? If not us, then your parents. They've been extremely worried about you."

Helena raised her glass to her lips and took a sip of butterbeer before responding to Bill's question. "I wanted some time alone. I needed some time to myself."

Bill raised an eyebrow and turned to Rosmerta, thanking her for the drink. He knew very well that Helena had hardly been alone since New Year's Eve. She had been with Adriana Fairchild for six weeks before Bill learned of it all.

"I can understand that," Bill said. He took a sip of his drink and cast a short glance at the woman next to him. She was still staring at the counter top with her right hand wrapped around her pint of butterbeer. "Where were you all these months?"

"America," Helena replied. "Far from here."

Bill swallowed and set his glass down. "When did you return to Hogsmeade?"

"Recently." Helena chanced a glance in Bill's direction. He didn't convey any emotion in his face. In fact, he looked as any normal person would in such a situation. Perhaps the sleuth within him was so well hidden that she couldn't tell him apart form an ordinary, somewhat concerned, quasi friend.

"Have you come to see Charlie?" Bill asked, studying her carefully.

Helena shook her head. "I don't imagine he wants to see me. Besides, I hear he's back in Romania."

Bill looked away and took a sip of his drink, creating a small pause in the awkward conversation. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, and most of them were centered on Helena's connection to his Adriana. He desperately wanted to ask Helena about her. Should he chance it?

No. Best leave it be for now.

"How long will you be in town?" Bill asked, turning to face her once more.

"I've no plans of leaving," Helena answered.

"Then I should be seeing you again sometime," Bill said, smiling at her for the very first time. He moved to get up, and as he did so he buried his hand into his pants pocket and retrieved a few coins. "I've got to get to Gringotts. Stop in sometime, please?"

Helena looked up at Bill in surprise and hesitated in giving her answer. Finally she said, "Sure." She honestly hadn't expected her first run-in with a person from her past with Charlie to progress so smoothly. Had Bill merely thrown her off with his true intentions?"

Instinct and knowledge of Bill's character told her yes, but she really wasn't certain. She acknowledged his goodbye and reluctantly accepted his offer to pay for her tab, but to his retreating back she narrowed her yes and mumbled, "Bastard."

Evil Intent
Author: Isolde
Date: 09-03-03 10:53

Isolde snatched the quaffle from Ravenclaw hands and defty maneuvered in the opposite direction with every intention of slamming the ball into Gabriel Baine's smug face. A resulting goal would be an added bonus. How dare he suggest such disgusting things! How dare he put his hands on her body! Isolde planned on showering for five hours after the match to cleanse herself of any contact she had with the Ravenclaw.

She raced in the direction of the goal hoops, preparing herself for the throw. As it flew from her fingers, a perfectly aimed bludger sent by Fynn made impact with the quaffle and sent it spiraling away from Gabriel and the goal hoops. Scowling, Isolde 180ed and followed the path of the quaffle as it moved to the opposing side of the Pitch.

Her mind shifted gears quite suddenly, focusing now on Pyrrhus as he came into plain view. The news he had revealed to her had been shocking, to say the least...but she could safely say that she was delighted upon learning the truth about her boyfriend's parentage.

Suddenly, a bludger came charging at Isolde, unseating her from her broom as she threw herself off of it to avoid the collison. She grasped onto the handle with one hand, hanging in the air for a moment before swinging her body back upon it and joining her fellow teammates in the chase for the quaffle.

Walking Down the Street
Author: Drucilla Eternal
Date: 09-03-03 13:25

Thank goodness for Saturdays! A day away from the Ministry of Magic building was a good day indeed. Of course, this was the wrong attitude to take, since it was there that I was supposed to be digging for information. But if I had to spend another day in a muggles' washroom I would be driven to pointing my own wand at myself and uttering the famous "Avada Kedavra" curse! I was angry though, since my digging had only seemed to turn up more information and facts on muggles rather than Arthur Weasley himself. I was beginning to feel that I needed to go a step further. Perhaps to Arthur's house? I was certain more could be found there than at the little closet office of his. An invitation should be easy enough to get from him. If I just mentioned something along the lines of wanting to meet his lovely wife, IÕm sure an invite would be forthcoming.

Pausing in the streets of Hogsmeade, I noticed the bakery shop ahead. Or perhaps I could ask Mrs. Weasley herself, I thought to myself. I had heard that she often stopped in to see the owner at this bakery. It was a long shot, but I decided to step in and see if she was around.

"Hello?" I called as I entered. The shop seemed empty until a young lady came in from the back. She seemed pale and a bit shaky.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

I looked at her curiously, wondering what interest the Weasley family had with this girl, and then ordered some pastries to take home. After all, it wouldn't do to seem out of place.

The Horror
Author: H Potter
Date: 09-03-03 22:35

Watching the pain etch deeper into Cho's face, Harry isn't sure how much longer she can hold out. The way one hand keeps fluttering to her side, Harry's guessing Cho has at minimum a cracked rib and if she keeps making moves like that dive a few minutes ago and Cho could end up with a punctured lung. Good thing people like Madam Hooch and Professor McGonagall are around in case emergency medical treatment is needed.

This thought leads Harry to remember the time he'd broken his arm and Gilderoy Lockhart came rushing to the rescue. Harry shudders at the memory of his arm suddenly being boneless and the horrid sensation that went with it. The regrowth of the bones wasn't exactly a wonderfully painless experience either. Good thing Lockhart lost his mind or else he might have eventually decided he was a skilled healer and written a book about mending bones.

Harry shudders again thinking that a sane, half-witted Lockhart might be much worse than a insane, genius Voldemort anyday. Good thing Lockhart is safely locked away with his memory still gone!

Suddenly remembering he's at a match, Harry jumps to his feet and once again cheers on Ravenclaw.