School...Again...
Author: Sora
Date: 04-17-04 09:58
Sora gathered his things for today's classes, thinking about how fast vacation seemed! He wished he could have at least spent more time with his father. Oh how Sora wished that his dad wasn't such an important business man!
Pulling himself together he noticed he was packing his clothes in his school bag. "Wait, I don't need these!" he exclaimed as he began to put his clothes back on his bed. Felix was snoozing on Sora's pillow, she just gave a glance at what he was doing, then just went back to sleep. Sora snorted. "Well, well, well! Sleeping in again are we? Why are you such a furball? You have the easy life!"
As he headed for the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Sora couldn't stop thinking about how much he wanted to go home. Usually he never really wanted to go home, but now it was different. He didn't know why... but it was just different!
Entering the classroom, Sora found that everyone else was already there. "Good morning Sora!" said Roane, Tranquillina, and Kairi together. Sora smiled and waved, then he fell to the floor (his shoes caught on his robes again). The three girls cringed as they watched him crash to the floor.
Sora, quite used to this routine, got back to his feet and sat next to Kairi. "We didn't see you at breakfast. Where were you?" asked Roane. Sora shrugged, "I wasn't hungry." Tranquillina pointed at Sora's arm. It was bleeding. "Why do you wear those big shoes anyway? Since you keep tripping over them?" Tranquillina asked. Sora gasped.
"Oh my gosh! You don't know me at all!!"
Return to Classes
Author: Tranquillina Aemilius
Date: 04-17-04 10:43
Tranquillina hated saying good-bye to her family again.. It had been so wonderful to see them!
But before she knew what hit her, it was the first day of classes again. That morning she ate a hardy breakfast (aka: eating everything and anything in sight), of course, and, after dodging Saturn's claws in goodbye, trudged off to class.
She entered the room and found Kairi and Roane. She smiled and made her way over to them. As much as she hated to be back at school, it was good to see her friends once more.
A few moments later, Sora came in the room. His grand entrance constituted his feet getting caught in his robes and falling flat on the floor. Once he regained his composure, Roane pointed out that none of them saw him at breakfast, to which Sora claimed he wasn't hungry.... which both surprised and horrified Tranquillina.
Tranquillina indicated Sora's arm, which was bleeding due to his fall, and asked, "Why do you wear those big shoes anyway? Since you keep tripping over them?"
Sora's eyes widened and gasped. "Oh my gosh! You don't know me at all!!"
Tranquillina couldn't help to be amused --and confused. "What? What am I missing here?" She turned, confused, to ask Kairi.
Black and Blue
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 04-17-04 13:24
The return to classes, a routine Bronwyn wasn't ready for, proved exceedingly difficult for the Hufflepuff sixth year, and it certainly didn't help that it all started with History of Magic on Monday morning. Tired and unwilling to attend class, Bronwyn forced herself into her usual seat in the classroom. She shot a one-eyed glance at Desi, who occupied a neighboring desk, and stuck her tongue out when Desi started to giggle.
"I'm sorry, but I still think it's funny," Desi said, brushing a loose curl from her face. "Bianca never saw it coming, and frankly, neither did I."
"She was asking for it," Brownyn said stiffly, folding her arms over her desk.
"Still, I told you not to do it. I told you there would be consequences!"
Bronwyn rolled her good eye and exclaimed, "I'd like to think I held my own!"
She thought back to a few days earlier, when Bronwyn, Desi and Bianca had all shared the car for the ride to the airport. As expected, Bianca made the journey a difficult one, prodding and kicking and scratching and twisting until Bronwyn had finally had enough. As soon as the car came to a stop, Bronwyn jumped out and pulled Bianca out roughly by the collar.
"What's your problem, B?" Bianca spat, a bit surprised by Bronwyn's sudden change in character.
"I don't appear to be the one with the problem," Bronwyn countered, oblivious to Desi and Rich, the driver, who'd both stepped out of the car and were watching the exchange with some trepidation. "You've been rude to me from the start. What did I ever do to you?"
Bianca met Bronwyn's question with a heavy trod on the foot, which did little to hurt the other girl because she was still wearing Desi's army boots.
Bronwyn slapped Bianca hard across the face.
Stunned for a moment, Bianca did nothing and stared at Bronwyn in disbelief. Even Desi looked surprised.
Then Bianca socked Bronwyn in the face.
"The swelling has come down," Desi remarked, bringing Bronwyn back to the present.
Bronwyn's shiner had indeed gone down in size, but the mark remained and it still was sensitive to the touch. She and Desi had gone to Diagon Alley after arriving in London and stopped by the Apothecary to find some potion or soothing lotion to reduce the swelling, discoloration and the pain, but the topical creams were so potent in smell, Bronwyn could barely stand to use them. Upon arrival at Hogwarts, the first thing she did was visit the Hospital Wing for alternative medication.
"I think I need an eye-patch like that Slytherin girl," Bronwyn joked, finding her sense of humor for the first time in days.
"Aye, matey!" Desi laughed.
The Encroaching N.E.W.T.s
Author: Rolan Boyd
Date: 04-18-04 10:02
"Puffskein."
Rolan Boyd, Terry Boot, Kevin Entwhistle, Su Li, and Lisa Turpin shuffled through the narrow entrance into the Ravenclaw Common room. Finding their way through the crowded room, Rolan, Terry, Kevin, and Lisa simultaneously dropped their bags onto one of the large wooden tables, having gone directly to the Great Hall after History of Magic. As a result of a campaign by seventh year prefects Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil, the squashy armchairs and couches surrounding the Ravenclaw's enormous stone fireplace were reserved for any present seventh years. A group of second years had hurriedly vacated these seats as the seventh years entered the Common room.
"Could I copy your History of Magic notes before I forget Rolan?" asked Lisa. Picking his favorite faded blue chair, Rolan thought back to class earlier. He remembered spotting Lisa, with her head resting on her hand and her hair pulled forward to conceal her face. "Sure. Do you remember the charm for your quill to do dictation?" replied Rolan with a smile.
"No, thanks. I learn better when I write it out myself," she answered, returning to the table and prodding through his bag for the day's notes.
"We didn't catch a wink of sleep the entire b-break..." said Su, refering to herself and Lisa, as she paused for a yawn. "I'm glad I didn't take Binn's course. I went straight to my bed after Herbology this morning."
"Yeah. I noticed you were a bit tired," said Kevin sarcastically. Su made an apologetic face as she glanced down at his hands. His fingers were covered with small gashes he had received from a particularly spiny plant Professor Logan had assigned to them today. Su had been holding the plant while Kevin attempted to pluck valiable violet hairs from the plant's skin; she carelessly let the plant slip several times resulting in horrific cries from Kevin.
Seventh years Morag MacDougal and Anthony Goldstein squeezed into the Common room and joined them. Looking sour, Morag plopped down next to Rolan.
"Three feet! Does anyone else think Binn's gone a bit too far?" blurted Morag. Rolan spotted Anthony rolling his eyes, suggesting that Morag had been complaining throughout lunch.
"It's not the length mate, it's the content," said Terry, a line which Rolan had used on him throughout their sixth year. "N.E.W.T. level, remember? Besides, he's given us a couple of weeks before its due."
"In which time he will give us other assignments, not to mention what we'll get in our other classes," replied Morag hotly. A look of dread passed across his face as he realized his own words.
"I've got two books which cover the riots thoroughly, Morag. You can borrow them whenever you like," offered Rolan. Scarcely pacified, Morag muttered a thanks and proceeded to quietly brew over the prospects of an increased workload.
Rolan was sympathetic to Morag's concerns; they were about to be slapped with an array of time-consuming assignments with the N.E.W.T.s fast approaching. Of particular concern to Rolan was the amount of help he was providing: assisting others with practicing for Charms or Transfiguration, providing feedback on History of Magic or Potions essays, and adjusting incorrect translations of Ancient Runes symbols. In addition to weekly Arithmancy study groups, staying up with Terry after his Quidditch practices to help him complete assignments and finding time to complete his own work and revise for quizzes, Rolan was beginning to wear down.
He and Morag were not the only two pondering their schedules. Rolan noticed a silence had fallen as everyone became lost in their own thoughts. He knew none of them were without hope, however. The seventh year had thus far been the pinnacle of their school years, filled with more moments of humor and enjoyment than any other. This, coupled with the promise of freedom and adventure once they had completed their final examinations, was the compelling factor for each of them.
Rolan caught Terry staring at him, silently trying to catch his attention.
"A game of wizarding chess before our Herbology report?" Terry asked hopefully.
A Funny Story
Author: Sora
Date: 04-18-04 11:07
"I've had these shoes for like, ever!" said Sora as he lifted one foot (almost kicking a Slytherin in the head), "for as long as I can remember, we've never been separated! Ever!"
There was silence between the three girls. Sora looked a little confused "what?" he asked, but was cut off short by Tranquillina, Kairi, and Roane as the burst out laughing. "That's Kiwi for ya'!" gasped Kairi as she almost fell to the floor.
Sora began to turn a little red. The laughing stopped as the door to the classroom opened, and in came Professor Turin.
Telling the Guys
Author: Desdemona Diamond
Date: 04-19-04 11:27
"You should have been there, it was great," I said with a little enthusiasm. I was sitting with Arley and Seb in the Common Room telling the story about Bronwyn's black eye. She had refused to tell the boys about it herself. I wasn't able to tell it until now because of jetlag and classes. Since none of us had classes today, now was the perfect time to tell it.
"It all happened so fast. We came to a stop at the airport and the next thing I know is Bron is pulling Bianca out of the car by her shirt collar. Then Bronwyn tells her off and asks what Bianca’s problem is, and Bianca just stomps on her foot.
"By this time I had gotten out of the car and I was just in shock that our sweet, nice, Bronwyn was telling somebody off like that. I've never seen her do that," I lean forward a bit, "Then it got even better! Bronwyn slapped Bianca! You could hear it all across the parking garage!"
Arley and Seb exchanged a glance of surprise. I can only imagine that I had similar expressions to theirs when I saw the slap. It was unbelievable. After a moment, I continued, "And then there was a short pause as the echo stopped. There was a moment of silence and then POW! Bianca nailed Bronwyn in the eye!" Arley and Seb both looked shocked.
"Oh, it was great. It was five minutes before Bianca was calmed down. She got all of us good at least once in that fight. I got hit good once in the shoulder, but it didn't really swell or nothing. The guy driving the car, Rich, took most of the hits while trying to calm Bianca down.
"You should have seen her eye on the plane, it was all black and blue and swollen the size of a grapefruit. I can tell that it still hurts to touch it, but the swelling and discoloration have pretty much gone…or Bron is better with makeup then I ever realized."
"I didn't slap her that hard," Bronwyn said as she entered the common room.
"You slapped her hard enough to leave a handprint. I got a letter from my mom saying that Bianca fought a few more people at her school because of teasing from that red handprint of yours. You'll be happy to note that all of them were sent to the hospital wing, except my sister, she wasn’t hurt. You got off lucky." Bronwyn sat down next to me on the sofa, across from the two boys, who still appeared to be surprised.
"I think you left out the part about me wearing your boots. You need a more fashionable pair of shoes, you know that?" She commented, while I just rolled my eyes at her statement about my footwear.
Apologies
Author: H Potter
Date: 04-19-04 19:49
Harry sits on the edge of his bed, watching Ron closely for any change in the red-head's dour expression. It had taken all the previous day and half of the morning today to approach Ron in an effort to explain about the spell Harry had been under.
At first, Ron had been resistant to sitting down and listening to what even to Harry's ears sounded like nothing more than one long, drawn out excuse for being rude and snubbing friends. At least he'd finally stopped fidgeting, hadn't interrupted nor gotten up and left, and his hard glare had softened slightly to a lemon-pucker sour expression. Harry, finished with the explanation, is now waiting on pins and needles to learn if Ron will forgive him even a little.
At length, Ron sticks his hand out to Harry and as they shake Ron gives one of his cheeky grins. "And here I was thinking what a great career plan you had. Not enough flobberworm farmers in the world, you know."
Both laugh and slap each other on the back and for Harry everything again seems normal between Ron and him and Harry pulls two wrapped gifts out of his trunk. "One's for Christmas and the other is for when I should have gotten you something while you were in the hospital."
Ron hastily unwraps both gifts and is extremely happy with them, even the one that's a book since it's a guide on getting professional Quidditch scouts to attend one's games and how to make a good one-on-one impression with them. After they've talked for awhile, Harry getting caught up on all the things he ignored or rebuffed these past months, Harry goes down to the common room in search of Ginny and Hermione. It's a definate boost that Ron tags along for support.
As with Ron, the girls are skeptical at first but the more Harry tells them, they too begin to accept what he says as fact and not just some poor excuse. Harry has late Christmas gifts for them as well by the time lunch has come and nearly gone, he feels confident that his friendships are back on track though he knows it will take much more time to get far enough back in Ginny's good graces to get back together as a couple. There's also another big obstacle to overcome - talking to Viktor Krum about getting back on the Quidditch team.
Tetchy
Author: Sebastian Sjoblom
Date: 04-19-04 21:34
At approximately 10:32 in the morning (and twenty-seven seconds), Sebastian sits on the dormitory floor with a deck of Exploding Snap cards and a book of tongue twisters. That morning, he and the usual suspects had been discussing their respective winter holidays in the common room, and this turned into a round of ridiculously bad jokes of the nature of "orange you glad I didn't say banana," which turned into a game of Exploding Snap poker on Seb's suggestion, which degenerated further into blatant, exaggerated cheating accompanied by half of Sebastian's miraculous full house suddenly exploding, which further degenerated into laughter, and when that died down Arley had Care of Magical Creatures to head to.
Sebastian walked him there early with the express purpose of stealing a kiss before anyone else arrived. The kiss wasn't really especially phenomenal, but the delightful surreptitiousness of it left Arley gleefully whistling the "Andy Griffith" theme song in the cold and Sebastian walking back to the Hufflepuff common room with a stupid giddy grin on his face. The mood was almost wrecked by one of the Exploding Snap cards in his pocket, jostled by the walking, suddenly detonating and nearly catching his robes on fire, but Sebastian shrugged it off, owing to his fine disposition.
He returned to the common room to find that Bronwyn and Desi had absconded to parts unknown, so, one of his various mottoes being the Swedish equivalent of "roll with the punches," he has ended up settled in the dormitory with his Exploding Snap deck and a book of English tongue twisters (the bizarre belated Christmas present that arrived a day too late from his friends in Sweden, accompanied by an apologetic card.) He alternately stumbles over Susie and her blasted oceanside pseudopod receptacles, and plays solitaire, half-humming and half-singing a song that Arley's gotten stuck in his head.
"Take down... fishing pole and meet me by the fishing hole..." he sings, under his breath and off-key, then fades into humming. "Dee dee dee-dee-dee-dee, fresh as... lemonade, da-dee-dee in the shade...."
He puzzles over where to put the jack of clubs, and just when he spies the queen of hearts to place it on, the queen explodes.
"Tetchy little queen," he comments. "Tetchy" is one of Lee's favorite adjectives for things that aren't going his way, and, since Lee is something of a pessimist and considers quite a cornucopia of things to be "tetchy," Sebastian's picked up the expression from his roommate.
He gives up on the jack of clubs and the game of solitaire as a whole, and shuffles the deck of cards, bridging clumsily. The cards splay out in all directions, and one of the sevens explodes. Sebastian groans and shoves aside the cards. Shouldn't Arley be coming back now, with Care of Magical Creatures over? He feels like en riktig förlorare, a real loser, all alone in the dorm. Where did Bron and Desi go?
He shuffles the cards again, trying to raise his spirits with the song about the fishing hole.
"...doo-doo fine day to take a stroll..." he hum-mumbles. He halts his song at the sound of footsteps on the stairs. It's not Lee's braggadocious clomp nor Lawrence's tread (with a little shuffling foot-dragging after each beat), but rather Arley's steady, equine, clip-clop step. Sebastian looks up as Arley arrives, hand lingering wearily on the bannister.
"You look blue," is Sebastian's first comment. "Did something unfortunate happen?"
"It's a long story, Seb," Arley says, swinging his book satchel off his shoulder and onto the foot of his bed. "You don't wanna know." His eyebrows are furrowed, and his broad-shouldered frame is tense.
Sebastian gets to his feet, leaving his blanket in a pile on the floor, and reaches his hand out to Arley. It is promptly knocked aside by Arley's own.
"What, did something happen in Care of Magical Creatures?" he asks, trying to be patient. "You don't talk much to me about these sorts of--"
"Lemme alone," Arley interrupts him with a brusque command. "Ain't any business of yours." He turns, and suddenly, with his jaw set and his fists clenched, he seems very intimidating. Seb curls his fingers against his palm, into a loose fist. What'd he do to deserve that reprimand? He finds his own brows to be furrowing and his disposition toward Arley souring.
"Why not?" Sebastian says. He's awfully tetchy, he thinks, examining Arley for any sign of physical harm. "I am only trying to help...."
And suddenly Arley's knuckles are stamping his abdomen, and he is buffeted backward. He catches himself on his back foot, one hand reaching for his wand. He takes a baby step backward and assesses the situation in the moment, his stomach still clenched in anticipation of another blow. He was just hit, in the stomach, by Arlington James Montgomery, late of the United States, his furtive paramour.
He finally gets his wand out, but doesn't have the heart or the taste for melodrama to point it at Arley's head, so he just sort of clenches it at his side, looking at his feet. The momentary stinging pain of the punch fades to a dull ache.
Oops
Author: Sora
Date: 04-20-04 09:31
Sora was on his way to Potions class with Kairi. They were walking at a fair pace but Sora couldn't help but walk faster than he should. "Kiwi! Slow down will ya?" she said as she got hold of Sora's shoulder. He flinched. "Sorry, I just don't want to be late," he explained. Kairi could only laugh. "We're not going to be late Kiwi! So could you tone down on your jumpy act?" Sora took a deep breath. "Okay, I'll try. But don't expect me to be all calm and stuff like that. Remember, we're heading for Potions with Snape!"
They walked down the hall until they reached the door to Potions. Letting Kairi enter first, a Slytherin then bumped into Sora, causing him to drop his books. "Aww crap! I'll be there in a second!" Sora said after Kairi, who nodded and took her seat. Then Sora began on picking up his books. Hopefully this day will be better as it goes by...
Not Funny
Author: Vera Delgety
Date: 04-20-04 11:09
Vera arrived back to the Hufflepuff common room shortly after Care of Magical Creatures. It was now lunch time. When she arrived Lawrence was found at a table scribbling away on some parchment. Vera tip toed up behind him and covered his eyes with her hands.
Lawrence chuckled and shook his head. "Vera, I know these hands anywhere." He smiled and pulled her hands off his eyes and softly kissed them. Making a special contact with the beautiful emerald promise ring he have Vera not too long ago. Vera leand down against his back rapping her arms around him. Vera rubbed her cheek against his and smiled. "I love you." She whispered in his ear and was returned with a loving kiss.
"Oh, get a room you two!" Susan lightly smacked them both upside the head. "C'mon you guys, I'm starved." Susan said as she walked out the door.
Lawrence looked at Susan as she left. "G'day to you too mate!" He then looked up at Vera. "Well, shall we follow or make her wait?" Vera laughed. "How much you wanna bet she's already down the hall and not waiting?"
Lawrence gazed at her a moment before jumping up and running out the door, leaving his Love laughing behind him. Vera stepped out the door expecting to see him out there waiting but there was no on was there. "Lawrence?" She took a couple of steps toward the corner and Lawrence lept out behind her and grabbed her.
Vera jumped in his arms. "LAWRENCE!!!! You Git!" She screamed and turned around to find Lawrence laughing hysterically. She bopped him on the head. "Not funny!"
"Hey!" He howled and rubbed his head. Vera rubbed it too. "Didn't mean ta bop ya that hard...sorry." She reached up and kissed his head. "Better?"
"A little..." He smiled and kissed her. "Let's go eat eh?" Vera agreed and then nudged him in the side. "But don't scare me like that again, savvy?!" Lawrence just laughed.
Tomorrow is Another Day
Author: Natalie Rose
Date: 04-20-04 16:57
Natalie sat in the Gryffindor common room staring at the fire. Today was her best friend's birthday and she wasn't there to celebrate with him. She had sent Bobby a scrap book she had been working on for the past few months; it included pictures of them growing up together and their families together at an annual festival before her parents had passed away. She tried to hold back the tears but it was useless. She had never had a relationship where she felt so close to someone as she did with Bobby, and she missed him terribly. Sometimes they joked that being in the hospital together, born only a week apart, was where their friendship must have began.
She needed him now more then anytime else. Yesterday was her first day at Hogwarts and it was exhausting, she didn't get to sleep till very early in the morning because she had astronomy at midnight. She was terribly lonely, and today her second day of classes hadn't been much better. She hadn't really met any friends; people smiled at her but no one seemed to want to get to know her. She had approached a girl in her potions class today but she was terribly mean and rude, and the girls surrounding her had laughed and pointed at her throughout the rest of the class. Natalie had heard the Slytherins weren't the friendliest group but she never imagined them being this terrible. She had found a liking to all her teachers except Prof. Snape. He was very mean to a boy in her potions class and when she tried to stand up for the boy Snape gave her a look of pure loathing. She had a bad feeling about him, something in the pit of her stomach, and intuition of sorts. She thought about the last few days she had spent at Hogwarts and wished the days to come would get better.
Natalie decided to retire to her warm bed. Her kitten Cleo, a Christmas gift from her Uncle Iris, was swatting playfully at the bed hangings, but as soon as she saw Natalie was ready for sleep she sidled up next to her and started purring. Cleo cheered Natalie up; she remembered a line from a muggle book she once read, something about the wind, "After all tomorrow is another day." She smiled and wished Bobby good thoughts and fell fast asleep.
