Early Riser
Author: Hermione Granger
Date: 08-28-04 22:11
As dawn broke on Easter Sunday, Hermione stirred in her bed and rolled over to a more comfortable position. She cradled her head in the crook of one arm, elevated by her fluffy pillow, and snoozed another half hour. The sun's rays, peeking through a slightly open curtain on the window, passed through the open curtains of Hermione's four-poster, and fell onto her face. She stirred again, rolled her face away from the light and opened her eyes.
The clock read seven a.m., a far too early time to be awake on a weekend, but Hermione felt well-rested and decided to make an early day of it. She kicked the covers from her bed and threw her legs over the side of the mattress, slipping her feet into a pair of warm fuzzy slippers. She trod silently to the chest at the foot of her bed, where she selected a few items of clothing. Then with bath caddy in hand, she went to the restrooms to shower and get dressed.
Twenty minutes later, Hermione went to the common room with parchment, quill and ink in hand and settled herself at a table and chair in a corner of the room. She looked around the empty common room and wondered how long it would be before the other Gryffindors started to stir in their beds. Knowing Ron, he wouldn't be up for hours!
Hermione smiled at the thought of her sleeping boyfriend and focused her attention on the letter she now addressed to Melinda Mumps at St. Mungo's. After Bellatrix Lestrange's second attack on Hermione's father, Melinda had kept Hermione posted as to his status and progress. He seemed no more or no less damaged than before--a good sign, perhaps?
She couldn't wait to be by her father's side again. Soon, she'd be able to see him. Soon, she'd be able to spend lots of time at his bedside. And maybe someday she'd find a cure for his ailments.
If only, Hermione thought wistfully.
Early Present
Author: Desdemona Diamond
Date: 08-29-04 13:19
I pulled out the box that contained Bronwyn's birthday present. It was already wrapped and ready to go. I didn't want to give this to her on Tuesday even though we didn't have class, we still had to study at least, and she wouldn’t be able to with her new gift.
I went down to the common room to look for her and I found her in a chair off in a corner. She was flipping through that German magazine again looking at all the good-looking guys once again. I just decided to walk over there without trying to stay hidden or anything. When I got next to the chair I put the present down in front of her.
"Huh?" she looked up at me, "What's that?"
"It's your present for your birthday. I know it's in two days, but I felt it was better to give you it today," I told her, "Go ahead, open it."
Return
Author: Lucius Malfoy
Date: 08-29-04 13:22
Near a narrow road passing by a patch of woods, a lone figure walks with the hesitant step of someone lost. From around a curve bicyclists appear. The man stops suddenly as if in shock of the sight. Shaking his head and taking a deep breath at the same time as if to clear his mind, he waves at the man and the women. They brake to a stop beside him.
"Pardon me. I seem to be all turned around. Where am I?"
The woman pulls a sad face. "No Engleza."
Charlie's eyes light up. "Româna?"
"Da," both the man and the woman say in unison.
Charlies switches to the Romanian he's picked up in his years of working and living in this country, asking again where he is.
"În apropiere Bucharest. Douazeci kilometru." The man points down the road past Charlie. "Nord."
"A mult¸umi, voi," Charlie thanks them. They ride off and he begins walking. When he's well around the curve and out of sight, he stops and muses to himself. "Twenty kilometers south of Bucherest. How the devil did this happen?"
He looks around, deciding to step into the cover of the trees, then setting his mind to where he is now in relation to the closest of the dragon keeper camps that he knows of. With a crack, he disapparates.
When he appears on the outskirts of the camp, three people notice him immediately. Charlie wonders why he's being met with the proverbial stunned silence just before the rush toward him, others close on their heels and everyone jabbering at once. From what Charlie can tell as he's hustled toward the only permanent type structure in the camp, a large tent used for meetings and meals and any other gatherings, the running theme of the questions being fired at him are wondering where he's been.
Flying
Author: Coco Nutt
Date: 08-29-04 18:46
Up with the sun, Coco took Pea on a promised visit with Fang. After dropping the small dog off at Hagrid's hut, Coco strolled along edge of the forest, thinking about how fun it will be to take Care of Magical Creatures next school year. Something dark moved near the line of trees and much to Coco's surprise and delight a thestral poked its head out.
Coco stopped walking and when the thestral stood half in, half out of the trees, staring unblinkingly at her, she spoke softly to it. When it didn't move, Coco took a few steps closer, continuing to speak to the animal. Eventually Coco was within a hand's reach of the winged creature. It gaves a snort then a horse-like whinny and stepped further from the forest.
"Really?" Coco asked barely able to contain her excitement.
The thestral's head bobbed up and down before the animal moved fully from the cover of the forest. It positioned itself for Coco to climb on its back then with a mighty flap of its wings the thestral was up and flying over the forest. After approximately fifteen minutes of flight, the thestral set down in the same spot from which it had lifted off. With another shake of its head, the eerily beautiful creature vanished into the shroud of shadowed forest.
Coco, skipping the entire way, returned to the castle for breakfast, anxious to tell Fritz of her adventure.
What a Surprise!
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 08-29-04 18:57
Surprised and extremely pleased, Bronwyn set the German pop magazine aside and picked up the package. She passed it between her hands and attempted to guess what might be inside of it. Wrapped in shiny, purple paper, the box was rather small, flat and square.
"Well, are you going to open it?" Desi asked. She seemed impatient to see how Bronwyn might react to the gift.
A smile spread across Bron's lips, and she broke through the spell-o-tape slowly as to not destroy the shiny, purple paper. Desi's eyes widened and she silently urged her friend to simply rip through the package to get to the gift, but she held her tongue and waited for Bronwyn to finish.
With the package unwrapped (and the paper folded and set aside), Bronwyn turned the box over in her hands and smiled wide. "Jewelry!" It could be nothing else!
Bronwyn flipped open the box and gasped. Resting on velvet bedding was a necklace and heart-shaped pendant exactly like Desi's, only lavender in color. Eyes fixed on her new jewel, Bronwyn slipped Desi's necklace off her own neck and passed it to her friend. Amused, Desi put on her necklace and watched as Bronwyn took her new gift out of the box. She slipped the chain over her head and beamed.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed, and she threw her arms around Desi's neck. "Now we can be twins!"
Crunch Time
Author: Harry Potter
Date: 08-29-04 19:38
Harry comes down the stairs into the common room to find Hermione at a table with a stack of books at her elbow. A few other seats around the room are filled but from the quiet in Griffyndor House, not to mention his four sleeping roommates, Harry figures most are still in bed and a few down at breakfast.
Harry walks up behind Hermione and taps her on one shoulder while asking quietly, "Had breakfast? I'm going down to grab something to bring back. Want me to bring you anything."
"Yes, thanks. Doesn't matter what," comes the reply without her head moving in the slightest.
A short while later Harry returns with a large plate piled with hot buttery biscuits, a selection of jams, a variety of fresh fruit, cheese, warm honeyed ham, and crisp rashers of bacon. Somehow he also manages to carry a pitcher of milk and a pitcher of juice. He deposits everything on the table then pulls three glasses out of pockets. "For Ron if he gets up anytime soon."
As they eat, Hermione goes over an updated study schedule with him, pleased that an unbespelled Harry is not running the opposite direction at the mention of studies on a Sunday. Harry finally admits in a near whisper, "Yeah, I've realized how serious all this is and that it's crunch time."
Hermione, smiling around a bite of fruit, pushes a copy of an outline for studying Transfiguration towards Harry but says nothing.
Twins?!
Author: Desdemona Diamond
Date: 08-30-04 00:17
I had been right, Bronwyn loved the necklace enough to give me mine back. I finally had my necklace all to myself. For once I wouldn't have to worry about being away from the charm masquerading as a ruby necklace when I needed it.
I barely registered the thank you from Bronwyn before I was suddenly choked by her hugging me.
"Now we can be twins!" Bronwyn yelled. I gasped and rasped for a bit before Bronwyn's hug allowed me to breath.
"Wha? Twins? We can't be twins. I mean, come on. You were born in April I was born in August. You have blonde hair and mine's…" I looked at a strand of red hair, "Not any particular color."
"Brown,' Bronwyn said, "So, look, we've got identical looking necklaces and now all we need is some identical clothing and shoes and accessories and we can be twins!" I hung my head and sighed in defeat. I could already see Bron planning the shopping trip.
Charlie's Story
Author: Lucius Malfoy
Date: 08-30-04 22:02
As Charlie gets settled at one of the long tables in the main tent, a cup of good, strong English tea placed in his hands, there is a flurry of parchment being passed around as people rush to scribble off notes to the other camps and to people, including Bill Weasley, back in England while not missing out on anything Charlie has to say. There is no need for any of them to have worried about missing out because it takes awhile for Stephen Gregor to get the din to die down enough for Charlie to make real sense of the questions aimed at him. The letters are all written and sent off by owl and the main tent in a hush of anticipation by the time Stephen, sitting across from Charlie, is able to explain about the ruckus Charlie's appearance caused and to hear where his friend has been.
"We've had a search going on for you, Charlie. We were beginning to think you were dead and we'd just not found what some dragon left of you if anything. Nia and I came in from the hunts we were leading to organize more search parties over a greater area."
Before Stephen says more, Charlie shoots the other man a quizzical look. "Sort of going overboard, weren't you?"
Now it's Stephen's turn to look puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"I've only been part of a day and I'm not scheduled to come in for resupply for a little over two weeks from now."
Stephen only thought the tent was in a state of quiet until Charlie makes this little announcement. The silence is so great it's a strain to even hear a single breath. Stephen blinks once. Then again. He stares at Charlie then makes eye contact with Nia Mekenos. Her eyes mirror his troubled expression. Nia, sitting just to Charlie's left, softly asks the red head, "What day do you think this is, Charlie?"
"Saturday."
"Which Saturday?" Stephen inquires, his tone as subdued as Nia's.
"Midafternoon of March 21st."
As a buzz rapidly spreads through the tent, Charlie twists around looking at everyone before directing a question to Stephen. "Why does that upset all of you?"
Once again Nia speaks. "Charlie, today is Sunday, April 12th. Easter."
"This is a joke. Right?"
When no one speaks, Charlie asks again, this time a faint hint of real worry in his voice, "Right?"
Stephen motions for someone to refresh Charlie's tea and after more of the steaming brew is in the cup, liberally dollops brandy in it. After a half second, he adds a bit more. Charlie gulps down half the mug then looks pensively down as his reflection ripples across the tea. Stephen reaches over and places a hand on top of one of Charlie's. "Why don't you tell us what you remember of March 21st."
Nodding, Charlie takes another swig of the brandy laced tea then breathes deeply. "I got up early to observe one particular dragon that's been being in the exact same spot at the exact same time every day for a week. I wanted to get well hidden before it showed up. I was double checking I had everything I needed in a knapsack and was sticking in a sandwich in case I was still out at lunch when I heard the very distinctive mating call of a Swedish Short Snout."
A man named Rufus Finnegan interjects, "A Swedish Short Snout? Here?"
Charlie's head bobs up and down. "Exactly my thoughts. Not only is it a rare species but to be near my Romanian camp? I did what any of you would do. I grabbed my knapsack and followed the calls. I tracked it the entire morning for awhile just after lunch time. It was doing some flying so I kept having to make short apparating jumps to keep up. When I lost the dragon's trail I tried locating it again but couldn't. I wasn't sure where I was by that time so asked a couple of locals I met along a country road. Bucharest was just a little north of there. I got my bearings and came here to report having tailed a Swedish Short Snout."
"Only it's not the same day. It's more than three weeks later," Stephen comments.
~~~~
Several hours later, after a seemingly endless round of questioning and repeating the story countless times, Charlie finally remembers something more. "This doesn't make any sense because I swear I was alone the entire time I was trailing that dragon, but I'm starting to remember meeting a man and a woman."
After struggling with the memory for several minutes, Charlie comes up with their names. "Boris and Natasha."
As the names rolled off his tongue, Charlie suddenly remembers something else. "I don't recall entirely what was said or where this could have been taking place, but Boris whispered to Natasha about reporting in to their boss and in Natasha's reply was the name Cornelius Fudge. I don't think I was supposed to hear any of that."
With Stephen and Nia helping, Charlie continues trying to jog his memory but nothing more comes. At long last Stephen states, "I think everyone needs to get a good night's rest. Maybe in the morning you'll remember more, Charlie. I think we also need to report this to both the British and Romanian ministries. You're missing three weeks of time and have a dodgy memory about going after a rare Swedish dragon yet somehow were also with people named Boris and Natasha and who seem to know or work for Cornelius Fudge. If this isn't something fishy then I don't know what is!"
Charlie, Nia, and the others who are still in the main tent at that late hour, agree with Stephen then disperse to get some sleep. Charlie, bunking in with Stephen and two of the other men, wonders as he drifts off to sleep that if Cornelius Fudge is involved how can they trust anyone at the British ministry other than his father and two or three others?
Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch
Author: Lucius Malfoy
Date: 08-30-04 22:19
Lucius sits ensconced in his favorite chair, a bemused smile on his face as Bellatrix trounces Rodolphus in wizard's chess. In an effort not to visibly pout at losing so badly to his wife, Rodolphus makes a request. "Tell me the significance of the names Boris and Natasha."
Narcissa looks up in interest and puts her book aside. "Yes, dear, do tell."
Bellatrix, cat-who-ate-the-canary grin on her face, settles back into her own chair, making a pyramid of her fingers. "You sound like children begging for a bedtime story but nonetheless, yes, Lucius, tell them."
"You have both heard of the Muggle contraption called a tee vee, correct? Moving pictures with sound play across a screen. One type of show is called a cartoon. Of the very rare times I have ever been in a situation," Lucius inwardly shudders at thinking of those times he's had to debase himself by being in a strictly Muggle setting, "to view a tee vee show, I watched a cartoon in which two spy characters of the names Boris and Natasha, repeatedly bungled the job. Since our former HG was to be implanted with slowly surfacing memories of a botched kidnapping by a man and a woman with apparent associations with that buffoon Fudge, it just seemed somehow appropriate to use those name."
Narcissa is the first to snicker but soon all four are heartily chuckling to the point that when a house elf tip toes into the room to bring a tray of appetizers and to fresh drinks, he wonders if these humans have been drinking some sort of laughing potion.
Thinking
Author: Fritz Schnackenpfefferhausen
Date: 08-31-04 18:22
Sitting down to play a game of wizarding chess with Coco, Fritz thinks about the adventurous tale his pigtailed friend told him at breakfast that morning. Her flight over the Forbidden Forest on the back of a mysterious thestral--mysterious because Fritz had never even heard of one before--was something he could only imagine doing on a broomstick.
He used some free time during the day to run to the library and check out Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which he perused for the section on thestrals. Learning about them got him excited about Care of Magical Creatures class, which he would be taking next year. It also got him wondering about Coco and the death she had witnessed.
Fritz remembers his thoughts from earlier in the day and looks across the chessboard at his friend. She is smiling, like she often does, and looks like she doesn't have a care in the world. He wonders who it is she saw die and how it affected her, if it did at all. He almost doesn't want to ever see a thestral, for he could not ever imagine witnessing the death of another person, no matter who that person might be.
Shaking the morbid thought from his mind, Fritz considers a move in the game and then asks Coco, "Are you ready for classes to start again tomorrow?"
End of Spring Break
Author: Lawrence Masterson
Date: 08-23-04 13:45
Lawrence and Vera sat on one of the couches in the common room, cuddled close to each other, savoring their last day of Spring Break. The two seemed lost in thought, neither of them paid any attention to the sounds of their fellow classmates coming in and out of the common room finding their own ways to enjoy their final day before classes resumed.
Finally Lawrence broke the silence. "I'm going to miss you Vera." They only had a short amount of time before Vera would graduate and leave Hogwarts, leaving him to spend his Seventh and Final year without her.
Lawrence wasn't one to bring up the subject of Vera leaving, because a subject he found pleasure in talking about.
"Lawrence..." Vera said, not wanting their last few hours of spring break to end with them talking about what would ultimately happen at the end of the school year.
"Vera, we can't not talk about. It is going to happen. We will be apart next year and it is something we will have to get ready for it." He spoke softly, running a hand through her hair, her head was resting in his lap as she laid on the couch. "The past couple of years have been the best years of my life, and I honestly wouldn't trade a day of them for anything in the world. I know that things will be difficult in the comming year, but I want this to work, and I will do everything I possibly can to make this work."
He spoke softly and slowly, attempting to keep his voice from breaking, attempting to keep himself from crying. He wasn't ready to let her go yet, and he hoped that by the time the school year ended he would be ready to face his last year at Hogwarts without her.
Quincunx and Questions
Author: Dierna ni Ciaran
Date: 08-31-04 19:02
The fact that the map was lying around was the first clue that it was a trap. However, there was always the possibility that it was a test - perhaps the one to get to their infamous Temple. Since failure is never an option - especially with so many people hoping I do just that - I pick up the map and take the risk.
It leads to a place I'd already seen, but then I noticed what I'd missed (or hadn't been there) before: there is a slight break in the dense trees. Barely enough to be noticed. I welcome the familiar feel of the forest as I step inside. I'm thankful that the Knights have mostly gone for some big-deal at the Temple. They think '’m upset by their spurns, but nothing could be further from the truth.
The map leads through the trees, undecipherable without the map. But eventually I come to recognize barely perceptible markers: colored dots in quincinux patterns every five steps or so. The arrangement of the coloured dots changes. I guess they must lead to other paths or have some meaning, but I can't even begin toughness what.
Then suddenly I emerge from the forest. And I see the shack where I'd spent my first night with the Knights. I'm actually out of the guarded area of the compound.
My initial surge of hope is short-lived. This must be a trap. And even if it's not, suddenly disappearing would be very suspicious. And worse, they'll think that I fled. No. I'll just have work my way up to the level where I can come and go on my own.
