Beginnings...
Author: John 1st Duke of Marlborough
Date: 09-17-02 05:07
"Dearmost, let us take that walk with a basket stuffed with simple, but delicious food and a good wine to go with it, and let us indeed behold those other stars except your eyes. And, Bella," - here John drew Bella closer to him, now as they prepared to leave the inn, and looked deeply in her shining, radinat lively eyes - "I completely agree with you that we may and must take things slowly, yet not languish with them. I too must know for sure, though I am, on my part already certain of my feelings as I am of how yours will be! But, to assure the future it is better to be wise, I agree to that, and I know your story only too well, as I know you do with mine. I have no desire to hang us out in those sordid tabloids anymore. Now, if they're going to write about anything at all, it will be when we declare our eclatation in earnest! Not sooner! We need to be stealthy and vigourous, but I am assured we will make it. I have never felt this kind of delightful eerieness before as I am when together close with you, my belovd Urania Selene Belladonna Contanze Angelina Vanessa Sinistra, hopefully, hopefully very soon becoming my Lady Marlborough! - So let us go and enjoy the nature, enjoy our bliss let us run, I say!" Here Lord John, with almost childish joy jumped about drawing everyone's attention, quite involuntarily towards him as he almost ushered the giggling Bella out of the doors. How fair was not the day now? John told Bella to wait for a moment and went to fetch his Range, still muddy and dusty after the hell-drive from London to Hogsmeade and that important delivery of those rare books, which, in fact, he more or less had thrown out of his car as he was only to eager to meet up again with that enchanting love-witch that had so spellbound him...Soon he reappeared, Bella jumped up in the car and in his usual style he sped off spinning the four-wheeldrive leaving deep crevasses of wheeltracks in the dirtroad behind him.
Retrieving
the Package
Author: Voldemort
Date: 09-17-02 07:40
Later that night, after the bookstore is closed, I Apparate, with a handful of death eaters, inside the Secret Room of my servants shoppe. Before addressing my three faithful servants who wait for me with the "package" I look around the room, at the books. There are many interesting and valuable ones; ones of great interest to me and those who follow me.
"This is very good. I am impressed." I indicate the selection of books with a sweeping gesture. "But THIS is by far the best." I open the box with Harry Potter, still unconscious, in it. At a nod the death eaters take him and disparate to my secret location. "You have done well. Here is a reward for your assistance. I hand a small, book-sized box. Inside is a black book called "The Secrets of Modred." Next to the book is a wand, whose power is tangible in the stillness of the room.
"As the title suggests, this is collection of Modred, the great sorcerer. The wand is the only one that can cast them. And yours is the only power to which it will respond. Use them well."
Sykra?
Author: Cho Chang
Date: 09-17-02 10:27
Aradia and Cho had been strolling arm and arm down the street before seeing Sykra practically fall out of the Three Broomsticks crying. Cho hurries up, Aradia close behind her, "Sykra? What's wrong?"
Aradia and Cho each put an arm around her, Aradia nods, "You look horrible. No offense, but what's got you in a twist?"
Sykra looks at them, glad for the comfort of friends, sniffling, "I....I..We...I..."
Cho bites her lip, Aradia gasps, "You broke up with Orlando?!"
Sykra nods limply, Cho swallows, they were both her friend and this was hard, she hugs Sykra and looks to Aradia, "Are ya'll okay here for a bit?" Aradia nodded and Cho made for the Three Broomsticks. Finding Orlando, she slides into the booth beside him, elbowing him gently, "Hey Orlie.."
He looks to her a bit downhearted, "Hey...." He looks into the bottom of his butterbeer mug before swigging the rest of it down and asking for another one.
She rubs his back gently, "I'm sorry..."
He nods, "I am too," there was a long silence as he started in on his new butterbeer, then out of the blue, "I understand her reasons though. And I respect her decision. No matter how much it hurts..." this last bit was muttered softly.
Cho hugs him, sad to see him this way, she sits with him for a while, letting him talk as he wanted to.
And it Hits
the Ceiling
Author: George Weasley
Date: 09-17-02 15:50
George opened the door to Briar's Bakery, where he saw Briar standing at the counter, cleaning it off with a rag.
"Hi there, Miss Briar," George sat down on a stool. "Do you have anything good for someone who's severely depressed?"
Briar gave George a funny look. "Hello, George. Well, chocolate is good for things like that, everyone knows. Hmm. Here, trying this."
She slid over a little porcelain dish, with painted pink roses on it, and right in the center, in gold foil was a piece of fudge, with red and white candy shaved on the top. George picked it up and took a bite. "Mmm, this is good!"
"It's peppermint fudge. My own recipe, of course." She smiled as she gave him two more pieces. "Now, it wasn't that long ago with a nice young man about two heads taller than you was sitting in that very same spot asking for chocolate to cheer him up."
George looked at the woman. He knew his older brother's had become good friends with Briar, and that Bill and Charlie both had gone to her to talk on several occasions. "Yeah."
To his surprise, Briar chuckled. "Hold on a moment." She disappeared into the back. Moments later, George heard her talking to someone. "I just need to show you something, that's all. She can take care of the brownies for now. Don't worry about your 'magic touch'."
And Briar emerged pulling George's older brother, Charlie, by the arm. "Charlie!"
Briar grinned as Charlie came around and gave his younger brother a hug. Charlie ruffled George's hair. "What's up?"
"Ah, nothin'. What about with you?" George asked, skirting the question and the truth.
Charlie put an arm around his brother's shoulder. "C'mon back. Helena and I are making brownies. You can meet her and tell me about what's bothering you."
"But...?"
Charlie laughed. "Georgie-Boy, I've been your brother my whole life for a reason, you know? Now, don't put up a fuss and spill it."
They entered the back room and a tall, slender, beautiful woman almost dropped a whisk.
"George, this is my good friend Helena. Helena, my brother George. He's a twin." Charlie beamed.
Helena gave a chuckle and wiped her hands clean before she extended her right hand. "Pleased to meet you. I had the honor of actually seeing one of your many surprises back at Christmas when we were in quarantine."
"Oh, yes! Nice to meet you, Helena." George shook her hand.
Charlie hurried back over and pulled out a pan, and Helena took the bowl along with a wooden spoon to scrape the brownie batter into the pan Charlie had taken out. "George was just about to tell him what's bothering him. He has got that face on - same one I get when I'm pissed at something. Now, what's up?"
"Um," George gave a nervous glance at Helena, but she smiled warmly at him and he felt it was okay to talk in front of her.
George took a deep breath, and the words that came from his mouth felt hot and burned his mouth. "Fred kissed Majandra."
"WHAT?!" Charlie nearly dropped the pan of batter.
George flung his hands in the air and paced over to a chair in the corner, sat down, then got back up again. "We were in Zonko's. Maj and I had wondered off somewhere, and so did Fred. And I don't even remember what happened next, or who went where, but I came around a corner and Fred had his grimey hands on MY girl!!!!"
Investigations
Author: Bill Weasley
Date: 09-17-02 16:48
Upon Professor Dumbledore's humble request, Bill set out to investigate Hogsmeade for anything out of the ordinary. Thankfully, no detrimental curses had been found in and around Hogwarts, establishing once again that the school was the safest place around.
Although odd and potentially dangerous occurrences might be likely in several locations around the village, Bill knew that if there was any place in Hogsmeade where trouble might be brewing, it was the used bookstore. Nevertheless, Bill visited a number of establishments, such as The Hog's Head, in order to do as thorough a search as possible.
In truth, these tedious investigations were not keeping Bill properly entertained. His mind and heart wandered to Twice Told Tales, where he knew something was amiss. He was aware, however, that the Stratfords and Julian Valentine were intelligent people, meaning they'd cover any tracks that could possibly lead to their incriminations.
Nonetheless, Bill had decided on saving his investigation into the inner-workings of Twice Told Tales until last. It was his duty to conduct a thorough inquiry into everything at Hogsmeade, and that was just what he was going to do.
Summer Plans
Author: Draco Malfoy
Date: 09-17-02 17:36
When he noticed Clara enter The Three Broomsticks, Draco smiled and waved her over to his table. He already had a bottle of butterbeer waiting for her, which he handed to Clara as soon as she sat down next to him.
"I've been waiting for you, Clara." He smiled again, his usual cold, gray eyes twinkling just a tiny bit.
Clara returned his smile and happily exclaimed, "Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!"
The couple enjoyed a pleasant conversation covering a wide range of topics, one of which included summer vacation plans. "Clara, I was thinking," Draco took a sip of his butterbeer because his throat suddenly became dry. "I was thinking that maybe you could come to my home during summer break for a little while. What do you think?"
She seemed startled at first, but at the same time very pleased. "I'd love to!"
Draco grinned and pecked her on the cheek. "Great!"
After finishing up their drinks, the pair paid Madam Rosmerta and left the pub, wandering slowing back up to the castle.
Studying
Author: Shayna Ryan
Date: 09-17-02 19:58
Shayna had spent most of the day outside studying for her finals. She had seen a lot of people go down to Hogsmeade for the trip, but hadn't joined them. Most of them were students, but she did remember watching Professor Sorcha go down to Hogsmeade.
She remembered because of the bird. The one that always followed Professor Sorcha, it scared Shayna. She was afraid that she might get ripped apart by it, if she did something wrong.
It was starting to get late, and Shayna was about to leave when something wired caught her eye, Professor Sorcha, coming from the school towards Hogsmeade. The bird was nowhere in sight, which was also strange to see.
"Hey Professor!" Shayna called out. Professor Sorcha stopped and looked up, and smiled.
"Hi...Shayna. Nice day today, isn't it?" Sorcha replied.
"Yeah, it is. Can I ask, where is your bird?"
"Oh, down in Hogsemeade, I am going to go get her."
"Oh, when did you come back up to the school, I didnŐt see you."
"I came back a different way, I forgot something at the school.Ó
"Oh, ok. Hey, weren't you wearing black earlier?" Shayna asked, and then watched Professor Sorcha look at what she was wearing. It was a dark blue outfit, nothing like the black one from earlier.
"Oh, yeah, I was. I was writing a letter, and I spilled ink on myself. That's why I was up here, because I forgot that I had to write a letter. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to get going, I just remembered that I must talk with someone."
With that, Professor Sorcha walked away, headed back towards the school. Shayna was left wondering what had just happened.
G'night
Author: Clara Devaki
Date: 09-17-02 20:13
Upon reaching the castle, Clara and Draco entered the Slytherin common room. It was rather late, so before leaving Clara and the 5th year girl's dorm, he kissed her goodnight.
"Goodnight Clara."
"Goodnight Draco."
Clara, her usual smirk more of a smile, headed up to her room. Not noticing her best friend pretending to sleep, she flopped down on her bed and went to sleep, dreaming of her summertime visit to her beau's home.
For the Best?
Author: Sykra Sawyer
Date: 09-17-02 21:09
After a bit of Aradia trying to get Sykra to smile, Cho joined the two girls. "Shall we be heading back?" She asked, rather forlorn.
"Yea..." Aradia sad as Sykra sighed, nodding. She felt bad. The current situation wasn't just hard on Orlando and herself, but Cho as well. They both were her friends. Sykra gave her friend a slight smile, before starting to walk.
Each of her friends took an arm, and walked with her back to the castle.
Climbing into bed, Sykra closed her. She had just about drifted off before hearing her name whispered.
"Sykra?" Opening her eyes, Sykra replied. "Yeah Cho?"
"Why exactly, again??"
Sighing, the Ravenclaw closed her eyes again. "Cause it's what's for the best...for now..."
"Alright then..."
"G'night Cho..."
"Night..."
Sykra then rolled over, trying not to think about if she had done the right thing or not as she fell asleep.
Starry Night
Author: Belladonna
Date: 09-17-02 23:31
Bella's soft voice rang through the night as she pointed a delicate finger at the sky.
"That's the Northern Crown, Corona Borealis. According to legend, it was given to Ariadne by the gods after Theseus deserted her. Oooh, see the funny one that looks like a kite? He's Bootes the herdsman. When I see him in the sky, I know that spring's here. I'm afraid I tend to measure time by the stars, Love. I'm nocturnal and I sleep during the day. You'll learn about that..."
She snuggled into John more, her eyes dreamy, almost as if there had been a metamorphesis into a romantic person who barely had a conscientious thought. She'd taken him to her favorite place in Hogsmeade to star watch, a lovely glade protected by trees and just outside the village. They lay, snuggled together, under a tree. The remnants of an excellent picnic lunch lay scattered around them.
It really had been an excellent day. She'd made him park the Range a long way off, they'd kicked off their shoes, picked flowers, jumped stones to get to where she wanted to picnic, and were still there hours later with him listening to her talk about the stars like he'd never heard anything more exciting ever. It was quite fun and she loved being wrapped up in his jacket and smelling his cologne. He could keep the Muggle clothes, but the mustache had to go.
She suddenly got up, exclaiming about the time in a shocked tone and behaving like a teenager who felt like she was going to be grounded.
"John, I need to get back. All I need now is for McG to think I'm doing something I'm not and she's already mad about what happened Valentine's Day. Take me back to the castle?"
As she shut the door to her office living quarters to him, thirty minutes later after a a long time spent in the astronomy tower acting like students, she sighed to herself as she got ready for bed. This was really love---something calm that slowly enveloped one. Hell, even Sibyl Trelawney could predict the outcome to this......Urania, Lady Marlborough, called Bella.
Starry Night's
Sudden End - And a Strong Lager...
Author: John 1st Duke of Marlborough
Date: 09-18-02 04:56
John had willingly acquiesced to Bella's sudden request and driven her back in a hurry to the Castle. But after having said the farewell he felt a little empty. Oh, that situation had changed so rapidly! So, the night was still young...what should he do? Was the pub still open, The Three Broomsticks..hmmm...might as well walk down there, leaving the vehicle behind and order a pint of lager to smooth his throat with - and to contemplate why a professor suddenly burst out, as if she was afraid like a little girl! Was the school that strict...he sniggered a little while he walked down the dirtroad....not even HIS Dartmouth College had been all that severe, but, of course, they had had no profs so charmingly enchanting and devastatingly attractive as Bella! Only a bunch of grey, overaged superscholars with Latin proverbs and conjugations and Greek alphabet in their murky, dusty heads...
Ah, well, he would find out. Patience John, he encouraged himself! Everyone are unique, and time enough he'd find out the secrets of her sudden haste to go back to the castle...
Ahhh, Broomsticks was still open. John found the door slightly ajar and next opened it up and entered the premise. "A doublepint lager...do you have Kilkenny perchance?" he demanded as he sat down at the counter...
Re: Dunsidhe,
Ireland
Author: Remus Lupin
Date: 09-18-02 20:49
After the conversation with Padraig and Seamus I take Graine and head off. As recommended I use a charm so that I can't be seen, especially by Muggles. Graine is fast and very powerful flying horse, which is good because right now I can't afford to waste time. I gather up supplies before leaving Dunsidhe. The search for Dierna now begins full scale.
{Location Unknown}:
We Meet Again
Author: Voldemort
Date: 09-18-02 06:23
The death eaters assemble as the sight and searing of their tattoo. They form the circle and wait. Bound on the floor is Harry Potter, still unconscious, but only for a short while longer, when the last of the loyal death eaters apparate, I point my wand at him. "Revivify!" and he awakes.
"See, Death Eaters, Harry Potter is again with us. He was lucky and escaped last time. It won't happen again." I smile in triumph at Harry Potter, "No one knows what happened to you. No one who will help you, anyway. And even if they did, they wouldn't know where to look. So ends the rein of Harry Potter, just like his foolish parents who tried to protect you."
I pace a moment around the circle, then turn back.
"But I don't think I'll kill you. Not quite yet. First I'll let you contemplate your foolishness. McNair, take him to his special chamber!"
