The Usual
Author: Draco Malfoy
Date: 03-26-04 21:06
Draco stepped inside Gringotts bank, signalling to Crabbe and Goyle to wait outside, and approached the teller. He requested some money from his newly opened vault, thankful that his father had arranged it a week earlier. With a sack of coins in hand, Draco walked back outside and joined his comrades, who had been standing around blowing hot air into their hands. It was a cold, December day.
Draco stuffed the money sack into his robe pocket, where it fell in beside the magical medallion. He'd thought better than to wear it, though the urge had been strong. He knew he'd do nothing more than get a migraine if he wore it in the hustle and bustle of Hogsmeade, especially today of all days when every Hogwarts student old enough was in town.
The boys walked into The Three Broomsticks, the only place they ever seemed to go, and meandered to their usual booth--but it was already occupied. Santhea Fennally was sitting in one of the seats, sipping a butterbeer and staring out the window. She didn't even see Draco and his goons approach.
"You're in my seat, Fennally," Draco said.
Santhea turned to look at him...
Bored to Tears
Author: Kairi
Date: 03-26-04 22:50
It was that time again, Hogsmead weekend. All the older classmates had the privlage to go to the little town of Hogsmead and have a blast. Whilst the younger class had to stay at the castle…
Kairi, Sora, Tranquillina and Roane sat in the Gryffindor Common room lazed about and staring at the wall, ceiling or out the window in Kairi's case. They were bored and couldn’t think of anything to do. For once they had finished their homework and didn’t want to study. Riku had decided to go to town, but promised to bring back some treats.
"Soo..." Sora started. "Anyone up for Wizards Chess?" Everyone groaned. "Ok…how about we go out and fly around?" Again, groans. "Well I'm out of ideas then!"
Kairi arched a brow. "That's really all you could think of kiwi?" She glanced over at him.
"What? I'm bored to tears! My mind is spinning with boredness!" Sora replied, followed by a laugh from Kairi.
"Spinning with boredness, is it?" She snickered. The other girls just sat not realizing they were talking. For another few minutes the quartet sat in silence as before. "Alright... that's it!" Kairi finally said. "Sora, get out a Wizard Chess set! Let's have a go!"
Sibilings... You Know?
Author: Sebastian Sjoblom
Date: 03-27-04 11:19
Sebastian gives the conversation a moment's reflection, and then weaves quickly through the throng blocking his path to the door, forgetting to say goodbye and subsequently knocking his knee painfully against the wall. He emerges into the cold air with a slight limp and sweeps his eyes around for Arley, meaning to ask him about the mentioned altercation over Bianca.
He slips onto the bench beside him, realizes he's sat too close, and scoots over. When Arley, examining the spires of the castle in the distance, doesn't notice him, he taps him on the shoulder.
"Hmm?" Arley looks up.
"You have forgotten your drink," Sebastian says in textbook English. He proffers the half-empty bottle, sloshing its contents back and forth.
"Thanks," Arley says, taking the bottle by the neck but not drinking.
"Siblings," he sighs, smiling. "You know?" Sebastian is about to tell Arley that no, he doesn't, as he's an only child, but opts for a more tactful response.
"Yes," he says. "Did she tell you she was visiting?"
"Would she ever?" Arley rolls his eyes. "I have no idea why she's here. Just came to embarrass me, prob'ly."
"She's the famous one?" Sebastian inquires. He crosses one leg over the other and kneads the hurt kneecap with the heels of his hands.
"Yep."
"Your middle name's James?"
"Right again."
"I think I knew that." Sebastian examines the facade of the Three Broomsticks across the street, and the occupants of one window booth catch his eye. Fallon, Desi, and Bron are barely visible through the glass. Desi looks surprised, then a laugh from Fallon (Sebastian wonders what her laugh sounds like and then decides that it must be slightly horsey), and then discourse on some topic, fairly lighthearted.
His thoughts are interrupted by Arley blowing across the lip of his now-empty butterbeer bottle, producing a long deep note. Sebastian smiles and offers a hand.
"You're done?" he says. "Let's go back."
Arley, still cradling the bottle in one hand, takes Sebastian's palm in the other and squeezing once. His grip is a little callused, dry (if butterbeer-sticky), and reassuringly warm in contrast to the numbing December air. It's the fourth time they've held hands since the Quidditch game (Sebastian counted). Before they can cross the street, Sebastian hears a rather loud laugh and notices Lee Sickleby at the end of the lane with Justin and Ernie, his seventh-year friends, too wrapped up in his joke to have noticed them yet.
He quickly jams both hands into the pockets of his Muggle trousers, earning him a disappointed whine from Arley. Sebastian grins.
"Cute," he says almost to himself as he follows Arley back into the Three Broomsticks. The air is blessedly warm.
"'S far's I can tell," Fallon is saying when they return. She spots Arley and tousles his hair. He exhales through his nose like a disgruntled horse, causing Sebastian to unconsciously lift a protective hand to his own whitish head to avoid a similar gesture of familiarity. Fallon laughs at her brother. (Her laugh is indeed a slightly horsey, Sebastian notices with satisfaction, but the equine idiosyncrasies suit Arley better.)
"So I tell you guys why I'm here?" she asks. Heads are shaken. Arley slides into the leather seat, and Sebastian follows.
"Well, there was a little, uh... tiff with the Stormers," she says, referring to her pro Quidditch team. "So I'm lookin' for a nice quiet place t'lay low, hide out fr'm the press."
"Here?" Arley asks, looking up from the window. "Here in Hogsmeade?"
"Yep, we get good 'nough salaries that some folks on the team got a han'ful of summer houses," she says flippantly.
"You're looking for a summer house?" Arley asks. "Then why're you here in December?"
"I could stay long-term if that's what yer askin' for, AJ," she says.
His eyes go as wide as saucers.
Understanding?
Author: Arlington J Montgomery
Date: 03-27-04 15:27
Arley almost jumped out of his seat. "Long-term? Ya gotta be crazy Fal! Go back home! Go back to your team!"
Fallon blinked. "Go back home? I thought you would be happy if I stayed here for a while, baby brother. Looks like I was wrong."
"Nah, it's okay, sorry I said that. It might be fun if ya hang around a while. Ya know...we could use help with some Quidditch moves. Seb and I are both Chasers, and Desi's our Keeper. So having you in Hogsmeade might not be too bad."
"Glad you see it that way. You're a Chaser, huh? Taking after me, I'm so proud of ya AJ!"
"Turning to Sebastian, she smiled. "He always this moody? What are you, his boyfriend or something? If'n ya are...you two make one heck of a cute couple. Two handsome boys."
Arley's eyes widened again. "Fal, we're not...umm..." The sixteen year-old's hands were shaking. "I just...we..." Suddenly he felt trapped. He didn't know what to say so he turned to Sebastian. "Help..."
Fallon smiled. "It's alright boys, I think I understand."
Wizard Chess
Author: Tranquillina Aemilius
Date: 03-27-04 18:57
Sora promptly whipped out a Wizard Chess set and soon her and Kairi were off playing. Tranquillina and Roane quickly crowded around.
Sora was in the process of contemplating his first move, when Saturn appeared from no where and decided to lay across the chess set.
"SATURN!" Tranquillina rushed to remove the cat. "I *am* sorry, guys! Bad cat!" She reprimanded the cat and set him on the floor.
"No matter," smiled Sora and the game quickly began again....while Tranquillina restrained Saturn on her lap.
A Sudden End
Author: Desdemona Diamond
Date: 03-27-04 22:31
Arley had just confirmed what he had been trying to deny. Him and Seb were going out, they just didn't want anyone to know. It made sense, the way they looked when they were together, and all that.
"Hay, Fallon. I just realized something. Now that you're here I can get you to add some color to your hair." I suddenly say.
"Well, maybe some blue, but not the whole thing." She replies.
"Of course not, just a few streaks, and then we can add in a couple other colors like a dark purple."
"No, just blue." She says.
"It's a start but I think you'll look good with more color."
"Speaking of which, Desi, why do you have all those colors in your hair?" Bron asks.
"Cause I like them." I reply.
"You told me that you did it because it would ward off some kind of evil powers." Arley piped up, happy to be on another subject.
"Well… I once had a stalker!" I changed the subject.
"You what?" Bron asked, "Everyone says they had a stalker."
"No, I really did." I defend.
"Oh yeah, I remember that," Fallon says, "They found footprints outside your window and everything." Arley starts to look uncomfortable again for some reason. "They had a suspect, but didn't he move out of the country?" Fallon asks.
"Yeah, he did, and so did I for that matter. I think I know who was stalking me…" I never got to finish the thought, since at that time Arley stood up catching the attention of the table.
"It's time we headed back to the castle, it's getting late." With that he walked out. The three of us students looked amongst each other and looked outside. It was getting pretty late.
"Well, Fal, it was great seeing you again, I'll see you soon." I said as I left. The other two said their goodbyes and followed the now distant Arley to the castle.
Wizard Chess!! Hahaha!
Author: Sora
Date: 03-27-04 22:47
Sora made his first move as he gave one of his pawns his instructions. It started good, till Kairi started to get good. This made Sora worry a little. Oh no!! I'm losing again! he thought as Kairi took his queen.
Ten minutes have passed and now all that was left for Sora was his King! Kairi gave an evil laugh as she rose her hands acting like she was going to jump on Sora at any moment. Whenever she did this, Sora cringed a little.
Sora had to act quickly. Think Sora! THINK!!! he thought. He pulled on his hair. Kairi was growing a little impatient. "C'mon Kiwi! Make yer move!" she said. Sora smacked himself on the head.
I think I may just have an idea...! thought Sora. He looked at Kairi, Tranquillina, and Roane. They were all looking a little anxious for Sora's next move. Acting surprised, Sora then absentmindedly rose his hand and pointed over Kairi's head. "Hey! What's that outside the window?!" he shouted. He then felt a trickle of sweat run down his face. I just pulled the oldest trick in the book... he thought. He then moved his head to see what everyone thought of his sudden outburst.
But to Sora's surprise, everyone was looking intensely outside the window. Kairi showed the most interest. "Ooooh! Where? I wanna see!" she said. Sora looked over to everyone. They were all looking out the window with sudden interest too. "Yeah! What is it?" said Tranquillina. They all rose out of their chair and over to the window. "I don't want to miss anything!" came the voice of Roane.
Sora gave a wickedly excited grin. I can't believe they fell for it! Now's my chance! Sora then quickly (but quietly) turned the chessboard around, so that he was now black, and Kairi was white. He gave a sly grin and then walked over to join everyone. "Oh! Darn! You just missed it!" he said. He then patted them all on the back. "Maybe next time, Oh! Let's get back to the game!"
Once they all sat down, Kairi just looked at Sora with a triumphant look. "Well, now will you make yer move Kiwi?" she said. Sora only gave a nervous look. "Oh, right... er... let's see..." (He was acting *hehehe*). He gave his queen his instructions and then with a quick "Check Mate" Sora leaned back in his chair with a big grin on his face.
Kairi looked extremely surprised! Sora had to try his hardest to hold in his laughter. Kairi then started to think rather hard as she pointed her fingers this way and that, muttering to herself silently. Then after a moment's hesitation, she let her King (or rather, 'Sora's' King) fall on his face.
Sora gave a chuckle and let one of the other girls take his seat. Once they did, Sora left the common room and went out of the portrait hole before anyone could figure out what he did.
Jealousy?
Author: Santhea Fennally
Date: 03-28-04 04:32
Gazing up at the Slytherin Prince, Santhea replied lazily, "Oh am I? So sorry. Didn't see your name engraved anywhere though..." Smirking, she added, "So are you going to keep standing there staring at me like idiots, or are you going to sit down?"
Murmuring something about self-righteous women, Draco sank into the seat next to the red-head, gesturing for Crabbe and Goyle to follow suit.
Once they were all seated, Draco's eyes fixed on something he had not seen before, a letter lying in front of Santhea. Quickly skimming it, anger flared inside of him. "So, your little boyfriend misses you, doesn't he?"
Her eyes widened, and for some reason, Draco smirked. 'The letter, it's still lying in front of you... Wait a minute...' Indeed, her friend Chantal had written to her, inviting her to come to France for the Christmas holidays. And she had stated that Phillippe missed her. Phillippe, her 7 year old brother.
"Why yes, now that you mention it. Of course he misses me, and our little games... I might have to visit him soon, or he will get utterly depressed. Besides, I always preferred the French way of celebrating to the British." Pulling all her talent into the act, she managed to blush. 'Take that, Malfoy.'
Behind them, a cold voice snarled, "What a shame, Fennally. So you're not going to stay in England for Christmas? And here I was thinking you'd stay at Hogwarts. Not that anyone else will. Well, perhaps the Gryffindor dream-team..." Pansy had closed in on her four house-mates and now stood in front of the table. "What a shame your father had to disinherit you now, so close to the Holidays..."
"I'd rather be disinherited than part of a family like yours, Parkinson." Once again, Santhea mused about the similarity between Pansy and a fish. "I see your mouth is moving, but I can't hear you, Pansy dear..."
"Get going Parkinson, or I'll be forced to assist you," Draco spat out. "You're a disgrace to the house of the great Salazar Slytherin. How you became my fellow prefect is beyond me..."
Regaining her ability to speak, Pansy replied, "Well, at least I'm not making a fool of myself running after a girl that's already taken..." Turning to Santhea, she whispered, "I'll see you around, Fennally." With that she was gone, and Draco turned his attention once again to the young woman next to him.
"She's got a point, you know. I really don't know why in Merlin's name I still hang around you..." Pointing to the letter, he added, "But rest assured, it won't happen again..."
Smiling sweetly, Santhea replied, "My my, Malfoy. One might think you're jealous. Jealous of a tiny boy, I might add, who sees in me a sister. A sister that doesn't yell at him but sometimes even plays with him." Getting to her feet, she added, "You will have to excuse me now. I have to write a letter, accepting the only invitation I got. As I have no intention to stay here, and as no one else seems to be wanting to spend Christmas with me..." And how she had hoped that someone would want her to come to his home again.
