Late Start, Late Gift
Author: Lawrence Masterson
Date: 04-15-04 10:50

Christmas and New Years had been calm, quite and most definitely enjoyable for both he and Vera, considering things had been smoothed out between them. They enjoyed a late lunch with Susan before the trio returned to the common room. Lawrence had told Vera that he didn't have her Christmas present because Aunt Maribel had forgotten to owl it to him on time. Of course this was a lie and the gifts had been left upstairs in his room waiting for today.

When the entered the common room, Lawrence pulled Susan aside. "Susan, can you keep Vera busy for a little while?" He'd told her the plan he had had about a week and a half ago. She also knew that Vera's presents had been hidden within Lawrence's room since the week before they had patched things up.

"No problem Lawrence." She grinned and then slipped off to keep her best friend occupied for a little while.

Lawrence excused himself from the two girls and headed up to his room. With a laugh he quickly gathered the two boxes, the larger box he'd wrapped in glittering blue and gold paper and secured with gold and blue ribbon, keeping with their house colors. He took a few minutes to pen a letter upon a piece of parchment and rolled it securing it with a blue and gold ribbon he tucked the ring box into his pocket and headed back down to the common room.

"Vera..." Her name the only word upon his lips as he approached the table where the two girls were doing a little bit of homework, since they knew they couldn't put it off any longer. "I've got a few things for you..." He smiled, and Susan chuckled. Vera tossed a look between her boyfriend and her best friend, and then it dawned on her that something was up.

"I know it's late, but Merry Christmas Vera." He pulled the flat box with the secured parchment from behind his back and handed it to Vera. "I hope you like it..."

Both he and Susan watched as Vera tore into the wrapping paper and saw her eyes widen at the sterling silver necklace and broom charm. She ran her fingers over it before withdrawing the parchment from its ribbon and unrolling it.

To the one who holds my heart,

My life hasn't been the same in the seemingly short time that I have known you Vera. I treasure every moment we spend together, every smile that I bring to your face. I hate the moments I make you cry, and do my best to make them up to you. I do not think that there are words in any language to tell you just how much you mean to me, and how much I love you.

I know this year will be your last here at Hogwarts, and I know the future is uncertain, but I do know that I want you as a part of my future Vera. The necklace is only the first part of my gifts for you, the second rests within the small box that now rests within my hand.

I love you,

Lawrence

He held out his hand as she looked up to him after reading the words written upon the parchment. Laying within the palm of his hand was a small box, most definitely a ring box. "Open it Vera..." It was all he said.

She took the box from him and slowly opened it. Soft gasp as she saw the claddagha ring resting upon its bed of black velvet. Sterling silver, a heart shaped emerald glittering in the light, resting beneath the crown and held within the hands.

"I know we are too young to think of marrying, but I want this to be a promise ring between us Vera. I don't want to lose you, I want you to be part of my life always...." Lawrence spoke softly.

Vera looked up at him, tears streaming down her cheeks as she quickly rose and threw her arms around Lawrence's neck, kissing him.

Then it dawned on her, and she shot a glance between Lawrence and Susan. "How long have you two been planning this?!?!?!" She questioned, knowing both of them quite well..

"Long enough." Both Lawrence and Susan answered in unison.

Rest and Relaxation - First Holiday without Mom and Dad
Author: Orieliah McCoi
Date: 04-15-04 11:03

Orei sat on the couch at the house that Aussie and her brother Brett shared. They had gone to Jared's house for Christmas Eve and Day and then had spent New Years Eve just relaxing and not thinking about Brett and Orei returning to Hogwarts not too long from now.

Orei laughed as she tossed a chocolate jelly bean from her bag of Bertty Bott's Every Flavored Beans at Brett as he walked in. He yelped in surprise which garnished a giggle from the second year who had a book opened on her lap.

"Whatcha doing?" Brett asked as he sat down next to Orei.

"Just reading over some potions stuff." She said, shifting to lean against him. "Whatcha up to?" She asked, poking him playfully in the side, potions obviously forgotten for the moment.

"Was just looking for you, wondering if you wanted to maybe go for a walk or something..." He grinned shifting as she poked him.

There was chemistry between the two Gryffindors, but they both knew that with their age difference it would make things difficult, so they remained simply close friends. "Oh, got an owl from mom yesterday, she said she will be sending the gifts to school, so they are there when we get back. Her and dad will be back from San Fransisco in about two weeks."

The two then rose, and decided to go for a walk, needing to get out of the house.

New Year's Revolutions
Author: Nevvyn
Date: 04-15-04 11:47

"D'ya know, Lads?" I say, looking up from the aged herbology text I ma reading. "This is the first day of the new year. A traditional time for the making of resolutions."

The three Toms glance up at me from where they are sprawled in front of the fire. They have been playing a very involved and somewhat modified game of Chinese Checkers. For the life of me, I cannot figure out the rules or the strategy. For one thing, none of the marbles are the same color. For another, some seem to make the traditional single jump, while others are able to leap over two or three men at a time. One of the lads has just finished his turn and asks, "Revolutions? Isn't that what the Muggle folk do when they want to throw over the government?"

"I think you mis-heard me," I reply. "I was talking of resolutions! That's a sort of promise that you make to yourself, that you will try to do better or improve in some way."

Now, I have the full and undivided attention of all three of my charges. They look at me with questioning faces. Brownies are always anxious to learn more about the strange doings of humans. Also, it is possible that they do not understand the concept of self-improvement. They seem to feel that Brownies, like Mary Poppins, are "practically perfect in every way!"

"For example!" I continue. "I am sitting here, re-reading this old book, when I have a dozen cases in the storage room, of books I have not read. I hereby resolve to read a new book each week! And when I am finished, I will donate those I don't want to keep, to the public library. Does that help with your understanding?"

The three huddle together in front of the fire for several minutes, talking in hushed whispers. Finally, they turn to face me again. "I," says one, "will eat enough chocolate frogs to complete my collection of Famous Wizard Trading Cards!" "And I," says another, "resolve to learn every piece of music that Captain Electron ever wrote or sang!" The third screws up his face with the thinking, since his two brothers have just taken his first and second choices. "And I will resolve," he says, to go down to Briar's Bakery, every day, just to tell her how good the place smells!"

"But you are already doing all of those things!" I tell them.

"Yes!" they reply as one. "But now that they are Resolutions, we will have to Work at making sure we get them done!"

Poke
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 04-15-04 16:33

It was late morning in Seattle when Bronwyn finally awoke. She kicked the blankets off of her body and threw her legs over the side of the bed as she rose to a sitting position. She stretched her arms and arched her back, feeling each vertebra crack. The sun was shining brightly, right through the mini-blinds on the window, which cut the light into thin bands, which grew thicker and longer as they stretched across the room.

Bronwyn, dressed in lilac, silk pajamas, climbed out of bed and padded across the carpet with bare feet. She opened the door and stepped out into the hallway and walked a few doors down to Desi's room, which was unlocked. Bronwyn let herself inside and walked up to Desi's bed, which consisted of a heap of blankets and a head of unruly, multi-colored hair. Bronwyn pointed her right index finger and poked the heap.

Desi didn't move.

Bronwyn poked it again, this time a bit harder.

Still, the mountain remained restful.

Bronwyn poked again.

"Stop poking me, Bronwyn," Desi finally mumbled, rolling over.

Bronwyn arched an eyebrow and said, "I'll stop if you get up."

"You know where the kitchen is. You can eat breakfast, or lunch as is probably the case, by yourself." Desi had her eyes shut.

"I'm not going there with knowledge that your sister is roaming this house freely," Bronwyn remarked, going to the window to throw open the curtains.

Desi flinched, even though her eyes were closed.

"Since meeting Bianca, I've been stepped on, pushed around, scratched, had my hair pulled, my arms punched and I've sustained a number of other injuries I don't even want to remember. I can't wait until we go back to Hogwarts. School starts in a few days, don't you know?"

"I never thought your patience would run out," Desi admitted, finally opening her eyes. "You're so nice to everybody all the time. I'll have seen everything if you beat Bianca up before we leave."

"Don't encourage me."

"I won't. She'll beat you down before you get a chance to even get the notion into your head!"

"I'm hungry. Will you escort me to the kitchen, please?" Bronwyn pouted.

Desi rolled her eyes. "Okay."

Happy New Year from St. Mungo's
Author: H Potter
Date: 04-15-04 16:54

Gazing out the window in his room, watching the flurries of snow falling on the Muggles passing by, none of them every suspecting this building is really a hospital for witches and wizards and assorted other beings. He only turns away from the street scene when the door opens and closes and Jericho Kensington, the healer who's been working with Harry, loudly clears his throat then states, "I have the last dram of potion you need to take before I can consider discharging you, Harry. We should have you out of here in time to catch the Hogwarts Express back to school for the new term."

"Oh goodie," Harry flatly states, obviously less than thrilled.

"Thought you'd be happy to get out of here."

"Sure, I can't wait to get out of this prison but then what? I get to go back to school and try to explain to people it's not my fault I ticked them all off and turned my back on them. It's going to sound like I'm making up excuses just to get back in their good graces."

"The ones who are truly your friends will accept what you tell them and work with you to smooth out the differences that this spell caused you to create."

Harry takes the small potions bottle and downs the elixer, making a face at its bitter taste. After handing back the bottle he shrugs, "Maybe. Guess I'll find out soon enough."

Kensington moves to the door, saying as he walks out, "Happy New Year, Harry."

Harry, already back in his spot by the window, calls out automatically, "Happy New Year to you too, Jericho."

The Burrow: Conversation with Ron
Author: Hermione Granger
Date: 04-15-04 21:05

"I'll be quite busy for the first part of summer making arrangements for my home, my parents' practice, and all of the other things I didn't have time for this Christmas. Then it's off into the real world. It's a bit scary, isn't it? I'm so used to the daily routine of Hogwarts. It's all we've really known these past seven years. Tell me you're not honestly still considering Quidditch as a professional career?" Hermione placed a book in a suitcase and turned to look at Ron, who was reading a recruitment pamphlet for the British Quidditch teams.

"I've told you over and over again, Hermione," Ron started, looking up briefly to look at his girlfriend, "I'm going to give pro-Quidditch a try. There will be recruitment camps all summer long, and hopefully a team like the Chudley Cannons" (Ron crossed his fingers as he spoke) "will like what they see and sign me on. It won't hurt to try, and if I don't make it, well then maybe I'll look into something else."

"Well, suppose you don't make the team," Hermione questioned, "what do you think you'd do then?"

Ron shrugged. "Maybe I'll look into becoming an auror."

"That's a respectable position, but a dangerous one as well," Hermione noted.

"I laugh in the face of danger, and then I hide until it goes away," Ron joked, and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"You're frightened of everything. Do you think you'd make a good auror?"

Ron looked surprised. "Do you think I wouldn't?"

Hermione glanced at him briefly and said, "There's a spider on your arm."

Ron jumped nearly ten feet in the air and frantically swatted at his arm, but nothing was there. "Hey! That wasn't nice!" He bent over to pick up the discarded pamphlet and turned back to the page he had been reading.

"Actually, I think you'd probably make a very good auror, but it'd be a lot of work!"

"Playing pro-Quidditch will be a lot of work too, Hermione," Ron said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Back there again, are we?"

"Well, it's true." Ron thumbed through the pamphlet a bit longer before he spoke again. "What do you think Harry's been up to?"

"Spending time with Sirius. They've lost so many years together."

Ron nodded, set the pamphlet aside and asked, "Did you want to visit your father again today?"

"Yes, let's do. I want to wish him a Happy New Year."

Trouble Ahead
Author: Desdemona Diamond
Date: 04-16-04 07:15

I pushed the mountain of blankets off the bed and onto the floor as I sat up. Bronwyn had just wakened me up so I can go with her to the kitchen. She was afraid that my sister would be there, and if they were alone then Bronwyn might receive yet another injury. The worst part was that Bianca was really being nice, for her at least.

I picked myself up and waddled over to my closet to find something to wear. Bronwyn went back to her room to get changed. I put on some random cloths and went to wait for Bronwyn to finish her half-hour long selection process. When she was done we headed for the kitchen.

Even though we had matching boots, which Bron kept complaining were clashing with every single outfit she had, only one of us could be heard clomping down the stairs. None of Bronwyn's shoes would protect her feet from Bianca, so Bronwyn had agreed to wear my other pair of boots so Bianca couldn't break her toes. The only complaint I had about the boots so far was how badly they clashed with every single one of her outfits.

We made it into the kitchen and saw that lunch had just been finished. So, we moved to the dining room while my mom followed with our plates. She left to go bring my sister down for lunch. Bronwyn and I ate for a few moments in silence before my sister arrived and took a seat on the opposite end of the table. My parents arrived with my sister and they also started eating.

"So, I hope you're all packed to go," My mom said breaking the quiet in the room.

"Yeah, I'm packed and ready to go back to that dumb school," My sister said covering up my low "Huh?"

My mom looked at me, "Don't you remember that you're flying back to England today?"

"Since when do people travel on New Year's Day?" I asked.

"They have to if they want to get over jetlag before school starts."

"Oh, makes sense I guess," I grumbled. After a moment I asked, "Hey, why is Bianca packed too if she's only going…two time zones…no, one time zone over? She doesn't have to worry about jetlag."

"No she doesn't, but the ticket we bought for her was only for a short visit," My mom explained. I just nodded and focused into my food. When I was near done my mom spoke again, "Girls, you all need to get ready to leave now. Des make sure you’re all packed."

I stood and thought a moment. I didn't really take anything since my cloths at school are different; the only thing I really traveled with was gifts and a few other things. So, I didn't really touch my luggage when I came home. That means I was already done.

"Don't worry, I'm all done packing now, or at least mostly done...I think," I told her.

"Just make sure dear. Don't worry about the dishes I'll clean up. Go make sure you're ready. You need to leave in about a half hour."

Bronwyn and I headed back up to our rooms to finish packing. As I thought I was pretty much done. I threw a few things into my bag and I was done. I wandered my way over to Bronwyn's room to pass the time. She was carefully folding her clothing and placing them in her luggage bag.

The whole time I sat on the bed I got the lecture on how to carefully pack your clothing and what could happen if you don't. When Bronwyn was done, she grabbed her bags and headed over to the stairs. I went back to my room and grabbed my bag and joined her on the way downstairs.

"Hey, what are you doing?" I asked Bianca, who was already downstairs with her own luggage.

"My flight is a half hour after yours so we have to share the car." She grinned one of those evil grins of hers as she looked at the both of us.

A Splash in the Night
Author: Kairi
Date: 04-16-04 17:55

After Sora fell asleep, Kairi and Riku decided to go downstairs to the kitchen. Once they found a place to sit, they began talking about their plans for the summer. "Me, I'm going back to Hawaii to visit my friends and family," began Kair.i "I can't wait to get some major surfing time in, yeah!" Riku grinned, "Surfing huh? Sounds like a lot of fun."

"Sure is." said Kairi as she reached over the counter for some cookies. "Ya know what...I think we should wake Sora up if you know what I mean." She grinned widely. Riku's expression then turned into a sly smirk. "Let's do it!"

Tiptoeing back upstairs, Riku and Kairi silently entered Sora's room. He was snoring as usual and the two carefully picked him up, making sure not to wake him. Kairi gave a silent laugh. "Should we go throw him out in the snow?" she asked. Riku shook his head. "It's too cold outside." His expression turned into a wicked smile. "I've got a better idea."

Riku and Kairi carried Sora carefully down to the first floor, surprised that he hasn't woken up yet. "Geez! Kiwi is quite the sleeper!" said Kairi. Riku smiled. "Yeah, you should have seen him on Christmas." They finally found their destination.

"The pool room?" asked Kairi as she gave Riku a glance. He was smiling broadly. Kairi smiled widely. "Excellent!" she said as she opened the sliding door. Trying to keep their voices down, they then laid Sora on the floor; Kairi then began to take off Sora's shoes.

"What are you doing that for?" asked Riku. Kairi gave a sharp look. "Are you kidding?! These are his pride and joy!" Riku seemed to catch her point. "Yeah, you're right...He'd kill us if we did any harm to them." Finally taking off his oversized shoes, they picked Sora up again and edged over to the pool. "Ready?" said Riku. Kairi gave a big smile. "One...two..."

"THREE!"

They threw Sora in the deep end as far as they could, and he landed with a big 'splash!' Sora made a gurgling noise and he woke with a start. "WHAT THE HECK!!!" he shouted. His gaze quickly met with Kairi and Riku's. "YOU BUNCH OF HOSERS!! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO?! KILL ME?!!!!"

*gurgle* and Good Night!
Author: Sora
Date: 04-16-04 23:23

Swimming back to the edge of the pool, Sora silently cursed under his breath as he got closer to Kairi and Riku, who were laughing their heads off. "Ha ha, very funny. Now pull me out will ya?" he said raising both hands. Kairi and Riku obliged and offered him a hand. Sora grabbed their arms tightly and pulled them in.

There was a 'splash!' as Kairi and Riku toppled in. It was now Sora's turn to laugh. "HAHAHAHAHA!!! Who's laughing now?" said Sora, but really, the last laugh belonged to Kairi and Riku as they dunked Sora under water. He gave a loud 'blub' and they let him up for air. Having the time of their lives, Kairi, Riku and Sora all decided to stay in the pool for a little longer, as they splashed water all over each other.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The trio made their way upstairs after Garnet insisted on having Kairi stay over that night (mostly to dry off after that little 'swim'). As Riku went to his room to dry himself off, Sora showed Kairi where she'll be sleeping. He led her to the room at the end of the hall. He led her in then wished her goodnight as he shut the door behind him.

Returning to his bedroom, Sora closed his door and grabbed a towel that was sitting on his bed. There was a knock at the door following Garnet's voice. "Sora, you forgot your shoes!" she said. Sora smacked himself on the head as he went to get his shoes from his mother. "It's not like you at all to forget your shoes! What's the matter with you? Waterloged?" she joked as she gave Sora a kiss on his forehead goodnight.

Sora was finally dry as he jumped in his bed, which was warmed up by Felix. He stroked her lovingly then bid her good night. This is the life... thought Sora as he gave a long yawn.

Now I don't want to go back to school...