The Duel
Author: Prescott Clearwater
Date: 06-26-02 19:43

As Prescott and Malfoy stood in the entrance hall getting ready to duel, Ginny Weasley showed up.

Malfoy grinned and said, "Hey, look boys. It's Potter's little Weasley girlfriend! What's the matter? Potter losing? Hahaha!"

Prescott said, "Ginny, please go back to the game. This is between Ravenclaw and Slytherin!"

Ginny wouldn't leave but promised not to tell anyone. Malfoy muttered, "Hurry up Clearwater. We've got important business elsewhere!"

A few silent minutes passed by as both stood still.

Finally Prescott shouted and waved, "RELASHIO!" It released a jet of fiery sparks.

At the same time Draco Malfoy shouted, "SERPENSORTIA!"

Hey Go Team!
Author: Bronwyn Dewhurst
Date: 06-26-02 20:39

Small, white flurries of snow slowly drifted from the scattered clouds overhead. The weather was much more pleasant at this Quidditch game than it had been the last time around. Still, Bronwyn was on her feet, screaming her head off like an overly-enthusiastic sports fan.

"Go Team! Whack 'em, Toby! Move your ass, Neo! SCORE!"

If there were cheerleaders in the wizarding world, Bronwyn surely would have been one. She was constantly shouting out at her team, and jumping up and down like an excited little puppy. Susan and Hunter, who cheered along with their loud friend, were quite surprised that Bronwyn hadn't started a pep squad yet.

"Better not give her any ideas," Hunter whispered to Susan, laughing.

They focused their attention back on the game, and participated in the Wave, which Bronwyn had happily started.

After a while and much to everyone's shock, Bronwyn grew tired. She slumped down in her seat, pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on her kneecaps. Her mind drifted away from the game, and to her love life, or lack thereof.

She knew now that when Toby would flirt with her, he wasn't just flirting with her. There was something more there, yet he didn't do anything about it. She, of course, had major feelings for him...everybody knew it. Still, she couldn't bring herself to much more about it either. She knew now that Kendra seemed to be over it, but maybe it was because she was so distracted with Hunter. At any rate, Toby and Bronwyn had the green light, but they were still in park.

Her thoughts then drifted to Prescott, who obviously had feelings for her. Bronwyn really enjoyed his company, but she genuinely felt bad that she didn't feel the same way about him. He was a nice boy. Maybe someday he'd find someone who would like to be with him, too.

Hunter nudged her on the arm to draw her attention back to the game. "Your boyfriend just whacked the hell out of that bludger."

"Boyfriend?" Bronwyn rolled her eyes and feigned innocence. Deep down she was grinning like a love-crazed fool. Instantly, all thoughts were cast aside and she was back on her feet, screaming in the stands like a lunatic.

A Spot of Bad Luck
Author: Majandra
Date: 06-27-02 16:19

Majandra, late leaving for the Quidditch match, rushes around looking for one glove. She distinctly remembers putting them both in a pocket of her winter overcoat/robe but now there's only one. Most likely the other fell out and got kicked under something so Majandra scurries around on her hands and knees looking beneath beds and feeling around under other pieces of furniture.

At length, and after quite a few choice words her mother would be shocked to learn she even knows, Majandra locates the stray glove, makes sure she still has the other, grabs her coat, and Gryffindor scarf, then heads for the stairs down to the common room.

Knowing George expects to see her at the game spurs Majandra to speed up even more.

Last Saturday Majandra had entered the common room after spending the better part of the day in the library to find everyone there in a very happy mood. A jubilant George had bounded over to Majandra, swept her up in a bear hug, soundly kissed her, and explained that his brother Bill had been found. George then said he wanted to be sure Majandra would be at the next week's Quidditch match. His parents and Bill would be there and George thought it would be great for Majandra to meet them. Later in the week, after learning his brother Charlie would also be in attendance, George had gotten Majandra to promise she would definitely be there.

Majandra sighs thinking about why she's so tardy for the match. Although she's not had another weird crush since before Christmas, the nightmares that began just after the first crush still come almost nightly. It seemed last night that every time she'd closed her eyes, a nightmare came in full force. As a result, she really didn't get any true sleep until just before the time she should have been getting up. By that time Majandra was so exhausted, she'd not even heard her roommates stirring. When she did wake up, it was to find the room in full winter sunlight and the whole of Gryffindor House eerily silent.

At that point, Majandra had decided to skip breakfast... again... and with what little time she had before the game, she chose to go to the library and work on a paper that was due the first part of the week. After filling four full pages of parchment, she'd gotten up to retrieve a book she needed to reference before she could finish the paper. Upon returning to the table, Majandra found everything just as she'd left it. Almost. The four pages of parchment were not there. She'd looked everywhere for them and even asked Madam Pince who else had been in the library. According to Madam Pince, though, everyone else who'd been in the library that morning, including Hermione and Ron, had left long ago. Baffled, Majandra had returned to the table, intent on getting as much of her hard work rewritten while it was still fresh on her mind before going to the game. Only she'd lost track of time and when next Majandra had taken notice of her watch, she saw that it was fifteen minutes past the scheduled start of the match.

With one sweep of her arm, Majandra had shoved everything back into her bookbag and as soon as she was past Madam Pince's stern gaze, she'd taken off at a run back to Gryffindor Tower. Halfway there, the bottom fell out of the bookbag and Majandra ended up spending precious time carefully stacking everything so that she could carry it all. To avoid dropping anything for the precariously piled stack, Majandra had been forced to creep slowly along. Finally back in her room, Majandra had then discovered she was missing a glove and knowing it was far too cold to sit at length outside without gloves on, she'd been forced to take the time to locate it.

And now she's late. What if the game is already over? The snitch could have been found very early on. George will be so disappointed if Majandra misses the game entirely. Preoccupied with such thoughts and in her haste, Majandra steps on the hem of her coat as it trails off her arm. She flails her arms and makes a grab for the stair railing but misses and ends up tumbling down the last several steps into the common room. Glad that no one is around to witness her undignified, facedown sprawl, Majandra pushes herself up, once again muttering words she really has no business even knowing.

As she goes to stand, her left ankle and knee buckle, sending her flat on her face once more as well as causing shafts of pain to radiate throughout her entire leg. Gritting her teeth and resisting the urge to curse another blue streak, Majandra shoves herself up again only this time being careful not to put too much weight on her left leg. So as to avoid tripping over it again, Majandra dons her coat and throws the scarf around her neck then painfully makes her way out of the common room. She decides she'll hobble down to the pitch, watch the game, and then afterwards if her leg is still bothering her, she'll head to the hospital wing.

The portrait guarding the entrance to Gryffindor House swings shut after Majandra passes through. She inches away from it and down the hall only to meet resistance. Halfway turning, Majandra sees that the portrait has caught both her coat and her robe underneath when it swung shut. Normally this wouldn't be a problem because all she'd have to do is say the password and the Fat Lady would swing the portrait open again. Only at this moment the Fat Lady is nowhere to be seen. Shaking her head in disbelief and hotly mumbling to herself, Majandra tugs with all her might. When that doesn't work, Majandra slips out of the coat and robe, glad that she's wearing slacks and a sweater underneath (even though no one's around to see even if she weren't).

Turning to face the portrait, Majandra takes a firm hold of the robe and gives it a good yank. Accompanied by a loud ripping noise, the robe pulls free. Swearing yet again, Majandra surveys the damage. Hopefully, the coat will come free without tearing and the hole in the robe will be covered while at the game. She should have known better on a day like today not to hold even a glimmer of hope such as this.

Physically exhausted from too little sleep over too many weeks and from eating so much less for months now than she should, as well as already expending energy to free the robe, plus being in pain from a wrenched knee and sprained ankle, Majandra found freeing the coat much more tedious and time consuming than pulling the robe free had been. Panting from the exertion and the pain, Majandra puts all her remaining strength into one last tug. The distinct sound of material tearing reaches her ears at the same moment the coat pops free. Suddenly off kilter, Majandra stumbles at an angle across the hall, smacking her right elbow against the stone as well as somehow managing to whack her left knee again.

Tears stinging her eyes, Majandra eases the robe back on and then her coat. Gingerly cupping her right elbow with her left hand, she limps down the hall. At the next staircase she encounters, Majandra uses her scarf as a sling so that she can lean on the banister as she walks down. With a little perseverance, she knows she can make it to the pitch though at this point Majandra is sure that at the same instant she finally staggers into the stands, the game will end. If it hasn't already.

Majandra's left hand, hot and sweaty from several minutes spent tightly gripping the railings of various staircases, unexpectedly slides farther down the railing than she's prepared for. This in turn throws her off balance. As she falls headfirst down the flight of steps, the thought pops into Majandra's mind that she should have known better than to be so optimistic about actually making it to the pitch. Coming to a stop at the landing, Majandra lies there on her back, whole body aching, and several spots on her head feeling like they are on fire. The urge to close her eyes is great and Majandra doesn't resist. Instead she thinks that maybe lying there and taking a nap is just what she needs. Just a short one though because she still has to get to the game.

Raid
Author: Prof. Sorcha
Date: 06-27-02 20:48

Parchment littered the floor, drawers hung open empty. Bookshelves had been striped bare; the books were on the floor under the parchment. A ruffling of papers was the only sounds in the room.

A lone figure in a cloak stood over the desk, picking up a stack of parchment, and some books. It was a large number of items for one place. The parchment and books were very valuable to the thief.

It had taken a lot of hard work, to get this far. If it had not been for the information given by the Dark Lord, it wouldn't have been possible. It was to him a large way that the mission had been so successful.

A spell had been used to make the thief look like a friend, and was let into the house. Searching it had taken a lot of time, but was worth it. The auror's important plans, and a few spells had been captured.

With everything done, and the important stuff taken, Sorcha left the home of Dierna. Since she had left when the Quidditch game had started, and the game wasn't over yet, she shouldn't be missed or seen.

The Whiz on a Broom
Author: George Weasley
Date: 06-27-02 21:10

George whizzed around, to and fro on his broom. He held out his bat and whacked a bludger away from one of the Gryffindor teammates, then did a bit of a victory boogie on his broom.

"Oy, George!"

George turned to see Fred grinning at him. "What?"

"Let's frisk 'em, whatcha say?" Fred grinned.

George's grin mirrored his twins. "Tell me when."

"WHEN!"

All at once, a bludger came flying at them both and they sped toward it, whacking it together. The bludger screamed across the air and knocked a Hufflepuff.

"WOOT!" George high-fived his brother.

Fred sped off in the opposite direction and George scanned the crowd for a moment. Where was Majandra? Oh, well. She promised she'd come and she'd make it. George felt warm inside again as he thought about the Gryffindor girl. Fred would poke him in the ribs at dinner and whisper in his ear "You love her." George would blush, but both brother's knew the truth. George Weasley did love Majandra Fine.

Quidditch an' the Like
Author: Rubeus Hagrid
Date: 06-27-02 21:36

I sat in the stands on the Gryffinder side watchin' the game. T'was a right intense game, it was. I tucked me scarf tigher 'round me neck and pulled me mole skin coat close.

"GO GRYFFINDER! ATS ER WAY TER DO IT!" I boomed clapping me giant hands together.

Them bludgers had ter hurt. Jus' looks painful flyin' through the air not touchin' nothin'!

Mebbe later I'll sneak down ter the Tree Broomsticks an' get m'self somethin' ter warm me up! Yeap! Sounds like a right nice plan.

I go back to cheerin' for Gryffinder. "C'MON NOW, 'ARRY! CATCH THA' SNITCH!"

And He's Off!
Author: H Potter
Date: 06-28-02 10:21

Harry stays vigilant hunting for the snitch. He does take a brief moment to wave to Ginny, Hermione and Ron. Well, mainly to Ginny only he's loath to admit that even to himself. The fancy loop the loop ariels he decides to perform right then are just because. No special reason. If Ginny just happens to see his fancy broom work, well that's just extra.

Hearing Hagrid cheering him on, Harry turns the Firebolt to acknowledge his large friend. a twinge of guilt passes over Harry as he realizes he's barely spent any time this school year with Hagrid. Maybe after the game or sometime tomorrow he'll go round for a visit. Thinking of Hagrid's usual tea fare, Harry also decides he'll ask Dobby for something from the kitchen to take along when he goes. Maybe Hermione and Ron would like to go as well. Ginny too if she wanted.

Next Harry sees the elder members of the Weasley clan and waves happily. He knows how relieved they all are to have Charlie out of quarantine and Bill home with his memory pretty much intact. As far as Harry's concerned, the only family missing from the game now is Sirius.

A flash of gold catches Harry's eye just then. He angles his broom down at a sharp angle, fleetly dodging between other players, and avoiding any bludgers. Pulling up a mere inch from the pitch, Harry is in a low crouch over his broom, everything blurring past him. His hand reaches out to snatch the snitch only to have Harry realize what he saw was just an optical illusion of the sun playing over the crystals of snow on the ground.

Sighing, Harry flies back up at a more leisurely pace, once more scanning the pitch for the still elusive snitch.

Frosty the Snowsnake
Author: Pyrrhus
Date: 06-29-02 15:36

As the game progresses and after the second round of butterbeer for all four is finished, Pyrrhus aims a decidedly lopsided grin at the three girls. "This bame ish goring..."

All four break into snickers as Py attempts to rephrase.

"This batch... the Pigitch lame... youse all knowed what I mean," he says as the girls nod then being giggling madly again.

Isolde, as if reading Py's mind, picks up where he left off, "Lettuce leaves an do summit else."

The other three nod at Isolde's excellent idea. All four stand with great difficulty, wondering why the stand is swaying so much. In a brilliant observation as she clutches the stair railing, Lia proclaims, "Gig wusts of bind... er, big gusts of wind... created by all those brooms swoo... swoo... swooshing about."

Py, having decided to sit on the stairs and just sort of slide down them, thinks to himself that while he knew Azaelia was smart, he never knew just how intelligent she actually is until now. Bloody brilliant of her to figure out why the Quidditch stand is moving to and fro.

Once at the bottom of the stairs, the four lean heavily on each other and begin making their way back up to the castle. About halfway there, Alexis stumbles and causes the other three to fall like dominoes as well. They lay there, all doubled up from laughing.

At about the same time, they all get the idea to start building a snowman. Being Slytherins they decide a snake shape is just the thing. As Py and Isolde put the finishing touches on the head, Lia walks along the length of the snake from where she and Alexia were working. Very puzzled she asks, "Ware's hits tail?"

Py gives a derisive snort but the effect is lost when he starts snickering. "Weeze workin onna head. Youse workin onna tail."

"Noooo. Lexieanme iz workin on da head."

Alexis joins them just in time to hear that the snake is two-headed with no tail. She and Isolde exchange wicked grins as they too break into yet another fit of giggles. Isolde, looking up and down the length of the snowsnake, says just about the most sage thing Py's ever heard, "Cain't let Hagie-rid see. Heed wanna name its an make its uh pet."

With that wise pronouncement, all four fall back onto the ground, laughing so hard tears stream from their eyes.

Waste of Time
Author: Prescott Clearwater
Date: 06-29-02 21:11

While the Quidditch match was going on, back at Hogwarts, a duel was going on between prefects Draco Malfoy and Prescott Clearwater. After a long face off Prescott shouted and waved, "RELASHIO!" It released a jet of fiery sparks.

At the same time Draco Malfoy shouted, "SERPENSORTIA!" A jet of fiery sparks came out of Prescott's wand which combined with the snake from Malfoy's wand, which vanished in thin air.

The duel was over and it was a tie. Draco Malfoy put his wand away and muttered, "I've no time for this nonsense. There are more important matters at hand! LET'S GO BOYS! One day Clearwater, you and your whole family will fall to the Heir of Slytherin himself! His pet snake almost got your sister remember? Hahahaha!"

Malfoy and his gang's laughter could be heard all through the castle as they headed for their dungeon common room. Who knows what they will do next!

Prescott turned to Ginny and asked, "What do you think you were doing Ginny? Slytherins are dangerous! I promised your brother Percy that Iwould watch you if your brothers weren't around! Oh well...I suppose Iwill have to escort you to your dormitory or back to the quidditch match. Which shall it be?"

Worries
Author: Lysander Stratford
Date: 06-30-02 14:45

"It's about time!" shouted Lysander to a wizard in a hooded, black robe, who had just arrived at the bookstore with a large crate.

The wizard frowned and asked with a raspy voice, "Where do you want it?"

"This way, this way. Hurry up!" Lysander led the man to a secluded room in the back of the shop, which ordinarily was hidden from view. The man flicked his wand and sent the crate over to a large table in the middle of the room, then bowed and quickly left the shop.

Chyler appeared around the corner and quietly shut the door behind her. They hadn't had any customers all morning because everyone was at the Quidditch game, so she figured she probably didn't need to keep watch at the front of the store. Besides, her husband had been extremely moody all week, and she felt he could really use a massage right about now.

Lysander kept his back to his wife as she approached him seductively. He popped open the crate with his bare hands and threw the lid onto the floor with a bang.

"Sweetheart, you really need to calm down," Chyler said, running her delicate hands up his muscled back.

Lysander pulled a few books out of the box and sighed. "I'm sorry I've been like this all week," he said, dropping the books onto the table.

Chyler started to massage his shoulders and neck as she answered, "Oh, no. Don't get me wrong, I love it when you're angry. Those glares and scowls are so damn sexy!" She laughed and wrapped her arms around his middle, pressing her cheek into his back. "I just don't want to see you all worked up because things didn't go the way we had planned."

"We were just so sure that he was out of our lives forever, and now he's back," Lysander whined, reaching into the crate again to fish out some more heavy books. "You know that he's going to be snooping around in here as soon as he gets back into town."

"Yes, but Julian made sure to cover any tracks. We'll be fine," said Chyler soothingly.

Lysander sighed again and turned around to meet Chyler face to face. He kissed her forehead and said softly, "Even if we don't have to worry about Bill, we do have to worry about Adriana."

Decisions, Decisions
Author: Ginny Weasley
Date: 06-30-02 17:42

"What do you think you were doing Ginny? Slytherins are dangerous! I promised your brother Percy that Iwould watch you if your brothers weren't around! Oh well...I suppose I will have to escort you to your dormitory or back to the quidditch match. Which shall it be?" Prescott said in a daze.

Ginny stood in shock. The duel had been a tie and here she still stood in shock looking at this incredibly sexy perfect and not hearing a word he was saying because she was staring at his incredible eyes. Dumbly she said, "What? I'm sorry, what did you say?"

He let out an exasperated breath. Then slowly repeated himself. "Would you like me to escort you back to the quidditch game or up to your dormitory??"

Ginny thought for a moment and debated which would allow her the most time to talk to Prescott. Finally she blurted out, "My dormitory."

"Fine, I'll escort you back to your dormitory." Trying to be kind to the young Gryffindor, he held out his arm for her to take as he lead her away.

As they reached the stairs to the Gryffindor tower, Ginny stopped him and said, "Prescott...can I ask you something??"

Friendship
Author: Belladonna
Date: 06-30-02 21:12

The man scanned the seats before alighting his eye on the goddess-like target of his search. Okay, he mentally changed goddess to sad angel when he saw the look on her face. Even from a distance, the sadness surrounding her was so great that part of him flowed through him and made him cry. He sat down the full picnic basket before draping a fur blanket around her legs and making sure her fur lined cloak enfolded her shoulders and kept them warm. He planted a kiss on the tear stained cheek and smiled.

"Ah, Bella, never miss a game, do you? It's a rare woman who appreciates Quidditch. I got three owls from your family and another from my sister telling me to come and pay you some attention. Dylan was worried you'd be cold, Izzy thought you might be hungry, your parents thought you'd be releasing emotions, and Brigid thought you might be crying. Here, I come and I find all of them right and you a million miles away.

Cheer up, just a little bit....for me? The emotions coming out of you are making me want to cry and you feel like ice. There's corn beef sandwiches, pickles, crisps, some Guinness, and some tomato soup in this basket. You're either going to show an appetite or I force feed you. Up to you and you're going to tell me what's wrong while you're doing it."

Belladonna Sinistra picked up a sandwich and mechanically ate, not noticing what it was or that it was one of her favorite lunches. She leaned her head on Liam's shoulder and sighed pitifully.

"I'm not that hungry lately. Really, haven't felt like eating anything other than tea in a while. Thanks for coming anyway. Too much going on and I don't know what to do."

He frowned before scooping her up in a big hug and chucking her under the chin. God, she was always so vulnerable. Poor dear probably didn't know who was playing, what the score was, or what day.

"Well, part of the problem's that git who doesn't deserve you but is dating you. Didn't even buy you a Christmas present or owl you to let you know how he's doing. Trust me when I say that if Dylan, Lucian, and myself ever get our hands on him, he won't live to see the next day after we pound his kidneys. Dump him or have him dump you, because, Bella my girl, you aren't in any relationship.

Okay, I'm being too harsh. Give him until Valentine's Day and then dump him. Plan A: have a cozy dinner with Charlie while apologizing for having listened to your mother and letting him know you want a fresh start.

Plan B: if he doesn't call you, put on your smartest dress, get fairies to do your hair, spritz yourself with your best perfume, dust on a little fairy dust, get out some jewelry from your safe, look luminous, and have dinner and drinks with me before I take you dancing to cheer you up. We'll go to that place in Verona you like that has the courtyard alit with thousands of sparkling lights. Now, is it a deal and can I coax a little smile out of you?"

She sighed again before burying her face in his shoulder and giving a brave smile which was negated by the sad look in her eyes.

"I guess that sounds okay, Liam. I really appreciate it. Sure you want to take a depressed witch out after her boyfriend rejects her?"

He chuckled and looked at her nibbling the sandwich and having a sip of soup. She felt warmer and wasn't crying as much. Good for her. Maybe all she needed to know was that someone cared for her.