Harry Potter Bedding

Harry Potter J'adore Gryffindor Twin Bed Set (Comforter and Sheets) Designed in various shades, this complete Harry Potter J'adore Gryffindor bed set features the house logo against a beautiful red and black background. Includes comforter, flat sheet, fitted sheet and one pillowcase. 90% polyester, 10% cotton. This set is only available in twin size. $89.99

Visit our friendly Harry Potter Forum to discuss the adventures at Hogwarts, like these recent posts:

Author	Message
FortisUmbra Joined: 18 August 2009 Posts: 216	Posted: Saturday 6 February 2010 06 54 01 pm    Post subject: Re: The Shadow in topic:The Shadow Mathew took a seat in a very comfortable armchair and looked around. It was a nice room it looked like a living room in a house. there was a fire place and a small book shelf several armchairs a couch and a few side tables. looking at the couch he saw Mary sitting looking a little nervous and worried. she looked at Mathew and smiled a little. it was then she said "This is one of the things i hate most about knowing things before other people. there is something i need to tell you that is not for me to tell you." Mathew was a little confused "What do you mean?" he asked "Well its about your father. He's going to die." Mathew sat in silent shock. his father die? but how? "How is he going to die?" "Well this is the part i was saying was not my place to tell you. You see your father has very bad cancer and he has not told you. he has about a week well five day." Mathew sat again in silence. "Well i need to see him." "Thats all taken care of. I told your superiors and they gave you seven days leave. Five to see your father and two days for the funeral. they also suggested bringing your assignment a Johnathan. they said it would be good for him to see the other planet. Also i really don't want to rush you but you need to leave i have some one else who is coming in to be told about their sister dieing." Mathew nodded and stood up to leave. he was in a daze and didn't even think about using a portal as he walked back to his room using the elevator. when he got there he fell on his bed and looked up at the ceiling.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2486 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 3 February 2010 08 12 53 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 21: A Christmas Blizzard Albus spent most of the days preceding Christmas at Rose's house. James was determined to use all of his spare time for Quidditch practice, and he had to go to Rose's house for that. Albus usually went with him and he and Hugo would help James practice while Rose read. Harry had to practically separate James from his broom by magic on Christmas Eve so they could go to Godric's Hollow. James wanted to stay at Rose's house and keep practicing, but Harry refused to let him. The trip was quiet since James was rather sullen the entire time. “Professor Patil says I'm a natural at Transfiguration,” Lily bragged to Albus as they walked towards the Burrow afterwards. “That's good,” Albus replied. “Yeah, so I'm going to become an Animagus eventually. I want to be a cat.” “You don't get to choose what kind of animal you transform into,” Albus told her. “Oh,” Lily said, “But I think I'll become a cat.” Albus nodded as Lily began to describe in great detail what kind of cat she would transform into. Everyone else was already at the Burrow and Albus felt an immediate warmth come over him as he stepped inside. It had nothing to do with the fact that it was so cold and snowy outside, either. There was something so comforting about being at the Burrow surrounded by all his family. He was able to forget all the issues with the Quidditch tournament and Professor Killigan. All he could think about was how ravenous he was and how good some of his grandmother's cooking would be right about then. Rose sat down next to Albus as he tucked into a large bowl of onion soup with a side of homemade bread. “Uncle Charlie and Aunt Katherine are going back to Romania this summer,” Rose announced. “To tame more dragons?” Albus asked. His uncle and aunt hadn't done that since Stanley started Hogwarts, but they often talked about how they wanted to go back. “Yeah,” Rose nodded, “They might stay even after the summer's over, but Heather and Mark will come back to go to Hogwarts.” “They get to go, too?” “Yup. Stanley and Eddie are going, too. Stanley's quitting his job for it. He's definitely staying in Romania after the summer's over. He wants to get into dragon training.” “Wow,” Albus replied, “They're lucky. I guess it's good that Stanley decided what he wants to do.” Stanley had been working at the Magical Menagerie since he finished Hogwarts, but knew he didn't want to do that his whole life. He just didn't know what he did want to do. “I wish our parents would take us to some other country,” Albus sighed. “Me, too,” Rose agreed, “Imagine the history we could learn.” Albus personally had enough of History from Professor Binns, but he supposed learning history by traveling would be fun. “Christmas Quidditch tomorrow?” Teddy asked as he sat down next to Rose. “Definitely,” Albus grinned. “I wouldn't count on it, Teddy,” Molly said as she handed Albus another hunk of bread, “We're supposed to get the snowstorm of the decade tomorrow. The Muggle electricity is already out in town.” “Is it really?” Arthur popped his head into the room, “Fascinating! I may have to go see it tomorrow!” “You'll do no such thing!” Molly shouted, “It's near impossible to Appparate during such a storm. Not to mention the fact that it's Christmas and you should be here.” “We don't need electricity to play Quidditch!” Teddy exclaimed, “It'll be perfect training conditions! If you can catch a Snitch in the middle of a blizzard, you can catch one in any weather. It's not like Kendrick ever calls off Quidditch because of snow.” “We'll see tomorrow, Teddy,” Molly sighed. Albus finished his soup and he and Rose went into the den, where they were greeted by a loud chorus of 'Odo the Hero', sung by George, Alicia, Charlie, and Ron. Bill and Fleur were laughing while Hermione shook her head. Albus had a feeling the only reason why Fleur approved was because the singing was drowning out Celestina Warbeck. “So then I said, I'm not paying seven Sickles for that!” Percy said to Katherine, who was only sort of paying attention, “And the bloke looked at me like I was mad. I say he's mad, charging that much for a tour of a questionably historic old building. There really should be regulations on such things. It's one thing I'll change if I'm ever Minister.” Albus stifled a laugh. His Uncle Percy had been talking about running for Minister for the past ten years, but still hadn't done it. Most of his uncles and aunts got sick of hearing him talk about what he would and would not change. “Hey, Albus, Rose,” Victoire waved at him from across the room. “Hi Victoire,” Albus made his way over to her, “How is Healer training?” “Exhausting,” Victoire sighed, “And I have to figure out which part of the hospital I want to do the rest of my training in by September. We've been rotating throughout all the floors, but now we have to pick one. I'm nowhere near decided.” “You have until September,” Albus shrugged. It seemed like a long time to him. “I know,” Victoire replied, “But Amy's known where she wants to finish training since we were in fourth year.” “You're not in Amy's situation,” Teddy appeared and put his arm around her, “And I think you'll do great anyplace you decide.” “Thanks, Teddy,” Victoire smiled, “I'm thinking either the Maternity ward or Spell Damage.” “There's a busy ward,” Teddy grinned, “Spell Damage. You'll get all the funny injuries there.” “That's not a good reason to pick a specialization,” Victoire groaned. “Good a reason as any,” Teddy shrugged. The time grew later and after Albus played numerous rounds of Exploding Snap with his cousins, his grandmother announced that it was time for bed. Everyone argued, but there was really no point. Everyone, including the other adults, knew that arguing with Molly Weasley was useless. Albus trudged up the stairs to the highest bedroom that he shared with James, Ben, and Cedric. He climbed into bed and then realized just how big this impending blizzard was. The wind was howling louder than he'd ever heard before. The wind was so powerful that Albus could feel it through the gaps in the window. Every once in a while, the house would creak and shake. Albus sighed and put his pillow over his ears to try and drown out the howling. Albus didn't manage to drift off to sleep until after Cedric got out of bed, swore loudly, and disregarded the no magic outside of school rule to put a silencing charm on the room. ****** Albus was awoken by his annual Christmas wake-up call, Lily. She breezed through the door shouting about how they all needed to wake up and open their presents. “And there's three feet of snow outside,” Lily said as she left the room, “I checked.” “Merlin!” James jumped off the top bunk and looked out the window, “There is! And it's still coming!” “Whoa, you can't see anything!” Cedric added. “We could build the world's biggest snow wizard later,” Ben suggested. “We could build an entire snow wizard army,” Albus said. “Presents first,” James said as he located his pile of presents. Albus descended upon his own pile of presents and began opening them. There were the usual sweets and Weasleys' products from his aunts and uncles. Another Weasley sweater, this one scarlet and gold striped. He pulled it on over his pajamas and opened the rest of the presents from his aunts and uncles. His Aunt Hermione had gotten him a few books he'd probably never read, including one about the history of house elves at Hogwarts. Albus saved his parents' present for last, although he doubted they could top last year's. There really wasn't anything in the world that was better than the Invisibility Cloak. “Al, did you open Mum and Dad's yet?” James shouted. “I'm opening it now,” Albus said as he ripped the paper off the small box. “You'll never guess what they got us!” Albus opened the box and saw two tickets. Two tickets for the Quidditch World Cup that was taking place this summer! “Whoa!” Albus shouted, “World Cup tickets!” “I didn't even know they were on sale this early!” James said. “You two get the best presents,” Cedric said. “Hey, I got two tickets,” James replied. “Yeah, two,” Ben sighed, “You can only pick one of us to go.” Albus suddenly realized he had the same problem. Two tickets. Five friends he would want to take. Who was he going to choose? Not Rose. They may have been friends since they were babies, but she just didn't have a passion for Quidditch. Neither did Kaden. He was another to cross off the list. John and Matt were the Quidditch fans. He'd have to choose between them. Amanda liked Quidditch well enough, but she didn't follow a team or anything. “Those are limited edition tickets,” Ben said, “They don't know who's playing yet, so they don't sell very many tickets ahead of time.” “They're for the top box, too,” James said in awe. Lily burst into the room with a big grin on her face. She was holding two tickets as well. “Did you get Quidditch tickets?” “Yeah,” Albus and James said at the same time. “This is going to be brilliant,” Lily said and then ran out of the room. Albus's parents were already in the kitchen by the time Albus went downstairs. They were sitting at the table eating breakfast. Albus gave them each a huge hug and then sat down. “How did you get the tickets?” he asked. “They were a gift from the Minister,” Harry replied, “The Cup is in Canada this year and he's good friends with their president. Got him a lot of free tickets.” Albus grinned as he began to eat breakfast. Somehow his parents had come close to topping last year's present. Now not only was he going to get to see the World Cup, he would get to travel to a different country. Rose came downstairs a little while later and was impressed with the tickets. She had no desire to go to the Cup and had no suggestions on how Albus was going to choose between John and Matt. “Anyone up for Quidditch later?” Teddy announced as he sauntered into the kitchen. “Not under my watch!” Molly shouted, “You can't see a foot in front of you out there! And it must be close to 15 below!” “Maybe after lunch, then,” Teddy shrugged. Molly shook her head and sighed as she set a few more platters of eggs and toast onto the table. There was a knock on the door that could only just be heard over the howling wind. Molly glanced at Arthur, who shrugged and got up to see who it was. Albus followed, very curious to see who would visit on Christmas morning in the middle of a huge blizzard. “Xeno, is that you?” Arthur shouted outside. “Yes!” Xenophilius Lovegood shouted back. Arthur stood aside as the man walked in and then shut the door behind him. “Quite the storm we're having! Just thought I'd stop by and see if this place was still standing.” “Quite the storm, yes,” Arthur agreed, “I heard the Muggles lost electricity. Fascinating. I wonder what they do without it. But yes, the house is still standing.” “Good, but if you feel it's too rickety, just let me know and I'll go get some of my Jutispy Plants. The leaves do wonders on old buildings. Makes them like new. I just put a bunch into my place and it's a good thing, too. Of course, they tend to attract Nargles...” Xenophilius's voice trailed off. “I'll keep that in mind,” Arthur smiled, “Are you spending the holiday alone?” “Yes, yes,” he replied, “Luna and Rolf are with his family this Christmas.” “Then you must stay here a while. Molly's cooked far too much food, like usual,” Arthur lead Xeno into the kitchen. Albus followed them. He always found Xenophilius Lovegood to be an interesting wizard, if not a little mad. Always going on about Nargles or Nom-Noms or something. Molly was more than happy to provide Xenophilius with a large platter of breakfast and he settled down to discuss the storm with the adults. Albus spent most of the morning playing Exploding Snap, Wizard's Chess, and Gobstones with his cousins. They tried to play hide and go seek, but the house was too crowded to play it properly. Teddy and James kept looking out the window, willing it to stop snowing. Both of them were just itching to go play Quidditch. Albus would have gladly gone and played if it would stop snowing so much. He was dedicated to the game, but not enough to play in this storm. Lunchtime came and the snow was still falling. George went outside to measure it and came back with the news that it was three and a half feet. Teddy went upstairs after lunch and came back decked out in three jumpers, a thick cloak, and a pair of boots. Under one arm was his broom and under the other was a box of Quidditch balls. James was right behind him, dressed the same. “Theodore Remus Lupin!” Molly shouted, “I suppose I can't stop you from going out there and catching death of a cold, but I will not let you drag James with you!” “He's not dragging me, Grandma,” James rolled his eyes, “I want to go!” “Just let them, Molly,” Harry said, “They'll get cold soon enough and come back inside.” “Fine,” Molly replied and went back into the kitchen. “Excellent,” Teddy grinned, “Anyone care to join us?” Georgia, Fred, and Heather suited up in warm clothes and joined Teddy and James. Albus decided against it. Quidditch was fun, but he didn't want to freeze when he could stay inside and be warm. The Christmas Quidditch lasted a half an hour. Teddy, James, Georgia, Heather, and Fred all stumbled back into the house shivering with their faces red and covered in snow and ice. Molly immediately descended upon them with mugs of hot chocolate and dry clothes. “Told you, Molly,” Harry grinned. “C-can't find the Sn-Snitch,” Teddy muttered. Harry laughed. “That doesn't surprise me. You'll find it when the storm calms down. You put the charm on it to stay in the yard, right?” “Y-yeah,” Teddy replied. Christmas dinner came and went in its usual chaos. Xenophilius stayed for it and James snuck sneezing powder into his soup, which he found incredibly funny. Molly was not as impressed and gave James quite the scolding. How she found out it was James was beyond Albus. The storm continued throughout the night and Cedric had to put the silencing charm back on their room in order for any of them to get any sleep. ****** Nobody left the Burrow until two days after Christmas. That was when the snow finally let up. It topped out at around four and a half feet, which was a new record for Albus's lifetime. The Burrow's yard had been decorated by dozens of snow witches and wizards, along with hippogriffs, owls, and a variety of other magical creatures. When Albus found out what his family was doing after they left the Burrow, he wished the snow would have kept coming. They were going shopping for dress robes for the New Year's party. “Why can't I just wear my old dress robes?” James whined as they walked down Diagon Alley towards Madam Malkin's. “Because they're five inches too short,” Ginny replied, “They're even too small for Al.” “Yeah, Hugo's the lucky one,” James muttered. Hugo was wearing James's old dress robes to the party and therefore did not have to go shopping. “Mummy, I want purple robes,” Lily announced. “If they have any,” Ginny replied. Albus wanted to buy the first pair of dress robes he found, so long as they weren't pink or purple. The sooner they were done robes shopping the better. Rose and Lily made a beeline for the girls dress robes as soon as they walked in the door. Albus stood awkwardly next to James while their mother found various robes for them. “Here, try these on, Al,” Ginny handed him a pair of emerald green robes. “Very Slytherin,” James snickered. “Shut it, James,” Albus muttered. “They'll bring out your eyes, Al,” Ginny told him, “Now go try them on.” Albus reluctantly tried on the Slytherin colored robes and then left the dressing room for his mother to see. “Too short,” she announced, “But the color is perfect. I'll find a bigger size.” James wound up with a navy blue pair of robes, which Albus would have preferred. Lily found her purple robes and Rose got a sky blue pair. “Next time you're getting green robes,” Albus muttered to James, who was still making fun of the color of Albus's robes. “No I won't. I don't have green eyes,” James grinned. “Then we'll get you a nice red set,” Ginny said, “They'll clash horribly with your hair.” “I don't care. They'd be Gryffindor colored,” James laughed.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2486 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Sunday 31 January 2010 09 47 44 am    Post subject: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow Here is the sequel to In Moonlight's Shadow! I recommend you read that first if you haven't already, although it's not necessary. I'll be posting updates on this every other Sunday for the time being. Chapter 1: Turning Thirty The greyish potion simmered in its steel cauldron, a few bubbles rising to the surface and then popping. It was nearly boiling, but not quite. I watched it, hardly blinking. As soon as it began boiling, and not a second later, I would have to add the Wolfsbane. One eighth of a a teaspoon of it. A pinch more would ruin the entire potion. Of course, the whole potion could be useless already. I was brewing in the basement of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. There was a whole slew of brewing rooms in the basement. It was the best place for them since the fumes would be far away from the patients and so the brewers would be far away from the hustle and bustle of the hospital. It was currently seven at night and since it was a Friday, most places of work were closed and their employees enjoying time off. However, I work at a hospital and hospitals never close. If I were to venture upstairs to the main part of the hospital, I would find it busy as usual. Brewers kept more normal hours than Healers, but I am both. I had spent most of the day working in the Creature Induced Injury ward, but managed to sneak away at five in order to brew. As much as I enjoyed Healing, brewing was my passion. I was currently brewing a variation of the Wolfsbane Potion. Wolfsbane potion had been invented decades ago and was used by werewolves to render themselves harmless during full moons. They still transformed, but lacked the aggressive qualities normally found in werewolves. However, this potion was completely useless to a small portion of werewolves. For years, Healers and brewers have been trying to create a new version of Wolfsbane that would work for those werewolves. I had been working for the past six or seven years on the project, but had had no success so far. The potion began to bubble more until it was at a full boil. I grabbed the small amount of Wolfsbane and tossed it into the cauldron while stirring counter-clockwise. Now I had to stir it for a half an hour. Stirring had never struck me as boring. Plenty of brewers had complained about the amount of sitting around time and monotonous stirring, but it really never bothered me. I saw it as a time to think. After spending a day in the chaotic Creature Induced Injury ward, I needed a few hours to just sit and do mindless work like stirring. “Amy!” someone whispered. I jumped, nearly spilling Wolfsbane Potion all over myself. I cursed under my breath and turned around to see who had been stupid enough to interrupt my brewing. It was my best friend, Victoire, and I sighed. She knew not to interrupt me. “Victoire,” I groaned. “I told you I'd be brewing until eight today.” “That's what you think,” Victoire rolled her eyes and sat down on the stool next to mine. Victoire Lupin had been my best friend since our fourth year at Hogwarts. Well, she had been a Weasley then. When she was 23, she married Teddy Lupin, another one of our friends from school. Victoire was a Healer as well, but she worked on the Spell Damage floor. “It is what I think,” I replied as I continued stirring. “I need to have this ready for overnight simmering before I leave, so it can be tested tomorrow.” “You do realize what day it is,” Victoire said flatly, shaking her head so that her mane of blonde hair shook. “It's Friday, and I always stay late to brew on Fridays,” I replied. Victoire groaned. “That's not what I meant. I meant it's October 27th! It's your birthday for Merlin's sake! Can't you put aside brewing for one measly day? I mean, you only turn 30 once.” “Thank God,” I muttered. “And no, I can't put aside brewing. You know that.” “I don't think you're going to miss having any brilliant breakthroughs if you don't work all night tonight,” Victoire said. “Thanks for having faith in me,” I muttered. “As soon as you're done with that batch, we're leaving. Everyone's at the Leaky Cauldron, waiting for you. Teddy and I have organized a birthday and halloween party. You will be there. We got a cake and everything.” “Thanks,” I said. “Another reminder that I'm old now.” “30 is not old.” “Says the one who is still 29,” I said. “I'm 30 and I haven't even done anything important.” “Hardly any witches or wizards invent world changing new potions before they're 30,” Victoire sighed. “Now finish that potion so we can get in our costumes and go.” “Costumes?” I raised my eyebrows. “Well, it is a halloween party, too,” Victoire replied. “I'll go as a Healer,” I said. “You are a Healer, you can't go as one,” Victoire said. “Now, you're going as this.” Victoire reached into her bag and pulled out a French maid costume. I groaned inwardly. The thing looked like it would show more skin than a bathing suit. “That is quite possibly the most cliched sexy costume on earth,” I told her. “But it's really from France, so that cancels out the clicheness,” Victoire grinned. “I wore it years ago, but can't fit in it since having Sophie, so you get to wear it.” “And what are you wearing?” I asked. “This,” Victoire pulled a black robe and hat out of her bag. “Is that a Muggle witch costume?” I asked. “Yep,” Victoire nodded. “So I have to wear a tiny piece of cloth while you get to be completely covered up?” “I'm married, you're not,” Victoire replied. “Plus, Teddy's dressed as Merlin, so it matches.” Victoire waited while I finished brewing the Wolfsbane. I purposely took a long time to clean up, but then Victoire pitched in and before I knew it I was changing into the French maid costume. For the first time ever I was grateful that I was short. Victoire was nearly a head taller than me, so I was sure the skirt had been of the correct skimpy length on her. On me, however, it nearly came down to my knees. Victoire had gone all out for her witch's costume. She painted her face green and affixed a fake wart to her nose. She looked disgustingly realistic for a Muggle witch. I stifled my laughter and the two of us disapparated. We reappeared in front of the Diagon Alley side of the Leaky Cauldron. I could already hear the noise coming from inside. Victoire really must have invited everyone. I followed her into the pub and our arrival was met with loud choruses of 'happy birthday' sung in a variety of tunes. The pub was packed. I only recognized about half of the people there. I saw a few people from work including a bunch of nurses, my boss Healer Morris Sterling, Healer Jeff Norlam, and Healer Rose Weasley. Standing around Rose were all her friends from school including my brother, Matt, and much to my surprise, his roommate Albus Potter. Al was out of the country a lot for work. Even my parents were there. The two of them were sitting at a table, looking to be the two calmest people there. Neither of them were dressed up. Mum had a cup of tea and Dad had a bottle of something. But sitting next to Dad was the biggest surprise of all. “Uncle Jack?” I shouted as I ran towards them. “Amy!” he stood up and gave me a hug. “That's quite the costume.” “Victoire's idea,” I blushed. My Uncle Jack lives in Horseheads, New York, and I only see him once a year at the most. I had no idea he was coming for my birthday. He was wearing a black and white striped prisoner outfit. “Happy Birthday, Amy,” he said. “Thanks,” I grinned. I went around the pub, accepting all the birthday wishes from everyone until I wound up at the bar. Victoire and Teddy were sitting there, each with a drink. I ordered my own drink and sat down next to them. There was a box at the end of the bar marked 'Lycanthropy Awareness Fund'. I looked at it and then turned to Victoire. “We told everyone to bring donations in lieu of gifts,” Victoire answered my questioning look. “Thanks,” I smiled. “So who's Sophie with tonight?” Sophie, Victoire and Teddy's five-year-old daughter, was the most adorable kid I had ever met in my life. She's like a niece to me and even calls me Aunt. “My parents,” Victoire answered. “They're thrilled to see her.” “And how is little Sophie doing?” Hannah Longbottom asked as she set my drink down in front of me. “Oh, she's great,” Victoire smiled. “I'll bring her by soon.” “Good. I haven't seen her in ages,” Hannah said. Ages probably meant a few weeks, I thought. Hannah Longbottom loved Sophie. Everyone loved Sophie. “Amy, happy birthday.” I turned and saw Matt, wearing a mummy costume, sitting down on my other side. His blonde hair looked in need of a cut, but other than that he looked great. Just a few months ago I had heard a few of the younger nurses whispering about how good looking he was and I had had to run into a closet to laugh. But now that I looked at him, I could almost see what they meant. In a sisterly, non-disgusting way of course. It was just odd because he will always be a scrawny little kid in my mind. Granted, he was still skinny and on the short side, but that wasn't going to change. “Thanks, Matt,” I gave him a hug. “I haven't seen you in a few days.” “I've been with Albus,” Matt pointed to Albus, who was laughing at something their friend John had said. “He's been home the past three days.” “When's he leaving again?” I asked. “Who knows?” Matt shrugged. Albus Potter was the son of the one and only Harry Potter and did some sort of Auror-like secretive work. It involved traveling to different countries and tracking down rogue wizards. That was all I knew. I had asked Matt a few times, but he changed the subject every time. I guessed it must be secret for a reason. Matt and Albus had been sharing a flat ever since a few months after they left Hogwarts. Even though Albus was away for his job for a good portion of every month, he always paid half the rent. Neither of them, especially Matt, would have been able to afford their own flat. “So,” Matt grinned, “Late for your own party?” “I wasn't that late, was I?” I asked. “How long had you lot been here?” “Few hours,” Matt replied. “Well, I was at work...brewing,” I shrugged. “Big surprise there,” Matt grinned. “Matt!” Albus shouted over the crowd. “Better get over here! Kaden's mixing firewhiskey with some Muggle drink called a screwdriver!” “I've gotta go,” Matt said as he got up and left. “Amy,” Rose Weasley ran up to me, “Happy birthday.” “Thanks,” I smiled. “But I've been meaning to get ahold of you. I recruited three more werewolves for the study,” Rose told me. Rose Weasley was, if it was possible, even more devoted to work than I was. She was a recently certified magical psychiatrist who worked at St. Mungo's. A few weeks ago, she had gotten involved with a long-term study on lycanthropy that I was involved in. “Really?” I asked. “We've never gotten that many at once before.” “They've been coming to Mungo's for therapy for years,” Rose explained. “I told them about the study and they're quite interested. Two wizards and one witch.” “Rose Elizabeth Weasley,” Victoire tapped her on the shoulder. “Are you talking about work?” “Yes,” Rose said. “We're trying to give Amy a break from work,” Victoire told her. “That means you can't talk about it here.” “Victoire, it's kind of important,” I said. “Fine,” Victoire groaned, “Talk about work.” “Anyway,” Rose continued, “I've scheduled them each to come in for interviews on Monday, if you can make it.” “I'll be there,” I assured her. “Good. Now I'd better go stop Kaden before we really do have to work tonight,” Rose said. I sat with Victoire and Teddy and watched the party. I've never been big on parties, but this one wasn't bad. It was my kind of party. Well, besides the costume part. Only about half of the people were actually dressed up, though. “Amy, long time, no see,” Landon Comer, one of my friends from school, sat down on the stool next to mine. He was dressed as Harry Potter, which was pretty funny. I'm sure Albus was quite thrilled with it. “Hey, Landon,” I replied. Landon worked in the Department of International Magical Cooperation. He was married and had two children as well. “Happy birthday,” he said. “Seems like just yesterday you were that quiet new girl at Hogwarts.” “You're making me feel old,” I groaned. “I'm allowed to. I'm older than you,” Landon laughed. The party continued well into the night. I had a few more drinks and felt more relaxed than I had in a long time. Someone turned on some music and cleared the tables and dancing begun. One of the male nurses dragged me onto the floor to dance but I lost track of him when my parents and Uncle Jack found me to say goodbye. Soon, it was only me, Victoire, Teddy, Matt, and Albus left. Matt and Albus looked exhausted, which made me wonder how late they had stayed out the night before. Whenever Albus was in town, he and Matt rarely slept. “Thanks for the party, Victoire,” I gave her a hug. “No problem,” Victoire replied. “And tomorrow you can get back to work.” “I've got the weekend off,” I told her. “Even better,” Victoire grinned. “Well, we'd better get going.” “Bye,” I said. “Bye, Teddy!” “See you soon, Amy,” Teddy replied. “Happy birthday.” I left with Matt and Albus once Victoire and Teddy disapparated. We lived in the same flat building, which was quite close to the Leaky Cauldron. “Don't stay up too late,” I told Matt once we reached his flat. “We won't,” Matt rolled his eyes. “You look exhausted,” I told him. “'Night, Amy,” Matt said. “Happy birthday.” “'Night Matt, Albus,” I replied and walked up the two flights of stairs to my own flat. My flat was quiet like it always is. I had been living in it ever since Victoire got married. The two of us had had a flat together when we were training at St. Mungo's, but it wasn't the nicest of places. By the time Victoire got married, I had been able to afford a better place. It was on the third floor of a Muggle flat building. The building itself was only ten years old. My flat consisted of two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a relatively large living room. Plus a bathroom and a few closets. It was enough room for me and I liked it. I tossed my purse onto the kitchen table and went into my bedroom. I changed out of the awful French maid outfit, tossing the thing haphazardly into the closet knowing I would never wear it again. I got into bed and realizing how tired I was, fell into a deep sleep. ****** Someone was knocking on the door and I didn't feel like answering it. I opened my eyes and quickly shut them again when the sunlight hit them. I forced them open again and looked at the clock. It was noon. I shot out of bed and ran out of the room. I hadn't slept that late in a very long time. Saturdays usually meant doing research, spending time with Matt, and then dinner with my parents. They rarely included sleeping until noon. I wrenched the door open and was immediately hit by Sophie, who wrapped my legs in a tight hug. I bent down and picked her up and opened the door wider so Victoire and Teddy could get inside. Sophie Nymphadora Lupin had turned five a month ago and was the most adorable child I'd seen. Everyone knew she would be since she had Victoire and Teddy for parents. Her hair was stick straight and dirty blonde. It was the perfect combination of Victoire's blonde hair and Teddy's naturally brown hair. Today Teddy's hair was green, though. It actually matched Sophie's green eyes quite well. “Happy Birthday, Aunt Amy!” Sophie shouted. “Thanks, Sophie,” I smiled as I set her down. “Where's Uncle Matt?” Sophie asked as she ran around the flat. “He's at his flat,” I told her. “He's probably still asleep. Remember he likes to sleep late on Saturdays because he has to work during the week.” “Oh, yeah,” Sophie said. “I made you a birthday card.” “Did you?” I smiled at her. “Uh-huh,” Sophie nodded and pulled a construction paper card out of her pocket. I sat down on couch and Sophie curled up next to me. The card was blue with a yellow sun on the front and 'happy birthday' scribbled above it. I opened it and there was a cake on the inside. “Thank you, Sophie,” I smiled and gave her a hug. “This is the best card I've gotten.” Sophie grinned. “I made it at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Grandma helped me with the letters.” “You did a great job,” I told her. “Soph, we've got to get to Diagon Alley,” Victoire said and then turned to me. “We just stopped by so she could give you her card.” “I'll see you soon, ok?” I gave Sophie another hug. I said goodbye to Victoire and Teddy and shut the door after them. I had four hours until dinner with my parents. Plenty of time to get some work done. I ate a quick lunch and then took a shower and got dressed. Then it was research time. I tried to do some research every Saturday. The second bedroom in my flat was filled with shelves and shelves of books on potions and lycanthropy. I'd already read a good portion of them, but I liked to look them over again to find clues. Most recently I had been experimenting with how different types of cauldrons affected the Wolfsbane Potion. It was normally brewed in a silver cauldron, but I had been brewing it in a steel cauldron to see how that would affect it. There was not a whole lot written about the Wolfsbane Potion. The wizard who had originally invented it had a chapter about it in his book, but that was about it. Then there were a few articles about it in obscure potions magazines, but they weren't that informative. I had to read other books and piece together little bits of information and try to make sense of it. It wasn't very rewarding work. In fact, it was downright depressing most of the time. I would spend weeks on a new potion and then it wouldn't work and I'd have to research again and start over. That was the nature of potion brewing, though. Not a lot of wizards and witches chose to get into that profession for that reason and even fewer wanted to create another Wolfsbane Potion. There were four of us working on it and I was one of two brewers. My boss, Healer Sterling, was the other one. He had been working on it long before I even became a Healer. The other two are magical psychiatrists, Healer Norlam and Rose Weasley. Nevertheless, I devoted most of my time towards the task. There was no doubt in my mind that I was the most devoted of us four. I had no intentions of stopping until I succeeded. It was something I had been wanting to do ever since I was fifteen. The reason was my brother. When he was only five years old, he was attacked by a werewolf and had been suffering from lycanthropy ever since. Wolfsbane Potion had no affect on him. My parents had spent so much time trying to give him a normal life, including moving all of us from Australia to England so he could go to school. Matt had also participated in a ten year study of the Wolfsbane Potion run by Healer Sterling, in which he tried three new kinds of Wolfsbane. None of them helped. He'd tried most of the potions I created as well, and none of them helped. Some even made it worse. “Amy, are you working again?” someone said from behind me. I jumped and saw Matt standing in the doorway of the second bedroom. “Matt. I didn't even hear you come in. And yes, I am working.” “We've got to get to Mum and Dad's,” he said as he sat down on the bed. “You still look exhausted,” I told him, “How late did you stay up?” “Late,” he answered. “John and Kaden came over.” “You really shouldn't do that to yourself so close to the full moon,” I sighed. “You're going to regret it on Thursday.” “You sound like Mum,” Matt muttered. “Besides, Albus has to leave again on Monday.” “Where's he off to this time?” I asked. “Can't tell you,” Matt gave his standard answer to that question. “But I'll be over on Wednesday, probably.” “That's fine,” I told him. “I've got the day off.” Matt always got really sick the day before full moons, and that hadn't changed as he got older. Mum and Dad weren't comfortable with him being on his own the day before and day after the full moon and I agreed with them. Matt hadn't objected, either. So, when he and Albus got their flat together, Matt agreed never to be on his own around full moons. Whenever Albus is away for work, Matt comes over to my flat. I usually get the day before, the day of, and the day after full moons off. For the actual transformation, Matt goes to our parents' house. There was really no point in making a new safe room or safe house when the one in my parents' house works fine. Plus, we live in a Muggle flat building and it would not be a good idea for him to transform in his flat, safe room or not. “Day after, too?” Matt asked. “Yup,” I told him. “Like always.” “Any new potions this month?” he asked. “No,” I sighed. “I'm working on one, but it's got to be put through the preliminary tests before anyone can take it.” “It's ok, you'll get there eventually,” Matt said quietly, “Now we'd better get to Mum and Dad's before they start worrying.” I smiled and followed my brother out of the room. Even if we were a minute late to family dinners, Mum started worrying. If there was an olympic event in worrying, Mum would get the gold medal.
Ms. Elsewhere Joined: 13 January 2008 Posts: 864 Location: In role play game of course!	Posted: Friday 29 January 2010 07 41 29 am    Post subject: Re: RPG: Parst City Super Hero Role Playing Game in topic:RPG: Parst City Super Hero Role Playing Game *********************************** (This means new chapter or the next day) Samantha woke up and could barely move. She leaned on one arm and sat up slightly. She looked around, recognising her bedroom. The dark green paint, the photos of her travels scattered in frames across the walls. Her bed was a mess, but her blankets were on her. she had not even gotten changed out of her clothes. She winced as she noticed the cuts and bruises forming on her arms and legs. Moving slowly, she sat up, swung her legs around and stepped out of bed. She grabbed a towel drapped at the end of her bed and stumbled off to the shower. The room started to smell like strawberries as Sam lathered up the shower gel. Desperate to recharge, she finished with the hot water and allowed only cold water to run. It helped, a little. Wrapped in her towel, she approached the mirror, and ran one hand across the steamed glass. Staring back at her was a very tired, battered version of herself. "I can't go to work like this." she voiced. Fishing around her room for her phone, she dialed and attached it to her ear. She looked at the bedside clock and saw it was almost 10am. The other end of the phone received. "Hi? Ya, it's Sam. Listen, I am really sick. I'm sorry I haven't called, I only just woke up. Ya, I know I'm sorry I haven't been in or called. I think it's food poisoning. Went out for dinner last night at..." she fished for a name and decided not to. "A local chinese. I shouldn't touch that stuff. Sorry, but you're going to have to reshedule the meeting with our client for tomorrow morning. Organise the surveilence, and I will go double check it tomorrow. Okay?" she paused, and the person on the other end spoke in agreeance. Then they disconnected. Sam removed the phone from her ear and sat on the bed, her hair wet around her face. "What am I going to do?" she said out loud. Two people were missing. She had no idea where Raijin had gone. He was no doubt wise enough to disappear when things go so crazy. But then, who had got her home. Sam looked up suddenly, and her heart rate increased. Great. He's probably sleeping on the couch. Sam stood up and walked slowly over to the door where her robe was hanging on the back. She grabbed it and wrapped herself in it, and then cautiously made her way into the living room. All was quiet. The couch seemed the same. Still, she had no memory of making her own way home, and that disturbed her. After surveying the entire apartment, she decided to make herself some coffee. As she filled the kettle and switched it on, she had a funny feeling she was being watched. Turning around, she scanned the room, the windows, and the corners with her eyes. The curtains moved, and she stared at them. Paranoia? Probably. But she had every right to be with the kind of stuff she was involved in now.
FortisUmbra Joined: 18 August 2009 Posts: 216	Posted: Wednesday 13 January 2010 04 58 02 pm    Post subject: Re: RPG: Parst City Super Hero Role Playing Game in topic:RPG: Parst City Super Hero Role Playing Game William felt Sam's fatigue and as she lost consciousness he thought of what to do. the fact that his body wasn't there wasn't a problem the problem was that he still couldn't reenter it. he thought a little more and decided that he didn't want to be in the body if it was being held hostage. within a moment William had shut off his body almost completely so that it was in coma like state. meanwhile he thought he should take Sam home. William slipped lightly into Sam's skin and he felt rather odd. the shape of her body was different and walking around was hard but he would need to leave or the police would be asking questions. have knowledge of where Sam's home was he stumbled along the road. it took him a while and he was sure he looked drunk but he finally made it. William liked being able to walk around without the need of another's eyes or a walking stick. he could look where he wanted when he wanted. when he got to her home he slipped into sam's bed without unchanging, because it was not his body to change. he went to sleep and slipped back into sam's subconscious. Sam didn't wake but William didn't expect her to. it had been a long day and she needed a rest. they could talk in the morning. and with that thought William went to sleep, or tried to at least. it turns out you need a body to sleep.
FortisUmbra Joined: 18 August 2009 Posts: 216	Posted: Tuesday 29 December 2009 09 43 32 am    Post subject: Re: The Shadow in topic:The Shadow Mathew woke up the next morning and looked at the clock by his bed. it was only 6:30. Why did he always wake up at 6:30? he sighed. Mathew got out of the bed changed out of his pajamas and into some nice close. today was his day off. he could do anything he wanted to do, but then he remembered the pile of paper work that he had to do. He sighed again. Mathew sat at his desk and looked around the room. he really wished that the base wasn't underground then they might have windows. he turned to his computer and started typing up the events of last night. when he finished he looked at the clock. it was 7:13. Mathew stood up and went to go shower. he had a long day ahead of him if John was going to be as dependent on him as he had been last night.
Ms. Elsewhere Joined: 13 January 2008 Posts: 864 Location: In role play game of course!	Posted: Friday 25 December 2009 11 12 21 pm    Post subject: Re: The Shadow in topic:The Shadow Jon straightened up and stared at Matthew. "You can do one more thing, if it's not too much trouble?" he asked, hesitating a bit. Then he made his request. "Please, could you TAKE me to my room, and show me around on the way? I can't handle going through another one of those things. " he pointed wearily at the portal. "I need to feel like all of this is real. I must see roads, or hallways, lights... anything that points to a place that is concrete." Jon waited as the portal spiraled. He peered into it, looking at the bed in the room, desperate to colapse there and sleep, but he could not go in without knowing where he was going. He had to use his own two legs to get there, at least, this time.
FortisUmbra Joined: 18 August 2009 Posts: 216	Posted: Friday 25 December 2009 08 35 50 pm    Post subject: Re: The Shadow in topic:The Shadow Mathew looked at john and didn't know what to say. "Well you can't join the army here because you are super human and they wont take you. you don't half to come to our world like i said you can stay here and fend for yourself against the light. You can also stay on earth and work for The Shadow. If you work for the shadow they will completely pay for any education you wish to receive. You obviously can't go to a human school but they have educational facilitates here. now if you decide to do this you will need to work for the shadow while you get your education. "Don't make a decision yet. think about it for a day or two. we have a room for you to stay in." at this Mathew opened a portal to a slightly small room with a bed, a fire place, a bookshelf, and a desk with a computer. "while you decide what to do feel free to talk to anyone or use our gym or cafeteria or anything that is not labeled off limits. Where your life goes from here is up to you. You can still do anything you want. You are free to make your own choices. stay here form a few days even if you make a decision that way you can get an idea of what we are like. I'm sorry i can't be of much help but i have done all i can do."
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2486 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 16 December 2009 07 02 52 am    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 14: Hogsmeade Albus and John practically ran to the hospital wing. They slowed down as they neared it and tried to look as casual as they could as they walked in. Madam Pomfrey was busy with a patient, so she didn't even notice them as they made a beeline for Matt's bed. Albus yanked the curtains back and shut them again once John and himself were inside. To his relief, Matt was awake this time. He looked exhausted, but he was awake. "Hey, Matt," Albus said. "Hey, Albus," Matt replied, "How are you?" "All right," Albus said, "How about you?" "Tired," Matt sighed, "Er, how is Rose? Is she still ignoring us?" "Pretty much," Albus said quietly. John nodded and then glanced at Albus. Albus took a deep breath. He hadn't really thought about how he was going to ask Matt about this. "Are you two ok?" Matt asked tentatively. John poked Albus. Albus glared at him and then turned back to Matt. "Well, we sort of wanted to ask you something," Albus lowered his voice, "I'm sure you'll think its mental...." Matt stared at him curiously. "Er, all right, what is it?" "I was talking to Rose in Ancient Runes-" "I thought she was still ignoring us." "She was. But we were partners, since you weren't there." "What about Linda?" Matt asked. "She wasn't there either, which is what I wanted to ask you about," Albus paused, "Rose said Linda's been ill the past few days. I couldn't really help but notice that she was ill around the same time you were and well, John and I were sort of wondering if maybe, well, she was-" "Like me?" Matt whispered. His eyes had widened in shock and he was staring incredulously at Albus and John. "Er, yeah," Albus muttered, "Told you it was mental." "It is," Matt said adamantly. "So you know she's not?" John asked, "You saw her in here or something? Or did Madam Pomfrey tell you?" Matt smiled wryly. "Of course not. Even if she was, I doubt Madam Pomfrey would tell me. You two missed the obvious clue that she's not like me." Albus turned to John, who shrugged. "Linda normally goes to the Australian School of Sorcery," Matt stated, "The school that I wasn't allowed to go to. Obviously, if Linda was like me, she couldn't go there either." Albus felt like he should have smacked himself in the head. He turned to John, who looked like he was about to burst out laughing. How could they have forgotten about that? It was staring them straight in the face and they completely overlooked it. Professor Killigan was prejudiced against werewolves. There was no way he would admit Linda if she was one. "Oh, right," Albus mumbled, "Should have remembered that." "It's actually kind of funny that you thought she was like me," Matt smirked. "I guess she's just got a cold or something," John shrugged. "Yeah, probably," Albus said. So much for the idea of Rose and Matt making up. Albus would just have to think of some other way to get them to be friends again. "When do you get to leave?" John asked. "Not sure," Matt sighed, "Probably late tomorrow, if I'm lucky." "Hogsmeade is on Saturday," John said. "I know. I'll be out for that, even if I have to sneak out when Madam Pomfrey is sleeping," Matt replied. Albus didn't really think Madam Pomfrey would sleep through someone trying to sneak out of the ward, but he hoped Matt would be out in time to go to Hogsmeade. It would be incredibly unfair if he wasn't allowed to go. ****** The silence continued into the next day. Linda returned from her mysterious illness and went back to spending all her free time with Rose and Amanda. Albus spent his time with John and Kaden in the Marauder's Den. Albus hated the silence more and more every day. It kept him up at night, but he couldn't think of anything he could do about it. The row was mainly between Rose and Matt. Albus couldn't solve it, but it was eating away at him like it was his own row. He was very glad he wasn't playing Quidditch in the upcoming match. He wouldn't have been able to concentrate. Matt didn't leave the hospital wing until Friday evening. Madam Pomfrey had reluctantly let him leave in order to go to Hogsmeade the following day. Albus woke up not feeling nearly as excited as he probably should have about going to Hogsmeade. He and Rose had imagined going to Hogsmeade together since they were little kids. They plotted where they would go and what they would do. Both of them had been to Hogsmeade before, but never without one of their parents. The idea of going by themselves had always been exciting. Now that the day had actually arrived, Albus couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. He wouldn't be going with Rose. Not while they were still in the midst of a row. It was either go with Matt and John, or ditch them and go with the girls. The latter wasn't even a real option. He was still mad at Rose and if he decided to make up with her, he'd have Matt and John angry with him. He just had to face it; going to Hogsmeade with Rose was not an option. Albus, Matt, and John joined the queue of people in the Entrance Hall later on in the morning. Matt and John were more excited than Albus was, but still more subdued than the rest of the third years. "We've got to remember the stuff for the Halloween party," John reminded them. The Halloween party was that night. Albus had nearly forgotten about it over the past few days. It was another thing that would have been more fun if they weren't fighting with the girls. "Yeah," Albus nodded, "We've got to get Kaden's stuff, too." "Merlin, he was jealous that we get to go and he doesn't," John smirked. "Can't blame him," Matt lowered his voice, "I mean, this is the first time we'll get to try out the Hogsmeade part of the map." Albus grinned. That was one part about the Hogsmeade trip that Albus was still thoroughly excited about. He had the new map in his cloak pocket, all ready to go. "We can see who likes to go to the Hog's Head," John grinned mischievously. "Hey, Amy used to go there," Matt said. "Really?" John asked. "Yeah, she liked how empty it was." "Seems like an awfully depressing place," John said. "Where do you lot want to go first?" Albus asked as they gave their names to Filch. "Weasley's," John said immediately, "I've got loads to buy there. And Kaden gave me a list of stuff he wants me to get him, too." "Why does that not surprise me?" Albus smirked. The boys walked the short distance into Hogsmeade once Filch checked their names off. It was a chilly autumn day. There was a slight breeze in the air and it was cloudy, but not the kind of clouds that threatened rain. They couldn't have asked for better weather in late October. Once they arrived, they hid behind a tree in order to look at the map. Albus glanced around to make sure nobody was watching and then pulled it out of his cloak. He muttered the incantation and soon, an inky replication of Hogsmeade was on the yellowed paper. "Whoa," Matt whispered, "Look, Weasleys' is so crowded, you can't read any of the labels." There were dots spilling out of the joke shop and even more inside, piled on top of each other. Albus wasn't surprised in the slightest. His uncle's shop was the most popular in Hogsmeade. There were more modest collections of dots in the rest of the shops and pubs. A slight few were in the Hog's Head. "Anyone we know in the Hog's Head?" John asked. "Nope," Albus said after he read the labels. Albus wiped the map clean and then they set off for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. It took them a while to squeeze into the crowd, and once there, Albus and Matt quickly lost John to the throngs of students grabbing merchandise. Both George and Teddy were behind the counter, ringing up purchases as fast as they possibly could. "Hi Uncle George! Teddy!" Albus shouted. "Hey, Al!" George shouted back. "Albus!" Teddy exclaimed, "How's your first Hogsmeade trip?" "Great," Albus smiled, "Are you coming to the Halloween party?" "Wouldn't miss it," Teddy grinned, "Victoire and Amy are going, too." "That's good," Albus said, "Are you dressing up?" "'Course," Teddy laughed. "What as?" "Where would the fun in that be?" Teddy winked. John returned a little while later, arms laden with merchandise. He dumped it all on the counter and a few Skiving Snackboxes fell on the ground. Albus picked them up and smirked as he put them on the counter. "Stocking up for a year?" Albus asked. "Nah, this is just until next Hogsmeade trip," John said. "You're one of my best customers, John," George laughed. "Do you really need five Snackboxes?" Matt asked. "Definitely. Divination's awful. And two are for Kaden," John replied. John paid for his purchases and then the group wandered down the road until they reached Gladrags Wizardwear. They slowly walked inside, only to find that it was filled with giggly girls. "I'd be happy if I never had to set foot in here again," John groaned as he gestured to a display of pink sparkly robes. "We just need to get our costume stuff and get out," Albus muttered, equally unhappy about having to visit a clothing shop. The three boys tried to move as quietly as possible through the crowd of girls in order to find their costume stuff. Albus immediately found a black shirt and pants for his skeleton costume. He had bought glow in the dark paint at Weasleys' and one of his cousins was going to paint bones on the shirt and pants with it. John had purchased Muggle vampire teeth and Muggle face paint at Weasleys', so all he needed was a black cape, which he found quickly. Matt located a white sheet, which was all he needed for his ghost costume. Albus got another white sheet, which they would cut up into strips for Kaden's mummy costume. "Finally!" John exclaimed once they left the shop, "That's my least favorite place in Hogsmeade." "You should go to Madam Puddifoot's, then," Albus laughed. John shuddered. "No way. I will never set foot in that hideous place." "Anyone want to go to the Three Broomsticks?" Matt shivered. "Yeah, I could use with a Butterbeer," Albus agreed and pulled his cloak tighter. The wind had picked up and Butterbeer would be good to warm up with. Albus led his friends up the street and into the crowded pub. It seemed that everyone had the idea of warming up with a Butterbeer. Albus and Matt snagged the last empty table while John went to the bar to get a few Butterbeers. "What do you think the party is going to be like?" Matt asked. "Dunno," Albus shrugged, "It's not really common for there to be an actual party. Usually it's just the feast. I guess they just want us to interact with the foreign students. Kind of like the Yule Ball for the Triwizard Tournament." "I just can't wait to see what people dress up as," John announced as he returned with the Butterbeers. "Think the teachers will dress up?" Matt asked. "I hope so," John grinned, "Probably depends on the teacher, though. I could see Kendrick dressing up. And Longbottom. Not sure about Slughorn." Albus snorted into his Butterbeer. "Slughorn, dress up? Now that would be funny." "I think any of the teachers dressing up would be funny," Matt laughed. "So, how long do you think it'll be until Kaden tries sneaking into Hogsmeade?" John asked. "Next trip," Albus said immediately, "I know he's plotting it. He asked me if I was taking the map today. I think he wanted it to sneak in." "Are you going to let him have it next time?" Matt asked as he sipped his Butterbeer. "Probably," Albus nodded. "What if he gets caught?" Matt asked. Albus shrugged. "He'll get a couple detentions. It's not like he'll notice another two detentions." "Good point," Matt grinned and turned to John, "You two spend half your waking time in detention." "It's not that bad, once you get used to it. I think Filch is getting a bit fed up with us, though. He's starting to pawn us off on the professors." "Well, when you spend every other night with him, who can blame him?" Albus smirked. "Shut it, Albus," John laughed, "Or next time we get caught, we'll tell Filch whatever we were doing was all your idea." "He'll never believe you," Albus grinned. "Albus," a female voice said from behind him. Albus turned around and saw Rose, Butterbeer in hand, with Amanda and Linda on either side of her. "Rose," Albus muttered. The mood at the table quickly turned from joking around to tense silence. Albus nervously glanced from Amanda to Rose and back again. He looked at Matt and John, who were both glaring at the girls. "All the tables are taken," Amanda sighed, "Do you mind if we sit here?" "Er-" Albus began. "We were just leaving," Matt announced as he stood up, "Right?" "Yeah," John agreed. Albus nodded and stood up as well. He followed Matt and John through the crowded pub, looking back at the girls. Amanda was the only one who was watching them leave. "Why couldn't they have found some other table to sit at?" John groaned after they were back outside. "I dunno," Albus muttered. He had been having fun joking around with Matt and John, but as soon as the girls showed up, he was reminded once again of the rift that had formed in their group. "Anywhere we haven't been yet?" "Madam Puddifoot's," Matt laughed. "Don't even joke about that," John shuddered, "But you know, we haven't been to the Shrieking Shack." Matt groaned. "You're kidding, right?" "Nope," John grinned and took off up the street, "Come on, don't even say you're not going. Because you are." Matt sent Albus a withered look and set off at a slower pace after John. Albus laughed to himself and followed them. There were a couple people leaning on the fence in front of the Shack. They were all third years. Albus figured the thrill of the Shrieking Shack wore off after the first couple Hogsmeade trips. Albus and Matt joined John, who was standing near a couple girls who were looking at the Shack. "It's the most haunted building in Britain!" a Ravenclaw named Ann Jacobs told her friend. "Really?" the girl's eyes widened. Albus vaguely remembered that she was Muggle born. "Yeah, it's haunted by ghosts!" Ann Jacobs said excitedly, "Right, Albus?" "Er, yup," Albus nodded, "Ghosts." "I wonder if we could get inside!" the other girl said. "You can't," Matt said quickly. "How do you know?" the girl asked. "My sister tried once," Matt answered, "She graduated our first year. The place is completely sealed." "Oh," the girl sighed, "Would have been cool." "We should get back," Matt said, "We've got to get our costumes ready." "Good idea," Albus agreed. The boys bade goodbye to the two Ravenclaws and headed back to the castle. They were all very quiet on the walk back. Albus sunk back into his thoughts of how he should have gone to Hogsmeade with Rose. He hoped he'd be able to go with her the next trip. Albus couldn't imagine that he'd still be mad at her when that came around. At least he hoped he wouldn't. Kaden was waiting in the Marauder's Den for them. He immediately bombarded them with questions, and the rest of the boys launched into a detailed description of their entire trip. After Kaden's curiosity was finally satisfied, the boys got to work on their costumes. Matt, John, and Kaden stayed behind in the Marauder's Den to make Matt's ghost costume and Kaden's mummy costume while Albus set off to find one of his cousins to paint his skeleton costume. Gabriella agreed to make the costume. Not wanting to find the girls and ask Amanda to do it, Albus had been hoping Gabriella would. Gabriella was the most creative of all his cousins and even though all he needed was someone to perform a painting charm, he figured Gabriella would do the best job. "What are you dressing up as?" Albus asked as Gabriella performed the charm. "A Veela," Gabriella replied. "Creative," Albus laughed. "My friend actually came up with it. A couple of us are going as Veelas." "Well, you've already got the hair, so it won't take much for you to dress up," Albus said. Gabriella grinned and handed Albus his costume. "Here you go. I'll see you at the party. I've got to go get ready." "Thanks," Albus said. When Albus returned to the Marauder's Den, he was met not by his friends, but by a ghost, mummy, and vampire. All three costumes were brilliant. Matt looked just like a Muggle ghost, complete with eye holes and a round mouth hole. Kaden was wrapped in strips of white sheet that were hanging off of him in various places. John's costume was the best, in Albus's opinion. He wore a black cape with a white shirt and black pants underneath. He also had a red bow-tie on, which Kaden insisted would make him look more vampirish. His face was completely covered in white make-up and he was wearing bright red lipstick that dripped onto his chin. When he grinned, he revealed pearly white vampire fangs. "You lot look great," Albus grinned, "The Muggle costumes was definitely the way to go." "Put yours on," Matt said. Albus nodded and went to his section of the room. When he came out, he was wearing his costume. Albus looked at his arms and they were glowing. Gabriella had done an excellent job with the painting charm. His chest was covered in a glow in the dark rib cage. "Brilliant, Albus," John grinned. "We're going to have the best costumes in the school," Kaden announced, "Are the girls still dressing up as witches?" "No idea," Albus sighed. He hadn't talked to Rose about the costumes in weeks. "Guess we'll find out." Albus had no idea what to expect from the party. The professors had never sponsored a party before while he was at Hogwarts. He walked down to the Great Hall with Matt, John, and Kaden. They passed quite a few people on the way down and saw all sorts of different costumes.
Ms. Elsewhere Joined: 13 January 2008 Posts: 864 Location: In role play game of course!	Posted: Tuesday 15 December 2009 11 06 55 pm    Post subject: Re: The Shadow in topic:The Shadow Jonathan Deis woke up with a start and looked at the clock on his bedside table. 630am. He groaned. He didn't have to get up for hours. He was so tired of waking up at the same time every morning. But this time, it wasn't just his mind that was knocking him out of his dreams. He noticed someone standing at the door. "Happy Birthday son." a tall, grey haired but very fit looking man in a business suit and tie said to him from his bedroom door. Jon sat up. His father was holding two packages. "Hey dad. Thanks." he said with a croak. He had not used his voice yet and the room was so dry. He dad entered the room. "I come bearing gifts!" he said jokingly. His father didn't joke usually, but it was nice that he was trying. He layed one on Jon's lap. "This one first." he said quietly. Jon opened it obidently. It was a long box, and inside it was a long, black jacket that buttoned to the neck, and probably hung right to the floor. Jon smiled. "it's perfect. I like this sort of thing. Oh ya, it's Guess too. Cool." Jon was a big fan of designer clothing. "And now.. this one." he said, and handed the other package to him. Jon opened it too, a smaller box, and heavier. "It's from your mom. She.. wanted you to have it on your 16th birthday." Jon paused when he heard this, looking at his father. His dad did not take his eyes off the box. Jon continued to open the box, and within it were assortments of keepsakes. A ring, diamond and ruby and safire; some shells, a little tube of perfume, a few oregami swans and other treasures. A little card was inside, addressed to 'my son, Jonathan'. Jon lifted it up, and opened it up. He read it. "What did she say?" his father asked Jon. Jon paused for a moment. He felt his eyes welling up, and then he said. "It says; these are for you, my dearest. Always remember me." Jon closed the box with the card inside. He looked up at his father. "I think I'll get dressed. Are you going to work?" His father searched Jon's face for a long moment. "your mother did love you very much. I'm sorry you couldnt' know her. I'll leave now, and see you tonight for your birthday party." he leaned in and kissed his son on the head. "have a good day at school." And he left the room. Jon waited until he was sure his father was gone, then he fumbled and opened the box again. He pulled out the card and stared at it. It didn't say what he had told his father, it said; "Keep what you have a secret, or he will destroy you." Jon's breathing was fast, and the bedside table started to shake. "No." he said to it, and it stopped. He kept breathing heavily, frightened, and reached out to the bathroom. The taps within turned and steam from the hot water in the shower billowed out the door. He brought his hand down and sighed. "Right." his mother was speaking of his father, a general for the organisation called THE LIGHT. And sure as he was 16 today, he would be killed if his father knew that his bloodline now had super human dirt in it. Jon realised that his mother was probably super human too, but he hoped that her death was a tragic accident. He hoped with all his heart. He jumped out of bed, hid the box, and got ready for school.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2486 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Tuesday 15 December 2009 05 19 28 pm    Post subject: Bringing the Magic Back in topic:Bringing the Magic Back This was the first story I wrote for Fiction Workshop this semester. Thought I'd post it here! Let me know what you think. My dad named me after his favorite flower, the iris. Everyone I know was named by their mother, except me. My cousin, Alex, told me that his father wanted to name him Timothy but my aunt wanted Alexander and my aunt shouted “oh, the pain!” and my uncle gave in. That's the way it works in most families, but not mine. My mother did not care what I was named and did not even care that I was a girl. She wanted nothing to do with me, and when I was two she finally up and left, leaving Dad and me to fend for ourselves. The day my mother left was the day all the magic left Dad's life. He loved her, despite her faults, something I was never capable of doing. She did not take the magic out of my life, but instead left me with a father who I knew loved me, yet was distanced. How do I know he loved me? My name, Iris. He put thought into that name, something my mother never did. ****** I was only fifteen when the magic left me, ten years younger than Dad had been when the same happened to him. I was only fifteen when my father committed suicide. My Aunt Helen told me that the depression is what did it; that he just could not take being sad all the time anymore. Before he died I could never have imagined being sad all the time. Now, I don't know anything else. Aunt Helen and Uncle Tom told me not to blame Dad, not to be angry with him. They needn't have worried. Never once did it cross my mind to be angry with Dad. In my mind, it was my mother who did it. It was my mother who held that gun to Dad's head rather than Dad holding it to his own head. Life at Aunt Helen and Uncle Tom's couldn't have been more different than life with Dad. Uncle Tom was a lawyer and made more money in a month than Dad had made in a year at his job at the mechanic's. People whispered that I would be better off at my aunt and uncle's than I was with Dad. They were wrong. No house is big enough to replace the love of your father. Dad and I had lived close to my aunt and uncle's. We lived in the same town, Agloe, New York, and the same school district. Agloe is the sort of place where everyone knows everyone and you can't so much as get your ears pierced without half the town knowing about it. However, my aunt and uncle lived in the outskirts, where all the McMansions were. Dad and I lived near the center, in a house he had been able to afford. “Iris, long time, no see!” someone shouted. I looked up from the leather couch where I was playing Tetris on my iPod. Alex's best friend, Scott, towered over me, him being six feet tall and me only being about five feet five, and his sandy brown hair was mussed the way a surfer's would be. I didn't really understand why boys did that. The nearest body of water was a tiny lake a few miles away, hardly big enough to sail a canoe on, let alone surf. “You dyed your hair black and cut it,” Scott commented. “I liked it when it was long and blonde.” “My mother had blonde hair,” I muttered, switching the position of a tall Tetris piece so I was able to clear five rows at once. “I don't want to look like her.” “Right.” Scott shifted uneasily from foot to foot. “Well, Alex and I are going to play Rock Band downstairs. You can play, if you want. I'll even let you play the drums.” I ignored him. He was only offering me the drums because my dad had killed himself a few weeks ago. Usually Scott held the drum sticks above his head and said 'you can't reach them' in a singsong voice. That was not the kind of sympathy I wanted. Scott and I had known each other as long as I could remember. He and Alex had been in Kindergarten together, a year before I was old enough to go, and had spent their days teasing me ever since. ****** “Why do I have to be the prisoner?” I whined as I sat on the grass in the jungle gym in Alex's backyard. “Because you're six and we're seven,” Alex answered. He waved his green light saber at me. “Now, sit there and watch as I defeat Darth Vader!” “I want to play Barbies!” I shouted, crossing my arms over my chest. “Barbies are for babies,” Scott said. He smacked Alex with his red light saber. Long since accustomed to having to sit through Alex and Scott's light saber fights, I pulled my brand new Malibu Barbie out of my coat and set her on the ground in front of me. I smiled and looked at her perfect long blonde hair. Fingering my own hair, I wondered how long it would take me to grow it down to my waist. ****** Aunt Helen dragged me to a psychiatrist three weeks after Dad killed himself. The school had called and suggested it, since I had missed more days than I had attended. Aunt Helen had been shocked, claiming she saw me leave each and every day. Little did she know that I hid in the garage until she and Uncle Tom left for work, only to sneak back inside and spend the day watching bad daytime television. Aunt Helen's discomfort of being in a psychiatrist's office was obvious as she sat there fidgeting with a health magazine, glancing up at the other patients with a wrinkled nose every so often. Looking very out of place in her Gucci high heels and newly dyed red hair, she seemed relieved when a nurse came and got us for my appointment. The psychiatrist was a slightly overweight old man with glasses perched on his bald head. He was exactly as I imagined he would be. Poised with a clipboard in hand, he gestured for me to sit down on a comfortable-looking armchair. I did not talk at all during that session. Aunt Helen did all the talking, explaining the 'issues' from her perspective while Dr. Baldy scribbled it all down. No diagnosis was made during that session. It took Dr. Baldy a few weeks to diagnose me with Major Depressive Disorder. Apparently that cannot be diagnosed until the person has been depressed for at least two weeks. I left the office that day with a bottle of green pills I did not want to take, but had to, since I was only fifteen and under my aunt and uncle's roof. ****** “Why are you over here all the time?” Scott asked, not taking his eyes off the television screen. He was in the process of beating Alex at the newest Mario Kart, which Alex had received for his ninth birthday the week before. “Because my dad's sick,” I replied as I played Mario Kart on Alex's old Game Boy. I wished one of them would let me play the new game. Alex's old Game Boy wasn't nearly as fun. “What's he got?” Scott asked just as he crossed the finish line. “Yes, you lose!” “Depression,” I said quietly. “Can I please play?” “You mean he's just sad?” Scott asked as he reluctantly handed me the controller. “No, it's like his mind is sick and he can't be happy,” I answered as I took the controller from him, tossing the Game Boy carelessly onto the floor. ****** “Have you thought at all about going to college?” Dr. Baldy (I never got out of the habit of calling him that) asked one day when I was seventeen and a senior in high school, the time when all of my classmates were applying to college. They'd spent the past two years counting down the days until they could leave their parents and go away to college. I'd spent the last two years shut in my room playing video games, only leaving when Aunt Helen forced me to go to school, and going to Dr. Baldy's every week. “No,” I replied. The idea of college terrified me. High school was bad enough. Four more years of it? Never in a million years. Dad got along fine without college and I could as well. “How about community college?” Dr. Baldy suggested. “I'm not going to college,” I said, slightly louder. “I don't have to.” “That is true,” Dr. Baldy nodded, “but I wish you would consider it. You're quite smart; you could go far.” “I'm not going to college! I'm just not, ok?” “All right,” Dr. Baldy said quietly, “I think our time is up for today.” I stormed out of the building, squinting at the light. Nobody was there to pick me up. I looked around, trying to figure out what to do. The world seemed huge. Never before had I appreciated just how big the world was, or how many people were in it. People bustled past me, hurrying on their way, completely ignoring me. There were so many of them and their voices seemed to get louder and louder. Someone jostled me from the side, hitting me with her large bag of groceries. I shrank back and leaned against the building. My head was swimming. My heart was hammering. My hands were tingling. I bent over to steady myself. The dizziness lessened slightly, but it was still there. What was happening? What was wrong with me? Maybe I was crazy; maybe Aunt Helen was right. I couldn't think straight. My mind was filled with so many thoughts that I couldn't make any of them out. “Iris!” I heard a car in front of me. Looking up, I recognized Scott's red SUV. It seemed far away, blocked by the crowd of of people who seemed to all be morphed together. Trying not to think too hard, I ran for it, jumped in the passenger seat, and tried to steady my breathing. I felt like I was going to be sick. “Iris, are you ok?” Scott asked. “Sorry your aunt wasn't here to get you. She got held up in traffic and called me to get you.” He actually looked worried. I must have looked bad. “I think- I don't know.” I swallowed, forcing the tears not to leak out of my eyes. ****** The door to the stairway slammed behind me, echoing in the strange emptiness. Why was the stairwell empty? Why weren't any other students using it? I shrugged and smiled to myself as I ran up the stairs, excited that I had discovered a secret stairway in the high school as a freshman. I glanced at my watch as I reached the top. Two minutes until the bell rang. I was going to be on time for the first time that day. I leaned against the door and pushed. It didn't budge. One, two, three more times I tried to push the door open. Panic came over me as I realized that there was a reason nobody else used this set of stairs. Who locks an entire set of doors? Why would the school do that? Not sure of what else to do, I banged on the doors. My heart started racing and it felt like someone turned up the heat to ninety degrees. I tried to catch my breath, but it was no use. I was going to be late again. What if I couldn't get out? What if I was stuck in there forever? “Whoa, stop banging!” someone said as they pushed open the door. Scott was standing there, looking bemused. His head was cocked to the side and he was grinning. It made me want to punch him. He knew about this stupid staircase. “Found the Freshman staircase, did you?” Scott smirked. “Freshman staircase?” “Every year a bunch of Freshmen get stuck in here,” Scott said as I walked into the corridor. “And you didn't tell me?” “No, that would've ruined the fun.” I pushed past him without saying another word and stalked off to Global History, which I was now a good ten minutes late for. ****** Panic attack. That was what Dr. Baldy called what had happened after I left his office that day. Another disorder to add to my list. It wasn't just that one, either. They happened frequently after that. Twice in school, once at the grocery store, once in the car. Aunt Helen demanded that Dr. Baldy give me more medication, which he did. It made me tired all the time. I skipped more school. Aunt Helen yelled at me. Alex, who had left for college that fall, called me less. Alex was everything Aunt Helen could have wanted in a son. Star student, captain of the football team, acceptance letter to Notre Dame. In other words, he was normal. Aunt Helen had thrown him a huge graduation party the previous year. She got him a green SUV, just like Scott's. Aunt Helen didn't offer to throw me a graduation party and I didn't care. I didn't want one. She did show up to graduation, though, as did Alex and Scott. The only reason I showed up was because I knew it would make my dad proud. It scared me to go and I nearly had another panic attack, but I had to do it. I had to make Dad proud. My eighteenth birthday was a few weeks after graduation. I woke up bright and early, something I hadn't done in years. My first act of celebration was flushing every single pill down the toilet. I was eighteen. Aunt Helen couldn't force me to take anymore medication. Aunt Helen made me pancakes, something that rarely happened. She set them in front of me along with a large manilla envelope. Her face was hardened and it almost looked like she'd been crying. I'd never seen her cry. Not even when Dad died, and he had been her brother. “Your father's will,” she said quietly as she pushed the envelope closer to me. I choked on my juice. No one had ever mentioned my dad's will and I had always assumed he didn't have one. “He left me a note, telling me to give this to you on your eighteenth birthday,” Aunt Helen said quietly. I nearly knocked over my chair in my haste to get out of the kitchen. Grabbing the envelope, I ran back upstairs, shutting myself in my room. My hands were shaking as I ripped open the envelope. Why did he want me to be eighteen to open it? Why had he made me wait three years? I pulled a stack of papers out of the envelope. Most were official looking documents, but on the very top was a wrinkled sheet of notebook paper. The writing on it was slanted and messy; I recognized it instantly. Dad's handwriting. [i]My little Iris flower, By the time you read this you'll be eighteen, an adult, a young woman, a high school graduate. I am sorry that I did not get to see you graduate, or learn to drive, or go to Prom. I know it's difficult for you to understand, but I could not go on. Life was suffocating. All the magic was gone. I used to see the magic everywhere. In the wind, the flowers, the rain, the sun, the snow. Life was amazing, like magic. Not anymore. You have to understand that it wasn't you. You were the small bit of magic left. Try not to be sad, try not to let the magic leave you. I've left you everything. The house, the car, everything. I love you, Iris. Even though I'm physically gone, I'm still there, all around you. Love, Dad[/i] Tears were leaking out of my eyes onto the paper. It was too late, Dad, too late to tell me not to let the magic leave me. It's gone. It left the day you put that gun to your head. I didn't bother looking at the will. I knew what it said. Everything was mine. I didn't have to stay at my aunt and uncle's house anymore. Alex drove me to the house on his way to work. I hadn't talked to Aunt Helen since reading the letter, but I had a feeling she already knew what the will had contained. It didn't look like anyone had even stepped onto the property since Dad died. I hadn't been there since he died. I'd been too scared of what I would find, too scared of what it would do to me. The lawn was overgrown and covered in weeds. Patches of dirt and dead grass intermingled with the weeds. I peeked in the garage and saw that Dad's old Ford pick-up was still there. The inside of the house looked exactly the same, with the exception of a very large layer of dust covering everything. Dad's Carhartt jacket was slung over the coat rack and my old purple umbrella was still lying on the floor, half open. I walked slowly into the kitchen, my heart pounding fast in my chest. A pile of dirty dishes lay in the sink, as if they were waiting for Dad or me to come wash them. The small living room's floor was littered with old newspapers and homework assignments. I took a deep breath before opening my bedroom door. It was the only room that was empty. Aunt Helen or Uncle Tom had come and gotten all my stuff for me shortly after Dad died. Only my bed, desk, and dresser remained, along with a smattering of crumpled papers on the ground. I paused outside Dad's bedroom before shaking my head and turning away from it. I couldn't go in. I just couldn't do it. Even three years later, it was just too hard. Maybe Dad had a point in not giving me the will until I turned eighteen. The place was a mess, but it was my house, my home. It was more of a home than Aunt Helen and Uncle Tom's house had ever been. Three years of living in that place and I still felt like a guest. Three years away from my house and it still felt like home. I threw myself into cleaning the place up. Every room needed it and I worked all day. I threw out the old newspapers, vacuumed, mopped, dusted, and washed dishes. Nothing was left untouched, except Dad's room. Cleaning was calming. My heart returned to its regular pace, my breathing returned to normal. For the first time in three years, I felt all right. Not great, of course, but not awful either. ****** Cleaning only took me two days. Nobody came to the house while I cleaned. Not Alex, not Aunt Helen or Uncle Tom. After I finished, I sat on the couch and turned on the television, but didn't watch. It was just background noise. Nor did I think about how the power was actually on, in a house that had been abandoned for years. I suppose Aunt Helen must have been paying for it. I sat there doing absolutely nothing for hours. They felt like the longest hours I'd lived through and the shortest ones at the same time. Cleaning had taken my mind off everything. With the whole house (except Dad's room) now spotless, there was nothing to do but sit there and think. Everything was on my mind. It was like a huge rush of the past three years of my life all jumbled up. It was just too much; too overwhelming. I was sitting there shaking on the couch, tears running down my face. Dad was gone, never coming back. Owning the house seemed to just clinch that even more. I had no one. It had been Dad and me against the world for so long. Aunt Helen and Uncle Tom didn't really count. They were my guardians because they had to be. Neither of them had taken the time to truly understand. Instead they just shuttled me off to the psychiatrist and shoved pills down my throat. Dad wanted me to succeed. He wanted me to be happy, to keep the magic in my life. I had failed at that. Grudgingly finishing high school, staying cooped up in my room whenever possible, not even considering the possibility of college. Dad wouldn't have wanted that. He would have wanted me to be all I could be, no matter how cliched it sounded. There was a knock on the door, shaking me out of my thoughts. Hastily wiping the tears off my face, I walked to the door. I cautiously opened it and was quite surprised to see Scott standing on the front step. He had cut his hair and it looked nice. “Iris,” he said quietly, “Alex told me. About the will.” I nodded. “Yeah.” “Look, I know I used to tease you all the time, but, I just want to show you something.” “All right,” I said. What was going on? Scott turned around and cut across the front yard. I followed him. He led me to the lone tree in the front yard, the one that Dad had told me would eventually be large enough for me to climb, but was still small and scraggly. I gasped when I saw what was underneath. Iris flowers. Small, but grown enough to have the purple flowers, surrounding the tree in a perfect circle. “I know they're your favorite kind of flowers,” Scott said quietly. I nodded as tears began to form in my eyes. Only this time, they were tears of happiness. Someone cared. Someone actually knew me. I felt something on my shoulder and looked up. Scott had awkwardly placed his arm over me, looking slightly nervous about it. It was then that I knew the magic wasn't gone completely. It had disappeared for a while, buried itself deep inside me underneath the grief, so deep that I thought it was gone. But it was there and had been there the whole time. The problem was that I hadn't dug deep enough to find it. Now I had brought it back and it was there, blossoming like the Iris flowers that now lived in my front yard.
DucksRMagical Joined: 28 December 2006 Posts: 2486 Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal	Posted: Wednesday 9 December 2009 02 41 42 pm    Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden Chapter 13: Silence Albus's group of friends had never been torn apart by a row before. From the moment they met on the train ride over two years ago, the five of them had been close. During their first year, only one time had any of them had a row. It had only lasted ten minutes. Albus remembered it like it was just yesterday. The night he and John had fought about whether to tell Matt they knew he was a werewolf. It had been a very brief row, ending when Matt walked in. Then, just a year ago, Kaden had flew into their group in a mist of hyperactivity and loudness. Albus didn't really count the rows he had shared with his cousin as rows within his group of friends. Kaden had not been Albus's friend then. They reconciled and then became friends. That was how Albus saw it. No row had come between them like this one, though. Albus was still in shock about it the next day. If he had had to pick two of his friends to fight, he wouldn't have chosen Matt or Rose. The two of them seemed least likely to fight. Rose did have a temper. There was no denying that. She and Albus had shared quite a few sibling-like squabbles growing up, but they had grown out of it. Rose's temper remained, though. She was stubborn as well. Albus had a lot of experience with that. Once Rose got an idea into her head there was no stopping her. It seemed that bringing Linda into their group was one of those things. Albus just couldn't fathom why. Sure, she was smart, but was that really a reason to become friends with someone? Matt, on the other hand, didn't seem to have an angry bone in his body. This was definitely ironic considering that he became a raging werewolf once a month. In the two years Albus had known him, he had only seen him angry a couple times. Most of these occasions were when he was having whispered conversations with his sister. Albus would never have predicted that he would yell at Rose like he had. Albus had no idea what to expect the next day. He doubted this was the sort of thing that would just blow over. It certainly had not blown over, as Albus discovered at breakfast. His group of friends was no longer sitting together. When Albus, Matt, and John entered the Great Hall, they noticed that Rose, Amanda, and Linda were sitting at one end of the table, while Kaden was a few feet down from them. John immediately headed to where Kaden was sitting and Albus and Matt followed. Rose did not seem to notice them pass, nor did Amanda or Linda. There was no doubt in Albus's mind whose side Amanda was on. She was Rose's best friend first and foremost. And whatever her reason was, she had also befriended Linda. Even though the girls were seated far away, nobody said anything during breakfast. John still looked furious as he stabbed his eggs with a bit too much force. Matt looked more tired than anything, but there was a glint of anger in his eyes. Kaden was at a complete loss for words, which happened very rarely. Even he went the whole meal without uttering a thing. Albus had no urge to start any conversations either. He was still quite angry with his cousin. The nerve of her to ask if they could let a complete stranger into the Marauder's Den was unfathomable to him. The silence continued through History of Magic and Transfiguration. Albus sat in between John and Matt during both classes and glared at the back of Rose's head. She was sitting in between Amanda and Linda at the table in front of Albus's during both classes. Albus paid zero attention during History of Magic. He merely recounted the row over and over again, which only caused him to become more angry. Judging by the look on John's face, he had been doing the same thing. Matt merely slept the entire class, completely unnoticed by Professor Binns. Albus forced himself to pay attention and take notes during Transfiguration, although John did not. Matt remained awake during the class, but had a glazed look over his eyes. It wasn't until Care of Magical Creatures that the uncharacteristically long silence dissolved. Matt decided to skip that class and sleep in the Marauder's Den instead and Albus couldn't blame him. It was a particularly windy and cold Autumn day and Albus shivered as he walked down to Hagrid's hut with John. Rose and Linda had Arithmancy, so they weren't even there. Amanda was, but she stood with Janie, Marina, and Karina for the duration of the class. "Wow," John said in a low whisper as they sat on the cold, hard ground drawing pictures of the puffskeins they were watching. He didn't have to say anything else. Albus knew what he was talking about. "Yeah," he muttered. "Have you got any idea why Rose was so insistent about Linda?" John asked quietly. "She's stubborn. She always has been," Albus replied, "Once, when we were eight or so, she wanted to go to this sleepover my cousins Gabriella, Georgia, and Heather were having. Her parents said no and she didn't speak to them for nearly a week." "Seriously?" John gaped and then smirked, "Siriusly...." Albus rolled his eyes. "Yeah, she did." "Do you think she'd do that this time? Not talk to us for a week?" "It wouldn't surprise me if she didn't talk to us until we let Linda into the room," Albus sighed. "That's not going to happen," John said. "No, it's not," Albus agreed, "Even if by some chance we decided to let her, there's no way Matt would. And I think Kaden would just agree to whatever I said." "Well, I can't blame Matt for not wanting her in there," John lowered his voice even more, "He always sleeps there before the you know what. He's not going to want her to know about it." "I can't blame him either," Albus agreed. "You do know what this means, right?" John asked. "What?" "We're going to have to take our own notes in class now," John groaned, "No way is Rose going to let us borrow hers anymore." Albus couldn't help but giggle a little at that. Albus could always rely on John to lighten the mood. Either him or Kaden. Albus and John didn't talk much for the remainder of the class and the brief bit of humor died away quickly. Albus and John headed straight for the Marauder's Den after class. They passed Rose on their way there, but she acted like she didn't notice them. "You awake?" John shouted as they entered the room. "I am now," Matt replied groggily from his bed. A few moments later he got up and laid down on the couch. "You don't look so good," John said as he tossed his bag unceremoniously onto the floor and jumped onto the other end of the couch. "You think?" Matt said sarcastically. "No, I mean, you look worse than usual," John replied. "Oh, that's nice," Albus said as he sat down in one of the chairs. John did have a point, though. Matt was as pale as he usually was the day before a full moon, but the dark circles under his eyes were more pronounced. His eyes were also more bloodshot, which gave him the look of a person who hadn't slept in days. "It's true," John shrugged, "Haven't you been sleeping all day?" Matt sighed and shook his head. "No. Didn't sleep that much last night either. I just can't. I keep thinking about what happened yesterday.... The only real sleep I've gotten was in History of Magic. I need a good Binns lecture to put me to sleep now." Albus didn't think he'd ever heard the phrase 'good Binns lecture' before. "Won't that make tonight worse?" Albus asked quietly, "Not sleeping before it?" "Yeah, of course it will," Matt said quietly, "But I can't make myself sleep." "Ask Madam Pomfrey for a potion," John suggested. "She'll ask too many questions," Matt said, "I never have a problem falling asleep before the full moon. She'll be suspicious. I don't want to tell her about the row." Matt didn't elaborate anymore about his lack of sleep, so Albus and John played a bit of Exploding Snap. Matt didn't feel like playing. "Albus?" Matt asked after a half hour or so. "Yeah?" Albus replied. "Rose wouldn't," Matt paused, "You know, tell anyone about me, would she? Because I've been thinking, she's the sort of secret keeper for the charm for Kaden, but if she tells someone then who knows what would happen with that, so maybe we should switch to you and-" "No," Albus interrupted him, "She wouldn't do that. Rose might be stubborn and angry with you, but she would never ever tell anyone that you're a werewolf. She knows that it's your secret to tell." "But what if she just slips up?" Matt asked anxiously. Albus tried to see this from Matt's point of view. He also reminded himself that Matt was probably sleep deprived and combine that with how sick he always got before the full moon, he wouldn't be seeing things rationally. But the idea of Rose telling someone that Matt was a werewolf just because she was mad at him was hard to believe. "She won't," Albus said adamantly, "I've known her longer than you. She won't do that." "All right," Matt said warily and leaned back on the couch. Albus exchanged glances with John as Matt's eyes began to glaze over. This was not going to blow over quickly. ****** Albus slept horribly that night. He tossed and turned and stared at the glowing circle the full moon created on the hangings of his bed. Bilius's soft snoring filled the room. Albus was sure he wouldn't fall asleep at all that night. He had too much on his mind. His best friend and his cousin were fighting. The cousin he had grown up with, spent all his pre-Hogwarts days with. His best friend since first year. Albus felt awful about it. He could think of at least twenty things he'd rather do that have his best friend and his cousin fight like this. A month's worth of detention with Filch, for example. This was different than a little disagreement, too. John and Rose often fought with each other, but Albus kind of thought they liked it. Albus himself sort of enjoyed squabbling with James. Matt never fought with any of them, though. And none of them ever really rowed. What if Rose and Matt never made up? Albus swallowed hard and stared fixedly at the end of his bed. They had to make up, eventually. But what if they didn't? A nagging voice in the back of Albus's head told him it was a possibility. He tried to shake it out of his head as he closed his eyes in a vain attempt to get some sleep. Albus had been hoping Defense Against the Dark Arts would provide a much needed escape from his thoughts of Matt and Rose never making up. That class usually required every bit of Albus's brain power and he couldn't really think about anything else during it. Unfortunately, Balladanis decided to give one of his rare lectures. Albus's mind wandered and by the time the class was over, he really couldn't remember what Balladanis had lectured about. He had assigned an essay, too, which didn't help matters. Slughorn, on the other hand, decided to have a practical lesson even though it was only a single class. Since Matt was in the hospital wing, Albus worked with John and Janie Creevey, John's usual potions partner. He was just glad Slughorn didn't make him work with Rose and Amanda. Linda was mysteriously absent, so their group was down to two people. John sent Albus to go get ingredients while he and Janie set up. He joined the queue behind Amanda. "Albus," Amanda said quietly. "Amanda," Albus replied, reminding him a lot of the way he and Limbert had worked the previous year. Polite greetings and no talking. "Albus?" Amanda asked as they neared the cupboard. "Yeah?" Albus replied. "Er, how's Matt?" she asked quietly. Albus shrugged. "Haven't had the time to visit him today." Amanda nodded. "Um, what about the row? How is he about that?" "He's still angry with Rose," Albus muttered. "Oh. I was hoping..." her voice trailed off. "How is Rose?" "Angry," Amanda sighed, "Oh, Albus, I hate this! I hate not being able to be with you lot, but I can't abandon Rose." "I hate it too," Albus said quietly. He was sort of surprised that Amanda still wanted to be around them, after they denied Linda access to the room. After all, she was Linda's friend, too. "It's so stupid," she whispered, "Fighting like this." "I know," Albus said, "But I don't think Rose and Matt think it's stupid." "What about John and Kaden? What do they think?" "John flat out refuses to let Linda into the room. I do, too," he said quickly, "We're all in agreement about that. Kaden, too." "I know. And I get why. I just think its stupid to let it come between us." "Me, too," Albus agreed, "But Rose is so stubborn. I know she's your best friend, but I've grown up with her. And she refuses to give in. So this might last a while." "I don't want it to, Albus," Amanda said quietly. "I don't either," Albus sighed. Albus got his ingredients and went back to John's cauldron. He couldn't tell John anything about the conversation, though, since Janie was there. In fact, they only talked about the potion as they worked. "Time's up!" Slughorn announced a while later, "Bring a sample up to my desk for grading." Albus dropped their potion off to Slughorn on his way out the door with John. He glanced back at Amanda. She was talking with Rose, but looked up and gave Albus a half-hearted smile. Albus returned it and left the room, somehow feeling worse than he had when he entered. Albus and John hurried to the Great Hall and found Kaden. The three of them ate a quick lunch and then rushed off to the hospital wing before their next classes. Madam Pomfrey was sitting at her desk when they walked in. She looked up, but remained seated when the three boys walked inside. "Hello, boys," she greeted them. "Hi Madam Pomfrey," Albus replied. "Where's..." the nurse began to ask, but then shook her head and closed her mouth. Albus shrugged and continued his way towards the only occupied bed in the ward. He pulled the curtains open and sat down on the end of Matt's bed. Matt was asleep. Sound asleep judging by the rhythmic way his chest moved up and down under the blankets. His face was scratched and there was a bandage around his forehead, but other than that he looked all right. Granted, most of his body was covered by the blanket, but Albus hoped he was all right otherwise. He didn't stir when Albus sat down. John gently prodded his blanketed arm, but he didn't appear to notice it at all. "If he's asleep, I suggest you let him be," Madam Pomfrey shouted from her desk, "In fact, I insist." "Is he ok?" John asked, "He usually wakes up when we come in." "He had a rough night," the nurse sighed, "It's like he didn't get any rest beforehand, but Hagrid tells me he skipped Care of Magical Creatures, so I'm sure he must have slept. But he's only woken up once since I brought him back this morning. So, for whatever the reason, he must need to sleep. Perhaps it would be best if you came back after dinner." Albus nodded and got up off the bed. He knew why Matt needed the extra sleep. He hadn't slept much the previous day. Albus didn't say much to John and Kaden as they left. He muttered a quiet goodbye as he left for Ancient Runes. He was dreading that class. It was one he shared with Rose and Matt, and since Matt was practically unconscious in the hospital wing, it would just be him and Rose. Albus was half tempted to just skip Ancient Runes. After all, he hadn't ever skipped a class before, except when he was sick. Even when Washburn was teaching Charms, Albus was there for every class. But, he was sure the teacher would send an owl to his parents, so he trudged his way to Ancient Runes as slowly as possible without being late. However, Albus hadn't thought about the downside of being the last one to show up for class. When he walked into the room, there were only two seats left, at Rose's table. Linda was mysteriously absent again. Albus groaned inwardly and sat down next to his cousin. He stole a quick glance at her, but she was facing forward, looking determined. Professor Sturly walked in a moment later. Albus crossed his fingers for a lecture class, something he rarely did. If the class was a lecture, he could easily not talk to Rose at all. But if they were working on decoding runes, he would have to work with a partner as usual. Since both Matt and Linda weren't in class, he'd have to partner with Rose. Sure enough, Sturly passed out tablets of runes for the class to decipher. She placed one in between Albus and Rose and told them to work together since their usual partners weren't there. "Albus," Rose said icily as she turned to the tablet. "Rose," Albus muttered. They worked quietly for a while, only talking about the runes. "That's not a sun, Albus," Rose said as Albus wrote the word 'sun' on his parchment. "Then what is it?" Albus asked. "It's a moon." "Oh," Albus muttered and changed his answer, "Er, where is Linda?" "Why do you care?" Rose glared at him. "I'm just curious," Albus shrugged. "She's sick, if you must know," Rose said, "She hasn't looked well for the past few days." "She wasn't in the hospital wing," Albus replied. "Not everyone goes to the hospital wing for every little thing," Rose said shortly. "Well, if she's been sick for a few days-" "That's her business, isn't it?" Rose interrupted. Albus nodded. Rose was right about that. "Er, aren't you going to ask how Matt is?" "I guess," Rose muttered, "How is he?" "Worse than usual, thanks to your row." "That wasn't only my fault. He was right there rowing with me," Rose seethed, "So don't guilt me into doing anything." "I'm not trying to guilt you into anything," Albus groaned, "I just thought that you might actually care how his-" Albus cut himself off. Transformation. Rose said Linda had been sick for the past few days. So had Matt. Linda had been sick around the full moon. Was it possible that she, Linda, was a werewolf, too? Albus stared dumbstruck at the tablet he was supposed to be decoding. It was kind sort of too much of a coincidence for them both to get sick at the same time. But then why would Matt be so opposed to Linda finding out that he was a werewolf, if she was one herself? "Albus?" Rose asked. "Rose-" he paused. Would Rose really tell him if Linda was a werewolf? Probably not. "Never mind." "Er, ok," Rose shrugged. The rest of the class dragged by. As soon as the bell rang, Albus grabbed his stuff and ran out of the room. He had to find John and Kaden. They had to find out if Linda really was a werewolf or not. Albus made it to the Marauder's Den in record time. Neither John or Kaden were there yet. Come to think of it, Kaden had class anyway, so he wouldn't even be there. But John didn't. Albus tossed his bag down and began pacing around the room. John entered the room a short while later. Albus looked up and ran over to him. "John!" Albus shouted. "What?" John asked, thoroughly confused. "I had to partner with Rose during Ancient Runes since Matt wasn't there. Guess who else wasn't there? Linda. And she wasn't in Potions either," Albus said quickly. "So?" John asked. "I asked Rose about it and she said that Linda's been ill the past few days," Albus continued. "But she's been in class," John pointed out. "I know, that's part of it!" Albus replied, "Can you think of anyone else who goes to class even when he's ill?" John paused and then his eyes widened in shock. "Matt! Wait, are you thinking-" "Linda's a werewolf," Albus said. "You really think?" John asked. "Well, I obviously don't know for sure...." "What about the last full moon? Was she sick then?" "I don't remember," Albus sighed, "I didn't really pay attention, did you?" "Nope," John said, "But seriously?" "I don't know. I mean, it's possible, but if she's a werewolf, why was Matt so afraid of her finding out he's one?" "Good point," John sighed. "We've got to find out." "I know, we can ask Matt!" John said, "Because she would've been with him in the Shrieking Shack, right?" "Not necessarily," Albus shook his head, "If Wolfsbane works for her, she couldn't have been near him." "Oh, right," John replied, "But maybe he'd know anyway." "Or maybe not. Maybe he hasn't got a clue, but if he did know he wouldn't be so worried about her finding out about him," Albus said. "And then he and Rose could make up." "Exactly," Albus grinned. He wanted nothing more than Rose and Matt to make up. "Let's go see if he's awake."