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Harry Potter J'adore Gryffindor Twin Bed Set (Comforter and Pillowcase)
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DucksRMagical
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Posted: Wednesday 10 March 2010 10 01 47 am Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden |
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New page, new disclaimer! I still do not own Harry Potter.
Chapter 26: The Presuler
Professor Balladanis didn't say anything for a long time after he, Albus, and Malfoy returned to the Defense classroom. Albus landed next to Malfoy, still confused as to how he managed to get out of the pensieve, in front of Balladanis's desk. Balladanis landed behind his desk, facing the wall, and didn't turn around for a few minutes.
Albus glanced nervously at his professor as he thought of questions he was just burning to ask. In fact, there was nothing about the scene he had just witnessed that didn't make Albus curious. Everything about it had been confusing.
Malfoy looked just as confused. They kept looking at each other and it was kind of strange. They were on the same side. Both of them wanted Balladanis to explain.
Balladanis finally turned around and looked at them. He put his hands on his desk and leaned forward, looking both Albus and Malfoy in the eye.
It happened in a split second. Albus looked at his professor and immediately thought back to the face of the boy in the scene. That was why he looked familiar. The boy was Balladanis. Then, Balladanis shifted slightly and the likeness was gone. But Albus knew it. That scene had been from Balladanis's childhood.
“Sit down,” Balladanis said.
Albus and Malfoy sat down quickly at the table in front of Balladanis's desk. They were sitting right next to each other and Albus didn't care. At the moment, finding out what that scene was was more important than staying away from Malfoy.
“A few weeks ago you asked me what I did before I started teaching here, Mr. Potter,” Balladanis began, “I have always had the intention of telling you, of telling both of you. I was merely waiting for the right moment. I feel that that moment is now.”
Balladanis paused and walked around to the front of his desk. He began to pace in front of it.
“There is a reason why I am telling you this now. Why I am not explaining to all of my classes what I did before teaching. The reason is that you two are incredible duelers. Both of you have skills beyond your years that I have never seen before, and believe me, I have seen plenty of exceptional duelers in my time. This may be a good time to tell you how rare it is to have two such skilled duelers in the same year at Hogwarts.”
Albus turned to look at Malfoy. What was Balladanis getting at? It sounded like the start of some sort of house unity speech or something.
“I know the two of you aren't the best of friends,” Balladanis continued, “But I must say how impressed I am that you seem to put the animosity behind you when you step into my classroom for your lessons.”
The sole reason for that, at least for Albus, was because of Balladanis himself. Albus doubted he would tolerate Albus and Malfoy bickering with each other during lessons.
“Back to what I was going to tell you,” Balladanis said, “That scene that I just showed you, in case you have not figured it out yet, took place while I was a boy of only thirteen. It was the summer before my third year at school.
“I grew up in Greece, in that very house we just saw. My parents, although they loved me deeply, were very poor and could barely afford to put food on the table. I think they were grateful when I went away to school, the sole reason being that they wouldn't have to worry about me getting enough to eat.
“I had two blissfully innocent and fun years at the Grecian School of Magic. I returned home during summers full of stories about my friends and all the mischief we'd gotten into.”
Albus found it difficult to imagine Balladanis getting into trouble at school or doing anything fun in general.
“Everything changed the summer before my third year. It changed on the night you just witnessed. A coven of vampires entered my house that night. They attacked my parents and drank them dry. I hid in a closet, too scared to do anything. Then, once the vampires left, I fled. I ran until I could not run anymore. I wound up at the house of one of my friends. His parents took me in, but things were obviously never the same. I changed on that night.”
Balladanis stopped talking and Albus sat in complete shock. Balladanis's parents had been murdered by vampires? That was one thing that had never crossed Albus's mind.
“I returned to school that September hardened. Nothing was fun anymore. Nothing was funny. It was then that I decided to devote my life to ridding the world of such evils. Vampires, dark wizards, werewolves, anyone and anything that murders viciously.”
Albus couldn't help but glare at Balladanis when he mentioned werewolves. Balladanis seemed to notice this and gave Albus the slightest of smiles.
“However, I did realize that not all vampires, werewolves, giants, and other beings are inherently evil. Not all of them want to kill. It was for this reason that I did not wish to be employed by the Greek Ministry. The Greek Ministry prefers to deal with magical creatures as a whole and not distinguish between them. Perhaps this is because Greece has a very large population of vampires.
“Thus, becoming an Auror was out of the question. Instead, I chose to enter a more secretive profession. One that you will not find pamphlets on when you get career advice from your heads of house. One that no one except me is going to suggest to you. Yet it is one that I believe the two of you are quite suited for.”
Albus's heart sped up at this. Balladanis was going to give them career advice? They were only thirteen. But at the same time, Albus felt excited. Balladanis thought he was a good enough dueler for this career, whatever it was.
“I am a Presuler,” Balladanis said, “I am sure neither of you have heard of one. A Presuler is somewhat like an Auror, in that we seek out dark wizards and dark magic. However, we not only seek out dark wizards and dark magic, we seek out dark and dangerous creatures as well.
“The biggest difference is that Presulers are not employed by the Ministry. There are very few Presulers in the world and we are often sought out by various Ministries and hired on an as-needed basis. We travel from country to country, whenever we are needed. It is quite secretive. I suppose Presulers are a combination of Aurors and private investigators.”
Balladanis was right in that Albus had never heard of a Presuler before. The idea intrigued him, though. A secretive kind of Auror who did not work for the Ministry.
“I never caught the vampires who killed my parents. I have met one vampire who knew them, but she is not like them. I am still searching for them, however.”
Balladanis stopped pacing and leaned up against the front of his desk. He looked at Albus and Malfoy, but did not say anything else.
“Why are you teaching here, then?” Malfoy asked.
“That is one thing that is between myself and Professor Kendrick,” Balladanis replied.
“Are you coming back next year?” Malfoy asked.
“As of right now, I have no idea,” Balladanis answered, “It is getting late. I've kept you here much longer than normal. If you think of anymore questions, do not hesitate to see me. I'll walk you back to your common rooms.”
Albus walked alongside Balladanis in silence on his way back to the Gryffindor Tower. His mind was racing with what he just learned. He didn't know what to make of it. It was just so much information at once.
The common room was nearly empty when Albus climbed through the portrait hole. It must have been really late, since it was Friday night. Albus really didn't know what time it was.
“There you are!” Rose shouted, “Merlin, you've been gone for hours!”
“What did he have you doing?” Matt asked.
“I'll tell you tomorrow,” Albus muttered, realizing that all he wanted to do was lay in his bed and think about what Balladanis had just said.
Albus was vaguely aware of his friends sighs of disappointment as he went up to his dormitory, but he didn't feel like talking about it right then. He was tired and his mind was racing at the same time.
Albus tossed and turned the entire night. He alternated thinking about what he had seen in the pensieve and about becoming a Presuler himself. Then he wound up thinking about Linda and what Balladanis thought of her. He had said he didn't hold a grudge against vampires that didn't kill people, but who knew what he really thought.
Was Linda the vampire he had met who knew the vampires who killed his parents? It was possible since vampires never aged. Or maybe she was a completely different vampire. Albus wondered how many vampires Balladanis knew.
Eventually Albus fell into a restless sleep, but his dreams were plagued by what he had seen in the pensieve.
******
“Merlin, Albus, get up!”
Albus rolled over in his bed and put his pillow over his head. After waking up drenched in sweat at four in the morning after a nightmare in which his whole family had been killed by vampires, he had finally drifted off into a somewhat decent sleep. One that he wished he was still in.
“It's nearly one o'clock.”
“He's like you are after full moons.”
“Shut it. Seriously, Albus, get up.”
“Yeah, we want to know what happened last night.”
Someone pulled the curtains open and took the pillow off Albus's head. He looked up and saw John and Matt.
“Did you lose to Malfoy or something?” John asked, “Because that would make me want to hole up in bed for the day.”
“No, it's not that,” Albus muttered, “I'll tell you, but I'm only explaining it once, so one of you better find Rose, Amanda, and Kaden. And I'll tell you in the Marauder's Den because there is no way Linda can be around to hear this.”
The girls and Kaden met them in the Marauder's Den after Albus, John, and Matt had lunch. John kept pestering Albus all through lunch, wanting to know why Linda couldn't hear about it, but Albus said nothing. He wasn't even sure if he was allowed to tell his friends about this, but Balladanis hadn't really forbidden him.
“Albus, what in the name of Merlin happened last night?” Rose asked as soon as they were all in the Marauder's Den.
“Balladanis told us what he did before he started teaching at Hogwarts,” Albus said quietly.
“And you neglected to tell us until now?” John gaped, “I've been wanting to know for the entire year!”
“I know, John,” Albus snapped, “But it's not anything what you'd think.”
“Sorry,” John muttered.
“Balladanis took us into a pensieve last night,” Albus began.
“Really?” Rose looked impressed, “What was that like?”
“Not that great, to be honest,” Albus said, “Probably would have been better if it was a better memory.
“Anyway, he took us without any explanation of what we were going to see. He took us to this really old broken down house in Greece. Kind of looked like a smaller more run-down version of the Shrieking Shack.”
“In Greece?” Kaden asked.
“Yeah,” Albus nodded, “We watched the house for what seemed like hours and then these figures broke into it and we heard this awful screaming. Then the figures left. Then this bloke who was about our age came running out with this horrible scared look on his face. Then we left.”
“What does that have anything to do with what Balladanis does for a living?” John asked.
“Everything,” Albus sighed, “That had been his house. The screams were his parents. The boy was him. He told us this after. His parents were killed by a coven of vampires.”
Nobody said anything for a long time. Albus looked at his friends and they all wore equal looks of shock.
“And you watched it?” Matt asked.
“From a distance,” Albus replied.
“Merlin, no wonder Balladanis is so bloody insane,” John let out a low whistle.
“He decided to devote his life to ridding the world of evil, whether it be vampires, dark wizards, or other dark creatures,” Albus continued.
“So he's an Auror?” Rose asked.
“No,” Albus shook his head, “He's a Presuler.”
“What is that?” Kaden asked.
“It's like an Auror, only they go after dark creatures, too. And they aren't employed by the Ministry. They're hired by Ministries all around the world. They're investigators as well. Apparently it's all very secretive,” Albus explained.
“Wow,” John said, “I thought he was an Auror or something.”
“Me, too,” Matt agreed, “Instead he just hunts down vampires. And, werewolves.”
“Only ones that kill people,” Albus assured his lycanthropic friend.
“All werewolves have the capability of killing people, Albus,” Matt said quietly.
“So does everyone,” Albus replied.
“Whatever his view on vampires and werewolves truly is, it's going to be interesting to see how he teaches us about them,” Rose mused.
“Guess this is why you didn't want Linda to hear about this,” John said.
“Yeah,” Albus replied, “Apparently he still hasn't found the vampires who killed his parents, but he knows a vampire who knows them. That vampire doesn't kill people. I wonder if it's Linda.”
“Who knows?” Rose shrugged, “I doubt we'll ever find out.”
“Oh, I've got to tell you what he said after he told us all of this,” Albus took a deep breath, “He thinks Malfoy and I should become Presulers.”
“Seriously?” Matt asked.
“Yeah, because we're good duelers,” Albus explained, “But I don't know.”
“You don't have to know. You're only thirteen. And Albus, don't decide anything until you've read about this. Don't just go on what Balladanis is saying. I think we've finally discovered why he's so passionate about fighting the Dark Arts, but it might cloud his judgement sometimes,” Rose warned.
“I know, that's what I don't get,” Albus said, “Why is he telling us this now?”
“Maybe because he doesn't plan on staying,” Matt replied, “Why would he stop searching for the vampires who killed his parents to teach here anyway?”
“Malfoy asked,” Albus told him, “But he wouldn't tell us. He said it's between him and Kendrick.”
“Because that's not suspicious or anything,” John rolled his eyes, “There's still something funny about Balladanis.”
“What are you going to do, Albus?” Matt asked.
“I'm not deciding anything now,” Albus replied, “I'm just not going to think about it.”
******
Not thinking about Presulers and what happened to Balladanis's parents proved to be easier said than done, especially since Defense class was soon devoted to learning about vampires. Balladanis seemed to teach that particular unit with much more enthusiasm than usual, a feat that nobody thought possible. Everyone speculated as to why Balladanis was more enthusiastic than usual, but most just attributed it to the fact that he was bloody insane.
A lot of what Balladanis taught about vampires was stuff Albus already knew due to what Matt had told them earlier in the school year. It was still fairly interesting, though. Albus found that the more dangerous the creature they were learning about, the more interesting it was. Not to mention the fact that they didn't use the anamatek anymore, a fact that nearly every student was grateful for.
However, partway through their second week devoted to vampires, the anamatek's trunk reappeared in the Defense classroom. There was an audible groan from every student who stepped into the room.
“If that thing turns into a vampire, I think I'm going to get up and leave,” John seethed as they took their seats.
“Maybe we're moving onto another creature,” Albus suggested even though he knew the chances were slim to none.
“That wouldn't be any better. We're doing werewolves next,” John reminded him, “And Matt said that thing couldn't turn into an actual werewolf. Speaking of Matt, he's lucky he's missing this.”
“I think he'd say otherwise,” Albus replied. The full moon had been the previous night.
“Quiet,” Balladanis said, “We'll be continuing our vampire lesson today. Today I wish to show you what a vampire looks like, which is why I have brought back the anamatek. However, you will not be fighting it. None of you have the skills necessary to fight a vampire.”
“He's mental,” John muttered.
Balladanis drew his wand and pointed it at the trunk. It snapped open and out stepped a very pale man with chiseled features. He didn't move, but merely stared out at all the students.
“Vampires are the perfect predator,” Balladanis announced, “They're incredibly fast,” he pointed his wand at the vampire and it disappeared.
It reappeared in the back of the classroom, but it had not Apparated. The vampire had moved so fast that Albus had missed it in the blink of an eye.
“They're agile,” Balladanis continued, “They're good looking. They attract you in. Then they kill, they suck you dry until you are dead. The alternative is not great, either. From the moment their teeth break your skin, you begin to transform into a vampire as well. You will become one if they do not suck you dry. There is no way to stop it, no potion to counteract it.
“Vampires hunt at night when their vision is still excellent, but when human vision is compromised. However, that is not the only reason. Does anyone know the other?”
Rose raised her hand. Linda did not.
“Yes, Miss Weasley?” Balladanis said.
“Vampires are in essence allergic to the sun,” Rose explained, “When the sunlight hits them, it hurts them. The sun gives them headaches and makes them feel sick.”
“Precisely,” Balladanis gave her a rare smile, “There is no potion to counteract the effects of the sun on vampires. Therefore they tend to inhabit areas that see less sun and areas of dense forest, such as the Northwestern and Northeastern United States, parts of Canada, and parts of Russia. However there is also a significant vampire population in Greece.”
Balladanis pointed his wand at the vampire again and it retreated back into the trunk. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. The lesson continued until the bell rang. Balladanis made no mention of moving onto the next unit, nor had he assigned the usual end of the unit essay.
Albus and his friends went to visit Matt late that night after Albus got out of Quidditch practice. They only had a half hour or so until curfew, but they hadn't visited at all yet.
“You missed an excellent Defense lesson today,” John said once Madam Pomfrey had gone back into her study after leaving to see who had entered her ward.
“Was it any different from the usual ones?” Matt asked tiredly. He looked ready to fall asleep at any moment.
“Balladanis brought back the anamatek,” Albus told him.
“He what?” Matt shouted, although since his voice was hoarse it wasn't very loud, “We're still doing vampires, aren't we?”
“Yeah, he had it turn into a vampire,” John said, “We didn't have to fight it. He just used it to show how fast vampires were and what they looked like.”
“That is weird,” Matt replied, “He assign the vampire essay yet?”
“Nope,” John shook his head, “I think we're in for a few more days of vampires.”
“Well, the longer we spend on vampires, the more time we have before we start werewolves,” Matt said quietly, “I really hope he doesn't spend as much time on them as he has on vampires.”
“I don't think he will,” Albus said, “His parents weren't killed by werewolves.”
“Thank Merlin for that,” Matt yawned.
“You're tired,” Rose said, “We should leave.”
“We'll be back tomorrow after lunch,” Albus told him, “Good night.”
“'Night,” Matt said.
They left the ward just as Madam Pomfrey was coming out of her study, presumably to tell them to leave and give Matt more potions. Albus and his friends headed straight for the common room, where they got started on all the homework that had been piled on them that day. |
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DucksRMagical
Joined: 28 December 2006
Posts: 2495
Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal
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Posted: Sunday 28 February 2010 03 53 06 pm Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow |
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Chapter 3: Sophie Nymphadora Lupin
Farina gave me a glare that would make a dragon shrink back in fear when I ran into the clinic at exactly 1:30. I think she had been hoping that I would've been a minute late so she could've yelled at me. Luck had been on my side that time.
I went to the nurse's station and they handed me the chart for the wizard in Exam Room One.
“What seems to be the problem?” I asked once I was inside the room.
The wizard sitting on the exam table didn't look particularly sick, nor did he have any obvious injuries. In fact, he looked perfectly fine.
“Er,” he muttered, “I've got this, well, growth on my, er, arse.”
“Roll over,” I told him.
He did so and I noticed his wand sticking out of the back pocket of his jeans.
“Here's your problem,” I said as I yanked his wand out of his pocket, “There are a million reasons not to keep your wand in your back pocket, growths on your arse being just one of them.
“Oh,” the man sat up and his face was bright red, “Well, I'll just stop doing that.”
“Good idea,” I said and handed him his wand.
I got rid of the growth with a wave of my own wand and the man left, still bright red.
We've actually gotten quite a few people in the clinic with the same complaint. I was beginning to think that someone needed to tell all the first years at Hogwarts not to put their wands in their back pockets. It seemed kind of obvious to me, but I guess not everyone thought of it.
The afternoon droned on and I healed various ailments and injuries. A few colds, one case of the flu, and a few minor spell damages. I also assured one very worried mother that just because her four-year-old daughter had not yet displayed any signs of magic, it did not mean she was a Squib.
I left the clinic at exactly five o'clock and went straight down to my brewing room. It was so nice to escape to the peace and quiet of the room after being in the chaotic hospital all day.
My potion was ready to send off for testing. Whenever new potions were created at St. Mungo's, they were sent to a different department of the hospital for testing. They had to be mixed with other potions and run through various lab tests to find out if they were dangerous or would interact with other potions.
Potions testers also worked in the basement, in separate rooms. It often took a very long time to get results back from the testing and it was always a very nerve-wracking time. A few of the potions I had created had come back labeled as dangerous and it was such a let-down when that happened.
I let the Wolfsbane simmer for a half hour before bottling it and filling out the form for testing. Then I walked down the long corridor towards the testing room.
The testing room looked like something out of a Muggle horror movie. It was filled with all sorts of stainless steel contraptions and cauldrons bubbling with various potions. The testers wore white hazardous waste robes and masks.
There was a window with a small two door box which potions were transferred with. I rang the bell next to the door and one of the testers came over.
“Amy,” he greeted me, “Another version of Wolfsbane?”
“Yep,” I said as I put it in the box, along with the form, “Hopefully this one's better than the last one.”
My last potion had failed the tests. I had had to completely start over.
“It should be ready in a few weeks,” he told me, “We'll owl you the results.”
“Thanks,” I said as I left.
******
Victoire was waiting outside my flat when I got home a little while later. She was glancing at her watch when I first saw her and then she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw me.
“There you are,” she said, “I thought you were done at the clinic at five. Did Farina make you stay longer?”
“No, but I had to go send my potion to testing,” I said as I unlocked the door, “You know you could've gone to Matt's and gotten the spare key. You didn't have to wait outside.”
“I did,” Victoire replied as we walked inside, “He wasn't home. Neither was Albus.”
“Albus had to leave again today,” I said, “Oh, right, Matt had to work late tonight.”
“Well, it doesn't matter. You're here now. I just have to be home by eight because Teddy's got night duty at eight-thirty,” Victoire said as she sat down on the couch.
Teddy was an Auror and his hours were worse than Victoire's. The two of them were lucky if they were able to pass each other in the doorway. Sophie spent a lot of time either at my place or with her grandparents. She didn't mind, though. Teddy and Victoire were lucky she was such an easy going kid.
“So, why were you loitering around my door waiting for me to come home?” I asked as I put a pot of water on the stove and dug out a box of pasta.
“Are you working the day after the full moon?” Victoire asked.
“No,” I turned around and looked at Victoire, “Farina gave me the day of and the day after off. Why, is she making you work that day?”
“Yes,” Victoire sighed and put her head down on the table, “I got the day of off, but she won't give me the day after off. And Teddy's got to work that day, too.”
“Don't worry,” I told her, “I'll watch Sophie. Just drop her off here before you go to work.”
“Thanks,” Victoire said, “I just hate being away from her the day after.”
Sophie may have been a very easy going child, but there was one thing that set her apart from other kids her age. Sophie Nymphadora Lupin was a werewolf. Wolfsbane worked fine for her, but she was still incredibly exhausted the day of and the day after full moons.
Victoire and Teddy had found out about it while Victoire was still pregnant. Starting in the second trimester, Sophie became incredibly restless during full moons. Victoire, being a Healer, and Teddy, being the son of a werewolf, noticed this and Victoire had a test done to find out if the baby had lycanthropy. It came back positive.
The remainder of the pregnancy had been incredibly stressful. Lycanthropic babies are incredibly rare and nobody really knew what was going to happen. Victoire had had to take Wolfsbane and spend every full moon in St. Mungo's, in case the baby transformed. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when Victoire gave birth to a seemingly perfectly healthy baby.
Sophie did not transform until she was almost three. Nobody knew why and we still don't know. Victoire and Teddy had started her on Wolfsbane as soon as she was born, but nothing ever happened until she was almost three.
Teddy and Victoire tried hard to make sure at least one of them didn't have to work the day of and the day after full moons, but every once in a while they both had to work. If that happened on a full moon, I stayed with Sophie at their house. If it was the day after, Sophie would come stay with me. There had yet to be a full moon where Teddy, Victoire, and I all had to work. We had a back-up plan that if that ever happened, one of my parents would stay with her.
Sophie was actually the most well-adjusted werewolf I had ever met. She didn't seem to care one bit that she was a werewolf and went through transformations in stride.
Victoire left a little while later and then Matt showed up for dinner, as he often did when Albus was gone. He didn't really like to cook and even though my own cooking was mediocre, he said it was better than his.
******
The next day at work was just one of those days where nothing went right. First, the bloke who had been attacked by a manticore took a turn for the worse. He wasn't responding to conventional treatment. Healer Sterling took over his case because he had more experience with that sort of thing.
Jamie had a high fever the entire day that potions just didn't seem to fix. It finally decreased at the end of the day, but he had barely woken up at all. George and Candace were tense the entire day and were taking it out on Kyle, who really didn't know what was going on. Eventually I had Kyle play in my study while I did paperwork just to give everyone a break. I knew all too well what it was like to be in Kyle's shoes.
What I really needed after that day was to go to the Leaky Cauldron with Victoire and Teddy and get my mind off of work, but instead I went to visit Cinda with Matt. Visiting a nursing home does absolutely nothing to lift one's spirits.
Cinda's nursing home is like a palace. It's a state of the art facility where all the residents get their own rooms that are decorated to look like living quarters in a castle. A king's castle, not Hogwarts. It costs a fortune to live there, but Cinda's got loads of money.
Matt and I arrived shortly after dinner was over and the receptionist told us that Cinda was in her room.
Cinda's room was decorated with pink and a lot of flowery patterns. There were a lot of pictures of Mum as a kid and a few of Matt and I as kids. Plus there are a few of Cinda and Richard.
“Cinda?” I asked loudly and knocked on the door as we walked inside her room.
“Oh, Amy! Matt!” she shouted, “I was wondering when you'd come see me.”
Cinda has lost none of her wit as she's gotten older. She's still as sharp as she was when she was young. It's her body that's going. She's just gotten old. She can't walk very well and uses a wheelchair. Her hearing's gone as well.
“Hi, Cinda,” I said as I gave her a hug, “How are you feeling?”
“As well as can be expected,” she replied, “Now, Amy, where on earth did you get that sweater? It's positively dreadful.”
“It's what I wear under my work clothes,” I said as I sat down on the couch, “No one can see it.”
I didn't think the sweater was that bad. It was brown and white striped. At least it didn't have any reindeer on it. Then it would be an awful sweater.
“Oh, happy birthday, Amy!” Cinda said.
“Thanks,” I smiled.
“I have to tell you this, Amy. You know the lady who lives across the hall? Well, her daughter just got arrested. Can you believe that? She robbed a grocery store...” Cinda said.
I spent the rest of the evening listening to Cinda gossip about the various ladies who lived in the nursing home. Some things never changed. Each time I visited Cinda was the same. The gossip was different, but it was always there.
Cinda never seemed to tire, either. Most older people went to bed at seven or eight at night. Not Cinda. She always kept talking until one of the nurses came in and told us visiting hours were over.
I never really minded. Some of the gossip was boring, but it obviously kept Cinda happy and there wasn't much else to do in a nursing home. She had been so depressed after Richard died; it was nice to see her happy again.
“Cinda,” one of the nurses said as she knocked on the door, “I'm afraid visiting hours are over.”
Cinda sighed, “Well, don't wait so long before you next visit.”
“I won't,” I got up and gave her another hug. Then I nudged Matt awake. He never really had the tolerance for Cinda's gossip.
“Hmm?” Matt asked.
“Time to go, Sleeping Beauty,” I grinned.
“Shut it,” he muttered and then turned to Cinda, “We'll be back soon.”
“Good,” Cinda told him, “And no falling asleep next time.”
“Merlin, that place is too pink,” I said to Matt as we walked towards a back alley to disapparate.
“It's like your room at her house,” Matt laughed.
“Seriously, one room should not have that much pink,” I said, “If I ever have kids, none of them are going to have pink rooms.”
We took a break in the conversation to disapparate and reappeared a few blocks away from our building.
“What if one of them likes pink?” Matt asked.
“Then they can paint their room pink when they're older,” I told him, “Do you want to come over and have dessert or something?”
“Nah,” Matt shook his head, “I think I'm just going to go to bed.”
I left him at his flat and then climbed up the stairs to mine, where I drowned my work sorrows in a pint of chocolate ice cream. Chocolate didn't solve everything, but it never hurt things either.
******
“You've got an owl,” Natalie handed me a letter as I ran out of my study the next day.
I thanked her and pocketed it. I was late for clinic duty. Farina was going to murder me. I didn't even have a good reason. I had been reading a potions book in my study and lost track of the time.
Three minutes late. I skidded into the clinic three minutes late. In Farina's book, that was nearly as bad as skipping a shift all together.
“Eckerton!” Farina shouted as I grabbed a chart off the nurse's station desk.
“I'm sorry!” I shouted back.
“Consider this your warning,” she told me.
She must have been feeling generous that day. Farina didn't give warnings. They just weren't her thing.
I didn't have time to open the letter until after the clinic was closed. I made sure to stay an extra three minutes and then went back to my study.
Sterling was on call that night and was in his study doing charts. He looked up when I walked past.
“Are you going to be in on Friday?” he asked.
“For a little while,” I answered, “I have to, for Jamie. But I'm also watching Sophie that day. I might have to bring her with me, depending on whether Matt's well enough to keep an eye on her.”
The letter was quite wrinkled after having been shoved so hastily into my pocket. I hoped it wasn't anything too important. I sat down in my chair and ripped it open.
[i]Amy,
Matt never came into work
today. Could you check up
on him when you get out?
Love,
Dad[/i]
I sighed and started to get my things together. Matt usually only missed work the day of the full moon and then two days after.
“See you Friday,” I said to Morris on my way out of the room.
“Bye, Amy,” he replied.
There was not much food in my flat, so I stopped by the Magical Market on my way back. I have the tendency to wait until the last minute to grocery shop and the day I was forced to do it was never convenient.
I finished in record time and put it haphazardly away before going down to Matt's flat. He had given me a spare key when he moved in, so I just went right inside.
Matt and Albus's flat was the same lay-out as mine, but it looked drastically different. The place was filled with mismatched furniture and absolutely nothing was put away. My flat was organized chaos, theirs was just chaos. It wasn't nearly as bad as John and Kaden's, which I had only seen on one occasion, but it was still a mess.
It was so quiet that it almost seemed like no one was home. I headed straight to Matt's bedroom. The door was shut and I opened it as quietly as I could.
Matt was sound asleep in bed, buried under numerous blankets. His face was flushed and a wave of my wand told me he had a fever. I gently nudged him and he rolled over and opened one eye.
“Ugh,” he groaned.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
“Like shit,” he muttered, “What time is it?”
“Just after seven,” I told him, “Did you know you slept through work?”
“Oh Merlin,” he said, “I haven't done that in months.”
“It's ok. Dad understands,” I told him.
“No one else would,” Matt said.
“No one else needs to,” I replied, “Now you're staying with me until tomorrow night.”
“I don't want to move,” he mumbled.
“I told you not to stay up late with your friends this past weekend,” I said as I pulled the covers off the bed, “Maybe next time you'll listen. Now come on, you've got a fever and you need potions.”
“Ok, I'm getting up,” he said.
It took us a while to get back to my flat because Matt kept stumbling. He looked a little drunk, which earned us two weird stares from various tenants. It had been so much easier when we were kids and Mum and Dad could carry him.
In some ways I never get away from work. I mean, obviously I leave the hospital and go home, but there's still work to do there. Between Matt and Sophie, there's always something that needs to be done when I'm not at St. Mungo's.
This was especially evident around the full moon. Me practically dragging Matt to my flat was a normal occurrence, especially if Albus wasn't home.
I helped Matt into the spare bedroom and then went to get him his usual potions. I could probably dole them out in my sleep I've done it so many times.
Once I'd gotten him settled, I cooked myself dinner and settled down to read for the evening.
However, I couldn't concentrate. Usually I could read for hours, but that night was different. There was something I had been thinking about doing for a long time and I couldn't put off deciding about it any longer.
When I first started my Healer training, I decided to keep my work and family life separate. What that meant was that I never have told any of my patients about Matt. It was his secret to share and I never thought it would be fair to me to tell people about it, even if they were other werewolves.
It hadn't been easy. I couldn't count the number of times I'd been yelled at by newly bitten werewolves who insisted that I had no idea what it was like. I'd assured so many of them that they could live normal lives and half of them sneered at me, telling me I was just saying that to be nice. They'd had no idea how much experience I'd had.
Mum was the same way. A few years ago she founded the Lycanthropic Children's Foundation. Never once has she told anyone her real reasons for starting it. It's a strange organization as it's built on secrets. None of the active members have said they have a child with lycanthropy, but quite a few of them do. I know due to the fact that I'm many of the children's Healer. Mum's the President, I'm the Vice-President, and Victoire is the Treasurer.
There was one family whom I wanted to tell about Matt. I wanted them to know that I knew what they were going through, wanted them to know why I was working so hard on the Wolfsbane Potion. Jamie's family.
If only they could really know that Jamie could live a normal life. If only they could know that another werewolf had attended Hogwarts. His parents could benefit so much from talking to my parents.
The idea had really gotten me thinking. What if we got rid of the secrets in the Lycanthropic Children's Foundation? What if we branched out to offer support for parents and children alike? As of right now we focused on raising money and distributing it to those children who suffered from lycanthropy to help with medical bills and to buy Wolfsbane.
Support groups would do wonders. Parents could talk to other parents and children could play with one another. Matt hadn't really had any friends until he got to Hogwarts. If he'd known other children with lycanthropy when he was little, maybe he wouldn't have been such a shy kid.
My mind was racing. Was this a good idea? Nobody who was a part of the Foundation would be angered to find out who was a werewolf, right? Otherwise they wouldn't be in the Foundation. I'd have to bring it up at the next meeting.
I stayed up half the night working on the proposal for the next meeting. Mum would want most of the details hammered out before I brought it up. It was nearly one in the morning when I finally decided to call it a night. |
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FortisUmbra
Joined: 18 August 2009
Posts: 240
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Posted: Sunday 28 February 2010 10 43 17 am Post subject: Re: The Shadow in topic:The Shadow |
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Mathew was still face down on the bed when John came to the door. "Come in," Mathew said. When John came in the room he asked about the ticket. "We're going to see my father." Mathew said face still on the bed and using a rather depressed voice. "Well i am anyway. My superiors thought it would be a good idea for you to visit the planet and get an idea of what it was like. You can stay wit me at my fathers house unless you would rather stay somewhere else. Your cloths will be packed and provided because you obviously don't have any. oh and unless you speak fluent Latin you might want to see one of the telepaths on the second floor." |
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DucksRMagical
Joined: 28 December 2006
Posts: 2495
Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal
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Posted: Wednesday 24 February 2010 11 51 54 am Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden |
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Chapter 24: Darker Times
Lunch was very subdued the next day. Most people had slept quite late since it was a Saturday. Every student of Hogwarts had their nose in a copy of the Prophet, be it their own or a friend's. The staff table looked the same, with every professor either reading the Prophet or whispering with another professor, no doubt about what they'd read.
Albus was reading Georgia's Prophet as she had finished with it and made a mental note to start subscribing himself. All of his friends were peering over his shoulders. Even Linda was hovering around them, a foot or so away.
[i][b]HOGSMEADE SHOPKEEPER MURDERED[/b]
A disturbance in Dervish and Banges late
yesterday evening that sent one Hogsmeade
resident to Hogwarts to find the Auror on
duty lead to the discovery of the death
of a shopkeeper.
Leroy Wisander, 42, the ten-year owner of
Dervish and Banges was pronounced dead
on the scene by Ministry Aurors yesterday
evening. His shop had been broken into
and it showed signs of a struggle.
Wisander was discovered in the middle of
destroyed merchandise with his wand
laying a few feet away. Aurors confirmed
that he was killed with the killing curse.
An extensive search of Hogsmeade, the
forest, Hogwarts, and its grounds turned
up nothing despite the hours Aurors spent
searching. No fingerprints were found on
the scene.
Aurors will be devoting time to finding
Wisander's killer and a possible motive.
Leroy Wisander had owned Dervish and Banges
for a little over ten years, when he
purchased the shop from its previous owners
who retired. However, Wisander is more
known for the scathing editorials he writes
for this very newspaper.
Anyone who knew Wisander knew he was a man
of very strong opinion and did not hesitate
to let others know his opinions. His most
recent editorials have explored the subject
of werewolf, vampire, and other so called
'half-breeds' rights. Aurors have declined
comment on whether they believe Wisander's
editorials are a possible motive for his
murder. Wisander's obituary can be found
on page five.[/i]
Albus set the paper down and his friends all resumed their seats. Nobody said a word for a few minutes. Albus didn't know what to think. The article certainly made it seem like Wisander was killed because of his beliefs. However, it didn't exactly say what his beliefs were. Albus hadn't ever read any of his editorials, so he couldn't say either.
“What kind of editorials did he write?” Matt asked quietly.
“I have no idea,” Albus replied, looking at his friend whose face was quite pale, “Want to go to the room?”
“Yeah,” Matt nodded, “I'm not really hungry.”
Albus got up and was followed by all of his friends. John and Kaden each grabbed a stack of toast before leaving. Even Rose and Amanda went with them instead of going off to study with Linda.
“Have any of you read his editorials?” Matt asked as soon as they were in the Marauder's Den.
Nobody had read them. Not even Rose. Matt sighed and collapsed onto one of the couches. “I've got to find out what they were about. I don't even know which would be better, him being for or against werewolf rights. If he's for them, that means some bloke is on the loose killing people for wanting werewolf rights.”
Matt didn't even have to continue for Albus to know why that worried him. Matt's dad was possibly the biggest proponent of werewolf rights in all of Britain and everyone knew it. If someone had been killed just for writing about werewolf rights, what would happen to someone who was actually passing laws for them?
“That might not be why Wisander was killed,” Rose pointed out.
“Why else would someone have killed him?” Matt asked, “He was just a shop owner in Hogsmeade.”
“Why did someone kill Professor Torro?” John replied, “He wasn't even writing any editorials or anything.”
“To scare people,” Albus said quietly, “The Defense teacher position used to be cursed, back when our parents were in school.”
“Well, I don't think you should worry until you find out what the editorials are about,” Rose said to Matt.
“The other option isn't much better,” Matt muttered, “If he didn't write editorials for werewolf rights, then he wrote them against them.”
Albus thought Matt had a point, but he kept his mouth shut. Any way you looked at it, this murder pointed to the fact that things were changing. Aurors had been patrolling Hogwarts for months, but Albus had quickly adjusted to that and didn't really think much about it, but maybe there was more happening outside of Hogwarts than Albus was aware of.
“Let's go to the library,” Rose said as she stood up, “They'll have old copies of the Prophet there.”
Everyone agreed with this and they set off to the library. When they arrived, they were surprised to find how crowded it was. Usually Saturdays were the days everyone put off their homework and then Sundays were spent in the library.
Once they stepped inside, Albus saw that everyone was looking through old copies of the Prophet. Nearly every table had a few newspapers on it and a few students poring over them. Madam Pince was bustling about, no doubt worrying about whether the students would rip her precious newspapers.
“Might not be any left,” John muttered.
“This is good,” Albus replied, “Now it won't look suspicious for us to be investigating.”
John was almost right. There was a very small stack of newspapers left. Albus grabbed them all and then they went to a secluded table towards the back of the library. Albus, Matt, and Rose each took a newspaper while John, Kaden, and Amanda played tic-tac-toe on a spare bit of parchment.
Albus leafed through his newspaper, which was about two years old, until he got to the editorial section. In the very middle, in the biggest font, was an editorial by Leroy Wisander.
[i][b]HEALERS, BREWERS TO BLAME, NOT MINISTRY OFFICIALS[/b]
As I was locking up my shop last night,
I noticed that it was a full moon. I
could not help but think of the poor
people plagued with lycanthropy
currently shut up while attacking
themselves.
Now, I know what you all are thinking.
Wolfsbane. The stuff works miracles
if taken correctly. However, it does
no good if it's sitting in St. Mungo's
and not being used by witches and
wizards with lycanthropy.
The stuff is expensive. I myself did
the calculations and discovered that
it would be extremely difficult for
anyone with a low income to afford it.
And what kind of jobs are lycanthropes
often stuck with? Menial, low-paying
ones. The jobs where they make hardly
enough money to pay the rent and buy
food, let alone purchase a potion that
could alter their lives for the better.
I am absolutely appalled that Healers
and potion brewers charge for this
important potion. They must be making
a nice profit. They can use the profits
to take extravagant holidays while the
poor witches and wizards who buy it
struggle to afford it.
There is only so much Ministry officials
can do. Head of Werewolf Support Services,
Walter Eckerton, says he would love to
give away free Wolfsbane, but there just
isn't room for it in the budget.
What do I propose? I propose that Healers
and potion brewers give it away for free.
They have the abilities to brew it, not
the Ministry. Most Healers claim to love
helping people, but often it is those who
need it most, such as those with lycanthropy,
are often forced to go without, all because
those with the abilities to brew it like
to have a little extra spending money.[/i]
“Nothing in this one,” Rose said as she shoved hers aside.
“This one's got one about vampires,” Matt said as he set his paper on top of Rose's.
“Read this,” Albus handed Matt his paper, “Wisander even mentions your dad.”
Matt took the paper and he and Rose began to read it. John, Amanda, and Kaden peered over as well. Albus sat and waited while they read.
“Let's go back to the room,” Matt said as soon as he'd finished reading it.
Albus nodded and they returned the newspapers and walked as fast as they could back to the Marauder's Den.
“Bloody Hell, that bloke must have had so many enemies!” John shouted as soon as they were back.
“I know,” Albus agreed, “And that one's from two years ago. Imagine what he's written recently.”
“Why did he have to mention my dad?” Matt groaned, “He made it sound like my dad agrees with that editorial and he definitely doesn't.”
“He was just trying to stir something up,” Rose replied, “And look where it got him.”
“Healers aren't like that. Most of the ones I've met would give away free Wolfsbane, but it's more complicated that that. The ingredients are expensive and it takes forever to brew. Not to mention how difficult it is. There aren't many Healers who can brew it and even most brewers can't brew it,” Matt explained.
“That bloke didn't know the half of it,” John agreed, “My dad's a Healer and he'd love to give away free potions. It just doesn't work that way.”
“My dad's linked with that bloke,” Matt said quietly, “And now that he's head of the entire department, he'll be passing more laws. Whoever killed Wisander's not going to be happy.”
“Your dad's a really good wizard, though,” Albus pointed out to his worried friend, “Plus he works at the Ministry, where there are loads of Aurors milling about. And your house is more protected than any other house I've seen, well, except the Minister's Mansion.”
“I know, but it's still not good,” Matt sighed.
Albus couldn't argue with that. Something was going on outside of Hogwarts. Something far more important than the Quidditch tournament and the dueling tournament.
******
Albus and his friends scoured the Daily Prophet every morning the following week. Every day there was an article about Wisander, the investigation, or both. So far the investigation had turned up nothing. The Aurors had questioned quite a few people, namely those very outspoken against werewolf and vampire rights, but the search had proved fruitless.
The articles about Wisander were far more interesting. It seemed that his editorial about Wolfsbane Potion was one of the tamer ones. Each day little pieces of his various editorials were being published. In one, he stated the reasons why werewolves shouldn't be locked up on full moons. The reasons were quite absurd, but the Prophet had printed it anyway. Another editorial talked about why vampires should be allowed access to humans to bite. He suggested using prisoners and allowing vampires to suck them dry. Thus helping vampires and reducing prison costs at the same time.
“I reckon this bloke was off his rocker,” John announced at breakfast the following Sunday. He had just finished reading an article about how Wisander spent a year living with a vampire tribe in Turkey when he was young. They were some of the few people actually up at an early hour, as Albus had Quidditch practice and John had a morning detention with Filch for putting dungbombs in the toilets in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom the previous day.
“That's a nice way of putting it,” Albus said as he served himself more eggs.
“What are you doing after Quidditch practice?” John asked.
“After Quidditch?” Albus laughed, “You mean, I'm going to get to leave eventually? Wood won't make us practice for the next week? I thought he was going to keep going until the actual match on Saturday.”
“He's got to let you out for class,” John grinned.
“What a shame,” Albus rolled his eyes, “Anyway, I'll probably have to do homework, since practice will go until late. How about you? Any plans for after detention?”
“Thought I might earn another detention,” John grinned, “But Kaden's busy with chess club this afternoon-”
“Wait,” Albus nearly choked on his juice, “Kaden joined the chess club? Kaden? Kaden Dursley?”
“Know any other Kadens?” John laughed, “Rose said they want to teach him how to play properly, you know, like a challenge of sorts.”
“I'll tell Rose good luck with that,” Albus said.
“Yeah, so both Kaden and Rose will be busy with that. Not that Rose would want to earn detention with me anyway. And Amanda's doing something with Linda today, homework, I think. And I doubt Matt will be up for doing anything,” John continued.
“Right,” Albus said, remembering that the full moon was that night, “But you did the dungbombs on your own.”
“But it's not as fun,” John sighed, “I guess I'll just hang around the den with Matt. I can have a nice one-sided conversation.”
“You can do your homework,” Albus told him.
“Nope, I'm waiting until you get back for that,” John said.
“Well, have fun in your detention. I've got to get to practice,” Albus said as he got up.
There were a few choice words Albus had for practice that day. Long, grueling, and intense. Wood was in his finest form as he ordered the team to do drills hour after hour. He seemed to get more and more stressed as the day wore on.
James did a lot of one-on-one training with Teddy and Albus was more than a little envious. Teddy was a much more patient captain than Wood was and yelled a whole lot less. Tyler Pike mostly helped Wood.
Wood let them have a short break for lunch, making sure they knew to come back afterwards. Albus heard the Slytherins on the team talking about skipping out of the rest of practice, but they were back on the pitch at the time Wood told them to be.
The afternoon was very similar to the morning and Albus found that he could tune out Wood's yelling quite easily. It was similar to tuning out his mum's yelling.
Practice finally ended at three, when the New York team walked onto the pitch and demanded they leave, because they had booked the pitch for three o'clock that day.
“Remember, practice Tuesday evening!” Wood shouted as the whole team rushed to get off the pitch.
Albus trudged back to the castle tired and shivering. He went straight to Gryffindor Tower and took a very long, hot shower and then set off to find his friends.
Rose, Amanda, and Linda were in the common room, but the boys weren't. Albus figured they were in the Marauder's Den and set off to look for them after saying a quick hello to the girls.
John and Kaden were in the middle of a heated game of Exploding Snap when Albus walked into the Marauder's Den a few minutes later. John's face was full of ash, but Kaden's was quite clean. There was also a big grin on his face which contrasted the scowl on John's face. Matt was laying on the couch facing them, like he had been watching the game, but he was sound asleep.
“Albus!” Kaden shouted, “How was practice?”
“Grueling. Wood's ten times worse than Georgia. Five hours we were out there. Five bloody hours in the cold!” Albus groaned as he collapsed onto the other couch.
“Better than scrubbing Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with a toothbrush,” John muttered, “I don't know what was worse, the scrubbing or listening to Myrtle.”
“All three of you are so cheery today,” Kaden said, “So many complaints.”
“Can you blame us?” Albus muttered.
“No, not really,” Kaden shrugged.
“How was chess?” Albus asked.
“I got beaten by every single person in the chess club,” Kaden shook his head, “But they think I have potential.”
“Albus,” John said as the cards blew up in his face again, “Have you done that Defense essay?
“No,” Albus groaned.
“I need your help,” John said as he got up and started digging around in his bag.
Albus groaned again and fished around in his own bag for his Defense book. Balladanis wanted a foot long essay about basilisks, which were the current dark creature of the week.
John sat down at the table while Albus lay on the couch. He just couldn't bring himself to get up and do his essay. Instead, he mumbled answers to John whenever he asked a question.
“Do you hatch the chicken egg under a frog or a toad?” John asked.
“Toad,” Albus mumbled.
“You know, I could pull a Rose and tell you to do your essay,” John replied.
“Don't even bother,” Albus said. Even Rose wouldn't be able to get him off the couch.
“Quidditch seems less grueling than football,” Kaden commented, “I mean, you fly, you don't run.”
Albus lifted his head up and glared at Kaden. “Wood had us doing push-ups and running laps.”
“Really?” Kaden sounded surprised, “Why?”
“To get us into shape after the holiday,” Albus answered, “So yes, Quidditch is a lot of work.”
“Ok, ok,” Kaden muttered as he located some of his own homework.
Albus managed to get in a somewhat comfortable position on the couch and wrote his essay with his book and parchment perched on his knees. It beat sitting at the table; at least he was able to sort of lie down.
A few hours later both Albus and John had their essays completed. Kaden was still scribbling furiously on whatever homework he was working on.
“We should probably wake him up,” Albus gestured to Matt, who had not moved one muscle since Albus had came back from practice.
John got up and began to prod Matt's arm. It took a good two minutes for Matt to open his eyes.
“It's nearly six,” John told him.
“Then I should probably go,” Matt mumbled, “Oh, Albus, you're back from practice.”
“Yeah,” Albus nodded, “It was really long, though.”
“I'll go with you to the hospital wing,” John said and Matt did not object. Albus assured him they'd visit him the next day and then they left, leaving Albus and Kaden alone in the room.
John returned a little while later and the three of them went down to dinner. They returned to the Marauder's Den afterwards and John and Kaden continued working on their homework while Albus slept on the couch.
******
“Albus, get up!”
Albus mumbled something incoherently and rolled over in his bed. It felt far too early to wake up.
“Albus!” Whoever was shouting was now prodding him in the side.
Albus opened his eyes and saw Teddy standing over his bed. A glance at the clock told him that, yes, it was far too early to wake up. It was six in the morning. On a Saturday. Yes, it was the day of the Quidditch match against New York, but that wasn't until one o'clock and Albus was only a reserve player anyway.
“Albus, you'd better get up now. Wood's in the common room,” Teddy whispered.
That got Albus's attention. His eyes shot back open and he sat up. “What?”
“Fielding's sick,” Teddy told him, “You're playing today.”
Now Albus was wide awake. “Seriously? What about O'delle?” Hailey O'delle was the other reserve Chaser, a seventh year Slytherin.
“She's sick, too,” Teddy explained, “The two of them are going out, so it doesn't surprise me.”
Albus took that to mean that Teddy thought they were snogging and one got the other sick.
“I'll be down in two minutes,” Albus muttered.
Teddy nodded and left. Albus threw on a t-shirt and a pair of jeans before running down to the common room, where he found Oliver Wood pacing in front of the empty fire.
“Albus,” he said as soon as Albus stepped into the common room, “You're playing Chaser today.”
Albus nodded and sat down for what was sure to be a very long speech. Wood paused and then launched into an explanation of tactics, which Albus had already heard during practices that week. He couldn't figure out why he had to be woken up at six to be told he was playing. Wood could have accomplished the same thing at ten.
Wood and Teddy left after Wood finished lecturing Albus and Albus considered going back to bed, but as he was wide awake, it would be pointless.
Part of Wood's speech had been on the weather, which was cold and slightly snowy. Could be worse, Albus thought. At least there wasn't a blizzard. The conditions were very similar to those they had been practicing in all week.
Albus sat in the common room reading a book he found laying around until his friends got up around ten.
“There you are,” Matt, who was looking significantly better than he had a few days ago, said, “What time did you get up?”
“Six,” Albus muttered, “Teddy got me up. Wood had to tell me I'm playing Chaser today.”
“What?” Matt shouted, “That's brilliant!”
“This is great, Albus!” John grinned, “But why?”
“Fielding's sick and so is the other reserve Chaser,” Albus explained, “I'm just glad we're playing New York and not Australia.”
Albus went to the Great Hall to eat lunch with his friends, but he wasn't really hungry. He didn't think he had ever been more nervous for a Quidditch match. This was a really important match, as Wood had pointed out numerous times. If they won by a wide enough margin, they'd be in second place.
Word had gotten around that Albus was playing in the match and numerous people came over to the Gryffindor table to wish Albus luck.
“Al,” Harry sat down next to Albus.
“Dad,” Albus smiled. He hadn't been sure if his dad was coming to the match or not.
“I'll be watching the whole time. I'm sure you're going to do great. Just think of it as a match against another house. Ravenclaw, I guess, since their robes are blue,” Harry grinned, “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” Albus replied.
Albus left with the rest of the Hogwarts team a few minutes later. All his friends wished him good luck as he left the Hall.
Nobody talked much as they changed into their robes. Everyone sat down afterwards, ready for Wood's pre-match speech.
However, Wood seemed to be all speeched out. He merely said that they'd trained well and to give it their all. Albus was a little shocked by the shortness of the speech, but quickly got over it as he walked out onto the pitch. |
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DucksRMagical
Joined: 28 December 2006
Posts: 2495
Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal
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Posted: Wednesday 17 February 2010 10 36 20 am Post subject: Re: Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden in topic:Albus potter and the Path Left Untrodden |
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Thanks Dawn! So glad you're enjoying it! 
Chapter 23: All in Good Time
It was nearing midnight when Albus, Matt, and Rose re-entered the building, escorted by Professor Balladanis. Albus had been hoping the professor would just see them to the door and then continue his search of the perimeter, but instead he went back to the ballroom with them and marched them right up to Harry.
“Potter,” Balladanis interrupted the conversation Harry had been having with some wizard Albus didn't know, “I found your son, your niece, and their friend wandering around outside.”
“Albus,” Harry groaned, “I thought we made it clear that you were to stay inside.”
“I'll leave them with you,” Balldanis said, “Happy New Year.”
“Happy New Year,” Harry replied, “And thanks.”
Balladanis disappeared into the crowd and Albus shifted uncomfortably as his dad stared at him for a few moments.
“Care to explain?” Harry raised an eyebrow.
“We were just, er, exploring,” Albus muttered.
“Don't do it again,” Harry sighed.
“We won't,” Albus assured him.
Harry went back to his conversation and Albus lead his friends back to the buffet.
“I hope you've learned your lesson,” Rose muttered, “I am not doing that again.”
“We won't do it again. Not tonight, that is,” Albus grinned.
“10!” someone shouted.
Albus looked at the nearest clock and saw that it was almost midnight. Everyone else joined in the countdown, holding their glasses of champagne in the air. Amy joined Albus, Rose, and Matt.
“3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!” Albus shouted along with everyone else.
The crowd began to thin out a little while later. Most of the people Albus didn't know left, along with his Uncle Percy, Aunt Corrine, and his cousins. Albus's parents didn't look like they were in any hurry to leave, so he got a plate of the leftover desserts and at them with his friends.
Rose's family and Amy left, and then it was just the Potters, Matt, his parents, the Minister, and his wife left. All the adults were talking, James was teasing Lily about something, and Albus and Matt were finishing off the last of the desserts.
“Do you think there's any way for Hogwarts to win the Quidditch tournament?” Matt asked as he polished off a piece of chocolate cake.
“Only if Linda's sick the day of one of the matches,” Albus sighed.
“Maybe that'll happen,” Matt said, “You never know.”
“Al, we've got to go,” Ginny tapped him on the shoulder.
“Ok, Mum,” Albus replied and then turned back to Matt, “I'll see you soon.”
“Yeah, see you on the train,” Matt said.
Albus waved goodbye and then joined his mum, dad, James, and Lily. They all said congratulations to Matt's dad and then left the Minister's Mansion. Albus peered into the bushes as he left, but there was no sign of Professor Balladanis.
******
The remainder of the Christmas holiday went by very slow for Albus. He did all his homework, which was quite boring, and there was nothing to do after that. Rose was visiting her other grandparents and James was at Nathan's house. Even Kaden was busy visiting his grandparents (Vernon and Petunia). He sent Albus a letter complaining about it, since the visit was also with Aunt Marge. Albus was very grateful that he didn't have to go. Neither of his parents had mentioned anything about visiting with Vernon and Petunia again.
Finally the day to return to school arrived and the Potters made it to Platform 9 ¾ just in time. Albus found all his friends in one of the compartments and once they kicked Lily, Ashtyn, and Hugo out, they told each other about their holidays.
“Aunt Marge has got to be the most horrible aunt in the entire world,” Kaden fumed, “My dad told her about magic a few months ago and she's been awful ever since. I mean, she was always kind of horrible, but now she's worse. She just hates magic so much. She's worse than my grandparents.”
“Wow,” Albus replied, “Glad I've never met her.”
“Consider yourself lucky,” Kaden muttered, “I'm guessing you lot had better holidays?”
“We found Professor Balladanis lurking around the Minister's Mansion,” Albus announced.
“What?” John, Kaden, and Amanda shouted at the same time.
“I saw someone sneaking around outside and Albus insisted we go investigate,” Rose said, “Turns out it was Balladanis and the Minister had apparently asked him to check the grounds for trouble.”
“Did he find you?” John asked.
“Yeah,” Albus nodded, “He wasn't to happy either.”
“Told us we could've been killed,” Matt explained.
“Well, we could've,” Rose muttered.
“Weird though,” John said, “Why would the Minister think someone would be hiding around his house?”
“Doesn't he have guards around anyway?” Amanda asked, “The Muggle Minister does.”
“Again, that's why it's weird,” John replied, “He does have guards.”
“Why would he ask Balladanis anyway?” Matt asked, “Why not ask an Auror? Balladanis is a professor.”
“He hasn't always been,” Albus pointed out, “He had some sort of mysterious job before.”
“Again, weird,” John said.
“Yeah, there were a bunch of Aurors at the party, not to mention Albus's dad,” Matt pointed out.
“That settles it,” John announced, “Albus, you've got to find out what he did before he started teaching Defense?”
“Why me?” Albus asked.
“Because you've got those special dueling lessons with him. He likes you for some reason. Of course, he also likes Malfoy. But that's probably just because Malfoy's a good dueler, too,” John explained.
“I'll try,” Albus sighed, “But I really don't think he'll tell me.”
“You never know,” John said.
******
“Quiet, quiet!” Balladanis shouted the following Tuesday, their first day of Defense after the holiday.
Albus immediately stopped talking to Matt and John and turned to face Balladanis. He was really hoping that the professor would say nothing about what happened at the party and so far Balladanis was showing no recollection of it.
“I trust you all had superb holidays,” Balladanis said, “But the holidays are over and although I am sure none of you thought a bit about defensive magic during said holidays, it is now time to commence that thinking once again.
“First, I'll say that there is no time to not be thinking about defensive magic, as the dark arts do not take breaks for trivial things such as holidays.
“Second, in this term we will begin to explore creatures far more dangerous than hinkypunks and kappas. In this term we shall learn about those terrifying creatures such as acromantulas, basilisks, werewolves, dragons, and vampires.”
Albus couldn't help but glance at Linda when Balladanis said vampires. Balladanis had glanced at her as well, and he also glanced at Matt when he said werewolves. Of course, he had looked at Albus when he said basilisks, so it didn't necessarily mean anything, but Albus had a feeling it did.
“As the headmaster would find it highly inappropriate for a dragon to manifest itself in this classroom, we shall not be using the anamatek as often this term,” Balladanis continued, “But we will be using it a few times. You will find that there are more lectures in this term, much to my dislike. There is nothing I would like better than to teach you about acromantulas and werewolves with practical lessons, but there are both laws and school rules that prevent such lessons.”
Albus and Matt glanced at each other. It was official. Professor Balladanis was insane. What kind of teacher would want to teach about dragons with live dragons? Well, Hagrid would, but he wasn't the same as Balladanis.
“Take out some parchment,” Balladanis said, “We're going to begin learning about acromantulas today....”
The rest of the day went by relatively quickly. Albus actually did not have Quiditch practice that night, so everyone went to the Marauder's Den after dinner.
“Divination is such a joke,” John said as he tossed his bag onto the floor and collapsed onto a couch, “We started crystal ball gazing today. All I saw was a load of fog.”
“I told you not to take it,” Rose said as she pulled a stack of books out of her own bag.
“I didn't think it would be this bad,” John groaned, “There is no way anyone could see anything in a crystal ball.”
“Palmistry was better,” Amanda said, “And Trelawney makes the whole thing worse.”
“Trelawney could make Defense bad,” Albus replied.
“Balladanis told us that he wished he could teach us about dark creatures using the anamatek,” Rose said, “Seriously, he wanted a basilisk to appear in the middle of the classroom.”
“That would be stupid,” Kaden said as he unwrapped a Chocolate Frog, “Those can kill you with their eyes.”
“I know,” Rose said, “Balladanis is insane.”
“Do you think that anamatek could turn into a werewolf if the moon wasn't full?” John asked.
“Probably not,” Matt answered, “It would just be a wolf. I think it would just be a wolf any other time of the month, too, because there's no way it could turn someone into a werewolf by biting them.”
“That's good,” Albus said, “Because he did say that he'd use the anamatek a few times this term. Wonder if he'll have it turn into a vampire.”
“No need,” John laughed, “We've got Linda.”
“If you think of it that way, there's no point to have it turn into a fake werewolf either,” Rose pointed out.
“Good point, I guess,” John muttered.
******
The rest of the week went by quickly. Albus had Quidditch practice Thursday evening, and Wood informed the whole team that they'd gotten rusty over the holiday. He also told them that the next match was in two weeks and they'd be playing New York. If they won, they'd be in second place.
Albus had a dueling lesson with Balladanis the following evening and he had absolutely no idea how he was going to ask what Balladanis's previous job had been.
Albus arrived at Balladanis's room before Malfoy and entered to find Balladanis clearing all of the desks from the middle of the room.
“Mr. Potter,” Balladanis turned around and greeted Albus, “Is it safe to assume that you did not go wandering about late at night alone after New Year's?”
“Yes, sir,” Albus muttered as he felt his face turn red. He was quite glad Malfoy wasn't there yet.
“Mr. Malfoy,” Balladanis said as Malfoy walked into the room, “Now we may begin. I have decided that your understanding of the Protego charm is satisfactory so we are going to move on to something else.
“This particular charm, when performed correctly, manages to disarm and disorient a person at the same time. The sensation is often described as dizziness. Can either of you tell me what why this charm would be more useful than a standard disarming spell?”
“Because it's easier to duel someone who's dizzy than someone who isn't,” Malfoy said.
“More specifically than that,” Balladanis said, “Mr. Potter?”
“Er, because you can get the person tied up while they're disoriented? If they're a dark wizard you're trying to catch,” Albus replied.
“Another good reason, but not the one I was thinking of,” Balladanis began to walk slowly around the room, “Wizards who are expecting to have to duel other wizards often keep multiple wands on their person. There are spells that can be performed on these wands to keep them attached to your robes or your actual body, spells that Expelliarmus won't overcome easily. However, these spells require constant concentration.
“If a wizard is hit with the charm I am about to teach you, they will lose the concentration necessary to keep their extra wands affixed. Then, you can use Expelliarmus to get the extra wands.”
“Can you teach us that charm to keep extra wands in our robes?” Malfoy asked.
“Perhaps towards the end of the year. It takes immense concentration and magical energy to simultaneously perform that charm while dueling someone,” Balladanis explained, “For now, you will learn the charm to disarm and disorient a person at the same time.
“The incantation is 'Confundo-Expelliarmus'. A combination of Confundus and Expelliarmus. Mr. Malfoy, you will go first. When I say so, perform the charm against Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter, you may try and stop him using the Protego charm I taught you earlier.”
Albus nodded, wishing he had been chosen to perform the new charm first, and faced Malfoy. He held his wand up and muttered 'Protego' under his breath. He focused all of his concentration on holding the shield up.
“Now, Mr. Malfoy,” Balladanis muttered.
“Confundo-Expelliarmus!” Malfoy shouted.
Albus felt the charm hit his shield, but it didn't break through. He gripped his wand harder and stared at Malfoy.
“Keep going,” Balladanis said to Malfoy.
“Confundo-Expelliarmus!” Malfoy shouted again.
The charm hit Albus's shield a little harder this time. Albus could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
Malfoy kept going and it took him five times to break through Albus's shield. When it happened, Albus felt his wand leave his hand and was overcome by a wave of dizziness at the same time. He felt exactly like he had when he had gotten the flu the previous year, only without the fever.
Albus didn't pay any attention to what Malfoy and Balladanis were doing. He felt like he was going to pass out and he had to sit down. He sat down right on the floor and was vaguely aware of Balladanis standing over him.
Then, all of a sudden, the dizziness was gone. Albus shook his head and then looked up and saw Balladanis and Malfoy standing in front of him. Malfoy looked impressed and Balladanis looked like he always did.
“You did quite well with that shield,” Balladanis said as Albus stood up, “And I think it's safe to assume that you couldn't have held concentration for any spells after Mr. Malfoy succeeded in breaking your shield.”
“No, sir,” Albus shook his head.
“Normally the charm's effects would have lasted longer, but I performed the counter-curse because it looked like you were ready to pass out,” Balladanis explained, “When you're ready, you can try the charm.”
“I'm ready,” Albus said as he took his wand back from Malfoy.
Balladanis gave Malfoy a few seconds to get his shield up and then nodded at Albus to perform the charm.
“Confundo-Expelliarmus!” Albus shouted. As he expected, the charm did not break Malfoy's shield.
Much to Albus's delight, he managed to break the shield on the fourth try. One less try than Malfoy had needed for Albus.
The charm hit Malfoy in the chest and his wand soared towards Albus. Albus caught it and watched as Malfoy bent over and fell to the ground, much like Albus himself had done.
Balladanis gave Albus one of his rare smiles and then pulled out his own wand. He waved it at Malfoy and Malfoy looked up.
“That was weird,” Malfoy muttered.
“It's supposed to be,” Balladanis said, “Now get up and we'll do it again.”
Balladanis kept them at it for the better part of an hour, past when Albus would have liked to quit. It was exhausting to be hit with that spell time after time while trying to hold up a shield charm. Malfoy didn't seem to be faring much better and Albus thought he was even going to ask Balladanis to stop after a half hour, but Malfoy closed his mouth, obviously thinking better of it.
The practice wasn't for nothing, though. Albus managed to hold Malfoy off longer and longer each time and although Malfoy was getting better at the shield charm as well, Albus broke through it a few more times.
“That's enough for tonight,” Balladanis finally said after he performed the countercurse on Albus for what must have been the tenth time that night, “I'll see you in class on Tuesday.”
Malfoy made a beeline for the door, but Albus turned to Balladanis instead. He might as well just get it over with. There was no good way to ask Balladanis what his previous job had been. He just had to do it.
“Er, Sir,” Albus began, “I was just wondering, what did you do before you began teaching here?”
Balladanis gave Albus the strangest look he had ever seen. It was a mixture of anger, sadness, and even regret. For a moment, Albus wished he hadn't asked. It was too personal. He should have just told John they wouldn't be able to find out.
“Now is not the time,” Balladanis said quietly, “All in good time, I will tell you.”
Albus was taken aback. That was more than he had expected. He had thought Balladanis would have told him to mind his own business and get back to Gryffindor Tower before curfew. Albus was going to find out, he was just going to have to be patient.
Albus left the room as quickly as he could in his exhausted state, before Balladanis could change his mind about eventually telling Albus about his previous career. The walk back to Gryffindor Tower seemed longer than usual and all Albus wanted to do was collapse into bed when he finally got there.
Instead, he was ambushed by all of his friends. All five of them looked shocked and Amanda looked like she was going to be sick. He looked around the common room and saw that most people looked shocked and everyone was subdued. There was no joking around going on. Even James was quietly sitting at one of the tables.
“What happened?” Albus whispered as he followed them back to their usual table.
Rose opened her mouth to speak and then closed her eyes, unable to do so. Albus turned to John and raised his eyebrows.
“You know that bloke who owns Dervish and Banges?” John asked quietly.
Albus nodded, having seen the man on numerous occasions when he was in Hogsmeade. He was slightly older than Albus's parents, with greying hair and a very intense personality. He never hesitated to make his opinions known
“Someone killed him,” John said in barely more than a whisper.
“Wh-what?” Albus turned to look at all his friends in turn. Matt nodded ever so slightly and then put his head on his hands.
“Must've just happened,” John said, “They just found him. Madam Rosmerta heard a commotion and Flooed here, to get the Auror on duty. By the time they got back, his shop was a complete mess inside and he was laying dead on the floor. Avada Kedavra. They're searching Hogsmeade, the forest, the grounds, and the school. Nobody's allowed out of their common rooms and dormitories.”
“We thought Balladanis would bring you back here when it happened,” Rose said.
“Nobody even came in to tell us,” Albus replied, still in shock.
People weren't just randomly killed in Hogsmeade. That sort of thing just didn't happen anymore. Not since Voldemort had been defeated. Well, Professor Torro had been killed back before his first year and then that one witch from the Ministry had been killed over Christmas, but their killers had never been found and nothing had happened since.
“Why would anyone kill him?” Matt wondered aloud.
“Why would anyone kill anyone?” Rose replied.
The portrait hole opened and all the whispering stopped. Everyone looked to see who came in. It was Professor Longbottom, looking worse for the wear. His robes were disheveled and his tie was askew.
“Aurors are still searching the castle and the grounds,” he told them, “I suggest you all try and get some sleep. The search will be long over by morning, so you will be free to leave the common room then.”
Albus and his friends looked at each other after Longbottom left. They wordlessly went up to their dormitories, Kaden going with Albus instead of to the second years' dorm. Nobody said anything as he curled up on the floor with one of Albus's spare blankets. Albus got into bed and stared at the ceiling. He had been so exhausted earlier, but now there was no way he'd get much sleep that night. |
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DucksRMagical
Joined: 28 December 2006
Posts: 2495
Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal
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Posted: Sunday 14 February 2010 11 12 00 am Post subject: Re: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow |
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Thanks Linda!
Chapter 2: The Study
My house had not changed since we bought it. It was a wooden log home nestled in between two Muggle farms with bush behind it. It looked exactly as it had when I moved out after Hogwarts. Even my room was the same. Mum and Dad weren't the kind of parents who turned their kids' rooms into spas and fitness rooms after they moved out. No, they were the type of parents who left the rooms exactly the same in hopes that their children would move back eventually.
Mum tried to convince me to move back for six months after I got a flat with Victoire when we began Healer training. She visited us nearly every day, bringing baked goods, advice, and offers to clean with her. Eventually, she came to terms with the fact that I was grown up and wasn't going to move back home. That was when the Saturday evening family dinner started.
She was worse with Matt. At first, she flat out refused to let him move out. He wound up staying home for about a year after graduating Hogwarts, partly because of Mum and partly because he just couldn't find a job. Not many people want to employ werewolves. Then he got a job in Werewolf Support Services and a few months later he told Mum he was moving out to live with Albus.
Dad had to convince Mum that Matt would be ok. I think it helped that I lived in the same flat building as Albus. Mum still went over there at least three times a week, though. I didn't think she was ever going to stop doing that with him.
“Amy! Matt!” Mum greeted us at the door with tight hugs. It was like she hadn't seen us in years, rather than just twenty-four hours.
“Hi, Mum,” I smiled as I stepped into the house.
“Dinner is just about ready, so you can come right into the kitchen,” Mum instructed.
Matt and I followed her into the kitchen, where Dad, Uncle Jack, and our house elf, Ellie, were already at the table. I sat down next to Uncle Jack and Mum put the last dish on the table.
“How are things at St. Mungo's?” Uncle Jack asked as he served himself some spaghetti.
“Good,” I replied. “Busy as usual. I've got a new potion that's nearly finished. It'll be ready to be sent off for testing tomorrow, but I won't get the results back for awhile.”
“I'll be crossing my fingers,” Uncle Jack said and turned to Matt and Dad. “What's new in the old Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures?”
“Not much,” Dad said as he served himself some salad, “Had some issues about people wanting to keep Grindylows as pets in their ponds. Bad idea if there are Muggles around. Had to Obliviate a few Muggles last week. I really don't see the appeal in Grindylows as pets, though.”
“People are stupid,” Matt agreed, “Honestly, they should just get pygmy puffs and be done with it.”
“That they are,” Uncle Jack shook his head, “There is nothing appealing about a Grindylow. What about you, Julie? How is training?”
Almost two years ago, Mum decided to go back to school to train to be a nurse. I don't know why she didn't do it sooner. She already knows nearly everything a nurse does, after taking care of Matt for so many years. But soon she'll have certification and she'll be able to work at St. Mungo's or something.
“Oh, it's wonderful,” Mum smiled, “I'll be certified in a few months. I'm mostly doing clinicals at St. Mungo's at the moment, which is really nice. It's such a rewarding career.”
“Glad to hear it,” Uncle Jack said, “I could always see you as a nurse.”
“How about you, Jack?” Dad asked, “How are things in New York?”
“Pretty good,” Jack said, “I'm actually considering retiring from the book store. Perhaps traveling a bit, looking for obscure magical objects.”
“Like when we were young,” Dad mused.
“Exactly,” Uncle Jack winked, “Any chance you're considering retirement?”
“Nope,” Dad grinned, “Ministry can't get rid of me just because I'm getting old.”
“You just work too much,” Uncle Jack replied.
Dad has always been a little bit of a workaholic, but ever since Matt graduated from Hogwarts, he's really thrown himself into his work. I suppose it's because there really isn't anything else for him to do. I think he needs a hobby.
We finished dinner and then moved onto dessert. Mum had made a chocolate cake and everyone sang happy birthday. Then I had to eat my cake without talking, which was a tradition that we had been doing on birthdays for as long as I could remember. Matt tried to get me to talk while I ate, but it didn't work.
After dinner, my family gave me presents and cards. Mum and Dad got me a personalized stethoscope, which was nice because I had recently lost mine. Matt got me a really nice bracelet with my birthstone on it. Uncle Jack got me a few books about the history of potion brewing.
“Cinda gave me this to give to you, too,” Mum handed me an envelope.
Cinda, my maternal grandmother, was nearing 95 years old and lived in a Muggle nursing home a few kilometers away from my parents' house. My grandfather, Richard, had died five years ago and Cinda did not adjust well. She lived in Australia for a few more months and then Mum insisted that she move to England. She got sick shortly after that and had to go to the nursing home.
I opened the envelope and found a card, along with a very generous check and instructions to 'get yourself something nice'. Cinda had never held back for birthday or Christmas gifts, even after she went into the nursing home.
“I'll visit her soon,” I said as I put the card and check back in the envelope.
“Good,” Mum said quietly, “She's not doing too well.”
I swallowed hard. “What's wrong?”
“She's just getting old,” Mum sighed.
I nodded. “Yeah, I'll visit soon.”
“I'll go with you,” Matt said.
“She'll be thrilled to see you two,” Mum smiled.
Matt and I stayed at the house for a few more hours, playing Exploding Snap and talking. It was nice to have Uncle Jack there. He was the king of Exploding Snap and by the time Matt and I left, we both had faces covered in soot. Mum and Dad's faces matched.
We left when Mum and Dad decided they had to go to bed. Mum made us tell her every detail about the full moon plans, down to the exact minute Matt would go home to transform. We both assured her that everything would be fine and we would contact her if we needed anything.
“Always a worrier,” Matt muttered as we walked out to the yard to disapparate, “Our mum.”
“Always will be,” I said.
******
I breezed into St. Mungo's bright and early on Monday, ready to work. Mondays were always hectic at work. They consisted of me playing catch-up on what went on in the hospital during the weekend, unless I had been on call of course.
“Farina's in a foul mood,” Lynne, one of the nurses fell into step next to me as I walked through the waiting room towards the lifts.
Lynne Warner was a middle-aged woman with greying red hair and glasses that were always perched on the tip of her nose. She was slightly overweight and around my height. She was also one of the nicest nurses in the entire hospital. I was very happy that she worked on my floor.
“What happened this time?” I groaned.
Eleanor Farina was in essence the matriarch of St. Mungo's. She was the hospital's director and the boss of all the bosses. Nothing happened in the hospital without her knowing about it and any major decision had to be run by her first.
She was strict, had absolutely no sense of humor, and was not someone you would want to cross. The funny thing was that she was a very small person. Not only was she short, but she was quite skinny as well. She also dyed all the grey out of her hair and wore large amounts of make-up so she barely looked older than me.
“Someone left one of the brewing rooms unlocked on Saturday night,” Lynne told me, “She's trying to find out who it was. It wasn't you, was it?”
“Merlin, no,” I assured her, “I was at my parents' house that night.”
It was a well known fact that all brewing rooms had to be kept locked when not in use. They were just too dangerous to leave unlocked. Only brewers and Farina herself could unlock them. I almost felt bad for the poor sap who had left the room unlocked. Almost. It had been pretty stupid of them not to lock it. What if a patient had wandered down there?
We entered a lift and rode it up to our floor. It was still quiet, as it was not even nine o'clock, but I knew it would be bustling before long.
“Eckerton!” someone said from behind me.
I knew the voice even before I turned around. That high pitched but forceful voice could only be that of Farina.
“You got an alibi for Saturday night?” she barked.
“I was at my parents'. My mum will vouch for me. As will my dad and brother, if you care to owl them at the Ministry. Plus my uncle if you care to owl him in New York,” I told her.
“I'll do that,” she replied and then handed me a chart, “And you're on clinic duty this afternoon. One until five.”
I groaned inwardly. I didn't really like doing clinic hours because they took away time from brewing and research. “All right. I'll be there.”
Farina left and I walked the remainder of the way towards my study. Lynne said goodbye to me at the nurse's station, where she joined Dina, a very quiet young nurse who had only been working at St. Mungo's for a few months.
“Morning, Morris,” I said to Healer Sterling as I walked past his study.
“Morning, Amy,” he replied, “You've got a few letters. They're on Natalie's desk.”
Natalie Caberney was our secretary and both of our studies branched off from hers. I grabbed the stack of letters from her desk and went into my own study to read them.
My study was extremely messy. There were numerous filing cabinets everywhere and books scattered throughout the small room. Miscellaneous charts were scattered everywhere, but I knew where to find them all. It was organized chaos.
I sat down in the comfy chair behind my desk and opened the first letter. It was from Rose, giving me the times of the three appointments with the new people for our study. Two were this morning, but one was right when I was supposed to be in the clinic. Perfect. That meant I'd have to track down Farina before one o'clock.
The second letter was from someone interested in participating in the study. I set it aside for when I would have more time to write a response. The third letter was from '[i]Magical Creatures Monthly[/i]' wanting to interview me about the study. I threw that one in the fireplace. I refused to do interviews for magazines that saw werewolves as 'creatures' and not people. [i]Magical Creatures Monthly[/i] was definitely one of those magazines.
Once the clock struck nine, I set off to do my rounds. Rounds never took me long since all of the patients were in the same ward. Mondays were always interesting because they included new patients that I knew little or nothing about.
I grabbed the charts out of the basket on Natalie's desk and looked through them as I walked to the ward. There were four of them. The first two were patients who had been there on Friday. One wizard who had gotten a very nasty burn from a dragon and a witch who had been bitten by an ashwinder. Normally, those bites weren't bad, but this particular witch was allergic to their venom.
The third chart was for a wizard who had been bitten by a manticore. That made me shudder. Manticore attacks were pretty rare because most witches and wizards rarely came in contact with them, but the occasional one did crop up and they were bad.
The fourth chart was for one of my own patients. Some Healers at St. Mungo's did not have any patients they saw on a regular basis and dealt with emergencies only. Others practiced family healing and only saw their own patients, be it for check-ups or emergencies. Still others dealt with emergencies and had a small amount of their own patients as well. I was one of those Healers. I had a few patients whom I saw on a regular basis for check-ups and then for emergencies. They all had lycanthropy. Healer Sterling was the same way. Between the two of us we saw nearly all of the people with lycanthropy in England.
This particular patient really tugged at my heartstrings. Since my job was so heartbreaking, I often had to try and distance myself from patients, but that never worked with this patient. He was only six years old and had been attacked by a werewolf at the age of three.
Although Wolfsbane did work for him, it did not have the effect it was supposed to have. It rendered him very calm and harmless during full moons, but it made him violently ill as soon as he started taking it. Since Wolfsbane has to be taken for the week preceding the full moon, he would often be sick for a week.
His parents had been struggling with the decision whether to keep him on Wolfsbane for years. It was so difficult to decide whether it was really worth it for him.
I opened the door to the ward and went to the wizard with the dragon burn first. He was sitting up in bed reading the Prophet. I examined his burn and pronounced him in good health. I gave him a potion and a salve and discharged him. He was quite happy to be out of the ward.
The witch with the ashwinder bite had been able to leave, too. I warned her not to go near the snakes again and sent her on her way.
Next was the wizard with the manticore bites. He was covered in bandages. He was also asleep and did not wake up as I changed the bandages. That was probably for the best since there was really no way to change them in a painless way. I made a mental note to check up on him later once he was awake.
Then it was time for my youngest patient. His name was Jamie Allen. His mother, Candace, was sitting in a chair next to the bed, holding his hand. She was fast asleep. George, his father, was on the other side of the bed. In George's lap was their four-year-old son, Kyle.
They reminded me a lot of my family when Matt and I were younger. I suppose that was why Jamie broke my heart so much.
“George,” I greeted him as I conjured a chair and sat down in it.
“Amy,” he gave me a weak smile, “Thank Merlin you're here.”
“Been here since Saturday?” I asked as I looked over the chart.
“Yes,” George sighed, “High fever, nausea, the usual.”
I nodded and pulled out my wand. I got up and gently shook Jamie. He opened his eyes and smiled at me.
“Healer Eckerton,” he whispered.
“Hi, Jamie,” I smiled, “How are you feeling?”
“Tired,” he said.
“You can go back to sleep soon,” I assured him, “I just need to get your vitals.”
He nodded and I waved my wand over him. A few seconds later, his vitals appeared on his chart. He was asleep before I even stowed my wand.
“He's better today,” I told George and Candace, who had woken up, “But only because of the potions. I'll go get his morning doses.”
Jamie could not keep taking Wolfsbane, I thought as I went to get the potions. Getting that ill every month was taking a toll on his body. The past few months he had been tired all the time, not only around the full moon.
“I'd like to talk to you in my study,” I told George and Candace after I'd given Jamie his potions.
They looked at each other and then nodded. Candace sent Kyle to stay with Lynne while we talked and I led them into my study.
Giving people bad news was my least favorite part of my job. I didn't have to do it nearly as often as Victoire did, but it did occasionally happen.
George and Candace seemed to know that I was giving them bad news. They sat down in the chairs in front of my desk and waited for me to begin. Both of them looked like they hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in days.
“Jamie's been taking Wolfsbane for three years,” I began, “And because of that he hasn't really suffered on full moons. However, the Wolfsbane has been making him incredibly ill. I know you mentioned that he's been acting off even when he's not taking Wolfsbane.”
“Yes,” George sighed, “He's tired all the time now.”
“It's because of the Wolfsbane,” I said quietly, “Even though it's out of his system during the rest of the month, it wreaks havoc when it is there and it's been leaving lasting damage.”
“What does that mean?” Candace asked.
“It means that if he keeps taking Wolfsbane, he's going to be left with permanent damage to his immune system and he'll get sick all the time,” I said, “I'm really sorry.”
“We're going to have to take him off it,” Candace said.
“Yes, you are,” I told them, “Not this month because he's already been taking it for a few days and if he goes through this transformation without Wolfsbane I don't think he'll survive in his weak state.”
George put an arm around Candace, whose eyes were tearing up. “Next month, then,” George said.
“Next month,” I agreed, “It's going to be hard, but I think it'll be better in the long run. He won't be as sick before full moons.”
“But he'll be injured afterwards,” Candace choked.
“He will. It'll probably take him two or three days to recover, but after that he'll be fine,” I assured them.
“We don't exactly have a choice,” George sighed.
“I'm working to fix that potion. You know that,” I said quietly, “It will happen. Jamie will get through this. Have you thought much about him going to Hogwarts?”
“No,” George shook his head, “We try to get through one full moon at a time.”
“Think about it,” I smiled, “Even if I haven't created a better potion by then, he can still go.”
“I really doubt Professor Kendrick would let a werewolf attend Hogwarts,” George muttered, “That's too dangerous.”
I smiled. “Send him an owl. You might be pleasantly surprised.”
“I guess it can't hurt,” George sighed.
“No, definitely not,” I agreed, “Just ask him.”
“All right,” George agreed, “We will.”
******
After a morning of paperwork, owl answering, and the first two lycanthropy appointments it was time to go find Farina and get down on my hands and and knees and beg to be late to clinic duty that afternoon.
Tracking Farina down was always an interesting task. She was rarely in her study. I checked there first anyway and it was as predicted, empty. It didn't seem fair that she had the biggest study and was rarely in it.
I finally found her in the basement. Apparently she had found the culprit who left the brewing room unlocked. She was yelling at Elliot Rodney, the newest brewer who had just been hired the previous week. He was in his mid-twenties, a few years older than Matt, and very tall and good looking. However, while being yelled at by Farina, he looked like he was about to cry. I swear she could bring the Minister of Magic to tears.
“Healer Farina,” I cleared my throat.
She stopped yelling and turned around. She sighed and shook her head when she saw me. “Get back to work, Rodney.”
Rodney didn't have to be told twice. He bolted away and shut himself in his brewing room. I felt bad for him. I cried the first time Farina yelled at me, too.
“What is it, Eckerton?” she asked.
“I would like to request that my clinic hours be put off until two o'clock,” I said.
“And what makes you think that I would grant that request?” she raised her eyebrow.
“I have a previous commitment,” I explained, “I have an appointment with a wizard who wishes to join my lycanthropy study.”
“The one you're doing with Weasley?” she asked.
“Yes, that one. The appointment is at one o'clock and I wish to be present, along with Healer Weasley, because she does not have the specialization in lycanthropy like I do. She will not be able to answer all of the wizard's questions,” I continued.
“Fair point,” Farina agreed, “You have until one-thirty to show up in the clinic or face the consequences.”
“Thank you,” I replied and left for the lifts.
One thing that I learned shortly after being hired at St. Mungo's was that Farina never gave you exactly what you wanted. If you wanted to push back your clinic hours by an hour, she would give you a half hour. If you wanted two days off, she'd give you one day off. The best thing to do was to ask for more time than you actually needed. Of course, it was pointless unless you had a good reason.
I was just grateful she gave me time off around the full moon. It wasn't real time off since I did pop into the hospital for a few hours the day after the full moon, but it was still considered time off. It was the least I could do since that was one of the busiest days in the ward.
I ate a very hurried lunch on my way to the very top floor of the hospital. That floor was added after the defeat of Lord Voldemort, mostly to add a psychiatry ward. Psychology and psychiatry still were not very well known in the wizarding world, but they became more so after the war.
When Farina became head of the whole hospital a few years later, she took half that floor and created the clinic. It was added solely for efficiency. She had noticed that a lot of the ailments and injuries that people went to the hospital with were quite minor and could be healed quickly. The clinic is now used for those ailments and the more major ailments are taken care of on the other floors. Plus, that's where people get their check-ups. It really was a good idea.
Rose was already set up in one of the rooms, complete with a clip-board and a stack of information on the psychology part of the study. She was always early and incredibly organized. We made an interesting pair for doing a study together.
“I've got clinic at 1:30,” I said as I walked in, “I hope this bloke is on time.”
The people we had met with earlier had both been late. Only the witch agreed to be in the study, though. The wizard didn't think the amount of money we would pay him was enough.
A few minutes later a middle-aged man with greying brown hair walked in. His face was lined with wrinkles, but his eyes were bright.
“Dan Bartholomew?” I asked.
He nodded. “You two the Healers?”
“Yes,” I said and gestured to the open chair, “Please have a seat.”
“So,” he began, “Healer Weasley said you're doing a study on lycanthropy?”
“Yes,” I replied, “We are hoping to discover the reason why werewolves do not remember what happens while they are wolves. Our first theory is that the transformation itself is so traumatic that the brain represses the memory in order to protect the psyche. However, it could also be that the wolf's memories are just not transferred when a werewolf transforms back into a human.”
“Why does it matter to figure that out?” Dan asked.
“I have a theory that it might help us to figure out why the Wolfsbane Potion does not work for all werewolves,” I explained.
“Oh,” he said, “That might be useful.”
“We're hoping it will be,” I said, “Now, does Wolfsbane work for you?”
“Yep,” Dan nodded, “But I'll still do the study. Just as long as I don't have to stop taking Wolfsbane.”
“No, you can still take it,” I answered, “What you will have to do is come in after every full moon and take a few potions that will allow us to examine your brain and to try and get you to remember what happened during full moons.”
“Will that hurt?” he asked skeptically.
“No,” I replied, “And you will be compensated for your time.”
The man nodded. “Now, do I still keep seeing you every week, Healer Weasley?”
“Yes, this will not affect your appointments with me,” Rose told him, “There are also no known emotional side effects from participating in this study.”
“I think I'll need to think about it,” Dan said.
“Understandable,” I said as I handed him a stack of papers, “This explains everything in more detail. If you decide to participate, owl us the forms on the bottom, signed and dated, and we'll contact you about your first appointment.”
“Do I have to decide before the next full moon?” Dan asked.
“No,” I shook my head, “We've already made appointments for this upcoming full moon and wouldn't be able to squeeze you in anyway. Think about it for a couple weeks and then get back to us.”
“I'll let you know,” Dan said as he stood up.
“Thanks,” I smiled.
“Two in one day isn't bad,” Rose said once he left.
“Nope,” I agreed, “Not bad at all.” |
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FortisUmbra
Joined: 18 August 2009
Posts: 240
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Posted: Saturday 6 February 2010 06 54 01 pm Post subject: Re: The Shadow in topic:The Shadow |
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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. |
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DucksRMagical
Joined: 28 December 2006
Posts: 2495
Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal
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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 |
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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. |
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DucksRMagical
Joined: 28 December 2006
Posts: 2495
Location: Going through LeakyCon withdrawal
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Posted: Sunday 31 January 2010 09 47 44 am Post subject: Beyond the Shadow in topic:Beyond the Shadow |
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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. |
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Ms. Elsewhere
Joined: 13 January 2008
Posts: 878
Location: In role play game of course!
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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 |
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*********************************** (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. |
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FortisUmbra
Joined: 18 August 2009
Posts: 240
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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 |
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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. |
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FortisUmbra
Joined: 18 August 2009
Posts: 240
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Posted: Tuesday 29 December 2009 09 43 32 am Post subject: Re: The Shadow in topic:The Shadow |
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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. |
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