Oh, bother.... on Teppenpaw Commons

Julian Umland

April 04, 2013 12:47 PM

Oh, bother.... by Julian Umland

For a moment, after her fourth consecutive try at the door failed, Julian stood still and thought about whether or not to try again, and then she ran the back of her hand over her forehead before sitting down on the steps, conceding defeat. She had, after all, suspected this was going to happen; last night, the first night back from midterm, she had been all right because she had just followed someone else into the common room when it opened as almost everyone came back to Teppenpaw at once, but today, on their first full day back, her fears about having forgotten everything she ever knew about the jig over midterm had proven completely justified. She had never been very good at it to start with, and now she was missing something altogether and was locked out of her common room.

Well, it was what it was, and she thought she was a lot less likely to betray that this was the Teppenpaw Common Room to any non-Teppenpaw passers-by by sitting on the stairs than she was by continuing to try to dance on them. That would definitely make people think something was up. Or that she was completely insane, whichever. Opening her bookbag, she began going through it, looking for a ribbon to tie her hair back with both to help her cool down after the exertion of the dance attempts and to have something to do until someone else came along who could open the door for her.

Relearning the jig was going to be an effort, but having gone home for a while was worth it. She had missed her family while she was at school, of course, but she hadn’t really realized how much until she was back with them. When she got off the wagon, she had hugged her mother so hard she had nearly upset her balance, leading to them almost dancing around for a minute, before Paul and Stephen twirled her around on purpose and then she raised a loud chorus of complaints from John and Joe by hugging them and kissing them, too, before they even left the transportation center. They had chattered nonstop through the wait for the portkey back to Alberta, drawing disapproving looks from some people who didn’t have five kids around, and then had just all been too keyed up to really behave properly all evening. And then there had been everything else: Christmas shopping, which she had never thought she’d really enjoy but had, and visits with their neighbors, and of course Christmas itself….

On New Year’s, sipping her apple cider, Julian had felt perfectly content with life, right up until she remembered she would be back at school in a day or two. She had been reminding herself of all the things she liked about Sonora ever since, so it would take some of the sting out, but the dance necessary to get into her common room had not been on that list. Charlie, she knew, liked it, but she didn’t. Julian was pretty sure she was the least coordinated person in their whole group, if not all of Teppenpaw House.

She found her ribbon just as someone came to the stairs, and she looked up with a smile, recognizing another Teppenpaw. “Oh, thank goodness,” she said, then blushed at her own hyperbole. “I’ve forgotten some part of the jig and I can’t get in, and I didn't want to bother Medic Bailey,” she explained. “I didn’t know how long I’d have to wait until someone else came…You do remember all of it, don’t you?” she asked anxiously, a new possibility occurring to her. Still, at least if she had to wait more, she might have company, which was better than waiting alone.

16 Julian Umland Oh, bother.... 254 Julian Umland 1 5

Charlie B-F-R

April 07, 2013 1:23 PM

Your hero is here! by Charlie B-F-R

Charlie had been up in the owlery with Henny, sending their parents a letter to let them know they'd made it back to school ok. It wasn't like there was any very great danger that this wouldn't have happened, at least not without Dad and Father being informed immediately by an apologetic Floo call from the Headmistress, but they always said it as they were putting their children onto the wagon. 'Let us know you've arrived safely' 'We will.' He didn't mind, it felt comforting to write home straight away. It emphasised how it was now somewhere else, somewhere far from where he was, but it also meant that he was doing something about that. And it meant doing a nice family thing with Henny.

As he rounded the corner, he was surprised to find someone sitting outside their common room, although his curiosity was satisfied before it had really had time to form, as Julian sprung to her feet, explaining her predicament.

“Sure I do,” he grinned confidently. True, he hadn't had to put his moves to the test yet but he was sure the Teppenpaw jig was etched firmly onto his memory. Besides the obvious importance of it, which had made him drill himself on it again and again over his first few days, he just loved it. He'd found himself missing it whilst he was at home and, when no Aladren or former-Pecari spies had been hanging around, he had sometimes done it just for the fun of it before opening a door.

“One and two, and twirl and arms,” he muttered as he did the steps. “Dancy-thing for three and four. Criss-cross, criss-cross, little wiggle. Back two three four, slide and... jazz hands!” he grinned, as the wall slid open.

“Which bit did you miss?” he asked, feeling it might be more helpful for Julian if they spent some time revising the steps. She couldn't wait around every day for someone to let her in. “And it's not the jazz hands – those are optional,” he explained, “But the wall doesn't seem to mind them being thrown in,” he added, giving it a fond pat as it slid back into place. Any wall that properly appreciated jazz hands was, in his books, a good wall.

13 Charlie B-F-R Your hero is here! 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Julian U.

April 08, 2013 12:20 PM

Hooray! by Julian U.

Anyone, anyone at all, would have done, really, under the circumstances, but Julian was sort of glad that Charlie had been the one who came around to help her out – or rather, in. It was easier to mess things up in front of the other first years from her House than everyone else, and she didn’t think he was really the type to spread it around that she was a bungling incompetent with the muscle memory of a drunken fruit fly.

Unless, of course, drosophila melanogaster was really the Olympic gymnast of the insect world, but Julian really doubted that. Sometimes, sayings were actually close to accurately describing what they wanted to, not like the ‘sore thumb’ business she and Paul had gotten into an argument over one time, and she didn’t think fruit flies had muscles. Where would they put them?

“You’re the best,” she said gratefully when Charlie agreed to open the door and show her the dance again, too. “I think it was the second criss-cross, and maybe part of the dancy-thing, too,” she answered about what she had missed, demonstrating what she meant by copying what he had just done. She wobbled on the criss-cross, but that was usual, and she steadied herself on the back of a chair as she usually did against the side of the wall. She was going to have to find a corner and hide in it for the whole Ball, lest she kill anyone just by proximity to a dance floor. “I might try the jazz hands next time, too, though, maybe the wall likes them.”

Her hair had fallen all around her face while she demonstrated the dance moves again, so she lifted it out of the neck of her dress, feeling relieved that she wouldn’t have to dance again for a while, maybe. “Thanks so much, really, Charlie. How was your – break?” She didn’t know if he celebrated a holiday in the month of December or very early January, after all, but he had done non-school, non-routine things lately, that was a given. That could be either a lot of fun or not a lot of fun or completely neutral.

16 Julian U. Hooray! 254 Julian U. 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

April 08, 2013 12:55 PM

Teach a fish to dance and all that by Charlie B-F-R

“I like to think it does. I keep meaning to experiment with leaving them off to see if it reacts more slowly but the thought of not doing them makes me kind of sad and then I always forget to leave them off anyway,” he grinned. “Let me know if you want to practise it through at all.” Julian seemed to have identified her mistake from watching him but he was fairly sure actually doing it was a far better way of getting it into her head – there was that saying about giving a man a fish being bad, or something like that. However, he wasn't sure she'd want to do it in the middle of the common room. He'd managed to pick up on the fact that dancing with an audience wasn't everyone's cup of tea.

“Oooh, are you excited for the ball?” he asked, his train of thought naturally leading him there from dancing. “It's actually near enough now that we'll know what colours will be on trend, so we can start thinking about our outfits!” he exclaimed excitedly. Julian was an absolute little doll to look at and he really hoped she'd be into the whole dress and fancy hairstyles scene, as she would be such fun to do up.

“It was great!” Charlie beamed, when she asked about Christmas. “It was so, so, so nice to be home! Just... cos it's home. And I missed my parents whilst I was here. That was enough to make it great but then there were all the nice Christmassy things too. We put the tree up straight away when we got home, and we read Christmassy stories and we sang Christmassy songs and ate Christmassy food!” he beamed. “Christmas was just us but then in the rest of the holidays we went and visited all our grandparents and our cousins were there too at the Fox Grandparents' house,” he beamed. Visiting grandparents was mostly good. He liked being at his Dad's parents better than Father's. It was hard to say what it was. They were just more... fun. Maybe it was cos they had cousins on that side so there were other kids there too, even if all the cousins were older than Henny. Everyone was just happy and relaxed at their house. At Father's parents everyone seemed like they were trying extra hard to be polite, and Grandpa Reynolds was always trying to talk to Charlie about things like Quidditch and hunting. He always seemed very disappointed when Charlie didn't seem to share his enthusiasms. But he tried not to dwell on this and he definitely didn't voice it to Julian because he didn't like to say mean things about anybody, and especially not his own grandpa. Even if they were a bit old and fuddy-duddy he loved his grandparents and, having inherited them after a period with no family whatsoever, knew to be grateful for them.

“What did you do?” he asked Julian, keen to hear her tales of the holidays too. Hearing other people's stories and getting to share all the excitement was the next best thing to still experiencing it, and was one of the better things about coming back to school.

13 Charlie B-F-R Teach a fish to dance and all that 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Julian U.

April 09, 2013 7:20 PM

It might work if the ball had an aquatic theme. by Julian U.

“I really should sometime,” Julian agreed, glancing ruefully at the closed wall. “Maybe I could remember to try your, um, jazz hands experiment for you if you went through it a few times with me after supper tomorrow somewhere out of the way?”

Julian was not, after all, enthusiastic about subjecting the entire common room to her dancing. She didn’t really think she was so clumsy as to be a danger to other people’s safety, but one never knew, and it was sort of embarrassing to fall all over herself in public. Actually, it was sort of embarrassing to do so at all, even in front of her friends, at least more than it was with her family, but not nearly as bad as in public more generally.

She laughed as Charlie started talking about how they could start picking out their outfits now. “You might have to help me with that, too,” she said. “I have no idea what’s on trend.” Most of her clothes were secondhand, so they were by definition a little out of trend, but maybe there would be a good sale before the ball or something. Or maybe the colors in fashion would be coming back into fashion from another time or something. “It’ll be fun to dress up, though, and see all the outfits and things.”

His family tree had always struck her as complicated to follow, but she got the idea that it had been great and that that was great. “Mostly the same things you did,” she said when he asked about her holidays. “Except we didn’t travel to see any family, so I was just spending a lot of time with my brothers. We had so much fun – Joe threw a fit because he was replaced in the Christmas pageant, but other than that, it was great being back with them. I’d missed them.” She smiled at the memories playing through her head. “If Mom and Dad hadn’t just known I had homework, it would have been perfect,” she joked.

“The best thing, though, was the Christmas Day tea - Mom always cooks, and this year our neighbors had brought us these really good Indian sweets, and I got to drink out of one of Mom's grandmother's teacups." She said this with all due seriousness, as it was a big deal. Normally, those dishes were kept wrapped up in layers of cloth in a box which was inside another well-padded box which was locked all the time. They had been in Mom's family for three generations, and Julian knew some of the cousins didn't want her to have them someday just because she wasn't a blood relative, but her mom insisted she would have them anyway. "And then, when we were done, everyone tried to sing carols in German and messed them up really bad," she added with a laugh at her own and her family's expense. Umland was a German name and they all knew a little about the culture and history, but no one in her immediate family really knew anything at all about the language. "It was hard coming back, but I missed you guys, too, while I was gone, and I'll see them again at Easter. Did you get any good presents?"

16 Julian U. It might work if the ball had an aquatic theme. 254 Julian U. 0 5

Charlie B-F-R

April 11, 2013 5:23 PM

We could suggest it... by Charlie B-F-R

“Ok, deal,” Charlie grinned. He didn't really need an added incentive to help Julian but a Jazz Hands Research Assistant was too good to turn down. “How about I meet you in the Hall for supper, then afterwards we can find a quiet spot in the gardens to practise?” he offered.

Charlie was a little disappointed when Julian admitted to being a bit clueless about fashion but on the plus side she seemed willing to learn, and was happy to let him play dress up with her.

“I think I'd tend to put you in bold colours,” Charlie pondered. Julian was a little pale, and pale colours on pale people equalled wash out. It was a shame because she was quite a sweet little girly type girl. It was silly, but people tended to follow the personalities of colours in fashion, without seeming to acknowledge that the people who suited those colours wouldn't necessarily have those personalities. Thus bright bold colours tended to be bold, clean cuts, and the frills and delicate touches of very girly clothes tended to be done in the delicate shades of pastels. It was frustrating, when you had someone pale and sweet.

“For spring-summer, you want a fresher colour. Warm things like oranges and reds suit fall better. We could give you something in green, or a nice vibrant pink” he suggested. You could occasionally get girly in bold shades of pink.

“Oh, what was he supposed to be and what did he end up being?” he asked, when she mentioned her brother being swapped about in the Christmas pageant, and giggled at her stories of their attempted carol singing. He nodded sympathetically at her comments about coming back.

“I got the hat I was wearing yesterday,” Charlie beamed. He'd been on the quest for a fabulous hat, worthy of having an Augurey feather stuck into it since their Care of Magical Creatures class. It was a dark grey felt number with a small brim, vaguely in the style of a fedora. There was a ribbon around it into which he had tucked the feather at a jaunty angle. “And I got quite a few other clothes. Henny got me some stuff for scrap-booking. What about you?” he asked.

13 Charlie B-F-R We could suggest it... 252 Charlie B-F-R 0 5

Julian U.

April 24, 2013 11:46 AM

I guess we would favor blues and greens for such an event? by Julian U.

Julian nodded, smiling, her agreement with Charlie’s suggestions. “Deal,” she said.

Bold colors were not things Julian would have associated with herself, not really. As she thought about it, she realized that there were not really a lot of ‘soft’ colors, she guessed, in her wardrobe – her mom was a lot better than anyone else in the family at making the best of second-hand shopping options, and unlike Julian, actually did know a little about fashion – but it was the kind of thing Mom had pretty much given up on explaining to her until she was older, instead just giving her outfits that weren’t hideous to wear out and allowing her to wear what was comfortable at home.

“Mom puts me in a lot of green at home,” she said thoughtfully, putting her mind along unfamiliar paths to think about her clothes. “I think the uniforms might have been part of why she sent me here,” she joked. “We’ll see.”

She shook her head again at the memories of the Great Pageant Scandal. “Joe was the Baby last year, but they like to let different families do it each year, and he hates the girl who played Mary anyway, so another boy got it,” she summed the situation up. “They would have let him be a sheep, but he threw such a fit that it embarrassed Mom and she wouldn’t let him do anything except watch with the rest of us.” Julian smiled a little guiltily, then added, “so of course, when she went shopping and left Stephen, that’s my oldest brother, in charge, we put on our own show from the storybooks to make him feel better about things, and then Mom got home and the living room was in ruins and we ended up with a cleaner house than we started out with.” She lowered her voice almost conspiratorially. “I think we would have gotten in trouble if Mom had seen the part where we were jumping off furniture, but that was just five minutes before she got home. We were really lucky that time.”

Julian recalled the hat Charlie mentioned – it had been a nice hat. “Some clothes, some more books,” she said. There had been a journal in there, but she wasn’t going to tell anyone about that. “A doll, for my collection. I get a china doll every year at Christmas, so Florence makes twelve. There was a box of nice chocolates for me and my brothers to share. Are you planning to make a scrapbook about Sonora, or about something else?” That was more interesting than her gifts, she thought. Her journal was, like the one she’d brought along in September, for her to write down everything she wanted to remember about school, but that seemed more private than a scrapbook really was, especially one given by a sibling. She couldn’t imagine her brothers doing that, though she could imagine Mom proposing it as something for all five of them to do together sometime.

16 Julian U. I guess we would favor blues and greens for such an event? 254 Julian U. 0 5