I'm glad to be back on Cascade Hall

Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau

March 15, 2013 6:10 PM

Returning Feast by Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau

Kiva waited quietly for the student body to settle down. They had all returned from their Christmas/New Year’s break and she was sure they were rather excited to show off all their new gifts that they had received. Christmas at the Jareaus’ house had been equally chaotic. It was hard to find gifts for Angel and Ayita as they seemed rather uncertain by it all, so instead, they did outing and allowed them to pick and choose what they wanted. They were teenagers, so, really, it was probably better that way anyway. Emery and Chloe celebrated happily as ten year olds did. It was difficult to believe that the two of them would be starting Sonora next year. And the baby turned 6 months and was utterly adorable. Maybe now that Harper was a little older, Angel and Ayita wouldn’t be so distant to her. They needed to bond with her just as much as everyone else. It was something that they would need to work on.

That was neither here nor there though. Feeling that everyone had amble time to say their ‘hellos’ Kiva stood and called for everyone’s attention. “Good Evening everyone and welcome back. I hope your holidays went on smoothly and you all received the gifts you were wishing for.” The happier the students were after a stay with parents, the better the start of the term would be for them all.

“First, I want to congratulate you all for making it through our first challenge presented to you. Our lovely librarian, Ms. Diaz and your Charms Professor, Professor Olivers, were kind enough to put all of that together for your benefit. “ Kiva paused to allow for applause for the two staff members before continuing. “Our next challenge isn’t too far from now, so let’s see if this little break had caused any of you to become a little stale on your team work.” Kiva mused. She did hope they understood that this was meant to be about team work and nothing more than that. The team that worked together, was the team that won in the end.

“Coach Pierce has informed me that there was not enough interest in her Exhibition Match despite the shameless display of emotion some of you showed at the Opening Feast, so the Exhibition Match has been cancelled. If anything changes regarding Quidditch, Coach Pierce will send out notices.” Kiva advised them all. “Captains, make sure you keep up with representing your badges and keep your team spirits high this year and work with them how you see fit.”

Kiva gave a thought for a moment to make sure she covered everything, before adding, “Team scores for the first challenge will be provided to me soon. Once I get them, I will post team rankings. Maybe this will be a great motivational resource to work with your team come the next challenge.” Kiva commented lightly. “Enjoy your meal, everyone. The Prairie Elves were very excited for your return, so they made quite the feast.” With that, they were dismissed to enjoy their dinner and to return to their conversations with friends.

Subthreads:

Somewhat overdue [Tag Addi] by Josephine Owen with Addison Thornton

Getting back into the swing of things. by Brianna Japos with Linus Macaulay, Linus, Brianna

Back in business by Waverly Canterbury with Theresa Carey, Waverly

I'm glad to be back by Wendy Canterbury with Annabelle and Annette Pierce, Wendy

A question for Reggie by Derry Four with Regina Parker

On the hunt for sauce... by Francesca Wolseithcrafte with Anthony Carey VIII, Anthony Carey

Quietly watching by Megan Brownbriar with Rupert Princeton, Meggie

Let's do this. Again. by Adam Spencer

Second Thoughts by Andri Thornton

Cloud Nine (take two) by Aubrielle Thornton

Pretty Princess by McKinley Andrews

0 Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau Returning Feast 0 Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau 1 5

Josephine Owen

March 17, 2013 5:10 PM

Somewhat overdue [Tag Addi] by Josephine Owen

Midterm hadn't been the usual parental indulgence to which Josephine had become accustomed. Since her exceptional CATS grades over the summer, Josephine's focus has shifted somewhat. Now that she had to apply eyeliner and cast straightening charms on her hair every morning, do her toning exercises every night, and spent much more time socialising - especially with the Teppenpaws in her year - Josephine was finding increasingly less time for schoolwork. She had always been lazy, but her natual intelligence had allowed her to sail through her beginner and intermediate classes without turmoil. Unfortunately, advanced classes actually required some input on her part, and the Pecari was not used ot having to work for her grades. So with more effort required and less time available, her parents had given the sixth year a sharp talking-to.

Despite logic informing her that this reprimand was completely justified, Josephine neverhteless felt wounded by their words. It wasn't as if she were James, able to lock hiomself in his room and study for hours on end because he had no friends, interests, or any glimpse of a social life to speak of. Nor was she the equivalent of Jade, who was scraping passing grades in all her classes, arguing with authority figures and gereally making a nuisance of herself. Josephine was the good one, and her parents knew that; they were just being pedantic, and it wasn't fair. Luckily, Josephine could take comfort in the fact that she was no longer fat and miserable, so who cared if she wasn't top of the class in everything anymore? Arthur Carey might finally catch a break.

Once Headmistress K-J finished her speech, Josephine jumped up from where the Pecaris had gathered, and slipped into a vacant seat amongst the Teppnepaw students, beside Addison. The purple dress she was wearing had been knitted by her mother, and was Josephine's single Christmas present from her parents that year. She loved it, and was wearing it with cream tights and cute purple ankle boots, with a cream pashmina draped over her shoulders for extra warmth. Her dark chestnut hair was loose down her back, and she beamed at her friend in greeting even as she helped herself to a slice of melon. "Welcome back," Josephine said, smiling at her kindred spirit. "Have a good midterm?"

0 Josephine Owen Somewhat overdue [Tag Addi] 196 Josephine Owen 0 5

Brianna Japos

March 17, 2013 5:48 PM

Getting back into the swing of things. by Brianna Japos

Brianna’s holiday had been… isolating. It had been the first time she had returned to the Condominium building since the incident and she hadn’t been allowed out of the apartment unless it was to see her Healers or Therapist. Her healers were pleased with the healing process of her head trauma and her spine. The headaches were few and far between. When she did get them, they were manageable. They felt her head had made a full recovery. But they wanted her to stay alert because any simple small head injury could produce seizures. Even so, they seemed pleased by the progress. They weren’t as happy with the fact that she still continued to have back spasms and the pain hadn’t dulled for her without the use of a potion. They were worried about her spine. It was healing, but there was still a deep bruise that may never truly heal. That was what seemed to be causing the problems. There wasn’t anything they could do about that except work with her physical therapist to strengthen her spine and legs.

Jonah seemed pleased with her progress of walking though and wanted to make sure she gave his thanks to her helpers. Brianna had to agree with him. When she first came back to Sonora, just walking up the path to the school had nearly collapsed her, but now she could do it and only have a bit of shortness of breath. She still had trouble on the stairs and getting to and from classes was still a struggle, but she was managing it better now. Plus, she made sure to always back a heating pad in her bag. It helped her tremendously throughout the day to keep her back from tensing up and causing her pain. Jonah thought that within a year or so she might be off the crutches. Brianna didn’t want to keep her hopes up, but she was pleased to hear that.

Other than being completed locked away in her small apartment, Brianna’s Christmas hadn’t been too bad. Her aunt came to visit again, mostly to keep her company while her parents worked, but Brianna also suspected she was there to keep her in and to keep everyone else out. This did not prevent Brianna from hearing the rumors about her though. The lawyers had come one afternoon just before Christmas to give them an update on the trial process and the case. They had heard that some of the kids in the building were spreading rumors that Brianna had made it all up and thrown herself down the stairs. Somehow, this did not surprise her in the slightest. It would always be her fault. Until the very day that they killed her or something else did, it would always remain her fault. It didn’t matter that a couple of the boys confessed to what they had witnessed and the law enforcement officers had arrested Harley and Aaron on assault. It was her fault. She tempted them, she seduced them, she framed them, etc. Other people thought Brianna’s sense of self and others was from her own mind, but these people in this building had done it to her. This was why she needed to get away. Far away.

But she was back at Sonora now. It was her CATS year and weird year on top of that. No Quidditch to watch, but challenges to play in. Somehow she ended up with a bunch of boys, all of them from proper families (Pureblood or otherwise). Families from money either way. She didn’t know how she looked to them, but she was sure that it wasn’t good. At least they hadn’t said anything negative about it around her and she really didn’t think they had done horribly with the first challenge to make them in last place or anything…

Brianna listened politely as the Headmistress did the speech, not really caring all that much about it before watching the food appear and trying to decide what she should eat before she headed off to the Crotalus common room. She looked up when she realized someone was beside her, “Oh, hi.” She greeted with a warm smile. “How was your holiday?”

6 Brianna Japos Getting back into the swing of things. 203 Brianna Japos 0 5

Linus Macaulay

March 17, 2013 5:56 PM

Replying here, then. by Linus Macaulay

Despite his best efforts, there was still so much that Linus didn't understand. However, his father had been very influential to Linus before he died, and left his son with a clear idea of who he was supposed to be. It was therefore quite unusual for the fifth year to be confused about his own thoughts, and yet further uncommon for him to be confused about his own feelings. Yet, a series of conversations with his mother, and even with his brother, Johan, over the holidays, had stirred some uncertainty.

The facts were simple to establish. Firstly, Linus was responsible for assisting and protecting anyone who might need his support. This included anyone who was younger, or weaker, or less privileged for whatever reason. As the crotalus student had learned, those who might need his support were not always so easy to determine as he had originally believed. For example, girls, he had learned, could be extremely capable, and even someone who was considerably less skilled than Linus might have more of a chance in some certain scenarios simply due to magical heritage, or other factors that were beyond the Muggleborn's control. He would also now admit that assuming lack of ability based on ethnicity, irrespective of intent, was thinly-veiled racism, and perhaps there had been more to interpreting his father's instruction than had originally been apparent. When his father encouraged Linus to take care of those who required his help, he perhaps should have been more or less specific.

Regardless of race and gender, then, a person who asked for help would be entitled to it. Linus had spent a great deal of time this year helping out one person in particular, and it wasn't because of her race, and neither was it solely because she had requested it. Certainly the latter was a contributing factor, but Linus would have been keen to offer aide to his friend, even if she had declined his assistance. He was pleased this wasn't the case, and could therefore infer a personal draw to the scenario. Perhaps he wasn't supposed to use gender as a measure of neediness, but that didn't equate to gender not being a factor in his desire to help. Or, as his mother had put it more succinctly, "It sounds like you've taken a fancy to this Brianna girl."

Initially, Linus had made firm rebuttal of the suggestion, but time alone had enabled contemplation. He made time to help Brianna every day, even if she would pretend not to need it, even if she would seem annoyed by his insitence. He was concerned for her well-being, but that was just being a gentleman, or being a good friend, and did not mean he had taken any sort of peculiar interest in her. Johan had overheard, and later challenged his older brother by asking who he'd be taking to the ball at the end of the year. Linus had answered that he hadn't decided yet, but he couldn't deny to himself that one particular person had immediately sprung to mind. If her injuries meant that she couldn't dance, he wouldn't mind. He'd enjoyed his time with her at the last ball, and knew her much better now. He thought they could probably have an equally pleasant time if they repeated the coupling.

Yet a final realisation had not presented itself until his mother's parting comments had been given time to ferment. Her advice had been to ask Brianna before anyone else got their first. This had caused Linus to imagine a scenario where someone, perhaps Joshua, attended the ball with Brianna instead, and the result had been a completely unexpected surge of bitterness. The more he thought about it, the more he was aware of how attractive his friend was, and how plausible it was that he did indeed hold her in special regard without even being aware of it. Linus would undoubtedly puzzle over this further over the coming months, but for the time being he would take his mother's advice. He sought out his friend and Housemate practically as soon as they had returned to school after the midterm break. "Brianna," he lightly touched her elbow to draw her attention in his greeting. She smiled in response, and Linus felt his own lips begin to twitch involuntarily into a similar expression. "Fine, thanks," he replied to her greeting. He had originally planned on some introductory small-talk, but didn't know how to ask about her health without down-playing her accident, nor enquire about her holiday without sounding like a cliche, so he abandoned any further preamble. "I don't know whether anyone has already asked you yet, but I'd be very pleased if you would consider being my date to the ball at the end of the year."

0 Linus Macaulay Replying here, then. 205 Linus Macaulay 0 5

Brianna Japos

March 17, 2013 6:54 PM

This was not expected. by Brianna Japos

Linus, like most of the boys in her year, had always been a little bit of a mystery to her. She didn’t know what they did on their own, how they had fun (if they even had fun at all), what their interests were, how their family life was, what they thought about, who they liked, etc. These were things that she thought about when she thought about them. This, she had figured, was her way of rationalizing why she had thought so much about Michael. He had been pretty open about things with her, or so she had thought. Everyone else…not so much. Linus was no exception.

When she had first met him, she had thought he was a cold fish with little personality. They were eleven and he had reminded her too much of the boys back home, so she had been weary of him. After awhile, she just figured he was awkward around people who weren’t like him. Out of the boys in her class, Linus probably was the one she had always subconsciously thought of as a friend. He had never said or did anything that made her think of him as a bad person and when she felt awkward and left out in social gatherings, he tended to show up and kept her company.

When his words registered in her, her brown eyes widened in surprise as she looked at him. She had not expected him to ask her. She hadn’t expected anyone to ask her, including Josh who hated social events. Why would anyone ask her to a school dance when she could barely walk on her own? “Me?” She asked him rhetorically, but clearly dumbfounded by his request. First year, they had gone to the ball together. He had asked all of the girls in her dorm, but she had been the first to respond and he had been a gentlemen and she had a fun time with him. He had hung out with her at the concert a couple of terms later since neither of their families had attended. She probably shouldn’t have been too surprised though. Linus had been helping her a lot this term, so there was a chance he simply felt that it was his duty to take her.

This put her in a dilemma. She really wanted to go to the ball with someone and she thought that Linus would make the evening enjoyable for her. If he didn’t mind holding onto her, they could even dance together. But, she didn’t want him to think that he had to take her because she was crippled and he felt sorry for her. She looked at him for a moment, trying to work out his thoughts on this, but despite being comfortable around him, she didn’t know him very well. That made her a terrible person, didn’t it? She really should talk to him more about things.

Brianna relaxed slightly, making a decision, “I would very much like to go to the ball with you, but only if you mean it.” She told him, looking at him intensely. “You really would be pleased to go with me and not because you feel sorry for me or something.” She said to him. Her last pity date with Josh had turned into a complete mess. She didn’t want that to happen with Linus. “I have fun with you, so I really would like to go.” She explained to him as she put a little pasta onto her plate.

Did that qualify as a date? She’d have to think about it, but she didn’t think so. There would be lots of friends going together and Linus never seemed to show much interest in anyone anyway. “Linus,” She said quietly, feeling embarrassed suddenly but knowing that she should have said it awhile ago, “Thank you for helping me so much this term. I know it’s probably a pain for you and I probably wasn’t nice about it, but I really am grateful that you’ve been around me. If there’s any way that I could pay you back, please let me know.”

6 Brianna Japos This was not expected. 203 Brianna Japos 0 5

Waverly Canterbury

March 17, 2013 7:30 PM

Back in business by Waverly Canterbury

It had been one crazy winter break for Waverly. She had hung out with Brandon almost every day, had visited her grandparents in North Carolina for a weekend, and had her free days packed with baking for everyone’s Christmas orders. Her mom’s bakery was booming and she was really glad for it, but she had to leave her younger sister to help out their mom when Waverly went on dates with Brandon. There was a lot of kissing going on that made her blush just thinking about it, and she knew she was going to miss it when she was at school. But even more than that, she was going to miss him. It was getting harder to pull herself away from his presence even if it was to learn how to control her second love, magic. Walking back into Cascade Hall was always nice, though, and it distracted her from her thoughts of her boy as she greeted her friends.

She sat down at the Pecari table, dressed to impress once more. Brandon wasn’t allowed to see her off, according to her mom, or else it would be obvious that she wasn’t going to Boston for boarding school. But at least Waverly could dress up and pretend that he was. For the fiftieth time, she wished Brandon could be magical too so they could go to school together.

The first challenge in the haunted school had been sort of fun, but really nerve-wracking. She never wanted to go into a haunted house ever again. She couldn’t even watch scary movies and she had been sort of living in one during that challenge. It had taken a day or two of recuperation before she could live without jumping whenever she saw a ghost. Taking a break in the muggle world where those things didn’t happen had definitely helped in putting her brain back together.

The next challenge would be intriguing and she was looking forward to working with her team again. She had proved pretty proficient in some of the obstacles and she hoped to be just as useful in this next one. Waverly was above all glad none of her teammates were having issues with each other. And if they were, at least they weren’t letting it affect them visibly. Four years at this school being immersed in magic had sobered the puppy-like personality of the young girl. She had come a long way from the gullible kid who believed everything Jade and Jorge had told her about magic. Maybe part of her maturity had happened because she had a boyfriend. Or maybe it was the other way around…

As she listened to the headmistress’s speech, she felt a little bad about the people who had been looking forward to the Exhibition Match. She knew there were tons of really competitive Quidditch players and she could only imagine them being devastated. At least there were practices and Waverly did feel a little relieved that she wasn’t expected to be a part of that anymore. Quidditch and sports just wasn’t her thing. She liked baking and art and…that girly stuff.

The headmistress finished her speech and Waverly began eating. She hadn’t been lying when she’d said the prairie elves had really made a great feast. Waverly really wished food would just appear whenever she wished like this at home, but that was just wishful thinking. She didn’t think she could ever go back to the muggle world after living with magic. It would just be too hard and magic had really become a part of her. It was hard enough keeping it a secret from the people she cared about.

She turned to the people sitting around her and smiled warmly. By now she recognized, if not knew, most of her house mates. She loved taking care of the little first-years and tried to be there for them if they needed help. And she liked talking with the older students because they were so informative most of the time. Her peers were a given, of course, because they were, well, the people she would be growing up with. It was just a given that she liked them. “Hey, how are you? How was your winter break? Did you do anything fun?”

19 Waverly Canterbury Back in business 218 Waverly Canterbury 0 5

Wendy Canterbury

March 17, 2013 7:40 PM

I'm glad to be back by Wendy Canterbury

The whole winter break had been filled with tons of baking and Wendy was tired of it. She loved her mom's bakery, really, but it was just so tiring doing that all the time. Wendy would rather be painting or playing out at the park. Christmas had been a lot of fun, though. Her maternal grandparents from North Carolina had come to visit for Christmas and her dad's parents had visited for New Year's. It had been lots of fun seeing them and they had given her some money that she had put into her piggy bank at home. With all the charms she had learned from school, she wanted to try animating her piggy bank one day when she learned the spell for that.

Another thing that was really fun about her break was that her mom's mom was a music teacher and so there was a lot of singing going on during that time. Wendy loved to sing, but she was shy about sharing that skill with strangers. She and Waverly were a good pair because her older sister played the piano and Wendy got to sing along with her mom and grandma. It was a really cozy break and Wendy loved those times that were just full of love and music.

Now that this was technically Wendy's fourth term here, she was feeling a little more independent. This time she didn't ride in the wagon with her older sister, but with her friends. She liked meeting new people even if she was a tad bit shy. She hoped to see Carter some time. He was easily her best friend at this school. Maybe she could ask him to the dance that was happening here if she even decided to go with someone.

Wendy sat down at a table and waited patiently during the headmistress's speech. Her stomach was growling and she found it hard to pay attention. She was just imagining Peter Pan and how he ate imaginary food that filled him up and was tempted to try the same thing when the food appeared. It startled her, but she recovered quickly and piled food onto her plate. Her blonde hair was cut at her chin again and it was mostly out of her face. She stabbed a forkful and put it into her mouth. The food was so delicious. One day she wanted to meet one of these prairie elves and thank them for all their awesome cooking. How did they come to be such good cooks anyway?

That was a question worth asking and so she turned to her neighbor. "How do you think the prairie elves learn to cook so well?" she asked. "Do all elves know how to cook like this?"

19 Wendy Canterbury I'm glad to be back 245 Wendy Canterbury 0 5

Linus

March 18, 2013 6:23 AM

Life's full of surprises. by Linus

Linus perceived that Brianna's initial response to his question had been one of surprise, and he didn't resent her for it; he was not completely adjusted to the idea himself, and it wasn't as if the topic of conversation had already been visited. Luckily, she soon collected herself and didn't turn him down. It wasn't that Linus was expecting rejection - he had no reason to think Brianna disliked him - but he had harbored concerns that another boy might already have beaten him to the post, and it was a relief to discover this was not the case. Then, as Brianna expanded on her answer to make her feelings on the matter abundantly clear, it was Linus' turn to raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"Of course I really mean it," he said, his tone perhaps holding a hint of bemusement, contributing to further soften his rapidly relaxing demeanor. Helping Brianna out with her mobility might be his duty, but taking her to a school dance would be his pleasure. "There's no-one else I'd rather go with," he added, and although the comment was made in an off-hand fashion, the implications behind such a sentiment did make him mildly uncomfortable. Linus dropped his gaze for a moment, relieved that he could follow Brianna's lead in dishing out some food.

Inwardly congratulating himself on taking his mother's advice, Linus served himself a generous helping of beef cassarole, being careful not to splash any of its juices onto his pants or sweater, both of which had been purchased over midterm. He was reaching for some soft white bread to accompany it when the way in which Brianna said his name caused him to pause his actions and pay attention to her. "Thank you for helping me so much this term," she said. He was preparing to reply that it was no problem, but she continued speaking. "I know it’s probably a pain for you and I probably wasn’t nice about it, but I really am grateful that you’ve been around me." Linus lowered a bread roll to his plate and looked at Brianna, the smallest frown forming on his lips. Didn't she realise that he barely felt he was doing sufficient to make any difference to her at all?

He opened his mouth to form some response, perhaps about not needing to pay him back, perhaps a witty comment about finding a way for repayment in the future, but instead he was distracted by an apparently disabling guilt over not being able to do more for her. The sensation rapidly transformed into disatisfaction, which made him waspish in an instant, so by the time words could form in his mouth, Linus replied, "Don't be ridiculous."

He regretted it instantly. He had never claimed to be proficient in social situations, and was proving his ineptitude most majestically. "What I mean is," he said more forcefully, staring at his food as if it had caused him some injustice, "you don't need to repay me, or anything like that." He glanced back at Brianna, discovered that it was a great deal easier to force his frustrations away when he was looking at her, and continued in a far more relaxed voice. "I'm happy to help out from time to time. Just let me know if there's anything more I can do." He was almost smiling by the time he'd finished the sentence.

0 Linus Life's full of surprises. 0 Linus 0 5

Annabelle and Annette Pierce

March 19, 2013 11:50 AM

There are worse places, we suppose by Annabelle and Annette Pierce

Midterm had been the best thing ever. Coming back to Sonora in the fall had been a joy and relief after a summer being grounded. Coming back now was the exact opposite, simply because it meant the end of the most fantastic holiday trip to England ever.

Though, to be fair, Arizona was a bit warmer, relatively. That was nice.

Plus, there were the remaining challenges to look forward to, and people to catch up with, and American food again, and, well, it wasn't so bad to be back, really. The twins settled into two empty seats across from each other at the Pecari table, intentionally selecting a pair next to one of their roommates. They had never had any trouble with anyone in their room, but they had never gotten as close to the other girls as they had hoped.

Annette had theorized it might be because they were a pair that seemed unapproachable, so maybe if they did some approaching themselves, it might break the ice some more.

Before they could even try to open conversation with Wendy, though, she surprised them by opening it with them. And with such a strange question. "Um," said Annette, who was sitting next to Wendy and the direct recipient of the query. She looked across the table to Annabelle, but she was equally baffled.

"I guess they learn from other elves," Annette ventured uncertainly. Elves just were. They could cook and clean and vanish with a pop and that was just the way the world worked. Their own house elf had never given them reason to question this universal truth. "I'm pretty sure they all cook," she added. "Some of them might have different specialties, though. English elves aren't very good at American food," she added, offering one of her discoveries from their trip abroad. "If you ask for a biscuit, they give you a cookie," she added knowledgeabley.

"And fries if you ask for chips," Annabelle put in. "We didn't really mind, though." She paused for a moment, then added, by way of explanation for this first hand knowledge. "We just took a trip to England over break. Did you do anything exciting?"

1 Annabelle and Annette Pierce There are worse places, we suppose 246 Annabelle and Annette Pierce 0 5

Derry Four

March 19, 2013 12:39 PM

A question for Reggie by Derry Four

Derry's midterm had been about normal for him now. He went home to Boston, spent some time with the neighborhood kids and the guys he knew from the summer baseball league, exchanged gifts with the Boston Pierces on Christmas - including Coach Pierce, which was, quite honestly, still a little weird - and played with his nephew who was now four years old.

He'd also picked up a couple gifts for his friends at Sonora and he had a wrapped one in his robe pocket now, as he sat down next to Reggie at the Teppenpaw table and grinned cheerfully at her.

He'd also taken an opportunity on Christmas to talk to his big brother about girls and dances and stuff that he wasn't quite comfortable talking to Mom about. Three had even explained the weird reaction he had gotten from Reggie at the Bonfire better than anyone else had.

Reggie liked him, and was mad he had sat next to Josephine instead.

Derry felt hugely relieved he had never actually pulled together the courage to make a move on Josephine. That would have really upset Reggie, and she might not have ever spoken to either of them again and that was just too horrible to contemplate.

And when Three had explained that she never told this to Four herself because she might not even realize it - Three said he and Gabby had been dating for three years before they knew about it - everything just made so much sense.

Derry liked her, too, and that was why it never seemed like quite the right time to ask out Josephine.

So here he was. Sitting next to Reggie Parker and, for the very first time ever, feeling a little nervous in her presence. He barely even heard the disappointing news about the Exhibition match not working out, too busy thinking about what might happen immediately following the Headmistress's speech.

When she did stop talking - saying Merlin only knew what, hopefully it wasn't important - Derry put the small, wrapped package in front of his best friend. Inside was a gold necklace with a charm shaped like an R on it. He hoped she liked it.

"Merry Christmas," he told her, then urged eagerly, "Open it."

He waited until the wrapping paper was off and she had opened the jeweler's box before asking, "So, um, do you think that will go with your dress for the ball? And-would-you-maybe-go-to-that-with-me?" He hoped she'd say yes. And he hoped she'd been able to understand the question.

1 Derry Four A question for Reggie 189 Derry Four 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

March 19, 2013 4:07 PM

On the hunt for sauce... by Francesca Wolseithcrafte

Francesca had had an enjoyable holiday. There had been the Princetons' ball and the mini holiday within a holiday that this had prompted. She had had a delightful time seeing the English countryside and the magical sights of London before she and her father returned home. Having missed Christmas as a family, her parents had amended their plans for New Year – usually they were out at a party somewhere – and it had been a quiet family affair, with jolly hats and games of charades, amongst others. She felt she had had the best of both worlds; a chance to socialise at an important occasion, and the time with her family which was supposed to be the centre of the holiday season.

Francesca had cast aside her heavy winter cloak and discontinued the warming charm that her mother had placed on her as she had entered the territory of Sonora. The jump from a Chicago winter to the magically modified and ever-temperate climate of the school was quite the change. She was looking forward to getting back to classes and rather curious about what the rest of the term challenges would present. She had rather enjoyed their first challenge and was keen to see what was next in that arena, as well as educationally and socially. Sonora, so far, had ticked most of her boxes as far as a stimulating environment went.

“Good evening,” she commented politely to the person next to her, once they were left to their own devices and to the food at hand. “Did you have a pleasant holiday?” she enquired whilst she helped herself from a generously piled plate of lamb chops just to her left. Cauliflower and runner beans were added to this. She scanned around. Surely where lamb chops were, mint sauce could not be far away... “Is the mint sauce on your side?” she asked, nodding to the pile of chops which formed a small barrier between her and her neighbour – it was not an insurmountable obstacle but it would have been indelicate and risked a greasy sleeve to reach over it.

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte On the hunt for sauce... 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Megan Brownbriar

March 19, 2013 6:41 PM

Quietly watching by Megan Brownbriar

Megan Brownbriar entered Cascade Hall with her head held high even though the Midterm was not the best time of her life. Sure, it wasn’t the worst either, but to see her betrothed actually walk up to the girl he was caught in the Yearbook with really upset her. She’d even tried to be a lady, like Cepheus and his family wanted and needed from her. She hadn’t done anything remotely un-ladylike either. Nothing of the sort. Sitting next to him at the dinner part of the ball was awkward (as far as she could tell, from both sides). She didn’t speak unless directly spoken to, and when she was, she politely answered the other person with as short an answer as she could have gotten away with. After the Ball, she went back to spend the rest of the weekend with her Aunt, Uncle and cousins at their house before returning home.

Meggie got to spend some time with her Aunt, time she relished as a growing young girl without a mother. The ladies got to go shopping (where Meg got her Christmas presents from them, and where Meg also picked up her present for Eris). Her roommate was nothing but nice to her, she’d even brought back a Christmas Cracker for her the year before. This year, Meggie was determined to do the same, but also bring a present for the other Teppenpaw. She’d found a picture frame that said ‘Roommates’ in a pretty multicolored cursive letters, and inside it she put a picture of the two of them together from the year before. She thought Eris might like that and only hoped she really did.

The present was wrapped nicely and placed in her trunk to give to her roommate when they got back upstairs. She didn’t think lugging it down to the Hall would make any sense. Besides, she wanted to give it to her in private anyway. That way they could pull the Cracker too.

Meg sat down in an empty chair at Teppenpaw’s table and watched Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau until she spoke. The fourth year was still relatively quiet, What’s the point in talking anyway? Especially if nobody really cares enough to listen? she thought, glancing over to Cepheus before turning to see who’d sat down next to her. Others had been chatting around her, but she really didn’t reply unless someone spoke directly to her. When the Headmistress started talking, Meggie listened and nodded in all the right places of her speech.

The Teppenpaw was upset to hear about the Exhibition Match not happening, but it wasn’t as if she could have signed up for it. She knew better than to try even. When the Prairie Elves were mentioned, Meggie looked at the plate in front of her and smiled as the food appeared. This was what she’d been missing. They cooked much better than her older siblings did, that was for sure!

At that point, she felt someone tap her shoulder, and she turned to see who it was.

0 Megan Brownbriar Quietly watching 0 Megan Brownbriar 0 5

Brianna

March 20, 2013 6:27 PM

Usually bad ones for me. by Brianna

Brianna didn’t think Linus would actually admit to asking her to the ball because he felt sorry for her. Most people with manners didn’t do that, but she trusted his word when he said he meant that he really wanted to go to the ball with her. The fact that he looked away immediately after admitting to only wanting to go with her made her feel a little strange and she suddenly felt that her smile slipped into something that made her a little foolish looking. But, she couldn’t help but feel a little pleased that he wanted to spend the evening with her. Even if there was a possibility that he didn’t really mean it, it was still nice to hear. “Ok, that settles that then.” She commented, trying to make it light as she twirled around her food. She didn’t know why she felt awkward now and she tried not to smile too much otherwise she might look smug accidentally.

Her appreciation didn’t seem to be well received by the frown on his face. Had she really been that much of a pain? Or was he disappointed that she had said more about it? Should she have gotten him a gift of appreciation? She didn’t even think of that. All she had sent out where Christmas cards. Was that rude of her to have done?

Without realizing it, she was blushing. Maybe she shouldn’t have brought it up at all. He seemed angry about it, but he kept talking, so Brianna kept her focus on him to figure out what she had said that might have upset him. Although, what he said didn’t register with anything she could have said to upset him. Was offering something equal in return for his help the issue? She had thought that was the correct thing to do in these sorts of situations. She would never be good at conversing with people. Every time she tried to be sincere about things with people, she says something wrong.

“Oh, alright.” She said after he explained himself. He seemed less angry now, so she wasn’t going to ask him if she said anything wrong to upset him. It could have been simply that he hadn’t expected it. “You shouldn’t leave such open invitations, Linus.” Brianna teased. “I have loads of things that I could use help with. Swimming, homework, walking…” She counted off her fingers, “The list is endless.” Her school work had suffered a bit this year because of all the extra work she had to do and the fact that most evenings after dinner, she was simply too exhausted or in pain to concentrate on her homework. She was able to do catch up and read ahead though during break, so she felt better about it. “Anyway, I don’t really want to take time away from your own work. It’s a big year for us and everything.”

0 Brianna Usually bad ones for me. 0 Brianna 0 5

Adam Spencer

March 21, 2013 7:11 AM

Let's do this. Again. by Adam Spencer

It was much harder leaving home this time around for Adam. His holiday had been marvellous. His family had been so happy to see him, his siblings in particular, and he had told them all about America. They were so intrigued and acted as though he had travelled the entire country when he had only really been to one state. Three, if the passing Portkey transfers could be counted. Charlotte was scared to come over, but Adam had spent much of the holiday assuring her it would be fine. The Spencers had spent Christmas with other Spencers instead of the Princetons like the year before. Adam had wanted to attend their Christmas ball, but it didn’t seem like that was an option for them this year.

If Adam didn’t get to attend the Princeton’s ball, he had Sonora’s ball to look forward to. He didn’t have a clue of who he would ask. His older mates in London told him horror stories about the balls they had attended, but Adam didn’t believe them. He had never been to one, but he didn’t think they could be that bad. Dates were certainly a hassle, but doable. He just needed to make some female friends before they were all taken.

Adam had received most of the gifts he had both wanted and expected. One of them was a pair of new wine red robes he was wearing today in honour of the holiday. The moment he walked into Cascade Hall once more, he realised he probably should have worn brown robes. Scarlet was the colour of the Crotalus house. Adam tried not to think about it too much as he walked over to a table. It wasn’t that important and besides, he looked good in red.

Conversation came easy to the first year and he began chatting with his neighbours about their holidays when the headmistress interrupted them. The speech she gave was good enough, but Adam wanted her to finish so he could eat and chat. The Exhibition Match wasn’t missed too much by the lad. He liked Quidditch, but he wouldn’t die if he didn’t get to play this year. He’d rather be grounded in his studies before taking on any extracurriculars. These challenges were taking up a lot of his time as it was.

The headmistress dismissed them to continue their conversations and eat the food that was served. Adam took some pasta and a chicken leg before looking at his seat-mates. “Do any of you want some pasta?” he asked. The chicken would be more difficult to move, but at least he could pass the pasta dish around. “Sorry, what were you saying about your holiday?

40 Adam Spencer Let's do this. Again. 257 Adam Spencer 0 5

Rupert Princeton

March 21, 2013 2:55 PM

Actively participating by Rupert Princeton

The midterm had been considerably boring in Rupert's point of view. Most of his break had consisted of the men in his family, excluding him and Leo, planning the ball. Rup and Leo had spent a lot of time together playing and talking. His younger brother was planning to attend Sonora next year and Rup couldn't wait. He wanted to introduce his little brother to all the cool and interesting people he'd met so far.

During the midterm, he had watched Megan a bit. She was his older brother's betrothed and though he wasn't supposed to tell anyone, he had always wondered how it would be like to be forced to marry someone. Awful, probably. Rup felt bad for her. She had to be hitched to Cepheus for the rest of her life. She hadn't seemed very happy during the ball either and he wondered if it was because Cepheus had said something bad to her. Or if he hadn't said anything to her at all.

They were not in the same house nor were they in the same classes so Rup never really interacted with her. Whenever he saw her in England, she was usually there because of Cepheus. Rup didn't fancy asking his brother how he thought of Megan, but he was curious how she thought of him. And since she was going to marry Ceph someday, he, as the younger brother, ought to get to know her.

Rup flashed a smile at her as he sat down and listened to the headmistress's speech dutifully. He saw his brother looking bored, but his people-watching was temporarily interrupted by the headmistress announcing the cancelling of the Exhibition Match. Rupert's brown eyes narrowed in annoyance and he sighed angrily. Practises didn't make up for all the matches he would be missing. He couldn't just train and expect to improve.

The next challenge was mentioned, but Rup forgot all that in lieu of the food that appeared soon after. He put meat and potatoes on his plate and, as an afterthought, put some carrots. The green beans were near Megan so he tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. "Megan?" he asked, forgetting to call her by her family name. He never kept up the normal manners for purebloods here because he just didn't care enough. Sonora had become his safe haven from the pureblood claws.

"Can you pass the green beans?" he asked, and received them with a big smile and a "thank you." He hadn't forgotten all of his manners. "How was your midterm? Did you have any fun at the ball? I didn't. I thought it was really boring. But I hope you liked it."

40 Rupert Princeton Actively participating 248 Rupert Princeton 0 5

Wendy

March 21, 2013 6:27 PM

I do kind of wish I was back home by Wendy

The girls who had replied were the inseparable twins. Wendy had come to associate them together all the time. If she ever saw one without the other, she thought she'd probably be confused. Even if they were both her roommates, she still couldn't tell them apart. It was a good thing they both had the same name, kind of. It also made it a little more confusing.

It was obvious her question wasn't one that the girls had thought of before, but Wendy didn't mind waiting for an answer. One of the Anns decided to answer and Wendy's hazel eyes brightened at the thought of getting a cookie from a house elf. "I'd never say no to a cookie. I like cookies way better than biscuits." Wendy's knowledge of house elves was small. She knew that there were different kinds all over the world and that they acted like servants, but she didn't know why or how they learned all their skills. People certainly weren't born with it. But like Wendy and her sister had learned to bake from their mom, maybe house elves learned from their moms and dads. That would make sense.

Fries and chips were totally different things, though, but Wendy didn't really know what to make of that. If house elves learned from their parents, she guessed they would learn how to cook the food they grew up with and their parents knew how to cook. It all added up in Wendy's mind and she was content with the answer. For now, at least. One day she wanted to meet an actual house elf or a prairie elf.

A trip to England sounded awesome. England was one of those countries that seemed so far away that Wendy didn't even care to try to take a trip out there. North Carolina was far enough and she only went there once or twice a year to visit her grandparents. Besides, her parents worked too much for them to ever take a long trip out there to visit. As much as Wendy liked new things, she was definitely a homebody.

Wendy's hazel eyes lit up at the invitation to talk about her break. "I didn't go anywhere, but my break was really fun. Both sets of my grandparents came to visit for the holidays! They're both super cool and really nice and my mom's mom is a music teacher so we got to sing together a lot." She smiled. "That was my favorite part. That and doing all the Christmas baking for my mom's bakery. What did you guys do in England? Did you visit family there?"

0 Wendy I do kind of wish I was back home 0 Wendy 0 5

Regina Parker

March 21, 2013 10:09 PM

Answer to the Question by Regina Parker

Reggie’s midterm had been a bit of a bore. After skiing with Derry and his mother last midterm and then spending part of her summer in Canada, just sitting at home with her dad and grandparents seemed a little too mundane nowadays. Not that she would ever complain about spending additional time with them. She loved her family, as small and normal as they were, more than anything. Even though she was bored in her Nebraska small town, it still felt so right. They were able to laugh and share. They were a family in a way that Reggie was aware many didn’t have. So, she spent her days scrapbooking, cooking, and baking with her grandmother and her evenings studying new potions or working with him on a project. It was fun, even if she hadn’t wanted to admit it.

Christmas had been nice. Her father felt Reggie was too old for him to buy her clothes, but he had gotten her plenty of gift cards. As a joke, he wrapped them all in different sized boxes and she had to unwrap each of them separately. She pretended to be frustrated by it all, but really, she thought it was great fun. Amongst the gift cards were a new potions kit and a pair of skis. All in all, she felt she had a pretty good haul.

She had gone shopping with her Muggle friends and bought all sorts of new clothes. She had even bought three different dress robes for the ball. She had no idea what one she wanted to wear but they were all so cute that she couldn’t walk away from them. She figured, she would know what dress to wear when the time came and the others she could wear at some really awesome party. The more pressing matter was finding someone to go with. She was Prefect, so that meant she would be leading the dance along with the other Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl. How dumb would she look if she went alone?

“Hi Derry!” Reggie greeted when he sat down beside her. This was completely normal. They always sat next to one another at feasts or, really, any meal. They didn’t have time to chat though because the speech had begun and being Prefect, Reggie had to pay attention. She was a little surprised about the exhibition game being cancelled, she had thought for sure there would have been a large response for it after the announcement of the cancellation of the Quidditch season had happened, but she supposed after the first challenge came out, more kids realized how much work they had to do and couldn’t add in Quidditch too. But the news of the upcoming second challenge surprised her more. Already with another challenge?

Reggie shook her head and went to grab some food when Derry placed the small wrapped package in front of her. “Oh?” she raised her eyebrows at him. “My gift for you is in my trunk. I was going to give it to you after the feast.” Reggie commented, as she unwrapped hers. The small box was a little worrisome, it seemed like an expensive gift. She and her father were not left wanting. They lived a very comfortable life between the two of them, but they certainly weren’t loaded. And Reggie was more of a sentimental gift giver than someone who spent a lot of money. When she opened it though, the girl in her came out, “Oooo, this is so pretty!” She exclaimed, gently touching the ‘R’ as she looked at it. Jewelry wasn’t a friend gift, was it? Between girls maybe and only if it was play jewelry, but this was the real thing and it was from Derry… Then again, Derry probably saw it in a window and thought that the ‘R’ seemed very ‘Reggie’ and not really considered the gift itself.

Lost in admiration over her new necklace (she didn’t have real jewelry so she was trying to work out if it could be worn as an everyday thing), it took her a few seconds to process what he had just said. Once it had registered, Reggie looked away from the gift and over to Derry, “Did you just ask me to the ball?” Reggie was honestly surprised. She shifted closer to him and lowered her voice, “I thought you were totally going to ask Josephine, are you being my Knight right now because you know I haven’t got a date yet?” She asked him suspiciously. Straightening up, Reggie smiled. “The answer is yes. I’ll go with you.”

6 Regina Parker Answer to the Question 187 Regina Parker 0 5

Anthony Carey VIII

March 22, 2013 11:53 PM

Look no more by Anthony Carey VIII

Anthony felt tired coming back to school, more like he had just had an especially challenging two weeks of classes and extracurricular activities instead of two weeks of vacation. For some reason – maybe because of the trip overseas – the whole holiday had felt like a never-ending whirl of parties, with barely time to breathe between them, and even when they had all been at home, things had still been in a constant state of uproar. Mother and Father had seemed unable to keep track of anything, which wasn’t like Mother, anyway. Arnold had initially tried to find Fae proper Christmas and New Year’s gifts on his own and had nearly had a nervous breakdown. Arthur had alternated between running between estates, looking for books, in a bad temper and locking himself in his room and writing letters and refusing to talk to anyone. His cousins’ house had seemed bizarrely calm and stable by comparison; Aunt Gigi had, as usual, been worried about the increasing cost of making Theresa look her best, but she and Uncle Donnie had been on good terms, and conflicts for that side of the family had only seemed to happen when Theresa and Arthur were together and suddenly got very annoyed with each other for no reason.

After all that, he was almost glad to be back at school, where though the noise level was even higher, he wasn’t required to engage with nearly as many of the people making it and a lot of the people were less…formidable than the ones at home. He thought even the twins thought they might have all spent too much time together over the holidays, at least if them not sitting together for the Feast was anything to go by, though that could have just been the times they arrived at the table, since Arnold had gone first to say hello to Fae. Jay wasn’t sitting far from Anthony, but was out of easy speaking range and spent all the time before the Headmistress’ speech reading anyway, only tucking a marker into it and looking up for the announcements.

Anthony was a little disappointed about the Quidditch match, but not surprised, and afterward, it didn’t stop him from being happy to see the food appear. He had been to three of these before, but was still a little impressed by the Sonora tables on feast nights, since the only event in the family with as much food was the Reunion and that only happened once every five years and only had one feast in it, on the first night. Sonora orchestrated huge meals with some variety in the food every day, though he did think there were more elves here than at the Reunion.

“Very pleasant, thank you,” Anthony said when the girl in the next seat spoke to him after they both decided to eat lamb chops for supper. He recognized her as Miss Wolseithcrafte because Henry had pointed her out as one of his teammates, though Henry usually left off the ‘Miss’ part when he was just talking to Anthony. “Was yours also pleasant?” he asked. He was almost sure he had seen her at the Princeton event, too, but not enough to say so. He could be wrong; her family was unconventional enough to maybe be left out of a lot of invitations.

He looked around when she asked about mint sauce. “I think this might be it,” he said, sliding a bowl toward her, careful not to let any spill out of the bowl. It was always hard to keep up good manners at the table at Sonora, but not spilling things just took attention.

0 Anthony Carey VIII Look no more 234 Anthony Carey VIII 0 5

Theresa Carey

March 22, 2013 11:59 PM

Not business as usual by Theresa Carey

As she sat down among the other Pecaris, Theresa very carefully placed the drawstring bag she had held in her lap for the whole long trip back to school on the floor, careful to keep it between her foot and the inside edge of her chair so none of her neighbors would accidentally swing out a foot and hit it. She had filled all of the interior not needed to hold the trinket with scraps of fabric and handkerchiefs to protect it, but she didn’t want to take any chances. She knew that if it broke, she could just repair it with her wand, but it seemed very important to her that the present she had gotten at the Princeton ball not break.

None of her plans to cut off all her hair, steal some of Jay’s clothes, and run away to some half-civilized town with no connections to the rest of the world in Montana or Canada so she could become an apprentice something as Thomas Carter had been serious – she did love her family even if Arthur was right about how the Fourth saw them all and didn’t know how to go about most things outside the family and besides, she dearly hoped that someday soon, she’d have enough of a figure for it to be impossible for anyone to mistake her for a boy no matter what she wore or did to her hair – but she still found the idea a little appealing as she listened to the Headmistress’ speech. Ever since they had gotten back to America, all she had been able to think was of how much she didn’t want to come back. It was so stupid, but she had spent so much time trying to analyze everything about the ball she had been to that now, all she really wanted to do was hide in her room at home with a pillow over her head until the universe realized that she was not going to deal with it and relented so that all of this was just not happening. Or at least until something else happened and everyone forgot about her and she was just an annoying spinster aunt, collecting cats and talking behind the backs of all her brothers’ and cousins’ wives. That, she guessed, was as close as she could realistically get to going back to being a little kid who didn’t have to think about things at all.

The tales were all wrong. Having feelings for someone wasn’t a delight, it was misery, pure and simple misery, and both the miserable parts and the much rarer not-miserable parts made you feel like you were losing your mind half the time. For ages, Theresa had considered Thaddeus Pierce crossed off her list of potential husbands because she had assumed he was already taken, but now he was just off the list because he was boring and would probably be worse than her mother about the expense of pretty dresses, because he and Alicia Bauer obviously did not have feelings for each other after all, they weren’t visibly miserable enough. They smiled at each other a lot because they…just liked smiling, or were appreciating some in-joke only someone as dully Aladren as they were would ever get, or something.

When Waverly called her out of her brooding with a barrage of questions, Theresa gave her a quizzical look before she remembered: not everyone was stuck like this, some of them were more sensible, and now she knew she was going crazy because she had just thought of first a girl who was, the last Theresa had heard, having a fling with a Muggle and then, a split second later, of Arnold as people who were more sensible than her. She forced a smile. “Oh, yes,” she said, since that much wasn’t a lie. “I went to the most marvelous parties.”

None of which Waverly had been invited to. “Did you go to any?” she asked, wondering if Muggles had parties, or at least anything she would recognize as them.

0 Theresa Carey Not business as usual 219 Theresa Carey 0 5

Francesca Wolseithcrafte

March 25, 2013 11:36 AM

Thank you kindly by Francesca Wolseithcrafte

“Thank you,” Francesca smiled, accepting the sauce and drizzling it over her meat. She placed it back in easy reach of Anthony Carey The Numbered, noting that he had selected some chops too and thus might be wanting it.

“It was very pleasant, thank you. Father and I spent a few days in England following the Princeton party, both of which were most enjoyable,” she smiled, glad to have the opportunity to reinforce the fact that she had been there. She had noted a sizeable Carey presence at the do, including Anthony, but that did not mean that he had noticed whether or not she was present. “Apart from that, it was just nice to spend time with the family,” she smiled. And to fly without anyone (much) staring. Even though it had been bitterly cold and her hands had all but frozen to the broom handle, she had enjoyed being out again. She was also grateful that traditional wizarding clothing dictated that most everything was covered up, as she was sporting a rather fantastic, Quaffle-sized bruise on her upper arm. The Bruise Balm had taken the worst of it off and it was no longer ugly purple but a definite yellow tinge was visible.

“I believe I saw you at the party too – did you and your family have an enjoyable time?” she queried. He had not been particularly forthcoming with details about his break - she supposed merely the social convention that one simply smiled and said everything was lovely, regardless of what had occurred, pleasant or otherwise.

13 Francesca Wolseithcrafte Thank you kindly 250 Francesca Wolseithcrafte 0 5

Derry Four

March 25, 2013 11:44 AM

Just the answer I wanted to hear, too! by Derry Four

Derry did not mind waiting for his own gift, and would have waited until after Reggie opened hers first even if she'd had it on her. Three had said it was important to ask girls out when they were in a good mood so they didn't say no for reasons that had nothing to do with him, and Four figured right after opening his present would be ideal timing to ensure a good mood. The necklace had been on sale, buy one get one half off, so his mom had gotten a white gold one in the shape of a J, too. Mom had loved hers, so he had no reason to think Reggie wouldn't as well, especially with a ball in a couple months.

He was still a bit relieved when she exclaimed over it - he'd been second guessing whether she would have preferred white gold, too, but regular gold was closer to Teppenpaw's colors, and he'd thought that one just seemed more Reggie anyway.

The nerves started coming back as she seemed not to react to his question - had she not understood him, or did he not speak up loud enough? And how long should he wait before repeating it? - but then she looked up at him again and she had both heard and understood him. "Yeah," he confirmed the accuracy of her ears.

"Awesome!" he declared when she agreed to go with him, grinning happily. "Should I find a shining helmet to wear? That would be so cool. And I thought about asking out Josephine, but it never felt like the right time. Now it does. With you." He tried for what he thought was a charming smile but mostly just hoped he wasn't making a hash of this so soon after she'd said yes by talking about another girl. But Reggie had asked, and he'd already told her that he kind of fancied the Pecari during their ski trip, so he didn't see much choice if he wanted her to even remotely consider this a date-date.

1 Derry Four Just the answer I wanted to hear, too! 189 Derry Four 0 5

Waverly

March 25, 2013 3:26 PM

Usual business is boring anyway by Waverly

Theresa was one of Waverly's roommates that she had never really gotten all that close to. Waverly liked her, but she didn't always feel that Theresa liked her back. It was understandable. Ever since her first year here, Waverly had come to know that there were purebloods who were really prejudiced against types like her. When her younger sister had proved to be magical, Waverly had both been excited and, in the deepest part of her, a little sad that her sister would have to experience all that Waverly had here. The magical world was more good than bad, at least in her perspective, but she still wanted to shield Wendy from those bad parts.

Her roommate wasn't outlandishly rude to her like some other purebloods Waverly knew were infamous for their prejudice. She was glad Theresa had gone to parties. Rupert Princeton had given her a good rundown of what a pureblood party consisted of, though her former Quidditch teammate didn't have much of a liking for them. Waverly thought they sounded cool, at least much different than the parties she was used to, but she knew that she would never be invited to one of those. It wasn't like Waverly really cared. If it wasn't fun, then why bother going?

"That's good!" she said. "Yeah, one of my friends had a birthday party. We drove out to the desert and had a bonfire at night. It was a lot of fun. We cooked a bunch of food over the fire and had s'mores and talked a lot. How were the parties you went to? Fun?" She hoped so for Theresa's sake. Parties just reminded Waverly of the ball she was supposed to go to at the end of this term.

Thinking of the ball made her a little anxious. She knew she had Brielle to count on if no one else because they both had boyfriends now that didn't go to Sonora. Eris had Michael and Waverly didn't know if any of her other friends already had dates or not. She knew she would have just as much fun with her female friends. It just made Waverly a little sad that she couldn't enjoy it with Brandon or tell him anything about it.

Dances were going to be hard to go around. He had high school dances and Waverly had balls like this. So far he hadn't asked anyone or gone to any, but Waverly thought one day he'd want to. These were the kinds of things she thought about when she was alone and wondering if pursuing a relationship with a non-magical person was worth it. In the end, Brandon was always worth it.

Waverly really wanted to ask about Theresa's crush, but she didn't think her roommate would appreciate that. Besides, it wasn't like Theresa could have seen him over the summer. He was English (and probably lived in England) and Theresa lived in America. Plus crushes were always sensitive subjects in general. It was just smart to tread carefully around those subjects. "How are you getting along with your challenge team?" she asked instead.

0 Waverly Usual business is boring anyway 0 Waverly 0 5

Reggie

March 25, 2013 5:20 PM

I should hope so! by Reggie

Reggie couldn’t deny the fact that it was a little strange that she would be going to the ball with only Derry. It would have been different if it had been a group of their friends together because then it would have been just like any other event they had ever done together. But this would be just the two of them, dressed nicely, and her wearing the necklace that Derry had given to her. It felt like it was more of a couple thing between them than just two friends attending a school event together

Reggie laughed, making a face as though imagining him in a Knight outfit, “I think your usual hat fits you much better than a bulky helmet.” Reggie commented. She always wanted to steal his hat and wear it herself to see how he would feel about it. Like a teasing game. But part of her felt like that was something a little deeper than friendship, at least, in the fantasy she had in her head about it. That always made her feel a little guilty because she wasn’t supposed to see Derry in that way, but she felt it was completely normal too. He was a male and cute. Those thoughts just happened.

Of course, Derry wasn’t helping her train of thought when he mentioned how the timing wasn’t right for Josephine but it was for her. She didn’t know exactly what that meant. Was he now over Josephine? Reggie had her fair share of crushes so she could understand how quickly they came and went, but he had seemed really into her last year. Reggie thought for sure he would have asked her out. Even so, Reggie couldn’t help but feel that maybe the ball was a date between the two of them and a pleased smile formed on her lips.

“Don’t be weird, Derry!” Reggie stated, poking him in the side with a nervous and uncertain laugh. She didn’t want to read more into it than she ought to and making things difficult between them. “It sounds like you’re asking me out or something.”

6 Reggie I should hope so! 187 Reggie 0 5

Anthony Carey

March 26, 2013 12:01 PM

You're very welcome by Anthony Carey

Anthony made a mental note: she had been at the party in England. He had recognized her and had not been, for some reason, imagining he saw her there. That was more likely than any of the alternatives he could think of, but still, it was good to know.

“It’s always nice to spend time with the family,” he said, thinking of how Arthur had been muttering things about murdering all his nephews at birth by the end of the first week of their family time. Anthony still wasn’t sure if he had done something to earn as much of his brother’s disfavor as Arnold had or if Arthur had simply forgotten, in his irritation with Arnold being almost as stupid over what Fae would think of trinkets than Theresa was over what society would think of a new dress, that he did have two maybe-sources of future nephews; somehow, he hadn’t thought it seemed very politic to ask.

He nodded enthusiastically when she asked if he had enjoyed the party in England, though he felt saying that was probably an exaggeration. “Oh, yes,” he said. “It was a very enjoyable, it was nice to do something a little different.” It would have been a lot more pleasant if not for time zones throwing off his – and, more importantly for the family’s harmony, Arthur’s - sleep cycles and Henry turning out to have a nasty aversion to international Portkeys, but he didn’t mention that. Mentioning the first thing would just be whiny and saying anything about the second would make Henry look bad in front of his teammate, which Anthony was not going to do. “How much time did you spend there – in England, I mean – besides the party, if I may ask?” he asked. “We were barely there long enough for my brothers to stop fighting about whether or not anything new would have been added to the Quidditch museum since last summer.” In the end, he thought Arthur had backed down simply because the prospect of Arnold willingly entering a museum and being interested by what was in it seemed to be fascinating to him, even if it was a lot less of a leap than Arnold suddenly taking an interest in displays of dragon’s eggshell cauldrons or something.

0 Anthony Carey You're very welcome 0 Anthony Carey 0 5

Theresa

March 26, 2013 10:16 PM

I prefer it myself by Theresa

Theresa smiled at the description Waverly gave of a birthday party she had attended over midterm. That didn’t sound so different from something they might do, siblings and cousins, among themselves at home for birthdays after the official events were over, or just because the mood struck them, except for the ‘driving,’ which Theresa was pretty sure had some meaning other than the ones coming to mind for her. Expressing affection for each other out loud was hard, sometimes even impossible, but doing so with stolen cookies was not.

“Mine were’t birthday parties, but they were delightful,” Theresa said when asked, deciding that was a good euphemism for ‘really a nightmare of stress.’ She had enjoyed the gowns and the dancing around all the stress and confusion. Feelings could completely mess up her whole life, but they couldn’t change every single thing about who she was. Fine jewels and music and furniture could capture her attention no matter how bad it was; she remembered how, after Henry’s accident a lifetime ago, she had spent two hours rearranging her mother’s jewelry box, and had screamed at Diana when she wandered in and tried to grab a bracelet. Then they had had a tea party. “I had the most beautiful dresses – I’ll have to show you and Jade the pictures of the things I got while we were in London.”

She had spent a long time studying them carefully, acquainting herself with the differences between English tailoring and what she was used to, even though she knew that what she had wasn’t really the height of either but especially of the former – they had been fitted examples from the more expensive racks, not custom creations. There hadn’t been time for any of those, because they had had to be home by New Year’s, to observe that at first the Fourth’s and then Uncle Anthony’s. Still, it was important, she was sure, for a lady to know the difference between American, English, and Continental tailoring, and now all she needed was something Continental to study and, preferably, wear once she was done studying it.

Her challenge team coming up confused her a little, but she went along with it. “We get along,” she said with a small shrug. “Arabella’s on it, you know, and Marcus Williams is a good leader.” She looked around for the members, taking a drink of her juice as she did. “How’s yours?” she asked, giving up after a second, since it didn’t interest her that much. It was not for no reason that the subject of the teams had quickly been derailed in favor of boys and dresses and dances when it had come up in the dorm, and why Theresa hadn’t argued too hard even when subjects she really hadn’t wanted to discuss had come up. Since she was now too old to even really compete with her brothers and cousins at home, she wasn’t going to invest too much in what they had here at school.

0 Theresa I prefer it myself 0 Theresa 0 5

Addison Thornton

March 27, 2013 2:25 PM

Definitely overdue! by Addison Thornton

Addison hadn’t done anything too out of the ordinary over Christmas Break. Part of it she had spent at her house, with Clara and her siblings as well as Uncle Bryan, her parents and the Nannies. The other part of it was spent out in California at Clara’s with Uncle Bryan, her Mother and some of the siblings. To be honest, she’d spent a good portion of it swimming at local pools, exercising and reading. But these were the things she enjoyed.

Addi wanted Josie to be proud of how hard she was working to getting her body back in shape. So she went swimming daily still, even though she was not at school during that time. In their two weeks absence from Sonora she had even managed to lose three pounds instead of gaining it! She knew that it was all a journey and therefore would not happen all at once, but she was proud of herself. Even three pounds being away from her friend was a big accomplishment and she knew it.

But now it was time to go back to school.

Addi had gotten back on the wagon with her sisters and even found herself more talkative than she’d been in a long time on this trip, actually chatting with her sisters instead of sitting in a corner with a book. Maybe feeling better about the way she looked helped? Who knew?

In any case, the sixth year got off the wagon with the others and found her way to the Teppenpaw table. There was a person next to her on one side, but the seat on the other was empty. Its all a journey… she thought. The year before she would have sat completely alone, even the beginning of the year she would have, but now she found herself sitting next to someone else. Not to mention someone she didn’t know very well at all! She looked around her, listened to the kids all talk about what they had done over the break and Addi found herself smiling around her, watching the others. Not really joining in, but not freaking out over it either. Once everyone settled down, Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau called for their attention, welcoming them back and telling them everything they needed to know.

The still larger Teppenpaw clapped for the teachers who’d put together the first challenge along with the others and when they were told about the second challenge being close by, she got a little nervous and searched around for Josie. She spotted her by the other Pecaris and she smiled at her. There was another announcement about Quidditch, but Addison didn’t really pay that any mind.

Team scores were the next thing discussed and Addi glanced down at her lap. Sure, she was on her sister’s team. That was a good thing and a bad thing. It was good because her sister knew what she could take and what she could handle. It was bad, because if they lost it would be partly her fault that her oldest sister wasn’t a winner in anything in her last year there. Addi sighed softly as the food was announced and they were dismissed to eat.

Seconds later Addi heard Josie speak next to her. The smile on her face grew when she saw her best friend welcoming her back. “Hey Josie!” Then the Teppenpaw noticed the purple dress Josephine was wearing. “WOW! You look more gorgeous than ever!” she said, flashing her another smile before her friend mentioned midterm. “Midterm was nice. We got to spend time with Clara and Uncle Bryan and Lucy, that was cool. We were both in Oregon and in California, so at least it was a change in that respect. But guess what?!” she asked, grinning even further.

Addi waited to see what her best friend would guess before exploding it herself. “I went swimming every day and exercised daily too and I lost three pounds while I was home!”

0 Addison Thornton Definitely overdue! 190 Addison Thornton 0 5

Meggie

March 27, 2013 2:41 PM

Stumbling with my words by Meggie

Megan's mind whirled in so many different directions until the tap on her shoulder brought her back out of her thoughts. She turned to see who'd been tapping her and saw Cepheus' brother, Rupert there. He'd been asking for the green beans. "Oh, sure." she said, handing him the bowl. "They are pretty good..." she said, pointing the the pile of them on her own plate.

"You're welcome." she said to him. "Midterm was alright, I guess..." she started, before he asked about the ball. "It was a ball..." she said with a small shrug. "I'm not a big fan of trying to act like a stuck up woman, so it wasn't easy, really..." she started, slapping her hand across her mouth. She'd realized a second time who she'd been talking to. "Oh... Uhm... I mean... It was really great and all..." she added, biting on her lip and reaching for her chain around her neck that held her mother's old wedding ring.

She flushed and hoped that Rupert wouldn't tell on her to his family. She really had been trying to be a lady for Cepheus and she didn't want to ruin that, or her chances. It wasn't as if there were other girls who wanted Ceph as well as her, some maybe even more than her. Megan just wanted to make her father proud of her for something... He was all she had left and she wanted to get his love back.

0 Meggie Stumbling with my words 0 Meggie 0 5

The Anns

March 27, 2013 3:38 PM

You seem to be changing your story by The Anns

Both twins smiled as Wendy enthused about her holiday. Neither quite understood the appeal of grandparents as the three they knew spent most of their interactions with the Anns fussing over posture or talking about 'prospects' or bemoaning that the twins just didn't seem to be gifted with classic beauty. Plus, the Pierce matriarch was just a little bit scary at the best of times.

But singing sounded fun anyway.

"Well, Thad was there,"Annette answered the part about going to visit family with a vague wave toward the Aladren table, "but he normally lives in New Hampshire with us. We went over for a Christmas ball at the Princeton's estate." Rupert was in the same year and House as the three of them, so there was no way to soften the truth of why Wendy hadn't been invited. "It was a pureblood thing," she admitted, almost apologetically.

Annabelle winced a little, too, as she realized the potential for awkwardness as well. "Mostly, though, it was a girl's Midterm out with our mother. We got to see all the sights and shopped at all the best stores! It was the first time we took a family vacation like that and it was amazing!"

1 The Anns You seem to be changing your story 246 The Anns 0 5

Derry Four

March 27, 2013 4:21 PM

See? We are totally in sync. by Derry Four

Derry grinned and adjusted his tricorner hat as Reggie declared it suited him better than a helm. It was likely true, but he was mildly disappointed that he didn't have a good excuse to dress up for the ball. Costume parties were always more fun, even if it wasn't supposed to be a costume party.

Dismissing the light thought, he became concerned whem he was accused of being weird and the source of his weirdness was identified as sounding like he did want to go to the ball as a date-date.

He could get out of this. He knew that. He just had to laugh it off and they'd go back to what they'd always been: best friends. He hadn't done anything irreversible yet. They'd probably even still go to the ball together ... as friends.

But he wasn't sure that was really what he wanted anymore. Sure, he hoped Reggie would be his best friend for the rest of his life, too, but maybe he'd be missing something increadible and amazing if he didn't take this chance.

"Um," he said, nervously rubbing at the back of his neck, "if it's too weird, we can just pretend I never asked this, but, um, would it be so bad if I was asking you out?"

1 Derry Four See? We are totally in sync. 189 Derry Four 0 5

Rup

March 27, 2013 9:20 PM

At least you're being honest. by Rup

Megan's response was refreshing and Rup almost laughed at her description of what was expected of her at balls. Rupert could be polite and sweet and charm the pants off of anyone, but he hated every second of it. He wasn't the sort to manipulate someone to get what he wanted or pursue a friendship just to gain future familial connections. Rup liked being himself, as quirky and strange as he was. It was his true self that was not acceptable in the pure-blood community which was why he had been kept under house arrest for so long.

Cepheus was good-looking and charming and sometimes Rup wondered if Megan was attracted to him that way at all. He couldn't understand why anyone would be attracted to Cepheus's personality, however, but that was just his humble opinion. Being betrothed was bad enough, but being betrothed to someone who seemed to fancy another girl was even worse. He felt bad for her, Megan, and he wanted to make her feel less awkward if not around Cepheus, then around him.

"Don't worry, I won't tell my parents you said that," he said, grinning to put her at ease. "I hate balls too. I feel like I get dressed up like some doll just to be paraded around for a night. If my family ever heard that, they'd be in a state." He snorted. "Merlin, I can just imagine them. They'd be horrified with how I act here." He shrugged as he began cutting his potatoes. "Did you do anything fun afterwards?"

If Megan didn't want to talk about the ball any more, Rup wouldn't make her. He hated talking about dances and balls anyway. Living in a world with balls as a sole source of entertainment and social connection-making, Rup had always known he would be expected to attend those 'sources of entertainment'. Maybe he could do something his cousin Ryan had and elope with someone to another country. Only without the eloping bit. It was slightly less possible for him, he being the next in line to the patriarchy after Ceph, but it was still an idea. "I hope you had some actual time to have fun during your Midterm. I know preparing for the ball ate up most of my holiday. Are you looking forward to the challenges at all? And, more importantly, do you play any Quidditch?" Any seemingly respectable witch would say no, but Rup didn't believe in that. Anyone could play Quidditch and his family was seen as a bit more liberal with that belief. He commended the Princetons for that.

0 Rup At least you're being honest. 0 Rup 0 5

Reggie

March 27, 2013 10:06 PM

Have we ever not been? by Reggie

Reggie laughed when Derry seemed pleased by her compliment. She could remember thinking him to be so strange when they had first met. She had never known anyone to wear such odd clothes. But now, after all of this time, she wasn’t sure if she could even recognize him if he wasn’t wearing those clothes. His carefree way of things always made the days go by so easily and how he was never embarrassed by being different gave Reggie the energy to be herself too. “You know, I had always had a secret fantasy about stealing your hat. Mainly because I wanted to try it on, but also because I wanted to see how you would react to not having your hat.” She smirked at him. He didn’t have to know the details of the fantasy. That she could keep all to herself.

She had been half joking when she made the comment about him acting weird and that extended to the comment about him asking her out, but his reaction to it made her heart beat a little faster. She didn’t know why, but she was suddenly nervous. Derry was making her nervous! He was being weird and it was making her weird.

And then he asked something she never thought he would. Not because the idea of them hadn’t crossed her mind or she didn’t enjoy daydreaming about them, but because she didn’t think he ever had. She felt her face heating up and she couldn’t believe she was blushing! She never blushed. Well, she probably did, but for some reason, this time seemed significant and embarrassing.

“I…” Reggie started and then stalled out as she tried to figure out what to say to that. Dating Derry was foreign, even in her thoughts. “No, it’s not bad.” She finally said, her mind still running wild with things. “I just didn’t think you liked me like that.” And she didn’t want to ruin her relationship with her best friend either, which was why she had never admitted her own feelings for him. It was easier that way.

Reggie looked down at the necklace that Derry had given her and then back up at him, feeling slightly mortified that this had happened with so many people around, but also a little relieved and happy. “Are we… dating now?” She asked uncertainly, but then she smiled, feeling foolish for even asking that.

6 Reggie Have we ever not been? 187 Reggie 0 5

Derry Four

March 28, 2013 11:39 AM

Not that I can remember by Derry Four

For just a moment, a look of alarm crossed Derry's expression and he had to supress the urge to grab onto his threatened hat to protect it. Just because Reggie said she wanted to steal it didn't mean she would, especially not two seconds after she made the confession.

Though the thought of losing his hat made him feel psychosomatically light-headed at the very idea, he almost would have preferred to have stayed on that subject when she implied she had already known about her own interest in him but that he had been the one who hadn't seemed interested in anything more than friendship. The worst part was that she was right.

His own blush matched hers (except that hers must be a lot prettier, because blushes weren't normally cute but Reggie's totally was) as he grinned a little sheepishly at her. "Erm, I'm kinda oblivious sometimes," he admitted as if this was some kind of news to her. "Three bashed me over the head with it over midterm. In my defense," he added quickly, "it's a hereditary condition! Three had it, too, and Ben's just doomed because so did Gabby."

As for their current status, well, that was easy. "We're us, just like we always were, but better now." And, suddenly, it didn't seem nearly so foreign an idea as it had a minute ago, but the absolutely right thing to do. Derry took the tricorner off his head and plopped it onto Reggie's. "I wouldn't let just anyone wear my hat, now would I?" he asked her, grinning.

His own head felt a bit cold and naked by its absence, and he probably had hat hair, but he guessed this warm feeling in his heart was why the guys in his baseball league let their girlfriends wear their school jackets. Sonora didn't have those, and it would be weird to lend Reggie his robes - they wouldn't fit for one thing and she had her own for another - but his hat would work as a suitable alternative, he thought.

1 Derry Four Not that I can remember 189 Derry Four 0 5

Meg

March 28, 2013 1:53 PM

I always try to by Meg

Megan watched Rupert, horrified that she’d actually said what she’d said. “I can’t believe I did that! Please don’t say anything to your parents or to Cepheus!” she said quietly, but in an almost begging tone of voice. But the look on his face wasn’t also of horror in any way. In fact it almost looked like he wanted to laugh at her. She looked at him, wondering exactly what he thought of everything that had bee said and had happened, but almost too afraid to ask it!

When Rup said that he wouldn’t say anything, she sighed. She was glad that he wouldn’t say anything, though she wondered if he felt the same way that she did? When he grinned and went on to tell her exactly what he thought of Balls, she grinned back at him. He feels the same way I do! she thought, mentally breathing a sigh of relief. “Well, just as you won’t tell on me, I won’t tell on you. I can promise you that.” she said to him, holding a new respect for her betrothed’s little brother. She almost even wished to be betrothed to Rupert, even though he was younger. At least he could understand her!

“Well, after the Ball I went back to my Aunt and Uncle’s house. I got to have some much needed girl time with my aunt and I had a little fun with the cousins. I’m sure you’ve met Gareth and Enion, right?” she asked, sure that Rup had at least seen the boys, even if he hadn’t met them or gotten to talk to them. She waited for his answer before she went on. She may not like to be a stuck up snob, but she was polite (and to her, that was what counted). Rup went on asking more questions and Meggie wasn’t sure which to answer first, so she chose to go in order.

“I got to have fun, sure, if you can count watching my little siblings most of it as fun.” she shrugged. “It’s not always bad, but its not always fun either. It’d be different if Momma was still…” she started before stopping altogether. She reached all around her for a new topic and remembered the questions he’d asked her. Her voice at the start was hoarse, full of emotion, and Meggie hated that. She didn’t want to let her emotions out to Rupert, or to anyone. “The Challenges? I guess it should be interesting…” she started, trying to pull herself together.

In all honesty to herself, she hadn’t given the last two Challenges a bit of thought. There were much more important things on her mind than that. “And I’d love to play Quidditch… Its just not something my father wants for me or my sisters… My cousin Briar got-” she started, before she made a visual shiver in front of him. “Well, she got disowned for playing and then…” Meggie looked down at her feet, wishing she knew of something else to say that would change the topic of conversation away from something that would most likely make her cry!

What is this? Why is this happening? I’ve been doing so well lately! she thought, as she searched again for something to change the topic of conversation to.

0 Meg I always try to 0 Meg 0 5

Andri Thornton

March 28, 2013 1:57 PM

Second Thoughts by Andri Thornton

Andri had second thoughts of going back to school from the Christmas Holidays. There was something about the way Alicia acted around her that made her feel as if she’d done something terribly wrong. The only thing that Andri could think of, however, was the fact that she’d gotten Biggest Brain in the yearbook the year before. But that wasn’t anything she’d done. It was what was in the yearbook, sure, but she wasn’t the one that put it there. As much as she liked being smart, she’d have pulled that out of the yearbook if she knew it was going to start that much of a roommate rift!

But as much as she’d begged and pleaded with her mother not to go back, she was told she had to. So, back she went. The wagon trip it was almost like she and Addison had switched roles. Andri stayed quiet in the corner with a book and Addi was chatting with the others. She sighed as the Wagons reached school and got out with the others.

She walked into Cascade Hall and sat down in a seat with two empty ones around it at the Aladren table. Andri knew that they wouldn’t stay empty, but this way people chose to sit next to her. She didn’t force herself on them. Andri stayed silent and watched Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau as she waited for everyone else to sit and quiet down. When they were, the Headmistress welcomed them back and spoke about the first Challenge. Andri clapped softly, still looking up at the Staff. The Second Challenge was mentioned as coming soon and then the Exhibition Match had been cancelled. Andri was upset at this news, she really had wanted a chance to play again, and team practices were not enough, but they would have to do. Quidditch was all she had now, and it was barely even there. Even the Challenges were not any fun for her, being on a team with Alicia. She wished she was on any other team, it didn’t matter who’s. In fact, the 4th year was half temped to ask the Headmistress if she could transfer teams, but she did not.

Then the food came out. Only then, did Andri look around her to see who had decided to sit next to her.

0 Andri Thornton Second Thoughts 0 Andri Thornton 0 5

Aubrielle Thornton

March 28, 2013 1:59 PM

Cloud Nine (take two) by Aubrielle Thornton

Bri was on cloud nine again over this Winter Break. She’d gotten home and within a half hour the phone rang for her twice. The first phone call was her Marius, asking her to come see him as Rooster in Annie, which she told him that she would be there with bells on. The second call was from Frank, one of the directors from the theatre, asking her if she’d mind doing them a favor and jumping into the show for a week or two since she was home. Brielle had done the show years in a row for Frank and had played the role of Lily, the NYC girl, Grace, and almost all of the named orphans within those years. Frank had asked her to jump into the roll of Lily opposite of her Marius and she told Frank she’d do it. Frank was thankful to her for saying yes. He’d explained to her that their Lily came down with a bad case of laryngitis, so she could not talk or sing for the moment, but she’d be there to show her any changes in the blocking. Bri hung up with Frank and called her Marius back to tell him. He was just as excited as she was and asked her to rehearse with him that very night.

Bri felt a little bad abandoning Clara and the others so much that first few days, but she knew that when they’d see the show (which she bet they would be there) they’d understand and see why. Bri got to spend time with her Marius, do a show and see her younger siblings. Hence the break was a great one. She almost hated to see it end. Luckily enough, their Lily got her voice back when Bri had to leave and as much as she hated to leave, the third year knew that she had to go back to school. Saying goodbye to her Marius was hard, but she’d promised him she’d be back for summer! He didn’t quite understand why her boarding school wouldn’t let him write her directly there and why she had to send her letters to him through her siblings and mother, but he’d do it if it meant keeping in contact with her through the rest of the year.

She’d sat on the wagon, staring out the window, watching the states fly by her on the way back to Sonora, the Christmas present from Marius dangling around her neck. It was a golden necklace with a medium sized letter ‘A’ that had little gemstones inside the letter. She loved it and she loved him. Bri wished that she could tell him that she was magical, tell him who she really was, but her Momma said that it would be a bad idea. B understood, but she wished she didn’t.

They got to school and Brielle led the others out of the wagons and into the Hall for the Returning Feast. Her smile was strong on her face and she waved towards Waverly, Wendy and all of her other friends as she walked to Teppenpaw’s table. She sat down next to someone, but she didn’t look to see who. Bri always loved to make friends, and if the person already was a friend, great!

She turned to the person on her right, beaming, and asked, “Did you have a good break?” but before she was able to get her answer, Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau spoke. “Sorry!” she whispered. “After announcements, then?” Turning to the Headmistress, she listened like a good girl to what was said about hoping they all got the gifts they wanted, congratulating them on the first Challenge, the second Challenge coming up soon to a theatre near you! she thought, stifling a giggle, before Headmistress said that the Exhibition Game was cancelled due to not enough interest and Bri sighed. She glanced down the table at Arista and wondered how that made her feel, before she turned towards Sophie by the Pecari tables to see her thoughts on her face. Ris and Sophie were the most Quidditch obsessed 7th years that Bri knew about and she felt bad for them especially. They both wanted to be recruited by pro teams and she knew how hard it was to try to get on a team without being seen in a game. By watching the two seventh years, she missed the last announcement or two, until she saw the food appear on the plates in front of her.

She smiled and turned back to her neighbor. “Sorry about that, I didn’t want to interrupt Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau. So. Did you have a good break?”

0 Aubrielle Thornton Cloud Nine (take two) 0 Aubrielle Thornton 0 5

McKinley Andrews

March 28, 2013 2:03 PM

Pretty Princess by McKinley Andrews

McKinley Andrews loved going home for Winter Break. She got to see Jeff and Grant (Who go to Hogwarts) and who did anything for her that she desired. They’d even bought her Christmas presents. Each had bought her a new dress a piece and a set of new dress robes. Her parents had bought her a new set of Mary Janes and her Momma even said that next year she may be allowed to wear heels. She was so excited, that she was almost beside herself! Sure, she didn’t spend as much time with Carter as she normally did. There was something about an icky baby that turned her stomach. Sure, she was one once, but her Papa even told her that she was clean even then. But back at school, she got her cousin back, minus icky messy baby sister and she relished that time.

Carter was like her brother, he knew her best, after all.

But as she sat at Crotalus’ table at the Returning Feast, she spotted Carter by Teppenpaw’s and waved to him, pointing down at her new dress to show him as Headmistress Kijewski-Jareau started to talk. She put her finger next to her mouth as a quiet sign. Almost as if she was making sure that he knew to stay quiet while their elder spoke. Carter did have a talkative streak and she was sure he’d use it if he was in that mood. Kinley clapped gently when Ms Diaz and Professor Olivers were thanked for the first Challenge but when the second was mentioned, Kinley’s heart plummeted. She hoped it wasn’t anything like the first one. Perhaps something a slight bit easier would be lovely… Quidditch was spoken about and Kinley turned back to Carter to check that he was quiet at the announcement.

She guessed that he wasn’t happy about it, but there wasn’t anything that either one of them could do to change it, so he’d have to deal with it. Team rankings were mentioned and then food, so Kinley smiled as she put some salad on her plate from a bowl in front of her.

“How was your Winter break?” she asked her neighbor.

0 McKinley Andrews Pretty Princess 0 McKinley Andrews 0 5

Reggie

March 30, 2013 11:23 PM

Me either. by Reggie

Reggie looked in amusement on as Derry had an internal struggle with her admission of wanting to steal his hat. She didn’t even have to steal it to see his reaction. She should have threatened it earlier on because then she wouldn’t have to wonder for so long about how he would handle not having his hat. This was what happened when she put too much thought into it. She ended up missing the golden opportunity to do whatever it was that she was thinking.

Despite the truth behind his words, Reggie found herself laughing. Derry was always a little behind on the obvious things. Of course, Reggie hadn’t known herself until she had realized how irked she had been over Derry liking Josephine. At first, she had just thought she was mad that Phoenix dismissed her so easily while Derry was happily moving along nicely with Josephine, but that jealousy never really went away when she thought they were still into each other. She had just refused to acknowledge it since she wanted her best friend to be happy.

Reggie didn’t know if she was relieved by his description of the two of them or more confused because it wasn’t a definitive answer. She had to assume that the ‘but better’ actually did mean that they were now more than friends but that Derry didn’t want to label them as anything. She thought she could be okay with that, but if anyone asked her what they were, she wasn’t sure she could really answer them as ‘we’re us only better’ but then again, Derry and her have always been a little out there, so it was possible that such an answer defined them extremely well.

She had been looking away from Derry when she had thought about his answer to her question and thus, was rather surprised when she felt an object drop onto her head. She went to reach up for it but stopped when Derry cut in and she realized he had put his hat on her head. It was a hat, something simple and a little ridiculous for anyone who didn’t know Derry, but she knew how symbolic it was for him to lend it to her. Reggie looked up at him from beneath the rim of the hat. It was so strange the feeling she had wearing it. She felt warmed, her heart raced a little more. She was excited and happy. Derry said that they were still just them, but Reggie didn’t think that really was going to be true. If a hat made her this happy and awkward, it would be awhile before she would be more normal around him.

“Aw, is that what you look like under that hat?” Reggie teased, gently pinching his cheeks, “So handsome” Reggie grinned at him, “What will your poor head do now without it’s hat?” She really was curious as to whether or not he would let her have the hat and live life without his own or buy himself a new one or demand it back once he realized how much he missed it. Moving past the hat though in case he really was going to take it back, Reggie commented, “Well, as long as ‘better’ means holding hands and other affectionate things, I can work with that.”

6 Reggie Me either. 187 Reggie 0 5

Rup

April 02, 2013 12:21 PM

I don't think I'm ready for a tearful confession by Rup

Meg seemed nice enough if not a little preoccupied with being someone she wasn't. At least from what Rup could pick up. He believed in doing things the way he wanted to which could very well get him disowned in the future. He came from a very close family, however, and he wasn't sure if his mother would stand for it if Father wanted to disown him. At least he had his mother on his side. But it was easier for Rup to be free because he wasn't in line for the patriarchy and because he was a wizard. He had come to see with his cousins back in England how different it was being a wizard rather than a witch. He had female relatives who believed in gender equality and all, but they were distant and his grandfather only put up with them because they were his siblings.

Rupert himself believed that witches could do things that wizards could. They couldn't wear trousers or ugly clothes out in public if they wanted to be seen as respectable, but he didn't think there was anything wrong with them playing Quidditch or talking with wizards. He was not a prissy boy and he couldn't completely understand wizards or witches who were. It was just silly to him.

As Rup ate, Meg told him about her holiday and nodded when she asked if he knew Gareth and Enion. He knew of Gareth more mostly because his older brother was best mates with him. He didn't really know Enion all that well, but they were in the same year.

Spending time with younger siblings counted as fun for Rupert. He absolutely loved his younger brother even if he spent less and less time with Leo now. They always had fun together and, though Rup was much sillier than Leo, they got along well. They were much closer than either of them were with Cepheus.

Apparently Meg's holiday was coupled with something that happened with her mum and Rup stopped eating as he watched her try and pull herself together. It was clear that something had happened with her mum. Maybe her parents were divorced? Her mum was gone? Merlin forbid, was she passed on or something? Rup couldn't ever imagine his mum not being around.

Rup finished chewing as he listened to Meg's woes about not being able to play Quidditch. He hadn't realised how different the Princetons were from other pure-blood families by how liberal they were with Quidditch and who could play. His grand-aunt was the blooming matriarch of the Princetons in Scotland. It was unheard of in the pure-blood circles his family ran in, but they didn't speak of it much. According to Father, it wasn't like his grandfather had much of his choice. Apparently grand-aunt Norma was a fright to be dealt with and therefore a perfect matriarch.

"Lucky you'll be a Princeton soon enough then," said Rup as if that was supposed to be of some consolation. "My parents don't care who plays, wizard or witch." It was really weird to say the first bit out loud, but it was just an unspoken fact. "Don't cry. I'm sorry about your mum, whatever happened with her." He was apparently good at touching sensitive subjects. He would be a bit embarrassed at making a girl cry in the dining hall.

The last thing he wanted was to make his brother's betrothed cry in a public space. He made a mental note not to ask about her mum or Quidditch, though he was very interested in learning about hearing her experiences with both. "We can talk about something else," he said with a smile. "How many little siblings do you have?" They had to be fun and safe territory.

0 Rup I don't think I'm ready for a tearful confession 0 Rup 0 5