A little ficcage before the big night
Jul. 15th, 2005 03:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
artyartieOkay, this was supposed to be a quick little story for all you going to midnight release parties tonight for Half-Blood Prince. And then it took over! Featuring Nakuru, Suppi, and a cameo from Melrose Plant and family that ended up being a bit longer than a cameo. So read, enjoy, and for any of you going out tonight, here's a pint of butterbeer to you!
"Nakuru, are you trying to get us kicked out of this otherwise enjoyable, if extremely crowded gathering?"
"Oh Suppi, do you honestly think I'd do that?"
Nakuru's satchel was silent in reply, and she gave it a light flick before dropping the assorted candies inside. "They're sugar-free, silly. Ice Mice, Fizzing Whizbies and even an Acid Pop." Nakuru peeked into the bag and gave her brother a wickedly cheerful smile. "Even got one with genuine acid, just for you."
Suppi muttered an all but indecipherable 'thank you' as Nakuru looked back around at the bustling bookshop. As the owner of Long Piddleton's sole bookshop detested the very thought of children, much less crowds of them bustling through his stacks of antiquarian books, those waiting for Order of the Phoenix had to go elsewhere. Quite a few families had headed to larger events in London; Nakuru had settled on Northampton, a quick 15-minute flight from home, the comfort of her bed and a good reading lamp.
The small bookshop was full with children and adults, many with knit scarfs (mostly Gryffindors, but a handful of Slytherins and even a few brave Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs) and scars in a variety of places on their foreheads. Nakuru had come up with a subtle star-themed costume for Professor Sinistra - she had even snagged a dance with a rather handsome Professor Snape. The cafe had outdone itself and whipped up a variety of sweets, of which Nakuru had acquired a good number of samples. Licking the last of a Chocolate Cauldron from her fingers, Nakuru looked up at the clock - only 10 minutes left. The energy now had focus and direction, and the children clutched at their parents robes in breathless anticipation.
"Is this the queue for the WC or the book?" A couple with pale blond hair, immaculate dark robes and a fidgeting toddler in the man's arms looked around in confusion. Nakuru recognized the voice of her neighbors and waved them towards her, away from the cafe queue that had unwittingly ensared them.
"Melrose! Bea! The WC's behind me - looks like the wait's down to five minutes," she said, glancing at the poor souls doing the 'too-many-butterbeers' dance. She tucked a stray tress under her pointed hat and gave an amused, curious smile to the family. "And what are you doing here - and all dressed up, besides?" Nakuru gave a tiny wave to Ian, the blond three year old with his mother's eyes and his father's dazzling smile.
"Pot, meet kettle," Melrose replied, tousling his son's hair even has he caught a whiffy of a very soiled nappy. "At least we can say we're here for the little one."
"Oh, I have a little one here," Nakuru said, poking at her satchel. "He's just fallen asleep again-"
"I have not fallen asleep," Spinel said testily, poking his head just far enough out of the bag to acknowledge the new arrivals. "I was merely conserving my energy for later tonight." He nodded respectfully to the magician and his wife, with a small smile saved for the toddler. Ian let out a jouyous shout of 'kitty' when he saw his sometimes-diminutive feline friend. "Those are magifiscent costumes - the Malfoys, I presume? Not many of those amid all the Potters and Weasleys."
"Melrose and Ian were already blond, so all I needed was some peroxide," Bea said, flicking a newly blond strand of hair in amusement. "It would have been nice to go to one of the big London parties but Melrose didn't want to be...seen."
"Load of good that did," Melrose said dryly. He paused and cleared his throat self-consciously. "You aren't going to tell anyone, are you?" He looked at Nakuru with an understandable amount of concern.
"Only if they ask," she answered in all honesty. If they knew enough to ask, well, that couldn't be her fault. "But besides the blond hair, why the Malfoys? Don't Slytherins have, you know, ambition?"
"I have plenty of ambition, I'll have you know," he said defensively, as Bea quietly chuckled besides him.
"Ambition is not trying to be up by elevenses the days you aren't teaching, which are rather many," Nakuru said with a smile, even as Suppi gave her his usual roll of the eyes. "Ambition would be, well, coming up with a magical way of dealing with a dirty nappy."
Melrose started to fire back a reply in their well-practiced and well-meant battle of wits, but stopped at her last suggestion. "That's actually a good idea," he mused thoughtfully as Ian squired in his grasp, trying to get to his 'kitty.'
"Too bad you hadn't thought of it when he was born," Bea said, lifting up the nappy sack at her feet. "So in exchange, this one is all your to change."
"All right, let's see if we can Disapparate this stinkiness, shall we?" Melrose lifted his son high, smell or not, smiling at the laughing toddler. "We'll be right back."
Nakuru smiled and absently ruffled between Suppi's ears, watching the family manuever their way through the crowds of people, who were now counting the minutes until the boxes full of books were opened. Besides her, a young boy in a homemade Ravenclaw Quidditch outfit looked up at her, his blue eyes bright and eager.
"It's almost time," he said in an excited whisper, clutching onto a broom scaled down to his size. Nakuru beamed down at him and knelt down to his height. So young, so eager, so anxious for another volume into a world so familiar and yet so different from his own. Though magic in the world was so much rarer, here were crowds full of children and adults who, for at least one night, willed it to be real, to be their own.
"I bet you can't wait," she said in a voice much softer than her usual fortissimo. "Because I know I can't."
The boy pursed his lips and looked up at her with an intense gaze. "My brother and sister say it's silly, but I don't. I think there is magic. Do you think there's magic?"
Nakuru adjusted her pointed hat and waited for a thoughtful pause, before giving the boy another bright smile. She took out an elegant 10-inch rowan wand from her cloak and gave it a little wave. "I don't think there's magic," she said.
The little boys eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly, as pink and silver sparkles danced along the edge of the wand and into the air.
"I know there's magic."
"Nakuru, are you trying to get us kicked out of this otherwise enjoyable, if extremely crowded gathering?"
"Oh Suppi, do you honestly think I'd do that?"
Nakuru's satchel was silent in reply, and she gave it a light flick before dropping the assorted candies inside. "They're sugar-free, silly. Ice Mice, Fizzing Whizbies and even an Acid Pop." Nakuru peeked into the bag and gave her brother a wickedly cheerful smile. "Even got one with genuine acid, just for you."
Suppi muttered an all but indecipherable 'thank you' as Nakuru looked back around at the bustling bookshop. As the owner of Long Piddleton's sole bookshop detested the very thought of children, much less crowds of them bustling through his stacks of antiquarian books, those waiting for Order of the Phoenix had to go elsewhere. Quite a few families had headed to larger events in London; Nakuru had settled on Northampton, a quick 15-minute flight from home, the comfort of her bed and a good reading lamp.
The small bookshop was full with children and adults, many with knit scarfs (mostly Gryffindors, but a handful of Slytherins and even a few brave Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs) and scars in a variety of places on their foreheads. Nakuru had come up with a subtle star-themed costume for Professor Sinistra - she had even snagged a dance with a rather handsome Professor Snape. The cafe had outdone itself and whipped up a variety of sweets, of which Nakuru had acquired a good number of samples. Licking the last of a Chocolate Cauldron from her fingers, Nakuru looked up at the clock - only 10 minutes left. The energy now had focus and direction, and the children clutched at their parents robes in breathless anticipation.
"Is this the queue for the WC or the book?" A couple with pale blond hair, immaculate dark robes and a fidgeting toddler in the man's arms looked around in confusion. Nakuru recognized the voice of her neighbors and waved them towards her, away from the cafe queue that had unwittingly ensared them.
"Melrose! Bea! The WC's behind me - looks like the wait's down to five minutes," she said, glancing at the poor souls doing the 'too-many-butterbeers' dance. She tucked a stray tress under her pointed hat and gave an amused, curious smile to the family. "And what are you doing here - and all dressed up, besides?" Nakuru gave a tiny wave to Ian, the blond three year old with his mother's eyes and his father's dazzling smile.
"Pot, meet kettle," Melrose replied, tousling his son's hair even has he caught a whiffy of a very soiled nappy. "At least we can say we're here for the little one."
"Oh, I have a little one here," Nakuru said, poking at her satchel. "He's just fallen asleep again-"
"I have not fallen asleep," Spinel said testily, poking his head just far enough out of the bag to acknowledge the new arrivals. "I was merely conserving my energy for later tonight." He nodded respectfully to the magician and his wife, with a small smile saved for the toddler. Ian let out a jouyous shout of 'kitty' when he saw his sometimes-diminutive feline friend. "Those are magifiscent costumes - the Malfoys, I presume? Not many of those amid all the Potters and Weasleys."
"Melrose and Ian were already blond, so all I needed was some peroxide," Bea said, flicking a newly blond strand of hair in amusement. "It would have been nice to go to one of the big London parties but Melrose didn't want to be...seen."
"Load of good that did," Melrose said dryly. He paused and cleared his throat self-consciously. "You aren't going to tell anyone, are you?" He looked at Nakuru with an understandable amount of concern.
"Only if they ask," she answered in all honesty. If they knew enough to ask, well, that couldn't be her fault. "But besides the blond hair, why the Malfoys? Don't Slytherins have, you know, ambition?"
"I have plenty of ambition, I'll have you know," he said defensively, as Bea quietly chuckled besides him.
"Ambition is not trying to be up by elevenses the days you aren't teaching, which are rather many," Nakuru said with a smile, even as Suppi gave her his usual roll of the eyes. "Ambition would be, well, coming up with a magical way of dealing with a dirty nappy."
Melrose started to fire back a reply in their well-practiced and well-meant battle of wits, but stopped at her last suggestion. "That's actually a good idea," he mused thoughtfully as Ian squired in his grasp, trying to get to his 'kitty.'
"Too bad you hadn't thought of it when he was born," Bea said, lifting up the nappy sack at her feet. "So in exchange, this one is all your to change."
"All right, let's see if we can Disapparate this stinkiness, shall we?" Melrose lifted his son high, smell or not, smiling at the laughing toddler. "We'll be right back."
Nakuru smiled and absently ruffled between Suppi's ears, watching the family manuever their way through the crowds of people, who were now counting the minutes until the boxes full of books were opened. Besides her, a young boy in a homemade Ravenclaw Quidditch outfit looked up at her, his blue eyes bright and eager.
"It's almost time," he said in an excited whisper, clutching onto a broom scaled down to his size. Nakuru beamed down at him and knelt down to his height. So young, so eager, so anxious for another volume into a world so familiar and yet so different from his own. Though magic in the world was so much rarer, here were crowds full of children and adults who, for at least one night, willed it to be real, to be their own.
"I bet you can't wait," she said in a voice much softer than her usual fortissimo. "Because I know I can't."
The boy pursed his lips and looked up at her with an intense gaze. "My brother and sister say it's silly, but I don't. I think there is magic. Do you think there's magic?"
Nakuru adjusted her pointed hat and waited for a thoughtful pause, before giving the boy another bright smile. She took out an elegant 10-inch rowan wand from her cloak and gave it a little wave. "I don't think there's magic," she said.
The little boys eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly, as pink and silver sparkles danced along the edge of the wand and into the air.
"I know there's magic."
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no subject
Date: 2005-07-15 11:38 pm (UTC)And I have a few pics to post later -- went all-out on geekiness and dressed up for the event, and have a couple pictures of other people, seeing as we went with Cat Head and know a few of the poor souls working tonight (though I missed a few of them due to how long it took me to remember I had a camera with me).
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Date: 2005-07-17 10:17 pm (UTC)And the HP pictures were adorable! Looks like you had a very fun time at the party.