Chapter Seventeen

Converting Raymond

By the time Asher had gotten back from his weekend diversion, rumors about the demonstrations on Friday were circulating quite heavily through the school. But Asher knew the best way to find out what was going on was to check in with Frank, doing little more than tossing his bag in his room before going upstairs and knocking on the door.

"Great, you're back," Frank said when he answered, letting him in.

"Yes, did you see the photos I put up?" Asher asked.

"You're not going to brag about it, are you?" Frank asked critically. "Seriously, I can't believe you spent the entire weekend with 52. Have you no shame?"

"She certainly doesn't," Asher replied cockily.

"It'd be nice if I had just a tenth of the followers you do. Maybe I could get out of the hundreds once in a while," Frank said.

"Surely you went out with someone this weekend," Asher said.

"Becky Hammond from across the street," Frank said.

"Oh? Which one is that?" Asher asked.

"The one you call Sugarbuns," Frank explained.

"Oooo Sugarbuns! I thought she was too young?" Asher asked.

"Nope, she's twenty three, I checked," Frank said smugly, glad to have his attention for a change.

"You should do a dossier on her then," Asher suggested.

"Too late, I already knocked one out this morning," Frank said. Asher sat by the computer to look at it. "If only our other subject was that easy to do a write-up on, eh?" Frank said knowingly.

"I put a lot more detail in my dossiers than you do in yours, that's one of the reasons I have more followers," Asher said.

"Actually, I kept this one to basics on purpose. Becky is pretty net savvy, and I wanted to keep it diplomatically unoffensive, since I am thinking of going out with her again," Frank said.

"52 was net savvy, too, and she wasn't offended by the comments I wrote on her dossier. She was flattered, that's why she asked me out," Asher replied. "You simply need to work on your style. You don't have to hold back on your opinions when you comment on a dossier, you just have to be smooth about it."

"No one is as smooth on that site as you are," Frank said flatly.

"Then learn from the master," Asher teased. "Start taking my advice. Is that published yet?"

"Not quite," Frank admitted.

"Once it is, I'll comment on it and get you more views," Asher offered. "It'll be easy since I know what she looks like in person already. Anyway, what's developed with our number one target while I've been gone? When I left on Friday, everyone was talking about the burn marks on the Quidditch Stadium and they said that Jennifer did them in some sort of Dark Magic demonstration."

"That I can confirm, but I haven't talked to Raymond about it first hand yet because he went to his parents' house afterwards. Apparently, his father actually showed up to help supervise the demonstration," Frank said. "But I can tell you who helped her with the demonstration, though... her father, Thomas Craw, and one of her other sons, an Auror named Aurelius Snape."

"Thomas Craw! I wish I had seen the demo so I could see what he looks like now," Asher said.

"Not much different than the picture you showed me," Frank told him. "And her son looks the same age as one of the college kids."

"What is the deal with their strange ages?" Asher asked.

"I don't know, I was getting ready to go see if Raymond was back yet when you showed up," Frank said. "He has his phone off again."

"Let's see if we can find him," Asher said, checking the time. "He might be at dinner considering what time it is."

"Let's try his room first," Frank suggested.

The two of them finally tracked Ray down in the Commissary, sitting by himself and grading a stack of homework. He glanced up with a sigh when they came over, completely unsurprised when they wanted an update on the demonstration.

"Haven't the two of you moved on to other targets by now?" Raymond asked critically.

"Sort of, yes, but we still haven't finished the dossier on her yet," Frank said quietly.

"She's so mysterious," Asher agreed in a tone that Raymond didn't particularly like.

"I'll make a deal with you," Raymond said seriously, getting their attention immediately. "I'll help you finish the rest of that dossier, but only on the condition that you be perfectly honest with it, and make sure she's flagged as being off limits. 'Hot but off limits,' or whatever that flag is called."

"Hot is too low of a category, Sizzlin' is more like it," Frank said.

"Insultingly low. Hot Lava..." Asher said, and Raymond held his hands to his ears in protest.

"Whatever! I'm only helping so that nobody else is tempted to write one up on her in the future that's more damaging, and so that we can control what comes out. I can't imagine how slimy that report would end up if you wrote it, Asher," Raymond said.

"Do you want to see what I got so far?" Asher asked brightly.

"I think I'll refrain until we're in more private quarters," Raymond said firmly, then looked up and waved. Wondering who he was waving at, the other two looked up as well.

Jennifer, Lav, Gretchen, and Kay had just come in, and it had been Jennifer who had waved to Ray on their way to the Commissary line. Frank attempted to wave as well, but it was too late; they were already in deep conversation on the food choices and trying to find the least offensive of them.

"I think I understand now," Asher said, studying Raymond with a thin smile. "You've decided you like her too."

"What? Don't be ridiculous, she's old enough to be my mother," Raymond said, but neither of them missed how red and flustered he got. "Besides, she's married to the most powerful wizard on the planet right now. Come on, let's go somewhere else and I'll fill you in on what all I know."

"My room then, it'll be easier to work from there," Frank said. "We can order a pizza."

"Fine," Raymond said, and the three of them retreated.

"So, you're friends with Raymond Eldridge now, Jennifer?" Lavender asked as they sat down with a tray.

"Yes," Jennifer replied with a smile. "Thanks to those demonstrations, I think I might have gotten another convert."