Standing There By You
Ch. 12- Christmas Letters
Disclaimer: The usual, I don't own anything Harry Potter related (except for a numerous amount of spells and characters) and I also don't own the works of Socrates, or Walter Lippman.
A/N: Wow! I got so many reviews- I think the most so far : ) I am incredibly happy, and therefore am doing a dance of joy. Ok, I'm only going to respond to several people that asked me questions/suggested stuff, but I still give major props to...
Shindou Bakani
ChrisPgirl
MidnightPrincess
Manny2003
Aerandir
SeCrEt LiLy
Jess
Morgan Riordan- Wow! Somebody is actually happy with the way I 'portray' Peter, thank you thank you! lol... anyways.. thanks for the review!
Molly- Yes, I agree.. the pace is kinda slow, and I do plan to speed it up a bit. As for the British lingo... if you (or any other viewers) have any word suggestions, I'll be happy to use them! Sadly, I know mostly American (seeing as that's what I am : p) so those words do randomly pop up in my story.
SuperHiperChit- Wow. Exact same mind track, babe, exact same mind track.
Okies, this chapter takes place over Christmas break and is done in all... you guessed it, letters! Here ya go...
James,
Hello. How's your break going? Well, I hope. My family and I have just arrived back home from my Grandparents, we spend every Christmas there. I received a remarkable set of thesauruses, they'll be incredibly convenient for Transfiguration and History of Magic essays. There are a couple of rather interesting ones, remind me to show them to you sometime. Did you get that new broomstick you've been talking about? I hope so. Well, I've got to be going, I actually just wanted to send you your present. Enjoy!
-Remus
James put the letter aside and untied the bundle that was attached to the grey owl's leg. He tore open the brown paper to reveal a large book entitled, Impress Your Friends with Burt Cassidy's Colloquy of Substantially Large Words. James set the present aside with a slight look of disgust- what kind of present is a book? Nevertheless, he grabbed a piece of parchment, wrote a quick reply and tied it onto Remus's owl, along with the present James had gotten him. The owl had barely taken off, when James was already beginning his note to Sirius.
Sirius,
Hey, guess who just wrote me. Remus. And you know, I think he was playing with me the entire letter, I mean, "How's your break going?", he obviously knows it's all twisted because I'm trying to figure out what the heck's going on with him. Oh, oh, and "... a couple of rather interesting ones..." that's definitely implying something. But what? Let's see, what else... oh,"Enjoy!" Enjoy what? The present... or going mad from these baffling letters he's sending me! Oh well. If you have any more suggestions, tell me. We've got to figure this out. Okay, I've got to go eat dinner now, but write me back as soon as possible.
James
P.S.- How are things? Are your parents being tolerable? I hope so.
P.P.S.- Happy Christmas
James,
HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!! Yeah, things are going alright over here, same old same old. (Same old pricky parents... Same old psychotic house elf...) Anyway, I have two things to tell you: One, I think you are insane and two, I've come up with several possibilities.
Remus is secretly involved in a traveling circus, because of his unique trapeze flying capabilities. The circus comes to Britain every once and a while, so when it does he flies off and joins them for a couple of late night performances. Professor Fides is the director of the Hogwarts branch of the travelling circus, and was discussing upcoming acts with Remus in the Hospital wing.
Remus is currently a secret agent, and doing numerous investigations throughout the year. The hospital wing is not actually a hospital wing, but a highly technologically advanced office, in which they have very confidential materials and cool things that beep.
Remus is an extraterrestrial from outer space, and is brainwashing each and every one of us individually. Professor Fides is his leader, and once a month Remus has to report back to him.
Remus is obsessed with Urytanins, a special flower that only blooms on certain days. He has these dates specified, and when they are in bloom he sneaks out and picks as many as he can. The last time he went Urytanin picking, one of the thorns pricked him, and he had to go back to the hospital wing for immediate care. Professor Fides knows of this secret obsession, and in fact shares it, and therefore was out picking the flowers with Remus. Professor Fides stayed behind to pick him more flowers, then went to give them to him for comfort.
Well, those are all of my ideas for now. I'm sure between all of these, one has got to be right. I hope this helps, bye!
Yours Truly,
Sirius
Sirius,
Okay, first of all, I am insane?? Extra-terrestrials? Urytanins? I honestly wonder what goes on inside your brain. Anyway, there was one (and only one) thing that made sense. You said, once a month. Looking back, it has been once a month. Remus's disappearances have been exactly a month apart. But why? What's making him leave, and why won't he tell us? Well, at least we've got something. Perhaps I'll ask my dad, he might be able to help. Okay write back if you have any i-- scratch that. Just write back.
James
James,
Humph. Humph I tell you. I am highly affronted at your lack of enthusiasms toward my ingenious ideas. I don't see you coming up with any ideas, do I? Huh? Huh? Yeah, that's what I thought. And by the way, that once a month thing, wasn't a fluke, you know. Intellect I tell you. Pure brilliance. I used a great bit of brain to come up with those striking suggestions, and I think you owe me an apology. And if I can quote one of my dear friends, Walter Lippman, "It requires wisdom to understand wisdom: the music is nothing if the audience is deaf." I rest my case.
Sirius
Sirius,
Okay, okay, I am heartily sorry. You're not insane, and your ideas were quite brilliant. And as I'm writing this, I'm not even crossing my fingers. Really. Moving on, I do in fact have an idea of my own. I was marking down all of the days Remus has been absent (that I could remember), and realized they've all been full moons. I then looked through one of my dad's old Dark Creatures book, and found a lot of good information... all leading up to one thing. Remus is a werewolf.
James
P.S.- The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing.
James,
A werewolf! Ha! And you thought my ideas were bad. Geez, nice try James. I mean, come on. How does that explain all of the scratches--- how does that explain why Remus was in the Hospital Wi--- oh.
Sirius crumpled up his unfinished letter, and scribbled down a new one.
James,
Good Job. Remus is a werewolf, I completely agree.
Sirius
Grace,
Hello! How's your Christmas vacation going? Mine is pretty good, it's very busy though. I just spent Christmas day with my dad, and then tomorrow I have to go to my mum's. (That's where you should send your letters to.) So, do you have any idea what we should do about the 'retaliation'? I think we should come up with something before vacation is over; we'll have plenty of time to prepare it before the school year ends. Okay, write back soon, bye!
Loads of love,
Julie
Julie,
Hey there! My Christmas was good too, I got an awesome new broomstick from my folks. About the 'retaliation'. I'm not quite sure what it should be, but I am quite sure it should include something gooky, and something very humiliating. Also, I don't think we should include Lily- at all. You know she would try and get us not to do it, because we would get in trouble, that it wasn't that big of a deal and that we'd be breaking about a billion rules, etc, etc. But, once it actually goes through, she'll be very grateful, and glad that she didn't have to worry about it. Grrr, I'm getting mad just thinking about what those jerks did, and you know what, they've probably already forgotten about it. You know, it was funny when they did that stuff to the Slytherins, but when they start doing it to my friends... they better watch out. You're right about getting this planned out soon, because I just can't wait to see their faces. Write back when you can, talk to you soon.
Love,
Grace
Grace,
Hello, Happy Christmas! How are you? Everything's alright over here, Christmas was wonderful. My parents gave me this incredible new set of quills, they're long lasting so they won't run out when I'm writing those long reports and such. Everything's's great, except for well, my sister. I don't know, she's acting really mean- meaner than usual. You know, if she calls me 'freak' one more time I think I'm going to... well I don't know what I'll do since I can't use magic outside of school, and she's bigger than me, but, well, okay, so I probably won't do anything, but still. I'll think mean thoughts about her, or something. Well, I hope you're having a good break, write back soon.
Love,
Lily
P.S.- I know you guys are planning revenge on the boys- and I want in.
A/N: Muahaha.. you didn't think I'd forget about poor Lily, did you? Anyways, this chapter was a bit longer, but still not quite as long as I'd like it. Right now, I would like to take a POLL. Okay? Now pay attention.
If you would rather longer chapters, and a longer waiting period between updates, please select... A
If you would rather shorter chapters (much like the one I've just posted- Christmas Letters) and a shorter waiting period between updates, please select... B
If you would be so kind, please inform me of your opinions in your reviews. : p
Thanks!