SPOILER!!: Quotey stuffs
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AmbiguouslyMe 
I.. guh. I can't put into words really how much I like this. LOVE this.
I especially like Rae's own writing in this chapter. That voice is really great.
And I have to say, Anjelica and Cassie (I like the differentiating with the names based on time period, stylistically, too!), got me all melty.
Yeah. Just, yeah. *warm fuzzies*
Thus ends my incoherent loving of your chapter.
You are adorable and are encouraged to continue on with your warm fuzzies and melting. Anjelica and Cassie... I'm not really sure when they became Anj and Cassandra (although Anj insists on calling her Rae, soooo... yeah) became their names. We'll have to wait and see.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Mad Eye Touz Those Twins are so good. If they're that concerned over lil Mo, then CJ must have no hope in their eyes.
No, they're BAD. SO BAD. But anyway... I think they put up with CJ. He's like a mini Mo to them. Brother-material.
Quote:
hehe. Hehehe. Lainey thinks that they are both CLEARLY witty and going towards .. well... you know. Their House. Don't tell Rae. Shh.
What was this sacrilege? <<< LUlllz. Man. Brennan. Oh Ern,this is just SO GOOD. It's my favorite. And you know.... I think this is your best writing. I do.
I think you're right. They'll want to be TOGETHER, and I think they fit there best.
Awww. And you've read a lot of my stuff, so that means a lot from you
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Droo So now that I'm awake... I must say I love reading about what is happening with Cassandra now, I adore those kids, they are precious, but I think I love learning about her past almost as much. So I guess I'm saying I REALLY like your format.
I like it too, although sometimes it gets in the way. Like in this next update, BOTH scenes were supposed to be much much longer. Guess this is a TBC.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
cedricdiggory Wow. This is great! :O You're awesome Ern!!!
I'm loving this story.. really.
It's really nice to know the story of Professor Rae especially for members who didn't had the chance to know her.
I think you would have liked her, and she would have liked YOUR charrie
. Thank you so much for reading. Hope you continue to enjoy it.
[QUOTE=SenoritaMaxie;9257928]
=O
You hash caught me! -hides behind everyone else-
I luffff your storeh. ^^ [/color]
Ooooh. So glad you're reading this one, Maxie! YOu're so prolific and stuff, I didn't know you had time to reaaaaaaaaad FFs TOO.
Quote:
LOL! Love this, especially the litle sigh at the end.
I would say it is. *pause*
Well-written, and all-around enjoyable, Erin.
Update, when you can.
=]
Will do, Maxie. I'm on it right now!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
D.A Forever Ooh, I want to take a guess at Colby's dad. But now I'm thinking I'll be wrong
GAH! Is it. . Alec?
I remember reading a thing or two through those terms with Rae and Lainey at Hogwarts. His name came up, but it's a vague memory. *crosses fingers*
And for what it counts, I think Lainey and Rae's friendship pretty much comes alive in your writing.
You're not wrong. Hehehe.
And THANK you. That relationship between them is so real to me after playing Rae so long and I'm glad to know that other people can feel it too.
Quote:
This also reminded me of the girls' baby/toddler days at Hogwarts. Particularly of when one of the girls had come to the end-of-term feast with a book nearly bigger than herself?
That would be Sophia. She's all Doyle, that one is. Can't figure out where Vivi came from, though. And don't worry about Mo. He'll be fine. Tortured by his sisters, but fine.
Quote:
Rae and Lainey
not brave? I can't even begin to imagine that.
Over all, AWESOME chapter! Especially Rae's writing for her book, that really got me thinking, too.
Hehe. She's a thinker, that 'Claw is. Never really sure what she wants to say, but I'm never surprised when she up and says it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Biochemkris This fic is making me all nostalgic. I miss all my old school charries. *sniff* Your writing has improved so much, Ern, and that is truly saying something considering how well you have ALWAYS written. But I just wanted to let you know that I am truly impressed and glad to see you coming into your own in the writing arena.
Aww. *nuzzles you* Thank you, Kris. Like I said to Touz, you've read all my stuff, so that actually means a lot from you. Don't let me steer our girls wrong, and one of these days I'll attempt Doyle's voice.
I keep thinking that I KNOW there are characters I could be mentioning along here (especially a certain couple vaguely mentioned in here). If you feel like you want/deserve a mention... let me know.
Chapter 4: Queen Anne's Lace
From the moment Cassandra set eyes on the Angelov sisters, they belonged to her. She had seen other children in her work, hollow-eyed and sad ones, that had broken her heart over and over, but these girls were more than just wingless, wounded things. In the fierce way Alena watched over her sister and the tireless way she juggled stories and songs to keep Natalya’s attention elsewhere, in Natalya’s determinedly cheerful demeanor, in the manner of both sisters as they moved in a sort of well-practiced dance of caring for each other, Cassandra saw herself and Anj. If Natalya’s blithe light-heartedness and Alena’s solemnity were foreign elements to that dance, it was the steps themselves that were familiar.
Days after meeting the girls, Cassandra drew word pictures of the beautiful Branxton estate for both girls, describing their new home down to the lampshades and glossing over some of the more harrowing details of the wild children inhabitants. A day after that, she was owling Doyle to come help her smuggle the girls out of Sofia. Less than a week after meeting the Angelovs, Cassandra brought them home to England, but they had smuggled into her heart long before that arrival.
It was no burden to have them move into the sprawling manor. Cassandra’s inheritance from her own parents was meager, but the generous pension as a retired Auror and the legacy left by her first husband Alexander Rae created a cushion of funds on the already sizable Branxton estate. They claimed chores without asking, enamored themselves with the children immediately, and tried to take up as little space as possible in a home with space to spare.
It wasn’t always easy, especially in the early days. Natalya clung to Doyle in a way that made the society matrons mutter, and Alena was a little block of ice with everyone but the children. For Marcus Orion especially, Alena was butter-warm and willing to laugh, but for everyone else, she was quiet and cold. A beautiful, silent addition to every dinner party and social event to which Cassandra dragged her.
Cassandra considered the invitation to the next party, a small affair to celebrate the engagement of a young couple the Branxtons knew, as she stared at Alena’s slight figure reflected in the mirror at Malkin’s. The girl’s face was empty, a sign that she had retreated into herself. Cassandra had noticed this was the typical Alena-response to activities such as being fitted for a new dress, anything where she had to be touched and talked about, prodded and considered. If there was a way to draw her out of herself, Cassandra was yet to find it.
“You’re mad at me,” Anj’s voice interrupted her reverie, and Cassandra glanced at where her dearest friend sat cross-legged on the floor with Colby reclining in her lap. Dress shopping was about the last thing Anj would ever agree to do, but she wanted time with Cassandra immediately. She had news to share.
Cassandra turned her attention from Alena in an effort to focus on Anj again. Why did her attention keep wandering so willfully back to the dark-haired girl when her closest friend was trying to talk to her?
“No, not mad.” Both women reached for a handful of pins on the floor that had caught Colby’s interest. The little boy gave his mother a sulky karate chop for depriving him of the shiny. “I think I’m jealous.”
“Jealous,” Anj scoffed. She handed Colby his dinosaur toy and winced as the creature attacked her knee. Real biting teeth weren’t as charming as the toy manufacturers thought. “You can come back too, Rae. Come back to Hogwarts with me.”
Ah, Hogwarts. Wasn’t it selfish of her to miss the place when she had abandoned it less than five years ago in order to go adventuring?
Or at least, that was how it looked to the outside world. Cassandra Rae, bored with wiping the snot noses of other people’s brats and hungry once again for the spotlight, had deserted the school when her leadership was needed to go traipsing through the Europe on a self-declared mission of mercy with the blessing of her-brother-the-Minister. Once Brennan Cooper had been ousted, the Ministry denied association with Rae-Branxton and her team.
That wasn’t
exactly how it had gone. Cassandra had been sad to leave the school, but she felt the place was safe and her skills better used elsewhere. Brennan’s insistence on conducting her life was thwarted when she refused an appointment in his administration and then went behind his back to lead a team into the field. To save face, he publicly recognized her efforts as his humanitarian liaison, and his wife published glowing reports in her newspaper. She had never had the Ministry’s true blessing, and once Brennan was gone and Reagan Taylor had called her home with typical good-humored grace, Cassandra found she was ready to do exactly that.
“They don’t need me,” Cassandra studied the elaborate lace trimming Alena’s new dress. It resembled a wildflower she remembered from her youthful jaunts with Anj, although she couldn’t recall the name of it. Something pretentious for a weed. “The young man teaching Defense is accomplished in several fields, and the current Headmaster performed admirably last term.”
Anj sighed, although it wasn’t clear if Cassandra was stressing her patience or if it was Colby, chewing on a hank of her hair and quietly murmuring to himself in gobbledygook. “I’m not sure I like that young man. Heard he made my history class all complicated and snooty brainiac stuff, and now he’s moved on to yours. If you wanted to come back…”
“But I don’t,” Cassandra said simply, not looking at her best friend. “I really don’t.”
*** Hogwarts is as many things as there are alumni.
To some, it is a prison, a leaving from real life to a place that is apart. It is something to get through until one can emerge triumphant on the other side.
To others, it is the destination. You are not really yourself until your feet cross the threshold. Away from families and the labels of childhood, some students see Hogwarts as the place where they can write their own story and decide on their own terms who they desire to be. For those some, Hogwarts is a home in itself, maybe more real than their childhood home ever was.
I didn’t know what Hogwarts meant to me until I left and came back again. ***
In a small boat sailing across the giant lake at Hogwarts, two little girls huddled together. The night was dark in spite of the sliver of moon perched low on the castle walls, and the small waves that lipped over the side of the boat came perilously close to dousing their socks. Horrors!
“Don’t worry,” Anjelica whispered, leaning forward so that the dark shapes in the boats around them couldn’t hear. “Mum says that worrying will only make it worse. And I hear the food is good.” Somehow, the thought of a hot meal on the other side of this lake was comforting.
The boats shot beneath a rock ledge, mere centimeters above the girls’ heads and Cassie was grateful for the first time in her life that she was small for her age. Imagine some of those bigger first years getting knocked on the head before getting sorted. Embarrassing, that. The boat emerged from a short tunnel into a broad cavern, big enough to fit several manor houses side-by-side.
Cassie and Anjelica clung to each other as they climbed out of the boat, and then continued to hold tightly as they climbed a flight of stairs to encounter a severe looking witch with a hairy upper lip. Perhaps it was the stress of the situation or simply that Cassie had an inappropriate sense of humor, but the sight of the witch with a mustache gave her a fit of giggles, and the child had to press her face against Anjelica’s shoulder blade to keep from laughing out loud.
The speech was disappointing. They simply had to put on a hat and then go sit at their new house table. Easy and painless. What
had her brother been on about? Brennan wasn't wrong, not ever, so they must have changed things since he attended. Wait until she told him.
On the other hand, the Great Hall was impressive, especially after emerging from the dark corridors leading up from the cave at the bottom of the castle. Glittering candles seemed to outnumber the stars that appeared in the ceiling overhead. It was almost enough to distract Cassie from the long tables crowded with students packed elbow-to-elbow.
“It’s like every meal is a picnic,” Anjelica whispered, releasing Cassie's hand as they were shuffled into a single line. Her voice came right at ear-level, and it was a comfort to know her only friend at Hogwarts was still so close. “Just wish everyone wasn’t staring at us.”
Cassie watched the first few people as they were called to sit on the stool for sorting, studying every move they made. “Let’s pretend we’re famous, and they’re staring at us because they’re in awe,” she suggested, giving Anjelica an overly cheery smile before taking the dais herself. Cassie shoved her shoulders back, flipped her hair, and climbed the steps. At the top, she grinned her "I'm Brennan Cooper and you adore me" smile and waved both hands at the crowd.
As the hat settled over her eyes, Cassie slumped on the stool and breathed deeply. The hat reminded her of the old books in her grandparents’ library, both from the distinctive smell and the way the ancient fabric crackled like aged paper across her forehead. She spent a moment trying to catalog the scent, not quite mildew yet sneeze-inducing, before a rasp sounded in her ear.
“Clever girl, following the smells back through the years. Little thing like you can’t count that high,” the voice seemed awfully loud, but it didn’t take long for Cassie to figure it out: it was the HAT. Talking to her. “You want to be like your brother... but you want to stay with your friend more. Hmm. I think we’ll meet again, Cassandra Cooper.
Ravenclaw.”
With a very unladylike whoop, Cassie launched herself down the stairs toward her new house table. In mid-step, she paused and swung back around to where Anjelica still waited in line. “It’s easy. Dare you to blow kisses.”
Within the circle of her hug, she felt Anjelica’s posture stiffen. Challenge accepted. Cassie gave her a cheeky little grin and escaped to her table. Maybe Anjelica said she wasn’t brave, but she sure looked the part as she climbed the stairs toward her own sorting.
When the hat shouted
Ravenclaw again, Cassie scrambled onto the bench, waving her school cap wildly in the air and screaming and stomping along with the rest of her house. Not ladylike at ALL. She could only grin as her new friend blew bold kisses at the boys at the end of the table.
“Ravenclaw is cool,” she informed a burly older boy sitting next to her. He jerked away from her, obviously put off by her lack of manners. Cassie couldn’t be bothered at the moment. “That’s my best friend, Anj.”
The older boy shifted down the bench to escape her attentions, and Cassie slipped back down to her seat. “Look! I got you a seat,” she pointed at the now empty bench until Anj stepped over the seat and sat down. She might have said more, but the old man at the front of the Great Hall began to speak. In their excitement, the girls were oblivious.