He'd decided, while he pretended to look for the snitch today during practice, that he could not wait for the off season. While this year had started off looking like it was going to be a good one, especially now that he was on a team that looked as if they could go all the way, Vinny knew that the holidays were just going to bring him down and remind him of how not so far he'd actually come.

He did miss Victoria. He missed being loved, and that thought alone told him that it was more than just missing the woman that was the matter with him. He'd even managed to go on a few dates since their breakup, which helped the physical loneliness, but he was far from mentally fixing that aspect of his life. But, really. Women just seemed to bring him heartache and problems, so he decided, as Griff yelled at him to find the bloody snitch, that he was not going to worry about women in this next coming year.

Vinny decided he was going to think about himself, and do what he's always wanted to do.

That was why, the second he'd got home he dug through his closet and unfurled the large map of the world his father had given him when he'd graduated from Hogwarts. His father had always wanted him to travel instead of jumping head first into the world of quidditch, that Vinny was too smart to play a game for the rest of his life. Well, dad, maybe he was right.

The door opening and shutting did not make Vinny's marker miss a swish. "Derek! What sounds better, Paris then Brussels, or Brussels then Paris?"

WHO: Meredith Fielding & Derek Dobbs
WHAT: 199% Chance This Is Going To Be An Awkward Thread
WHERE: Derek's flat
WHEN: Erm... today?

( I’m sorry for barging in, but I’ll admit it’s funny to see you again. )

He'd put it off.

Derek knew that. It didn't make him feel good or better, but it hadn't exactly eaten away at him. If the decision had been his, no one beside he and Dianna would know. Not because of the shame, or that it was privileged information, or any such thing—simply because the more one talked about it, the more real it became. For every person he told, it was one more dreaded pinch from reality, an affirmation that this was not the worst nightmare he couldn't wake up from, but something he was living.

But Dianna, of all people, had reasoned with him in that chillingly serene and unflappable manner she'd adopted. All it had taken was hinting at how Derek would feel in a reversal of the circumstances… if it had been his little brother who'd found out, and then never saw fit to tell him. Then he knew, it was time to come to terms with reality, with the gravity of the situation, if only because it was what she wanted. Dianna had to come first in every respect.

He contemplated the door to Darien's residence. Derek had been distant with him, but no more so than normal, he'd thought. More than one person had commented on his increased anger and aggression on the field, however, and he'd spent far more time than necessary on the clock, because it meant avoiding home, his sister, his roommate, and that swirling pit of guilt that he was undoubtedly responsible for what had happened to her. Derek stood outside, striving for composure. How to begin? Where to begin? But composure never came. So he raised his hand and knocked.

"Darien? It's Derek."

Dianna stood in front of her bathroom mirror, pushing the same blonde curl behind her ear for the twentieth time in the last ten minutes. Her hair was just not sitting right. It wasn't curling onto her shoulders like it had once perfectly done during her years at Hogwarts, and she was refusing to accept the fact that it was never going to again. She had not done anything to her hair, so why should it not behave like it once had? The only thing that had changed since her Hogwarts days was...her.

She frowned at this idea and shook it away, pulling her hair into the clip whose springs were nearly worn with how often she'd secured her hair between its claws. Dianna looked down at her sink, wincing at the ring around it and forcing herself out of the bathroom, stepping over the towels that needed to be washed two weeks ago. She darted to her bedroom, ignoring the shoes and books and bags that lined the hallway, and was glad that the summer cloak she wanted to wear today was sitting on top of the pile of clothes nearest the door in her room.

Her flat, a disaster zone, was not a place she wanted to be, or a place that she wanted anyone to be. Dianna was so much more than ashamed by it, but the shame it brought terrified her out of her skin and she couldn't be moved to clean it up. That's why she hadn't had anyone over in---she jumped at the knock on her door and her heart began to race like it was going to run straight up her throat. Panic, panic! Dianna rushed to the front door and made sure she looked presentable, glad she at least had the sense to keep the front of the entrance way clear, in case she had visitors that would be shooed out into the hallway outside her flat. Dianna pushed herself up on her toes and let out a squeak. Derek?

The surprise caused her to throw the door open much wider than she had in months, "Big brother!" she let out happily. Though, Dianna did have the sense to push him forward with a hug, and out of her entrance way.

As Jonas revved up for the last song of the day, Kobe smiled brightly at the crowd. The critics had been wrong. It was a peace rally that had gone off without a hitch and no sign of death eaters, anywhere! The extra security must really be doing its job, and everyone was having a blast. She'd even seen some aurors bouncing around to the music, too! Kobe was incredibly proud of her husband, and she looked up to the clear blue sky with a wide, toothy grin.

It faded slightly, however, as some dark clouds began to roll in over the park. Remarkably fast clouds, which didn't seem natural and were already thundering loudly. The weather report had claimed they would have clear skies all day, so this was strange and----Kobe slammed her hands over her ears as the loudest roll of thunder clapped itself over the park. Immediately the clouds seemed to open up and rain began to pour down on the crowd like buckets. Well--if bad weather was the worse of their problems, they'd done a pretty good job, right?

Kobe gasped as a bolt of green lightening shot through the crowd, followed by the terrified screams of the concert goers.

"No, nonono----" she let out from the side of the stage. Where had they all come from? The bloody sky? Kobe started towards Jonas, to pull her husband off the stage because while they had met during a catastrophe, she really did not feel like enduring another one, "Jonas!" she screamed, but was thrown off balance as the stage began to creak and shake as if an earthquake was beginning to rumble underneath.

Peace didn't stand a chance, these days.

Are people buying it?

It was very inconvenient trying to meet up with a hitwizard, did you know? If she didn't know any better, Meredith would have thought that Derek had been trying to avoid their meeting--which, honestly, was just fine with her. If he kept moving it back, even after they had already moved it back, then no one could say that she hadn't tried, and eventually she could just stop rescheduling and forget about it, guilt-free. So, he had saved her life twice in one day. So what? She was trying to show him some appreciation, but if he didn't show up, then what could she really do?

Okay, so he said he was busy with work, and work was saving the lives of other people, but still. She didn't really owe him anything, did she? He had said it himself, it was his job, anyone would have done it, so.

So this was the last time she would wait for him, only to get an apology owl an hour later about how he'd gotten tied up at the Ministry. Meredith flicked her wrist around to check the time as she tapped a rhythm of impatience with a set of newly manicured nails against the tabletop of the Leaky Cauldron. Ten more minutes she'd wait for him, and then she was done trying this. Ten more minutes and he threw her conscience out the window for her.

Veronica hadn't had a chance to grab onto and console Bess after she'd broken the news about Fabian. The woman had run out of the restaurant in her panic, disapparated and---she didn't know how she'd gotten here, or inside, but she had and she'd spent the night and following day curled up in the old bed they---she and Fabian, used to share. The house she and Fabian lived in once upon a time had been under renovation since April. Neither of them had been able to sign the papers to sell the place, because what if...what if, one day, they could come back here and...The walls that used to reverberate laughter were now silent and dark.

She was a shitty person. Out of the few thoughts that were going through Bess' mind in the past two days (two days? Two days already?), that was the loudest. She was the most terrible person she knew, she was the most selfish. How could she have given Fabian such a rough time? Why was she so goddamn needy? Other people went through worse, and...and she tried to tell herself, that whenever Fabian gave her the time of day, she accepted it and loved him for it, so it wasn't....she should have appreciated him more. What else was there to say? She was the girl who wasn't his girlfriend when he died.

When he died.

Bess sat on the porch swing Fabian had taken a week to install, looking like a child in an old jersey of Fabian's that had been left behind. Every other thought brought tears to her eyes, and Bess let the wind push her back and forth, exerting no energy of her own.

"And you know what? There is not a sale worth going out in this heat, I'm serious!"

Javier grinned, putting up his hands in a defensive manner, "I'm sorry, but I don't need a pair of robes that badly, have you seen those temperatures? I'm surprised Fortescue's is still standing, would've thought they'd have melted awaaaaaay----whoa, what is---"

He gripped onto the desk, eyes widening as he rumbled and rolled away because the fucking building was shaking! Javier let out numerous words that were not politically correct to say on the wireless, and toppled out of his chair, busting his head on the floor. Strings of angry Spanish soared out of his mouth as he crawled up to his knees, and Javier grabbed the microphone.

Through the glass he saw that the other members of his staff were looking like they'd just been shot, and it took Javier a few good seconds to realize what the fuck happened, as another rumbling, rolling coursed through the studio. Javier dropped to the ground, covering his head with his hand as he shouted angrily into the microphone:

"ARE WE EXPERIENCING A FUCKING EARTHQUAKE IN DIAGON ALLEY?"

ooc: http://www.scribbld.net/users/valesco_mods/32947.html

Who: Derek and Emmeline
What: HATING LIFE. Oh, and a super bad idea.
Where: Idk, a bar. Somewhere. Muggle?
When: ...today

( Anyone ever tell you you are one lucky little girl? )

James felt like he was in a zoo on display, the feeling of a million pairs of eyes sitting upon him. Dumbledore had set up the Hog's Head as an 'informational meeting' of sorts, for people they had all suggested, thought of, and found to be highly trustworthy. These people were going to be offered to put their lives on the line for their dying secret society, and James was surprised as hell that so many had actually shown up.

They were all idiots, he believed.

But then again, they must all think that he and the rest of the original Order (he felt so old, saying that) were out of their minds. To them, the Order was just a bunch of kids who got caught up in a big, ugly mess and were now crying for help. Which it felt like, sometimes, but James wasn't ready to admit that out loud. He wasn't sure if he ever could, which was why he was staying uncharacteristically silent through the whole engagement. He was slumped in one of the booths of the tavern, eyes following the mingling and quite chatter that was going on.

Drinks will be served! Dumbledore had ended jovially, and James had sighed. Part of him felt like a wretched person for getting more and more people involved into the war, but the other, very tired part of him was ready to hand over the reigns and let Voldemort get some new toys to play with.

( OOC )

Okay, so this reunion?

FANTASTIC IDEA.

Giada couldn't even---there was just so---IT WAS ALL JUST SO EXCITING. She'd seen these people and talked to them and what have you, but to have everyone grouped together, it was--brilliant! The stories that came up and the laughter and it was just right, and she felt like this was absolutely what everyone needed. It seemed like everyone in their year had been touched by the war, and--it was definitely noticeable with some people, but wasn't it better to try and move on with people who actually cared about you, then to sit and let time try to fix everything? Sometimes you needed a smile or a hug, it was just human nature.

Or it was just Giada Vance's nature, but! It was a good medicine, she liked to think.

The hall was gorgeous, and she found herself adjusting the plates and utensils and cups on the buffet table to make them alternate in position and just---looking perfect, because everything was perfect! Almost! It was as perfect as it could possibly be, and that was AWESOME.

She whirled around at a hand on her elbow, and Giada's face lit up brightly, "OH MY GOSH HI!" she let out, literally throwing her arms around them.