Weekly Drabble Challenge - Word Beads #2

[mugglemathdork]

Woot!
Word beads are back!

You must use the following words in your prompt: cat, Victorian, pompous, infuse, and harness.

The following form must be used when submitting your drabble responses to this post -

Name:
House:
Title:
Warnings:
Words:

Winners will be awarded 15, 10, and 5 points respectively.

All drabbles must be less than 500 words; All standard grammar rules, and MNFF submissions guidelines apply.

The challenge will be up for a week, and be closed exactly a week later (November 16th).

MithrilQuill and I will be judging them and posting results a couple of days later.

All questions should be referred to the Question Corner - Do not post questions here. Only drabbles!

Other than that...have fun!

~Gato Loco & Mith~

[Pondering]

Name: Pondering
House:Ravenclaw
Title: Not Tourists
Warnings:None
Words: 498

Hermione wished the dreadful spinning would stop already. Luckily she didn’t feel nauseous as it seemed as her stomach had disappeared entirely. The only sensation she had was Ron’s sweaty hand clasped in her own.

She fell to the floor with a painful flump: the journey was over. She opened her eyes slowly, taking in the look of concern on Ron’s face. “Next time we travel to the other side of the world,” Hermione said weakly, “we’re taking an airplane.”

Ron looked slightly alarmed at this information, but he had been the one who had managed to land on his feet after the inter-continental Portkey. She swore that the device should have some sort of safety harness, but decided it would be impossible to incorporate.

A pompous looking official came towards them to go over their wands with a Secrecy Sensor. When he pronounced them clear, Hermione and Ron thought they would be free to go, but they were sadly mistaken. They remained rooted to the spot as pamphlets and brochures were speedily passed into their hands.

The last thing they received was a large map. The title read: Your Magnificent Guide to Magical Melbourne.

After that, they were ushered past the magical barrier that lead to a busy Muggle street.

Ron shuffled through the parchments in his arms. “The Victorian Ministry of Magic is insane! We’re not going to have time for all this sightseeing!”

Hermione looked longingly at one of the brochures, which proudly proclaimed the opening hours of some Ned Kelly Museum. “Ned Kelly was a wizard?” she asked in surprise. “Who knew?”

“Hermione,” Ron said sharply, “we’re here to find your parents, remember? There’ll be time to infuse yourself with Australian culture later. Do you still have their address?”

“Of course I do, Ron,” Hermione snapped, putting the brochures in her pocket and withdrawing a smaller piece of parchment. “It’s right here.”

“Is it safe to chuck these out?” Ron asked, still holding his tourist information.

Hermione glanced at it. “I think so. The entrance to the Victorian Ministry’s on a busy Muggle street. There’s nothing obviously magical about them, but they’re on parchment…”

Ron shrugged and threw his parchments in the bin. Hermione pursed her lips and did not follow suit.

“Why didn’t you bring the cat?” Ron asked.

Hermione glared at him. “The cat’s name is Crookshanks, and he wouldn’t have appreciated the journey. Why do you want to know all of a sudden, anyway?”

Ron looked slightly miffed. “I was just trying to show that I care.”

“You chose the completely wrong way to go about it!” Hermione yelled as a tram trundled past them, ringing its bell. The noise shocked her out of her ranting.

“I thought we were meant to ride that…thing…to get to your parents’ house.” He pointed to the tram.

“We can wait for the next one,” Hermione said, sitting down. “It’s not as if my parents are waiting for me. They don’t even remember my name.”

Victoria is an Australian state, and Melbourne is its capital city.

--Tash

[hermybabay82]

Name:hermybabay82 (Stacy)
House:Gryffindor
Title: Memories
Warnings:Fluff?
Words:376


My memories had become absolutely befuddled since that pompous boy had first entered Hogwarts. The boy looked exactly like his father, and acted like him to, but that wasn't what completely put me off. It was his eyes. He had his mother's eyes.

The fact that he had his mother's eyes was significant, or at least that's what Dumbledore had said. The only person that had ever been able to harness my total hatred for James Potter had been her. I harbored that same hatred toward the boy, who could blame me after all the father had put me through. But those eyes, those deep pools of emerald I thought, drifting off into a rough sleep.

As I watched the door of the two story Victorian house she exited, carrying her cat, Shadow. I had been waiting to see her all day and now it soothed me. Lily had been refusing to speak to me since my last slight on her sister, Petunia, some days before. I had come to make amends for it and I thought about what I might say to her as she took a seat on the railing, her back to the street.

"Lily, how are you today?"

She jumped as she turned around, her eyes going to slits as she scowled at me. "Sev, you scared me. What are you doing here anyway, I haven't seen you at the park all weekend."

My heart seemed to lift immediately upon hearing that she had been looking for me. "I just thought I would stop in to see if you were still sore with me, you aren't I assume."

"No. Petunia's been over it for a while, I've just been teasing you with it," she replied with a slight wrinkle of her nose, a devilish grin spread across her face.

She knew exactly how to infuse my heart and it fluttered watching her giggle as we continued our conversation. Merlin, how I loved her. If she only knew.

With a jolt I woke up. I hadn't dreamed of Lily in nearly nine years. It tormented me now just as it had then, even with my happier memories. The fact was that I had lost Lily long ago... but that is another memory altogether.

[kathyhermy123]

Name: Kathyhermy123
House: Hufflepuff
Title: No Buts.
Warnings: None.
Word Count: 199

Christmas with the Weasels

“I am spending my holidays where?” Scorpius shrieked, shooting straight through two octaves in his furious disbelief.

“With the Weasleys.” Principal Granger was adamant as she infused her tea with chamomile.

“But..."

"No buts."

"But that mean's that I'll have to spend it with Teddy!" Scorpius said the name with great disgust.

“No buts, and is that a problem?” asked the Headmistress frostily.

“But, Professor, Teddy’s a completely stuck-up, pompous little bra-”

“Mr. Malfoy, remember your manners! You are going to the Weasley’s for Christmas. And I advise you to keep your big mouth in check while you are there – I doubt that Nymphadora will appreciate your referring to her son in that manner. And I repeat: no buts.”

“You interfering, ugly, little Victorian- Ahh!” Scorpius muttered, then screeched as a bushy ginger tail brushed past his leg. He shuddered as the cat glanced up at him. “But, Professor, couldn’t you at least put a harness on that thing?” he asked sullenly.

“No, I cannot, and I will not. And no buts,” said the Headmistress. She then signaled that the meeting was over by starting to paint her nails.

Scorpius stomped out of the room.

[cmwinters]

Author: cmwinters
House: Slytherin
Title:
Word count: 486
Warnings: Medicinal uses of some dangerously and highly poisonous plants. Snape here is suffering from the aftereffects of Cruciatus, and being the Potion master he is, happens to have the palliative herbs on hand. However, in addition to their antispasmodic, narcotic, and analgesic qualities, belladona and datura are poisonous and can kill you, valerian stinks to high heaven and opium is addictive. Don't try this at home. Also, "pissed" in this context is, so near as I can tell, not profanity and refers to becoming intoxicated.

Severus Snape Apparated to a grim old square in what was becoming an increasingly derelict part of London. The crumbling Victorian facades of the architecture surrounding him brought a satisfied smirk to his tight features.

He stepped carefully around the pocked and uneven street and paused for a moment, debating the merits of Apparating to the top step of the house he'd arrived at. He ultimately decided against it and raised a nearly-imperceptibly trembling hand to the railing. Voluminous robes disguised the fact that had to harness nearly all his remaining energy to simply haul himself up the steps.

At the top step he weaved unsteadily for a moment and breathed a great sigh of relief when he managed not to topple over. But his careful opening of the door and meticulous stepping inside was almost undone when he nearly tripped over Granger's ridiculous feline weaving between his feet. Pompous cat. He had half a mind to hex it, but had no desire to hear teenaged female hysterics and restrained himself. He scowled as the animal pranced off, looking absurdly effeminate with its fluffy tail waving back and forth in the air.

He slipped into the kitchen and into a chair with great relief, oblivious to Sirius Black scowling at him from across the table.

"Tea, Severus, dear?" Molly Weasley asked in a syrupy voice.

"I'll make my own," he ground out with great difficulty.

Tight-lipped, the Weasley matriarch set a small pot of water, a mug, a bottle of red liquid and a glistening new tea-ball in front of him. He nodded his appreciation and fished a pouch out of his robes. With careful precision borne of many years practice, he deftly added a carefully measured mixture of datura and great morel to the firewhiskey and valerian and poppy to the ball and poured the boiling water over it.

“MERLIN'S BEARD, SNIVELLUS!” Black bellowed from roughly two feet away as the unmistakable stench of decaying flesh and dirty feet wafted through the air on the rolls of steam emanating from the heavy earthenware mug in front of Snape. “What rotgut are you concoting? If you want to get pissed that bad even I'd share before letting you stink up my house that way! Or is it to cover the evidence of your bad hygiene habits?”

Snape glared at him. “Even if I were so inclined, which I am not, I do not have the unlimited free time to 'get pissed', as you so euphemistically put it, Black. Some of us have jobs to do . . . in fact, some of us do more than one.”

Snape ignored Black's splutter of outrage as Dumbledore walked in to the kitchen. Concentrating on the Headmaster's voice, Snape breathed shallowly as his muscles fought to contort into a rictus of agony, willing the herbs to infuse before he was forced to give his report.

[mugglemathdork]

Congrats to the four people that entered submissions. It's always so hard to choose just three.
However, the following stood out for well developed plot/background and staying canon. Good work to all of you!
I look forward to seeing your drabbles in other challenges.

~Gato Loco

1st: <no title> ~ cmwinters of Slytherin
2nd: Memories ~ hermybabay of Gryffindor
3rd: Not Tourists ~ Pondering of Ravenclaw