My Own Symphony (Bill)

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, border-radius: 1em; -moz-border-radius: 1em; background-image:url(http://i56.tinypic.com/2wom9du.png), width: 400px; height: 400px;] I should be content but something's just not satisfied What is it I'm really after? Cause there are some questions that need some answers. What is it I'm really after? The clock's ticking so I can't wait around Eirian wasn’t quite sure what to think about a meeting that hadn’t been her idea in the first place, but more likely her father’s. She might be ambitious, yes, and beginning your sixth’ year at Hogwarts meant you slowly had to watch out for your career, but… having things sorted out by your FATHER wasn’t exactly the way Eirian wanted to go about this. She hadn’t told him that of course, there was no need to cause any scene just because she rather would like to achieve things on her own. He had only wanted the best for her after all, and having contacts in the ministry surely helped with such things. Most people – and her father was surely no exception – just got so emotionally worked up, if they felt like being rejected, even if there was no logical reason for it at all. Of COURSE she would not reject him because she wanted to play stubborn daughter and be mean. She just… but even thinking about it was moot, since it had been arranged now. The Leaky Cauldron wasn’t as busy at this time of midmorning as it usually would be, since most of the wizarding world would be working at this time of day. All the better this Bill Weasley had agreed on meeting her still. She had never met him, even though she knew three of his brothers and his sister more or less well, all having been in the Quidditch teams of Gryffindor. Would he be very different from them all? It seemed like there could be almost no greater difference between Ron and the twins on one hand, and then Ginny, at least from what Eirian had been able to deduce. But then, this was about work, not about the person. Bill Weasley was a cursebreaker for Gringotts, and since you also had to be fit about a few certain other things (including History) when pursueing such a career, Eirian had to admit her father might have just made the right choice in suggesting such a career for her. But she would have to see first, hear a few things Bill told about the pros and cons, until she considered it more. Being a little fashionably early as always, Eirian entered the pub and as she saw no red hair flickering up somewhere in the room, chose a table at the end of it, up against the wall. It felt a little more secure that way, but she also made sure to have a window nearby… you never knew after all, if something happened and a fire broke out. She was acting completely subconscious with these things, but couldn’t quite seem to shake them off even after all those years. Ordering a butterbeer from Tom, she then immerged herself in her latest murder mystery, “Behind the Broken Mirror” by Evander Cogburn. This was turning out to be quite the challenge… she was almost halfway through it and yet still had three people on her list who could be the murderer. Usually, she knew the solution by that point at LATEST and with some really bad books, she could call it out after only two chapters. © melly welly from caution 2.0 | LYRICS BY MARIE DIGBY OUTFIT: HERE | 530 WORDS | NOTES: Hope that’s okay

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[williamweasley]

My Own Symphony

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: 110000; border: #610B0B solid 4px; width: 450px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] Ignoring the stack of papers on his desk that Bill knew had to be managed by the end of the day, the eldest of the Weasley family children carefully turned over a cryptograph he had been sent from his old supervisor back in Egypt, the goblin named Gurnuk. This was the second time since he had taken up his desk job in the Goblin Liaison Office that Gurnuck had sent him a newly unearthed and heavily difficult puzzle to crack, which was as much a blessing as it was a curse (No pun intended). He had barely been in the office an hour when the paperwork had bored him to the point of tears, which had called for an immediate break. The cryptograph had since occupied him for an hour, and he was now confident in the placement of one of the glyphs, which had him rather certain he knew where the next one went. This cryptograph was interesting, in the fact it had been located in a pyramid that was at least six hundred years older than the glyphs on the graph, indicating to Gornuk and Bill both that it had been placed there after the tomb was sealed. What had both of them curious was why a cryptograph had been placed within a closed tomb, some six hundred years after its sealing; Gornuk didn’t have the time to solve the mystery, what with having a considerably nasty set of mummification curses to manage (not to mention the scarab swarm accidentally released by one of the junior curse breakers, who had misread a glyph and caused the curse to be cast as opposed to broken) so the cryptograph had found its way to Bill. According to Gurnuk, taking a desk job was a waste of Bill’s uses (As good a compliment as any from a goblin) and he ought to be perfectly capable of monitering ‘useless quill pushing’ whilst doing more ‘worthwhile’ things with his time. Which was more or less true – generally speaking Bill tended to waste a lot of time at the office doing various things, before grabbing his stack of paperwork and flying through it all toward the end of the night. Not the most efficient way to do things, but he hadn’t misfiled anything yet and the goblins hadn’t said anything about it, so he figured things were well enough. Just as he was carefully setting the next glyph, there was a sharp jab at his elbow that made him bite his lip to keep from snapping at his current goblin supervisor, Jorfnik. Setting the cryptograph down with painstaking calmness, Bill looked down at the goblin who had just stabbed him with the pointy end of a quill. Rather than say anything, Jorfnik thrust a letter at Bill, nearly hitting him in the face with it he brought it up so close to the redhead’s nose. Bemused, Bill took the missive and watched Jorfnik toddle on back to his desk before opening it. The moment he read the greeting and opening statement, Bill’s stomach turned over in horror. The letter was from Gwillym Hughes, who had spoke to Bill just last week about having a discussion with his daughter, Eirian, about a career path in Curse Breaking. Thanks to his preoccupation with the cryptograph, he had completely forgotten that meeting was today. Getting to his feet, Bill rushed over to Jorfnik’s desk to let him know he had a meeting to attend to, only to be gruffly informed he had booked the time off last week and thus, Jorfnik was already aware. Feeling suitably shamed for the second time, Bill turned and made a mad dash for the lifts, reading the remainder of the letter while making his way down to the Atrium. He was to meet Eirian at the Leaky Cauldron – two minutes ago. Rushing off the lift, Bill jumped aside in order to avoid crashing into a goblin who was carting a stack of papers twice its size, likely heading up to the liaison office, and finding himself doubly grateful for his early morning excuse for escape. Taking a free Floo, Bill called for the Leaky Cauldron and setepped out into the pub moments later, only slightly stumbling. He wasn’t completely graceful with Floo travel, but he wasn’t as hopeless as Ron either. Looking around the Cualdron for a girl matching Gwillym’s description of his daughter, Bill took note of a girl with her head bowed over a book seated at one of the window tables. She seemed to be about the right age, and her looks matched the description better than anyone else, so Bill made his way over to her. Upon reaching her table, he announced his presence with a slight cough like he would use on Percy to get his attention when he was lost in a book. ”Wotcher,” Bill greeted cheerfully, having used Ducky’s way of greeting folk in jest so often that it was almost a shared greeting now. ”Not sure if you’re who I’m looking for, but the name’s Bill Weasley,” he stated, holding out his hand. ”You wouldn’t be Eirian Hughes by any chance?” He inquired, hoping he hadn’t just put his foot in it and approached the wrong lass. That would make this day just brilliant. original template made by missickle ;; edits by mete

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, border-radius: 1em; -moz-border-radius: 1em; background-image:url(http://i56.tinypic.com/2wom9du.png), width: 400px; height: 400px;] I should be content but something's just not satisfied What is it I'm really after? Cause there are some questions that need some answers. What is it I'm really after? The clock's ticking so I can't wait around It didn’t take Eirian long to be thoroughly absorbed into her book and the mystery it held. Evander Cogburn was surely one of her favourite murder mystery writer, since he never ceased to surprise her with his stories. It was often enough that once you’ve figured out one of their plots, you roughly knew how the others would go, as you simply knew the tools they used and how to look out for them, but this man was refreshingly unique and imaginative in the way he presented characters. You really had to watch out for every single word, as they all were carefully placed. Right now he was describing the interior of Tarabitha Glowkell’s living room, one of the people high up on Eirian’s list. This lady might not seem like much, what with her confident, yet soft voice and her fondness of cats, but then she had a very believable and substantial motive: Guthrum Hagnarsson had betrayed her some time ago, gaining her trust and then stealing a breakthrough idea in the field of Arithmancy, publishing it as his own before she could. He had pulled similar stunts with other people as well, which hadn’t made him a very popular person. Eirian had already wondered if Mr. Cogburn had let himself be inspired by the rumors around Gilderoy Lockhart a few years ago. Just right now, the auror who was ivestigating the case – since Guthrum Hagnarsson had been definitely killed through the use of darkest magic – was asking the poor Miss Glowkell about the substance of their quarrel in detail. She tried to make light of it, while not hiding her contempt for the victim; but claimed she had long since given up her tries on winning her glory back. This the author let be followed by the auror looking over old Daily Prophet articles the suspect had hanging around the walls. Most of them seemed to be about Arithmancy while a few especially focussed on new insights of the Chaldeon method. This was when it hit Eirian and she gasped under her breath. In split seconds her mind was running into over-drive, connecting hints she had been overlooking up until now. The number eight… possibly shortly after the murder, the number eight had been hexed into the victim’s right palm and on the wall behind a broken mirror. When it had first been mentioned, Eirian had automatically run a few tests in her mind what the seven could possibly mean, but she had crossed out Arithmancy since none of the suspects names referred in any way to this number, especially not Tarabitha’s… but, like usually, she had used the more common Aggripinan chart… and not the rarer Chaldeon method. Since her OWLs had been on that particular chart, Eirian didn’t need it in front of her eyes anymore to count the name numbers for Tarabitha Glowkell. Of course it was an eight… so simple, yet so utterly brilliant. It was nothing but a hint… but Eirian thought she had solved the riddle now. “Ha!” she exclaimed lowly, “Gotcha, Evander… you can’t fool me! I wonder how long your auror will take…” That was when she was pulled from her triumphant reverie by a low cough, and when she looked up, she saw herself confronted with a tall redhaired man. Since she had been awaiting just such a figure, Eirian took a leap of faith in her head and decided this must be Bill Weasley even before he introduced himself as such. Putting the book down on the table, she slightly rose in her seat and took his hand into her own. “You’re spot-on. I’m indeed Eirian Hughes, and I was adviced to meet you here. It’s nice to meet you, Bill.” Even though she still wasn’t as sure about this whole talk, she decided she would give him a chance, if only because he had such a friendly and upbeat look about him. Subconciously, Eirian compared him to the Weasleys she knew, and came to the deduction that he was by far the most handsome of the bunch she had witnessed being in Hogwarts. But that was merely an aesthetical observation for Eirian, a sidenote she would not follow further. After all, this was about the person and his job, not his looks. The peculiar greeting he had given her – after all, who on earth still used the slang version of a 17th century greeting?! – made her wonder just what sort of man he might be, if this job maybe required people to be a little quirky – and Merlin knew she wasn’t exactly that type of girl. But then,she was also not one to solely judge people by the worst words they said; she would simply have to wait and see, and better act as adult about this as she could. He surely wouldn’t want to waste his time with airheaded talk. “I don’t know exactly what my father told you about me, so I guess I’ll have to wing this”, she started with a smile. “But anyway, I’m a Ravenclaw student in my sixth year and slowly I should think about possible futures. I heard this job you have being mentioned once or twice, but I can’t really imagine what it looks like or what the requirements are you need. So… that’s where you come in.” © melly welly from caution 2.0 | LYRICS BY MARIE DIGBY OUTFIT: HERE | 889 WORDS | NOTES: Awww don't you worry! It's amazing!! Poor Bill

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[williamweasley]

My Own Symphony

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: 110000; border: #610B0B solid 4px; width: 450px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] Bill had to fight the way his lips had twitched upon overhearing the lass talking to her book; it was something that reminded him a bit of Charlie and Percy both. Though of course, Charlie tended to be telling his books off for having so many words in them, while Percy tended to mutter calculations to himself as he read – a skill in mental multi-tasking Bill couldn’t help but admire from afar. The issues with Percy were still troublesome to Bill, but he was wise enough to keep his nose out of it. He didn’t like coming between his parents and his siblings unless absolutely necessary; it was that carefully balanced neutrality during the tenser moments that kept Bill in consistently good graces with said siblings, after all. Giving the girl’s hand as firm a shake as he would anyone else he happened to meet, Bill smiled and returned the sentiments before stepping to the seat across from her and pulling it out. As she looked him over, Bill wondered how he might come across to someone who likely only knew his younger siblings, twins and under. He had not bothered to change his appearance for this meeting – one, because he’d plumb forgot about it, and two because he had never once been the sort of person to change his ways for appearances sake. He was fully proud of who and what he was; the eldest and most unconventional of the Weasley children. Charlie was certainly making an attempt to beat him out on the unconventional bit, but as long as he kept dressing like a dragonologist as opposed to someone who frequented one too many rock concerts, he would always have mom’s favor over Bill. So it was that Bill had his hair back in its customary tail, his dragon fang earring dangling proudly from his left ear, with an outfit that was a far cry from your typical Ministry worker. A pair of black jeans that may have been a touch too worn for professionalism were tucked into a pair of well-kept dragonhide boots. His belt sported a small array of dangling bits, including a small pouch, a string of what could have been Grindylow teeth and an odd looking silver implement that had a bit of a magnifying element on the end of it. His shirt was a vintage Weird Sisters shirt from their first tour and had the faded look that attested to its age, and overtop it all he had a long, slightly worn black duster; all in all, he didn’t exactly give off the air of an uppity gentleman, to say the least. As she introduced herself, Bill gave her his undivided attention, nodding a bit at the mention of her house, having been informed as such by her father. With a slight smile at her ending explanation, Bill leaned back a bit and decided to start with what he considered to be the most important aspect of Curse-Breaking; personality. Just because a person had the brains to get the O.W.L.’s and the N.E.W.T.’s didn’t mean they had the mindset for Curse-Breaking – that was something only personality and heart could tell for. ”Well I suppose the first thing I’ve got to ask is what exactly interests you about Curse-Breaking, and what exactly you’ve been told. The requirements don’t exactly spell it all out, though I can certainly tell you those,” He added with a grin, automatically falling into a bit of an interviewers mode as he leaned back in his seat, folding his hands behind his head in a laid back sort of way meant to keep her from feeling on edge about the questions and make it clear that this was still all fairly casual. ”Curse-Breaking is one of the more entertaining jobs in the Ministry, I can tell you that much – but its also fairly dangerous. You need to be able to think on your toes and you definitely need to have a knack for figuring things out. Most of the curses we end up working with are more along the lines of really archaic puzzles,” Bill pointed out, knowing how more than one recruit had been turned off by the idea of brain-teasers day in and day out that could lead to loss of limb if you messed up on them. ”From the sounds of that book you’re reading, seems you like a bit of suspense,” Bill thought to point out, ”Curse-Breaking can be bit of a playground for those who like something to puzzle through and are quick enough with both wand and mind to mitigate the damage that could come from a misstep. How good would you say you are with Defense and Charms?” He added, subtly leading into N.E.W.T. requirements, which were sure to be brought up soon enough. original template made by missickle ;; edits by mete

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, border-radius: 1em; -moz-border-radius: 1em; background-image:url(http://i56.tinypic.com/2wom9du.png), width: 400px; height: 400px;] I should be content but something's just not satisfied What is it I'm really after? Cause there are some questions that need some answers. What is it I'm really after? The clock's ticking so I can't wait around Eirian hadn’t given the exact routine of this encounter much thought, which was quite unusual for her, but that must be due to the fact that it had not been HER planning this an initiating this. Had it been her, she would have a carefully laid out plan by now, and not just a sketchy outline of the questions she might find herself asking. If anything, she had thought this to be a one-sided interview, but this apparently wasn’t what Bill Weasley had in mind. It was surprising, but certainly not badly so. Despite his rather quirky look – she could have easily mistaken him for the member of some rock band like the Weird Sisters, and he was even wearing a shirt of them! – he seemed to be a man that liked to talk business once he was getting down to it, just like Eirian liked to. She might not be a perfect no-nonsense girl, but she certainly put work before much else, and would like to know what she was dealing with once she decided on something. For that she needed pointers, and direct ones at that, not some indecisive ‘could be’s and ‘maybe’s. Of course, this job looked like one of the least predictable you could imagine, but even telling her that would be a clear statement. Something she could work with. So, now she was the one having to answer questions? Alright, she would go with that, if it helped him, even though this suddenly more had the air of her applying for a job instead of asking about one. But then, this might also help her for the future as well. And interview situation. She might only be sixteen, but she could do this. Maybe not as professional as an adult, but as long as she answered honestly and clear, everything would be alright. She was already thinking too hard about this anyway. There was nothing at stake here, nothing to lose, only to gain! “Well… I’ve certainly heard about Curse Breaking being an unusual job, that it contains office work as well as outdoor, field work. That you have to figure ways around obstacles, and that is what I like. I love figuring things out, I’m a tinker, but more with my mind than my hands. I think a usual office job where you have a set routine of doing the same things over and over again would slowly bore me to death.” She gave a shrug and a smile. “If I was a muggle I might become a profiler or something, finding the missing link others overlook in a series of crimes.” Eirian had no idea if that answer would satisfy him, but it was all she could give for now. She then listened with great interest to his own elaboration, her body leaned slightly forward and all her senses tuned in on him, so she would not miss the tiniest detail of what he said. It really seemed to be just what she had been looking for. Thinking on your toes… figuring things out. Be quick with your mind all over, especially when there were dangerous decisions to be made. Like in those figurative puzzles where you had to find out which of the flacons that were presented to you contained poison, and which one was safe to drink. Or the more harmless variations of it: ‘who does the dragon belong to’. Such games always gave Eirian so much joy, and turning this joy into a job sounded like a dream come true. Her eyes lit up further at the mentioning of puzzles, and she gave the book inside her an affectionate pat. “Murder mysteries are one of my favourite pastimes, though some of them can be far too easy to figure out. The only problem with them is that I only can read them once, makes them a little moot to buy.” That was what her parents were saying anyway. Her books were already piling up in her room at home, since Eirian also was an incredibly fast reader, and if she couldn’t read back on most of them because she already had figured out all the clues and was reminded of them the minute she stumbled over a certain word, what was the use in keeping them? Recently there had been an ulitmatum in the Hughes household: Either she would re-sell them once she was through with them, so the money spent on them wasn’t completely wasted, or she would have to rely on library books from now on. The decision had been postponed until the Christmas Holidays, but Eirian knew she had to make it soon. Bill then was asking about her grades, and Eirian was glad he had started out with these two. DADA only hadn’t been her strongest subject, because of the certain… personal obstacles she had to deal with. She had nearly failed in Third Year because of the boggart that had taken the form of the Grim for her and she had been pretty shaken up by it until she had figured out a way to turn a frightening black dog into a clumsy, adorable puppy that constantly tripped over his own four feet. For her OWLs that had gladly worked perfectly. Charms however was a wonderful subject, one of her favourites after Arithmancy. The things you could do with a wand were surely pretty amazing! “Well, in my OWLs last year I had an E in Defense and an O in Charms, though I was surprised by that. I might be smart, but I’m not an all out O-student.” Especially not with Potions… ugh, she still could feel the shame churning in her guts when she had gotten that failing grade – FAILING! – in her Potions examination, because there had been an old-fashioned crackling fire underneath the kettle. Taking a sip of her butterbeer, Eirian decided to come back to one certain point in the conversation she wanted to clarify before continuing. It simply sounded too good to be true. “So you’d say… for someone who loves solving riddles almost above everything, Curse-Breaking could be a good job? What was the trickiest riddle you’ve ever been faced with?” © melly welly from caution 2.0 | LYRICS BY MARIE DIGBY OUTFIT: HERE | 1036WORDS | NOTES: sorry I rambled

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[williamweasley]

My Own Symphony

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: 110000; border: #610B0B solid 4px; width: 450px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] Although Bill was aware of the fact that Eirian was just asking about Curse-Breaking, he was also aware of the fact that this had been very much her father’s idea, which was something that had him wondering if Curse-Breaking was even something the girl would be interested in. It was in the spirit of seeing what she wanted by getting a bit of an idea of her personality that had him turning the tables on her. That, and Bill tended to enjoy keeping people on their toes like this, by doing the unexpected thing or going against what was considered the social norm. He couldn’t help but give a bit of a sly grin when she mentioned how much she had already heard of Curse-Breaking; the girl had a much bigger leg-up then he himself had back when he was pointed toward the career, to be certain. He gave a slight nod to indicate that what she had heard was certainly along the correct lines, and did not even bother to hide his snort at the mention of office jobs being boring. Oh, sweet and maddening Merlin, how utterly true that was. ”Sounds to me like you have a good head on your shoulders,” Bill stated brightly enough. ”I’ve heard of profilers; a bit like the Investigations Department, off the Auror Office,” Bill mused, before moving from that topic as he didn’t fully know what being an Investigator entailed; he knew you needed five years as an active Auror though, so logic seemed to dictate what you needed for an Auror would be the same as what was required for the Investigations Department. As Eirian patted her book, Bill gave a slight smile, knowing more than a few Curse-Breakers with a fondness for tearing apart mystery novels – he honestly didn’t care for them, finding them to generally follow the same sort of schematics all too often, though he certainly enjoyed breaking them down and picking them to pieces with his work mates from time to time. It was always entertaining to make predictions and figure out clues based off something he himself had not read and was only getting secondhand – especially when he got it right, as chances were there was a sickle or three headed his way on those days. ”I think that’s the reason Roald always got his books from the library,” Bill mused, recalling something or other about a mountain of mysteries being mentioned at some point. He was fairly certain that Roald had bought so many books during the seven month stay near Cairo (the largest city they’d been near in almost two years by that point) that Frankie had threatened to bludgeon Roald in his sleep if he so much as thought of buying another book; so they’d compromised. Books came and went through their tent, with Frankie’s favorite moment being the ‘went’ aspect of it all. Still, a love of mysteries and a tinkering mind was certainly a good start for someone interested in a job in Curse-Breaking. Bill wasn’t truly meant to interview her, but having been privy to more than his fair share of goblin complaints about applicants dropping out of the two year training program, he was in a way seeking to help avoid yet another one. Not everyone enjoyed the prospect of riddles, least of all riddles that could maim or kill you. A lot of people applied for the Curse-Breaking position under the impression that it was some sort of Auror-related position in which spells were created and dismantled; something that had confused Bill for the longest time until he realized those people thought that Curse-Breaking was about breaking newly made curses, as opposed to solving the puzzles left behind by those seeking to guide their treasures with tricks and magic. It was as much about the literal breaking of curses as it was the solving of all manner of puzzles, from mechanical to logical, from encoded ciphers to living labyrinths (Never fun, especially in Egypt) which was why Bill figured it to be a good idea to get a feel of what Eirian understood about the job and whether or not it was something she would really be interested in. She seemed to have a pretty good grasp on it all though; in a way he was a bit embarrassed by the fact she knew so much more about it than he had when he had actually been referred to the job from the Auror program. Still, the amount of research she had put into it indicated the job was something she was seriously considering; either that, or Curse-Breaking had gotten whole lot cooler to the public eye and Hogwarts students were talking more about it now. Bill had no idea why Curse-Breaking wasn’t as popular a topic as the Auror program, considering the fact that it was just so fun and had just as much danger attached as Dark Wizard catching did. Sure, the wizards he dealt with were long since dead, but the things they left behind sure as heck weren’t, and half the time, that could be even worse than dealing with someone in a duelling situation; at least when you were fighting someone, you didn’t have to think about it on six to seven levels. Duelling was a three tiered action at most for Bill, and he liked to think of himself as a dab hand as a duellist. Drawing himself out of his musings with a slight shake of his head, bill turned his attention back to Eirian with an apologetic yet genuine smile, in the event she had caught on to the fact his mind had wandered, as it was in the habit of doing rather frequently, as his bosses would be less than happy to attest. Perhaps he was lucky in the fact that Eirian was just as bad as he was, as her mind had also wandered, resulting in Bill coming back to the conversation roughly at the same point she started it up again with a description of her Charms and Defense scores. Not having any knowledge of her other scores, or having any awareness of her weak points, Bill gave a broad grin at the fact she had two of the most important O.W.L.’s for the program already set. ”That’s actually a really good start,” Bill told her, before deciding that now was as good a time as any to get into the details of what she would need to achieve at Hogwarts for the Curse-Breaker prerequisites. He didn’t intend to get into the application process, examination and of course two year training program until he had at least spelled out the basics needs to get into the program to begin with. ”There’s a minimum E requirement on a good handful of O.W.L.’s for curse-breaking, though sometimes they will overlook one or two of them if they are made up for in the N.E.W.T. section and you pass the application examination, so if you didn’t have Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Ancient Studies in your electives during your O.W.L. year, don’t fret it too much. Compulsory course wise, you’ll need N.E.W.T.’s of E or higher in Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Transfiguration and Potions.” Bill explained, happy to give the complete breakdown now that he felt he had a good feel of her; she seemed to have some of the head needed for Curse-Breaking, or as much as he could tell from so short a conversation thus far. As Eirian asked if Curse-breaking was a great job for the avid riddle-solver, Bill gave one of his patented wicked grins. His answer was on the tip of his tongue, brazen and proud, when her following question brought him up short. Silence descended as Bill tilted his head back to look up at the ceiling, putting some genuine thought to the question. There had been a lot of fantastic puzzles over the years, some that had really put him on his toes, others that had been so obscure it had occupied him for months, and more still that had bordered toward the deadly, making them all the more intense in his memory. After a moment, Bill lowered his head again and levelled Eirian with a more teasing smile as he asked, ”Does this question count? There’s so many to choose from, depending on your criteria,” He explained, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a scrap of parchment, which he set on the table between them. Without indicating what he was up to, Bill rummaged about in his coat until he found one of the quills he had stuffed in it. The feather was bent and misshapen from the abuse it suffered, but Bill did not seem to care as he sketched out a diagram of a mechanical puzzle he had come across in Egypt, during an excavation of a tomb hidden behind the desecrated tomb of Amenmesse. The diagram contained as much three-dimensional elements as Bill could manage, having never been entirely brilliant with artwork and had a string of illegible text written beneath it – illegible in that it made no sense, for his writing of the letters was very clear: Lyf ihkdl vrbofl tdxvs bdsy koe nvwfssw cuiq wk Turning the paper toward her, Bill tapped it and stated, ”Amenmesse’s puzzle-lock was one of my favorites, because there were about six elements of brain twisting involved,” He explained, tapping a block of the drawn puzzle with his quill. ”First, there was the lock itself; we had to figure out what shape it needed to be settled into in order to move forward – and Beznik – one of the goblins on the team – found out the hard way that misplacing a settlement caused a stream of some kind of acid to shoot out at you from a small incision in the rock,” Bill couldn’t help but wince at the memory of Beznik’s fury – not his pain; the goblin had been fine, but his temper had been right awful for weeks afterward. Moving the quill to tap the writing, Bill stated, ”Then there was this mess; it was all in hieroglyphs, so the first trick was to translate it into English, which quickly proved we were looking at a cipher – so we had to do a bit of guesswork to figure out what manner of encoding was used, while keeping in mind the timeframe of when this must have been written. Eventually, we got help from one of the locals, who translated it into Arabic, then figured out the code from there. I later messed about with it and figured out what it would have looked like in English if we’d followed the same schematic – which is this. Of course, without knowing the schematic, I would never have gotten this out – but of course, the English version was something I came up with after we’d solved everything, so its not quite as relevant,” Bill added, realizing he was losing his point, and tapping the diagram again. ”We figured out that this formed a jackal’s head –one of the best recognized symbols of Anubis, one of the Watchers according to the scripts of Ancient Egypt. The translation of the cipher was essentially May their knives never gain mastery over me, which is taken from the praising texts of the Book of the Dead, as part of the prayer for a souls safe departure from this world. The two things connect fairly logically in an obscure fashion; what made this puzzle so interesting for me wasn’t just the fact we had to work at it from multiple levels of thought, but also the sheer amount of punishment the creators put into it for those who failed to solve it,” Bill explained, having chosen this one deliberately because it matched so many criteria; thinking on your feet, riddle solving, danger and intensity. ”The acid aside, we found out after opening the seal that the cipher was in fact a warning to the solvers – it was Beznik who guessed at it too. See, had we not figured out that the cipher involved knives, we likely would not have thought to toss a weight into the tomb, which detonated a volley of blades from the roof and walls. Not only that, but two of the artifacts we uncovered were very cursed daggers that were all kinds of unpleasant,” Bill added with an untamed shudder; he still flatly refused to believe those had been used solely for mummification purposes. You didn’t make blades that nasty to use on the already dead – they were implements of torture, and nobody could convince him otherwise – though perhaps the most convincing part was that nobody had tried when he mentioned it in argument to Beznik’s assumption toward them. I wouldn’t say this was the trickiest riddle I’ve come across, but it was certainly one of the nastier ones. Not all of them are so difficult or dangerous; some can be right silly once you figure them out. There was actually a riddle once that turned out to be a really creative insult toward the mother of the woman mummified in the tomb, which lead to a lot of jokes about mothers and toads…” Bill trailed off then, a silly grin on his face as he recalled that particular incident and wondered, yet again, how dead he would be if he ever brought it up at home. Pulling himself from his thoughts, Bill gave Eirian a bit of a wink and stated what he had meant to say from the beginning. ”Curse-Breaking is Merlin’s gift to the puzzle-lover, I’ll tell you that right now. Its what drew me in, locked me down, and kept me loyal all these years. Never really was one for desk work, and Curse-breaking not only keeps my mind at work at all times, but it has me on my toes, keeps my wandwork quick and steady, and is honestly the most fun I’ve had outside of Hogwarts. I know a lot of people out there hate their jobs, and a lot of others just sort of trudge along through them, but I have never met a Curse-Breaker who didn’t absolutely love their job. Heck, one of the guys on my team was worse than a kid on Christmas when we found new tombs or hidden hallways; I swear the man lived on Pepper-Up so he wouldn’t have to sleep!” Bill stated, laughing as he remembered Frazzled Frankie and his over-zealous insanity. All the talk of Curse-Breaking was bringing a strong sense of nostalgia and almost sadness to Bill, as his heart ached to be back out there with them, solving puzzles and working out riddles as goblins barked out orders or laughed with the humans they had come to think of as ‘decent enough’ for wizards. Shaking his head to clear it, Bill waved down a waitress and asked for a cup of coffee, feeling the need for a drink before looking to Eirian. ”Would you like something to go with your butterbeer?” he asked, ”My treat.” original template made by missickle ;; edits by mete Notes: No frets! Rambling is what I respond best to, apparently, ahaha! XD Words: 2511 ._. Also, new template because the old one was way too dark for Bill xD

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, border-radius: 1em; -moz-border-radius: 1em; background-image:url(http://i56.tinypic.com/2wom9du.png), width: 400px; height: 400px;] I should be content but something's just not satisfied What is it I'm really after? Cause there are some questions that need some answers. What is it I'm really after? The clock's ticking so I can't wait around Eirian would have been lying if she said she wasn’t utterly enjoying herself already. It wasn’t often she found herself able to talk to someone on an almost equal level, especially when it came to things she liked. Either people got uninterested pretty quickly, or they just couldn’t follow her, or both. Then there was also always the issue of being underestimated, either for her age or for her gender, and Eirian never could decide which one was worse. She might not be a complete genius, but she also wasn’t a airheaded sixteen year old girly-girl, with nothing in her head than nail polish, boys and pretty dresses. In fact, until now she had found all those three things positively boring. Well, maybe not so much the dresses part, since she still liked to dress nicely, but she rather occupied her head with other riddles to solve than what dress she should wear today to be the center of attention. It was far more pleasing getting points for doing your homework right or performing a tricky spell right on first or second attempt. And here she was now, so far being treated nothing short of an adult by someone who seemingly had similar interests. She nodded when he compared Profilers to Investigation Officers in the Auror Department, since she imagined it must be something similar, even though the wizards had of course far different methods to work with than muggles would. Eirian had also peeked into muggle murder mystery books occasionally, and she was fascinated by the intricate methods they used to find someone. DNA analysis, which seemed to be the derniére crie concerning investigation, and before that fingerprints had been the thing to seek out culprits – until every last little butterbrain had learned to wear gloves of course. Still, Eirian loved comparing non-magical to magical methods and was of the firm impression many muggles were smarte than many wizards she knew, because they had had to compensate for the lack of magic which made things easier. They had found a way to make things SEEM like magic without it actually being magic, which she found extremely impressive. Why some wizards still insisted muggles were a lesser species was clearly beyond Eirian. “I’d like that too, maybe, but it doesn’t sound as thrilling. But I don’t know… I guess you only know when you try.” Bill was talking about someone she didn’t know now, probably one of his colleagues, and Eirian had to bite back a grin as she thought about how this guy’s office or whatever he had been using must have looked like. Pretty much like her own room perhaps. In Hogwarts, her dorm mates, La-La above them all, were always complaining how they couldn’t walk one inch without treading on one of Eirian’s precious books. ‘You’re going to build a whole castle around your bed with books once’, Padma Patil had said. ‘And then the walls will crumble and bury you beneath them. Death by book… how suitable for a Ravenclaw.’ “Is this a co-worker you’re talking about?”, she asked. “I hope he won’t drive you crazy with his book addiction. Only another addict can fully grasp the lure of it, believe me. It’s almost frightening sometimes, especially as it makes you be illogical about a logical thing.” It seemed like they had yet another thing in common, which could make further conversations quite interesting: Drifting off into space land, chasing after your own thoughts. It was an annoying habit that didn’t have anything to do with how interesting your counterpart or the conversation was you were having, but it sadly came across that way. Hopefully Bill wouldn’t be the easily offended type. It was often hard to break it to others that there was no reason in getting emotionally involved in a situation that was clearly not mapped out to be that way. She wasn’t doing this on purpose, after all, her thoughts and ideas often just were too strong. Still, like Meical often said, she had to be careful not to apply her own emotional distance to other people. She tried to understand them, and take them into account, but she somehow found it still silly. Gladly, though Bill seemed to be similar, and so she returned the smile with one of her own, shrugging lightly as if to say: ‘I know. It happens.’ Leaning forward, she listened to his listing of the required courses with pent up breath, her smile growing as she ticked them off in her head. The A courses, like she often called them, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Ancient Studies, she had them all down, and they were those she loved most, even though they had little to do with active magic. “That’s not a problem”, she nodded, her smile ever growing, even though she knew it might be silly to feel so happy about something that wouldn’t even be real before two years were done. But it looked more and more like she could have found something for herself, something that wouldn’t bore her for the rest of her life. Ministry jobs were popular, but they often weren’t as hard on the brain as you would wish them to be. She just couldn’t see herself sitting at a desk sorting printed forms from the right desk side to the left until the next customer came in. But then he spoke about the compulsory courses and Eirian’s face suddenly fell, a cold fist seeming to reach for her heart, squeezing it tight. Potions. Why in Merlin’s name…?! “Potions are compulsory for Curse-breaking?!” she blurted out, taking a deep shaky breath as she tried to control the weird turmoil inside her. Stay calm, be logical about it… emotions won’t help you here, she told herself and dug her nails deep into her palms. Focus… control… this is not the end of the world!. So why did it feel like it was, then? “Then that’s that, I guess”, she remarked flatly. “I failed my OWLs in Potions and won’t be taking the NEWTs.” She needed something to occupy her mind with, and quickly. She couldn’t allow emotions to take over her actions now, no matter how desperate and letdown she felt. Pushing them back in a far corner of her analytic mind was harder than she had imagined it to be, and so her smile was slightly forced when she answered to his question if this one would count: “You’re the Curse-Breaker. So, solve it for me and for yourself.” Bill seemed to have come to a conclusion since he took out a worn piece of parchment out of his pocket and laid it on the table. This was exactly what Eirian needed right now and her mind reached out for the mystery of this puzzle like someone dying of thirst would reach out for a bottle of water. Her head almost bumped with his as she leaned over the parchment, her eyes following the diagram he sketched out and the words he wrote. Lyf ihkdl vrbofl tdxvs bdsy koe nvwfssw cuiq wk. The first word could have been mistake for a word in a different language, but the rest quickly made it clear they were dealing with a cipher here, a cipher that might be hard or easy to solve. Amenmesse… that name sounded familiar somehow, but Eirian couldn’t quite place it at the moment. Perhaps something she had heard of in Ancient Studies. “That sounds nasty indeed. We’re talking Egypt, right?”, she confirmed. “So… that would nail it down to only a few known cipher techniques, or it was your bad luck being faced with one that hadn’t been figured out yet. I have no idea when exactly Amenmesse was relevant… but…”, her eyes scanned the cipher and the solution Bill had given for it, “it’s not the Caesar Substitution in any way, the substitutions are not linear towards the alphabet. L is one back from M, but already Y is three back from A, so that makes no sense.” A faint glow had appeared in her eyes that could almost be called fond and excited at the same time. “This is a hard one. I like it! And yes… I’ve heard of the Watchers, Horus is the other one beside Anubis, right?” The way Bill was telling the tale it all formed a clear and exciting picture in her head, but a picture that also made her apprehensive. Sitting here in the Leaky Cauldron over a butterbeer solving this riddle was one thing – actually being there, in Egypt, knowing that every false assumption could lead to your death something completely else! Would she be up to it, if it ever came to that? Eirian shook her head at herself. Why was she thinking about it? Now that the excitement of the riddle and the story told along with it had faded, she couldn’t close her eyes to the facts any longer. However much she would love it, she didn’t meet the requirements. And all because of her stupid phobia. Would it just continue to ruin her life on so many levels?! How in Merlin’s name was that fair?! “You sound like a cool bunch, altogether”, she stated softly, a tint of resignation already tainting her voice. “Maybe sometimes a bit more lively and carefree than I’ll ever be, but this job… it really could have been something for me. Solving riddles and having to keep a clear head through it.” She shrugged, feeling very tired all of a sudden. “Heaven. Too bad I’ll never fly high enough to reach it.” He asked if she liked something to go with her butterbeer, and suddenly Eirian could feel her stomach giving a little acknowledging growl, since she hadn’t eaten much at all today. Smiling at him thankfully, she cocked her head in thinking, trying to figure out something small to eat that wouldn’t strain his purse too much. He had offered to pay, but she certainly didn’t want to exploit that fact. “I’d take a small chicken sandwich, I think”, she decided, then turned to Bill and added. “Thanks so much!” © melly welly from caution 2.0 | LYRICS BY MARIE DIGBY OUTFIT: HERE | 1689WORDS | NOTES: haha this might have been the longest post I've ever written

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[williamweasley]

My Own Symphony

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: 110000; border: #610B0B solid 4px; width: 450px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] Bill couldn’t help but chuckle at that one. ”I wouldn’t know either way, honestly. I liked the idea of law enforcement when I was younger, but in the end found myself in Curse-Breaking, which has suited me perfectly ever since. I don’t know too much about the law careers beyond the basic requirements, honestly, though I imagine they’re all thrilling in their own way. Couldn’t tell you a thing about the Muggle job requirements though,” he stated, sounding genuinely mystified at how Muggles managed it all. At her question, Bill gave a nod before laughing a bit. ”I was lucky enough to not be bunked with him, so his book collection never bothered me much, honestly speaking. Though I can certainly understand the obsession – Merlin knows I’ve got my fair share of artifacts that loiter about simply to drive people mad,” he added, his grin at once devilish and teasing, as though he knew full well what things of his annoyed people, and he took some fun in making sure said things were noticed by said people. He was glad to see that the requirements seemed to be of little trouble to Eirian, as she seemed quite eager after what he’d mentioned. Yet, as he mentioned Potions, he all but watched the heart snuff out of the girl, leaving behind something cold and almost frightened. Blimey; he knew Severus Snape was an absolute git of a teacher (Who did his job phenomenally well even if he was a total arse about it, a realization Bill didn’t come to until years after he’d graduated the man’s courses) but that amount of nervousness was a bit alarming – until she mentioned she failed the O.W.L. examination, at which point, it made more sense. Holding up a hand to calm her, Bill gave Eirian a reassuring smile. ”Hey, its alright if you didn’t pass the O.W.L. course as long as you meet the requirements under your N.E.W.T.’s. There’s exceptions to every rule, like I said before, and if you can pass the application process afterward, you’ll be golden, so don’t sweat the Potions O.W.L.,” He told her, smiling without any realization that the failure and the fear ran far deeper than a disqualification. Hoping that would settle her nerves, Bill leaned back in his chair again, laughing at her comment. He was, indeed, the Curse-Breaker and it so happened he did have the perfect solution, so there you had it. He was pleased to watch her avid interest as he explained things and drew things out, as it made the story that much more worth the telling. He gave a pleased nod as she figured out they only had a few cipher techniques to chose from (He was infinitely glad to have yet to stumble upon a wholly new one) and her mentioning of the Caesar Substitution instantly rose her up in his estimation. The fact she already had an idea of codework would more than make up for her failed Potions O.W.L., though he decided to keep that nugget in his pocket in case she expressed any further nerves on the subject. Bill could not hold back his impressed smile when she mentioned Horus, wondering for the briefest of seconds why none of his family members could express this much interest in his job and the place he’d lived for so long, before casting it aside and nodding. ”That would be correct, yes. Anubis, Horus, Osiris and Ptah were the Watchers of Egypt, though in the particular script the code was taken from, only Anubis and Horus were referred to.” Having no knowledge of the thoughts running through Eirian’s mind, Bill’s jovial tones did not fade as he winked at her good-naturedly. ”We certainly like to think so,” he replied, knowing full well that his job and his co-workers were absolutely cool, in his own estimation of the word, but being humble enough not to straight out say it. It wasn’t often that Bill Weasley was humble in any sense, but now and again he knew when he ought to be, to some degree. When Eirian spoke of the job opportunity in the past tense, Bill shook his head at her slightly. ”Don’t give up on it so easily. If you really feel its something you want to do, then go for it. Failing your O.W.L. shouldn’t stop you---ah shit, Snape,” He commented, reeling back a moment. ”That’s right, he doesn’t accept anyone whose achieved less than an ‘E’ in Potions into the N.E.W.T. courses for safety reasons – but wait, isn’t Slughorn teaching now?” Bill wrinkled his forehead a moment, then, ”No matter. If you really want it Eirian, I can have a word with Albus on your behalf and we can see what we can do for you, if you like.” With a reassuring smile, Bill ordered her chicken sandwich with a cheeky grin at the waitress, before looking back to Eirian with a ‘no problem’ look on his face. ”Anytime kiddo,” He responded easily, more than capable of footing the bill for her. The thought made him think of his siblings a moment, and he wondered if maybe he ought to pop by on a Hogsmeade weekend and take Ron and Ginny out for a surprise meal. Might mean a Harry and a Hermione in tow, but that was fine enough. ”Let me know if you want anything else,” He added nonchalantly, leaning back in his chair once more. original template made by missickle ;; edits by mete

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, border-radius: 1em; -moz-border-radius: 1em; background-image:url(http://i56.tinypic.com/2wom9du.png), width: 400px; height: 400px;] I should be content but something's just not satisfied What is it I'm really after? Cause there are some questions that need some answers. What is it I'm really after? The clock's ticking so I can't wait around Eirian knew that not many wizards who weren’t in contact with the muggleworld per say through a part of their parents and their family would show interest in the way the muggle society worked, but for the most part it was no maleficant disinterest, just not a part of their world. You could not blame anyone for maybe being fascinated from afar, but not wanting to get involved into something that must look so alien to your own world. It was the other way around with her uncle Cadfael, who never had wanted any contact to the magical world above the ‘need to know’. Given, a few gave the coexistence of muggles and wizards a bad name, and Eirian could name quite a few of them, but she was one hundred percent sure that Bill would not belong to these people. After all, wasn’t his dad working in the Ministry in some department concerned with Muggles? You probably wouldn’t want that sort of job, if you were totally averse to dealing with Muggle things and them themselves. ”Well, you weren’t asked to inform me about those after all, now were you?” she retorted with a smile. “No worries, if I should want more information about those career options, I am sure I can find the suitable persons for it – given they are willing to waste their time on a sixteen year old that is. That does by no means go without saying.” Yes, she was maybe not spelling it out to him there, but Eirian was actually thanking Bill for his readiness to occupy a forenoon to career discussions with a girl who wasn’t even out of school yet, only in her sixth year at Hogwarts. And judging by the exciting things he dealt with, she would totally understand, if he put a riddle or something similar before such a meeting. His almost-tardiness was definitely excused by it, Eirian herself had been known to lag on her usual punctuality, if there was a thrilling book to read or an exciting riddle to solve. Eirian cocked her head in interest when he talked about artefacts he had actually brought back with him. “What kind of artefacts would that be? Doesn’t really sound like things you SHOULD leave lying around.” But then, he DID come across as a little of a carefree guy, who might not even be below using such things as pranks. Oh well, as long as no one was in serious danger… He of course would try to console her now, making her see the bright side of it, or at least trying to tell her that not everything was lost. It might not be, had it been not for the one thing, nay, two things that would probably keep her from ever dreaming of taking her NEWTs in Potions. Even more so, it was not only the Potions NEWT missing in her requirement, as soon as he probably heard she was afraid of fire he would probably write her off immediately. With such a phobia, you probably would only be fit for an office job, and a very calm one at that, so you wouldn’t be unexpectedly faced with burning Howlers… why had this never occurred to her before? Had she really wasted so little thought on her future, or the restrictions her phobia would put on her? That usually wasn’t like her, letting such an important thing slide! But then, she had tried to negate it for years anyway, had tried to act as if one day she would simply overcome it, since it had died down from when she had first been faced by it at the age of ten. A stalling tactic wasn’t the usual way to go about this, and it seemed like it wouldn’t work out. She only nodded absentmindly, when he commented about the two other Watchers of Egypt, having heard of them also randomly and remembering them in a far corner of her mind, while the majority of her attention was faced with this rather disturbing conundrum and problem. “Yeah, shit, Snape”, she nodded and sighed. “I don’t know for sure, but there were rumors that Slughorn might be indisposed. I have no idea who will be the new or old professor, but in the end it doesn’t matter.” Now it needed out, there was no working around it. It would be unfair for Bill wanting to go to such lengths – talking to Professor Dumbledore no less! – without coming absolutely clean with him about a few certain facts. “Because, me failing my OWLs in Potion is just an effect of a far worse cause. Something that doesn’t seem to be remedied so easily. I… I have a few major problems with open fire. I think the term would be pyrophobia. That’s why I never could stay around the kettle fires for long without getting absolutely crazy. My OWLs were a nightmare in that aspect.” She shrugged, trying to brush it off as best as she could. Getting emotional about that now wouldn’t help in anything. “I first need to find a way to get over THAT before I can think about working in Potions again – or aspire a career that could get me in close proximity to fire on an at least halfway regular basis.” Suddenly she felt like her appetite for the sandwich was entirely gone, but she gave a brave nod towards Bill. “Will do, thanks. You are really most kind, Bill, I didn’t expect this meeting to be so… informative and nice.” Now, what would he say to her confession? He probably wouldn’t have expected that and maybe that would even make HIM lose his optimism. She needed to brace herself for the worst now, for the realization that if she didn’t get a grip on he phobia anytime soon, she would never be able to do such an exciting thing. What would all her resolves to not let emotions reign over logic mean in the end, if she herself couldn’t follow through with these principles, and let herself be dominated by them. She had tried to tell herself countless times that in general fire was almost harmless, that it was a great thing which practically gave the human race civilization, but she couldn’t silence the panic that surfaced every time she unexpectedly found herself faced with a few certain aspects of fire, mainly the heat and the horrible sizzling sound it made when feeding on something… © melly welly from caution 2.0 | LYRICS BY MARIE DIGBY OUTFIT: HERE | 1079WORDS | NOTES: sorry it took so long!

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[williamweasley]

My Own Symphony

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: 110000; border: #610B0B solid 4px; width: 450px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] It took Bill a second to catch the gratitude, but he recognized Eirian’s meaning quickly enough and gave a smile as though to say it was no trouble. She had a roundabout way of saying it, but Bill was used to roundabout folk; Ellie being a master of it. Or mistress; though of course, she’d likely object to being referred to as ‘Ellie’ even in his thoughts. With that bemusing thought in mind, Bill took a sip of his drink before casting a mischievous grin at Eirian. ”One of the perks of the job is we’re often allowed to pick a thing or two from the tombs to keep, so long as its deemed invaluable by our supervisor. Meaning no gold or gems, no priceless art or vases, but really – who cares about that junk?” He asked with an easy laugh. ”Ancient scrolls and puzzles, old tools, unusual boxes and queer blades are what fascinate me the most. I’ve got a pretty wicked knife at home that we got from one of our first excursions – drives my mother batty every time she sees it. The handle carving is a bit risqué,” He explained in a stage whisper, as though sharing a secret even as he grinned wickedly. Bill could see that something was still troubling Eirian though, so he let his silliness slide a moment and concentrated on his drink, giving her time to sort herself out. He nearly snorted into his mug when she swore out Snape’s name; he knew that feeling. Still, he found her words curious – he’d been unaware the exact situation with the Potions position at Hogwarts, as it wasn’t really the sort of thing to write home about. All the same, he was curious as to why it wouldn’t matter. To his surprise, Eirian answered the unspoken question. As she spoke about her phobia, he set down his drink and gave her his undue attention, his expression thoughtful as she went on. In the end, Bill was silent as he mulled the confession over, before finally he decided to address it as he would have if one of his siblings had confessed something similar to him. ”I’m not going to tell you to get over it, or not to – ultimately, that is going to be something you will have to work out for yourself, Eirian. Being afraid of things is not unusual, nor is it something that anyone has any right to judge you for. If it is something you don’t want to face, then nobody has the right to tell you differently,” Bill stated kindly, before adding in an equally gentle tone that seemed to hold a weight of finality to it, ”But if it is something that holds you back, something that controls you to the point it is detrimental to how you live your life or even how you want to live your life, then it is definitely something you will need to examine and get help with.” Leaning back in his chair, Bill frowned slightly, imagining what Charlie would do if he’d been given such advice. Wrinkling his nose slightly, Bill thought it prudent to add, ”I would suggest, if you decide to confront your fears, to do so in a controlled environment with someone who knows how to help you. Being afraid of fire has its own wisdom, and it is one of those fears that you don’t want to play around with or address alone, because it could easily get worse if not managed properly. At the end of the day though Eirian, it is something you have to look at for yourself. If you’re content with it as it is, then carry on as you are. If you think it’s something you need to change about yourself, then I’m certain you’ve the wit and measure to manage it,” He quipped, referencing her house motto with a positive and confident wink. He was glad she had enjoyed the visit, and a bit pleased she found him nice. He simply hoped his advice wasn’t too heavy handed. ”Will your father be picking you up?” Bill asked, realizing he would have to get back to work soon, and not sure how he felt about leaving a sixteen year old girl alone in a pub, with times being what they were. original template made by missickle ;; edits by mete Sorry this is late; I didn't know you replied D:

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[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, border-radius: 1em; -moz-border-radius: 1em; background-image:url(http://i56.tinypic.com/2wom9du.png), width: 400px; height: 400px;] I should be content but something's just not satisfied What is it I'm really after? Cause there are some questions that need some answers. What is it I'm really after? The clock's ticking so I can't wait around Eirian was right with Bill there, since the idea of keeping ancient things you found as long as they were not on the Gringott’s list of values was surely intriguing and she could imagine herself keeping a few things as a reward for having solved the puzzle that led to breaking the curses – right until the moment he dropped a few hints about the knife he apparently had brought home that had a “risqué carving motive”, like he put it. Eirian wasn’t daft, she could very well imagine what might be the picture you might see, the problem was that she didn’t WANT to imagine it. She didn’t exactly think herself prude, but she was only flaming sixteen, and so far her interest in SUCH things was below zero. That just went against anything logical in the book! Like, when you were emotionally involved with someone, it just led to drama most of the time and you could make such a fool of yourself by trying to win someone’s attention.And well, to do anything attached to it WITHOUT emotions, well that was just plainly silly… so for Eirian there seemed only one logical way: Not to get involved into this at all, and not thinking about it as much as she was able to. If that made her a weird person in the eyes of many, well then so be it! ”Ah…” she said, trying to smile, but there had been a slight heat rising up in her cheeks despite her best efforts to stay detached from the subject. “I think I can understand your mum there a bit, are you sure you’re not letting it lie around for exactly that reason?” She wouldn’t put that past him, even though she didn’t know how much of a prank gene he would share with his younger brothers. It wasn’t her area to venture in anyway, and he probably knew what he was doing and enjoyed living his life, so it would be ridiculous of a sixteen year old girl trying to tell him he wasn’t exactly behaving nicely. Yeah right, that’ll be the day. Eirian might be driven by logic, but she also knew when it was logical to just not meddle or shut up – most of the times, unless she REALLY wanted to make a point. Eirian didn’t know for a moment if she should be relieved or not when he came with that very adult and differentiated reaction to her phobia, but then she realized she was really relieved. She had feared yet another pity round, since she didn’t see him as a person to make fun of her for it or to be mean, exploring this weakness. She had seen that he was quite a smart guy and for her he even reacted in some kind of ideal way: Telling her it was her own thing to figure out might not be very helpful, but it at least gave HER the necessary credit for dealing with her own life. That was more than he family sometimes gave her for it… they still acted sometimes like she was a porcellain doll that shouldn’t be dropped for what it was worth. And Bill was right! With every word he said, Eirian suddenly became more firm in her decision to finally get her act together and DO something about it, instead of being controlled by it for the rest of her life. This year, she could do it. To follow her dreams. To at least keep the possibility of becoming a Curse Breaker, even if in two years she might not even want that anymore. This conversation reminded her a little of when Meical and her sometimes had their rare deep talks, he would probably have given her similar advices. “I know”, she nodded, taking a deep breath. “Thanks for pointing that out. It IS something I want to get rid of, as soon as I can, but I know it will take time.” And effort. She couldn’t think of any way how she might just get over it, but his confidence in her abilities warmed her heart at least a little bit. If he thought she could do it… why shouldn’t she think the same? She knew herself after all, right? She hadn’t exactly been diffident when it came to her own achievements. Realizing the pun, she gave an amused smile and took another sip of her butterbeer, realizing it was almost drained. ”Oh yeah… wit beyond measure… but sometimes a little measure is the key to it all. If I’m going to tackle this, I know I can’t be too reckless. After all, I don’t want to become a second Seamus and set Hogwarts on fire.” Now, wouldn’t that be something to be remembered for… In any way, she was sensing that this encounter might have reached its closure, but even if it hadn’t been long, it had been so much more than she had been hoping for, quite something to deal with actually. Bill was a great guy, and she had enjoyed talking with him, he had given her a perspective she could work on… she just knew she would need some time to think about it all, sorting it out in her head and coming to a conclusion and a ranking of priorities. But that was for later, for now, she had one other important thing to do. ”Thanks for this rather enlightening conversation though, Bill”, she said, leaning a bit forward as if to underline her seriousness. “And thanks for your confidence in me. I will keep working on this, and who knows, maybe in two year’s time, I will suddenly pop up in your office and introduce myself as the rookie.” It would be a dream. But dreams didn’t come true when you just sat there waiting for it. Dreamers had to be fighters, it seemed. Nodding to his question, she quickly checked on her watch. “He said he would, I don’t think he’s gonna take long now.” © melly welly from caution 2.0 | LYRICS BY MARIE DIGBY OUTFIT: HERE | 1003WORDS | NOTES: xD Bill is just amazingly cool

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[williamweasley]

My Own Symphony

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-color: 110000; border: #610B0B solid 4px; width: 450px; padding: 15 5 15 5px;] Bill couldn’t help but laugh at Eirian’s response, which was very much what he imagined Ginny’s reaction would be if she ever caught sight of that particular dagger. ”Oh, I know I’m leaving it out for exactly that purpose. After all, so long as ol’Mum is distracted by unique motifs, she’s not harping on about my hair,” He stated, winking boldly before returnign attention to his order as Eirian seemed to mull over his words. In the end, Bill was grateful for the fact she didn’t appear to take offense – he had not been trying to tell her how to live her life, but sometimes people could be a bit on guard when it came to advise from others, especially those they didn’t know well. He gave a slight nod as she confirmed it was something she wished to rid herself of, and that she understood it would take her some time to do. Fire was not an uncomon phobia, but it was one that had considerable consequences if it wasn’t handled with care. He trusted she had enough sense to know that though, so he didn’t say anything further, having faith that she would address the situation appropriately in her own time, with the help of a responbsible adult. Having heard tales of Seamus Finnigan at the dinner table over the summer, Bill couldn’t help but grin. ”Indeed not; Hogwarts doesn’t need another pyrotechnic blowing up the house tables.” He agreed, laughing slightly before falling once again to a comfortable silence. Eirian’s gratitude , when it came, was pleasant and polite, and Bill did his best not to wave it off too lightly. He had been glad to be of service, after all. ”You’re most welcome Eirian, trust me. It was a good deal of fun,” He admitted easily, before winking at her. ”I’m sure if that day comes, I’ll be glad to take you under wing Eirian.” As though summoned by the mention of him, Gwyllim Hughes arrived right on time to retrieve his daughter and, with a few polite words of farewell and gratitude exchanged, Bill waved to father and daughter and headed to the Floo, returning to another day of mind-numbing paper filing. original template made by missickle ;; edits by mete And thats a wrap! I will move this to the Showcase once you've read it Gwen ;3 Awesome thread!

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