Chapter Two: Poltergeiztz
Title: Poltergeiztz
Characters: Megan Jones/Zacharias Smith (a cast of other Hufflepuffs)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1835
CD & Song: JoJo - City Lights (for ficalbum)
It's summer / It's never too late / There's always more fascination / Just turn the page / And I won't be hesitating / Cause I can hardly wait / Do my dance, sway my hands / Hear my jam / You can count me in / I wish tonight will never end
I'm under the city lights / It's on, it's on tonight / My mood is right, it's on it's on tonight / Me and my girls (me and my girls) / Tonight it's our world (tonight it's our world) / I'm out tonight / Yea, I'm out tonight / Come on now
Author's Note: This is a continuation of "As the Badger Growls' (A Hufflepuff Soap Opera) but can technically be read alone in this "new" series at ficalbum.
“You’re coming and I’m not taking any no for an answer. Come on, Sue. Put down your books and come out with me tonight.”
Megan watched as Susan lowered the book to the counter and turned, glaring as if she was mentally throwing a curse. She wasn’t sure if it was the dreaded nickname or the fact that she was intruding on study time for the fifth time this week. Every other day, she’d backed down but this was Friday and there were big things brewing out on those streets.
“Please?” she asked in a small voice when it looked as if Susan was going to say no for the fifth time. “Lisa is coming. Don’t make me hang out alone with Lisa. You know we just end up irritating each other.”
“Why don’t you contact Rose or Ellie or Terry, for that matter? Why does it always have to be me?”
It was always so easy to be hurt by Susan’s words. These weren’t meant to hurt as much as they did, Megan knew, but they hurt all the same. Times had changed. Once, it had been Susan herding Megan out the door to do something, to try something new. She’d been shy in those days, never eager to put herself in a position of ridicule. Now she knew her friend was doing the same.
“Because you are my best friend and you need to get out of this place for a night. If an owl comes, it’ll wait for you.”
Susan’s stance softened. “But I might need to answer it right away.”
“If it’s that urgent, it will come find you. Besides, didn’t he promise you he’d have some time off next week? You’ll get two whole days with him. I bet he even throws in two nights.” While the girl blushed, Megan pulled out a clean blouse from the wardrobe and held it up. “It’s this or the pink one. See, I’m giving you all sorts of choices. You can even change your jeans.”
In a blur of clothes and makeup and accessories, Megan and Susan finally sorted themselves out, setting off for the park at a brisk pace. It had seemed like the type of night where a wand wasn’t needed but Susan had insisted. There were still tense moments between Magical and Muggle folks and, at times, a spell or two was needed to calm everyone down before the wandering guards felt the need to step in.
“We don’t talk enough these days,” Susan said as they walked past a boarded up restaurant. They’d never been to it but it looked like an interesting place to go, what with the bright paint only now chipping off the inside. It proclaimed there were all sorts of delicacies to be had inside. Delicacies, it turned out, that were imported from countries no longer friendly to the Nations of Britain. “What have you been up to at the daycare?”
Megan laughed, shaking her head at her friend’s use of words. “It’s not a daycare. It’s more of a school.”
“Sounds like a daycare to me,” Susan replied, her eyebrow lifted in question. “Whatever you choose to call it. It’s your thing. Terry still bringing those odd biscuits?”
“Yes. We’ve tried giving him different recipes but he’s refusing. Says we don’t know what’s good for us.”
“And the girls?”
Rilla and Margie Gobal were all that Megan thought about these days. For a whole month, she’d moved slowly in trying to help them, hoping not to spook them and have them running to ground. Lately, she wondered if spooking them was exactly what they needed. Their life, as horrible as it seemed, was comfortable to them and they were loathe to leave the security of knowing that it would be the same tomorrow as it was today.
“Rilla is still as irritable as always. Margie, on the other hand, is like a princess trapped in the life of a vagabond. She is the sweetest little girl in the world.”
“And you want three more just exactly like her, don’t you? No, don’t shake your head at me like that. I can see it in your eyes. You’ve started to look like that lately, ever since you hooked up with-“
“Don’t say his name, Susan. It’s enough that I let you go over there to get an explanation-“
“An explanation you won’t let me tell you, if I remember correctly. Give the guy a-“
“End of discussion. Let’s go find Rose. She’s saving a place up front for us.”
Megan let a spluttering and protesting Susan through the crowd of people that already covered the grass of the park. A large grandstand had been erected near the old bandstand but the old brick and stone weren’t good enough for the band that was playing now. Poltergeiztz, back from a tour of the North Country, were just starting to get warmed up.
“Who is this?” Susan asked, screaming to be heard as they settled in beside Rose, Kevin and Wayne.
Wayne leaned down and screamed back, “Poltergeiztz. Cover band. They have a really good pyrotechnic show, though. All kinds of whizzy things.”
Megan felt hot and then cold, in quick succession, over and over. It wasn’t just the mention of whizzy things, which always made her get a chill of remembrance. Over the heads of the spectators, she could make out a familiar profile. Why did he have to be here tonight? She’d wanted to blissfully lose herself in the dancing and general merriment that this entertainment promised.
“He came by to say hi,” Rose told her as she tugged on her sleeve. “I asked him to stick around but Kevin mentioned you might be here and he walked away before we could even say goodbye.”
It wasn’t a sulk but it was. The irritation was there as was the need to explain this destructive mood. “Well, his loss. I’m sure he would have ruined the mood if he’d stuck around.”
Rose had the decency to roll her eyes but keep silent. They were all silent. It had been almost a year now and the legend of the “fling” between Zacharias Smith, former Quidditch player, and Megan Jones, current child intercessor, was still waving it’s ugly head.
“Where’s Ernie?” Susan asked but Megan only had to raise her hand and point in the direction she was trying very hard not to look in. “Oh. I have to ask him a question. I’ll be-“
“What do you think you’re doing?” Megan grabbed Susan’s arm roughly, twisting the skin in a mean way that stopped her effectively.
It took some doing but Susan broke the hold before she answered. “I told you I have to ask Ernie a question. He’s still our friend, isn’t he? Don’t go to the bad place again, Megan. You left him. We didn’t.”
Rose tried to stop Megan as she took off for the opposite side of the chaos but she was no match for the angry Hufflepuff. Nothing was getting through to Megan when she was in this sort of mood. It felt as if her friends were deserting her even though the still rational part of her brain was telling her that was ridiculous.
The music, pulsing through her body as if it was her blood, lured her closer to the stage. Maybe, when she was calm, she could convince everyone she just wanted to hear the music better. Or more, rather, as it didn’t get better the closer she got to the large speakers. They could have enjoyed this concert from blocks away. The closer she got to the stage, the more rambunctious the crowd was. Younger, too. After being jostled on all sides by gyrating bodies, she gave up and decided to join in. As the song kept saying over and over, you only live once/ you’ll die at the end/ put your hands in the air/ let the power in.
Zach wasn’t having a good time. He was only here because he was thinking of buying a majority share of the band and wanted to see them in concert before he made the final decision. Renfield had given him the idea. As ever, the wiley old man was correct. This was an upcoming band who might actually be able to hold the spot light. He’d have to give Renfield another raise if this worked out.
For the past fifteen minutes, he’d been trying to concentrate on the music and ignore Ernie’s ramblings. For some reason, he figured that Zach needed to be caught up to speed on everyone’s life. He’d tried telling Ernie he didn’t care. He’d even said the actual words. I DON’T CARE. It didn’t seem to work.
When Susan joined the group, it only served to speed up Ernie’s recitation. Instead of lapsing into silence, Ernie jumped into warp speed accompanied by a sort of breathy laugh that only made everyone around them realize he was nervous. Susan had that affect on people. Especially Ernie.
“You need to tell her,” Susan stated as she at last clamped her hand over Ernie’s mouth. When he stopped talking, she glared at him and took it away. Smart man kept it shut. “She won’t let me mention your name let alone tell her the truth.”
Zach shrugged. He wasn’t sure if he cared. No, that wasn’t right. He cared too much. It was unhealthy how much he cared about Megan. That time he spent with her, both in bed and out, only made it more intense.
“How in the world am I supposed to convince her that she was feverish and hallucinating? I’ve got an alibi for not being there while she was busy getting sick but I’d prefer not to have that guy. The one who uses work to get out of his personal life. If she doesn’t trust me, that’s her fault.”
“She was sick! Really, really sick. It was almost two weeks before she could even get out of bed.”
“I know that,” he reminded her, getting angry that this was coming up now. “You’ve told me all of this before. It’s old news. Let’s just get on with our life, shall we?”
There was a slight pause in the music as the band introduced themselves to the crowd. The drummer was keeping beat, setting Zach’s teeth on edge with the deep bass echo. This really wasn’t his scene. Why in the world couldn’t the next big thing be a restaurant? A pack of cats stuck in a Binding Curse would be easier to listen to than this.
“I’ve got to go. Tell her… no, never mind. She’ll decide one day that she needs to ask me about what happened. The ball is in her court.” He started to walk away but turned around and nodded to Ernie. “Tell your friend with the animals to come by and see me next week. I’ll see what I can do about getting that shelter rebuilt for her.”
Characters: Megan Jones/Zacharias Smith (a cast of other Hufflepuffs)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1835
CD & Song: JoJo - City Lights (for ficalbum)
It's summer / It's never too late / There's always more fascination / Just turn the page / And I won't be hesitating / Cause I can hardly wait / Do my dance, sway my hands / Hear my jam / You can count me in / I wish tonight will never end
I'm under the city lights / It's on, it's on tonight / My mood is right, it's on it's on tonight / Me and my girls (me and my girls) / Tonight it's our world (tonight it's our world) / I'm out tonight / Yea, I'm out tonight / Come on now
Author's Note: This is a continuation of "As the Badger Growls' (A Hufflepuff Soap Opera) but can technically be read alone in this "new" series at ficalbum.
“You’re coming and I’m not taking any no for an answer. Come on, Sue. Put down your books and come out with me tonight.”
Megan watched as Susan lowered the book to the counter and turned, glaring as if she was mentally throwing a curse. She wasn’t sure if it was the dreaded nickname or the fact that she was intruding on study time for the fifth time this week. Every other day, she’d backed down but this was Friday and there were big things brewing out on those streets.
“Please?” she asked in a small voice when it looked as if Susan was going to say no for the fifth time. “Lisa is coming. Don’t make me hang out alone with Lisa. You know we just end up irritating each other.”
“Why don’t you contact Rose or Ellie or Terry, for that matter? Why does it always have to be me?”
It was always so easy to be hurt by Susan’s words. These weren’t meant to hurt as much as they did, Megan knew, but they hurt all the same. Times had changed. Once, it had been Susan herding Megan out the door to do something, to try something new. She’d been shy in those days, never eager to put herself in a position of ridicule. Now she knew her friend was doing the same.
“Because you are my best friend and you need to get out of this place for a night. If an owl comes, it’ll wait for you.”
Susan’s stance softened. “But I might need to answer it right away.”
“If it’s that urgent, it will come find you. Besides, didn’t he promise you he’d have some time off next week? You’ll get two whole days with him. I bet he even throws in two nights.” While the girl blushed, Megan pulled out a clean blouse from the wardrobe and held it up. “It’s this or the pink one. See, I’m giving you all sorts of choices. You can even change your jeans.”
In a blur of clothes and makeup and accessories, Megan and Susan finally sorted themselves out, setting off for the park at a brisk pace. It had seemed like the type of night where a wand wasn’t needed but Susan had insisted. There were still tense moments between Magical and Muggle folks and, at times, a spell or two was needed to calm everyone down before the wandering guards felt the need to step in.
“We don’t talk enough these days,” Susan said as they walked past a boarded up restaurant. They’d never been to it but it looked like an interesting place to go, what with the bright paint only now chipping off the inside. It proclaimed there were all sorts of delicacies to be had inside. Delicacies, it turned out, that were imported from countries no longer friendly to the Nations of Britain. “What have you been up to at the daycare?”
Megan laughed, shaking her head at her friend’s use of words. “It’s not a daycare. It’s more of a school.”
“Sounds like a daycare to me,” Susan replied, her eyebrow lifted in question. “Whatever you choose to call it. It’s your thing. Terry still bringing those odd biscuits?”
“Yes. We’ve tried giving him different recipes but he’s refusing. Says we don’t know what’s good for us.”
“And the girls?”
Rilla and Margie Gobal were all that Megan thought about these days. For a whole month, she’d moved slowly in trying to help them, hoping not to spook them and have them running to ground. Lately, she wondered if spooking them was exactly what they needed. Their life, as horrible as it seemed, was comfortable to them and they were loathe to leave the security of knowing that it would be the same tomorrow as it was today.
“Rilla is still as irritable as always. Margie, on the other hand, is like a princess trapped in the life of a vagabond. She is the sweetest little girl in the world.”
“And you want three more just exactly like her, don’t you? No, don’t shake your head at me like that. I can see it in your eyes. You’ve started to look like that lately, ever since you hooked up with-“
“Don’t say his name, Susan. It’s enough that I let you go over there to get an explanation-“
“An explanation you won’t let me tell you, if I remember correctly. Give the guy a-“
“End of discussion. Let’s go find Rose. She’s saving a place up front for us.”
Megan let a spluttering and protesting Susan through the crowd of people that already covered the grass of the park. A large grandstand had been erected near the old bandstand but the old brick and stone weren’t good enough for the band that was playing now. Poltergeiztz, back from a tour of the North Country, were just starting to get warmed up.
“Who is this?” Susan asked, screaming to be heard as they settled in beside Rose, Kevin and Wayne.
Wayne leaned down and screamed back, “Poltergeiztz. Cover band. They have a really good pyrotechnic show, though. All kinds of whizzy things.”
Megan felt hot and then cold, in quick succession, over and over. It wasn’t just the mention of whizzy things, which always made her get a chill of remembrance. Over the heads of the spectators, she could make out a familiar profile. Why did he have to be here tonight? She’d wanted to blissfully lose herself in the dancing and general merriment that this entertainment promised.
“He came by to say hi,” Rose told her as she tugged on her sleeve. “I asked him to stick around but Kevin mentioned you might be here and he walked away before we could even say goodbye.”
It wasn’t a sulk but it was. The irritation was there as was the need to explain this destructive mood. “Well, his loss. I’m sure he would have ruined the mood if he’d stuck around.”
Rose had the decency to roll her eyes but keep silent. They were all silent. It had been almost a year now and the legend of the “fling” between Zacharias Smith, former Quidditch player, and Megan Jones, current child intercessor, was still waving it’s ugly head.
“Where’s Ernie?” Susan asked but Megan only had to raise her hand and point in the direction she was trying very hard not to look in. “Oh. I have to ask him a question. I’ll be-“
“What do you think you’re doing?” Megan grabbed Susan’s arm roughly, twisting the skin in a mean way that stopped her effectively.
It took some doing but Susan broke the hold before she answered. “I told you I have to ask Ernie a question. He’s still our friend, isn’t he? Don’t go to the bad place again, Megan. You left him. We didn’t.”
Rose tried to stop Megan as she took off for the opposite side of the chaos but she was no match for the angry Hufflepuff. Nothing was getting through to Megan when she was in this sort of mood. It felt as if her friends were deserting her even though the still rational part of her brain was telling her that was ridiculous.
The music, pulsing through her body as if it was her blood, lured her closer to the stage. Maybe, when she was calm, she could convince everyone she just wanted to hear the music better. Or more, rather, as it didn’t get better the closer she got to the large speakers. They could have enjoyed this concert from blocks away. The closer she got to the stage, the more rambunctious the crowd was. Younger, too. After being jostled on all sides by gyrating bodies, she gave up and decided to join in. As the song kept saying over and over, you only live once/ you’ll die at the end/ put your hands in the air/ let the power in.
Zach wasn’t having a good time. He was only here because he was thinking of buying a majority share of the band and wanted to see them in concert before he made the final decision. Renfield had given him the idea. As ever, the wiley old man was correct. This was an upcoming band who might actually be able to hold the spot light. He’d have to give Renfield another raise if this worked out.
For the past fifteen minutes, he’d been trying to concentrate on the music and ignore Ernie’s ramblings. For some reason, he figured that Zach needed to be caught up to speed on everyone’s life. He’d tried telling Ernie he didn’t care. He’d even said the actual words. I DON’T CARE. It didn’t seem to work.
When Susan joined the group, it only served to speed up Ernie’s recitation. Instead of lapsing into silence, Ernie jumped into warp speed accompanied by a sort of breathy laugh that only made everyone around them realize he was nervous. Susan had that affect on people. Especially Ernie.
“You need to tell her,” Susan stated as she at last clamped her hand over Ernie’s mouth. When he stopped talking, she glared at him and took it away. Smart man kept it shut. “She won’t let me mention your name let alone tell her the truth.”
Zach shrugged. He wasn’t sure if he cared. No, that wasn’t right. He cared too much. It was unhealthy how much he cared about Megan. That time he spent with her, both in bed and out, only made it more intense.
“How in the world am I supposed to convince her that she was feverish and hallucinating? I’ve got an alibi for not being there while she was busy getting sick but I’d prefer not to have that guy. The one who uses work to get out of his personal life. If she doesn’t trust me, that’s her fault.”
“She was sick! Really, really sick. It was almost two weeks before she could even get out of bed.”
“I know that,” he reminded her, getting angry that this was coming up now. “You’ve told me all of this before. It’s old news. Let’s just get on with our life, shall we?”
There was a slight pause in the music as the band introduced themselves to the crowd. The drummer was keeping beat, setting Zach’s teeth on edge with the deep bass echo. This really wasn’t his scene. Why in the world couldn’t the next big thing be a restaurant? A pack of cats stuck in a Binding Curse would be easier to listen to than this.
“I’ve got to go. Tell her… no, never mind. She’ll decide one day that she needs to ask me about what happened. The ball is in her court.” He started to walk away but turned around and nodded to Ernie. “Tell your friend with the animals to come by and see me next week. I’ll see what I can do about getting that shelter rebuilt for her.”