Cleanin' out the writing folder
At this rate, my 'unfinished' writing folder will be empty by...next year!
Two ficlet follow-ups to my unholy Veronica Mars and Harry Potter crossover! Better known as Veronica and Hermione shenanigans!
First ficlet is found here.
I'm working on a third ficlet, but I wanted to get rid of these first two, which have been sitting in that darn folder for over a year.
Ficlet #1
Title: Again with the stick-waving
Author: Lazaefair/Zerethshahar
Veronica's not new to weapons, mind-altering substances, or barking insanity involving the first two. She lives in Neptune. She's faced the Fitzpatricks and the Castle. She's faced Weevil, for crying out loud.
But magic creeps her out. A lot. The wands? They are weapons, mind-altering substances, and barking insanity all in one, rolled into a little wood stick. Apparently the one Hermione Granger is holding has a unicorn tail and a Filverstein firefly wing. It's scented lightly in almond. The previous owner, according to her, has gone completely batshit and is currently locked up in wherever they keep insane wizards. And now the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is temporarily signing over the precious wand to her.
Fantastic.
"I've put a couple offensive and defensive auto-charms on it," Granger's saying. "Should you ever run into trouble." Of the magical kind, Veronica mentally fills in, and refrains from pointing out that she would feel far more comfortable with an ordinary gun. At least she knows how those work.
"The magic isn't coming from the wand, but it does act as a physical focus for the spells. Mainly so you can aim properly." Granger pushes a piece of paper over her tiny cluttered desk. "Here are the activation words you need to say for each charm. The advantage here is that you will be able to maintain the bluff at least for a short time that you're not a Muggle. I trust you'll be discreet about it, of course..."
Veronica tries not to think about the moving portraits blinking solemnly at her from the wall behind Granger's head (they keep chiming in on the conversation every so often) and stares down at the piece of paper. The activation words look like a mangled cross between Latin and bastardized English. Piz would've had a fit over it.
***************
Ficlet #2
Title: Wizards like Scotch too
Author: Lazaefair/Zerethshahar
"Hurry, we're nearly late." Hermione actually grips Veronica's hand and pulls her bodily up the stupidly ornate staircase. Not that Veronica's unfamiliar with stupidly ornate staircases, but this one screams old money. Like, old money from the Middle Ages old. From what Granger's told her, that's probably the correct assumption.
They skid into another stupidly ornate, flagstoned room dominated by the single most massive fireplace Veronica's ever seen. She stumbles over the ridiculous bear head rising out of the rug and looks up in time to see Hermione throw some green powder into the flames, shout something - a name - and stick her head into the fire.
"...wow. I am never, ever going to get used to this," Veronica says to the bear head.
Hermione ignores her and starts carrying on a conversation with someone else (with her head in the sparkly green fire) and Veronica stands awkwardly by. She automatically begins cataloguing the room. The first impression she got was pretty much the right one - old money, dark polished wood, antlers on the walls, more obnoxious than any 09er house she's ever snooped in. Including the ones that tried to recreate this look.
There's even a thing of scotch on the little card table. Well, that's something familiar.
The conversation in the fire devolves into shouting, and Hermione begins to gesticulate indignantly, until the other woman pulls her head out abruptly and the flames turn back into their nice, normal flame color.
"That blundering idiot," she says, then registers the sight of Veronica's face. Her frown turns up into an arch smile. "Ah, yes. This is the Floo network. It's connected through registered fireplaces. Sort of the wizard's equivalent of a telephone."
Veronica blinks. "What, so there's no wizard equivalent to a cellphone? God forbid you're somewhere without a fireplace?"
Hermione's smile turns smug as she dips into a robe pocket - and that's another thing Veronica's never going to get used to, people wearing honest-to-God wizard robes out in the street with completely straight faces - and turns up a perfectly ordinary Nokia. Well, it looks like a perfectly ordinary Nokia.
"It's a perfectly ordinary Nokia," Hermione says, still smug. "The Department wouldn't believe Muggles could come up with something like this until I called my parents in France with my cell, and then they still insisted there must have been a wizard involved in the engineering process."
"Yeah, I've noticed there's kind of a prejudice," Veronica agrees. "On that note, thanks for letting me borrow the robes."
Two ficlet follow-ups to my unholy Veronica Mars and Harry Potter crossover! Better known as Veronica and Hermione shenanigans!
First ficlet is found here.
I'm working on a third ficlet, but I wanted to get rid of these first two, which have been sitting in that darn folder for over a year.
Ficlet #1
Title: Again with the stick-waving
Author: Lazaefair/Zerethshahar
Veronica's not new to weapons, mind-altering substances, or barking insanity involving the first two. She lives in Neptune. She's faced the Fitzpatricks and the Castle. She's faced Weevil, for crying out loud.
But magic creeps her out. A lot. The wands? They are weapons, mind-altering substances, and barking insanity all in one, rolled into a little wood stick. Apparently the one Hermione Granger is holding has a unicorn tail and a Filverstein firefly wing. It's scented lightly in almond. The previous owner, according to her, has gone completely batshit and is currently locked up in wherever they keep insane wizards. And now the Department of Magical Law Enforcement is temporarily signing over the precious wand to her.
Fantastic.
"I've put a couple offensive and defensive auto-charms on it," Granger's saying. "Should you ever run into trouble." Of the magical kind, Veronica mentally fills in, and refrains from pointing out that she would feel far more comfortable with an ordinary gun. At least she knows how those work.
"The magic isn't coming from the wand, but it does act as a physical focus for the spells. Mainly so you can aim properly." Granger pushes a piece of paper over her tiny cluttered desk. "Here are the activation words you need to say for each charm. The advantage here is that you will be able to maintain the bluff at least for a short time that you're not a Muggle. I trust you'll be discreet about it, of course..."
Veronica tries not to think about the moving portraits blinking solemnly at her from the wall behind Granger's head (they keep chiming in on the conversation every so often) and stares down at the piece of paper. The activation words look like a mangled cross between Latin and bastardized English. Piz would've had a fit over it.
***************
Ficlet #2
Title: Wizards like Scotch too
Author: Lazaefair/Zerethshahar
"Hurry, we're nearly late." Hermione actually grips Veronica's hand and pulls her bodily up the stupidly ornate staircase. Not that Veronica's unfamiliar with stupidly ornate staircases, but this one screams old money. Like, old money from the Middle Ages old. From what Granger's told her, that's probably the correct assumption.
They skid into another stupidly ornate, flagstoned room dominated by the single most massive fireplace Veronica's ever seen. She stumbles over the ridiculous bear head rising out of the rug and looks up in time to see Hermione throw some green powder into the flames, shout something - a name - and stick her head into the fire.
"...wow. I am never, ever going to get used to this," Veronica says to the bear head.
Hermione ignores her and starts carrying on a conversation with someone else (with her head in the sparkly green fire) and Veronica stands awkwardly by. She automatically begins cataloguing the room. The first impression she got was pretty much the right one - old money, dark polished wood, antlers on the walls, more obnoxious than any 09er house she's ever snooped in. Including the ones that tried to recreate this look.
There's even a thing of scotch on the little card table. Well, that's something familiar.
The conversation in the fire devolves into shouting, and Hermione begins to gesticulate indignantly, until the other woman pulls her head out abruptly and the flames turn back into their nice, normal flame color.
"That blundering idiot," she says, then registers the sight of Veronica's face. Her frown turns up into an arch smile. "Ah, yes. This is the Floo network. It's connected through registered fireplaces. Sort of the wizard's equivalent of a telephone."
Veronica blinks. "What, so there's no wizard equivalent to a cellphone? God forbid you're somewhere without a fireplace?"
Hermione's smile turns smug as she dips into a robe pocket - and that's another thing Veronica's never going to get used to, people wearing honest-to-God wizard robes out in the street with completely straight faces - and turns up a perfectly ordinary Nokia. Well, it looks like a perfectly ordinary Nokia.
"It's a perfectly ordinary Nokia," Hermione says, still smug. "The Department wouldn't believe Muggles could come up with something like this until I called my parents in France with my cell, and then they still insisted there must have been a wizard involved in the engineering process."
"Yeah, I've noticed there's kind of a prejudice," Veronica agrees. "On that note, thanks for letting me borrow the robes."