RP: Bookworm Book Club Meeting

[shh_hermione]

Date: June 5, 2005
Characters: Hermione Granger, Roger Davies, Ernie Macmillan, Arabella Figg, Luna Lovegood, Eleanor Branstone, Oliver Wood, Caradoc Dearborn, Irma Pince, Dennis Creevey, Orla Quirke, Mandy Brocklehurst, Ron Weasley, Victoria Frobisher, Anyone else
Status: Public
Summary: The first meeting of the Bookworm Book Club
Completion:

Comments

[shh_ernie]

Ernie pushed open the door to the Bookworm. Hopefully, Eleanor would be here. He had told her he was coming straight from work, however, so he wouldn't be surprised if she'd popped home after work, or, more likely, popped by her shop

[shh_hermione]

When she heard someone enter the room, Hermione looked up from the book she'd been browsing. At seeing who it was, she smiled politely. "Good evening, Ernie. I'm afraid that Eleanor ran home after work, though I believe she mentioned coming back for the meeting."

"If you'd like, we've got drinks and snacks for the members." She gestured to the table of refreshments. "If not, do feel free to sit wherever you'd like. We'll begin at ten past seven so that everyone has a reasonable amount of time to arrive."

[shh_ernie]

Ernie nodded. "Thank you, but I'm fine." Truth was, he was starving--not having eaten since this morning--but he didn't want to be the only one eating. And he doubted snacks would fill him up. Unless he ate them all.

He looked around. "This is...er...very nice." He'd not yet been up in the Loft. "How have you been?" he asked politely.

[shh_hermione]

"If you feel like having anything later, it'll be there," she said simply, wishing someone else would arrive.

"Thank you. The customers use it for reading space during shop hours, and Ron uses it for chess games and such a couple of days a week," she explained in the polite tone she'd been using. After their last meeting, there would be no casual friendliness or silly teasing, since she had no intention of somehow saying the wrong thing and sending him storming out again. "I've been well. And you?"

[shh_arabella]

Despite her gardening, which was enjoyable, Arabella had much too much time on her hands lately. She also wanted to get out and meet a few more people. Miss Granger's book club sounded like the sort of place where one could meet interesting people without having to do anything more strenuous than chat, have tea and pass books around. Arabella knew she would have to bring a book to trade, so she'd dug through some boxes in her cottage and found something the Muggle residents had apparently forgotten, a copy of a mystery novel called Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers. She found the book Sunday morning and completed it that night, so completely was she engrossed by it. She hoped someone at the book club meeting would enjoy it too.

Stepping into her Floo, Arabella called out "Bookworm" and found herself in a rather lovely book shop, where she spotted Miss Granger talking with a couple of young men.

[shh_hermione]

When Mrs. Figg entered the Loft, Hermione excused herself from Ernie and Roger to go say hello. "Good evening, Mrs. Figg," she said, smiling politely. "It's lovely to see you here this evening. Please, have a seat."

"Would you like punch or a biscuit?" she asked, motioning towards the table with refreshments.

[shh_arabella]

"Hello, dea -- Miss Granger," she answered. "It's nice to see you again."

She looked toward the refreshment table. "Yes, some punch and a biscuit would be lovely. I'll just get myself set up. I did bring a book. Should I give it to you or just hold onto it for now until the others arrive?"

[shh_hermione]

"Please, call me Hermione," she said, leading her to a comfortable chair nearby.

"You can keep the book, if you'd like. My basic idea is that people will talk amongst themselves and discuss the books they've brought before swapping for another," she explained. "We'll see how successful it is. I'll fetch you a cup of punch and a biscuit."

[shh_luna]

Luna tucked her book in her bag as she opened the door to the shop. Hermione's advertisement had said seven o'clock, so technically she was a few minutes late, but hopefully that wouldn't make a lot of difference. She'd never been to a book club before, though, so she was unsure of how things were supposed to go

[shh_ernie]

Ernie excused himself from Roger when he spotted Luna looking around the Loft. She smiled at him and he took it as a sign that she'd not be angered by the gargoyle on her lawn.

"Hello, Luna. How've you been?"

[shh_luna]

"Hello, Ernie," she said with a grin.

"I'm well. How are you? Busy, I'd think," she added with a laugh. "I mean, I only got one of those gargoyles. I can't imagine how many others you distributed." She paused and her smile widened. "It's very colorful."

[shh_ernie]

Ernie grinned when Luna mentioned the gargoyles. "Elle and I had a bit of an adventure Friday night." In more ways than one, but that was not a topic for polite conversation, he thought with a blush. "Liam took one home. Much to Cormac and Romilda's chagrin most likely. And the other three were...er...gifted. The clown was Elle's idea."

Shaking his head, he asked, more seriously, "How's the hospital? I'm still doing my best to avoid it by the way."

[shh_eleanor]

Perhaps stopping by the shop after work had not been the best idea. Eleanor had only intended to stop home and grab a sandwich and her book before returning to the Bookworm. Since Ernie had agreed to go, she felt the least that she could do was be there when he arrived. But after she'd finished her sandwich, Eleanor realized that she still had loads of time, and figured it couldn't hurt stopping in at the shop for a minute to take another look of the paint samples one more time.

She had eight of them taped to the walls, and she was having a heck of a time deciding which one would look the best. How in Merlin's name was she ever going to open the shop if she couldn't even decide which colour to paint it?

Before she knew it, it was nearly seven. Eleanor figured that if she hurried, she might still make it there before Ernie. She hoped. After a moment's indecision--it was a fairly nice evening, and a walk would have been lovely--Eleanor decided to Apparate over. Not that it mattered, because apparently Ernie had made it there before

[shh_ernie]

"Hello," Ernie replied with a smile. He gave Eleanor a quick kiss on the cheek. "And I was the first one here. Aside from Hermione and Roger." He shrugged. "It was alright though. Hermione and I...well, suffice it to say, we had a rather large misunderstanding about our last conversation. Everything's been cleared up however."

He paused and then grinned sheepishly. "And I...invited Roger and Hermione over for dinner."

[shh_eleanor]

Eleanor started to worry when he said he'd been the first one there. Hopefully that hadn't been too awkward. Apparently, it hadn't. Eleanor was glad to hear that they had cleared the air.

"You did? I'm glad to hear that," Eleanor asked with a grin. That he'd asked Hermione and Roger to dinner was certainly a good sign. "What did they say about dinner?"

[shh_ernie]

"Roger said 'yes.' I told him that I needed to check with you before we set a date. I've not yet spoken to Hermione about it. She went off to talk to another member of the book club before I had a chance."

He reckoned he should ask Eleanor before he traded her book away. Pulling it from his jacket pocket, he cleared his throat. "I...er...found this last night. And read it. I hope it's alright that I brought it." It suddenly felt very warm in here and he loosened his tie and undid the top button of his dress shirt.

[shh_oliver]

Oliver didn't intend to really go to the book club meeting but he wanted to browse around the Bookworm for books of Quidditch on the continent and with Alicia at work, he didn't have much else to do. He had wandered by Hammerside and went inside to see if Fleur was downstairs or to see if she wanted to come along. But she wasn't working on her studio and so he continued on alone

[shh_hermione]

While chatting with Mrs. Figg, Hermione noticed Luna and Eleanor both arrive. It didn't seem as if it would be a large crowd, by any means, but she actually hadn't really expected anyone, so she'd not be too disappointed if the idea failed. After all, one never knew without trying.

She noticed Oliver Wood wander in looking a bit lost, so she excused herself from Mrs. Figg and walked over. "Good evening," she said politely. "Welcome to the book club meeting. Were you here for the club? If so, there's refreshments on the table, and feel free to sit and talk about the books you've brought."

[shh_oliver]

Oliver really didn't know anyone here or at least he hadn't seen anyone in months. He sighed, wishing he had found someone to come with him here. He did smile when he saw Hermione approach and he replied, "Thanks, Hermione. It's good to see you." He smiled as he looked at her. "I'm giving the club a try." He laughed. "Well, I brought a Quidditch book and a Potionmaking book. It's not quite Tolstoy but there's lots of pictures."

He still was a bit nervous to be here and he wanted some punch but it was good to see Hermione and he asked, "How've you been doing?"

[shh_hermione]

"I'm sure someone in attendance this evening would find those books interesting," she said. "I believe Eleanor has a fondness for potions, in fact."

"I've been doing well. And yourself?" she asked, noticing his glance at the refreshments. "Would you like some punch? It'll just go to waste if people don't drink it."