Sunday, November 15th, 2009
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3:55 pm - Conversation in the conservatory at Lake Cottage
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Scorpius really likes persimmon. When Regan was a baby she wanted persimmons all the time. There were lots of crying fits when persimmons were out of season.
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(90 comments | comment on this)
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Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
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9:00 pm - [Filter: Draco Malfoy]
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Draco,
The next time you attempt to bring a bundle of joy into this world, I think it would be wise for you to discuss with your nixiecidal fertility specialist other living creatures to murder. Something less sentient. A very large salmon perhaps? Because when a salmon ends up quivering on top of little clumps of rice, other salmon don't congregate and wonder about its disappearance.
current music: Anatol Lyadov - The Enchanted Lake
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(23 comments | comment on this)
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Thursday, October 8th, 2009
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11:49 pm - Owl Post: Ife Solomon
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Dear Ife,
Of course Cici's friend was perfectly exquisite, and of course nothing came of it. Before we parted ways at the concert hall, Cici whispered to me, "One day I shall find the bewitching thief who holds the skeleton key to the rusted iron lock of your adamantine heart." She was smiling pleasantly as she said it but there was an unmistakable note of threatening resolve in her voice. What has until now been a mildly entertaining diversion for her has now become a challenge. And we all know how competitive and stubborn she is.
This is all very tiresome.
B.
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Wednesday, September 16th, 2009
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10:12 pm - [Filter: Draco Malfoy]
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Draco,
I got your floo message. No, I have not started corralling Slytherins to your cause. Yes, I do realise how important it is to you. I will, soon.
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(43 comments | comment on this)
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Saturday, April 4th, 2009
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7:58 am - Owl Post: Draco Malfoy
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Dear Draco,
Wizarding Britain need to come to a decision soon regarding the Weasley Twins. Either we acknowledge them as our overlords or we sentence them to a long jail term to be multiplied by the number of involutary celebrant they have roped into their birthday festivities.
As unappetising as their latest foray is however, like all crimes, it revealed some truths about its victims.
Oscar Wilde once said, "I choose my friends for their good looks." I do not think the two of you share the same criteria for friendship, but you are predisposed to a certain standard of pulchritude. I am well aware of how you rate my looks. It is a testament to the strength of our friendship then that it has endured in the face (mine in this case) of such homeliness. But the Twins' revelry showed me that the bonds of friendship, no matter how strong, can be stretched close to breaking point.
I had no idea that my appearance is a veritable house of cards. The absence of hair and a conventionally-cut robe are enough for it to collapse into a spectacle that elicit a response that, while not quite like the hysterical revulsion that follows a hunchback's clambering down of a church and precedes a gathering of pitchfork-waving rustics, is close to the caring disgust that prompts well-meaing relatives to volunteer the plainer elements of their family for the makeover feature in Witch Weekly.
I value our friendship and will do all that I can to ensure its longevity. To that end, I assure you that I will endeavour to be buffed and polished to the level of sheen worthy of a friend like you.
Glossily your,
Blaise
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Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
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11:00 pm - Owl Post: Draco Malfoy
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Dear Draco,
You asked me at Hogwarts what is it that I want? I want to not want, to not have desires. This afternoon further reaffirmed that wish and also showed me how far away I am from attaining it. I suspect the quest will take the rest of my life.
By the time you receive this letter I will be gone. I cannot stay; I am pretty certain that my family have some kind of custodial action in stall for me. The extreme lengths people would go in the name of love.
I have gone about the whole thing wrong the first time. This time I will disappear. I still remember the things we learned in the order (of the Phoenix that is), when we were spies. I know how to disappear. Not that you will come looking for me, I know you will respect my wishes, but you can help impress upon others the futility of a search.
I was very glad to see you, Draco. It is a comfort to me that you, Scorpius and Miss Weasley are doing so well, all things considered.
I wish that you will have all your heart's desires and all the happiness in the world.
Goodbye.
Your friend,
Blaise
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Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
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4:53 am - Returning
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True peace and quiet can never be achieved in London. As thorough and thick as the sound proofing charms on Cheyne Walk are, sounds of the city still manage to seep through. It is irritating. I will play one of the CDs that Ife has brought me. Perhaps that will help.
I am alarmed at how quickly the hard-earned equanimity I have earned at the charterhouse is dissipating. I feel ill at ease in this house. It feels overwhelming after my cell. All that space and furniture and decor seem to be bearing down on me. For the last two days I have been sleeping in a tent in the garden.
Ife is the only person I have seen since I have been London. We have never had so much difficulty communicating with each other. She because she is juggling anger and happiness, me because I am not used to talking at length and with someone who is not one of my brothers.
Ife told me there is a Hogwarts reunion today, and everyone will be there, including Mum. I am not prepare to see her. It was extremely difficult to resist her pull even from the end of the world. I do not think I can resist the power of her anger and sadness and loneliness up close.
Mum felt that I had abandoned her. Her only son running off to entomb himself in an ice monastery to escape from a life that has not given me what I wanted, though it has given me more than most people have. She absolutely refused to believe that I am not escaping from anything. If I were I would not have lasted ten years. I told her that I left in search of another kind of beauty. She did not believe that either. She would not be so disbelieving if she had vespers underneath the aurora australis.
Mum is not alone in her anger. All the stunts she and the others have pulled contributed in my eviction from the charterhouse. The fake terminal illnesses, fake marriages, friends disgusing themselves as relatives to see me during the annual family visit, Regan disguising herself as a man, the withholding of the contrbutions to the Church, the reporting to the authorities of the charterhouse as a cult. The last straw came when Uncle Hyperion told the Pope that he would drag me out of the chartherhouse, even if he had to burn all of Antarctica. Dom Adam is a patient man but he saw me as the the broken fence through which the world encroach.
He is also an understanding man. He is willing to let me return if that fence is mended. But he also said that even though I have left the world the world has not left me and perhaps I belong to them.
I belong to no one. I will return. You have seduced me, Lord, and I have let myself be seduced.
When did my hair grown back? And so fast. I must go find a razor.
current mood:  disquieted
current music: Hildur Guðnadóttir - Circular
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Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
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12:29 pm - Owl Post: Draco Malfoy
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Dear Draco,
I wonder at your objection to a hamster when you deny almost none of Miss Weasley's wishes. The rodent would scarcely be a significant addition to Lake Cottage's sizable bestiary but it would be an important acquisition for Miss Weasley. I sense that she, like Regan, likes to take care of things, to tend to them. Not a bad disposition to cultivate as it fosters dependability and a sense of responsibility. A hamster is easy to take care of, even by someone as young as Miss Weasley (with close supervision). A word of advice, when picking out the hamster try and shield Miss Weasley's young eyes from the guinea pigs. Regan went insane the first time she saw the fluffy creatures. She waged a long, patient, often noisy, and ultimately victorious campaign to get Rupert Pig and Snowball Pig.
I shall be at Lake Cottage tomorrow. We will stroll over the verdant grounds, watch the surface of the lake rippled by vernal winds, sigh over the first spring buds, fill our lungs with pollen, crown each other's head with daisy wreaths, and talk about Ron Weasley.
Love,
Blaise
P.S. Please convey to Miss Weasley my gratitude and admiration for her charming correspondent and artwork, sentiments upon which I will elaborate in person tomorrow.
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Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
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6:30 am - Owl Post: Draco Malfoy
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Dear Draco,
I am gratified that you have turned to me to aid you in matters of profligacy.
A child will be joining us you say? That rules out the movie, Lesbian Vampire Killers, as a diversion then. We could go see a movie about anthropomorphic animals called Bolt. A little girl I know was sufficiently entertained by it. The movie is 3-D (d for dimensional), an effect that aims to give viewers the sensation that they are in the movie. We would make sure to include tea at The Ritz on our itinerary. I have not met a young girl who does not find something of the storybook about the experience of taking tea at The Ritz.
I will make sure that you go home with a spring wardrobe. The Prada spring line especially suits you.
And Draco, all will be well.
Love,
Blaise
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Wednesday, March 11th, 2009
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9:36 pm - [Filtered post: Severus Snape]
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Friday, February 27th, 2009
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8:09 pm - [Filtered Post: Severus Snape]
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Professor Snape,
I trust you found Father Samuel satisfactory.
current music: Kronos Quartet - Dark Was the Night
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(83 comments | comment on this)
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Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
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11:52 pm - [Filtered: Severus Snape]
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Professor Snape,
Happy Ash Wednesday.
Under other circumstances, the matter of your life and death is fodder for have-you-heard dinner party conversations. However, because of your relationship to my best friend, your well-being is, irritatingly, of substantial importance to me. Have you confessed your sins to Draco yet? I do not need to ask if you have sought help for your mental state. I know you have not. This may very well be your last Lent. You should make it really count, and give up something difficult, like cantankerous stubborness.
current music: Krzysztof Penderecki - O Crux ave (Hymn. Vexilla Regis prodeunt)
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(35 comments | comment on this)
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Saturday, February 21st, 2009
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6:33 pm - Floo Call: Severus Snape
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Friday, February 20th, 2009
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11:08 am - Owl Post: Octavia Wilde
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Dear Healer Wilde,
I am a staff writer on The Daily Prophet. During the course of my research for a feature on the state of our nation's mental health care I came across your cogent, thought-provoking and compassionate article Duty of Care: Autonomy Vs. Paternalism in The Caduceus. I would like to request an interview with you for my article. You have the clarity of vision to shed light on the many failings (e.g. inadequate guidelines for involuntary commitment allow unstable elements in our society to escalate into dangerous ones) of our healthcare system and an authoritative yet sympathetic voice that draw and hold one's attention. I look forward to providing a platform for your thoughts and ideas, they deserve a wider readership.
Yours sincerely,
Gary Rusbridger
The letter is written on official Prophet stationery.
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Sunday, February 8th, 2009
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3:54 pm - Conversation at Lake Cottage, Draco's bedroom
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*A firm knocking on the door. The door opens before an answer could be made*
Draco. You haven't come out all day and you haven't eaten. After you have finished this we will go for a walk.
Hello, Scorpius. How are you doing this afternoon?
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(41 comments | comment on this)
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Sunday, January 4th, 2009
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7:18 am - Owl Post addressed to Draco Tyrannus
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Dear Draco,
Neither of us is a believer in the dark arts of psychoanalysis. But I do wonder if now is not the time for you to convert. Rather than spend an ecstatic amount of time, money and energy on parental rights terminating pursuits, it might be more salubrious for you to expend them on a few sessions with a psychiatrist (Dr. Weltschmerz is a pioneer in the relatively uncharted field of wizard psychology). If for no reason other than to prevent Miss Weasley's picture from appearing in an entry on "Father Issues" in some diagnostic manual.
At any rate, you are a man who could do with some distraction in the form of light entertainment. Let me take you out tonight for dinner and a show.
Love,
Blaise
The owl carries a ticket.
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Wednesday, December 31st, 2008
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6:16 am - Owl Post
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No, Marsyas, there has not been any change in plans. I will be at La Belle Dame Sans Merci's New Year's Eve Party, barring another Ministry emergency of course.
I do regret that I missed your stint as Père Fouettard at the Barmy Unicorn. I heard you made quite a few naughty boys feel very good at that Christmas party.
It took me a couple of seconds--for he had used a different name with me--but yes, I remember your new friend Mr. Danvers. This is the first time I have given him any thought since our encounter six years ago. I can attest to the veracity of his account. Yes, we did all those things, at that place. And yes we avoided arrest by simply involving the arresting officer in our activities. On one point however, I would diverge with Mr. Danvers. He exaggerated when he said I was "like the devil". That is a lofty state and I fall short of it.
You however.
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Thursday, December 25th, 2008
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7:52 am - Hippogriff delivery to Draco Malfoy
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Dear Draco,
I do not recall if you had mentioned going to St. Peter's for Christmas. I looked for you last night before Mass, but my search was cut short when I felt Mum's eyes upon me. She inclined her head slightly but firmly in the direction of Anna's brother, who was marching towards Uncle Apollo. I hastened to place myself between the two men. As did Anna, who reached them seconds after I did, and was full of amusement, which prompted her brother to scowl and my uncle to smile. From then on I was quite swallowed up by the hubbub of family and friends.
I know this Christmas holds not a small significance for you. It is the first Christmas of your own little product of unusual conception. Then there are other matters that weigh upon this Holiday in varying degrees of gravity, all of which I hope will be resolved swiftly and gratifyingly in the coming year. Resolutions which I promise to do all I can to help you fulfill.
Love,
Blaise
( Each present is wrapped and addressed to the recipient. Everything except the jewellery is charmed to be stain-repellent. )
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Friday, November 28th, 2008
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9:53 am - Owl Post: Anna Borgia
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My Darling,
I hope Mrs. Borgia have not put you off festivities entirely, for your beautiful presence will not go unmarked by one or two or more soirees. Knowing mum she is already drawing up a guest list and telling chef to prepare your favourite food.
This goes without saying, but if your tire of Corbenic, Cheyne Walk is always open to you.
I will see you tomorrow.
Love,
Blaise
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Wednesday, October 8th, 2008
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11:56 pm - Deadwood
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"It's like fucking with a strap-on," bristled Antigone after I revealed the latest innovation in wand craft that the Muggle Task Force was to embrace. ( Read more... )
current music: TV on the Radio - Family Tree
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