Min Lucas

He drew his wand. With Prince’s watchful eye cast in their direction, Armin wasn’t foolish enough to do anything to Min. Instead he muttered a little enchantment under his breath and tapped the point of his wand against the book in question.

“You can still try to take the book if you want,” he said darkly to Min. “But I’m not responsible for what happens to you the moment you touch its pages. Only I know the counter to the curse I just put on it. Do you want to risk the consequences?” Armin was good enough to put hir in the hospital wing, and he was already preparing his excuses about protecting his books from theft. Having Prince watching them was working to his advantage in this instance.

It could be that Armin was bluffing, but there wasn’t a very big likelihood of that.  He also might be lying about being the only one to know the countercurse, but without having heard what he’d done, there was also a very low likelihood of hir figuring out the countercurse before whatever nasty little spell he’d cast put hir in the hospital wing.  

“Still there?” Lorie repeated. It didn’t really need confirmation from Min, but she used a questioning tone anyway. There was a feeling of awe over the strangeness of not being able to feel part of her body. Her head lifted to look down at her body, but she saw only her sheet with the shape of a body underneath. At least it was a fully formed body; she hadn’t lost her pelvic section.

“I don’t care that you need the book for class. You will have to wait until I am done with it.” Armin said this with a flat voice as he stared at the Slytherin who dared interrupt him. Like usual he had taken an entire table for himself in the library, filling the space with his notes and about a dozen books on his chosen topic of study.

Armin didn’t even need the book right now. It wasn’t for homework. He was doing some independent research that could be undertaken at any time. The book was simply sitting closed, untouched, in one of his piles.

She took a while to think over Min’s question. How was floating? She wasn’t sure how to describe it. There had to be words out there to explain the sensation. “I’m a cloud,” she finally said, feeling that that aptly described it.

Three rogue frogs Two new owls and a wand that has specially chosen me!

Two new owls and a wand that has specially chosen me!

Little,

I bought you some of those biscuits you like, the ones with the almond paste.  Make sure you share some with Lorie and Addie, I’m sure they’ll enjoy them as well.  Tell them that they’re welcome to help decorate the tree again; it always turns out so festive when those two get at it.  Don’t study too hard!

Kisses, Mum

Min smiled, looking forward to spending the hols with hir mum and hir friends.  Christmas at hir house might be small, but it was always enthusiastic.  Hell if ze was sharing these biscuits though, they were hir favorites.  Well…maybe one or two if Lorie was really nice…

Who am I kidding?  All Lorie would have to do would be smile at me and I would hand her the entire box, no questions asked…I’m so whipped!

Letter Two:

Dearest Grandchild,

I hope you are having a good year at school.  I had tea with the neighbor lady today; her zinnias have been so beautiful every year and I learned that her secret is pygmy puff poop.  I bought fifteen.  Next year my zinnias will be unbeatable!  Your Grandpa and I are looking forward to seeing you during the holidays.  

Love, Your Lao Lao 

PS: I knitted you some socks.

PPS: Don’t look so serious all the time, you’ll get wrinkles before you’re forty.

A wand that has specially chosen me!

Core: Dragon Heartstring - Heartstring cores are said to be the most powerful of cores, producing potent magic.  Min, a person possessed of great inner strength, reflects this power in hir words and hir spell-casting.  Dragon heartstring wands also have a tendency to be quite temperamental, much like Min hirself. 

Length: 13 ¼ in.

Rigidity: Sturdy

Everything was dark for some reason. Lorie wasn’t sure how she had gotten here, but it was dark, and there was an odd hum about her and she had no idea what day it was. “Isdrkibhr,” she tried to speak. It didn’t really faze her much that it didn’t come out right. She knew what she meant to say. This was followed by a questioning moan.

Oh right. Her eyes were closed. Lorie focused all her attention on her eyelids, imagining a moment that she could telepathically move them. After a while she found the right muscles to budge and her eyelids parted. “Ahhihsbryh,” was her response to the sudden attack of light on her senses. She scrunched her eyes closed again and managed to open them slower this time to let her eyes adjust to the brightness of the room. That magical humming was still around her somewhere.

There were people talking around her. Familiar, but somehow ethereal and mystic in her mind. Her vision was blurry still, making her blink rapidly until they came into focus. And there, her parents! Lorie smiled goofily as she recognised them. She wasn’t entirely sure what they were saying to her, but it sounded nice. Her hand floated about above the sheets. Flying, like a flying thing, she thought. Then it was grabbed by something, and for a moment she thought it was trapped. But there was a person attached to that arm. Blonde hair. Lysander. Yes. Lorie hummed a sleepy contentment at seeing her twin’s face.

The pink hair, though, wasn’t like the rest. It wasn’t blonde like the other heads in the room. It was pink. Not blonde. Pink. Like an angel. How pink hair related to angels didn’t really matter. “You loohli wings,” she mumbled to the angel. There was at least some coherency here. Somewhere. Lorie flew her other hand to pink hair, then unexpectedly laughed to herself as she realised who it was. Min. Of course. Her love. Min. “Lovink.” She laughed again, looking around at the frowns on faces around her.

“Sleepy.” There were hands on her face, brushing back hair. Hair. Pink hair. “Pink…” Lorie yawned big, then extended the yawn as the sound of it amused her. Someone was trying to tell her to close her eyes, but she was determined to look at the pink hair. It was just so beautiful.

She woke up a while later, not knowing how much time had passed or having any recollection of falling asleep again. Her mind felt less floaty this time. She was aware that the room was dark because her eyes were closed, and she was aware of who she was looking at when her eyes opened. Lorie could find just one occupant at her bedside. Min with the lovely pink hair.

Ze stretched, arching hir back and pulling hir arms behind hir. Hir shoulders popped violently, jerking hir forward. Stars danced and ze was blinded by a jagged cobalt.  Rian fumbled with hir palette knife, hir fingers pins-and-needles, as ze grimaced. Ze preferred the chartreuse, the cobalt ze smeared on hir canvas.

Today felt like an acrylic sort of day, the scraps and quiet tinkering being just what ze needed after the barrage of last night’s owls. Ze wasn’t sure what to make of it, so ze shrugged it off with a dash of canary.

Addie mixed and swirled, expanding hir palette with scoops and smears. The blending wasn’t as smooth as it would have been with a brush, but the variety was brilliant; ze was happy.  Ze dabbled a touch of lilac on the sky. But then something loud broke hir concentration and, “Well fuck,” hir palette knife protruded from the fabric. It took a second knock for Rian to jump to hir feet and to the door.

“Min!!” Ze greeted hir with a beaming grin, but then it faltered when ze peeked behind hir. “Uh…no, nope Lorie isn’t here? I think she’s at the, the..greenhouse?” Ze felt like hir words were stilted after spending so much time in hir head.

Addie’s usual paint-splattered appearance didn’t even faze Min when ze opened the door.  The colors were nice today, some light greens and purples mixed with blue and yellow coating hir arms.  Sometimes the colors were a little too bright and garish for Min to handle - ze definitely preferred the days when Addie worked with more cool colors.