scarlet_malfoy

zOMG. Prophecy. So much of what I want to say has already been said on my flist, but I suppose I'll add my two cents as well.

This was written on notebook paper in the airport, while I tried not to cry in front of a scary, looming French man...

"I feel like there are no words in the English language that I could use that would be able to sum up my Prohpecy 2007 experience properly. Exhilarating, extraordinary, beyond my wildest dreams, a homecoming of sorts... those are just a few things that come to mind. I could very honestly have stayed there with my fandom forever. My first HP con. The first, and most definitely not the last.

If someone had told me last week that I would be seated in a 'Slash Common Room' surrounded by mijan, fiona_fawkes, emmagrant01, furiosity, novembersnow, janicechess, acromantular, alaana_fair, anathema91, anidraugluin, autumnlecroix, coffeejunkii, evilsource, hazelhawthorne, kaalee, kriken, lunacy, pinkelephant42, tracy_loo_who, verdenia, and about 15 thousand (well, maybe I'm exagerating just a LITTLE) other slashers... I wouldn't have believed them. Maybe I still haven't gotten over the shock of the wonderfulness of my first con, or maybe it's that I fangirl to a frightening degree sometimes, but the entire time I just could hardly say a word. I could only exist there among them, a huge gathering of people; the only group of people who I have ever sat with who have ever implicitly understood my passion, for it it their own, as well.

Included in the group were a few of my favorite authors, and I drabbled with them a few times. At first I couldn't bring myself to read what I had written. I felt so inferior in comparison. Of course none of those amazing people did anything at all to make that impression on me, other than just being their magnificently talented selves. Eventually I did read a few of my drabbles aloud, and after I did, when I saw that what I had written had made several people laugh, or applaud, I finally felt... a bit more at ease. My God, fandom is so amazing... they just have a way of making me feel like I instantly belonged. I wish I could have had more time to just sit and talk and get to know them, especially after I finally broke out of my shy fangirl shell. It really sucks that we only gather together like this once or twice a year.

But on the other hand, it is so freaking exciting to have so many faces to put to the LJ names. I am so excited to go home and add all the new friends I made. It's going to feel so weird not having my Slytherin tie around my neck at all times. I'm considering getting a permanent dark mark, or something else equally HPish, that will signify to the world exactly who and what I am. I have never been prouder in my life to call myself a member of the Harry Potter fandom. These people are the best people in the world.

I never cried wholeheartedly over the end of the 7th book. Not until I boarded the bus that would take me back to the airport, back to Chicago. I've been in such denial all morning, watching my awesome roomates ambeon, kairi999, and enchant24601, leave one by one, telling myself that no, this is not the end, I will not have to go back to the horrid mundaneness of my every day life. It is honestly the last thing I want to do.

When I sat down on the bus one hour ago, I looked around out the windows and realized for the first time that the books are over. I've known this for some time now, but I guess the physical act of removal from the best, most Harry Potter-filled weekend I have ever had really made the fact clear to me. There aren't words to describe how thankful I am that I got to go, got to be there at the end with my fandom. (Not that it's ever, really, truly, going to be the end, though...) There will be cons in the future (MY HOMETOWN OF CHICAGO NEXT YEAR, EVERYONE GO!!!) but I have a feeling none will ever be as charged and excited and so emotionally driven as Prophecy. I regret more than anything not having been old enough/had enough money at the time to attend any of the past cons.

My Toronto weekend was exciting for me in several other ways - ways that don't even have anything to do with Harry Potter! (Well - kinda not.) I realized that there is a very large chance that I will never be able to date anybody who is not an HP fan. (This is most definitely a fact.) I also realized that I am extremely attracted to certain bouncer girls in certain clubs on Church Street in Toronto. ambeon and ruffians can attest to having this mutual feeling as well, haha. If you don't know, Church Street is kind of the equivalent to Boystown in Chicago. And can I also remark upon how effing amazing it is that the drinking age in Toronto is 19, and not 21? Though I've only got 6ish months to go, this was exciting for me. I ordered all the pretty colored drinks I've always wanted to order, and felt horribly illegal all the while, and ambeon laughed at me."

That's all that I managed to get down on paper in the airport. It's all kind of random. Probably a bit overly dramatized, but that's just what I tend to do.

So, Photobucket is being an asshole. So I'm going to provide the link to my facebook album. Please let me know if you see a picture that you're in that you'd rather not have on there. They are mostly just of me and my roomates, but some are from formal programming, meetups, wizard rock, and I totally fangirled mijan a whole bunch, so yeah, just let me know. (It's flocked on facebook, too, so no random people can see!)

And as for drabblage. *coins phrase* These three came from drabble prompts in the slasher RoR.


Regulus Black and the Broken Timeturner


Out on the island in the middle of the cave, it was
completely dark. Regulus lay sprawled on the ground,
mouth dry, heart slowing. Kreacher was gone and he was
glad. He knew he would not die in vain. He knew that
one day the Wizarding world might know about what he
had done, maybe future students at Hogwarts would talk
in revered tones about him, wondering... but no one
would ever really know. That was okay. He'd resigned
himself to this fate, and he was glad.

It was getting harder to breath. His hands gripped the
stone floor, scrambling, feeling a burning in his
chest, and he squeezed his eyes shut. Was this it? Was
he dying?

His hand moved downward slightly and he felt something
there, oddly familiar in shape and size. He picked it
up, looking frantically through rapidly dilating eyes,
and a muffled cry burst forth from from dry lips.
Kreacher, he - he must have left this here, he must have
had some inclination, maybe the elf had even left it for
himself, fearing Regulus would force him to endure the
poison all over again... but it hardly mattered. No,
it didn't matter at all, as Regulus' hand, clutching
the time turner, dropped and hit stone.

fin



Umbridge's Secret Panty Butterfly, Remus Lupin's Shoe Fetish, and Professor McGonagall's Pet Hamster


"I'll take that brown one, just there."

Minerva pointed toward the top most cage in the
magical menagerie, where a furry little brown hamster
resided.

"Those up there are young yet," the shop owner
replied. "Hard to keep hold of. I think you'd be much
better off with-"

"No. I'd like the brown one." Minerva eyed the shop
owner severely. She was almost certain he was a former
Hufflepuff. She doubted she'd have any problem
obtaining her hamster of choice.

Indeed. The shop owner looked slightly scandalized as he
handed the furry creature over. Minerva put it in her
pocket and paid the man, and made her way out of the
store.

Several blocks down, she ran into Remus Lupin, busy
looking in the window of a popular new wizard shoe
store. Minerva was almost certain he'd been in the
same exact place twenty minutes earlier when she'd
passed him on her way to the menagerie.

"Remus. Trouble deciding?"

Remus sighed, looking up at her from his crouched
position. "A fair bit, yes. I love the black leather,
but the brown have their merits as well. I just am not
sure at all on-"

Several things happened then in quick succession.
The brown hamster, whom Minerva had lovingly named
Scamper, had scampered out of her pocket and into Remus'
pant leg. He managed to shake it out soon enough, but
not without backing into Dolores Umbridge, who happened
to just then be about, and sending the little brown hamster
flying in the air toward her. She shrieked as it hurried
into her pink, frilly pocket, where a severe looking quill
was poking out.

An odd look passed over her face them. With a hamster
in her pocket, both Remus and Minerva would have
expected Dolores to be a lot angrier than she seemed
just now. Minerva reached out. "Here, I'll just take-"

"DON'T TOUCH!" Dolores screamed and fled, with Minerva
on her tail and a truly confused Remus Lupin, who
stood still staring hopelessly at the shoe shop
window.

fin.



Kinder Egg Surprise: Toucan Swinging on a Perch?


It was a stifling morning. Draco was awake before first light, hoping and praying that the bloody bird - the one that had been perched in the tree outside every morning for weeks now - would be gone. Its presence was driving Harry insane.

The bird was highly unusual. It was black, sleek, with brightly colored plumage on its wings. Though it was pretty, it very obviously didn't belong in the small Muggle town Harry and Draco had settled down in.

"Is it back?" Harry asked, startling Draco, who had been busy staring out the kitchen window at the 'it' in question. Both boys were shirtless, and starting to perspire. It wasn't even 7 o'clock in the morning yet and they were both uncomfortably warm. Draco swallowed. Why couldn't the bird just be gone? This was looking to be the perfect time for a sweaty morning shag, and the bird was ruining it.

"Goddamnit. I told you - we should have reported - it's been watching us - me - I don't know!" Harry crossed the room hurriedly to join Draco in staring out the window at the bird.

"It's not Voldemort. I won't listen to this again, Harry... I won't. You killed Voldemort, remember? He is absolutely not on vacation, sending the local bird on a mission to watch you. Do you not see how that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever?"

Harry sighed. "I know. I just don't know what to make of it. Why is it here? Who's sending it? Do you think we should move?"

Draco turned to face Harry. "Potter?" he asked.

"You know I hate it when you call me that." he answered quietly, but moved easily into Draco's arms.

"I know. But if you don't shut up about that bloody bird, I'll absolutely refuse to fuck you over the kitchen table..."

Harry eyed Draco, the bird, and then Draco again, and made his choice as he moved in to kiss him.

fin. (Yeah, this totally could have turned into PWP NC-17ness, but that would have taken a computer... not a sheet of notebook paper and a pen.)


My roomates and I started our own LJ group: hd_prophecyroom. We gave each other some challenges of our own, and so I think this counts as Prophecy induced drabblage. I wrote two!

A Tent Through Abating Peanuts, for kairi999.

and for ambeon, I wrote (on the plane on the way to Prophecy!) Slash on a Plane

The prompt for this was: Camera, M&M's, Demon, and "There really should be some kind of manual for this."


DRACO: I'm really kind of pissed about this.
HARRY: You're pissed? It was my friends who set this whole thing up. Do you honestly think I want to be stuck - no, locked - in a bloody closet with you?
DRACO: Well, I can't imagine who wouldn't want to be locked in a closet with me, personally. Anyone else but you would be having the time of their life.
HARRY: *snorts* Right. I hate you more than I did a second ago, if that's even possible. What the hell were Ron and Hermione thinking?
DRACO: Granger must be having an off day or something.
HARRY: *incredulous look* Was that a backhanded compliment, Malfoy?
DRACO: *sneers* No, it was definitely was NOT, Potter. And even if it had been, it wasn't meant for you.
HARRY: *is silent. shuffles feet. knocks over a mop, which hits draco on the head*
DRACO: Ahh! You bastard! *rubs head*
HARRY: I didn't mean it! God! Shut up!
DRACO: How Muggle of you, Potter. It's only the Mud - er - Muggleborns who say 'God.'
HARRY: I don't care what you think. Keep your stupid, narrow-minded viewpoints away from me.
DRACO: Well, they've got nowhere else to go! We're locked in this closet, see...
HARRY: *sits on cement floor forcefully*
DRACO: I think you shook the castle off its hinges, Potter. *sits tentatively*
HARRY: *tauntingly* How Muggle of you.
DRACO: Not really. Doors have hinges in the Wizardly World, too.
HARRY: *sighs* I wonder if Hermione snuck a camera in here or something. That would be right up her alley.
DRACO: *stares blankly* How stupid of you. Cameras wouldn't work at Hogwarts.
HARRY: *grins wryly* Unless they were Wizard Cameras, whoa-ho!
DRACO: *looks as if about to retort, then raises one hand in acquiesce* Touche. Bastard.
HARRY & DRACO: *collective sigh*
DRACO: What do you think Hermione would expect to see, anyway, do you think, if she really did go with that camera idea?
HARRY: *shrugs* Beats me. She's probably expecting me to shag you.
DRACO: *scoots away, startled* What?
HARRY: It's not like I expected to! Calm down.
DRACO: Why would she expect that?
HARRY: Dunno.
DRACO: Oh, for Merlin's.. are you gay, or what?
HARRY: *looks surprised* Uh, well... well, yeah.
DRACO: Then that's why she expects it.
HARRY: That makes no sense. *shakes head*
DRACO: *nods* It makes perfect sense.
HARRY: *stares* Are you...?
DRACO: *cocks head* So you are that daft. I've just won a lot of money in a number of Slytherin bets, just so you know.
HARRY: Who in the wide world of Slytherin bet for me?
DRACO: You are straying from the topic at hand on purpose, stop it.
HARRY: *thinks* So. I have an idea of what Hermione was thinking...
DRACO: *reaches into inner pocket* Want some chocolate stuff?
HARRY: Uh... sure, I guess. *takes*
DRACO: So you were saying...?
HARRY: *gapes* M&M's? How in the world did you get these?
DRACO: Goyle nicked them off a Hufflepuff first year. Not important, Potter. Now please, go on...
HARRY: *chews* I think that, *chews* that Hermione must think, *chews* that we have some bizare, angry attraction towards one another.
DRACO: Odd, that. *chews contemplatively*
HARRY: Definitely odd. *swallows*
DRACO: *inches closer in the dark*
HARRY: Um.
DRACO: Oh, sorry. *doesn't move away*
HARRY: *becomes nervous*
DRACO: *becomes preoccupied with Harry's wristwatch*
HARRY: Sure. You can have my hand. Don't even ask, you know, it's fine.
DRACO: What happens when you push...? *pushes*
*loud beeping noise*
DRACO: Oh God, what is that?!?
HARRY: *pushes. sound ceases* You pushed the alarm.
DRACO: Alarm? *snorts* It sounded like I released some sort of Muggle Demon. Is it still in the closet with us, do you think?
HARRY: I think you're a complete nutter, Malfoy, it's just a watch. You're such a twitchy little f-
DRACO: Don't even! I'll have to kill you if you do.
HARRY: *laughs* Right. *a beat later* Hey, Malfoy. You said 'God'.
DRACO: Did I? Complete accident. Being in closets with idiots rubs off on people. It's not my fault.
HARRY: But we're not in the closet.
DRACO: What are you on about? Of course we- oh.
HARRY: *laughs*
DRACO: *sighs* There really should be some kind of manual for this.
HARRY: Uh... for what?
DRACO: For being locked in a closet with one's own worst enemy. And what one is supposed to do when one's own worst enemy is more than a little attractive all of a sudden.
HARRY: Um...
DRACO: You probably just shouldn't say anything at all, Potter. It's dark in here, but I can see your flustered blush from all the way over here, two whole feet away from you.
HARRY: Knowing Hermione, though, I would have thought she'd have written out a manual for us or something. Just in case.
DRACO: But alas, no. *closes distance*
HARRY: What are you doing, Malfo- Mmm... *is kissed*
DRACO: I told you... shhh.... *commences*

Alas. There is the product of my Prophecy experience. Along with some pretty arts I won by pinkelephant42, some Snily art I was given by an LJ-less lady I met on the bus named Stephanie, and all of my wonderful memories. (And H/D goodie stuff, course♥. I treasure my signed bookmark with all my heart!) *gets cheesy again* I can't wait til TERMINUS!!! AND IT'S IN CHICAGO!!!! So (unless there are other active Chicago slashers out there I don't know about) I proclaim myself the Slasher Chicago Tour Guide of sorts. Feel free to ask any questions about the city you may have. (You know, when you actually care... in about a year, lol.) I think I should wrap this up. It's long. Thank you to all who I met at Prophecy for making it AMAZINGLY WORTHWHILE. I can't wait to see you all again!

"If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities..." -Maya Angelou <-- my favorite quote of all time :D