Megan Jones (megsyjones) wrote in caged, @ 2013-12-06 08:34:00 |
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Shoshanna still wasn’t feeling her best, although she was now fairly certain that it wasn’t dragon pox she was experiencing. No, it was the same old complaints, maybe even a cold, but on the whole she was fairly healthy, all things considered. She had liked Megan’s idea for Choir, and she was strangely excited about it. She didn’t want to sing herself, but she could help Megan organize, which could be fun. And she had some neat ideas for how they could set up the box for submissions, and charm it so that people couldn’t steal from it or tamper with the cards already in there. She and Megan had agreed to meet in the afternoon, but hadn’t set a specific time or place, but Shoshanna had positioned herself at lunch so she could see Megan, and when the majority of students had started to filter out for their next class, she went over to the Hufflepuff table. “Hi Megan,” she said with a small smile. “Is now still a good time?” Megan was finishing up her last bite of dessert when Shoshanna came over. Her mind was consumed with choir these days, which was a welcome distraction from all the other things she could be thinking about. With auditions coming up and a charity fundraiser to plan it was a welcome relief to have so many people willing to help, especially with the less glamorous side of things. “Now would be a perfect! Would you like to sit here? Or we can go find someplace more quiet if that would work better.” In truth, Megan wouldn’t have expected Shoshanna to step up like this. It wasn’t that she thought the other girl lazy or lacking in care, she just didn’t seem like one to jump into a project like this. Megan was pleased that she had, pleased that the girl wanted to interact with her at all. “I can’t wait to hear about your ideas. I admit I had gotten quite that far. I wasn’t sure if anyone would really be interested to tell you the truth.” “Here is fine,” Shoshanna said, putting her schoolbag down and taking a seat next to Megan at the table. The only other good spot with seating and a table was the library, which wasn’t usually conducive to talking, with Madam Pince overseeing the room. “It was a good idea,” she said, her voice sounding about as flat and unexcited as it always did, but she really did mean it. “I think everyone’s going to like it.” She pulled out some parchment and her quill and ink, ready to take notes. “Where should we start?” she asked, writing “Christmas Carol Fundraiser” at the top of her parchment. “I hope so. It’s been a pretty terrible year, hasn’t it? It will be nice to give people a reason to smile for a change. I hate seeing everyone so stressed and miserable.” Megan would do anything to cheer everyone up, but this was beyond her abilities. There was no making the Carrows nicer or the problems on the outside any less messy. Still, she could try for a grin. It would be a start. “I have a list of people who have volunteered. We can probably wrangle a few more when it actually comes time. We’ll need to make a schedule. Also figure out how we’re going to collect requests and figure out if we chose the songs or let them pick. We don’t want this getting too complicated...especially if people request Muggle carols. I like them, sure, but I don’t want anyone getting into trouble.” Shoshanna shrugged at the mention of how terrible the year was. Yes, it had been, but at this point she was just grateful that she (and Olive) had made it thus far. Megan was right, though, that this could prove to be a good distraction. “Maybe we could provide a list of song options,” Shoshanna offered, writing down ‘list of song options’ on her parchment. “That way no one has to learn too many, but people still have a few to choose from. Which Christmas carols are you favourite?” she asked. “I think ‘Trim the Tree’’ is a good one - some students probably won’t want slow songs like Christmas Visions or Silent Eve, although they’re pretty too, of course.” They were also Muggle. Or maybe the could claim Muggles stole them from wizards. “‘White Christmas’ was always my favorite, or ‘Winter Wonderland’. To be honest I love them all. When I was growing up we’d do nothing but listen and sing along to Christmas songs as soon as December first came around. It was always a pretty big deal in my house.” She wasn’t sure what it would be this year. As much as she longed to hold her grandfather, she wasn’t prepared for the gaping hole her grandmother’s absence would bring. “I think going with shorter, peppier songs is the wiser choice. Something people can bop along to.” “Yeah,” Shoshanna said with a nod. “Although maybe we should have one or two slower options. People like Tilly will probably think it’s more romantic for their boyfriends or something.” She rolled her eyes, obviously thinking how silly that was, although frankly she had no idea what Tilly or anyone else would think was romantic. She write down the five songs they had mentioned, then added ‘Snowflake Carol’, another one of her favourites. That one was peppy enough, she thought. She glanced over at Megan. “That sounds nice, though. What you said about the Christmas songs at your house. My Mum has a rule that no one can sing carols until Christmas day. Then we can sing them all through the twelve days as much as we want.” “Oh, that’s right, some people are in love. Well then, we ought to have something for them too.” The words might have been bordering on bitter, but they were said with an honest smile. “Those songs are nice, too. I think it’s a sweet time of year to be romantic. You can snuggle and not feel like you’re sweating to death.” “What about you, are you going to send any carols?” Shoshanna laughed, unexpectedly, at the comment about not sweating to death. “I’ll probably send a few,” she said. “Mostly to the girls in my dormitory, I guess.” She had thought, of course, about sending one to Wayne, but she wasn’t sure if that would be awkward, especially since they had barely talked in a few weeks. Maybe she’d been wrong about that whole situation. “Who are you going to send carols to?” Shoshanna asked, slightly curious. “Most of Hufflepuff, or the ones not in choir at least. And Tracey, of course. I don’t know, I might see who is looking down or sad and send some on a whim. I don’t want anyone feeling left out.” She didn’t have a lot of money to burn, but she had enough to send a few songs out. Sometimes people needed an unexpected pick me up, and everyone deserved that, especially around Christmas. “I just love this time of year, don’t you?” Well, she usually did. She was determined to love it this year too, even if things weren’t quite right. Things could be sad and good at the same time. Her Gran wouldn’t want her moping. “I just need to finish getting my gifts together. I can’t wait until I’m out of school and can actually shop in secret.” “That is helpful,” Shoshanna agreed. She hadn’t even thought about presents yet, and she wasn’t quite ready to, either. “So, I was also thinking about how people could submit their song requests,” she said, getting back to the task at hand. She didn’t mind talking with Megan about the holidays, but she also wanted to make sure they actually got things done while they were talking, too. “I thought we could put a box in the Great Hall, with a list of songs. People can drop their money in it with the name of the song and the person they’d like it sung to, and whether to say it’s from them or if it should be anonymous. And here’s the best part,” she added, sounding excited and eager to get out her words. “I can charm it so that people can’t tamper with it - I thought it might be funny if the person who tries to take from it is charmed to sing everything for a few hours after.” Megan knew when she was being put back into place, not that she minded. She knew she had a habit to pry into people’s lives if given the chance. She wanted to know more about people, but Shoshanna hadn’t volunteered for that, she was here for a reason. Megan smiled, knowing there were a few people that she wouldn’t mind being forced to sing for a few hours. That said, she also didn’t want to earn the Carrows fury, and the Carrows seemed to favor those that would try and tamper with the box. “It’s a good idea, but we might want to be careful about getting revenge on people. The Carrows might not take too kindly to the idea, even if it is deserved. Besides, I don’t want anyone thinking of singing as punishment. Then again….people should know we’re not about to picked on. Maybe we can force them to sing for ten minutes. Okay, half an hour.” If Megan’s smile was devious she’d never admit it. “I like the idea of people being able to drop off their money on their own terms. I don’t want anyone feeling embarrassed about not giving as much as other people. Every little bit helps.” “That’s good,” Shoshanna agreed. “No one should feel left out at the holidays.” “So do you think the box should go out around the first of December?” Shoshanna asked. “Maybe people could have a week to get their requests in, and then we could start the caroling. Or that could start earlier, if you wanted. I guess it doesn’t make much of a difference.” “No, they shouldn’t. Even if they don’t celebrate the actual holiday, they shouldn’t have to forgo the spirit of things. Unless they want to, of course.” This time of year wasn’t for everybody. She might not understand it, but she didn’t have to. “Yes, that would be perfect. We’ll need a bit of time to organize and actually get these carols out to people. I’ll make an announcement on the journals, probably hang up a few signs as well. We can give them a week! Make some allowances for late comers, but I think that should be plenty of time to get requests in.” “Perfect,” Shoshanna agreed. “And really, the journals will be perfect for helping us organize all the details once people start to put their requests in.” “This will be fun,” she added, giving Megan a smile. “Thanks for letting me help.” “No, thank you for offering,” Megan added with a smile. “I think this is going to be just what people need.” |