InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Why Did Time Fly?"

susan bones (_boned) wrote in refreshrpg,
@ 2015-01-02 17:36:00

Entry tags:

! log, 1998-january, character: edgar bones, character: susan bones

Who: Susan & Edgar Bones
What: Studying & Tea time for Uncle and Niece.
Where: Edgar's house.
When: January 2, mid afternoon.
Rating: Potential triggering content (eating disorders).
Status: Ongoing.

Susan was too excited about the prospect of tutoring that she had asked her parents and her uncle shortly after their journal correspondence if she could head over there right away for some extra lessons. Of course, both parties agreed with enthusiasm. Nothing was more important than education and family, right? And this would be the best of both. Susan was excited to get a little help in before she even went back - it would show dedication and a desire to do well, it would look good. She wanted nothing more than her professors to see how hard she was trying. Well no, she wanted to be the best more than anything. But that damn Hermione Granger always had her beat at that. I'm skinnier, though was the mantra Susan always told herself to make herself feel better.

Although she was sure her cousins would be around some, she was hoping that they would be able to study without interruption. Her stress levels were getting higher by the minute - though she was slightly reassured that there were other paths into her dream job aside from getting straight into Ministry after she graduated as an Unspeakable. Edgar had reassured her of that, even though her parents had said the same thing. She felt it was different - he wasn't obligated in the same way as her parents to placate her, so for some reason his knowledge and advice always held just a little more esteem in her mind than that of her own parents. She took mostly potions things with her, shoving them in a bag with whatever else she thought they might need. She had a completed essay or two she wanted him to read over as well.

It wasn't a far way to Uncle Edgar's home, but to make things quick and easy she went by Flu Powder. She dressed simply in a pair of baggy jeans and a knit sweater, which also hung off her thin frame a little too loosely. But it worked well enough to hide what she needed it to. She gathered up the things she had gathered before deemed herself ready to go. She kissed her mother and father, before taking the powder in hand and stepping into the fire. She said her Uncle's address clearly, tossing the powder in and the awkward, suffocating sort of effect took place as she disappeared from her home and reappeared in that of her Uncle's. Stepping out of the fire, she brushed herself off and cleared her throat.

"Uncle Edgar? I'm here."

(Post a new comment)

edalbo
2015-01-04 04:12 pm UTC (link)

In anticipation of Susan's arrival, Edgar had cleared the kitchen table of everything except a few helpful books and two cups of tea; he wasn't sure what exactly his niece needed help with most, or rather was least confident about, but he figured the tomes he'd chosen probably had something that could be useful, and tea was always a comfort.

There were biscuits on the counter, but he'd ease into offering those.

He heard the young woman call out her greeting, and stuck his head around the corner to see her brushing herself off. "C'mon, in here, kitchen table's the best for working at. Just don't tell your Aunt I said so."

(Reply to this) (Thread)

_boned
2015-01-04 08:50 pm UTC (link)

"Of course it is - what's better than your kitchen table for mixing up possible poisonous potions?" She said, grinning a little at her own alliteration. Stepping into the kitchen, she set her bag on one of the free chairs and started emptying its contents.

Once that was done, she quickly gave her Uncle a hug. "Thank you!" She said, releasing him quickly and sitting down.

"So it's Felix Felicis I'm having the most trouble with, and Draught of Living Death. I'm not sure what I've been doing wrong, but they aren't coming out what they should and we started them in sixth year." She sighed. Potions was her worst subject.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

edalbo
2015-01-05 12:41 am UTC (link)

"Any time, love," Edgar replied, ruffling Susan's hair briefly. "I've already written to Professors Wilkes and Black, so we'll see what that turns up, eh?"

Turning back to the task at hand, he nodded and gave Susan a reassuring smile. "Felix is one of my favourites, not that I've used it much." He added the last bit hurriedly; Felix Felicis felt rather like cheating, even if it was a lovely little potion in small doses. The Draught, it went without saying, was not one of his favourites.

He eyed the ingredients his niece set out, one by one. "I'll tell you what, I think your Murtlap tentacle's gone a bit off. That might me part of your problem. I'll get some of mine, shall I?"

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_boned
2015-01-05 12:46 am UTC (link)

She fixed her hair after he ruffled in. Susan didn't like to seem disheveled, but she wouldn't get all huffy with her Uncle for messing up her hair. She just smoothed it back down carefully.

"Thank you. I hope they don't mind." She said, a frown marring her face - her default mode more often then not. Susan listened to her Uncle talk about Felix, adding that he hadn't used it much. She smirked at him. "Uh huh." She joked, pretending like she didn't believe him.

He looked over her things carefully and she followed suit, trying to see what she might have overlooked or messed up. But if she could see that, she wouldn't have needed help. "Really? Has it gone bad then?" She said, disappointed. "I couldn't even tell."

Nodding, she motioned for her Uncle to go and get whatever he needed. "Yes, and then I can compare them to see next time if they've turned sour."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	edalbo 2015-01-05 11:17 am UTC (link)
	"Not bad entirely, but it's on its way," Edgar comforted, patting Susan's shoulder as he got up. He was gone a few minutes, fetching the murtlap and a few other supplies as well, just in case, and then he set his jar beside the girl's. "There. See the color difference? And the consistency of the tentacles, too." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_boned
2015-01-05 07:57 pm UTC (link)

"Ah. Just bad enough to mess up the potion." Susan sat back, staring at the ingredients. She was still a bit miffed at herself for not seeing the fact that some of her Murtlap had gone bad.

When he came back to the room with his, she looked intently between the two, seeing the slight color difference between them. "Ohh, I see that now." She said, before she used the end of her pencil to sort of poke at them. Consistency was different.

"Alright, so it was just that? That seems so simple and here I thought I screwed up the whole process..."

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

edalbo
2015-01-07 11:19 am UTC (link)

"That certainly didn't help, and could very well have been your entire problem," Edgar agreed, sitting back down across from his niece. "But I can't say for certain til I've seen what you're doing. So let's brew some, shall we?"

Obviously they wouldn't have a completed batch for quite some time, but Edgar was fairly sure he would be able to pick out any obvious mistakes Susan was making. Subtler problems would have to be noticed by the actual potions professor, which was why he'd already written to Chloe.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

_boned
2015-01-08 09:29 pm UTC (link)

"Right. I might have done something else wrong, too." The idea of that, however, did make her quite upset. She looked frustrated already, the idea of doing something so wrong did not bode well with her thoughts on being a Good Student.

She pulled the ingredients out and her potions book, flipping open the page to the instructions for Draught of Living Death. Once it was ready, she started to assemble her ingredients and mix them. "So how is everyone?" She asked, even though she'd just seen them all. It wasn't as if she'd gotten a lot of time to talk to everyone, so she wanted to check in on all her cousins and other family.

(Reply to this) (Parent)