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Post by Ems on Dec 8, 2007 0:30:46 GMT -5
"Ok.. I think I have everything,"mumbled Natalie as she placed the last ceramic plate on the tabletop. She stepped back and smiled. The Weasley-Tripp residence was completely changed. The usually half-burnt house was decorated with the colors of the Puddlemere United quidditch team. The house was dimly lighted with vanilla scented candles.
A timer rang off in the distance. The red-head hurried towards the kitchen and pulled the turkey out of the oven. The scent of basted turkey spraed throughout the house. "Ok. So that came out nicely,"she mumbled, putting the turkey on the counter. She leaned back and looked at the clock. Her eyes widened. "Oh smegs,"she mumbled and pushed herself away from the counter and hurried to her room.
A few minutes later, Natalie reappeared wearing a sleeveless halter-sky blue dress, trailing down to her ankles. The black v-line dropped down just above her chest. The diamond necklace Jake had given to her in their third year circled around her neck. Soft red curls dropped lightly on her shoulders.
Natalie looked into the mirror one last time and sighed. "Well, at least I made an effort to look...different,"she mumbled to herself as she turned off the lights in the bathroom and walked out. She looked at the clock again. It was eight.
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Post by Daniel on Dec 8, 2007 0:39:59 GMT -5
Crack! Jake knocked on the door and walked in. He had almost decided on waiting a few extra minutes at the Pitch, just to freak Nats out a little, but decided against it. He immediately gasped as he walked in. "Where am I and what happened to my house?" he asked, looking up and around the room, not yet seeing Natalie. He smelled something sweet...vanilla. And turkey. He inhaled deeply, washing away the hours of practice he had had that day. He was in need of a nice cool shower, but that could wait...
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Post by Ems on Dec 8, 2007 0:47:54 GMT -5
Natalie froze as she heard Jake apparate into the house. She turned on the lights in the bathroom and took a step in, looking over herself one last time. "Ok, good,"she exhaled and turned off the lights, walking into the living room. She brushed out the wrinkles in her dress and readjusted a few curls in her hair. She felt her cheeks burn red as she entered the room and spotting Jake. "Hey,"she breathed out.
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Post by Daniel on Dec 8, 2007 0:55:08 GMT -5
Jake turned to the voice and his jaw dropped. "Wow..." He said after a few seconds. "Wow," he repeated. "Have I ever told you how gorgeous you are when you're not trying to kill me?" he asked, attempting a joke with a small smile. He looked down at his Quidditch robes over black and gold pants and black shirt. "And here I am in mud-stained Quidditch robes," he added before looking back up.
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Post by Ems on Dec 8, 2007 1:13:34 GMT -5
The edges of her lips tilted upwards into a smirk. "Thanks. And it's fine,"she said, walking up to him. "I like the look,"she whispered, going on her toes to kiss him on the cheek. "And just so you know, I didn't burn any part of the house making dinner,"Natalie announced, proudly -obviously a real accomplishment for her-.
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Post by Daniel on Dec 8, 2007 1:18:48 GMT -5
"Better than Brent can say," Jake rolled his eyes. "And all he made was toast...or was it eggs?..." Jake shrugged. "Anyway," he started, focusing back on Natalie. He looked at her and smiled warmly. "Shall we eat?" he asked, nodding toward the table. "Smells delicious, by the way...are you sure you cooked this?" he joked.
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Post by Ems on Dec 8, 2007 1:22:39 GMT -5
Natalie rolled her eyes. "Way to kill the moment. Yes, I'm sure I cooked this,"she grinned. "Ok.. I might've gotten a little help from Mum and Adam.. But that's about it,"she said, slowly. She took his hand and led him across the room to the table.
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Post by Daniel on Dec 8, 2007 1:29:01 GMT -5
Jake half smirked and followed her across the room, sitting down across from her. "By 'a little help'...does that mean they baked it and you put it on the plate?" Jake asked jokingly. "It's great," he added, glancing around the room once more, still taking it all in. "And you're wearing the necklace I gave you from third year..."
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Post by Ems on Dec 8, 2007 1:33:12 GMT -5
"No,"Natalie responded with a dark look. "I cooked! They.. just made sure I didn't burn anything,"she mumbled, under her breath. The redhead looked down and fiddled with the necklace. She looked back up and blinked several times. "Yeah,"she said, slowly. "I still have it. So why not wear it? Right?"
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Post by Daniel on Dec 8, 2007 1:40:27 GMT -5
Jake smiled. "Well, it is nice to have a house to come home to..." he said. "Yeah, totally. I'm impressed that you still have it," Jake rambled, eyes wandering around the table again. He could smell the vanilla fragrance of the candles even more from the chairs. "So...what exactly was it that I did to deserve this again?"
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Post by Ems on Dec 8, 2007 1:43:59 GMT -5
Natalie blinked several times. "Oh, you didn't see?"she asked, surprised. "I would've thought you'd seen it. It's everywhere on the newsstands." She pulled out her wand and flicked it once. There was a puff of cloud and a *POOF* sound as a pile of magazines appeared - the top one being Quidditch Weekly-. "You're one of the top five Quidditch men players in the world,"she grinned, handing the stacks to him. "CONGRATS!"
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Post by Daniel on Dec 8, 2007 1:49:08 GMT -5
Jake blinked and looked at the magazines. "Top...five..." he murmured to himself. "In...the...world..." he blinked a few times, focusing and re-focusing on the front page a few times to make sure he was reading it right. "Is this...a prank?" he asked after a minute, thinking that that was a better explanation that the truth.
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Post by Ems on Dec 8, 2007 1:50:28 GMT -5
Natalie rolled her eyes again and crossed her arms across her chest. She leaned back against her chair as she spoke, raising an eyebrow. "You know I could come up with better pranks than that,"she laughed. "Shocked? Lily topped number one for women,"she added.
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Post by Daniel on Dec 8, 2007 1:56:26 GMT -5
"Is there one for overall?" Jake asked. He doubted he would be in Top Five for that. He thought of himself as decent, but not really great...he knew Lily probably beat him. He still wasn't sure if this was even real at all. "Wow...who got first, second, third, and fourth?" he asked, assuming that he had gotten in fifth since he had just gotten into the Top Five.
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Post by Ems on Dec 8, 2007 2:00:30 GMT -5
"Yes. You made the top 100. Lily made the top 20?"Natalie recited, flipping through one of the magazines. "And O'Connaly -from Ireland- got first. Vitchkroff from Bulgaria got second. You were third. Bjork from Russia got fourth, and I believe Carlisle from France got fifth? Yea, he did,"she nodded.
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Post by Daniel on Dec 8, 2007 2:04:45 GMT -5
Jake laughed. "So...that means that like 3/4 of the Top 100 consist of females, correct?" he asked. "Am I in the high numbers, like 90s, or closer to the middle, like 60s?..." he added, trying to figure it out as much as he could, although he still half expected 'Gotcha!' to be shouted at him and all the papers to explode or something...
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Post by Ems on Dec 8, 2007 2:13:07 GMT -5
"Pretty much,"nodded Natalie. "I don't really remember. But you can check for yourself,"she laughed, passing the magazine to him.
((Blah.. sorry. ))
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Post by Daniel on Dec 8, 2007 2:17:15 GMT -5
"Well, if I'm number three in guys, and I'm up high, the ones before me are all girls except for two," Jake said, thinking aloud. He checked his number. "77...not bad," he said after a second. "I'm lucky," he added with a small smile. "So...that explains what this is about," he concluded, looking back at Nats.
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Post by Ems on Dec 8, 2007 2:19:24 GMT -5
Natalie nodded furiously. "That and I just thought we could do something special for once,"she shrugged. "I don't want to walk into a retaurant with girls flirting with you anyways. By the time the dinner's over, I'll be carted off to Azkaban and all those girls.... Well... "she smiled to herself and chuckled lightly. "I'll just end there."
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Post by Daniel on Dec 8, 2007 2:22:38 GMT -5
Jake nodded slowly. "This also explains why that one girl said tha-never mind," Jake interrupted himself quickly. "Want some turkey?" he added, raising his eyebrows as he quickly changed the subject.
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Post by Ems on Dec 8, 2007 2:24:44 GMT -5
Natalie raised an eyebrow and flicked her wand. The turkey appeared in the center of the table. A smirk slid across her face again. "Which one?"she asked, calmly, chuckling softly to herself. "Mind you, I've done so many pranks in my life it's hard to keep track."
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Post by Daniel on Dec 8, 2007 2:27:18 GMT -5
Jake looked confused. "No, I mean, the newspapers...explain what she said..." he said before he could stop himself. "But that's such a boring story let's move on pull off any good pranks lately?" he added rapidly.
//gtg//
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Post by Ems on Dec 8, 2007 2:28:53 GMT -5
Natalie gazed at him, eyebrows raised. "Finish what you were saying. What?"she asked, looking genuinely confused. "I don't remember reading anything about me in the paper. Aside from all the nasty gossip rumors."
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Post by Daniel on Dec 8, 2007 12:56:50 GMT -5
"What are YOU talking about?" Jake asked, forcing a laugh. "I'M talking about what this girl said to me on the street...nothing to do with newspapers..." he continued. "And it had to do with the number 77," he concluded, hoping she didn't ask for details, cause somehow she would find the woman and beat her to a bloody pulp before throwing her off the Owlery of Hogwarts into the Black Lake.
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Post by Ems on Dec 9, 2007 0:30:50 GMT -5
"Oh.."Natalie turned a slight red. "I'm taling about a whole nother thing,"she laughed, fiddling with the necklace, again. "Wait... Wait.. 77?"she asked, raising an eyebrow.
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