rosie_rues | Hello and Feast of Fools (nest_of

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Hello and Feast of Fools (nest_of_spiders Day 01)

Hullo.

Why look, the school holidays have begun and I have returned, just in time to get all excited about various seasonal challenges (

nest_of_spiders and

wellymuck! Awesome).

Apologies for my long absence. It's been a very busy term for me. I'm now two-thirds of the way through my teaching qualification, though, sadly, I'm turning out to be Not Very Good at teaching. I also split up with my boyfriend just before Christmas and although it was the right thing to do, and I don't regret it, I'm finding it strange to only to be responsible for myself. Not altogether coincidentally, my friendship!romance muse has been on hiatus, both for fanfic and original writing. For this reason I probably won't be doing much with

wellymuck but I am hoping to have a go at the first few weeks of

nest_of_spiders, at least until term starts again and I run out of time to update.

How's everyone been for the last few months?

And on to the fic...

Title: A Feast of Fools (1/14)
Date: 1972
Pairing: Ted/Andromeda (eventually)
Rating: PG for swearing
Prompt: A joke's a very serious thing
Disclaimer: If you recognise it from the books, it's not really mine to play with.
Notes: Because Albus Dumbledore is as mad as he is wise.

1

Every time she glanced at the high table, Andromeda's appetite decreased a little more. The first of April was never a happy day for Slytherin House, but the trouble usually came from the Prewetts at the Gryffindor table, not the outwardly benign figure who was twinkling down at the entire hall.

“Finally dieting, Head Girl, dearest?” Lucius Malfoy inquired sweetly.

“Look at him,” Andromeda hissed back, ignoring the jibe. “He's up to something.”

Malfoy yawned, but turned his head to see where she was looking. “The old coot probably has wind.”

“He's twinkling,” Andromeda muttered back. “And his beard's quivering. We're fucked.”

Lucius' spoonful of porridge stopped halfway to his mouth as he regarded her incredulously. “How much thought have you put into this, Andromeda?”

“Wouldn't you, in my shoes?” Andromeda muttered, shooting another glance at Dumbledore.

Lucius' lips thinned and he put his spoon down with a decisive click. “I would not presume to speculate on the concerns of our marvellous leaders, dear Andromeda.” He slid off his seat with an elegant flick of his robes and stalked along the table to deposit himself beside Andromeda's younger sister.

Andromeda rolled her eyes. Did the man never forgive a grudge?

“Which snit was that?” Ianthe Greengrass asked, leaning forward.

“Head boy one,” Andromeda answered with a sigh.

“Can't really blame him for that,” Ianthe said with a sniff. “I mean, really!”

“Tonks is moderately competent for a Gryffindor,” Andromeda said mildly and began to cut her sausages into slightly smaller pieces in the hope of making them look more appetising.

She had managed to finish them by the time Dumbledore tapped his fork against the side of the milk jug. The hall fell silent as everyone turned to look at him in anticipation.

“Good morning,” he said, beaming down on them, “and Happy New Month to each and every one of you. As many of you may be aware, today is the Feast of All Fools, so it struck me as appropriate to announce our plans for the last two weeks of this term. For the next fortnight we shall be celebrating the ancient custom of the Feast of Fools. All shall be made equal. All house common rooms have been made open to all students-”

What!?

“-you may attend any lessons you desire, or none at all-”

That got a cheer from the Gryffindor table and a collective twitch from the Ravenclaws.

“-all school rules have been suspended, though I am sorry to tell you Mr Filch has taken a period of leave, so he is unable to share in your general delight. I only ask that you not break any of the laws of the land-”

Andromeda stared along her table of juvenile potion-brewers and hex-hurlers in horror. She sought Lucius' eye and was glad to see he looked as terrified as she felt. He mouthed an apology at her.

“-and of course your new dormitory arrangements are to be found on the lists at the back of the hall!”

That provoked a storm of shouting, particularly from the older students. Andromeda shot to her feet, grabbing at the edge of the table for balance.

Dumbledore waited for the clamour to die down, still twinkling. When at last silence fell, only one other person was left standing.

Ted Tonks glanced at Andromeda, and she shrugged slightly. She was still trying to phrase her protests. Ted nodded and turned towards the high table.

“Sir, he said politely. “This is an April Fool's joke, isn't it?”

Dumbledore smiled down at him. “Not at all, Mr Tonks. A mere day of misrule is not enough at all.”

“But why?” Andromeda blurted out and then scolded herself. There were more eloquent ways to appeal for mercy.

“Because, Miss Black,” Dumbledore said gently, “a joke is a very serious thing. Now, I believe it is time for a change!” He tapped his wand against the milk jug, and Andromeda, along with everyone else, found herself walking away from her seat. In the scrum, it was all she could do not to get squashed, although she managed to bare her teeth at her cousin Sirius as he trotted past and shouted, “No lessons! This is the best day ever!”

Minutes later, she found herself sitting at the Ravenclaw table, missing her hair ribbon and feeling distinctly battered. Someone else's abandoned breakfast sat in front of her, smeared with strawberry jam.

Ted Tonks backed into the bench opposite with a yelp, flailing as his legs turned him round and sat him down firmly. His elbow landed in the butter dish and he dropped his head after it with a heartfelt groan.

“I hardly think that's going to help,” Andromeda snapped and dug out her wand to spell the plate clean. Now the worst had happened she was beginning to feel hungry.

He lifted his head to glare at her. “Black. Wonderful.”

“I'm not happy about it, either,” Andromeda snapped. It was bad enough that she had to work with him. Having to watch him eat was beyond all fairness.

“Dumbledore has finally gone completely and utterly bonkers, hasn't he?” Tonks said, wiping his buttery elbow on his robes.

“For the first and possibly only time in my life,” Andromeda said, pouring herself some pumpkin juice, “I find myself in complete agreement with you.”

“Bloody hell,” Tonks muttered, reaching for a piece of toast. “The world really has turned upside down.”

Over at the Hufflepuff table, Dumbledore clapped his hands in the air, making the little Pettigrew boy at his side jump inches off the bench.

“Take your time over breakfast everyone! For myself, I think I'm going to enjoy a quick game of Quidditch this morning, should anyone care to join me. I was quite the Keeper in my day, you know.”

Andromeda covered her eyes and hoped desperately that this was all a terrible dream.

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ahahahahaaha!

ph, poor andromeda.

also, glad you're back! yay! I know what you mean about missing muses, though, I think Dog Days sucked all of my R/S mojo out of me altogether. I actually have a perverse desire to write a lot of lionel/soliel, at this point.

I've been wanting to write more Ted/Andromeda for ages so this was the perfect opportunity. I'm hoping to get my own Lionel in here somewhere - I'm just trying to work out the dormitory lists now. Frank and Alice will definitely make an appearance.

I'd love to see more of your Lionel/Soleil. It's nice to have a forum for the characters who are just slightly older than the Marauders.

Thanks for the comment :)

First of all-- WELCOME BACK! :D

It was bad enough that she had to work with him. Having to watch him eat was beyond all fairness.

Oh, I really enjoyed this. :D I was hoping to see something like that, you know? Ever since when you brought Ted and Andromeda into focus in your two serials, in fact. :D

*beams* It's nice to be back. I have been lurking for the last few months, but that's all.

I've been wanting to write Ted and Andromeda properly ever since the first

blanketforts This finally gave me an excuse.

Thanks for commenting :)

Hilarious! I really do love Dumbledore's sense of humor!

Thanks :) I find Dumbledore one of the hardest characters to write, but I think I'm getting there.

Thanks for commenting :)

You are, you're getting there, hun. *sends more encouraging thoughts your way*

The image of Dumbledore playing Quidditch in my head is amazing.
Enjoyed and looking forward to more. :)

*grins* Well, if I've got my dates right, Ludo Bagman is still in the school. How much more fun does that make it?

Thanks - I'm glad you liked it :)

Ted/Andromeda. *squees* My favorite Potter pairing.

For myself, I think I'm going to enjoy a quick game of Quidditch this morning, should anyone care to join me. I was quite the Keeper in my day, you know.

*snickers* Ah, Dumbledore swooping around in his robes, somehow without a hair out of place, and smiling peacefully when he intercepts the Quaffle from an irate Chaser. Delightful!

Can't wait to read more of this. :)

I love both Ted and Andromeda and I've included them in a lot of my R/S pieces, but this is the first time I've really focussed on the two of them. It should be fun.

Much as I liked the more serious Dumbledore of the later books, I first loved him for the sheer insanity he showed in Philospher's Stone. I wanted to evoke some of that spirit.

Thanks for commenting :)

Agreed. When I reread the first few books, but especially Philosopher's Stone, I adore him for being so randomly batty. "Nitwit! Blubber!" and all.

By-the-by, in my extensive planning out of Andromeda's time I created masses of OCs by creating family trees for some of the old wizarding families, and Ianthe Greengrass was on that family tree! Great minds! :D

*grins* How cool ^_^ I do try to pick up on naming patterns, so I just went through lists of nymphs looking for suitable names for a Greengrass.

I feel for the Ravenclaws!

This looks very promising! Thanks so much for taking part!

Oh, me, too. Poor things.

Thanks :) I'm looking forward to playing for the next few weeks.

Oh, this made me grin like a fool when I saw you post it. I love your Ted & Andromeda. May I ask of this the the same Ted & Andromeda from Rising Storm?

Looking forward to more. :)

It is. I've just skimmed through all the Rising Storm stuff to work out who's going to end up in which set of dorms.

Thank you for the fab prompt. ^_^ I'm looking forward to the rest of the month.

Thanks for the comment :)

“Because, Miss Black,” Dumbledore said gently, “a joke is a very serious thing.

Your Dumbledore voice is brilliant!

Also, it's so nice to see you posting again. I look forward to more over the next couple of weeks.

Thank you :) I still find Dumbledore tricky - it's hard to balance the lunacy and the wisdom.

Thanks - I'm really looking forward to the next two weeks.

Thanks for the comment :)

Hello you! I'm very glad to see you, especially so that you come bearing a serial!

This first installment is just lovely, I love the emerging characterisation and can't wait to see how everything unfurls! =D

Thank you :) I'm glad to be back.

I'm still not quite sure where I'm going with this, but it should be fun. I'm really looking forward to it.

Thanks for commenting :)

I do not think youn could possibly understand how much I absolutely adore this fic. There are many reasons, so I'll just list a few.
A) Your style, you keep it in third-person while still allowing your audience to get inside your character's head.
B) Your personification of Andromeda, because Slyth!Tonks-hating!Andromeda=Major Love
C) Your Plot, the idea is adorable, the way the prompt was used unique, and Albus would definately be a Keeper.
D) Andromeda+Lucius interaction, because I am so, definately, an Andromeda/Lucius (Bloody Tyrants and Blood Traitors) shipper

Beautiful first installment.

*blushes* Thank you :)

Well, seeing as it's now canon that Andromeda was in Slytherin, I tend to give her some characteristics of the house. It's always a bit disappointing to see her being written as a Gryffindor groupie.

I couldn't really ship Andromeda with anyone but Ted, as my Blacks have a tendency to be a wee bit obsessive about their romances, but I love the idea that she and Lucius have a little snarky friendship.

Thanks for the comment :)

This looks to be all sorts of interesting. My only complaint is that it's too short. :P I want more. But that's because you've got me completely hooked, and in such a very short time.

If I wasn't in the middle of a computer lab, I would have laughed out loud at that line. “He's twinkling,” Andromeda muttered back. “And his beard's quivering. We're fucked.” It's brilliant.

Awesome take on the prompt, yeah.

Thank you :) There will definitely be more, though I'm not quite sure where I'm going with it yet.

A twinkling Dumbledore is a dangerous thing. ^_^

Thanks for the comment - I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Oh this is wonderful! I haven't read any fanfic in months, but when I saw this pop up on my f-list I knew I couldn't resist anything you've written. This is also my first Andromeda/Ted, so I'm really excited to see where you take this!! I already love your characterizations and the Sirius and Peter cameos. Lucius is looking like an interesting character already too! I am so excited... I can't wait for the next chapter!

(and on a RL note... I just split up with my bf a week ago, and I know how draining it can be. I hope things continue to look up for you!!)

Hullo :) Nice to see you. I'm with you on the non-reading - I've been out of fandom since Christmas, but the seasonal communities always tempt me back.

(It's just odd, y'know. We'd been together almost seven years and though I don't miss him, it's strange to be on my own. Hope things are on the up for you too)

Thanks for commenting :)

Dumbledore is awesome - what a way to encourage inter-house unity. Also, wish someone would cancel classes here. :/

It's neat to see Andromeda with the Slytherins before she's decided to leave the Blacks.

*chuckles* Well, inter-house unity is a noble ideal. ^_^

I love Andromeda and I've been wanting to write about her school days for ages.

Thanks for commenting :)

"For myself, I think I'm going to enjoy a quick game of Quidditch this morning, should anyone care to join me."

I love how he was quite random throughout the whole thing, but then that...I totally lost it after that!

Great job!

One of the things I liked about Dumbledore in the early books was his sheer randomness. It was quite fun to try to write.

Thanks for the comment - I'm glad you liked it :)

Yay! Ted/Andromeda! I've been looking forward to your eventual Ted/Andromeda since blanketforts, too!

Good luck with the teaching. I'm in counseling, identifying with the feeling you describe, but feeling moderately less Not Very Good at it than I did several months ago. It's a hard transition. Most people I know who have been TAs have been overworked and stressed out of their gourds the first semester/year, as they got used to it.

It's so frustrating. I'm more or less being told that I'm too intellectual and too nice to be effective, which is disheartening. I love the kids, but the constant pressure to be perfect is exhausting.

That sounds like not terribly helpful feedback. I hope they're giving you tips as well, or something, because "change your personality" isn't so much what anyone needs to hear.

the constant pressure to be perfect is exhausting.

Ha! Um. Yes. And that's all I'm going to say about that, because this isn't under a filter.

This is my only story about teachers and discipline, but I like it. My sixth grade teacher was a Viking in her spare time. (I expect this was some kind of society; I know they did reinactments somewhere.) Now, my teacher was easy-going. Her Viking alter-ego was not. Some days, the VIking came in to teach instead of the teacher, and we had to behave much better on those days. In retrospect, I'm very impressed with what a good system that was.

Some days, the VIking came in to teach instead of the teacher

Now that is awesome ^_^ Thanks for that ^_^

She was entirely awesome. I keep meaning to find her and tell her that I still think so.

Thanks :) It's fun to finally write them.

What a delight to see that you'll be doing another series!

kasche and I were just chatting recently about how your characterisations of Ted and Andromeda gave us both such a fondness for the pairing, so I'm particularly happy to see that they'll be your focus for this series.

This first installment is great fun - trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this! I'd probably be cringing along with the Ravenclaws in their situation, but I'm really looking forward to reading about what mischief the First-War crowd will get up to...

Thanks :) I love these two, so I'm hoping to do them justice.

*chuckles* Well, the Ravenclaws can still go to lessons. They might be the only ones there, but there's nothing to stop them from independent study.

Thanks for the comment :) I'm glad you enjoyed it so far.

This was so enjoyable. I loved everyone's reactions and Dumbledore - one who understand person, manner and grace indeed.

*smiles* As soon as I saw the prompt, I thought of Dumbledore. It suits him beautifully.

Thanks for commenting - I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

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Hello and Feast of Fools (nest_of_spiders Day 01)

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