InsaneJournal

NAME: Brandi
AGE: 25
LOCATION/TIMEZONE: Texas / central
EMAIL: garnet.sunrise @ gmail . com
AIM SN: brandied plum
EXPERIENCE: List format, wiki format

GENERAL
FULL NAME: Sally-Anne Cadwallader née Perks
GOES BY: Sally, Sal
DATE OF BIRTH: April 13, 1980
AGE: 28 / turning 29 shortly
ZODIAC SIGN: Aries
BLOODLINE: Fullblood
SEXUALITY: Straight
MARITAL STATUS: Married to Nate Cadwallader
RESIDENCE: A house in the country, right outside of London
OCCUPATION: Photographer for the Daily Prophet
JOURNAL NAME: perk_up | perk_up

THE DAILY PROPHET
POSITION: Photographer
INVOLVEMENT WITH THE DAILY PROPHET: Post-Hogwarts, Sally-Anne got worked as a freelance photographer for several different magazines and newspapers, both in the wizarding world and the muggle world. For a brief time in 2004-2005, she worked soley as a staff photographer for British World News, a weekly muggle magazine based in London. She was unhappy with her job there, though, so she began looking around for a new photography job; luckily, a position had just opened up at the Daily Prophet, so she applied and was given the job.
NUMBER OF YEARS WITH THE DAILY PROPHET: About 4 years now.

EDUCATION
FORMER HOGWARTS HOUSE: Hufflepuff
YEARS AT HOGWARTS: 1991 - 1998
CLUBS/QUIDDITCH: None
PREFECT AND/OR HEAD BOY/GIRL?: No
OWL SCORES:

Astronomy - O
Care of Magical Creatures - E
Charms - P
Defense Against the Dark Arts - P
Herbology - O
History of Magic - P
Muggle Studies - O
Potions - E
Transfiguration - A

NEWT SCORES:

Astronomy - O
Care of Magical Creatures - E
Herbology - O
Muggle Studies - O
Potions - E

APPEARANCE
EYE COLOR: Green
HAIR COLOR: Blonde
COMPLEXION: Fair
HEIGHT:5'10"
WEIGHT: 140 lbs
POSTURE: Her posture is fairly decent. She wouldn't be mistaken for someone in the military, of course, but she's no slouch. She's proud of her height, so she holds herself up to her full five feet and ten inches.
ANCESTRY: English
SPEECH MANNERISM: Sally has a bit of a habit to talk quickly, sometimes slurring her words just a smidge in the process. Her accent is soft and warm, which seems to suit her quite well.
DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Sally has a very distinguishing smile. It's wide, open, and friendly, and deep parentheses form around it. Her smile shows up at even the slightest provocation and only goes away under the worst circumstances. She also has a small beauty mark just to the right of her nose. Her hair is long and layered, a pale blonde that darkens a bit during the winter and lightens a bit during the summer. Sally is also on the tall side for girls, measuring in at 5'10", and yet she still occasionally wears high heels when she's dressing up (though she's most comfortable in sneakers).
DEXTERITY: Right
PB: Blake Lively

PERSONALITY
LIKES: Mint ice cream, coffee (with plenty of cream and sugar), tea (with honey and milk), dogs, Quidditch, football, sports in general, earth tone colours, bright / cheery colours, crisps, chips, take-out thai food, pizza, muggles, the outdoors, stars
DISLIKES: Pastels, health food, being cooped up inside, purist ideals, gossip, overly-neat-and-tidy people
HOBBIES: Running, reading, photography
HABITS: Running (every morning), losing (or misplacing) things, bumping into people / things, chewing on her lower lip when she's nervous, toying with her hair when she's thinking.
TURN ONS: Nate, athleticism, Nate, love of sports, romantic gestures, Nate, adventurism.
TURN OFFS: Laziness, dislike of sports, predictability.

IN DEPTH: Above anything else, Sally is cheerful. She is a positive, outgoing, happy person who sometimes seems to see the world through rose-coloured glasses. The glass is half-full, the grass is quite green enough on this side of the fence, and it's always a beautiful day outside, whether it's sunny and bright or gloomy and stormy. She also has an overabundance of energy, with plenty not only for herself, but for at least two or three other quite energetic people, as well. As a young child, she could never hold still, and this continued throughout her life. She's never been content to just sit idly by, she always has to be doing something. She loves sports of all kinds, particularly Quidditch and football, though she can't play Quidditch herself, since she has trouble staying seated on a broomstick. She can often be found in some wide open grassy space or other, kicking around a muggle football, or finding a way to get a quick game together.

She is also something of a flake. Sally frequently puts things down in random places and forgets where they are. She was never quite skilled at Charms in school, so accio is rather hit-or-miss, so she spends lots of time digging around looking for things. It would help somewhat if she was more organized, but it's questionable as to how much that would actually help. For a long time, she was too wild and flaky and free to hold down a "real" job, instead preferring to bounce around as a freelance photographer for various publications (both in the muggle and magical world), but following her broken engagement and several months in South Africa, as well as having held a serious job for several years, not to mention being a mum, she has calmed (a bit, maybe just enough energy for herself and one other quite energetic person) and is more able to focus on the task at hand, or at least be fine with going to the same job every day, with real assignments and real deadlines. It just becomes a question of whether or not she remembers where she left her photographs so that she can submit them on time (she has yet to forget her son, though).

Sally is also incredibly loyal to her former house, her friends, and her family (not necessarily in that order). She would do anything including cut off one of her own limbs for them. She was always the person in the stands at Hufflepuff quidditch matches cheering the loudest for the team, with her face all painted in black and yellow (and she would cheer for any friends in other houses who were on their quidditch teams ... so long as they weren't playing against Hufflepuff, then her house loyalties would take off). She even tried to get a Hufflepuff Cheerleading Team started, though she remained the Unofficial Hufflepuff Cheerleader throughout her seven years at Hogwarts. She would also be willing to completely halt her studying or working (though, honestly, that wasn't a hard task in itself) to be there for a friend.

She does, however, have some of that hard-work ethic that the Sorting Hat sang about, it's just kind of buried. She is willing to put the time in, occasionally, to do the work necessary. For example, if she needs to do research on a muggle sport that she doesn't know much about, she'll read up on it, and even find people to try playing it with her. She also tried to work hard in the classes that interested her in school. If it's time to buckle down and take something serious for a while, she'll suck it up and settle down, if only for a little while (but then she's back to bouncing off the walls and running around acting goofy again).

Sally unfortunately, however, has a tendency to run away from her problems. When her brother was ousted as a Death Eater, she tried as hard as she could to ignore it, to pretend that nothing had happened. When she couldn't handle the rampant gossip about herself and then-fiancé Nate Cadwallader (the first time they were engaged), she ran away from it, taking a job that she didn't even like that much. For months, she hated herself for running away from the best thing in her life, and she felt as though she didn't deserve to have him back. She has been getting help for this problem, and is learning to face the unpleasant things.

HISTORY
FATHER: Jack Perks (fullblood wizard; b. 6 August, 1947; Gryffindor alum, 1965; Quidditch commentator)
MOTHER: Lauren Perks née Simmons (fullblood witch; b. 2 Februay, 1947; Hufflepuff alum, 1965; assistant in the Dept. of Int'l Magical Cooperation)
SIBLING(S):

• Arthur Perks (fullblood wizard; b. 30 September, 1970; Gryffindor alum, 1989; Auror)
  
• Michael Perks (fullblood wizard; b. 10 January, 1973; Ravenclaw alum, 1991; Auror)
  
• Jonathan Perks (fullblood wizard; b. 15 October, 1977; Slytherin alum, 1996; incarcerated in Azkaban)
  
• Nicholas Perks (fullblood wizard; b. 30 November, 1984; Ravenclaw alum, 2003; copy editor at Whizzhard Books)
  
• Elizabeth Perks (fullblood witch; b. 3 July, 1987; Hufflepuff alum, 2005; Healer)

SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Nathaniel Cadwallader
CHILDREN: Nathaniel Cadwallader, Jr. (wizard; b. December, 2005)
PATERNAL GRANDPARENTS: William Perks and Helen Perks née Baxter
MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS: Lucas Simmons and Jeanne Simmons née Sharpe
EXTENDED FAMILY:

• Alice Perks née Linder: sister-in-law (halfblood witch; married to Nicholas [summer 2005]; b. 15 March, 1985; Ravenclaw alum, 2003; Obliviator)
  
• Jillian Perks: daughter of Nicholas and Alice (halfblood witch; b. 26 December, 2007)
  
• Unnamed Perks: son or daughter of Nicholas and Alice (due July 2009)

HISTORY: Born on April 13, 1980, Sally-Anne Perks is a middle child. Not the middle child, she shares the position with her brother Jonathan. She has three older brothers: Arthur, born in 1970; Michael, born in 1973; Jonathan, born in 1977; a younger brother: Nicholas, born in 1984; and a younger sister: Elizabeth, born in 1987. Yes, Sally is aware that her family is quite large, but she loves her family and, growing up, she couldn't imagine her life without her siblings around. Arthur and Michael were so much older than Sally and the other three that she tended to be closer to Jonathan, Nicholas, and Elizabeth.

Even though money was tight, there was no shortage of love in the Perks household. Dad Jack was a Quidditch commentator and mom Lauren was a secretary, so while they weren't exactly rolling in the money, they were able to make ends meet with some money left over. Schoolbooks were often recycled down for the younger siblings, but Sally felt a little closer to her older brothers when she used the same books they had used.

The Perks children ended up in widely varied houses. Eldest child Arthur was sorted into Gryffindor (their father's former house) and he became a proud wearer of the red and gold. Next came bookish Michael two years later, sorted into Ravenclaw. Five years later, snobbish and cunning Jonathan was sorted into Slytherin. Two years later, Sally finished the collection of Hogwarts houses when she was sorted into Hufflepuff, her mother's former house. Five years later, Nicholas joined Michael's former house of Ravenclaw, and two years after that, Elizabeth was sorted into the house that her sister had only just vacated, Hufflepuff. Because of the age differences, Sally was only ever at school with Jonathan and Nicholas, but their different houses and years made it hard for them to spend much time together.

But Sally made herself at home in Hufflepuff right away. She made friends with her roommates, and she became the biggest fan of Hufflepuff Quidditch the school had ever seen. Her father had instilled a love of the game in all of his children, but Sally couldn't play it to save her life. So she contented herself with watching the game and being the biggest fan that she could be. She really got into it, painting her face in yellow and black, making banners, cheering until her throat was raw. In her third year, she even tried to get some of the other girls interested in starting up a Hufflepuff Cheerleading Squad, but she couldn't get enough interest. She did continue trying almost every year after that, especially as the war was brewing, because she thought that a bit of extra cheer was just what everyone needed.

In fourth year, while most other girls were swooning over Cedric Diggory, the Hogwarts Champion for the Tournament (okay, so Harry Potter was a Champion for Hogwarts, too, but Cedric was in Sally's house), Sally had her eyes set a little differently: on Nate Cadwallader, who was a year ahead of her in Hufflepuff. To her delight, they attended the Yule Ball together, though that was about the extent of their relationship at Hogwarts. In March of her fifth year, Sally was stricken with mononucleosis. She was sent home for the remainder of the term, in part so that she couldn't pass it to anyone else, and in part because she was so fatigued that she couldn't even drag herself out of bed. As a result, she missed taking the O.W.L.s with her yearmates, so her parents petitioned the Ministry of Magic and got special permission for Sally to take the O.W.L.s over the summer, so that she could stay with her friends.

Once Sally had recovered from mono, she returned to school in her sixth year, which wasn't that bad of a year until the end. Sally was shaken by the death of Professor Dumbledore and the battle in the school (in which she didn't take an active part, she was never all that great at classes like Defense and only decent at Charms and would have been more of a hinderance than a help, so she stayed in the Hufflepuff common room and tried to help keep the younger years calm and safe). After a summer of pulling herself together, she returned for her seventh year.

Seventh year at Hogwarts was a trying one for everyone who was there. Returning to school, only to find that many of her classmates were missing was upsetting. Sally also didn't enjoy the fact that Defense Against the Dark Arts was mandatory again (or the fact that it was now just Dark Arts), and although she was already taking Muggle Studies, she did not like the new direction the class was taking. Despite the fact that Sally did poorly in Dark Arts, she continued to earn high marks in that class, which confused her terribly, until the aftermath of the battle at Hogwarts. As in the one the year before, Sally did not stay to fight (she was still no better at magical fighting than she had been before), instead helping to get the younger years to safety through the Room of Requirement and into Hogsmeade. When the dust settled, though, Sally found out that her beloved brother Jonathan had been captured during the battle and unmasked as a Death Eater.

For a long time, Sally refused to believe that her brother was guilty, despite the fact that he readily admitted to his guilt and was sentenced to Azkaban. Sally just could not make sense of her brother's betrayal. When she finally did accept the truth, thanks to her friends refusing to let her avoid it any longer, she began blaming the Slytherin house for making Jonathan into a Death Eater; she was positive that, had he been sorted into any other house, he would not have gone down that path. The first time that she visited Jonathan in Azkaban, nearly two years after he had been sentenced, she finally found out why she seemed to do so well in Dark Arts that last year: her brother had petitioned for her safety, turning himself into essentially the Carrows' lapdog in exchange.

Sally was torn about how to react to her brother's admission. Should she be grateful that he sacrificed whatever morals he'd had to save her? Should she feel guilty that it was because of her that he went the way he did? Since she didn't know how to react, she just shoved all the feelings aside, choosing once again to ignore the facts and run from things.

In April of 2003, Sally ran into Nate Cadwallader, with whom she had attended the Yule Ball at Hogwarts all those years ago. He had been a year ahead of her in school, and she'd harboured a small crush on him on and off during her Hogwarts years. They began dating and, on Christmas day 2003, he proposed to her and she said yes. However, only a few months later, in February of 2004, Sally was offered a position as a staff photographer at one of the muggle news magazines, British World News, that she was a freelancer for. The only catch was that, for her first assignment, they wanted to send her to Zimbabwe, Africa, for five months with a research group. Sally was torn, because the opportunity was a wonderful one, but five months away from home and her fiancé (and surrounded by muggles, so the use of magic, especially apparating home for visits, would be impossible) would be almost too much to bear. What ended up making the decision for her was especially rampant rumours about Nate and herself. She had never liked being the focus of gossip, and in her already-conflicted state, the new rumours were just too much to bear. She gave Nate the ring back and accepted the job.

After five months in Africa, Sally returned to England in July of 2004, and it was nearly impossible to keep from running into Nate everywhere. She still loved him deeply, but she knew that she didn't deserve a second chance with him, not after having left him. The best that she thought she could hope for was to maybe be friends, because at least having him in her life was better than nothing at all. It was hard, though, trying to be friends after everything they had been to each other, and things felt like they would never be right. It certainly didn't help things, from Sally's side, that her brother got engaged that year, and that he would be getting married the following summer; even as she was happy for her brother, she was utterly jealous of him, as she was looking, along with his fiancée and the rest of the bridal party, at wedding gowns, knowing that if she hadn't run away, they would have been looking at gowns for her, or she would already be married.

The 27th of November, 2004, is a date that will remain etched in Sally's memory forever. Although she didn't know it at the time, it was exactly one year after Nate had purchased her engagement ring. She had just gotten home from having to go into the magazine office for a few hours on her day off, and she had plans of just relaxing with a cup of tea and a good book. A knock on the door came just as she was sitting down, and before long, the tea and book were forgotten; Nate was at the door, and after spilling his heart out to her, he offered back the ring and re-proposed to her. Sally was initially hesitant to say yes (for all of a few seconds), out of fear that she was dreaming, because she had never imagined that this could happen. She did say yes, and the ring was returned to her finger, where it belonged. They didn't have a long engagment: now that they were back together, they didn't want to let the other go. That very day, they went to the Ministry of Magic and were married.

By the beginning of the new year, Sally was growing quite fed-up with her job. While the promise of lots of travel was what had originally been key in her decision to take the job, she was growing weary of the constant need to drop everything at a moment's notice and fly off to Chile, or India, or wherever there was something going on that needed to be covered by the magazine. It was a good distraction, before she got married. Now that she was married, she wanted to spend some time in England with her husband, not flying off to Merlin-knows-where at the drop of a hat. So, Sally began sending out feelers to the other magazines and newspapers that she had freelanced for previously, as well as other publications in the wizarding world. In March of 2005, one of her hits paid off in the Daily Prophet: a photographer position had just opened up, so Sally took her portfolio in and applied for the job. To her delight, she was hired and thus able to quit her job at British World News.

Of course, Sally and Nate celebrated her new job, and were in for a different kind of celebration a couple months later, when they found out that Sally was pregnant. Although the pregnancy wasn't exactly planned, they were thrilled nonetheless. Their son, whom they named Nathaniel Jr., was born that December, and Sally immediately fell in love with the chubby little bundle of joy. Having a baby in the house was certainly a big adjustment, though; after her maternity leave was over, Sally had to go back to work at the Prophet, and Nate had training and races. Her parents were a lot of help, watching Nate Jr. whenever they could.

Overall, the early years of Sally and Nate's marriage were rather idyllic. Sally loved her husband and their baby, and they had settled into a nice-sized house in the countryside, not too far from London, but far enough that they had a huge backyard and some privacy. In 2007, though, their happy little life came crashing down when Nate got into an accident during the world circuit. Jack and Lauren watched little Nate Jr. for Sally while she rushed to her husband's side. She was there when he got the devastating news that this injury would take him out of racing forever. Her old habit of running away from the hard things in life tried to flare up, and she was inwardly torn by it, but she did not want to run away from her husband (again) and their child, especially not when Nate really needed her. It was hard, but Sally fought the urge to run and instead stayed.

The time following Nate's accident was a dark time in their marriage, though Sally tried to be there for Nate as much as he would let her. They got through it, though, and now Nate is working as a sports reporter at the paper with Sally. She knows that he longs to race again, and tries not to bring the subject up with him, lest he be upset by it.

FIRST PERSON
We took Nate Jr to the park yesterday, and I took so many pictures of him and Nate wrestling in the grass and playing with Nate Jr's toy broomstick and just being boys. It was a lot of fun, just being out in the open air and playing with the two loves of my life. Call me a sap, I don't care. I love my husband and our son, and I don't care who knows.

[ Warded to Nate ]

Maybe next time we go to the park, we should offer to take Jillian off Alice's hands. The new baby's due in only a few more months, and I'm sure she'd love the break. And Nate Jr loves his little cousin. And I'm sure she would do the same for us. You know, if we wanted to have another.

It was just a thought.

[ End Ward ]

After forty years, my dad is retiring from Quidditch commentating at the end of the season. He's the one who really fostered my love of Quidditch from when I was just a little girl, and I used to love it when I got to go to matches with him when he was working. It's a little weird, knowing he won't be doing that much longer. I'd always thought that he would always be a commentator. But at the same time, I can understand why he wants to retire: he wants to spend more time with mum and around the house, and of course with his kids and grandkids.

THIRD PERSON
Here is a log from a few months ago, with a slightly younger version of the Sally I am applying here; I played Sally, of course.