House: Gryffindor
Category: Drabble
Prompt: Sprouts in Chocolate
Word Count: 536
-AN I know that Ambrosius Flume is the owner of Honeydukes in the Harry Potter canon, but I changed his name for this story.
A small bell tinkle above the doorway announced the entry of a new customer.
"Welcome to Honeydukes!" shopkeeper Milton Bott called from the cellar. "I'll be up to assist you in a moment."
"I'm in no hurry," sounded a very familiar voice. "I'm just going to browse around your new wares."
Climbing the stairs and turning the corner, Milton spotted Albus Dumbledore. The old wizard was bent over a display of new flavoured chocolate treats. Milton hoped that selections such as horseradish truffles and passion fruit melts would prove popular with Hogwarts students.
"Ah Professor Dumbledore. I wondered when you would be stopping by to fill up your sweet supplies before the start of term." He glanced at his calendar and saw the date: August 31, 1991. "Cutting it a little close, aren't we?"
Dumbledore shrugged. "I had some matters at the school to attend to before I could take care of my sweet tooth. Can you tell me about this new collection?"
Milton smiled. "This is a new line of chocolate we are trying out. We've used our original Honeydukes Finest Chocolate and added some new flavour elements. Some are more traditional, like this one," he gestured to a golden flecked twirl, "with crystallized ginger. And some are more exotic."
"Oh?" Dumbledore's bright blue eyes twinkled with curiosity. "Which ones are those?"
"Well this bar," he picked up a slab that looked like it had worms crawling out of it, "is made of fresh bean sprouts and rich chocolate. It's for the health conscious individual who wants to have some vegetables along with their sweets."
"How intriguing?" Dumbledore mused. "Can you package me up one of everything except-"
"-Except for Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, I know. Uncle Bertie is quite disappointed that you dislike his creation. I will convince you to try them again one of these days."
Dumbledore chuckled. "For now I'll stick with muggle jelly beans. There's no risk of encountering a vomit flavoured one that way."
"Shall I place this all on your tab?"
"Please. I'll send Hagrid to pick up the bulk of the order this afternoon. But for now, could I perhaps have the chocolate bar with sprouts? I want to give it a little sample on my walk back up to the school."
He broke off a small piece of the chocolate and popped it into his mouth. Milton watched his face for reaction as the chocolate melted away, leaving the chewy bean sprouts behind. "Interesting. Very interesting. But perhaps, I'll keep my vegetables and sweets separate in my future purchases."
"Shall I dispose of the remainder of the chocolate bar for you?" Milton offered.
"Oh no," Dumbledore replied. "I won't be ordering another, but it would be a shame to waste any of Honeydukes Finest. Besides, I need to have a bit more fiber and vegetables in my diet."
With that, the old wizard popped another chunk of chocolate in his mouth and grinned. He left Honeydukes, humming a nonsense tune as he went.