This was written for Bad Mum's Lucky dip challenge. My prompts were :

Title: Vanilla and chocolate

Character: Luna Lovegood

Prompt: sticky

Place: Fortescue's ice cream parlour in Diagon Alley

Thanks xakemii for beta-reading it!

Now, read and enjoy.


It was late August; one year after the war and the Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour had just re-opened. Florean Fortescue was dead, killed by Death Eaters years ago, but Dean Thomas, in the memory of the great man who offered him free ice creams, decided to re-open the parlour with the same name. Dean had originally wanted to be one of the first wizard-artists, but it never worked. Instead he decided to resume the commerce he had liked so much when he was in Hogwarts.

The first week had not been great; the students hadn't had an Hogsmeade weekend, but today he was expecting a lot of students.

He was busy when he noticed her. Luna. She was sat at a table with Ginny Weasley and some of their friends. The last memories he had with her were painful; the ones in the manor and more during the battle. Even so, the ones which had lingered were pleasant, even if they when they were surrounded by chaos, they found in each other great friends.

He went to serve them, the girls first didn't recognize him.

"You're not going to order?" he asked them while they were talking enthusiastically.

"Yes sir.... Dean! How are you?" Ginny shouted at him.

"Fine, fine. How are you all?"

"Great! I'm so glad to see you! You work here?"

"I own the shop, actually," he smiled at them. He noticed Luna staring at him, not talking. "So what will you take, girls?"

They all answered with their orders. Luna was still reading the card, hesitating on what to choose.

"Mmmm, I'll take vanilla and chocolate, please Dean," she finally answered.

Luna was such a complicated and interesting girl, so it was hard to believe to out of all the flavour she could find here; from yellow grass of Siberia to medley flowers of Hawaii, that she had chosen vanilla and chocolate.

He was perplex. He gave them their ice creams and attended other customers. By the time he was finished only Luna remained at the table. He wiped a final table before sitting down to join her.

"It has been a long time since the last time we saw," she stated.

"Indeed."

"You have failed to become an artist," her words were painful, but since it was Luna who said it, Dean didn't mind.

"Yes, and I re-opened this parlour instead. I like it, you know."

"My fingers are sticky because of the ice cream," she said.

He gave her a napkin and remembered his previous realisation about her flavour choice.

"Why do you chose plain vanilla and chocolate with all the great and interesting flavours I have here?"

"Because it reminds me of us," she said simply.