September 10, 2002
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and the rest of the exclusive rights to all things Harry Potter. I am, by no means making any money off of this.
Author Notes: I was inspired to write a story dealing with sugar quills while exploring the Harry Potter domain on fanfiction.net. I'm giving all the fabulous writers on fanfiction credit for giving me the plot bunny, but the rest is my own. I hope it pleases. It's post-Hogwarts, and it's from Harry's point of view. italics are for memories.
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HERBOLOGY AND SUGAR QUILLS
I was rummaging around in the attic one day, and came across an old school assignment with a red 'B-' on top. It was an assignment for Herbology, but for some reason, I didn't get to thinking about Herbology or any other assignment, I got to thinking about something else ...
As far back as I can remember, it all started with Hermione and her sugar quills.
When I was in Hogwarts, my friends and I would always hang out in the Gryffindor common room, playing Exploding Snap or studying.
Ron and Hermione seemed to be quite taken with a wizarding candy, one of which I had never been able to have developed a taste for - Sugar Quills. But all the same, they loved them.
Over the years of attending Hogwarts, I noticed Hermione had developed a technique for eating them. Her technique kept me quite entertained up until our final year. Before our seventh year, I had no idea why her technique fascinated me so much.
She used to prefer the individually wrapped ones, and she would always start by opening the package at the very top. A small opening so the quill wouldn't break. She would always slowly suck all the excess sugar out of the package until the wrapping was completely collapsed against the sugar quill
Opening the package clear across the top, she would squeeze the quill from the bottom like one would a popsicle. I used to watch as her nimble tongue darted out, licking off the little bit of sugar on the tip. Then she used to wrap her lips around, sucking to soften it. After that task was complete she would nibble the tip of it off and continue to suck. The stiffness of the quill would collapse a little where her mouth had been wrapped around it. Hermione's lips would always take little nips all the way around, thoroughly enjoying the taste and texture. She'd continue this for a while - sucking the sugar off ... and nibbling away at it. This pattern would continue until the sugar quill was gone.
She did this for years in the Gryffindor common room, while we studied for tests. And, by the time our seventh year rolled around, Hermione had attracted quite a crowd from some of the various sixth and seventh year Gryffindor boys. Often times, she wondered why some of them would sit and just watch her eat them with such a dumbfounded look on their faces.
One night, as Ron looked up from his Herbology homework, he saw what she was doing. A quick glance around the room and he noticed all of the guys watching her. Wonderful person that Ron is, he explained to Hemione the reason WHY they were watching. Needless to say, Hermione was rather embarrassed by it all. Needless to say, her sugar quill technique abruptly stopped, but every now and then I would still see her eating them ...
"Dad," I heard my daughter call to me.
"Yes, Isabelle?" I returned, noting my four year old's dark, curly brown hair and green eyes. Sighing, I noticed just how much she reminded me of her mother.
"Look what mum bought for your birthday," Isabelle said, handing me a brightly wrapped cellophane box. Curiosity took over as I peeled back the gaudy red and gold layers. In the box, laid a package of sugar quills.
"Sugar quills," I mused outloud.
"Mum says that their her favourite, and that you loved to watch her eat them."
I looked up to see Hermione standing in the door frame, a smile lighting up her otherwise glowing complexion. "Happy birthday, dear," she said.
I just smiled.
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Yay or nay! Let me know! Stay tuned for an upcoming Draco/Ginny story (my fav ship!) in the near future!
L8r.
~ Dance with the Wind