…Lost Kiss…
"I'm in a bit of a nutshell Cassie! I can't decide which recipe to make!" Meredith whines pulling me out of my daze. I frown and thump her forehead. "Aww, did I disturb your thoughts?!" Meredith pouts. "Yes, I'm going out to the garden." I hop off the counter and grab my basket. "But Cassie! I need help!" Meredith wails pitifully. "Meredith you can't rely on me all the time. Be a big girl and try to find a dish without my help." I scold gently. I'm glad we don't have neighbors, because Meredith falls to the ground and bawls like a baby.
I ignore her fit and continue to the garden picking veggies and herbs before continuing to the small orchard. Just down the road a little ways into town is mum and dad's restaurant. While they're working, I plan on making full use of the kitchen trying out new recipes based on the food I've had at Hogwarts. Meredith trails after me still crying. "If you stop crying and actually try, I'll make it. I'll make your favorite dessert." I sigh as I reach up to pick some figs. The crying stops and I toss several figs at her which she catches without fail.
She eyes them with confusion then hurries inside. I laugh and continue picking fruit. I have an hour of silence before she's back. "I need to go into town. Come with me!" she demands grabbing my hand and dragging me and my basket inside. I wash up and frown. "What do you need to do in town?" I grumble. "I need to swing by the market and the butchers. We're missing a few ingredients I need." Meredith smiles as she slips into a pair of sneakers.
I grab my bag and we go to the shed to grab our scooters. "I don't know why I still let you drag me into this." I mumble. She throws me a smile over her shoulder. "Why? Because you love me sister!" she winks as she sets off down the road. I take off after her smiling. It takes a few minutes to reach town but when we do I wave at the passerby that I recognize. We stop at the butchers first. The door chimes as we enter, and the owner looks up and smiles.
"It's been a while since you girls have come in. How are you? How are Celia and Brandon?" he asks. "We're good thanks." Meredith and I respond at the same time. "Mum and dad are working at the restaurant today and I need some ingredients we don't have." Meredith steps forward her usual shyness and need to hide behind me gone. I admire this about her. Once she's focused or in a place, she's familiar with she's a thousand times more confident than any other time.
"What's all the fuss up front? Oh, the Jameson's kids! I haven't seen you two in ages." The owner's wife comes out of the back. I gladly receive a hug from her. I chat with her while Meredith gets what she needs. We leave the shop half an hour later. The ride to the market is short and we disembark. I get my own basket and set off. Meredith stumbles after me with her own basket. "No!" I state flatly as she follows. Her bottom lip juts out and her eyes water. "No! I'm making something new, and I want it to be a surprise, so no. go shop on your own but don't wander too far." I add the last part hurriedly.
I can't begin to count the numerous times mum, dad, and I have told her not to wander away and she did and got lost. She nods solemnly and hurries to get what she needs. I've already checked out by the time she reaches the counter. She tries to peek inside my bags, so I hand her a sweet to distract her. I put my things up and climb onto my scooter. The sound of my engine starting wakes her from her trance, and she clambers after me.
I wash the fruits and vegetables in silence. Meredith kept nagging me, so I found where Elizabeth, the family's husky, was hiding and made Meredith give the puppy a bath. By the time I'm done mum and dad are home and a tired Meredith walks in with a none too happy to be bathed Elizabeth. Meredith finishes what she was supposed to make for dinner, and I put final touches on dessert.
"Something smells divine girls." dad smiles as he walks in. Meredith serves a small appetizer first. "I made crostini with a fig, bourbon, bacon, and shallot jam." She smiles and I know she's made something she's proud of. I take a bite of the first dish and close my eyes. In seconds we've cleared the plate and Meredith sniffles. "What? We really liked it." mum reaches for her. "Yeah, but I didn't even get to try it yet. I didn't even taste it when I was cooking." Meredith whines. I clutch my stomach like I'm in pain.
"Dad! She did it again. She fed us without trying it. Oh my…" Meredith and mum both hit my arm. Meredith serves the main dish next. Seared duck breast with a fig sauce and a side of green beans sprinkled with thinly sliced almonds. She sits down to eat with us this time. "This is absolutely delicious Mere!" dad chuckles. Meredith dances happily in her seat. "The meal's not over yet." I smile and get up. I place dessert on the table and Meredith loses it. I made her favorite after all. A fig cobbler with homemade honey ice cream. I give Meredith a big slice and a hefty scoop. "Here, you made an amazing dish and an appetizer all without my help. You deserve it." I hand her the plate and she takes a bite with tear filled eyes.
"See! My food's so good she's crying." I nudge dad. He rolls his eyes with a soft smile and ruffles my hair. we stay up late talking and joking around. Mum makes spiced hot cocoa and we go into the garden to look up at the night sky. I must've fallen asleep because when I open my eyes, I'm in bed. I roll over and find Meredith curled up beside me. I don't have the heart or strength to move her. I sigh and make sure she's tucked in before falling back into a deep sleep.
I have to drag Meredith towards the train, and she pouts through her tears. "I'm sad too, but if we'd waited any longer, we would've missed the train silly girl." I ruffle her hair and start looking for our friends. Ginny, Astoria, and Luna are in a compartment together talking about the Quidditch World Cup. I slide in next to Ginny and put my head on her shoulder. Meredith stands in the doorway looking down the corridor. Luna sneaks up behind her and oohs. "Meredith and a boy are staring at each other." Luna laughs. Ginny and Astoria jump up to check.
"Since when do you flirt around with Seamus Finnigan?" Ginny gasps. Meredith blushes and pushes them into the compartment. "It's not what you think!" Meredith folds her arms and refuses to speak. I nudge her with my foot. "When did you and explosion boy start flirting?" I ask. Meredith hides in her jacket and doesn't come out until we're nearly to Hogwarts. I roll my eyes and adjust my uniform. "You know if you're going to flirt with him go all the way." I wink as we hop off the train. My comment catches her off guard and she trips and stumbles right into Seamus.
Me and Astoria drag Ginny and Luna to the carriages because of the kissing noises they're making. "Honestly, you two, if she wants to flirt with one of the most volatile wizards at Hogwarts let her. I'm not drawing her eyebrows on." I joke. Ginny pushes me into the carriage. We fall laughing out of the carriage and try to walk up to the castle. "You guys know you look like your drunk when you act like this." Fred chuckles. I fake gasp "And how would you know what being drunk looks like sir?"
Fred stops walking and I take off up the steps. Luna follows laughing and I can't help but smile too. Astoria shoots me a look as she walks in. Meredith runs overlooking thoroughly embarrassed. "Aww, how was your mini date?" I ask with a teasing smile. Meredith puts her head on the table and groans. "You know judging by the way she's acting maybe someone stumbled by her first kiss." Luna taps Meredith's head. A tiny shriek comes from somewhere beneath her hair and I know Luna's right.
After Dumbledore's announcements the feast begins. Everyone talks about the tournament and the guests. "What are you looking forward to?" Luna asks. "The different foods." I sigh. Just the thought of it makes my mouth water. "You are such a foodie." Meredith tsks. "The fig jam on crostini you made was absolutely divine oh sister of mine." I wink. Meredith looks down completely flustered. I continue eating my mind wandering in the realm of food.
I stroll through the library looking for a book for my transfiguration report. I finally find what I'm looking for but it's just out of my reach. I take out my wand, but a hand reaches up and grabs the book next to it. "Uhm, excuse me. Could you please grab that book for me?" I ask nicely. They do and hand the book over to me. I thank them profusely and rush off to finish my homework. I yawn and stretch as I go to return the book. "Would you like for me to put the book back for you baby bird?" a voice asks. I jump and recognize the person who helped me earlier. "That would be nice." I mumble handing over the book.
He puts the book back and turns to look at me. "I'll see you around baby bird." He smiles and walks away. I stand there frozen. "Do you know who you were just talking to?" Astoria asks making me jump for the second time today. "No." I whisper. "That was Blaise Zabini. Geez Cassie! Pay attention. You looked like you were going to get eaten alive." Astoria mutters half-heartedly. I frown and turn to get my things. "As if I'd just stand there like a deer in headlights because of anyone." I scoff and leave the library muttering to myself.
I'm still in a bad mood by dinner. Meredith is out of it after messing up a potion and getting reprimanded by Snape rather severely. Luna sits between the two of us choosing to be oblivious. "What's eating you two?" Ginny sits down in front of us. Meredith stuffs her mouth with food refusing to answer so Ginny turns to me. "I didn't stand there like shaking like a small child." I pout. Ginny tilts her head in confusion, and I point at Astoria. Ginny sighs and snatches a cookie from Meredith's plate before going to talk to Astoria.
I stab the fruit on my plate repeatedly. "Cassie you shouldn't play with your food!" Luna scolds. I keep mashing the fruit until it's a thin paste then pull a small vial from my pocket. This catches Meredith's attention, and she sits up like a meerkat. "She's not playing with her food Luna." She leans over Meredith watching what I'm doing intently. I sprinkle the contents of the vial onto the fruit paste and mix. I eye the foods available and opt for a lemon tart. I spread the fruit paste on top. Astoria and Ginny have drifted over and all four stare hungrily at my creation. I scrape some mint leaves spreading it across the fruit spread and cut the tart into five equal pieces.
Meredith is the first to take a bite and the others follow when they see just how much she's enjoying it. I take a bite too. It's really delicious but not too heavy after the filling dinner we had. We all sit back sighing contentedly. Astoria and Luna start to sway and seconds later they're on the floor knocked out sleep. "They must've been really tired." Meredith yawns. Her yawn is infectious, and Ginny and I start yawning too. "If you third years are that tired, go to bed." Cho softly shakes Astoria. "Were you experimenting again Cassie?" Cho looks at me.
"Maybees!" I smile sleepily. My head starts to sink. "What you add this time?" Cho lifts Astoria off the ground. "Chamomile, spearmint, some herbs that tasted a little bit like butterbeer, and some other relaxing herbs that help you sleep." I mumble fighting to keep my eyes open. Meredith drops on top of Luna, and they curl up together. Flit wick comes racing over. "How many times have I told you not to experiment on other students Miss Evans?!" he huffs. I start counting but run out of fingers. I pout and show him I ran out of fingers.
"What did she make this time?" Flitwick groans. I hand over the vial, point to the lemon tarts and fruit, and then start to drift off. "This is a very potent mixture!" Flitwick gasps as I fall asleep. When I wake, afternoon light is pouring through the window. I feel unbelievably well rested. Luna and Meredith are still knocked out. I stumble to the window and look outside. Thankfully, it's a weekend. I go to my desk and start revising the blend of herbs I had in the vial. The scents fill the air and soon I can hear the whispers of the other girls outside.
"She's at it again. Someone should get Flitwick." I hear someone mutter. I flick my wand at the door shutting them out effectively. I keep mixing taking strenuous notes in my journal. I play soothing music when my studies begin to disturb Luna and Mere. Soon a delicious and intoxicating aroma is wafting through the room, and I know it's permeating through the dorms and into the tower. I can barely contain the happiness I feel and open the window. The scent flows out onto the breeze.
Several students out on the grounds stop and sit down enjoying the breeze. I turn up the music as someone begins to bang on the door. Luna and Mere grumble and start to toss and turn. The door flings open, and a very irritated McGonagall walk in. She cuts the music off and Luna and Mere wake up instantly. McGonagall waves her wand at my desk and my notes and vials disappear. "My office. Now miss Evans!" she snaps. Groaning I follow her down to her office where I get reamed out for 3 hours by her and Flitwick.
"Can I at least get my things back before winter break so I can take them home?" I ask hopefully. McGonagall points at the door and I hurry from the room not wanting to anger her further. I kick the floor all the way back to the dorm. "Aww, did the baby bird get in trouble?" Blaise steps out of the shadows. I jump and put a hand over my heart. "You scared me!" I gasp. He smirks and leans over me. "You look better when you're asleep." He frowns. I reach out to hit him but he's well out of my reach.
I mutter to myself as I continue to walk up the steps. I'm nearly to the door to the common room when he spins me around. "Staying angry about anything and everything isn't healthy." He whispers in my ear. I'm frozen in place. "Nothing to say. Hmm, what to do? What to do?" he sighs. I go to take a step back, but he pulls me to his chest. "Hmm, I wonder how you'll react?" he stares unblinkingly into my eyes. He lifts my chin and kisses me ever so softly.
I ball up my fists and hit him as hard as I can, but he doesn't release me. Since hitting doesn't work, I try my next idea. I move my leg back far enough and strike him directly in the groin. He releases me immediately and drops to the floor in pain. I kick him a few more times for good measure and run into the common room and up to my dorm ignoring the startled cries. I slam the dorm door shut so hard it shakes and fling myself onto my bed.
"I hate him. I hate him. I hate him. I hate that fucking bastard!" I scream repeatedly into my pillows until I pass out a few hours later. When I wake Meredith and Luna are both in my bed asleep. I put them into their own beds and tuck them in then go I take a shower trying desperately to scrub him off of me. I scrub myself raw and then got to town on my face and teeth. I throw my hair into a ponytail satisfied with the amount of scrubbing I've done. I go back to the dorm and fall asleep. Meredith and Luna try and wake me in the morning but I'm having none of it.
In fact, I don't leave the dorm except to shower and visit the kitchens to sneak some food. Every time I leave, I keep a watchful eye out for that bastard. Meredith just thinks I'm sick, so she covers for me in class. This goes on every day for a month. Flitwick sends Cho and Marietta up to get me since it's the day the other schools will be arriving. I don't go willingly. There's a lot of screaming, cursing, pillows, hitting, and the like. They finally manage to pull me down to the Entrance Hall. They look positively a mess while I sit on the ground pouting without a scratch on me.
"Miss Evans!" McGonagall gasps looking at my upperclassmen. "I was behaving just fine in my dorm but oh no, oh no, no, no, no! You just had to send two innocent bystanders up to drag me out." I mutter. Meredith hits the top of my head apologizing profusely. Luna helps me to my feet and leads me to my place in the line. I'm still muttering and rolling my eyes as we wait in the growing darkness as the cold rolls in. I'm more than glad to go inside after the guests. Dumbledore introduces the guests, talks about the tournament, and the feast begins.
It takes several attempts from Mere and Luna to get me to eat. "Why did she hit you guys though? Why was she in her room so long?" a pretty Beauxbatons girl asks Cho and Marietta. They look genuinely surprised by the question. "Why was Cassie in her room so long? I thought you said she was sick Meredith." Cho turns to Mere. "She is sick. Just a bit sick in the head." Meredith pokes my head for emphasis. I growl softly and she stops. "Why were you in bed for so long? The last thing I heard you say was something about hating someone." Luna frowns.
The memory resurfaces and I crumple my cutlery in my hands. "Because that snake bastard kissed me! That's why I was in my room. I don't want to see him let alone be in the same room with him." I growl. The now balled up cutlery falls from my hands and bounces onto the table. They don't say a word. I put my head down on the table and sniffle. "He stole my first kiss!" I cry. I slump down to the floor and curl up in a ball rocking back and forth trying to calm myself. "Why'd you bring it up?" I hear the beauxbatons girl ask.
"I didn't know she'd react like this! Cassie never, NEVER, acts like this. This is like a level 10 break down." Meredith sounds worried. Luna drops down next to me and hands me a tart with berries. I nibble on it until I feel better. She wipes my tears away and I put my head on her shoulder. I wait until the hall's nearly empty before I crawl out then I make sure that the bastard is gone too. I breathe a sigh of relief when I realize he is. Astoria stares at me with a knowing look. "He kissed you didn't he. I tried to warn you, but you didn't want to hear it. I could tell when he got back to the common room. he was in serious pain. What'd you do to him?" she smiles. "He wouldn't let me go so I kneed him in the groin then kicked him several times." I laugh at the memory of him on the floor.
We laugh all the way to the doors. "Be honest with me here for a minute. How was the kiss?" Astoria wriggles her eyebrows suggestively and I run up the stairs and don't stop until I'm in my bed. I curl up under my sheets and stay there until my roommates are asleep. I emerge and bring the sheets to my lips. my mind wanders back to Astoria's question, and I wonder why she would ask me such a thing. I shake it off and go to sleep. It's another month before I start attending classes and slowly going back to my normal self. I still keep a watchful eye out for Blaise.
Snape is the only teacher who comments on my reappearance in his class. "Oh, look what we have here. Someone has decided to rejoin the class. How was your vacation?" he sneers. "Uneventful sir. I wanted to actually learn something and who better to learn from than you." I smile innocently. Snape is taken aback but quickly regains composure. "I expect all the homework I assigned to be on my desk by…" he falters as I pull the stack of papers from my bag and skip to his desk placing the papers in order of when the were assigned. I also pull-out mini vials of every potion he's covered in class. He rounds his desk eyes raking over the papers then testing the potions.
"25 points to Ravenclaw. It would've been much more had you chosen to attend class." He speaks through gritted teeth as though he's forcing himself to admit defeat. I bite back a smile and hurry to my seat. Astoria gives me a thumbs up when he's not looking. He releases us from the lecture to have us begin our potions and Astoria picks a spot next to me. "You never said how the kiss was despite it being stolen from you." She whispers. I blush and lose focus. I have to shake my head repeatedly to clear my mind and I get to work ignoring her victorious smile.
"I have no idea what you could be referring to." I huff. She bites her lip and winks playfully. I growl and she goes back to her potion. At the end of class I hurriedly put my things away and bolt as fast as I can. I go to the library and check out a few books for research purposes. I head back to the dorm happy I got the books I wanted. Too happy, I'm not alert and run right into him, literally. He catches me before I fall to the ground. "Why there you are baby bird. I've been looking all over for you. You've been avoiding me, haven't you?" his voice is borderline a purr. I wrench out of his grasp.
"Leave me alone you snake bastard." I growl. His eyebrows shoot up in amusement. "The baby bird has a voice now. I still don't like the fact that you've been ignoring me for two months." He frowns. "I don't give a damn. I don't even know you. Why should I care? I have no reason to even be talking to you right now." I turn on my heel and run down the hall as fast as I can. When I think I'm far enough away I slow down. I take a deep calming breath.
"You know I'm getting tired of tracking you down. I damn near memorized this place so I could catch up to you." Blaise appears from a rather unnoticeable hall and pulls me into his arms. I squirm and try to get out, but he backs me up against a wall. "Let me go." I demand. He brushes my hair back from my face and kisses me softly. I hit his chest and try to knee him, but he avoids all of my hits without breaking the kiss. His hands press against my back, and I gasp. He deepens the kiss refusing to let me go.
I scrub vigorously trying to remove all traces of him. At some point I gave in to his kiss and kissed him back which turned into a two hour make out session. I scrub harder as the memory resurfaces. When I decide I'm clean I start on my hair. I leave the showers and put my things away. "Where've you been? You took off after class." Meredith jumps on my back. "The library then I showered. Now get off my back clingy girl." I smile. It's almost dinnertime so I grab my food notebook and lay on my bed. Meredith stares at me for a while. "What?!" I groan. "You smell like you've been around a boy." She speaks in a flat tone.
"Astoria knows what's going on, doesn't she?" Mere starts to walk towards the door. I go to chase her, but Luna blocks my path. It takes 15 minutes to get past her and race down the stairs still clutching my notebook. I look all over for Astoria and Mere, but no one has seen them. I finally find them on the grounds. Astoria spots me first and takes off running. Mere turns but it's too late. I tackle her to the ground. "Stop asking questions! If I wanted or knew how to tell you I would've." I pout. Mere stares up at me in shock.
"Damn Cassie! I didn't even get his name. There's no need to freak out." She smiles sitting up. I sit beside her in full pout mode. "He kissed you again, didn't he, the snake bastard?" she frowns. I nod my bottom lip quivering. "I hate him. I hate him. I really, really hate him!" I hit the ground with my fists. Meredith strokes my hair until I'm done pouting. "So did you kiss him back?" Astoria asks. I jump up and start chasing her around. She hides behind some all too familiar faces.
"Aww, is the baby bird chasing the baby snake?" Blaise teases as he, Draco and some other Slytherins emerge from the dungeons. I ignore him and turn to find Mere. She's in the courtyard watching. I drag her to the Ravenclaw table. I start taking notes on the various new dishes available while she eats. "Are you not going to eat?" the Beauxbatons girl asks. "I am. I just wanted to take notes for my parents because the dishes are so intriguing." I point to the dishes that are representing our guests. The girl smiles and begins explaining the dishes to me in full. I don't miss a word as I take detailed notes and ask her questions.
I let her take a breather as dessert is served and notice something suspicious. Astoria is talking to her fellow Slytherins and pointing at my book. I focus with all the intensity my parents taught me. The rest of the conversations in the hall fade until I can hear Astoria's. She's telling them what I write in my notebooks, and I don't want that snake bastard to know. I mash berries and smear it artfully onto a brownie with a candied serrano chili pepper I made a few days ago on top. I sling shot it into her mouth just as she's about to spill the beans.
It lands perfectly in her mouth, and she bites into the pepper first. Her face gets red so fast I almost feel bad but then I notice the snake bastard looking at me and I glare at him. Astoria grabs a pitcher of juice and starts chugging it. the empty jug clatters to the table and she looks at me still red faced. "Zip it!" I mouth shaking the tiny jar of candied peppers. She closes her mouth and looks down but not before telling the other Slytherins they got her in trouble. I place some candied peppers onto a brownie and Mere pops a piece into her mouth. "Wow! It's not spicy at all." Mere smiles. She hands a piece to Luna who eats it without question.
Luna face goes bright red, and it even reaches her ears. "You two are insane." She laughs as she chugs her juice with tears streaming down her face. I shrug when Mere looks at me in confusion. "There parents are chefs. They literally grew up eating foods like that, so it doesn't even phase them in the slightest, but for us normal people that shit is spicy!" Marietta explains for the confused Beauxbatons girl. The girl looks curiously at the brownie, and I hand her, Marietta, and Cho a piece. The pour extra juice into their goblets and pop the treat into their mouths.
The reaction is immediate in Marietta but the other two have the same reaction as me and Mere. Cho asks for another piece much to Marietta's horror. "What else can you make?" the Beauxbatons girl ask. "Pick out whatever treats you want me to use and let's see." I smile. The Beauxbatons girl's name I come to find out is Fleur. She picks a cinnamon palmier, a rose flavored macaron, a lemon berry petit four, an Irish cream French fancy, a cherry Jaffa cake, and a chocolate custard tart. I eye the selection with a smile. I grab a clean plate and start mashing the petit four, French fancy, Jaffa cake together adding a few drops of crumbled macaron as I go.
Once it's creamy enough I start disassembling the tart. I mix the palmier with the tart shell and add the rest of the macaron. Mere pokes at my pocket until I hand her the vial of candied peppers. I hum softly thinking of how I'm going to tie this together. I swirl the earlier cream paste into some ice cream and top with the cinnamon palmier tart shell. I drop tiny cubes of the custard on top with diced cherry and hand it to Fleur. She takes a bite and her eyes close. A happy smile pulls at her lips and Cho and Marietta take a bite.
Their eyes close too and I turn to Mere who is just downing the last of the candied peppers. "That was the last of the batch mum sent me Mere!" I pout. She looks down apologetically and I ruffle her hair. "It's ok. just write to mum and ask for more. Maybe something with a little more kick or, ooh, maybe some pickled Carolina Reapers." I smile. "You are going to burn off your taste buds." Marietta scoffs. I laugh and roll my eyes. "Hunh, that's funny. I thought you would love peppers given your spicy attitude." I wink playfully. Marietta has no words and just looks away.
Fleur takes it open herself to continue giving me random foods at mealtimes. One morning as the mail is coming in, I notice Mere's scops owl, Lilith. The owl swoops down dropping a rather hefty package into Mere's lap before taking my croissant. I pet Lilith as Mere tears open the package. It has her Yule Ball dress and accessories in it and some treats from mum and dad. She hands me a package that I identify quickly as Carolina Reapers that have been pickled and put in a jar with some candied Thai chili peppers.
Fleur's eyes go wide, and I can see her and Cho's hungry gleam in their eyes. Astoria who was helping Luna with her homework squeaks in horror. I hold the jar up for Mere to see. Her mouth drops open and crack the jar open enough for her to get a whiff before closing it. She frowns and points to her breakfast. I smile and open the jar place several of each pepper on her plate. Someone taps my shoulder and Fleur and Cho hold their plates out too. I put some peppers on their plates and some on mine.
Breaking open a croissant I stuff some scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese, and the peppers inside. It's pure heaven with every bite. I'm so happy that I start dancing in my seat. Cho mixes hers with a mini frittata and Fleurs places hers on a mini quiche. Mere eats hers plain and chases it with the fruit salad on her plate. I see Marietta staring and offer her the other half of the breakfast croissant. She takes it with trembling fingers. I smile as she downs the food in less than 30 seconds. "Do you want another one?" I ask teasingly. She nods shyly and I make her one stuffed to the brim. I hand her the plate and she digs in ravenously as if it's the first time she's eaten today.
Meredith has started riffling through the box. "No way!" Mere gasps. This grabs my attention. "Mum sent the finished oil." She gapes. I smile and lean over to check. Sure enough, a jar of vanilla been oil lays in a small box inside the parcel. There's also bergamot, bourbon, neroli, sweet oranges, and a bottle of citrus vodka I'd been working on for a while. I hold up the bottle of vodka examining it. "Cassie, what is that?" Cho ask with a note of worry in her voice. "Citrus juice." I smile taking the box of goodies. Cho opens her mouth to say something, but I shake my head. "Mere can you take my things to class. I'm going to give these to the house elves so they can make something scrummy for dinner tonight." I giggle and race out of the hall before anyone can stop me.
I skip into class just before the teacher gets there. Mere shoots me looks all throughout class and when the lessons over she pounces. I let out a small yelp when she jumps on my back. "Why didn't you tell me?!" she demands. "Tell you what?" I ask innocently as my mind begins to count the numerous things I've never told her. "That snake bastard asked you to the ball and you turned him down!" she pouts. I laugh and she slides off my back. "Why would I want to go with him? I'd rather go home and spend the holiday with people who love me." I sigh. Mere groans and pouts until lunch.
Cho eyes me with obvious suspicion as I walk into lunch. "You know I don't think that was citrus juice earlier." She stares at me like the answer's going to magically appear. "You sound Fred Weasley right now." I observe. She sits back in her seat with a frown. At the next table Fred starts shaking his head like his ear is waterlogged. "Trust me, dinner will be divine." I smile reassuringly and start eating my sandwich while I write my reports.
Cho dances in her seat and keeps looking my way. I pull out the jar of peppers from breakfast and hand it over. She places a few peppers on her sandwich and takes a bite. I swish the pepper juice in the bottom of the jar around. Astoria takes a seat across from me when she gets in. I raise my eyebrows in a question pointing to the jar with my eyes. "Fine!" she sighs. I mix the juice with some fruit and add some fresh mint leaves. I hand her the bowl and go back to writing my report. Minutes later she's tapping the table in front of me. I spoon some of the juices from the fruit into the bowl with the pepper juice.
I rifle around in my bag and pull out a jar with a yellow label on it from the deep dark depths. I spoon a heaping spoonful into the juice and mix. Mere takes a sniff and gags. "It's not done yet silly." I pout. I pull out some squid ink and it to the sauce then dip a piece of bread into it. I take a bite then add thinly sliced chicken to the bread before dipping it. I make Astoria a chicken sandwich and motion for her to dip it into the sauce. She does and starts dancing in her seat. "Just how much do you have stuffed in your bag?" Fleur wonders.
I start pulling ingredients, cookbooks, and notes on different foods I've tried over the years from my bag. Cho chokes on her juice when I pull a spice rack that holds over a 100 different spices and herbs. I start putting everything back and Cho grabs a relatively cloudy bottle. She unscrews the lid and takes a deep whiff. She frowns and holds the bottle out of my reach. "What?! It's rice juice!" I whine. Cho purses her lips. "You and I both know that this is not rice juice." She states. "What do you mean?" Marietta asks. "This is about as juice like as that citrus 'juice' she pulled out earlier. Meaning it's alcohol." Cho shakes her head.
I quickly slide the bottle of sake into my bag before she can snatch that too. "Why do you have alcohol?" Marietta groans. "We help our parents test new flavors. Besides alcohol cooks out." Mere mumbles. "Why am I not surprised." Astoria smirks. "Please can I have that back?" I beg. Cho takes a deep breath. "Please don't make me regret this." she groans handing me the bottle back. I put in bag with a happy smile. I feel rejuvenated by the end of lunch. "By the way Cassie, what did you put in the sauce for the sandwich?" Astoria asks as we get up. "Why, Vegemite and squid ink." I say nonchalantly.
Marietta smacks the top of my head and I wince. "How many times have we told you, your fellow students are not food testers for you to use as you see fit!" she frowns as Astoria doubles over pretending to retch. "I didn't add that much. Was the ratio off? It tasted fine. Maybe I should use Rocky Mountain Oysters next time!" I clap my hands giddily. Mere pretends to throw up. "What are Rocky Mountain Oysters?" Luna asks so innocently it hurts. I hum loudly and gather my things. Cho, Fleur, and Marietta leave in a hurry.
Astoria runs over to the Slytherin table to get her things. Luna turns to Meredith hopefully. Mere leans over and whispers in her ear. The look of horror on Luna's face makes me feel a tiny bit sad. I usher them to our next class. Luna doesn't say a word the rest of the day and I can't blame her. It's quite a shocking ingredient if you're not used to it. Then again, I've also tried chicken testicles, Chinese penis fish, sheep's penis, and geoducks all because mum and dad tricked me. When I tell Luna this when we're walking on the grounds that afternoon, she goes pale, and Ginny smacks my arm. "Oh please, it's not like we made her eat pupae or ant's eggs." Mere shrugs. This statement gets a swat from Astoria.
At dinner Luna, Ginny, and Astoria look deathly ill as they stumble into the hall. Cho frowns and shakes her head. "All we did was tell them the weird things are parents have made us eat over the years." Meredith pouts. I can hear Ginny telling her brothers. I also can tell from the way Astoria's mouth is moving she's telling her big sister too. The food arrives and I grin. The smell of the citrus juice is intoxicating. I can feel someone staring at me. I look up meeting Astoria's gaze. She mouths the word 'alcohol' and I nod happily. I ladle some sauteed vegetables onto my plate and note that some of the ingredients I gave the house elves were used in the dish. I can also smell a hint of the vanilla bean oil.
Everyone digs in hungrily. The hall goes silent except for the scraping of cutlery and the occasional request for a dish. Even the staff are inhaling the food. I know what's coming next, so I save room. Dessert is served soon after and I can smell the bourbon, sweet oranges, and citrus vodka. The ice cream is creamy but not too sweet and the chocolates are nothing short of divine. Then there's the cake. I try a slice and hum as the faint taste of the moonshine I gave them a few months ago hits me. They mixed with berries and let them soak until it became syrupy and let the cake soak up the syrup.
Fleur lets out a satisfied moan and pushes her plate away. "You didn't even try the best thing!" I complain. She eyes me carefully and then leans forward. "What do you mean?" she demands. I take my wand out secretly and point it at a few slices of cake. Grill marks appear after a few seconds. I top a slice with fruit, ice cream, caramel, and chocolate adding the top layer of grilled cake. I hand her half. "I've already eaten so much." She groans and takes a bite. I cut my half into thirds and hand Mere and Luna a piece. We dig in once more even though we're all full to bursting.
"Ugh, I'm going to have to go for a run in the morning to work this off!" I groan patting my stomach. The only ones still eating are people like Hagrid, Ron, and Crabbe and Goyle. I stumble up to bed with a satisfied smile and fall into a deep sleep. I have to urge myself to get up in the morning and exercise. I take a hot shower to really wake myself up and go down to breakfast. the entire school is in a food coma and move like zombies. I hum to myself and ladle fruit onto my plate. I pour myself some hot cocoa since it's chilly today and sip it slowly between bites of croissants.
"I really want to yell and scold you, but that food last night was so delicious I can't." Marietta mumbles rubbing her face to wake up. I giggle as I read a letter from mum and dad completely ignoring Marietta. "Why are you in such a good mood?" Ginny sits down next to me. "My parents just told me what we're doing for the holidays." I laugh and show her the letter. She takes in the words with a yawn or to but then goes pale and starts shivering. Cho snatches the letter and I pout. "Stop scaring your friends!" Cho scolds. She skims through the letter and starts shivering too.
"Girls, what is this response? Do you need some cocoa or tea? It's not like I'm going to bring any food from home or send it for Christmas." I tap my fingers on the table. Cho hands back the letter with a final shudder. "Could you go one year without freaking us out?" Ginny pokes my cheek. "I make no promises little red." I keep eating. I push my plate away when I'm done eating. I take out my parchment and quill to write a quick response to my parents and send it back with Lilith.
I look up to find Mere staring at me. "You are going to send any crazy concoctions for me to try?!" she pouts. "I would but I don't think it would be appropriate." I state solemnly. "Well, I don't give a fuck!" Mere rolls her eyes. I laugh at her stubbornness. "Don't say I didn't warn you." I say in a sing song voice getting up to go to the library. I scan the books carefully looking for something to help me understand my weaker subjects like charms and transfiguration. I'm beginning to lose hope when someone hands me a book.
"Looking for this?" Blaise asks. My face falls and I grimace. As bad as I want the book, I don't want it from him. I turn and walk away but he keeps up easily. "Leave me alone." I glare at him. He walks in front of me and stops effectively cutting me off. I cross my arms and glare at him tapping my foot all the while. "I should be the one upset. You turned down my invitation repeatedly." Blaise's eyes scan my face. "I don't like you. Why would I go with you?" I scoff and turn to walk away. He pulls me to his chest and presses his lips to my neck. "If you didn't like me a little bit, why do you respond to my kisses? Last time I kissed you stayed in my arms for hours. You even smiled. It was quite a breathtaking smile if I do say so myself. Should I try again?" he kisses my neck.
I squirm and try to fight him off. He slowly makes his way up turning my head ever so slightly so he can kiss me. I try desperately to hit him, but he pulls me to a table half hidden in darkness and pulls me onto his lap. "You know I really like you, Cassidy." He whispers against my lips. "No, you don't." I growl. Blaise cups my face staring into my eyes with sincerity. "Yes, I do. Even though we started off a bit rocky you've started to like me even if it is gradual. You've started responding to my kiss. You get flustered when I'm near you which is rather adorable. It's up to you if you want to recognize it but I know it's there." he smirks.
I go to get up and he pulls me back down. "Do you really feel nothing for me?" he purrs kissing me. "I hate you." I mutter when he finally breaks the kiss. "That sounds like something to me." he shrugs and kisses me again and again. I'm nearly late to class. Astoria grins at me as I stumble kiss drunk to my seat. "Not one word." I growl out of the side of my mouth. She giggles and opens her book. I try my best to focus on my studies and classwork, but Blaise and Astoria's questions keep bouncing around in my head.
I pack for the winter break early in the morning trying my best not to wake my roommates. My confiscated items return to my desk and hurriedly pack those too before they can disappear. I drag my things down to the Entrance Hall and grab a quick breakfast. I hurry because I know if I wait to long Meredith will wake up and I don't want to see her cry. I dust the crumbs from my fingers and down the rest of my cocoa. I drag myself to my feet yawning and make my way out of the hall. "Damn you're just going to leave without saying goodbye?" Blaise leans against the wall arms crossed and pouting.
"For Merlin's sake could you leave me alone!" I run my fingers through my in irritation. "If I could I would but I can't so here I am baby bird." He waves at himself like it's an honor or something. I roll my eyes and keep walking. "Well would you looky there, mistletoe. You know what that means, don't you?" he smirks. I look up and sure enough we're underneath mistletoe. Sometimes this castle has the worst timing. I press my fingers to my lips pull my hand back and slap him so hard you can see exactly where my hand hits him. You can even see each finger it's so detailed. I walk down to carriages muttering and cursing.