Again, thank you to all that have reviewed, and for those who asked for a longer chapter, here it is!
Next chapter the boys discover just who has been behind all of the madness and mayham. (Only 2 chapters left....)
Thanks to GwEnDoLyN P. MaLfOy, Carrot (wonder no more!) Sowen (not long now), Dragonsmut (thank you so much!), tita-kun, Very evil daughter of Lord Vol, Yana5, Hayley, Kristen, Without Permission, fowler Nsow (Yep!), HOnEySky (thank you, thank you X 6!) crazysnape, Anarane Anwamane and Violet Rose1.
wintermoon2- See, I didn't forget. I hope you don't mind that I changed it to an ice cream, though. ENJOY!
Thanks to Jen for editing and plot suggestions, and for managing to wrap that iron maiden of an ankle brace on my buggered-up foot!
Chapter VIII. All My Flavors Are Guaranteed To Satisfy
Harry's eyes widened at the sound of the shopkeeper's voice.
"Me?!" he finally croaked.
"Oh, yes, your owl arrived yesterday with your order request. Must say, I was a bit surprised."
"Yeah, well, aren't we all," Harry murmured.
Hermione wandered through the many racks of unmentionables.
"Some of these are...very...nice..." she smiled.
Ron followed her, alternating between keeping his head down, and well, keeping his 'head' down...
"Now if you will wait just one minute Mr. Potter," the shopkeeper continued, "I will go get your order."
After Victor had disappeared into the stockroom, Harry ran over to his friends.
"What is going on? I didn't order anything, and certainly not here!"
"Oh, Harry," Hermione tut-tutted. "Nothing to be ashamed of. I plan on buying some things myself."
"You WHAT?" Ron choked.
Hermione smiled as she took one of the silky nightgowns off the rack. She ran her hands over it slowly as she enjoyed the unmistakable discomfort of her red-haired companion.
"Like this one. I don't know..." She held it up to her body. "What do you think, Ronald?"
Harry choked back a laugh as Ron fidgeted nervously.
"It's...it's...very...lovely...." Ron stammered.
Hermione walked over to the many bottles lining the wall.
"And I definitely need to get a few of these items," she continued. "Ron, what do you think, strawberry or dragonfruit?"
By this time Ron was on the verge of either (a) having a small heart attack, (b) becoming a raving lunatic or (c) simply passing out in the middle of the store.
He chose B.
Before he could stop himself, Ron had taken one of the more risque nightgowns off the rack, (a hot pink number with black lace) and thrust it into Hermione's hands.
"I like this one!" Ron exclaimed. "And the strawberry would be fine, unless of course you don't like strawberry, and in that case the dragonfruit would be ok, or maybe there are other flavors and what are they for anyway and maybe I can help you pick out some, that is if you want me to and if you don't I can just go jump out the window and kill myself now and...."
"Ronald!" Hermione finally stopped him.
"Yes?"
"Shut up and help me pick out a flavor."
Harry shook his head as he watched the two of them browsing through the store.
"About time," he muttered.
"Mr. Potter!" The shopkeeper yelled. "I have your order right here, sir."
He sat the large, plain brown shopping bag on the counter and took out the invoice book.
"Let's see, all total, that comes to 11 Galleons and 4 Sickles. I must say, I wasn't sure exactly what you wanted, but I do believe I got it as close as I could to your request."
Harry dug in his pockets for the money. "May I ask an odd question?"
"Certainly!"
"Exactly, what DID I ask for?" Harry inquired.
Taking a note from out of the bag, Victor read aloud. "Harry Potter wishes to purchase something 'daring' and 'dangerous' so that romance may follow. Please have the items ready for tomorrow."
"Oh, Merlin," Harry covered his face with his hand. Finally composing himself, he handed the money to Victor and took the bag off the counter.
"Well, thank you." Harry managed to get out.
"No, thank you, Mr. Potter," Victor smiled. "And I hope Frilly and Frisky can be of service in the future. Good luck with the 'romance'!"
Harry turned away quickly and headed for the door. Calling over his shoulder to Ron and Hermione, he stepped out into the street. "I'll wait for you at the ice cream shoppe!"
Ten minutes later, a very flushed-looking pair entered the ice cream shoppe, with an equally large bag. Hermione sat down across from Harry, who had already ordered a large vanilla cone that he was absentmindly eating.
"Harry, what was in your bag?" Hermione asked.
"No idea." Harry stated matter-of-factly.
"Don't you want to know?" Ron added.
"Nope."
Ron and Hermione looked at each other.
"Why not?" Hermione questioned.
Harry nodded toward a far table. "Because I know it's for him."
Draco Malfoy sat across the shop in a semi-trance. He had been drawn to the ice cream shoppe for some reason, and now he knew why. For the last 5 minutes he had been watching the pride of Gryffindor absolutely devouring a dripping ice cream cone.
"You want something, Draco?" Goyle asked as he got up to go to the counter.
"Oh, gods, yes..."
"What?"
Draco snapped back into reality. "Uh, I mean, yes, a...a hot fudge sundae."
Harry slowly licked the side of the ice cream, drawing his tongue around to the top before closing his mouth around the tip of the swirl. Draco gripped the bottom of the table to keep from moaning out load. "Nobody eats an ice cream like that," he thought. "He knows what he's doing. He's just doing this to make me..."
"Hot." Goyle stated.
"Yeah! I mean....what?" Draco stammered
"The edge of the bowl. It's hot from the fudge." Goyle leaned toward the blond. "You ok, Draco? You've been acting a little odd lately. Ever since those weird things started happening. Did you find out who was behind it?"
"No," Draco shook his head.
Crabbe stuffed a mouthful of ice cream into his mouth. "You'd be werd ot too, if you hav to kiss Arry Podder!"
"What?" Draco and Goyle both asked.
Crabbe swallowed the bite. "I said, 'You'd be weirded out too, if you had to kiss Harry Potter.' Of all the rotten luck, Draco. I bet you're going to kill whoever's behind this when you find out."
Draco swirled his spoon in his sundae. Maybe...he dared to look up again at the brunet across the way as he brought the spoon to his mouth.
Dobby hid under the counter of the shoppe, a small hole just large enough so he could see out.
"Oh, Harry Potter has his bag from the store. Wonderful! Now all he has to do is give it to Draco Malfoy and the romance will follow. Dobby is not sure why he did not think to write to Dear Esmerelda before!"
Harry looked up at the same time Draco did, and nearly dropped the cone. The blond was slowly dragging the spoon from his mouth, licking the edges of his lips afterwards for the melted chocolate. Harry closed his eyes as he allowed the most decadent images to form, remembering how those lips felt on his....
"They are looking at each other!" Dobby nearly squealed."Yes, now would be a good time for Harry Potter to give his gift to Draco Malfoy."
Harry stood up, and dropped the ice cream cone on the table.
"Harry, where ar...?" Hermione started. But the question was becoming moot as Harry walked across the floor to stand directly in front of Draco.
"Draco?" Harry smiled.
"Yes?"
"This is for you."
Draco slowly took the bag from Harry. "What is it?"
"Don't know," Harry answered truthfully, "but think about it. Can it be anything that won't embarrass the hell out of both of us?"
"No," Draco agreed. Carefully he opened the bag, his eyes widening with every second.
"Harry, I...."
"What is it?" Harry asked nervously.
Slowly Draco took a pair of black silk boxers from the bag, followed by a black lace teddy with leather ties and garters. At the bottom of the bag were three bottles of "Passion Gel", in strawberry, cherry and cinnamon.
"Heats up when you blow on it..." Draco read from the bottle.
"So that's what you do with it..." Ron whispered.
Harry honestly thought he was going to be the one to prove that yes, it was possible to die from sheer embarrassment.
"I do have one question," Draco stated.
Harry dared to look up at him. "Yes?"
Draco held the boxers and the teddy up in each hand. "So, who wears what?" he grinned.
Harry couldn't help but laugh. Ok, he thought, make the most of it....
"I guess we can take turns." Harry smiled back.
Ron and Hermione were standing at the table now, Ron's mouth agape and Hermione grinning broadly.
"Not a bad choice," Hermione stated. "Not bad at all."
"If you don't mind," Draco turned to Harry. "I think Granger could use this..." He held up the teddy..."more than me."
"Not at all," Harry smiled.
Draco placed the rest of the items back in the bag and picked it up. As he reached the door he turned back around to address Harry.
"But I think I may find a use for these."
Harry found himself at a loss for words. "So could I," he thought, "so could I!"
End of Chapter VIII.
A/N: The title of the chapter is from the song "Ice Cream Man" as covered by Van Halen. GE
Next chapter the boys discover just who has been behind all of the madness and mayham. (Only 2 chapters left....)
Thanks to GwEnDoLyN P. MaLfOy, Carrot (wonder no more!) Sowen (not long now), Dragonsmut (thank you so much!), tita-kun, Very evil daughter of Lord Vol, Yana5, Hayley, Kristen, Without Permission, fowler Nsow (Yep!), HOnEySky (thank you, thank you X 6!) crazysnape, Anarane Anwamane and Violet Rose1.
wintermoon2- See, I didn't forget. I hope you don't mind that I changed it to an ice cream, though. ENJOY!
Thanks to Jen for editing and plot suggestions, and for managing to wrap that iron maiden of an ankle brace on my buggered-up foot!
Chapter VIII. All My Flavors Are Guaranteed To Satisfy
Harry's eyes widened at the sound of the shopkeeper's voice.
"Me?!" he finally croaked.
"Oh, yes, your owl arrived yesterday with your order request. Must say, I was a bit surprised."
"Yeah, well, aren't we all," Harry murmured.
Hermione wandered through the many racks of unmentionables.
"Some of these are...very...nice..." she smiled.
Ron followed her, alternating between keeping his head down, and well, keeping his 'head' down...
"Now if you will wait just one minute Mr. Potter," the shopkeeper continued, "I will go get your order."
After Victor had disappeared into the stockroom, Harry ran over to his friends.
"What is going on? I didn't order anything, and certainly not here!"
"Oh, Harry," Hermione tut-tutted. "Nothing to be ashamed of. I plan on buying some things myself."
"You WHAT?" Ron choked.
Hermione smiled as she took one of the silky nightgowns off the rack. She ran her hands over it slowly as she enjoyed the unmistakable discomfort of her red-haired companion.
"Like this one. I don't know..." She held it up to her body. "What do you think, Ronald?"
Harry choked back a laugh as Ron fidgeted nervously.
"It's...it's...very...lovely...." Ron stammered.
Hermione walked over to the many bottles lining the wall.
"And I definitely need to get a few of these items," she continued. "Ron, what do you think, strawberry or dragonfruit?"
By this time Ron was on the verge of either (a) having a small heart attack, (b) becoming a raving lunatic or (c) simply passing out in the middle of the store.
He chose B.
Before he could stop himself, Ron had taken one of the more risque nightgowns off the rack, (a hot pink number with black lace) and thrust it into Hermione's hands.
"I like this one!" Ron exclaimed. "And the strawberry would be fine, unless of course you don't like strawberry, and in that case the dragonfruit would be ok, or maybe there are other flavors and what are they for anyway and maybe I can help you pick out some, that is if you want me to and if you don't I can just go jump out the window and kill myself now and...."
"Ronald!" Hermione finally stopped him.
"Yes?"
"Shut up and help me pick out a flavor."
Harry shook his head as he watched the two of them browsing through the store.
"About time," he muttered.
"Mr. Potter!" The shopkeeper yelled. "I have your order right here, sir."
He sat the large, plain brown shopping bag on the counter and took out the invoice book.
"Let's see, all total, that comes to 11 Galleons and 4 Sickles. I must say, I wasn't sure exactly what you wanted, but I do believe I got it as close as I could to your request."
Harry dug in his pockets for the money. "May I ask an odd question?"
"Certainly!"
"Exactly, what DID I ask for?" Harry inquired.
Taking a note from out of the bag, Victor read aloud. "Harry Potter wishes to purchase something 'daring' and 'dangerous' so that romance may follow. Please have the items ready for tomorrow."
"Oh, Merlin," Harry covered his face with his hand. Finally composing himself, he handed the money to Victor and took the bag off the counter.
"Well, thank you." Harry managed to get out.
"No, thank you, Mr. Potter," Victor smiled. "And I hope Frilly and Frisky can be of service in the future. Good luck with the 'romance'!"
Harry turned away quickly and headed for the door. Calling over his shoulder to Ron and Hermione, he stepped out into the street. "I'll wait for you at the ice cream shoppe!"
Ten minutes later, a very flushed-looking pair entered the ice cream shoppe, with an equally large bag. Hermione sat down across from Harry, who had already ordered a large vanilla cone that he was absentmindly eating.
"Harry, what was in your bag?" Hermione asked.
"No idea." Harry stated matter-of-factly.
"Don't you want to know?" Ron added.
"Nope."
Ron and Hermione looked at each other.
"Why not?" Hermione questioned.
Harry nodded toward a far table. "Because I know it's for him."
Draco Malfoy sat across the shop in a semi-trance. He had been drawn to the ice cream shoppe for some reason, and now he knew why. For the last 5 minutes he had been watching the pride of Gryffindor absolutely devouring a dripping ice cream cone.
"You want something, Draco?" Goyle asked as he got up to go to the counter.
"Oh, gods, yes..."
"What?"
Draco snapped back into reality. "Uh, I mean, yes, a...a hot fudge sundae."
Harry slowly licked the side of the ice cream, drawing his tongue around to the top before closing his mouth around the tip of the swirl. Draco gripped the bottom of the table to keep from moaning out load. "Nobody eats an ice cream like that," he thought. "He knows what he's doing. He's just doing this to make me..."
"Hot." Goyle stated.
"Yeah! I mean....what?" Draco stammered
"The edge of the bowl. It's hot from the fudge." Goyle leaned toward the blond. "You ok, Draco? You've been acting a little odd lately. Ever since those weird things started happening. Did you find out who was behind it?"
"No," Draco shook his head.
Crabbe stuffed a mouthful of ice cream into his mouth. "You'd be werd ot too, if you hav to kiss Arry Podder!"
"What?" Draco and Goyle both asked.
Crabbe swallowed the bite. "I said, 'You'd be weirded out too, if you had to kiss Harry Potter.' Of all the rotten luck, Draco. I bet you're going to kill whoever's behind this when you find out."
Draco swirled his spoon in his sundae. Maybe...he dared to look up again at the brunet across the way as he brought the spoon to his mouth.
Dobby hid under the counter of the shoppe, a small hole just large enough so he could see out.
"Oh, Harry Potter has his bag from the store. Wonderful! Now all he has to do is give it to Draco Malfoy and the romance will follow. Dobby is not sure why he did not think to write to Dear Esmerelda before!"
Harry looked up at the same time Draco did, and nearly dropped the cone. The blond was slowly dragging the spoon from his mouth, licking the edges of his lips afterwards for the melted chocolate. Harry closed his eyes as he allowed the most decadent images to form, remembering how those lips felt on his....
"They are looking at each other!" Dobby nearly squealed."Yes, now would be a good time for Harry Potter to give his gift to Draco Malfoy."
Harry stood up, and dropped the ice cream cone on the table.
"Harry, where ar...?" Hermione started. But the question was becoming moot as Harry walked across the floor to stand directly in front of Draco.
"Draco?" Harry smiled.
"Yes?"
"This is for you."
Draco slowly took the bag from Harry. "What is it?"
"Don't know," Harry answered truthfully, "but think about it. Can it be anything that won't embarrass the hell out of both of us?"
"No," Draco agreed. Carefully he opened the bag, his eyes widening with every second.
"Harry, I...."
"What is it?" Harry asked nervously.
Slowly Draco took a pair of black silk boxers from the bag, followed by a black lace teddy with leather ties and garters. At the bottom of the bag were three bottles of "Passion Gel", in strawberry, cherry and cinnamon.
"Heats up when you blow on it..." Draco read from the bottle.
"So that's what you do with it..." Ron whispered.
Harry honestly thought he was going to be the one to prove that yes, it was possible to die from sheer embarrassment.
"I do have one question," Draco stated.
Harry dared to look up at him. "Yes?"
Draco held the boxers and the teddy up in each hand. "So, who wears what?" he grinned.
Harry couldn't help but laugh. Ok, he thought, make the most of it....
"I guess we can take turns." Harry smiled back.
Ron and Hermione were standing at the table now, Ron's mouth agape and Hermione grinning broadly.
"Not a bad choice," Hermione stated. "Not bad at all."
"If you don't mind," Draco turned to Harry. "I think Granger could use this..." He held up the teddy..."more than me."
"Not at all," Harry smiled.
Draco placed the rest of the items back in the bag and picked it up. As he reached the door he turned back around to address Harry.
"But I think I may find a use for these."
Harry found himself at a loss for words. "So could I," he thought, "so could I!"
End of Chapter VIII.
A/N: The title of the chapter is from the song "Ice Cream Man" as covered by Van Halen. GE