Sold-Chapter 28- Love Muffins
By Marmalade Fever
A.N.: I believe that in Britain, muffins are what we in the U.S. think of as English Muffins. However, when I say muffins, I'm talking American muffins. You know, the kind that looks like a cupcake. I'm no international muffin expert, so this note might be completely ridiculous to those of you who are in actuality from England.
Hermione continued to stare, her mouth flopping open like a fish. Before she could even begin to think of a reply, both their heads whipped in the direction of the kitchen door. "Hermione! Malfoy!" It was Ron. Quick as a wink, Malfoy slipped the ring onto her finger and directed his wand at her hair, causing it to grow and cascade down her back in delicate ringlets. A red head popped through the doorway. "Ah, there you are," he said, letting himself in and sitting at the table. "Hope you don't mind I let myself in. Fred and George just gave these to me and I wanted to try them out." He pulled from his pocket a small package containing two muffins.
Malfoy kept his hand in his pocket, as if in warning to Hermione that he wouldn't hesitate to use his wand. "What are they?" he asked, slowly.
"New product," Ron said. He placed the package on the table and they could now see that the wrapper was covered in little pink and white hearts. In fancy red script were the words, "Love Muffins."
Hermione resisted the urge to scratch her neck. Her newly elongated hair was tickling her. "You said Fred and George made them?" she asked, slowly, her hesitation apparent. She'd seen neither hide nor hair of the twins since the final battle.
"Yup. See, what you do is, is one person eats one and their love interest eats the other and, judging by what colors your tongues turn, you can tell if they fancy you or not." Both Hermione and Malfoy colored, the same thought going through their heads. "So I figured I'd try them out on you. That all right?" Without waiting for an answer, he opened the package and handed a small blueberry muffin to each of them. They both stared at them. Malfoy was the first to start eating his.
"Go on, Hermione," he said. "It's only a muffin." With great trepidation she ate the other.
"Swallow it all, I don't want to see anything, now," Ron said, sniggering. "All right, now both of you stick out your tongues and I'll tell you what the colors mean. They both hesitated before obediently sticking out their tongues. Ron looked down at the wrapper to see the color chart, while they both exchanged a nervous look. "Right. So you both have a spot of red—that's romantic love." Their eyes widened. "And some black, that's attraction. Blue—that's dislike—must be from your childhood. And then there's some white, that's wedding bells." Hermione felt like her eyes were about to pop out.
"That it?" Malfoy asked, closing his mouth.
"Yep." Ron sniggered. "Maybe you should send a package of these to Evander. Reckon he'd like to give a muffin to Lily!"
Hermione bit her lip and smiled, ever so slightly. Malfoy managed a grimace-like smile.
"Well, got to run. See you," Ron said, standing up and heading to the door.
"Yeah, see you, Ron," Hermione called, feeling doomed as Malfoy once again turned to her for an answer.
…
Evander sat with Ben and Ryan in the stands cheering as the players marched onto the field. Evander had a pair of omnioculars focused to see if a certain raven-haired girl was playing. Sure enough, in the role of seeker, was Lily Potter. The Weasley boy with the job of commentator announced her over the intercom. "And home again, home again, jiggedy jig is Lily Potter, Gryffindor seeker. I've heard her middle name is Ithaca, and after her return yesterday, folks, I'm thinking it's pretty suiting. Anyway, Potter's circling the pitch. April Bludwurm, Slytherin seeker, is right behind her." Everyone except the Slytherins booed. Evander watched as Lily floated like an angel over the pitch, keeping watch for the snitch.
"And it's ten points to Gryffindor after a gnarly shot from chaser, Yvonna Wood!" Evander cheered heartily. "And a spectacular save by Slytherin keeper, Edward Nott!" Evander cheered again, having been raised to respect both houses, though his friends looked at him as though he was mental. "Foul! Gryffindor chaser, Basil Crumby aims… and he scores! Tough luck for you, Nott!" Evander cheered, mentally deciding to cheer at everything. "A nasty blow to the head directed to Crumby by Slytherin beater Wulfric Wegener earns yet another foul! Better luck next time, Slythy!"
"Weasley!" Professor McGonagall shouted.
"Gracious professor… Anyway, Crumby aims… and it looks like he's fainting… No, it's just a ploy! Crumby scores! Twenty-nothing to Gryffindor!" Evander watched patiently, all the while direction his omnioculars back up to watch Lily. She was circling the pitch, occasionally going into a lazy eight flying formation. April Bludwurm, a girl who seemed to have a rather large vendetta against him, kept on her tail. Quite suddenly Lily went into a spectacular dive. Evander frantically looked in the direction of her dive to see if he could spot the snitch, but he didn't see anything. Just as quickly as Lily had gone into her dive, she pulled out again, sending April crashing toward the ground. Lily then proceeded to swoop to her right, up, and around the pitch and grabbed at something shiny that had been floating next to one of the Slytherin goal hoops, not three feet from where April and been flying thirty seconds earlier. "And Lily Potter catches the snitch! Gryffindor wins! That's all folks! Game's over! Shoo!" Evander clapped so hard his hands stung. He joined the throng of Ravenclaws who were hurrying toward the pitch to congratulate Gryffindor.
"Lily!" Evander yelled, gleefully, once he'd managed to get within ten feet of her. The entire Gryffindor team was clapping her on the back, cheerfully. "Lily, I caught the whole thing on my omnioculars! Want to see?" he asked, yelling over the crowd. Lily didn't appear to have heard him.
"Great job, Potter!" a fifth year Gryffindor boy shouted, swooping in for a hug. Evander felt his heart sink as Lily hugged him back. Once she'd torn away from him, her eyes turned to rest on Evander, who was trying his best to keep smiling.
"Hey, Ev!" she shouted, gesturing for him to come closer.
"Oh, hello Malfoy," the fifth year said, frowning slightly. Evander ignored him.
"Lily! That was excellent! I caught the whole thing on my omnioculars!" he said, shoving his way through the crowd.
"Really? Let me see," she said, taking them from him and pressing the replay button. "Awesome! Thanks, Ev!" She smiled down at him.
"No problem." Evander smiled back.
"I'll see you back at the common room, Lily," the fifth year said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "Malfoy," he added, nodding his head at him. Evander couldn't help but glare a little.
"Bye, Rob!" Lily called after him. She turned back to Evander and smiled before putting an arm over his shoulders and walking toward the castle.
…
Draco put the last finishing touches on Hermione's hair, so that it was as short as her counterpart's. "And now we just need a dress," he said, holding his chin in his hand. "I think I have just the thing." He went into a closet and returned with a plum colored floor-length gown. "This, madam, is for you," he said, smiling at his wife and his possible future fiancée. After she had changed, he offered her his arm and they made their way toward Malfoy Manor, Harry following silently in his invisibility cloak.
A.N.: I'm seeing GoF this afternoon. No spoilers! Oh, and now that I can reply to reviews, make sure you sign in so that I can get back to you.