Disclaimer: I'm not J.R.R. Tolkien, I'm not J.K. Rowling, But I write from the heart, from the heart.
Summery: A trip to Hogsmede on Christmas day. Scented oils and sweets.
Bata: Beankin' and Tamara – I thank you so very much for that.
Mad About You – Chapter 3
Artist – Sting. Title – Mad about you. Album – The soul cages.
When Harry woke up on Boxing Day morning he was smiling. He turned over to look at the sleeping figure by his side. Seamus's face was so innocent and relaxed it was almost as if last night had been a dream. Harry stretched lazily. The seventh years had made plans to go visit Hogsmeade that day, but that wasn't to take place for at least two more hours. He turned over to face Seamus, who was still fast asleep and didn't even budge at Harry's movement.
Harry sighed; it was amazing how deep Seamus could sleep. It used to be a joke in their dormitory that it took a really big explosion to get him to wake up, Ron and Dean even tried to put this theory to practice one day, sending off a Fillibuster firework in the room, but once the smoke cleared they realized Seamus was still sleeping soundly. Today, however, Harry was not about to watch him sleep all day. He leaned over and ran his tongue along the curves of Seamus' ear, gently biting at the lobe. To his immense satisfaction it worked almost instantly as Seamus shivered and stirred and then opened his eyes. When he saw Harry's face he smiled sleepily and leaned over for a good morning kiss, and then turned and prepared to go back to sleep.
Harry shook his shoulder. "Oh, no you don't! Wake up!" Seamus turned onto his back and gave an exasperated sigh.
"Harry, we're on bloody holiday! What's the point in being on holiday if you can't even sleep?"
"All you do is sleep! Come on, you are not going to spend the whole day in bed!"
Seamus looked at him; half closed his eyes and bit his lip. "Wanna bet?" Harry couldn't help but smile but he still tried to hold his ground and not be sidetracked by how cute and oh so very sexy Seamus looked at the moment.
"We are going with the others to Hogsmeade," he reminded Seamus.
"Ah. About that… I don't think I can make it to Hogsmeade," said Seamus and looked at Harry with pleading eyes.
"Why not?"
Seamus sighed; Harry could be so thick sometimes "Because, I'm a bit too sore to make it all the way to Hogsmeade. You are every bit of the legend they made you to be…" he smiled at the speed Harry's face went from white to crimson red.
"Shut up!" he murmured and Seamus laughed.
Harry looked at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" he began but Seamus cut the rest of his sentence by putting his finger to Harry's lips.
"Don't be daft, Harry. Last night was the most amazing night I ever had, and don't you dare apologize for it! It's just that, I am a bit sore and frankly I don't really feel like going out today so I'm going to use this as an excuse and stay here and do other productive things instead of running around in the bloody snow catching my death."
"You're going to go back to sleep, aren't you?"
"Can you think of a more productive way to spend the day?"
"I could think of a few, but I think I'll go to Hogsmeade with the others or we'll never hear the end of it."
"In that case, I am definitely going back to sleep." declared Seamus and sealed the subject. Harry rolled his eyes, he couldn't argue with that kind of backhand logic. He waited a couple of minutes to see if Seamus might change his mind but when he heard the slow breathing next to him he realized he was alone, so he got up.
- - - - - - - - -
When Harry got to the Great Hall he found it almost empty except for Terry who sat at the big table, reading a book and eating cereals in the same absent minded way Hermione used to eat her meals. He came over to greet Terry with a wide smile.
"My, my, we're looking cheerful this morning. Had a good night? Who did you shag?" Harry shook his head, so much for good old English subtlety.
Terry gave him a calculated look. "It's the Irish boy, isn't it?" Harry's mouth fell open, was it that obvious? Terry saw his expression and started to laugh. "Come on Harry, you can't hide things like that from me. You look well shagged and happy and since I, regrettably, spent the night alone in my bed I can only assume you and Finnigan made up. It's either this or you hooked up with one of the first years..." Harry almost choked at the pumpkin juice he was just starting to drink.
"Terry, don't say that! Of course it wasn't one of the first years. What do you take me for?" He asked crossly and then flushed when he saw Terry's smile.
"So, are we to expect yet another display of happy love on our trip to Hogsmeade today? Because I'm not sure I'm up for this amount of fluff. Between you two and the Hufflepuff extravaganza I might just have to throw myself in the lake."
Harry laughed. "I don't think you have to worry about that. Seamus isn't coming with us today. He's... not feeling very well," he said, keeping his face carefully blank.
"Harry, you devil!" exclaimed Terry, "I'm so proud of you," he said with mock pride and leaned forward to pinch Harry's fast blushing cheek. "Oh, come on. Don't look so crestfallen, it's not like you maimed him for life or anything, right?" Harry shook his head quickly, not looking up.
"Tell me what you were using." Terry's voice was dry and almost clinical, noting with amusement that Harry went an even deeper shade of crimson. If he's going to continue blushing at this rate he's going to turn purple, thought Terry.
"I don't know what you mean. We didn't do anything." he finally mumbled, his eyes stubbornly fixed on the plate of eggs and bacon the house-elves brought him and he still hadn't touched.
"That was probably your problem," said Terry and began to butter a piece of toast. Harry looked up with puzzlement and Terry continued without looking at him. "What you need is some lubricant. You know, to smooth things over." He raised his brows and Harry's cheeks were tinted with a fresh wave of red. Terry sighed, he had a pretty good idea of what went on in the seventh year boys' dormitory of the Gryffindor tower last night and yet Harry sat in front of him blushing like a bloody maiden.
"Look, Harry, it's very simple, what you need is some scented oil or something like that. You should check out the new store that opened in Hogsmeade, it's called "Miss Estralla's 'All Purpose Potions'", it's right next to Zonko's. I must say I find her store very useful..." Harry smiled in spite of himself. This was probably a very good idea. He began to eat breakfast, realizing for the first time how hungry he felt. Terry went back to his book and they passed fifteen quiet minutes before Kate, Ernie and Hannah walked into the Hall.
At ten o'clock they regrouped in front of the front doors, dressed up for the cold weather, and headed towards the gates of the castle.
"Harry, what's wrong with Seamus? Is he alright?" asked Hannah in a concerned voice.
"Yes, he's fine. He's just a bit tired, might be a touch of flu." said Harry quickly, feeling Terry's smile behind him.
"He did look a little pale at the Christmas feast," she continued. "What happened when you went up there?" Harry opened his mouth but couldn't think of anything to say.
Terry came to his aid "Harry tucked Finnigan to bed, didn't you?" he gave Harry a small wink that Hannah didn't catch and Harry smiled faintly. This conversation was getting rather embarrassing. Hannah noted Harry's embarrassment and though she couldn't really understand it, she decided to change the subject.
"So, what is the plan for today?" she asked the group,
"I need to get to the bookstore," announced Ernie and Terry and Kate said they'll join him. Hannah looked at Harry who flushed a little and said in a small voice,
"I think I'll go to the potion shop, I... I need to find a birthday present for Hermione..." Hannah smiled and declared she would go to the potion store as well and then Terry rubbed his hands and said in a satisfied voice,
"Well, that's settled then. Tell you what, let's meet in an hour at Honeydukes and then go for lunch at 'The Three Broomsticks'. How's that for a plan?" the others nodded and parted ways as he led Ernie and Kate towards the book shop while Harry and Hannah made their way to the store next to Zonko's, which had a big sign above the door reading 'Miss Estralla's 'All Purpose Potions' in big pink glittering letters.
The first thing Harry noticed when they entered the shop was the smell. It was a heavy mixture of every imaginable scent which burdened the lungs and obliterated the senses. Hannah took a deep breath and called happily, "Isn't it great?" Harry smiled feebly, trying hard to keep his breakfast down. He closed his eyes and tried to fight the nausea while breathing in as little as possible. When he finally got control of himself and opened his eyes Hannah was already happily chatting with the saleswitch. Harry scanned the shop. It wasn't a big one, and there was hardly any room to move about as almost every surface was covered with bottles, boxes or candles. He noted the big sign that read 'scented oils' on the far wall and went over there.
The wall was covered from floor to ceiling with rows upon rows of shelves and hundreds of little bottles. All the bottles were round-shaped like small crystal balls and Harry was suddenly reminded of the Hall of Prophecies in the Ministry of Magic. He shook his head to rid himself of the memory, because thinking of the Ministry of Magic meant thinking about Sirius and it was too painful to deal with, especially in the middle of a potion shop. A soft voice by his side caused him to jump up with surprise.
"Do you need any help?" he looked around and saw a young saleswitch looking at him and smiling. Harry didn't really feel like asking for help but when he glanced back at the rows of oils he realized that unless he did he could spend a week in this place without getting anywhere so he nodded shyly.
"Well, what sort of oil are you looking for?"
"It's a present... for a friend." he said and tried his best not to blush.
"I see," said the saleswitch with a sly smile and Harry rolled his eyes mentally at himself for being such an idiot. "What kind of smells do you like?" she asked in a more serious tone and it suddenly dawned on Harry that he never actually gave the matter any thought. He frowned and tried to focus on the subject of smells though it was a bit hard to concentrate with the heavily scented air in the shop.
"I like the smell of the wind when I'm flying." he finally said.
The saleswitch smiled. "A Quidditch player, huh? Well, let's see what we can do…" she scanned the rows of bottles for a while, humming to herself, and then took out one of the bottles and handed it to Harry. He uncorked it and gingerly took a sniff. It was actually a very pleasant smell, a very familiar one too. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, letting the clean, fresh scent fill his brain; he could see black hair falling, dark chocolate eyes- Parvati. And then he remembered where he smelled that scent before, it was the soap Parvati used. He looked at the little label and saw the words, "In the moonlight – Sandalwood". He looked at the saleswitch, who was eagerly waiting his decision; Harry gave her back the bottle and shook his head. If he was going to use that oil for sex, it might not be the best idea to smell like Parvati...
"Ok, moving on," said the saleswitch briskly and resumed her scan of the bottles, and after a short while produced another. Harry smelled it, it was some fragrant herb he was pretty sure. He closed his eyes again and this time he saw vast fields and summer rain. That was much better. He opened his eyes and smiled, the saleswitch smiled back. Harry glanced at the label "Smashing blue – Lavender". He was beginning to wonder who was in charge of coming up with those names and whether he or she were hexed one too many times as children.
"This is Lavender; it's very good against sores and pains, very soothing."
"Just the thing for you then, Harry," called a cheerful voice and Harry and the saleswitch both turned to see Terry with a big grin on his face. He flung his arm around the saleswitch's shoulder and leaned to kiss her cheek. "Hello, Jenny." The saleswitch gave him a dazzling smile.
"I think we can do a bit better than Lavender, you need something sexier." called Terry and he and Jenny turned back to the shelves and scanned them again, while Harry stood forgotten with a bottle of Lavender oil in his hand. After about five minutes of fierce arguments Terry and Jenny seemed to reach a decision and turned to face Harry. Terry handed him a bottle and Harry took a sniff- it was sweet and spicy at the same time, soft and demanding, light and heavy. It was perfect. He smiled and looked at the label which bore the name "Spicy marmalade – Spices mixture", that was a bit of a disappointment but he figured it didn't really matter, he probably didn't even know half the spices anyway. Terry looked very pleased with himself.
"Well, I think we found just the thing!" He took both bottles from Harry and made his way to the counter, Harry and Jenny following him. Jenny slipped behind the counter and took the bottles, putting them in a small bag, and said,
"That would be sixteen sickles." Before Harry could reach his purse, Terry laid a hand on his arm.
"This one's on me. Consider it a Christmas present for you and... Your special someone," he said, and Harry felt himself blushing again.
When they stepped outside the shop, Harry took a deep breath, filling his lungs with the crisp cold air, marveling at the lack of smell from the snow. He felt his head clearing and his lungs tingling.
Terry laughed. "Yes, the smell in there could kill a hippogriff..." After a minute or two Hannah joined them and they headed for Honeydukes. They were soon joined by Kate and Ernie, and Harry passed a happy hour choosing all his favorite sweets. His bag was fast filling with Chocoballs, Fizzing Whizbees, Bertie Bott's Every flavoured Beans and of course, the inevitable chocolate frogs. Harry's collection of chocolate frog cards was almost as big as Ron's by now. There was a momentary hesitation in front of the liquorice wands, personally Harry found them rather disgusting, and aniseed smell always reminded him of Aunt Marge, but he knew that Seamus really liked those for some reason. In the end he decided to get Seamus some to make him happy and then force him to eat them far, far away from him.
After they left Honeydukes laden with bags of sweets they made their way to 'The three broomsticks', where they were greeted warmly by Madame Rosmerta.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
When Harry entered the Gryffindor tower he found Seamus perched on one of the sofas, reading a book in front of the fire. Harry went over to sit next to him and greet him with a kiss.
"How was your day, honey?" asked Seamus with a grin and Harry smiled. Only two days have passed since they first kissed and already it seemed like they've been together for years. It was nice, and comfortable, thought Harry. They didn't really need to go through all the ordeal of getting to know each other as people, as they've been practically living together for the last seven years. He produced the bags he got from Hogsmeade. Seamus scanned the contents of the Honeydukes bag and noted with glee,
"Harry, you got me liquorice wands... but you hate those." Harry shrugged.
"I don't mind, as long as you don't come within a mile of me after you eat them!" Seamus laughed. He spotted the smaller bag from the potion shop and looked curiously at Harry.
"It's a gift for us..."
"Really! For both of us? Who from?"
Harry looked at his hands and said very quietly, "Terry." To his surprise, Seamus started to laugh. Harry looked up and waited for Seamus to calm down, it took surprisingly long, as Seamus seemed to find the idea hilarious for some reason.
"What's so funny?" he asked, because he was feeling rather embarrassed by the whole thing and couldn't figure out what Seamus found so funny.
"You told him!" called Seamus and Harry flushed.
"I didn't tell him, he sort of found out on his own."
"I bet it was him who convinced you to buy this." Harry shrugged. "Well then, I guess we better put those scented oils to good use," said Seamus with a smile and leaned forward to kiss Harry.
"How are you feeling?" he asked Seamus,
"Very refreshed, I had a good sleep and then a very late breakfast. They were actually serving lunch in the Great Hall but I got the house elves to make me some eggs. Your little friend Dobby seems very fond of me; he kept shooting me 'well done' looks. Did you tell him as well or did he "find out"?" Harry gaped at him and Seamus laughed again. "Don't worry, I don't think he knows... mind you, he looks like the kind of creature that would faint if he ever came across something more graphic than a peck on the cheek." Harry nodded in agreement, Dobby probably would faint if he ever saw Harry snogging someone, and Harry really didn't want to think of the option of Dobby seeing him doing anything more than that.
Seamus was examining the bottles of oil, smelling them, and from his facial expression Harry gathered he was approving. The portrait hole opened and the group of first years entered the common room looking rather flushed and wet from playing in the snow. Seamus hastily hid the bottles back in their bag and stuffed it behind his back. He tried to hide his smile and asked in the most casual tone he could muster, "What are you planning for this afternoon?"
"I'm not sure. I thought I might drop by to say hello to Professor Lupin. Thank him for the picture."
"That's a great idea, you should go," Seamus said enthusiastically and Harry looked suspiciously at him.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?"
"No! Of course not! Well... yes... I want to finish my book..." Harry laughed. "But I promise I'll make it up to you tonight," Seamus leaned to whisper in his ear and Harry shot a quick glance around the room to see no one was looking before he gave Seamus a quick kiss.
"I'll see you later then," he said and got up.
He turned before the portrait hole and looked back at Seamus, already absorbed in his book, absent-mindedly nibbling one of the liquorice wands. Harry smiled and stepped out.
Author's note: All the names of the scented oils are actually names of songs from the anime of 'Gravitation', l swear I didn't make any of them up.
Acording to J.K.R. Hermione's birthday is in September.