Chapter Nine
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Honeydukes
Boxes filled with candy stood around the back area of Honeydukes waiting to be unpacked.
"I'm so lucky to be able to get into this area. Fred and George know the owners, so I'm free to come in any time I like," Ginny explained as she led Hermione through a swinging door into the kitchen. "I only come when I have friends, though. I don't like candy."
This large, light room, by contrast to the others, seemed unusually neat and orderly. In the centre was a large block. On top of that was a marble slab. And the room smelled wonderful – all sweet and warm.
At the stove, stirring something in a big pot, a woman with a graying braid wrapped around her head smiled at the girls.
"I'm just showing my friend around," Ginny said.
The woman laughed. "I'm sure you'll like the decorating," she joked.
Ginny led the way through the kitchen to a little hall where she opened a door. Stepping aside to let Hermione enter, she said, "This is where we store the candy."
Hermione squinted into the small room. She took a tentative step inside. It was so cold and dark she felt as though she were entering a giant refrigerator.
"Too much light and heat aren't good for candy," Ginny said. She waved her wand slightly and muttered "lumos".
Even then, Hermione could barely make out the boxes on the shelves that lined the walls. "Those boxes aren't all filled with candy," she said. "They can't be!"
"They are," Ginny assured her. She held out a box. "Want some?"
Hermione's mouth watered at the sight of the chocolate mounds, and it was all she could do to keep from reaching out and snatching several from their white paper nests. "Won't that lady be mad?"
"The ones on this shelf," Ginny indicated a bottom shelf, shorter than the others, next to the only window in the room, "are rejects."
Hermione leaned close to the box. The chocolate aroma was so powerful it made her dizzy. "What's wrong with them?"
Ginny shrugged. "Cracked or not the right shape – stuff like that."
Hermione thought that they looked perfect to her as she lifted one from the box. She bit into the chocolate. A syrupy liquid ran down her chin. Laughing, she commented, "Cherry. My favourite."
"They're supposed to have a swirly C on top," Ginny said as she glanced at the remaining pieces, "but with rejects, you can never tell." She pushed the box towards Hermione. "Have some more."
"Aren't you going to have any?" Hermione asked, remembering her manners just as her hand was about to dig in.
Ginny shook her head. "I don't like candy."
Hermione looked at her in disbelief.
"I used to," added Ginny, seeing Hermione's expression, "when I was first allowed in here. When it's around you a lot of the time, you sort of lose your taste for it."
Hermione doubted that would ever happen to her. "Are you sure it's okay to have more?" Ginny nodded, so she took two more pieces. Maple. Vanilla. Her second and third favourites.
A voice called from the kitchen. "Ginny, could you help me lift this box?" Ginny handed Hermione the box and dashed out of the room to help.
Hermione stared down at the box as though it were a trap she didn't know how to get out of. Finally, she took another piece, set the remainder on its shelf, and turned her back on it.
The words, "So how is the new grade going for you?" drifted in to her.
Hermione bit her lip, and stepped out into the hall.
"I like it," Ginny was saying. "Everybody's been really friendly, and I met this girl – Hermione Granger. Everybody calls her Hermione, but I like Mione better. She's really nice."
Guilt rippled through Hermione. Contrary to what Ginny thought, she did not know Hermione's true character.
Thinking that made Hermione feel so awful that she decided she needed one more piece of candy. She slipped back into the room where she quickly snatched another piece and popped it into her mouth. Rum. Her least favourite. She held the box close looking for a swirly C. When she heard the thump of a box and Ginny coming into the hall, she grabbed the nearest piece. Orange. Her second to least favourite. I'm not very smart either, she chided herself, or I would have quit when I was ahead.
Ginny came in and leaned against the wall. "I was really surprised when you said you didn't have a science project," she said.
Hermione shrugged. "Science isn't my favourite subject."
"But with your feelings and all," Ginny said.
Hermione couldn't imagine what psychic feelings had to do with science projects. She looked at Ginny, a question in her eyes, but Ginny had turned towards the windows.
"Oh, look!" she said.
Hermione came up beside her. "It's the boys!" She scanned the group knotted in front of Honeydukes. She spotted Malfoy and Crabbe and Goyle, Seamus, Dean, Ron and Neville, but she couldn't see Harry. She glanced further down the path. Another band was trooping towards them: the girls! "Practically the whole of Hogwarts is down there!"
Ginny tugged at the window. "I bet they've been looking all over for you, Hermione."
Ginny was nice to say that, but she couldn't possibly believe it. "They came to see you, Ginny," Hermione said. "Not me."
Ginny managed to get the window open far enough for her to lean out. "Hey, out there!" she called.
Hermione crouched down beside her.
Outside, the two groups – boys and girls – had merged into one and were engaged in such animated conversation that they didn't notice Hermione of Ginny.
"They didn't come to see either of us," Ginny said. She began to laugh. The sound rippled up over Hermione like a wave. Hermione started to laugh too.
"They came to see each other!"
