It's back! I want to say a big thank you for the reviews, and... that's it. Now let's move on.
Disclaimer: I own my Ruth Kelly And Alison Roberts. The're mine.
2. You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal; those patient Hufflepuffs are true and unafraid of toil
"A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become and still gently allows you to grow."
-William Shakespeare
"A is for organization." Justin Finch-Fletchery said like it was the most normal thing in the world.
"According to what alphabet?" Ernie McMillan, Justin's closest friend, looked on the verge of losing his patience.
The two of them were standing in front of the secret stand with the coffees they had taken from the kitchens. Every student knew about the coffee stand, but it was still a secret from the teachers. A decade now, and the Hufflepuff students had never been caught; neither by a teacher, nor by Argus Flinch and his annoying cat.
"Ruth back me up here." Ernie asked his girlfriend who was selling the coffees. Justin was supposed to be helping her, and Ernie was on lookout, but the roles were neglected in favor of the argument. They were trying to decide what acronym to write on the sign, and so far they could not decide.
"Ernie, just let him do what he wants." Ruth Kelly sighed, growing tired of their argument which had been going on from seven o'clock.
"But he can't just say whatever he wants!" Ernie complained. "A doesn't stand for organization in any language."
"It's gonna be A." Justin repeated stubbornly.
"You know what?" Ruth exploded, finally having enough of them. "It's gonna be P because I said so, and you'll have to find out for what it stands." She moved away from the stand and handed Ernie and Justin a cup each. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go find Hannah who wants help with her Herbology essay." She planted a kiss on Ernie's cheek and turned around.
"Isn't our Herbology essay for next week?" Ernie asked as Ruth walked away from them. Justin shrugged and settled himself behind the stand.
"Keep watch." He said as he arranged the distance between the coffees with mathematical accuracy.
Ernie rolled his eyes. "We're not on the Fellowship of the Ring, Justin. It's called look out for Filtch." Justin shrugged.
"Whatever."
Ruth slid in the seat next to Hannah Abott on the Hufflepuff table.
"You look irritated." Her friend noticed.
"Ernie and Justin were fighting." Ruth sighed.
"About the right way to cut tomatoes?" Susan Bones asked, recalling a previous argument between the two boys.
"No, about what to write on the coffee sign." Ruth answered. "Justin said A."
Hannah frowned. "A for what?"
"Organization." Ruth replied as she put a bread with jam on her plate.
"He knows that's not a thing, right?" Susan asked with scrunched eyebrows. Ruth shrugged.
"He either knew it and didn't want to admit he said something that stupid, or he actually believes ιt. Οr he did it to annoy Ernie." She listed. "For his sake, I hope it's the first."
"How did you get away?" Hannah asked as she passed a glass of milk to Zachariah Smith next to her.
"I told them I'd help you with the Herbology essay. I couldn't just turn around and leave." Ruth defended herself.
"Aw, nice, little Ruth who can't tell her friends off." Alison Roberts from Ravenclaw and one of Ruth's best friends, teased as she sat down with them. "I hate the weather." She complained as she snatched Ruth's cup coffee. Hannah's eyes widened.
"It's a beautiful sunny day!" She exclaimed.
"I want it to rain." Alison retorted, pushing her red strands out of her face.
"Oh." Hannah said. "So more flowers can grow?" She asked eagerly.
"I was going to say to fit my mood, but yeah, let's go with that." Alison shrugged. She dropped her head on Ruth's shoulder and yawned.
"Did you sleep last night?" The brunette asked, concern washing over her features.
"No." Alison said. "I was too busy trying to finish my potions essay for today, and after than I started researching something about the Draught of Living Death because the instructions on the book are completely wrong, I'm telling you. Padma and I ditched them and did the potion ourselves; it had a better result."
"You should have gone to sleep." Ruth said with a disapproving pursue of her lips, knowing that her friend had an insomnia problem and wasn't getting enough sleep as it was.
"I didn't have you to tear away from it." Alison retorted with a grin. "You know that when I really get into something I forget to take care of myself. Anyway," She continued as she stood up, "This has been fun and everything but I have to go. Thanks for the coffee!" She waved once, and then she ran to the Ravenclaw table.
Susan turned to Ruth. "Your friends are weird."
"You're my friend too." The brunette grinned. "Does that make you weird as well?"
"Not that weird." Susan decided after a moment of thought.
"Ravenclaws are always weird." Hannah said. "Remember that time we were casually talking about Care of Magical Creatures and Alison stilled for a moment and went, "Why is it called cannibalism?" and then she proceeded to run to the library and spent a whole week trying to figure it out?"
Ruth nodded, still remembering how frustrated her friend had been when she couldn't find what she wanted. And on top of that, she had persuaded some of her Ravenclaw friends to help her, out of plain curiosity. In the end, Ruth honestly couldn't remember if Alison found what she was looking for.
"Has anyone seen my hairdryer?" Sally-Anne Perks sat next to Susan with Sophie Roper.
"Your what?" Susan stared blankly at her. Sally-Anne sighed. Due to her being muggle-born and Susan being a pureblood, almost every time Sally-Anne mentioned a muggle item, she had to explain it to Susan.
"Hair-dryer." Sophie said slowly. "It's something that helps dry your hair quicker."
"How does it do that?" Hannah perked up.
"It blows hot air." Ruth explained casually.
"But that would take ages!" Susan exclaimed. "Why not just charm them dry?"
"Because Muggles are called Muggles for a reason Susan!" Stephen Cornfoot said cheerfully, appearing suddenly from behind the girls. With him was Kevin Entwhistle, as well as Justin and Ernie. The latter slid next to Ruth and wrapped an arm around her waist.
"We finished with the coffees." Justin said, as the three sixth-year boys sat down with them. "The acronym is H.P.C.I.Y.C.P.F.I."
"A railway is shorter than your acronym." Sophie said with no small degree of sarcasm and Stephen snorted.
"What does it stand for?" Sally-Anne voiced the question Ruth wanted to ask.
"Hufflepuffs Provide Coffee If You Can Pay For It." Justin recited proudly. "It has a P." He told Ruth that was staring at him with incredulity. She turned to Ernie to find some support, but the blond shrugged.
"I let him do whatever he wanted." He said, using Ruth's exasperated words back at the coffee stand against her. His girlfriend elbowed him in the ribs.
"I told them it was a stupid name." Kevin defended himself. "They wouldn't listen to me; and three vs one is not very good odds."
"I find it amusing." Stephen argued.
"You and Justin can have coffee duty every day and proudly explain it to everyone who asks then." Susan smirked at Justin and Stephen's horrified faces.
"You can't do that!" Justin complained just as Stephen exclaimed "It was Justin's idea!"
"Oh, shut up, all of you!" Hannah threw her hands up in exasperation. "Kevin you've snatched all the peanut-butter slices in your plate, that's not nice." Taking a closer look at Kevin's face the teenagers realized that Hannah's statement stood true. Kevin's plate was filled with slices of peanut-butter bread, creating a small tower.
"I won't give them back." Kevin declared, covering the food away from them with his arms.
"Mate, that's like the Leaning Tower of Pisa with peanut-butter bread." Ernie grinned. Kevin grinned back at him, but his response was cut off by Sophie.
"You are not actually planning on eating all that by yourself, right?" The black-haired girl asked, somewhat fearfully. "You're going to get a stomach ache."
"No, I won't eat it all by myself." Kevin replied. "I'm going to eat with someone who understands me." he said and got up from the table, the full plate in his hands. "Zachariah!" He cried. The blond boy turned at the mention of his name, and his face lit up like a kid on a candy store when he spotted Kevin making his way towards him with an armful of peanut-butter slices.
Sally-Anne rolled her eyes. "Boys." She muttered, and the rest of the girl nodded in agreement.
"There are three more boys here you with you, you know." Ernie said with a slightly offended tone. Ruth gave him a peck on the cheek.
"They should make a club together." She mused.
"What, the Peanut-Butter Lovers Club?" Susan asked. "How many people do you think are going to join?"
"Trust me," Sally-Anne said with a wave of her hand. "Many." Justin just managed to shrink away from the fork coming towards his face as the others laughed.
There we have the second Hufflepuff chapter. What do you guys think?
