Prompt: Jelly beans
Just Try It
"Go ahead; take one!" Lily urged, holding out the package of jelly beans to Emily pure-blood stared at them suspiciously, a small grin tugging at her lips.
"I don't know, Lily…" she said. "How can they be like Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans?"
"They're not exactly the same," Lily admitted. "There's fewer flavours. But they taste really good!"
Actually, Lily didn't much like normal jelly beans; the package had been a gift from her second cousin, Dudley Dursley, for her eleventh birthday, and she wanted to give them to someone in order to be rid of them.
Emily sighed. "Oh, alright…" She tentatively poked her hand into the bag of jelly beans and took out a bright blue one. She bit down on it slowly...
A moment later, she gagged and reached for her handkerchief. Lily couldn't help pulling a face as Emily attempted to spit out the bean discreetly.
"That's disgusting," Emily gasped. "What is that?!"
Lily found an identical bean and popped it in her mouth, trying not to make a face as the artificial flavour spread across her tongue. "Cotton candy, I think…"
Emily shuddered. "I have no idea what that is, but it's horrid."
Lily smiled ruefully. "It's not really what it tastes like," she admitted, swallowing the bean with a slight effort. "And yes, they are nasty…"
Emily took the bag from her. "Might as well chuck it out the window if we aren't going to eat it," she reasoned when Lily gave her a questioning look.
"Oh, don't do that!" Lily exclaimed, taking the jelly beans back. "I'd feel awful, even if Cousin Dudley never did find out. Maybe there's a Muggle-born around here who'd like them…"
As if on cue, the door to their compartment slid open. Lily looked up, expecting to see Hugo and her cousins, as the older boys and Roxanne had gone off to prank Slytherins and Hugo and Rose to stop them. Instead, Dennis Creevey's son Benjamin entered with a smile.
"Hi, Lily; hi, Emily," he greeted them cheerfully.
"Hi, Ben," Emily smiled.
Ben's eyes widened when he saw the bag of jelly beans Lily was holding. "Where'd you get those?" he gasped in awe, pointing at the bag.
Lily exchanged a grin with Emily. "D'you want them, then?" Lily offered.
Ben looked ecstatic. "Yes, please!"
Lily smiled. "All yours," she said, handing him the bag. "But I should warn you that they're about three years old."
Emily looked horrified. "You didn't tell me that!"
Lily blushed. "Must've slipped my mind…" she said lightly.
Ben squinted at the expiration date on the bag. "Blimey, that's old," he said. For a moment, Lily feared he would give them back.
But to her surprise (and slight disgust), he merely shrugged blithely and popped a handful into his mouth. Emily shuddered and Lily raised an eyebrow.
"That's about five different flavours right there," he commented. "Not bad, I must say…"
Lily rolled her eyes. "That's disgusting, Ben."
Ben just grinned at her, his freckled, twelve-year-old face radiant. "Five flavours," he repeated. "Bliss."
A/N: Haha, I like this one. I've never actually had a jelly bean… I've just seen that Jelly Belly seems to be the name brand. Whatever. Hope you liked it!