I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
Thank you everyone for the kind words and interest in the start of this fic. I was able to do some more this week so here's an extra update. Thank you for reading and have a lovely weekend.
-0-0-0-
A Taste of Magic
2nd Course – Settling In
"Uhm, hi."
Harry looked up. He was in the library doing his homework. The common room was a little too loud to comfortably do work and he was eager to avoid the looks from the other Gryffindors. What he did in Potions had gotten around and while no one had said anything outright to him, he still garnered more attention than he wanted. He was currently finishing an essay when someone spoke to him.
He looked around for a moment, wondering if the girl had meant to talk to him. Seeing no one else close by, he looked back at her. "Hello," he said shyly.
Lavender stood there, fidgeting a little. It had taken her a few moments to gather the courage to come talk to Harry. The incident from the other day did not sit well with her and when she saw him sitting alone in the library, she had decided she needed to do something. She coughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry," she said at last.
Harry looked confused. "What for?"
"I should have said something, the other day," she said. "When the other boys were being rude to you."
"Oh." Harry rubbed his neck. "It wasn't your fault, it's not like you joined Seamus or anything."
"No, but it wasn't right what he said either," she said. "It was really rude."
"Yeah, it was," Harry sighed. "But I'm used to it really."
"Oh, that's not right either," she replied weakly.
"Like I said, I'm used to it," he replied just as weakly.
They looked away from another in shared awkwardness.
"I…I know what it's like," she said all of a sudden. "To be picked on for something like that."
"You do?" he asked, looking at her directly.
Lavender nodded, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "Yeah. Especially for something you can't really control."
"That's not right either," he repeated quietly.
She smiled shyly. "Are you working on your Potions essay? Do you mind helping me? I don't really get it."
"Sure." Harry blinked when she sat beside him eagerly.
"Thank you," she sighed with relief. "I don't understand the differences in the potions instructions and Professor Snape is really intimidating."
"Yeah he is," Harry said, agreeing completely. "I don't think he likes me."
"I don't think he likes anyone," Lavender whispered. "I heard he's only nice to people in Slytherin."
"That's not right," Harry said with Lavender echoing him. They smiled at each other and after some giggling, started working together.
"Thank you so much," Lavender sighed when they finished the essay. "I get it more now. You're good at potions."
"It's like cooking, following a recipe," Harry said with pink cheeks. "I hope to get better the more I learn though. It's kinda interesting."
"So you really do cook?" Lavender asked.
He nodded. "When I can."
"What do you cook?"
"Oh lots of things I think, mostly British things. I like to bake too, especially biscuits."
"I wish I had some biscuits," Lavender sighed wistfully. "Those sound good right now." She saw Harry look about. "What's wrong?"
"Well, uhm, nothing but don't tell anyone. Since you've been nice to me…" he pulled out a small wrapped package from his school bag.
"You have some biscuits?!" Lavender asked excitedly, seeing them.
"Shh!" he shushed, looking around again. "I actually got the chance to make these the other day."
"Really? How?" Lavender whispered.
"I'm not allowed to really say. Headmaster," he said apologetically.
"Oh, I see," she said, frowning. The frown went away when Harry held out a few to her. "I can have some?"
"If you like," he said shyly.
"Yes please!" She happily accepted them and wasted no time in popping one into her mouth. Her eyes opened wide as she chewed it hungrily. "Wow! This is so good! It tastes like you just made them!"
"The Headmaster cast a charm on the wrapping to keep them fresher longer," Harry said. "Isn't that cool?"
"Yeah!" Lavender nibbled on the second one, taking small bites to make it last longer. "These are really good! Thank you so much."
"You're welcome," Harry said, looking embarrassed and pleased.
Lavender looked at the last one in her hand. "I want to eat it now but I want to save it too," she sighed.
"You can have more," Harry said.
Lavender beamed at him. "Thank you, Harry. You're really nice."
"So are you," he said softly, almost unheard.
-0-
"Really?" Parvati asked.
"If it's okay with you," Lavender said. "He's really nice actually."
"If you say so," Parvati said hesitantly.
"He helped me with the essay and so I could help you. And he's fine really. Much nicer than the other boys," she insisted.
"Okay, if you say so," Parvati repeated.
"Hey Harry," Lavender said out loud. "Want to walk with us to Herbology?"
Harry looked up; surprise written clearly on his face. "Me?"
Lavender smiled. "Yes you. Are there any other Harrys?"
"I don't think so," he said with a small smile. "Sure, thank you."
"Harry, meet Parvati. She's my best friend."
Parvati rolled her eyes a little. "I was your only friend," she teased back.
"Well now I have another and so do you and you're the best one so far," Lavender giggled. "Sorry Harry."
Harry grinned shyly. "No problems. I'm happy to have a friend. And hopefully another."
Parvati giggled. "I guess I can have another friend."
The three of them walked out of the castle and onto the grounds. Lavender and Parvati chatted about something they read out of a magazine together and Harry showed polite interest but did not interject, content to be walking with them. They reached the greenhouses and stood off to one side waiting for the ones within to leave.
"Hey Potter!"
Harry turned and sputtered as a mass of green leaves and wet soil hit him in the face. He spat and rubbed his mouth, trying to clear away the taste of earth and damp vegetation while people laughed at him.
Draco Malfoy looked smugly proud of himself, wiping his hands clean on his outer-robes. "Since you like eating plants so much, thought I'd help." Two hulking boys beside him laughed along with him, as well as a hard-faced girl with dark hair.
Harry glared back at Draco, face red. It was not just the Slytherins laughing at him. He could tell others had enjoyed the action too. "Thanks Malfoy," Harry said at last. "Didn't taste very good though so no need to offer again in the future."
Snickers and more laughter greeted the retort and Draco stopped laughing, his eyes narrowing as the attention shifted. "I didn't know starving dogs could be so choosy," he sneered and laughed uproariously as a boy in green barked loudly.
Harry ground his teeth. "You're looking a little starved yourself. Maybe you'd enjoy a salad. Get some color."
Malfoy's pale thin features reddened as others laughed at the reply, with Lavender laughing hardest of all. He opened his mouth but Pomona Sprout, Head of Hufflepuff and Herbology professor, walked out of the greenhouse, her eyes focusing on the scene before her. "What happened here?" she asked, seeing the mass of leaves and soil on the ground, at Harry's stained face.
"Someone got a little hungry," Draco said snidely. "Wanted to know how the weeds taste."
"Not too good. Must be how they were prepared," Harry said back.
"Off you go," Sprout said firmly, cutting Draco off. "Don't you lot have another class to get to?" She waited for the Slytherins and Ravenclaw students to leave. "Is everything okay, Mister Potter?" she asked kindly.
He finished wiping his face clean. "Yes Ma'am," he said.
"If you say so." She flicked her wand and the pile of dirt and leaves and things on the ground were sent into a large compost pile beside the greenhouse. "Alright then, let's get class underway, shall we?"
-0-
"Why didn't you say anything to the Professor?" Parvati asked later as they left the greenhouse.
Harry shrugged. "Draco's been like that to me since we met. I have a feeling no matter what I do, it won't get better. Worse, more likely."
"He's a jerk," Lavender sniffed.
"So are some of the others," Parvati said, giving some others a dark look.
He shrugged again. "Whatever." After a moment he spoke softly, "Thanks for standing up for me though, laughing for me."
"What are friends for?" Lavender asked airily.
"Yeah," Parvati agreed.
-0-
"What an idiot," Lavender said with glee. She, Harry, Parvati, and more than a few others watched with satisfaction as Draco was shouted at by an irate Madame Rolanda Hooch. The flying instructor was currently taking Draco to task and the boy was being buried by the deluge of her scolding.
The Gryffindors and the Slytherins were meeting for their first flying class and it had started off in a spectacular disaster with Neville falling off his broom and breaking a wrist. Hooch took him to the Medical Wing, leaving the rest of the students with dire warnings of what would happen if she caught them in the air without her being there.
Draco clearly thought little of her warnings, taking Neville's Remembrall while mocking the poor boy. He had tried to goad several people into trying to take it back, including Harry. Harry had nearly fallen for the taunts and while he was fine with ignoring Hermione saying that it was against the rules, stopped when Lavender and Parvati said how much trouble he would receive if caught and that it was not worth it.
Thankfully, that moment of indecision saved him and Hooch had come back out and saw Draco flying up in the air on his broom, tossing the Remembrall up and down. He had no way to talk himself out of the predicament, caught clearly and cleanly.
After some severe scolding, Hooch literally grounded Draco, making him sit out on the ground with a promise to stick him to the ground literally if he moved. The rest of the students resumed their flying lesson.
"You're good at flying," Parvati said as they flew about.
"Really?" Harry asked.
She nodded. "I have cousins who are big into Quidditch and flying and you look like you've been doing it forever."
"What's Quidditch?" Harry asked.
"A wizarding sport," Parvati said. "It's played on broomsticks. Every House has a team. And there's a school League and a huge League in the Wizarding World and all over the world."
"Huh. Guess I'll pay attention to it when the games happen here," Harry said. "I think I like flying. It's fun."
"I think it's kinda scary," Lavender laughed as she flew very slowly.
-0-
Deep in the foundations of the castle, where the Slytherin common room and dormitories were, a girl looked up when the door opened. She frowned slightly, looking concerned at the hard-faced girl with dark hair that walked in. She waited for a few moments, waited for the door to their dorm room to close completely, and waited for the other girl to say something. She continued to wait while the second girl fell onto her bed, face down.
"What's wrong Pansy?" Millicent Bulstrode asked.
"Nothing," Pansy Parkinson muttered, voice muffled by her pillow.
"If you say so," Millicent said, unconvinced. She waited for a few moments before sitting beside Pansy on her bed. "Come on, you can tell me."
"He's so mean," Pansy whispered.
"Ah." Millicent rubbed Pansy's back gently.
"Why is he so mean?" Pansy whimpered.
Millicent said nothing for a while. "What did he do this time?"
Pansy rolled over, scrubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. "He said it was my fault he got in trouble today."
"Well that's just wrong," Millicent huffed. "You didn't tell him to fly when he shouldn't have. You told him not to, if I remember right."
"He said I didn't try hard enough to stop him," Pansy said angrily. "How is that my fault? It's not fair! And he keeps going on and on about Potter!"
"I don't get his obsession with Potter either," Millicent snorted. "I think he's got a crush."
"Bite your tongue!" Pansy shouted. She softened at Millicent's grin, her anger slowly dissolving. "You could get into a lot of trouble saying stuff like that about him."
The bigger girl shrugged. "I don't care, not really. He'll stomp his foot and say nasty things back and that'll be it. I don't care what he thinks of me. I know how he feels and thinks about me."
"He's been nicer to you," Pansy said weakly.
"Only because of you," Millicent snorted. "Don't get me wrong, I appreciate you sticking up for me. But he's always not liked me."
"It's not fair," Pansy repeated wanly.
"Nope. It's not like I want to be bigger than him, though I admit it's nice because he can't push me around." They lapsed into silence.
"I thought it would be better," Pansy whispered. "I thought once we started school together, he'd be better. Like he was before." She saw Millicent roll her eyes. "I did! He used to be really nice to me, really sweet."
"I don't doubt he was, to you," Millicent said slowly. "But he's always been rude to me. I only went to Malfoy Manor because my parents did or for you." She patted Pansy's back some more. "But you're right, he was really nice to you when we were younger."
"I really thought it would be like that again," Pansy sighed. "But he's always biting at me when he's upset now." She growled. "When he isn't, he's mooning over the other girls, trying to act like his father."
Millicent snickered. "It's really funny when the older girls ignore him like the firstie he is."
Pansy fought the smile away. After a half-hearted giggle, she faded back into misery. "It's not my fault, is it?"
"No, it isn't," Millicent said firmly. "He's being a prat and blaming you because he can. You shouldn't take it."
Pansy did not say anything.
"You don't deserve it," Millicent repeated firmly. "You really don't. Just ignore him."
"I'll try," Pansy said, not meaning it at all.
"That's good," Millicent sighed, knowing Pansy did not mean it but believing the lie anyway.
"Thanks, Millie," Pansy said, hugging Millicent about the middle. "Thanks for listening and for being here for me."
"What're friends for?" Millicent replied and hugged her back. "Let's eat some chocolate and do some homework, get that done and we can play some exploding snap after. Sound good?"
"I guess so," Pansy said.
-0-
"Wow, you really cut these really thin," Lavender said, admiring Harry's sliced ginger root.
"It's a julienne cut," Harry explained. "And you can get really uniform pieces if you make thin planks of the ginger first. Like this." He showed Lavender and Parvati how to square the ginger first, trimming the root into an even rectangle and slicing them thinly width-wise before cutting long thin pieces.
"Huh, you know, I think my mum tried to teach me this once," Parvati remarked.
"For Potions?" Lavender asked.
"No, for cooking," Parvati said. "I didn't pay attention 'cause I don't care to cook much but now I wish I did. Though she didn't do it as neatly as this."
"How did you learn to cut things?" Lavender asked.
"I was lucky to have a couple of cookbooks and one of them taught knife cuts," Harry said as he continued to work on his potion materials. "The few times I was allowed to watch the telly were cooking shows too." So engrossed in his work, he missed the look Lavender and Parvati exchanged.
"It's actually really interesting that potion prepping is a lot like cooking knife cuts," Harry continued. "I noticed that when I was reading the book before school started."
"Gosh, I need to introduce you to my sister. She read the textbooks before school started too," Parvati laughed. "Maybe you should have gotten into Ravenclaw too."
"I only read the Potions one," Harry laughed. "It interested me the most 'cause, well you know."
"You really like to think about cooking and stuff," Lavender said gently, remembering how it was said another way at another time.
Harry smiled gratefully, catching the change in tone and meaning. "Yeah, it's fun."
They continued to work together, checking the instructions on the board and reading the related material in the textbooks. "Oh wait," Parvati said, "I think we need to add the daisy petals before the rose petals."
"Oh you're right, thanks," Harry said after he rechecked the instructions.
"Shouldn't you be better at following a recipe?" Lavender teased.
"Everyone makes mistakes," Harry laughed. "One time when I was younger I completely skipped a step and forgot to cook out the flour in a gravy. It came out lumpy and tasted like flour, it was pretty bad."
"Aww, what did you do after?" Lavender asked.
"I had to remake it so the Dursleys had proper gravy and then I had to eat all of the gravy I messed up." He shrugged but once again missed the look the girls gave each other. "Lesson learned though. Some steps you can't skip or mix up."
"Well at least this potion doesn't look lumpy," Lavender said with a smile.
"It does look flowery though, with the petals," Parvati said. She giggled mightily while Lavender groaned and Harry joined her merriment.
-0-
Two sets of eyes watched the trio.
Snape split his attention between the rest of the class and with them. He was still having trouble coming to terms with Harry's presence. He looked so much like his father and Snape loathed James Potter. Harry also had his mother's eyes and Snape had very complicated feelings around Lily Potter nee Evans. He very much wanted to make Harry suffer like how James made him suffer when they were students at Hogwarts.
Unfortunately, Harry seemed to actually like Potions and that was confusing to Snape. Lily had been very good at Potions so perhaps it was a hereditary trait. Snape wanted to find fault in Harry's work, in his demeanor. He had carefully chosen three questions to humiliate Harry that first class, questions the boy should not have known. Yet Harry had answered two of them correctly and despite the coldness that Snape exuded, the boy had continued to pay attention in class, complete his homework well, and brew perfectly acceptable potions.
Snape had been livid when Harry compared Potions to cooking, but one cannot deny that Harry was decent at the art, and thus Snape was developing some very complicated feelings around Harry as well.
Perhaps that was another hereditary trait.
Draco was seething. It was not fair to his mind. He should be the one standing out, he should be the favorite. Yet Snape seemed to pay more attention to Harry and it was not wholly negative. True, Harry had yet to earn any points, despite answering things correctly or doing well. True, Draco had earned points for his talent and skills. Yet Harry was not being beaten down here when Draco had counted on it. It nettled him.
The initial meeting on the Hogwarts Express still rankled him. He had pushed his way into the compartment, ready to prove how much Harry needed Draco. He was ready to take Harry in, to teach him how things were done. Yet the boy had not laughed at the insult Draco threw at Ron, had ignored his offer to replace the plebian sandwich that he was eating, and refused Draco's obviously superior friendship. The only highlight from that disastrous encounter was that it appeared Harry was not close to Ron either.
Worst of all, he liked cooking. Only House Elves and pathetic magicals that could not do anything else cooked. It was one of the lowest "professions" in the British Wizarding World and Harry said it out loud that he liked cooking? Draco ground his teeth. He would make Harry suffer for ignoring his friendship and spitting on what a proper magical should be.
"What, Pansy?!" he hissed when she tugged on his sleeve again.
"Your fire is too high," she hissed back, pointing at his bubbling cauldron. "It's about to boil over."
"Then why didn't you just fix it!" He irritably tapped the stand with his wand and the fire reduced in size and intensity.
"I'm trying to help you," she whispered angrily, hurt.
"Next time just do it instead of try to help me do it," Draco retorted and turned in his seat, ignoring her.
Pansy looked down at the table, trying to fight the tears from building in her eyes. She knew proper Pureblood girls did not cry in public, it was unseemly and unbecoming. Being snapped at like that, when she was only trying to help, hurt her though and it was hard to keep the tears from falling.
Not for the first time, she wondered what had happened. She and Draco used to be incredibly close, used to be very good friends. As they got older, especially the last year, he had slowly changed. He was no longer as kind as he was, as playful and pleasant. He was turning more like into his idol, his father.
Pansy had hoped that when they started Hogwarts together, he would treat her better, like he used to. If anything, he was becoming worse. He wanted to be friends with the other older students, prove his worth and superiority. He was cold and biting to her and it was getting worse.
She looked at Harry and Lavender and Parvati angrily. Harry had been corrected by Parvati and he had not snapped at her. He had taken Lavender's teasing without any anger, had not said anything cruel back. They were working together and it looked like they were having fun.
"It's not fair," she thought, tearing her flower petals apart violently. She shot the trio of Gryffindors another angry look. If she was being honest, there was something else mixed in with the anger. Nothing she wanted to admit to, however.
Not right now anyways, and certainly not out loud.
-0-0-0-
Purplehyena01 - Thank you. I have times where I wasn't able to write for a while for many reasons, but luckily I can maintain a bank for regular updates. I'm sure you'll find your groove that works for you.
Abigail Guerrero - Thank you very much. Hope you enjoy today's.
odonnellzoo99 - That might happen again in the future. I do like to write about food, hence the fic. I'm trying something different with different characters this time around, with some different interpretations as you see from Dumbledore. Some things will remain very similar still from my other works, but I do like to make my stories feel different overall aside from a few minor details. Thank you. The first chapter is always the most intimidating and am glad you liked it.
AshokaTheGreat - Thank you so much. I was sitting on this one for a bit but finally decided to start writing. Hope you continue to enjoy it.
Betty boop in Tx - Eggs are some of my very favorite things. I could eat them for every meal. Glad you liked the start.
Guest - As I said in the previous chapter's notes, I will post minimum once a week with the occasional multiple post, probably on Mondays.
Arnie1701 - There will be some differences.
jaclon - Thank you very much.
plums - Thank you, I hope to show some new things and new ideas.
GeniusReader - Thank you.
LordLiberty - Goodness, that's incredible praise. Thank you so much. The summary is always nerve-wracking to write. It's hard to write a good one but am honored you gave the chapter a try despite it. I hope you continue to enjoy.
Guest - Thank you so much. I hope you continue to like it.
alix33 - She's smaller than Harry which made her comment more funny to me.
poka - Thank you. I'm trying my hand at a different Dumbledore this time around.
Arodri - Thank you. I try to have good character developments and good dialogue so I hope you enjoy the directions as they come.
tumshie - Thank you so much. My muse will be working hard for this one.
dragon606 - Thank you for reading. I do love cooking manga and anime so I'm hoping to write a good fic with food and cooking as a central theme.
Navn Ukjent - Thank you.
doRodrigo - Thank you. Here's an update. I appreciate you reading.
Ratus - Thank you for reading.
1529 - Thank you for reading another one. I enjoy seeing you around in all the different ones and am glad you like them.
Urgwaew - Glad to see you. Hope you have been well and things are okay. I am deliberately challenging myself by using a few different characters and am hoping I can still write a good story with them. And have plans for more coming though a few will return and hopefully still feel integral to the plot. All my best to you.