I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.
A Taste of Magic
41st Course – Roughly and Smoothly
"Hi Harry!"
Harry smiled when Lavender tackle-hugged him, stumbling a couple of steps but hugging her back with equal enthusiasm. "Hi Lavender! Welcome back."
"Did you have a nice holiday?" she asked as she broke the embrace.
Harry nodded as he hugged the Patil sisters. "I did actually! You won't believe who came to spend it with me. Nicolas and Perenelle!"
"The Flamels came to spend the holiday with you?!" Hermione gasped as she hugged him too. "That's amazing!"
"Yeah, it was a lot of fun," Harry said, thinking fondly of the recently passed holiday. They were in the clubroom and the rest of the students were returning from the holiday break. As people filled the tower again, Harry went to the clubroom for a bit of peace and quiet as well as baking some small hand pies for his returning friends. Lavender had accurately guessed Harry would be there so after she and the others dropped their things off, came looking for him.
"I'm glad you had a nice holiday," Lavender smiled.
"Thank you. Oh by the way," Harry gave her a look, "did you teach Hedwig about pillow fighting?"
"Me? No, I didn't!"
"Uh huh. Did Marigold or Clover?"
Lavender giggled. "Yes, they did."
"You taught an owl how to pillow fight?" Padma laughed.
"Not just an owl," Parvati said. "You know what she's like. If any owl could learn it and like it, it'd be her."
"Oh she likes it alright," Harry said with a fake weary sigh.
Lavender giggled even harder. "She sure is cute when she's doing it, isn't she?" She walked to the cabinet to get some napkins and plates.
"She sure is," Harry smiled.
Before Lavender could open the door, the cabinet burst open and she shrieked, the shriek becoming muffled as she got hit full in the face with a pillow. Hedwig flew around Lavender's head, cackling with glee, and waggled her tail feathers. Lavender ran around the clubroom yelping while Hedwig chased after her, thwapping her with the pillow she clutched in her talons.
"Not fair!" Lavender laughed, ducking. "I'm not armed!"
"There're pillows in the cabinet," Harry said and laughed when Lavender managed to pull one out on her next circuit around the room, fending Hedwig off and chasing the owl around herself.
"You two look ridiculous," Parvati laughed. "Wait, hold on," she said, backing away when Hedwig and Lavender shared a look. Parvati ran squealing when owl and girl chased after her, belaboring her with their pillows.
"Help me!" Parvati shrieked as she ran.
Padma fished out a pillow and tossed it to her. "There, I helped!" She shook her head as Parvati caught the pillow and fought back. "She's insane if she thinks I'll fight against Hedwig."
Hermione smiled as she watched. "How was spending the holiday with the Flamels?"
"It was really good," Harry said sincerely. "They're really nice and funny. They also play fight and argue a lot. With each other and the professors."
"It must be so weird watching them banter like that," Padma remarked.
"It was at first," he admitted. "But I got used to it. It was nice." They watched the battling trio fight up and down the clubroom. The door opened, revealing a sleepy looking Luna carrying a pillow of all things but when she saw the fun, she joined in at Harry and Lavender's urging, her sleepiness evaporating.
"How did she know to bring a pillow?" Harry wondered.
"I don't think she knew really, I think she was sleepy and brought it to nap with." Padma snorted when Parvati was buried under the other three attacking her simultaneously. "But who knows with Luna."
"Oh, Harry, may I make a suggestion for us to figure out making something for club?" Hermione asked.
"Sure, what is it?"
"My parents really got into making smoothies lately and I had a lot of them for breakfast over break and I'd love to try and keep having them here," she said. "Problem is, the easiest way to make them is a blender."
"And those won't work here," Harry nodded. "Is there a magical equivalent to a blender?"
"I don't think so," Padma said thoughtfully. "Smoothies are liquid and yogurt and fruit mixed up right? With ice sometimes?"
"Yeah, depending how cold you want it and what you want to mix in it," Hermione nodded.
"That's kinda like lassi. We make that with spices and yogurt and fruit puree. You can make it with a whisk but it'd be fun to find a magical way," Padma said.
"Let's see if there's a random spell," Harry smiled. "Otherwise, it'll be fun trying to figure it out magically."
"What is going on here?!" Pansy and Millicent walked in and stopped when Hedwig flew past them, chased by Parvati swinging her pillow wildly, trying to hit the cackling owl.
"The Browns taught Hedwig about pillow fights and she ambushed Lavender a bit ago," Harry smiled. "Parvati got drawn in and Luna joined."
"A pillow fighting owl, will wonders never cease," Pansy said as she watched Hedwig do a pinpoint turn in place and flew in the opposite direction, slamming her pillow right into Parvati's face. Incensed by Padma's raucous laughter, Parvati flung her pillow and caught Padma fully in the face as well, causing her to join the fray. Millicent needed no urging and armed herself and charged in.
"We have some silly friends," Hermione smiled.
"Isn't it great?" Harry chuckled.
-0-
Flitwick rubbed his chin in thought. "Hmmm, tell me how a blender works, generally?"
"You put solids and liquids into a container and a blade spins very fast," Hermione explained. "It mixes things together while chopping up the solids until everything is incorporated together. If you have ice, you can make it very cold and the liquid will be thicker, also thicker if you do it with yogurt."
Flitwick waved his wand and conjured a blackboard and chalk. The blackboard floated and the chalk began writing as he spoke. "So we need a charm to cut up the fruit and ice and other solids, a charm to mix them and might need it to mix swiftly, and something to hold it all."
The members of the Household Charms club were there, including Susan, Terry, Ron, and Ginny. They had started off learning some new cleaning charms and Flitwick was eager to teach them a new thread reinforcement charm he learned over the holiday. Now he was approaching the smoothie topic and he looked at the board as the chalk finished making the notes.
"A spell chain would be the most efficient way to do all that at once, but that is still above your general skill level. We don't teach that until N.E.W.T.s," he said. "Coincidentally, there is a Blending Charm and it does mince things very finely. So that's easy enough really."
"Why don't we use that more often?" Ron asked.
"Most of the time, the thing you want to use it on already has to be in smaller pieces because trying to power up the Blending Charm can yield very terrible consequences," he said ominously. "It is also rather thorough and there are a lot of potion ingredients that need precise and gentle use or else they wouldn't work as intended as you know. Wait a moment. Potions. I have an idea!"
Harry watched him leave the room energetically. "It's great that Professor Flitwick is our professor for this."
"Seriously," Lavender said. "Can you imagine someone else being in charge?"
A few minutes later the door opened and Flitwick returned with a slightly dour looking Snape in tow.
"Me and my big mouth, again," Lavender muttered, ducking behind Harry a little.
"Hello Sir," Pansy and Millicent said together, slightly surprised.
Snape nodded back. "Parkinson, Bulstrode," he said in a tone slightly seasoned so it could not be accused of being bland. He set what he was carrying down on the tabletop.
"A cauldron?" Terry asked.
"Self-stirring cauldron," Flitwick beamed, cutting off Snape's inevitable biting remark. "I thought this would help us with the mixing aspect of the blending part. Especially since you can dictate the speed of the mixing. That way, you need only focus on the Blending Charm. Not to mention that the cauldrons are capable of containing magic and are rather durable."
"If you want to use a Blending Charm on something in it while it is stirring, we should reinforce it further just in case," Snape said. "I rather not blend the cauldron as well the contents."
"Quite right," Flitwick agreed. He murmured a few spells and tapped the cauldron, making it glimmer and shake a little. "There we are. Now! How shall we start?"
Harry poured cut up strawberries, bananas, yogurt, and milk into the cauldron. Flitwick tapped the cauldron and the contents began to stir slowly. "How is this speed?"
"Uhm, well the blade of a blender spins really fast and it's what mixes everything," Hermione said when she peered into it. "It's usually a lot faster than this." She nodded when Flitwick tapped the cauldron again. "That looks pretty good."
"Let's give it a shot then," Flitwick said. "Mixtio!"
The Blending Charm immediately went to work, blending the fruit magically and turning them into a puree. However, the speed of the charm combined with the speed of the self-stirring cauldron and the contents went flying about, splattering everyone nearby and sending the others diving for cover.
Snape wiped a trail of mixed fruit and dairy off his face. "A stunning success," he said sarcastically.
"There's usually a lid," Hermione said, taking a towel from Harry. "Forgot to mention that."
Flitwick chuckled, completely unbothered by being splattered. "That makes sense! One typically does not lid a cauldron so we don't have that luxury."
"What direction is the Blending Charm acting in?" Snape asked, peering into the cauldron.
"You can change it," Flitwick said.
"If we slow down the stirring and account for the speed of the charm while directing the charm direction to the same direction," Snape said thoughtfully, "that would prevent it from going too fast and help aid in combining things."
"Without it exploding out, excellent idea," Flitwick smiled. "See? I told you this would be fun."
"That remains to be seen," Snape said dryly.
Flitwick and Snape changed the parameters of the spells and Flitwick smiled brightly when the smoothie in the cauldron blended in a much more controlled fashion, the mixture staying within the cauldron as well as mixing very smoothly. He stopped and beamed at the pink concoction. "There we are, look at that."
"It looks like one to me," Harry said. He ladled some out and poured it into some beakers, handing one to Hermione and Flitwick and after a moment's hesitation, handed one to Snape. The Potions Professor looked at him, then at the beaker, before slowly taking it.
"Mmm, this is delicious," Flitwick said, smacking his lips. "And a perfectly apt name!"
"It's really good!" Hermione said happily. "Tastes like it should! You can taste a bit of something else which is magic as we know, but we also know you taste less of it the more you practice. This is great!"
Harry poured out the rest into beakers with everyone taking one and drinking eagerly. "And you can do it with all sorts of fruits and if we add ice, we can make it even colder and nicer."
"I imagine we can chill the cauldron too," Flitwick said. "To make things even colder."
"Oh oh oh can we do a lassi next please?" Padma asked.
"Oh yeah!" Parvati exclaimed.
They cleaned out the cauldron, as well as the splatters of the first attempt, and filled it with chunks of mango, yogurt, milk, and honey. Flitwick taught Harry the Blending Charm and after some practice on some fruits, Harry pointed his wand at the cauldron.
"Remember, focus on what's in the cauldron and not the cauldron itself," Flitwick said, "and twist the wand counter-clockwise." He snorted when Snape took a few steps back. "Really Severus?" He snorted louder when Snape obviously cast a shield spell over himself.
"Mixtio," Harry incanted. He smiled when the yogurt and milk started turning golden-yellow, the mixture moving one way while the edges moving the other. He kept the charm going until he felt little to no resistance in his wand and stopped.
"Perfectly done," Flitwick praised and the others clapped.
"Oh this is so good," Padma said, sipping her lassi and looking happy.
"Mmm, just a smidge colder and this will be perfect," Parvati gushed.
"I think I love lassi and smoothies now," Susan said, slurping her cup.
Lavender gasped, making everyone turn to look at her.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, worried.
"Nothing but we can make milkshakes now!" Lavender said excitedly.
"Oh yeah!" Hermione and Sue exclaimed.
"Milkshake?" Ginny asked. "What's the point of that?"
"It's like a smoothie, only a lot less healthy," Harry smiled. "And really tasty. Inky, can we get some ice cream please and more milk?" It only took a moment for Inky to return with a large bucket of chocolate ice cream and a large container of milk.
Not much long after, everyone enjoyed cups of milkshakes and soon more of the kitchen House Elves appeared to learn about smoothies and lassi and milkshakes, clamoring for their own cups and watching Harry intently as he demonstrated for them.
"I'm going to need to see Poppy for an exercise regimen or something," Flitwick said, patting his stomach. "This club is dangerous for my waistline."
Snape looked at the cauldron, lost in thought.
"A Knut for your thoughts?" Flitwick said.
"I am thinking about potion applications for smoothies," Snape said softly. "As you know, there are some that are very temperature sensitive and I can think of several that do better at a colder temperature, final products as well as ingredients. And if it is in a more solid state as opposed to liquid, there are some that might be more potable."
"Indeed. Not to mention a lot of the healing creams that are rather fiddly to make separate," Flitwick mused.
"It does open the door into some interesting research," Snape said.
"I knew you would have fun," Flitwick said. He handed a glowering Snape a beaker. "More milkshake?"
-0-
Remus patrolled the corridor, walking slowly but surely. He looked about the dim hallways, lit by flaring lamps and flickering torches, lighting his wand when he needed more light. As he turned the corner, he smiled when he saw a statue of a humped-back witch, thinking of happier times. However, he stopped when he walked past it, canting his head.
Turning, he tapped the statue with his wand. "Dissidium." He stood there, waiting for the statue to completely open, revealing two people staring at him with wide astonished eyes. "Gentlemen," Remus greeted them cordially. "Mister Weasley and Mister Weasley."
"Hello Professor," Fred and George said together.
George slid something behind his back. "Fancy seeing you here."
"The feeling is mutual." Remus' eyes widened as he saw a corner of the piece of parchment poking out from behind George before Fred slid in to block the view. Surely not, he thought to himself.
"Not quite curfew time," Fred said smoothly.
"Not quite," Remus agreed. "Then again, there is something to be said about secret passages and not being in them."
"If they're secret, then the rules shouldn't apply at all if the one writing the rules wasn't aware of them," George countered with a winning smile.
Remus snorted softly. "I suppose we could debate that but I'll make a deal with you. Hand me the parchment, and I won't punish you for being in a secret passage and being out after curfew."
"We established it wasn't curfew!" Fred argued.
"By the time you get back to Gryffindor tower, it will be."
They exchanged glances. "Might rather take the detention and the points off," George muttered. "It's just a bit of parchment, has sentimental value it does."
You have no idea. "Very well," Remus sighed. "Tits up, fired."
The twins stared at him. "Tits up, fired? What does that-" George started to say before he screamed. The parchment he was hiding behind him burst into flames and he threw it away from him, shaking his hands. Remus caught it smoothly and the fire went out, leaving the parchment unscathed.
"What was that?!" they shouted together, staring at the parchment and then at Remus.
"A failsafe, to keep the Map out of the hands you don't want people to have."
"How did you know it was a map?" Fred gasped.
"You'd be surprised at what I know," Remus said with a sly grin, one the twins had never seen him have before. "Run along boys. Behave yourselves and you might learn one day." He smiled genially at them and they left, shocked and muttering between themselves.
Remus finished his patrol with the parchment tucked into an inner pocket of his coat. When he returned to his quarters, he spread it out on his table gently, tears growing in his eyes. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he intoned and tapped the parchment with his wand. Brown ink seemed to spill from the wand tip and lines were drawn by invisible hands. They spread all over, forming a layout of the castle. Names appeared on dots here and there, moving in real time.
Remus stuck the map to his wall and waited and waited. Finally he was rewarded. He saw a stag walk stately out along one edge before it started to run, chasing down a large dog. An even larger wolf-like dog leapt over them with a rat riding its head and the four animals ran around the border in play.
Remus sat there for a very long time, watching them play, until tears obscured his vision for some time.
-0-
"That didn't take long at all," Parvati remarked, seeing pitchers of smoothies on the table at breakfast.
"Thank goodness," Hermione said, pouring herself a cup. She sipped it. "Mmm, it tastes good to me." She chewed a little. "Some chunks of ice but it's not bad and they'll get better, I'm sure."
"I'm excited the next time they do butter chicken," Padma said. "I told Inky that mango lassi tastes really good with it and she looked excited to try it."
"Oh that does sound delightful," Pansy said.
"Oh hey, there's another Hogsmeade visit tomorrow," Harry said, joining them at the table. "Just saw the notice on the board.
"We're going with Daphne and Tracey," Millicent said. "Something about us Slytherin girls needing to do something together."
"What do you girls do together?" Parvati asked.
"Oh you know, make fun of girls from the other Houses, make evil plans, that sort of thing," Millicent said, looking left and right in a shifty way.
"I knew it!" Parvati cried.
Pansy snorted. "Tracey asked us for help to buy her parents something for their anniversary and Daphne wanted to go clothes shopping as well so she roped Millicent in for fabric advice."
"Right, evil plans," Millicent nodded.
"Sounds like fun," Harry smiled. "Would you like to go?" he asked Lavender.
"Oh! Uhm, well, I kinda can't," Lavender said sheepishly, blushing.
"She's got a date," Parvati smiled.
"Ooh you do? Who with?" Sue asked eagerly.
"It's not a date, really," Lavender protested, still bright red.
"You're going with someone alone and you're going to Madam Puddifoot's," Parvati snorted. "It's a date."
"Oh was it that Hufflepuff fourth year that asked you?" Padma asked, "you know, the cute one?"
"Stephens? He is really cute," Sue said. "Congrats on the date!"
"Hey, you alright Harry?" Neville asked, seeing Harry's expression.
Harry hurriedly shook his head, as if shaking his expression away. "Yeah, I'm okay." He smiled as widely as he could. "That's great Lavender, I hope you have fun."
"Th-thanks," she said, her smile a touch too wide as well.
The interaction was not lost on a lot of them and there was a moment of awkward silence.
"Be careful about wrackspurts," Luna said dreamily in the ensuing silence.
"What now?" Lavender asked, confused.
"I heard Madam Puddifoot's is very pink and wrackspurts love pink things. They flutter about where there is a high concentration of pinkness and they make your brain all fuzzy and your tongue all clumsy." She stuck her tongue out and waggled it. "If you can do this, you're not infested."
"That can't be a thing, that's not a thing, is it?" Hermione asked, looking around.
"No, it's a thing." Parvati stuck her tongue out and waggled it. "See? I can do it. I must not be infested."
"That's not what I meant and you know it," Hermione said crossly.
"I don't know, I think Luna has a point. I heard Puddifoot's can really make you all fuzzy," Millicent snorted. "And she's not wrong, it's really pink."
As they dissolved into a discussion about just how pink Puddifoot's was and whether or not wrackspurts made your brain fuzzy, Harry gave Luna a grateful look and she smiled prettily back at him, looking as if she knew exactly why he was giving her said look.
-0-
"So," Padma said slowly as she and Parvati left the Gryffindor table, "that was interesting."
"Right? Never knew wrackspurts did that." She dodged Padma's irritable poke. "And yes, I know what you're referring to. They are really close after all. I just don't know if it's anything more than what it looks. Maybe he's just disappointed because they always hang out usually and it blindsided him."
"That's fair," Padma said.
"Or, he could be sweet on her and didn't realize it until now," Parvati continued.
"Also fair, and it looks that way. Do you know how she feels?"
"She's super protective of him and really likes him but I don't know to be sure. But if you take into account some other stuff-"
"-like last term when you made that comment about him and Sue," Padma said.
"Yeah like that." Parvati shook her head. "I just hope it doesn't get messy. They're good friends."
"Well we can try to be supportive in any way we can. They both deserve it," Padma said stoutly.
"Yeah they do," Parvati said stoutly.
-0-
"Hey Pansy, come on, we better hurry or we're going to be late."
"Hmm? Oh yes, you're right." Pansy absent-mindedly put her books in her bag and followed Millicent out of their room.
"What're you thinking about?" Millicent asked as they left the Slytherin common room.
"Oh, nothing terribly important," Pansy said softly. "Well, I don't know. Did Harry seem strange to you at breakfast?"
"He was probably a bit embarrassed, probably didn't expect that Lavender would be going on a date."
"He doesn't seem the type to be bothered by his friends doing what they like or want," Pansy said, face scrunched.
"Well maybe not bothered, but unexpected I guess." Millicent shrugged. "He might need to get used to it though. She's pretty and I bet there's a bunch of blokes that would like to spend time with her like that."
"Why do you think he was bothered?" Pansy asked.
"They're best friends. Maybe he's feeling a little lonely? I don't know." Millicent looked at her friend. "Why are you bothered if he's bothered?"
"I'm not bothered," Pansy protested.
"Uh huh, right."
"I'm not!"
"Okay," Millicent said, shaking her head.
-0-
Lavender was nervous.
It was a lovely Saturday. It was still chilly but the last stubborn bits of winter were slowly melting in the face of the coming spring. The sky was blue, the sun was bright, and Hogsmeade was as beautiful as ever. Students walked past chatting and laughing while she stood at the place where the carriages let them off, waiting for Ben Stephens to arrive.
She fidgeted with her hair a little, shifting nervously from foot to foot. She did not know quite why she was so nervous. She had met Stephens in Divination club and had interacted with him here and there outside of club. When he asked her out to go to Hogsmeade together, at first she had been flustered and happy, agreeing easily.
Now that the moment had come, she was incredibly nervous and wondering if it was what she really wanted.
She pushed her nervousness away when she saw him approach. He was handsome, tall with dark hair and blue eyes. He was nice enough and she did enjoy his company. She decided to smile cheerily and see what happened while trying to push that little gnawing sense of oddness away into a deep dark corner to be ignored until much, much later.
-0-
"Hi Harry," Luna said, skipping into the clubroom. "I thought you might be here."
Harry smiled at his friend. "I'm getting predictable."
"You always were," Luna said honestly and kindly. "It's why people like you. They know you will do what you do and can rely on you."
"Aww, thanks Luna," Harry said, touched.
"Much like people expect me to be unpredictable," she said impishly, sitting on the stool beside him. She smiled brightly when Harry gave her a bag of candy. "Thank you!"
"You're welcome," he smiled. "I went to Hogsmeade early to do a bit of shopping and then came back."
"You didn't want to spend time with the others that can go?" Luna asked, folding the top of the bag carefully and setting it aside.
"Not really, for some reason. Everyone had different things they wanted to do and I didn't want them to not do what they wanted so I came back early. I thought about taking a nap but wasn't feeling too sleepy I guess."
"I know that feeling," Luna said sympathetically.
"So I came here and finished homework for a while and thought maybe I'd make something, but I'm at a bit of a loss on what to make." He sighed. "Something's wrong with me."
"Stick out your tongue?" Luna looked at it when Harry complied with a bemused expression. "Waggle it? There, now we know it's not wrackspurts." She had him do jumping jacks and peered into his ear. "No nargles neither."
"That's good," Harry said half-seriously.
"Does it have to do with Lavender and her date?" Luna asked, looking at him with wide blue eyes.
He blushed. "Maybe," he admitted. "That makes me terrible, doesn't it?"
"No not really," Luna said matter-of-factly. "It makes you normal. You're jealous." She looked thoughtful. "I guess it depends if you're jealous of Lavender or of Stephens."
"I'm not jealous of her," he said hurriedly with a laugh. "I don't want to go on a date with Stephens."
"That's good. Knowing that makes things more easy to understand. You're jealous that he's spending time with her then."
"I think you're right," he admitted. "But, are you sure that doesn't make me terrible? She doesn't owe me anything and I don't want to think she should spend all her time with me."
"No, I don't think so," Luna said seriously. "But you usually spend all your time with her and you might be feeling worried that she might be replacing you."
He blinked at her. "Well I wasn't then but now I am."
Luna looked sheepish. "Oh, I'm sorry."
He smiled and patted her on the back. "It's okay. You're still helping." He looked at her seriously. "Do you think you might be replaced?"
"I did," she said openly. "Before I learned how nice you were. Now I know you would never do that."
"No I wouldn't," he said firmly. He hugged her about the shoulders and smiled when she hugged him about the middle, squeezing hard. "You'd think I'd have figured that out sooner. I used to be really jealous of my cousin."
"Why?" Luna asked, looking up at him.
"Because he has parents," Harry admitted quietly. "Because they were nicer to him, nice to him. Loved him."
"Oh." She hugged him again and even harder. "I think that's more envy. You wanted something you didn't have. This is you being jealous because you know what it's like having time with Lavender and you're worried going without it."
"Are you sure that doesn't make me terrible?" he asked.
"Yes. It makes you human." Luna's voice was soft and quiet. "I was a little jealous when you went to Hogsmeade with the others and I couldn't go, and that's not fair to you either. I also used to be very envious of people with their mothers. Still am." She looked stricken. "Oh. I'm so sorry! You don't have your mother or your father and I still have my father!"
"It's okay, I know what you mean," he said kindly and hugged her firmly.
She smiled with relief, her eyes glittering in the sunlight a little. "It's okay if you're jealous or envious, I think. As long as you don't take it out on people. You still want Lavender to have fun on her date. That makes you a good person."
"That's good," he said, feeling some measure of relief. He looked down at Luna when her stomach growled, smiling when she flushed. "Feeling hungry?"
"I am," she giggled. She looked at the bag of candy. "I was hoping to save my candy though."
"Well now I have an idea to make something." He got up and walked to the ice box and looked through it and the pantry. "How about some tea foods?"
"That sounds nice," she said, smiling brightly. "Can we make smoothies with tea foods?"
"I don't see why not," he smiled back. "Unless a pink smoothie would attract wrackspurts."
"No, only pink décor. They're afraid of pink food."
"Wrackspurts are weird."
"Aren't they?!"
-0-
"Hey!"
Lavender turned and waved, waiting for Parvati and Padma and Sue to catch up. "Hi girls!"
"Why're you alone? Where's Stephens?" Parvati asked.
"Oh he's at the Three Broomsticks with his mates," Lavender said with a little shrug.
"That bad?" Sue asked. "The date I mean."
"Well, I mean, it was okay I guess," Lavender mumbled. She shrugged again. "He was nice."
"There's a hidden 'but' there," Parvati said. "Come on, out with it."
"Parv, be nice," Padma sighed. "If Lavender doesn't want to share, she doesn't have to."
"But she should because if he did something bad then we need to get revenge," Parvati argued.
Lavender smiled. "You're a great best friend. No it wasn't really anything bad, I don't think. It's just, well, we don't have much in common at all."
"Aren't you both in Divination club? And he takes divination too, right?" Sue asked.
"Yeah but he told me today he doesn't really care about it, he thinks it's hooey but it's easy and more girls are into it," Lavender said, rolling her eyes.
"Ewww," the Patils and Sue said together.
"And he really likes talking about himself," Lavender continued. "And about how good at Quidditch he is."
"Ugh, sorry he turned out to be a prat," Parvati said, patting Lavender's back sympathetically.
"Yeah and like, Madam Puddifoot's was super cute and all but you know what I kept thinking when I was eating and drinking?" Lavender started snickering. "That it didn't taste all that good."
"I doubt most people go there for the food," Padma laughed.
"Was it really bad?" Sue asked eagerly.
"No it wasn't bad but it didn't taste that good. It reminded me enough of Harry's food but in a bad way, as in I rather eat the things he makes," Lavender said. "Guess we're spoiled there."
"Yeah, maybe a bit," Parvati said with a knowing look. "So no chance at a second date?"
"No, despite him asking," Lavender said, shaking her head. "I'm glad I went but only because I know now. Halfway through I was wishing I was here with you guys instead." She looked around. "Harry's not with you?"
"No, he came early to shop and then went back," Padma said.
"Oh, I hope he's okay," Lavender said.
"I'm sure he is. How about going back now and see if we can make food together?" Parvati offered.
"That sounds good to me if you all want," Lavender smiled.
-0-
"Oh hey girls," Harry said, smiling when Lavender, Padma, Parvati, and Sue walked into the clubroom. "You're back early, is everything okay?"
"Yep! We just wanted to get some Harry-made food," Parvati said.
"We've been making tea food," Harry said brightly. "Luna's gotten really good at the Blending Charm and she made smoothies."
"This one is strawberry and banana. This one is berry good because it has raspberries and blueberries." Luna pointed proudly at the pitchers of smoothies.
"What's that one?" Sue asked, pointing at a cup.
"That one is peach and bacon."
"Why?!" Padma gasped. She nodded with understanding when Hedwig hooted from the cabinet, fluttering over carrying napkins. "Oh well that makes sense now. How does it taste?"
Hedwig dipped her beak into it and slurped. She looked up thoughtfully before nodding, hooting happily.
"Now I kinda want to try it," Parvati said. They helped with the last of the preparation and set the table. Sitting together, they began to eat.
"Mmm," Lavender said, eating a cucumber sandwich. "This is so much better than Madam Puddifoot's."
"Really?" Harry asked, trying hard not to look too happy.
"Really," Lavender said emphatically. "The company is better too."
"Oh, didn't have a good date?" Harry asked, trying hard to look sympathetic. "I'm sorry."
"It was okay but I feel better now and this will be more fun," Lavender smiled warmly. She bit into a bacon sandwich next. "Oh and I totally think Luna is right. Lots of fuzzy headed people at Madam Puddifoot's."
"Wrackspurts," Luna said knowingly.
The door opened again and Millicent and Pansy peered in. "May we join you?" Pansy asked.
"Of course, come in," Parvati waved. "How was gift shopping and clothes shopping?"
"Tiring," Millicent said as they entered. "Tracey went through all this effort and when she finally bought something, she realized she bought them the same thing last year so we had to start all over. And Daphne was being super picky over something and this one clerk got in my face about a fabric thing."
"She looked so embarrassed when she realized the store buys from your family directly and you pointed out your family crest on the shipping materials," Pansy smiled and the others laughed.
"Yeah, that was satisfying," Millicent said smugly.
"I brought us a small cake to share," Pansy said, putting it on the table. "It will go very well with the tea food and…well it should taste good with the smoothies."
"We made tea too," Harry smiled. "Thanks for the cake!"
Pansy smiled back. "Oh this looks interesting," she said when she poured out a small cup of smoothie. She took a sip and her face froze. She put the cup down and chewed slowly, brow furrowed. "Is that…bacon?"
"Bacon and peach," Luna said. "It's a Hedwig special. What do you think?"
Pansy swallowed, noticing Hedwig looking at her intently. "It's…actually not bad. I like ham and melon together, so this isn't so dissimilar. Just was not expecting it."
They ate and joked and chatted and laughed together. Perfectly content.
-0-0-0-
DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Bothering? Yes, the Flamels have taken a genuine shine for him and care for him deeply. That will change things to come.
Jaysto - Funny story, I didn't originally intend on the Flamels to be so prevalent really. But then I wrote out the aftermath from the Chamber and it felt right and look forward to sharing more of them and their antics for the rest of the fic. Same with Blinky. Originally there was only one basilisk but I thought a smaller sweeter one would be fun and cute.
odonnellzoo99 - A very pleasant surprise, as Dumbledore said. I think you'll enjoy the beginning of this chapter then.
Kaya - Admittedly an odd concept but I thought it was fun.
DustieDaven - Yeah, they don't want to smother him, overly so anyways. They genuinely like him and want to get closer to him, while being their lovely irreverantly chaotic selves.
alix33 - I think you'll enjoy the beginning of this chapter then.
poka - They have become really fun to write for, something I genuinely didn't think they would. They're delightfully odd and irreverent and genuine with Nicholas enjoying in messing with everyone and Perenelle being the slightly more serious one but also quite dangerous. Blinky will still be a part here and there, don't worry.
DarkRavie - Thank you.
Hands Off MY Wolfie - It's nice to just have a fluffy chapter now and then.
Animus - Not directly, but it will be addressed so to speak later on. Glad you like the story.