I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

A Taste of Magic

68th Course – Feelings Festooned

"You are quite the culinary champion," Andromeda smiled.

"What makes you say that?" Harry asked, looking up briefly and smiling back as he continued to chop.

"You spent time at Gringotts, and at the Hog's Head, and you are right back to cooking here. Normally, one relaxes while on holiday," Andromeda teased.

"Harry, don't listen to her!" Dora cried. Her hair turned long and black and her eyes became brown and she glared back at her mother with similar expressions of affront, a mirror image without a mirror. "Mum, if you keep Harry from cooking, I will do terrible things."

"Perish the thought! I am not keeping him from cooking in the slightest," Andromeda sniffed and shot a silent Stinger at Dora, making her yelp and grab her rear. "I was merely teasing Harry while commenting on his work ethic."

Harry chuckled. "I know I'm a little weird in thinking cooking for people to be fun in a working environment, but it was fun to do a shift at Gringotts and at the Hog's Head. They both feel different from each other, but it was nice to just slide in and it didn't feel like I missed that much time with them at all. We actually got really busy at both places, kinda glad I split them up on different days."

"Your adoring crowds missed your cooking," Andromeda said.

"I'm a Dora crowd that missed your cooking," Dora said. She stuck her tongue out at Andromeda's groan. She cheered when Harry passed her a bacon-wrapped sausage, chomping on it eagerly.

"Thank you, love," Andromeda said, taking one from Harry herself. She nibbled on it daintily. "Oh, I wanted to ask, how was the Ball?" Before he could answer, however, the door to the kitchen opened and more people came in.

"Harry!" Perenelle exclaimed and walked over eagerly.

"Hi Grandmother Penny," Harry said happily, putting the knife down before she hugged him tightly. "Thanks for coming!"

"Of course," she said happily. "So good to see you and spend the holidays with you once more."

"Thanks for letting them come," Harry said, slightly muffled.

Sirius grinned. "Hey, more the merrier and we're kinda like family so it's all grand to me."

"Remember, I can still kill you," Nicolas said cheerfully.

"Now it's exactly like my childhood memories of the holidays," Sirius laughed in an unsettlingly serious way.

"Dear goodness, really?" Perenelle asked, appalled.

"Yes, really," Andromeda said dryly, "unfortunately."

"Oh, well now I feel a little bad," Nicolas said. "This calls for French tea." He removed a few bottles from his robes and put them on the table. "Minnie is not here yet, is she?"

"No, not yet," Sirius chuckled. "She and the Dumbledores are coming for dinner later."

"Splendid!" He poured glasses of wine and handed them around but pouted when Andromeda took the one he tried to give to Harry. "Oh no, do not tell me you share her unreasonable views on so-called underaged drinking."

"Not until dinner at least," Andromeda said, frowning lightly at him.

"I knew I liked you," Nicolas smiled. "You know how to compromise." He winked at a grinning Harry. "You look hale and hearty my boy."

"I'm feeling good," Harry said sincerely. "I have a home to come to for the holidays and it feels really nice."

"You'll always have one here," Sirius said seriously. "No matter what."

"Thank you," Harry beamed.

Perenelle muttered something under her breath in French. "As do you with us. Actually, you should come visit us soon. Blinky wants to see you of course and I think you will like our home in France."

"Maybe over the summer?" Andromeda suggested.

"Oh, that sounds nice," Harry said eagerly. "I've never traveled abroad before."

"We shall make plans then," Perenelle said, clapping her hands. "Our grounds are very large and can accommodate many."

"How have you been since we last saw you at the Festival?" Nicolas asked, sipping his wine.

"Pretty good. I think I did well on my exams at the end of term. We won the Festival which was awesome, but you all know that. The Ball was fun."

"I sense a 'but' there," Sirius said. "Something happened?"

"Not really?" Harry hesitated a little.

"Harry, it's perfectly normal to ask for help," Ted said gently. "Especially if it's for something you're not too sure about. I know you didn't have the support from a family before, but you can ask us anything."

"Thanks Uncle Ted," Harry said, relaxing a little. "It's, well, I guess I'm worried about something."

"Is it a 'girl worry'?" Sirius asked. At Harry's nod he rubbed his hands together. "Well you've come to the right place Harry. I'll help you out there." He turned and stared at Remus. "Need a cough drop, Moony?"

Remus cleared his throat. "No, I'm okay, thank you. That said, and I do mean this lovingly, but perhaps we should ask about the nature of the worry before going to you for advice?"

"Excuse me," Sirius said loftily. "I have a breadth of well-earned experience that I can impart on my godson, thank you very much."

"Oh yeah, I remember seeing some of those well-earned experiences," Ted chuckled.

"Thank you for supporting me," Sirius said.

"I don't think that was support per se," Remus hummed.

Andromeda saw Harry's somewhat panicked expression and she clapped her hands, drawing their attention. "Right, I do believe this calls for a more delicate touch." She pointed at Sirius, Ted, and Remus. "All of you men leave until summoned." She looked at Nicolas questioningly.

Nicolas chuckled richly. "Oh, I will leave willingly. One of the greatest mysteries of the world is how I managed to stay married to my beloved wife. In fact, there was a period of time where I suspected she was poisoning me daily, literally!"

"You told me to!" Perenelle cried indignantly. "We were testing antidotes and it was your idea!"

"I know! I just like phrasing the story that way so I can see people's expressions," Nicolas said gleefully, pointing at the others. He clapped his hands. "See? It's so fun!" He yelped when Perenelle took his cane and whacked him across the legs with it. "I get the hint! Come men! Let us flee and speak of manly things." He ran out, covering his rear as the cane thwapped him across the rear repeatedly at Perenelle's direction. Sirius and Remus followed after, arguing loudly while Ted went last, deeply amused.

"First word of advice, cheri," Perenelle huffed, "do not act like that." She made a gesture at the closed door.

"I don't think I have the confidence," Harry laughed.

"Or the ego," Dora muttered. "Which is a good thing. Sorry," she said to Perenelle.

"Do not be. His ego alone is quite enough," Perenelle smiled. "So, what is worrying you?"

Harry sighed. "Uhm, I don't know. It's stupid or maybe I'm being stupid."

"I doubt that it is stupid to you," Andromeda said kindly, "especially since it has been bothering you so." She winked. "If you are being stupid, well, you can trust us to be kind to you about it."

Harry smiled. "Thanks, I think." He took a deep breath. "So, uhm, things between Lavender and I were a little weird after the Festival. She wasn't hanging out as much and I learned she was chatting with a bloke from Beauxbatons." He flushed when he saw the three older women share a knowing look. "I was fine with that! Really! I was just…I missed her I guess. It's just, she was spending a lot of time with him and I felt weird about it. And then the Ball got announced and I thought I wanted to ask her and…"

"Oh no, she had been asked by this bloke as you say?" Perenelle said sympathetically.

He nodded. "Which I was sorta okay with as long as he was nice to her and she was happy but I felt weird about it because everything between us was weird for a while. And she spent a lot of time with him and yeah. Parvati ended up asking me to go with her as friends and it was a lot of fun. We talked some, Parvati and I, and I asked if I did anything wrong because of how weird things were. She said it wasn't just me and it was okay. But then it turns out Tomas is a Tom-arse and was super rude to Lavender and made her cry at the Ball and left her." He frowned at a giggling Dora and at Andromeda and Perenelle sharing her amused expression.

"Sorry!" Dora said, her hair turning pink as her face. "Tom-arse is so damn funny, caught me off guard."

"Parvati came up with it," Harry said, smiling too.

"What happened after that?" Andromeda asked.

"Parvati said she was our date after that and we hung out to the end of the Ball and it was almost like old times but still, kinda weird," Harry sighed. "I don't know what to do. I really don't want to lose her as a friend and I felt really off about everything."

"You're just jealous, that's normal," Dora said matter-of-factly. She glowered at her mother who pinched her arm. "What?!"

"You could say it a bit more nicely," Andromeda sighed.

"That's what Luna told me last year," Harry said. "When Lavender went on a date with someone to Hogsmeade. And back then, I guess I didn't really know exactly why I was jealous. This time though, I have a better idea I think."

"You like her, or as you say, fancy?" Perenelle asked with a warm smile.

"I think so," Harry said at last, blushing furiously. "She's so warm and happy, well usually, and so nice and yeah…" He rubbed his neck. "But what if she doesn't like me, I mean she probably doesn't since she went to the Ball with Tomas, and what if things go wrong and we aren't friends anymore. She's my best friend and I don't know what I would do if we weren't anymore."

"Harry, I am going to say something that sounds rude, but trust me when I say it is not." Perenelle took his hands in hers and looked at him directly. "You are very young." She smiled at his questioning look. "You have never had a relationship before, correct?"

"He has lacked in many proper relationships until now," Andromeda said softly, her words having a bite to them.

Perenelle gave her a questioning look before turning back to Harry. "What I mean by that is what you are feeling, what you are thinking, is perfectly normal. These are all the worries you would have whenever it comes to these situations. I had a relationship or two before Nicolas and even when Nicolas and I started courting, I had my own fair share of worries."

"You're overthinking things a bit," Dora said, scootching down the table to be out of Andromeda's reach. "I don't blame you for it, but yeah, it's normal."

"Why do I feel like it's my fault though," Harry asked. "I feel like I did something wrong."

"Because you have an incredibly kind heart," Andromeda said. "And you always do your best to make others happy and feel at ease and you blame yourself for things outside of your control. I am sure I am not the first to tell you that."

"The blame myself things? Yeah," Harry said. "I used to get blamed for a lot of things and I guess I still think that way."

Perenelle frowned at that and Andromeda huffed angrily. "Well, you may not be wholly blameless, in the interests of being utterly fair," Perenelle said, "but Lavender also had a role to play in this as well."

"It's not her fault if I was jealous," Harry protested, "and acted like a prat."

"I do not think you did," Andromeda soothed. "I think you did your best with your emotions and were in a difficult situation. And from what I know of Lavender, she was probably unsure of how to navigate the waters either. You never thought ill of her, did you?"

He shook his head. "No, never."

"Did you think ill of Tom-arse?" Dora asked cheekily.

Harry stifled a laugh. "Not until he made her cry."

"Then you did well," Perenelle smiled. "You have a kind heart that is admirable and it is your best trait." She hugged him tightly. "I think if you two cherish each other as it sounds, it will work out, one way or another. However, and this is my most important piece of advice, you should communicate with her. Talk to her."

"Just tell her I like her like that?!" Harry gasped.

"Sure, be bold!" Dora said.

Andromeda snorted. "Do what makes you comfortable but I agree with Perenelle and Dora to a degree. Speak to her. Let her know how you have felt about the situation and listen to her side, and go from there."

Harry sighed once more but it was less weary. He looked a little tired, but the way a person did after relieved of an immense burden. "Yeah, I can do that. I think." He smiled sheepishly at three very loud and deep snorts. "Thank you for talking to me. I really appreciate it."

"Of course little brother," Dora smiled and hugged him hard, resting her chin on his shoulder. "And if she breaks your heart, I'll go break hers, literally."

"Don't do that," he begged, alarmed.

"It is what family do for one another," Andromeda smiled. "But we will not act out of turn, right Nymphadora?"

Dora growled, making Harry and Perenelle laugh.

The kitchen door opened and Nicolas poked his head in. "Is it safe to return? Do I need to brew up some antidotes?"

"I suppose," Perenelle sighed.

"Was that an answer to the first question or the second?" Nicolas asked.

"I suppose you will just have to find out," Perenelle said pertly. She smiled sweetly at Harry. "See? Communication is very important."

-0-

"Lav? Is everything okay?"

"Yes," she said, her voice muffled.

"Do you want to come out or talk about it?" Daniel asked.

"No," she said, her voice even more muffled.

"I think she's lying," Daniel said, worried.

Leena smiled and patted his arm. "Lavender, we're coming in." She opened the door to Lavender's bedroom and she and Daniel walked in after Cokie, who had been leaning against the door dashed in. The poodle climbed into Lavender's bed, whining worried. She rooted beneath the covers and ignored Lavender's attempts at pushing her out.

"You went straight here after we got home," Daniel said, sitting beside the lump that he assumed was his daughter hiding beneath the covers. "Come on, talk to us please."

"Your sisters are worried," Leena said softly, "as are we."

Lavender sighed and eventually sat up, pulling the covers off. She looked drained, her normally cheerful features absent. She sniffled a little, looking down at Cokie sprawled over her lap and looking up at her with eyes filled with concern and the desire to make her feel better. "I'm okay," Lavender said limply.

"No, you're not," Leena said gently. "Do you just want to talk to your daddy?"

"No, I think I need your help too," Lavender said wanly, rubbing at her eyes. "I think I did something terrible to Harry."

"I'm sure it's not that bad," Daniel said. "What happened?"

Lavender shrugged. "It's so dumb and I don't know and it's…" She sighed again. "After the Festival, someone from Beauxbatons was being really nice to me and wanted to chat and get to know me. He was really romantic and he was cute and funny and I spent a lot of time with him. He made me feel special. Then he asked me to the Ball and I said yes because he seemed so nice and sweet and well, until he wasn't."

"Did he do something to you?" Daniel asked, growing even more concerned and turning furious.

"No! I mean, nothing really. We were dancing and he started comparing me to other girls he dated and I asked him not to. He kept saying things and he tried to press me into something I wasn't comfortable with and when I told him, he got really rude and left to be with someone else," Lavender said, sniffling.

"Oh love, I'm so sorry," Leena said sorrowfully, sitting beside her and hugging her close.

"I'm sorry baby," Daniel said sadly, hugging her too. "Boys can be terrible. I'm proud of you for sticking up for yourself and I'm glad you're safe."

Lavender cried a little, feeling safer and happier between her father and mother. She let her feelings out without reservation.

"So, uhm, tell me if I'm being dumb, but I don't get what that has to do with you being terrible to Harry," Daniel said after a while.

"Because I was ignoring him and our other friends during the days after the Festival and up to the Ball," Lavender said miserably. "Then he and Parvati helped save the Ball for me after Tomas left, letting me be a part of their date."

"That was good of them," Leena said. "They're very good friends."

"But it's bad because when he told me I didn't ruin their date and that he and Parvati went as friends, I felt better. And then Parvati asked me if Harry did something to upset me and I said no but I realized how I was treating him and them and it made me feel really bad," Lavender continued. "And…it looked like there was a chance that Sophie, another girl from Beauxbatons, was going to ask Harry, and I really didn't like that but then Parvati did and I felt better about it."

"Ahhh," Leena said knowingly. "I think you were a bit jealous of him, love."

"But I already had a date with someone else, it wasn't right of me to feel like that, was it?" Lavender asked.

"Well, you are very close to Harry. You're best friends, right?" Leena asked. "Perhaps you were just looking out for him?"

"Maybe," Lavender mumbled.

"What else?" Daniel asked all of a sudden. "There's something else."

"Daniel," Leena sighed.

"No, hear me out," Daniel said. "I know I'm a bit oblivious to some things but Lav always has something else bothering her, at least before. It's usually something a little deeper than the surface and I recognize the look she gets. That one." He sighed when Lavender buried her face in Cokie's fur. "It's okay Lav, I promise we won't judge you for it. We want to help you."

Lavender eventually unfurled, sitting up reluctantly. "I was jealous," she mumbled. "You know how we became friends with Daphne and Tracey and Blaise for the Festival? He spent so much time with Daphne and Pansy for the planning of our stall and everything and he was getting really close with them. All I can do is sew and I did that but all the other plans and making the stew into a dragon one with the fire breathing and all the complicated stuff, that was all Daphne and Pansy. And he looked like he was getting really close to Daphne and at first I was worried about getting the clothes ready, and what I wanted to sell ready, I didn't notice it. But then after the Festival, he was still really close with them and then getting closer to Fleur and her friends too."

She stopped talking, looking down miserably and barely noticing when Cokie whined and licked her hands.

"You can't possibly think he's…replacing you or something, do you?" Leena asked.

"Maybe," Lavender mumbled.

"Love, Harry thinks the world of you. You're his best friend, he's told me," Leena said. "From what I've learned about him, from his family and from you through these years, he will never abandon anyone that he considers a friend. He'll do anything and everything for them, especially his closest."

"You're used to being the one he was closest to," Daniel said sympathetically. "And it hurt that you thought he wasn't doing that anymore, didn't it."

Lavender nodded. "And isn't that awful of me? He never had any friends, he told me. I should be happy that he has more!"

"I wouldn't say it's awful, but you just didn't know how to work through your feelings about it," Daniel said, choosing his words carefully. "So basically, you were worried about him getting closer to other girls and a little jealous, and so you kind of enjoyed the attention of this Tomas fellow and it didn't end well because he's your stereotypical bad bloke."

"You don't have to make fun of me," Lavender said irritably.

"We're not making fun of you," Leena said. "Really, we aren't. We just want to know what happened and now we do. And honestly, it's not that big of a deal." She held her hands up when Lavender glared at her. "Okay, poor choice of words. What I meant is that it's not as bad as it seems."

"How?! I was dumb and ignored my best friend and I'm all twisted up because I'm a hippo!"

"Who called you a hippo?!" Daniel asked.

"Sorry, hypocrite. Parvati came up with that joke," Lavender amended.

"Oh that makes more sense and that's kinda funny." Daniel hugged her. "I'm not going to call you dumb over that. I can say you handled the situation a little less than ideally, but now you're more aware of the why, and that's honestly half the battle."

Lavender huffed a little but hugged him back, feeling a little better. "What do I do?" she asked plaintively.

"Talk to him," Daniel said simply. "Just say you want to talk to him about your feelings and go do that. Normally that doesn't work on many blokes because we're emotionally stunted, but Harry's mature and I bet he's feeling about the same as you."

"You think?" Lavender asked, sounding slightly hopeful.

"I do," Leena said supportively. "Like I said, he thinks very highly of you and I don't think he's one to just let a misunderstanding ruin things. He probably misses you and also wasn't sure how to deal with things."

"I miss him too," Lavender whispered.

"I'm sure you two can make up," Leena said. "Just like your father said. Talk to him, have a heart to heart. I'm sure you can explain your side and he will explain his and I'm willing to bet many treats that you two aren't going to be far off the mark."

"But what if things are ruined and can't be fixed?" Lavender asked tearfully.

Leena dabbed the tears away. "If, and that's a huge if, then we'll deal with it together. But I honestly don't think things are." She made soft noises of comfort when Lavender hugged her desperately. "It'll be okay, love."

"Thank you," Lavender said wetly.

"Would you like a bit of advice?" Daniel asked.

Lavender clung to him, nodding.

"You're worried about being replaced by these other girls? Show that you won't be replaced," Daniel said. "You're his best friend, show it. Be proud of it. Nobody replaces Lavender Elizabeth Brown! Not easily, not ever! There's a reason that you two are best friends, remember it and remind the others of it." He smiled and kissed her forehead and cheeks. "That's my girl's smile. I've missed it."

"Thank you," she said, hugging him harder. "I'm sorry. I love you so much." She reached out for Leena. "Both of you."

"We love you so much," Leena said warmly, hugging her tightly too.

Lavender sputtered when Cokie licked her face after she broke the embrace. "I love you too," she said, hugging her dog. She sighed, a weary sound but sounding much lighter. "Thank you, I feel better and I'm definitely going to talk to Harry as soon as I can."

"Do you want to Floo call?" Leena asked. "Or maybe wait until you are both back at school?"

She thought for a moment. "I think I'll wait until school," she said. "I want to talk to him in person."

"That's a good idea," Leena said. She smiled brightly. "Oh just to warn you, your little sisters are planning to cheer you up by dropping every pillow in the house on you when you walk into the sitting room. They're trying to put them over the doorway and drop them with a latch. For some reason, they think that will work."

"Why don't you get the drop on them first," Daniel suggested.

"I think I will. Thank you!" Lavender kissed her parents and then ran out of the room with Cokie running before her, holding a pillow and wearing a smile.

"Glad it wasn't something too serious," Daniel said tiredly. "You know, comparatively."

"Oh yes, it could've been way worse," Leena agreed. She leaned against Daniel comfortably. She felt him sigh and looked up at him. "What?"

"Nothing. Well, I think I have an answer to the question I had after we got the invitation to Harry's party over the summer," he said, looking down wryly when Leena started giggling. "Tell me I'm wrong though, please."

"I don't know for sure, but I don't think so," Leena smiled, patting him on the cheek.

"Yeah, it's more than just a best friend thing, even I can see it," he said, chuckling self-depreciatively.

"Maybe, maybe not. They're still young yet but yeah, probably more than just a best friend thing," Leena said.

"Well, it could be worse I guess," Daniel said. "She could still be mooning over this Tom-arse prick."

"No, thankfully not. She has a good head on her shoulders," Leena laughed. "Just gets a little lost sometimes is all."

"A Brown trait, sad to say," Daniel smiled. "I'm sorry you have to come finding us."

"I'm not sorry at all," Leena said, kissing him sweetly.

"Thank God for that," Daniel said with much relief, making her laugh even harder.

-0-0-0-

SolarSolstice - Nothing pleasant I'm afraid, but he will get his in a couple of ways.

MultiversalCosms - It honestly wasn't my intention and hopefully this chapter shows a little more of what I was trying to convey. I was trying to show some of that awkward teenagers being teenagers trying to work through their emotions and feelings and the like. I understand I failed in that and the last couple of chapters may not to everyone's liking, but I do try to not write useless things and I wanted to try and have some of that awkward high school energy here to show all the facets of slice-of-life and how we can all look back on our youth and wonder how we survived it all.

61394 - Thank you. Glad you liked it.

JKArcanus - Thank you for the way you said that and I'll try to offer my thoughts behind it. You raise a valid point about this having happened before and what I was trying to show here that the circumstances have changed somewhat. Now granted, you don't see it until today's chapter, but I had hoped to show here that Harry has a better grasp on his emotions and feelings and while yes, the situation is very similar, but not everything about it is. And I will admit, part of having Parvati go with Harry was so that she would have a good date as opposed to what happened in canon, as well as letting her character shine some.

All in all, I wanted to try and let them act their age and be affected by a sort of 'low stakes' feeling where it isn't life or death or something dire. I had hoped people could resonate with the situation, empathize and sympathize with the characters, and see how things develop. I really like character development and good dialogue while seeing characters change and grow and be, so that was what I was hoping to convey here. I may have failed in that, but I really wasn't trying to do unnecessary things. Just try to tell a story that has some dimension to it. I appreciate your comment and thank you for reading.

mackiechandler - Thank you.

Hands Off MY Wolfie - I took ballroom dancing one semester in college, it was pretty fun. They're all still good friends despite the, hopefully temporary, awkwardness. Thanks for reading.

odonnellzoo99 - Yeah, they're still good friends and can forget their troubles for a little bit.

Mitkon2001 - I always liked the ideas of mirrors helping and offering advice in canon. In my mind here, I think it's sort of Hogwarts itself being their for their students. There will be a line about the Patil family and Harry in the next chapter.

Amateur Warlock - There will be a return to cooking.

alix33 - The line about Blaise drowning himself in French wine was a euphemism of him dancing with girls from Beauxbatons.

DarkRavie - Thank you.

DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles - Tomas will get his in a few ways in the coming chapters. Thank you.

SvenHPotterFan - I did want to give Parvati a nice date in this setting as a nod towards how canon was. But yes, I was trying not to do the obvious or the simple route and try to build the characters more, let them grow and see things differently which unfortunately it didn't seem I succeeded but I wanted to try.