RP: Tea Party at Sprouty's

[rar_pomona]

Date: May 22, 1998
Characters: Pomona Sprout, Eloise Midgen, Hannah Abbott, Cho Chang
Location: Sprout's shed, Hogwarts
Status: Public
Summary: Sprouty's shed is open for anyone who fancies a cuppa, a chat or a bit of cake. Come on down.
Completion: Complete

Comments

[rar_eloise]

Eloise wasn't certain where Susan and Hannah had gone to. The Greenhouses had a way of swallowing one up, even when they weren't half demolished. She did know, however, that she'd had her fill of plants for the afternoon. She'd never been overly fond of Herbology, no matter how much she adored her head of house, and at the moment, she was half deaf from having spent the last two hours replanting the Professor's stock of Honking Daffodils

[rar_pomona]

Pomona wasn't asleep, not at all. Forty winks was just... forty winks.

She opened her eyes as little Eloise looked in to the shed. "Ah - hello, luv. Come on in. The kettle's hot."

On cue, Binty the house elf popped in with a tray of cakes, scones and Pomona's favourite cucumber sandwiches. "Is that all, Professor Sprout, miss?"

"Well, we'll see," Pomona said with a wink. "Depends on how many people show up. I'll call if we need a refill, ducks. You get on." She busied herself with the kettle, pouring out a nice cuppa for Eloise, hot and strong. "Help yourself to a cake, my lovely. And tell me about your day. Milk? Or would you prefer a - let me see, when was your birthday - a drop of Dutch courage?"

[rar_eloise]

"I can use all the courage I can get these days, so have at it," Eloise said, relaxing a little under Professor Sprout's kind gaze. She took the proffered cup and took a cautious sip, nodding at the taste of whiskey on her tongue. It was the kind her father had drank, that he'd let her have sips of when she'd sit in the chair with him as he read the paper when she was growing up.

Once she was situated with her cup, she pushed her hair back from her eyes with a slightly grubby hand. "I think we've about settled Greenhouse three. At least the plants we could save." She eyed her cup then looked back up at the Professor. "It's helping all of us, I think, gives us something to keep our mind off things." She felt another stab of pain as she thought of Megan, but she forced it down, directing her gaze towards the teatray. "Are those lemon scones?" She took one and bit into it, despite the fact that she wasn't really hungry and hadn't been, it seemed, for days. The tea though, was warming at least.

[rar_pomona]

Pomona was pleased to see Eloise tucking in - girls were all far too skinny these days, and this one had always looked as if she needed feeding up. "That's the spirit, sweetheart," she said, topping up her own cup. "There's nothing like keeping busy when things are a bit rocky."

She was proud of the way so many of her Puffs had stayed behind to help after the battle. "You're all doing a fine job out there. And - well, what we can't save will always grow again."

[rar_cho]

Cho's first day back at Hogwarts had been surprisingly quiet. Everyone who had died (she refused to call them "bodies") had been removed, and all the injured had been tended and either taken home by their families or sent to St. Mungo's for further treatment. What remained, then, was the severely damaged castle and grounds, both of which needed a lot of work to make them even barely functional again. Restoring Hogwarts to its former glory could take a long time, Cho thought, even helped along by magic. It wasn't as though a few Reparo's would do the trick; the Hogwarts community had a long row to hoe

[rar_pomona]

"Well, my goodness," said Pomona with pleasure. "Cho Chang, aren't you a sight for sore eyes, my lovely. Of course you shall have tea - come in - come in."

She bustled herself with the kettle as Cho came in and found herself a seat.

"Help yourself to cakes, my dearie - two lumps is it? Or would you rather a touch of the hard stuff to liven it up?" She waggled her firewhiskey flask at Cho."

[rar_cho]

Cho smiled as best she could, happy that Professor Sprout remembered her, and nodded a quiet "Hello" to the other young women as she sat down. "Hannah and Eloise, right?" Her eyes widened a bit when the older woman suggested spiking her tea, then she laughed softly. "I could use a bit of livening up," she said. "Just a finger's worth if you don't mind."

She took a bite from a fairy cake and sighed happily. "It's nice to do something normal," she said, sipping the spiked tea.

[rar_hannah]

Hannah nodded, eyeing the girl shyly. Cho was one of those girls that always made her a bit nervous, but at the moment it didn't seem to matter as much as it usually did.

"Very nice", she said.

Her voice sounded a bit odd from all the crying in the last 24 hours. It didn't quite sound like hers.

"I think I'm staying", she said. "At least you can always be sure to have something to do here, with the greenhouses and all."