RP: Chocolate

[rar_lavender]

Date: January 15th, 1999
Character(s): Lavender Brown, Michael Corner
Location: Honeydukes' Hogsmeade
Status: Public
Summary: Sometimes you just need chocolate.
Completion: Complete

Comments

[rar_michael]

Michael needed a break from studying. Maybe a walk would help clear his head a bit. It was raining, but he needed to get out. He wrapped up in his cloak and headed out.

He didn't see anyone about as he headed toward downtown Hogsmeade, but that wasn't surprising. Everyone was probably inside revising. He looked in the shop windows as he walked along, but he didn't want a drink or need a new quill. He grinned as he neared Honeydukes. Maybe chocolate would help ease his revision-addled brain.

Michael pushed the door to the shop open and inhaled deeply. This would do nicely. He looked around the shop. Someone was checking out the chocolate bars. She turned a bit and he saw that it was Lavender Brown. He wandered over to say hello.

"Hello, Lavender. How's your Charms revision coming?"

[rar_lavender]

Lavender was contemplating how to get the most chocolate for the amount of money that she had on her. There were all sorts of delicious potential combinations that were likely to send her into some sugar-induced coma, but choosing was proving tricky.

She put a bar of milk chocolate back on the shelf, self-consciously tucking her hair behind her ear when she saw Michael. "Oh, hi, Michael." She frowned. "It's... not. I haven't done any for a few days."

[rar_michael]

Michael was a bit surprised at Lavender's answer. He wasn't sure what NEWT's Lavender was taking besides Charms, but she wasn't in any of his other classes any longer, since she'd dropped Runes.

"Everything all right? Lisa seemed to be plotting class-specific revision nights last I talked with her. Maybe that would help?"

[rar_lavender]

"Everything's fine," she lied. "I've been busy with work." That part was true, at least. Merlin, why did she have to bump into a Ravenclaw who had to bring up revision? NEWTs were the last thing on her mind right now.

Lavender shook her head. "I doubt it. Group revision has never helped me. How are you doing?"

[rar_michael]

Lavender seemed to answer him a bit too quickly, but Michael figured if she didn't want to talk about it, he wouldn't push. His experiences with Gryffindor girls and their tempers had taught him to back off, even if he wanted to push.

"Oh, just wanted to offer, that was all." He gestured at the chocolate bars. "What looks good today? Or, the more accurate question may be what looks the best today?" He slipped his glasses on and looked at the labels.

[rar_lavender]

"Thanks. That's... that's nice of you, really. I'm just not really in the mood for studying these days. School is fairly low on my list of priorities."

She bit her lip, looking at the chocolate and taking a step back so that she could get a better view of it all. "I'm kind of tempted by the dark chocolate today."

[rar_michael]

"'s okay, Lavender. Just know that you're welcome to any study sessions that occur. Lisa was even planning some oral sessions, since I have trouble reading for too long." He gestured at his glasses.

He turned back to the display. "Enough about that. You're thinking dark? I was thinking about something nutty, myself."

[rar_lavender]

"I... I'll have to think about it. I'm not fond of reading. Words never quite make the same sense in my head that they must do on the paper. Reading aloud might help." Lavender thought it was worth considering, at any rate. "I'll have to ask Lisa when I see her at the house sometime."

She pursed her lips, nodded. "Yeah. A nice high cocoa solid content. On the other hand, though, I'm quite partial to the milk chocolate with a caramel in the middle."

[rar_michael]

Michael nodded. "Just let her know if you're interested." They all needed to study; it made sense to help each other out.

"Dark chocolate or milk chocolate with caramel? Could you be indecisive and get both?" He looked at the brightly wrapped bars. "I think I'll have a milk chocolate with hazelnuts, and a dark with almonds." He wondered if he should get something for his housemates, but decided the cold box full of food could stand as his food contribution for the month.

[rar_lavender]

"Oh, I was planning to," Lavender said, plucking a couple of bars from the shelf. "I think I might get one of the plain bars of milk, too." She looked a little distastefully at a couple of the other bars. "And white chocolate simply isn't real chocolate, so I shall ignore those bars."

She looked at the bars in her hands, calculating how much more she could afford. Lavender gave him a smile. "Picking chocolate can be serious business."

[rar_michael]

"Okay then. I wasn't sure how decisive you needed to be, is all. Variety's good, although I'm with you all the way on the white chocolate." He wrinkled his nose. "Chocolate without cocoa seems a bit, I dunno, pointless, I guess."

He grinned when Lavender smiled at him. She seemed happier now that they weren't talking about school. "Chocolate is serious business indeed. I think I need some jelly slugs and peppermint toads, too. In the interest of fairness to non-chocolate candies, and all. We wouldn't want anything to feel left out."

[rar_lavender]

"Yes, completely pointless," Lavender agreed. Some people liked it, but it didn't do anything for her.

She laughed, picking another bar from the shelf. "Ah, see, I'm strictly a chocolate girl these days. Not that there's anything wrong with jelly slugs, but I don't have the same appreciation for them now as I did when I was younger."

[rar_michael]

"Well, I've always heard that girls mature faster than blokes. That means I can probably safely eat jelly slugs until I'm 25, at least." He thought for a moment. "Although I believe I have outgrown acid pops and Drooble's gum. Draco would probably have a fit if I filled the house with bubbles."

"Did I see you behind the counter at Wheezes at Christmas time? Are you working there now, or was it just for the holidays?" Michael didn't have time for a real job now, but he knew some of his classmates didn't carry the same workload he did.

[rar_lavender]

"I've heard that, too," Lavender said with a nod. "Then again, you may never grow out of your love of jelly slugs. The change in my sweet tooth was... pretty sudden." She giggled at the thought of the house being filled with bubbles. "I forgot that you live with him. He'd probably hex each and every bubble. I saw him the other day, trying to get rid of your Christmas tree. I think the tree won the battle, though."

She grinned. "Yeah, you did. I'm working there a lot. I wasn't sure whether it was just going to be over Christmas or what, but I really enjoy it and George hasn't tried to get rid of me yet."

[rar_michael]

"Hmm. Maybe you have something there. We could use the bubbles for revision...we could charm them, transfigure them, hex them..." He looked at her. "I kind of wondered where the tree went to. I helped him charm the decorations, but I wasn't sure how the tree arrived or how it left."

"Good on you, then, if you enjoy your work. I've listened to my dad complain about his job for years. Weasley seems a good bloke, I bet he's a good boss."

[rar_lavender]

"That sounds quite interesting. But when they pop you'd just end up getting bubblegum everywhere, and that's definitely no fun to clean up." She nodded. "I think he ended up just leaving it in your garden. He got a nasty cut on his hand which I helped patch up. Sent him back to your place with some surplus cherry cake I made, so I hope he didn't keep it all to himself!"

Lavender smiled warmly as she thought of work. "He's not what I expected him to be like as a boss, but in a good way. Very good to work for and I get to try out various products, which can be fun. You don't really get dull moments in a joke shop."