RP: Easter Dinner

[shh_hermione]

Date: April 8, 2005
Character(s): Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Harry Potter, Roger Davies, Viktor Krum, Neville Longbottom, Lavender Brown
Location: 33 Alpha Lane
Status: Private
Summary: Easter dinner for 'family'
Completion: Complete

Comments

[shh_roger]

This was another holiday Roger never thought he'd celebrate again. Come to think of it, though, he'd never really celebrated Easter in the traditional way. As child, there had been chocolate, he remembered, but it was mainly dole out for all the children who played in the corner at the long society parties that were held to honor the occasion. There hadn't really been egg hunts, or baskets, so much. Though, Siouxsie, one of their house elves, would sneak him sticky hot cross buns with his breakfast. He'd not remembered that, actually, until he'd gone to pick some up at the bakery this morning

[shh_hermione]

"Hmph. Crookshanks has enough sense to know that people should earn their friendliness and doesn't just give it away with slobber," she defended, smiling slightly as she looked down at him and then back up at Roger. "He's family. Zuzu is just the new kid, and he still doesn't approve of Cocoa, especially after Cocoa tries to give him baths. In fact, Cocoa is lucky to be alive after those attempts, and might not be if Crooks was any younger."

"Dinner's to a point where I just need to heat up a few things, so we're good in here until we all decide to eat," she said thoughtfully, checking once again to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything.

They started to head outside when she felt the wards shift, soon followed by a knock. "Someone's here. You can go on outside while I answer the door," she decided, leaning up to kiss him one last time before company arrived and meant no more kisses.

[shh_neville]

Neville stood on the stoop of the pretty house, admiring the greenery around it, though his trained eye could see where a few plants would do better in other spots, and a few weeds were trying to strangle out a beautiful bunch of flowering plants. His fingers itched to dig into the soil, but he gathered himself together, shifting the large potted lily from his right arm to his left.

He raised his newly-freed right arm and knocked on the door, suddenly nervous all over again.

[shh_hermione]

After leaving Roger in the kitchen, Hermione walked through the house to the front door. Glancing out, she relaxed her grip on her wand and put it away before she opened the door.

"Good afternoon, Neville," she said, smiling slightly. "I'm glad you were able to come over today. Happy Easter."

[shh_neville]

"Hello, Hermione," Neville said. "I'm not late, am I?" He glanced around and noticed that he was the only one there. "Or, umm, too early?"

Nibbling on his lip, he looked down and remembered the lily in his hands. Holding it up, he said, "I brought this for you. It's an Easter Lily. I thought it might be appropriate for the occassion. It's heavy, though, so I'll put it wherever you like. And if there's anything I can do to help you, just let me know. I'm rather crap at cooking anything not out of a tin, but I do know how to stir... and, err, cut. Things like that." He wrinkled his nose and rolled his eyes. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

Smiling at her again, he said, "Happy Easter."

[shh_hermione]

"You're right on time," she said firmly, ending any doubts before Neville could start worrying.

"Oh, thank you. It's lovely." She reached out to touch the lily and considered where she'd like it. She'd probably take it to the shop for her office, but, for now, she'd just have him set it in the kitchen. "I think the kitchen might be best. There's good light back there, though I'll take it to the office with me tomorrow, most likely, so I can enjoy it more."

"The cooking is well in hand. Roger helped earlier, and it's mostly done now save for heating a few things before we eat later," she told him. She smiled. "There should be a cooking class for all you single blokes who consider dinner whatever tin you happen to have nearby."

Once they were in the kitchen, she motioned to where he could put the lily. "Harry and Roger are outside, so we can go on out and join them."

[shh_roger]

Roger stole a final kiss before Hermione went off to get the door. Once he'd watched her leave, still leaning against the counter, he looked down at Crookshanks. "Fine-looking mistress you've got, there," he commented. Crookshanks looked up at him and Roger could swear he rolled his beady eyes. He chuckled and scratched the cat behind his ears. "You should come out with us," he told it, and reached to scoop up Zuzu. He could still do it with one hand.

Zuzu was still wrestling with the hunk of rope and seemed reluctant to give up the fight. "Oi, you can take it with you," he said as he picked up puppy and rope alike and headed out the back door. He looked back o find Crookshanks following him, and smiled.

He stepped outside to where Harry was wrestling with Cocoa, and set Zuzu down. She forgot about the rope and set off in wild circles over the lawn.

[shh_neville]

Neville followed Hermione through the house, noting how much bigger it appeared on the inside than it had from the front walk. "This is beautiful," he said, slightly squirmy over the fact that he'd had Hermione and Ron over for dinner at his less-than-aesthetically appealing house. At least his roof hadn't been leaking then.

He waited patiently while Hermione found a good spot for the lily and then followed her to the back of the house, seeing a tall, good-looking fellow with a dog, who looked vaguely familiar. The man, that is. The dog, while gorgeous in a still-growing-into-its-paws sort of way, was not at all familiar.

He felt himself slowing down as they drew closer to the man, and straightened his shoulders in irritation at himself. He wasn't a bumbling child anymore, dammit. Pasting a somewhat confident smile on his face, Neville hurried to catch up with Hermione.

[shh_roger]

Roger bent to give Zuzu the hunk of rope, then straightened, grinning over at Hermione, who was leading a man who looked somewhat familiar out from the kitchen. "Hey," he began, when Zuzu immediately gamboled over to the other man. He was new, after all, and she had to see if she liked him. She yipped and began to climb over the new man's shoe. She needed to know what the hem of his trousers tasted like.

Smiling slightly, Roger headed over a bit more quickly. "Sorry," he said. "Trying to get her to stop doing that. No, Zuzu." He glanced at Hermione with a half-grin, then offered a hand to her friend. "Er. Hullo. I'm Roger; good to meet you."

[shh_neville]

Neville grinned and waved Roger's concern off, squatting down to pat the fluffy little puppy and laughing when it licked him on the chin, obviously pleased with itself. He stood back up to shake Roger's hand, hoping the other man didn't realise his dog was attempting to run off with Neville's shoes--while he was still wearing them, of course.

"Hello, Roger. Neville Longbottom. Nice to meet you."

He looked back at Hermione and, seeing the way she looked at Roger, realised that there was something more than friendship between them. He smiled faintly, pleased for his friend.

[shh_ron]

Ron went to Copper Towers to pick up Lavender. It wasn't a long walk from her flat to his house, but he wanted to have her to himself for a few minutes, at least, before they joined everyone at dinner. He was still thinking about the nightmare he'd had two nights ago at Lavender's flat. It seemed as though he hardly ever went there anymore without having a nightmare, but it couldn't be anything to do with her, because being with Lavender made him happy. This nightmare was the most vivid yet, the first time he knew what he was encountering in the dream. It still made his heart ache to think about it, so today he was going to do his best not to. He would be with Lavender, as well as Viktor and Roger. Neville would be there too. And Harry and Hermione, both whole and reasonably healthy, would be there as well. He had nothing to worry about. He would eat and enjoy himself and everything would be okay

[shh_lavender]

Lavender enjoyed the walk from Copper Towers to Ron's house. He wasn't going to mention the nightmare that he'd had at her place, and neither was she. It still worried her, though, especially as she didn't recall him having any whenever she had slept at his place. It was almost kind of tempting to find a couple of her old schoolbooks from Divination classes and doing a Trelawney-esque style cleansing of the flat, but Lavender dismissed the idea almost at once because it even sounded ridiculous. Lighting a few candles was hardly going to stop Ron from having nightmares.

The food smelled good when the went into the house, though it was strangely quiet and Lavender couldn't see Harry or Hermione anywhere. Then, she heard what sounded like a small dog yapping playfully outside. "The garden?" she suggested, and they went out to see where everyone was. The weather was lovely, so Lavender could see why they'd set out blankets and the table to eat out there. She gave a friendly smile. "Hello!"

[shh_hermione]

The warm sun made her feel lazy. Hermione was tempted to just lay back and watch the clouds, though she wasn't entirely sure that she might not slip into a short nap if she did, so it was probably better that she didn't. She listened to Roger and Neville talking about a roof while Harry played with Cocoa. It was nice but still incomplete.

The wards shifted slightly, and it wasn't long after before Ron and Lavender came outside. Now that Ron was there, things felt complete. Viktor was a good friend and had become like a dependable older brother in the last few months, but Ron was her brother. Now that he was there, she had her family.

"Hello, Lavender. We're happy that you could join us. Ron, there are drinks on the table if you two are thirsty," she said, motioning to where Roger had set out the beverages he'd brought.

[shh_ron]

It was a nice day and Ron knew Hermione had wanted to have a picnic, so it didn't really surprise him that she'd set everything up out back in the yard. He went into the garden with Lavender and sure enough, everyone had gathered there. Harry was playing with Cocoa, Roger was there with Zuzu, and Neville had already taken a seat on one of the blankets.

Ron hugged Hermione's shoulders. "Hey, everything looks great." Then he and Lavender walked over to where the drinks were, chose some and sat down across from Neville.

"Hullo, stranger," Ron said. "Haven't seen you in awhile. How's the greenhouse doing?"

[shh_viktor]

Viktor and Maire were running a little bit late, largely thanks to Maire having eaten a it too much chocolate and then requiring a nap. Still, that had been all right; Viktor had had a chance to clean up the kitchen a bit and look at the small but potentially problematic drip from the water heating barrel

[shh_hermione]

Hermione was sipping her lemonade and listening to the various conversations around her when she felt the wards shift. "Must be Viktor," she said, putting down her glass and getting to her feet. "I'll go let him and Maire in."

She walked past Roger and squeezed his shoulder slightly, smiling down at him before she went inside. She checked on the warming charms to make sure the food was okay on her way to the front door. Once there, she opened it and blinked when she a very brightly colored Maire.

"Good afternoon, Viktor. Happy Easter, Maire. You look very colorful today," she said, stepping side so they could enter.

[shh_viktor]

Maire bounced on past Hermione, stopping to declare, "Da wanted me ta wear a yellow dress." She sighed dramatically, then turned again to look for Crookshanks.

Viktor laughed and handed Hermione the bread. "This is traditional, my family. Eggs, which are cooked in, you are take out as you tear off bread, and then, is hit eggs at each other, until last person with no cracking, is lucky." He paused. "Is hit eggs, for not like throw. For like, as hit glasses at each other before to drink?"

He shrugged. "If is not fit, for dinner, then is gift."

He followed her into the house, keeping an eye on Maire, who was currently looking under the couch.

[shh_hermione]

"A yellow dress? How dare he suggest such a thing? Yellow is awful," Hermione said, winking at Viktor