A Taste of Magic

Chapter 100: 100th Course - Blissfully Awkward

"I think I finally understand why my parents were so strict about sweets," Hermione said.

Parvati smiled, sipping some ginger tea. "Yeah, Padma and I have totally done that before. Snuck out after bedtime, ate stuff we shouldn't have or too much of, and gotten sick."

"What did your parents do?" Hermione asked, sipping peppermint tea. "Or your grandmother?"

"Grandmum would just make us act like we weren't dying," Parvati said. "As in chores and still eat normally. No lying in bed being sick. Mum and Dad would just lecture us and not let us have sweets or whatever for a while which was a blessing instead of a punishment after the super bad incidents."

The girls were sitting in the common room. Inky had delivered bottles of the tea to them and after some more rest and sipping, they felt a little better. After forcing themselves out of bed, they made it as far as the common room and decided to sit again.

"Are you really going to go after Blaise?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Probably not. Since it wasn't technically his fault. Besides, it was for a good cause."

"Look at you rationalizing rule bending," Parvati grinned.

"Yes yes, go on. Make your trite statement about how it's Tracey corrupting me," Hermione said with a smile.

"Actually, I'm beginning to think this is the real you, one you kept under wraps for so long and now you have the ability to let it free," Parvati said brightly. "That or you're going mad with power."

Hermione snorted richly at that. "I do hope Pansy is feeling better," she said. She frowned a little. "Why do you think she was out of sorts to begin with?"

"Maybe it has to do with the situation," Parvati said, her voice dropping into a whisper.

"Oh my, that would make sense," Hermione said, eyes round. "But if Lavender helped us rally to Pansy, it can't have gone poorly, could it?"

"I mean it had to have gone not so great for one of them, though that can be relative," Parvati said. "Speaking of, where's Lavender?"

As if summoned, the portrait door swung open and Lavender walked in. Her smile was still very much evident and she looked like she was skipping. "Hi girls!"

"Oh wow, someone is cheery," Parvati said when Lavender approached. "Why are you in such a good mood? Also, how are you in such a good mood? You ate more than I did last night."

"Pretty sure I didn't," Lavender protested. "I only had a big piece of tiramisu. You had two."

"You got more fudge than I did," Parvati said.

"No that was me," Hermione said, cheeks pink. "It was really good."

"Oh that's right. What did I do that made me feel like a whale?" Parvati mused.

"You made the cake sandwich with the fudge," Lavender said. "And the extra-large milkshake."

"Oh yeah I did. That was a terrible idea in retrospect," Parvati laughed. "But seriously, you look like your stomach isn't bothering you at all."

"It is a little," Lavender said ruefully. "But I guess I'm so happy that I'm not too bothered by it."

"Oh yeah? Why are you so happy?" Parvati asked.