Sundae Afternoon

Dislaimer:

J. K. R. owns it all!

Author's Note:

I wish to thank my amazing beta team, Sempra and Chivalric, and special guest beta, Beaweasley2.

Thank you, Sempra! You suggest ideas & improvements, fix my commas, point out egregious errors, and brit pick. And you do it all impossibly quickly.

Thank you, Chivalric! You helped me plot this thing and continue to help when I run dry on ideas.

Thank you, Beaweasley2, my special guest beta, who set this in motion with an idea you casually mentioned in an encouraging e-mail! The idea was that an internet search would turn up many ideas for getting revenge. Brilliant!

This story would not exist without all three of you!

Chapter 5

Sundae Afternoon

"That was fun!" Hermione said, sitting down next to Neville at a table outside of Fortescue's. Neville looked at her expectantly.

"Ginny went in to chat up Michael Corner, and while he was distracted, I put up a sign on his window advertising store sample brooms for five Galleons each. 'Slightly shopworn.' I used a really strong sticking charm on it. Then I walked over here."

"Ginny should be here soon," Neville said, "unless she's enjoying Corner's lame attempts to rekindle the old flame." Neville had been jealous of Michael Corner when he had been dating Ginny, and he still recalled the nasty comment Corner had made about him and Professor Snape last weekend at the Ministry.

"I saw the delivery owl flying into Corner's shop as I ran off. It won't be long," Hermione said. "Neville, I want to know something. You were Wizard-born and raised, not like me. Does it bother you to find out that Justin's maid and housekeeper are Squibs? Ginny tells me that a lot of Squibs are not properly educated in Muggle schools, but are expected to do menial jobs, like Mr. Filch. No wonder he hates the students! He must have longed to attend Hogwarts."

"I didn't know they were Squibs, but – I don't know, it doesn't strike me as that odd. I mean, Justin is good to them. He keeps an automobile there, even though he obviously rarely needs it. He could call a taxi when he needs one, as little as he would need to go in a Muggle automobile. He lets them use the auto, and they have that nice telly-vision and computers too. He Apparates back to his flat in London. You know he works in the Muggle Prime Minister's office. He only comes to his house two or three times a month usually. But they live there all the time and have that car and a nice place to live and food paid for and all."

"Neville, how do you know all this?" Hermione asked.

"Miss Richards talked my ear off for a while after you left yesterday," Neville said. "She's very friendly, and she knew a lot about my parents. I think she wanted to mother me because she sent me home with some food, even though I told her the house-elves feed us at Hogwarts.

"Anyway, they seem happy there. Miss Upson told me all about how they have the car to use and how comfortable the house is, and the village Muggles are friendly.

"I don't know," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Seems like he ought to have witches working for him – or something. I don't know. It's wrong to make Squibs be servants."

"Miss Richards said she can't wait for Mr. Justin get married and have babies," Neville added. "She was eyeing both you girls as likely candidates. Miss Richards and Miss Upton have read about you in the Daily Prophet. They both agreed that either one of 'the young ladies' would make a fine bride for Mr. Justin."

"Why not Miss Upton?" Hermione objected. "She's no older than we are, I bet."

"I'm sure she's a nice girl, Hermione. But personally, I have my eye on someone else."

"Oh, Neville!" Hermione began with a big smile. "Oh, here she is! Talk later!" Ginny had appeared on the Apparation Platform by Fortesque's.

"Well, it all went as planned," Ginny said with a grin as she flopped gracelessly into a chair. Hermione noticed that Neville gazed at her as though she were the most beautiful thing in the world.

"That owl from George came in with the package," Ginny continued, "and when Michael opened it, out came a bang and a Stinging Hex! So I offered him my painkiller from the bottle in my purse, the one clearly marked St. Mungo's. Told him I had it for aches and pains after practice, that a nice Healer had given it to me. Told him there was one dose left. I got the bottle back from him, no evidence! I said I'd refill it before next practice. He'll be blue in ten minutes or so."

"Why do they use that if it turns people blue, Neville?" Hermione asked. "I was wondering about that last night."

"Well, don't lose any sleep over it," Neville replied teasingly. "They use it for some people who have reactions to other medicines. No one's had a bad reaction to it yet. Also, some of the children get a big kick out of being blue. Since they are in the hospital anyway, and not likely to cause a scene in the Muggle world, it's a harmless way to give them a little pleasure."

"The package had a receipt in it for one joke Stinging Hex from Draco Malfoy, paid in cash," Ginny continued triumphantly. "So Michael is angry at Malfoy now. In ten minutes he'll be blue and fuming. He'll most likely blame Malfoy for the blue, too. And the funniest thing is that he thinks I feel sorry for him. I said how stupid Malfoy is, so he thinks he's on the inside track now."

"Perhaps we ought to recommend that Michael look up revenge ideas on the Internet," said Neville.

Florean Fortesque the Fourth, daughter of the late, lamented owner, walked up to their table to take their orders.

"I love to see such happy customers!" she said. "And minding your own business, too. I had that Rita Skeeter here an hour ago, nosing around, asking if 'anyone who was anyone' had been here today. As if I'd tell her! People have a right to a bit of ice cream and fun without the likes of her watching their every move. Told her I'd toss her out if I caught her eavesdropping on the other customers!"

The friends ordered hot fudge sundaes and rejoiced in missing Rita Skeeter.

"Neville?" asked Hermione as they ate their sundaes, "since when are you such friends with Snape? When you started as Professor Sprout's apprentice, you said he pretty much ignored you."

"He did, but when Pomona decided she wanted me to succeed her as Herbology professor, he began to take more of an interest," Neville replied. "I found out later that he didn't think I'd be a good teacher, but he gave me a chance, anyway. He didn't argue with Pomona (that I know of), or tell her how to run her classes, and she let me begin teaching the younger students and marking papers. So by the time she left, I'd learned a lot about teaching and discovered a few tricks for getting along with Professor Snape."

"Sucking up to the boss, eh?" Hermione teased. "Nothing wrong with that, in moderation," she hastened to add.

"No, you don't understand!" Neville said earnestly. "Professor Snape is... I mean, it's not sucking up to the boss."

"Hermione, you weren't there that year," Ginny said. "We know how much we owe Snape. He got us through that hellish war year without a single student death. And believe me, the Death Eaters stationed at the school were not worried if they killed a few of us. In fact they'd have liked it. It would have cowed the rest of us, so they imagined.

"Professor Snape managed to keep the Death Eaters believing he was loyal to You-Know-Who and still keep us alive. And he'd sneak us healing potions sometimes."

"Or pain potions," Neville added. "So I could look horribly bruised and still feel alright. He always had some excuse about needing someone at full strength for something. And he couldn't do it too often, but when anyone was really badly beaten or any bones were broken, Snape always made certain that Madame Pomfrey treated them, or he gave them a potion himself.

"Sometimes he seemed to appear out of nowhere and mislead Mr. Filch or the Carrows as they looked for us. At the time we thought it was just our good luck, but we know now he knew where we were and deliberately misled the others."

"Of course, we didn't know that Snape was on our side," Ginny added. "Every time he gave me a potion, I was certain he was going to poison me. But he made me drink it down right there in his office.

"One time I was in the hospital wing and heard him talking to Alecto Carrow, who had hexed me badly. Professor Snape said, 'You can't kill the children. Discipline them if you must, but you can't kill them. If we kill their children, the citizens will rise up against us, but if we keep them hostage here, the populace will allow us to do anything to the Mudbloods to keep their own children safe.'"

"I thought he sounded bloodthirsty at the time," Ginny continued with a strained look on her face, "but now I know it was an excuse to keep us alive. He couldn't do anything to help the Muggle-borns that were hunted down, except work for the defeat of Voldemort. But he could keep us alive."

"Professor Snape was risking his life to get us out of detentions with the Carrows and into the woods with Hagrid," Neville said. "If You-Know... Tom Riddle had discovered what he was doing, he'd have been dead."

"As if we were in any danger there with Hagrid and the hippogriffs and unicorns guarding us!" scoffed Ginny. "Only the Death Eaters thought we were risking our lives. We all pretended it was horrible to go into the woods. And we'd come out with smears of dirt and torn clothing to make it look like we'd been traumatized."

"That was Ginny's idea," Neville said proudly.

"And we'd beg them not to send us back in there; that was Neville's idea!" Ginny said, smiling fondly at Neville.

"What about the centaurs? They were angry when humans came into the woods," Hermione asked.

"They were angry at first," Neville said, "but when Hagrid explained that the Death Eaters had sent us in as punishment, they left us alone. They said they didn't hurt children and wouldn't hurt Hagrid, as he was only there to protect us."

Hermione was embarrassed that she had forgotten these things because Ginny and Neville and the others had told their tales after Voldemort's death.

"It had slipped my mind, even though I heard a lot of this right after the last battle," Hermione admitted, shamefaced. She realized that every time Neville or Ginny seemed deferential to Professor Snape, it wasn't currying favour or from fear, it was gratitude. If the man wanted to be cross or curmudgeonly, Ginny and Neville would smile through it all, remembering how many times a cross expression and a verbal threat had accompanied an actual healing potion or spell, or a detention in the Forest.

"The way I see it is this," Neville began. "Professor Snape wants respect. He was badly treated in his youth, and now he wants the trappings of respect. Take his Order of Merlin, First Class: he keeps it hidden away, but I think it means a lot to him.

"I call him 'sir' or 'Headmaster' or 'Professor.' Even Professor McGonagall has asked me to call her Minerva, but not Professor Snape. Some day he might, but until then, I don't mind. I'm proud to call him 'sir.' He's old enough to be my father and he saved my life. He saved all of us, actually. We'd never have won the war without him.

"So I treat him with respect, and because it's not spurious, he accepts it. This way, I let him know I realize how much in his debt we all are, but without anything so embarrassing as actually saying it. And he likes it. I think on some level he needs it, but if someone was pretending just to get on his good side, he'd know in a minute." Hermione and Ginny nodded.

A house-elf appeared on the Apparation Platform by Fortesque's and hurried over to their table.

"Professor Longbottom, sir," he said with a bow, "Noble Headmaster Snape is wanting the red crocus bulbs now. He sent me to ask you is it the red bag or the white bag they is in, for the m..."

"Yes, Lucky, let's just talk over here where it's quieter!" Neville said and practically dragged the house-elf over to an empty corner where he cast a privacy spell. After talking to the elf for a minute or so, the creature disappeared with a pop and Neville returned to his friends.

"Sorry, private Hogwarts business," he said.

"You're lucky there are two of us here, Neville," Hermione teased. "If only one of us was here, the one who was here would be so tempted to try to get that information out of you. But seeing as we are here together, I have to be good in front of Ginny and she has to be good in front of me."

They all laughed and did not notice a large insect detach itself from Neville's trouser cuff and fly away.

George Weasley wandered up to their table and signaled Miss Fortesque, holding up one finger before he sat down.

"It worked as you thought!" George said. "That house-elf, Kreacher, came in the shop asking for traditional wedding pranks. He told me he remembered that Master Sirius played several such pranks on James Potter when he married, so it was only fitting that Harry Potter have traditional wedding pranks played on him! He got rather maudlin over Regulus Black, saying if he'd lived to marry, Kreacher could have turned him and his bride blue. And he wasn't going to let his new master, Harry Potter, go lacking in any pureblood tradition. He said he would fix it for the Weasleys as well."

"Oh, George, thank you!" Hermione said. "I didn't want Ron to be left out!"

"Hermione drew Kreacher out last night!" Ginny said, "asking him questions about the old days and saying what a good house-elf he was. And she got him talking about weddings, and then about Sirius and his tricks. She's a marvel."

"Well, Kreacher left the shop quite pleased," George said. "I told him he was welcome back anytime, family discount and all."

"Family discount?" Ginny scoffed. "You sold him a bottle of Neville's potion that we gave you. Sounds like pure profit to me."

"I had to pay for the bottle," George said, pretending to pout.

"And we appreciate it, George," Hermione said. "Stop giving the boy a hard time, Ginny, or he won't give me a family discount!"

"Always, Hermione," replied George. "You know, Neville, I might want to buy some of that from you. It might end up selling well, for those who want to send more than a Howler, but less than a bomb."

"Not that we sell bombs!" he added quickly, looking around. He didn't want to scare off potential customers.

"Of course you don't sell bombs, Mr. George," said Miss Fortesque with a smile as she served him his ice cream.

"Just think, it's noon here; it's about 8 a.m. where Harry is," Ginny said. "When they go out for breakfast, Kreacher will slip into their rooms and leave them those little presents. Something all four of them can enjoy."

Miss Florean Fortesque the Fourth left the table smiling at the thought that the young ladies were true ladies, indeed. Not a fortnight ago they'd been jilted by their fiancés, and now they were sending them wedding gifts.

@@@@@

Later that afternoon, Hermione and Ginny were sitting in the kitchen in Grimmauld Place, answering their mail.

A letter lay in front of Ginny, who was penning a response.

Sunday, May 9, 2004

Draco

Ginny sighed and tossed her finished letter across the kitchen table towards Hermione, who had just completed writing her own.

"Here," Hermione said and gave her friend the letter she had been working on.

She read Ginny's missive:

Sunday, May 9, 2004

Ginevra Molly Weasley

"Oh good, you threaten to call him out!" Hermione said. "I'll be your second if it comes to that!"

"Such a shame you to have to return these pretties," she added, fingering the incredible necklace the owl had brought. "I know you must, but it would serve him right if you simply tucked this one into your Gringotts vault and pretended it never showed up!"

"Don't think I'm not tempted," Ginny answered with a sigh. "I'll never own anything so grand as this. And it's human-made, so the goblins will never be asking for it back." She picked up Hermione's letter.

Blaise is behaving better than Draco, don't you think?" Ginny asked. "Draco thinks he can buy me. Blaise is at least more subtle in his attempts to buy you."

Another owl fluttered in through the open window and presented a letter to Ginny.

"It's Michael Corner, he regrets..." She burst out laughing.

"What? What?" Hermione cried.

"He regrets he can't meet me after practice tomorrow because he is ill," Ginny replied, still laughing. "He is too ill to work at the shop and his mother is nursing him. She refuses to let him leave the house until she determines if whatever he has is catching."

"He's ill? "Hermione said. "He means he's blue. Oh, he'll be blue for a fortnight! I hadn't thought how that would inconvenience the rest of his family!"

Kreacher appeared in the kitchen with a pop.

"Kreacher will be feeding the owls now, young ladies," he grumbled. "Grocery bills is higher with those owls being fed here so much. Young gentlemen should be feeding these owls before they sends them!"

The three owls sat expectantly. They had learned that this household never sent them away without a generous treat. The doorbell sounded, unaccompanied by any shrieks from Mrs. Black's Portrait.

"I'll get the door, it's probably our professors!" said Hermione. "Thank you for taking care of these owls, Kreacher. I'm sorry they're such a bother."

"After Kreacher feeds you, you take this letter to Blaise Zabini," she told the owl.

"And bite him," she added under her breath as she left the room.

@@@@@

The visitors were indeed Neville and Professor Snape. Kreacher was delighted to serve tea to the group, especially to the old friend of Master Regulus.

"Headmaster Snape sir should be visiting more often," he said.

"Yes, indeed, Headmaster," said Hermione who was pouring out tea. "And when we move to our own place, I hope you will visit us there."

Severus wondered if Hermione was flirting with him, and if so, did he approve of the idea? He rather thought he did.

"I'd be delighted, Miss Granger," he said gravely. "Two sugars, please."

@@@@@

It was nearly an hour later when Justin arrived via Floo. He stumbled out of the fireplace clutching a shopping bag to his chest.

"It is done!" he proclaimed dramatically and handed the shopping bag to Ginny.  "These practice robes were perfect. I looked so dashing strolling into that singles club, dressed like a quidditch player.   I looked great, except that I looked like Malfoy."  Even Severus smiled at that.

"I posted the sign with the picture of Malfoy.  That place was packed!   Witches and Wizards from all over the world!  They'll all see the advert.  Of course most of the Brits will recognize him, and they'll know he's rich." 

Justin handed Neville a copy of the ad he'd posted at the singles' club. 

"Looking for someone who will love me for myself," Neville read, simpering comically.  "I like romantic walks, fine dining, and showering my beloved with gifts."

"Well, that last part is true," Ginny said.  "He sent me another piece of jewelry today.  It just about breaks my heart to return them." She pulled the emerald necklace out of her pocket and handed it to Justin. The three men all looked at it in interest.

"Those are the Malfoy Emeralds," Severus said. "I wonder if Narcissa knows he sent them. They aren't her favourites, but she'd not be pleased to know they were winging around the country. Did he send you the rest?"

"He sent me rings and bracelets and earrings," Ginny replied. "I sent them all back."

Neville looked appalled. There was no way he could afford to give Ginny even one piece of jewelry like this.

"I expect the tiara is next," Severus said. "Draco must be amazed that you returned them. I am sorry to say he is not accustomed to associate with young ladies of quality."

"Oh! A Tiara!" Ginny wailed. "Emeralds in my hair, it'd look heavenly."

Hermione nodded in sympathetic agreement. "Enough about this jewelry!" she said. "So, Justin, you put up the sign?"

"Yes and 'Draco' got a lot of looks. I didn't stop to chat, but smiled at the interested parties. I could see as I left the club that people were hurrying over to see what I'd posted on the advertisement wall."

"Here is a key to the box I took out in the name of D. M.," Justin continued. "Diagon Alley post office is very convenient to your job."

"Yes, I eat lunch at Susan's most days," Hermione replied. "I'm sure lots of people will write to D. M. We'll pick out the best ones for Draco to meet in person."

"It isn't a dive at all," Justin said. "Really an elegant place full of attractive Witches and Wizards from all over. They hand you a translation amulet when you enter. And it has great Muggle-Repelling Charms. It isn't until you get inside the first doors that you can see the sign with the club's name..."

He grinned mischievously. "Gay Britain."

to be continued

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(Potter Place Anything Goes Challenge, PROMPT # 2)

For whatever reason, Harry has married someone other than Ginny. Ron has told Hermione that he needs a break. Both Ginny and Hermione vow never to fall in love again. What would happen if bets were placed that (whoever was betting) could make a woman fall in love with and agree to marry him in a certain amount of time? What happens when the girls find out it was only a bet?