Sweet Revenge

Bonds

As Minerva read and ruminated over Tom's book in her office at Hogwarts, Snape was bursting in to another Pool Party Committee Meeting. He was tardy and subsequently very grumpy because it was his first tardy in years. Regression was not an option!

          "Severus, my great great aunt Hesper would like to donate several thousand Plimpies for the party, and I didn't know how to say no thank you--she is ever so sweet, you see!" 

Severus blinked. Rabastan was sitting in his wingback chair at the table, legs crossed, twiddling his thumbs. Narcissa was in front of Severus, wringing her hands with a look of tentative hope dawning on her face.

          "...You have a great great aunt?"

Narcissa's face fell.

         "Yes, but do you have any ideas what to do with the Plimpies? We're getting the livraison tomorrow afternoon!"

          "I could use a stock of Plimpy eyes at Hogwarts, I think?"

          "No!" Narcissa cried, horrified. "That is very unkind of you, Severus!"

Just then, Rabastan butted in from across the room.

          "Cissa, you do realize that Lady Gamp runs a Plimpy farm and that she sells their eyes to potion makers?"

          "Oh, she does, does she?" Severus said, crossing his arms with a smug air.

Narcissa looked stunned and then indignant and then at loss for words.

           "Aunt Hesper is very kind, for your information! This meeting is adjourned! Find some humanitarian way to deal with the Plimpies!" Narcissa directed hotly as she stormed past Severus and into the hallway of Malfoy Manor.

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The halls of Hogwarts had been particularly quiet these past few days, and Neville had been on edge the whole time. It was simply unnatural for there to be such peace and calm! He heaved yet another sigh as he made his way to the greenhouses.

Pushing open the door and parting the vines, he could make out a head of long, curly blonde hair at the back near the Alihosty sprouts. Creeping up carefully behind, he gave Luna a tight bear hug before peering over her shoulder to her notepad.

           "What are you doing?" He murmured into her shoulder.

She hummed and jotted down some notes.

            "Just reflecting."

            "Yeah?"

She nodded, and Neville carefully released her. He took up the watering can and cast Aguamenti to fill it with water. Although he could have just sprayed the plants with the spell, he found something comforting in watering them by hand. It helped him feel closer to the earth.

              "Neville?"

               "Hmm?"

               "I'd like to travel with you after Hogwarts."

Neville's head turned so fast he almost got whiplash. 

                "You and me? After we graduate? Where would we go?"

               "I'd like to see France. Maybe Harry could introduce us to Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel? Then, we could go to Egypt and Japan and all over. We'd learn all the things to know in this life, and when we pass on, we'd be somewhere in the Himalayas on the top of the world."

Neville regarded her with a softness in his face.

              "Let's do it, then. The two of us," he said with a half-smile.

Luna met his gaze and glanced down.

              "Oh, and by the way, did I tell you Harry's also met his soulmate?" she said in a more upbeat tone.

             "Really?" 

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Lucius walked down the rows of his wine cellar with a clipboard and quill, noting the dates of the wines he had stored (he liked to think he was basically a sommelier at this point) and testing them. Since his relatives and friends trashed his wine cellar so often, he had taken it upon himself to account for the precious bottles that went missing, but over time, it became a pleasant way to relax. 

He tapped his 1985 Elvish red wine bottle of which only a small volume remained (Bella had poured herself some a few months ago while drunk and proceeded to spill it on Lady Greengrass) and noted to himself to replenish his supply.

Just then, the cellar door creaked open, and Draco came down the steps--gingerly, to make sure he didn't disturb the bottles. Although he had been down here several times in his life, his eyes always widened in awe at the expansive room filled with wine cabinets and barrels.

          "Can I have some?" He ventured to his father.

          "No."

          "I had a mojito at Astoria's last party," he argued without much fire.

          "Right, and your mother had a mimosa."

           "Didn't you have a Prosecco, though?"

           "Yes."

           "Where'd you get it?" Draco approached his father, who had since moved on to the next barrel of wine.

           "I think it was from Cartizze," Lucius replied.

Despite his belief that wixen and Muggles should be kept separate for security and cultural reasons, Lucius made a notable exception for Muggle-made wine. The elves took far too long per bottle, and although Lucius was willing to pay lavish sums of money for the best elvish wines, he also needed to replenish his stock fairly quickly. Muggle wine could be quite good as well.

Lucius had been glad to have a son as interested in fine wines as himself. Draco would still not technically be allowed to drink wine until he was 17, but that was soon--this coming June. Lucius used to bring little Draco down to the wine cellar to show him the color of the wines and share his love for aesthetic, and these memories now rendered him a hint nostalgic. He looked over at a now-grown Draco who was running his hand over the wine barrels as he walked in front of Lucius. It was truly a look of pride and reminiscence.