The Confectionary Chronicles || HP/SPN

Sweets and Studies- CH2

Fay, seeing Hermione was unperturbed by her comment, just smiled back before returning to instructing the other first years. It only took about fifteen minutes for everyone in the compartment to master the lumos charm, and from there, everybody seemed to split off into pairs. Fay and Sally-Anne were happy to chat together, as were Dean and Kevin. Justin was quick to become deeply absorbed in his copy of 'Numerology and Grammatica', not that she blamed him, it was a fascinating read, and Hermione had no issue with continuing with her translating work, though it would have been nice to chat some more, or meet some new faces.

At about a quarter past twelve, there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door to ask, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Curious, all six of them filed out into the corridor to see what sort of magical sweets were available – and they were not disappointed by the selection they found! The woman's cart was stacked high with Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Licorice Wands, and a number of other strange but delicious concoctions that Hermione knew Loki would love. She had a pocketful of leftover galleons from the trip to Diagon Alley, when Loki had 'accidentally' converted far too many pounds into wizarding money and insisted she kept the change, and she ended up buying a stack of sweets for her compartment to share, as well as some to send back to Loki.

The six of them had great fun, working their way through the stack of sweets, exploring the different flavours of pasties, cakes and candies. Vashti adored her ice mice, hoarding her collection and threatening to peck anyone who tried to get close. Nobody dared.

Hermione's personal favourites of the sweets were the Chocolate Frogs, though she was probably biased because the card inside the first Chocolate Frog she unwrapped was the Lady Morgana, with her dark curls, clever eyes and secret smile. She also managed to trade Paracelsus to Justin in return for Merlin, who winked up at her with his bright blue eyes, and she beamed back down at the tiny portrait, clutching both cards tight, unable to help but feel it was a good omen for the school year ahead.

After all of them had filled up on the sweets, they returned to their previous activities. Outside, the countryside flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had long gone, replaced by woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.

Hermione was translating a balm for reducing swelling into her notebook when there was a knock on the door of their compartment and a round-faced boy came in. He looked tearful.

"Sorry," he sniffed, "but have you seen a toad at all?"

Kevin immediately yanked his feet up from the floor, looking horrified.

'I don't think there's a toad in here,' Vashti said, peering around curiously.

Hermione repeated that out loud for the boy, who sniffed again, wiping quickly under his eyes.

"S-Sorry for interrupting you," he mumbled, turning to leave.

"Wait!" Hermione said, jumping to her feet. Her sudden movement startled Vashti, whose flapping her wings made Kevin yelp, his hands flying up to cover his face as he flinched back. "Sorry, sorry," she apologised, lifting Vashti up from the back of the seat and onto her shoulder, before turning back to the boy. "Would you like some help searching?" she offered.

"Yes please!" the boy said, looking relieved, and Hermione followed him out of the compartment, into the corridor.

"I'm Hermione Granger," she introduced herself, "and this is Vashti."

"She's lovely," the boy said shyly, which made Vashti preen. "I'm Neville Longbottom. And my toad's name is Trevor." Neville's lip trembled slightly. "He keeps getting away from me. I don't know why. I've been taking such good care of him, I swear!"