Food Glorious Food ((Elizabeth))

[bellatrixlestrange]

There was only one way to put it. Faith was absolutely, starving. It seemed years since breakfast, her portion of toast and jam was a distant memory despite the fact only four hours had passed. She could feel her stomach rumbling uncomfortably as she entered the Great Hall, the smell of cooked food wafting across to her smelled unbearably good. She took a seat at the Gryffindor Table with great relish, casting her bag uncaringly to the floor and seizing her plate. Some first years raised their eyebrows slightly at her enthusiasm but Faith was in no mood to take any notice. She started to help herself to chicken and carrots with one hand, her wand organising the pouring of water with the other.

In five or so minutes Faith was feeling considerably better, the hunger had gone at once, replaced with the contentness she associated with the great hall. There was something about being surrounded by so many, happily chatting people that gave her a warm feeling of well-being. It was un-explainable but it was something Faith was used to. Faith took a sip of water and cast a glance down the table. The usual array or Gryffindors were there but the faces of Faith’s friends were missing among the crowd. She screwed up her face and set her glass down again, making a pleasing chink as it hit the wood and tried to imagine where everyone could be. Her thoughts were stifled, however, when someone sat down opposite her.

[liz]

Liz was reading quietly, curled up in an armchair in the Gryffindor common room. S she started to become a bit hungry however, Liz glanced at the clock, and smiled seeing that it was already time for lunch.
Closing her book, Liz climbed up to her dormitory to leave her book there and pulled a brush through her hair quickly.
Liz moved slowly towards the Great Hall, smiling at the sound of happily chatting people. She didn’t mind the noise – it was cheery and warm ad even welcoming in a way, even though Liz didn’t have very many friends herself to who she could chat like that.

Entering the Great Hall Liz moved to the Great Hall and almost sat down, when she noticed Faith sitting rather alone it seemed., so Liz moved on and sat down opposite of Faith: “Hey.” Liz smiled at Faith and picked up some sphagetti for herself, “The food here is always absolutely fantastic. SO you can’t do anything but eat, when you aren’t really that hungry.”<br>

[bellatrixlestrange]

"Hi!" Faith grinned at Liz as she sat down and spooned out spaghetti. They had met before in the Student Lounge and got on very well. Faith held Liz in very high regard for her skill at designing and enjoyed her company greatly. Faith listened to Liz's comments on the Hogwarts cusine and had to agree. She used to think nothing could better her Mother's home cooking but sadly enough for Mrs. Oraco there exsisted a thing called the Hogwarts start of term feast.

"I know," Faith agreed, stabbing a few carrots with her fork, "You just can't help it can you? I probably eat way too much but, thank God, I seem to stay pretty much the same whether I eat a few celery-sticks, or, well, or what I'm eating now."

She smiled down guiltily at the loaded plate infront of her and cast an eye at the chocolate gateau that was waiting for her afterwards.

"I blame my Dad," She continued, "He eats everything in sight, sets an awful example. Yep, it's all his fault."

She gave a sheepish smile in her friend's direction but continued to eat regardless.

[liz]

Liz giggled a little at Faith’s words and ate herself, even though she wasn’t feeling particularly hungry at the moment.
“I know what you mean. It’s sometimes shocking how much my dad and bro eat. Sometimes really makes me think where they put all that food!” Liz answered and reaching over piled some ice-cream on her plate and covered it with some fruits, before slowly licking a small mouth-full off her spoon enjoying every little moment of it: “I adore ice-cream. I have an absolutely humongous sweet tooth.”<br>
Liz opened here eyes again and grinned at Faith: “May I ask a scary question? Potions is a lot like cooking, at least in my opinion it is. So does that make Snape an awesome cook as well?”<br>Liz let a small giggle escape her mouth: “And would you dare to go and eat in a restaurant owned by Snape?”<br>

[bellatrixlestrange]

Faith giggled as an image of Snape in a chef’s hat swum before her eyes. She laughed her head in one hand as she attempted to get the image out of her head and gave an amused glance towards the High Table where Professor Snape himself was sat, neatly eating lunch.

“I don’t think I would go within ten miles of a restaurant owned by him, I wouldn’t trust him not to poison people,” Faith said as she swivelled her head back, shaking it slightly as she put some chicken into her mouth.

“I can just see him doing that, can’t you?” She said, after she swallowed. Faith had always disliked Professor Snape. Terrified memories from her first year still stood strong in her mind with no intention on leaving, and they influenced Faith’s opinion of him somewhat.

[liz]

Liz joined in with Faith’s giggle and followed her eyes to the staff table, where Snape was sitting. Still lowering her voice just in case – the potions professor had a nasty habit of approaching people quietly and without any warning: “But look at his hair and think of how much money he could safe from buying grease.”<br>Liz grimaced and rubbed her face, dropping her spoon on her plate: “God, I didn’t just think that. That’s gross. That’s worse than gross.”<br>
Liz opened her eyes and breathed out deeply: “Alright, forgetting disturbing mind-pictures that could cause nightmares. Potion classes are enough of that. What am I going to do in Snape’s Advanced potions class?”<br>Liz sighed and ate some more of her ice-cream: “Ice-cream really works for comforter. I usually go and bake something myself, but this works nicely too.”<br>

[bellatrixlestrange]

Faith nodded in agreement as she polished off her vegetables and pushed her plate to one side, reaching for her promised treat of chocolate gateau.

“Ice-cream definitely works, chocolate flavours best as a comforter,” She said, keen to steer the conversation away from the slightly scary one of Professor Snape as head chef, “Well, any chocolate does. It’s a miracle substance, I mean, there’s a reason why it’s a remedy against the effects of dementors, right?”<br>
Faith cut into the sponge of her cake, and gathered up some chocolate butter-cream on the end of her fork. She slipped it into her mouth, savouring the rich taste.

“This,” She continued, pointing to the chocolate cake with her fork, “Definitely works, I feel happier already,” She grinned, “Speaking off that then, you mentioned baking. Are you going to such lengths to make the population feel inadequate that you’re a cook as well as a designer?”<br>

[liz]

“Whoever created the basics of chocolate first in whatever country in whatever century should be hold as a hero for all the world!” Liz declared holding her spoon up as if making the statement legal at that moment, “I’m sure there has never been or will never been a female who can’t find at least some kind of comfort from chocolate!”<br>
Liz blushed but chuckled lightly at Faith’s last comment: “Well, I learned as a kid from my mother. And I had to cook when I was about 8.” Liz took a small bite of her ice-cream and looked up into the sky, recalling the events with a bit of sadness: “Dad was working – at that time he was just getting his job at the city-council he has know. And mom had just started her salon, so neither of them had much time to spend at home, even less for cooking. So me and Carter – that’s my bro – had to learn to cook or we would have had to live of fast-food or frozen micro-wave meals. Mom and dad were constantly away so maybe that’s why me and Carter became that close.”<br>Liz smiled a bit sadly – she didn’t like thinking of that times. With the parents both away at all time the family had grown distant for a time, even though Liz and Carter had supported each other completely. But they still couldn’t replace parents to the other one. Luckily that phase was past now, so Liz brought her eyes back to Faith and grinned, shoveling some more ice-cream into her mouth.

“That’s how I usually get past Potion classes. I just tell myself it’ just a new recipe I’m trying and that way it works for me. Luckily, as I don’t know what else I’d do in Snape’s classes otherwise. Especially since I want to – have to – get into his Advanced Potions class,” Liz grinned and helped herself some of the same chocolate-cake Faith was having, “What about you? Can you cook?”<br>

[bellatrixlestrange]

Faith pondered Liz's question for a second, her thoughts travelling back home, to her Mother, who was a brilliant cook and keen to pass on the torch. Memories of cooking lessons on bored Sundays were still vivid in Faith's mind, all of them were very pleasant and, she decided with a smile, quite succesful.

"Well," Faith concluded, after a moment, "I'm not one to judge, as I've only made a dessert or two and, well, if it's sweet and fattening then I think it tastes great, but the things I have created have been okay. Everyone seemed to like them well enough, though my family are human dustbins when it comes to food so perhaps it's their stomachs rather than their tastebuds talking. Unfortunatley though, it doesn't seem to have helped my Potions skills. I think it's my inability to stick to the recipe. I'm very bad at that."

She paused a moment to do something that had been tempting her for a while, and spoon icecream onto her plate beside her cake. It was very lucky that Faith stayed the same whatever she ate, or she would have been morbitley obese by now. Taking a spoon from the side of her plate and lodaing it with icecream she decided to venture a question that had been nagging at her conscience since Liz spoke.

"Alright," She began, "Don't think be utterly dim but I'll go spare if I don't find out. A, er, microwave?"

It was a definite draw-back to being pure-blooded, Faith decided, not understanding in the slightest what her friend's were talking about, it was the main reason why she had taken up Muggle Studies at the start of the year. She was pretty sure the said item had come up once or twice but she wasn't really sure what it was. She felt an unfamiliar hotness rise in her cheeks, Faith didn't get embarassed very easily, infact very rarely, but lack of knowledge was one of the few things that made her go red. However, saying this, it was very easy to get rid of and Faith felt it eb away as she looked up from her icecream and grinned at Liz.

"Do think me utterly dim, actually," She said, "For I am at the moment."

[liz]

“Microwave,” Liz muttered, being in a rather difficult position as she didn’t really even know how to describe what it is, “Well, it’s like a small oven basically.”<br>Liz showed the size with her hands, before suddenly getting an idea and pulling out her wand Liz produced a small prototype from the tip of it and showed it to Faith. A picture could be worth a thousand words from time to time.
“It’s a muggle kitchen-utensil actually. You can heat something there in a matter of minutes or prepare a frozen meal for eating in there,” Liz explained with a small smile, “It is rather useful, especially if you keep in mind that muggles can’t use magic.”<br>
Liz smiled at friendlily at Faith: “If you ever need help with muggle studies just let me know, as I’m at home with all of those things. I can even show you some or most of them sometime during summer. Or even at easter – I’m going home for a day then. Would you like to come as well, if you don’t have other plans?”
Liz smiled at Faith: “I’m mostly going home to have a ride on the ‘Flying Dream’ – that’s our boat. But I could give you a tour in the muggle world or let you enjoy a day at my moms salon.”<br>Liz smiled fondly thinking of home: “Mom’s been at me for ages to get some more friends and be more social.”<br>

[bellatrixlestrange]

A small oven, Faith made a mental note of the properties of a microwave for her next Muggle Studies class. It was one of her favourite lessons and one of the few she enjoyed doing extra work in. It was an extra reason to have a grudge against Slytherins, sadly enough, and the main reason she didn't know very many, the fact she loved Muggles so much. She found them fascinating and really couldn't see how other people didn't. This factor, then, prompted a wide-eyed, broad-grinned response when Liz offered to let Faith see any amount of Muggle artefacts at her house over Easter.

"Really?" She asked, ecstatic, "You mean I could come and like pry and poke and marvel, and - oh I shouldn't have said that. I mean," She cleared her throat loudly, "I can come and admire from afar and not touch at all. Thankyou so much!"

And at the prospect of spending a day at Liz's mum's famed salon, which she had heard so much, Faith's smile widened even more. To cap it all, cool as you please, Liz dropped her boat into the sentance. Faith choked on her water slightly.

"You have a boat?" She repeated slightly in awe, "So, wait, you have a mum who owns a wonderland, and a yacht and you need never take a Muggle Studies lesson? Gosh, Liz, you really do make people feel inadequete."

Faith laughed, shaking her head, and went back to finishing off her glass of water.

"Could you pass the pumpkin juice please?"

[liz]

Liz couldn’t help but laugh at Faith’s stunned expression: “Really. You are welcomed to come and poke and pry and marvel at things. It would probably be a whole lot harder to understand what something is meant for if you don’t touch it. Besides dad is out of town because of his job anyway and my brother will drop the boat off at the harbor before heading off to junior-league foot-ball game to the States as well, so the house is pretty much ours as mom has to work during the day. We have a private landing stage near our house, so I’ll take the boat from Carter – that’s my brother – and head back home with that as I don’t have driver’s license yet. And of course I don’t need muggle-studies. I am a muggle-born, remember? I know the lot about muggles.”<br>
Liz smiled and reached over the get the pumpkin-juice pitcher and handed it to Faith: “How on earth can you drink this stuff? I can never get pumpkin juice down my throat. Turning pumpkin-juice into apple-juice was probably the first spell I managed and practiced to mastery.”<br>Liz shrugged and turned back to her chocolate-cake, enjoying the rich taste: “You know the saying – diamonds are a girl’s best friend? I disagree. I say that chocolate is a girls best friend.”<br>

((Hey, you want to do the post at Liz's place?))

[bellatrixlestrange]

Faith too busy marveling at the casusal ease Liz talked about her brother dropping-off-their-BOAT was caught off guard by Liz handing her the pitcher but coming to her senses and took it from Liz with a grateful smile, laughing at Liz's chocolate comment.

"But then I'd feel sorry for guys," She pointed out, allowing pumpkin-juice to splash into her glass, "We get chocolate and what's man's best friend? A dog. Definitley unfair."

She giggled and took a sip of pumpkin juice, licking her lips as she finished it. She couldn't really understand how Liz couldn't like it, though, she supposed pumpkin juice wasn't all too common in the muggle world, and perhaps it was something that you grew into. Faith ofcourse had grown up drinking it and in her opinion ice-cold pumpkin juice was the best drink in the world - save butterbeer.

"That's a definite waste of pumpkin juice, I love the stuff," Faith said, setting her glass down again and looking at the sloshing liquid with affection, "There's a lot of memories I associate with it. Maybe it's that that makes me like it so much. Either way, we'll have to agree to disagree, won't we?"

[liz]

“Let’s agree to disagree,” Liz said with a smile, filling her own glass with an ice-cream cocktail as she had finished her cake, “As for guys and getting a best friend. Hmmm. They get to enjoy our company, right? What else could they want?” Liz tried to sound arrogant, which didn’t really work, so she just shrugged and dropped the charade, “You have good point though. But if we get diamonds and a man gets a dog – can’t say that’s really fair either.”<br>
“But tell me – out of pure curiousity. At muggle studies – what do you learn about muggles? And how do you learn about them? Do you have some field-trips to the muggle-world as well to get real experience or to see how much you really know or understand about muggles?” Liz asked curiously drinking the cold and sweet drink and closing her eyes for a moment to enjoy it, “You know what – coming back to our previous conversation. Men can share chocolate, if I get ice-cream. What can I say – I have an enormous sweet-tooth.”<br>
Dana opened her eyes and grinned at Faith and took a sip of her drink once again, waiting to her Faith’s answer about muggles: “Have you ever been to the muggle world anyway other of going to the platform of 9and ¾?”<br>