Simply pondering ((Lavender))

[dana]

Dana was sitting in a small restaurant-cafe in Hogsmeade. She didn’t want to go to the bit dark Hogshead, but she hadn’t felt tempted by the loud crowd in Three Broomstick either. So Dana had retreated to a small rather private cafe called ’Granny’s Cookie Corner’. It was a small plae, but the atmosphere her was friendly, foods were simply amazing and it was quiet here. Dana was dressed in a long midnigh blue skirt and a white V-necked sweater that hugged her body lovingly. Dana had had some shopping to do in Hogsmeade – she still had some left to do – but for now she had retreated here to have lunch and do some work. Right now Dana’s hands were warming a cup of hot chocolate as she was turned a little on the small couch at her table. Staring out of the window Dana simply let her mind wander as she enjoyed the rich taste of the warm drink in her hand.

Her potions homeowrk was spread out on the table before her but it was pushed to the side and discarded for now. A nice slice of cheese-cake with blackberries was sitting prettily on the table before Dana waiting to be eaten. Dana glanced at her watch for a moment but seeing that it was only 1 o’clock, she didn’t bother moving yet. Reaching out one of her hands she took a bit of the cheese-cake on a fork and brought it to her mouth. Closing her eyes with pleasure Dana enjoyed the taste. Before picking up her cup of chocolate once again. Taking three more sips of her drink Dana noticed to her disappointment that the mug was empty.

Turnign on her seat Dana raised her hand to signalize the waitress. „I’ll have one more hot chocolate please,“ Dana told the waitress who looked at her from the other table. The waitress nodded with a small smile before she turned and hurries toward the general direction of the kitchen. Starting ot eat her cheese-cake rather slowly to fully appreciate the taste Dana didn’t pay any attention to the surroundings. At least not until someone stopped at her table. Knowing that the waitress would have only placed the drink on her table as bills were paid later on, Dana glanced up curiously from her cake to see who it was.

[Lavender Brown]

Lavender walked through the streets of Hogsmeade. Her feet slowly tapping against the cobblestone beneath her. The crunch of leaves were underfoot and she couldn't help but smile at the familiar sound and smell. Students laughing and running through the streets as one of their precious freedoms from Hogwarts. The smell of food enveloped her senses and she smiled brightly. She loved Hogsmeade, especially in the fall. She looked up at the cloudy sky. The sun was making a quick appearance just before it hid behind the clouds that surrounded it. There was a slight breeze that chilled Lavender, but she still loved it. She folded her arms against her body as she rubbed her forearms for heat. The thin baby blue sweat shirt did nothing to keep the chill away, her light blue jeans had the same affect.

Fearing the weather would get worse while she was still outside, Lavender headed toward a small cafe. She had only been there once before, but it had been a nice cozy place with delightful food. She smiled at some younger students she recognized as she continued to walk. The cafe loomed ever closer and as a large gust of wind picked up she opened the door to the cafe. 'Safe,' she thought to herself as she shut the door behind her. A small bell rang and her entrance was known to the cafe. She smiled at the waitress that hurried past her. She looked around the small cafe and took in it's surroundings. The small round tables inhabited most of the cafe, save for the rectangle tables near the windows. She liked the older architecture of the place and felt her body warm as the heat from the fire engulfed her. She closed her eyes at the smell of dessert and smiled.

Lavender opened her eyes as she heard a small cough near her. Turning she smiled at the usher. "Just one?" the lady asked. Lavender nodded as the woman began to lead her to a table. It was here that Lavender actually looked at the other people in the cafe and she stopped when she noticed Dana. "Never mind, I see someone I know. I'll just sit with them," Lavender smiled as an apologetic look came over her face. The woman smiled and nodded as she walked away. Walking over to the table Dana was sitting at Lavender stood beside it. Dana seemed immersed in her cheese cake and Lavender smiled brightly. "Hi Dana. Do you mind if I join you?" Lavender asked.

[dana]

"Never mind, I see someone I know. I'll just sit with them," Lavender smiled as an apologetic look came over her face. The woman smiled and nodded as she walked away. Walking over to the table Dana was sitting at Lavender stood beside it. Dana seemed immersed in her cheese cake and Lavender smiled brightly. "Hi Dana. Do you mind if I join you?" Lavender asked.

Dana blinked at the sight of Lavender Brown. She knew the girl faintly. Lavender was a year above her and oddly obsessed with Divination. That subject Dana couldn’t stand really. But to everyone their own she supposed. She guessed the two girls knew each other a little but Dana wouldn’t really call them friends. So she had to wonder why exactly had Lavender decided to come over?
None of this showed on Dana’s face however as she nodded with a polite smile on her face. “Of course. Have a seat and I don’t mind some company besides my potions books either.”

Dana closed her potions books with a slight snap, placing them on top of each other with her essay under the books as she shifted the books to the side to make room for Lavender. Leaning back a bit Dana nodded thanks to the waitress who brought her a new cup of hot chocolate and taking away the empty cup. Taking a sip from her drink Dana let Lavender settled down before enquiring politely.
“This is a nice place. What brought you here today? Most people from Hogwarts prefer the Three Broomsticks. Or Hogshead at the case of Slytherins.”

[Lavender Brown]

Lavender smiled gratefully at Dana as she sat down in a chair across from her. She didn't really know Dana other than from the classes they had together. She had heard more about her than talked to her. She wanted to change that and was determined to do so. Dana seemed to be nice anyway. She had invited her to sit down very politely and with a smile. Lavender sat her blue purse down on the other side of her near the window and looked back at Dana as she asked her a question, “This is a nice place. What brought you here today? Most people from Hogwarts prefer the Three Broomsticks. Or Hogshead at the case of Slytherins.”

Lavender nodded her head in agreement with the statement before she answered. "I've only been here once before and I always wanted to come back. Today just seemed like a good time to do that. The Three Broomsticks was packed full when I walked by it not too long ago and I hate the Hogshead. It's so dirty and just plain sketchy. On the other hand, there is this place that has great food and a quiet atmosphere," Lavender said with a shrug as she flagged down the waitress. "Can I get a cup of tea and a scone?" she asked. The waitress nodded and left. Lavender smiled as she turned her attention back to Dana. "Why are you here instead of at the other places?" she asked with a slight turn of her head.

Lavender was distracted momentarily when the waitress arrived with her order. She gratefully took her tea and scone. Lavender took a sip of the tea and smiled. It was the perfect temperature to warm her body. Looking down at the scone she tore a small piece off with her fingers and placed it in her mouth. It tasted delicious and Lavender's smiled widened. This place was definitely one of the best in town. She took another sip of tea as she brought her attention back to Dana and the question Lavender had just asked her.

[dana]

Dana left the mug with hot chocolate on the table idle tracing a pattern onto the mug with her finger.
“Came here for mainly the same reasons. I don’t like Three Broomsticks. Just don’t like it for a various reasons. But for today the crowd there was too big and too loud for my liking. Especially since I wanted to finish my Potions essay. Professors are already talking about NEWTs,” Dana nodded to her potions things on the table-corner coolly before shrugging, “And I don’t go to Hogshead without Slytherin companion. Preferably a Slytherin my age or older. Rather interesting place. And the private rooms above the main eating room are simply gorgeous. Have you ever been to any of those? While the main setting and the lighting don’t do very much honour for the eating room, the rooms upstairs are to be admired. Private, comfortable, pretty and tastefully furnished.”

Dana smirked lightly before looking back at Lavender as she shifted herself on the seat and there and placed on of her legs over her knee, making small circles with her leg, as she leaned her arms on the table. “Then again I suppose that most Gryffindors avoid that place, not to mention walking around there very freely. I don’t do that alone.”
Turning her attention back to her cake Dana took a bite while glancing towards Lavenders cup of tea. Sure, Dana lived in England and had adopted most of the local traditions. But she had never liked tea. She never drank it either. Dana didn’t like butterbeer either. So whenever possible Dana prefered different sorts of coffee, hot chocolate, milk or even mare water to butterbeer and tea. Some people liked it however. Dana usually didn’t comment.
„Besides the food here is great. I’m addicted to cheese-cake. The food is as good as at the restaurant down the street... can’t say the name right now. But the prices here are about 3 times cheaper,“ Dana explained coolly. Sure, money wasn’t a problem for her. But that didn’t mean she went around throwing money right and left.

„Besides I had some shopping to do. And while I’m here I looked around for Christmas presents as well. I’ll get Christmas presents sometime during November but I looked around to see if I could get some ideas. Or whether I could actualyl fulfill my ideas,“ Dana stated while nodding at the few bags positioned on the ground next to her, „And while at it renewed by wardrobe a little.“

[Lavender Brown]

((Sorry it took so long to reply and also it's not very long. Got slammed with work these last few days))

Lavender nodded in response to Dana’s comments. She loved shopping herself and had a tendency to spend too much money every time she went to a town. It was like the money was burning a hole in her pocket. As soon as she would get some money she would spend it on one thing or another. Clothing was the norm, but on occasion she’d go to a muggle mall and shop around the bookstores. After all, she did love romance novels. They were quite interesting and they had great plots. Lavender took another bite of her scone as she thought about what to say. It was rather awkward to be sitting with Dana. They hardly knew each other and Lavender was unsure of what they had in common. She took a sip of tea to clear her mouth of the scone before she talked. “Shopping is something I enjoy doing as well. In fact I plan on doing just that in a while. On the other hand, I have a tendency to spend too much too fast. I’ve always been like that. Of course who can blame me when my mother is exactly like me. She’s always spending money, never thinking of the bills we’ll have to pay later,” Lavender said with a shrug as she thought about her mother.

Lavender looked out the window as she heard a tapping sound. Water was splashing against the window. She looked up at the overcast sky. It was darker than it had been and the wind had picked up. She could hear the slight howl of the wind inside. It was hardly raining, but Lavender knew it would pick up sooner or later. She sighed as she took a sip of her warm tea. She wished it were a nicer day. She didn’t feel like walking back to the castle in rain, but then again she knew that she must. She looked back at Dana as Lavender thought about what Dana had said about Christmas. “I forgot how close Christmas was. It’s a little over a month away, but it will go fast and I haven’t even begun to think about what to get people for Christmas. My older sister I’m sure I can find something for, but my brother that’s a different question,” Lavender said as she bit the bottom of her lip. This was a habit when she was worried about something. She let go of her lip and looked down at the table. A potions book was sitting on the table. “Are you working on your potions homework? Your good at potions right?” Lavender asked. Lavender was or perhaps she was just lucky when it came to concocting potions, but she couldn’t remember what Professor Snape had said about Dana’s potion in their last class. Signifying that she was done talking she took another bite of her scone.

[dana]

Dana smiled with amusement at Lavender’s words. „Sounds like a fun mother? Do you two have a similar enough taste to go shopping together often and find things you both like?“ Dana asked curiously thinking back at her own shopping experiences. Not with her mother – she had died at giving birth – but at her experiences while shopping with her grand-mother. „Shopping with my grand-mother is most certainly and interesting experience. She doens’t go to shopping sprees often, but when she does she demands the best tailors, best jewellers, shoe-makers, everything has to be top quality for her. Not that I mind it really. I suppose that’s what you get when shpping with a Slytherin who has done well in life,“ Dana commented easily while eating her cheese-cake slowly. Surely Meredith and Julien had bills to pay as well – the house and bills for the muggles, the cars they ownded and the Porsche they had given Dana for her last birthday, the book stores and parties they hosted. Then again all of it brought back even more money... most likely Dana was spoiled rotten but she and her fmaily had never had to worry about money.

Speaking of Christmas Dana tilted her head thinking of possible presents: „I don’t really know about Christmas presents yet. Perhaps the Slytherin ring and some other trinket for my grandmother. Don’t have a clue about my grandfather and I suppose my brother... cousin in reality, but for me he’s like a brother... don’t really know. He has everything he would ever want, so I don’t have a clue what to give him. The maids and the gardener are easy like most of my friends as well,“ Danas hook her head thoughtfully trying to guess how many presents exactly she would have to be buying. The number would climb to be rather large! „I’ll most likely go browsing and buy the things that catch my eye and seem fitting to someone. That’s the way I always shop.“

Taking a sip of her hot chocolate Dana almost choked on the drink as Lavender asked about Potions. Swallowing Dana let out a chuckle as she thought about Snape. „Well, I woulnd’t exactly say I was good at potions. If I were would I be doing my homework here?“ Dana smirked lightly at the books and her thoughts, „But I’m passable. Snape comments, but doesn’t really pick on me. Maybe because he miggh be afraid I have a little crush on him.“ A quiet chuckle escaped from Dana’s mind as she thought about it while staring out of the window for a moment.
„I play Truth and Dare with my firends. Usually me, Jazz, Ashley and Mary are envolved and the game usually has high stakes. I have gotten dared to recite love poetry to Snape in public and I suppose he’s been a bit wary of me since then,“ Dana was still grinning as she looked back at Lavender and shrugged easily, „I like Snape – I respect him as a teacher and I know that he’s one of the best Potion Masters in Europe. Don’t know enough about his character to say anything about that. I respect him and up to one point even enjoy his comments in classes, but I don’t love him. It’s amusing to watch him however.“

[Lavender Brown]

Lavender smiled and took a drink of her tea when Dana asked her about her mum. "Ironically, we have pretty similar tastes. However, there are a few things we disagree on, but that doesn't happen too often. We're pretty good friends, I guess you can say. I'm pretty lucky to have her as a mother," Lavender smiled as she thought about her mum. She had always taken care of Lavender, much more than her father really had. However, her dad was busy working for the Ministry. He didn't have a lot of time to be around the family and in a way it had taken it's toll on Lavender and her siblings. She shrugged her shoulders to try to rid herself of the problems. Lavender would prefer not to think about things that were truly bugging her, but rather dwell on them when she was in a depressed mood. Lavender listened to Dana finish and was quite surprised to find that her grandmother had been in Slytherin. She secretly wondered if their was any disappointment in Dana's family for her getting into Ravenclaw, but the thought passed quickly as she listened to Dana talk about Christmas.

Lavender smiled brightly. She loved Christmas, it was the one time when her whole family could get together, including her father. She hoped it would be that way again this year, but with the war going on it was looking unlikely. "Like I said I don't really know what to get. I'm like you I guess. I walk through a store and find something I think they'd enjoy or has a meaning they'll understand. I have a lot of people to buy for this year. I haven't really thought about what to get them. I guess I'll just shop when I get home for Christmas break," Lavender said as she thought about it. She couldn't really think of anything to get her friends. They had been true friends, but she wasn't really sure what she could get that could measure their friendship. She didn't think that there was anything in the world that could be meaningful enough to describe their relationship.

"Potions is one of my least favorite classes. I like it to an extent, but Professor Snape is not my cup of tea. He did give me a good mark on my last potion, but still I couldn't help but think he was being rather picky about it. Just because it smelt horrible didn't mean it wasn't going to work right," Lavender sighed. She did like potions, she just hated the fact that Gryffindors seemed to always get picked on in his class. She just wanted to show him that she could be just as good as any Slytherin could. Potions was something she needed to pass with high marks. She had decided to follow after her mother and become an alchemist. Her mum was rather good at it and was known nation wide. Her potions were awesome. Lavender had gotten the talent and had rather good potions, she just didn't have the patience that her mum had. She had gotten better over the last few years, but she remembered the first time she had mixed a potion. She had exploded her mum's kitchen with smoke and gray goop. She hadn't waited long enough before she added the ingredients. She was better now, much better.

Lavender smiled and chuckled when Dana told her about the Truth or Dare game she played. "You're the one who did that!" Lavender laughed. She had heard about that in her common room. She thought it had just been a rumor or a joke, but it seemed that the person sitting in front of her had actually done it. It wasn't a myth at all. "I would never have been able to do that. I'm sure he would have taken 300 points away from Gryffindor if I had done it. You're pretty brave," Lavender said. Now that she knew it was true she wished she had been there to see Professor Snape's reaction to a girl singing a love song to him. He probably hadn't known what to do at all. She smiled to herself as she took the last bite of her scone. "Do you guys play Truth or Dare often?" Lavender asked in curiosity. She would never play, but the thought of it was quite humorous.

[dana]

Dana smiled and sighed as she took hold of herbag and placed her potions things in the bag that didn’t seem to fill up one more bit. Magical enchantments were useful very often. This book was a clear example of it as it didn’t become any heavier either.
„I like shopping for Christmas. I don’t necessarily buy something very big often, but it’s as much the thought of making the present that appeals to me. And now that you got my thoughts to Christmas I won’t get any more potions done here today,“ Dana smiled at Lavender as sh dropped her bag back on the couch next to her and finished her cheesecake. Leaning back in her chair Dana rolled the mug with hot chocolate between her hands while eyeing Lavender curiously.

„Professor Snape isn’t a cup,“ Dana remarked offhandedly. Having not been born in England Dana had had to learn such figures of speeches. Perhpas this was the reason why Dana herslef didn’t use them. She understood what Lavender had meant with the ’cup of tea’ comment, but that didn’t mean it asn’t amusing for her to comment about it.
„I don’t really know. I like Sanpe in a way. And his work must be nerve-wrecking. Escpecially in classes iwth younger years. Sanpe had us brewing potions from the first class while I was fully prepared – after the examples of some priavet magical schools – that we would be learning theory for the first year or two,“ Dana commented eyeing Lavender. It would work just the same even if Snape said it smelled wrong? Dana dind’t really get it. If it smelled bad or wrong, then wouldnt’ that mean something ahd gone a bit wrong? That perhaps the outcome after using this potion would be much more disasterous than Dana could imagine right now? For the sake of a friendly enviroment Dana decided not to comment right now however.

Msirking lightly Dana thought back at the Truth and Dare games. Pondering what to answer Dana tire dot figure out how often they did actually play. „Well, look at the players – one Hufflepuff, one Slytherin and two Ravenclaws and the years are different as well. So we don’t really get the chance to play overly often but when we do gather to play about 3-4 times a year the stakes go high in both truths and dares. Certainly everybody behaves during the games – whether from respect or because they know the other players are my friends as well – but the games couldn’t really be called calm or relaxed. But they are extremely enjoyable. Surely ouy have played T&D - Truth and Dare - with your friends at some point as well?“