Sandwich with pumpkin juice
Although the hearing was over, Harry's schedule actually became busier. Unlike the passive Ron, he was particularly energetic. Apparition, Occlumency, Legilimency, and a visit to Queenie—all these things combined kept him incredibly busy all day. Before this, the most difficult spell he had ever learned was the Patronus Charm, which had little offensive power and wouldn't cause any consequences even if he didn't master it. But now, think about it: Apparition could cause the user to split into two bodies, and magic related to the brain required much more caution. Compared to that, summer homework was really nothing.
Hermione demanded that he finish all the homework in two days, all of it!
“If you can’t do it, Ron and I won’t cover for you,” Hermione said, adding that either of them would be dead if they dared to deduct points from the house at the start of the school year, her seriousness comparable to that of Percy when he was a prefect. Incidentally, Hermione and Ron had been appointed prefects for the fifth year of Gryffindor today.
No one wants to offend their academically gifted friend, so Harry obediently did his homework, comforting himself that Queenie was doing her homework too, and that they had reached an agreement in different worlds, hadn't they?
Before going to bed that night, Harry lay in bed and cleared his mind as Hermione had instructed, which basically meant staring blankly at the ceiling.
He thought he had done well today; he had found his footing with Apparition and might succeed next time. Then he remembered how Mrs. Weasley had excitedly said that everyone in the family was now a prefect when Ron received his prefect appointment letter that morning, which had infuriated the twins.
A few minutes later, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't said goodnight to Queenie yet.
Harry pulled out his phone, where there was already an unread text message. The sender was obvious; he only had one contact.
"How about we meet at the activity center tomorrow? If you don't have time for lunch, I'll bring you homemade sandwiches."
They arranged to meet at one o'clock in the afternoon. After lunch, he could excuse himself to go back to his room to rest, giving him two hours free. During this time, no one would likely bother him, especially with Hermione and Ron covering for him. As for lunch, to be honest, if he missed even a single bite, Mrs. Weasley would be worried about him for quite a while. But he had to eat the sandwich Queenie made—even though it was just a very simple sandwich that almost anyone could make—after all, he was still growing, and eating a little more wouldn't hurt.
"Then I'll bring a jug of pumpkin juice."
"Pumpkin juice? I've never had that before. I'm already looking forward to it. Goodnight."
—"I am the one who says goodnight."
The phone screen went dark, but Queenie's image appeared in his mind on its own. Harry hadn't expected to remember Queenie's appearance so clearly, and the sandwich... Harry thought of Queenie's messy house. Could the sandwiches she made be the same as the ones he could make when he was in first grade?
Thinking this, Harry laughed out loud. He knew he was having a hard time clearing his head, but he couldn't blame Queenie.
Queenie went to the supermarket to buy ingredients first thing in the morning. She remembered that Harry had mentioned chicken and ham pie, so she planned to make a sandwich with a similar flavor, plus fried eggs, sliced tomatoes and watercress, and that would be perfect.
The key was the container for the sandwiches. Queenie picked and chose, finally settling on a rustic-style food basket, which was very attractive. She had already paid for it, but as soon as she left the supermarket, she felt it wasn't quite right—after all, they weren't going on a picnic… In the end, Queenie used a food storage container to pack the sandwiches, but added a sticker with a smiley face drawn on it and the words "I KNOW YOU WANNA EAT ME" written on it. She took the food basket home with her; who could say they wouldn't have the chance to go on a picnic someday?
As time drew to a close, Queenie carried her bag toward the activity center, where Harry was already waiting. His eyes lit up when he saw Queenie. "Your dress looks beautiful today!"
Queenie wore a simple light green dress and a sun hat, looking very light and fresh.
"A skirt?" Although her skirt is nice, what about the person wearing it?
"Um!"
Well, she already knew what kind of person Harry was when she bought the shoes.
“I love this dress too.” Queenie smiled and placed the bag on the bench, where there was already another bag of something, probably pumpkin juice that Harry had brought. “You haven’t eaten yet, have you? Come and have some.”
“No rush.” Harry shook his head. “You must be hot from coming in from outside. Have some pumpkin juice to cool down.” As he spoke, Harry took out what he had brought. Mrs. Weasley’s pumpkin juice was delicious and not greasy at all. Queenie would definitely love it.
Then Queenie saw Harry take out an elaborately patterned sterling silver kettle—or perhaps it was silver-plated? Fine water droplets clung to the kettle, suggesting it had been chilled beforehand.
Queenie took the glass of chilled pumpkin juice, made of the same material, from Harry. "I didn't expect it to be this elaborate."
"This is all the Sirius family has..." Harry cleared his throat to explain, "My aunt really likes these... exquisite things."
"So romantic," Queenie commented. She then took a sip of the pumpkin juice, the icy taste making her squint. "It tastes really good! Did you put ice packs in the bag?"
"Uh, I put some ice in the kettle before I left, and it's all melted now..." Actually, it was the kettle's own magic.
Queenie nodded. "Did you make it yourself? You have to tell me how to make it!"
"I'll send you the steps when I get back."
Queenie sipped her pumpkin juice and noticed Harry kept glancing at her bag. She put down her cup, ready to take out a sandwich, but then suddenly stopped. She hadn't felt anything while writing it, but now looking at the words on the sticker... how embarrassing!
But Harry is waiting.
Queenie took a deep breath, grabbed the food container, and quickly opened the lid, but Harry still spotted it. "I know you want to eat me? Hahaha, so cute!"
"..." Come on, is Harry really that oblivious, or rather, naive? Doesn't he know he likes him? Has he always thought they were just good friends?
Queenie handed Harry a sandwich, using sandwich wrapper. Muttering to herself, she wasn't quite satisfied and didn't notice that Harry, seemingly taking a picture of the sandwich, had actually framed her in the shot. However, because the phone's focusing function wasn't powerful enough, the picture was blurry, making it impossible to see Queenie's features clearly, let alone her honey-colored eyes.
As they ate the food they had prepared for each other, Harry recalled how Mrs. Weasley had once again made Ron's favorite chicken legs at lunchtime, her attention to Ron allowing him to reduce his food intake without being noticed.
“Queenie, if your friend—a very good friend—became a student council officer, would you—” Harry didn’t want to ask anymore. Of course he was happy for Ron to become a prefect, but at the same time, he couldn’t help feeling sour. He thought that was his ugly side. Maybe he was jealous. He shouldn’t have such feelings.
Queenie had a rough idea of what was going on; it was probably Harry's colleague who got promoted, not him. She didn't think it was a big deal to feel disappointed; it was normal, wasn't it?
She said in a lighthearted tone, "If it's Emily—then I can ask her to 'go through the back door' for me, right?"
“Exactly!” Harry’s green eyes crinkled with delight. If anyone caused trouble again—he meant the likes of Malfoy—he could have Hermione and Ron take the points for him as revenge. Little did he know, the detestable Malfoy had become the new Prefect of Slytherin.
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