Growing up Pureblooded

Perhaps A Little Patience

     For his free hour on most days, Aries played chess with Draco and Dean, or perhaps worked on pranks with them, the Weasleys and Lee Jordan. As term went on, the sextet let up a bit on Bilius and Finnigan, but they made a point to drop a few hints about Dean's pernicious plot to take over the school at least once a fortnight. "We don't want them to get all complacent," Fred said with a wicked gleam in his eye.

     Whenever they played pranks around the school, all six boys now routinely left the Marauder's Mark, though Dean had modified it a bit from Aries's original draft, making it gold with red accents, rather than straight red, and changing the eyebrows so that the smiley face looked merely sardonic, rather than outright evil. Fred and George thought that Dean was losing his nerve, but, after his unpleasant experience in the Pool of Possibilities, Aries concurred with Dean's approach. After all, they wanted the Marauder's Mark to inspire laughter and good cheer throughout the school, not terror, and fortunately, the Mark was received in just such a spirit by just about everyone save Bilius and Finnigan, who continued to believe it to be the sign of the Dark Lord Mini-Mort.

     Once or twice a week, Aries made it a point to spend time with Daphne, who was rapidly becoming a good friend. She and Aries had a very different relationship from that which Aries shared with Draco or his other friends. It was quieter, more reflective. They talked a good bit, and cooked, and though Aries was unable to share most of his worries with her, he found their time together to be a very pleasant respite from saving the world.

     That said, they still had the occasional disagreement. "You want to let the cream simmer, but not boil," Aries explained testily one night, as Daphne waited for the saucepan to heat up. "Isn't there a charm to make this go faster?" she asked impatiently. "Yes," Aries replied with a smirk. "If you don't care how the food tastes." Daphne groaned. "What's the point of being a witch if I can't use magic to speed up the cooking process?" 

     "You want fast?" Aries scoffed. He flicked his wand, and everything in the kitchen sped up. Five minutes later, stuffed leg of lamb lay steaming on the table, accompanied by freshly-baked potatoes dauphinoise and a cucumber and yogurt salad. Daphne took a deep breath. "It smells divine." "But it will taste like sh...dirt," Aries replied. He had been making a real effort not to curse in front of Daphne, which took far more concentration than one might have thought. "Let's see," Daphne said primly, and sat down at the table, draping the napkin in her lap.

     Aries rolled his eyes, but walked over to the place across from her. He had just begun carving the lamb when the door opened and two other students appeared. It was Draco and Astoria. "Daphne?" Astoria exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here?" "I might ask you the same question," Daphne retorted, an eyebrow raised. Draco sniffed the air. "It smells pretty good, Aries," he said approvingly. "Olfactory-enhancement charm," Aries replied with a sigh.

     Draco scrunched up his nose. "But why would you use one of those? Did you burn the lamb?" Aries shrugged. "Miss Greengrass here was impatient for dinner." Draco's eyes went wide in shock, then he smirked. "Granny would have your hide if she knew what you did. She hates flash cooking charms with a passion." "As do all right-thinking wizards," Aries replied, giving Daphne a pointed glare. "I only did it in order to teach a lesson. Would you care to join us?" Draco nodded and sat down. Astoria joined him. "What are they on about?" she whispered to her sister. "I'm not quite sure," Daphne answered. "But we'll find out soon enough."

     Aries served them all generous portions of lamb, potatoes and salad. Astoria was the first to taste it. Her expression melted in delight. "Ooh," she squealed. "This is the most delicious food I've ever eaten." Draco raised a curious eyebrow at Aries. "Flavorous Charm?" "Naturally," Aries replied. "It'd hardly be palatable otherwise." Daphne gave the potatoes a try, and smiled. "Not bad at all, Mr Black," she said wryly. "I think I'd very much like to learn this sort of cooking."

     Aries groaned and began banging his forehead against the table. "I give up," he muttered. "This is the end. The absolute, forward-flipping end." He stopped banging his head, took a deep breath and looked towards his brother. "Draco, perhaps you could be so kind as to tell the Misses Greengrass what exactly is wrong with this enchanted food." Draco took a couple of cautious bites of lamb and chewed each one carefully before he replied.

     "The lamb is tough," he said. "Over-cooked, and with very little of its natural juiciness. You've compensated a bit with a Tenderizing Charm, but the end result is something like shoe leather that's been boiled for a day. The Flavorous Charm gives it the illusion of tasting all right, but it still has a dodgy aftertaste." He took a bite of the potatoes and nearly gagged. "They're all grainy," he said. "And far too mushy. The cream curdled a bit, and there's too much salt. The cheese is denatured." He went for the cucumber salad. "This one's not so bad," he said reflectively. "Though rushing the seasonings never helps anything."

     "I still say it's better than anything we eat at home," Astoria said in a petulant tone. "I'll bet your house elf flash-cooks everything," Aries growled. "Not necessarily, Aries," Draco observed. "Their mum apparently has issues with flavor. Something about fitting into dress robes." Aries chuckled. "Then you should know, ladies, that the charms on that food make it half as filling as properly-cooked food." "Which means you'll eat twice as much of it," Draco added. Both girls dropped their forks instantly. Aries waved his wand and Vanished the enchanted food. "Perhaps now you'll have the patience to learn how to cook things properly," Aries observed, and both Greengrass girls nodded meekly.