Afternoon Hunger - open

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It was a weird time in the afternoon between classes when Finn had a free period yet several hours before dinner would even be served. Of course, Finn's stomach could have been more cooperative but it never was. He had been fortunate for his father to have told him the secret location of the kitchens before he went off to Hogwarts his first year (outside his mother’s ear shot of course!) as he recognized his sons strange hunger hours. Since then he had befriended several of the house elves who were more than willing to help fetch him a snack whenever he felt the need.

Today the weather had dawned gloomy with the promise of rainstorms. Normally, Finn would have loved a pint but he knew better than to try that within the castle walls, especially not after these past few weeks. So instead he decided that he’d see if his house elf friends could whip up his favorite pub bites. He tickled the green pear which squirmed and became a handle, and pushed into the kitchens. “Afternoon everyone!” he called jovially, and his friends came running up to him. “Might I trouble you for some of those pretzel bites and sharp mustard and cheese dip you concocted in the beginning of the school year?” he asked, hoping the elves would remember what he was talking about. To his luck, they beamed and ran off. Finn sat down and waited for them to return. They did about ten minutes later, and Finn tucked into his food. He looked up when he heard the kitchen door open again and smiled. “Hello! Fancy joining me?” he called, gesturing to the pretzels.

-OPEN TO ANYONE WHO IS HUNGRY-

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Anna was bored. She had a free period and really nothing to do. She could go to the library or the common room to study, but she really wasn't in the mood. She could look around and see if there was someone else as bored as she was ... alright, that's what she was going to do. She roamed the corridors for a while, but ran into no one. Finally, she decided to just go to the common room and take a nap or something when her stomach rumbled. She smiled as another thought hit her. Perfect.

She headed down to the kitchens to get some food. Luckily for her, she and most- if not all- of her cousins knew where they were. At least she'd come up with something to do. Food was good and the house elves were always very accommodating.

She tickled the pear, grabbed the handle and bounced happily inside the door. She paused, surprised when she saw someone already sitting inside, but then she heard his voice. Oh Finn. She smiled and skipped over to join him, "But of course! Don't tell me I'm the only one that gets hungry and comes down here in the middle of the day," she teased before turning her attention to the food nearby. "Mind if I take some of that?" she asked, not even waiting for his answer before grabbing a bite. She was so hungry.

After enjoying a little more food, she asked, "So what has you down here? Are you skipping class?" she asked, grinning at her friend good-naturedly.

@finn

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Finn chuckled as Anna came down to sit next to him. “You certainly are not the only one, and you are more than welcome to share my food,” he told her with a happy smile. He looked for his house elf friend to bring over some more, but she was already hopping along with a second serving. He smacked his lips together and gave Anna a shark grin. “I’m in between classes right now. It’s free period, and dinners not for another few hours. I’ve always kept rather strange hours for eating, so me dad gave me the secrets in getting into the kitchens first year,” he told her. He popped a few more pretzels dipped in the mustard sauce into his mouth, and savored the taste. It was a food he had discovered while on vacation in Germany two years ago with Fred and his family. His dad wanted to buy some ingredients for the joke shop and had invited Finn to go with them.

“What about you – what did you meander down here for?” he asked her, trying the cheese dip with the pretzel this time before he popped it in his mouth.

@annelise

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Anna smiled as she watched Finn eat his pretzels and dips with enthusiasm. Oh, he was always good for a laugh, as well as a good time. She shrugged as she grabbed a handful of pretzels and started snacking on them one by one. She wasn't really a dipper, but she liked pretzels a lot. "Oh, you know. Free period, not in the mood to do homework, couldn't find anyone to hang out with. I was bored so I decided to see if the house elves could whip up something good for me. Anything to get out of potions homework. Good food choices, by the way. How come I never knew you had a free period here until now?" she asked playfully, grabbing a few more pretzels as she eyed the sauces Finn was using. He was enjoying them so much, she was starting to get curious. "Hey, so what are those?" she gestured to the cheese dip and mustard sauce. Maybe she'd try them ... just a bite though.

@finn

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Finn swallowed and laughed. “We must run on opposing schedules – whenever you do your homework I come down here and vice versa. But I’m glad we finally got a chance to run into each other!” he exclaimed. He had definitely been busy; his ambition to become an Auror had propelled him forward in his classes and he was vigorously studying harder than ever now. He ate in silence for a few minutes until she asked him about the different dips that he was using with his pretzels. “Okay, so this one here is a spicy honey mustard dip, and the one on the left is a beer cheese dip. Don’t worry, they only use the beer to cook, it’s not actually alcoholic,” he explained to her. He held them out to her. “You have to try them they’re amazing,” he said.

He ate a few more pretzels with the different dips in silence while she tried them. “So what do you think?” he asked her expectantly.

@annelise

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Anna laughed, Me too! It's a whole lot more fun down here with a friend." She watched and listened carefully as he explained about the dips. She frowned a little, nervous. It wasn't that Annelise didn't like to try new things, but sometimes those things made her nervous. Spicy honey mustard? That might be interesting, as long as it wasn't too spicy. Anna wasn't big into spicy. The beer cheese dip sounded good, though. After all, who doesn't like cheese?

"I think I'll start with this one," She grabbed a pretzel and dipped it, quickly moving it to her mouth so she didn't make a mess. She couldn't help the immediate smile and she turned to look at Finn. She covered her mouth and exclaimed, "That's so good!" She grinned, now excited about trying the other dip. Without waiting, she snagged another pretzel and dipped it in the honey mustard dip.

Her eyes widened and she swallowed it as quickly as she could- spicy! She knew that it might not be really spicy to other people, but Anna really had no tolerance for any kind of spice. Her eyes started to water and she looked around the table for a drink, waving at Finn. "Water!" she gasped. Her face got red and she couldn't tell if it was because she was embarrassed or because her mouth was burning. How come everything seemed so hot? This was ridiculous.

@finn

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Finn laughed and nodded in agreement. “Food shared with a friend is much more fun than eating alone. It seems less…of a pity party if there’s at least two people,” he said, still chuckling. He was pleased when she said how much she liked the beer cheese dip; it happened to be his personal favorite as well. He popped another pretzel covered with the stuff into his mouth as she dared to try the honey mustard. He did not find it to be all that spicy but it did definitely have a kick to it. His eyes widened in slight surprise at her reaction; her tolerance to spices must be much lower than his. He made to signal for a house elf to bring her water, but two had brought over glasses of water and milk already. “Milk combats out the spiciness burning feeling in your mouth,” he instructed her. He took a glass of water for himself and took a long gulp, as he waited for her to be alright to eat again. “So I’m going to safely assume your favorite was the beer cheese?” he asked, then laughed.

@annelise

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Anna quickly reached for the glass of milk as soon as it reached her. She needed something to get the fire out of her mouth. She waves away Finn's comment about milk. Duh it was going to help! Everyone knew that milk was one of the best ways to fight spice, didn't they? Finn probably thought she had no tolerance for spiciness ... apparently he was right. Oh well. Once she'd downed the milk, she grabbed a pretzel and dunked it in the cheese dip. She needed to get a good taste in her mouth as soon as possible. She smiled, relieved at the cheesy taste in her mouth. She laughed with Finn. "You would definitely be right about that," she laughed again as she grabbed another pretzel and dipped it in the wonderful concoction. "Which one do you prefer?" she was trying to distract Finn's attention from her little ... episode. If you could even call it that.

@finn

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Finn contemplated Anna’s question, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Well, I think it depends on what I’m in the mood for,” he started slowly. “Sometimes I’ll feel like I need to spice up my life and go with the spicy mustard, but other times I just need some cheese in my life and need to go with the beer cheese,” he said. He dunked a pretzel into the beer cheese dip and popped it into his mouth. After chewing and swallowing, he grinned. “Today, my preference would have to be the beer cheese though,” he said, agreeing with her choice.

His house elf friend came over then and tugged on his shirtsleeve. “Would the sir and miss enjoy some chocolate for dessert?” he asked, his voice high pitched and squeaky. Finn knew he probably shouldn’t still be hungry at this point; he had lost count of how many of the pretzels he had eaten. But in all fairness, he always had room for chocolate. “I’m certainly in for some chocolate, what about you Anna?” he asked her.

@annelise

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She rolled her eyes at Finn somewhat sarcastically. It was a good thing he didn't say the spicy one was his favorite right now. She'd never be able to accept that. She knew for a fact that she'd never be trying that stuff again.

Then another house elf came over and Anna couldn't help but smile widely when she heard his question. She nodded her head enthusiastically. "But of course! Who doesn't want chocolate?" She smiled at the house elf as he turned away. Then she turned her attention back to Finn. She grimaced. "Maybe chocolate can help my mouth return back to normal. Then I might be able to forgive you for trying to spice the life out of me," she teased, even though she knew she was hardly making any sense. Then again, Finn should be able to understand what she was getting at. Shouldn't he?

@finn