Slice and dice (Cherry)

Atticus had always been fairly friendly with Cherry, but he couldn't say they'd ever spent a lot of time together before. Recently, however, they had formed a sort of connection. They had seen each other through the hospital wing following the aftermath of her Euphoria potion, and Atticus had suggested to her there (when their heads were clearer) that he could cook for her.

So, the next evening, he told her to stay away from the Great Hall and have dinner with him instead.

The elves had already cleared up and had were in their quarters now, so Atticus was happy to be slicing up ginger root without them buzzing around him. The smell of fresh ginger was one of his absolute favourites, but normally at Hogwarts it was used for sweets - not savoury dishes, which he was using it for.

He was smiling. He was happy. This was nice.

@Cherry Darling

Cherry had been looking forward to dinner all day; it would be a nice reprieve from the usual food served in the Great Hall, and she had heard nothing but good things about Atticus' cooking all term. She had to find out for herself! Plus, she found herself enjoying talking to Atticus. Their conversations were very engaging, so Cherry was glad she was making a friend! It got very lonely as Head Girl although she loved having the extra privacy at night; that was why she always made sure to visit her house's quarters daily so she was up to speed with what was going on.

After finishing up a few assignments, Cherry went down to the kitchens. She opened the door and was immediately greeted with the aroma of ginger. "Hi, Atticus! This smells good!"

@Atticus Nott

He smiled at her.

"I'm glad you like the smell. I always thought fresh ginger root as either a love or a hate thing..." Did James even appreciate the individual tastes of things? Probably not.

"Sit down," he said kindly, putting the ginger in a bowl. "How are you with your spices? Do you prefer more of an aromatic mild or more of an actual heat?"

@Cherry Darling

"It's the time of year for ginger!" she exclaimed as she took a seat. Cherry placed her schoolbag under the desk. "It's a great way to soothe your throat on a cold, dry day!" Smiling, she put her crystal into her pocket in the event she was needed.

"Hm, I can handle a small amount of heat, but not a lot!"

Her family's taste buds were very white. "Have you tried putting a bit of ginger into hot chocolate before?"

@Atticus Nott

"That's right. It's also very good on your stomach, and I could do with that after taking all those potions..."

Polyjuice had been the worst. Amortentia was just crying on Louis Weasley's shoulder begging him to stay with him, always, or he'd fear the world would stop turning.

"OK. That's good, actually. Because I think this would work as more of an aromatic dish than a spicy one. I can make a good curry, though."

He smiled at her. "No, I haven't, is that something muggles usually do? What sorts of things do muggles usually eat, actually? Did you have to adjust a lot to food wizards eat?"

@Cherry Darling

Nodding, she replied, "Even if we're magical, I don't think the human body was made to withstand very powerful potions in such a short span of time!" Cherry was still amazed at how muggle illnesses were practically nonexistent in the wizarding world; she could only hope her lucky streak of not catching the black cat flu or dragonpox would continue.

"I can't wait to see what it is!"

What kind of dish with aromatic spices could it be?!

"Um, we typically just add marshmallows to hot chocolate. I'm also from America, so our diets are very different from the ones here. There isn't that big of a difference except that maybe there's a different bar for exotic foods?"

@Atticus Nott

"I'd love to try some American food," he said jovially, "Exotic is generally what I'm trying to aim for nowadays. Most of the ingredients are actually here, but some of them I've had to get by owl-order."

He smiled at her.

"So this going to be something similar to a biryani. I wanted to impress you, to be honest..." he chuckled, "But also do something fairly simple. This is extremely moreish though, I warn you."

He smirked at her, then started boiling some rice.

"I thought it was sweet how you were worried about me. With all the potions, I mean. I don't know. I just wanted to feel useful, I suppose. And I struggle saying no to Alayna..."

@Cherry Darling

"American cuisine is full of hot dogs, hamburgers, and fast food," Cherry explained with a chuckle. "The McDonald's over here are very different due to food regulation laws! The quality is a lot better here..."

She wasn't sure how much of a thing fast food was in the wizarding world as it seemed like spells and house elves were enough to make serving and cooking easier. Tucking her hair behind her ears, Cherry smiled. "Aw, you're so nice! You really don't have to work that hard to impress me, though. I heard nothing but good things about your cooking abilities!"

As long as it smelt and tasted good, Cherry wasn't particularly picky!

"I see what you mean. I'm still confused at how she got permission to do it for her project, yet we also weren't allowed to duplicate projects with how small the class is..."

@Atticus Nott

"I've had a hot dog! At the bowling place? I've never eaten a mackerel Donald though."

He smiled at her, then blushed a little bit.

"Hopefully I don't let you down... Um. Garlic, garlic... onions. Okay..." He moved onto the chicken marinade.

"I'm sorry. Did you want to do Polyjuice as well?" he asked quietly. This wasn't the first time he had apologised for Alayna. Actually, that's all he seemed to do.

@Cherry Darling

"McDonald's! Some foreign McDonald probably does sell mackerels..." She'd seen some articles about international McDonald's offerings whenever she had access to muggle technology. It was interesting to think about how some things were tailored to local tastes.

Cherry nodded. "I did, but since Lien chose it, I decided to do something else, and uh, we know what happens with that..." She was still extremely embarrassed about the after-effects of the potion. Either it needed to be very diluted or it was too big of a serving.

@Atticus Nott

"But that potion you made was really fun. It was good to just be mindlessly thrilled over trivial things like that. I did message Macmillan that I loved him though..."

He grimaced, but laughed at it. Macmillan probably didn't care.

"Maybe you could make Polyjuice next time. And I could be your test subject again."

The bowl with the chicken was set aside.

Atticus sat down next to her, giving that some time to soak in. "The last time I cooked was for someone was for James, I guess..."

"It was fun! But I can see why it's mainly used as a cure for extreme sadness..."

Was it used as a recreational drug? With the kind of high it gave, Cherry wouldn't be surprised if it was. "Maybe after break? It'd give your body time to recover from all of the potions!"

She didn't want him to overdo it after all! Frowning, Cherry patted his back softly. "He must've meant a lot to you..." It was awful how he was stuck in the middle of that agitating feud.

@Atticus Nott

"And uncontrollable sobbing," he said, having read up on the potion somewhat following the event. Potions wasn't his strongest subject, nor one he really had any patience for. Probably because the end result wasn't necessarily something that could be enjoyed, like with cooking.

It was the first time anyone had given him some support for breaking up with James. Yes - it wasn't really a full on break up. They'd only really been seeing each other for around a month or less, but it had been a very intense experience for him. It wasn't just something he could forget and move on from easily.

He smiled weakly at her. "I was starting to feel more deeply for him... but it wasn't meant to be. He never would have reciprocated my feelings, and Alayna would have never supported it. Still, it helped me in a lot of ways. Being with him allowed me to explore more of my sexuality..."

Somehow he felt comfortable talking to her about those things. From what he had heard, Cherry wasn't exactly a prude herself.

@Cherry Darling

Listening to Atticus, Cherry nodded; from all of the murmurs about it, their relationship seemed to be extremely intense. It was no wonder why the flame faded so remarkably.

"It probably was better for the both of you that it didn't work out... It would've been unhealthy to try and hide it from Alayna, and y'all have different priorities."

Biting her lip, Cherry couldn't help but ask, "In what way..? Um, didn't Macmillan mention something about food?" What a conversation to be having, but she was chill about it. It wasn't often enough that she got to discuss these kinds of topics since becoming Head Girl.

@Atticus Nott

"Yeah..."

Hmm. There was two ways this could go. He could start explaining the sorts of things he and James had got up to, and she might try to make swift exit, or else start making excuses to not hang around with him anymore. That was the rejection side of it. The other side may be an acceptance, open-mindedness, and even possible interest. Who knows.

Atticus leaned in, and started explaining - in a whisper - the sorts of things that happened. He tried to do it in such a way that was more matter of fact, but there were moments where he had to pause abashedly and try again.

"So that's pretty much it. Well - there's a wide spectrum of it, so it's difficult to try to explain everything in one go. So, er."

He smiled sheepishly at her.

"Sorry. This feels weird... but I trust you?"

@Cherry Darling

Nodding, Cherry occasionally went hm and uttered ah at various points. That definitely cleared up a lot. It was somewhat random as these were two athletic types, but she supposed it made sense as her brain processed it some more.

"I think I might've seen stuff about it in the muggle world?"

The Internet was an awfully fascinating place.

"As Head Girl, I'd hope I can be trusted!" she chuckled not fazed at all by what Atticus had just explained.

"So, um, how did you find out you're into that..?"

@Atticus Nott

This was reassuringly easy. Cherry wasn't freaked out - his judgement of her had been spot on.

"I don't know really..." It was strange to think about the root of it all. He hadn't really thought about it before. "I always knew. Just started having dreams and stuff, waking up to... yeah. And it went from there."

He shrugged. There wasn't much else he could say, it just ingrained into him for some reason.

Then he laughed.

"This is so weird. I hope you're not too freaked out."

There was no way he was going to sit down with, say, Macmillan, and start trying to explain it...

"So. What's the kinkiest thing you've ever done?" He chuckled, and leaned forward expectantly. This was a one-for-one thing, apparently!

@Cherry Darling

"So while you always knew, you had an awakening to it?"

And somehow managed to get James interested in it as well? There was likely more context to be heard, but that could always wait until later!

"I'm not! It's just surprising as you play quidditch and go to the gym so often..."

It was one of the last things she'd expect him to be into.

Raising an eyebrow, Cherry actually wasn't sure what it was! She had quite a few experiences that they all sort of blended into each other, especially when it involved the same person. So, she whispered one of the things she had gotten up to with Narks.

"I guess they're adjacent enough?"

So, yeah, she wasn't fazed by it at all.

@Atticus Nott

"Yeah, pretty much."

Being athletic and keeping fit would always be something he enjoyed, but perhaps she would realise that the two things could very easily co-exist. There were some kinks that became a lifestyle, not just in the bedroom. Atticus didn't really want it to be that way. He just wanted to have fun whilst being intimate with someone.

After listening to her telling him some of the things, his eyes widened at points. He wasn't expecting that from her. Atticus nudged her playfully.

"You're seriously naughty, aren't you? Who would've thought!"

Also...

"I didn't actually expect that from Narks, either. See? People always surprise you, don't they? I never thought Ptolemy would enjoy turning into a girl, but apparently he does..."

@Cherry Darling

"My upbringing caused me to be into a lot of things! I didn't want to be chaste as a way of rebelling..."

And it ended up being very fun! She now had more of the space and privacy for those escapades, but it was difficult coordinating them due to being Head Girl and being given more to do than Louis simply because she wasn't Louis.

Cherry rested her arm on the table as Atticus mentioned what Ptolemy was into. "He's really confusing to me. He only likes women that'd appear in old school Playboy but without the bush! Yet at the same time, he's basically a lesbian? Either way, I don't like him as he gets very, um, awful about weight..."

At least she didn't have to be totally neutral during personal conversations!

@Atticus Nott

"I don't like him either," he confessed, although it couldn't have been much of a secret. The only reason why he tolerated him was because of Alayna. "He - or she - that girl he morphs into and calls Perdita... it's almost a different person. I don't know. It's so strange that I try not to think about it too much."

Thinking of his experience of being a girl through polyjuice though...

"Maybe everyone needs to experience being the other gender at least once. Being Carina felt incredibly wrong to me, though."

He laughed.

"Who would you want to turn into?" he asked, grinning.

@Cherry Darling

"I don't know how anybody puts up with him, frankly! I know Narks got a huge kick out of making sure he couldn't go anywhere. That made not going to the prefect's bathroom as much worth it..."

Ptolemy was eugh. Perdita was also eugh although she was objectively hotter. Well, she was hotter to Cherry. Cherry chuckled hearing him talk about the Polyjuice incident. "You as Carina was very weird! I'm not sure who I'd want to turn into..."

There were a lot of options!

"Maybe James to figure out how he functions? We all saw his, you know, in gym class..."

@Atticus Nott

Atticus laughed loudly, and suddenly, at what she said.

"Sorry," he said, recovering a little, "But that's priceless. You just want to know how it feels to have a big dong!"

Hilarious!

He kissed her cheek, got up and went back to the meal preparation.

"Fortunately it doesn't really matter to me how endowed a guy is. There was one I had sex with when I was away, at the school where my Dad thought I was turning straight, and he was so self-conscious of being small that I kept having to reassure him constantly. It was a bit of a pain after a while."

@Cherry Darling

She nodded. "I got a fat-" Cherry blushed and lowered her voice into a whisper as she finished the sentence; her puritan upbringing still made her embarrassed at times to just discuss her own anatomy like that. "I just think it'd be interesting!"

And their mass difference wouldn't be as major as others at Hogwarts, so it shouldn't feel too weird being temporarily transformed into James!

"Are y'all less concerned with size outside of self-esteem in general? At least within the muggle world, I see a lot of girls fuss over things like height when that's one of the last things I'm concerned about!"

@Atticus Nott

"Do you mean wizards, or gays? I mean I don't really know how I am compared to other boys who are gay, because I haven't exactly known many. Beyond 'hey let's fuck'."

He shrugged.

Then he started adding things into the pan. They sizzled nicely.

"I've thought about going into Muggle communities of us. Maybe I'd benefit from that. I don't know."

@Cherry Darling