“how is it you seem to be the absolute sweetest boy I have ever met?” Hermione asked, incredulity and admiration shining bright in both her elated tone, and the way her eyes filled with absolute wonder every time she found his. And it was true that after years of Harry and Ron —who she both adored with every fiber of her being, they left a little to be desired. especially in the way they treated her sometimes without having realized it. Blaine however, was putting everyone she’d ever met to shame. And sure, it was nice to have other friends throughout the castle, but right now, she was legitimately having the best time.
When she’d put out posters looking for new S.P.E.W members, the sign ups went ignored for the most part. but when she’d sought out volunteers to give back and host a ‘HOUSE ELF APPRECIATION DAY’… Two names had been added. Luna Lovegood and Blaine Anderson. So there they were, half past eight, alone (for once) in the kitchens, baking up batches of treats to dole out. “honestly Blaine, you MUST enlighten the boys for me. Sometimes they make me crazy, they’re completely daft when it comes to this sort of thing.” Their conversation had already spanned a million of often untouched topics that Hermione rarely got to indulge upon. “Ginny had told me that was all boys, and well, she grew up with brothers! All of them, whereas me? Well, I’ve just had dad, really.” Who was without a doubt wonderful. “And I hadn’t anyone prove me wrong, though Professor Dumbledore truly did seem wonderful, I just don’t know him on that sort of level, you know? And obviously I’m not ignorant, but I had been losing hope.”
“But you’re such a breath of fresh air.” And Hermione was very quickly flying too close to the sun as she gushed, the sleeves of her button up rolled up as she created a well out of the flour in front of her on the wooden table, the beginnings of dough when she reached for the eggs. Hermione’s eyes shot up as a clatter of metal on stone came from behind them, causing her to snap around. “Oh, Luna! Are you all right?”
Hermione was quickly becoming one of the people inside the castle he adored so much that simply encountering her caused him to immediately light up so bright his smile could put the sun to shame. Seeing her lovingly crafted S.P.E.W. posters for a day she invented out of the kindness of her heart? That was the sort of thing that Blaine Anderson would never, in a million years, be able to resist signing up for. Giving some sort of comfort and respect to the poor creatures that so many families took for granted, regardless if they had feelings, emotions and needs like the very wizards they ‘served’, was the best way to spend a night. No matter if he had plans or not. Which..he didn’t.
Hunched over the dough he was delicately sealing the edges together of on each painstakingly filled chocolate with mint creme stuffing cookie, the tip of his tongue jutted out between his lips in his concentration. His smile continued to grow as he listened to her rant about the boys in her life thankful that she put a disclaimer at the beginning by saying he needed to teach them a lesson. Something he was grateful for, yet mystified by at the same time. (What set him apart from her best friends? Why wasn’t he as hopeless as the rest of the lot she was clumping together?) Well. For one, he was the only boy in this school that showed up to spend hours getting finger cramps to ensure their treats were perfect. That might be a good start on figuring out why he was now tasked with doling out life lessons on not being so..boyishly boys.
“I’ll try but I hope you realize the enormity of the task you are asking me to accomplish. I’ve seen how clueless some of your closest friends can be. And you’re hoping I can enlighten the whole lot of them? Even if it’s just kitchen tips and tricks? It’s going to be enough work trying to make sure no one burns the castle to the ground.” He playfully countered her argument and peeked up over the lip of the large metal bowl directly in front of the floured surface he was working on. His nose scrunched at the thought of how messy things could potentially get. “I’m glad I could help you hold–?!” Blaine nearly jumped out of his skin at the loud noises crashing down behind them. The cookie he was working on hit the table with a plunk of dough as he pivoted around blinking owlishly at the girl. “Yeah, are you okay? What happened??”
pianokeysandbowties 