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“Hey guys, check this out,” Eren calls, pointing to the Nose-Biting Teacups on the shelf. “What do you think, should I get some?”
Mikasa shoots him an unimpressed look, but you just laugh. “Lemme guess,” you say, “you’re planning on using those on the Head Boy?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Eren replies, grabbing a handful and adding it to the growing pile already in his arms.
As he meanders through Zonko’s, you scan the shelves aimlessly, resisting the urge to fidget. Some of the pranks do look promising, you have to admit, but you won’t be swayed. You’ve been waiting for this Hogsmeade trip for weeks, and there’s only one store you want to spend your money at. As soon as Eren’s done paying, you grab his arm, tugging him out of the store.
“Where to next?” Mikasa asks, burrowing further into her scarf to protect against the chill of the air.
You and Eren exchange a look. “Honeydukes,” you say in unison.
Mikasa rolls her eyes, but you don’t miss the slight spring in her step, and you smother a laugh. You know all about the stash of chocolate she keeps on her side of the room, no matter how hard she tries to hide it.
Luckily, there isn’t much of a crowd, and the three of you make your way in eagerly. The first thing that catches your attention is the sparse shelves. Honeydukes is always stocked -- if anything, it’s overstocked.
You hear Eren mutter to himself in annoyance, but you ignore him in favor of heading to the lady behind the counter.
“Excuse me, where is everything?”
“Sorry, kid, we’re all out,” she says, a tired look on her face.
“What?” you sputter. “What about the Licorice Wands? Sugar Quills? Fizzing Whizbees? Fudge Flies?” Your voice rises with each word, growing increasingly desperate.
She simply shrugs in response, uncaring of your anguish. “Some girl showed up this morning and cleared us out. She musta run here or something.”
“Well, when do you restock?” you demand.
“Not for another week.”
A week? There’s no way you can go that long without your daily sugar fix. You head back to Eren and Mikasa, scowl firmly set on your face.
Just who exactly is this girl?
“Reiner, could you at least try not to eat so much?” you snap. “That's literally the only meat we have. Merlin, leave some for the rest of us.”
Reiner simply laughs. “Sorry, can’t help it,” he replies, shoving a large forkful of steak and kidney pie into his mouth. “Quidditch practice was real rough today, and I’m a growing boy!”
You eye him scathingly. If he grows anymore, he’ll burst out of his school robes.
Ever the peacekeeper, Jean jumps in. “Reiner, knock it off,” he says, before turning to you. “Don’t worry about it, just go grab some from one of the other Houses’ tables.”
Grumbling to yourself, you head to both the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables, where you’re met with apologies and shrugs. You frown, scanning the Great Hall in confusion. How are all of them out?
“Are you telling me you guys ate all your meat?” you snap.
“Not us,” a Ravenclaw boy tells you. “Some girl came by and grabbed it all. She was like a blur -- before we even knew what was going on, it was all gone.”
Skeptical, you make your way to the Hufflepuff table. You’ve barely opened your mouth before a series of groans ring out. A freckled girl snorts in amusement, and you raise your eyebrows at her green Slytherin tie. “Lemme guess, you’re here to ask for the meat, right?”
The bald kid next to her laughs. “I dunno why people think we’re the table to ask. It’s almost like they don’t know about her.”
They launch into a conversation making fun of this mysterious girl, and you get the impression they've forgotten about you. "Thanks anyway," you mutter, slipping away.
“Any luck?” Mikasa asks as you return to your seat at the Gryffindor table.
You shake your head. “They all just kept talking about some girl who ate it all. One girl, really? Who is she?”
“I’ve heard of her,” Eren jumps in. His face darkens. “They call her ‘Potato Girl’.”
Unable to help yourself, you laugh. “Potato Girl?”
He nods, deadly serious. “People say that when she was just a first year, she stole a baked potato right off of Headmaster Smith’s plate.”
Your eyebrows shoot up in response. Even as a Gryffindor, you could admit it -- Headmaster Smith was terrifying. Most people couldn’t even look him in the eye, and this girl had stolen from him? As a first year?
“Why?” you ask. “I mean, it’s not like there’s usually a shortage of food here.” Pausing, you glance around bitterly. “Except for today.”
“Who knows?” Eren replies, shoving a dinner roll in his mouth. “Some people don’t even believe that she’s real. I’ve heard that the whole reason Hogwarts needed so many House-elves is because of how much she eats. Now pass me the carrots, I’m starving.”
Over the next few days, you have more important things to worry about than a mysterious Hufflepuff girl -- namely, the recent lack of sugar and meat in your diet.
You can feel yourself crumbling. You’ve been snapping at people left and right, you can’t focus on your homework - though not like you used to anyway. The final straw comes when some of the first years see you in the hallway and widen their eyes fearfully before changing directions.
Finally, Jean pulls you aside. “Look,” he says, “I’m not supposed to tell anyone this, but honestly, it seems like you need it.”
“What are you talking about?”
Leaning in, he lowers his voice. “The stairs under the Great Hall. Tickle the pear on the fruit painting.” At your blank look, he sighs. “Go get something to eat, I’m begging you.”
Your eyes widen in realization. “Thank Merlin,” you breathe, “Jean, I could kiss you right now.”
A bright red blush spreads across his cheeks, and you laugh before sprinting towards the Great Hall. The hallway is completely empty, and you can hear your footsteps echo loudly as you descend the stairs, making your way to the portrait of a bowl of fruit.
Hesitantly, you reach out to tickle the pear, recoiling when it begins to chuckle and squirm beneath your fingers. Gripping the handle that appears, you pull the portrait forward, stepping through.
The room you find yourself in is easily as large as the Great Hall, with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end. Four long tables are positioned exactly beneath the four House tables above in the Great Hall. It takes you a moment to spot the girl seated at the Hufflepuff one.
Her robes are casually slung over the back of her chair, and the table in front of her is packed with food. You narrow your eyes at the spread consisting of meat and Honeydukes candy.
She’s in the process of shoving a handful of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans in her mouth when she notices you, and you both stare at each other in silence for a moment.
“Are you Potato Girl?” you ask hesitantly.
She frowns in response. “Are you serious? People still call me that? It was literally seven years ago!”
Your eyebrows knit into a scowl. “So you’re the one who keeps eating all the meat at dinner? And you cleared out Honeydukes? Merlin, how selfish can you get?”
She looks slightly alarmed at your yelling, and you mentally wonder if you’d gone too far. Maybe you should apologize.
“No, wait, look,” she says, grabbing a knife and pulling the plate of shepherd's pie closer to her. Carefully measuring, she cuts it in two. She bites her lip as she concentrates, and the look on her face is so cute that you’re slightly pacified. Only slightly though. “Here, you can have half.”
It’s a rather thoughtful offer -- or at least, it would have been, if she knew how to measure. You stare at the two pieces in silence for a moment, the large one she keeps for herself and the minuscule one she holds out to you. “That’s...not half.”
“Eh? It’s not?” Her eyebrows scrunch together. “Are you sure?”
You stare at the two pieces in silence for a moment. The outlandishness of the situation isn’t lost on you, and before you can stop yourself, you’re bursting out in laughter.
She lets out a few giggles of her own, relaxing at your amusement. "I'm Sasha," she offers, and you introduce yourself in turn.
The sound of dozens of small footsteps reaches your ears, and you turn to find a group of House-elves nearly tripping over themselves as they rush over. “Would Miss Sasha like more food?” they ask eagerly.
Sasha’s face lights up in a grin. “More meat!” she exclaims, and the elves all bow, rushing away.
Settling yourself into the seat opposite her, you reach out for the pile of candy. Reflexively, her hand shoots out to slap yours away.
“Hey!” you whine, pushing your bottom lip out in a pout. “C’mon, you have so much!”
She studies you for a moment, before hesitantly pushing a Chocolate Frog towards you. “Fine,” she relents, hovering over the rest like a dragon guarding a hoard of treasure, “only one though.”
You rip through the packaging, too impatient to even check what the card is, and bite off the head with a satisfied sigh. “So what’s your story?” you ask, soothed by the sweet taste spreading over your tongue. “Do you come here often?”
Sasha throws her head back, laughing, and the way her ponytail swings back and forth leaves you transfixed. “That was the worst pick-up line I’ve ever heard,” she informs you.
You cough, trying not to choke on the Frog in your mouth. “Wait,” you sputter, “that’s not what I meant! I just meant, you know, it’s almost curfew, and I didn’t think anyone else knew where the kitchens were.”
“Ah, yeah,” she says, chewing on the end of a Licorice Wand. “Actually, Headmaster Smith was the one who told me where they were.”
“No way!”
“Yeah, back in first year when I tried to take his potato, he was all-” she swallows, before deepening her voice, “‘Miss Braus, if you’re not satisfied after a meal, I would recommend venturing to the kitchens for a snack rather than stealing food off of the plates of others.’”
This time, you don’t even try to hold back, openly giggling at Sasha’s impression. From the way people had talked about her, you were expecting some kind of recluse, who was hiding away and eating all the food in secret. To your pleasant surprise, she was nothing like you had expected.
“Miss Sasha,” the House-elves call, rushing forward bearing countless plates, enough to rival a feast. “Is this enough?”
“Thanks, guys, you did great!” Sasha says, gripping a fork and knife eagerly as they place it all on the table.
“Can we really eat all this?” you ask, eyeing the spread dubiously. Sure, you were hungry, but there was only so much you could eat without exploding.
Sasha narrows her eyes at you playfully. “Maybe you can’t.”
Oh, no she didn’t. You weren’t placed in Gryffindor for nothing. Leaning over, you grab a fork of your own. “Care to make this interesting?” You look up to see her stuffing a large slice of roast beef in her mouth. “Hey, we haven’t started yet!”
“Sorry, sorry,” she says, swallowing heavily. “What did ya have in mind?”
“If I win,” you say, “you have to give me half your Honeydukes candy.”
She pouts for a moment, seemingly deep in thought, before perking up. “And if I win, you have to come down here with me again tomorrow!”
“Huh? Why?”
Sasha looks away, uncharacteristically shy. “It’s nice having company,” she says after a moment. “No one else can keep up with me, so I’m usually alone here.”
A small smile spreads across your face. “Alright, deal,” you say, extending your hand.
She gives it a small, grateful squeeze. “Let’s eat!”
As you dig in, it's hard to keep your eyes from drifting back up to her. No matter what the outcome of this contest, you know where you’ll be tomorrow night.