Happy Sweetest Day!
Hereabouts it's Sweetest Day tomorrow! It's a small regional holiday in parts of the United States. Called a Hallmark Holiday, it was more likely created by confectioners since the gift of choice is candy or other sweets given to those you hold dear. So this week's theme is SWEETS! Join Severus and Hermione as they indulge in all sorts of goodies.
Want to give Hermione a run for her money in the know-it-all field? Simply play the quiz by commenting on this post with your answers at any time over the weekend. All comments with answers will be screened until the answer sheet is posted on Monday morning EDT. On Monday, all quizzlings with the correct answers will receive a pretty banner to prove their quiz prowess. Ready? Set? Play!
Match the quotes to the story titles without picking the red herring titles:
Stud-muffin by debjunk
Chocolate Enchantment by Vivian B
Making Love by teddyradiator
A Mutually Beneficial Arrangement by melusin_79
When Only the Best Will Do by fizzabella1110
Delicious by of_anoesis
A Chocolate Frog Card for Professor Snape by selinabln
Like Taking Candy From a Professor by I M Sterling
Strange Taste by wingless
Short and Sweet by Corazon
The Blues by Toblass
Pearl Button by savvyshka
1. A small, black, oval box on the coffee table caught her attention.
'What on earth...?'
That hadn't been there this morning. Wherever had it come from? Noticing a scrap of parchment tucked under the silver bow on the lid, she carefully removed it and turned it over. In a familiar, spiky hand, it read:
Please accept this small gift with my compliments.
Start with the white one-I trust you will be able to work out the correct sequence after that.
Endeavour to savour each one for as long as possible.
regards
S.Snape
P.S I await your instructions for Friday.
A present? From Snape? Hermione stared at the box wondering whether it was some kind of practical joke. What on earth could it be? Unable to contain her curiosity, Hermione undid the bow and removed the lid.
Chocolates.
Five chocolates. And handmade too, by the looks of it.
They were arranged in the shape of a cross: a white one in the centre, flanked with milk chocolates on either side, and a dark one above and below it.
Hermione was already salivating, her hand reaching for the centre chocolate as instructed, when she came to her senses. Had she gone mad?
2. Her breath came fast and her chest rose and fell swiftly within the confines of her impractical dress. “You are utterly infuriating!”
Severus watched in silent dismay as one of the few colleagues he had thought to be something like a friend began to turn from him, like all the rest before.
“I tried being nice to you, and you’re nothing but snippy and short in return. I show an interest in your work and you’re sarcastic and . . . snarky in response.”
Was that even a word?
“You’re a bad as Ron!” she continued, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright
Now, that was a little unfair, surely.
“Honestly, if you like me, all you have to do is tell me.”
Like her? What was she going on about? Well, of course he liked her. He had been willing to but up with this conversation
for far longer than he was comfortable with - surely that ought to count for something?
“Why is it all men think that the way to gain a girl’s attention is to insult her?” She continued. “I put hours into looking like this and you tell me that I look like some mint confection.”
“I like mint.” He interjected. “I like chocolate.
3. Hermione strategically placed the candy bar on her table. In a few minutes, Severus would be stopping by to go over plans for the next Hogsmeade weekend. They were to chaperone together, and he was insistent that they work out everything ahead of the upcoming weekend. She’d jumped at the chance to have him stop by. He’d been acting funny for a few weeks and late one evening, instead of sleeping, she’d spent the whole night analyzing his behavior.
He looks away when I smile at him. He runs the other way when I’m coming down the hall. He makes excuses that he has meetings with fictional people to avoid me. Who on earth is The Incredible Arse, anyway? Maybe he was talking about Dumbledore, he’s been grumpy lately.
Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Severus Snape was attracted to her. The rest of the night was spent in deliberating just what she was going to do about it.
Now she looked down at the results of her planning. That candy bar should loosen Severus up so he could tell her how he felt. She crossed her fingers as there was a light rap on her door. Hopefully it would work.
4. "Finally, the last sample. As you know, I am not terribly fond of chocolate, so I am not sorry to see the end of this," he waved his hand over his desk, "the end of this twaddle. Here we go, sample number twelve."
As he had with the other samples, he sniffed this one as he opened the box, and a brief, fleeting smile crossed his face.
"Sample number twelve is a dark chocolate with a strong cacao scent; just a hint of what I judge to be genuine vanilla bean, rather than a pre-prepared extract; the chocolate smells sweet but not overpoweringly so."
Mrs. Webley thought this sounded hopeful; his comments were, far and away, the most positive of all the chocolates he'd sampled. She watched with interest as he bit into the sample.
"Mmmmm." In the several years she'd worked for him, Mrs. Webley had never head Director Snape make a sound like that, but his eyes were closed in chocolate-induced bliss and he smiled as he finished the sample piece.
"Sample twelve must have the highest cacao content of any samples submitted; the texture is very smooth, the taste perfectly balanced between the bitter cacao and the sweetness of the vanilla and sugar. The sample snapped cleanly, and has obviously been properly stored."
5. Headmaster Snape eased back in his chair, propping his booted feet upon the desk. Carefully, he held the opened purple foiled box up to his prodigious nose and inhaled deeply, allowing the heady aroma to waft through his olfactory receptors. With a contented sigh, he peered inside at the delicately embossed dark chocolates and silently thanked Hermione. Unable to wait a moment longer, he reached in, plucked out one of the lovely brown domes and popped it into his mouth. He rolled the chocolate on his tongue, gently sucking at the liquid slowly oozing out with a hum of satisfaction.
The combined symphony of flavours-bitter, dark chocolate and tart raspberry-exploded on his tongue and he was awash with euphoric bliss. Oh, sweet Merlin, but this is good! When the last bit melted away, he eagerly popped yet another delectable confection into his mouth. At that moment, his wife came through the Floo.
“Hello, Severus, what are you-no!” Hermione shrieked, aghast at the scene before her.
6. An appetizing smell of chocolate and vanilla caught Severus' attention and drew him to the window of the candy shop, at which point the daring idea was born in the Potions master’s mind. For a minute, he looked at the bright display in indecision. His hesitation was almost palpable. Then he huffed, jerked his enormous nose up and bravely stepped inside.
The bell on the shop's door announced Severus' entrance, inevitably arousing the attention of inhabitants of the shop. Here he stood - the dark, evil outcast, dressed completely black - in the middle of this absurdly neon paradise filled with sugar, chocolate and confectionaries. For mere seconds, the only thought flashing through the Professor's mind was - run, now!
"Shit," growled Severus under his breath. However, he wasn't ready to give up just yet. A year spent in the proximity of Gryffindor had rubbed off on him. He straightened his shoulders and courageously walked to the counter, almost scaring the unsuspecting shop assistant to death in the process. Apparently they weren't used to such stormy clouds of black looming over their counters.
"What would you like, sir?" asked the assistant, his voice trembling.
"Some chocolate truffles, perhaps. What would you recommend?" asked Severus in his most civil possible voice. Miraculously, it worked. After this question, the boy at the counter visibly relaxed and obviously got a second wind.
"Ah, sir, we have absolutely the best chocolate truffles in England." He began to fuss around Severus. "Maybe you will find these two interesting," said the boy as he excitedly pushed two identical chocolate truffles to Severus. "This one is the darkest chocolate we have, filled with black cherry flavoured chocolate mousse," he pointed at one of them, "and this one is the same dark chocolate, sir, but with black currant flavoured mousse inside." The shop assistant continued to chatter, especially emphasizing the words 'darkest', 'dark' and 'black' while describing each truffle.
"You have to try them sir, they are truly exquisite."
7. Ron, being stubborn or persistent, take your choice, decided he was going to find out who "he' was. He owled his brothers, George and Fred, and asked for some recommendations on how to approach the situation. They immediately owled him back and sent along a package with a letter.
Ron,
These are Aphrodite's Chocolates. Whoever eats them will have the overwhelming urge to kiss the person they are most infatuated with. Be careful Ron! Only one piece is needed.
Fred and George
Ron smiled. He knew exactly when he was going to use them.
8. She returned her attention to her book, absently stuffing sweets in her mouth. All three men watched her yap quietly after every bite she took.
“What in the blazes are you eating?” Snape finally asked what everyone was thinking.
She looked up, startled. “Cherry and Chilli Gummy Sweets,” she explained, not understanding his need to know. He wasn’t usually interested in anything she did.
“You’re yapping like a pug in the throws of an orga… asthma attack,” he informed her dryly, pretending not to have almost uttered the word orgasm in front of his ex-student.
She grinned sheepishly, pretending to overhear the sexual reference that had him blushing a little. “Sorry,” she said and proceeded to offer the sweets to the other men.
Remus demurred, but Albus was quick to try the new sweet. He was already affected by the chilli when she turned the bag to Snape.
“Are you sure they are fit for human consumption?” he drawled.
Hermione only rolled her eyes and thrust the bag under his formidable nose.
After a moment’s hesitation, he took one of the gummy things that even optically resembled both a cherry and a chilly.
She watched him chew, and he stared back at her with a frown, not quite liking her scrutiny.
The cherry flavour came first, and he quite liked it; then after a few chews the chilli flavour made its presence known, and he had to breathe through his mouth to relieve the hot feeling in his mouth.
“Merlin’s balls,” he wheezed a little after he managed to swallow the thing. His eyes stung a little and surely looked watery, but he’d be damned before he’d wipe his eyes in front of the chit.
9. Hermione was grading papers in her office. A box of chocolate sat at her elbow. She needed to put the box away, they were absolutely delicious, and she'd eat the whole thing if she didn't pace herself. That thought didn't keep her from taking another bite and letting out a small moan.
A light knock on the door made her look up, mid-bite.
Severus Snape looked down at her with his lips twitching in an almost-smile.
"That good, are they?"
She swallowed and smiled up at him. "A gift from Minerva for Christmas, and yes, they're every bit of that good. Try one." She offered the gold foil box without hesitation.
He raised a brow, but didn't argue. He popped the chocolate in his mouth. The flavors were delicate but well balanced...hints of pomegranate from the center and something unusual...violets mixed into the chocolate? He was not a true chocolate aficiando, but these were the most complex sweets he'd ever bitten into, but he'd be damned if he moaned over chocolate...
10. He turned to Hermione, and with every ounce of seduction he could dial into his voice, he purred, “A gift this special is really too lovely not to share.” An elegant eyebrow accompanied his invitation. “You will join me, won’t you, Hermione?”
She bit her lip in a way that made his mouth water, and meeting his eyes with a coy little smile, she looked down in the box and chose a large, pyramid-shaped piece.
In return, he chose a rounded chocolate with a tiny piece of candied ginger on top. It was obviously fashioned to resemble an erect nipple; the imagery was not lost on either of them. To cover his embarrassment, Severus saluted Hermione with the chocolate, and placed the entire piece in his mouth. As it melted on his tongue, Hermione watched him carefully, unable to tear her eyes away from his gaze. Almost imperceptibly, something changed. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he chewed the chocolate slowly, as if savouring it to its fullest. She watched, fascinated, as he swallowed, and licked his lips.
He took a deep breath, and seemed to grow more relaxed. “I must put in my order now,” he drawled. “This is without a doubt the most delicious chocolate I’ve ever tasted.” He turned to Hermione, his large eyes warm and inviting. She looked surprised as he plucked the chocolate she still held in her fingers, and lifted it toward her mouth. With the slightest hint of a smile, he purred intimately, “I want you to enjoy this as much as I did.”
Almost shyly, Hermione leaned forward and nibbled the chocolate from his fingers. He knew he was breathing hard, but he could not stop himself from gasping as her soft tongue darted out and brushed against his fingertips.
She closed her eyes and chewed slowly, a soft moan of pleasure sounding in her throat. Severus sat back against the sofa and watched her swallow.
Still hungry? Try out the stories on our first Sweetest Day Quiz, How Sweet It Is!
Want to give Hermione a run for her money in the know-it-all field? Simply play the quiz by commenting on this post with your answers at any time over the weekend. All comments with answers will be screened until the answer sheet is posted on Monday morning EDT. On Monday, all quizzlings with the correct answers will receive a pretty banner to prove their quiz prowess. Ready? Set? Play!
Match the quotes to the story titles without picking the red herring titles:
Stud-muffin by debjunk
Chocolate Enchantment by Vivian B
Making Love by teddyradiator
A Mutually Beneficial Arrangement by melusin_79
When Only the Best Will Do by fizzabella1110
Delicious by of_anoesis
A Chocolate Frog Card for Professor Snape by selinabln
Like Taking Candy From a Professor by I M Sterling
Strange Taste by wingless
Short and Sweet by Corazon
The Blues by Toblass
Pearl Button by savvyshka
1. A small, black, oval box on the coffee table caught her attention.
'What on earth...?'
That hadn't been there this morning. Wherever had it come from? Noticing a scrap of parchment tucked under the silver bow on the lid, she carefully removed it and turned it over. In a familiar, spiky hand, it read:
Please accept this small gift with my compliments.
Start with the white one-I trust you will be able to work out the correct sequence after that.
Endeavour to savour each one for as long as possible.
regards
S.Snape
P.S I await your instructions for Friday.
A present? From Snape? Hermione stared at the box wondering whether it was some kind of practical joke. What on earth could it be? Unable to contain her curiosity, Hermione undid the bow and removed the lid.
Chocolates.
Five chocolates. And handmade too, by the looks of it.
They were arranged in the shape of a cross: a white one in the centre, flanked with milk chocolates on either side, and a dark one above and below it.
Hermione was already salivating, her hand reaching for the centre chocolate as instructed, when she came to her senses. Had she gone mad?
2. Her breath came fast and her chest rose and fell swiftly within the confines of her impractical dress. “You are utterly infuriating!”
Severus watched in silent dismay as one of the few colleagues he had thought to be something like a friend began to turn from him, like all the rest before.
“I tried being nice to you, and you’re nothing but snippy and short in return. I show an interest in your work and you’re sarcastic and . . . snarky in response.”
Was that even a word?
“You’re a bad as Ron!” she continued, her cheeks flushed and her eyes bright
Now, that was a little unfair, surely.
“Honestly, if you like me, all you have to do is tell me.”
Like her? What was she going on about? Well, of course he liked her. He had been willing to but up with this conversation
for far longer than he was comfortable with - surely that ought to count for something?
“Why is it all men think that the way to gain a girl’s attention is to insult her?” She continued. “I put hours into looking like this and you tell me that I look like some mint confection.”
“I like mint.” He interjected. “I like chocolate.
3. Hermione strategically placed the candy bar on her table. In a few minutes, Severus would be stopping by to go over plans for the next Hogsmeade weekend. They were to chaperone together, and he was insistent that they work out everything ahead of the upcoming weekend. She’d jumped at the chance to have him stop by. He’d been acting funny for a few weeks and late one evening, instead of sleeping, she’d spent the whole night analyzing his behavior.
He looks away when I smile at him. He runs the other way when I’m coming down the hall. He makes excuses that he has meetings with fictional people to avoid me. Who on earth is The Incredible Arse, anyway? Maybe he was talking about Dumbledore, he’s been grumpy lately.
Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. Severus Snape was attracted to her. The rest of the night was spent in deliberating just what she was going to do about it.
Now she looked down at the results of her planning. That candy bar should loosen Severus up so he could tell her how he felt. She crossed her fingers as there was a light rap on her door. Hopefully it would work.
4. "Finally, the last sample. As you know, I am not terribly fond of chocolate, so I am not sorry to see the end of this," he waved his hand over his desk, "the end of this twaddle. Here we go, sample number twelve."
As he had with the other samples, he sniffed this one as he opened the box, and a brief, fleeting smile crossed his face.
"Sample number twelve is a dark chocolate with a strong cacao scent; just a hint of what I judge to be genuine vanilla bean, rather than a pre-prepared extract; the chocolate smells sweet but not overpoweringly so."
Mrs. Webley thought this sounded hopeful; his comments were, far and away, the most positive of all the chocolates he'd sampled. She watched with interest as he bit into the sample.
"Mmmmm." In the several years she'd worked for him, Mrs. Webley had never head Director Snape make a sound like that, but his eyes were closed in chocolate-induced bliss and he smiled as he finished the sample piece.
"Sample twelve must have the highest cacao content of any samples submitted; the texture is very smooth, the taste perfectly balanced between the bitter cacao and the sweetness of the vanilla and sugar. The sample snapped cleanly, and has obviously been properly stored."
5. Headmaster Snape eased back in his chair, propping his booted feet upon the desk. Carefully, he held the opened purple foiled box up to his prodigious nose and inhaled deeply, allowing the heady aroma to waft through his olfactory receptors. With a contented sigh, he peered inside at the delicately embossed dark chocolates and silently thanked Hermione. Unable to wait a moment longer, he reached in, plucked out one of the lovely brown domes and popped it into his mouth. He rolled the chocolate on his tongue, gently sucking at the liquid slowly oozing out with a hum of satisfaction.
The combined symphony of flavours-bitter, dark chocolate and tart raspberry-exploded on his tongue and he was awash with euphoric bliss. Oh, sweet Merlin, but this is good! When the last bit melted away, he eagerly popped yet another delectable confection into his mouth. At that moment, his wife came through the Floo.
“Hello, Severus, what are you-no!” Hermione shrieked, aghast at the scene before her.
6. An appetizing smell of chocolate and vanilla caught Severus' attention and drew him to the window of the candy shop, at which point the daring idea was born in the Potions master’s mind. For a minute, he looked at the bright display in indecision. His hesitation was almost palpable. Then he huffed, jerked his enormous nose up and bravely stepped inside.
The bell on the shop's door announced Severus' entrance, inevitably arousing the attention of inhabitants of the shop. Here he stood - the dark, evil outcast, dressed completely black - in the middle of this absurdly neon paradise filled with sugar, chocolate and confectionaries. For mere seconds, the only thought flashing through the Professor's mind was - run, now!
"Shit," growled Severus under his breath. However, he wasn't ready to give up just yet. A year spent in the proximity of Gryffindor had rubbed off on him. He straightened his shoulders and courageously walked to the counter, almost scaring the unsuspecting shop assistant to death in the process. Apparently they weren't used to such stormy clouds of black looming over their counters.
"What would you like, sir?" asked the assistant, his voice trembling.
"Some chocolate truffles, perhaps. What would you recommend?" asked Severus in his most civil possible voice. Miraculously, it worked. After this question, the boy at the counter visibly relaxed and obviously got a second wind.
"Ah, sir, we have absolutely the best chocolate truffles in England." He began to fuss around Severus. "Maybe you will find these two interesting," said the boy as he excitedly pushed two identical chocolate truffles to Severus. "This one is the darkest chocolate we have, filled with black cherry flavoured chocolate mousse," he pointed at one of them, "and this one is the same dark chocolate, sir, but with black currant flavoured mousse inside." The shop assistant continued to chatter, especially emphasizing the words 'darkest', 'dark' and 'black' while describing each truffle.
"You have to try them sir, they are truly exquisite."
7. Ron, being stubborn or persistent, take your choice, decided he was going to find out who "he' was. He owled his brothers, George and Fred, and asked for some recommendations on how to approach the situation. They immediately owled him back and sent along a package with a letter.
Ron,
These are Aphrodite's Chocolates. Whoever eats them will have the overwhelming urge to kiss the person they are most infatuated with. Be careful Ron! Only one piece is needed.
Fred and George
Ron smiled. He knew exactly when he was going to use them.
8. She returned her attention to her book, absently stuffing sweets in her mouth. All three men watched her yap quietly after every bite she took.
“What in the blazes are you eating?” Snape finally asked what everyone was thinking.
She looked up, startled. “Cherry and Chilli Gummy Sweets,” she explained, not understanding his need to know. He wasn’t usually interested in anything she did.
“You’re yapping like a pug in the throws of an orga… asthma attack,” he informed her dryly, pretending not to have almost uttered the word orgasm in front of his ex-student.
She grinned sheepishly, pretending to overhear the sexual reference that had him blushing a little. “Sorry,” she said and proceeded to offer the sweets to the other men.
Remus demurred, but Albus was quick to try the new sweet. He was already affected by the chilli when she turned the bag to Snape.
“Are you sure they are fit for human consumption?” he drawled.
Hermione only rolled her eyes and thrust the bag under his formidable nose.
After a moment’s hesitation, he took one of the gummy things that even optically resembled both a cherry and a chilly.
She watched him chew, and he stared back at her with a frown, not quite liking her scrutiny.
The cherry flavour came first, and he quite liked it; then after a few chews the chilli flavour made its presence known, and he had to breathe through his mouth to relieve the hot feeling in his mouth.
“Merlin’s balls,” he wheezed a little after he managed to swallow the thing. His eyes stung a little and surely looked watery, but he’d be damned before he’d wipe his eyes in front of the chit.
9. Hermione was grading papers in her office. A box of chocolate sat at her elbow. She needed to put the box away, they were absolutely delicious, and she'd eat the whole thing if she didn't pace herself. That thought didn't keep her from taking another bite and letting out a small moan.
A light knock on the door made her look up, mid-bite.
Severus Snape looked down at her with his lips twitching in an almost-smile.
"That good, are they?"
She swallowed and smiled up at him. "A gift from Minerva for Christmas, and yes, they're every bit of that good. Try one." She offered the gold foil box without hesitation.
He raised a brow, but didn't argue. He popped the chocolate in his mouth. The flavors were delicate but well balanced...hints of pomegranate from the center and something unusual...violets mixed into the chocolate? He was not a true chocolate aficiando, but these were the most complex sweets he'd ever bitten into, but he'd be damned if he moaned over chocolate...
10. He turned to Hermione, and with every ounce of seduction he could dial into his voice, he purred, “A gift this special is really too lovely not to share.” An elegant eyebrow accompanied his invitation. “You will join me, won’t you, Hermione?”
She bit her lip in a way that made his mouth water, and meeting his eyes with a coy little smile, she looked down in the box and chose a large, pyramid-shaped piece.
In return, he chose a rounded chocolate with a tiny piece of candied ginger on top. It was obviously fashioned to resemble an erect nipple; the imagery was not lost on either of them. To cover his embarrassment, Severus saluted Hermione with the chocolate, and placed the entire piece in his mouth. As it melted on his tongue, Hermione watched him carefully, unable to tear her eyes away from his gaze. Almost imperceptibly, something changed. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, and he chewed the chocolate slowly, as if savouring it to its fullest. She watched, fascinated, as he swallowed, and licked his lips.
He took a deep breath, and seemed to grow more relaxed. “I must put in my order now,” he drawled. “This is without a doubt the most delicious chocolate I’ve ever tasted.” He turned to Hermione, his large eyes warm and inviting. She looked surprised as he plucked the chocolate she still held in her fingers, and lifted it toward her mouth. With the slightest hint of a smile, he purred intimately, “I want you to enjoy this as much as I did.”
Almost shyly, Hermione leaned forward and nibbled the chocolate from his fingers. He knew he was breathing hard, but he could not stop himself from gasping as her soft tongue darted out and brushed against his fingertips.
She closed her eyes and chewed slowly, a soft moan of pleasure sounding in her throat. Severus sat back against the sofa and watched her swallow.
Still hungry? Try out the stories on our first Sweetest Day Quiz, How Sweet It Is!