Summer Challenge 14: Happy Birthday, Harry! (Part 1)(General)
Title: Happy Birthday, Harry! (Part 1) Author: elmyraemilie Other pairings/threesome: None Rating: General Word count: ~715 Theme chosen: Happy Birthday, Harry! Warning(s): None Summary: Two highly-organized people plan a party. A/N: Unbetaed.
"Severus, we have got to stop meeting like this." Hermione slid into the booth across from Snape with her lunch tray balanced on top of a fat notebook, bristling with papers.
Snape sipped his tea. "Soon enough. The party is this weekend."
"Thank Merlin. What an undertaking!" She transferred her sandwich plate and her glass of pumpkin juice to the table and put the tray aside. "Now, let's run through the list."
"Persons attending. My count has one hundred twenty-two, not counting Harry and myself."
"Right. And you've given the number to the caterer, the wine merchant and the hall manager, right?"
"Yes." Snape made a note on a raggedy sheet of parchment. "I'll confirm that with all of them this afternoon, however."
"Good." Chewing a bite of chicken salad on whole meal, Hermione ran her finger down her own list of tasks. "I heard from Maurice DeMomerie."
A wash of confusion colored Severus' face. "Maurice...oh! The band manager. What did he say?"
"They'll be at the hall by three to set up. That's about the time the caterer will get there, so Ron and I will try to get there by half-past two."
Snape checked off another item. "And you have the cake ordered," he said, "so that leaves--"
"No, wait. You were to order the cake. You wanted that chocolate-chocolate thing from Chez McCoy."
"What! No, I didn't order the cake. You and Ron volunteered to pay for it as a contribution to the party. Why would I order it?"
"Because you had a specific requirement for the cake? Because you know where bloody Chez McCoy is? Oh my God, this is not good."
"We still have three days," Snape pointed out.
Hermione ran a hand over her aching forehead. "That's not much time. Cake for one hundred fifty is more than an afternoon's work." She sighed. "All right. I'll contact some bakeries and see what we can do. Maybe we'll have to get two or three smaller cakes."
"It might be a good idea at any rate. You could order a chocolate cake and two other kinds to allow for a variety of tastes." Suddenly, Snape froze, his eyes fixed on the cashier's stand.
"Is it him?" Hermione hissed.
"Yes." They both grabbed their notes and stuffed them out of sight.
"Wow! What a nice surprise!" Harry bent down to kiss Hermione on the cheek. "Budge over, Severus. I didn't expect to see you here."
Accepting the kiss Harry gave him, Severus cleared his throat. "I needed to get out of the office for a little while, and Hermione was kind enough to ask me to join her." He took a sip of his tea. "What brings you into town? I thought you were going to be in Hogsmeade working on the autumn inventory."
"I was, but only about half the order was in. When I left, George was shouting at people over the floo. I'll get back to him in a couple days and try again." Harry looked from one of them to the other. "So, what's going on?"
"Hmmm? Nothing! No! We're um, just eating. Well, Severus is drinking, but..." Hermione let the sentence peter out. Better to shut up now.
Harry's eyes narrowed a bit, but then he said, "Well, it's good to see you. I'm looking forward to this weekend."
Once again, Hermione had to curb the urge to babble. Snape rescued her. "Yes, Hermione, what time shall we meet you? Our dinner reservations are at six-fifteen to give us time to eat before the show."
"Um...How does five-thirty sound? We can have a drink before dinner and we should be done well before eight."
"Okay, five-thirty it is." Harry tapped his temple. "I won't forget."
Hermione took a last bite of her sandwich. "I'll see you on Saturday, then. Looking forward to celebrating your birthday!"
"It's going to be great. Just good friends and a nice evening out. Can't wait."
As Hermione walked away, she heard Harry ask, "So what's up with her? She seems jumpy."
Jumpy wasn't the half of it. She bit her lip in thought. Three bakeries within delivery range of the Hogsmeade town hall. Merlin's ghost, if this party came off, it would be a miracle.