Chapter 691 - Ruse Aftermath Ⅴ (1/2)
Surprisingly hungry after the funeral, Asclepius gestures to his guests to take a seat, while he courteously holds out the chair for his wife to sit first, before sitting down and joining at the table. Despite their sudden ravenous hunger, Secundus Wilkes and Wilfredius wait to eat until their host and hostess begin to eat. The sound of their silverware clinking softly against the china plates is the signal for them to commence eating. The only sounds heard for some time in the cottage are the sounds of silverware and those eating. At long last, the silverwares are put down one by one leaving the four satisfied with the meal.
Seeing that their guests have finished eating, Annise softly says, ”Teeny, please clean up the table.”
With a soft pop, the petite house elf appears and with a flourish of her hands, the silverware and plates gather themselves up and float away into the kitchen in a neat line without so much a crumb spilling to the floor. With the table cleared, Teeny squeaks, ”Miss will that be all? Teeny has a lovely blackberry crumble just popped out of the oven to be served with freshly churned sweet cream. Should Teeny serve the guests now?”
”That would be just lovely, Teeny,” Annise instructed. ”But just three plates for I shall retire early for the evening.”
”Yes, Miss!” Teeny obediently said, before popping away to bring the pipping warm dessert.
Turning towards her husband and guests, Annise says, ”I find myself overly tired, gentlemen, and ask that you excuse me for the evening.”
The two wizards murmur, ”that it is no trouble at all, Mrs. Belby,” before Annise turns to her husband and places a quick peck on his cheek, she whispers, ”I will be fine by myself. Feel free to chat the night away tonight, dear.” Before turning away and heading towards their shared marriage bedroom.
Asclepius' lips twitch with faint tenderness on his face as he watches his wife go, before turning his attention to his guests. Before he can speak with a loud pop, Teeny appears with three plates of blackberry crumble accompanied by fresh sweet cream. ”Please enjoy!” Teeny squeaked as she set the plates before them.
Wilfredius murmured his thanks, while Secundus and Asclepius merely nodded at the house elf. ”Sir please call upon, Teeny should anything further be needed,” she eagerly piped, before vanishing with a loud pop.
With Teeny gone, Asclepius reaches for the bottle of Ogden's Finest Firewhiskey and poured three generous shouts of Firewhiskey. He motioned for the other two men to each take once as he took one for himself. Secundus gladly takes the glass, while Wilfredius with a wary expression takes the other glass. He wasn't much of a drink and tended to not to fair too well with alcohol. His Achilles heel so to speak.
Raising his drink in the air, Secundus proposes a toast. ”To Damocles.”
”To Damocles,” Asclepius echoed with Wilfredius.
Asclepius and Secundus down their drinks in one gulp leaving Wilfredius to only take the tiniest of sips. His eyes begin to water as he tries not to choke at the fire burning down his throat. He just knew he was going to regret drinking in the morning.
Not wanting to drink more, Wilfredius eagerly starts on the blackberry crumble with sweet cream. He lets out a happy sigh at the taste and murmurs, ”Master would have liked this,” before his voice breaks and he lets out a rather loud sniff.
”Mm, he always did have a taste for the sour,” Secundus echoed with a weak chuckle. ”Damocles turned up his nose at anything sweet, but if it was bitter, sour, or any other flavor, you would him purchasing the sweet by the dozen.”
Asclepius shivered as he recalled their childhood. ”Ug, he used to consume Acid Pops by the dozens when we were children, never mind the fact that they burned a hole through his tongue!” All three wizards shiver as they recalled the horrid childhood sweet.
After a moment, Secundus begins to loudly chuckle to the bewilderment of Asclepius and Wilfredius. ”When we were third years, Damocles first purchase at Honeydukes was Pepper Imps. He crammed just about a dozen into his mouth on a dare. To his horror, he suddenly was blowing out fire from his mouth like a dragon. He wasn't able to stop until he ran out of the shop and dunked his head into the nearly frozen fountain in the square.”
Asclepius guffawed loudly as Wilfredius openly gaped unable to believe that his collected master had ever done such an uncouth thing in his youth. ”My brother was always far too prideful for his own good,” Asclepius snorted. ”It tended to get him in trouble more times than I can count. He used to exasperate my mother to no end, and she was convinced that he had been sorted into the wrong house. She used to say that with his pigheaded rashness, he should have been in Gryffindor! He was a hat standstill, you know.”