2100 hours


Virgil sat on the stone floor, underneath a large table that took up a corner of the space where their dinners were brewed or baked. Cross legged and looking a little worse for wear, he was hunched over two absolutely pristine cheesecakes that had just been delivered to him by one of the more obliging house elves.

It was after supper hours and much of the bustle in the kitchens involved cleaning up and prepping for the next day's breakfast - or so the prefect assumed, anyway. He had little idea of how they ran the detail of things down here.

Didn't really interest him anymore than he wondered how his own house elves got by with making food appear in the dining room at the correct hour.

He turned his wrist, glancing at the time before picking up a fork and peering past the chairs at the entrance. His eyes remained there - almost statuesque in their listless watchfulness - until at last the seventh year Gryffindor crossed the threshold. Finally! It was beginning to feel bizarre, staring at the untouched cakes in anticipation of the challenge.

"Down here," he caught Indi's attention and waved his fork as if though it were a wand. "Come on, Kemp. I skipped supper for this! I never skip supper. It's a miracle I haven't yet starved." Virgil complained in a deliberately tired, lackadaisical voice. "Imagine what the counsellor would say, finding me all skin and bones in the kitchens no less."
 

When the list of challenges had been made, the cheesecake one had been an afterthought – a gillyweed induced giggle while eating cheesecake bites her father had sent.  A whole cheesecake would just be amazing, so it made the list and now she and Virgil were going to do it.  Eli had also wanted to attempt that one, but for the life of her, Indi couldn’t find him and Merlin only knew where he could be hiding in the castle. 

So, she practically skipped steps from the tower and ascended all the way down because the kitchens were closer to Virgil’s house and carrying two cheesecakes would probably be a lot.  Floating two cheesecakes would probably also garner a lot of attention.  Even if this was the challenge that was least likely to result in detention (which Indi already had this year), she didn’t really feel like risking it. 

Her hair whipped around her back (she should have tied it up, she realized) as she quickly turned a corner and was greeted in a simultaneously sleepy, but demanding way.  Only Virgil.  Her grin spread across her face and she bounced forward, producing a little parcel of two special cookies that she’d managed to get sent by her mum.  Her mum really understood what was necessary for a seventh year’s success in an environment like Hogwarts.

“A peace offering,” she smirked and dropped beside him, grabbing up the fork provided for her.  “I figured we might need to pad our appetitites a little for this… and mum was kind enough to send.”  Her mum also loved Virgil (and his helpfulness at birthing classes), “So you’ll look like a stuffed chicken when your counselor next sees you,” she added, reaching over with her free hand to pinch under his ribs – decidedly skinny. 

Frowning a little, she tried to grab at more skin, “You do need a little padding sir.  Glad we picked this to do.” 

"Careful now!" Virgil rubbed his ribs defensively, half-laughing. "It's birthing class all over again, witches pinching me."

That was a recollection better left for dreamscapes - Indi's exceptional baked goods were not to be wasted on the likes of awkward reminiscing. He raised one of the cookies to his face and looked past it at his classmate's expression, smirking. Leave it to the indubitable Mrs Kemp to keep them in good supply.

Merlin bless her yogic soul.

"I'm inclined to believe that a whole cheesecake each might be an excess of padding," the Slytherin broke off a piece and chewed on it. "It's the monotony of texture that might defeat us~" he speculated gravely, although the sugar rush on an empty stomach threatened something close to nirvana.

Virgil stuck a fork into his cheesecake, picking at it and leaving uneven rows on the matt surface. "Slow and steady wins the race or...?" he raised an ashen eyebrow at Indi. They could rush it. There were logical arguments in favour of either technique.

Indi cackled just a little bit when he told her to be careful and squirmed.  She was a touchy individual.  Not everyone was though and when Virgil rubbed his ribs, she gave him an exasperated look.  “I didn’t hurt you,” she wrinkled her nose at him and smirked, “and I didn’t pinch your bum like that randy older mum.  At least not this time,” she wiggled her eyebrows.  The threat was probably more satisfying than the actual act.  Virgil’s bum was not quite as substantial as Indi would like and there were plenty of other bums she could go about grabbing in this castle – bums that would appreciate being pinched too.   

She’d be bloated later though… so much dairy.  She would not be feeling cute enough to pinch any bums.  Even Virgil’s. 

Nibbling on the cookie, Indi considered Virgil’s point and shrugged.  “What’s that phrase?” she said with half chewed cookie still in her mouth, “You know – more cushion for the pushin’ or something like that?” she laughed and winked before twirling her fork in her hand.  “Excess in the eye of the beholder.  I’m sure Slant wouldn’t mind a little more to grab,” she continued to tease and dug her fork into the soft, wonderful round cake. 

“I refuse to be defeated by a cake,” she informed him, “and I will stay up all night if I have to, but this cake is getting in here,” she balanced her cookie on her thigh before patting her stomach with a little rub.  “We have nothing better to do anyway,” she pointed out and put the first piece in her mouth. 

Cheesecake was truly a gift from above. 

Virgil licked his lips, blinking rapidly as the cookie went straight to his head - he had to put it down to concentrate on the fact that there were many, many mouthfuls of cheesecake ahead of them. But even he knew that it would take more than an absurd amount of dessert to put some flesh on his bones. Like many boys his age, Virgil's stomach was powered by a bottomless pit, or what Trishna would have called a black hole.

Some day, Adeline once reasoned, his metabolism would slow down enough for him to acquire a touch of the cushion that Indi rightfully advocated.

"Oh, it would only be giving her more to bruise. I am no glutton for punishment-" he used the fork to neatly divide his cake into half. "- although possibly a regular glutton, in this case." An immense chunk went right into his mouth and he worked on it laboriously, chewing in response to the rumble of his insides.

Swallowing, he gave Indi a cynical look. Nothing better to do? It was worth protest. Except... well. They didn't have anything better to do. Not even homework. Not even preparations for Halloween; his costume was secreted away in a trunk, waiting for its understated debut that Sunday night.

"But are we fighting the cakes, or do we take arms against our stomachs?" Virgil poked at another piece, this time pausing to savour the taste before it became too tedious. "There are men who climb mountains simply because they exist. Here, we devour dessert for the same reason. And to push our limits, Indi-" clearly his mouth was wandering off on its own now, reeling from the sugar and specialness. "- the frontier of discovery. The pinnacle of... of invention."

He snorted, unable to keep a straight face. That was stretching the motivations of their list. Virgil felt himself an odd mix of philosophy and flippancy as he stretched back to lean against one of the table legs. "Stick your head out for a house elf, maybe? I think we're going to need something to wash this down."

“Some bruises are good,” Indi pointed out, brandishing her fork before digging it into the thick cake and pulling out a chunk.  She and Virgil were taking two very different approaches to the cheesecake challenge.  She supposed it matched their respective personalities and to some degree houses.  Indi dove into the center and just worked around wherever she pleased to go.  If one spot looked delicious, she’d attack it with fervor until the next part seemed to call to her.  Virgil had to cut it just so and go about it systematically.  It would probably help him figure out much more easily how much he had left… but Indi wasn’t really the type to worry. 

She’d finish.  Eventually. It was good that there wasn’t really a time limit on what was considered a “sitting.” 

Lost in her consideration of just how to eat the cheesecake, Indi looked up with hooded eyes, her eyebrows pulling in as she realized she had no idea what he was talking about. Sometimes he could get so weird. 

With cheeks full of cheesecake, she shook her head and refocused: drinks.  Indi nodded and put the cake down beside her seat and continued to chew as she pushed herself up.  It was definitely hard to swallow that large of a fork of cake and Indi struggled through it, wobbling on her feet as the sensation of gillyweed had really hit her. 

Waving her hand, as her mouth was still inexplicably full of cheesecake, she managed to catch the eye of a wayward elf.  Miming ridiculously, she held her hand as though she had a cup and pretended to drink.  Apparently, as much gesticulation as she did was probably not necessary because two glasses of milk appeared and Indi was so relieved when she was able to take a sip and clear out the inside of her mouth. 

Returning victorious, Indica held out the glass to Virgil and was finally able to speak again.  “We have to write the elves a thank you card, I think,” Indi grinned and picked up right where she left off, digging into the middle of the cake.  “But only if we conquer these cakes.”  She took a bite to punctuate the point.  Milk was a definite improvement. 

“In the nature of stuffing one’s self: ready for Halloween?” she asked.