Word must have spread along the stalls that he and Indi had prepared baked goods of an unusual variety - because before Virgil knew it, the usual suspects were crowding around their table. It almost completely blocked the accused plainclothes Auror from view. Clever of Gracie to point out the scarred witch but it seemed to him that they might just be able to polish off their brownies before either law-woman or Professor Donovan appeared.

"Three sickles," Virgil was already wrapping up a gillyweed brownie for Elysia when a Pepper joined the crowd, his question drowned out by Isla's arrival - and then the school counselor.

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuggggggggggghhhhh

He had forgotten that manning the stall meant having to actually sell things and talk to people.

The Slytherin waved lazily at Maiko as she left, sliding a chocolate eclair into his mouth with more care than was prudent. "Mifklas is fwight," he agreed with Nick's suggestion that Ambrose try the special offerings but nearly chocked at Indi's response. Them two were already feeling it.

Virgil's hands moved with nimble precision as he picked out three gillyweed brownies from the tray, loosely enclosing them in baking paper as if though he were bundling up a stalk of flowers. "Pepper." Smiling languidly, he  tossed it over the table at the fifth year to catch. "From the Virgil Carstairs Fund for Juni's Victims."

Admittedly, Virgil was extremely fond of Juni and this fondness entailed encouraging her boyfriend to get high as hell off his head. He started on Isla's order while Indi handled the money. A macadamia blondie found itself into her package, as he thought better of the airhead Spectre becoming even moreso herself.

"Radley, Merrick -" his voice carried like a busy fishmonger onstage, "- make a choice or a choice will be made for you, loiterers of this hallowed bake sale."

At Indi’s offer, Micah’s mouth dropped open, working soundlessly as he went hot all over. “That’s. Uh.” He swallowed hard. Gingerly he picked the brownie out of her hand. “I’m good.” He flashed her an uncertain smile before taking a bite.

Flavor burst in mouth, rich and chocolaty and good. And… a little weird, if he was honest, but it was easy to ignore. While the conversation went on without him, the Hufflepuff focused on it, letting his eyes drift shut into a blissful expression. He nearly missed Elysia’s arrival (which he greeted with only a slightly sheepish smile), and even Nicholas’ innuendo went over his head.

In a few quick bites, the brownie was quickly decimated. Only a small bite remained. Micah stirred out of his dreamy haze, lighting upon Virgil a hopeful look. “Can I have another one?” He finished it off, cleaning off the crumbs clinging to his thumb by sucking on the digit.

”Oh, you don’t want another!” Indi, Fred believed her name was said from behind the stall with a sort of grin that made him wildly uncomfortable.  Instead, she picked up another brownie, this one with a thick layer of frosting on top, ”This will hit the spot in about an hour.”

Fred had no idea what she was talking about (not true), and regardless he suspected he didn’t really want to know specific.  Whatever it was, he could only imagine it wasn’t allowed.  And not that he was totally a nerd, but he didn’t like the idea of getting caught. 

Virgil, however, wanted them to pick and Fred coughed, surprised he was being called to do anything.  Looking around the group, he had to make sure 1) he was the only Radley around (stupid because there were no other Radleys at Hogwarts), but also 2) that no one else was going to speak first.  Confident that it was his turn, he then had to deal with the anxiety of a choice on the spot.

He hated that, so much. 

Fumbling for a word or something to do, he took in a deep breath and gritted his teeth before speaking, “Oh – um, I guess uh…” he pointed in the general direction of a couple of plates, “One of those?” He’d take whatever was given to him, for sure.  It was so much easier than making an actual choice.

Elysia plucked the brownie from Virgil's hand and offered the counselor a small smile, a bit embarrassed by the newly acquired brownie in her palm. Surely Maiko had no idea that it wasn't a normal chocolate brownie, it wasn't as if you had to smoke a brownie. She slipped three sickles onto the counter in front of the plate and twirled about on the spot, tearing a chunk off the brownie and popping it into her mouth. The crowd had started to gather quite considerably in the few minutes she had been there, enough to make the Hufflepuff feel a tad bit paranoid. This paranoia caused Elysia to consume her brownie rather quickly, leaving her hands completely free when Radley started pointing randomly at the table.

Elysia let out a laugh at Indi's remark, offering the witch a wink before moving between Micah and Fred and tossing her arms around both boys, "Trust in her, Micah, she knows what she's talking about," She said cheerfully, turning her head toward her housemate. She was actually surprised that Micah had even eaten one, but somewhere deep in her stomach was a mixture of pride and grief at the loss of innocence. She could, however, assuage that guilt with Fred. "Maybe one of those," Elysia suggested, nodding her head toward a pile of dark chocolate brownies covered in cherries. He certainly didn't need a brownie laced with gillyweed.

The young witch planted a kiss atop both boys' heads and removed her arms, pulling her change purse from within her robes again. "I've got theirs today," She said to the two behind the booth, then patted the young Spectre on the head. "Calm down, little one. The brownies aren't going anywhere," Elysia smiled at the little badger encouragingly, "And maybe limit yourself to just one, okay? There are loads of other booths and you don't want to spoil dinner," She tossed a galleon atop the table and winked at Virgil, "Keep the change," she said to both Indi and Virgil.

She ventured back to where she'd been standing before and grabbed her mug from where she had set it on the table. The liquid inside had already started to cool to near tepid, and as Elysia took a sip, her face screwed up in an uncomfortable mask. The hot chocolate didn't taste nearly as appetizing chilled, as its name might have suggested, so she tossed the recyclable cup into a bin a few feet away. "That, was gross," She said, sticking out her tongue.

Isla was blissfully unaware of the fact that everybody else was getting a very different kind of brownie than what she had just purchased.  She gave Fred a huge smile and shook her bag in his general direction, "You can taste a little bit of what I have, and then maybe deci--"

Then Elysia decided to pay for his food, how sweet of her! She was so smooth and suave, like heroines in those wireless programs she listened to sometimes. She could feel the heat slowly rising to her ears and cheeks, and even her neck. It only intensified when Elysia patted her on the head. She didn't know what to say-- so instead, Isla squeaked. Pulling the blondie out of her bag to distract herself from the real-life one, she began to stuff her face because nothing else made sense.

Dinner didn't matter. Dessert was dinner now. She had no restraint. Restraint was for chumps and pastry haters.

She threw some coins in Virgil and Indi's general direction, realized she didn't know what she wanted anymore, and ran away.

Radley was the very definition of a fence-sitter, indicating two plates at once, but Elysia rescued Virgil from having to toss a mental coin by suggesting the fifth year try his dark chocolate chip brownies smothered in a sour cherry compote. It was one of the less popular ones for the younger years - he found that they preferred orthodox sweetness.

"Good choice," Virgil carefully picked up two of the brownies without disturbing the compote; he placed each on a square piece of baking paper before handing one to Fred and the other to Micah. "And no. Have one of these Micah. And sit down." A nod towards the bench on his side of the stall. Gallagher would probably appreciate the bittersweet contrast in... oh, forty minutes or so.

He was on the verge of making a snarky comment about Elysia's generosity when she threw away her drink. "Hughes!" Virgil exclaimed softly over the table of brownies, a look of hurt crossing his features. "What do you think heating charms are for?"

What a waste.

Isla, probably flustered more by her housemate's forwardness than by her thoughtless squandering, disappeared just then - she nearly threw her knuts on to one of the plates. Well then. "I'm taking my break." Virgil informed Indi, removing the chocolate smeared apron he had been wearing over his uniform sweater, and adjusting the scarf. "Don't do anything I wouldn't."


Half an Hour Later

The Slytherin prefect had used his time wisely, tasting a selection of the bake sale's other fare and then joining a couple of classmates at The Three Broomstick for hot butterbeer.

By the time he returned to the stall it looked like most of the gillyweed brownies had either been sold or were at least hidden where suspicious grown-ups could not spot them. Some of the crowd was still much the same - they'd come and gone and then returned, he supposed.

Virgil was high as a kite. He smiled smoothly, lips relaxed into a treacly line as he joined Indi on the other side of their table. "We alright?" the question was vague but his gesturing towards the diminishing display of baked goods suggested he meant their takings. "I could murder for a good nap right now."

While many locals liked to complain and moan about the barrage of students that infiltrated Hogsmeade each month, Audrey had always enjoyed the noise and the energy that they brought with them. Last month had been unfortunate, but she was glad to see that it hadn't stopped them from returning. Perhaps, the focus on the bake sale was a welcome distraction-- and being outside of the castle walls allowed them to escape from looks of pity from their peers. Nobody appreciated pity, not even those who deserved it the most.

After a short wait to get seated, the pair had gotten lunch at The Three Broomsticks, where Shona ate a hefty meal worthy of a small army. Audrey was certain that there was still room for a dessert.... Or ten. So they made their way to the bake sale, both as customers and as adults who wanted to check in and make sure everything was going smoothly.

Linus had sent her a barrage of letters pleading with her to send him some pastries, but only the good ones. It was vague-- most pastries fell into the realm of 'good' and she highly doubted that Linus had a palate that could distinguish between high quality butter and sugar and low quality butter and sugar. She nearly took pity on him for not being old enough to go to Hogsmeade, but his third year was inching closer and closer. He would manage.

They stopped at a stall, her arm wrapped loosely around Shona's waist. One of the students manning the booth looked like an inbred weasel. Maminka had always said that the British produced unfortunate looking men, despite the fact that she had married one. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, and she wasn't sure if his lazy and sloth-like demeanor was a symptom of altered consciousness or from lack of sleep.

She gave Shona a slow, side-eyed look. It'd take a conversation with them to confirm.

"I'd like an apple puff pastry, a blondie, and..." She perused the selection, which was beginning to get picked over at this point. A sign of a successful sale. "An eclair, and." Her eyes critically shifted from Indi, to Virgil, and back again. "A brownie."

"Professor Donovan!" Virgil had greeted the teacher with a sleepy, happy exclamation when the two witches approached their stall - but it wasn't their frightening angel from Care of Magical Creatures who spoke. The blonde one with the intelligent look in her eye. He had to focus on what was being asked: a gentle frown appeared between blond eyebrows.

Apple puff pastry... blondie... eclair... aaaand brownie.

The way she had specified the last one made him reluctant to meet either woman in the eye, and Virgil pretended to busy himself with their order instead. His hands were moving faster than he wanted them too but mostly because he was painfully aware of how slow he might otherwise be. Time was a fuzzy thing.

Concentrating harder than he sometimes did in Divination lessons, the Slytherin finished wrapping the (regular triple chocolate chip) brownie last before slipping everything into a brown paper bag. Indi handled the money transaction whilst he handed the baked goods over.

His smile was a mixture of bashful and smug. Virgil wasn't sure if eating gillyweed brownies at the sale was a wise idea... but they had sold plenty.

As far as he was concerned, their efforts to raise funds for the Leaky Cauldron had been a mildly triumphant one.