I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good: Private message to Ron

[alt_sally_anne]

Hey, I was thinking about the wedding on Saturday, because Pansy and I tried on our dress robes and made sure they still fit and so on.

And I realized --

you're supposed to give a GIFT. To the couple. Do you have something for them? Pansy does, apparently she ordered it months ago! but I hadn't even thought about it. It's too late to knit anything, even if I could think of something good to knit that wouldn't be naff.

There's not going to be time to go to Hogsmeade, I need to find something that's available journal-order or MAYBE owl-order and I have no idea -- I mean I don't even know what would be a good gift, never mind what would be a good gift that I could afford. Pansy would let me sign my name to hers as well but it would be perfectly obvious that she'd bought it and let me sign my name to it, you know?

Comments

[alt_ron]

Uh-

Erm. I dunno. I haven't been to a wedding before. But I think Mum took something she'd got by bartering the last time I remember her going to one. Something for the house, I think.

Like oven mitts. Or y'know, those knitted things she puts hot dishes on so they don't burn the table.

Do those take a long time to knit?

[alt_sally_anne]

Your mum uses knitted things for trivets? We had wood ones.

I could make trivets, actually, that wouldn't take me long. They just seem so ordinary, though.

Also I don't know if they'd need trivets, they live at Hogwarts most of the time and the elves do all the cooking and they put things in serving dishes. You only need a trivet if you're serving the food from the pot you cooked it in.

I could make oven gloves too but those seem even more ordinary. Does Professor Siz even cook?

[alt_ron]

Yeah, okay.

I guess that was stupid. And really ordinary.

Are wood trivets nicer? Only, you're right. They don't need that sort of thing at all, do they?

I mean what do people who live here even need? Cause it'd be... awkward to give Raz and Siz pillowcases or something like that for their rooms. See what I mean?

Do people give, like, baby clothes? or, uh, y'know stuff for      nevermind.

I don't even know.

[alt_sally_anne]

Yeah they really don't need pillowcases. And even on holidays Raz has a fancy house and surely it's got everything they really need?

And no, people don't give baby clothes.

[alt_ron]

So what should we do?

We could go in on something together if we could think of what to get. I mean, that way it could be a little nicer.

Maybe you could ask Daphne. I mean, if you don't want to ask Pansy.

[alt_sally_anne]

If you want to go in on something, that would make it easier.

Do you think a charmed pepper grinder would be utterly naff? It looks sort of nift. It grinds itself, it keeps the pepper fresh for you, it's charmed so you won't sneeze, and it walks itself down to you when you want pepper.

I think it's nift and I wouldn't think they'd already have one. They don't ALWAYS come to meals in the Great Hall, you know?

It's discounted

There's also a silver tray for receiving people's cards when they visit you, I found a journal-order place that specialises in things for people who are getting married but that's the only thing in there I can afford half of.

[alt_ron]

That's brilliant.

How much is it? I can bring you the money tomorrow if you want. Is it the kind of place you have to send the money with the order or after it comes?

And how fast will they send it?

Will it get here in time?

[alt_ron]

The pepper grinder, I mean. Not the silver tray thinger. What would anybody want one of those for?

[alt_sally_anne]

Your mum gave me a book people give brides, by the way, back when the Strettons were making me do all the cooking. It's a book full of useful household charms, like for cleaning, plus recipes that are very difficult to make go wrong.

It's a great book. I still use it sometimes if I need to get a stain out and I'm not sure what charm would work best, and it had some really clever mending charms in it.

I don't think it would be quite the thing for Professor Siz, though. Also I think you're supposed to get it from your mum, not one of your students.

[alt_ron]

She what?

[alt_sally_anne]

It was because she was hoping I'd seduce Percy.

Actually, wait, that wasn't it. It was because I was spending that Christmas holiday cooking and cleaning for the Strettons and wrote her a letter asking her how you do the washing-up charm she uses and also if she could advise me about what recipes mean exactly when they say things like 'cream the butter.' She sent me a nice letter and a book.

[alt_ron]

I hope you know I spewed a whole mouthful of pumpkin juice out my nose when I read that.

Ugh.


I guess that was nice of Mum. Still, it's not the sort of thing I'd like to open up in a package on Christmas morning.

Though.

At least it was a surprise. I always know what Mum's giving me.

[alt_sally_anne]

Well it wasn't a CHRISTMAS present, your mum doesn't send me Christmas presents! It was because I wrote her a letter asking for advice. I may have sounded a little frantic.