Whipped Cream and a Cherry On Top (Jory/Verity)

[Verity Bromley]

So this was it, the Diagon Alley. Verity let it all sink in. She let her eyes sweep over the cobble stone street, the looming stores, the fr—Ouch! Verity was jerked forward by a small group of children that literally ran into her. She snapped around an lifted her oversized sunglasses so that the small children could see her purple eyes as she glared at them. “Watch where you’re going.” She hissed, giving them one last look before turning back around and heading on her way.

Diagon Alley wasn’t like she had expected. Apparently she made the trip once with her mother, but she was too young to remember. It was too crowded for her liking, but a crowd wasn’t enough to make her turn and go home. She walked up the street, ducking out of the path of distracted pedestrians, and studied the windows of the stores she passed. She stopped in front of the ice cream parlor, it was like something out of a book. Verity’s pushed the door open quickly. Bells jangled when she entered and she looked around, amazed. Her lips instantly spread into a wide grin and she pushed her sunglasses up to the top of her head, revealing eyes wide with excitement. She let out a squeal and began studying the list of flavors. She felt like a little kid! Not that she ever got such a treat when she was a kid.

[Jory Addison]

Jory hadn't been to the ice cream shop before, but he had gotten a little bit of surprise money from his parents and a few tokens for Knight Bus rides. Having a few free passes made it so much easier to decide to make a trip out to Diagon Alley, and maybe he was thinking about his next piercing. Yes, already. When he came in, he almost didn't recognize the girl at the counter, but recognition tugged at his mind until he remembered meeting her once in the forest a few months ago.

Verity, right? Yeah, he was pretty sure that was her name. He had even given her a card reading, she had been okay with him being out, and he remembered something about a vague promise to go to the club sometime. Well, that had certainly never happened. Maybe this time something would happen, he was feeling a little more social lately. "Hi," he said as he came up, only realizing after that she probably didn't even remember him.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity whipped her head around. Her eyes trailed over the boy who had greeted her, searching for any hint as to who he may be or why he had approached her. She blinked a few times, realizing how unsocial that had sounded in her head. “Hey.” She responded cautiously. There was something familiar about him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. At first, she thought that maybe he had been a customer at the Three Broomsticks that she had forgotten about. That happened frequently, seeing how in the past few months business had been doing well. It wasn’t until she noticed some of the piercings that she remembered meeting him in the Forest. Of course, how could she forget? He was the first person she met after arriving at Hogwarts! She racked her brain, trying to remember his name. John, Jack, Cory, well those weren’t it. Finally, she got it. “It’s Jory, right?” She asked with an excited grin. “The one with the cards?” She hoped she was right, it would have been incredibly embarrassing otherwise.

[Jory Addison]

"Yeah," Jory said, smiling. "Sorry if I'm being weird or something. Just never met up with you again." Not that there had been much time to, or that he had had much initiative to seek out someone he had met once. Maybe he was thinking that he could try building up his circle again, something he had failed to do when he had first moved here.

[Verity Bromley]

"Oh, you're not being weird. We were going to go to that club, right? I've been pretty busy and I guess it just slipped my mind." Verity said with a soft sigh. All work and no play makes for a boring lifestyle. This was the first time she's left the castle or the shop since the Summer Festival. "Do you want to grab some ice cream? We could sit and hang out." Verity tilted her head to the side. "I mean, if you have somewhere to be, it's cool."

[Jory Addison]

Jory was already nodding before she added the extra bit on the end. "That's cool, I wasn't going anywhere, except for maybe going into London later. We can hang out and make up for never going to the club," he said, then looked up at the menu, eyes widening at the sheer number of choices. It looked like his day had magically become more interesting.

[Verity Bromley]

“London? I haven’t been there in ages!” Verity said. She remembered spending a day in London before she came to Hogwarts for some retail therapy, and of course she had to get to Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron, but that was the last time she actually spent some real time in London. Her eyes followed his focus on the menu. “They’ve got so many choices, it’s so hard to choose.” She said with a slight nod. “But I was leaning towards cinna-swirl dipped in chocolate fudge with rainbow sprinkles, but then there's also mint chocolate chip and should I get the caramel sauce instead of the fudge? Or should I get chocolate sprinkles instead of rainbow? Oh I can't decide!” Just saying it made her mouth water.

[Jory Addison]

"I'm getting as much chocolate as humanly possible," Jory declared, grinning at the thought. "Chocolate ice cream with the fudge chunks in it, basically like...a sundae but with chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla." Vanilla was so boring, and he was such a chocoholic. "I'm such a girl when it comes to chocolate." Well, when it came to a lot of things, but chocolate was right there on top of the list.

[Verity Bromley]

“Ooooooh.” Verity said thoughtfully. “That sounds amazing.” She bit her lip, if she didn’t make a decision soon she was going to end up with one scoop of every flavor. “You’re right. Vanilla is so boring. It tastes like frozen milk and sugar, but you can never have too much chocolate.” Verity scrunched up her face in disgust. “Okay, I think I got it.” She said after a moment’s pause. “Moose tracks dipped in chocolate fudge with a waffle cone dipped in chocolate fudge in sprinkles.” It was like a party for your mouth.

[Jory Addison]

Jory's eyes sparkled lightly at Verity's idea. "That sounds great, I think mine is going to be chocolate fudge with chocolate chips and a little hot fudge, in a cup." He had never been a fan of cones, even fresh waffle cones were things he had to be in the mood for. He thought for a moment, then nodded, glancing up to the people behind the counter.

[Verity Bromley]

“Hmmm.” Verity said. She looked at Jory and then back to the people at the counter. “If you’re ready, you should order. I’m still trying to decide.” Verity said as her cheeks flushed. “Sorry I’m taking so long.” She said. She was usually pretty indecisive about everything. It took forever when she was shopping for a certain occasion because she could never make up her mind. She stared at the list of flavors again, hoping one would just literally jump out and hit her on the head.

[Jory Addison]

"That's when you just close your eyes and point, spin around if you really have to," Jory said after giving a nod to the people behind the counter to start making his. He remembered spinning to choose the movie he and Lyric went to see during his first trip to London, when he had taken pictures that still hadn't been developed. He took out the money and handed it to the cashier with a thank you.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity grinned. It seemed odd and anyone else in the shop would probably wonder if she should be locked up in the Mental wing at St. Mungo’s, but Verity never cared what people thought about her so why should she start now? Besides, it beat not being able to choose and going without ice cream altogether. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath before spinning around with her finger pointed in front of her. When she opened her eyes again, Verity found that she was pointing at an older wizard’s tupee instead of the board. She immediately dropped her arm. She tried it once again, closing her eyes and turning around. When she opened them, she was pointing at the space between two flavors: Cotton Candy and Mud Madness. She decided to go with the Mud Madness since it had milk chocolate, chocolate fudge, brownie chunks, and a dark chocolate fudge ribbon.

Verity stepped up to the counter and placed her order gleefully. She went down to the cashier and gave him the appropriate amount of coins while waiting for her cone. She accepted her cone gratefully and turned around. She was beaming and the way her face lit up she probably looked like she was five years old.

[Jory Addison]

"See, wasn't that easy?" Jory asked, laughing, before taking a big bite of his own. "You even," he said, holding his hand in front of his face and lowering his voice. "You even made that grumpy lady in the corner grin." He pointed with his spoon before smiling and heading over to a table to sit down. She might have made the old woman's day even.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity followed the spoon to the old lady who looked like she was having a field day. She laughed and lifted her hand in a small wave before taking a bite of her ice cream. She opted for the cake coke, deciding that a waffle cone would have been too over-the-top. She didn't miss out on the sprinkles however. She led him over to a free table near the window. "So, how's your summer?" She asked before taking a second bite from her ice cream and savoring it. Mmmm it was so good.