Ch58. Happy Feed

Hermione loved to read about Hogwarts.

That's why she knew the feasts in Hogwarts might have seemed over the top but they really weren't in any way detrimental to the students. Without magic, having a feast like that every evening would simply mean that almost every student would become a fat pig after a few years of attending.

But with magic, no matter how much one ate, he would get the best nutrient value out of his food. The food in Hogwarts was magical and... prepared by the House Elves, much to Hermione's new-found ire.

Surprisingly enough, that's also why the parents of noble houses could send their heirs to the school without fear of them being potioned. Adding potions to the already magic-abundant food would not work. Either the food would become instantly spoiled, the potion would not work as intended, or, as in most cases, both would happen at once.

At least from this angle, Hermione was completely safe.

With a lot of reading came a huge understanding of the threats in the Wizarding World. Things like love potions or mind arts worried Hermione a lot.

"You didn't drug the food, did you?" Hermione suspiciously asked, making Tom throw a deadpan yet amused look at her, causing her to squawk in embarrassment and look down.

Before she even knew it, she was already stuffing another bite into her mouth. Drugged or not, it was far too good to not eat it!

"No. I haven't drugged the food, Hermione." Tom said, not amused at the accusation at all. "My Happy Feed is completely health-friendly alchemically prepared food that promotes bodily functions, body improvement, and evokes good mood. Getting stronger and happier just by eating. I am very proud of it." Tom bragged.

Natasha rolled her eyes at Tom. He really had nothing to brag about though. The 'getting stronger' part was so small he would have to eat tons just to gain the strength of a peak human athlete. From what Tom himself explained to her, it was simply not worth it. But... the deliciousness was certainly special so she decided to let this one go and not argue about it with him... again.

"Happy Feed?" Hermione asked, her expression as if not knowing if it should be put off or amused.

"It's what I call it." Tom defensively retorted. He had enough with one Natalia living with him. He didn't need another woman to demean the sanctity of his naming sense!

"Why would you call it by a name like that?" Hermione asked with a frown on her face.

Tom just shrugged, "Well, Happy Meal was kinda taken..."

"No, no, no. That's not what I mean, and you know it!" Hermione huffed, looking at the food on her platter. She was kinda embarrassed but despite the appalling name, she really wanted to take another bite. "Happy Feed... that sounds as if it was meant for animals."

"No, it doesn't." Tom indignantly argued back.

"Yes, it does!" Both Hermione and Natasha chorused together, staring at Tom in deadpan.

Tom just pursed his lips at them. Arguing about unimportant things like this was his and Natasha's free time activity so no matter how naggy Hermione was, he knew perfectly how to handle her point.

He scoffed, "My house, my rules, and I say it doesn't. Toodles." He childishly declared, his tone suggesting the debate was over before he added, "Now stuff it and eat."

The two women looked at each other... and giggled.

They knew there would be no further negotiation with Tom about this. Natasha had lived with him for months so she knew how he was while Hermione dealt with Ronald Weasley on a regular basis.

If Tom knew to whom she compared him, the girl would have found herself on the streets sooner than she could finish that sentence...

After that, the dinner started in earnest.

.

.

.

But just in short a few minutes, Hermione started to slow down, unable to continue eating, no matter that she was still salivating at the thought of eating more, of savoring more of the exquisite taste of the food in front of her.

She realized Tom's food was evil!

Unlike the feasts at Hogwarts, she could not eat as much as she wanted because this food was actually very filling.

Her cousin was truly evil!

He gave something so delicious in front of her and then let her find out her stomach could only take in so much. This was bonafide torture. Her wide tearful eyes wanted to eat more but her stomach was telling her she was full.

Hermione subtly glanced at Natasha and Tom who were still eagerly eating, sometimes even feeding each other while quietly giggling like foolish newlyweds, and she became disgruntled. They seemed to eat in a calm and orderly manner but in reality, they were eating almost as fast as Ronald Weasley. Only their manners made their eating seem refined whereas Ronald ate like a pig.

Still... it grated on Hermione's nerves that they could stomach eating more of the delicious food while her stomach had already given up.

"How can you eat so much? You will get fat in a few months." She sullenly complained, annoyedly sticking her fork into the half-finished juicy steak on her plate that she really, but really wanted to eat but her stomach was protesting.

Natasha and Tom stopped flirting with each other and looked at Hermione... and both smirked in the exact same way at her.

"No, we won't." Tom started.

"Because we are special." Natasha finished.

And Hermione could only groan as she was reminded of Fred and Gorge. She threw Natasha a betrayed look. She thought the woman was on her side!

Natasha, however, just rolled her eyes.

Childishly huffing, Hermione continued with her sullen complaint. "What does that even mean?"

"Do you always have so many questions?" Tom amusedly asked before taking another bite out of his dish.

Realizing she might have been rude due to her irritation, Hermione looked down in embarrassment, "I am sorry. I can't help it."

"It's fine to be curious." Tom started with a placating smile, "Just don't expect to be told everything. We do have our secrets and we'd like them to stay that way. You can always ask your question and if we don't want to answer, we will simply deflect the topic or flat out refuse to answer. Alright?"

It was a good thing to have these questioning rules out of the way now.

The Hermione Tom knew from the Harry Potter books was kinda self-entitled when it came to knowledge. She believed she had the right to know everything and Tom wanted to set some house rules to mitigate that.

There were a lot of things he had no problems with revealing to Hermione. Not everything had to be kept secret, after all.

Not that Tom would actively try to reveal everything to the girl. If she asks the right questions, she would be given the right answers. That was all there was to it.

And then, there were things he would not tell her even if she begged on her knees or raged like a petulant child. Things that could really hurt Tom and Natasha if they came out and these Tom would keep secret no matter what.

"Mhm." Hermione bashfully nodded, understanding Tom's rules for questions.

She... could live with that.