Parvati looked longingly at the hamburgers being grilled next to the bratwursts. She'd been told that the brats had no beef in them, but to be perfectly honest, Parvati didn't care. If it wasn't for Padma being with her, she would have marched up and asked for a hamburger. She'd forgo the ketchup and mustard, just having a slice of Mr. Granger's German pink tomatoes and lettuce.
"You're lusting after the hamburger, aren't you, Parv?" Padma said, draping a towel around her swimming suit covered body.
Parvati met the gaze of her twin sister. She didn't say a word, just closed her eyes for a moment, admitting the fact to Padma. Then she tossed her hair over the opposite shoulder, inquiring if she did the same.
A nod, with a slightly tilted head acknowledged the fact, and suggested that she wasn't the only member of the family lusting after the hamburger.
Parvati shrugged and tilted her head to the right. She wasn't going to do anything about it, if her sister didn't think she should. There was no way that she'd risk hearing anything from Mum about eating a cow.
Padma smiled, and tilted her head the same way. "Are you a Gryffindor, or not?" she said.
Parvati couldn't let that line be unanswered. Unwilling to just go up and ask for a burger, though, she said. "Are you a Ravenclaw, or not? I understand that seven of us in just this back garden beat your class rank."
"It was a bad year for Ravenclaw," Padma said. "Maybe Gryffindor and Ravenclaw switched for 1991?"
"Where are the buns?" Parvati said, moving towards the grill. "I'm not letting a 'Claw get in on Gryffindor daring. Mr. Granger, I'd like a burger."
"Sure you don't want one of the brats? They're pork, and the burger is genuine British Hereford Beef," Mr. Granger said, flipping a burger on the charcoal grill.
"I want to try it, at least once in my life," Parvati said, firmly. She found a bun and opened it on a paper plate.
"In that case, I better make sure you have a perfectly done burger," Mr. Granger said, flipping another burger. "And will you be joining your sister in her illicit tasting of holy Hereford cow, Padma?"
"Just because I got the smart house, doesn't mean I'm not brave," Padma said.
"Two burgers coming up for the twins, then," Mr. Granger said, flipping one onto Parvati's bun. Then a second burger arrived for Padma, just as she opened her bun.
Parvati headed over to where the lettuce, tomatoes, and sauces were. She ignored the ketchup, the mustard, and something called A1. She wanted to taste this burger unaltered. There were two types of lettuce, leafy and shredded. She chose to put full leaves on each side, and on top of the burger, she put a full size slice of one of Mr. Granger's prized German Pink tomatoes.
She took the first bite before she even left the prep table. She'd never tasted beef before, and she was sure that this wasn't typical beef. The flavor was not something she could compare. She chewed her first bite carefully, savoring the meat clad in sesame seed bun. She knew the almost tasteless taste of the lettuce, and the tomatoes, though these tomatoes seemed to be a little less sharp, not that tomatoes were sharp tasting, but it was the only word she could describe their difference in. The meat seemed to have a slight tang to it, and as she chewed it, she discovered a bit of onion and pepper.
Parvati opened her eyes, only aware that she'd closed them by the action of opening them. She managed to find an open chair next to Hermione. Hermione was for once without her baby, and looked quite a bit nervous about that, looking across the yard to where Mrs. Granger held the baby.
Hermione looked over at Parvati as the folding chair squeaked. "Enjoying the burger."
"I have to try it once in my life," Parvati said. "And don't let it get back to my parents that I ate the sacred cow."
"I won't," Hermione said. "Dad grills them good."
Parvati swallowed another bite. "I like it," she said. Then after savoring another taste, she looked closer at Hermione. The top of Hermione's bikini was just a bit loose, and she knew that it hadn't been before. Jimmy had to have nursed a bit, she concluded. "What does feel like to nurse?"
"Jimmy tickles me," Hermione began, as she looked down and adjusted her bikini top. "He never finds my nipples without managing to hit that one really ticklish spot I have just below my breasts. Then he starts suckling. Until that first time that Jimmy nursed, I'd never felt so connected. I didn't know if I could be a mother, but somehow, when I'm holding Jimmy against me, feeling him suck milk from my breasts ... I know he's mine, and I don't want to let go. I actually had trouble getting him to switch to the other breast because I didn't want to loose that closeness.
"I don't think there are words, and I looked, that really can say, fully, how it feels to have a baby suckle from your breasts. I just know that when Jimmy's in my arms, suckling from my breasts, I feel so good and right. I know that he's just a baby, but I can feel his love for me as his eyes close and he drinks spurt after spurt from my breasts. I really don't want to share, to let Jimmy out of my arms."
"From the glare you're giving your mother, I can tell that," Parvati said.
"He's got a nineteen feet radius," Hermione said. "If Mum steps out of it, she'll regret it."
"Really?" Parvati said.
"Yes. Watch. Dad's just called Mum over to get a brat, and that's twenty feet from where I'm sitting. As soon as he crosses that line, just about when she steps onto the pavers, he'll start crying." Hermione said.
Jimmy started wailing as soon as Mrs. Granger stepped on the pager. Parvati knew that Hermione was always right, as anyone in her year would tell you.