Harry had made up his mind what he was going to cook for dinner and was setting up his preparation area with everything to hand, when they received that knock on their door.
He quickly hurried out and over to the door, opening it.
The three, Neville and his two girls, were standing on the other side.
Grinning at each other, he asked, "Ready to see your new home?"
"Yes!" squealed Hannah, before Neville even got a chance to open his mouth to reply.
Harry stepped out, not even bothering to close their door and took the three steps across the corridor to the opposite door. OIt never dawned on him that none of the three 'Longbottoms' had told him which apartment would be theirs. Thankfully, none of the three even noticed.
A quick explanation, Neville claimed it, then Hannah and Susan stepped up to gain access and Neville accepted it.
"There ya go," said Harry. "Now it's keyed only to you three. If anyone else touches the door handle they'll be stunned and the staff will be alerted.
With nods back he indicated the door and said, "Neville, you need to be the first to open the door."
With a deep fortifying breath, Neville again stepped forward, open the door and pushed it open wide. Then stepped back to let the girls in first.
From outside, Harry heard lots of squealing and calls of joy as the girls charged through the apartment, investigating everything.
As Harry was standing there with a bemused Neville, Hermione came out of their apartment and smacked him on the bum as she walked past and into the, now, House of Longbottom apartment.
'Jeez!' he thought. However, it did get him moving forward to step inside, himself, after Neville.
When the girls had settled a little Harry asked them, "Did Headmistress Lady Marchbanks have the elves move all your possessions up here?"
"Yes!" replied Susan.
"In that case, the other girls in your dorm might become a bit concerned when all your stuff suddenly disappeared," he explained. "You might want to think of going back down there, pretty soon, to explain to them why you're no longer there."
Both girls glanced at each other with looks that said to Harry, 'They really didn't care what those girls thought'. But, hey, they're 'Puffs; they'd do it.
Before he left them to get used to their new apartment, Harry said, "Dinner tonight will be a light salad with a lemon vinaigrette; roast beef with red wine jus; poached and snap-baked potato, sweet potato, carrot and onion; steamed corn with butter tabs, and steamed peas pre-soaked in a light mint vinegar. Dessert will be a surprise.
"Expect to turn up about 6.30pm to sit at 6.45pm."
Other than Hermione, the others all looked back in shock.
Hermione snickered at their expressions as Harry walked out, back across the corridor and re-entered the Potter apartment.
Susan stuttered, "W-when you said he could cook―"
Hermione grinned back and said, "The word 'cook' is much too pedestrian for what Harry does with food. You'll see.
"Don't snack before you come, or you'll regret it."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Harry was well into preparing the food for dinner half an hour later and was advising Dobby on what he wanted prepared for dessert when there came a knock on the door.
Hermione immediately called out in a sing-song voice, "I'll get it!
Moments later, Neville walked into the kitchen.
Surprised, Harry asked, "What brings you here already, Nev? The girls already sick of you and throw you out?"
Neville gave a snort of amusement and replied, "I just got back from the Gryffindor tower, where I advised Ron, Dean and Seamus I've moved into the Lords' Quarters. While Dean and Seamus looked happy for me, the look of jealousy on Ron's face..." And he petered off with a shrug.
Harry said, "Yeahhh, I know what you mean. So long as he doesn't say anything negative, I guess we'll just ignore it."
"My thoughts, too," he replied. "On Sunday night, though... when I told him you'd no longer be in the dorm, but in the Lords' Quarters... he was quite scathing."
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