Leisurely Lunch

Khaat had escaped her office and her duties at St Mungos. She was really hungry for a great salad. She wanted a top notch Asian Chicken Salad, and she knew Lizzie made a great one with a dressing she really liked. She ordered the salad, a side order of garlic cheese toast because she liked the saltiness of the stringy mozzarella, and ordered some Christmas spice tea. It was their blend for the holida season, and she had made it available, although she had not actually advertised it yet.

She had decided not to cook dinner tonight, so she placed an order with Lizzie for a deep dish pizza with all the fixings and a bleu cheese/walnut salad, along with a plate of gingerbread cookies, to be delivered to her house at time for dinner. That was the nice thing about a magical restaurant. Take out was amazingly easy. It just sort of appeared when it was needed and where it was needed. No need for delivery boys or directions that got people lost. Deliveries and decorating was about the only magical things done at Sparks. The food was all prepared by hand, the old fashioned way. Every wonderful bite.

And today at lunch the place was packed. Khaat was fortunate she had found a table. It was the one she usually chose when she wanted to be out of the way--the table closest to the kitchen door. It was almost the only chair left in the place. She was beginning to wonder if she needed to enlarge it for the fourth time in its first year of operation.

"Hi," Khaat said. "I'm Khaat Lupin. Nice to meet you, Louis. What's wrong with your shoe? You look cold. Can I get you something to drink? Sparks has great tea, coffee, hot spiced cider, and the hot chocolate is made to be extra thick and creamy and chocolatey.

"I know a lot of the Weasleys and went to Hogwarts with several of them, but I don't think I've met you. Who are your parents? I presume Arthur and Molly are your grandparents?" Khaat summoned a menu over for Louis with a wave of her fingers. "Here. Take your time with the menu."

The server brought Khaat's salad and her garlic toast with the layer of hot melting mozzarella cheese. Then the server refilled her Christmas spice tea.

"Well," Khaat said, "I met your mom briefly when she was in the Triwizard tournament. And I was in the same house with most of the rest of your family--Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Hermoine. Some of your family I haven't seen for a very long time. I know your uncle Charlie too. I saw him last year when I went briefly to Romania. I didn't know your dad very well. He was older than I was and ahead of me in school. So what brings you out today? Did you have enough of the house elves cooking? I never liked all that conjured food either. Some things just need to be done the old fashioned way. Conjured food never tastes as good to me as when its prepared by hand."

"Well, that's not a good thing. What happened to your sister to make her turn to be a Death Eater? Most people I've see that have become Death Eaters what had some sort of trauma in their lives that has hardened their hearts. I don't find most people normally become Death Eaters unless they're brought up that way. Most Death Eaters I know started out good enough, but time changed them. So what changed her? I'm surprised your grandparents put up with it. Arthur and Molly never did want anything to do with Death Eaters. They suffered far too much loss at their hands. I can't imagine them just standing by and tolerating it."