Suffice to say that Heri didn't let Sirius get away with laughing at her. Before he could call for reinforcements, Heri had him in an unnaturally turquoise doll dress that she enlarged to fit him and a magnificently ribboned bonnet she had also found in the attic. Despite his protests, Heri noticed that he got on well enough with Behemoth, Sirius' seat-neighbour and Heri's pink velveteen hippopotamus. Auntie Andromeda caught them having a food fight with the snacks Oona had brought up for them. She had first thought that no one was home when no one had been in the drawing room when she arrived, but the sound of shouting and the clatter of crockery had drawn her attention.
She took one look of them — Heri with sandwich in her hair, Sirius in a cake-smeared tea gown — and told them in no uncertain terms that they would go clean up and meet her in the drawing room in an hour for a proper tea.
That had been an hour and a half ago, and even with the additions to their little party in the form of Remus and Auntie Andromeda's daughter, Cousin Dora, the current tea party and etiquette lesson was nowhere near as exciting as the food fight from earlier.
Bless her, for all the Auntie Andromeda was an intelligent, well-educated woman, she couldn't teach for tuppence. Not in a way that engaged her students at least. The only person Heri knew less exciting while they lectured was Professor Binns. She had gone into detail about the arrangement of a tea table — that went beyond "put this here, and that there, or else you'll be an uncivilised heathen"
— and had just now — after thirty minutes —
started in on how a body was supposed to interact with the dishes and cups. "The saucer should be in the palm of the left hand before being moved forward to rest on the fingers. The fingers should be slightly spread apart to achieve a good balance. The saucer should then be steadied by the thumb resting on the rim." Auntie Andromeda held up her own teacup and saucers in example. By this time, Remus and Cousin Dora had gone ahead with their sipping and nibbling. They had determined that it was Heri that Auntie Andromeda was focused on, so there was no reason for them to not fill their bellies already.
Sirius was of a similar opinion as well, but he appeared to be taking care to be as obscenely uncivilised as he could manage short of stripping naked and just rolling around in the finger-foods. He bared his teeth and lipped up fairy cakes like a horse with a carrot and held his tea in both hands like a squirrel with an acorn. This was possibly for Heri's benefit, to provide some amusement as could be given.
This seemed to be its only possible purpose, as it didn't seem to be making a difference to Auntie Andromeda either way. Auntie Andromeda delicately gripped her cup and made a show of taking a sip from it. "A handled cup is held with the index fingertip tucked slightly through the handle, the thumb just above it to support the grip and the second finger below the handle for added security.
The next two fingers should naturally follow the curve of the others. Sirius." Those seated at the table stiffened at the sharp tone. Remus looked as if he were the one being addressed and Cousin Dora turned white literally all over. Sirius looked at his cousin with wide-eyes, his tongue still stuck out from how he had been lapping from his cup like a beast in direct contrast to how Andromeda was trying to teach Heri. He slowly lowered the cup to the table — tucking a comically raised pinkie back into his hand — and fidgeted in his seat like a naughty child that's been called to task. Auntie Andromeda gave Sirius a stern, unamused look before returning her serious gaze to Heri.
"It should go without saying that lifting one's little finger is to be avoided absolutely. A common misconception is that outstretching one's little finger aids in the balance of the cup when taking a sip of tea — this is certainly not the case and is not only pointless, but it is also pretentious beyond words." Heri didn't have anything to say to that, so she only nodded gravely in response.
"Now. Tea should be served by the host or a friend — not servants. One must not pour multiple cups at a time, nor should one pass out several cups at once. To do so would be to insult your guests. The careful, personal care taken for each cup of tea is a gesture of regard and goodwill between the server and the guest. "Because the server has direct influence over the tea — and thus the health of the guests — it is considered an honour to be asked to pour the tea . .
" This was how Heri spent her summer when not gadding about with Sirius and Remus or visiting her friends. Auntie Andromeda was a harsh task-master when she worked herself into it, and there seemed to be no end to the things she believed that Heri needed to know before she could pass for approval. It really made no sense to Heri since it wasn't as if they had any obligation to rub elbows with the sort of folk that took such business seriously; they weren't exactly going to go meet up with the Queen anytime soon.
Still, it was a good thing that Heri had taken up sewing as a stress-relieving hobby the year before because it was one of the many hobbies Auntie Andromeda encouraged Heri to develop.
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