Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

Elizabeth ran outside with her friends. "Come on, Lizzie!" yelled Anna, her best friend. "Let's jump rope!"

Elizabeth hurried over. Anna had one end of the rope, Sarah the other. They began turning, and Elizabeth ran and jumped in. Once she had the rhythm, Anna and Sarah began to chant:

"Strawberry shortcake,

Cream on top,

Tell me the name of your sweetheart!

Is it A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H..."

Just as Anna and Sarah chanted 'T', Elizabeth missed her step and jumped on the rope.

"Pick a name that starts with T, Liz!" Sarah cried.

Elizabeth thought for a minute. "Tom. That's it, Tom."

"Ew, you mean like him?' Anna asked, pointing to the giant house on the hill.

Elizabeth smiled. "Maybe."

~~~

Myrtle crossed her arms and tapped her feet impatiently. "Where is she?" she asked Olive, who shrugged.

"Sorry I'm late!" Minerva cried as she ran up. "Homework."

Olive groaned. "Min-nie, it's Friday! You have all weekend!"

"I wanted to get it out of the way," Minerva explained. "Whose turn is it, anyway?"

"Yours!" cried the other two at once, turning the rope.

Minerva ran in, and joined in chanting with her friends.

"Strawberry shortcake,

Cream on top,

Tell me the name of your sweetheart!

Is it A, B, C, D, E, F, G..."

As they got to T, Minerva missed. "Tom," she replied promptly.

Olive crossed her arms. "Minnie, I'm half inclined to believe you do that on purpose. You get T every time we do this rhyme!"

Myrtle grinned slyly. "And you always say Tom. Do you have a crush on Master Riddle?"

Minerva looked away. "What's it to you?"

"Ooh, she's blushing!" teased Olive.

"Minnie likes To-om! Minnie likes To-om!" Myrtle and Olive sang gleefully.

"Cut it out!" Minerva cried, shoving her friends. They started to giggle--even Myrtle, which was rare--and sang it all the louder. Not far away, a tall, handsome fourteen-year-old receded further behind the tree and smiled.

~~~

Tappety-tappety-tappety-tap...

Lily stared nervously at the double ropes. "I dunno..."

"Aw, c'mon, Lils!" coaxed Petunia. "You've been refusing to jump Double Dutch for nine years, now it's time to learn."

"She's right," agreed Alice, Petunia's best friend and Lily's roommate. "Come on..."

Lily took a deep breath, watched the ropes, and finally jumped in.

Left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right...

"Hey!" Lily cried. "I'm doing it!"

"Yeah!" cheered Alice. She and Petunia began to chant.

"Strawberry shortcake,

Cream on top,

Tell me the name of your sweetheart.

Is it A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J..."

At this, Lily lost the rhythm and stepped on the rope. "J!" Petunia sang to her twin sister. "Pick a name!"

Lily thought for a minute. "James," she said finally.

Alice laughed. "I knew you had a crush on James Potter!"

"I do not!" Lily cried, feeling her cheeks grow hot.

"James Potter?" Petunia echoed. "The one you've been telling me is a jerk for all these years!"

"He is a jerk!" Lily retorted. "He's just an incredibly talented, incredibly clever, incredibly intelligent, incredibly handsome jerk."

"Oh, well, no guys are perfect," Alice pointed out. "Look at Frank."

"I try not to."

"Or look at Vernon," Petunia added.

"I REALLY try not to, but he's kind of hard to miss."

The three friends dissolved into a fit of giggles.

~~~

Ginny turned the rope as fast as she could, but she was getting tired. Hermione had run through all the jump rope rhymes Ginny knew, except for two. And 'Miss, Miss' was kind of annoying. Finally she caught sight of Harry and her brothers watching. Hermione's back was to the boys. Ginny had an idea.

"Well?" Hermione panted. "Next rhyme, please..."

Ginny grinned and started to chant.

"Strawberry shortcake,

Cream on top,

Tell me the name of your sweetheart.

Is it A, B, C, D, E..."

Hermione looked exhausted. She finally dropped. "I give up!" she gasped. Ginny smirked--she'd just chanted H.

"H, Hermione," she told her friend. "Pick a name."

"Harry," Hermione answered without a pause, a small flush rising in her cheeks and a dreamy smile crossing her face.

"Aw, gee, thanks, Hermione," Harry said from behind her, causing Hermione to jump about forty feet and fall down. The Weasleys laughed, but Harry just helped Hermione up and smiled.

~~~

Years down the road, Harry and Hermione watched as their own daughter turned the rope while her sister jumped. Very softly, the Potters chanted along with the girls:

"Strawberry shortcake,

Cream on top,

Tell me the name of your sweetheart.

Is it A, B, C, D..."