House Gryffindor

Year 4 stand in

Category Drabble

Prompt: [Food] Toast, on homemade bread. With good whipped butter and strawberry preserves.

WC: 906

Beta: Sogo, DrinkCocoa

Harry Potter looked out of the window of his new apartment. He spent nearly half an hour watching the rain fall down with rapid winds. Ginny had returned to Hogwarts four days ago with Hermione, which meant he was alone in his apartment. Ron was currently with his family. Today was the first day he didn't have to go to work - it seems when you have a job they order you to rest.

Harry almost scoffed at the notion - rest? When he was on the run there wasn't a single day where he could rest, where he could let himself go - if he had, he'd probably have died.

Without his friends around, Harry wasn't entirely sure what to do with himself. It took him a good hour or two after waking up before realising that he was hungry. He didn't know why it took him a while to snap out of his daze - he had been taking care of himself as long as he could remember, making breakfast should be second nature to him.

It just felt different.

He wasn't told what to make. At the Dursleys, he did not have the choice. At Hogwarts, he didn't have a choice. He was told what to make or the options were already in front of him. Now he had to choose. Nobody was deciding his fate anymore. It was all down to him. And while breakfast was not a big decision, it suddenly hit him that he would be making his own decisions for the rest of his life and that was actually very scary. Not life-threatening scary, but still a lot to take in.

With a deep breath, he walked into the kitchen and looked around. Hermione had helped him with shopping for 'sensible' things that he could use when they left. Ginny was great at buying ready-made products which were easy.

Harry looked at the time. 8:12 am. He had been awake for nearly two and a half hours and still had the whole day. His eyes lingered on a set of books Hermione had left before he let his hand scrape across the counter to pick one up. Perhaps he could try his hand at making something.

He flicked through the pages, looking for something that he could have for breakfast before stopping on a page indicating bread. Hermione and Ginny had made a loaf of bread a few weeks ago, so he must have had the supplies, and it was absolutely delicious. It did take a while though. But he had plenty of time.

Harry didn't waste any more time. He pulled out the ingredients needed and began to make the dough. He wasn't confident in his baking skills but was willing to keep trying and improve until he got it right. As he waited for it to rise, he pulled out some crumpets and toasted them - he was too hungry to wait for over an hour to eat.

He pulled out some freshly wiped butter and slathered it on. It was delicious. Once finished he realised that his bread would need more than just butter but he didn't have anything.

Harry paused in thought. He could easily go out afterwards and buy something while the bread cooled… but he was very tempted to eat the bread still warm. He had at least half an hour before he would need to put the dough into the oven.

With a determined nod to himself, he left his apartment and went to the local market.

Harry didn't have much experience with markets but Hermione had sworn by them. He checked his pocket to ensure he did have muggle money before proceeding. There was so much fresh fruit that he couldn't help buying some strawberries and bananas. He also bought a small selection of fudge before finding what he was looking for. Fresh jam. He purchased strawberry jam before walking back to his apartment about ten minutes away.

Even though it took the 18-year-old longer to shop than expected, he returned happily and continued his task of baking a loaf of bread.

While he waited he elected to write to Ginny - he really missed her and couldn't wait until Christmas. Summer had been amazing and part of him wished he had returned to Hogwarts so he could see her everyday. Choosing to be an Auror straight away was a difficult decision but there was still much he could do to help rid the world of evil and Voldemort had left an evil imprint that needed to be eradicated.

His new owl flew away with the letter before Harry checked the bread. It smelt delicious.

Harry took his time from there. He washed up and cleaned the sides as he waited for it to cool. He set out his plate and chose what his toppings would be. Then slowly cut into the bread. "Oh…" he verbalised. Perhaps that could have been baked a little longer. Not wanting to put it back in the oven, Harry toasted his bread instead and then placed it on his plate. He added the whipped butter and strawberry jam before placing some strawberries on the side. He then walked over and sat by the window, once again watching the rain as he ate.

Food was always more fulfilling when one made it themselves and Harry was definitely going to be making toast, using homemade bread, with good whipped butter and strawberry preserves in the future.