"Sorry about the mess…"
Hmm, is that the smell of pancakes I can smell? I dunno. Can you smell It Fred? You can't? How come? I'm sure it's there. Someone's definitely making pancakes. What's your favourite topping? Hmm? Oh, that sounds delicious, but my favourite is vanilla pancakes with chocolate sauce, strawberries and sprinkles on top. Sounds childish huh? Well, a girl's gotta have fun. And anyway, we're never too old to have fun aren't we? At least, you aren't, aren't you Freddie darling? I don't want to ever get too old to have fun. But wait, I think I've strolled from the subject. Me and my ramblings. So, pancakes, are you sure you can't smell them?
Arianna woke up feeling content, and she turned onto her side to face her husband. Except he wasn't there! Disappointed, she wondered where he could be. Maybe at the shop. He might've gone early. It was Pancake Day and him and his twin would probably be buzzing with ideas for jokes. So it would make sense to think he was there first thing. But then again, the bathroom door would've been left wide open if he'd used it (he always forgot to shut it after he's left the bathroom), and Fred always used the bathroom to get ready for work. And the wardrobe wouldn't be shut properly if he had taken out one of those suits of his. No, Fred was definitely at home. But where was he and what was he doing? Curious, Arianna got out of bed and donned a fluffy night robe over her silky nightwear, then slipped on some slippers and went into the bathroom. Once in there, she noticed that the shower was still dry, so Fred hadn't taken a shower after waking up; all the more reason to think he was still at home. Still kind of confused, she opened the bathroom cupboard and took out her toothbrush, brushed her teeth then proceeded to wash her face in some cold water. The iciness instantly woke her up and washed the sleep from her eyes. Now, to find Fred. She shut the bathroom cupboard, left and stood in the middle of their room. Now something weird was going on.
She could smell pancakes! Just like in her dreams. Things were really getting odd now. Fred wasn't at work, and even though he was home, he wasn't still sleeping (which he usually did when he had a day off work) and she could smell pancakes just as she had done in her dream. Piecing all the parts of the puzzle together, Arianna finally realised what was going on, and gently smirked to herself. How cute of Fred to get up early and surprise her like this. She slowly tiptoed out of their room, down the stairs and to the kitchen door. Then, the scent of freshly fried pancakes filled her lungs as she took a deep breath, and Arianna heard Fred scowling and cursing inside. Smiling, she entered the kitchen.
"Aww, Freddie darling!" Arianna cooed as she took in the state of the kitchen. The air was heavy with flour and the table was cluttered with an assortment of tools covered in batter. On the ceiling there were several suspicious circles, and in the middle of all the mess stood a ghostly figure dressing in something bright pink and frilly. He turned around and flashed her a sheepish grin.
"You weren't supposed to wake up yet… I was supposed to be done by the time you woke up." Fred whined. Arianna giggled and replied, "And good morning to you too." Causing Fred to sigh and hold his arms out to her. "Morning sweetheart."
Arianna flew into his arms and hugged him tightly, taking in his floury scent which was mixed with the usual smell of his soap. She felt him return her hug and then gently let go. "You're making pancakes!"
"Yep. Happy Pancake day love!" Fred grinned.
"Happy Pancake Day to you too dear. Oh Fred, look at your apron! It's the one Mrs Weasley gave us! Aww, you look so cute. But look at the kitchen! It's going to take ages to clean this up!" Arianna gently scolded as she took another look around the room. It was truly a mess. Fred shrugged and held up the whisk he had in his hand, "No it won't, magic will sort it out. And anyway, I'll clean it all up, promise." Causing Arianna to raise an eyebrow. Fred chuckled and said importantly, "I know the kitchen's a mess, but trust me; these will be the best pancakes you've ever had. After all, the brilliant Fred Weasley made them, what's not to love?" then turned to the half-filled bowl of pancake batter. Arianna approached him with a sceptical look on her face and eyed the batter.
"There's a lot less in there than the amount of equipment you've used to make it." She commented. Fred chewed his lip and said, "There was a lot more when I started; it was just so yummy and I couldn't help but taste it every two minutes." then he stared at everything with an expression of confusion, defeat and hopelessness, "Screw this. I give up. Making pancakes is no longer on my to do list today."
Arianna laughed and soothed, "it's okay honey. Tell you what, you clean up and I'll finish this off."
And so the two worked together and they soon had the kitchen in a somewhat orderly state. With a wave of his wand and a few simple incantations, Fred got all the bowl, spatulas and measuring jugs cleaned and back where they belong. Then, he leaned against the clean table top and watched Arianna fry the pancakes.
"I've always thought girls were better chefs than boys." He said rather randomly. Arianna gave him a funny look and asked, "I've never heard you say that. And why would you think that?"
"Because obviously I'm not the only one who can't seem to make pancakes. I mean, I'm sure George can't, or Ron, Harry, Percy, Charlie or Bill. They all have wives or girlfriends to do that for them." Fred replied thoughtfully. Arianna didn't say a word, instead smiling softly and remembering for the umpteenth time why and how much she loved Fred. Fred still watching her, or so she thought, she poured a little more of the batter into the frying pan and watched it slowly cook. Then, she felt a pair of warm arms wrapped around her.
"I just want you to know that I'm very grateful to have a wife that can make pancakes." He whispered jokingly into her ear, causing her to wince slightly at the ticklish feeling of his breath against her neck. She giggled and murmured back, "I love you too." And went back to the pancake, which was now ready to be flipped, "Watch and learn sweetie. It's your turn next."
Fred's attention instantly went to the pancake, although he found it really hard to resist the temptation to nibble her ear. He watched anyway, but only half concentrated. She held the pan over the hob, steadied her arm and whispered, "One, two, three," then flicked her wrists up, allowing the pancake to fly up into the air and land promptly back in the pan. "There, done." She finished curtly and slipped it onto a plate.
Fred sighed and took the pan from Arianna's hand. Grinning devilishly, he poured a fair amount of batter into it and listened to the light sizzling sound of it cooking, and then when the time came to flip the pancake, he put on a confident expression.
"Watch it Fred. Keep your eyes on it or else the pancake will most likely end up on the ceiling or your head." Arianna told him warningly. Fred cocked a flashy smile and objected, "You seem to have a lot of faith in my hand eye coordination."
"I don't want you to end up with a pancake on your head dear, as funny as it will be." Arianna rolled her eyes.
"Do not fear my fair lady, I shall not be harmed. Now, watch and learn from Sir Frederick Weasley." And with that, he hurled that pancake in the air. Now, Fred should've really measured how hard he was going to flip the pancake, because if he had then the following wouldn't have happened. The moment it went up, he let out a victorious laugh and lowered the pan as he stared at the flying circle. Unfortunately, that circle got bigger and bigger and bigger until it covered the whole of his vision.
"Oh Fred!" Arianna managed to gasp before collapsing into peals of uncontrollable laughter. Fred grimaced and looked up. Well, he tried to, but having a pancake on his face didn't really help. He lifted the side from one of his eyes and stared at the giggling form of his wife. Her laughter really was contagious, and soon he found himself laughing too at the whole situation.
Once the couple had calmed down reasonably, they stared at each other.
"You know, I'm kinda hungry right now. What toppings do we have?" Fred asked as he set the plate of pancakes on the table. Arianna smiled and danced to the larder, where she pulled out an assortment of tasty toppings and placed them on the table too. Then, they both sat down next to each other.
"So, what do you want to try first?" Arianna asked as she loaded the first pancake onto their plate. Fred squinted, then grabbed a few things and just randomly squirted them onto the pancake, making it ready for testing, "Chocolate sauce, Maple syrup, hundreds and thousands, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberry sauce, chocolate chips and marshmallows. Oh and how about we throw in some Bertie Bott's every flavoured beans? There, all ready. Dig in!" he chuckled, excited at the prospect of trying a new combination this year. "Together?" Arianna asked.
"Together," Fred repeated as he wrapped his arm around her and together, they ate the pancake, and the next, until the whole plate had been finished and they had run out of new combinations to try.