A/N: This was written for the Outstanding level of the "Achieve That Outstanding – O.W.L. Challenge" on the HPFC, the task being: "Write at least a thousand words on a celebration. The story has to take place in the future, so Post-Hogwarts or Next-Gen. Everything must be canon-compliant (as far as it is known)."
"Come on, Luce, hurry up. They can be here any minute now."
Lily rushed back up the stairs to get her apron. She was nervous. Over the past months they had been busy setting everything up. It had taken them a lot of time and persuasion, but they were certain they could make it work and they had their strategy carefully mapped out. They had managed to get a loan at Gringotts, and the rest they had borrowed from Uncle George and Uncle Ron. Lily's parents weren't too happy with her not finishing Hogwarts, but she had pointed out that her dad had never finished his education either so he really shouldn't be the one to object. And besides, it had turned out fine for him as well, right? By the time she got started on Uncle George and Uncle Fred and Uncle Ron, all of whom had not finished Hogwarts, her mother had raised her hands in defeat. "Right, I guess it just runs in the family."
Tomorrow, their restaurant would open to the public, but today they had a sort of trial run. Any minute now, the entire extended Weasley family and friends would come trickle in.
Lucy wiped a hair out of her face and looked critically around the dining room one more time. In the centre was a table set for eight, where her grandparents would sit with some of their closest friends. The other tables – also set for eight – were put in circles around the centre table. This was where their other relatives and friends would sit. It had cost them a lot of headaches to come up with a suitable seating arrangement. They didn't want to put all the Weasleys at one table – there were simple too many of them – but they didn't want to make anyone feel left out either. It had been Deirdre Longbottom, Lucy's best friend and also one of the waitresses they had hired, who had come up with a solution.
"Why don't you let them sit with some friends they haven't seen in awhile?" she had suggested when the two cousins had once again thrown away another seating chart in frustration. "I think they would be delighted to see them again, especially your grandmother. Then you can put the other tables around it, so they still have their family close as well. And perhaps, you can let the others decide for themselves where they'll sit, so everyone gets a change to mingle."
Lucy and Lily had looked at each other. "It's worth a shot…"
The tiny silver bell at the entrance jingled and a small three-year-old girl hobbled inside, followed by two women and a balding man.
"Elly!" Lucy said happily and lifted her niece into the air. "Oh, you're getting heavy," she groaned. "What are you feeding her?" That last comment was directed at her sister, who smiled.
"Oh, the usual. But you know Eleanor. She likes to get her hands on anything that's even remotely edible."
Meanwhile, Lily had greeted the other two guests. "Hello, Uncle Percy, Aunt Audrey," she said cheerfully and hugged them both. "So good to see you!"
"Of course! We wouldn't want to miss it for the world!" Aunt Audrey looked around the restaurant. "You two have really outdone yourselves, it looks marvellous! Quite different from the restaurant where we met, right, Perce?" Her eyes twinkled and Percy laughed. "No, I think that was quite different indeed. Well, as long as you won't let us scrub the tables without magic, I'm sure we'll be fine."
Lily smiled. "Drinks are served in the antechamber, but look around first, if you like."
The bell jingled a second time, and in came a tall, dark wizard.
"Kingsley! I didn't know you'd be coming! How are things in China?" Uncle Percy called.
"Very good, thank you. I hear you've been running a smooth term so far," Kingsley retorted.
Lily and Lucy didn't follow the rest of the conversation, because the small bell at the entrance kept jingling, and they were too busy greeting everyone. There were some of their great-aunts and great-uncles from Gramps side; there were Uncle George, Aunt Angelina, Fred and Roxie with her girlfriend Marlene Creevey, then Teddy and Vicky, each holding one of their twins, while two-year-old Remus had spotted Eleanor and ran towards her.
Lily stifled a laugh when Louis stomped in, looking rather bored. He was ushered in by Aunt Fleur, while Uncle Bill was talking amiably with Uncle Ron and Uncle George about the joke shop. They were followed by Uncle Charlie, who had a discussion with Hagrid about dragons, and who almost managed to walk past them without noticing them. Dominique was nowhere to be seen, but they found out why soon enough, when she emerged minutes later behind Rose and Scorpius.
Lucy grinned at the boy who was holding Dominique's hand. "So, you finally managed to capture her, Flint?"
He grinned too, albeit a bit sheepishly, and Dominique blushed a deep scarlet.
"Drinks are in the antechamber," she said for the umpteenth time, but didn't have time for further conversation, for she was lifted off the ground by Uncle Harry.
"I'm so proud of you two," he said. "Where's Lils?"
"She's over there, talking to Teddy's gran and Luna's father." She pointed in the direction to where Lily was standing, and Uncle Harry went over and lifted his daughter up like he'd done with Lucy. Lucy received a hug from her Aunt Ginny, then she too went over to greet Lily.
Some of the last persons to arrive where Albus and Anna, their arms hooked with an elderly lady in a tartan, who protested that she didn't need the support.
"The restaurant looks great on the outside," she told Lily and Lucy warmly. A little awkward, they shook her hand. "Thank you, Headmistress."
"Just call me Minerva, all right? It's been a few years since I was a Headmistress." She chuckled. "All you Weasleys have trouble with the name change once you leave Hogwarts. I didn't think I'd be seeing that into the third generation. I can walk on my own, Anna," she ended sharply.
"I know that, Auntie," Anna replied, but she looked a bit guilty as she quickly withdraw her arm.
"When will they arrive?" Albus changed the subject.
"We told Gramps to come around six, so we were certain everybody else would already be here," Lily explained.
"And she doesn't suspect a thing?"
Lily quirked an eyebrow. "Of course she suspects something. You know how she gets. She's been fretting all week to cook and prepare a meal for everyone, and it has taken Gramps everything to prevent that. He had no other choice than to tell her he wanted to take her to dinner tonight, to celebrate her birthday with just the two of them. I can only imagine her protests – family means everything to her."
They both laughed as they tried to imagine the dispute that must have arisen in their grandparents' house.
"Poor Gramps," Albus said. "You'd better give him an extra hug for all his trouble."
"Don't worry, we will," Lucy, who had joined them, said.
Albus, Anna and Minerva disappeared into the antechambers, and then it was just Lily and Lucy.
"Are you nervous?" Lucy asked, as she smoothed her apron.
Lily nodded. "I know we can rock this, but the thought of messing up just one dish…"
"Yes, no public so critical as Gran."
At five-fifty-five, Lucy and Lily emerged from the kitchen where they had returned to earlier. Everybody was already standing ready, while Deirdre and the other waiters, Brian Finley and Gina Romero, were busy handing out the last drinks to those who didn't have one yet. Then they waited in anticipation, their glasses raised.
At last, the silver bell over the entrance jingled once more and Gran and Gramps entered. On cue, everyone present started to sing "Happy birthday" – a little off-key at times, but with the best intentions.
"Arthur, what is this?" Gran turned to Gramps. "You said you wanted to take me to a quiet restaurant to celebrate my birthday with just the two of us." Her tone was accusatory.
"Ah, well, yes, I may have lied a bit there," Gramps chuckled. "But I couldn't tell you we were throwing you a surprise dinner, could I? That would totally spoil the surprise."
"Hmpf," said Gran. "Who orchestrated this?" She looked semi-suspicious at her gathered children, grandchildren and friends.
Lucy and Lily stepped forward. "We did, Gran. How do you like our restaurant? We open tomorrow, but we wanted to give you something special for your seventy-fifth birthday. So it's like a premiere, actually."
Gran walked over and hugged them. "You are darlings," she said and kissed each of them on their head. "I had of course seen glimpses of the schedules from when you were rebuilding and redecorating, but I have to say the end result is better than I could have imagined. Look at those chandeliers! And the carpet feels so soft…"
The two cousins beamed happily at the praise.
Brian handed Gran and Gramps a glass and Lily called out for a toast. Forty-nine people raised their glass and toasted to Gran's health. Gran blushed at all the attention. "Honestly, it's only a birthday, no need to go through all that trouble…"
"It's your seventy-fifth birthday, Gran, that's special! And really, it's no trouble at all. How many times have you cooked for us at Christmasses and birthdays? It's only right that we return the favour now that we have the opportunity," Lily said. "We will hear no more about it, Gran. Just sit back and let us take care of everything."
"And no fussing about in the kitchen," Lucy added with a grin. "That's our territory today."
In pairs or in small groups everyone went to the tables. Within minutes, Gran was chatting away with Minerva and Andromeda, while Gramps was immersed in a conversation with Hestia and Xenophilius. Hagrid and Kingsley completed the center table. At the other tables, chatter was going on as well and Lucy turned to Lily.
"Well, we have them settled, that's a start. Now we'd better head back to the kitchen."
Lily headed straight to the furnace where a mixture of pumpkin blocs and vegetable stock was already starting to boil, slowly transforming it into a smooth orange substance.
"That's looking good, Hassan," she complimented. She dipped the tasting spoon in the pan and brought it to her mouth. "It tastes good too."
"About twenty minutes, then it'll be good to serve," Hassan said.
Lily nodded. "Great. That means we're right on schedule."
She moved on to another station, where Anthony, their meat chef, was turning a spit of roast beef. It smelled delicious, just like she remembered from the Sunday's at Gran. "Everything still going alright, Anthony?" she asked.
He gave her two thumbs up and a big grin.
Lily chuckled. Despite being nearly thrice her age, Anthony had a sort of boyish attitude that made him fit in well with the rest of the – much younger – kitchen brigade. She put up her thumbs as well.
At the next station, Lucy had started on the Cornish Pasties with the pastry dough Mathilde had made. She was filling the pastry circles with beef, potatoes, onions and turnip and folded them neatly once done.
Léon, the last member of their brigade, was topping Brussels sprouts, which left the carrots for Lily. She happily started grating them, now and then exchanging looks of contentment with Lucy. They were really doing it!
Every now and then, they could hear laughter coming from the dining room, and although they would have loved to sit amongst their relatives, they had work to do first. They had made an arrangement with their brigade: as soon as the main course was ready to be served, Anthony would take over the lead of the kitchen so that they could sit with their family. They had full confidence that Anthony and the other three members of the brigade could manage the desserts. The trifle had already been made that morning, so all that needed to be done were the nut brittle and the treacle tart.
"I'm so curious what Gran will think about it," Lily sighed as the first soup-filled plates were being brought out into the restaurant by Gina, Brian and Deirdre.
"We could always get a quick look once they're all eating?" Lucy proposed with a grin. She was curious, too.
It seemed so long ago since they had formed their plans and they knew they could cook – they had learned from the best, after all – but still it was different to cook for your family. They hadn't told anyone what they would be serving, "but if they give it some thought, I'm sure they can guess," Lucy had told her younger cousin.
Curiosity got the better of them, and they opened the door to the restaurant just a bit to take a peek. On all tables, people seemed to be enjoying the pumpkin soup and Lily let out a sigh of relief.
"Well, at least that went as planned," she said.
The two cousins returned to the kitchen. There were still things to do before the main course could be served, and they wanted everything to run smoothly, without large intervals between courses.
After half an hour, Anthony directed them firmly towards the dining room. "Go on, go sit with your family."
"But the sauce…" Lucy protested.
"Hassan's got it covered. Now go on, you asked us yourself for this arrangement."
The two cousins grinned sheepishly at one another.
"A bit weird, isn't it, not to see the dishes through till the end?"
"Yes, but Anthony is right," Lily replied. "We don't want to miss Gran's dinner either, and we should have faith in our brigade that they'll do a good job. After all, if we didn't think they could handle it, we shouldn't have hired them, don't you think?"
Resolutely, she undid her apron and wiped a few strands of stray hair out of her face. "Ah well, it'll have to do," she shrugged.
Meanwhile, Lucy had undone her apron as well. "Let's go," she smiled. They walked into the dining room and were greeted by cheers.
Lily pulled up two chairs and they both sat down, she next to her Dad and cousin Louis, and Lucy put her chair next to Molly and Eleanor. Lily smiled. Lucy adored her little niece, she even carried a photo of her with her wherever she went.
"So, everything running smoothly in the kitchen?" Dad asked and Lily turned her attention away from her cousin.
"It would seem so," she grinned. "How was the soup?"
"It was great!" Uncle Ron chimed in. "It reminded me of Mum's…"
Lily glowed. He didn't know it, but Uncle Ron might've just given them the greatest compliment possible.
The main course arrived in the form of large platters of roast beef, pastries and various vegetables. Gina, Brian and Deirdre had some trouble placing the platters on the tables and Lily gave them an encouraging smile. She shot a quick glance in Lucy's direction. This was the part they had been the most nervous about. Instead of cutting everything up in the kitchen and serving everyone their own plate, they had decided that the best way to serve a roasted beef was the way they had grown up with: the beef on the table, with a sharp knife to cut your own piece. It was a risk they were taking, because people didn't expect that in a restaurant. But they needn't have worried. All around them, family members erupted in laughter.
"Ah, you can't have a family dinner without a good piece of meat on the table," Lily heard Uncle Charlie roar. "If every restaurant did this, I might go out for a bite more often."
She looked in Gran's direction. First and foremost, the surprise had been for her and she hoped they hadn't failed her expectations. Gran caught her looking at her and smiled broadly. Lily could tell she was pleased with the way they served their food, and with the loosening of the atmosphere it invoked. Already Gramps was up with the knife in his hand to carve the meat, like he had done so many times on one of Gran's famous family dinners. Smiling back at Gran, she turned and helped herself to a large chunk of meat and some Brussels sprouts.
For a while, the only sounds that could be heard were the clatter of cutlery and the soft murmurs of dinner conversation. At all tables, Lily saw happy faces and food disappearing at a speed that was only possible at a Weasley gathering. Bit by bit, the clatter of cutlery died down, and the conversations became louder. She knew it was time.
As if on cue, Lucy beckoned her over and she stood up from her chair to join her cousin. Brian, Deirdre and Gina started removing plates and platters, but before dessert would be served later on, the two cousins had one other surprise. They sneaked out of the room in the hustle and went to the office.
"That went well, didn't it?" Lucy beamed. "Did you see their faces? They didn't expect that, now, did they?" she said triumphantly. It had been her idea to serve their dish like that after all.
"I'd say it went extremely well," Lily answered. "I know I really shouldn't be surprised but it's astounding how much food this family can stow away in such a short amount of time."
"I blame Gran," Lucy grinned. "Now hold on, it's got to be around here somewhere. Ah got it." She retrieved a rectangular package from behind a desk.
Carefully, they removed the plain brown wrapping paper.
"It's lovely," Lily sighed. "Selena's Dad did a great job with it. Oh, that reminds me! We mustn't forget to invite them to the opening tomorrow!"
"Already taken care of," Lucy replied. "I gave Mr Thomas the invite when he came by to drop it off. He said they'd try to all be there."
"All of them? Including Eoin?" And at Lucy's affirmative nod: "Ha, go figure. Eoin Finnegan going out with his family, I never thought I'd see the likes of that. Anyway, great that they'll be there at the opening tomorrow."
"Shall we?" Lucy said and draped a cloth over the sign.
"Let's go."
The walked carefully towards the dining room. It wasn't that the sign was heavy, more that it was oddly sized and difficult to get a good grip on it without the cloth falling off. And it was important that the sign stayed covered until they were ready to reveal it. They walked to the bar and let the sign rest on it.
"Can I have your attention, please?" Lily called.
The talking at the tables stopped and everyone turned to look at them.
She cleared her throat.
"We hope you'll all enjoyed your dinner so far, but before dessert is served, there is one other thing we'd like to do. Gran, could you come forward please?"
Gran stood up from her chair, and Lily could swear she heard her mutter something like "Really, it's just a birthday, no need to make a fuss."
She grinned. Some things would never change, thankfully enough.
"Gran, we'd like to take this opportunity to once again congratulate you on your birthday," Lucy took over. "If there's anyone who's ever been an inspiration for us, it was you, so we felt it only right to do something for you for a change."
"You're flattering me," Gran said semi-sternly, but they could see she was pleased.
"No, honestly," Lily said.
Lucy nodded. "And therefore we would like to ask you to do one thing. As you may have noticed, there is no sign over the door yet with the name of our restaurant. And because you were are inspiration, we'd like you to reveal it."
Gran protested. "Really, this restaurant is all your own doing…"
"Please, we'd like you to be the one to do the honours."
"Oh, all right," Gran smiled and tugged at the cloth.
The cloth fell to the ground and revealed the sign. It was made of cherry wood and in the middle was carved an intricate replica of their grandparents' house, together with the name: "Molly's". It didn't have paint on it, but the cherry wood was rich enough in tones to make up for that.
Gran was at a loss for words. "Girls…," she stammered. Lily saw tears blinking in her eyes and hugged her. On the other side of her, Lucy did the same. "We love you, Gran. Thank you, for everything you've ever done for us."
Gran sniffed. "This is just…"
"Do you like it?"
"Like it? I think it's beautiful! But you shouldn't have..."
"We wouldn't be were we are today if it hadn't been for you. After all, you were the one who got us cooking in the first place!" Lucy objected.
"We didn't even need to take long to decide," Lily explained. "From the moment we talked about starting up this restaurant, we knew what kind of food we wanted to serve. Traditional British food, made from local ingredients. Comfort food that reminds people of their childhoods. In other words, the food that you cooked for us on countless occasions and that you taught us how to prepare when we were older. There really was only one name we could possibly give this restaurant."
Behind them, Uncle George bellowed: "I propose a toast."
This was met with approval by the rest of the gathered family and friends. Everyone raised their glass and as he looked in their direction, Uncle George said: "To Lucy and Lily, for having the bravery to set up their own business at their age." He paused a moment and added "I guess it runs in the family."
Everyone laughed and said "To Lucy and Lily!"
"And I'd also like to toast again to Mum," Uncle George continued. "Because… well, because she is the kindest and most loving woman I know and because she's the best Mum anyone could wish for. And also the best grandma to our kids, and the best friend to those who are close to her. So Mum, this one's for you!"
As one man, all those gathered raised their glasses and yelled "To Mum!" "To Grandma!" "To Molly!" The three cheers sounded simultaneously and caused a true cacophony.
Amidst the tumult, Gran stood beaming, with tears of endearment in her eyes.
Lily looked at Lucy over her head and smiled. This was why they had done it all. Their family might be weird and annoying at times, but they cared for one another, and Gran really was the glue that kept them all together.
"Happy seventy-fifth birthday, Gran."