title: Birthday Cakes Gone Wrong.
summary: In which Rose tries to bake Lorcan a cake for his birthday with a little help from Albus. "Brightest witch of our age, and you can't do something as simple as bake?" —Nextgen RoseLorcan, RoseAlbus.
When Albus pops out of the Burrow's fireplace and the first thing he smells is something burning, he immediately thinks, Rose must be cooking.
What is his crazy cousin up to now? He sets his coat down on the table and follows the smell into the kitchen. Normally neat and organized, the kitchen is in complete disarray—flour dusting the cabinets, baking pans on the ground, brown runny liquid dripping down counters. And in the midst of it all is a certain witch—red hair at their maximum frizz levels, oversized apron slipping off her shoulders, waving a mixing spoon in the air as if that'll somehow help.
He can't stop himself—he laughs. "Well, well, well. Brightest witch of our age, and you can't do something as simple as bake?"
Rose turns around, her blue eyes piercing him. "This is not funny!" She glares at him, until the anger temporarily leaves and is replaced with confusion. "Shouldn't you still be at Shell Cottage anyway? Uncle Harry said it'd just be me in the Burrow until two."
"I followed the burning smell to here," he jokes. Rose is giving him a look that reads, Not amused. "Nah, I left my wand here so I quickly Flooed back," he explains. "And now that I've found it, I'll be going." He sees his wand on the kitchen table, picks it up, and prepares to leave.
"No, no, no, you are not leaving!" exclaims Rose. "Since you're here, help me! You can't leave me like this." She gestures frantically towards the chaotic kitchen.
His nose crinkles. "No thanks. Guys don't bake, and anyhow, I'd rather watch you flail."
She glares. "Albus Severus Potter!"
Ooh, full name. She means business. And now she's giving him the puppy dog pout; she knows he can't stand that. He sighs. "You owe me, big time. For starters, you could turn off this stove." He waves his wand, and the burning pot on the stovetop stops bubbling.
"Okay, what next?" she asks, eyes pleading him for guidance.
"Never thought I'd see the day Rose Weasley would ask me for help," he comments with a laugh, standing up.
"That's only because you have magic, and I don't!" Rose says defensively. She won't be turning seventeen for another three months, while Albus turned seventeen a few weeks ago. "If I had my wand—"
"You'd still fail as bad," Albus interrupts. "Remember First Year?" Rose turns tomato red, remembering the incident. Their Potions teacher, a rather unorthodox Professor Oracutus, had come up with the oh-so-brilliant idea of having the students bake bread with magic, to accustom them to brewing potions, because, 'Brewing is just like baking!' Lies, Rose thinks. Brewing is way easier.
"Anyway," Albus continues, magically wiping the flour off the cabinets, "I thought you gave up cooking after that incident—swore it off for good and everything."
"I'm baking a cake for Lorcan's seventeenth. It's his big day. He deserves it," Rose replies, her face now red for a completely different reason. "And Lysander too, but his girlfriend Ceely is making him cupcakes, so the cake's more for Lorcan than Lysander..."
"Oh," he says knowingly, raising his eyebrows and ignoring the clench in his heart. (She's his cousin.) "So that's what this is really about."
"Shut up and help me, Albus," Rose grumbles.
"What do you think I've been doing all this time?" He examines the kitchen, which is at least clean now. "Come on, give me the recipe."
By some miracle, they get the cake baked and frosted by the time the other party guests arrive. It's a fairly small party, just him and his siblings and Rose and Hugo and a few of their mates. And, of course, Lorcan and Lysander themselves.
"I see you found your wand. Took you long enough," says James, walking over to him. "You smell like sugar." His brother looks like he's five seconds away from bursting into laughter, or at least merciless teasing.
"Stuff a sock in it, James," he interrupts. "I helped Rose bake Lorcan his cake."
"And now you smell like sugar and baking and girly things," James sniggers. Albus scowls. He cranes his neck, and he can see Rose, presenting the cake to Lorcan and Lysander, but her eyes are only on Lorcan. Lysander thanks Rose while eating one of Ceely's cupcakes. And Lorcan... Lorcan wraps Rose up in a hug.
Mrs. Scamander floats in, takes the cake from Rose, and lights the candles. The lights temporarily go off, leaving just the light of the candles to illuminate the faces of the birthday boys.
"Make a wish!" someone yells.
"Quickly, before the efrains wear out," adds Mrs. Scamander. No one bothers to ask what an efrain is; they're all used to Luna Scamander by now.
Everyone claps and laughs while the candles are blown out and the lights come back on. Someone—James, he thinks—pops an indoor firecracker into the air. The party erupts into full swing, everyone cheering and dancing to Grandma Weasley's favorite Celestina Warbeck tracks. And Albus stands a bit to the side, keeping his eyes on Rose, who's blushing beet red as she speaks to Lorcan. They're leaning closer to each other... He looks away, hands in his pockets, and takes deep breaths.
"Want some cake?" He turns around, and suddenly there she is next to him, Rose, a bit out of breath but grinning wider than ever and offering him a slice of cake and a fork. "After all, you did most of the work. Did the frosting flowers and everything."
He forces himself to smile and accepts the cake. "I ended up smelling like sugar and 'girly things' because of you, so you owe me lots."
"I'll pay it back somehow, promise," she says, crossing her heart. He finds the little motion childishly cute.
They don't say anything for a few moments while he digs into the cake. It tastes amazing, which makes sense, since he and Rose made it. Then he asks, "Are you happy?"
She nods. "Very."
"Good." He smiles down at her. Their eyes meet, blue against green. His breath hitches, and just for that one moment, everything is frozen, just him and her, them.
Suddenly Lorcan shouts, "Rose!" from across the room, and the moment is broken, as if it never happened.
"Coming!" she yells back. She takes the now empty plate from Albus. "Again, thanks Al. See you around."
"You owe me!" he reminds her as she leaves. But she's not paying attention to him anymore, those blue eyes of hers only on Lorcan. "See you around," he quietly echoes.
word count without a/n's: 1106
a/n: Seriously, I have no idea what this is. It was supposed to be fluff but then something happened?! Shoot me.