A/N: Okay, so I just barely made my once a month promise, but I managed it somehow! I know a lot of you would rather I updated Proof, but I had this story running around my head just begging me for its attention. If I may be so bold, I would assume that you have seen the latest Harry Potter movie, if you have not, I am very sorry. As I was watching the movie, a bunch of plots started appearing in my heads for various missing moments that I could write. This one comes from the line where Hermione states that she and Ginny had made a cake for Harry's birthday. So this is that little missing moment, with a little Ron/Hermione fluff added in!
Oh, wait, okay so I have a confession to make: I have never baked a cake before. So if I say something that is horribly wrong and you bakers out there say "No! You would never ever in a million years do that!" Let me know. By the way, since I am not British, I did not use the metric system to describe the recipe, but I did not want to insult anybody either by using the American system.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way shape or form, nor do I own this cake recipe. Sadness.
The Burrow was in its typical state, filled to the brim with people and more people. Harry had finally arrived at the Burrow after a mission that had gone awry. The death of Mad-Eye and the loss of George's ear was a real eye opener for everyone in the house that the war was finally upon them, and that no one was safe.
But despite the loss that the Order had suffered, they learned to move on and distract themselves. The preparations for the wedding had come at the perfect time, and Mrs. Weasley threw herself into them. She was always cleaning, cooking, and doing odd jobs around the house. She would always pull her children into doing chores for her, often having them do the same job more than once.
But today also provided another distraction for the Weasley family, it was Harry's birthday. Mrs. Weasley put Hermione and Ginny on cake-making duty, and sent the boys out to distract Harry with a game of Quidditch.
As the boys rushed out of the house, Harry hung back to ask the girls, specifically Ginny of course, if they wished to come outside and join. He was disappointed when they declined his offer, and further disheartened when they wouldn't even come out to watch. But Ron came to the girl's rescue and pulled Harry out by his sleeve and convinced him that the girls would be bored anyways.
Once Harry was out the door, the girls quickly busied themselves with their preparations. They had decided on making a homemade chocolate pudding cake, and moved about the kitchen searching for the various ingredients needed.
Neither girl had made that certain cake before, but Ginny quickly assured Hermione, "Don't worry, Mum has been making this for years," she continued on by opening up the pantry and grabbing both brown and white sugar, "besides, she left us the recipe while she's out buying Harry's presents." Hermione merely nodded her head in response as she went searching for the flour.
Ginny reached for the piece of paper containing her mother's instructions, trying to determine what other items were still needed. She hastily returned to the pantry to grab cocoa powder, vanilla extract and baking powder. She staggered a bit as she tried to balance the various containers, and set them on the counter careful not to drop any on the floor. Ginny turned to the old oven and adjusted several knobs before the oven decided to pre-heat. It was a stubborn little oven that had been around since before Bill was even born. Mrs. Weasley claimed that if it had lasted that long, it could certainly last a few more years.
Ginny then turned to Hermione to see if she had obtained any other ingredients while she was preoccupied with the oven. Hermione had apparently given up on her search and quickly accio-d the rest of the ingredients into her awaiting arms. Ginny let out a small chuckle and merely shook her head as she turned to the cabinet that had the mixing bowls and measuring cups. It was Hermione's idea in the first place to bake the cake the muggle way, and here she was using magic the minute Ginny turned her back.
Hermione let out a small huff saying, "Don't you laugh at me, Ginny Weasley, how am I suppose to know where everything is in your kitchen? Every time I come in here your mother never lets me help her with anything, she even shoos me away from the tea kettle!"
Ginny gave Hermione a slight look over her shoulder as she reached for the bowls just out of her reach in one of the cupboards above the sink. She finally managed to grab it after she pushed herself further up on her tiptoes, and set the silver mixing bowls on the counter beside the pan that her mother had set out for them to use.
Once Ginny looked up, Hermione was already reaching for the aprons on a hook besides the door leading out to the yard where distant yells could be heard from the boys playing Quidditch. She tossed a pink one to Ginny as she tied a slightly frilly blue one around her own waist.
As Ginny was tying her own apron she turned to Hermione, "Well, how about when my mother isn't in the kitchen, what do you do then?" She gave Hermione a small smirk as she turned to wash her hands in the sink.
"Well," Hermione began as she set a kettle on the stove to heat up water that would be needed later on in the cake, "when I come in here, and if what I need is not already on the counter, I would just ask someone for help." She gave a small shrug as she traded places with Ginny and went to wash her own hands.
Not letting the subject slide, Ginny continued on. A small part of her in disbelief that even after all these years, Hermione still did not know her way around the Weasley kitchen. "So you are going to honestly tell me that you have never snuck down here in the middle of the night to get a snack or even a cup of tea." Ginny stood with her arms crossed facing Hermione with a look of determination on her face.
Hermione gave a slight shrug and answered with a "Maybe," before she reached for the recipe to see what needed to be measured and mixed first. After thoroughly analyzing the piece of paper, Hermione turned towards that counter with purpose, approaching the ingredients as she would in Potions Class.
After a few minutes of careful measuring, Hermione turned to look at her friend. She was surprised to see Ginny standing there, with her arms still crossed, and a smug smile stretching across her face. "What are you looking at me like that for?" Hermione questioned with a slight quirk of her eyebrow, "Make yourself useful!" She then thrust the clay jar of sugar towards Ginny before turning back to the bowl.
Ginny quickly dumped the appropriate amount of sugar into the awaiting bowl and leaned on the counter, directing her gaze on her frazzled friend. "There, I did something useful, now talk to me!"
Hermione slammed the whisk into the bowl and glared at her friend, "Talk to you about what?"
"About the times you came down here for a midnight snack!" Ginny squealed as she threw her hands up in exasperation.
"There is nothing to talk about," Hermione quickly said as she picked up the milk and skillfully poured it into the mixture. She went to pick up the bottle of vegetable oil, but was stopped by a hand holding the bottle in its place.
"Look me in the eye and say that, Hermione," Ginny grinned evilly as Hermione threw a glare her way. Hermione swatted away Ginny's obstructing hand and grabbed the bottle with the other.
"There is nothing to talk about." Hermione repeated as she held Ginny's gaze.
"You liar!" Ginny exclaimed pointing her finger at Hermione, "I came down here the other night and you and Ron looked mighty cozy sitting at the kitchen table talking, so spill!"
"Oh, that was nothing," Hermione waved the thought away with a flick of her wrist and poured the oil into the batter as she continued talking, "I came down here because I couldn't sleep, and Ron followed shortly after for the same reason."
"And nothing happened?" Ginny asked furrowing her eyebrows.
Instead of answering her question with a verbal response, Hermione started mixing with such a force that Ginny feared she would dent the already battered bowl.
Ginny observed her friend's shaking head, "Are you sure?"
"Oh, yes I'm sure." Hermione answered sarcastically, her eyebrows shooting up and her lips pursing together. She poured the batter into the awaiting square pan not bothering to scrape the sides off with a spatula.
"It doesn't seem like nothing." Ginny said nonchalantly as she picked up the brown sugar and began sprinkling it atop the mixture.
"Well what does it seem like Ginny, because I really wish you would get to the point and enlighten me!" Hermione reached for the remaining cocoa and also sprinkled it atop the mix as Ginny reached for the boiling water and began to mix it with the vanilla.
"Well, I don't know," Ginny started as she held the steaming kettle in one hand and the vanilla mixture in the other, "But by the looks of it, I just figured you and Ron would have moved on from nothing and started to become… a something."
"Well, that's the problem with your brother," Hermione stated through gritted teeth as she began to angrily pelt chocolate chips into the pan, "Just when I start thinking that we are going to get somewhere," Hermione continued as she tilted her head to the side and showered the mix with chocolate chips, "Nothing."
Ginny could have sworn that she could hear a mumbled "bloody annoying," coming from Hermione, but decided to first diffuse the situation; it wouldn't do to have cake batter splattered on the wall. "Okay, Hermione, set the chocolate chips down," Ginny gently pushed Hermione's arm away from the bowl, and gently poured the hot water over the awaiting blend before she finally placed the pan in the oven. She quickly set the egg timer to 35 minutes and turned back around to face her distressed friend.
"I just don't know what to do, Gin," Hermione said weakly as she rubbed a flour-coated hand across her brow.
"Well, how about we clean up our mess first, and then we can sit down and talk about is as we are waiting for the cake to finish." Hermione nodded her head in agreement, and the girls set about the kitchen cleaning up the mess they had made. Ginny returned the ingredients as Hermione washed and dried the measuring cups, leaving the large silver bowl with the batter on the counter to be washed later.
Hermione finally wiped her apron along the top of the counter, gathering up anything they may have dropped in the preparation process. Her apron was nice and dirty and she looked jealously at Ginny's immaculate apron.
Ginny motioned to the kettle still sitting on the stove, asking if Hermione would like some tea as they waited. Hermione gave her a slight nod as she moved towards the back wall to open a window, allowing some of the heat to leave the stuffy kitchen. It seemed like one of England's hottest summers, and perspiration was beginning to lightly cover the girls' faces.
As she was opening the window gently fanning herself with one hand, she could see the boys flying around the makeshift Quidditch pitch. The boys too had obviously thought that the heat was driving them mad, as most of them had taken their shirts off as they played the addicting game, including Ron.
The past two years on Gryffindor's Quidditch team had treated Ron well. He was no longer lanky, but had grown into his build. Hermione could not take her eyes off his strong back and arm muscles as they worked hard to defend the hoop and toss the quaffle to Bill's awaiting arms. She had frequently complained about Quidditch throughout her career at Hogwarts, but watching Ron fly around with obvious glee on his face, and of course his well-built body, had Hermione thinking twice about her incessant nagging about it.
It was wonderful that even in the midst of a war a simple game of Quidditch could make the boys easily forget about their troubles and act wonderfully carefree.
Ron must have felt her gaze, for he turned and stared at Hermione with his famous lop-sided grin adorning his face. His brief distraction was taken advantage of as the quaffle went sailing by him into a hoop. He promptly broke eye contact as he went diving for the ball, his face gradually reddening as he went.
"You know," Hermione gave a small jump of fright at the sound of Ginny's voice; she had been so wrapped up in watching Ron that she had forgotten that someone else was in the room, "Mum would always stand at this window watching us play Quidditch as she was preparing our meals. She claimed that if she couldn't stop us from playing the dangerous sport, she could at least keep an eye on us at all times." Ginny gave a small chuckle as she joined Hermione at the window, her gaze latching onto the figure of the birthday boy.
"Yes, well, I understand her," Hermione stated distractedly rubbing her hands up and down her apron, trying to get rid of the sweat forming on her hands, "she had a good reason to worry with all the injuries these boys have acquired all these years because of that sport."
Ginny laughed as she nodded her head in agreement, "Yes, but that would never stop them from playing."
"Don't I know it," Hermione laughed as well, "the number of times that I have had to beg those two to do their homework instead of going to that Quidditch field is ridiculous."
Hermione gave one last longing look at Ron and turned to look at Ginny who was masterfully balancing the two cups of tea. Ginny offered her a small smile as she handed the chipped cup to Hermione, and both girls headed towards the table.
One look at Ginny proved to Hermione that Ginny had not forgotten about the topic they were discussing before the brief distraction at the window. Hermione's gaze averted to her tea, and her hands gripped the cup nervously.
"Hermione," Ginny started not beating around the bush, "I believe your question was what you're supposed to do?"
Hermione let out a sigh as she nodded her head in response, "It's just that, whenever your brother and I start to have any sort of moment, either someone interrupts us or he…" Hermione trailed off searching for the right words.
"Chickens out?" Ginny offered.
"I guess you could say that. I just don't understand what he is scared of saying; I thought I have made it painfully obvious how I felt about him." Hermione took a sip of her tea and Ginny followed suit.
"Well Ron's just nervous that you don't feel the same way about him." Hermione opened her mouth to interrupt and contradict the statement, but Ginny held her hand up, "After seeing your past relationship with Viktor, he feels inferior."
"He has no reason to feel that way." Hermione hastily interjected before Ginny could cut her off again.
"Well, you may think that," and Hermione nodded in response, "but he is constantly surrounded with people out doing him. I mean one of his best friends is the most famous person in the wizarding world, while his other best friend is the smartest person at Hogwarts." At this Hermione let out a slight blush and Ginny continued on, "Not only has been in the shadow of his brothers, he is in the shadows of his best friends."
"We don't do that on purpose, Gin, we actually like being out of the spotlight." Hermione reasoned.
"And I know that," Ginny assured Hermione as she pushed her cup to the side, "but look at it from Ron's point of view. Viktor is this famous, rich, and older Quidditch player, and Ron is a mediocre student in hand-me-down robes as his best friend is getting his picture taken constantly."
"But I don't care about that stuff," Hermione huffed as she pushed her cup to the side as well, "I don't care how much money he has or how good of a student he is, or even how much he is in the newspaper. All I care about is that he is, well, Ron."
"Well, I am glad to hear that, but my thick-headed brother doesn't think that way." Hermione let out a small laugh.
"He certainly can be thick-headed," Hermione agreed as she drained the rest of her tea.
Ginny reached for Hermione's finished cup and pulled it towards her, "And if my two years of divination have payed off," Ginny began as she lifted up the cup and started to turn it in a circle, "I predict that the two of you will certainly become a couple in no time."
Hermione let out a sound of disbelief as she stood up to take the cup from Ginny's hands and to the sink, "If you tell him what you told me, that may happen sooner as you think." Ginny concluded as she too brought her cup to the sink, "Maybe tonight, before the wedding."
At that same moment the timer let out a sharp Ding and both girls jumped in surprise. Ginny picked up a Gryffindor-striped oven mitten off a hook, a gift from the children a couple years back, turned off the oven, and brought the steaming cake out. She set it on top of the stove leaving it to cool off.
Hermione was reaching for the bowl she had let sit out as she heard the sound of a crack from outside. Mrs. Weasley bustled into the room, her arms laden with her purse and a few bags. Ginny rushed to her mother's side to help her mother bring them to the living room. Ginny shot Hermione a pointed look and followed her mother.
Hermione, confused by the look Ginny had sent her, swiftly turned around to the boys walking towards the Burrow, their Quidditch match all finished. The boys were joking around as Fred and George collected the brooms to put in the shed along with the quaffle. Before Harry could hand over his borrowed broom, Ron asked him something, and Harry mounted the broom and flew towards the house.
Ron and Bill cheered at something that Harry had obviously done, and made their way towards the door to the kitchen, where Hermione was furiously trying to flatten down her hair.
They noisily made their way into the kitchen, shirts off, and wiping the sweat from their brow.
"Hey, Hermione," Bill greeted once he saw her by the sink, bowl in hand, "smells great in here." He offered her a wink as he headed to the doorway leading to the living room.
Hermione turned back to Ron to see him nervously brushing his hand through his hair, "No fight over who gets the shower first?" Hermione questioned amazed.
"Nah, he's getting married tomorrow, figured I could let him off the hook this one time." Hermione nodded in response, fishing for something to say.
"Where did Harry go?" She finally settled on asking.
"Oh, well I wasn't sure if you two were finished with making the cake, so I bet him that he couldn't fly into our room upstairs." Ron offered with a sheepish shrug.
"And did he win?" Hermione inquired.
"Yeah, now he gets to have the shower first." He flashed her his lop-sided grin again as he noted the bowl in her hands. "Are you seriously telling me that you did not scrape the sides off yet!" Ron exclaimed in obvious disbelief.
"What?" Hermione asked confused, glancing down at the bowl that had chocolate remaining around the interior.
"Here," Ron said as he grabbed the bowl out of hands, "this is the best part." He grabbed a spoon off the counter and scraped it alongside the edge of the bowl, gathering up as much of chocolate batter as possible. He glanced up to see a look of disgust on Hermione's face.
"Ronald, that's gross." Hermione cried indigently.
"No, it isn't," Ron argued, "here try it."
One look into his eyes quickly destroyed any thoughts of disgust, as Hermione huffed out an "Oh, fine," in response.
Ron's face broke out in a grin, as he handed her the spoon, and reached for one of his own. With one last look of confirmation at Ron, Hermione brought the spoon to her mouth. Ron leaned forward in anticipation to see her response, and was delighted to see her close her eyes in delight.
"My goodness, that is good." Hermione finally opened her eyes to see Ron staring back at her, unmoving. She turned back to the bowl, and wiped her finger along the brim, coating it with chocolate. "How about you have a taste," she said softly with a small smile.
Ron could only nod his head in response, before he gulped and leaned forward. Hermione lifted her finger to Ron's mouth, and right as he was about to take it, she smeared it across his face. Ron immediately cried out as Hermione let out a giggle and turn to run away.
Ron threw his arms out and caught her on the waist. He pulled her towards him as she struggled to get away, giggling the entire time. Ron turned her around, and with a firm grip on her hip, dug his finger into the bowl and smeared it across her cheeks. Hermione's mouth fell open in surprise, "Ronald! I can't believe you just did that!"
"Yeah, well what are you going to do about it?" Ron responded with smug smile.
"Yeah, what are you going to do, Granger, this is starting to get interesting!" One of the twins called out as they strutted into the kitchen. Hermione and Ron sprung apart from each other, refusing to look each other in the face. Hermione turned to the sink to finally wash the bowl refusing to look anyone in the eye, as Ron turned toward his twin brothers, the Weasley blush quickly enveloping his face.
"Oh, we didn't interrupt a moment did we, George?" Fred flashed a mischievous grin to his twin before turning back to the blushing duo.
"I believe we did, Fred." George responded with an identical smirk.
"Isn't this just precious! We knew you two lovebirds were going to get around to it someday." Fred exclaimed as he put his arm around his younger brother.
"That we did, Fred, we didn't think that Ickle Ronniekins would ever have the guts to make a move on our little bookworm." With that George threw out his arms and pulled Hermione into an embrace. Together the twins pulled the couple together commenting on "What a lovely couple they are, George," and "Perfectly charming, Fred."
Hermione and Ron again refused to look at each other as their sides were being forced to touch each others. "Well don't go shy on us now, Ronnie; you were flirting with her like crazy before." Fred exclaimed.
"Oh, Fred, I think I know what's going on." George began feigning surprise.
"What's that, dear brother?" Fred responded, a grin never leaving his face.
"They are embarrassed!" George announced as Fred gasped in response. Hermione and Ron shared a look with each, but turned away once they saw the other looking. "Our brother hasn't proclaimed his love yet."
"Well, then we best leave them to it then." Fred asserted as he turned to his twin. They shared a nod as they turned to the door leading to the living room. George turned around before they could reach the door and declared with a smirk, "Play nice!"
The twins laughed on the way out, and before the door could close Ron and Hermione could hear one of the twins shouting up the staircase, "Guess what, Mum! Ron and Hermione make a lovely couple!" Ron and Hermione shared another look as they heard Mrs. Weasley respond, "I know, dear, I know."
A silence descended on the kitchen as neither Hermione nor Ron had any idea of what to say. The cups, pans, and bowls had all been washed, so there was nothing for Hermione to distract herself with. Ron could hear the water flowing through the pipes, so he could not leave quite yet with the excuse of grabbing a shower.
"Well," Hermione finally began as she started to untie the apron from her waist, "that was certainly…" she trailed off not knowing what to say, unsuccessfully pulling the ties apart.
"Awkward?" Ron supplied. Hermione nodded in response, still struggling with the garment. "Here let me help you with that." He boldly offered. She again gave him a nod, words escaping her. She turned around releasing a breath as he untied the knot, her apron dropping to the floor. Hermione turned in his arms releasing a quiet "thank you." Neither moved, not wishing to ruin the moment. Their faces, however inched forward, and their breathing increased.
That wish, however, was denied as Charlie poked his head into the kitchen, "So what the twins are saying is true, huh, Ron, undressing her already." Charlie let out a laugh, but the smile on his face soon disappeared as Ron bounded after him fists up, yelling as he went.
Hermione let out a sigh as she looked around the kitchen, feeling more alone than ever. But she didn't give hope, because if what Ginny had said was true, and the rest of the family as well, Ron would admit his feelings any day now.
She smiled as she heard the clatter from upstairs, shouts from Ron and Charlie as they wrestled on a landing, and the shouts of glee from the twins clearly egging them on. Mrs. Weasley could be heard shouting at them to stop, and Harry asking what was going on.
With all the ruckus and teasing, it was just another day in the Burrow.
A/N: Wow, that was…longer than I expected. I went to tell my sister earlier "oh hey I have this really cute idea a missing moment about baking a cake, 1700 words max." She just laughed at me and said that's not possible. She was right. Please REVIEW REVIEW that really makes my day! Also, thanks to my sister for reading this over!
Hearts,
Twinley
P.S. Please excuse any and all grammatical errors, I am only human. Also, I apologize for American phrases or spellings that may have snuck in somehow, I tried my best.