Notes: Written as my entry story in Herbology Hangout at Hogwarts. WC = 939
Fleur cursed under her breath in French. "This is impossible" she said to her mother-in-law. "I'm hopeless."
Molly sighed and shook her head. "You aren't that bad" she said, trying to reassure the blonde. "Nobody learns how to be a great cook overnight."
"We've been at this for two hours now" pointed out Fleur. "And so far all I've done is oversalt the fish and burn the chips." Molly had invited her over to learn how to make some of Bill's favorite dishes, but so far it seemed like a lost cause.
"Let's try making a cake instead" said Molly. "Maybe you'll turn out to be a natural baker."
Fleur doubted that, but she was willing to try anything if it would make her husband happy. Besides, maybe the smell of chocolate cake would cover up the odor of burned chips. "Okay" she said, trying to hide the nerves she felt. "Where do we start?"
"First we need to add all the dry ingredients to a bowl" said Molly. With a wave of her wand, the kitchen cabinets opened. Molly used her want to pull the correct ingredients down off the shelves. For which Fleur was grateful. She didn't trust herself to pick the right ingredients.
When the ingredients were out on the kitchen counter, Molly tucked her wand behind her ear. Then she looked at Fleur. "Start by adding two cups of flour and two cups of sugar to the bowl." She pointed at the large blue bowl on the counter.
With a wave of her own wand, Fleur measured out the correct ingredients and put them into the bowl.
Molly walked Fleur through the recipe slowly, the blonde doing her best to keep up. If the cake came out all right, maybe this night could be salvaged.
When the cake was in the oven, Fleur glanced at Molly. "What now?" she asked. Were they just supposed to stand around and wait for the cake?
"Now we make the frosting" said Molly. Fleur detected a hint of exasperation in her voice, but hoped she was imaging it. She didn't like the idea of her mother-in-law being upset with her. Not when she was trying so hard to do something nice for Bill.
"We start by adding a cup of cocoa powder to a cup and a half of butter" said Molly. "Mix it all together."
Fleur waved her wand again, doing as Molly instructed. She might not be able to cook well, but surely she couldn't mess up frosting, could she?
As they were finishing the frosting, the oven beeped. Fleur gasped in surprise and jerked her wand. This caused the bowl full of frosting to fly across the room and hit the wall, before landing on the floor.
"Oh no" cried Fleur, running over towards the mess. "What do we do now?"
"Don't lose your head, dear" said Molly. "First, let's get the cake out before it burns." Molly waved her own wand, opening the oven door and pulling the cake out. Once it was safe on the stovetop, she glanced back at Fleur. "Come now, there's no use crying over spilled frosting."
"I am not crying" said Fleur, wiping tears out of her eyes. She used her wand to clean the mess on the floor up and then dumped it into the garbage can. "But now we have no frosting."
"Yes, but we have plenty of ingredients to make more" said Molly, placing a hand on her daughter-in-law's shoulder. "Besides, we have to wait for the cake to cool before we can frost it." She began walking Fleur through the recipe again. This time she kept her wand out, just in case she had to rescue the second batch from one of the blonde's mistakes.
When the second batch of frosting was done, Fleur smiled with relief. "Now is it time to frost the cake?" she asked.
"Now it's time to frost the cake" Molly confirmed. She pulled a spatula out of a cabinet and gave it to Fleur. "Best do this part the Muggle way" she said. "Besides, I find doing it by hand to be calming."
Fleur raised her eyebrows at that. The French woman rarely did anything the Muggle way. But if that was what Bill was used to, then Fleur would do it the Muggle way. Rolling up the sleeves of her dress, she took the spatula and dunked it into the frosting, then began smearing the frosting on the cake.
When she was finished, Fleur smiled at Molly. "Thank you for helping me" she said, not for the first time that evening.
"Of course dear" said Molly, sitting down at the kitchen table. "By the way, you have some frosting on your nose."
Fleur sighed, sinking down into the chair next to Molly. Wiping at her nose, she said "At least the cake turned out okay." She would have been devastated otherwise.
"I'm sure Bill will love it" reassured Molly. "Especially because you made it for him."
Fleur smiled at that. "Do you think so?" she asked.
Molly chuckled. "Trust me. I know my children, and there's nothing Bill loves more than chocolate cake." Then, as an afterthought, she added "Except for you, of course."
At that, Fleur blushed. "I know I don't say this often, but I'm really happy you are my mother-in-law" she said. The two had grown closer in the months that Bill and Fleur had been married, especially after the Battle of Hogwarts.
"Well, I'm happy you're my daughter-in-law" said Molly. "Now, let's hope Bill gets here soon so we can try a piece of this cake."