MMM: Hey there, my lovely readers! I bring you a little Thanksgiving gift! Well, it's Thanksgiving to me since I live in Canada. So I wanted to do a little something special for it and I thought a new chapter would be good.

Ch. 14 Another Failed Attempt

April 16th, 2000

"Alright... You're sure you want to give this another try?" Draco asked as he rolled up his sleeves.

"Absolutely," Anya insisted confidently while she tied an apron around her waist. "Ok- so spaghetti and chocolate cake. How hard can that be?"

It was just another quiet evening in at home after a long week at work and Draco, prior to Anya's request, was giving her another cooking lesson. They'd been doing this regularly ever since their anniversary when Anya had made them dinner to celebrate... or rather, she tried to make dinner. Even with her mother's step-by-step guidance over video-chat, the meal hadn't gone as plan and they had to order in Chinese food instead. Anya had been mortified and vowed that she was going to learn how to cook so that she could help Draco and take some of the responsibility. Not that it bothered him to do all the cooking. Truth be told, he liked surprising Anya with her favorite meals or some new dish that he'd heard about. But Anya had told him that she felt bad that he was always the one cooking, even on the days that he'd had multiple classes and family matter businesses back to back. "I don't want my only contribution to any family meals to be running to the store to buy a bag of dinner rolls or opening a can of cranberries," she said.

Unfortunately, Anya's determination wasn't exactly successful. So far, Anya had already burnt three meatloaves, over-cooked chicken until it was dry and hard, and two cooking pans had been mutilated after attempting to cook casseroles.

It looked as though tonight would be as successful as all the other attempts.

The first incident was with the ground beef for the meatballs. The over-sized, oval-shaped lumps of food kept breaking apart in the over-heated pan due to its non non-stick surface and lack of oil or butter. The ones that didn't break were almost burnt on the outside while still raw inside. Then the tomato sauce was over-seasoned with salt. And when she attempted to cook the pasta, she didn't cook it enough or stir properly; the bottom half was clumped together like a rat's nest.

"Why does this keep happening to me?" Anya groaned while using the dish towel to fan at the beeping smoke detector, the burnt meat having set it off.

Draco sighed as he opened the window over the sink to let fresh air in before climbing up on a chair to pull the batteries out of the device on the ceiling. "Don't worry- you just need a little more practice. You'll get the hang of it eventually," he promised.

Anya rolled her eyes as she pulled the pot off the hot burner. "Yeah right. And maybe one day, I'll suddenly become part Veela and join a group of muggle-haters," she scoffed.

Draco chuckled. "Alright, alright... We have an extra box of pasta we can prepare, and I think we still have some jars of pre-made sauce that we can put on it. Do you want to get started on the cake?"

"Aren't you worried that I'll mess that up too?" Anya asked, warily eyeing the box of cake mix on the counter before her.

"Nah... the instructions are easy enough to follow: add water and oil, a couple of eggs, mix then pour into pans to bake. Rather standard stuff," he reasoned.

Anya sighed but eventually nodded. "Well... At least I can fix the eggs so they don't have any shells in them. Could you pass me a few?" she asked while pulling a small bowl out to fix the eggs. Draco smiled and did as he was asked.

But when he went to hand her the last one, he didn't expect her to smack her hand down on his, breaking the egg between both of their palms. Looking up at his girlfriend, it was impossible to miss that impish little smile on her face, a mischievous glimmer sparkling in her eyes. "Got'cha," she grinned while shaking the goop from her hand.

"You'll pay for that one," Draco smirked, grabbing the wooden spoon from the tomato sauce and approaching her with it. His smirk grew when he saw that Anya had backed herself into a corner.

He should have known that she wouldn't be defeated that easily.

As he made to draw on her face with sauce, Anya maneuvered the spoon so that it got him in the face instead. Then she ducked under his arm and ran out of the kitchen. Dropping the spoon, he ran after her and caught up just as she reached the stairs. Wrapping his arms around her, he turned her around and deliberately began to rub his face against her and into her hair, spreading tomato sauce everywhere.

"Draco!" Anya squealed while desperately trying to get away from him, her laughter infectious.

"What?" he chuckled when he finally stopped with his assault. Anya looked up at him with a slightly annoyed look, but the mirth dancing around in her eyes told him that she wasn't really upset. Leaning forward, he gave her a kiss on the cheek only to pull back with a sour face. "Really need to cut back on the salt, love," he commented at the taste of sauce on his tongue.

Using her finger, Anya swiped at his sauce-stained cheek and tasted it, pulling a similar face to the one that Draco pulled. "Definitely. Do you think it's possible for a person to die of sodium poisoning?" she asked.

Draco shrugged in response. "I couldn't say. I'm not the one in this relationship who's studying to become a healer, love," he commented.

Anya shrugged back. "True." She then lightly pushed at his shoulders. "Now, I'm going to go wash up. Do you mind starting with the clean up in there?" she asked.

"I think that would be best," Draco smirked, barely dodging the smack upside the head from his girlfriend. "Do you know any good cleaning spells- or maybe a vanishing spell? Or would using the garden hose out back be more effective?"

"Draco!" Anya exclaimed.

MMM: Well, that didn't go so well, huh Anya?

AC: *frowns at author* You think? *rubs sauce stain on shirt*

MMM: I think you'd probably burn cereal.

AC: *glares*

DM: She's right, darling. You are a little dangerous when it comes to working in the kitchen.

AC: *turns glare to boyfriend*

DM: *anime sweat drop* But you did prepare that great chicken noodle soup the other day! That's something, right?

AC: I opened a can and microwaved it. That doesn't count!

DM: Sure it does!

AC & DM: Doesn't/Does...

MMM: And while our favorite wizard couple debate about whether heating canned soup counts as successful cooking, we'll bid you all goodnight and hope to hear from you soon.

Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)