A/N: I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters
This is for the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
Word Count: 723
Lily stared at the mess in front of her.
"What is this, no, wait, do I really want to know?" she asked, looking at Sirius who was sitting on the sofa. He put down the book he'd been pretending to read.
"It's James' latest plot to win your heart. He's going to learn to bake," he answered. Lily blinked. The idea of James baking, of James standing in a kitchen and not burning the whole thing down nearly made her laugh.
"This is a recipe for disaster," she commented.
"Does it come in vegan?" Dorcas asked, poking her head into the room. Lily finally did burst out laughing.
"Knowing James, it doesn't even come in classic," she answered. "He's got a whole slew of ingredients here and I know for certain he does not need cheese to bake a cake."
"Why else would it be called a 'cheese cake', then?" James asked, strolling into the common room. Lily bit her tongue. She knew she could say a couple scathing comments about his domestic skills, but she refrained, remembering James had grown up a spoiled rich kid.
"It uses something called cream cheese, not cheddar," Lily explained. "Here, let's carry all these down to the kitchens and see if I can help you make something that's actually edible," she stated, picking up a handful of the ingredients. James blinked, but grabbed the rest, following her.
"First we need to make sure we have everything in the recipe. Do you actually have a recipe?" Lily asked, setting everything down on a counter. The house elves watched them, but didn't interfere.
"Yes!" James exclaimed, pulling a sheet of parchment from his pocket. "This was my Granny's chocolate cake recipe."
Lily nodded, taking a look at it and then at the ingredients James had collected.
"It does look like you managed to get everything," she said after a moment. "Shall we get started then?"
Lily showed James how to measure the ingredients, how to crack the eggs so no shell ended up in the bowl.
"This next part looks easy," he commented, pointing to where it said to stir it all together. Lily handed him the spoon. He started swishing it rapidly in the batter causing it to splatter all over him and Lily. She bit back a laugh and instead, pretended to glare at him.
"Gently, like this," she said. She put the spoon in his hand and put her hand over his, controlling his movements. It wasn't until she accidentally bumped him that she realized how close they were standing to each other. She quickly took a step back, looking at the sandy brown floor, as she tried to hide the flushing on her cheeks. James pretended not to notice as he continued to stir.
"It's mixed, now we put it in the pan?"
"Put a little oil on the pan first, to keep it from sticking," she explained. James did as requested and soon the pan was in the oven. They were magical ovens so no one had to worry about setting the temperature or setting a timer.
"I know you did all this to impress me, James," Lily started to say. James held up a finger to silence her.
"I think this way worked out better, Lily. I'm kind of glad you helped me. If I'd tried this on my own, it would have ended up being a complete disaster and then you would have thrown something at me for being an idiot and not asking for help."
"That does sound like something I might have done," Lily admitted, giggling.
"So what do you want to do while we wait for the cake to get done. I still have this block of cheese," James stated, holding it up. Lily burst out laughing.
"You know, you're obliviousness is kind of cute," she said, after a moment.
"That fact you find it cute is also cute," James replied, as he stared into Lily's eyes. Slowly the pair grew closer and closer to each other until finally their lips brushed. Lily pulled back, blushing brightly.
"Um, maybe we should check on the cake?"
"Magical oven, guaranteed not to burn," James said. Lily bit her lip looking at him. Slowly they started leaning towards each other again, this time neither broke apart as their lips finally met.