...Darkness is Brewing...
I frown at the dress mum wants me to wear to dinner with the Zabini's. "What?! It's a lovely dress and it will look lovely." she pouts pairing the halter dress in her hands with a pair of chunky heels. "I think Blaise would love it; don't you think?" mum smirks. I blush and turn away grumbling. "What was that, Cassie?" mum teases. "I said I don't care what he thinks and I'm not wearing that." I huff taking the curlers out of my hair.
She kisses my cheek leaving with a smirk. I hurry to get dressed in the outfit she's laid out. I walk to the front door and mum smiles. "I thought you didn't care?" she teases. I blush and walk to the car. The Zabini's are waiting patiently inside. The Finnigan's are also joining us and Mere automatically drifts over to Explosion Boy. I frown and ignore Blaise as he tries to wave me over.
As the waiter take us to our table Blaise takes my hand pulling me close. "You look absolutely lovely baby bird. Did you wear that for me?" he whispers in my ear. "Hell no! I wore this because I like the color." I scoff. We both look at my dress. It's a lovely dark blue color that matches perfectly with the blue of my heels. "Wow, a Ravenclaw blue dress and Slytherin green eyes. Us cool colors should really stick together, you know." he chuckles.
"One more cheesy, cringey, or downright annoying line from you and we're breaking up permanently." I hiss. "Are you hissing like a snake right now? Things like that are the reason why you won my heart baby bird." he kisses my cheek. I blush as we sit down. He continues to tease me quietly and relentlessly throughout dinner. I'm on the verge of stepping on his foot when his mother intervenes.
"Are you teasing Cassidy, Blaise?" she smiles. He looks up innocently and shakes his head. "We were just talking about her first ever Quidditch match. It was quite an impressive performance if I do say so myself." he smiles. I roll my eyes and turn to Meredith as he recounts the match. She's fighting back a smile. "Well, it certainly is nice to hear that all those gymnastics and dance classes are paying off." mum winks at me.
Blaise goes back to teasing me as the adults return to their conversations. I'm almost done with my food when an idea hits me. I lean over and take a few bites of Blaise's food. He stares in shock and to silence him further I cut his pasta with a knife into tiny rice like pieces. He starts shaking his head and opens his mouth to complain. I scoop the pasta rice with a spoon and place it into his mouth.
He turns to me with sad eyes and I turn back to my plate. "Did I do something wrong?" Blaise mumbles to himself. "Yes, you kept nagging me for your Christmas present. I don't reward naughty behavior mister." I stomp on his foot. He takes a deep breath and bites his lip. "I can't argue with this punishment." he whispers tilting his head to the side.
I smile and bite back a laugh. "Blaise, why'd you cut your pasta into pieces?!" his aunt gasps in shock. "I didn't mean to. I just got distracted for a bit by the dessert menu." he fibs. "Would you like some ketchup with your pasta?" I giggle. A horrified look flickers onto his face briefly. I finish my food and nab the dessert menu.
Blaise taps my knee and I ignore him. He keeps tapping until I can no longer ignore him. I turn my head and smile. Blaise takes the menu and snatch it back. "You haven't finished your pasta rice yet." I tease. "This one." he points out a lava cake. I frown at him. "I'll finish my food by the time it gets here." he promises. I order the lava cake and the waiter smiles and leaves before I can order my dessert. I turn and Blaise looks away quickly.
I nudge him but he just ignores me and eats his food. The waiter comes back with a lemon lava cake and a chocolate and peanut butter lava cake. Blaise isn't done with his food and I place both plates in front of me. He looks offended and I nod at his plate. He places the last spoonful of pasta rice in my mouth and steals the first bite of both cakes while I'm busy chewing. I pout and he smirks. We have a mini battle over the lava cakes which are divine. When we get to the last bite of the lemon cake I step on his foot and kick his ankle.
Using his hand and arm he blocks me from the plate and takes the last bite. I stare in shock at the empty plates. He puts his head on my shoulder and sighs. "That should be my reaction. You took the first bite. How could take the last bite too?" I whine. "Because he ordered you another dessert." his aunt smiles. The waiter brings over an ice cream sundae and I gasp. With my finger I push Blaise's head off my shoulder so I can eat comfortably. Out of the corner of my eyes I see two spoons approaching.
"Don't you dare! Mere. Blaise. I'm warning you two. This treat is mine and mine alone." I grumble. Blaise kisses my cheek and I turn and give him a warning looks. Mere takes a big bite of my treat. I shoot her an irritated look and Blaise takes a bite of my treat too. "Do you want to steal a bite too?" I ask Seamus. He shrugs and takes just as big a bite as Blaise did. "That wasn't an invitation." I sigh sadly. Blaise chuckles and takes the last scoop of my ice cream. I watch in horror as he eats it.
I hug Blaise's aunt and mother goodbye but turn away from his expectant arms. I link arms with Meredith and half drag her to the car. Blaise taps his foot from the sidewalk talking to Seamus. Mere pouts and pokes my cheek. "Forgive us. Please?! It's the holidays!" she whines. I sigh and release her. She catapults into Seamus' arms and I climb into the car and lock it before Blaise can follow me. I ignore his tapping on the window and close my eyes.
The door opens and Blaise climbs in next to me. "Mere said you forgave us, so why are you in here pouting baby bird?" he whispers pulling me closer. "Ugh, didn't you go home?" I groan. He rests his head on my shoulders. "Sorry about your sundae. I'll make sure to stock you up on sweets and butterbeer when we get back to school." he promises. I roll my eyes and he kisses my cheek.
I prep the vegetables with Meredith while mum and dad prep the meat. Yesterday we prepped Christmas breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the orphanage and today we're feeding families without enough to eat and the homeless. I finish ahead of schedule and start testing the bone broth that me and Mere have been working on. I hum softly and turn to her with a pout. "Is something wrong with the broth?" she gasps. "No! I just realized Blaise never gave back my things he confiscated!" I sniffle.
She bursts out laughing and I smile. I carry a tasting spoon over and she smiles as she tastes the broth. I put a finger to my lips and sneak over to the freezer. I pull out some wagyu beef and sneak back over to Meredith. She smirks and adds the meat into the broth in small batches. A time or two mum and dad wander over brought solely by the smell of the broth. I guard the pot like it's a national treasure and they walk away mumbling incoherently.
I add the veggies to the broth and cover it with a lid. "What did you girls add to make that soup smell so divine?" dad wonders. "It's a secret." Mere and I shrug at the same time. I take the bread dough out and cut the top of it before placing it in the oven. Mere tugs my sleeve and points to my trial recipe book. We put our heads together and start whispering. "We raised you them quite well if I do say so myself." mum giggles.
I crawl into bed completely worn out but satisfied. Seeing everyone's happy faces and knowing no one went home with an empty stomach made me feel wonderful. Especially since the food was a hit. Mum and dad even agreed to let us go on a food tour after we graduate with the condition that our boyfriends go with us. I frowned at that condition but Mere agreed for both of us without consulting me. For now, we'll be attending various cooking schools around the country while on summer holiday.
I roll over in my bed finding it extremely comfy and warm. My eyes flutter open and I find Blaise watching me. "I was having such a nice dream. Why are you here?" I grumble. He pulls me onto his chest. "Your family invited mine over for dinner. Seamus' family is on the way too. Were you dreaming of me?" Blaise wonders. I shake my head and roll over. His arms snake around me and he kisses my cheek. "Shower time or would you prefer I join you?" he whispers. I jump up and race to the bathroom slamming the door shut.
I emerge in my fluffy robe and pad silently over to my closet to get dressed. I feel Blaise's eyes on me and close myself in my closet. When I walk out Blaise has disappeared. I slip over to my shoe rack and slide into my fuzzy slippers. Blaise's arms wrap around me. "She's back!" he chuckles. "Geez, I thought you left." I groan. "Of course not. You look especially pretty with steam rolling off your body." he whispers. I freeze and smack his arm. He kisses my cheek and picks me up.
"My precious baby bird is so pretty." he chuckles carrying me over to my bed and curling up with me. "One of these days you're going to tell me why you call me baby bird all the time." I roll my eyes. He kisses my cheeks ignoring me. "Ugh, it's so cold." he pretends to shiver and covers us in my thick warm blankets. "I love you baby bird." he mumbles drifting off. I roll my eyes and lightly trace my fingertip over his face until the Finnigan's arrive.
I gently shake him awake occasionally kissing him. His eyes flutter open and he groans rolling over. "How long was I out for?" he groans sitting up. "An hour and a half." I whisper trailing my fingers up and down his arm. He pulls me onto his lap and wraps the warm blankets around us. "We're you that tired from teasing me?" I whisper. "I am not teasing you. I'm merely making up for your lack of affection. Have to keep it even. Unless, you're going to stop randomly saying you hate me." he wonders hopefully.
"You're tolerable." I huff looking away. He gives a whoop of satisfaction and I hide my blushing face in the crook of his neck. "Come on, we should join everyone else." he chuckles. I wrap my legs around him and he carries me downstairs. We join Seamus and Mere for some games and I frown at how quickly Blaise picks up on the Muggle games he's never played before. I put my gifts and such in everyone's stockings.
When it's the adults' turn, Mere and I take the boys into the kitchen to make dessert. It's mostly them watching but they make excellent taste testers. Blaise frowns and tsks every time I get near the alcohol pantry. While we wait on dessert, I make crostini and place it on a serving plate with grilled fruit, homemade cheeses, and thinly sliced Wagyu. The boys watch me take the plate to the table mouths open.
"What do you girl's plan to do once you graduate?" Mrs. Zabini wonders as she stacks grilled fruit and cheese onto a crostini. Mere and I smile at each other. "Open a restaurant that is accepts both the Wizarding community and Muggles." we say at the same time. Blaise's aunt turns to our mum and dad in shock. "We know. They've already been asking to go on a round the world food trip. We agreed but they'd have to with Blaise and Seamus." mum shoots me a look. "I know my limits." I mutter.
Blaise coughs to hide his laugh and I turn to him a hurt and upset look in my eyes. He ruffles my hair and I go back to my food. "Oh, really?! Where have you been?" Mrs. Finnigan wonders. Mere starts rattling off places pointing to our food trip map. The places we've been marked in yellow and the places we want to return to marked in blue. "You've never been to Italy? Wow, I'll have to change that." Blaise chuckles quietly. I nudge him and he looks at me innocently. "No way. Not happening." I mouth.
We open gifts after dinner and I sit next to Mere. "Are you hiding over here?" she whispers. I nod without an ounce of shame. Blaise eyes his remaining gifts which are from me. I look away pretending to be a statue. "You did not give him coal." Mere giggles. "Have you been misbehaving again?" his aunt teases. "No... I think she already punished me enough last time." he sounds unsure. A small note falls from the bag of coal. Mum picks it up and reads with a smile. "Oh, that is cruel Cassie." she giggles. I set it up so the key to unlock his second gift is inside the coal.
"I made the outer shell with chocolate and rice Krispy treat but the inside is anchovy, vegemite, durian, and mouse wine." I smirk. Blaise who's already taken a bite, gags and runs from the room. "Should I have spoken sooner?" I wonder innocently turning to Mere. Dad gives us a look as we begin to giggle. Blaise comes back and slumps back into his seat. Mum takes a piece of coal and sniffs it. All the adults try a small piece and run from the room gagging.
"Ooh it has a great effect. Should I send some to the Weasley's?" I ask Mere. Blaise picks me up and sits me in his lap. "That was cruel baby bird." he mutters. I pick up a piece of coal and tear it in half. I hand the pieces to Seamus and Mere. Mere finishes it no problem but Seamus goes green. Mere escorts him to the nearest sink.
"My gift." Blaise whines. I pull apart another piece of coal and reveal the key. He perks up and unlocks the second gift. His fingers freeze and I take the necklace from the box. A silver chain with a round black orb dangling. "Baby bird, what is..." I cut him off holding the necklace up to the light. It starts to act like a lava lamp. One side has a picture of me and the other side has a picture of both of us. "I had to charm it so it wasn't poisonous and wouldn't harm you. I think I did a pretty good job. "You're only able to see the pictures when it's held up to the light or in contact with heat." I mumble putting it on him.
His breath catches and I smirk sliding my fingers teasingly along his neck and shoulders. "There. Pretty but not too much." I smile and sit back. He picks up the necklace looking at the photos. "Oh, I almost forgot. You take this and the picture project onto the wall." I place a prism like object in the sunlight and wave him forward. The orb dangles in the prism light for a bit then the pictures are magnified on the wall.
I jump on Luna's back as we walk up to the castle. "Are you over here because you're mad at your boyfriend again?" Luna wonders. "No, he's still fawning over his Christmas gifts." I point down the path to where Blaise is staring at something too small to see from here. "And yet she doesn't act like this on the daily." Astoria giggles. "Tiny acts of affection like that are enough to fuel him up for at least a month." Mere laughs. I pull bags of coal out from my bag and give one to each of my friends before running inside.