Spoiler Notes: This is after book five so expect spoilers from it, including frequent mention of who dies.
Disclaimer: The most important part. I do not own any of the characters/settings written in the fic and I do not profit from it in anyway. The joy of writing is my payment. ^^
Author's Notes: Chapter two up and going. Listening to haunting music right now so don't be surprised if there are a handful of creepy moments.
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Every Month or So
Chapter 2: Preparing for the Feast, Then Eating it
The Forbidden Forest at night was pretty much the same as the Forbidden Forest at day, only it seemed that the even darker creatures decided to lurk around then. Christmas was in a week and a half and he had already lost his girlfriend's present to a rather drunk centaur, he just hoped he could get it back. Earlier he swore he heard howling, but shook the thought away, it wasn't a full moon anyway, or was it? He couldn't quite tell.
So the man continued through the brush holding out his lit wand and hoping he'd stumble across the centaur that took his magnificent gift to his beloved, completely unknowing of the large slinky wolf that stalked him through the night. Every once and a while his flashlight would pass over the wolf's paw or huge bushy tail, but he never gave it a second thought, assumed it was something else apparently.
Quite suddenly he felt teeth clamp around his shoulder and, ripping at the skin. He let out a muffled scream as the wolf pulled him down but soon there was only darkness surrounding him.
And a heavy tapping on his shoulder…
"Sam wake up, it doesn't fit to fall asleep in the batter." Fred joked as he slipped the cake batter from under Sam's arm. "I'll stir, and I won't tell Remus that you almost ruined one of his favorite desserts." he said stirring.
Sam groaned and sat up. The crowd of males were still shuffling around the kitchen. It was 2:00 in the morn already, but Dumbledore was driving them like slaves. Lupin was working as hard as he could to cover up for most of their mistakes, but it wasn't quite working. Of course when the slave-driver himself caught them he merely smiled brightly and gave a short comment on how well they were doing, which of course made them work harder, Harry figured it was a spell.
As he noticed Sam fell asleep more then once during the clatter. He still couldn't quite put his finger on where he had seen the man before, but he was sure he would soon enough, either that or he would be reminded by someone else. Everyone seemed to be well acquainted with the man, and he seemed friendly enough, though it was a bit odd how he always sought out Lupin's help instead of anyone else's.
Harry stood by one of the ovens, watching the plates inside heat. Ron was on the other side of the kitchen slathering sauce over the turkey while George helped stuff it. Fred was supposed finishing up the mashed potatoes, and Sam to be stirring the batter, but that task was now Fred's, so Sam took care of the potatoes. Harry thought it odd how quickly tasks changed in the kitchen and he wondered if it was like that when Mrs. Weasley cooked. Of course he scolded himself for not paying attention to cooking in the first place, after all for the past two years the only thing he cooked was toast.
Even Snape was there for the occasion, helping pour all the drinks into their respective goblets, though with some reluctance. Harry noticed how he was muttering about not owing anyone there anything, but he decided trying to intercept Snape's thoughts wouldn't be such a great idea, and slipped back to the oven.
Soon everything was all set up and all they were waiting for was the last layer for the cake. The ones who weren't occupied with watching it bake were sitting in chairs, laughing and stretching, happy they were done with cooking hopefully for a long while. Harry sat next to Ron, talking about the new member of the Order.
"Lupin brought him here." Ron shrugged. "He's a werewolf too, so we all supposed he was from one of those groups Lupin's been trying to convince. Other then that I don't know much about him, though he does strike you as familiar huh?" Harry nodded as he stared off at the rather peaky Sam.
"Tonks mentioned that he got in a fight with Lupin earlier." Harry said, still watching Sam. "What was that about?"
Ron laughed. "Oh that... It was on a full moon, you know? Lupin took his wolfsbane but Sam forgot, so Lupin dragged him down and threw him in a cauldron of the stuff, kept his head in there till he drank a good lot of it. As you can imagine, sane or not, Sam was still infringed about being shoved in a cauldron so he started snapping at Lupin and trying to chase him off, but Lupin wouldn't have it. He just sat there, tilting his head to the side, if you please. I think at that point both wolf parts of them had nudged them into goading each other on and it ended up with Sam practically jumping Lupin and then getting thrown across the room." Ron said all of this with an obvious new admiration for Lupin.
"Mum was pissed at them both of course, dragged them off by their ears." Fred said grinning.
"Lupin didn't seem to mind though." Ron added. "He won after all, as uncharacteristic to him as it seems."
Harry studied Lupin as he conversed with Mr. Weasley about the position the Ministry was in on the war.
An hour later everyone and everything was cleaned up to the point of sparkling. The cooks were all lined up against the wall trying as hard as they could to look decent. Harry stood in his dress robes next to Ron in his own.
The steaming arrangement of food was laid out before them on the table's top. Three large turkeys stuffed with heavily scented spices and meat, mashed potatoes with three forms of gravy surrounding it, one with mushrooms, the usual mashed potato gravy, and another that Dumbledore had 'invented' in his free time. Pumpkin juice was set out in crisp silver goblets by each of the porcelain dishes, the old Black family crest long since rubbed out by magic. Hot steaming yams were set in the center, next to mashed yams, and buttered bread. A bowl made out of bread held the clam chowder next to each seat and a row of ribs was placed on the counter, just incase someone didn't want to fall asleep after the meal under the influence of turkey.
Though Harry wondered why anyone would want to stay awake. It was already four in the morning and he was barely awake, the noise of everyone else the only thing keeping him standing. They, unlike him, had obviously prepared for this and slept in for the occasion. When Lupin opened the doors to the kitchen the females of the Order, and Hermione's dad, were ushered in and they all sat down before everyone else followed and sat down with them.
Dumbledore clicked his fork against his goblet and waited for the silence as he stood. "I'd like to make a toast for the person this meal is dedicated too, Molly Weasley, who has so kindly prepared meals for the Order and it's guests for over a year and has done a fine job at it." Dumbledore held out his glass with a twinkle in his eyes. "To Molly!" Everyone did the same and some actually clinked glasses before they drank down their pumpkin Juice. Mrs. Weasley was as red as her hair as she looked down mumbling something about how silly they were. The rest of the Weasley family was grinning from ear to ear for her, as well as Harry.
Harry sat in between Ron and Hermione and across from Lupin. Harry decided to break the silence between his two best friends and ask them about the events of their summer.
"Oh nothing much really..." Ron said shrugging. "Still cleaning a lot. You think the first floor is decent, but Mum's determined to clean EVERYTHING. It's a lucky thing Lupin has possession of this house, can't imagine what she'd do if it had to go to someone else..." Ron paused and glanced between Harry and Lupin. Harry noticed that Lupin didn't mind the reminder that Sirius was dead, or he didn't hear. Perhaps because he was distracted with eating. "Well anyhow, so that's all we've been doing. Just cleaning...and cleaning some more..."
"Don't forget helping Fred and George with their business." Hermione added with a smile. Harry was glad Hermione seemed to finally accept Fred and George's business, that was a nice change. He wondered if Mrs. Weasley felt the same, but decided he'd ask her later. He had the rest of the summer ahead of him to do it.
Dinner continued in the same fashion. Harry was extremely happy when dessert came around, as were the rest of the people.
The table was instantly cleared and Lupin and Sam made inched their way over with the huge three-layered chocolate cake. Harry and Ron had to get up and help the others with getting the rest of the desserts laid out, which included hot chocolate to replace the pumpkin juice, raspberry jell-o with raspberries mixed in it, a long tray of ladies fingers, a set of pumpkin pasties, a tank full of chocolate frogs, a huge bowl full of Bertie Bot's Every Flavor Jelly Beans and row of cauldron cakes.
When the two got to sit down they happily served themselves to whatever they could get their hands on. Sam and Lupin were messing with the tank, trying to retrieve on of the very active chocolate frogs. Lupin caught one and promptly shut the tank on Sam's hand, who screamed a string of curse words that got him 'time-out' in the hall from Mrs. Weasley. The frog jumped around in Lupin's hands before he bit it's head off and sat down, chewing thoughtfully. Harry was still trying to get used to how savage you had to be with the chocolate frogs to eat them.
Hermione had helped herself to a piece of the chocolate cake. The frosty had elegant swirls, which were quickly destroyed when Dumbledore cut the cake, but they were beautiful none-the-less. In the middle cherry flavored gel oozed out from the cake leaving a small puddle of red on her plate, and Harry swore Mundungus has put far to much frosting on the cake, or at least more then necessary.
An hour later when everyone had long since finished eating and were preparing to leave, Harry stood against the wall, wishing safe trips and good-byes to everyone leaving.
"Oh, Harry!" Hermione yelped, pulling Ron back. "Here, Happy Birthday Harry!" she said eagerly, handing him a large tin. "It's from both of us." Ron grunted and nodded.
Harry opened the rather large tin and looked inside at a set of robes for the Irish Chasers and what looked like an autograph photo book. Below was one for the Bulgarian Beaters and another autographed photo book.
"I had to ask Victor about the second set." Hermione said with a blush, followed by a rather red faced Ron. "And the first was fairly easy to get a hold of, with the help of Seamus Finnigan."
"That bloke knows where to get anything Irish." Ron muttered under his breath. Harry grinned and hugged both of his friends.
"Thanks you guys, really great birthday present." he said, unable to wipe away his grin. Two years ago he had seen the Irish Chasers compete against the Bulgarian Beaters, and he loved both teams since. It was the first time he saw an actual official Quidditch match, one he figured he'd always remember.
Hermione and Ron nodded. "Your welcome mate!" Ron said clapping Harry's shoulder.
"Bye Harry!" Hermione called as she shuffled out the door with the next small group.
Harry sighed and turned back to the kitchen to ask where his room was. He needed sleep.
End Note: Bah I'm no good at naming food products and such and I think I might have gotten the names of the Quidditch teams wrong, but I just don't feel like checking right now. Hope you enjoy. Please review. Ciao! ^^;;;
Disclaimer: The most important part. I do not own any of the characters/settings written in the fic and I do not profit from it in anyway. The joy of writing is my payment. ^^
Author's Notes: Chapter two up and going. Listening to haunting music right now so don't be surprised if there are a handful of creepy moments.
---
Every Month or So
Chapter 2: Preparing for the Feast, Then Eating it
The Forbidden Forest at night was pretty much the same as the Forbidden Forest at day, only it seemed that the even darker creatures decided to lurk around then. Christmas was in a week and a half and he had already lost his girlfriend's present to a rather drunk centaur, he just hoped he could get it back. Earlier he swore he heard howling, but shook the thought away, it wasn't a full moon anyway, or was it? He couldn't quite tell.
So the man continued through the brush holding out his lit wand and hoping he'd stumble across the centaur that took his magnificent gift to his beloved, completely unknowing of the large slinky wolf that stalked him through the night. Every once and a while his flashlight would pass over the wolf's paw or huge bushy tail, but he never gave it a second thought, assumed it was something else apparently.
Quite suddenly he felt teeth clamp around his shoulder and, ripping at the skin. He let out a muffled scream as the wolf pulled him down but soon there was only darkness surrounding him.
And a heavy tapping on his shoulder…
"Sam wake up, it doesn't fit to fall asleep in the batter." Fred joked as he slipped the cake batter from under Sam's arm. "I'll stir, and I won't tell Remus that you almost ruined one of his favorite desserts." he said stirring.
Sam groaned and sat up. The crowd of males were still shuffling around the kitchen. It was 2:00 in the morn already, but Dumbledore was driving them like slaves. Lupin was working as hard as he could to cover up for most of their mistakes, but it wasn't quite working. Of course when the slave-driver himself caught them he merely smiled brightly and gave a short comment on how well they were doing, which of course made them work harder, Harry figured it was a spell.
As he noticed Sam fell asleep more then once during the clatter. He still couldn't quite put his finger on where he had seen the man before, but he was sure he would soon enough, either that or he would be reminded by someone else. Everyone seemed to be well acquainted with the man, and he seemed friendly enough, though it was a bit odd how he always sought out Lupin's help instead of anyone else's.
Harry stood by one of the ovens, watching the plates inside heat. Ron was on the other side of the kitchen slathering sauce over the turkey while George helped stuff it. Fred was supposed finishing up the mashed potatoes, and Sam to be stirring the batter, but that task was now Fred's, so Sam took care of the potatoes. Harry thought it odd how quickly tasks changed in the kitchen and he wondered if it was like that when Mrs. Weasley cooked. Of course he scolded himself for not paying attention to cooking in the first place, after all for the past two years the only thing he cooked was toast.
Even Snape was there for the occasion, helping pour all the drinks into their respective goblets, though with some reluctance. Harry noticed how he was muttering about not owing anyone there anything, but he decided trying to intercept Snape's thoughts wouldn't be such a great idea, and slipped back to the oven.
Soon everything was all set up and all they were waiting for was the last layer for the cake. The ones who weren't occupied with watching it bake were sitting in chairs, laughing and stretching, happy they were done with cooking hopefully for a long while. Harry sat next to Ron, talking about the new member of the Order.
"Lupin brought him here." Ron shrugged. "He's a werewolf too, so we all supposed he was from one of those groups Lupin's been trying to convince. Other then that I don't know much about him, though he does strike you as familiar huh?" Harry nodded as he stared off at the rather peaky Sam.
"Tonks mentioned that he got in a fight with Lupin earlier." Harry said, still watching Sam. "What was that about?"
Ron laughed. "Oh that... It was on a full moon, you know? Lupin took his wolfsbane but Sam forgot, so Lupin dragged him down and threw him in a cauldron of the stuff, kept his head in there till he drank a good lot of it. As you can imagine, sane or not, Sam was still infringed about being shoved in a cauldron so he started snapping at Lupin and trying to chase him off, but Lupin wouldn't have it. He just sat there, tilting his head to the side, if you please. I think at that point both wolf parts of them had nudged them into goading each other on and it ended up with Sam practically jumping Lupin and then getting thrown across the room." Ron said all of this with an obvious new admiration for Lupin.
"Mum was pissed at them both of course, dragged them off by their ears." Fred said grinning.
"Lupin didn't seem to mind though." Ron added. "He won after all, as uncharacteristic to him as it seems."
Harry studied Lupin as he conversed with Mr. Weasley about the position the Ministry was in on the war.
An hour later everyone and everything was cleaned up to the point of sparkling. The cooks were all lined up against the wall trying as hard as they could to look decent. Harry stood in his dress robes next to Ron in his own.
The steaming arrangement of food was laid out before them on the table's top. Three large turkeys stuffed with heavily scented spices and meat, mashed potatoes with three forms of gravy surrounding it, one with mushrooms, the usual mashed potato gravy, and another that Dumbledore had 'invented' in his free time. Pumpkin juice was set out in crisp silver goblets by each of the porcelain dishes, the old Black family crest long since rubbed out by magic. Hot steaming yams were set in the center, next to mashed yams, and buttered bread. A bowl made out of bread held the clam chowder next to each seat and a row of ribs was placed on the counter, just incase someone didn't want to fall asleep after the meal under the influence of turkey.
Though Harry wondered why anyone would want to stay awake. It was already four in the morning and he was barely awake, the noise of everyone else the only thing keeping him standing. They, unlike him, had obviously prepared for this and slept in for the occasion. When Lupin opened the doors to the kitchen the females of the Order, and Hermione's dad, were ushered in and they all sat down before everyone else followed and sat down with them.
Dumbledore clicked his fork against his goblet and waited for the silence as he stood. "I'd like to make a toast for the person this meal is dedicated too, Molly Weasley, who has so kindly prepared meals for the Order and it's guests for over a year and has done a fine job at it." Dumbledore held out his glass with a twinkle in his eyes. "To Molly!" Everyone did the same and some actually clinked glasses before they drank down their pumpkin Juice. Mrs. Weasley was as red as her hair as she looked down mumbling something about how silly they were. The rest of the Weasley family was grinning from ear to ear for her, as well as Harry.
Harry sat in between Ron and Hermione and across from Lupin. Harry decided to break the silence between his two best friends and ask them about the events of their summer.
"Oh nothing much really..." Ron said shrugging. "Still cleaning a lot. You think the first floor is decent, but Mum's determined to clean EVERYTHING. It's a lucky thing Lupin has possession of this house, can't imagine what she'd do if it had to go to someone else..." Ron paused and glanced between Harry and Lupin. Harry noticed that Lupin didn't mind the reminder that Sirius was dead, or he didn't hear. Perhaps because he was distracted with eating. "Well anyhow, so that's all we've been doing. Just cleaning...and cleaning some more..."
"Don't forget helping Fred and George with their business." Hermione added with a smile. Harry was glad Hermione seemed to finally accept Fred and George's business, that was a nice change. He wondered if Mrs. Weasley felt the same, but decided he'd ask her later. He had the rest of the summer ahead of him to do it.
Dinner continued in the same fashion. Harry was extremely happy when dessert came around, as were the rest of the people.
The table was instantly cleared and Lupin and Sam made inched their way over with the huge three-layered chocolate cake. Harry and Ron had to get up and help the others with getting the rest of the desserts laid out, which included hot chocolate to replace the pumpkin juice, raspberry jell-o with raspberries mixed in it, a long tray of ladies fingers, a set of pumpkin pasties, a tank full of chocolate frogs, a huge bowl full of Bertie Bot's Every Flavor Jelly Beans and row of cauldron cakes.
When the two got to sit down they happily served themselves to whatever they could get their hands on. Sam and Lupin were messing with the tank, trying to retrieve on of the very active chocolate frogs. Lupin caught one and promptly shut the tank on Sam's hand, who screamed a string of curse words that got him 'time-out' in the hall from Mrs. Weasley. The frog jumped around in Lupin's hands before he bit it's head off and sat down, chewing thoughtfully. Harry was still trying to get used to how savage you had to be with the chocolate frogs to eat them.
Hermione had helped herself to a piece of the chocolate cake. The frosty had elegant swirls, which were quickly destroyed when Dumbledore cut the cake, but they were beautiful none-the-less. In the middle cherry flavored gel oozed out from the cake leaving a small puddle of red on her plate, and Harry swore Mundungus has put far to much frosting on the cake, or at least more then necessary.
An hour later when everyone had long since finished eating and were preparing to leave, Harry stood against the wall, wishing safe trips and good-byes to everyone leaving.
"Oh, Harry!" Hermione yelped, pulling Ron back. "Here, Happy Birthday Harry!" she said eagerly, handing him a large tin. "It's from both of us." Ron grunted and nodded.
Harry opened the rather large tin and looked inside at a set of robes for the Irish Chasers and what looked like an autograph photo book. Below was one for the Bulgarian Beaters and another autographed photo book.
"I had to ask Victor about the second set." Hermione said with a blush, followed by a rather red faced Ron. "And the first was fairly easy to get a hold of, with the help of Seamus Finnigan."
"That bloke knows where to get anything Irish." Ron muttered under his breath. Harry grinned and hugged both of his friends.
"Thanks you guys, really great birthday present." he said, unable to wipe away his grin. Two years ago he had seen the Irish Chasers compete against the Bulgarian Beaters, and he loved both teams since. It was the first time he saw an actual official Quidditch match, one he figured he'd always remember.
Hermione and Ron nodded. "Your welcome mate!" Ron said clapping Harry's shoulder.
"Bye Harry!" Hermione called as she shuffled out the door with the next small group.
Harry sighed and turned back to the kitchen to ask where his room was. He needed sleep.
End Note: Bah I'm no good at naming food products and such and I think I might have gotten the names of the Quidditch teams wrong, but I just don't feel like checking right now. Hope you enjoy. Please review. Ciao! ^^;;;
