Author's note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The following characters belong to J.K. Rowling, and this story derives from her original works, storylines, and world. Please do not sue me, I can barely pay tuition.

Hogwarts: Assignment #6, Floristry, Task #7 Write about a show of gratitude going wrong.

Warnings: Near fire accident

Literal Fires

Since the Full Moon was approaching, Remus' nose was extra sensitive—and so he was the first to feel that something was wrong. His eyes fluttered open and he wondered for a second if his senses were just playing tricks on him, as his body sometimes did around the moon…

"Dora?" he said, leaning over and wrapping an arm around his wife. He slumped down and his chin rested on her shoulder, giving him a good opportunity to breathe in both her laundry detergent and cocoa butter shampoo. "Dora, do you smell…"

As providence would have it, he was interrupted by the fire alarm ringing and the sound of a small child screaming. Presumably, this was his small child.

"Teddy!" Dora said, sitting up. The duvet went flying as they both threw off the covers and ran out of the bedroom, down the hall, around the corner, and into the kitchen.

And yes, sure enough, there was their small child standing in front of the oven, starring at a plate on fire.

"Merlin!" Dora said. Ever the Auror, she'd grabbed her wand on her way out of the bedroom. She pointed it to the oven: "Aguamenti!"

Remus darted forward to grab Teddy and sweep him away from both the flames and the gust of water that erupted from Dora's wand. Teddy curled into him, hiding his face so all Remus saw was tuffs of pastel purple hair.

Dora's spell was strong enough to extinguish the flame in one go, leaving their kitchen soaked and slightly burnt, but otherwise fine.

Remus put down Teddy and knelt in front of the little boy, scanning him for any scratches, bumps, or bruises.

"Are you okay?" Remus asked.

Dora knelt next to him, one hand immediately going to that pastel hair.

"Sweetness, what happened?" she asked.

"I… I wanted to make pancakes but it was really hard," Teddy said. He looked a little bit stunned with himself and his turn of events. Remus looked up and started clueing in—there was a step stool in front of the oven, a mess of flour and milk on the counter, a bowl of something gunky and beige on the floor, a broken egg supposedly hidden under a paper towel… and there was their son, still grasping a spatula.

"Pancakes all on your own?" Dora repeated cautiously.

Teddy nodded. His lower lip trembled.

"I wanted it to like a big surprise," Teddy said. "Because surprise pancakes always make me feel so happy…"

It was so heartfelt, Remus couldn't even be mad. He gave Dora a look to try to impress this brand of mercy upon her.

"Oh, sweetness," Dora said, leaning it to kiss his ear and running a hand up and down her back. "Sweetness, thank you but… let's leave he pancakes to Daddy, okay?"

"That's a good idea," Remus said. "And maybe one day if you want to learn how to make them, I can help with that. But for today, how about I clean up the kitchen and make us breakfast, alright? You and Mama can go sit in the living room, make some rules for using the oven, and watch cartoons…"

"With cocoa," Dora specified.

"Cocoa?" Teddy asked, perking up.

"Cocoa," Dora nodded. She patted Teddy's back. "Why don't you go find some cartoons for us to watch while I get the kettle going?"

Teddy nodded and Dora squeezed his shoulder again before standing upright. They were a colourful bunch, his wife and son. Dora's hair was still bright magenta from the night before, her nails were painted mustard yellow, and she was wearing a pair of striped pajama shorts and a black-and-white Weird Sisters Reunion Tour t-shirt. Teddy, meanwhile, was wearing green pajamas dotted with colourful dinosaurs. He could picture them wrapped up in one of the living room's big blankets, courtesy of Molly…

"Okay," Teddy said. He wandered away into the living room and once he and Dora were alone in the kitchen, they exchanged looks.

"Oh my God," she mouthed. She looked over her shoulder and then looked back at him when Teddy was nowhere to be seen. "Have we never talked to this kid about fire safety?"

"Apparently not," Remus said, running a hand through his hair. Now that there were no literal fires to put out and his son was safe and sound, the abruptness with which Remus had been woken up started to catch up to him. He looked at the little clock on the oven and… yup, it was 5:17 a.m. on a Saturday. To be clear, 5:17 a.m. on his first Saturday back home for the summer.

Dora followed his gaze and also registered the ungodly hour.

"Well…"

"If you bring up the 'glass is half full' crap again…" Dora said.

"I don't care about the glass, at least our child's not on fire," Remus said. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'll get the cocoa—and make the grown-ups coffee. Possibly with a shot of whisky."

"You're the best," Dora said, putting a hand on his cheek to make him kiss her for real before she padded down to join their son in the living room.

Again, it was 5:17 a.m.

Still, Remus couldn't help but crack a grin. He loved being home from Hogwarts.

Stacked with: Hogwarts; Shipping War; Link Maker; Spring Bingo

Individual Challenge(s): Gryffindor MC; Hufflepuff MC; LEO MC; Professor MC; Rian-Russo Inversion; Small Fry; Tiny Terror; Old Shoes; In a Flash

Word Count: 885

Shipping Wars

Ship (Team): Nymphadora Tonks/Remus Lupin (Technicolour Moon)

List (Prompt): Spring Medium 2 (Coffee)

Spring Bingo

Square (Prompt): 5A (Fire)