"I'm nine and Charlotte is ten, Dad. That means between us we can bake a cake without your help."

We were in Charlotte's gleaming kitchen, having a weekend visit, which was basically Dad's turn to babysit so Charlotte's parents could go have some personal time. This was nice now that Charlotte and I got along better but not so nice when Dad imagined we'd burn the world down now that we got along better. Breakfast was done, the dishes were washed, and Charlotte and I had a plan for the day. It was a great one. But it needed certain people to be elsewhere.

"Without your supervision, Uncle Severus," Charlotte corrected. "If you just go sit somewhere and sniff a potion, we'll call you when we need you to actually help."

Ooh, that was a bit cheeky. "She meant make a potion," I said quickly. Heaven knows we have him in a good mood, let's keep it that way. "Make, not sniff."

"I am sure she did," Bat Dad said in his most droll tone but thankfully he let it go.

"Daaaad, you're a great wizard, right? If we mess up you can fix it with a flick of your wand. Unless you actually go off and sniff some potions there's no way we can burn the house down with you around. Please, please, pretty please, let us bake a cake on our own. If Charlotte's mum was here she would say we could!"

"So wait until she is here."

Ugh. He was just doing it on purpose now. What to do? Tantrum? No, too old. Threat? Some kind of promise to be good for a week?

"Uncle Severus," Charlotte said, stepping up to bat, and luckily for us, I didn't kick her in the shin because for once her wiles worked. "Mummy can't be here because it is a surprise for her. It's her birthday tomorrow, and I forgot to get her a gift, so I would like my gift to be a cake I had baked independently as a surprise…" She sniffled, pulled out the waterworks, and two large tears slipped down her cheeks. It was amazing. "Please, if you're in the next room we'll call you for anything…"

"Fine." Dad sighed. "That was masterful, Charlotte. It's too early to deal with this nonsense so I'm going to be in the next room. Bake your cake."

"Thank you, Dad!"

"Thank you, Uncle Severus!" Charlotte smiled beatifically and two more tears rolled. I'm supposing these were happy ones.

Bat Dad ignored her. "Just know you will clean up the Muggle way, Albus. That should make you think twice before making a mess."

He always made me clean up the Muggle way and it had yet to make me think twice but I thought it best not to remind him.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, Uncle Severus," Charlotte said and pushed him out. "Albus will clean everything. Don't come in unless we call. If you want tea you may call and Albus will bring you some." She closed the door behind him and dusted her hands. "I honestly don't know how you manage with him, Albus. First he always says no."

"He's better by now. You should have seen him when I first got him."

"And he's a teacher! Poor children."

Okay, calm down there mini satan. You're one to talk. "Wait until he realises it's not your mum's birthday, then we'll see who're the poor children."

"So I've mixed up the dates." She shrugged.

I sighed. She would get away with it too. Best let it go. "Are we making this cake or not?"

"We're making it." Charlotte dug the recipe out of her dungarees' pocket and straightened the crumpled paper out on the counter. "Get us some aprons, Albus. Bottom drawer." She pointed imperiously to the drawers beside the oven.

I didn't move. "Let's get this straight from the very start, Charlotte. We are making the cake together. I'm not going to be ordered about in such a rude manner."

"So I should say please?"

"No, that's not what I mean." No, wait, this was Charlotte, you had to be quick on your feet. "Yes. Yes, you should say please, but I meant we will take turns fetching stuff and doing stuff."

"…All right. So I will get the next thing. Hurry up before your dad changes his mind."

"He won't." She was well aware of that and was just trying to mess with me but I fetched two aprons. They were frilly, girly, and pink, but I didn't mind some frills or pink, it felt oddly familiar, and we had tied them on before I realised she hadn't said please. I decided to let it go. "What's first?"

"We need to get bowls and things."

We peered at the recipe. At the very top was written 'Crazy Cake', and a drawing of a kangaroo in an apron, holding a squiggly looking cake. It was followed by a list of ingredients and instructions but it didn't list what 'bowls and things' we'd need. All it said was cups of this and spoonfuls of that. I scanned down the list, and read a line that caught my eye. "Bake in pre-heated oven by 350*F for 25 minutes."

"We're not baking it yet," Charlotte said. "And we have an oven, look for other stuff. Look, we need a frying pan and two cake pans."

"Okay, your turn to get them."

"But that's three items. We should each get one and then it's your turn to get the last one again."

"No? That would mean I got three things already and you just one."

"That makes four. There are only three on the list. One frying pan and two cake pans."

"You're forgetting I already got the aprons."

"They don't count. We already have the aprons."

"Charlotte. You said you will get the next thing after the aprons. That's a frying pan. Get it."

"Are you trying to sound like your dad?"

I wasn't. But since she gave me the idea I decided to emulate him and went to the sink to fill a glass of water. You can't shout if you're drinking water. I sipped it slowly while looking at my cousin over the rim of the glass and wondered how much I was going to need to drink today. "Better get it so we can finish before your mum comes," I reminded her. "You, me, and then you again."

"Fiine, Albus. But you're really exasperating." She stomped off to get the frying pan in a loud clatter. "Now you. A cake pan."

I put the water down. "Where is it?"

She pointed. Ah. Right next to the frying pan. I picked one up and waited for her to do the same with the other. "Does it count if you get the two together?" I wondered. "Maybe it should only count if you have to walk twice."

"Each item."

"Okay." What? Old habits die hard and she'd said it with her old, 'give-me-a-galleon-or-else' tone.

"Next thing," Charlotte ordered and we went back to the recipe.

"Let's put the oven on," I reminded her.

"When we finish making the cake."

"Don't you ever cook with your mum?"

"Of course I do. And she puts it on right before we cook things."

"Is it because she has magic and, let me see, cooks with magic?"

"Fine." Charlotte pinched her nose and breathed deeply, squeezing her eyes shut. "Put the oven on if it matters that much to you, Albus. If you want it to be on for hours, because we haven't even got the flour yet and at this rate we'll get it after lunch."

All right, maybe she had a point. "We'll put it on when we're halfway then. And I'll put it on because it was my idea."

Charlotte went to drink some water.