Iridescence
by sweaterweather21
Chapter 2: Steel
Written for the Poetic Colors Challenge and the Photo Album Competition on HPFC
Molly Weasley II
August 2, 2012
Laden with several brown paper grocery bags, Audrey Weasley struggled to open the front door.
"Girls! Are you ready to make your father's birthday cake?"
"Oh yes, yes, yes, mummy!" Little Lucy Weasley nearly screamed with delight. "It'll have pink and purple frosting and we can put some of those little flowers around the edges—oh, it'll be so pretty! And what about some butterflies, too! Oh mum, we can-"
Her older sister cut her off. At 9 years old, Molly was the voice of reason and all too willing to override her younger sister's fantasies.
"If you didn't realize, Luce, Dad isn't a girl." This did the trick; Lucy looked crestfallen.
Audrey sent Molly a look, and Molly felt a small wave of guilt. But it wasn't enough to wash away the feeling that she always had to be so delicate around Lucy. After all, Lucy was seven years old now, a big girl, but she couldn't even be upstairs by herself without wanting someone else with her. When Molly was seven, she could walk by herself to her park across the street and back.
"Come here, Molly, and hold the bowl while Lucy stirs," Audrey called.
Molly sighed, but obediently approached the counter and held on to the mixing bowl. "Can I crack the eggs, mum?"
"Sure, sweetie, just let me make sure that you don't leave any shell in them. No one wants to eat a crunchy cake!"
Lucy giggled, a little tinkling laugh that almost made Molly smile.
Of course Molly made sure that the two eggs were shell-free, but Audrey checked them anyway. Then Lucy mixed them into the batter and helped pour it in the cake pan.
Molly got to turn on the oven because, unlike Lucy, she knew that ovens were hot, and could burn you. Lucy didn't know, and cried for an hour when she touched it out of curiosity.
Then Audrey put the cake in the oven and told the girls to go play until it was ready.
Lucy turned to her older sister with a pleading look in her blue eyes. "Play dolls with me, Loll?"
Molly rolled her eyes at the nickname, which came from the time when Lucy couldn't pronounce her 'L's. But try as she might, Molly couldn't resist Lucy all the time. She let Lucy practically drag her into her bedroom, carefully tip-toeing around the elaborate scene that Lucy had set up. It was hard to ignore the smile that engulfed Lucy's face as she handed Molly a dark-haired doll with olive skin. "Her name is Alexa."
"That's a pretty name, "Molly replied before she could help herself, "What's your doll's name?"
Lucy clutched a blond doll wearing a wedding dress. "This is Leah Elizabeth Claire, but Alexa can call her Leah. She's getting married today so she's a little bit nervous and her maid of honor… " Lucy trailed off, but the girls continued. Her skepticisms aside, Molly enjoyed herself so much that their mother had to beckon them three times to come downstairs and frost the cake.
Once the girls had made their way downstairs and washed their hands, Audrey got them started. "I have enough frosting for five colors- which ones would you girls like?"
Lucy's response came immediately. "Pink and purple!"
Molly frowned, trying to think of more boy-ish colors that her dad would like better. "Green and orange," she finally decided.
"And there's one more color to choose, so I pick… red!" Audrey exclaimed, and got out the dyes.
Molly examined the messy little jars carefully. "But Mum, I don't think those colors will go very well together!"
Waving her hand, Audrey continued mixing up the frosting. "It'll look fine, Molls, just wait and see." She passed both her daughters a bowl to mix as well.
They finished after a few minutes, and Audrey passed them both butter knives to spread the frosting- a steel one for Molly and a plastic one for Lucy- a detail that didn't escape Molly.
Lucy got right to work, slathering the top of the cake with purple frosting. Wincing, Molly tried to hold back her tongue, but as usual, she wasn't successful. "Maybe that would look better if you used a different color," she attempted politely. It only made Lucy reach for the pink frosting and her mother shoot another look in Molly's direction.
When her mum wasn't looking, Molly quietly frosted over the purple with orange. Lucy was oblivious.
The sisters continued in this way for a while before Audrey caught on. "Molly Margaret Weasley! Let your sister help!"
Molly looked away guiltily.
By now, there wasn't much frosting left anyway, but Lucy decided to put little fake flower decals on, and Molly couldn't exactly cover those up. Resigning herself to an awkward cake with too much frosting and fake flowers, Molly set her knife down.
Audrey noticed this, "Think it's done, Moll?"
"Yes!" Molly and Lucy answered simultaneously.
"Well, go wash up and change, your father should be here any minute and I'd like to surprise him."
Lucy squealed at the prospect of a surprise, but Molly ushered her along. They changed quickly and rinsed their hands in the bathroom sink before hiding under the dining room table with their mum. "Molly, hold Lucy's hand, I'm going to turn the lights off." Molly did so, trying to disregard the fact that she had stopped being afraid of the dark when she was five.
Audrey was a muggle, but they way she predicted Percy's arrival time seemed magical. They heard a faint 'pop' outside no more than a minute later, followed by the ring of the doorbell. Molly flinched, wanting to go and get it, but she remained sitting on the floor.
Seconds later, Percy Weasley was recognized by the wards and let in. Then Percy turned the lights on with his wand, and then Audrey, Molly, and Lucy jumped up from their hiding spot and began singing "Happy Birthday" to him.
Audrey quickly grabbed her camera and some matches. She lit the candles while Percy levitated the camera, and pulled all of his girls close.
Later they realized that Lucy had frosting on her face and Audrey was partially cut out of the frame, but Molly's holding the multicolored cake with the biggest grin on her face and her dad's arm is draped over her shoulder.
It's still a perfect picture, Molly thinks.
Author's Note: I know I originally said this would be Lucy Weasley, but Molly kind of took over and I couldn't help it ;)
I have no idea who I'll do next time, so if you have a request or an idea, feel free to PM me or leave it in a review… thanks for reading :)