Summary: It was the first birthday without her, and they made the best of it.

Rated: K

Genre: Family

Warning Tag: References Character Death

Competition/Challenge Block:
Written For: The Houses Competition (Year 7); Monthly Challenges for All (Year 3)
House/Class: Slytherin/Muggle Studies
Task (Prompt): Drabble (Bowl of Soup)
Word Count: 520
Beta(s): VanillaAshes; shy-n-great

Soup for the Comfort

It was not just an ordinary bowl of soup.

It was not just another day.

For both Draco and Scorpius, it was far from it.

Usually this particular day started with the two in the kitchen, and with the help of their house-elf Dizzy, preparing a special breakfast for someone very special to them. This practice continued throughout the day with lunch, afternoon tea, and supper every year on this day. Of course, the best was saved for last; Astoria's favourite dessert to close out the evening.

It was her birthday, after all. March 20th, the first day of spring, and despite the wonderful change of the seasons it brought, it wasn't as lively and full of love like it used to be. No, today was the first birthday they would spend together without her.

Breakfast was not made by Draco or Scorpius this time, and neither was lunch. It didn't leave Scorpius feeling right about trying to ignore something that was once so special to them, and so he slipped from the silence of his room to navigate the vast old manor to his father's office, sneaking in with little notice at first.

"Father?" Scorpius asked, voice squeaking a little more than he wanted.

Draco held up a finger, silently asking to finish whatever he was writing. When he put the quill down, he gave his attention to his son.

"I'm not feeling very well today," he said in a half-whisper, second guessing what he was wanting to ask. Before Draco could respond, Scorpius continued, "Do you think we could make the soup that she always made us when we weren't feeling good?"

The indirect request was easily picked up, and soon father and son found themselves in the kitchen with Dizzy thumbing through recipe cards for hot and sour soup. Once it was all put together and made, Scorpius found himself looking into a rather unimpressive result that sat in front of him at the dining room table.

Its color wasn't as vibrant as Scorpius remembered, the chunks of pork were dry despite being saturated in the broth, and the flavor seemed to tilt to one side of the scale a bit more than the rest. However, the tofu was crumbling and dissolving, its smell seemed right, and the herbs and spices were present despite the overall flavor imbalance, so it wasn't a complete loss in their effort. Of course, Dizzy made sure to not interfere in their cooking session, she often left them to their own devices unless asked, but this time he thinks they should have had the elf's touch added this time.

"What do you think?" Draco asked, holding a steady spoonful of his own soup in the air.

Scorpius knew his father was masking his own distaste for whatever it was they had made, and he couldn't help but wrinkle his nose in response. "Well, at least we tried."

Draco couldn't help but laugh. It was what she would've wanted to hear.

Even when it was all wrong, the small bowl of soup still brought a comfort to the small family of two.