That Saturday, Sirius, Regulus, Severus, Narcissa, Andromeda, Arcturus, and Melania sat together, enjoying a game of Yahtzee. Severus had started coming each Saturday after Arcturus had talked to him, and he found himself enjoying the family time.
"Sirius, did you tell everyone about our field trip?" Severus asked, smirking.
"Oh, that," Sirius muttered. "As you all know, for Muggle Studies, we went to the supermarket. Er, James and I might have gone overboard."
"Might have?" Severus asked. "Your cart was filled to the brim!"
"Hey, how was I supposed to know we only needed one of each item?" Sirius shot back.
"Wait, you bought more than one of each item?" Melania cut in.
"Yeah," Sirius answered, then launched into the entire story. By the end of it, everyone was laughing.
"Oh, Sirius!" Andromeda exclaimed. "If you had that kind of adventure with shopping, then I'm scared to see how your cake turns out!"
"Especially because your class will be going somewhere else to bake the cake, since Hogwarts doesn't have the Muggle equipment," Arcturus stated. "Your professor wants the students to get the full Muggle experience."
"Where are we going to do it?" Sirius asked, curious where they could go that would have Muggle equipment.
"The class will be split into two days," Arcturus explained. "Half of the class will be going to the Burrow on Monday, and the other half on Tuesday. Molly Weasley is allowing the class to use her kitchen, which, not surprisingly, has Muggle equipment, thanks to Arthur's love for anything Muggle."
Sirius smiled. He couldn't wait to bake the cake at the Burrow.
On Monday, Sirius and James were in the first group of students to go to the Burrow. The house-elves gave everyone the items they had bought, so they could take the items with them to the Burrow. Sirius and James took the portkey Professor Sutherland provided them. They landed just outside of the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley greeted everyone warmly, though Sirius saw her stiffen at the sight of him. Sirius knew Molly Weasley well, he knew that she was not exactly kind towards the Blacks, but he was hoping she would be a bit kinder about the Blacks this early on, but apparently not.
"Welcome!" Mrs. Weasley greeted them warmly. "Come in! We are ready for you."
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley, for letting my students come here today," Professor Sutherland said as they walked in.
"Oh, it's no problem, anytime!" Mrs. Weasley responded. She led them into the kitchen, where Arthur Weasley was waiting. "I must be checking up on Bill, but you're in good hands with Arthur," Mrs. Weasley continued. "I will be back in a bit." Sirius had nearly forgotten that Bill was just a baby.
When Mrs. Weasley left, Mr. Weasley told the students what they had in the kitchen: a microwave, stove, oven, electric mixer, and more.
This should be fun, Sirius thought, giving James a grin, which James returned. They pulled out the recipe and their ingredients, and started. They had to measure the flour, which they didn't know how to do.
"I guess we ç just put the whole bag in there, right?" James asked.
"No, Mr. Potter, use the measuring cups and follow the instructions," Professor Sutherland said sternly. "Treat this like Potions class. You must follow the instructions very carefully."
"Oh, alright," James muttered. With the help of Mr. Weasley, they measured out the correct amount of flour.
They measured the other items just fine, but when it was time to mix the ingredients, they had no idea what speed the electric mixer was supposed to be at. So, naturally, they put it on full speed.
"Whoa!" Sirius shouted, the contents splashing all over them, the counter, and the floor.
"Er, sorry," James tried apologizing as Professor Sutherland and Mr. Weasley came over to them.
"Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, you were supposed to turn it on slowly, starting at the first level," Professor Sutherland explained.
"Sorry, Professor," Sirius apologized. "We didn't know that."
"It says on the recipe," the professor informed them.
"Oh…" they both said in realization.
"Er, we didn't read that far," James admitted.
"It's alright," Mr. Weasley said. "Let's start over, and at least now you know how to do it."
Sirius and James were the last ones to put their cake in the oven. The oven was huge, able to fit at least ten cakes at a time. Sirius tried figuring out how to set the timer. It was a tiny device that when the right buttons were pressed, it would alert them when the cake was done. However, Sirius pressed the buttons for the numbers, but never hit Start.
Therefore, Mrs. Weasley came running into the kitchen a little while later, exclaiming, "Who is burning their cake?"
Sirius and James gasped, realizing their timer had never gone off.
"Er, sorry, it's ours," Sirius confessed. Mrs. Weasley's usually gentle face was now angry.
"Are all Blacks this stupid?" she muttered under her breath.
Sirius sighed. She had always been like this towards the Blacks, mostly because she thought the Blacks were a dark family, even though they were actually neutral.
Mr. Weasley put a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Molly, dear, I don't think Sirius and James meant to burn anything," he said calmly. Mrs. Weasley blinked, and once she realized what she had said out loud, she shook her head.
"Of course not," she said. "Come, boys. We'll fix this."
"Mrs. Weasley," Severus said, following Sirius, James, and Mrs. Weasley. "You should be careful what you say about the Blacks. I might be a Snape, but I'm staying with Lucretia Black-Prewett, so that makes me a part of the Black family. Do I look like I'm stupid?"
Mrs. Weasley opened and closed her mouth a few times, then muttered out an apology. Then she saw Severus' Prince Heirship ring. She once again got angry.
"You're also a Prince, apparently," she said. "The Princes are a dark family."
James cut in. "While it is true that the Prince family is a dark family, that doesn't automatically define Severus," he said, glaring at Mrs. Weasley. By this time, Mrs. Weasley had taken the burnt cake out of the oven and was making a new one for them.
"Also, you shouldn't define a person just based on their family's placement on the Wizengamot," Amelia's voice came from behind them. "So what if the Prince family is in the dark faction? That doesn't mean they're evil. The Blacks used to be in the dark faction before the current Lord Black took charge of the family, but that doesn't mean anything. What defines a person is not their family's placements on the Wizengamot. Rather, it's the personality of the individual."
Mrs. Weasley paused in her work, taking in Amelia's words. She decided she needed to drop the subject. "Alright, dears," she said to Sirius and James. "The new cake is in the oven. Set your timer, and this time, press the start button." She showed them which button was the start button.
A little while later, Sirius took the cake out of the oven. "Now we need to frost it," he announced.
"Wait until it cools down," Professor Sutherland told them.
Finally, they frosted the cake. Mrs. Weasley put their cake in a to-go container. She then said, "I'm sorry for my harsh words about your family, Heir Black." Sirius smiled.
"It's alright," he said. "But you should also apologize to Severus." She nodded, promising she would. Sirius figured she apologized not because she changed her mind about their families, but rather, because she didn't want to get on the wrong side of any of the families.
Sirius and James left the Burrow with their cake, excited to try their cake, though they didn't expect an O on this assignment, due to their multiple mistakes. But they had learned a lot from this experience.