The Kitchens

"It is," Molly says simply, because it is very special to her. She smiles, imagining Arthur and his grandfather -who in Molly's head is skinny with glasses and full of that sparkle of old-people who refuse to just be old- working side by side to create masterpieces. "That's, like, really nice. My Grandma was the same - she taught me the basics of how to bake, and the chicken soup. And she started teaching me how to knit, too. But then she died when I was seven and I just sort of kept on going by myself, you know?"

"I'm sorry," Arthur says. "My grandpa passed away about two years ago. I was with him; the rest of family was grabbing food, and I wanted to say good-bye on my own." Arthur rubs his eyes unconsciously. "The first thing he taught me to do was how to read an astronomer's watch. Most wizards can't read them anymore, but my grandfather wanted to make sure that I could. I have his pocket watch; my cousin Barry was angry about that one because he was the oldest, but he never liked my grandfather much. My brothers didn't care though."

"I'm sorry," Molly returns, her eyes shining with sympathy for Arthur given their mutual understanding of how it feels to lose a beloved grandparent. Sure, her three siblings had been heartbroken when Grandma Prewett had died, but she and Molly had had a special bond and Molly had lost a part of her childhood that day. "When my Mum told us, I didn't even really believe her at first. Like, I thought Grandma would never die or something. That's stupid, I know, but whatever. I was just a kid and all our other grandparents had already died before I even knew them and I just totally thought that dying was what happened to people I didn't know." She shrugs; deep down she still feels a little that way, like nothing could touch her siblings or her parents. "Oh, well I'm glad you got the watch, your cousin was just being selfish about stuff. Nobody is, like, entitled to anything just because they're older, sometimes there's someone who deserves it more, like you did. I bet you take real good care of it, too!"

"Thanks," Arthur says. "But I do take good care of it - I polish it every week and always carry it around." Arthur fumbles in his pocket, feeling the familiar cool of the silver watch. "And I don't think it's stupid; I used to think that. Hell, part of me still thinks that." Arthur doesn't what he would do if one of his brothers died; he doesn't even want to think about the possibility of that.

Molly is far, far more terrified of one of her siblings dying than she is of dying herself. She can't even conceive of it. Plus, Gideon and Fabian and Alice are all larger than life to her, and the thought of anything being able to bring them down is inconceivable. She watches Arthur's hand go into his pocket, and she knows he must be touching the watch that represents so much to him. She realises that she has grown uncharacteristically silent for a few seconds, and giggles. "Wow I, like, totally made everything all deep and stuff. My bad. You know I'm really glad you came tonight - it's been ages since I've been able to cook for anyone. Everyone is so totally busy these days and it's just lame how stuff like classes and stupid assignments gets in the way of things!"

Arthur could never see either of his brothers dying; it scares him more than he could ever imagine. "I'm glad I came too," Arthur says with a smile. "I really like your food...and spending time with you. You're really nice and pretty and stuff." He pulls out his pocket watch and shows it to Molly. "You should really see this though; it's very cool." The face of the watch is identical to that of Dumbledore's from SS, with the many planets along the edges and twelve hands. "It's confusing at first, but it's much more accurate than other watches. It's easy once you understand the astronomy behind it."

Molly's face glows as Arthur agrees he is glad he came. She puts down her knife and fork, wipes her hands on her napkin for good measure, and very carefully reaches out for the pocket watch to take a closer look at it. It is old -the kind of old that isn't ratty or worn down, but the kind that has a history behind it- but it still shines as if it was new. It is obviously very well cared for. "This is, like, so amazing," she says, watching the planets all whiz and whir with fascination. After a few long moments, she redeposits the watch safely in Arthur's hands. "I can't read it," she admits. "But I've always been super fascinated by those, they're awesome. Maybe you could teach me sometime."

"Definitely," Arthur says with a smile. "The best way to learn is by watching the stars. We should do thatsome night; it's very beautiful. But not as nice as you though." Arthur remembers how special it was to have his grandfather teach him that way, and it was an experience he wanted to share with Molly.

"I love watching the stars," Molly says, grinning, because it sounds perfect to her. "I mean, I'm total rubbish in Astronomy because I could never stop looking at them long enough to, like, learn all their names and things, but they're so beautiful." She tosses her hair over her shoulder, cheeks flushing with pleasure at his compliment, and regards Arthur curiously. "So is there ever anyone you're not nice to? Just out of, like, curiosity or whatever, because I've never ever heard you say a single not-nice thing, I don't think."

"Well," Arthur says, thinking quite hard about it because he didn't like to be mean to other people. But then he remembers his encounters with a few Slytherins and reconsiders his always-nice demeanor. "Only if they're awful to me and my brothers. So very few people. Many Lucius Malfoy though. But I'm sure I had to have something not nice at some point." If there was something that bothered Arthur more than an insult to himself, it was an insult to his family and friends. He couldn't imagine what his reaction would be if some insulted Molly though - probably quite violent, if he was honest with himself.

"Well that makes sense," Molly concedes. She smiles at Arthur, because she has a lot of respect for someone so family-oriented. "I am totally the same- if anyone messes with my siblings I'll, like, end them." She would, too. "Actually, make that anyone I care about because I'm not going to let anything happen to my friends and all the other people I love, either! Besides, Slytherins make themselves super easyto hate, even though I have met one or two nice ones..."

"Agreed," Arthur says. Arthur wouldn't want to offend one of Molly's siblings; then again, dating her probably offended her brothers, but it isn't like he's directly insulting or attacking them. Molly reminds him of a tiger; soft and cuddly, but deadly if angered. "True - some of the Slytherins are very nice. But then there are some awfully rude Gryffindors, so there must be exceptions to every rule. I generally like most people though, Slytherins included."

"I guess that's true," Molly shrugs. She's inherited a healthy amount of Slytherin-dislike from her family, though, and it's quite deep-seated. She quite likes being compared to a tiger, though. "I know, right? Like, as if everyone is always the same and stuff just because they're in the same House. And ohmyGod, what does that whole thing about Hufflepuffs always being able to find stuff. Does the Sorting Hat sit there on their heads and go, 'ok, so you can, like, totally find Waldo, you must be a Puff!' or something?" she yammers, while Mya wonders how exactly this post got away from her...

Arthur also has a healthy Slytherin dislike, but his love of humanity in general tends to overrule that most of the time. That, and he shares Teresa's head with a good number of Slytherins who tend to squash snake hatred like a little bug. "I don't know. Maybe...and does the hat ask potential Ravenclaws a riddle to see if they would be able to get into the common room?" Arthur would never be able to be a Ravenclaw; those riddles are quite confusing.

The only Slytherins who ever existed in Mya's head were Evan Rosier and Alecto Carrow.... 'Nuff said. >.>
Molly giggles. "I, like, don't even know. But then what would it make people do for Slytherin and Gryffindor? Because the hat totally only sat on my head for, like, two seconds, and it was just like 'oh, a Prewett, you go over here now', and it shouted out GRYFFINDOR and that was that! It did the same thing with Gid, and Fabian and Alice it was only a tiny bit slower, like it was poking around in their heads or something. Pfft, as if there was anywhere besides Gryffindor for them!"

"The hat took a while with me," Arthur admits. "It was debating between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor for a while. I was almost certain I would a Hufflepuff though. My dad's a Gryffindor, but my mum's a Ravenclaw, so I could have gone anywhere really." Arthur doesn't think he's all that brave; he thinks the Hat might have smoked something before he put Arthur in Gryffindor. It took a while with Billy, but with Ron it was just drop and shout. "I don't know how it puts you in Gryffindor or Slytherin...see if you like snakes or lions better?" Arthur cringes as he mentions snakes; he's never been overly fond of them.

"Ooh, you would have been in the same House as Ted, then!" Molly says brightly, able to find an upside. She thinks Arthur is plenty brave, because she remembers how, after a conversation with Gideon (well, Lily in Gideon's body, but they don't know that), he still had the courage to tell her how he felt about her. After an encounter with Gideon and/or Fabian, there's not all that many boys that have had the nerve to stick around. "Well that could be how it does it. But, like, really - why would people like snakes better than lions? Lions are kind of awesome, and they make cool noises. Snakes are just all hissy and slithery!"

"I agree. And it would be fun to be in the same house as Ted, but I don't think we would be able to share a room," Arthur says. Arthur likes to hold onto the idea that he's already met Gideon; it makes him feel better about himself. He doesn't feel like he was being brave in his encounter with Gideon; he was just telling the truth. "Lions are warm and fuzzy; snakes are too cold for my taste." Plus, at some point in Arthur's life, a snake would almost kill him, which didn't do much to help their cause.

Hmm, I guess that whole 'snake tries to kill you in the future' would put a bit of a damper on the relationship... "It would be cool if we got to choose who we shared a dorm with. Or, like, didn't have to share with," she adds, thinking of Lily, and how nice it would be if she was somewhere else entirely. She was pretty lucky getting to share with Alice, though. "Lions are definitely way warmer than snakes. Just as long as people don't try to hug them or whatever, because that's going to end badly."
The oven timer buzzes, and Molly jolts. She's been so caught up in the conversation she's forgotten that dessert was still in the oven. "OhmyGod! Dessert! I forgot," she giggles, and jumps up to take the tray out of the oven. Using the tongs, she places two perfectly baked apples, stuffed with fruit mince and brandy, onto two plates and brings them back to set on the table.

Arthur smiles as Molly pops up and grabs the apples from the oven, his eyes lingering on her beautiful behind. "This looks amazing," Arthur says, not sure if he is talking about Molly's behind or the apples. Probably both. He picks up his fork and absentmindedly tries to break off a piece of apple; instead, his simply dips his fork into his wine glass. He bites down on his fork before realizing his error. "Oops!" he exclaims as he place down his fork. "Must have missed my plate."

OhGod....
"I know," Molly smirks, and Mya is not sure if she's talking about the apples or her behind, either. She titters behind her hand as Arthur manages to introduce his fork and his wine glass. "Yeah, the plate is, like, the round flat one," she teases, her eyes sparkling in a way she hopes shows him she's not being mean, just having a laugh. She pushes her dinner plate to the side, and tries the baked apple to make sure it passes. Well, of course it does, she baked it!

[Probably my last post for a while - REALLY need to get ready and go to work >.>]

{That's fine.}

Arthur blushes, laughing at Molly's comment. "I think my brain must have been temporarily addled," he says, still grinning happily at... Well, we know what Arthur is grinning about. He successfully manages to get a bite of the apple this time, and as expected, it's delicious. "It tastes as good as it looks," Arthurs says, clearly referring to the apple. After this scene, Teresa will never be able to eat an apple again...

Mya apologises to Teresa for the loss of apples from her diet.


[-Molly-]

"Must have been," Molly agrees, laughing along with Arthur. She smiles as he enjoys the apple. "I'm, like, really glad you like it. This is actually one of the first few things my grandma taught me to make, so it's kind of a favourite of mine. I make it a lot on special occasions," she explains. It's her little way of still feeling close to probably the most nurturing parental-type figure she's ever really known.

"That's really sweet," Arthur says as he continues to eat his apple. "I'm glad you made it for me." Arthur could tell that the recipe was very special to Molly, and he feels happy that he got to eat it with Molly. Spending time with Molly always makes Arthur feel all happy and giddy inside. "Did I tell you how pretty you look tonight?" Arthur says suddenly, as he has forgotten whether he has complimented her appearance yet or not. He's fairly sure he has, but he wants to make sure he does.

It's okay. Not sure how to explain this to my sister though, considering apples are one of our snack foods...

Molly giggles lightly and looks down at her plate. "I think you did. You always say I'm pretty. It's, like, really nice to hear," she adds, and looks up with a smile. She's glad she shared this dish with Arthur, because it's clear he appreciates the meaning behind it, as she knew he would. "You look really nice, too."