Before the Dawn | George Weasley

38

Christmas morning arrived. I crept through the quiet house, wide awake despite the early hour, and padded downstairs to the kitchen.

The sun had only peeked over the horizon, a faint glow pushing through the few windows of the house.

I jumped as I spotted a figure sitting at the kitchen table, then relaxed as I recognised Harry.

"What are you doing up so early?" I whispered, eyeing his tired face. "You look like you could use a couple more hours of sleep."

He gave a small shake of his head. "Last time I slept, Arthur..."

I frowned. "Harry, you can't blame yourself for whatever that was. I realise I don't know much—anything, really—about what's going on with you, but whatever happened to Arthur, it wasn't your fault."

Harry looked down at the table without responding. I felt a pang of sorrow in my chest, and gave his shoulder a quick squeeze.

"How long before the others wake, d'you reckon?" I asked softly, an idea forming in my mind.

"An hour, maybe," he replied. "Ron'll be the first one up and he'll wake the rest, usually accidentally."

"That sounds about right," I murmured. "Well, while we wait, want to help me prepare a cake?"

* * * * * *

About an hour later, there was a cake in the oven, a bowl of frosting on the counter, and Harry and I were completely covered in flour, trying to quiet our laughter at how my mixing spell had backfired and sent out an explosion of white dust positively everywhere.

"It's on my glasses," he wheezed, pulling off his round spectacles to examine them.

I clamped a hand over my mouth to muffle my laugh. "It's in your hair, too."

He shook his head like a wet dog, and a cloud of flour bloomed from his black hair.

Sirius walked in, then, taking in the sight of his kitchen with a mild expression. "It's looked worse. You'll want to clean before Molly wakes up, though, she's determined to keep this place clean."

Remus followed shortly, cracking a smile at the state of us, and settled next to Sirius at the table. I watched as he drew a design in the flour on the table with his fingertip.

I fought to control my laughter, staring at the oven intently. One look at Harry's still-dusted complexion, though, and I felt my amusement bubble back up in my throat.

"Something smells good," Ginny said from the doorway.

"Cake," Harry choked out, and I burst out laughing once more.

Harry and I tried our best to clean up most of the mess, but it seemed I kept managing to find new places where the flour had evaded our efforts, and after a while we gave up, still cracking smiles.

I pulled the cake from the oven just as Molly walked in, and she clapped her hands together excitedly. "Oh, how thoughtful of you, Mackie! That looks absolutely splendid."

"Harry helped." I couldn't help but sneak a glance at Harry, who grinned at me.

"Never again." There was a waver of laughter in his voice.

There was a lull in conversation as we waited for everyone else to wake up. Finally I grew impatient and apparated up to the twins' room, knocking gently on the door. When no one answered, I pushed it open, peeking inside to see both of them still fast asleep, Fred emitting soft snores. I stepped inside, padding over to George's bed, and knelt down to smooth my hand over his hair.