"You are quite the culinary champion," Andromeda smiled.
"What makes you say that?" Harry asked, looking up briefly and smiling back as he continued to chop.
"You spent time at Gringotts, and at the Hog's Head, and you are right back to cooking here. Normally, one relaxes while on holiday," Andromeda teased.
"Harry, don't listen to her!" Dora cried. Her hair turned long and black and her eyes became brown and she glared back at her mother with similar expressions of affront, a mirror image without a mirror. "Mum, if you keep Harry from cooking, I will do terrible things."
"Perish the thought! I am not keeping him from cooking in the slightest," Andromeda sniffed and shot a silent Stinger at Dora, making her yelp and grab her rear. "I was merely teasing Harry while commenting on his work ethic."
Harry chuckled. "I know I'm a little weird in thinking cooking for people to be fun in a working environment, but it was fun to do a shift at Gringotts and at the Hog's Head. They both feel different from each other, but it was nice to just slide in and it didn't feel like I missed that much time with them at all. We actually got really busy at both places, kinda glad I split them up on different days."
"Your adoring crowds missed your cooking," Andromeda said.
"I'm a Dora crowd that missed your cooking," Dora said. She stuck her tongue out at Andromeda's groan. She cheered when Harry passed her a bacon-wrapped sausage, chomping on it eagerly.
"Thank you, love," Andromeda said, taking one from Harry herself. She nibbled on it daintily. "Oh, I wanted to ask, how was the Ball?" Before he could answer, however, the door to the kitchen opened and more people came in.
"Harry!" Perenelle exclaimed and walked over eagerly.
"Hi Grandmother Penny," Harry said happily, putting the knife down before she hugged him tightly. "Thanks for coming!"
"Of course," she said happily. "So good to see you and spend the holidays with you once more."
"Thanks for letting them come," Harry said, slightly muffled.
Sirius grinned. "Hey, more the merrier and we're kinda like family so it's all grand to me."
"Remember, I can still kill you," Nicolas said cheerfully.
"Now it's exactly like my childhood memories of the holidays," Sirius laughed in an unsettlingly serious way.
"Dear goodness, really?" Perenelle asked, appalled.
"Yes, really," Andromeda said dryly, "unfortunately."
"Oh, well now I feel a little bad," Nicolas said. "This calls for French tea." He removed a few bottles from his robes and put them on the table. "Minnie is not here yet, is she?"
"No, not yet," Sirius chuckled. "She and the Dumbledores are coming for dinner later."
"Splendid!" He poured glasses of wine and handed them around but pouted when Andromeda took the one he tried to give to Harry. "Oh no, do not tell me you share her unreasonable views on so-called underaged drinking."
"Not until dinner at least," Andromeda said, frowning lightly at him.
"I knew I liked you," Nicolas smiled. "You know how to compromise." He winked at a grinning Harry. "You look hale and hearty my boy."
YOU ARE READING
A Taste of Magic
FanfictionMagic is easy to see, to feel, to hear, to touch. The magic on the plate and the palate, however, is one that Magicals and Muggles alike can appreciate. Harry Potter will go on a journey to find the taste that he is looking for, and the magic that...
