Harry Potter One-Shots

Cooking With Molly (Fred Weasley)

WORD COUNT: 1139

With Bill and Fleur's wedding approaching in approximately T-24 hours, preparations were in full swing at the Burrow. Harry Potter had just arrived, along with his friend Hermione, and everyone was rushing about trying to get the house tidied up and decorated with the finishing touches before the big day. I had been at the Burrow all summer staying with my boyfriend, as I had the past few summers as well, but the last few days had been so busy I had barely gotten to see him except at night when we both crawled into his cramped twin bed in him and George's room, exhausted from the day of cleaning or preparation.

For the last week I had been elbow-deep in cleaning supplies, scrubbing every surface that couldn't be cleaned even by magic. I had cramps in my shoulders, blisters on my fingers, and I'm pretty sure I was carrying a permanent smell of bleach. Finally, today was the last day of cleaning. Ginny, Hermione and I worked with an extra surge of energy knowing that the sooner we finished up today, the sooner we could say goodbye to this task forever.

As I was polishing the last window on the top floor, I looked outside to watch the boys putting up the tent. I quickly spotted Fred, despite him being surrounded by all of his similarly redheaded brothers. He had the sleeves of his button-down rolled up past his elbows, and his hair was messy like he had been running his fingers through it, the way he did when he was thinking. I couldn't help but smile as I watched him concentrate. The twins may not have been the best in school, but that didn't mean they didn't know their way around magic.

As the evening wore on, Ginny and Hermione went to help decorate the tent, but I decided to take a quick shower to rinse myself off before heading out to help. Finally feeling like I was clean after being surrounded by dust and grime for a week, I was crossing the kitchen to exit the house when I was almost plowed over by Molly, who was barreling full-force around the kitchen trying to prepare the feast for all the guests.

"Oh, Y/N, would you be a dear and pull the rolls out of the oven for me? They should be ready but I need to finish the pudding," she huffed, clearly out of breath and exhausted.

"Of course!" I rushed over to the oven to levitate the pan of freshly-baked rolls out onto the counter. I used to help my mother a lot in the kitchen with the cooking, but I hadn't been home as much to see her. I still cooked for the boys in the flat above their shop, but never anything more involved than a pot pie.

"While you're here dear, would you stay a bit and help me finish chopping some of the carrots for the stew?" Molly requested, gesturing with her head at a mountain of carrots from the garden and an empty cutting board. Naturally, I said yes, and got to work. Some things were better done by magic, but when it came to cooking I preferred to do things by hand.

I chopped carrots, then onions, then potatoes, for the better part of two hours while Molly finished up other dishes. The whole time, we were chatting about school, my family, the twins, everything and anything really. By the end of the night we were laughing until our sides hurt as Molly retold stories from the twins' childhood.

"And then," she choked out in between gasps, "they hopped back on their brooms and rode away as if nothing had happened!"

"What's all this noise?" Fred joked, barging into the kitchen. He wrapped one arm around my waist and used the other to grab a roll off of the counter beside me. I swatted his hand to try and stop him from stealing it, but he dodged and popped a bite into his mouth before I could stop him.

"Your mother was just telling me about the time you and George turned Ron's teddy bear into a giant spider," I giggled, turning around to hug him properly. He gave me a quick kiss on the top of my head.

"Don't you listen to any of the nonsense she tells you, Y/N. Georgie and I were perfect little angel children," he said, pulling away to give his mother an embrace and a kiss on the cheek. Although he still listened to her like he was a kid, it was almost comical to see how he towered over Molly.

"Mum, if you don't mind, I'd like to steal Y/N from you for the evening, seeing as we need our beauty rest so we can look our best for the wedding tomorrow." Fred grabbed my hand and began pulling me out of the kitchen even before his mother could respond.

As soon as we were back in his bedroom, he kicked the door shut and pulled me to him for a deep kiss. I had almost forgotten what it felt like to be so close to him, having not seen him hardly at all for nearly a week. Together we collapsed onto his bed, not breaking contact. He pulled me so that I was on top of him, legs on either side of his waist.

That evening, lying in bed next to him nearly asleep, Fred shifted so he could face me.

"Y'know, it was really sweet seeing you in the kitchen cooking with my mum," he breathed.

"I had fun, it was nice to get back into the kitchen again. Plus, he had some funny stories to share," I giggled. In the darkness, Fred sighed and I could practically see the image in my mind of him rolling his eyes sarcastically.

"She always liked to embarrass me," he huffed. I went to give a kiss on his cheek, but in the darkness I missed and ended up kissing his chin instead.

"Don't worry, it was cute. I like imagining what little baby Freddy would've been like."

"Well, hopefully it won't be very long until we get to find out for real," he chuckled, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me to his chest. I listened to the thumping of his heartbeat as I fell asleep, dreaming of the day Fred and I would be the parents raising our own little family.

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A/N: I'M SUCH A FRED GIRL AND THIS GAVE ME SO MANY FEELS!!!!!! Also I live in a universe in which Fred did not die in the battle so unless they actually involve him dying like the one from earlier, Fred lives a long and happy life in ALL of my stories, got it? Good.