“Hey, Julia Child?” Teddy emerged from Megan’s kitchen with a bewildered look on his face. He held up an egg beater and bowl. “I don’t think I’m mixing this correctly.” He had thought learning to cook from such a good friend would make the task easier, but he had been quickly proved wrong. It seemed he couldn’t even crack an egg. Well, unless he used magic, but somehow that seemed cheating.
Ernie watched the scene from his spot on the couch. He really had no interest in learning anything other than the few things his mum insisted he know, but he had felt like getting out of the house and visiting mates. However, he couldn’t help raising his eyebrows as Teddy teased Megan. Was he flirting? And if he was, how would Hannah react? He tried not to appear worried, but he watched closely. “Julia Child? You reading muggle cookbooks now?”
Megan giggled. "I just happen to have Julia Child's amongst my other cookbooks. So obviously he's learning out of that one," she told Ernie as she went over to help Teddy. "Do you need me to show you again? Because I can you know. Here, put the bowl down." Megan said to Teddy, pointing at the table. "Now, you've got all your ingredients in the bowl, right?" She saw the one bowl that was all white, which she assumed was flour, sugar, and salt. "So we have our eggs here and they need to be beaten. As soon as that's done, we can put them in the other bowl." Megan took Teddy's hand with the egg beater and put his hands on the correct places to hold it, with her hands on top of his. "This goes in the bowl and then you just twist the handle like this."
As she touched him, Teddy felt a warm sensation float through him, but he tried not to focus on that. They were just friends. Simply because she was pretty and smiled and had all those Hufflepuff qualities he was drawn too didn't make it alright to be attracted to his ex-girlfriend's best mate. It was low. Very low. Besides, attraction and actual feelings were completely different, right? He was attracted to Mandy too. Surely, a bloke could be attracted to several women without actually fancying any. Nonetheless, he hoped his cheeks didn't show how embarrassed he felt. "Um, like this? Oh! Sorry!" he stepped back as the batter splatted up toward their faces.
Still watching with a scrutinizing eye, Ernie couldn't help growing a little less serious at that little glitch. "Oy, Nott!" Laughing, he jumped up to grab some paper towels. "Still want to teach this bloke how to cook?" He waved a wand to clean up the mess.
"Uh-" Megan didn't even get to finish when the batter got on her face. "Oh don't worry about it, Teddy! Happens all the time to me. Thanks, Ernie." Megan grinned. "Of course, I do. Besides, it's not really cooking unless there's a mess. When I was little and making stuff with my grandmother, we purposely dusted flour on ourselves, even when we weren't using flour." She wiped the batter off of her face with a towel. "Are you sure you don't want to learn too, Ernie? And before you worry about it, Teddy, you are doing just fine."
"Don't make him feel better!" Ernie teased. "It does not happen to everyone, Teddy, don't let her kid you." He nudged his friend in the side as Teddy shot him a half-hearted glare. "Oy, just kidding. Keep..." He looked into the messy bowl. "Uh, doing whatever you are."
Teddy cleaned his face before turning to Megan again. "He doesn't want to be a real man, Megan. They cook and wear pink, but..."
Megan laughed. "Every little boy should aspire to be a real man and learn to cook and wear pink. And I guess Ernie will never be such. Such a shame." She winked at Teddy as she teased Ernie. "More fun for us then! Are you having fun, Teddy? I know I am and I am quite glad that we're doing this." Megan liked teaching Teddy how to make everything she knew how to make. Well, not everything, but she could.
"Hmm." Ernie sat back down on the couch, smirking the whole while. "Think I'll keep the aprons reserved for Teddy here."
Teddy made a face, looking more 15 than 18, before gesturing back to the bowl. "I'm all yours, Meg."
"Now that you mention it, Teddy looks good in an apron. Sadly, I don't think an apron would do you justice, Ernie. You can stop making that face." She looked in the bowl and it seemed mixed well enough. "Good! So, we need to add this to all the white stuff. Easiest way to mix is to really get dirty and use your hands. You just do this..." Megan demonstrated how to mix the two bowls together using her hand. "Although your hands get all messy, it is less of a mess than if you used a spoon. You know, I think these will be delicious when we get to the final product of cupcakes!"
"Touch it?" Teddy wrinkled his nose, but he dug in anyway. He didn't want to look dumb in front of Megan. Though, really, looking at Ernie's snickering face told Teddy that he already did...
"Oh, yes, absolutely smashing in that apron, Meg!" Ernie leaned back in the couch and laced his fingers behind his head. "You look cuter though, love."
"Haha! Yes, touch it! It's not going to hurt you." Megan withdrew her hand from the bowl and before wiping off the batter, she touched Teddy's nose and left a bit of batter on it before turning to look at Ernie. "I quite agree with you!" She said with a big grin. This was definitely a lot more fun with company than if she was just making them herself.
Ernie might have replied, but he was distracted by Megan's cutie-pie move. Was she flirting? Or where they just like Hannah and Ernie? He blushed as he thought about his New Year's with Hannah. He had experienced feelings for her that he had not thought of in the past and it both scared and humiliated him.
Instinctively, Teddy's hand flew to his nose. "Oy, you!" Using the batter his finger found, he laughed and tried to get Megan back.
"Oy right back!" Megan laughed when he got her. She had a thought about a "food fight" but she rather wanted cupcakes and it'd take too long to start all over again with Teddy. "The batter suits you."
"Oh, yes," Ernie called if only to break up the moment, "Now cover his while face so we don't have to look at it."
"You know, you are lucky you are my boss!" Teddy shook his head in amusement. "Meg, how is this...thing every going to resemble a cupcake?"
"I should come over there and cover your face. I think Teddy has a lovely face." Megan smiled. "I'll show you. I've got this tray you see," bringing the bowl with her, she pointed out the cupcake tray she had all ready for the batter. "Do me a favor and put this little cups in each spot and then we'll pour the batter in and then we'll stick it in the oven."
"I can do that," Teddy answered over Ernie's protest about his face. "Shush, Ernie, or I swear we're withholding these cupcakes!"
"We probably ought to withhold them. He hasn't been very helpful in the process of making these here cupcakes." Megan was satisfied with the job Teddy had done. "Alright! Now we just have to wait about ten minutes and then we'll have cupcakes!"
"Hey, I was very helpful!" Ernie argued. "I supervised. And stayed out of the way. I think Teddy might have spared you some pain if he had followed my lead!"
"Teddy did a great job with his first assignment. I am more than happy to teach him everything I know." Megan told Ernie. "Alright, fine. I suppose you can have a cupcake."
"Remember who loved you first, Meg!" Ernie was teasing, but he was fairly sure Teddy shot him a dirty look. Hmmm.
"Now, now, we can share, can't we?" Teddy finished his task. "Oven time?" He guessed.
"Yes, we can share." Megan went and sat by Ernie on the couch. "Come join us, Teddy!"
As if to prove a point, Ernie pulled his good friend into his side. "Yeah, Teddy, step away and maybe the place won't go on fire!"
"Oh, it's on!" Teddy picked up a throw pillow and aimed at Ernie's head.
"Foul!" Ernie cried. "You can't hit a bloke with a girl in his arms!"
"No need to worry about fire." Megan couldn't help laughing at the two of them. "Hey, no pillow fights without me. And seeing as I'm in no position to fight back...."
"Oh, lies!" Ernie let her go. "No hiding now!" He picked up his own pillow and held it threateningly in the air.
Megan fell off the couch, clutching a pillow as she did, and laughing. "How much sugar have you had today?" she asked between breaths as she continued to laugh.
"Too much!" Teddy called over their shrieks. "It has gone to the prim and proper MacMillan's head. I'll save you, Meg!"
"Oh, no you don't!" It wasn't long before the boys were "play wrestling" like little kids again.
"Save me, Teddy!" Megan shook her head. The boys were acting like such... well, boys. "You two. Alright. Time to break it up. Ernie, you sit on this end. Teddy, you sit on that end. And I will sit between you. And we will watch the telly while the cupcakes finish and then we can enjoy them in front of the telly too."
"What? You think we need distraction?" Teddy sat up with a huge grin on his face. "MacMillan, you are weak."
Rolling his eyes again Ernie shoved at his friend as he stood up. "I let you off easy," he commented as he joined Megan. "The telly, you say? This is our lucky day!"
"Yes, I think you do." Megan grinned. "Oh so lucky, Ernie. I rather think it was lucky for me to begin with, having you and Teddy over for baking and cupcakes!"
"Well, we are rather easy," Teddy retorted as he too settled on the couch. "Some food and a warm place? We're there." And cute girls didn't hurt. Teddy's cheeks reddened as that thought registered.
Megan laughed. "Very easy. But sometimes I think you only like me for the delicious food I feed you."
"You forgot the telly," Ernie reminded her.
"And the telly." Megan added after Ernie reminded her. "I still say its the food more than the telly."
"Aw, I say it is the company." Teddy tapped her shoulder lightly. His expression softened as he looked at her.
Ernie noticed that moment and frowned in spite of his efforts not to. It was really none of his business...
Yet, he couldn't help chiming in. "Oh, brown-noser."
"Thank you, Teddy." Megan smiled at Teddy. Then she turned to Ernie. "Oh, you love me. You'd miss me."
"Apparently not more than Teddy." Ernie regretted how serious he sounded the moment the words escaped.
That jolted Teddy from his thoughts. "Uh, yeah, exactly. I need my teacher." He desperately tried to cover his unease.
"What Ernie?" Megan had caught how serious he sounded and didn't understand why. She wanted to ask him about it, but decided to wait until later without Teddy present. "What is going on with you two? Aren't you having fun?"
Ernie glanced anxiously at Teddy. "Yes, yes, of course."
"I think Ernie is just hungry," Teddy added, "Better get those cupcakes out..."
"Oh yes! The cupcakes smell well done. Just pull them out and set them out to cool. It'll be a couple more minutes until they are ready. Although, that usually goes fast because we are going to frost them!" Megan headed to the kitchen and got the chocolate frosting out and ready as she waited for Teddy to get the cupcakes out of the oven.
Teddy gave Ernie a look that clearly said "what the hell" before joining Megan in the kitchen again. "Now, this? I can get behind. If I can lick the spoon that is..."
Megan handed him a spoon. "Frosting is the best part. And you can lick the spoon when you're done." Megan looked back over to Ernie. "Do you want to help?" She asked holding up another spoon, not sure if he would come over or not.
Ernie rather wanted to leave, but he didn't really think that would look right, nor did he want to leave them alone...well, together. "Sure," he said, hoping it sounded nonchalant. He joined them, taking the spoon and pretending to be quite into the decorating. Anything to avoid looking at them.
"Great!" Megan got herself a spoon to spread the frosting on the cupcakes. "I love frosting."
Ernie globbed some pink goo onto his cupcake. "I don't think this looks right. Good thing it still tastes the same."
Teddy looked over, smirking. "Yeah, Ernie, you do seem to be taking out aggression on that thing."
"Well, we can't all be bakers, can we?" Ernie responded. "If I fire you," he teased, "You can always open a bakery."
She looked at the cupcake Ernie was spreading frosting on. "It looks just fine. And looks don't matter. Well, sometimes they do, but we're eating these now so it doesn't matter."
"Looks matter?" Teddy asked. "Does that mean my ugly mug is kicked out?" Since he finished his batch, he started licking his spoon.
"You aren't ugly, Teddy. And I wouldn't kick you out." Megan smiled at him before going back to icing her cupcake.
No, of course she wouldn't. Ernie hid his frown by eating a cupcake. "Did pretty good, you two." He helped himself to a glass of milk and poured two extra glasses for his friends.
"Thanks, Ernie! And you did great icing your cupcake." Megan accepted the glass from him. "Thank you!"