A Very Hungry Groundskeeper Solo Errand

Rose thought that she really wasn't too bad as a baker. But she had never considered herself as a good baker. So when she got the owl from Gargott she was pleasantly surprised- she would get an excuse to bake something. She kept the owl that brought the letter to her with her- she wasn't muggle-born, and she had an owl at home, but she didn't trust their family owl, Doofus, to carry it back all by himself. You see, Doofus- well, the name gives you a big enough clue. And the cake that she was going to bake to perfection would not crash into a tree or something. She knew Gargott wasn't picky, but Rose was. She was not going to send him something unless it measured up to her idea of "good enough," which was pretty darn close to perfection.

But the redhead was not going to bake in her own house. Even if she had enough counter space, pots, and pans, for what she had planned, she was still not going to have enough money for all the ingredients she would need. So she was going over to her great-aunt's house. Margerie, as she insisted her great-nieces and great-nephews to call her, had a huge kitchen and plenty of ingredients. Plus, she had a very helpful house-elf named Deesey, who would be very helpful, Rose was sure.

Deesey had gotten out everything she would need for baking the cake she was planning- two even strawberry cakes on top of each other, with the strawberry frosting in a rose design, to make it look pretty. Oh, and a cupcake for her and Deesey to share once they were done- just to taste it.

Yes, she was ambitious.

Deesey was the sweetest house-elf ever. Even though Margerie was a squib, she still served her like it didn't matter to her. She would be so miserable without them- Rose knew it. She was an old house-elf, it was showing in the little wisps of white on the top of her head, and had been through many families before, most of them that didn't treat her as well as Margerie did. Her pillowcase was made to look like an actual dress, even though it was really a black checkered pillowcase with some ribbon.

"Okay, Deesey. Would you preheat the oven please?"
Deesey nodded at Rose, her pale bat ears flapping, and hurried over to one of the ovens (there were three) and preheated it for Rose, while Rose gathered everything she would need. She followed the recipe closely, using a stand-up mixer she found to mix the batter together. It made a continuous whirring sound that only started to drive Rose crazy. She followed the recipe she had found online carefully, checking it maybe every thirty seconds. She did not trust herself with this cake, and she wanted it to be perfect.

She watched the way it thickened up, adding the strawberry extract to her batter. It smelled really good, to be honest. A fruity, strawberry flavor. Rose would be lying if she said she didn't taste it a few times.

The redhead stopped the mixer, bringing the whirring sound to a slow stop, and pulled the metal bowl out of the red mixer, which took some decent amounts of effort, since Rose had never been strong, especially not in her arms.

She poured the batter into the pans that Deesey had gotten out for her, two even, metal pans. She tried her best to make the amount even as she poured it in, salivating at the smell and letting Deesey scrape out the extra batter. The oven was already very warm when Rose opened it, making her flinch as the hot air rushed at her. She carefully pushed the cake pans into the oven on the black metal rack, watching her arms to make sure that she didn't burn herself on any part of the oven. Rose was usually clumsy and if she didn't watch herself carefully, she would probably bump something, making this entire baking attempt an epic fail.

Thankfully, she did not burn herself, and the oven closed with the cake pans in it without a hitch. In her mind, Rose pictured the pink batter fluffing up into a cake... a cake that she had made. A cake that Rose had done by herself with minimum but very appreciated help from Deesey.

She started to get out the frosting she had bought at the store- it was strawberry frosting, and, when she tried it (by sticking a spoon in it), it actually was not bad for store-bought frosting. She put the frosting into a piping bag so when the cake came out, she would be ready to frost it.

Rose's second encounter with the oven went smoothly- she took the cupcake out of the oven, carefully and quickly putting it on a rack to cool off. It was still steaming, letting out that smell that Rose wanted to just eat already!

The fruity aroma of the cake filled Rose's senses as she pulled the cake out of the oven. She was wearing oven mitts this time as well, greatly decreasing the risk of getting burnt, though there was still a large probability of that happening. You never know when it comes to Rose and her clumsiness.

Those cakes went on the rack as well, and Rose carefully tapped the cupcake to see if it was cool enough. It was not too hot to the touch, and Rose moved it onto a plate she had found, the sound of the plate against the counter was sharp. Rose piped a swirl on top of the cupcake with the icing. It was, surprisingly, not bad. Deesey had appeared at her side, peering at the cupcake on her tip-toes.
"Want some?" The girl reached for a plastic knife so she could cut the cupcake in half. Deesey's ears flapped as she nodded in response. Deesey reached for one half with her long fingers, taking the cupcake half in her hands and taking a tentative bite. Rose waited in anticipation for her verdict.

"Well?"

Deesey's eyes lit up. "It's good!" she squeaked.

"Don't act so surprised. I couldn't have done it without you," Rose smiled at her. "Thank you for your help."

"No," Deesey's ears flopped as she shook her head. "Thank you! I barely ever get to bake." Rose shot her a quizzical look and took the other half of the cupcake in her hands. Deesey's expression turned bashful as she took another bite, her feet turning inwards. "I love baking, but, you know, I can't reach anything."

Right. House elves were quite short- Rose had not taken that into account when she thought about Deesey and baking.

Rose bit into the cupcake. Deesey was right- it was good. It wasn't the best Rose had ever had, but it was good.

They waited for the real cakes to finish cooling so that they could ice them, filling the space with mostly meaningless banter. Rose patted the cakes every once in a while to check if they were cool yet. You really don't want the icing melted in a cake- Rose knew that much about baking.

Rose put one cake on a little circular platform, maybe an inch high. She piped a pink border along the edge of the first cake, then filled it in, using a little metal thing (she forgot the name but found it very helpful anyway) to even out the icing. Carefully, she put the next cake on the other one and then did a messy thin coat on the outside. It was supposed to be called a "crumb coat," which was there to lock in all of the crumbs in the cake. She started at the bottom, doing swirls all around the cake. It kind of looked like roses. Rose's hand was usually not that steady, but the baking gods had blessed her today.

It was then that she realized that Gargot might not appreciate the pinkness of the cake. Rose didn't care. She just wanted a strawberry cupcake.

Whatever.

Rose put it in a container she deemed worthy for her cake and cautiously put it in. If she had dropped it then, she would probably have hated herself. And then invited her siblings in to eat the cake with her- I mean, the floors were clean.

But the cake successfully got into the container, and the container onto the owls. Yes, she was trusting Doofus to help the school owl.

Rose sighed in content and victory, plopping onto the couch. She had baked a cake. Not a perfect cake. But she had still baked a cake.

Status- Complete!
Word Count: 1449