Going to the Kitchens (Oscar)

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Anna was hungry. Not only that, but she was hungry for something she'd never had before. Those darn crepes. The other day, Oscar joined her for breakfast and told her about some steak crepes that they made in France and ever since then, Anna wanted to try one. It wasn't a really big deal, because Oscar told her that he'd make one for her someday, but Anna was tired of waiting. So she was on a mission to find Oscar and make him make her the crepe, or maybe she'd just ask him to. However, the problem was that she had no idea where to find him. She looked on the third floor, which is where she typically ended up running into him, but he wasn't there. She looked in the Great Hall, but he wasn't there either. 

So now she had the dilemma of trying to find him and was about ready to give up. She didn't want it to be obvious to anyone who saw her that she was looking for someone, so she tried to make it seem like she was bored. Eventually she went to the entrance hall and leaned against the door, looking out onto the grounds curiously. Was he out there? After a while of looking Anna actually did give up. She moved into the entrance hall, sat down on a bench and leaned her head against the wall behind her, closing her eyes as she tried to relax. Honestly, she could just go down to the kitchens and get a snack, but she didn't want to.

@oscar

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There was only one thing that could absolutely, positively, totally ruin Oscar Gauthier’s day, and that was waking up with bad hair. It didn’t happen often, since Ozzy prided himself on his excellent hair care regime, but when it did happen, it was bad. He had woken up early that day, intending to swing by the Great Hall and see if he could find Anna for breakfast, but the moment he had looked in the mirror, all other thoughts had flown out of Ozzy’s head. For the next two hours, he tried to tease his hair into something resembling decency, but Oscar failed. He failed miserably, which mean there was only one thing left to do: wear a hat. He had planned for this contingency, of course, but finding where he had packed his beanie was actually harder than Oscar had anticipated, and by the time he had found it and shoved it over his unruly hair, breakfast was long past. Ozzy sighed – he had been looking forward to seeing Anna, and finding the kitchens, and making her his mothers’ famous crepes. Now he was going to be disastrously late. At least he looked passable, though, with the beanie covering his head and giving him a purposefully unkempt aura. Oscar practically ran from the carriage into the castle, and was surprised to see that the very person he was looking for was standing in the entrance hall. “Anna!” He called. “I am sorry.” Oscar panted when he got closer. “Bad hair.” He said, gesturing towards his head. He normally never admitted to a bad hair day, but Anna deserved an explanation for his absence, even if they had never explicitly agreed to meet anywhere.

@annelise

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Relaxing was not working for Anna. She only remained sitting for a few minutes before she had to stand up. She didn't move far, leaning against the wall with her eyes closed, but something about standing made her feel more relaxed, in an odd way. Her mind was entirely focused on one thing and she was surprised it consumed her so easily. Where was Oscar? She knew they were only friends and that she shouldn't be annoyed at her inability to find him, but she was. Something about him made her feel more relaxed lately, which made no sense but that's how it was all the same. 

She gasped a little when she heard his voice nearby, calling to her. She waited just long enough to take a deep breath before opening her eyes. She'd better not be imagining this. She smiled and instantly felt herself relax (for some inexplicable reason) when she realized he really was there in front of her, panting? What, had he been running or something? Anna wanted to tease him about having bad hair, but it was obvious from Oscar's every-day appearance that he cared about how he looked, so she didn't know if that would be received well. Her eyebrows rose teasingly anyway when she answered him, "Sorry about what?" All right, so it wasn't blatant teasing, but her tone made it more than just a question. She was curious about his answer though. What did he have to be sorry about? It wasn't like she asked him to meet her or anything. She was just looking for him. And failing at finding him.

@oscar

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Oscar was pleased that Anna looked happy to see him; she smiled at him as soon as their eyes met, and that warmed his heart, and also made him feel slightly less bad for being late to their not-meeting. “I am sorry for not being able to eat breakfast with you.” He elaborated. “I am sure you have many Gryffindor friends, but being seen with a Beauxbatons boy is good for your reputation, no?” As far as Oscar could tell, the Hogwarts students who had managed to form legitimate friendships with students from other schools (who they hadn’t known before the start of the Tournament) seemed to hold some amount of status at Hogwarts, if only because they were few and far between. “Besides, today has to be the day we make our crepes.” He declared. “Because you are not busy,” at least he assumed she wasn’t, considering she was just loitering in the hall, “And I am not busy either.” Just as he had the weekend before, Oscar had decided that none of his homework was worth doing. He had finished his History of Magic assignment earlier in the week, but other than that, none of his school subjects were particularly striking, so why bother wasting the effort on completing the homework? “Do not think I have not realized you have not shown me the kitchens.” Oscar added. It hadn’t been a part of their extensive tour the previous weekend, and he had a feeling it was so he didn’t go making any crepes without her. As if he would actually do such a thing. Part of the joy of cooking was getting to share it with others, wasn’t it?

@annelise

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Anna smiled when he explained his apology. He wanted to eat breakfast with her? Granted, he did it before, but she didn't expect him to do it every morning. She liked the idea. "I forgive you. You'll just have to eat with me another time," she answered with a smile. Why not? He wanted to eat with her, he just said so. She grinned at him, "I don't really care about my reputation, I just like spending time with you," she answered easily. Why not? They were friends, obviously. 

She laughed, "I'm glad you want to make them because I was about to drag you to the kitchens and demand you teach me how to make steak crepes." Anna didn't really mean to tell him that, but she did. And she didn't regret it at all. She shrugged when he accused her of not showing him the kitchens. "I didn't want you sneaking there without me. Besides, I'm well-known down there. The house-elves adore me. If you went without me, they wouldn't like you as much as they will when you come with me." She wasn't sure if that made any sense, but she didn't care. 

"Come on, let's go!" She tugged on his sleeve before starting to make her way to the dungeons. She led him to the portrait of the fruit and showed him what to do in order to get in. "I'm back!"  she announced to the house-elves, winking at Oscar as she motioned for him to follow her in.

@oscar

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Oscar smiled at Anna. He liked being forgiven – it made him feel so much better about all of the time he had wasted – or spent, depending on your perspective – on trying to fix his bad hair day. Besides, it meant that Anna offered to eat a different meal with him, and that was a good thing, because it meant he wouldn’t be forced into awkward small talk by the Hogwarts students or the denizens of his own school. “Maybe dinner?” He asked. He assumed that the crepes were going to be their lunch, which of course made it easier for them to eat that particular meal together. Anna said that her reputation didn’t matter to her, and Oscar snorted softly. “Even if it does not matter to you, it is good to have a good one.” It was like how all beautiful people did not care that they were pretty; they wouldn’t know the value of what they had until it was gone.

Somehow, it didn’t surprise Oscar that Anna was well-known or well-liked in the kitchens. Oscar had never been one to spend that much time with the serving class, but Anna seemed to be open-minded about virtually everything. It was kind of refreshing. And when you wanted something, it was certainly easier to get it if you were familiar with the people you were asking it from. The walk to the kitchens was surprisingly long, and Oscar began to wonder if they were ever going to get there. Anna stopped in front of a portrait of a fruit basket, and Oscar was about to laugh at her joke about it being the kitchens. When Anna tickled the pear, though, Oscar’s mouth formed into an o shape. That was a cool way to hide an entrance. “I am here, too.” Oscar added unnecessarily when Anna announced her presence. He glanced at her, slightly nervous. “Do you have ingredients for crepes?” Best to start there before asking about steak.

@annelise

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She rolled his eyes when he asked her about dinner, "Oscar, you can eat with me whenever you want. You don't have to check first, but now you don't have a choice when it comes to dinner. If you don't eat with me I'll be offended," she informed him directly. Here she was being a snob again, but she hoped he wouldn't get upset. Still, she didn't want him to feel like he had to ask if he wanted to eat with her. He was always welcome, now that they got past their first meeting.

She smiled, "Yeah, I guess so." I mean, it could be because of her reputation that she had so many people saying they were rooting for her. Then again, did people like her more because she was doing things with him? She hadn't really noticed a difference, but she definitely wasn't going to argue with him over the idea. It really didn't matter.

Anna loved the kitchens. She also loved to make things here. She wasn't a chef, per say, but she found peace in cooking for some strange reason. It was a secret, though. Only the house-elves knew. Not even her sister was aware of that, not that she knew much about Anna in general. "Over here," she told him, making her way easily through the crowd of house-elves to the island where she always did her cooking before. It was clean, ready to be used as always. She didn't know where the ingredients were, but she knew the house-elves had everything they could possibly want. "Would you please get us the ingredients for crepes," she said to one of the house-elves, who grinned, nodded and bowed before hurrying away with a few friends. She turned to Oscar with a smile, "They have all the ingredients we could possibly want. Trust me."

Just a few moments later, he house-elves came back, putting all sorts of ingredients and cooking tools on the island. Then they moved away, giving the two their space. "All right, Oscar. Go ahead and teach me," she said in excitement.

@oscar

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Having an open invitation to eat with Anna wherever was more than Oscar had expected, and it made him feel just the slightest bit giddy. Gone were the days of roaming the Great Hall in search of a table with enough space that he could eat alone without being bothered. Now he had a breakfast, lunch, and dinner buddy. He was sure that Anna was going to regret her offer soon enough, but since they were already locked in for lunch and breakfast that day, it didn’t make any sense to tell her she would regret it now.

Trying to wade his way through the sea of house elves was unexpectedly difficult for Oscar – he hadn’t been around house elves much before, and if he was honest, they made him the slightest bit nervous. They had unusually large eyes, and that was unsettling. He felt slightly better when Anna stopped in front of a kitchen station. Oscar surveyed all the equipment, making sure that they’d have every appliance they needed. Luckily, the Hogwarts kitchens were well prepared. Anna said that they had all the ingredients they’d need in the kitchens, and Oscar couldn’t help feel silly. The elves cooked three meals a day for hundreds of people; it seemed obvious, in hindsight, that they would have everything he could dream of, and then some.

“All right, I will teach you.” Oscar said, pulling the ingredients they’d need for the basic crepe batter closer to him. “The crepe itself is fairly simple. It is the base on which you put other things – like rice, in Asian food.” Oscar said, choosing the most apt metaphor that he could think of on such short notice. He dumped the proper amount of each ingredient into the mixing bowl, dictating what he was doing to Anna as he did so. “Since we know what we are putting on the crepes, we can also add an herb medley, if you would like.” That would make the herby flavor much stronger, but Oscar wasn’t sure if Anna would be a fan of that. “You know, someone’s taste in herbs is a good way to get to know them.” He teased. “So if you like cilantro, I do not think we can be friends.” Cilantro tasted like soap. Ick.

@annelise

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She nodded as he explained the basics of a crepe and watched closely as he started cooking. She wanted to remember this for future reference, but wasn't sure if she would be able to. That was ok though, right? If she forgot how to make them, she could always ask Oscar to help her. Even if she had to do it by owl ... he'd answer an owl from her in the future, wouldn't he? She wanted to say yes, but she really wasn't sure. He had a tendency to do exactly the opposite of what she expected. 

Then he asked if she wanted to add a herb medley. Anna almost shrugged again, but she held it back and spoke. "I really don't know. I actually don't know much about herbs, so I'm good with whatever you think would be best," she answered hesitantly. Then he started teasing her about cilantro and she decided to pretend to take it seriously. "Hey friends," she called to the house-elves, "Can you bring me some Cilantro? I need to find out if I like it or not," she said, looking over at Oscar to see what he thought. She really didn't know what Cilantro was. Some closet-cook she was.

It took a matter of seconds for the house-elves to bring her Cilantro. Anna thanked them and smiling, taking it from them and lifting it up to her nose so she could smell it. It smelled pleasant, but that didn't necessarily mean she would like it. "What would you say if I do like it? I mean, you already promised to eat dinner with me tonight so you can't stop being my friend right away," she teased, unable to help herself. Really, she could only tease him about it until she tasted the stuff and decided whether or not she liked it.

@oscar

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Oscar should have anticipated that Anna wouldn’t have much of an opinion on the subject, given that she was a self-proclaimed amateur when it came to cooking. Honestly, Oscar didn’t have much of an opinion, either, so it was probably better to leave the herbs out. He knew what quantities to use for the herb butter, but not for the batter, and he didn’t want to ruin his first cooking experience with Anna by getting a little too creative. “Can you get some steak, please?” Oscar asked the nearest house elf, averting his eyes slightly to avoid the beady-eyed gaze of the servant. They would need to start the steak cooking while they made the crepes themselves. Speaking of that, Oscar turned on one of the burners on the stove, setting a pan on top of it. “We need to make sure there are no clumps.” Oscar said, gesturing to the bowl of crepe batter. “Lumpy crepes are yucky.” He added, as if Anna didn’t know that on her own. Oscar had already whisked the batter a fair bit, but Anna deserved a chance at it, too.

“I would say that you are not my friend.” Oscar said when Anna asked about cilantro, smiling slightly so she knew he was teasing. “You can eat meals with people who are not friends.” He continued, sniffing imperiously. “So I hope that you choose correctly on this herb.” It would be typical of Oscar to lose a friend accidentally because his stance on something as trivial as an herb. He would probably have to change his tune if Anna decided that she liked it, because there was no way he was going to let her go because of a kitchen disagreement. “Are you going to eat it before I get old?” Oscar asked, noting Anna’s obvious hesitation.

@annelise

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Anna smiled and nodded when Oscar said that the batter couldn't have any lumps in it. "No problem. I can try to take care of that," she picked up the bowl and started whisking. She was glad she could do something to help, instead of just standing there and watching him cook. Granted, Oscar definitely knew what he was doing in the kitchen and it was really impressive to Anna to watch him, but she also felt a little useless. 

She fake glared at Oscar before looking at the little green herb in her hand. Could something that smelled that way really taste so bad? She wasn't really sure, but she was nervous to try. Then she smiled and looked at him mischievously, "I don't believe you. I think you'll be my friend even if I do like it." She looked at the cilantro in her hand again, smelling it quickly. Then Oscar asked if she was going to eat it before he got old. She made a face at him. "Don't rush me! It's not easy to eat something that you've been informed tastes badly, I'll have you know." Anna mostly just said that to annoy him. She rolled her eyes and lifted the small plant to her mouth, taking a small bite.

It wasn't terrible, but ... she didn't know what she thought. It was acidic and bitter, but not necessarily in a bad way. Cilantro definitely didn't taste terrible to her, which was a big relief, but she couldn't make up her mind. Anna was positive Oscar would be able to see the indecision on her face. She took another small piece, trying to make up her mind. "I don't know if I like it," she told him eventually. "It tastes weird, but not exactly in a bad way. I definitely don't want to eat it on its own, but maybe it would be alright in something." Anna knew that was very indecisive, but she really didn't know. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't a favorite. Strange. "So are we still friends?" she asked with a teasing smile.

@oscar

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Anna took the bowl of crepe mixture from Ozzy, and he observed her as she whisked, slightly fascinated with her ability to make even the most mundane tasks look like the most important thing in the world. He had no doubts that the crepes would be as smooth as silk with how focused she was on making sure there were no lumps at all in the batter. One of the house elves returned with the steak he had requested, and Oscar immediately began heating another pan on the stove so that they could begin cooking the meat as soon as possible.

“You are wrong.” Oscar said in deadpan when Anna declared he would still like her even if she liked cilantro. “There is no room in my heart for people who think that cilantro is a good thing.” Of course, Ozzy’s heart had plenty of room – it wasn’t like there was a shortage of space when everyone he cared about kept dying on him. “I am not rushing you.” He answered, somewhat defensive. “But I do not want you to prolong the inevitable.” If she was going to eat the herb anyway, what was the point in waiting around? It wouldn’t change its taste just because she waited a few more seconds.

Ozzy watched with bated breath when Anna took her first bite of the cilantro. Based upon the fact that she didn’t immediately spit it out, Oscar assumed that she didn’t taste it the same way he did, with the soapy overtones. At least she didn’t declare that she loved it more than anything, Oscar thought, giving Anna a wan smile. She asked if they were still friends, and as much as Oscar wished he could stick to his guns, there was no hope for him when it came to Anna. “Of course we are still friends.” He told her, smile growing a little brighter. He bent over and kissed her softly on the cheek. “But we are not putting any cilantro in our crepes, or I will never be able to eat them.” For once, Oscar wasn’t being overdramatic – he couldn’t eat anything with cilantro without reflexively spitting it back out.

@annelise

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Anna looked down at the bowl of crepe batter and smiled. It didn't look lumpy now. "How is this?" she asked, holding the bowl out for Oscar to inspect, even though she was confident that he would say it was done. Still, it was his cooking lesson, so she was going to follow his lead.

Anna narrowed her eyes at Oscar when he told her she was wrong. His tone was completely serious, but she wasn't sure if she believed him. He obviously wanted her to think they wouldn't be friends, she just didn't want their friendship to end. Surely it wouldn't end over something as silly as an herb. "No room," Anna repeated thoughtfully. She shrugged, "Well maybe I'm just not in a hurry to ruin our friendship." Somehow Anna kept her expression serious, but she didn't know if he'd buy it. 

He smiled, telling her that they were still friends and Anna grinned. Before she knew what happened, he bent forward and kissed her on the cheek. That was absolutely the last thing Anna expected and she couldn't keep herself from blushing a little bit. Hopefully he wouldn't notice, but it was there and she didn't even know why. "I don't need cilantro in the crepes," she told him, an unmistakable tone of attitude in her voice at first, though it died down quickly. "I don't want to mess with your recipe, I just had to make sure you still want to be my friend." She shrugged a little, pretending like it wasn't a big deal, even though it was. She liked being with Oscar. The more time she spent with him, the more time she wanted to spend with him, as strange as that was.

"So what do we do now?" she asked, trying to get her mind off of his kiss. It wasn't even a real kiss, but she liked it. No! She couldn't think about that right now or she'd start blushing again.

@oscar

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Oscar peered into the bowl when Anna offered it for his inspection. As he had expected, it was perfect. “Excellent.” He told her. He took the bowl from Anna and gestured towards one of the pans on the stove, letting her know in advance what he was going to do. The pan had already been oiled, so the only thing Ozzy had to do was pour a little batter in. He took the handle of the pan and swirled the batter around so a thin, even sheet covered the bottom of the pan. “The best crepes are thin, but not too thin.” He told her. “You do not want to be chewing through dough forever, but if they break, it is no good either.” It was a skill that time helped develop, though Oscar had known one or two people to get extremely lucky when it came to their crepe creating habits.

“It was a lie.” Oscar assured Anna when she repeated that he had no room in his heart. “Love has no limit, non?” There was always enough room in someone’s heart, if they cared to make it. “And I do not think that anything can ruin our friendship.” He added. “We have already argued. Now we can just be happy.” It was better to have the argument at the beginning of a relationship, Oscar thought, rather than the middle. Building back from an argument was hard even if you had never met the person before, and Ozzy wasn’t sure he would have been able to make up with Anna if they had been friends before they had argued.

Ozzy smirked when Anna said that she didn’t need cilantro in the crepes. “That is a good thing, because you are not getting it.” He told her imperiously. Speaking of crepes…Oscar took the handle of the pan once again, and flicked his wrist, flipping the crepe with an expertise he hadn’t been sure he still possessed. Anna asked what they did now, and Oscar raised an eyebrow. “Well, we wait for this to finish.” He told her. “I suppose we should start grilling the steak now, as well. And making the herb butter.” Maybe he should’ve chosen a simpler recipe for their first meal together…

@annelise

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Oscar said the batter was good and Anna grinned. At least she did something to help. She watched as he poured the batter into the pan, moving it around so it covered the bottom of the pan ... almost like she did at home when she was making an omelette, but much thinner. She nodded when he explained what he was doing, but she was watching him too closely to even think about saying anything in response.

Anna smiled triumphantly when he finally confessed that he was lying. "I knew it," she told him with a careless shrug. He kept going and her smile widened. She liked that he admitted they were still friends. "You're right, it doesn't have a limit. I sure hope not. I have too much fun with you." Anna liked spending her time with Oscar and was glad that he wasn't going to let something silly ruin their friendship.

She rolled her eyes, "I don't want it," Anna reiterated, trying to glare at him but only smiling when he smirked at her. Her mouth dropped open when he picked the pan up and flipped the crepe over like it was nothing. "That was amazing!" She told him with a grin. Then she scrunched her nose, "I'm assuming that only happens after lots of practice, huh?" Darn shame. It looked super cool. "Just tell me what to do," she told him, even though she was sure he'd have to do most of it on his own. She had no idea what she was doing. Totally out of her element here.

@oscar