August 5th, 2020 || The Romero Household

Tina was not a morning person, at least by her family's standards. She wasn't efficient and organised like Lucie, or active and energetic like Issy, or bustling and busy like her parents. Tina preferred to take the mornings slowly, taking time over her hair and outfit, taking a leisurely shower before eventually stumbling out of her room at maybe ten or eleven. Whilst it might not sound incredibly late, the rest of her family were up and at it well before then. Her parents worked during the week, and her siblings didn't like to let the day waste away. Still, everything would soon change. It was almost like Lucie couldn't stop chastising her, always the first to coldly remind her that it wouldn't be like this at Hogwarts.

"It won't be like this at Hogwarts, you know."

Right on cue! Tina slumped down the stairs, waltzing into the kitchen with a lazy smile and sticking a slice of bread in the toaster as she passed it. Today, she let the snark from her older sister fly over her head: she hadn't the energy to huff and puff about it right now. Maybe tomorrow she'd put up a fight.

Right now, papa was at work, and mum was talking to Diachi Watanabe, her collegue, who had apparently taken residence in their house this Summer, in the other room. At the table sat two-thirds of the Romero gang, each engrossed in their own activities. Lucie was reading the newspaper, looking very much like their mother (although she'd probably be repulsed by the thought), Patrick had his head in a book (Animal Farm, read the cover), Sophie was nibbling idly on some dry cheerios and Issy was scribbling what looked like a very colourful cat in her new drawing pad. Their last member, Ezra Romero, must have been upstairs doing whatever it was that five year olds did.

"Lucie got mail from Hogwarts, today," Sophie said, a sly grin creeping on to her face as she chewed. The harsh look that Lucie shot her only seemed to fuel this, judging by the way her smile deepened. Mail from Hogwarts? Tina brightened at the thought.

"Thanks Sophia. Wasn't like I told you to keep your mouth shut, or anything like that." Ah, sarcasm. Tina wasn't typically the best at picking up on it, but something about the way her sister spoke made it exceedingly obvious. Lucie barely tolerated them now, anyway, even Patrick, who she liked best out of all of them. She was always so quick to snap...

"Think the owl would've been a give away," Patrick commented as turned the page of his book.

"What owl?" Tina asked. Her face screwed up as she did so. Then, she continued in a voice even more bewildered than the last, "You got a letter?"

Suddenly her toast popped up from behind her with a loud twang. Loud enough, apparently, to startle the owl that was perched by their kitchen window. Tina screamed, only clamping a hand over her mouth when Lucie shushed her, signalling to beyond the kitchen, where you could just about make out the quiet mumblings of their mother and Mr Watanabe in the next room. She looked back at the owl, gobsmacked. It was absolutely enormous, with large orange eyes, huge, speckled brown wings and a yellow pointed beak, within which was what seemed to be an incredibly fat envolope.

What on earth was it doing here?

"Merlin, it's only a bloody owl Martyna. You see Lottie and Katie's all the time." Lucie tutted derisively. It seemed that she was going to offer no explanation for this whatsoever, for the owl or whatever the word 'Merlin' meant. Tina turned to her other siblings, hoping they might no what to do but they just shrugged. Katie and Lottie's owls are nothing like that, she thought bitterly.

"What? Are we just leaving it here then?" Tina asked, slathering jam on her toast now, but refusing to take her eyes off their guest all the while.

"It'll go away on its own. It's just being stubborn, it won't hurt you."

"It wants us to bake it a cake." Sophie's evil grin widened. This time, Lucie rose from her seat, eyes blazing.

"Sophia!"

Sophia pulled away, arms up in defence and nearly laughing. "What?"

"A cake?" Tina perked up, racing over to the owl and plucking the letter from its mouth, any trace of fear that she previously might have had gone. It twittered good-naturedly, pleased to have an eager participant.

"I don't think owls can eat cake."

"Obviously not for the owl, Patrick! It's for that fat-arse... keeper of keys, or whatever." Tina ignored the comment, instead opening the letter and reading.

[font=Tempus Sans ITC]That's right! I have chosen a select few at Hogwarts who have caught my eye and I want to harness your skills! Bake something, anything! I am most certainly not picky! Send it back through an owl, I shall taste all of the sugary and savory creations so I can judge how far along you are on your path to greatness... Because let's admit it! Who better can judge the taste, elegance, texture, flavor-[/font]

Lucie snatched the parchment from her hands. "Chosen a select few?" Tina scoffed, already rolling the sleeves of her fleece up. She was ready to bake, dammit! Brownies, mantecados, flan... the options were nearly endless. This 'Gargott' would simply adore her baking, there was no doubt about it! He could even thank her personally when she arrived. Even if he'd initially appointed Lucie with the task, Tina was almost certain her cooking skills would rise to the challenge. And she do it all by herself!

"Merlin, give me a break, Martyna. You'll just make a mess."

"No I won't!" she replied, a little more defensively than she'd intended. It was a notorious fact that Tina wasn't the most... clean creative. "Pat can help." Patrick instantly looked up and nodded. Bless him, so agreeable. "We'll be quiet. And we'll make extras. Brownies and mantecados? Oh, should I make some custard too? If there's a prize, I wanna win..."

Issy snapped her head up, dragging up from underneath her the drawing she'd been working on: a very scribbly, pink owl with bright yellow eyes. Not a cat at all! "Brownies! Also look what I did!" she exclaimed.

"Both. No custard, though. Also, very nice Iss'."

Seeing that the matter was already settled, Lucie reluctantly, and with plenty of eye-rolls conceded. She even helped them gather equipment before going upstairs to do very important magic homework. Sophie followed her up to go check on Ezra, leaving Tina, Patrick and Issy alone in the kitchen to whip up as many of those fudgey chocolate bites and crumbly biscuit melts as they could. Patrick tried his best to coordinate things, writing up the times for them to wait before shoving stuff in the oven and weighing out ingredients. Both Tina and Issy did their share of whisking, laying out the precisely cut treats on trays and decorating them with sprinkles and store-bought icing. Patrick briefly protested this, but soon remembered that there was absolutely no way to argue with Romero girls, and that was just that.

Hours later, they group were sending their new owl friend off with a number of tasty delights. Some were slightly burnt, and some were a bit misshapen, but the thought was there. They even stuck Issy's drawing in the packet.

1169/800 words (not including the snippet of Gargott's letter)
Errand Complete!