Another Day Keeping Quiet

[FRIEDRICH KAISER JR.]

Friedrich was your classic German sense in the sense that he was obsessed with good chocolate. He had just received a box of baking chocolates from his parents in Germany. He promptly lifted himself onto the kitchen counter and opened one of the wrappings. First he smelled it, relishing in the sweet German scent. Then he broke off a tiny piece and smashed it between his index and thumb on his right hand, perfect. Not even the least bit waxy. Then he licked the smashed chocolate off his finger and moaned aloud, this was delicious! he carefully re-wrapped the chocolate and ran to his little office desk in the corner of the kitchen.

Before he could enjoy anymore of the chocolate he required himself to write a return letter to his parents of thanks for the treat and to tell them he was doing well. Once he had finished the letter he sealed it and ran back to the two owls that had brought the package. "Back to ma and pa, please!" he said happily as he attached the letter to one of their legs and watched them fly out the window.

He smiled as he crossed back to the chocolate and began organizing the packages in the supply cupboard. He retrieved his two-stair stepping tool in order to rich the desired cupboard. He kept his sweets out of normal reach, why? First, to prevent the Orphans from eating all of it and missing out on amazing, well put together chocolate snacks. And two, to prevent himself from eating all of it.

OPHELIA JADE O'HARE

[OPHELIA JADE O'HARE]

It was almost lunch time, but Ophelia had already had quite an adventure this morning. About 5 girls had come running to her throughout the night, convinced that there was a Boggart living in their closet and they thought that it was going to get them in their sleep. She spent most of the early morning hours attempting to coax them to sleep, and tucking them into bet multiple times. When the sun rose, she spend the morning going through the closet and showing them that the Boggart was not there, nor had it ever been. "See, no pesky Boggart in this pocket." she smiled with dark circles emerging under her eyes, and her hair now a steel blue color. Her hair usually showed how she felt and she was obviously very tired. "Now that we are 100 percent Boggart free, I think I am going to go, I have work to do today, girlies. Go take a nap." and with that she shut the curtains and tucked them into bed.

The exhausted witch made her way down the stairs and slowly entered the kitchen, not wanting to disturb any of the cooks, especially Friedrich. He was such a wonderful chef, always so sweet and caring about the kids, and his food was delicious. She wandered in and saw him stashing a package of...was that chocolate? "Oh dear, it seems like I've discovered your secret hiding place." she smiled sweetly at him, noticing that he was the only one in the kitchen at the moment. "Is that some of that delicious German chocolate you've got?" she creeped a little closer, looking from him to the place he had stored the chocolate.

Ophelia wasn't sure whether it was her sweet tooth or the fact that she had been up almost all night, but she was craving something sweet. She took a seat on an empty counter that wasn't in used and crossed her legs- she was still in her pajamas and robe, but she didn't care. She wasn't afraid to wander around in lounge clothes, because as far as she was concerned, they were all one big family and this was everyone's home. "How are you today, Friedrich? I hope you slept better than I did. Seems like some of the older children let the younger ones hear about Boggarts and I spent all night trying to get a few girls in bed. Silly, those kids. I don't know how they didn't seem absolutely exhausted... I could fall asleep right now if I wanted to." she giggled, babbling on. She seemed to do that a lot with Friedrich, after all, he was a very handsome German man that happened to live in her home.

[FRIEDRICH KAISER JR.]

Friedrich whipped around to see none other than his steel blue-haired employer and long time crush, Ophelia. At the sight of her, looking so beautiful and sweet, Friedrich took a nose dive off of his two step ladder. He popped up a few second later and brushed off his clothes. "Yes, well, I expect you not to eat all of the chocolate Miss O'Hare," he said softly as he straightened his chefs apron. "Is that some of that delicious German chocolate you've got?" As she spoke she looked from him to his chocolate hiding place. Friedrich sighed and smiled, "Yes, it is. One moment." He climbed back up the ladder he had just fallen off of and opened the cupboard, reaching into the bag to break off a piece about an inch wide and an inch long and resealed the bag. He stepped down off the ladder, carefully this time, and turned to face her. She was a lot closer than he was expecting her to be, just must have kept creeping towards him.

Granted, she wasn't so close to be uncomfortable, but with Friedrich even having her in the same room was incredibly close and his skin started to feel warm and his heart started to pump wildly. There was nothing and no one quite like Ophelia O'Hare. She had lived a crazy and complicated life, and what did she choose to do? She chose to give back to the world and to orphans like she had been. She chose to be better than everyone who had wronged her. Friedrich was a simple fellow, and sweet, just like his German chocolate. But, even so, he was incredibly impressed with Ophelia.

When Ophelia got comfortable on his counter Friedrich noticed the pajamas. Before, when she first walked in, he was too occupied with her face to notice anything. She looked so comfortable, so at home in his kitchen. The thought of her feeling so content in his favorite place... the thought made his fingers tingle. He crossed over to her and held the piece of chocolate out in front of her with a slight bow, "you are, however, welcome to have a taste."

He made himself comfortable, or as comfortable as he could be, leaning against the counter across from where she was sitting. "I'm doing well, Miss O'Hare. The chocolate was sent by my parents along with a lovely letter," he laughed when she talked about the boggart situation, "Aw, those poor girls. The kids attending school at Hogwarts really do love to spread all kinds of information around the younger ones, don't they?" he smiled and chuckled. It was hard not to laugh when she did that sweet giggling and babbling thing with him. She always made him feel so welcome, so at home whenever they were together. So why couldn't he just take her out to dinner? Or better yet, make a dinner for two himself? He was a twenty-nine year old grown man and she was the same age as his little sister. Why couldn't he do something about his feelings?

[OPHELIA JADE O'HARE]

Ophelia's hair flashed to a brighter, more intense blue as Friedrich fell of his ladder. She gasped and jumped clear of the floor, her eyes bright with worry. Before she even got a chance to rush over and help him up, he was up on his own and brushing off his clothes. She giggled, her hair fading back to the steel blue color. "Oh no, you have foiled my evil plan!" she played with him for a moment before he climbed back up the ladder he had just fell off and grabbed some of the chocolate. Her eyes opened wide with delight, excited for some of the absolutely delicious chocolate.

"Thank you! Maybe this will help me get motivated. Or perhaps I should get some coffee... I have no clue. I'm so tired..." her voice trailed off and her next bunch of babble was cut off by a yawn. She took a small bite of the chocolate and let it melt in her mouth. It was so delicious, sweet and creamy, unlike the waxy stuff she had grown accustomed to here at home in England. She listened to Friedrich as he responded to her. "Oh! How are your parents doing? I hope they're well." she smiled, enjoying hearing everything he had to say. She always enjoyed listening to others, though sometimes she would gibber-jabber too much and make it seem like she only enjoyed talking.

"Oh, they definitely do." she giggle again. She had heard wild stories from the younger ones, like the Hogwarts kids saying that Peeves would hang all first years by their underwear throughout the school until they were helped down, or that some of the older students would blind fold them and make them get lost in the castle and have them find their way on their own. This though, this was probably the worst they had done yet. But it was to be expected. She finished her chocolate and flashed a smile at Friedrich. "You know, you can call me Ophelia. I like to see my employees as equals as much as possible." she said softly to him. She hated feeling like she was high and mighty and above other people. After all, he was older than her. It seemed to odd to have him referring to her as "Miss". "And how is your sister doing? Tell her I say hello and she's always welcome here too. Though I don't know if she likes kids. There isn't much to do here as a guest that doesn't involve the little munchkins." she wasn't sure what to say, so Ophelia did what Ophelia did best, and said almost everything on her mind.

[FRIEDRICH KAISER JR.]

Her facial expressions were one of Friedrichs favorite things about Ophelia. Her eyes widening with worry and then reducing to a sweet sparkle of excitement. If only he could find more ways other than giving her treats to make her look like that, but alas, treats were his specialty. And if that was the only way he could get her to smile and twinkle like that then he had to do it. That's part of the reason he made treats so much, because he loved the way she reacted.

"I don't know if Coffee would help as much, Miss," he spoke softly, "chocolate is the worlds best medicine. Ask anybody with sense." He didn't mean to sound to self-righteous, but if there was one thing he had the right to be proud of, it was his love and knowledge of chocolate. Even her yawns were adorable. He saw a little more color play into her cheeks when she ate the chocolate, which brought a smile to his face. These were his reason for living, chocolate and that smile.

"My parents are doing lovely, thank you for asking." He asked with a large smile on his face, he appreciated how much she cared about his and others personal lives, it really showed the special relationship she tried to have with every person she knew. Friedrich looked up at the clock and stood up straight, "I've got to get cooking, for lunch! You don't mind, do you?" He left the counter where he was leaning on and started towards the cupboards.

Friedrich shook his head when she agreed to the girls being mischievous, "I'll be honest, never having gone to wizard school, sometimes I even believe the crazy things those girls say." Friedrich shrugged innocently and laughed. He tensed up a little as she mentioned that he could call her by her first name, she had been saying that for a year and he still couldn't bring himself to do it. "I know, Miss O'ha- Ophelia. And I appreciate it, I just feel so much more comfortable treating you like... like how a lady should be treated, with the utmost respect. But I will do my best to call you Ophelia from now on." He promised, though he knew that he would struggle.

Friedrich smiled as he puled a few ingredients and cooking supplies out of the cupboards beside her on her life, "Oh, she is doing well! Though, I've never really asked her what she thinks about kids. She is really busy with work and all. It's a little hard to catch time to talk to her." He didn't mind, he loved his sister and she was his best friend. The fact that he didn't see her often was made up for by the times he did see her. They had a lovely time together.

[OPHELIA JADE O'HARE]

His soft voice and the sweet, tender tone Friedrich used always made Ophelia so happy, because it wasn't often that she encountered someone who was a sugar sweet as the chocolate he imported. She had had a rough life filled with some tough, unrelenting people such as her childhood tormenter, Willow, or the women who ran the orphanage she grew up at. She wanted to hug him and cling to him forever since he was such a breath of fresh air, but obviously having your boss cling to you would not be appropriate...it would honestly be weird. Too weird that even Ophelia knew better than to do it or even mention her urge to.

"Well if chocolate is the best medicine, I might need a bit of a higher dose." she joked with a smile. As much as she wanted to devour the chocolate in the cabinet, she didn't want another piece simply because it would take away from others, like the children that lived under her roof. She often made sacrifices for the sake of them much like a mother, even though she knew that she would only be a temporary figure in their lives. It was bittersweet, but rewarding all at the same time. "Oh lunch! Would you mind if I help? I don't cook very often, especially without magic- I can be a bit too clumsy and knock things over...But I'm sure you'll help me and make sure I don't wreck the place." she smiled at him, hopping down from the counter.


She laughed at his comment about how wild the things the girl came up with were. "I've been to wizarding school and I still can't wrap my head around how on earth they manage to come up with such wild tales." she smiled, picking up the jar of salt and looking at it from all angles. It was so misleading how salt could look like sugar, and confusing the two could lead to a culinary disaster. "Don't you worry about respect, you always treat me with more respect than I have earned." she said softly with a smile upon her lips. "But if it does make you feel more comfortable, you can call me Miss O'Hare. Call me anything you'd like really. Except for Rainbowed Banshee because the girls of my year sometimes poked fun at my hair and my singing...Though I never thought I was horrible..." she began her blabber once more before cutting herself off. Her cheeks filled with color.

"But yes, I'd love to meet her sometime! When she isn't busy of course, I know work comes first in this instance." she nodded with understanding. She picked up a spatula with both hands and inspected it. "I've forgot...this makes things like pancakes flat, right? You squish or something..." she inquired curiously. She had only cooked without magic just a few times when she was very young and at the orphanage, but even then, she had not done much since she was a young and rather hyperactive child. Once she had been adopted, her parents had opted to use magic, but never taught her how to cook. She learned to cook with magic after her adoptive parents passed, but only with magic. "Maybe you could teach me how you cook some time?" she looked at him through the corner of her eye, attempting to see if her question would sit well with her lovely head chef.

[FRIEDRICH KAISER JR.]

Friedrich was glad that she accepted his truth about chocolate, and smiled, "My lady, you will receive a good dose for dessert tonight, I hope you'll be looking forward to it." He was already musing over what he was going to make with the chocolate for the group, and couldn't wait to get out his German dessert cookbook that his mother had given him for his thirteenth birthday. Sure, that was a long time ago, but the gift had been used by Friedrich so many times that the binding was wearing thin, and he still used it every chance he got. His mother had accumulated the recipes herself, and most were of her own creation. She even left a few empty pages for him to add recipes of his own.

As she hopped down from the counter Friedrich felt his heart skip a beat. He gulped down his emotions before turning to face her with a smile, "gladly, I will accept your help. And I will protect my kitchen at all costs. But," he decided to take this moment for all it was worth, well, as much as someone as shy as Friedrich could. He crossed over to the aprons hanging on the wall and draped one over his arm, making his way back to her, he held it out. "First, a proper kitchen apron. And second, which you've already guessed, no magic!" he smiled. Many of his fellow kitchen staff used magic when cooking, but he made it a point to make delicious food faster, cleaner and tastier than the magic users. It wasn't out of pride or spite, but mostly to compete for himself and better his talent.

Friedrich returned to his work of pulling ingredients out of the cupboard as she commented that the girls tales were indeed unusual, even for a witch. He smiled as he watched her asses the salt jar. He wasn't sure if she knew it was salt and really hoped she didn't stick a finger or spoon in it hoping that it was sugar. That never ended well for ones taste buds. He had just pulled out the last ingredient when she spoke of his respect, and he felt himself warm up a little. "I hope, one day, to call you by your first name," he admitted, "but I'm afraid my courage hasn't reached that point. Thank you for allowing me to continue with my natural instinct, I promise I won't remain so old fashion forever." He wasn't sure if he could keep that promise, but he could at least try, right?

As he pulled out a box of kitchen gloves and put them on, he smiled gently as she babbled on about the cruel jokes of the girls in school. He, for one, had never heard Ophelia sing full out. Yes, she hummed often and whistled happy tunes, but it never occurred to him that she may actually have a beautiful voice. He raised an eyebrow in her direction as he pulled out two cutting knives, "I do hope to hear that singing voice one day, but for now will you join me at the cutting board?" he offered a knife in her direction, he holding the blade end in order to offer her the handle.

He nodded at the mention of his sister once more, but chose not to comment. He would discuss meeting Ophelia at a later, more convenient time. He chuckled softly as she regarded the spatula and nodded, "it can be used for squishing yes, but it is mostly used to flip the pancakes over, in order to evenly cook both sides." It felt strange, but good, being some sort of teacher to her. When she actually inquired about him teaching her, however, a lump caught in his throat. His eyes widened for a moment and his smile widened, wider than Friedrichs every day smile. He turned to face her head on before responding, "I would love to teach you, Miss." This would mean he would see her even more often than usual. If she meant more than one lesson, that is.

[OPHELIA JADE O'HARE]

Actually cooking without any magic? Ophelia had become so excited that she did a little shuffle on her feet and she beamed at Friedrich. "I'm so excited!" she squealed, happily taking the apron that he had offered her. Luckily enough, she knew what the apron was for. While she never actually cooked when she was in muggle kitchens, nor did she ever use muggle means when she actually did cook. She never actually cooked but she had gotten messy. "I remember when I was maybe 5, and I got to help the cook in the orphanage I was at. We were baking a cake I think, and I didn't know how messy flour was and DUMPED it into the bowl...It all flew in my face and I looked like I was caked in it!" she shared the memory with him as he pulled on the gloves.

She smirked at her pun before it broke into a cheesy grin. "Get it? Baking a cake- caked? ...Okay that was a horrible pun... I hope you won't PUN-ish me!" she laughed harder as she crept closer to Friedrich to look at what exactly he was doing. She put the apron on, tying a neat bow behind her, and followed him to the cutting board. "Maybe someday you will hear me sing! I usually don't mind people hearing me, I just have to be in a sing-song mood" Ophelia nodded to him, assuring him that he would hear her someday. "Sadly not right now, but next time I feel like singing, I will run straight to you!" she promised him, half kidding, half serious.

"Well at least I know what these are!" she giggled at the knives after he had explained to her what the spatula was for. It was so foreign to her- leaving her want behind and opting for multiple tools and pots and pans to create a delicious meal. She gave Friedrich a lot of credit and respect for the delicious meals he put so much work into. Ophelia carefully held the knife in her left hand because she was an oddball and was left-handed, and smiled at him. "I'm ready, Teach!" she wink, playfully referring to him as her teacher- which in this case he was. But then she noticed how awkward and weird it had to be to be winked at by a witch holding a knife while wearing an apron over her pajamas. "...Well isn't this an odd look, and even more odd to be winked at while the person winking is holding a knife..." she let out a nervous giggle before biting her bottom lip softly. He was probably starting to think of her as the strange, slightly crazy spaz whom was also his boss... and made horrible puns.


ooc: I'm so sorry if this sucks! I've been lacking Ophelia muse lately D:

[FRIEDRICH KAISER JR.]

Friedrich couldn't help but smile and chuckle as she spoke so quickly and excitedly. Her pun was a little ridiculous, but he liked that about her. The memories, happiness and jokes just flowed out of her, even though she had experienced a crazy life, as far as he knew. She was the sweetest person he had ever met. She was also funny, fun, punny and hyper. It just made him happy to see someone like that in the world. Especially since the world had become such a dark and scary place, for the most part. This orphanage was a little ray of sunshine, to the kids and to himself.

"I hope you do, Ophelia," he said about her running to sing to him comment. He felt odd saying her first name, but it was what she wanted. It felt sweet on his tongue, almost too sweet. And not formal enough. But isn't that what he wanted? To be non formal with her someday? He brushed the thought aside, no need to be pressing on his dreams for himself and his boss right now. It wasn't important at this present moment.

"Yes, knives are very common kitchen utensils," he chuckled again. He took a few steps closer and gently grasped the knife, pulling it from her hand. "It is an odd look, and the wink could have been slightly terrifying if it was someone less ado-" he stopped and he felt his cheeks redden. Had he almost called his boss adorable? Maybe it was because he was far to comfortable in his own kitchen.

He enjoyed that she called him Teach, though, and set the knife down, gesturing for her to follow. "We're going to make something a little more simple today, so just follow my lead." He grabbed some supplies and handed her identical ones, slowly showing her how to prepare the food.


notes: i know NOTHING about cooking. *facepalm* I'm embarrassed.