Poprocks and Coke

Willow was certain she had found the best hiding spot. There was no way that James would find her here, he probably thought it was too small a cupboard for her. But she was very thin, and could curl up into a very small ball. It was cramped however.

Her Uncle James was babysitting her while everyone else was out, as she'd asked to go with him instead of someone else. James was one of her favourite people to babysit her, seeing as he was willing to play lots of games with her. Being so quiet, Willow tended to keep to reading, despite the fact that she did enjoy playing games. It was nice to have someone to play with who wasn't one of her imaginary friends.

Merlin the girl was good at hiding. James had always liked playing hide and seek as a child, he'd even been quite good at it, but he had looked everywhere he could think of and still hadn't found the small eleven year old. He sat down on the edge of his couch and tried to set his mind to thinking like an eleven year old. Had he been a very smell eleven year old girl playing hide and seek, where would he hide?

His eyes scanned the room, and finally they fell on the cupboard under his sink. He hadn't looked there yet, had he? Would the girl really fit in there? It was a quite small cupboard.

Out of other options, James pushed himself up and wandered over the the cupboard, curling his hand around the knob. He opened both of the doors at the same time and grinned as he saw Willow curled up inside the dark place. Curling his arms around her frame he pulled her out and lifted her up. "Gotcha!" he exclaimed, grin widening.

Willow had to admit, by the time the door to the small cupboard actually opened she was beginning to regret being good at hide and seek. It was only so much fun until you got bored of hiding. But when the doors opened and let light into the small cupboard she grinned, letting out a surprised laugh as she was pulled out before she had the chance to begin to get out herself, holding onto James' shoulders as he lifted her up.

She blushed and smiled shyly, feeling all aflutter as she looked at him. She usually hated being the focus of attention, but when it was James' attention she found she really didn't mind.

"You found me," she always was good at pointing out the obvious when she didn't know what else to say. "Can we play something else now?" Willow asked quietly, not wanting to force James to play something with her if he didn't want to.

James tilted his head to the side as a blush formed on the girl's cheeks. He didn't pay much attention to it though, deciding that it didn't mean something. He moved so he could set her down on the table and smiled brightly. "I did find you. You're very good at hide and seek Princess, I nearly gave up and asked you to come out," he informed her honestly.

"Of course we can!" he grinned, pulling himself onto the table next to her. "What do you want to do? I'm up to anything," he asked her.

For some reason, the little McKinnon liked spending time with him. Well, the reason was quite obvious, seeing as he was amazing. James was quite flattered, really. He never imagined himself as someone that was good with kids. But this one seemed to like him.

Willow couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips when James called her Princess. He was the only one who was allowed to call her that. "I'm good at getting into small places," she explained, swinging her legs slightly. "Maybe you're just not very good at finding things."

She turned her attention to her lap as she bit her lip, trying to think of what they could play next. She supposed she could convince him to take her outside and play something outside, but she could feel herself becoming hungry. And generally when she started thinking about it, it got worse.

"I think I'm getting hungry," Willow admitted, looking up at James. "Can we have dinner?"

James clutched his chest in mock hurt. "Oi! You hurt my feeble heart. Not good at finding things. I'm brilliant at finding things, how can you say something so offending!" he cried out, letting himself fall back on the table in a dramatic flail. He only lay there for a few moments before he pushed himself back up again, grin back on his face. Merlin, he was a terrible actor.

"Of course we can have dinner," he told her, jumping off the table as he walked to the fridge, pulling it open. Well, there wasn't much, but at least he had a can of tomato sauce. He pulled it out and set it on the counter as he tried to find some pasta. Luckily, there was a full bag in the cupboard next to the one Willow had been hiding in.

"Do you like pasta?" he asked, hoping the girl would say yes because if she didn't, there would be a problem. Seeing as he didn't have anything else.

Willow laughed as James fell back dramatically, covering her mouth with her hand. She really did hate how childish her laugh sounded sometimes. "I'm sorry," she said half heartedly as he sat back up with a grin. "I'm sure you're wonderful at finding things really."

Her eyes lit up at the agreement to making dinner, waiting on the table with her feet still swinging as James went to rummage for food, spotting the tomato sauce he set out. She waited eagerly for him to get more food, hoping that this wasn't all he had in his house. She liked tomatos, but she didn't like them that much.

She almost squealed as she spotting the pasta to go with it, a wide smile on her face. "I do!" she said, hopping off the table. "Pasta's yummy. Is it okay with you?"

"You better think so!" he told her sternly, turning around to poke her in the stomach to make his point. He then leaned down again to take a pan from one of the cupboards, grimacing as he rummaged through the wrong cupboard. It was a shame really, that he couldn't remember where his own pans were. The next cupboard was more successful, and he pulled out the two pans they'd be needing.

"I'm fine with pasta!" he grinned, taking out his wand as he transfigured a spoon into a chefs hat which he sat on Willow's head. "Can you go fill this with water for me?" he asked her, handing her the pan. He got out a can-opener and started to open the tomatosauce himself. He hoped it was still okay for them to eat. He assumed it was. Even though he couldn't quite remembering buying them.

"Can you reach the tap?" he asked Willow, setting the now open tomato sauce back on the counter.

Willow waited patiently as James began looking through his cupboards for something. She couldn't help but be slightly amused as she realised he was looking for a pan. You would've thought he'd know where they were.

She smiled brightly as James placed a chef's hat on her head, brushing her fingers over it before taking the pan, nodding her head and practically bouncing on the heals of her feet. "Of course!"

Wandering over to the sink, she stepped up on her tip toes and began running the water, looking over her shoulder as James asked the question, nodding before turning back, turning the tap off and bringing the pan to James, holding it with two hands. "Is this enough water?"

"Perfect!" James grinned, taking the pan out of her hands and put it on the stove. Here, muggles would wait for the water to boil, but James used a charm to get it to the right temperature and started to toss the pasta inside. How much was he supposed to make? He decided to go with half the package. That would surely be enough, wouldn't it? He hoped it would.

He turned back to the can with the tomato sauce and eyed it carefully. "I have no idea how long this is supposed to cook," he muttered, trying to find an indication of the time on the can itself.

"Do you?" he asked Willow, not really expecting the girl to know but asking anyway.

Willow watched as James heated up the water, looking over the edge of the pan and enjoying the way it began to bubble. Bubbles always made her feel slightly giddy, in the strange patterns they made.

She watched him put the pasta in, trusting that he knew what he was doing, though when he talked about the tomato sauce she wondered if her trust was well placed.

"I'm not sure," she murmured with a shrug. "Does it not just go in all together?"

"All in together, you're probably right," he said, not even remembering why he grabbed the second pan. He tossed it right back into the cupboard where it came from. He lifted the thing and emptied it above the water. The smell told him something wasn't right, but maybe it just needed some time.

"I think we should let it boil," he told the smaller girl with a grin, turning away from the stove.

"So, Willow, how are you?" he asked her seriously, though he couldn't keep the grin of his face while talking. "Any secret loves I should know about as your uncle James? Any mean kids I have to come and beat up?"

Willow bit her lip as the sauce was poured into the pan, wondering whether or not this was a good idea. "It's very runny like this," she murmured, looking down into the pan, before stepping back and agreeing to let it boil. Perhaps it would thicken after it had been cooking for a while. Perhaps she should start buying some cooking books.

She went bright red as James asked her about secret loves, feeling her heart begin to speed up. "N-no secret loves!" Willow said quickly, shaking her head. Not other than him. "I-I don't think I know any mean people. I-I tend to stay at home," her eyes lit up slightly as she continued to talk. "William bought me some new books the other day. How are you?" she asked quietly.

As Willow went bright red when James asked about secret loves, and then told him that there weren't any, James had the slight feeling that she was lying. He poked the younger girl in the stomach. "Don't lie to Uncle James Willow, it's not very polite," he scolded her jokingly, poking her again. "Tell me, who is this secret guy who charmed his way to your lovely heart?"

"Ahh, at home. Nice and calm, though I wouldn't call your house quite calm. Can't really say the perks in staying there, but if you like it, who am I to judge?" he continued, quickly looking at the pasta, it wasn't looking any better than a few moments ago. He decided it was time to stir and got out his wand to do just that. It was not helping it look better. It probably just needed to cook more.

"I'm quite fine, enjoying life as an adult. Though being a kid was so much more fun," he said with a sigh.

Willow covered her stomach, a smile taking over her face, cheeks still red as he poked her stomach, shaking her head furiously despite her smile. She hated being ticklish. "There's no secret guy!" she insisted. "I'd never lie to Uncle James!"

"My room is calm," she murmured, thinking of their house. "And the garden is big, so outside is nice. It's usually during the day that it's calm," Willow smiled fondly. "And when I have Freddie to keep me company, I don't really notice other things. I want to get another frog, but I don't know if I'll be allowed."

She shifted awkwardly. "I always thought being an adult would be fun. Because then you wouldn't have to put up with parents and rules. You could play all the games you wanted."

"Okay, okay, I guess I will trust you then," he told Willow, still chuckling. He didn´t really want to know either, and he imagined that she didn´t want to tell him. He decided to drop the subject, if she would want to tell him she would.

"Outside is nice. I used to have this huge garden at my parents house, I loved it there. Especially the small forest they owned. I knew it by heart. I could spend ages there. If I wasn´t inside, that was where mum would find me," he said with a grin. "And I think your family would be delighted to buy you another frog, I´m sure you´d take great care of it!" he added, still grinning.

"Don´t get me wrong, being an adult is fun. I love my job and my freedom and all. But being a child was amazing, you better enjoy it while you can," he told her, running his hand through his hair as he shot another look at the pan. His eyes went wide and he started cursing. "Fuck I don´t think we did it right!" he groaned, the inside of the pan now black and still smelling horrible.

"How about take-out?" he asked Willow with a sheepish smile.

Willow couldn't help but be thrilled that James understood her love for being in the garden. Having a small forest sounded even better, the adventures she could have in a forest would be magnificent. She could imagine them now.

"I do take good care of Fred," she murmured with a small smile. "If you think I could get another one, I think I will. Then Freddie will have a friend when I'm not there to keep him company."

She bit back a giggle as James swore, trying to hold back a comment about it being a bad word. She did hear them often enough around the house. Willow turned her attention to the insides of the pan, face falling as she looked into it. It couldn't be helped really.

She grinned up at James as he suggested take-out. "I like pizza," she suggested.

"You know what? I'll buy it for you. See it as a present for all those times I messed up dinner while you were here!" James told her with a grin, remembering the only time he actually did this was today, but that wasn't important. He had money, and how expensive could a frog even be?

"We could go pick one tomorrow," he grinned. "Only if you want, of course," he continued.

James realized he just swore and grinned at Willow sheepishly. "Don't tell your sister I swear in your company, she'll kill me," he told her, touching his hand to the back of his neck.

He took out his wand and a piece of paper. "Pizza it is," he asked the girl which she wanted, and then wrote down the two pizzas on the paper before adding his address and putting the amount of galleons they'd need on the top, he materialized it to where it had to go, and a few moments later, two pizzas were sitting on his kitchen table.

"You have to love take-out," he told Willow with a grin.