Sweet Love (Queenie x Jacob)
It’s a little before dawn, but already there is the stirring of life in the kitchens of Kowalski bakery. The spacious kitchen smells of flour and jams and butter, and Jacob Kowalski is rolling out the dough whilst whistling a cheery tune, and a clear, sweet voice joins in. The moustached man quirks a smile at his bubbly wife, who is twisting and twirling dough into braids in the air, to be weaved into the crust of their famed apple strudel. Queenie Goldstein-Kowalski smiles brightly at her husband even as she sends the completed pastry to a rack filled with other baked goods to be sold once the bakery opens its doors. Business has been brisk lately, with more and more costumers flocking to the steadily growing bakery for a glimpse of the enchanting pastries Jacob makes, and she’s able to convince Jacob to buy a new suit in celebration.
They work quietly for several hours, the silence occasionally broken by tender words of “how are you doing honey” or “let me know if you’re getting tired, darlin’”. It’s a partnership in the best of sense, with Jacob working his magic to the mundane tasks of baking, turning plain dough into the enchanting silhouettes of magical creatures, while Queenie casts lilting spells that coax and nudge the plainest of pastries into gorgeous golden brown creations that taste of home. Queenie floats a freshly baked bear claw that is coated in melted sugar before Jacob, and his smile is wide as he takes a bite out of his wife’s creation, and she giggles girlishly at the patches of sugar left on Jacob’s trim moustache. The blonde watches as the portly man return to his work, brow furrowed in concentration as he pipes the cream into rows of cream puffs, and she thinks that this, surrounded by flour and laughter and stolen kisses in between, is her utopia. Jacob looks up to catch her bright eyes, brimming with love and affection, and he swears that he falls in love with his beautiful Queen all over again in that second. He blows a kiss to her, and white flour floats in the wake of his kiss, and Queenie thinks her No-Maj husband has his own magic.
Opening time is an hour away, and Queenie is helping Jacob with the remainder of the creature-shaped pastries, when she accidentally casts the wrong spell. Instead of turning the lovely golden brown of baked goods, the little Demiguise pastry seemingly comes to life, and turns its little head towards them. Queenie gasps while Jacob rubs his eyes, and the Demiguise returns to being a normal, inanimate, unbaked pastry. There’s a heartbeat of silence as the two stare at each other, and a grin grows on Queenie’s face as she catches tendrils of Jacob’s thoughts. “I know you’re thinking what I’m thinking, honey.” Jacob only nods wordlessly, and there’s a cheery beam on his face that she loves as he rolls his sleeves up higher. “Let’s get baking, darlin’.”
They don’t get the pastries animated that day, and people stream in and out of the shop the entire day, keeping the couple and their workers busy. Besides, Queenie doesn’t want Mr Graves to catch wind of her doing magic in front of the No-Majs; the Director may have mellowed somewhat since his rescue but rules are still rules. They close up the shop in the evening and lock themselves in their kitchen, ready to begin experimenting again. The hours roll by, and still they have little success. Queenie manages to get the pastries to move just a little, but the charms don’t stick, and the pastries go back to being just pastries. The night ends with a sigh, but a kiss on her cheek and sweet words of encouragement steel her resolve to give it a go again.
They have a breakthrough the next day, when Queenie is absent-mindedly twirling her wand and coming up with different charms whilst speaking to Jacob. She turns her head when Jacob fails to reply her, and she’s tickled to see his mouth open in a gape, pointing to the-. Oh. Oh. The Demiguise she’s experimenting on is walking. They wait with bated breath, and while the Demiguise does nothing but walk a short distance, turn and walk back, it doesn’t go back to being inanimate, and they’ve done it. Jacob whoops with glee and swings Queenie about, eliciting peals of laughter from her as she buries her head in the crook of his neck, inhaling his scent of flour and butter and cocoa and Jacob. He gently places her down, and pecks her nose, and she huffs because what kind of kiss is that honey? She kisses him on his lips, firm and gentle all at once, and he can taste strawberries and honey and ambrosia, and oh he can drown in her for all eternity.
Queenie marches up to Mr Graves’ office once she’s able to replicate the animating charm, and very politely, with a sweet smile on her pink lips, asks that she be given a permit to sell her enchanted pastries to the wizarding community. She sees his mouth open and catches the thought before it’s even voiced, and very resolutely says, “Yes Mr Graves, I want my Jacob involved as well. And I won’t take no for an answer, or you’ll not get those apple pies you love.” There’s an amused upturn to Percival’s lips, because really, Queenie is the one who needs his help. But he does love the Kowalskis’ apple pie, and he does have a soft spot for the blonde Legilimens, who treated him with nothing but kindness and warmth after his return to MACUSA. And so wordlessly, he signs off the form and, as a bit of a joke, hands Tina the form to process. The look on the older Goldstein’s face when she sees her baby sister wants to sell pastries that move is reason enough for Percival to get Queenie the license.
The permit is authorised and issued that very same day, and Percival personally hands it over to the couple when he visits their bakery later in the day. He’s somewhat bashful and red in the face when Queenie throws her arms around him and plants a wet kiss on his cheek, and though he recovers quickly with a gruff “you’re welcome”, there’s a soft twinkle in his eye when he tells Jacob to look after Queenie, because she’s a gem. He’s gone in a whirl of black, but the shop, and the Kowalskis’ hearts remain warm. “Hey Queen, take a look at this.” Jacob taps his wife on the shoulder as he opens the envelope that contains their permit, and Queenie’s blue eyes are wide as she reads the Director’s neat handwriting about their new shop just opposite to MACUSA, and that the rental and renovation works have been taken care of. There’s an extra large apple pie on Percival’s desk the next day, and his office smells like green apples for the rest of the day.
It’s hard work, maintaining two shops, but they make it work. Jacob and Queenie still make most of the pastries, although their more experienced employees at the first shop help lighten the load. They focus on their new shop now, which is glamoured so No-Majs only see an abandoned lot. The wizards and witches who frequent the bakery never cease to be enchanted by the charmingly moving creatures, who wave and walk and leap and even fly. Children often tug their parents by their hands to visit the bakery, and the couple take great pleasure in humouring their customers. Word spreads like wildfire, and each day, they close the bakery with racks and trays empty, save for crumbs. MACUSA employees are the most frequent customers, and it’s not an uncommon sight to see all these men and women in their trench coats and fedoras, munching on sugared Nifflers or Mooncalf buns with raisins for eyes. Newt, who is happily engaged to Tina, takes the opportunity to educate his fellow wizards and witches on the creatures these pastries are modelled after, and the children listen with rapt attention at the lanky man with wild gestures as he tells them about the ferocious Nundu who purrs like a kitten, or the gentle Mooncalves who stare at the moon with their eyes large as a brain*. Even Percival makes an appearance several times, along with Madame Picquery, and Queenie always saves the largest slice of apple pie for him, and a Demiguise pastry for her. It’s always interesting to see all the Aurors and their bosses casually feasting on buns and pastries whilst chatting and laughing. Whenever anyone has had a hard day, they go to the bakery where it’s warm and soft and there are kind words from the Kowalskis; it almost feels like home.
Over time, Queenie and Jacob begin to sell candies, as well as enchanted ones. Queenie somehow manages to enchant the candies to emit sound, and so there are bees that taste sour and buzz, and mice with whiskers that quiver and squeak and chitter. But the most popular treat they come up with, is a frog made of chocolate, that leaps away if you don’t grasp them tight. It’s become the darling of every wizarding child, and the horror of all parents because the chocolates do melt, and so a frog will hop away and disappear, but there will be a puddle of melted chocolate hiding in a corner somewhere. Long after the Kowalskis’ hair turn white, and their children have children, and so on and so forth, Chocolate Frogs, along with the Fizzing Whizbees and Ice Mice, remain a staple candy for the wizarding community, and an enterprising descendent of Jacob and Queenie comes up with the idea of trading cards that display famous witches and wizards, which would be included in each purple box of Chocolate Frog. And so, the first customer to buy the newly repackaged Chocolate Frog, opens the box to find a rare, limited edition card of Jacob Kowalski and Queenie Goldstein-Kowalski, founders of the Kowalski Bakery which is still open today in New York, on the street opposite the Woolworth Building.
