Severus spent most of the day before and all of the morning before lunch preparing his contribution. The cake had been the most difficult to manage, he had messed up the batter twice and then burnt the next two attempts. He just did not seem able to manage the timing, his brain did not seem to work as it did usually. He got sidetracked easily and simply forgot vital steps or ingredients, he even forgot the cake was in the oven once and he was so tired that after putting the fourth attempt into the oven he fell asleep in the sitting room leaving the cake to burn again.