Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling et al. Any character or location you recognise is the property of these individuals and corporations. No money is being made from the writing of this story.
This piece is a slice of life, written for the August challenge on The Maple Bookshelf. The prompt was 'rain' and bonus points were given for including the breaking of a dish.
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A Rainy Afternoon
If there was one thing Hermione hated, it was being cooped up in the house with four children on a rainy afternoon. Usually she had to resort to bribes to tear the children away from their games and books and toys and get them into the great outdoors, but the second a drop of rain fell in the yard it was as though their world had come to an end. All they wanted to do was go outside.
"MU-UM! Cassie won't leave me alone!"
"My-mee, make Hugo put my book back!"
"Mummy, Scoppy naughty and took my dolly!"
"Mum, please, please, please may I try to brew a boil cure? It's a first year potion; I should go to Hogwarts prepared!"
Hermione rubbed her temples and groaned quietly. "Hugo, Scorpius, perhaps the two of you could play your model Quidditch game. Bring it out and set it up in your room, Scorpius, and I'll Charm the figures so you can play." Scorpius bolted from the room, cheering. Hugo quickly made to follow his step-brother but stopped and turned back to his mother. Before the words could even form on his lips, Hermione raised a hand and said, "I will keep Cassie occupied so she won't bother you." Hugo then ran from the room cheering as Scorpius had.
Hermione hoisted her three year old daughter, Cassiopeia onto her hip to stop her from following her brothers. Cassie immediately picked up the gold pendant that hung from Hermione's neck and began to examine it quietly. Hermione took the opportunity to address her oldest daughter. "Rose, you know the rules—no brewing potions unless both Draco and I are home so one of us can supervise you without the others distracting us."
Rose's face immediately sported a petulant look. "Dad lets me brew things on my own all the time!" she said sullenly. Her grumpy attitude took an about face at the thunderous expression that dawned on her mother's face. She watched fearfully as the older witch visibly brought her anger under control, only relaxing herself when Hermione closed her eyes and calmed herself.
"Rose, you know several things that are wrong right now and I believe you know the reasons why. Will you list them for me please?" Hermione asked. She had learned that her children responded better when she treated them as mature little people rather than just ranting at them as her ex-husband's family was wont to do with their children. If they were encouraged to participate in the lecture they were more likely to retain the lesson rather than just stand there and tune out the sound of her shouting.
Rose's shoulders slumped slightly. "There are different rules here than at Dad's," she began dejectedly. "Even though Dad lets me do something that you don't, I should exercise common sense, and I know that you and Draco both have to be home before I can brew a potion so you can supervise me properly and make sure I don't make a mistake."
"Thank you, Rose. That is all correct and I am glad you remembered without any prompting. Is the reason you came home from your father's with a singed blouse last week because you were brewing alone?" Hermione asked. She made a little kissy face to Cassie to distract the fidgety toddler.
"Yes, Mum," Rose confessed. "I made a mistake in the Forgetfulness Potion and it caught fire."
Hermione shook her head reproachfully. "I am very disappointed in you, Rose." The tears that immediately spilled down Rose's cheeks almost destroyed Hermione's resolve. She knew that Rose hated more than anything to disappoint any of the adults in her life. "Perhaps while you wait for Draco's return you should consult Magical Draughts and Potions and prepare an essay for me about what it was you did wrong and what you should do next time to prevent a problem."
"Okay, Mum," Rose sniffed. She threw her arms around Hermione's waist and squeezed tightly. "I'm sorry."
"You are forgiven," Hermione assured her, patting her back gently. "Go and get the book from the library and work quietly in your room. Perhaps once this rain lets up we can all take a walk over to the Manor and visit with Grandmother and Grandfather, all right?" She knew her children were suffering from cabin fever. The fifteen minute walk from the Heir's House to the Manor would do them a world of good—if this damned rain ever stopped!
Rose nodded and wiped her sleeve over her eyes and nose. Cassie scowled at her older sister's action. "Yucky! Use tissue, Wosie!" she said bossily. A box of tissues sailed from their place on the side table, knocking a glass off the counter onto the floor as it did so. Hermione and Rose stared in astonishment as the box landed gently in the younger witch's hand. Cassie clapped her hands and squealed happily now that her sister had tissues to wipe her face with.
"Cassie, you did magic!" Hermione said happily, hugging her youngest daughter tightly.
Rose overcame her upset to join in the hug with her mother and sister. "It's so exciting! Just like when she took her first steps!" she gushed.
"MY-MEE! WE'RE READY!" a yell echoed down the stairs from Scorpius' bedroom. Scorpius and Rose had both been four when Hermione started seeing Draco. The little wizard had had such trouble trying to get his tongue around her difficult name and 'My-mee' had just ended up sticking.
"Go and get that book and keep your sister occupied for the few minutes it will take me to sort out the boys," Hermione said as she put Cassie down on the floor. Rose immediately took the toddler's hand and the two girls walked out of the kitchen toward the large library. Hermione jogged up the stairs to the second floor and entered her step-son's bedroom. Scorpius and Hugo looked up expectantly when she entered the room. The model Quidditch game was a realistic representation of a match. The players would make their moves at the instruction of the witch or wizard playing. Due to the small pieces and the undetermined length of a potential match, it was not a game that was brought out often. It also required an adult witch or wizard to Charm the pieces to interact with their little Master or Mistress. Hermione spent ten minutes getting the game set up for the boys to play. At least she knew these two would now be occupied for a couple of hours. She dropped kisses on the boys' heads, playfully wrestling with them when they tried to dodge her and raining kisses all over their faces when she pinned them.
From Scorpius' room, Hermione crossed the large landing to Rose's room. She could hear her oldest daughter's voice as she read aloud to her baby sister. The story of Babbity Rabbity wafted out into the hallway. Opening the door quietly, Hermione was greeted with a sight she was sure would never fail to melt her heart. The two girls were squashed into a pink beanbag on the floor. Cassie was curled into her sister's side and was avidly following the story along with the pictures as Rose read. Hermione stepped into the room.
"I can keep reading to Cassie if you like, Mum," Rose offered. "When she gets bored I'll call you and then I'll start on my essay."
Hermione smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Rose. That is very sweet of you to help me out like that," she said. Even though Rose would occasionally have moments that reminded them she was actually still a nine year old girl, she usually was a lot more mature and level-headed than her age would suggest. The cantankerousness of her brothers and sister earlier had probably contributed to her few moments of petulance. Hermione bent and dropped kisses to the tops of her girls' heads just as she had done to the boys earlier although the girls accepted them without fighting, even returning their mother's kisses before she left the room.
When Hermione re-entered the kitchen it was to find her husband casting Reparo on the broken glass. His face lit up with a smile when he noticed her standing there.
"Do I want to know?" he asked with a grin, gesturing to the once-again-whole glass in his hand. Hermione came forward and gave Draco a welcoming kiss.
"Your children have been complete bears today," she said reproachfully.
"Just my actual two or all four of them?" Draco asked. Scorpius and Cassie were of course Draco's children, Scorpius from his first marriage and Cassie from his union with Hermione. Rose and Hugo were Hermione's children from her ill-fated marriage to Ron Weasley. Draco did think of Hermione's oldest two as his as well, much to the chagrin of the entire Weasley family. They were angry enough with Hermione for daring first to date, then to marry the Malfoy heir, their families having been at odds for several generations. To then have Draco publicly acknowledge Hermione's children as though they were his own just added to their aggravation. It did not help that Ron's latest wife (he had had two since his divorce with Hermione) refused to have anything to do with Rose and Hugo other than the bare minimum.
"All four," Hermione clarified. She knew exactly what Draco's raised eyebrows were questioning. "Yes, even Rose. She is reading to Cassie right now but she has an essay to write. It appears she set fire to a potion at Ron's last week."
Draco frowned at this news. "She knows better than that," he commented. "Do I want to know how the glass got broken?" He was suddenly having visions of dishes being thrown around the kitchen. The excited, happy grin that broke over Hermione's face was wholly unexpected.
"Draco, our baby did magic!" she exclaimed.
Draco dropped the glass he had still been holding, the shattering causing him to jump while Hermione laughed at the equal disbelief and excitement now resting on her husband's countenance. "Magic?" he asked. "What did she do?" he asked when she nodded. Hermione quickly repaired the glass again before recounting the earlier scene. "I am so annoyed that I missed that!" Draco lamented.
"You were the only one who heard her first word," Hermione reminded him. It was indicative at the time how much they were shouting at Scorpius that Cassie's first word was 'Coppy'. Scorpius had only come to live with them permanently when Cassie was eleven months old and he had found it difficult to settle in with the roles and rules already established in the household. Now of course he was as much an integral member of the Heir's House as anyone but those early days had been a never-ending trial of Scorpius testing boundaries and pushing his father and step-mother to the brink.
"I guess that makes us even then," Draco conceded. He gathered his wife into his arms and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. "We do have the smartest, most able children in the Wizarding World, don't we?" he asked smugly.
"We absolutely do," the doting mother agreed. Rose was already showing prodigious abilities similar to her mother. Hugo could fly rings around anyone on a Quidditch pitch, even his Aunty Ginny who used to play professional Quidditch. Until recently Scorpius had shown more all-round abilities, but his tutors had discovered a hidden talent the young wizard had in Arithmancy. Hermione had asked the tutors to introduce the elective subjects to Rose and Scorpius so they could make considered decisions at Hogwarts when the time came. Scorpius took to Arithmancy in such a way that he had, after only a year, completed up to the fourth year work in the subject and was now being specially tutored once a week by Professor Vector at Hogwarts. She was confident he would be able to sit his OWL in the subject by the end of the next year and she would develop a personal programme for him when he began at Hogwarts.
A pitter-patter of tiny feet could be heard on the wooden floorboards above. Simultaneous shouts of, "CASSIE!" from the boys had Hermione and Draco running for the stairs. Hermione reached the room first and scooped her crying toddler into her arms. She soothed the hiccupping child who was trying to tell her that, 'Scoppy and Hugo naughty yelling.' Hermione carried her back outside after nodding to Draco who had joined the boys on the floor to try and salvage the game that Cassie had thrown herself joyously into the middle of.
"Is Draco home?" Rose asked excitedly from her doorway.
"Yes he is, and?" Hermione asked pointedly.
Rose dejectedly turned around and headed back into her room. "I'll do my essay now." She suddenly stopped and faced her mother with an apologetic grimace. "Sorry about Cassie, she wanted to go down to you so I let her go."
"It's alright," Hermione assured her. "I should have closed the door earlier; she probably saw them playing and got distracted. I'll be in Cassie's room with her if you need me." Rose nodded and closed her door, presumably to start on her punishment essay. "How about a tea party, Princess Cassiopeia?" she asked, tickling her daughter's tummy.
"Oh yes, Mummy. We bring Grandfather?" she asked. Hermione gave a resigned sigh. Cassie had her grandfather wrapped tightly around her little finger. Surprisingly Lucius Malfoy had been quite welcoming toward the Muggleborn when she began to date his son. Her children were a delightful bonus; he had been rather put out with his son's ex-wife when she refused to have more children. Narcissa Malfoy had taken a little longer to warm to Hermione—Draco's first wife had turned out to be a gold-digging hussy and Narcissa was wary of another woman treating her precious baby the same way. Lucius had the advantage of knowing Hermione through her work in the Ministry and once Narcissa saw that the brunette witch was nothing like her former daughter-in-law she too welcomed Hermione and her children into the family. The birth of a long-desired girl just cemented her position in their hearts.
Hermione drew her wand and shot her Patronus out of it. The silver dragon took Hermione's message and sped off through the ceiling much to Cassie's delight. "Again, again!" she demanded. Hermione laughed and produced another Patronus, guiding it with her wand to playfully interact with the toddler. It was into this scene that the aristocratic figure of Lucius Malfoy appeared. "GRANDFATHER!" Cassie yelled joyously. "We have tea party, you come!" she said, pulling him into her bedroom.
At Cassie's shout, two doors flung open on the landing and three small bodies barrelled out and threw themselves at their Grandfather.
"Grandfather, come and play model Quidditch with us!"
"You and me against Dad and Hugo!"
"No, I need help with my essay and Grandfather knows so much about potions!"
"No, Grandfather having tea party with me and Mummy!"
Hermione and Draco shared equally amused and exasperated looks at the behaviour of their children. Hermione took some pleasure in seeing her normally unflappable father-in-law rather torn between which of his squabbling grandchildren he should give attention to.
"ENOUGH!" Hermione shouted over the din. "Cassie is the one who suggested that Grandfather be invited so he will attend her tea party. I am sure she will have no objections to anyone else who wishes to join in." The two boys quitted the room as though it were on fire. Rose hovered, unsure if her punishment would stand or if she could sit down with her grandfather as well. Hermione gently told her, "I did not set a time limit on your essay, Rose. You will not brew anything until it is finished but if you wish to do something else, you may." Rose's face lit up and she eagerly headed to the small table and took a seat. Draco finally greeted his father before indicating he would head back in with the boys.
"So, has it been as rambunctious as this all day?" Lucius asked Hermione as he seated himself in the chair his granddaughter had indicated he should take. Hermione thought it showed how far Lucius Malfoy had mellowed since being freed from the service of Lord Voldemort and been exposed to the delights of a true family that he happily sat a doll on one knee and a stuffed pelican on the other as per Cassie's directive.
Clutching a plush unicorn on her own knee, Hermione replied, "Only since the rain started." Lucius could tell the smile on her face was forced, although there was still a sparkle in her eye that showed she had not completely lost patience with her brood yet. He smiled as he watched Rose help Cassie pour 'tea' into the delicate china cups on the table. Hermione winked and performed a switching spell on the water in his cup with the real tea sitting in a teapot in the kitchen under a warming charm. She summoned a plate of biscuits from the kitchen also, huffing good-naturedly as three voices shouted, "Thanks" from the hallway. The snacks had obviously been commandeered on their way past Scorpius's room.
"Cassie, you should tell Grandfather what you did today," Hermione prompted her.
"Wosie wead Babbibbity Wabbit to me and Scoppy take my dolly and Daddy make bweakfast," Cassie listed.
"It sounds like you have had a very productive day, Princess," Lucius said gravely.
"And she did magic!" Rose informed him excitedly.
Lucius whipped his head around to Hermione for confirmation. "A summoning spell," Hermione said with a proud smile.
Lucius nodded, trying to contain the joy that was threatening to break out of him. Three was a very young age to begin to show signs of magic—five and upwards was considered the norm. Indeed he, Narcissa, Draco and Scorpius had all shown their first signs more toward the age of six. A sudden thought occurred to him.
"Hermione, do you know how old you were when you first showed magic?" he asked.
"Mum said I had just turned two. She was trying to wean me from the bottle but I was very stubborn. For about a week she would put me to sleep with a sippy cup but would wake to me sucking on a bottle, no cup in sight. Once she had convinced me that 'big girls' drink from cups, the bottles didn't make another appearance. It was only after we discovered I was a witch that my mother finally believed my father wasn't putting bottles in my cot at night for me," she finished with a giggle.
"Switching spell do you think then?" Lucius asked through his own laughter.
Hermione shook her head. "Transfiguration. When I started working in the Ministry I found out that the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes records every incident of underage magic. I went and looked it up—I was transfiguring the cups into bottles."
Lucius stared at her agog. Why in the world had anyone ever thought that Muggleborns were inferior? Transfiguration at age two was unheard of! It begged another question. "What about Rose and Hugo? When did they show their first signs of magic?"
"Age three as well. Rose summoned a book that Ron had put on a shelf away from her because it was time for sleep and Hugo switched the mashed peas that Molly was trying to feed him for a dish of pureed apple that was supposed to be for his dessert. Cassie is the first of my children that I have seen do their first piece of magic."
"I wonder if it's anything to do with your heritage," Lucius mused. "It is interesting that as purebloods we all did our first magic when we were children rather than as toddlers as you and your children have done."
"It's something to look into perhaps," Hermione said cautiously. She indicated with her eyes toward Rose who was listening avidly to their conversation. Lucius abruptly cleared his throat and changed the subject, asking Rose what her potions essay was about and remonstrating with her when he discovered the reason she had to write it.
After drinking his tea, Lucius stopped in briefly to play with the boys before taking his leave entirely. Almost the moment he had left, the rain finally stopped and the sun peeked through the clouds. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Draco squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "I'll go outside and dry a section of the garden for them to play in," he offered. Hermione leaned into him in thanks and smiled when he placed a tender kiss on her temple.
"Come on, everyone into their wet weather gear," she called, clapping her hands to get them moving.
"Mu-um, do we have to?"
"I have to write that essay!"
"My-mee, can't I read for a while? I'm tired out from that Quidditch game!"
"Mummy, I don't want to get wet!"
Hermione stared at the four whining children in astonishment. 'Yes, these are the same four children that were willing to play in the rain five hours ago,' she thought. She rubbed her temples and groaned quietly. "If you go outside and play for an hour I promise there will be Chocolate Frogs for dessert tonight," she said wearily. They all looked at each other in excitement. The older three were avid collectors of the cards found inside the Chocolate Frogs and Cassie liked watching the animated sweets hop around the table before she would pounce on one and eat it. Rose, Scorpius and Hugo immediately disappeared into their bedrooms, emerging a short time later in rain slickers and wellington boots and thundering down the stairs and out the French doors in the sitting room. Hermione took Cassie into her room and dressed her, all the while listening to her baby babble about the butterflies she was going to catch and the ladybugs she wanted see.
It was just another day in the Malfoy-Weasley household.
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