Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Help by The Beatles.
Dedication: I dedicate this chapter to Blue-Eyed Chica 'cause she was the first to review the last chapter. Someone try to beat her to it this time, lol.
Chapter Three
Help
'Help, I need somebody, help, not just anybody, help, you know I need someone, help'
"Do you want to watch Teletubbies?" Cora-Lynn asked when she felt the silence between her and Draco had lasted long enough.
He looked at her bewildered "I don't know what that means." he admitted reluctantly. Cora-Lynn's eyes widened "You don't watch enough television." She declared and headed for the TV in the living room.
"You're probably right." Draco muttered under his breath to himself before calling out to Cora-Lynn "I'll be right there, don't hurt yourself for a while, okay?"
"Duh, I'm not stupid!" she called back.
Hurrying into the kitchen Draco found Oreo in his cage as promised. He looked in the drawers beneath the counter where the owl sat and found parchment and a quill. Hermione was practical, as he had expected.
He quickly scrawled, "I need your help, it's an emergency!" and added Hermione's address before sending the bird away.
Taking a deep breath and promising to never ever again get him into a situation like this Draco headed to living room, but as soon as he found Cora-Lynn in there absorbed with watching Teletubbies, he stopped dead in his track.
Slowly he drew his wand and lunged for the couch to grab Cora-Lynn and dive behind it while shooting a Confringo spell at the TV, effectively breaking it into pieces.
"And mummy was worried about me using your wand." Cora-Lynn said in complete and utter disbelief as Draco still hunched over her, supposedly protecting her from the Teletubbies.
Before he could explain to her that he had been saving her from the monsters in the box, they heard knocks on the front door.
Draco slowly got up "Stay here and hide under the couch, it's probably that big purple bastard that's come back to make a fight of it." he warned Cora-Lynn before inching closer to the door with his wand raised and ready. To his surprise, he heard Cora-Lynn giggle; she thought they were playing a game now.
As soon as he had opened the door Draco yelled "Expelliarmus!" and then heard Blaise Zabini cry out in pain.
Draco had written Blaise to come help him entertain Cora-Lynn. He was clutching the right side of his face right now and howling in pain.
"What happened?" Draco asked, he had only disarmed him.
"I got my fucking wand in my fucking eye!" Blaise exclaimed in exasperation and gave Draco a gruesome stare when he shushed him before hurrying him inside the house.
Once inside Blaise looked around in the living room, careful not to step in the glass from the broken TV, "Who did this?" he asked, wondering what sort of trouble Draco had gotten himself into now.
"I did." Draco sheepishly admitted fidgeting with his shirtsleeve.
Blaise looked confused "So you rushed me over here to protect you from you?" he asked and Draco's eyes widened as he remembered.
"Cora-Lynn, you can come out now." He said and bent down to look under the couch.
She crawled out and looked at him again with her hands on her hips "Good, 'cause this was not a fun game."
Leaning towards him Blaise whispered to Draco "Why was there a midget under the couch?"
Cora-Lynn changed her stern look to Blaise instead of Draco and stomped her foot effectively "Excuse me Sir, but I am no midget." she informed him and Draco hid a snicker behind the back of his hand.
"This is Granger's daughter, Cora-Lynn," Draco began the introductions and pointed at Blaise "and this is my friend Blaise Zambini." Cora-Lynn repeated the curtsy she'd given Draco earlier, but then asked in all sincerity and with wide, innocent eyes "Are you the big, purple bastard then?"
Making a face Blaise shot another death glare at Draco who couldn't hold his laughter back any longer "He may not be purple, but you got the bastard part right."
While Draco ducked out of harms way from Blaise's wand, Cora-Lynn asked in wonderment "What is a bastard anyway?"
"A fatherless kid." Blaise said coolly, not noticing that Cora-Lynn suddenly stopped talking and stood very still with tears filling her piercing blue eyes.
Draco stared at her in panic. He wasn't sure he was ready to handle any crying. Giving Blaise a punch in the arm, he got down on his knees in front of Cora-Lynn "What's wrong Cora-Lynn?"
She opened her mouth to explain, but was overcome by tears and sobbed loudly instead. Draco awkwardly patted her hair until she calmed down enough to speak with hitching breath "That means I'm a bastard." She finally got out, but then started crying harder.
Draco immediately stood up straight "See what you did!" he hissed at Blaise. What to do, what to do? He couldn't exactly call Hermione home about this emergency.
Blaise at least had the tact to look ashamed of himself "Look, kid I didn't mean it, right? It was a joke." he tried and Cora-Lynn was so busy trying to figure out if he really was joking or not that, she forgot to cry anymore. Draco was silently thanking Merlin and anyone else he could think of.
When her bottom lip started twitching again though Blaise rushed into the kitchen "Don't worry I can fix this." he started opening the fridge as well as various cupboards and drawers.
Forgetting his audience Draco asked, "What do you think he is going to do?" Cora-Lynn shrugged her shoulders.
"Why is everything sugar free?" they heard Blaise exclaim in annoyance as several suspicious sounds came streaming from the kitchen. Putting his hand on her shoulder, Draco warily guided Cora-Lynn to the other room.
Blaise was just opening one last cupboard and pulled out a yellow can "Aha, bingo!" he said in joy and turned to Cora-Lynn "Do you want some hot chocolate?"
Draco interjected "She's only allowed hot chocolate if she's got a sore throat."
"Who are you, her manny?"
"Yes actually, though I must object to the word 'manny'."
Cora-Lynn interrupted the two with a loud, fake cough and said in a weak voice "My throat is so sore." to Blaise eyeing the hot chocolate.
He leaned forward to face her and asked, "Do I have 'stupid' written on my forehead?"
Without missing a beat, Cora-Lynn told him in all honesty "I don't know, I can't read."
Blaise stood back up and put the chocolate powder away "Why are we babysitting Granger's kid again? When did she even have a kid?"
"My birthday is February 24th, 1999!" Cora-Lynn helpfully informed him while standing on the very tip of her toes to try to reach the chocolate powder. Blaise pushed it further back on the counter "Congratulations." he said dryly, while looking at Draco clearly expecting an answer.
Draco mimed "I'll tell you later." then said aloud "Cora-Lynn, why don't you go take that bath now. And when you come back down we can eat dinner."
He wasn't sure if there was any usual procedure she usually followed.
Back flat on her feet Cora-Lynn shook her head "Mr. Malfoy I can't bathe myself, you have to help." Blaise chuckled and wished Draco luck.
Cora-Lynn showed Draco the way to the bathroom upstairs and told him to fill the tub while she went to get something. She was gone for so long that he had time to fill the tub and the check the temperature of the bathwater with his wand three times.
Finally, he ventured out on the first floor on his own to find the girl.
Luckily, the first door he tried led into the four year olds bedroom. And Draco definitely felt like he'd entered Land of the Four Year Olds. The walls were a soft yellow; her bed linen was pink as well as multiple other objects in the room if they weren't yellow or purple.
There where pictures of princesses and other fairytale theme scenery around the room, and an impossible amount of stuffed animals and dolls. He nearly stepped on a large pile of toys, but evaded at the last moment and almost sprained his ankle trying to sidestep it.
Cora-Lynn was systematically adding stuff to the pile. He asked her why.
"I'm bringing them to my bath." She said in her 'Duh' tone, which he was getting used to by now.
At that moment, deeply hidden parenting skills took over Draco and he sternly told her she wasn't allowed to bring all of those toys to the bathtub. There wouldn't be any space left for her. When she loudly protested he stood his ground and told her to pick out three things.
She picked a classic yellow rubber duck, a blonde doll and a small plastic zebra.
Inside the bathroom, Cora-Lynn was beyond delighted to see all the bubbles Draco had conjured for her. He was asked to turn his back to her as she undressed and wasn't allowed to turn around, or peak!, before she was hidden beneath the bubbles. Draco happily obliged and didn't turn around until specifically asked.
He saw a small wooden stool, painted yellow with pink flowers on it and Cora-Lynn got a kick out of watching him sit uncomfortably on it as he stayed to make sure she didn't drown in the tub.
After he had let her play for a while he helped her scrub her hands clean from the paint she had used in the day-care and, with his back turned, handed her her hooded towel that she wrapped herself in.
"What now?" he asked uncertainly and Cora-Lynn rolled her eyes. He made a mental note to remind her that it wasn't very ladylike.
"Now you go and put my nightgown out for me on my bed while I dry." She said it slowly as if he was stupid and Draco muttered things to himself under his breath that it was lucky her child ears didn't pick up on.
In her bedroom, he opened her closet doors and saw that on the inside they were covered with loads of moving pictures and other memorabilia as well as several lines that clearly showed how much Cora-Lynn had grown.
One picture in particular caught his interest and Draco tucked it off and held it up to look closer at it. It was obviously Hermione in a wizarding hospital right after she'd given birth. Cora-Lynn was so tiny in her arms. He found himself thinking in amazement that only four years later that tiny baby was its own little person.
Making sure to put it back exactly where he'd taken it from, otherwise he was certain Cora-Lynn would know, Draco found a nightgown, underwear and socks and laid it out on the bed like he had been instructed to, before heading back down to the kitchen.
"What did you do?" Draco actually shrieked at Blaise as he saw the state of the room. Everything edible had somehow gotten on the kitchen. Blaise was stirring in a pot and seemed oblivious to the mess around him.
"How did you this?" desperate for an answer Draco took the ladle out of Blaise's hand.
"I thought it was obvious," Blaise stole the ladle back "you mentioned something about dinner so I thought I'd help out and make some."
Draco didn't recognize one thing in the pot "Right, and what do I tell Granger when you've killed her kid with this?"
"I'll buy her a new one?"
Draco slapped his forehead.
"Speaking of Granger, what's the deal with her having this kid? Whose it is, 'cause she doesn't look like a Weasley?"
Feeling a little like he was betraying Hermione's trust, he began explaining what he knew, which actually wasn't much. They were both silent for a while, when Blaise's concoction started to boil.
"There's something fishy about this." Blaise mysteriously wondered aloud.
Draco sniffed at the 'dinner' "No, if it smelled like fish it would actually be welcomed." He said seriously, now plugging his nose. As Blaise started speaking, Draco found the Shepherd's Pie and began heating it with his wand.
"No, I meant this situation. Think about it, how did a single mother managed to buy this house? She makes less than you." When Draco had taken the assistant job, Blaise had eventually made CEO of the Malfoy Cooperation Group so he knew something or other about Draco's financial situation.
He dropped the pot in the sink as he realized it was a lost cause and began setting the table instead.
"I was wondering about that myself." Draco admitted as he put the food on the table and filled a pitcher with water.
"Daddy bought it for us." A small voice suddenly piped in and announced Cora-Lynn's presence in the room. She walked over to the table, apparently not noticing the mess around her, and straight to the chair Blaise was occupying "You're in my seat." She told him, clearly expecting him to move.
"Am not." Blaise objected.
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!" Cora-Lynn pointed at the pillow Blaise was sitting on "It's my seat 'cause when I sit on the pillow I can reach."
Reluctantly Blaise got up and sat on the other side of the table. Draco sat down the pitcher after pouring a glass of water for each of them and sat at the end of the table, between the two.
He picked up the subject from before "What do you mean 'daddy bought it'?" he asked Cora-Lynn, making sure to keep his voice light and indifferent.
"Mummy said daddy could buy it 'cause he's famous." Cora-Lynn casually said, while eating her dinner. Blaise and Draco exchanged looks but neither said anything though Draco could tell that Blaise was anxious to ask Cora-Lynn who it was.
Draco knew there had to be a reason Hermione hadn't told him yet though, and from her earlier outburst he knew that Cora-Lynn didn't even know herself anyhow. He was surprised Hermione had let whoever the bloke was buy her a house though.
They finished the meal in somewhat compatible silence until Blaise got up and announced that he had to leave because he had a hot date.
Cora-Lynn asked what that meant and Draco shoved Blaise out of the door quickly.
"Well young lady, I'm guessing you should go brush your teeth while I find a story for you read, right?" Draco ventured his guess, which awarded him with another one of Cora-Lynn's radiant smiles and hen felt it tug at his heart a little.
Hermione had said only one goodnight story so they debated for a long while back and forth about which one it should be, when Cora-Lynn insisted that The Complete Tales of Hans Christian Andersen counted as one book.
In the end, they agreed on Thumbelina and Draco began reading, but was quickly interrupted when Cora-Lynn said, "No, Mr. Malfoy you have to lie down on the bed too, that's what mummy always does."
"Alright, but then you have to call me Draco instead of Mr. Malfoy."
Cora-Lynn giggled, but agreed as Draco started over on Thumbelina.
When Hermione got back from the ball, the TV was still in bits and pieces on the floor and her kitchen was a huge mess. Assuming the worst Hermione kicked off her high-heeled shoes and ran upstairs before bolting into Cora-Lynn's room.
She let out the largest sigh of relief as she saw Draco fast asleep on Cora-Lynn's bed with a book lying open on his chest and several bows and clips of Cora-Lynn's in his blonde hair.
"Mummy, you're home!" Cora-Lynn whispered and hurried into her mother's open arms.
Hermione lifted her up and asked how the night has been and what had happened to the downstairs. Cora-Lynn began telling with great excitement as usual when she had something to explain, but midway Hermione stopped her and realized they were both too tired to make sense of it right now.
Deciding to let Draco stay, she removed the book and covered him with a pink blanket. She considered taking a picture, but Cora-Lynn tucked impatiently at her hand, elated that she got to sleep in Hermione's bed for the night.
A/N: So what do we think of the first babysitting session? If you review you get to have a story of your choice read to you by Draco.
X X X LolaCherryColaGirl
