A/N: Edited 21/10/2018

*Sneaky edits in preparation for a new chapter*

xx-Kitten.


Better Dig Two

By Kittenshift17


Chapter 9: All for Believing


Hermione sighed as she entered the suite Malfoy had asked the elves to prepare for her. It was lavishly decorated in darker shades – the carpet a deep shade of forest green, the walls a dark charcoal and the wooden furnishing and trim around the fireplace a deep ebony. She found she preferred them to lighter colours, realising the room had been purposely coloured this way to make the enormous space feel less empty and less daunting.

"This will be your room, Granger," Malfoy told her as he showed her through. "And over here, through this door, is Etamin's room."

He led them across the room towards the door, opening it wide and leading them inside.

"This is for me?" Etamin asked, clearly excited.

His room was decorated in differing shades of blue and green. The carpet matched hers but the walls were a light shade of sky blue. Along one wall on the far side of the room was a mural of a forest filled with magical creatures that moved like any magical painting or photograph. Etamin gasped in surprise when a Centaur in the painting waved at him. He waved back at the painting enthusiastically.

"That's right, kid," Malfoy was saying to Etamin. "And my room is just across the hall from your Mum's door, alright? If you need anything or you want to see me, you can come right over, if you like."

Hermione glanced at him sharply to learn that his room would be directly across from hers. She hadn't signed up for that.

"I seem to recall being promised that if I agreed to move in here, I wouldn't have to see you all the time," she told him dryly when Etamin ran over to begin exploring the walk-in-robe and en-suite his room was equipped with.

"I did suggest that," he agreed, smirking at her. "But you haven't agreed to live here with any kind of permanence. Only to stay awhile. We can revisit the issue if you decide you're staying – which you really should," he informed her. "Until then, you need to be near me because otherwise you might get lost inside the Manor and I'd hate to have either of you wandering off somewhere you shouldn't. The Manor isn't the safest place in the world and there are sections where you or Etamin might get yourselves into some trouble."

"Mummy, can we stay forever?" Etamin shouted and Hermione looked over to see him climbing the drapes surrounding the four-post bed, pulling himself up them to swing from the curtain rail like a monkey.

"Etamin Antares Gra.. Malfoy, what do you think you're doing, swinging from those drapes? Get down this minute, before you break them!" Hermione scolded him, tripping over the change to his name when she sought to reprimand him by using his full name to indicate the amount of trouble he was in. She caught the smirk on Malfoy's face to hear her rounding on him and using his full legal name.

"But Mummy…." Etamin whined as he dropped back to the bed and landed smoothly on his feet.

"He won't break it," Malfoy muttered to her, too low for Etamin to hear. "Trust me Granger, he's not the first Malfoy son to swing from those drapes."

"It's impolite to climb all over someone else's furniture like that," she continued to reprimand Etamin, ignoring Draco for the moment. "Now, why don't you go into the bathroom there and begin pouring yourself a bath, so you can get ready for bed?"

"But I can't go to bed now, Mummy," Etamin protested, looking stricken by the very idea. "I have too much exploring to do."

"No exploring, buddy," Malfoy beat her to that rule, "This isn't like a normal house. Malfoy Manor is big and some of the rooms are unsafe for people to go into, at present. Promise me that you won't go anywhere in the Manor but this suite or mine across the hall unless I'm with you."

Etamin stared at him solemnly, clearly surprised to be being given rules by Draco and Hermione raised her eyebrows, waiting to see if Etamin would agree to the rule. He was usually very good at following rules, but he didn't know Draco very well just yet. Not that it had stopped him from crawling all over him downstairs like Malfoy was a jungle-gym.

"Will you take me exploring tomorrow?" Etamin asked rather than agreeing to the rule and Hermione watched Malfoy's eyes narrowed the tiniest bit, clearly picking up on the fact that he hadn't readily agreed but instead was bargaining to be given something in return for his agreement. Hermione couldn't tell if Malfoy was pleased that it made her son all the more Slytherin seeming and all the more like Draco himself or if he was bothered by the fact that his son clearly didn't fully respect his authority just yet.

Shifting just a little bit just before Malfoy could open his mouth – no doubt to agree to Etamin's suggestion – Hermione drew his attention to her. His grey eyes darted to her face and Hermione shook her head almost imperceptibly. If he agreed to Etamin's terms right out the gate like that Etamin would walk all over him. Malfoy narrowed his eyes further.

"If you go wandering off by yourself inside this house, you'll get lost," Malfoy told him instead. "You'll get yourself turned around in the attic or down in the dungeons and then we'll never find you. Do you want that? You would starve to death and no one would be able to hear you call for help or cry when you were lost. Or worse, one of the ghouls in the attic might try to eat you. And there's a nasty poltergeist currently contained with some very powerful spells in the dungeons. He'd pull your nose right off your little face. Do you want to risk being noseless like You-Know-Who for the rest of your days, Etamin?"

Etamin paled slightly at the idea.

"But if you show me…." he said slowly, clearly trying to rationalise why it would be best if Draco agreed to showing him where everything was and to the idea of taking him exploring rather than having to agree not to go off searching by himself.

"I will take you through the parts that I feel you need to know about in the coming days, should your mother decide you will both be staying that long. But if you wander off without me and get lost you might never see Mummy again," Malfoy insisted. "Do you understand me, Etamin? You are not to explore unless I am escorting you."

Etamin seemed to realise the situation was direr than any five-year-old ought to be able to recognise and he nodded his head.

"I'll stay here or with you, Father, I promise," he replied, lowering his gaze to look at his feet and looking contrite – or, as contrite as any five-year-old could while standing on top of his bed and still wearing his shoes.

"Good," Malfoy nodded. "And if you're a really good boy, I might take you flying tomorrow."

Hermione smirked when Etamin's head snapped back up, his eyes wide with excitement and happiness despite having been scolded. She could tell from the way Malfoy smiled in return at the kid that Malfoy had noted the way Etamin had called him Father instead of Daddy, clearly using the different term to recognise him as being an authority over Etamin. He also seemed to be unsure if that meant that the kid was liking him a bit less for being stern and so was trying to bribe him to make sure the kid would still like him. Hermione was going to have to talk to him or her son was going to end up a spoiled brat like Draco was himself.

"Really, Daddy? Do you promise?" Etamin cried, leaping off the bed and stumbling a bit on the landing before righting himself and running over to Malfoy, where he collided with Malfoy's legs. Hermione put her hand over her mouth to hide her silent laughter when Malfoy looked alarmed as the tot wrapped his arms around Draco's thighs and squeezed tightly, his chin propped against Draco's belt-buckle as he peered up at him hopefully.

"Only if you're good, Etamin," Draco told him, "Now, I believe your Mum told you to go run the bath and get ready to bathe?"

Etamin smirked at his father for a minute before he nodded once, released Malfoy and dashed into the bathroom. Hermione heard him fumbling with the plug and muttering about the taps before they squeaked as he managed to turn them on. With the sound of running water, Hermione turned to Draco slowly.

"Why did you tell me I couldn't take him exploring?" Malfoy asked, his brow furrowed slightly as he met her gaze.

"He was extorting you," Hermione replied, smirking at him, "You can never forget that he might be five, but he is a genius. If you'd agreed straight away – especially when he purposely didn't outright agree to your rule – he'd have walked all over you forever and we'd have all had to spend tomorrow searching for him when he got impatient waiting for you and broke the rule, running off and getting lost somewhere."

"He…" Malfoy began, frowning a little before he narrowed his eyes, glancing in the direction of the bathroom where a little boy's shirt suddenly appeared in a crumpled pile in the doorway. "Why, that little…."

"Indeed," Hermione agreed, "Never agree to his questions if you're trying to tell him to do something unless he gives you his agreement to the rule or the directive first, and don't bribe him to engender good behaviour. If you tell him to do something and he won't do it, incentivising him to do something will make him defy you every time until he gets something in return."

"Well, at least there's no doubt he's my son," Malfoy replied, running a hand through his blond hair and looking like he hadn't even thought of such things from the five-year-old.

"Yes, he can be alarmingly Slytherin at times," Hermione agreed. "Just… don't let him think he can extort you. It's fine to reward him once he's agreed to what you want or has done what he's told, but don't give him anything until he does it, alright?"

Malfoy nodded slowly.

"Right… I think I'm going to need a crash course on being a parent," he admitted honestly, glancing at her sideways, "I'm basically a child, myself. A spoiled one who gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants it, and doesn't let anyone tell him no."

"Want me to pull you into line, too?" Hermione grinned at him, surprised to hear him admit it.

"Just…" he looked away, clearly uncomfortable with whatever he was thinking. "I don't want to screw it up. Being a father. Don't let me screw it up, Granger."

Hermione nodded her head, smiling and feeling surprisingly pleased with him for his obvious concern over doing a good job as a Dad. It wasn't going to be an easy job for him and it was going to be the biggest learning curve he ever had. Especially given that he hadn't had much time to really get used to the idea.

"The best way to make sure you're doing a good job is to remember three things," Hermione told him honestly, "The first is that everything you do can and will be emulated by your child – so watch what you do and watch what you say. The second is that even though right now he's just a little boy, one day he will be a man. What kind of man he grows up to be depends entirely on you and me. Think of everything in terms of him being a little man. If you don't want him doing something as a grown man, do not let him get away with it as a boy. And the third thing to remember is that for all that he looks like you and acts like you – or like me, as the case may be – he's his own person and it's not up to you to squash that out of him. It's up to us to mould and shape the person he is and the person he will be into a law abiding, well-mannered gentleman. It is not up to us to tell him what he can like or can't like, nor to tell him that something that you don't like, or I don't like is what he should think, too."

"I need to write this down," Malfoy muttered, and Hermione raised her eyebrows when he went over to the small desk in Etamin's rooms – where a quill and parchment were set up and just waiting to be used. Hermione watched him as he scrawled down the things she'd told him.

"What else?" he asked her, glancing up at her seriously and Hermione realised how badly he wanted to be a good father when she saw the terrified expression on his face.

"The rest can be sorted out later," Hermione admitted, "There are lots of things to be being a parent, and you'd be surprised by how many of them are instinctual. But don't worry, if you're doing something wrong, you can rest assured I will pull you up on it."

He nodded, and Hermione caught the smirk on his face as he watched her for a moment.

"Mummy?" Etamin shouted from the bathroom. "I don't have my soap."

Hermione sighed heavily again before waving her wand towards Etamin's trunk – which had been brought into the room by the elves when Malfoy had told them to get the suite ready. The trunk tipped on its side and she summoned the soap and his other toiletries and bathroom toys from inside it.

"Blimey, Granger," Malfoy commented as he saw everything inside the trunk. "Did you bring everything?"

"Yes," she answered honestly, "Mine is even more cramped, I literally brought everything we own that I had at Ron's."

Her lip trembled as she realised what she'd just said. She'd called their house "Ron's". She was already thinking of it as though she no longer lived there and never would again. The house she'd shared with her husband for five years. The house where he'd shagged that little tramp.

Malfoy seemed to sense the shift in her mood and he watched her cautiously.

Hermione bit down hard on her bottom lip before taking hold of all the things for Etamin that he would need in the bath. She walked purposely towards the bathroom then, carrying them with her. She didn't get two steps before Malfoy caught her arm lightly.

"Are you alright, Granger?" he asked in a low voice, his concern forced but nonetheless there. Hermione's lip trembled harder at that.

"Not even a little bit," she breathed truthfully, her eyes filling with tears that she couldn't wipe away thanks to her full hands. Instead she shook Malfoy's hand off her elbow, wiping away the solitary tear that slipped free with the shoulder of her robes before she walked into the bathroom. She stopped in the doorway to look over her shoulder at Malfoy for a moment, realising that he looked a little bit lost – unsure of what he was meant to do but wanting to do something.

"Are you coming?" she asked quietly before continuing into the bathroom without waiting for his reply.

Etamin was sitting in the tub, his clothes strewn all over the bathroom floor and he was paddling his hands in the water and splashing about as he waited for her to bring his things.

"Here you go, sweetheart," she said as she knelt next to the bathtub and began laying out his things.

"Will you help me wash my hair, Mummy?" Etamin asked her innocently. "I don't want to get soap in my eyes again."

He'd been bathing unassisted for a few weeks now – old enough to know what to do but not always coordinated enough or to be trusted enough to do so entirely unsupervised. She usually just kept an eye on him these days, but last night when he'd been washing his hair he'd messed up and gotten shampoo in both of his eyes.

"Of course I will darling,' she told him, smiling as her heart squeezed inside her chest with love. Rolling up her sleeves, Hermione dipped her hands into the water before she reached for the pewter pouring jug she spotted at the end of the tub. Taking it up she poured the warm bath water carefully over Etamin's head to wet his partially dried hair. She lathered the shampoo in her hands and worked it into his white-blond hair, being careful not to let any slip into his eyes. While she did so, Etamin took up his scrubbing sponge and his soap and began to wash himself thoroughly.

"I don't recall ever being this cooperative at bath-time," Malfoy's voice came from the door.

Etamin looked over, surprised to see him leaning in the doorway.

"Didn't you like bath-time when you were a boy, Daddy?" Etamin asked him curiously.

"I hated it," Malfoy replied. "Mother used to have to use magic to restrain me to keep me in the tub. She'd have the elves trick me to lure me into the washroom in the first place and then she'd remove all the doorhandles, so I couldn't get out before she'd even begin trying to wrestle me out of my clothes."

"But why?" Etamin wanted to know.

"I don't know," Malfoy admitted. "I just hated it. Once I was in, I actually liked the warm water, I just never wanted to bathe. Probably because it meant I had to get ready for bed and wasn't allowed to play outside anymore that day."

"But you can still play in your pyjamas Daddy," Etamin told him matter-of-factly. "Mummy lets me read my books before bed. And sometimes she lets me draw – if I want."

"You don't mind bathing?" Draco asked him.

Etamin shook his head and Hermione had to reach out to swipe away some suds that slipped dangerously towards his eyes.

"I don't like being dirty. I like to play. Sometimes me and Teddy play rough and get all messy – but if I don't wash every day I'll get dirtier and dirtier. And then things will grow on me. I'll be so dirty that plants will grow in the dirt on me. Mummy says if I don't wash every day, I'll end up with broccoli growing from my belly button and carrots growing from the backs of my knees. She said if I let too many days go past without washing, the things that will grow on me will develop roots and I'll get stuck to the floor with plant roots coming from my feet."

Hermione glanced over her shoulder to wink at Malfoy for the lie she'd had to tell the little boy when he was younger in order to get him to wash – as he'd hated it as much as Malfoy once upon a time – but Malfoy was looking utterly horror-stricken by the imagery.

"Blo…imey, Granger!" he managed to catch himself before he swore in front of Etamin.

"It's true," she told him, widening her eyes at him warningly and not wanting him to tell Etamin it wasn't the case lest he revert to his bath-hating ways once more. "Do you want a little half-plant for a son?

Malfoy's eyes were wide and clearly concerned as he stared at her.

"No. That wouldn't do at all," he managed, clearly horrified, "Merlin, now I feel like I need a bath."

"You do," she told him, smirking.

"Want to bath with me Daddy?" Etamin offered, "You can play with my mere-people if you want to?"

Malfoy's eyes widened further at the offer, clearly unaccustomed to childish innocence or to the idea of bathing with anyone else involved.

"Daddy's got his own bath, Etamin," Hermione told the child before Malfoy could stammered out a confused utterance, "He's bigger than you so he needs more space. And I'm sure he prefers showering anyway, like Mummy does."

"Oh," Etamin said, looking crestfallen.

"Close your eyes sweetheart, while I wash the shampoo out of your hair," Hermione instructed, waiting for him to do so before she carefully washed away the suds from the shampoo. When his hair was clean Hermione worked conditioner into the thick blond locks. As she did so, she noticed the way he'd begun to rub his eyes and Hermione realised how tired he must be. He'd had a big day playing with Teddy and James, and an even longer afternoon full of emotional distress. Hermione was actually rather surprised that he wasn't throwing a tantrum from being over-tired yet, if she was being honest.

"Alright darling, you're all done," she told him when he was washed, and all the conditioner was rinsed from his hair. "Out you get. Here's a towel for you. You dry yourself while I get your pyjamas, alright?"

Malfoy looked uncomfortable when Etamin did as he was told, standing up in the tub and revealing that he was nude. Clearly having no experience with children whatsoever was weighing on him since he didn't seem to know what to do about the sight of naked five-year old. Hermione, on the other hand, was having trouble getting back to her feet whilst still wearing her heels and the pencil skirt she'd worn to work that day.

"Oh no," she gasped as she managed to get her shoes under her, rocking back from her knees until she had her heels under her before she began to overbalance.

"Having fun there?" Malfoy asked, a teasing lilt in his voice when she overbalanced from pushing too hard off her knees and began to topple backwards. She fell back only far enough for her back to collide with his knees and Hermione realised he'd come over behind her, apparently intent of helping her to her feet.

"Stupid shoes… stupid tight skirt…. Too bloody impractical…." she muttered before squeaking in surprise when Malfoy slid his hands under her arms and lifted her straight up until she was on her feet.

"Thank you," she said, her cheeks heating with embarrassment over having to be helped to her feet just because of what she was wearing. Malfoy smirked at her, letting her by as she went to fetch Etamin's pyjamas, feeling foolish for not having grabbed them when she'd brought everything else in.

She stopped on the way to remove her shoes, having to sit on the end of Etamin's bed to unbuckle the booted heels from her feet before jerking them off.

"Just wait, Daddy. In just a second, she'll take her heels off. I can always tell when she does," she heard Etamin stage-whisper in the bathroom. "Listen."

Hermione realised as she moaned softly with relief whilst flexing her now bared feet that he was listening for it, clearly used to hearing her make the sound every time she took off the horrid heels she wore to work every day.

"She always makes that sound when she takes those tall shoes off," Etamin could be heard in the bathroom.

Hermione smiled at the sound of her son informing his father all about his mother. It was amusing, if somewhat embarrassing that she was so predictable.

"Wait for it, Daddy there's more," Etamin whispered and Hermione realised what he was waiting for as she got to her feet, enjoying the feel of walking bare foot across the carpet so much that she giggled. She realised with a jolt that she did it every time she took her shoes off, feeling like a naughty child every single time. As a girl she hadn't been allowed to take her shoes off except for bath-time and bed-time, so every time she did so - even as an adult - she felt like she was being naughty.

"She's giggling?" Malfoy's voice asked.

"She giggles when she walks without her shoes after wearing them all day," Etamin told him matter-of-factly. "I think they hurt her feet lots, but she wears them for the same reason that she wears her hair in that tight bun and wears those severe clothes."

"And what reason might that be?" Malfoy asked the boy as they came out of the bathroom, Etamin wrapped in his towel.

"She needs to look like she can't be rattled at work. Otherwise all those naughty vampires would try to test her rules. They're silly if they try. I learned the hard way not to test Mummy's rules. She gets really mad," Etamin said.

"Yeah? What does she do when she's really mad?" Malfoy asked the kid, shooting a smirk in Hermione's direction as he walked with the boy.

"When Mummy's really mad, her hair starts to crackle with blue light jumping through the curls. I think it's her magic, just waiting to be unleashed. It's like lightning in the sky when it storms right before it pours down rain. Sometimes she shouts – mostly at Da… Ron. But when she's really, really mad there's no shouting. There's still lightning in her hair, but when Mummy's really angry she doesn't say a word, she just gives a look – like this," he demonstrated. "And then she walks away. If she ever looks at you like that it means you're in big trouble, Daddy, and you better leave her alone a little while before you crawl in and grovel until she deigns to look at you again."

"Is that right?" Malfoy asked, and Hermione saw there was an intrigued expression on his face as he glanced in her direction again. "And how do you know so much about your Mum, buddy?"

"Mummy's my favourite person in the whole wide world," Etamin told him then and Hermione beamed. "I know everything about her because I love her. That's what you do when you love someone, Daddy. You learn everything you can about them."

"What about me, kid?" he asked though Hermione could tell he wasn't offended.

"I just met you, Daddy," Etamin said, having the audacity to roll his eyes. "But you can be my favourite Daddy - if you want?"

Malfoy couldn't hide his grin at that and Hermione smiled widely as well. Etamin came over to her then and held his arms up, clearly waiting for her to dress him in his pyjamas.

"Are you telling Daddy my secrets, Etamin?" Hermione asked him as she pulled his pyjama shirt over his head.

"Only the little ones," Etamin promised with a sly smile. "Daddy's not ready to know your big secrets yet, Mummy."

"Other leg, darling," Hermione told him when he tried to put his foot in the wrong pant-hole as she dressed him.

When he was wrapped in his bright orange and blue striped pyjamas with rockets on them Hermione nodded her head towards the bed.

"Come on sweetheart. Bed time for you," she told him.

"But I'm not tired," Etamin protested, before yawning widely.

"Yes, you are. And you've had a long day. Hop in, darling," she told him, and he relented without a fuss, running over to the bed and tearing back the covers. He clambered up onto the bed, snuggling down under the covers and waiting to be tucked in for the night.

Hermione smiled at him adoringly as she tucked him in and bent forwards to kiss his forehead.

"Will you read me a story tonight, Mummy? Pretty please?" Etamin begged, clearly knowing he wasn't going to be allowed to read his book for himself.

"I don't know, sweetheart," Hermione pretended to hesitate over the idea, shooting a sly wink at Malfoy. "It's awfully late and you've had a big day today. You might need your sleep."

"But I'm not tired yet. I promise I'm not! Please, Mummy? Please?" Etamin begged, fixing her a puppy-dog expression of hopefulness that always melted her heart.

Hermione grinned at her son widely. "Which story would you like to read tonight?"

"I want to hear more about Brer Rabbit, Mummy," Etamin told her. "I like him. He's clever. like me."

Still smiling, Hermione waved her wand to summon the book he'd requested from his suitcase before she settled herself onto the bed on Etamin's right side, wrapping her arm around his small shoulders and cuddling him into her side.

"Which tale were we up to, darling?" Hermione asked of the small boy.

"This one, Mummy," Etamin told her, pointing to the one where the book-mark was sitting between the pages. "Daddy, you have to listen, too. Brer Rabbit's the cleverest rabbit around, you know?"

Draco looked startled by the idea of rabbits being clever at all and he glanced at her helplessly when Etamin leaned forward and grabbed his hand, tugging on him until he had no choice but to sit down on Etamin's other side to wait patiently while Hermione began reading the story. Smiling to herself and offering no comment or direction for Malfoy to follow when it was such fun to watch him struggle with how to be a father, Hermione waited until Etamin's attention was back on the book. She noticed with some amusement that the little boy hadn't released his father's hand, holding it in a tight grip to keep him from leaving before the story could begin.

Licking her lips, Hermione took a deep breath, opened her mouth and began to read.