Chapter 5 – Late
Draco lay on the couch, reading a book. He was exhausted – and it was only 1 pm! Oliver was having a nap beside him, his head on the older boy's lap. Draco ruffled his sandy-blond hair and sighed. His phone was vibrating in his pocket. He gently replaced his lap with a pillow so Oliver could keep sleeping, answering the phone.
"Hello?"
"Draco! I'm not going to be home until 7 at the earliest!" Hermione's rushed voice came through the phone.
"What? Why?" He was both annoyed and worried. She was working so much! It wasn't healthy for her!
"I'm really sorry! It's just that one of the other doctors is sick and there's no one to cover for him. I need to stay to take care of a few of his patients. I'm really sorry," she apologised.
Draco sighed again. "Well, at least tell me you've eaten something?"
"Um… I'll go buy a sandwich in a minute. I just need you to give Oliver a shower this evening. Is that okay?"
Draco's stomach clenched in nervousness. She trusted him to be able to do something like that? He felt both excited and honoured (and of course nervous).
"I… Yeah, okay." He couldn't bear to disappoint her.
"Thank you so much! I promise I'll make it up to you!" he could almost see her smile on the other side of the line as she hung up in relief.
Getting up, he wandered to the bathroom to check if everything he needed was there.
Towel? Check.
Shampoo? Check.
Lotion? Check.
Soap? Check.
If everything was there, why did he feel like something was missing?
He opened all the bathroom cupboards, searching for a toy of some sort for Oliver to play with. Nothing. Well, Hermione managed to shower him without a toy. Still, Draco felt bad. When he was a child, he would refuse to have a bath unless his favourite rubber duck was with him.
He racked his brain for ideas. That's it! Their neighbour Marylin, who lived across the hall, had two girls. They were almost ten now, but maybe – just maybe – she would have some of their old bath toys? He practically ran over to their door, hoping to be back in less than a minute in case Oliver woke up.
"Draco?" Marylin opened the door. "Hi! How are you?"
She was a short lady in her mid-forties. Her husband, Miles (Draco wasn't sure what his name was) was always busy with some business trip or another, but they seemed happy. She worked as a freelance wedding planner, a job Draco had only heard of in books until he met her.
"Marylin, hi. I'm so sorry to impose on you, but I was wondering if you had any old bath toys that belong to the girls? I really need one." Draco only realised how strange it sounded after he spoke.
"What? Why?" The lady was clearly confused.
"Uh… well… it's a long story, but Hermione has adopted a little boy and I need to give him a bath. I'm not really sure how to, so I've gotta get back and well… yeah…" he explained.
She was still really lost as to what he was trying to say. "Hermione adopted a boy?"
"Yeah… now about the toys?" He didn't want to come off as rude or anything, but he wasn't comfortable leaving Oliver alone for long.
"Oh. Yes, just wait there for a second." She disappeared for a moment or two before coming back with a faded-yellow rubber duck. "I'm so sorry Draco, but that's all I've got left."
"That's wonderful! Thank you so much!" He cut her off and ran back to his apartment.
Plopping back down on the couch, he took out his phone and googled the big question:
How to give a kid a bath
At 2 pm, Draco got to work on dinner. The sooner he finished it, the more time he would have to give Oliver a bath (lord knows he would need it). He cooked a few sausages frozen in the freezer and used them on a pizza base he had been saving for the weekend. Everyone loved pizza.
Just as he was taking the pizza out of the oven, his phone rang again. Rushing to take the tray out, he burnt his wrist as it touched the oven frame. No gloves could save him from that.
Fumbling for his phone, he checked who was calling him. It was probably Hermione. But no, it was an unknown number. Shrugging, Draco picked up the phone.
"Mr Malfoy? This is Liz from Forbes Legal. We have reviewed your application for the position of a beginner associate and want you to come in for an interview as soon as possible."
Draco's heart began to hammer. After Hogwarts, he had abandoned the Wizarding World in favour of a muggle life. In this muggle life, he had chosen to pursue law, which he had obviously become bored with halfway through the course. Since he had used what was left of his parents' fortune to pay for the university fees however, he had to bore through it. When he finished the course, he decided to never go into anything related to law at all. Instead, he worked at a bookshop 5 days a week from 9 to 5. It wasn't they best job, but it paid enough for him to live in a decent place (until he had saved enough to afford the rent of the new apartment). He quit the job in favour of a job in sales and stayed in that position until he was fired a few weeks ago for being constantly late.
That was when Hermione told him to put his law degree to use. He was very against the idea and told her that nothing would come from it, but in his desperation, he applied anyway. So, here he was, with a potential job.
"Oh, hi Liz. I would be interested in this interview. What time were you thinking?" he hoped he wasn't too casual.
"We would like it as soon as possible, so tomorrow at 8 am. Is that okay, Mr Malfoy?" replied Liz.
That was far too early for his liking, but he was in no place to argue, so he agreed.
Perfect. If all went well, he would be able to pay his rent properly this month (unlike the last).
