An Outing With Alecto
Disclaimer: All Harry Potter names, characters and locations belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing that you recognize.
Every good Maisie knows that summer is the best time to present their daughter with sparkly diapers. With the sun at its peak during the middle of the day, it's enough to reflect off the mirrored surface for miles around, signaling ships at sea and causing flocks of crows to fall from the sky in pursuit of shiny accessories. Which is why good Maisies also know to protect their children with appropriate charms before taking them out for a stroll.
Needless to say, Alecto was delighted to see the package of sparkly diapers her mother had placed on the counter. Their neighbors noticed the diapers as well, because the package they came in was so sparkly that it transformed Maisie into a walking disco ball while she was carrying them into the house.
"Only the best for my sweet baby angel," Maisie cooed. Alecto happily burbled and reached for the shopping bag, dumping the contents out onto the floor. Inside she found a package of cookies, some bread, sunglasses, and sandwich fixings.
"Ookies! Ookies!" Alecto chirped, ignoring the other foods her mother had brought home from the store. Naturally, she wanted those first. But she would have to wait for their summer stroll in order to receive her treats.
After she was changed into a sparkly diaper with matching shiny dress and bonnet, Maisie packed their lunch and loaded her precious cargo into her shiny stroller. Though she had a difficult time convincing Amycus not to lick the picnic basket or its contents, Maisie eventually made it out the front door with their lunch intact. Her husband's tongue followed close behind, crawling down the path into the woods. The actual owner of the tongue decided to stay home and catch up on his reading.
While they were out in nature observing the trees and flowers, a butterfly landed on Alecto's nose while Maisie was pushing her in the stroller. Her mother wanted to stop and take pictures, but Alecto was more concerned about removing the fluttering insecet.
"No, no!" Alecto whined, pawing at her face. But the tenacious butterfly simply fluttered a few inches into the air before settling on her nose again. "Don't wanna flying butt face! Too tickly!"
Not knowing what else to do, the baby Death Eater decided to stick her tongue out and try to lick the butterfly off her nose. This would have been fine if she had her brother's drippy, oversized tongue, but Alecto only had an average tongue, which resulted in much cuteness and tongue waving. Basically, she was licking the air to no avail. The butterfly remained firmly planted on her nose.
Maisie chuckled with sheer delight, taking enough photos to make an animated flip book. Her husband's tongue applauded the effort, then succeeded in plucking the butterfly from his sister's nose. All of this effort was enough to work up an appetite, making Alecto very hungry.
"Ookies?" Alecto asked, her tummy rumbling.
"You can have a few," said Maisie. Which meant that she was giving her half a dozen Oreos as a snack. She also provided a few for Amycus' tongue so he would have something to lick while her daughter nibbled her treats.
Of course, Alecto was a very messy baby and proceeded to fill her diaper full of cookie crumbs. A dementor once said that she would gain weight from eating too many cookies, but the truth was that she got so much food everywhere there was hardly any in her stomach.
After her snack, Maisie let her daughter out of the stroller to get some exercise. The baby Death Eater happily rolled around in the grass, taking a moment to rest in the sun and enjoy the warm summer breeze. This morning was particularly nice, and within a short amount of time she discovered some ants making their way across the grass. They seemed to be attracted to the crumbs in her sparkly diaper.
Alecto happily plopped down on the ant hill, thinking she was doing them a favor by offering them food. She picked up seventy ants and stuffed them in her diaper, but that was too tickly, just like the butterfly had been.
"Alecto, sweetheart, is something wrong?" Maisie asked.
Alecto frowned. "Them ants is bitted my butt, Mommy!"
"Which is why we don't put insects in our diapers, Alecto. You should know that already because of the ladybug incident we had last year."
Maisie lifted her child off the offending anthill, which Amycus' tongue then proceeded to lick into oblivion. Both Maisie and Alecto stared in wonder as the caterpillar tongue scooped up dozens of ants, looking very much like a voracious echidna. It was enough to make Maisie realize that it was past time for lunch.
She changed Alecto into a fresh diaper, then set up the picnic blanket and some food. Aside from feeding her daughter some more cookies, she also brought out a jar of mushy bananas and a dementor sandwich. The sweet bread was dotted with raisins and swirls of cinnamon, making it a yummy treat for her little girl. For once, it wasn't a struggle to get Alecto to finish her lunch. So long as she was allowed more cookies for dessert.
While they ate, Amycus' tongue decided to make a dementor sandwich as well. The tongue dove into the picnic basket, taking out slices of bread and licking them for twenty minutes until they became soggy. More ants came along and danced on the bread in celebration of its moistness. If only they had realized that the Leaf Queen was also having a picnic several miles away. They would have discovered plenty of dampish bread there.
After their lunch was eaten and the bread was licked, Alecto decided that she wanted to play in the water. There was a crystal clear pond surrounded by beautiful flowers. Amycus' tongue was already splashing in the water, but Alecto was very little and required adult supervision.
"You can play in the water, but only near the shore, sweetheart," Maisie told her. "Don't go wandering off into deeper waters. Mommy will be right here beside you the whole time to make sure that you're safe. And please remember that your brother's tongue isn't meant to be used as a floatation device."
Amycus' tongue waved in disagreement. It very much liked to be tossed about in the pool, even though it did get a little pruney from being in the water too long.
The baby Death Eater toddled over to the water's edge and flopped down in the grass. It was fun to splash around, sitting beside the flowers and kicking her feet, which sent up a refreshing shower of droplets. All was going well until she noticed a certain red-haired individual casually loafing by the water. She remembered him from the battle of Hogwarts. But he hadn't been fighting on their side, so she picked up a rock and hurled it in his general direction, striking him in the head and giving him a concussion.
Amycus' tongue applauded once more, clapping like a happy seal, while Alecto laughed and Maisie smiled at her daughter. Who knew it was that easy to take out a member of the Golden Trio? Perhaps Lord Voldemort should have had her on the front lines throwing rocks from the very beginning.
When the excitement was over, Alecto looked down and saw a fish swimming in the pond. With her quick reflexes, the baby Death Eater snatched the fish and held it up for her mother to admire. It was like those scenes in Animal Crossing when you reel in a massive shark and then wonder how your character could hold it. It was for this reason that Alecto decided to ditch the fish, since it was too large and heavy to carry home.
The sun was starting to set, which meant that it was time to go home. Maisie placed her daughter on a soft blanket so she could change her diaper, which was about the only thing Amycus' tongue hadn't licked, then tucked her in the stroller and took her home. Alecto was getting sleepy anyway, and spent the rest of the trip snoozing and cuddling her sloth plushie.