Disclaimer: I own little to nothing of what it is named/referred to and am making even less from it.
Chapter 8.
Poppy stuck her head around the screens she had left up around Minerva's bed and was glad to see that the child was still sleeping soundly. It had been more than an hour since Severus had left to go speak to the Department of Magical Advancement and try and see if he could come up with anything further, and the child had only stirred once since then. It would soon be time for lunch though and she intended to wake her in time to eat again, if only to try and create some kind of routine for the poor child. An hour later the bread and butter had disappeared without a trace as had most of the soup that she had settled on giving her.
Once she was done eating Poppy remove the leftovers and set about running a bath. She wasn't entirely sure that this was necessary but it was certainly a good time filler for the time being and would perhaps be an opportunity to bond with the girl. She helped Minerva off the bed but let her walk of her own volition after her into the bathroom.
"Mèin?" She asked after peering over the rim of the bathtub. "Mèin?" She asked again, pointing at herself and then into the water. Poppy smiled a little.
"Yes the bath is for you." She answered nodding so that the child would likely understand. Obviously that was all the encouragement she needed as the girl pulled her nightshirt over the top of her head and stepping into the sunken tub, carefully entered the water. The medi-witch couldn't help but notice that the child seemed so small in the large receptacle but for all that she seemed very self sufficient. She had wrapped her braid around her neck like a scarf, presumably to keep it out of the water and was now hunting for soup and cloth apparently. Poppy produced a bar a soap and a natural sponge handing them both to her.
"Lets see if we can't do a little better with this though shall we?" She said as she reached for the braid. Minerva eyed her carefully as she reached forward and unwound her hair before taking out the elastic.
"Cùlan do?" She asked.
"Well I'm not sure what it is you're asking, but I think we could wash your hair too – after all it doesn't appear to be something Severus is particularly good at." Rolling up her sleeves, she reached for the sponge that was sitting in the water already. She wrung it out over her so that the water fell across the girl's head and though the child spluttered she made no move to get out of the downpour. Once she was convinced that the long tresses were suitably wet, she put the sponge down and started looking about for the bottle of shampoo she knew was there somewhere.
"Ah bheil sibh ag siabann?" The girl asked as she held out the soap to her.
"No thank you." She replied getting the drift of the offer and spotting the bottle she was looking for sitting just to her left. It did strike her as a little odd that she would expect her to use a bar of soap to wash her hair. "I've found the shampoo." She added showing the girl the bottle. Pouring a generous helping onto her hands she began lathering, all the while keeping an eye on the girl who seemed to have become thouroughly enthralled by the sponge as she poked at it and picked it up, letting it drip over her arms.
After a few minutes though she seemed to snap out of it and began furiously to wash at her skin until she was rosy-red with that newly scrubbed glow. This time she used a jug to pour water back over her head and wash the suds away. She was so absorbed in her task she almost missed the way that Minerva began to relax. She slid down the tub until she was lying horizontally in the water. She smiled a little at this and then filled the jug up once more and lifting it up as high as she could, she poured it down on top of her torso. She wriggled under the stream this time but gave her a perplexed look as if confused as to what on earth it was the older woman were trying to do.
Dispensing of the jug she leaned over and running her fingers lightly over her ribcage she tickled the girl. Poppy was now totally sure that she would ensure that Minerva at least broke into a smile before the exercise was over. After a moment the sound of laughter filled the room as the child wriggled around and splashed water all over both the mediwitch and the bathroom. She felt so much more satisfied that the girl seemed to have enjoyed herself and when she called the game to an end, went to pick up one of the big white fluffy towels.
When she turned back around the change was obvious, she seemed to have withdrawn back into herself and was looking around at the mess they had made in the last few minutes. When she looked up and saw Poppy approaching she carefully clambered back out of the bath and held her hand out, presumably for the towel. She handed it over without a second thought assuming that the distinctly independent child intended to dry herself off. Instead however she dropped to her knees and began trying to mop up the water that was lying on the tiled floor. Poppy knelt down the instant she saw what was happening.
"Duilich." The child said when she tilted her head up gently to look her in the eye.
"What are we going to do with you? It's ok – it's only water." She said smiling trying to reassure her that she really hadn't done anything wrong. Taking another towel she scooped her up into her arms and carried her back through to the ward where it was much warmer. "I'll tell you what – we'll get you dressed and then we'll go clean up in there, how about that?" She continued to talk as she dried her off, tying her hair back out of the way, at least until she had pulled on the newly shrunken black dress and underwear.
Once she was dressed, Poppy picked up the brush she had located earlier and began to gently work out the tangles in the long ebony strands. It was quite clear as she began using her wand to gently dry the hair that there was definitely a natural bouncy curl to it and so with a final flick of her wand she dried the rest and marvelled at the perfect, if slightly wild, curls. Minerva pulled a few of them down in front of her face and after playing with them a moment looked up and with a little smile, and eyes bright said: "Tapadh leibh."
"My pleasure." Poppy replied on instinct. Pulling on the elasticised ballet pumps that had been the closest thing that either of the woman had been able to come to creating shoes for the girl, she stood back and took it in. It was hardly ideal but it'd certainly do for the rest of today and she made a mental note to speak to Albus or someone else about acquiring some proper clothing and the rest for her. Lifting her up and gently setting her still bare-feet on the ground, she took her by the hand and led her back to the bathroom where between the two of them they managed to clean up in a few minutes.
A/N: Ok – I'm going to say this before the translations (winks at Morfiniel) this is where I begin to take a few liberties with the translations. In any case here we go;
Mèin? – mine?
Cùlan do? – hair to?
Ah bheil sibh ag siabann? – Do you want the soap?
Duilich – Sorry.
Tapadh leibh – Thank you.
Right – thanks again to M, hope you enjoyed this, let me know either way. Thanks for reading
xLx
