Compatible Evil
Chapter Three: Greenhouse Frolics
Thomas Greer glanced around from his mature rhymus as his herbology partner Ginny Weasley strolled into greenhouse six.
"Morning," the Hufflepuff greeted cheerfully, pushing his scraggly blonde hair off his forehead and leaving a trail of smudged manure up his cheek.
"Afternoon," Ginny replied.
"The rhymus – I think it's almost ready to start rhyming!" the boy exclaimed happily, pruning a yellowing leaf off the curly plant.
"Great! Dwaco and Hermy can see da wickle planty-wanty speak funny fings!"
Thomas started in surprise, and turned around hurridly. The rhymus stretched a leaf up to his fingers, but he was so busy staring at Ginny in horror that he barely noticed.
"You can't bring them in here!"
"What?" Ginny shrugged at his scandalous tone, "They'll be really, really good, won't oo ickle babies?"
Hermione, who was watching Ginny's hair in amazement, waved a chubby arm in acknowledgement from her position on the dirt floor. There was a dark ring of soil on her pale yellow dungarees already, fresh on because of the accident with yoghurt that Ginny had found hilarious earlier at break. Draco regarded the two sixth years curiously as Thomas stared aghast at him. His pale blonde hair was thickly plastered to his head, and wide blue eyes held a hint of command in them already, but as he blinked, the expression was exchanged for angelic.
"They'll eat something!" Thomas objected again, "You know these plants are poisonous!"
"Not all of them," countered Ginny, unpacking a stretched giraffe toy and giving it to Draco, who waved it happily at her, "besides, all they want to do is play."
"Draco Malfoy," Thomas said quietly into her ear, his voice low with urgency, "stole my lunch in second year. On the Hogwarts Express; my mum had made it especially."
Ginny, instead of giving him the sympathetic look he had been anticipating, giggled a little and straightened up from the floor. As Thomas gave her a filthy scowl, she laughed more and pulled on her dragonhide gloves.
"Well, he's absolutely stuffed with strawberry yoghurt and banana this morning, so he won't steal your lunch."
Thomas rolled his eyes as Ginny completely missed the point, and turned back to the rhymus. Picking up his quill, he began to add to his notes in a cramped, swirled handwriting that was almost impossible to decipher. Ginny turned to the shelf behind her, and dragged out the plant she was studying. It was a huge, two tonne Venus flytrap, a muggle plant she had chosen to compare to the much smaller, more aggressive wizarding variety. It snapped at her fingers as she plucked it off the shelf above Draco's head, knocking the spyder plant further towards the edge of the bench.
After a few minutes, the two sixth years were engrossed in their work. Hermione played happily with the giraffe, banging it against the floor again and again until it began to bleat softly through its enchanted mouth. Draco crawled over to the bench, and pulled himself upright as if he had forgotten how to walk and was learning again and again.
"What you doing?" Hermione asked, stopping the beating of the giraffe.
"Ssssssh," Draco said clumsily, pressing his fist against his little mouth.
Hermione put the stuffed animal down on the floor where it waddled away unsteadily to a corner, and watched the blonde boy with considerable interest. He crept forward until the Venus fly trap was directly in front of him, crawled inside the giant trap, and began to scream and cry in a very fake manner.
Ginny Weasley span around so quickly that she dropped the magical fly trap onto the floor. Thomas Greer jumped forward and lopped off half of his precious rhymus. As he gave a strangled shout, Ginny screamed and leapt towards the small child. Draco kicked his legs in hysterics as Ginny hauled him out, giggling frantically.
"Malfoy!" she yelped, checking all his limbs were attached while he had what she assumed was a fear driven shake, "Oh poor baby! Stay away from the nasty plants!"
"My rhymus!" bellowed Thomas, gazing mournfully at the short plant, "You evil Slytherin!"
"Thomas!" Ginny was horrified as she patted and cuddled the terrified child, "He's just been attacked by a muggle plant, don't blame him!"
"He did it on purpose!"
"Oh don't be so silly!" Ginny now had her head inside the muggle plant and was examining it, "Now, could you please hand Malfoy his giraffe?"
Thomas kicked the enchanted animal across the floor grumpily, and Draco caught it easily and clapped his hands in glee. Hermione laughed merrily. As the two sixth years settled down to work again, Draco once again began to look around the room in curiosity. A purple spotted plant waved at him temptingly, and he inched his way towards it. Thomas turned around suddenly and glared at him as he froze, but as soon as the Hufflepuff had returned to his plant, Draco inched closer and closer.
"Ginny, could you pass me the – ooooomph!"
Thomas flew backwards, his legs knocked from under him. Landing in the dirt on his rear end, he bellowed in pain as his tail bone bruised instantly. Ginny turned around with a horrified look on her pretty face to see him nursing his left ankle.
"What on earth?" she questioned, spotting Hermione and Draco under Thomas' bench, laughing, "What did you do?"
"Weeee!" bellowed the tiny Hermione, waving a fraction of purple leaf around over her head.
"Ooops," Ginny said guiltily, catching their fists and taking the leaves away from them, "No, dat wasn't a very good idea, because some planty-wanties aren't vewy nice, and babies might bet hurt."
"What happened?" Thomas asked in a muddled voice.
"They ate some of the fastus and hit you in the back of your legs," Ginny shrugged, "never mind."
Ginny fussed around Thomas, and the Hufflepuff began to think idly that perhaps the children weren't so bad, because Ginny was soothing his hair down as if he was an injured soldier. These pleasant thoughts went on until Draco managed to drop a plant pot on his head, chuckling.
"Ow! You bastard!"
"Language Thomas!" Ginny scolded, taking the second flower pot from Draco, and patting him on the head, "Why don't you two go and play with your toy again?"
The giraffe, which was now lame in all four legs and missing stuffing, let out an audible groan and slumped in the corner.
"Kay," Hermione said, amicable enough, but Draco just scowled.
Thomas scowled straight back at him as he struggled to his feet. Draco Malfoy, whether an adorably sweet baby or not, was still pure evil, and he, Thomas Greer, was not going to be taken in. Ginny rolled her blue eyes as he glared at the baby, and turned back to the wizarding fly trap, which was floating after her fingers as if the digits were flies. The two sixth years turned once again to their work, worried about coursework and deadlines presented daily.
Draco Malfoy was not satisfied with the morning so far, and furthermore he was beginning to get hungry again. Hermione was playing with the giraffe, trying to stuff the stuffed animal into the plant pot that had been confiscated from Draco, a look of intense concentration on her tiny, chubby face. Her brown bobble curls were covered in dirt and bits of plants, and she wouldn't even look at him, let lone play with him. He looked around for some diversion, and spotted the bench behind them.
Crawling forward stealthily, he pulled himself up the leg and took a firm grasp on the edge of the bench, heaving himself up via the neatly regulated shelves that served as a staircase for his dimpled legs. Hermione was watching him with curiosity by the time he was sitting on the dirty, pock marked table top. A glimmer of water caught his blue eyes, and he dragged himself towards it. After splashing his fists in it, he realised that Thomas Greer was humming as he enjoyed the lull in activity.
Seizing a plant with long, spiked leaves in an earth ware plant pot, he dropped it over the edge of the table.
"Shit!" bellowed Thomas as he span around, and Ginny screamed and seized Hermione from the floor.
The plant, a Spyder that a Ravenclaw was studying, had sprouted seventeen legs. Each of the pale green legs was connected to the root system, which trailed behind it as the white feet dashed frantically across the floor. It swerved, apparently unaware of what to do, but as it sensed Ginny and Thomas, it charged. Four eyes on long, leafy stalks fixed their sights on the sixth years, and Ginny screamed loudly.
"Thomas! Get Draco!" she shouted, holding onto Hermione tightly as the plant stopped briefly to ravage the giraffe, now definitely dead.
Thomas glanced at the baby on the work surface, chortling and clapping its little hands, and leapt across the Spyder. As the plant hesitated, confused, he seized Draco by the back of his overalls, and leapt back towards Ginny. The Spyder ran at full speed towards the re-united sixth years.
"RUN!" bellowed Thomas, hooked Draco more firmly around the waist and took Ginny's wrist.
The Hufflepuff and Gryffindor ran for it, leaping over plant pots and vines as they dashed through the door. Ginny slammed the door shut behind them, and they stood panting and listening to the Spyder chomping behind the wood. Suddenly, Draco let out a peal of laughter.
"Again!" he shouted merrily, "Again!"
As Thomas prepared to drop him into a tub of dragon manure fertiliser, Ginny laid her hand on his arm. Hermione, sitting on her hip, was grinning charmingly, and Ginny, so flushed and disarrayed, tugged at his heart.
"Let's tell Madame Sprout," she said simply, and they left the greenhouse to find their Professor.
"Hello!" a booming voice rang out, and Professor Sprout hurried around the corner, "Ginny and Thomas! How are your projects?"
"My Rhymus is dead," Thomas said wearily, "Ginny's Venus fly trap may need counselling, and we need some lunch."
Draco perked up at lunch, and waved his chubby hands. Sprout looked rather flabbergasted, but allowed them to pass her and go up to the castle. As they moved up the path in companionable silence Professor Snape appeared. Spotting them, he swerved away from the path he had been stalking down and stopped them.
"How is my godson?" he asked imperially.
"Fine sir," Ginny answered boldly, and Snape nodded, "actually, he was asking for you earlier."
Draco, Snape and Thomas gave her odd looks, but Hermione just giggled. Ginny continued her bare faced lie easily.
"Poor tyke," she patted his head, "in tears at not seeing you this afternoon. We had to fib and tell him you had classes."
"Oh," Snape looked flummoxed, and glanced at the hungrily yowling baby, "oh well."
"I thought his heart would break."
"Well, I am free this afternoon. Perhaps I could take Draco," he sounded doubtful.
"Oh, I'm not sure Dumbeldore would approve," Ginny said reluctantly, "I mean, he doesn't want them in any danger."
"Danger?" Snape was turning red, "Miss Weasley, give me my godson. He will be coming with me this afternoon."
"But sir, won't that be awfully bad for him? I mean with the fumes?"
"Nonsense, I am not incompetent, Miss Weasley. We will go for a picnic, and then to the park which I happen to know he enjoys. He will be perfectly safe."
"Oh well, if you're sure?"
Snape had barely opened his mouth when Thomas handed him Draco rather roughly. He held the baby with one arm awkwardly, and looked his godson in the eye.
"Unfortunately, sir," Ginny said as Thomas prepared to run, "they can't be split up!"
Hermione was in Snape's other arm before he really knew what had happened. She began to cry immediately, and Draco joined the wail as Ginny and Thomas ran at full speed up to the school. Thomas was holding Ginny's hand as he half pulled her along, and she was laughing. Snape glared at the crying children, realising this was not one of his better ideas.
"Silence," he commanded, but they carried on regardless, "Miss Granger, you will desist!"
"Dunderhead!" Hermione choked out through her tears, thumping his chest with her fists.
"Please stop crying," Snape pleaded as a third year Slytherin looked at him askance, "please!"
They stopped suddenly in unison. Then;
"Food! Park! Swing!" their demands assailed his ears, and he cringed.
…
Thanks to Dynastydragons02, Prin69, foxeran, Jennifer Carter, sunflower18, Lrnd (multiple thanks!), SmearedBlackInk, Merciful Sky, and Zoey for their reviews.
Sorry it's been so long!