The very next day, Jade came back to start her first day with Alcaeus. Jade started out with the basic alphabet and letters. She took a piece of paper and pointed her wand and threw a letter on the paper and told Alcaeus to close his eyes and run his hand through the letter to tell Jade what it was.
For a few days, Jade would try to come up with different methods that Alcaeus would enjoy to learn. With the help of the maids and butlers, Jade's method of teaching went easier. Alcaeus was overjoyed seeing the support he received from everyone that bent backwards to make him happy.
Once, Jade went out on her way to take him on a broom ride, where they peered down as the maids and butlers held hands and formed letters and numbers. "B! A! 5! 1! L! S!" Alcaeus shouted. One of the favorites of lessons Alcaeus got was a mathematics lesson by baking cookies.
Jade held up 5 chocolate kisses and held it in front of Alcaeus. "How many are there?" Jade asked.
Alcaeus paused, counting. "5." He said.
Jade smiled and handed him a kiss. "How many are there now?" Jade asked.
"4." Alcaeus said.
"Add 3." Jade said.
Alcaeus reached into the bag and took out three kisses and placed them on Jade's hand.
"How many are there now?" Jade asked.
"You add 3 to the 4 so…" Alcaeus said counting. "7!" he said.
"Very good!" Jade said handing him the kisses. Alcaeus dropped the kisses in the batter and grinned widely as Jade started to mix it.
They drew out letters on the ground and created tests and quizzes for each other to take. "Hmm…this is really hard." Jade said looking at Alcaeus who giggled and completed Jade's test. Jade leaned over as if to cheat and Alcaeus leaned away telling her not to cheat. "All right, I'm done." Jade said handing him the test that he gave her. Jade was impressed to see him improve. She checked off all the right answers and felt him tap her with a silly and goofy smile.
"You got all of them wrong silly!" Alcaeus said. "Is that so? Can you tell me what I got wrong?" Jade asked. Alcaeus pointed out her mistakes and corrected them, making Jade proud.
It had been three weeks since Jade started with Alcaeus and Dean still hadn't been heard of. Jade spent most of her time with Alcaeus and being focused with work, she deliberately distracted herself from thinking of him. "Do you want to try and read that for me?" Jade asked pointing to a storybook.
Alcaeus opened the book and flipped the pages. "The…Wiz-ard, Wizard and the Hop-ping…Hopping…Pot." Alcaeus said. Jade patted his head as he read, holding the book firmly.
Draco walked in from the pouring rain outside and was surprised to see Alcaeus try to read. Seeing his effort, Draco felt guilty for the times he had put Alcaeus through, to read a sentence correctly. He stood there; listening to him read as Jade stroked his hair, listening attentively to him. Jade looked up and saw Draco Malfoy standing in front of them, his face full of awe and delight by the vision of his son, reading. Jade stood up as Draco walked up to Alcaeus. Alcaeus looked up and immediately stood up. He saw his father bend down and ruffle his hair.
"Good evening father." Alcaeus said.
"Good evening Alcaeus. How was your day?" Draco asked softly. Alcaeus smiled brightly and told Draco about everything they did. Jade smiled and picked up her bag. She walked down the stairs and went to leave but was stopped by Draco.
"You can't go out there, its pounding rain." Draco said.
"No, I'll manage, I have an umbrella." Jade said summoning her umbrella.
"So did I but I didn't get so lucky." Draco said showing her his drenched suit.
"I'll manage, thank you Mr. Malfoy." Jade said. She went to leave but Alcaeus ran over to her and tugged her hand.
"Stay!" he said. Jade turned around to meet the small child, looking up brightly at Jade with his father's gray eyes.
"I can't sweetheart. I have to go home or-"
"At least listen to Alcaeus, you don't have to listen to me. Stay, just for a while on his behalf, until the storm quiets down." Draco said.
Jade paused for a moment, watching Alcaeus swing her hand back and forth with a pleading look on his face. "Sure, why not?" Jade said. Alcaeus pumped his fist in the air and pulled Jade upstairs to his room. "Alcaeus!" Draco yelled seeing his son slow down and apologize.
Jade sat on the floor with Alcaeus and painted whatever they wanted. Jade yawned feeling extremely tired and leaned against Alcaeus's bed. Slowly, her eyes started to close and she fell asleep, sitting up. When Draco finished changing and showering, he paid a visit to Alcaeus's room. He knocked on the door lightly and saw Alcaeus trying to wake Jade up.
"Is she asleep?" Draco asked walking in. Alcaeus nodded and Draco squatted down as Alcaeus went to shake Jade awake. "That's not how you wake someone up." Draco whispered. He called out her name a few times but she was already asleep. She began to slip from her stance and Draco slipped his arm around her and got her to lean her head on his shoulder.
"What is wrong with these pillows?" Jade murmured in her sleep. Draco slid his other arm under her knees and lifted her up. He walked out of the room followed by Alcaeus, to a nearby guestroom to for her to spend the night in. Alcaeus opened the door for his father and watched him place Jade on the bed. His father removed her shoes and placed them on the ground and pulled up the covers for her. "Let's go, it's time for your bedtime as well." Draco said picking Alcaeus up. He shut the lights off and closed the door and walked back to Alcaeus's room to put him to sleep as well.
The next day Jade woke up to a beautiful morning. She looked around wondering how in the world she ever came to this place and honestly forgot when she fell asleep. She sat up to see Alcaeus, sitting there drawing and she smiled.
"Good morning." She said.
"Good morning." Alcaeus replied. Jade yawned and looked around the bright white room. The bed she was comfortably sprawled in were cushioning her every curve, making her body feel less stressed.
"Good morning Young Master Alcaeus! Good morning Miss Harper." Said a jolly maid with a plump figure and tight brown curls. She quickly drew the white curtains and shaded her eyes from the intensity of the morning sun. "Master Malfoy beckons you downstairs for breakfast." She said.
Jade gave a small nod and wiped the corner of her mouth. "I'd love mornings if they started later." Jade said ruffling Alcaeus's hair and hopping off the bed. Alcaeus watched Jade walk into the bathroom and resumed his drawings.
Draco tapped his foot and glanced at his watch. He looked up to the staircase to see if Alcaeus or Harper would walk downstairs. He had to go to work and couldn't wait all day! "Where are they Margret?" Draco snapped.
"Miss Harper and Young Master Alcaeus will be here in a moment." Margret told Draco who couldn't sit still after two minutes. "They're here Master Malfoy." Margret announced. Alcaeus sat near his father and Jade sat next to Alcaeus.
"You both are late. Goodbye." Draco said wiping his mouth with a towel. He got up and went to leave but Jade spoke up.
"Is it all right if I took Alcaeus to my school today?" Jade asked.
Draco turned a bit and turned back around. "Bring him back." He said grabbing his suitcase from his butler's hand and leaving with an arrogant air. Jade wrinkled her nose at his stuck up way of approving and turned back around to finish her breakfast.
After their breakfast, Jade took Alcaeus to the nursery where children and parents came to seek sanctuary from the outside world. Jade sat Alcaeus down with a couple of other children so they could listen to an auditory story in the Wireless and close their eyes to picture what they hear. Using this time, Jade went ahead to finish grading her art exams.
After a few hours later, Jade decided it would be best to take Alcaeus home and call it a day. As she finished closing up the nursery, a rough hand closed around her mouth and press her against the door.
"Give me everything you've got." The person hissed. Jade's heart leapt up and the first person she thought about was Alcaeus. She had to protect the child no matter what. In panic, she tried to elbow the person and felt Alcaeus hit the perpetrator with as much force as he possibly could. The man made a small gruff and started to laugh, releasing Jade. Jade turned around and couldn't believe who she saw laughing at her. "You should have seen your face. You were so…scared." Dean laughed.
Jade stood there lividly in silence. There were so many violent thrashings she could act upon; it was just a small and frightened child that held her back from it all. Jade walked away with Alcaeus without saying a word, ignoring everything Dean had to say. "Jade I didn't mean to get you angry. I came here to say sorry and-"
"I've seen the way you apologize to people Dean. I've seen everything." Jade hissed.
"Ough Jade, don't do this. I was only kidding around." Dean said watching Jade walk away. He looked down to the child that held on to her hand. He turned around and stuck his tongue out at Dean and turned back around again.
It couldn't have been a worse time for Jade who kept struggling not to cry. She was truly upset by Dean's act and couldn't believe that instead of being sorry, he thought it was funny to sneak up on her while she had a child with her. They reached the Malfoy Manor and Jade watched Alcaeus run inside, pulling her hand along.
"It's all right Alcaeus, I have to leave anyway. Good night." Jade said releasing his hand.
"No! Stay over again! You can have the guest room if you'd like." Alcaeus said politely. Jade smiled and shook her head.
"Thank you Alcaeus but I need to go back home. I promise to come back tomorrow-"
"I know you'll come again tomorrow but I wanted to show you the secret pond today. Before Father comes home." Alcaeus whispered. Jade knelt down and patted Alcaeus's arm.
"You can show me the secret pond all day tomorrow."
"But Father-"
"But Father what?" Draco asked walking down the stairs, rolling up his shirt sleeves. Alcaeus quieted down and snapped back to Jade, widening his eyes to tell her something.
"Nothing, I came to drop Alcaeus off. Good bye Alcaeus I'll see you tomorrow. Goodbye Mr. Malfoy." Jade said giving a nod towards
Draco knitted his eyebrows together. Something felt odd about her behavior today. Maybe it was because of his rudeness this morning, so should he ask her to stay for dinner? Draco had the question on the tip of his tongue but somehow was unable to actually ask her. He nudged his son and pointed to Jade who was seen leaving.
"Ask her if she wants to stay for dinner." Draco whispered.
Alcaeus nodded and spoke up. "Father asks if you want to stay for dinner Jade."
Jade stopped and turned around to see Draco Malfoy standing there, blushing. "Er…I'm sorry Mr. Malfoy, I-"
"No it's all right. Yeah go on now." Draco said.
Jade gave a nod and turned around and left. As soon as she was out of sight Draco lightly hit Alcaeus's head.