Author's note: Enjoy!

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns the canon, world, and characters portrayed below and you can tell I'm not J.K. Rowling because #transrights

Warnings: NA

Childcare Struggles

Dora rushed back after her meeting and immediately scanned the Auror Office until she caught a flash of lime green hair. Hugging the ridiculous pile of folders to her chest, she crossed the room to go peek behind her desk and smiled when she saw Teddy sitting underneath it, colouring on the back of old meeting minutes and files that nobody needed anymore with some washable Muggle markers. The little boy noticed the shadow she was casting and he looked up, impossibly blue eyes round and innocent. The freckles dotting his chubby cheeks were just the icing on the cake.

"Mama," he said, as if he was surprised to see her. Then he smiled and Dora felt a smile splitting his face too.

"Hello, sweetness," she said. She put the folders down on her desk and leaned down to pick up the three-year-old before he could even stretch out his arms up towards her.

"Sorry that meeting took so long," she said, kissing his cheek. "They're so very slow, at the Department of Magical Games and Sports. Were you good while I was gone?"

"He was perfect," called Hestia Jones from the Head Auror office. Her door was propped open so she could keep the little boy in her line of sight while Tonks was away.

"Thank you again," Dora called over her shoulder. Then she turned back to Teddy and bumped her nose against his. "Good job, sweetness. Good, good job. Let's see what you coloured while I was away…"

Propping the boy on her hip, she bent back down to pick up Teddy's latest artwork and the handful of markers and caps loose on the floor. She dropped them on her desk and sat back down, balancing Teddy on her knee and oohing and aahing at his drawings while she put the files she'd brought to the meeting back in her drawer of active cases.

It wasn't the most ideal or convenient way to go about this, especially since Teddy was trying to be helpful and grabbing at the loose papers in some of the folders, but she'd been short on options today. Literally. Remus had just gone back to Hogwarts after Easter break, Mum was still self-isolating with Dragon Pox, Harry and Ginny were off honeymooning, Kingsley was away on business and had brought Sirius with him, and Fleur had given birth approximately a week ago which meant that, if anything, Tonks should be offering to watch over her children. Since Molly had been called in for reinforcements at Shell Cottage and today was chock full of monthly meetings, Teddy had come to work with her. She couldn't wait for the Ministry to finally establish that daycare they kept saying was in the works…

"Alright," she said when her hands were free again. She ran her free hand through Teddy's hair. He was focusing on colouring in what she thought might be a house with a chimney.

"Now would probably be a good time to feed you," she mused to herself. The Auror Office was nearly empty, which usually meant it was lunchtime. She bounced her knee up and down to get Teddy's attention. "Sweetness, are you hungry?"

"Issa lunch time," Teddy babbled happily.

"It's lunch time," she echoed. She was already exhausted from a morning of meetings and wondered how bad it would be if she just let Teddy stomp around the cafeteria and load up whatever he felt like eating without fussing on a tray. It probably wouldn't be too bad if she snuck some carrot sticks on there. Sure, there would probably be a disproportionate amount of chocolate milk and crisps and those soft, gooey cookies they stocked by the cash register… but hey, carrot sticks.

She kissed the top of his head. Remus was always better at force feeding Teddy nutrients and food he didn't want to eat—which was most things that toddlers were supposed to eat. She'd tried to keep an eye on his technique over Easter break, but he was inimitable. It was just she and Teddy now, though.

"Issa lunchtime for Teddy and Mama," Teddy repeated.

"It's lunchtime for Teddy and Mama," she repeated. She lifted him up again and plopped him on the ground, bending down to reattach the velcro on his shoes. "Can I have that marker back? We can leave it here while we go eat, yeah?"

"Yeah," Teddy said, handing her back the marker with great ceremony and decorum.

"Mama sleepy," Teddy said.

She grinned.

"A little bit, Teddy," she said. "A little bit. Maybe lunch will perk me back up, what do you think?"

"Issa lunch time," he said, taking her hand. She smiled and kissed his hand.

"Good idea," she said. Teddy smiled back, looking quite proud of himself.

"We're a pretty good team, you and I, yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah," Teddy agreed. "We a team."

"We are," she said. "So are you going to eat some vegetables for lunch, for me?"

"Maybe," Teddy said—which was a very diplomatic way of saying no he'd inherited from his father. Dora smiled at that.

Well, she was alone with a three-year-old. She was allowed to feed him crisps for lunch at least once a week, yeah?

Yeah.

Word Count: 871