12. "When the Buzz Wears Off" -Tebey
May 14, 2000
Hermione groaned as her stomach rolled and she rushed to the bathroom to heave up the non-existent contents of her aching belly. She dry heaved until the wave of nausea passed and she sank down, laying her burning face against the cool tile floor.
She heard Kaida begin crying from her nursery and whimpered. She was exhausted. They had both been up all night, unable to sleep for the fever they had both aquired. Hermione cursed, peeling herself up off the floor to go and retrieve her baby. She had owled her pediatrician first thing that morning and was waiting for the return owl with her appointment time.
An hour later, they were sitting at St. Mungo's in a lobby full of other crying children and their tired looking parents. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief when she finally heard Kaida's name called. Her head was throbbing and the nausea had returned in full force. She barely made it into the exam room, before vomiting into the waste paper basket.
"Oh, dear," The nurse said, rubbing her back gently. "The doctor will be right with you, dearie." She murmured, before turning and hurrying back out into the hallway. Hermione sat down in one of the chairs to wait once her stomach had settled, cradling a feverish Kaida to her chest. She had dozed off finally as they had waited in the lobby. Hermione was suprised that her wretching hadn't woken her.
She leaned her head back against the wall, her thoughts blurred as she drifted in and out of consciousness, exhaustion taking over her body. The door opened, startling her into full consciousness.
"Miss Granger. What brings you in today?" Doctor Yang, Kaida's pediatric medi-witch stared down at her, her long dark hair pinned back into a perfect bun.
"We've both come down with something. Fever, nausea, vomiting, sore throat, headache..." She rattled off their symptoms as the doctor nodded.
"There has been a flu outbreak. I've seen about 50 cases in the last week alone."
"In May?" Hermione mused.
Doctor Yang shrugged. "Illnesses can't tell what time of the year it is. They come when they come. I'll call you in some potions and you should be right as rain in a few days."
"A few days?" Hermione gasped. "Is there anything I can do to speed up the healing process? I can't miss that much work..."
Dr. Yang shot her a sympathetic look and shook her head. "Sadly, no. I'll have the prescription sent out. Remind me what apothecary you use again?"
"Mr. Mulpepper's." Hermione said, trying to ignore the rolling of her stomach as the nausea reared its ugly head again.
"Okay, I'll get the owl sent out and it should be ready within the hour."
Hermione nodded and thanked her once more before making her way out of the office. She apparated them both back home, deciding that the hour would be best spent trying to get in a nap while Kaida slept. She awoke as soon as Hermione opened the front door, screaming her head off and pawing at her stuffy nose.
"Shh, baby." Hermione soothed, rocking them in a soothing motion as she swayed on the spot. "Hush-a-bye, don't you cry. Go to sleep, my little baby. When you wake, you shall have, all the pretty little dragons. Silver and gold, eggs to hold. All the pretty little dragons." Kaida's cries quieted and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as the baby's eyes fluttered closed, but for fear of waking her again, she stood swaying finishing out the lullaby and then starting over.
By the time the hour was up, Hermione thought she might faint on the spot. Her head was swimming and her stomach ached. She had never felt so drained. She apparated them directly in front of the Apothecary and pushed the door open, hopeful that these potions would work some miracle.
A weary looking wizard stood behind the counter, his head against his hand. His snores reached Hermione's ears and she sighed. "Hello, Mr. Mulpepper!" She said loudly, rousing him from his nap.
"What can I help ye with, lass?" He asked, rubbing his eyes beneath the thick lenses of his glasses.
"I'm here to pick up some potions. They'll be under Granger." She said, adjusting Kaida again. Her arms were aching from carrying her for such a long span of time. The older man rummaged around beneath the counter and came up empty handed.
"Haven't gotten anything for Granger." The man said. Hermione groaned in frustration.
"You're quite sure?" She asked, hopeful that he had simply overlooked it.
"Quite. Perhaps your healer owled it in to the wrong Apothecary." He said, laying his head back on his hand and dozing again before she could answer. The way her head was spinning was beginning to affect her balance she realised and she shook it to clear it. She would check the other Apothecaries before she went back to St. Mungos.
After apparating in and checking Slug & Jiggers and The Diagon Dispensary, she relented and headed into Knockturn Alley. She stopped in front of a new storefront, proclaiming itself "Viridi Hydra Apothecary" and frowned. She hadn't see this one before, not that she made a habit of coming into this area much at all. She sighed and pushed open the door. It emitted a little tinkle as it brushed against a bell.
"Welcome to Vir- Granger?"
Hermione cringed. Of all the rotten luck.
"Malfoy. Do you work here?" Hermione asked, approaching the counter as her head spun again, causing her to stumble a little. She gritted her teeth. She had to get it together, she thought as she glanced down at the baby in her arms. She was awake, sucking her thumb, her hot head pressed against Hermione's chest.
"I own the place, Granger. What's wrong with her?" He demanded, stepping out from behind the counter and approaching them. Hermione shot him an incredulous look.
"Flu. You haven't gotten a prescription for me have you? The doctor apparently had it sent to the wrong Apothecary."
"Osgood," He called over his shoulder, "Have you filled any orders for 'Granger'?"
Hermione flinched, his voice making her throbbing head worse.
"Uh, yeah. Sir. Yes, sir. I've got them." The boy said, stumbling out of the back. He made it almost to the counter, when he stumbled and one of the potions crashed to the ground. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut tightly and sighed deeply. Today was just not her day.
"I'm so sorry! Bugger! I- I'll get a replacement right away. I'm sorry, Mr. Malfoy."
Malfoy sighed and waved him away. "Just hurry up."
Hermione opened her eyes to find Malfoy studying her. "What?" She snapped.
"You look like hell." Malfoy said simply, and she scoffed.
"Such flattery."
"I'm serious, Granger. Don't you have any help?" Malfoy demanded, raking a hand through his blond hair. He looked down at Kaida, who had stretched out her chubby arms toward him, leaning as she opened and closed her pudgy fists.
Hermione was unsure of how to react, but Draco smiled, a genuine smile, reaching out tentatively as he arched an eyebrow, silently asking for her permission. She nodded curtly and he took the baby gingerly, cradling her against his chest as she lay her head in the crook of his neck, latching onto his robes with her small fists.
He brushed a hand gently over her curls as Hermione watched, amazed at how gentle he was with her. "You... seem to be very good with babies." Hermione murmured, her head swimming again as she fought to regain control. Her stomach lurched and her vision blurred, before she was sucked into blackness. She thought she might hear someone calling her name, but she was too far gone to answer.
Draco was trying to remain calm, but seeing Granger crumple like a rag doll had very nearly sent him over the edge. He called out her name, shaking her gently with his free hand, before reaching up with tentative fingers to check her pulse. The steady thrumming of her heart against his fingertips was comforting at least. He looked down into the wide grey eyes of the child he held. She looked from him, to Hermione and back again. "Mama seep."
"Right. Yes. Your mother is sleeping." He confirmed, standing and grabbing up the potions on the counter. "Osgood?" He called, annoyed that the younger wizard was taking so long. "Where's that potion?"
"Here! Here, sir!" He said, running out of the back, clutching it tightly against his chest.
"Bag these up. I'm going to have to escort Granger home. It seems she's fainted."
Osgood's eyes widened as he took in the witch's limp body sprawled on the floor. "Salazar's soul, is she alright?"
"Seems to be," Draco said, irritated. "Hurry up." He was extremely thankful to Blaise at this moment for getting him Granger's home address the very day before. His friend had had to sleep his way through several secretary's before he had found one who could give him what he wanted.
Osgood handed Draco the bag of potions and he cradled Kaida tighter against his chest. "Time to take mummy home, hm?" He said, stooping to grasp Hermione's arm before apparating them to her house. They landed pretty awkwardly on the front porch, Draco doing his best not to let Hermione's body thunk to the ground too harshly, while also balancing the baby and the bag of potions.
He muttered a quick "Alohomora," at the door before levitating the unconscious witch and maneuvering her through the doorway. He settled her onto the couch and covered her with a blanket. He put the bag of potions on the kitchen counter and turned his face down to Kaida's once more. "Can I sit you down, little love?"
She kicked her feet in what he took for agreement. He set her right and turned to measure out the correct amount of potion. He forced it down Hermione's throat, hoping she wouldn't choke in her sleep. He then returned and measured out more for Kaida.
He looked around, finding that she had disappeared. "Kaida?" He called out, and a giggle answered him. He couldn't help his smile. "Are we playing a game?"
Another giggle, followed by a small cough. He heard the pitter patter of small feet and started in the direction. He saw her wild curls sticking out from behind a potted plant and stifled a laugh with his palm. Ha, kids were easy.
"Uh oh, where did Kaida go? Is she hiding?" A small giggle. Draco approached quietly, and squatted down, "Boo!" He said, earning a screech, followed by more giggles. He picked her up and she smiled at him, and he smiled at her. And then she wretched down the front of his black dress shirt and he gagged, clasping a hand tightly over his nose and mouth as her little lip quivered and she began to cry.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he murmured behind his hand as he hastened back to the kitchen. He sat her down in the sink and frowned. He Scourgified his shirt and then cleaned Kaida up as she wailed, crocodile tears forming and welling over her dark lashes. "Hey, it's okay." He mumured. "You're fine." He grabbed the potion he had measured out and said, "Let's take some of this yummy potion to make your tummy feel better, hm?" He held it out and she leaned her head away, screaming louder.
"Okay, alright. No big deal." He pointed his wand at the potion, tansfiguring it into a lolly. "How about a lolly?" He asked. She eyed him with her suspicious grey eyes. But finally her sweet tooth won out and she snatched the lolly from his outstretched hand, shoving it into her already drooling mouth. He cringed slightly. If it were any one else's child, he would have bailed as soon as the vomit incident had occured. As it were, she was... It felt strange, for him to think the words. His baby.
He picked her up and carried her over to the large armchair in front of the fire, draping a blanket over her as he cuddled her close. This was... nice.
Hermione blinked her eyes several times, trying to figure out what had happened. She was staring up at her sitting room ceiling. The last thing she remembered was standing in the Apothecary, watching Malfoy hold Kaida. Kaida!
She sat up quick as a flash, as her pounding head protested.
"Take it easy, Granger," a low voice said across the dark room. Her head whipped around to face him, ready to demand just what the hell he thought he was doing in her house, but she stopped short when she saw her baby sleeping contentedly, sprawled across his chest.
"Wh-what happened?" Hermione demanded in a whisper.
"You fainted at my shop. I couldn't wake you, so I brought you here. I gave you both your potion and I've been babysitting until you came 'round."
Hermione stared at him in shock. "Why on earth would you do something so... nice?"
Draco scoffed. "I'm not the same little shite I was at Hogwarts, Granger. I've changed... some." He smirked.
She frowned, rubbing her head, relieved to find that the nausea hadn't returned at least. "What time is it?" Hermione asked, suddenly frantic. "I haven't sent in an owl to the Ministry. I'll have to let them know I'm not coming in to work tomorrow."
"It's late." Malfoy said, and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Yes, I had gathered that funnily enough. It usually is when it's dark outside."
He was silent as he sat, staring at her as he absentmindedly stroked his long pale fingers through Kaida's curls. "Why did you stay?" Hermione asked, suddenly and his hand stilled.
"You'd prefer I had left her with you unconscious?" Draco asked, arching a blond eyebrow.
"Of course not, but you could have owled someone. You didn't have to stay yourself." She couldn't imagine he had enjoyed himself, looking after a sick baby in her simple house, in her muggle neighborhood. Another thought occured to her, then. "How did we get here?"
"I apparated us." He said and Hermione frowned.
"Not right to the front door I hope?"
"Of course to the bloody front door," he snapped. "You'd rather I had walked a few blocks while carrying you both?"
Hermione gritted her teeth, her fears confirmed. "Draco! This is a muggle neighborhood! You can't just pop into existence on the front porch. People will notice!"
His eyes had widened fractionally and a lazy smirk spread across his face.
"What?" She demanded.
"You called me 'Draco'." He said simply, starting to shrug and then thinking better of it as he looked down at the sleeping girl he cradled.
Had she? She hadn't noticed. It had flowed so swiftly from her tongue, as if she had said it many times before. She shook her head. "Sorry, Malfoy."
"Don't be, Granger. It's nice to hear, actually."
She frowned and regarded him curiously. "Why?"
"I like for my friends to call me by my name."
"We're not friends," she scoffed.
"Aren't we? I wouldn't have done this for just any one, Granger." Malfoy said, narrowing his eyes at her.
She tried to wrap her head around that and found that she couldn't. "But you hate me..." She said, earning a withering look from him.
"I most certainly do not." He said, his eyes burning with intensity.
This day was getting weirder and weirder. "I think I'm still in some flu induced hallucination."
"Go back to sleep, Granger. You look like you could use it." He said, and she rolled her eyes.
"Okay, now I feel a bit better. The insults are comforting. For a second there I thought maybe you had been Imperius'd."
He chuckled. "Rest easy knowing that I am still a sarcastic arsehole, I'm just not as big of a prick as I used to be."
She arched an eyebrow. "You can lay her down in her bed. You can go home."
He frowned, his hand automatically coming up to cup the back of Kaida's head. "I can stay... just in case she wakes up. You can't continue like this forever, Hermione, you'll burn out, like you did earlier. When was the last time you had a proper sleep?"
She glared at him, annoyed that he was sticking his nose into her business. "What do you know about taking care of a baby? I've been doing it alone for nearly a year, it's not going to kill me to keep it up."
"Nearly a year... When's her birthday?" Draco asked, steering them successfully off topic again.
"June 5th. Why?"
Draco smirked. "That's my birthday. Merlin, she talks a lot to not even be one yet. Is that normal?"
Hermione swelled with pride at the comment. "She's very advanced for her age. Her pediatric medi-witch brags on her often."
Draco chuckled again, "Well, who would have expected it? Ou-Your child being advanced? Merlin, no." He shook with laughter and placed a hand on Kaida's back to keep from jostling her.
She laughed with him, until her head hurt from the pressure. "Honestly, though. You can go home."
"No." Draco said.
"No? Draco, this is my house. I'm asking you to leave." Hermione said, growing frustrated.
"You're both sick and I'm not leaving here until I'm satisfied that you've had a good nights sleep. Then you can go on about your business as usual and I'll go home." He said, his eyes daring her to protest.
She sighed. "You couldn't handle it. What if she vomits again? I'll have to get up anyway-"
"She's already covered me in sick once, and I handled it quite well, thank you." Draco said, looking extremely proud of himself. "And the crying only lasted a minute."
"She usually doesn't cry much, except when she's sick. She's a very happy child."
Draco smirked. "Good to know, but I was talking about me."
Hermione burst into a fit of laughter. "Right, my mistake."
"I'm telling you, I've got this. Go to sleep." He said, once again.
She bit her lip, unsure about leaving her child in Malfoy's care. But he had taken care of her for the better part of the day without incident, so maybe a few more hours wouldn't hurt? She sighed. "Okay. Thank you."
"Anytime."
Hermione frowned, laying back against the cushions and closing her eyes. Something tugged in her brain, begging to be brought to the surface, but she couldn't fish it out. She drifted off to sleep.