"I can't believe I'm doing this"
Hermione sat cross-legged on an old armchair as glum as can be. She watched as the four-year-old sat on the rug in front of her playing with an old Quidditch set that Harry reluctantly lent him. She sighed and looked down at her lap where a book lay open and lost her self in words that always comforted her.
Except this time they weren't comforting her as she was barely reading them anyway. The only reason why she was stuck babysitting the insufferable ferret was because Harry and Ron refused to let her step out of the safe house. It's not safe they said. Hermione scoffed at this. Do they know who I am?
Instead she was stuck with research duty—which in all honesty she quite enjoyed. She brewed potions for the order and made up plans and schemes for them when she got their reports from their scouts. Part of this research was about Voldemort's Horcruxes. For months Harry and Ron went out to missions with the Aurors like obedient soldiers but Hermione knew the truth. As soon as she found all the information they would be gone. They would set off without her and try to finish this war—or what Harry thought was his alone to do.
"We promise to come help you out with the little brat when were not doing missions" Ron had promised her
"Yeah, we can definitely take turns" Harry added to appease the witch, "Just think of yourself as the head guardian"
And with that Hermione had suddenly found herself walking towards the other end of table to where the man she had grew to loathe sat innocently humming and swinging his feet.
"Hey there, er…Draco" Hermione greeted the four-year-old as she took a seat. She could hear the others shuffle outside the room, those traitors, she thought.
"Who are you?" silver eyes blinked up at her
Hermione blinked. The four-year-old spoke in perfect diction but she guessed she shouldn't have been that surprised seeing who his parents were. She doubted Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy tolerated baby-talk. Still, despite his grasp on pronunciation, his age could not help but surface the adorable intonations every toddler had.
"Uhm, I'm Hermione."
"Where's my mum?"
"Well, she and your father had gone away for awhile. They asked us to take care of you for a while. But it turns out you'll be spending most of your time with me.
"Why?"
Hermione wracked her brain for lies, "Vacation"
"Why?"
"Because…they needed to rest for a while"
"Why" Draco's silver eyes bore into hers with much intensity
Oh Merlin does he know that I'm lying? Hermione laughed nervously, "My, you ask a lot of questions for a four-year-old. How about if you don't ask anymore questions I'll give you a cookie and a bedtime story"
Draco's eyebrows furrowed and he appeared to be in thought, "What about a cookie and two bedtime stories" He declared holding up two tiny fingers.
Why you little ferret. Hermione thought bitterly as she smiled at the kid, "Sure, I'll give you two bedtime stories but that extra story requires you to have a bath" Ha! Two can play at this game. Although, this hardly seems like a victory since I'm stooping to the level of a four-year-old.
Draco scowled, "Fine." And he took his hand out, "A gentleman's word"
Hermione couldn't help but smile at the antics of this little Slytherin as she shook his hand. Later on she found out that one should never make deals on the terms of Draco Malfoy. When he said he'd take his bath he didn't say he was going to come quietly. He had the witch chase him around for half an hour, laughing maniacally, as she tried to get him to put on some pants. And just when she thinks that she's about to hex him he does the sweetest little things like hugging the Gryffindor or affectionately cuddling up to her when she read to him at night. This became their nightly routine although there had been less bribing on both sides.
Hermione closed the book in frustration startling the four-year-old. But that wasn't the point. She was in fact grateful that Harry and Ron let her stay in the safety of the house. She much preferred it this way. But the fighter inside of her couldn't help but feel the guilt. She didn't know how she would forgive herself if something were to happen to her two best friends and she wasn't there to do anything about it.
Hermione felt a small hand on hers. She flinched; startled as she had forgotten whom she was sharing the room with. She looked up into the eyes of the Slytherin as he stood right in front of her, his brows furrowed in worry.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" came his soft voice
Hermione looked at the little boy. And that was the other reason she had been so frustrated about her situation. She could feel the Slytherin grow on her. Her inner maternal instincts made her love the little boy more but her practical self tried to push out these feelings to remind her what she should be feeling instead, "Yes, I'm fine. Why would there be something wrong with me"
The boy shrugged, "You were making many funny faces a while ago"
"Er…yes..well…why don't you go back to your toys and while I finish up my book here" She awkwardly patted his head, embarrassed that he had caught her in that state.
"Okay!" He smiled brightly and ran back towards the rug and started playing with the miniature figurines of the Quidditch team.
Hermione opened her book and lifted it up to her face as if to read but instead she used it as a cover to peer at the four-year-old Slytherin. She had learned in all the weeks she had spent with the him that Draco Malfoy loves to giggle, is highly curious and talks for hours and is an extremely affectionate child. She studied him under her lashes trying to imagine how this sweet, sweet little boy turned out to be the biggest a-
"What are you doing?" a voice said from behind her.
Hermione yelped almost dropping the heavy book on her feet. Draco giggled, yet again, at her.
"Merlin Harry. Sometimes, I swear." Hermione huffed.
Her best friend grinned.
"When did you guys get back?"
"Just a couple of minutes ago. Ron's just in the kitchen"
"Why am I not surprised?"
Harry laughed and sat on the armrest, "I don't know what I'm more worried about. The fact that you're leering at a four year old like a pedophile or that your first reaction to being surprised isn't to whip out your wand"
"Oh ha ha ha, very funny. And I was not leering at him. It's just" Hermione sighed defeated
Harry raised an eyebrow at her.
"How can something so cute and pure be this evil?" Hermione whispered to her best friend
"So, you think he's cute eh?"
"Don't—"
"Who's cute?" Ron said walking in with a bag of chips—getting food supplies had become harder now and not because of the scarcity but because every time you stepped outside on the street your chances of dying goes up to 99%. The order figured that it was much easier to go to muggle london to get food than have to fight their way through wizarding communities that Death Eaters have infested. Draco perked up at the sound of the crinkling plastic bag that he come to associate with as his favorite snack.
"Ron may please have some?"
"No get your own" Ron stuck out his tongue at the four-year-old
"Hermione, Ron won't get me any chips" Draco looked at his guardian, his silver eyes large as saucers
Hermione gave the Weasley a pointed look, "Ron give Draco some chips"
The red head sighed and lowered the bag to let Draco's tiny hand reach into it. When the Slytherin got a couple of pieces he cupped it with his other hand, stuck out his tongue at the Weasley and then walked back to his toys. Ron's eyes narrowed at the blonde.
"Little bugger" he muttered. Harry and Hermione coughed into their hands.
"Ron!" The Slytherin called out once again
The red head groaned, "What is it now?"
"Come play with me"
"No way! Why should I after you stole food from me?"
"I didn't steal!" The four-year-old cried indignantly, "It's called sharing"
Ron scoffed.
"Pleeeeaaase Ron?" Draco whined
"Alright, alright. Keep your hair on," Ron said defeated as he joined the blonde on the rug.
Harry and Hermione smiled at their best friend who had been in fact the most reluctant to get close to the Slytherin.
"He kind of grows on you huh?" Harry said amused
"I know. It's disgusting" The two could heard him mutter
It was true, for three weeks now the trio had been taking turns spending time with the Slytherin and found themselves actually enjoying his company. At first they had found it excruciatingly awkward as they found a way to deal with someone they knew to be so unpleasant. But soon the trio learned that despite the horrible man Draco Malfoy had become he was actually a joy to be around. In fact the Golden Trio's days revolved around Draco for next couple of weeks.
The Wednesday two weeks ago was Harry's shift and he had reluctantly offered up his Quidditch figurine set to the little boy not knowing what else to do with the boy-an the boy-who-lived did not want to small talk his four-year-old nemesis. Draco was just all too happy to accept finally having a toy to play with in what he calls, "this creepy house". Harry was in the middle of setting up the game when Draco's inquisitiveness kicked in.
"Where's Hermione?"
"Resting"
"When will she be finished?"
"I don't know. When she's not tired anymore."
"Why do you wear glasses?"
"Because I can't see very well"
"What's that on your forehead?"
"A scar" Harry said exasperatedly
"Why do you have a scar?"
Because your psycho leader tried to murder me when I was a baby. Harry thought, "I…er, hit my head when I was little"
"Does it hurt-"
"Hey would you look at that I'm done setting up let's play" Harry said quickly to prevent the boy from asking him another question about his damn scar, "Here you can get the orange players"
"No way, I hate Chuddley Cannons" the silver-eyed boy pouted
"I know right! Finally someone who agrees with me" Harry said not being able to contain his excitement, "Do me a favor and tell Ron that"
"Ron likes Chuddley Cannons?" Draco wrinkled his nose
"Yes he has the worst taste in Quidditch teams"
And just like that the two boys felt at ease with each other as they bonded the whole afternoon, talking about Quidditch.
Ron had Draco for two days because Harry was on a mission and Hermione was busy "researching". Harry told him to "Do it for the greater good" when he, unsurprisingly, refused. The Weasley wouldn't budge until Hermione paid him with cookies.
Their first day had started with Ron having to wait on the four-year-old as he checked himself out on the mirror. Draco Malfoy had to be the most well-groomed four-year-old there way. The red head rolled his eyes as he watched the Slytherin meticulously brush his hair and tuck in his shirt. Normally Hermione would help get dressed but since Ron had refused to help the boy, Draco took twice as long getting ready with his clumsily, uncoordinated, four-year-old hands.
"Okay, I'm done" The Slytherin declared
"Well finally!" the Gryffindor jumped up from his seat and grabbed the boy's hand, "Come on, breakfast."
Breakfast, along with all the other meals of the day, turned out to be the only thing the red head had planned for Draco that day. So that's why after their pancakes Draco found himself looking through Ron's mini collection of Quidditch books that he had left at number 12 Grimmauld Place his first Christmas there. Draco babbled constantly about the things he saw on those pages, sharing his insights on the game, while his guardian for the day only nodded or grunted in reply. Unfortunately, unlike Harry, Quidditch was not the answer to the Malfoy and the Weasley friendship puzzle.
The next day Ron decided to teach the Slytherin wizard's chess. Like stealing candy from a baby, he had said evilly to himself. Two games later Draco had beaten him—he didn't come second to Hermione Granger in Hogwarts for nothing. Ron demanded a rematch and when he saw that Draco was about to checkmate him again, he muttered a spell to move Draco's pieces. Draco screamed that Ron cheated and had become visibly upset. Ron said that he didn't know what he was talking about which resulted to a crying Slytherin. Later on Draco received a hug and a cup of ice cream from Hermione and Ron had a noticeable bump on the back of his head.
The Golden trio hadn't even realized how all of this time they shared with Draco had affected him until he started calling on them at night. In the first few weeks Draco had barely asked for anything and he mostly tried to do things by himself. But as his bond with his guardians grew stronger he found himself trusting them enough to rely on them. And so the nightly calls started happening. At first it was only with Hermione as she had the strongest bond with the boy but soon the Slytherin learned to rely on Harry and Ron as well for different reasons. Each of them had a role to play in Draco's needs. Harry entertained him when he couldn't go to bed, Hermione comforted him if he had a bad dream and Ron did what he did best and made him snacks.
Just three days ago the golden trio had huddled into Hermione's room discussing their plans for the Horcrux hunt when they heard Draco's door open as if right on schedule.
The three listened, their ears straining and then…
"Harry!" the tiny voice called out
The boy-who-lived groaned while his two best friends high-fived triumphantly and he went to seek the needy four-year-old.
But the best day, and everyone agreed, was two nights ago at the dinner table. The golden trio, Molly and a few members of the order were actually present to eat a meal together. Hermione sat beside Draco with her two best friends in front of her. It was in the middle of the meal when she leaned over Draco to cut up his meat for him when the little boy broke out in to giggles.
"What's so funny?" The Gryffindor had asked
"Your hair tickles," Draco said giggling
"I know it's hideously bushy isn't it?" Hermione said teasingly
"No it's not!" The boy pouted and the stood up on the bench making him taller than his guardian, "It's fluffy like a cloud" He patted her hair.
Then the highlight of the night happened. The little boy wrapped his arms around the Gryffindor's head and rested his cheek on it, "It's almost like a pillow," he had giggled, "I like it"
At this the entire table burst out laughing making Hermione's cheeks turn into the brightest shade of red the world will ever see. Doing the only thing she could do in that awkward situation, she hugged the boy back and said, "Well Draco, I like your hair too"
At this the little boy's face swelled up with pride, "I brush it myself"
"Oh. We know" Ron muttered.