Summery: When the Marauders' spell goes wrong and turns Lily into a five-year-old girl, they have no choice but to take care of her. Unfortunately, what seems like an easy work, transforms into a crazy job when the obedient little Lily turns out to be not so obedient after all. JL
Disclaimer: HP doesn't belong to me, but the storyline is.
Babysitting Lily
By: Ruby89
Chapter two
Lily poked him in the ribs with her finger "you're weird. Why would you be expelled?"
James sighed "What else is expected after I turned you into a baby?"
Lily jumped to her feet and crossed her arms. She looked down at him and said in annoyance "I'm not a baby, I'm a big girl! I'm five and three months old"
"Don't see the difference" he mumbled.
She huffed and turned her back to him "you're a mean old boy" She glanced behind her shoulder and pulled her tongue defiantly "and I don't like you!"
James sat down in the nearest chair and rested his chin on the palm of his hand. He observed her for a moment before finally asking "you don't remember who I am, do you?"
"No" she watched him suspiciously "why?"
He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair in frustration.
Hell, what a mass.
He leaned his elbows on his knees and crooked his finger at the little girl "come here"
She looked at his hand and raised her chin, saying clearly "you forgot to say please"
"I never say please" he answered dryly.
"Too bad" she said, rocking slightly on her heels.
"Fine" James said carelessly, leaning backwards.
There was a long pause before Lily said matter-of-factly "I'm a witch, by the way"
"Really?" James' tone indicated that he wasn't impressed by the news at all, but Lily didn't seem to hear.
She nodded her head enthusiastically "yeah, the old man in the dress told me all about it" She raised her finger and pointed it threateningly at him "so don't try anything funny, mister, or I'll-I'll…" she bit her bottom lip to try and come up with a good enough threat before looking at him and smiling "or I'll turn you into an ugly, little green toad!"
James smiled amusingly despite himself. He had to admit that a five year old Lily was more entertaining than a seventeen year old one. "And how do you plan to do it? You don't have a wand"
She frowned in thoughtfulness before shrugging "I don't need a wand. I turned Rick into a toad just last week"
"Who's Rick?"
"A boy that lives with me in the same street" her mouth twisted slightly, as if remembering something unpleasant "he kissed me"
"A boy kissed you and turned into a toad?" he let a short laugh "no wonder you never date anyone!"
Lily stared at him confusedly before choosing to ignore his last comment. Since she awoke a few hours ago, she learned quickly that the people who live here are not exactly making sense when they talk. She supposed sanity wasn't included in their character as well.
The only person she wholeheartedly liked was the old man who looked like Santa Clause in a long dress and after a diet.
He was funny and quite impressing, especially after butterflies flown from his wand. It wasn't amazing as the magic performance in her birthday, but she clapped her hands nonetheless.
They both looked up when the headmaster entered his office. His blue eyes twinkled behind his half-moon spectacles as he greeted them both.
"I see you've two met already" he said as he sank to the chair behind the large desk and looked at James "I suppose you already figured the situation?"
James straightened, trying not to look nervous as he felt "it was an accident. We didn't mean to hit her with the spell"
To his surprise, Dumbledore chuckled in response "is that why you think I called you here? To punish you? No, no, James, I know that what happened to Lily was a pure accident. Madam Fenny said that she was rather lucky that the spell didn't turn her younger"
"So… now what?"
"We already gave her a potion, but it takes time. So until Lily recovers, it'll be your responsibility as Head Boy to take care of her"
James was stunned, to say the least. He glanced at the little girl next to him before looking at his headmaster. "I can't" he managed to say "I don't- I never babysat anyone before! I won't know what to do"
Lily, who sat through the whole conversation with a polite bored expression, jerked her head the moment she heard the word 'babysat'.
"I don't need a babysitter" she said loudly enough to draw their attention.
Dumbledore smiled gently "I'm afraid you have no choice. It's too dangerous for you to be all alone in this castle. What will happen if we'll lose you?"
Lily wasn't stupid. She was close to be lost when she followed Dumbledore to his office, and she had no intention to repeat the experience. Her bottom lip dropped to a pout "do I have to?"
"Yes"
She glanced at James, jumped from the chair and circled the table to where Dumbledore sat. She motioned him to lean down, and whispered in his ear "I don't think it's a good idea. He won't play with me if I'll ask him to"
"Are you sure of that?" Dumbledore asked, smiling.
Lily nodded back with a serious expression "he doesn't like me very much and I don't think he knows any fun games" she shook her head with finality "it won't work, Mr. Dumpy-door"
"I see" he said lightly and straightened up "perhaps you'd be kind enough to teach him. What do you say?"
"Alright" Lily sighed heavily "I'll see what I can do. But between you and me" her voice dropped to a whisper again "I don't know if he's smart enough to understand"
"I heard that" James remarked.
Lily just pulled her tongue at him in response.
-
"Hide-and-seek?"
"No"
"How about 'Pony'?"
"No"
"Can you show me a magic trick?"
"Later"
Lily sighed and dragged her feet gloomily "you're no fun". She looked at the long corridor they were passing and looked back up at the tall boy that walked in front of her "are we there yet?"
James groaned silently, cursing the moment Dumbledore thought of the idea that he, James Potter, who came in touch with little twits only from watching them across the street, should look after the little redhead dwarf that tailed after him and tried to drag him to play one of her stupid little games.
What the hell was he supposed to do with her? He had a personal life, after all. He had pranks to pull, girls to bed… so how taking care of a five year old girl entered his busy schedule?
"I'm hungry"
The statement made him even more frustrated.
He was supposed to feed her too? How wonderful…
"When we'll get to the Head dorms I'll call for a house-elf to bring you something to eat" he bit out, unconsciously increasing his pace.
Lily ran to keep up and not lose him from her sight. She started to like him less and less. He had the same look Petunia had every time their Mum forced her to watch after her. If he won't get nicer to her, he better not be surprised if he'll wake up to find aunts crawling under his sheets.
With that encouraging thought she followed him through the maze of corridors to their destination.
-
Lily let a tiny scream when something that looked like a dirty rug doll with bat-like ears and huge eyes, popped right in front of her, carrying a tray.
She stared at the creature.
The creature stared right back at her.
Lily blinked and smiled unintentionally, her unconscious first reaction when she's afraid. "I'm Lily" she gulped slightly, feeling as if her heart jumped and got stuck in her throat "who're you?"
"Kensy, miss" the creature answered in a high squeak "I'm one of Hogwarts' house-elves"
"house-elf?" repeated Lily, remembering that James mentioned something about it. She bit her bottom lip and cocked her head to one side, observing curiously the creature.
"Can you do magic?" she asked suddenly.
The house-elf nodded "yes, miss. Kensy knows to do magic, miss"
"It's Lily and can you show me a magic trick? Please?"
To her full delight Lily saw the tray raise and float in the air before gently lending on the small table in front of her. She clapped her hands enthusiastically, making Kensy's ears redden slightly in half enjoyment and half embarrassment.
James closed the door of his room after him and watched as the house-elf tried to answer the flood of questions Lily fired at him. She raised her eyes, brightly smiling at him and James noticed a dimple in her left cheek for the first time. Frowning, he tried to remember if he ever saw it in the past seven years. Not likely. Lily never truly smiled at him, after all.
He shook his head slightly when he realized that little Lily was saying something to him.
"… Isn't he cute? I never saw a house-elf before. Can I keep him?" she asked with a hopeful expression.
"No, he belongs to the school"
"Oh" Lily's bottom lip started to tremble, and for a moment he was afraid she'll burst in tears, but to his great relief, she just bent her head and bit at her sandwich.
An awkward silence settled in the room. At least that's how James felt. Lily just set on the big couch with a concentrated look, removing cucumbers from her sandwich one by one.
What do babysitters usually do when they want to get rid of the little twits?
James smiled and clapped his hands together loudly "bedtime, Evans"
"It's Lily and it's still early" she answered.
"Here we all go to sleep at this hour. Even I'm going to bed now" he invented in a heartbeat.
"Really?" she asked in surprise "why?"
"Because… it's a rule. And you don't break rules, correct?"
She blinked innocently "of course not"
"Good, so I'll show you your room" he headed towards the second door Lily noticed earlier, and opened it for her.
She rose to her feet and entered the room. She looked around curiously, liking it immediately. The walls were deep red, her favorite color, with a blue ceiling. A desk stood at a corner next to a large closet. And all this faced the largest bed she had ever seen.
With a loud squeal she jumped on the bed, giggling as she bounced up and down the mattress. She finally fell on her back and stretched her hands and legs to the sides trying to see if she could reach the ends of the bed.
"So you like it?" James asked, thinking that it was a shame that the older Lily wasn't so easily satisfied in small things such as the size of the bed….
He stumbled back when the little girl jumped on him and hugged him forcefully around the neck "thank you, thank you, thank you! I absolutely love it! Thank you!" she quickly kissed his cheek and jumped down, running back to the bed.
James touched his fingers to his cheek, staring strangely at the redheaded girl. Then he remembered that Gelina was coming in ten minutes.
"Good night" he called, closing the door.
Lily sat up faster than a bolt of lighting "what are you doing?" there was a certain alarm in her voice.
"Closing the door, why?" he smiled suddenly "you're not afraid of the dark, are you?"
"n-no, of course not. Only little girls afraid of it" she smiled shakily, trying to convince herself that she really wasn't afraid.
"So I thought" he smirked and added as in afterthought "by the way, if you'll hear some noises coming from under your bed, don't worry. The monster already ate a few nights ago. Hopefully she won't be hungry tonight… Sweet dreams!"
Lily watched the door close with wide eyes. She gulped and looked around frantically.
Monster under the bed? Nobody told her anything about a monster under the bed…
She peeked over the side of the bed, trying to hear the monster breath.
Nothing.
She carefully grabbed a slipper from the carpet and threw it back to the floor.
Still nothing.
Perhaps the monster was sleeping or dead because of lack of food?
This thought immediately worried Lily. She might not like the monster-or any monster if you think about it- but she certainly didn't want it to be dead. She slid to the floor quietly and raised the blanket slightly.
"Yoo-hoo, Mr. Monster? Or are you Mrs.? Are you alright down there?" she listened carefully and sighed when she still didn't hear anything. "I'm going in" she warned loudly "so don't be afraid. And just for your knowledge, I'm not tasty at all" she quickly added "so I won't satisfy your hunger. Auntie always said that I'm just skin and bones". She took a deep breath and crawled under the bed. She emerged from the other side and straightened up, dusting her clothes.
Well, at least now she knew that there was no monster living under her bed.
Unless it escaped her room to the next one…
She opened the door and carefully peeked out.
It seemed safe enough for her to enter the common room. She bit her bottom lip and slowly walked to the opposite door. She quietly turned the knob and tilted her head slightly to the side to try and hear better.
Was that breathing? She blinked when she heard someone giggle and moan almost at the same time. She bent on her hands and knees and walked through the little opening of the door. She froze when she heard the breathing more loudly now.
Wow, that monster sure is big and hungry if she makes such noises, Lily thought to herself, and took another move foreword. She cried a little in pain when some kind of object scratched her hand.
Lily held her breath in expectation, but it seemed that the big monster on the bed didn't hear her. The monster was probably in great pain, Lily thought with slight pity, if she's yelling so loudly and calling throaty 'oh's every half second.
She picked the long object from the floor and turned it in her hands. The room was too dark for her to guess what it was, but it felt like a long stick. She shrugged and threw the object away from her, hearing it hit the wall.
James and Gelina both whirled around in shock as the curtains burst in flames.
As James jumped from the bed and grabbed his wand, he thought he heard a small "uh-oh" and the sound of a closing door behind him.
A/N: ;)