DMM Ch.7

Hermione, after many attempts, succeeded in dressing Draco for bed.

"You would think, after today's events, that he would have been too tired to put up such a fuss over being dressed. I need to remember that he has so much energy. It may be useful in more ways than one." A small yawn from the changing table took her out of her thoughts. Draco had a small scowl on his face, clearly hating the current circumstances and positions. Still, he couldn't help but yawn again. Hermione gave him a tiny smile. "

Looks like someone's tired. You've had a long day, so it's perfectly reasonable." She looked at the clock on the nightstand. It read "8:46".

"And from the looks of it, it is over an hour past your new bedtime." That put a frown on Draco's face fast.

"BEDTIME!? You've got to be kidding me…AGAIN! There is absolutely no way that I am following ANY of her rules or regulations! I'm the pureblood, so I should be able to do as I please! If she thinks that I am going along with this, she has another thing coming! You know what, why am I only thinking this?" Draco tried saying all of his thoughts, but all that came out was a bunch of gibberish.

"Oh yah, that's why." He mentally slapped himself.

Hermione didn't have much of a clue as to what Draco was trying to say, but from the tone he was using, she guessed he was trying to argue about the early bedtime. Picking him up,

Hermione walked out of the bedroom and back to the living room, or back to the rocking chair in the living room. "Look Draco, we have to take many aspects into consideration with this sudden change. For starters, you will not be able to do many of the things that you could only hours ago, such as talking or walking, for quite some time. You will also not have as much energy as you did before, so that means an early bedtime, somewhere around 7:30 each night, at least until you reach the age of 3."

Draco could barely believe what he was hearing, as well as barely being able to stay awake. His eyelids were getting very heavy, so keeping them open was his first priority at the moment.

Hermione noticed he wasn't responding at all. She looked down at him and recognized the drowsy state. Many of the children she had babysat before collapsed moments after getting that hazy look in their eyes. Sighing, she stopped rocking and stood up. The sudden movement got at least part of Draco's attention. His gaze shifted from the patch of blank space he had been staring into to Hermione's face, and then straight ahead to see where they were going. The two were going back into the bedroom, and then directly toward Draco's new bed, I mean crib.

Draco was horrified when he spotted the thing. "You honestly expect me to sleep in a crib?! How insulting!"

He tried to argue, but the only thing that came out sounded like NO!

"His first word is not only 'no', but now he can scream it at the top of his lungs. Just brilliant!" Hermione turned Draco around to face her. She plastered on a calm expression then began to speak.

"Now Draco, you of all people should know that it is impolite to shout indoors, and you need sleep. There is no way around sleeping in this crib, and if you continue this behavior, you just may find yourself in the crib more for a time out tomorrow." She placed him in the crib while saying all of this.

Draco looked at her, steaming mad, and screamed "NO!" again.

"Draco, I mean it. If you keep this up, you will be in trouble." Hermione said. He still looked defiant, but at the same time very tired out. "Just get a good night's sleep. We can talk about all of these things tomorrow. We have a full two weeks to settle, surely we can work out all of the disagreements and concerns."

Draco nodded in response, then his eyes sagged even more than before, as if he were about to fall asleep right then and there.

"Good night Draco. Sleep tight. I'll only be in the living room for a few hours or so finishing up a few things, but just holler if you need anything." Hermione said as she tucked him in and went to turn off the lights.

Draco didn't even protest this time. He practically fell asleep the moment she said good night.

NEUC