Severe Punishment

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Chapter Nine: Just the Boys

"You must be joking if you think you can just dump the kids on us!" Ron whined as he leaned back on the sofa. He stared long and hard at Luna, Ginny and Hermione before glaring. "No, no way!"

"Oh, Ron, it isn't like you're doing it completely alone," Hermione reasoned. "You've got Harry and Draco with you. You won't have to take care of all three of the babies, just your own."

"But it's so unfair," he went on. "You get to have fun at Hogsmeade and we three blokes have got to stay here to take care of these brats…"

"Next trip to Hogsmeade, you boys can go but right now, us girls need a break," Ginny added.

"But…"

"Just do it Ron, I bet Harry and Draco won't make such a big deal out of it," Luna rolled her eyes.

As if on cue, the large doors opened. Draco, along with Harry, walked, dumping their bags immediately by the door before going to join Ron on the sofa. Harry eyed Ron's aggravated expression before turning to look at the girls. Whatever was going on, Ron didn't like it. He cleared his throat, ready to ask a question when suddenly,

"They want us to keep an eye on the kids while they go on the first trip to Hogsmeade!"

Harry blinked, turning to look at the girls once more. Hermione was rolling her eyes while Luna seemed to be in a different world, leaving Ginny to be the only one who looked quite annoyed. Despite the situation, Harry chucked.

"What's wrong with that?" he asked, keeping his eyes on Hermione. When their eyes met, he broke out into a grin. "I wouldn't mind it. Besides, the girls need time for themselves, as you should know, Ron. Luna always gets up when the baby cries."

He seemed ready to argue but thought better, turning to look at the rather unusually quiet blonde. He looked up at the redhead, sighing.

"Though I normally wouldn't agree with Potter, I have got to say that… The girls do deserve a break, especially Luna." Draco frowned.

"Wh-what?" Ron sputtered. "B-but--!"

"Don't get you knickers in a bunch, Weasley, it's just for a couple of hours anyway," Draco rolled his eyes.

Though he had been unhappy before, seeing the look of gratitude Ginny gave the blonde made the other redhead unhappier. He glared at them, sighing angrily before flopping back down on the sofa in defeat.

"Fine," he said sourly but his face immediately turned red as soon as Luna's lips landed upon his cheeks. Realizing what had just happened, feeling everyone's eyes on him, he quickly jumped up, wiping his cheek. "Ugh! Gross! What'd you do that for?!" he demanded and ran off, not wanting anyone to see the smile creeping upon his face.

---

"Alright, Harry, make sure Lily gets fed and changed properly…" Hermione told the jet-black haired young man as she stood by the door with the rest of the girls. Unlike all of them, she seemed reluctant to leave them.

"I know, Hermione, taking care of a baby shouldn't be a problem at all. I think I can handle a day without you," Harry smiled, "Really. Don't worry."

"I'm just…" Hermione sighed, "Just don't wear yourself out, alright?" she couldn't stop the blood from rushing to her cheeks, nor could he. They both looked away, laughing awkwardly while the rest looked on.

"Ridiculous," Ron whispered to Ginny as he shook his head. "I don't see why they don't just say something already; I mean it's rather obvious."

"Yeah," Ginny nodded, "they are a little slow on the uptake, but, I won't deny it, it's rather cute to watch. Sickening, but cute."

Draco walked over, Leander cradled securely in his arms. "Are those two still saying goodbye? Last I checked it doesn't take almost a full five minutes to say goodbye."

"Oh, speaking of which," Ron turned to Luna. "Have fun." He waved and sauntered off. Ginny rolled her eyes, shrugging as she sent Luna an apologetic look.

"He's such a buffoon," Ginny sighed.

"It's okay," Luna grinned, "but I should go on ahead before people start looking for me! I'll see you two later!"

And she was gone. Hermione gave Lily one last peck on the forehead before waving goodbye to Harry, finally going on her way. Now it was just down to Draco and Ginny, who seemed to be having quite the difficult time saying goodbye, let alone looking at each other. Draco gently rocked Leander in his arms, his eyes cast down onto the floor.

"Well," Ginny cleared her throat, "I suppose this is it. I'll see you when I get back later… I'll miss you."

Draco's head snapped up, his hopeful eyes betraying him. Disappointment flooded through him when he realized that of course, she was talking to Leander and not him.

He watched as she leaned over, planting a small kiss upon the baby's cheek. He didn't know why, but suddenly he found himself wishing he was the baby instead. He looked away, not wanting to be caught gawking at the girl he seemed to enjoy tormenting. She cleared her throat again, straightening up.

"Well, I'll see you later then," she spoke to him.

"Later," he replied.

"And do try not to scare him to death like you usually do," Ginny chuckled. Nervously, she reached up, ruffling his golden locks. "Bye."

Before he could look up, she was gone. He ran a hand through his hair, smiling.

Guess she's not so bad after all, he thought, carrying Leander back to his crib.

---

"I'm bored," Ron whined, turning over on the sofa once more.

Harry stood behind the kitchen counter, watching as his best friend tossed and turned on the sofa, whining constantly. Draco, seated on the big brown chair near the fireplace had Leander in his lap, bouncing him upon his knee as he made cooing noises. Lily of course was sitting in her high chair, amused by her green plastic little bowl that had once been full of food. Only Ron seemed to be the only one not interested in his baby.

Little Aric sat on the rug in front of the sofa, blowing bubbles with his own spit. Harry found it amusing how the little baby could amuse itself. Not even an hour had gone by and already Ron had given up trying to care for his child. Aric didn't seem to mind at all.

"You know, Ron," Harry said as he fixed Lily a bottle, "instead of whining about how bored you are, why don't you play with Aric, he looks pretty bored too."

"He doesn't like me, Harry," Ron continued to whine. "For the oddest reason he only seems to like Luna. Every time I come near him, he crawls away from me!"

"That's because you're not bonding with him," Draco said from his spot, he was now rubbing Leander's back. "You always let Luna do all the work. Why don't you do something for a change, you lazy—"

"Okay, I don't think we have to fight over it or anything like that," Harry cut in.

"Fine then," Ron rolled his eyes as he slid lazily off the couch, down onto the floor. He crawled over to Aric, who immediately picked up the seemingly forgotten toy truck he had, throwing it at Ron. It hit the redhead square on the forehead. Aric let out a giggle as Ron clutched at his forehead in pain.

"See!"

Harry began to laugh, shaking his head. "That's rather pitiful, Ron."

"I hate babies," Ron replied dryly. "Remind me never to have one of my own. I mean, really, they're not that good for anything."

"You'd make a horrible father in the future." Draco shook his head as he walked over to the play rug, putting Leander down. He watched as the toddler crawled towards the pink-haired baby and was immediately pinned down.

Soon the three young men were gathered around the play rug, watching as the two toddlers wrestled, giggling all the while.

"C'mon Aric, beat that baby down! Beat him!" Ron was shouting excitedly. Draco stood with him, shouting as well for his baby to be victorious. Harry too was caught up in the whole wrestling match, but of course he didn't want Lily to participate in it.

"It's a pity you got stuck with a girl, Potter," Draco laughed.

"Yeah, well, I'm sure Lily could take on those two in a race," Harry said smugly, knowing just how fast the baby crawled.

"Yeah? You're on!" Ron exclaimed.

They scrambled over to one side of the room, clearing the rest of the furniture before grabbing their babies. They all grinned at each other, boredom, and the last thing on their minds.

"Alright, I'm putting my money on Lily, of course," Harry grinned. "Your scrawny boys aren't a match for my pretty girl, isn't that right darling?"

Ron and Draco exchanged a look as Harry continued to give the baby Eskimo kisses. The two other men stifled a laugh before setting their babies down onto the ground.

"Alright, whoever loses has to make dinner and wash the dishes." Draco declared since he'd been the one to do most of the dishes lately.

"Alright, ready, set… GO!"

The excitement from their faces disappeared as they realized that their children weren't moving at all. In fact, they were still sitting on the ground, giggling and gurgling. Ron looked down at Aric, eyes wide.

"Well, c'mon then, get going, I don't want to wash dishes tonight!" he pressed.

"Come on, Leander, you can do it," Draco said soothingly to his child as Harry did the same.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," Ron said and dug into his pocket, pulling out a small chocolate frog. He wiggled it enticingly in front of Aric. "C'mon, son, you want the Froggy don't you? C'mon, come and get it."

"Hey! That's cheating, Weasley!" Draco glared. "You can't do that!"

"I'm not doing anything wrong; I'm simply helping him along." Ron stuck out his tongue.

"YES! YES! GO LILY!" Harry was cheering insanely for only his "daughter" had taken off. After a moment of gawking, Ron gently began to nudge Aric along with his foot.

"Oh, so you wanna play dirty, do you?" Draco smirked as he picked up Leander. He was about to run when both Harry and Ron grabbed a hold of his legs, causing him to fall.

They continued to bicker, forgetting the fact that Leander was no longer in Draco's arms.

"You no good filthy cheater!" Ron was shouting.

"Well you did start it, Ron," Harry added, "but you! It doesn't give you an excuse to cheat like that!"

"Well he started with his—"

"Hee-hee."

The awkward random giggle caused the three to break from their scuffle.

"OH NO!" Draco immediately stood, realizing that his "child" was now flying through the air. He ran, or at least tried to run as fast as he could to try to catch Leander before he fell onto the ground.

Ron and Harry sat up, eyes closed tight, unable to look at the scene.

"No!" Draco shouted and everything seemed to just slow down. When he was certain he had Leander in his grasp, he ended up tripping over his two feet, falling flat upon his face. These caused the other two boys to jump up, without any course of action of course and were left to stare as Leander came closer and closer to the ground.

"NOOO!"

"He's not going to make it," Ron shouted, turning away as Draco struggled to get up on his feet.

"Your wands! USE YOUR WANDS!" Harry shouted as he dug into his pocket for his wand. "Oh, darn it!"

"Leander!"

"Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Oh, thank Merlin," Draco sighed as he flopped back down onto the floor. Though the baby was safe it was no time to celebrate for three rather angry looking young women now stood in the doorway.

"Care to explain?" Ginny asked, her arms crossed across her che

All three young men looked at each other, following the same procedure of swallowing the now horrible lump in their throats before facing the girls once more.

"Well…"

"I…"

"We're doomed." Ron fell to his knees.

And he couldn't have been more right.

Author's Note:

Well, I updated again, AND IN THE SAME WEEK so I think this calls for some reviews, don't you?! To those who HAVE reviewed, thank you very much. I appreciate it and don't think I didn't see a lot of you fave this or alert this... Lemme know what you think!! Thanks.

Have a good one; Might update again later.