i want to have 100 stories here so I'm just throwing some things here. new releases will still be on ao3.
dementor daycare xii
if you stumbled upon this expecting a coherent story, turn right around and go back home.
It was storming. It was barely ten in the morning, but it was so dark it looked like dusk. Sheets of rain lashed at the daycare building, which had literally just been repaired a few weeks prior. It was the sort of day where you just did not want to get out of bed.
But the daycare dementor did not get that luxury, so she hauled herself out of bed, put on her rain cloak, and encouraged the children to take umbrellas with them instead of handfuls of cheesy crackers. But soon it proved so wet that she simply Apparated them into the daycare building.
There each child hung their raincoat as Barty got to work charming a warm blanket for each.
Modesty was still squeezing water out of her braid when River tapped at the door.
Draco was half-hidden under his too-big raincoat, and was still complaining to River that he wished not to wear it. She bent to take it off him and he immediately ran off, not even stopping to take his bag or even say goodbye. By now, however, River was used to this. "Tell him I hope he has a good day," she said to Soleil. The dementor said she would when she could get him still.
Next were Newt and Albie, with the former crying because his niffler was all wet. While his mother calmed him down, Cam appeared with Harry. However, Soleil never actually spoke to Cam. She wanted to, but Harry just had too much to say about the storm, how dark it looked outside, why the sky made big, loud sounds, what if the entire world was swept away by the rain, why it wasn't wet in the daycare, what would happen if it rained in the daycare, and about 611 other questions.
Maisie's ornate robes were soaked completely through, as were Alecto's shiny rain boots, answering the question of why. Even now, her daughter splashed in the absolute puddles that had dripped from her raincoat and boots.
"Let's not get all wet, my precious angel," Maisie said, gently trying to distract Alecto. "We don't want to sully your pretty dress, do we?"
"No, Mommy," Alecto said, clearly meaning that she would use it as a finger-painting canvas if she could.
"There, that's such a good girl. How about a cookie?"
Between the lengthy list of protocols she gave, while stopping here and there to praise Alecto and give her more cookies, it took Maisie twenty-seven minutes to exit the daycare. That had to be some kind of record.
When the door shut after her, Sol put down multiple towels to sop up the mess. Oh, why did parents still want to bring their children to daycare on horrid rainy days?
With that taken care of, Chastity began to oversee the morning free play, while Sol began, trying to sound far more cheerful than she felt.
"Good morning, children. Today we're going to-"
She was cut off by a knock at the door. Which was not worrisome, except that the only outstanding parent was Dragon and she had said she wasn't coming. Not even wanting to know what was up this time, she waved Barty along. "Go deal with that."
Barty hesitated on his way to the door, really hoping this was not another random extra surprise child. On one hand, Quico hadn't been that bad, or well, wouldn't have been if he and Alecto hadn't intersected. But on the other, it could also be a literal Mary Lou. If it had to be one of the two, he certainly knew which he hoped for.
Deciding to get it over with, he swung the door open, where he found himself glancing down at a random extra surprise child.
This one was a little boy who looked about eight, and he wore a pair of suspenders, except he was so wet from the rain that they had slid right down his arms. Everything on him was either too small or too large, and he looked at Barty like he was stunned someone actually opened the door.
"All right, let me guess," Barty said. "You want to come inside, don't you?"
He was taking a giant gamble by assuming this child had any business being invited in. He didn't look like the sort who put fish in his diapers, but really, what did that sort look like?
The boy just looked right back at him. "¡Vaya, nunca antes había estado en una guardería!"
This was literally the second time in a month they had been visited by people who apparently spoke only Spanish. They were very fortunate that his father had had the forethought to pass his language skills along, or Barty would have been completely lost.
Through a few carefully-handled questions, the Death Eater was able to get the boy to tell him his name was Chavo and he had no idea why Barty kept asking him about moist fish. Barty sighed. It wouldn't do to send this poor child back out into the rain. The sheer sheets of water had only gotten heavier. But Barty knew better than to just let him in. The last time he had done that, he had been yelled at for hours by his wife.
He said, "Muy bien, jovencito. Te dejaré venir a la guardería, pero no me hagas arrepentirme de esto. Ahora solo espera aquí y volveré en un momento."
Barty then went into his office, where he kept his numerous pendants and charms. He owned a charm that would permit Chavo to be understood, but he couldn't seem to find it.
"What is it, Barty?" He completely failed to realize Sol was standing there until she announced herself.
"Darling, where is my translation pendant?"
Sol mentally calculated. The last time they used it was when Quico came to daycare...which probably meant they had forgotten to get it back from him. And with that being a one-time thing, Sol did not have his address to go and ask for it back. "I think I know where it is, but that isn't good news."
Barty dropped his head into his hands. "I don't even want to know. Just tell me what we're going to do."
Before he even finished his sentence, Barty suddenly realized he had another one at home, behind his box set of Yodeling With The Stars. This problem would be solved if he could only get there without this new child seeing him apparate and deducing that he was a witch. It was too soon for another witch hunt.
Thinking quickly, he shut the door to his office as he popped back home.
"Barty está en su oficina," he heard Sol explaining as he returned. "Solo uno momento, por favor."
He gave the pendant to Sol, who seamlessly switched her tactics. "Un regalo de bienvenidos para tú," she said, sighing in relief when he accepted it and instinctively put it on. He had understood her, but her Spanish really was not good.
"Children," Soleil adressed the others. Most of them looked up. Severus ate another handful of cheesy crackers. "This is Chavo. He is going to be joining us here at daycare today. I expect you will join me in making him feel welcome." To the little boy, she said, "We're having free time now. You can go and play with the other children."
The other children consisted of a little silver-haired boy who meowed at him, a very talkative young child, and a little girl Chavo thought looked much too old to be at daycare. She was the one who caught his attention, and he approached her. But the child forgot to look where he was going, and ran straight into her block tower.
The peculiar woman-child looked at him for but a second before she emitted a deafening wail, "MOMMY!"
To his credit, Chavo barely even blinked when Maisie Malfoy literally materialized a second later. On second thought, he was probably used to this. "What happened?" she inquired, brushing some stray dust from her robes.
"Mommy, he knocked down my tower, and he stomped on it, and then..." Alecto furiously sniffled. "He tried to kill me, too!"
Maisie turned to Chavo, who instinctively responded with, "I did it on purpose, but I didn't mean to."
"I don't care if you meant to! You apologize to her this instant, young man."
He hadn't even been there ten minutes and already Maisie was here. That was not a good sign.
"And the next time, I'll not be so lenient!" Maisie proclaimed as she cracked out of sight.
But it was still early, and it was after all his first time at a daycare. Sol just gently reminded Chavo to watch where he was going. "And don't worry about Alecto. Her mother is, ah, very concerned about her well-being."
"Are they supposed to be?" he asked.
Sol frowned. She certainly was, maybe not as much as Maisie, but she certainly cared substantially for her brood. "I'd say so, yes. Why do you ask?"
"I asked because of my friend Quico. His mommy is like that too."
Hearing that, Sol froze. What the hell were the odds that their two most recent visitors knew each other?
She started to speak, but Barty was faster, gently tugging his wife out of earshot. "Soleil," he said calmly. "D'you remember that day? I believe young mister Quico was telling our daughter about his friend who backed over his cat like a banana."
"Barty, young mister Quico was convinced a witch turned our cat into Gellert."
"Yes, but there is little supernatural about backing over bananas. It is difficult to confuse for something else."
"And you aren't saying...?"
"I can't be sure, but we can't rule it out."
What had they just gotten themselves into?
-x-
Eventually Sol decided to get the kids a more structured activity and decided to hold circle time.
Mentally calculating, she put Chavo on the letter Y and Modesty on X beside him. To avoid another issue, she put Alecto on N next to Barty, but she screeched that she wanted the O, so he moved over and eventually she agreed to sit down. Albie was set on B, Gellert on K, Draco on F, and Newt on S. Severus was sent to C "for cheesy crackers!" Sol advertised, and Harry was given V. The dementor sat on Q next to Barty, and Chastity eventually occupied I.
"Now, which of you can tell me what day of the week it is?" Sol inquired.
Six hands shot up and she selected Draco. "It's Thursday!" he yelled.
"That's right. Gellert, what is the weather like on this Thursday?"
"It's rainin'" he burbled. "Pants gonna get all wet. Better takes 'em off."
His pants were gone before Sol could even react. Laughing, Alecto reached down before realizing she had a dress on. Not to be deterred, she took off and threw her shoes instead.
Barty took care of this while his wife continued. "So it's a rainy Thursday. A rainy Thursday in what month?"
"August!" Harry babbled without even raising his hand. "And in August, it's hot and I get to eat ice cream! I like chocolate ice cream, but I like strawberry too, and vanilla, and rocky road, and chocolate chip, and caramel swirl, and-"
"That's lovely, Harry," Barty sighed, just to quiet him.
Per usual, that was about all the interest the children had in circle time. By now Alecto and Sev were starting to get squirmy, Gellert tried to stand up and tripped over the pants around his ankles, and Chavo and Modesty were observably bored at having to go over things they had known since they were toddlers. Looking at this, Chastity quietly asked Sol if they could have lunch or something.
"Chastity," she said, "That is a brilliant idea."
-x-
Severus had actually eaten two packs of cheesy crackers before he was even seated. When his mother told him to eat his sandwich, he piled crackers onto it first. But he did eat it, so she didn't care.
Draco ate his pudding with his face in the bowl, Albie smeared sauce all over the table, and Alecto, who had cooperated when presented with a roast muggle sandwich, now refused the puréed fruit Maisie had sent. "If your mother sent this, I think she wants you to eat it, probably."
"No!"
Chastity was really not sure what to do. In the house of Mary Lou, you either ate your peas yourself or she would make sure you did. However, Maisie was unlikely to approve of anyone force-feeding her daughter.
Then, however, Newt took out a cookie, and suddenly Chastity had an idea.
"If you eat some of this, then...then if Miss Soleil doesn't mind, maybe I could give you a cookie."
That was all it took.
With all the adults busy, they all had yet to notice that Chavo hadn't brought anything with him. That is, all except Modesty, who sheepishly sidled over to him. "Do you, um, want some of my crackers?"
Chavo eyed her with disbelief. "Are you going to give me any?"
"Yes, if you want some. Do you?"
"First you have to tell me if you're going to give me some."
"I'll give you some crackers if you want them. I just asked if you wanted any. Maybe you don't like crackers and I should share something else."
"I'm not going to tell you if I want any until you tell me if you're really going to share."
Modesty frowned. This was a rather peculiar response. Even Credence didn't do that. "Chavo," she tried again. "Do you want some? Because if-"
"No, I don't!" he insisted. "Because if I say yes, then you'll just say to go buy my own, anyway!"
He was startled when the little girl actually did pile some crackers onto her napkin and pass them to him. "Why would I say to go buy your own?" she asked confusedly. "That's not very nice."
It took her a while to get a response because Chavo proceeded to inhale the crackers at a speed only her mother could replicate. Eventually, though, he turned back to her. "That's what Quico always does," he admitted. "He says he'll give me something if I want it, and I want it, and he never gives it to me. He says, 'Then go buy your own!'"
Modesty blinked. She'd been able to get Quico to share when he had been over. Admittedly, though, it had taken considerable effort. Deciding not to dwell on that, she settled for saying, "But that's what he does. What I do is share, because I would like it if somebody shared with me."
It was then that Sol came over, having heard a commotion but being too busy with Gel to address it. "Everything okay over here?"
"Chavo just forgot to bring lunch, that's all," Modesty helpfully explained. "So I shared some of my crackers with him."
"That was very kind of you, Modesty," the dementor noted, smiling at her daughter. "But Chavo, why didn't you tell me? I'll make you a sandwich in a moment."
She bustled off. The dementor didn't see the enthralled look on the child's face, as if being prepared food was a rare treat, but Modesty didn't miss it. She didn't say it, but a part of her was growing concerned about him.
Meanwhile, having finished most of his sandwich, Severus was going around asking the other children if they liked cheesy crackers. But Gellert threw his pants at him, and Alecto took a handful, only to eat two and then throw the rest on the floor.
To make matters worse, he stopped to listen to Harry talk about all the different snack foods he liked, only to look down and realize his bag was empty. Someone had pried a hole in the bottom until his snacks began dropping out. Sev began to wail.
Barty began to search the usual suspects, but Gellert was too busy trying to get his diaper off and Alecto was painting a fruity mural on Chastity's front. Eventually, though, he found the offender. "Young man, I don't think those cheesy crackers belong to you." Except Chavo had too many of them in his mouth to be intelligible, so Modesty had to translate. "I think he said he did it on purpose," she attempted. "Or he didn't mean to. I couldn't tell, Daddy."
"Okay," he sighed. "The intent doesn't really matter. But you are going to apologize to Severus, and you are going to help me get him some more crackers."
Sev calmed down a bit when he was given his apology, and he actually seemed happy to see that he had encountered another fan of cheesy crackers. "You an' me, we can eat all the cheesy cwackers in the world!" But Sol noticed that when she gave Chavo the box to get some for the little boy, he periodically stopped to put some crackers in his pockets. "Do you want to put them on a napkin?" she asked. "You don't want them getting squished, do you?"
He accepted the napkin...only to pile the pocket crackers into it and shove it back in. "I'd better save them for later," he said.
The dementor was going to tell him there would still be an afternoon snack, but he was already gone.
By now Chastity had managed to get Alecto to eat some of her lunch, though she wore puréed pineapple down her front. Chastity really was going to need a new shirt. Though she did ask Sol to get Alecto a cookie and stashed the half-empty bowl on the discard tray. Though by the time Sol returned with the cookie, it was entirely empty, and Chavo was wiping some pineapple off his shirt, seemingly trying to do so before anyone saw.
Barty had noticed this as well, as well as Sol's expression. "Whoever is responsible for that kid," she said, as she hadn't seen who he had come with. "I'm really starting to think they're not giving him enough. I gave him a sandwich, then another sandwich, and he had two packs of crackers, and still he wants literal baby food. It's really not normal."
"I'll say something at pick-up," Barty responded. It was unfortunate, yes, but what more did his wife really want him to do at the moment?
"Good. And I'll keep an eye on him too."
-x-
Naptime, as usual, both enthusiastically and barely happened. Draco and Albie were out on their mats as soon as they were laid upon them, and Alecto, Sev, and Gel all refused even to lay down and close their eyes.
Sol had to tuck in Harry, find a blanket for Newt's niffler, and tie an enchanted ribbon around Gel's waist while she was holding Alecto, who was determined to get out of napping even though by now she was noticeably tired. How did Maisie actually do this?
Needing to free up her arms, she set the Death Eater back on her mat and placed her blanket over her. There was a singular wail, and then Alecto was asleep.
Sev still refused to take a nap, so his mother told him he could lie quietly instead, but he crawled free and tried to get some cheesy crackers. "You just ate, young man," Barty said, retrieving him. Meanwhile, Gellert had fallen asleep upside down with his pants as a pillow.
At the far end of the room sat Modesty, who hadn't really had a nap in years. No, that time had been for feeding the baby peas, so she had taken to just hoping the time passed quickly. But when she turned to him, it was to find that apparently Chavo had had the same idea, as he was standing beside Chastity. "If Miss Soleil doesn't mind," she was saying. "I don't think it's really up to me."
"Mind what?" Modesty inquired.
"He asked me if he could go and play while the others nap," Chastity explained.
Now that actually sounded like a good idea. Still, Modesty would never dare actually do it.
Naptime was naptime, whether you slept or not.
She intercepted Chavo before he could approach her mother, and said, "You can't do that. We have to stay on our mats at naptime."
"Sure we can," Modesty was a little worried that he now wanted her to accompany him. "We're big kids. And big kids don't take naps."
"But Mummy says -"
"Mommies always say no if you don't ask them. But if you do, then sometimes they say yes."
Well, that wasn't always true. With Mrs. Barebone the answer was no unless she was too drunk to care. But Soleil wasn't Mrs. Barebone...and her daughter did know that. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to ask.
"Okay," she said, sighing. "But you have to do the asking."
This helped dissipate some of her worry, as Sol nodded to him. "I don't see why not," she said. "But this is still naptime, so we're going to have to set some rules. First, you have to play quietly so you don't wake the little kids. Second, you have to stay in the main room. Third, all usual daycare rules apply. Can you abide by this?"
"Yes," the children said.
"Then go play."
-x-
Modesty still couldn't believe that had actually worked. Even so, she kept expecting someone to burst forth from the door and demand an explanation of what she was doing, young lady.
Chavo, however, had completely moved on from that and eyed her curiously. "What should we play?"
Truthfully she was a bit wary. The last time she had played with an unfamiliar child, they still found random balls in nooks and crannies.
"We have to play a quiet game," she cautioned him.
"Then why don't we play firemen?"
That...was probably the least quiet game Modesty could think of. Soleil was bound to revoke their playtime privileges. "Maybe later we could, but I think that's not quiet enough."
"That's true," Chavo conceded. "But we can play..." He searched the room before his eyes landed on a pack of crayons. "A game where we draw things."
They could, and this was a nice, quiet activity. Modesty nodded as she went to go get some paper. "Okay," she said, placing some sheets on the table. "What are we drawing?"
Ultimately, Chavo couldn't think of anything, and neither could Modesty. "Maybe it doesn't really matter," the little boy proposed.
"Maybe not...but maybe we have to do it really fast! In a minute or so, I think."
"Yeah, that's a great idea!"
Modesty went up to procure a timer, which she dropped in the center of the table. She then reached for a crayon, only to realize she forgot to turn it over. Immediately, she corrected herself and began her drawing.
By the time the tiny hourglass had run out, Modesty was halfway through a drawing of her previous cat, Deceit. He had no ears, tail, and only one leg, but she had paid more attention to coloring him black.
In his allotment Chavo had decorated his paper with an array of lollipops. "I like all the colors on yours," Modesty commented. "I drew a black cat, so mine's very...black."
"That's a cat?" Chavo looked disbelieving.
"It's supposed to be."
"Did a witch get him? And take all his legs?"
"Um, I don't think so?" Modesty looked puzzled. She had heard a lot about witches, but never that. "Do witches do that, Chavo?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "But anyway, I know a witch, and yesterday she turned Quico into a bicycle." At Modesty's horrified expression, he said, "Not forever, she turned him back. But we talked about it, I and him, and we think that when people get turned into things, they don't always come back the same. So maybe your cat came back funny."
Modesty had only just started to change some of her beliefs on witches. All this talk on the witch Chavo and Quico knew was just making her uneasy. "Yes, but maybe she's a mean witch," she hypothesized. "I think there's nice witches too."
This got Chavo's attention. "You have a witch too?"
How was she going to tell him without incriminating either of her parents? Sol had changed into her human form so as not to frighten him, Modesty didn't want to reverse that. But Barty was not a viable option either, because that too would be off-putting. Suddenly, though, she had an idea.
"My brother," she said. "My big brother Credence can turn into a big ball of black stuff, which is a little bit scary. But he's nice, really. He used to take care of me when I got sick. He's never turned me into anything."
This just piqued her companion's curiosity. "Where is he?"
"Um, he's not here right now. My mummy says he's sick."
That was a little disappointing. Chavo seemed rather curious about him, and Modesty thought they would like each other. But there was nothing either of them could really do about it, so they went back to drawing.
The next round Modesty drew a picture of a field of flowers, perhaps wanting a bit more color in her drawings. Chavo drew a picture of what looked like a house, but explained to Modesty that it was made out of cheese.
"A cheese house?" she frowned. "It'd melt!"
"Oh," Clearly Chavo hadn't thought of that. "Maybe it's just a regular house, but all the cheese is on the inside."
Modesty's next drawing was of her and her siblings, but she hadn't had time to give herself any eyebrows, Credence a mouth or nose, or Chastity any hair. "That's your family?" Chavo said, and she didn't really blame him.
His drawing was of what appeared to be a chocolate fountain, as the runoff drained into an endless chocolate sea. The very sight was starting to make Modesty a bit hungry, but the subsequent growl didn't come from her.
"Is somebody making you eat peas?" she asked before she could stop herself. Chavo looked at her like she had potatoes growing out of her ears. "Huh?"
"When I was younger," she admitted, looking at his chocolate fountain. "I had to eat peas and dampish bread for every meal, except I don't like peas or dampish bread. So I used to like drawing cakes I'd see in the bakery windows. I'd pretend I was eating that instead of old dampish bread. So I thought maybe you had the same thing. Since you like to draw food too."
This did nothing to settle the expression on her fellow child's face. "Do you have any peas?" he eventually asked her.
"No, not anymore." She heaved a grateful sigh, but Chavo just looked disappointed. He wanted to eat peas? Now her bad feeling was turning into full-on worry.
Finally, she questioned him. "Chavo, when's the last time you ate something?"
"An hour ago."
Well, that was true. "I know. But before that, I mean."
"Tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow will be a week. But not anymore, I guess."
This was officially beyond anything Modesty could help him with. She really did want to help, because apparently his parents were even worse than Mary Lou. What could she do to help, even just a bit?
Finally, she said, "I'll be right back," and stood. Modesty returned a couple of minutes later with a sandwich in one hand and a napkin in the other, which she used to wrap it up.
"Here," she told him. "I'm sorry this is all I can give you. But I thought maybe you should have something to take with you. I know what it feels like when you don't eat for a few days. And it doesn't feel good."
There was clearly a lot Chavo wanted to say to Modesty, judging by his expression, looking as if he were trying to decide which to spring forth. Eventually he solemnly settled for, "How do you know about Quico anyway, Modesty?"
"He came to daycare a few weeks ago," she said. Chavo looked as if he was expecting this story to be far more exciting than it actually was. "And he told me that he's got a different ball for every day of the week. Is that really true?"
"No," Chavo corrected her. "Of course not. It's one for every day of the year."
This made Modesty laugh. "You know, that would explain why we still keep finding them all over the house. Yesterday Daddy opened the oven and a ball bounced out."
It really was nice, Modesty thought, to have someone her own age to play with and talk to. It just wasn't the same when presented with an array of toddlers.
"It's true. And you know what? His mommy started having to rent storage sheds to fit them all. But they won't give her any more, so now he has to store them on the moon!"
Modesty stifled her laughing when she realized Chavo was being completely serious. "The moon?"
"Of course, the moon. Quico says it's full of talking donkeys."
Modesty had so many questions, but that was all there was time to say on the matter. By now Alecto was awake, and was trying to stick one of Modesty's crayons in her mouth.
"Maybe later," she said, trying to pull her crayons away from the Death Eater. "I'll tell you about her brother and his big tongue."
Apparently she and Chavo both enjoyed sharing completely outlandish - but entirely true - stories.
-x-
It was still raining two hours later when a soaked River appeared at the door. She was handed Draco just as Tassie appeared.
It comforted Sol to think she wasn't the only one wrangling wound-up little boys. In fact Draco had to be chased with his raincoat. Better than pants, Sol decided.
Harry had been interrogating Chavo for the last twenty minutes, and pouted a little when Sol pointed out Cam was there, but realized he had a new opportunity to report his findings. Barty had taken Sev and Gel home when the latter threw his pants at River as she departed.
Soon a drippy tongue heaved open the door, as the owner's wife scanned the room for her precious wonder. "Where is she? Where's my baby angel?"
Alecto had been waiting out the arrival period in the craft cabinet, but stirred at the sound of her mommy's voice. She ran out to meet her with glitter down her front and an array of puffballs in her hair.
Maisie thrust her purse at Amycus. "Give me my camera. We have to get a picture or 27 of this."
In all, Maisie ended up taking forty-five more pictures than she said she would. Alecto positively loved this and was more than happy to strike various poses as her mother snapped on.
No one noticed the look on Chavo's face as Maisie fawned over this miracle that was her daughter. Beyond this woman who clearly believed Alecto to be the world's greatest gift, she still had yet another person to love her. That must have been nice...
Eventually, Maisie thanked Sol for looking after Alecto and the family left the daycare. That left only Modesty and Chavo, who for now were still playing together. Though after half an hour, Chastity politely asked if she was still needed, and Sol said she could go home.
"Is daycare over?" Chavo asked, having observed this.
"Well, yes."
"Oh." With that he and Modesty expressed their farewells, and Modesty said it would be nice if he'd come back sometime. But when he approached the door, Sol stopped him.
"I didn't mean that you had to leave, Chavo. Actually, you can't. It's daycare policy that I can only release kids to their parents."
She sent him back to go play for a few more minutes, but after another half hour, she had to ask him, "Chavo, do you perchance know your parents' numbers? It's natural the first time, by the by. Sometimes parents forget we have a pickup time."
At this Chavo looked at her with wonder. "You can call them?"
"If I had their numbers I could."
"You know my mommy and daddy?"
"Um...no."
"Oh." Chavo's brief flash of excitement was gone. "Me neither," he admitted.
This stopped the dementor right in her tracks. He didn't even know his parents? Then... "Who brought you here today?"
"I just wanted to get out of the rain."
Clearly this was not the correct approach. "Never mind that." she said. "Let's try again. Where do you live?"
Chavo pointed off in a vague direction. "Over there...I think."
Well, he technically did answer her question. Soleil realized she was going to have to be very, very specific with him. "Okay," she said. It was only fair to acknowledge that he was technically right. "And who do you live there with?"
She was expecting him to say he lived with relatives or an adoptive family or something like that. Really, even the Barebones had lived with someone, even if the situation had left much to be desired. And yet no matter what she asked or how she phrased it, it soon became clear that this little boy really couldn't answer that. He really was living by himself. And not only that, but when he told them where he lived...he was referring to a barrel.
That explained a lot, she thought, glancing at the bundle of crackers he still had in his pocket. If there was no one to feed him, then of course he would want to take some food home for later. He had clearly put a great deal of thought into this, seeing as he also had a bundle of sandwiches. He was used to this, and it shattered Sol's heart.
One thing was clear. It was true that this was her first time meeting Chavo. She knew nothing about him. But she was absolutely not going to let him go back to a place with no roof over his head, where in his pockets he held what would likely be his last meal for a while. As the daycare dementor, it was her job to do well by all the children. For now at least, she knew what she had to do.
"Chavo," she said finally, having weighed her response for a while. "You say you haven't found your parents yet, though you've been looking for them. Is that right?"
He shook his head. "Yes."
"Okay. Then my question to you is this. Would you by any chance, ah, like a proper place to live in the meantime?"
"You can do that?"
"If you'd like it, yes."
Modesty, who had been listening in, piped up then. "And you'd get to eat a lot more, three times a day if you want to. And," at this she had to smile, "we could play with all the extra balls."
From the moment her daughter mentioned eating, Sol could already tell from his expression what his answer was going to be. The potential for playtime was just extra at that point. "Yeah!" he agreed, doing what looked like some kind of bizarre tap dance. "It'll be great! I'll eat breakfast, and I'll eat lunch, and then I'll eat dinner, and then I'll eat another dinner!" Sol advised him not to get too carried away, but she did have to smile.
Under normal circumstances, she would have Apparated them home, but not only did she not want to come out and tell him about magic so soon, but even if she did, it was still very likely that Chavo would upchuck all over the carpet. Modesty, as it happened, had vomited the first three times. She still had to tell Barty about the new child. A puddle was not going to endear him to the poor man. So Soleil had to settle for procuring Chavo an extra raincoat as they set off into the dreary midafternoon.
Modesty, seemingly excited about the new live-in playmate she was about to have, was in better spirits than Sol had seen her in in months, even though she was soaked within two minutes. That was probably expedited by the fact that the children had taken to running ahead of Sol so as not to dampen her, then stomping in every puddle they saw. "If you're going to run ahead, Modesty," she called, "at least tell Chavo how to get to our house."
"Okay, Mummy!"
They rounded a corner, then stopped to jump in the adjacent puddle before continuing on their way. "It's raining really, really, really, really hard," Chavo noted. "You'd better hope your roof doesn't leak. Once Quico's roof leaked, and we had to put a bucket on his head."
"The roof at daycare leaked too, and Daddy's bucket leaked. It looked like it was peeing!" Well, at least someone found the Piss Bucket™ amusing.
By the time they arrived home, both children were drenched down to their underclothing. Sol herself was grateful for her rain cloak, which had spared her the worst of it, but a few stray pieces of hair were completely plastered to her face.
She opened the door, allowing the children to remove their rain-soaked garments as she came face to face with Barty, who was reminding Gellert for the 584th time not to touch Yodeling With the Stars.
Addressing his wife, he said, "I see Modesty wanted to have a playdate. Please tell our young guest to exercise caution should he touch the refrigerator. It appears to be full of balls."
"Oh, not again!" Sol had just vacuumed! Also, how had the balls even gotten in there? "I'll suck them up after I work out the sleeping arrangements."
Barty raised an eyebrow. "Whatever for?"
A sigh. "Barty, how would you feel about adopting another child?"
"Another one? Sol, before too long we're bound to resemble the Weasley clan."
"Let's say hypothetically speaking, Barty."
"My dear, whatever makes you happy makes me jovial indeed."
"I'm glad to hear it," Sol nodded, leaning up to plant a kiss on her husband's cheek. "Because he's already here."
-end-
