The Request by redhead414

Chapter 9

"Did you feed him before you guys came?"

Draco nodded, wrestling with the unruly toddler as he protested the entire nappy changing process. "Scorpius if you don't quit it," he warned, grabbing ahold of his legs with one hand as he situated the clean nappy underneath his bum. Scorpius arched his back up high and quickly rolled to his left, Draco losing his grip on his little legs in the process. "Yes, which may have proven to be one of my brighter ideas because it appears by his attitude that it is nap time."

"Nooooooo!" Scorpius wailed, crying as Draco grabbed ahold of his legs once more and used his wand to quickly fasten the nappy around his bum. Sliding his trousers back on, Hermione walked over and waited for Draco to finish dressing him before she picked him up from the bed, cradling him close to her chest. She noticed his eyelids were red, a telltale sign that he was exhausted.

Slowly, Hermione rocked back and forth on her heels, lightly humming as she moved. With a wave of her hand, she summoned his blanket and stuffed dragon from his bag. Handing him each, she continued to move, each rock causing his eyelids to droop and close a bit longer than the previous flutter of a blink. "So…Daphne's back."

Draco flopped backwards on the bed and groaned. "Don't say her bloody name."

"She's probably back at Astoria's place, brewing a love potion as we speak," Hermione teased, her voice soft as Scorpius's cries began to fade into heavy sighs. "Though you should you be careful. If memory serves me correct, she wasn't all that brilliant when it came to brewing."

"She's not all that brilliant period," Draco said with a snort. "Fucking pain in my bloody ass, she is."

She turned around and gave him a pointed stare. "Really?"

He sat up slightly, propped up only by his elbows. "Don't even think about scolding me for my language when it comes to that woman, Granger. It's a goddamn reflex."

Rolling her eyes as she watched him flop back against the mattress once more, Hermione pulled her wand from her pocket and aimed it at the small love seat near the window, transfiguring it into a bed with rails to keep Scorpius from escaping when he woke. Gently, she kissed his forehead and laid him down, covering him with his blanket. The little boy promptly found his thumb, sucking away as he hugged his dragon. She placed a silencing charm around him and layered it with a sound magnifier so that they could hear him once they left the room.

Taking a seat next to him on the bed, she leaned forward, her hands cupped over her nose and mouth as she sighed. "Daphne never liked me. When she finds out that Astoria -"

"It doesn't matter," Draco said, rather definitively. "I'm still the parent - she can't do a bloody thing."

Hermione sighed again. "I should have thought this through. If Daphne comes back then Pansy is sure to reappear and when that happens -"

"Granger. Shut up."

"I should have thought this through," she repeated, her hands now nervously rubbing against the fabric covering her thighs. "This is going to be a disaster."

"Granger. Look at me."

She turned, looking over her shoulder at Draco as he cracked his eyes open. "What?"

"Shut up," he reiterated, speaking slowly. "You are not allowed to add to my migraine today." Hermione stared at him, looking somewhat remorseful for a moment before quickly smacking a hand right into his gut. Draco groaned, rolling over to his side for a moment as he stared at her. "Fucking hell, Granger - that hurt!"

"Don't tell me to 'shut up'! What are we, a pair of second years?"

"Don't go all crazy ranting on me and I won't have to tell you to shut up!"