Dragon's Tears

Bedtime Stories

Teecie had cried the entire ride. By the time my car pulled into the drive, I was about ready to scream. I slammed out of the car, and looked up at the building in front of me. It saddened me how bad the place looked. But it had enough space for us to hide out, even if Lucius were to come here.

I opened the door and picked up Teecie, who was whimpering as she looked up at the imposing structure in front of them. Reni got out of the car and opened Kali's door, then pulled her out when she did not immediately get out. I led the way up the steps to the front door, which squealed horribly when I opened it. As we entered the echoing hall, Teecie hid her head in my shoulder, and I looked behind to see Reni trying to be nonchalant while Kali looked around her with huge eyes.

The hall was dim, so I told Reni to follow carefully. The place had been deserted for quite a long time, and there was no knowing what floorboards might give way under foot. It took them a while to reach the staircase, and they set off upstairs, and I was a bit more relieved, as I knew from my earlier foray here that the upstairs was less destroyed than the main floor. I led them down long, winding halls to the room I had prepared for them.

I had brought in pads and sleeping bags, as I was uncertain how long they would need to stay here, and there were several containers of water, along with some dry goods. And I could apparate to the nearest town quickly to get perishables for meals. We were all set. And since we'd eaten in the car on the way here, so I was hoping the girls would just nod off to sleep. I was exhausted, and I needed the sleep myself.

I placed Teecie on one of the unrolled sleeping bags, and told Reni to watch her sisters while I moved the car. She nodded, and the three girls huddled together on the sleeping bag, Reni with Teecie in her lap, and Kali cuddled up to her side.

I hurried to stow the car behind one of the old buildings, then headed back inside. When I returned to the room, both Teecie and Kali were asleep, one from crying, and the other from over-exhaustion. I helped Reni put them in their own sleeping bags, then showed her where the facilities were. "What about Teecie?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Are there any nappies?"

"She's not potty trained yet?" This was something I hadn't considered. Damn. Now what would I do? I finally found an old pile of sheets in a nearby room and transfigured them into nappies. Once the girls were awake again, I'd pop over to the town and buy a package.

I left Reni with cups in case her sisters needed water during the night, and told her that I was in the next room over if she needed anything, then left the room with a gratified sigh. We were here. We were safe, and Lucius would never think to look here.

Opening the door to the next room, I could feel myself relaxing. This was where I wanted to be. Just looking at the bed, clean and fresh, waiting for me to fall into it, I became drowsy. I promised himself that I'd sleep at least eight hours before I started out to get food and other provisions for the day.

I didn't last two.

I had definitely been dosing when I heard the door to the room open, and a voice whisper, "Dragon?"

I groaned and rolled onto my back, looking up at the dark canopy above me. "What, Reni?"

"Teecie woke up and can't get back to sleep."

And what, exactly, was I supposed to do about that, I wondered. "Bring her here."

I could hear Reni struggle with the girl, and several muffled no's from Teecie, and whispered threats from Reni before I felt the girls crawl up onto the bed. "What's wrong, Teecie?" I grumbled.

I felt her shake her head. "Reni?" I asked.

"She misses daddy. She didn't get her bedtime story tonight," she sneered.

Teecie sniffled at this.

I sighed. "Would it help if I told you a story, Teecie?"

"Daddy story," she responded.

"What does that mean? Yes, or no?"

"It means she wants daddy to tell the story. Daddy's not here right now, Teecie."

An idea sprouted then in my head. "No, daddy's busy, sweetie. But he told me that I should tell you your story, okay?"

Reni was getting up to leave when the door to the room opened again. "Reni?"

"Right here, Kali." Feet pattered across the floor, and I felt another body climb onto the bed. Reni sighed. "Well, since we're all in here, I might as well stay now..."

The girls settled down around me, and I wracked my memory, trying to think of a good story. Finally, an idea struck me, and I began.

"Once there was a little boy whose daddy was very mean. And he lived all by himself with his father and mother in a big, empty house..."

Reni was quick to interrupt. "What was the boy's name?"

Damn. I hadn't thought about that. Well, go with what was easiest. "Dragon."

Teecie piped in. "Dorco!"

I ignored this, but wondered what Reni was making of the name. I'd have to tell them sooner or later, and Reni would be most likely the first of the three to catch on. I took a deep breath and continued. "Dragon...Was very sad. He was lonely. And his daddy never played with him."

This time it was Kali who interrupted. "Why not?"

"Because Dragon's father was very important, and didn't have time for little boys. And then one day, his daddy went away."

Reni spoke again. "Where'd he go?"

"Well, the little boy didn't know."

Kali was quick to ask, "Why?"

"No one told the little boy where he had gone."

"Why?" Kali asked again.

I sighed, and put on my best sad voice. "Because they didn't think the little boy needed to know."

I should have known it was going too well. Unfortunately, Teecie took that opportunity to interrupt again. "I hungy."

I stifled my annoyance. She was only two, after all. "Teecie, we had dinner in the car just a few hours ago. You can't be hungry again," I told her calmly. Unfortunately, this was the wrong tact.

Teecie let out a howl, then screamed, nearly in my ear, "I hungy!"

Grumbling, I got up, lit my wand, and moved to the provisions I had stocked here, grabbed a granola bar, and stumbled back to the bed. I could tell this would be a long night. I tossed the bar to Teecie, then settled myself down again. "There. Eat that."

But Teecie still hadn't had the last word. "Dorco."

I sighed. "Yes, Teecie?"

The little brat had the nerve to blow a raspberry at me, then look away as though I didn't even matter.

I snorted, said, "Nox," then continued with my story. "So, where was I?"

Reni responded. "Dragon's father had disappeared."

"Right. And the little boy and his mother had to leave their home."

"Why?" Reni asked.

I stiffened as the memory washed over me. Leaving the manor... "Because the father had been bad, and all the family's money had been taken away."

"Where did it go?" Kali wanted to know.

I raised my chin, still burning with the anger at Lucius. "The Ministry took it," I sneered. "And the little boy never saw his father again."

"What did they do with the money?" Kali wanted to know.

"I don't know." It was the only answer I could give.

There was silence for several minutes, then Reni spoke. "Was that supposed to be a fun bedtime story?"

I managed to keep from growling, but only barely. "It's supposed to be a bedtime story. Now, that's it. Go to sleep."

Then Teecie piped up again. "No tired, Dorco." And even worse, at that point she decided that it was time to play. She stood up and began to jump on the bed. For several moments, I contemplated using a sleeping spell on her, but I doubted that Reni or Kali would take that well. I tried desperately to keep calm. Especially when she jumped off the bed. "Teecie..."

At that point, she began to yell. "No tired, no tired" over and over again, until I thought I would go mad.

I pulled out my wand again, aimed at where the sounds were coming from and cast a spell. "Silencio." Her sisters could hate me all they wanted, but I desperately needed sleep. "Go to bed, girls. Now." I felt Kali leave the bed, and assumed that she was trying to find Teecie in the dark, so I lit my wand again. I sighed. "Look, it's really late. I just need a few hours sleep, and then we can do whatever you all want, okay?"

Kali's eyes were luminous with tears as she looked up at me. "Go home?"

That stopped me. I didn't want to scare these girls. I just wanted to help them. Surely they could see that I wasn't a bad guy... "Why do you want to go home?" I finally asked her.

Kali put her arms around Teecie, "I want daddy too."

Damn the man. Did he have to inspire such loyalty in his children? I wondered just how annoying I had been as a child, constantly talking about him like he were some kind of god... Unfortunately, the anger showed through in my next words. "Well, daddy's busy," I snapped. "You wouldn't want to bother him, would you?"

Unfortunately, this deterred Kali not at all. "Then mummy," she replied.

I gritted my teeth. "Your mummy's busy too," the slut, I thought to myself. She was probably spreading her legs for one of the men up at the school at this very moment.

Kali raised her chin to look at me. "Not too busy for us," she responded.

I couldn't keep the chill from my voice when I responded. "Well, right now she is."

But now Kali seemed more confident. "And neither's daddy."

I grinned, but I doubt it was more than a baring of teeth. "Yep, they had something more important to do than to be home dealing with you three. That's why I'm taking care of you all. They wanted me to take care of you until they're ready to deal with you all again."

Kali crossed her arms and looked at me, disbelieving. "Daddy never told us about you"

I sneered. "Yeah? Well, I was his "little secret"

"We don't like you, we want to go home"

I sighed. Time to defuse the situation. I looked at Reni, who was still sitting on the bed across from me. "Reni, do you want to go home?"

She grinned. "Nah"

Then I turned back to Kali. "And Kali, I brought my Speedline 820. I thought you might like to try it out." True generosity on my part. I hadn't even ridden the broom myself. "Because I know how much you like to fly..."

But, no dice. "I only like flying with daddy."

"I could fly with you," I wheedled. God, what had I reduced myself to?

"No."

"Not even to the village and back?"

"No."

I sighed, as though I were horribly disappointed. "Well, you let me know if you change your mind, okay?"

"I won't."

I sighed, truly annoyed, but unwilling to take my anger out on these children. "Fine, as long as you let me get some sleep, we can discuss everything in the morning, okay?"

Kali bit her lip, nodded, then turned to Teecie, grabbed her hand, walked across the room, and fumbled for the doorknob. I hoped they were simply returning to the other room, but at this point, I was too tired to care. The other rooms had been charmed to go off if anyone entered them, and the front door was locked, so there would be no getting out. Not without my help, anyway.

I turned to Reni, waiting for her to start asking me the questions I knew must be swimming in her head, but she simply crawled up next to me, slithered under the blankets, and fell right to sleep. Kids. I put out my wand, then turned over, exhausted, and fell asleep.