Dragon's Tears

Bribing Teecie

The next morning, I got out of bed, careful not to wake Reni. I cast a quick cleansing spell on myself. Not enough, but the water in the place was long gone, and it was better than nothing. I wrote out a little note telling Reni that I would only be gone for a short time, and would be back with food soon, and to keep an eye on her sisters. I pulled on my coat and apparated to the nearby village. I went to the market and got things that I would be able to heat with magic, then went to the town diner and ordered four hot breakfasts.

When I returned, the place was bedlam. Clothes were scattered everywhere, all three sleeping bags had been left laying in the middle of the room, and wrappers from one of the granola bar boxes were strewn across the room. The three girls were facing each other, all red-faced. Teecie was screaming at the top of her lungs, Kali was in tears, and Reni looked as though she were ready to strangle both of them.

"What in all hells is going on here?" I growled. All three girls froze, then slowly turned to look at me. Kali was gasping, trying to get back her breath, tears still streaming down her face, and Teecie looked mulish.

Reni crossed her arms and glared at her sisters a final time before smiling up at me. "They were trying to leave, Dragon."

I took a deep breath. Calm. I had to be calm. I placed the bags on the floor and decided to distract myself. I transfigured some old, ragged furniture that still filled one corner of the room into a small table and child-sized chairs. "Look, it's still early. Why don't we eat breakfast, then we can discuss this, all right?" I said as I worked.

"No hungy, Dorco! Go home! Now!" Teecie shrieked.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere until I've eaten, so you might as well eat too, because you won't get far without me." I placed the styrofoam containers on the little table, and Reni was quick to move to one and begin wolfing it down.

Kali looked at the food and made a face. "I don't like eggs."

"So don't eat them. There are hash browns, too. Eat them. And the bacon." I dug into my own food. I'd never realized exactly how tiring it was to deal with children. Reni wasn't so bad, but if Teecie shrieked at me one more time...

As if on cue, Teecie began to shriek. "Wanna go home! Wanna go home!"

"Ticia Enora Malfoy, stop that right now!" All three girls looked at me, eyes wide. I shifted uneasily in my chair. What had I said? I hadn't threatened the child, but they were all looking at me as though I'd threatened her with an unforgivable curse.

"How'd you know that name, Dragon?" Reni asked me slowly.

I knew I'd have to tread carefully here. "Which name would that be, Reni? You told me your sister's names, remember?"

"I told you their names, yes...but...why do you think her last name is Malfoy?"

I paled. Had I been mistaken? Could they possibly be someone else's children? Maybe Lucius was just staying with the woman? But why did they seem so...sickeningly sweet together? "Isn't your father's last name Malfoy?"

"Yes, but it's not ours. How did you know it?" Reni was getting that look. That Slytherin look. She had obviously guessed more than I wanted her to know. I'd have to come up with something good.

"I heard him talking once. Introducing himself to someone. I just assumed..." Reni wasn't fooled. "What..." I swallowed. "What is your last name?"

"Orendes."

"Ah." Desperate for a way to distract myself, I turned back to my food. After a few minutes, I heard two chairs pull out from the table, and the sounds of eating filled the air.

Once I was finished, I stood and busied myself with tidying the room. The sleeping bags were rolled up, trash disposed of, and a cleansing spell here and there to get rid of cobwebs I'd missed the first time I'd come here. When the girls were done, I disposed of their leftovers as well. The groceries I had frozen with a simple freezing spell before returning here, so they would last for a few days.

The girls watched as I did all this, each with their own expression. Reni looked calculating. She knew too much. I was definitely going to have to deal with that. Kali looked scared. I knew that I'd just need to find a way to calm her down. Prove that I wasn't such a bad guy...I snorted to myself. Just a kidnapper. I sighed. No, Teecie was the real problem. I was definitely going to have to deal with her first.

"Reni. Could I talk to you for a minute?" The girl looked at me appraisingly, then nodded and I led her out into the hall. "I need you to look after Kali for me for a bit. Can you do that?" Would she agree? I held my breath waiting for her response.

Reni smiled, but that smile was far too familiar to me to be reassured by it. It was the smile Lucius used when he had been about to punish me when I was a boy. It was the smile I saw in my own mirror sometimes when I was planning some particularly diabolical plot. "Of course, Dragon. But I want something first."

This Slytherin sister of mine was going to cause me a great deal of trouble. "What?"

"Tell me..." I sighed, but nodded for her to go on. "Are we related?"

Should I tell her? I stared at my clever little sister.

"Are you...my brother?" The look on her face was fiercely triumphant.

I let out another breath. "Does it matter?"

"Yes. Do you want my help or not? You can't do it without me. I'm much better with the kids. But if you don't want my help with him, we can just go home..." she shrugged, then smiled. She knew she'd won.

"Who?"

Her smile widened into a grin. "Father. Lucius Malfoy?"

"And what makes you think he has anything to do with this?"

Her eyes flashed, all smiles gone. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? I saw how father looked when he saw the cloak you gave me. And the broom you gave Kali. And I saw how happy you were when I told you how I'd gotten around him. And that story last night? Come on... It looks like you really hate him. And I want to help you." Her face went cold. "He deserves it."

I couldn't help but be pleased. I'd known the girl was agreeable, but obviously Lucius had already started to disappoint her. Looked like he was following his pattern. "Yes, I'm your brother." I knelt down. "You can't tell your sisters, okay? I need to be the one to tell them."

Reni nodded. "Is your name really Dragon?" she whispered.

"That's another question, Reni. I shouldn't answer..."

The simpering look she gave me would have put Guilderoy Lockheart to shame. "Please?"

"All right, but I expect your full cooperation with everything, got it?" She nodded. "My name is Draco. It means dragon, though."

"Cool!" She grinned at me, then seemed to collect herself and held out her hand to me. "It is good to meet you, Draco." I shook her hand, shaking my head, but grinning the entire time, and Reni grinned back.

We went back into the girls' room. Time to divide and conquer. "Teecie, could you come with me?"

Teecie ran to Kali's side and grabbed her hand. "No."

Reni moved to their side and kneeled down. "Teecie, sweetie, Dragon just wants to talk to you. He's really nice, I promise."

Teecie shook her head vigorously. "No!" she said, louder this time.

I suppressed an urge to strangle the child and took a deep breath. "Teecie, your daddy wanted me to show you something. Will you let me?" I winced internally at the clichéd line, but it was all I could come up with. And it didn't work. She shook her head again, but there was curiosity in those wide eyes. "Look, I promise that we'll only go into the next room, and if you don't like what I show you, you can come right back here. And if I don't, your sisters will know, because you'll be able to scream for them."

I knew I was beginning to get through, but it was like pulling teeth. I walked over to the grocery bags and pulled out a package. "Look, I bought this for dessert tonight, but maybe you'd all like one now? And then Teecie and I can go talk?" I opened the box and held out a Twinkie to each of the girls. Reni grinned, and Teecie was quick to snatch hers from me, but Kali was much more cautious than her sisters. "It's not poisoned, Kali. Promise. I just thought you'd like a treat." She took it cautiously from my hand, and began to examine it. When she had finally decided it was safe, she unwrapped it, and began to eat it, in very small nibbles.

By this time, Teecie had finished hers. "'Nother, Dorko!"

I took another Twinkie from the box. "All right, but you need to come with me and eat it over there, okay?"

She looked at me appraisingly for a moment, then nodded and trotted to the door, not waiting for me to take her hand. I shook my head, then shot a warning look at Reni, turned, opened the door, and led Teecie from the room.

Once we entered my room, Teecie scurried over to the bed and clambered up onto it. "Tinky!"

"Yes, here you go." I handed her the cake, and she quickly devoured it, making a huge mess. I sighed. At least that would be easily cleaned up. I cast a cleansing spell, and she giggled as the mess disappeared.

"Tickles!"

"Yep." I sat next to her on the bed, and she scooted away, her eyes getting big again. "Teecie, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help you."

"You bad."

"No, Teecie, I'm not."

"Hurt me!"

"Did I? I didn't mean to. Where did I hurt you? Will you show me? I could make it better..."

She held out her arm and I could see a bruise there. "I'm sorry, Teecie. We were just in such a rush. I had no idea..." She looked at me accusingly, but said nothing. "Here..." I cast a simple healing charm, and the bruise began to fade from purple to green, and then to a darkened beige. "There, see? It'll be completely gone by the time you see your sisters again."

She looked at her arm, then up at me. "Magic?"

"Yes."

She grinned shyly. "Like magic."

"Me too." For a moment I wasn't sure how to proceed, then I remembered the story from the night before. "You know, Teecie, I know you like stories, but nobody told me what kind of stories you like."

She grinned. "Arel!"

"Arel? What's that?"

"Arel! Fishies!"

"Arel is a fish?"

"No, silly! Arel mumad!"

"Oh, she's a mermaid?"

She nodded.

"And you like stories about Arel?"

She nodded, more vigorously.

"What does Arel do?"

"She love Erc!"

"She falls in love?"

She nodded again, this time with a smile.

"And what else does she do?"

She looked at me, blankly, then shrugged.

I smiled. "Well, I'm sure I can come up with something for tonight. Do you like anything else? Dragons? Unicorns..."

"What unycon?"

I smiled. "A horse with a horn on its forehead. Want to see?"

She nodded, and I cast an image of a unicorn against the wall. Her eyes grew wide, and she looked at me. "Want unycon, Dorco!"

"You want me to tell you a story about a unicorn?"

"No, want unycon!"

I chuckled. "Well, they're pretty big. How about something smaller? A kitty?" She shook her head. "A doggy?" Her nose wrinkled, and she shook her head harder. "What then?"

"Bunny!"

"A bunny? I think I can do that..."

"Pink bunny!"

I had to smother the laugh that time. "A...pink...bunny. Okay...." I concentrated on the pillow beside Teecie and began to transfigure it. Transfiguring was never my strong point, and going from inanimate to animate was the hardest kind of transfiguration. I only hoped I could do it right. Well, start with shape. The pillow grew distinctly oval, then began to grow long, floppy ears. Okay, now eyes. And a nose. Fur. And then...I concentrated hardest on this...and it breathed. "One more thing," I grinned at Teecie, who was looking at the former pillow with amazement. I directed my wand at the bunny, and soon all of its fur, aside from the tail, was pink.

Teecie grinned, then reached out to pet the bunny. When it hopped towards her, she squealed. She picked it up, then looked shyly up at me. "Tankoo, Dorco."

"I'm glad you like it. Now, it's time for a nap, okay? And then we can go rejoin your sisters and make dinner. Would you like that?" She grinned at me, and actually allowed me to tuck her in. Thank god for small favors.

I watched her settle in, and soon she was fast asleep. She was pretty cute, really. And maybe just a bit too much like me...I chuckled to myself. Well, hopefully tonight would go better. And tomorrow, I could work on Kali. I just hoped that she wouldn't be as difficult as I'd thought Teecie was going to be.