Baby Draco

Note: 'italic' = Draco's thoughts

Chapter 5 : Baby's Day Out

Draco woke up to brilliant rays of sunshine teasing his lids and the sweet smell of apple tickling his nostrils. Impulsively, he reached out a hand to grab a pillow, but it was not there. His hand continued feeling along the bed, finding nothing.

'Stupid house elves! Utterly incompetent even in the simplest matters... I'll have father cane them with that new walking stick of his if they dare open the curtains again. Honestly, you'd think they'd learn to do things properly by now....'He attempted to shun the light using his hand, but the sight of it caused him to stare at it in shock.

'Aargghhh, the holidays have just started and I've already gained this much FAT?!' He observed his rather flabby hands and then noticed that he was sleeping under a pink ceiling. When his mind finally defogged, he groaned in agony.

He turned his head to the side and found her, his temporary nanny, sleeping in the most ungraceful position he had ever seen. Draco wrinkled his nose in disgust.

'Honestly, you'd think they'd try to have a bit of grace, seeing as they haven't got anything else, but no... they haven't even got the brains to do that.' He heaved an exasperated sigh. 'There's just no helping these poor Weasleys, is there? Why, they're pathetic by nature!'

He took another look at her, studying her more carefully this time. She was twisted into a funny position with the blanket entangled in her legs. The stuffed dragon was on the floor, obviously kicked off during the night. She was hugging the book she read last night - a fact that Draco tried to ignore, as he felt too nauseated to even think about what had happened the night before. He reached out to the purple dragon, which fumed and blinked its beady eyes in response. It was walking toward him when Ginny's alarm started blaring.

"GINNY, WAKE UP! YOUNG GIRLS LIKE YOU WHO WAKE UP TOO LATE WILL NEVER CATCH A GOOD HUSBAND!" The voice was distinctly Mrs. Weasley's. He raised an eyebrow, then sneered at the family's eccentricity.

'Catching a good husband, eh? Well, I suppose that's the only way they can ever get their grubby little hands on any kind of money... I wonder what Weasel's alarm says.' No more than two seconds later, Draco's wish was fulfilled.

"RONALD WEASLEY, GET YOUR LAZY BUM OFF THE BED NOW OR I'LL SEND SPIDERS TO YOUR ROOM!" (The wake-up call for the twins, whose bedroom was further down the hallway, immediately followed Ron's. It sounded suspiciously like a warning not to blow up the house.)

'So the Weasel's afraid of spiders? So much for being a Gryffindor!' The thought was too much for Draco, and he found he simply could not contain himself anymore. The sound of his laughter rang in the room and eventually woke Ginny up for good. Her fiery red hair was tousled when she approached the cot, and her freckled face looked paler in the morning light.

'No wonder Pansy always makes that god-awful screech in the morning--I'd be bloody horrified if I looked like that, too.'

But when she smiled groggily at him, he found the word 'cute' flashing in his mind for a few milliseconds. Draco instantly banished the nauseating thought to the back of his mind and concentrate on finding more hideous flaws in her appearance.

"You must have found those alarms pretty funny," she said as she picked him up from the cot and held him against her. "What d'you want for breakfast? Applesauce or some nice, warm cereal?"

'I want French toast, bacon or perhaps some eggs Benedict...Urghh, bloody useless gums!'

When they walked down the staircases, Draco just realized how uneven it was. The previous day, the twins had easily levitated him up and down, rather than carrying him to the different floors. He quickly clutched her neck, afraid to lose his balance any moment.

"Don't worry, Dragon! I've got a good hold on you," she whispered. A smile formed on her lips as she tightened her hold on the small and vulnerable baby boy. Upon entering the kitchen, they were welcomed by the pleasant smell of freshly toasted bread.

"Morning, Fred, George," she greeted them.

"I made cereal for the baby," George said chirpily. Ginny raised her eyebrows in genuine surprise.

"Well, that's a first! Never thought you'd do this kind of thing unless you'd get something out of it," she said wryly. The girl picked up a piece of toast from the plate and started spreading strawberry jam on it. Draco looked at the food longingly, his stomach growling.

"Ouch, we're not that bad, really!" Fred cringed. "Anyway, I think we should go to Diagon Alley again. We need to buy things for our experiments."

"You can get some baby stuff for him, like the nappies and milk and things. It's on us!" said George, his hand moving in an expansive gesture. Ginny did not want to ask where the money came from. Ignorance is bliss, she thought.

She spooned the cereal into Draco's mouth. It tasted horrible, like over-diluted milk, and he would have spit it out if he hadn't suddenly remembered his mother's long lectures on Malfoysand their proper table manners. His face paled as she fed him another spoonful of cereal.

"Are you all right? You look terrible," Ginny told him, giving him a sip of apple juice from her own glass. He sipped it gratefully and then refused to eat more of that horrid cereal.

"Don't worry. We'll get you some nice baby food and a milk bottle. Who knows, your parents might even find you there!" Ginny smiled at him and stroked his head lovingly, admiring the soft, downy hair. Draco promptly turned his head to avoid her touch, but she did not notice his dislike.

It was nearly noon when the five of them Flooed into Diagon Alley. Draco was extremely doubtful that someone would be able to recognise him, especially with the strawberry blonde hair and that stupid fat baby form. He wrinkled his nose in disgust as he caught a glimpse of his reflection in a shop window. He could very well believe that the Weasleys were colour-blind--they had a terrible sense of fashion. How could they have possibly dressed him in that hideous orange romper and hat--especially when orange clashed with his strawberry blonde hair? Even worse (he hadn't thought it possible, but here was the evidence), there was a big letter R in bright yellow stitched on the front part of his shirt. There was no denying it now--he was definitely wearing a hand-me-down from Ron Weasley! Had he been a person of lesser constitution, he would have died of mortification. As it was, he was barely hanging on to the knowledge that he hadn't picked out his own clothes and that it wasn't his fault he looked so hideous...

The twins decided to go to the joke shop and leave Ginny, Ron, and the baby to do the shopping. As the three of them made their way through the throng of people, Draco noticed the bent heads, the curious, hushed tones that seemed to follow them as they moved amongst the pockets of people. His ears perked up.

"Did Molly Weasley have another child we didn't hear about?" an old witch wearing all black asked her friend.

"I don't think so. The baby's hair isn't fiery red. Must be the girl's child," her friend replied. Draco smirked maliciously when the Weasley girl blushed to the roots of her hair.

'Honestly, these Weasleys...they're absolutely hopeless. The minute someone says something funny, they go about blushing like a bunch of tomatoes. Don't they realise you've got to keep a straight face, else people think you're hiding something?'

Ginny and Ron passed by another witch who, Draco thought,looked like a female version of Professor Snape. The woman gasped and quickly whispered to the person next to her in a scandalous tone.

"Merlin forbid, don't tell me the two of them are having an incestuous relationship!" Draco's grin widened.

'Ha! That's a good one, even if my hair's not as horrible as those Weasleys. Bet Weasel will lose his temper any moment now...'

He was right, of course. Ron Weasley was as red as a tomato, and if he had known how to perform the Killing Curse, he just might have 'Avada Kedavra'ed the whole lot of gossiping witches. Only the tightening of Ginny's fingers on his arm prevented Ron from jumping them and doing something involving kicks, punches, and very sharp knives.

"Ron, ignore them!" she hissed. The two of them were too agitated to realise that the baby was snickering quietly.

"Gin, we need to defend YOUR VIRTUE. They...they made you sound worse than...than a SCARLET WOMAN, for Merlin's sake!" Ron sputtered indignantly. He glared at the witches with a mixture of both anger and contempt, subduing their murmurings.

'Scarlet woman?!' Draco quickly buried his face in her shoulder. His small frame was trembling with the effort to stop himself from laughing out loud. Fortunately, Ginny thought he was frightened by Ron's emotional outburst, and she stroked his back comfortingly.

"Please, Ron. You're only scaring the baby and I really don't want you to make a scene here. We'll just put him in the day care centre and then go shopping, all right?" asked Ginny desperately. She quickly dragged Ron into a colourful building called Pumpkin's Day Care Centre - The most happening place for your pumpkins! Draco looked at the sign, wide-eyed.

The young brunette witch waiting at the front desk was busy painting her nails with metallic purple nail varnish when they walked in. Not until Ron cleared his throat did she look up, her face a mask of annoyance that quickly smoothed away at the sight of a male figure standing before her. She studied him more closely, eyeing the redhead interestedly. Draco snorted.

'Hitting on Weasel? This girl has no taste at all.'

"Yes, sir? May I help you?" she cooed sweetly. Ron coughed nervously. He tried to look cool and composed, but his pink ears betrayed his effort.

"Can you take care of our brother while we go shopping, miss?" he asked. The witch gave him a saccharine-sweet smile.

"You can call me Candy, Mr..."

"Weasley. Ronald Weasley," answered Ron quickly.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley. We can do that, of course. However, I'm not the one who'll be taking care of your brother. I happen to...umm...stay around here for the whole day and do absolutely nothing, if you know what I mean," she explained, batting her lashes flirtatiously. "If you'd like, I could show you around the place or something..." Draco grunted. Candy reminded him eerily of Pansy Parkinson. They had that same oily demeanour, that same way of batting their eyelashes, thatwas positively unnerving...

"We understand, Candy. How much will the service cost?" Ginny asked impatiently. Candy eyed her calculatingly, as if sizing up the competition, before she suddenly remembered that Ginny was the man's sister. She looked back at Ron and leaned closer.

"How about...you come back here and I'll tell you, Mr. Weasley?" said Candy in a sickeningly husky tone. Ron gulped and nodded.

"I'm sorry, Candy. We don't have the whole day here. Can you take Dragon now?" Ginny snapped impatiently. Candy raised her perfectly shaped eyebrows and looked at Draco distastefully.

"Of course, Miss Weasley. I'll call our professional staff. Tabby!"

A gigantic middle-age woman, who looked ironically like Hagrid with a cat-like face, appeared and took Draco from Ginny. Draco swallowed hard and silently prayed that the woman would not crush him with her strong, muscular, mannish hands. Ginny's worried eyes were glued at him until he was brought into the nursery.

"He's in good hand," said Candy snootily. Ginny glared at the girl, thendragged Ron away from the day care centre.

"Bitch!" Candy cursed before lounging back in her chair and returning to her nail painting. At least she would be able to tell her cousin, Pansy Parkinson, about the gorgeous redhead that would have asked her out to lunch if it hadn't been for his overbearing sister.

Draco was horrified when the giant woman practically dumped him into an equally gigantic cot filled with babies. Those disgusting little creatures were drooling all over and they smelled of stale milk and wee-wee. He quickly crawled to the corner of the cot, ignoring the other squealing and gurgling babies who were busy playing with some kiddie toys.

"Ah, a loner, aren't you?" Tabby commented as she glanced at the group of babies. Draco looked away haughtily. He would not lower himself to playing with those pathetic, drooling, miserable babies who weren't even his real age. Besides, one of them could be tainted with Muggle blood, and then where would he be? Certainly not up there with the rest of the dark and evil wizards. He watched the other babies play with colourful bricks and stuffed toys and occasionally insulted them mentally before finally drifted to sleep.

'If life as a baby is this boring, no wonder they sleep a lot.'

~*~*~ *~*~~*~*~ *~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~

Draco woke up to the feeling of cold liquid touching his cheek and hunger pangs in his stomach. A squeak was heard and then he felt his hair tugged.

'What the hell is that?!' He rubbed the liquid off, opened his bleary eyes... and saw a pair of big blue eyes staring back at him. Draco shrieked and scrambled away, only to find a brunette baby girl hovering over him.

'Blearggghh! You. Disgusting.Little. Wench. How dare you drip your saliva on me?!'

He glared at the little brat who had dared to disturb his nap, but she only giggled and pulled at his strawberry blonde hair again. Irritated, he smacked her hand off. She let out a loud scream and started wailing.

'Bloody hell! Can't you stop being a crybaby, for Merlin's sake? That's the ruddy consequence of drooling over Draco Malfoy--get over it!'

Not long after, Draco could hear more crying coming from the other part of the room where the younger babies slept. He had started a mass cry in the nursery. Draco mentally cursed those spineless babies in the room for disrupting the peace. Normally, he would have been proud of his results, but he had enjoyed the peace that had existed before those idiotic, little, snivelling monsters had started wailing like a group of banshees... He looked at the crying brat again and suddenly felt sick.

'Where is that giant cat woman? Damn it! Don't tell me I've got to do this all by myself?'

With much difficulty, he managed to crawl to her and patted the girl's head. Her sobbing quickly subsided. The little girl was now staring at him with her teary eyes. Reluctantly, he smirked at her and then she giggled. Draco restrained himself from rolling his eyes.

'God, is this is idiotic! What is it with women and terrible mood swings?'

The girl motioned him to move nearer, and Draco obliged lest she started crying again. To his utmost horror, she gave him a big wet peck on the cheek before squealing happily. At that very moment, a blonde girl entered the nursery and called for someone in a horrible singsong voice.

"Daisy? Da-ee-see! Where are you, sis?"

'That voice is awfully familiar.' Draco felt his mouth turned dry. 'Slytherin, don't tell me!'

He peered from under his blonde lashes and flinched. Right in front of his eyes, stood his clingy stalker and most horrifyingly eager admirer: Pansy Parkinson. As if Fate were trying to mock him, she walked towards them with a hungry grin spread across her pug face.

"My, my, Daisy! You've got yourself a boyfriend!" mocked the girl, examining him thoroughly at the same time. "And not bad indeed, Daisy. You're obviously my blood sister." Draco shuddered, suddenly reminded of the dreadful Yule Ball fiasco, during which Pansy had almost mauled him.

'Oh Merlin, I know you may be jealous of my irresistible good looks, but don't punish me like this. Please don't make her a cradle-robber in addition to all the rest of her horrible traits.'

Pansy reached out, trying to get a hold of him. He looked at her in pure terror, sure that his face was as white as ghost.

"Ouch!" Pansy yelped. She stopped herself and glared at her sister with arms akimbo. "How dare you scratch me, Daisy? Merlin, my skin has marks! Oh, you don't want me to touch your boyfriend, is it?! I'm going to tell Mother. Just see what they're going to do to you," she glowered. Daisy cowered at her sister's viciousness, and Draco could only sympathize with the little girl. He understood what it was like when Pansy showed her claws.

Still scowling, Pansy took Daisy out of the cot and walked away. The baby waved at him and blew him a kiss right before they disappeared behind the nursery door. Draco stared at the scene blankly before he realized something horrible had just happened.

Pansy Parkinson's sister kissed him!

Draco wiped his cheek several times and mentally cursed both Parkinson sisters. His stomach grumbled again, screaming for food. He started to wonder whether he was going to get any food. Then he saw Tabby entered with another baby boy. She seated the boy beside him. Draco tried to catch her attention by giving her a puppy-dog look, but she ignored him and went to the other room. Frowning, he diverted his attention to the newcomer.

The baby had jet-black hair and wide, emerald eyes fringed with dark lashes. A pretty baby, to be sure--one that got his cheeks pinched by old ladies in grocery stores and was cooed over by everyone. He must have been crying earlier on, because his cheeks were tear-stained and looked slightly damp. Draco took one look at him and felt instant dislike. The resemblance to Potter was absolutely uncanny. There were Potter's eyes, and there was Potter's hair, and he was pretty sure that if he looked close enough, he would even be able to find Potter's poncy little scar...

But he hated him even more when he saw what the boy was holding: a delicious-looking, multi-coloured lollipop that promised sugar and syrup and everything sweet. Draco eyed the lollipop longingly. He knew for sure what that was: Bertie Bott's Every Colour Lollipop, his all-time favourite. The fact that it was still multi-coloured meant that the boy had not touched it at all. This lollipop would change colour every time it was licked, exuding a different, delicious taste each time - safe from bogey, vomit, rotten egg or any other weird flavour. His hand itched to snatch it away from the Potter-like baby.

Devil: Do you see how the lolly sparkles under the light? No, you have to see it from this angle.

Draco shifted to his left.

Angel: Don't listen to him! You shouldn't want anything from a boy who looks like Potter. It's degrading!

Devil (singing): Apple, orange, banana, grape, CHOCOLATE. You sound repetitive, my dear.

Angel (sounding somewhat desperate): Draco, you'll get toothache!

Devil: Ah, you're losing it! I'm disappointed, really. If you realise, he doesn't have teeth now.

Angel: Shut up, you stupid git! Hear me, Draco. You're going to be teething soon, so...

Devil: So what? He still doesn't have any teeth to worry about.

Angel: Goddammit!

Draco mused at those two imaginary creatures. Being with the Weasleys for such a long period of time was becoming detrimental to his health. He really should remember to get his head checked in St. Mungo's once he got out of this mess.

His mind systematically plotted a wonderful plan to steal that tempting lollipop from the hand of the other boy. Now, he needed the Potter boy to look away from the sweet so he could snatch it surreptitiously and hide it behind his back. Babies were too stupid to figure that out, he thought. Draco was sure that his plan was foolproof.

Managing an expression of fake excitement, Draco pointed to the other direction, and all the babies in the cot duly turned their heads to where his finger was pointing. He was on the verge of a successful mission when a familiar female voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Dragon? There you are!" Ginny chimed happily as she spotted Draco. Caught in the act, Draco quickly covered his actions by pretending to pat the other boy's shoulder. Ginny's face brightened up. "Oh, you're such an angel, Dragon!"

'Huh? What? Did I miss something?'

"You're comforting this poor little boy, aren't you?" she asked as she picked him up from the cot. Draco looked at the lollipop longingly.

'I'm hungry and I want that lolly!'

Ginny, however, did not miss this expression and managed to interpret it correctly. She touched the side of his face and made him look at her. When he did, he found that her brown eyes were soulful and gentle. Startled, he blinked.

"You must be very hungry. I still have some leftover Knuts in my pocket. Hopefully it's enough. But now, Ron and I are going to bring you out to eat, all right?" she asked. Draco knew he should have thought of a mental insult at the moment, but he only felt a strange knot in his stomach.

'The hunger and starvation must be too much for me to take,' he decided. 'I'll come up with something smart later.'

"If you were any other brat, I'm sure you would have stolen that sweet," she beamed, "but of course, you're truly an angel!" Draco swallowed, suddenly feeling queasy. If he did not know any better, he would have thought her a Slytherin.

When they left the, Draco found Weasel stammering and sweating nervously at the flirtatious receptionist.

'Pathetic. At the rate he's going, he'll end up with the know-it-all Mudblood.'

"Why don't you ask your sister to take the baby out to eat while the two of us..."

"Ahem." Ginny cleared her throat loudly. "Ron, we'd better hurry. Fred and George are waiting for us."

Ron heaved a sigh of relief when he saw his sister come to the rescue.

"Candy, I..I have to go now. So-sorry about that," he stuttered. Candy leaned closer--an amazing feat in Draco'seyes, since he'd thought she couldn't be any closer than that.

"Some other time then, hottie?" she asked huskily. Ron held his breath and nodded meekly. Draco snorted, and surprisingly, he heard Ginny doing the same thing. Ron scurried over to his sister and dragged her away from the building. However, when they reached the pavement, he stopped Ginny.

"Gin, I think I'd better hold him. You go first," suggested Ron. Ginny nodded and then handed him over to Ron. Regretting the loss of her warmth, Draco pushed himself as far as possible from Weasel and watched her figure disappeared into the crowd. Ron only started to walk after she was out of sight.

"Oh, what a responsible young man!" Draco heard a middle-aged witch say as they walked past her. Draco'seyes widened.

"Now, that's what I call an ideal man! So fatherly and loving," a young witch gushed. His jaw dropped.

"And he's got such nice red hair!" her friend exclaimed dreamily. Draco nearly fainted now. He glared at the unsuspecting redhead who was holding him. Ron was pleasantly embarrassed by this sudden attention. Draco could see the corner of his mouth twitch, as if he were trying to refrain himself from grinning.

'You owe me, Weasel! If it weren't for my cute presence here, these women wouldn't even notice you!'

"What a handsome baby! Is this your brother?" They spun around, only to see a pretty blonde witch approach them suddenly. She pinched Draco'schubby cheek gently. Ron's face turned even redder now.

"Er...yes. Thank you, Miss!" he replied shyly. Draco felt a sudden urge to bite Weasel for saying that HE, Draco Malfoy, was HIS brother. But of course, he would not touch the filthy Weasel--not if it wasn't necessary.

"I'm Isabelle. Nice to meet you, Mr. Weasley!" she chimed, flashing him a brilliant smile. Draco scowled.

'This is unfair. This is ridiculous. I don't think I can live with the fact that I've just helped him in getting a girl's attention. I feel sick. Very sick.'

And, as if the day was not hard enough for him, he could hear a booming male voice from the right side of the street.

"I told you miss, the lolly is twenty Knuts. Not nineteen!"

"Please, sir. I've only nineteen at the moment. My younger brother really wants this lolly," Ginny's voice sounded desperate.

'Is she crazy? She's trying to bargain for a lollipop in Sugardukes? Everyone knows that the owner is as stingy as Snape is in grading Potions assignments!'

"I'm not stupid, Miss Weasley! I know perfectly well you're the youngest in the family."

"No, sir. I can assure you that I have younger brother!" she insisted stubbornly. Draco held his breath. Ron noticed the commotion and quickly made his way to her.

"Gin, what's wrong?" Ron asked. Ginny looked at Ron with such a hopeless expression that Draco felt a tug on his heartstrings.

"I need a Knut to buy Dragon the sweet. D'you have any?" she asked. Ron sighed and shook his head.

"We spent everything on the baby stuff, Gin. C'mon, let's go! We can't do anything," he said. Ginny looked as if she wanted to cry, but she did not give up easily. She turned to the shop owner to plead one more time, but the man's eyes were now fixed on Draco.

"It can't be!" he exclaimed disbelievingly. A second later his expression softened and he smiled at him. "Miss Weasley, I'm terribly sorry to discredit you like that. Here, you can have the lolly."

The man handed her a Bertie Bott's Every Colour Lollipop. Ginny beamed as she received the sweet. Just as the three of them thought that the man had been unusually generous, he held his palm up.

"Nineteen Knuts, please."

~*~*~ *~*~~*~*~ *~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~

Draco sucked the lollipop contentedly as they walked to the fireplace to Floo back to the Burrow, oblivious to the furtive glances that were cast on him. Ron refused to let Ginny hold him again for fear of the gossips, but now that the twins were walking with them, people had ceased to make crazy assumptions. He should have been disturbed by the fact that he was bouncing in Weasel's arms, but now he only cared about the sweet fruity taste in his mouth and the satisfaction he got from nibbling the sweet.

Fred glanced at his wristwatch with much difficulty, as he was holding piles of boxes. Confused, he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Blimey, George. Did you add the fluxweed as I told you to?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"Yeah, and I also added the powdered horn of a unicorn." Fred instantly dropped the piles of boxes, attracting Ginny's attention. George gaped as his twin, feeling apprehensive.

"You didn't!" they exclaimed in unison. Ron and Ginny were staring at them curiously now. Draco licked the sweet and looked at the twins nonchalantly.

"Fred, what's wrong?" she asked. Fred looked oddly pale. He elbowed his twin to answer for him.

"Er..Gin, did you happen to see his hair changed back to blonde?" George asked hopefully, pointing to Draco. Ginny scowled.

"Of course not! What are you talking about? You said that it would take at least a week," said Ginny. Draco stopped sucking and started to listen to their conversation with a little bit more interest. Fred cleared his throat.

"Anything strange happen to the baby?" he asked. Ginny's scowl deepened. She eyed both of them suspiciously.

"No. I don't think so," she answered. The twins looked relieved. Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

'Bah! She didn't know that the Parkinson girls were fawning over me today.' Draco bit the lollyagain as he felt that strange itch in his mouth.

"Is there something that I should know?" she asked.

'I'd be scared if I were you Weasleys. I mean, she doesn't look all that happy with you gits.' Bite. Bite.

"Nothing's wrong, Gin. Everything should be okay."

"Why don't I believe THAT?" hissed the girl.

'Wow, she sounded like her mother when that woman woke Weasel up this morning.' Nibble. Suck. Nibble.

"Ermm..you know the cereal this morning?" George asked.

'Yeah, it tasted horrible. Ugh, what's wrong with my gums?' Bite harder.

"We put in the antidote. Well, it's supposed to be the antidote except that we added too much powdered horn of unicorn!"

Cough. Cough. 'What? Oh hell, I dropped the sweet!'

"Hey, why did you drop it? You know she went through a lot just to get this for you!" scolded Ron. Draco glared at him exasperatedly.

'You don't know what I went through to get it in the first place!'

"Don't worry, Gin. Nothing happened, right?"

"So just assume that it doesn't work," Fred added.

"How can you be so sure of that?" she spat.

"The potion should've worked four hours after it was taken and now it's already more than six," explained George. Ginny huffed. The baby looked perfectly fine, but she could not dismiss the feeling of unease that had settled in her stomach.

"Make sure you check for any side effects," she finally said before the five of them Flooed back to the Burrow.

~*~*~ *~*~~*~*~ *~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~

Draco felt very restless that night. Ginny had put him in his cot and she herself had fallen asleep after reading another parenting book from Hermione. His gums tingled and itched. He felt like biting anything hard. He tried putting his fingers into the mouth, but it did not help much, as he was afraid of the pain he would inflict on himself. He reached out to gnaw on the rattle, only to remember that it was a Weasleyhand-me-down that probably still had traces of Ron's saliva on it. Basically, he did not have anything nearby to bite that had not been touched by Ron Weasley.

Disgusted, he tossed the rattle aside, and it landed on the floor with a clatter. His hand went searching for anything that could help him. Suddenly, it met with a long, hard object that felt awfully familiar in his hand... He pulled the thing and found his shrunken wand. It was a nicely polished wand, smooth and hard. Draco gulped. Smooth and HARD.

'I can wash it with the cleaning potion and polish it afterwards. No one will know that I bite my own wand--and it is MINE, so I can do as I like...'

Its dark shiny surface gleamed under the moonlight. Previously, it had been a nice 14-inch wand. Ebony and dragon heartstring, graced with a little more power than usual and very good for charm work.

'Ebony is a hard and strong wood, isn't it?'The itch was getting torturous. He said a silent prayer and opened his small mouth as wide as he could.

Meanwhile, up in the twin's room, Fred and George were busy skimming through their potions book, finding the side effects of the antidote.

"I wonder why Ginny is so worried about the baby. She's acting terribly like Mum!" George complained.

"Maternal instinct maybe. We really shouldn't tell Mum about this. She'll throw a wobbly, thinking that our baby sis is ready to have her own child," Fred snickered. George suddenly beamed.

"Ah, here it is! Really, it's fine. Nothing's going to happen to him," he pointed out. Fred read the passage and nodded.

"Yeah. This one is inapplicable..."

But just when everything seemed to be fine, a loud scream was heard throughout the house. Ginny's scream.

===================TBC====================