Parenting Class Chapter Ten

Disclaimer: I regret to say I don’t own Harry Potter but I do own all the new candies I’ve created!

Parenting Class

Watch out Hogsmeade!

“Draco,” Hermione called, knocking on the closed bedroom door. “Are you ready to go?” No response came from inside and Hermione grinned. “You did deserve it Draco…don’t be mad…you chose to do it.”

Still silence.

“I take it you don’t want to go to Hogsmeade then?” The doorknob turned to reveal the tiny child, his silver eyes downcast. He was still dressed in his pajamas from two days before, not seeing the need to get changed.

“Why the glum face, Draco?” Harry asked, exiting his own room, clothed in his gold and red scarf with snug, black robes to keep out the cold that had come early this year.

“You should know,” the boy replied sullenly.

“What we did was for your own good,” reprimanded Hermione, picking Draco up and carrying the child back into his room. “If we allowed you to get away with everything I don’t know what kind of person you’d grow up to be.”

Setting him down on his unmade bed, Hermione opened his trunk and came out with the usual pair of black clothes. “Get dressed and then go brush your teeth,” the girl ordered, placing the articles next to Draco.

As soon as the Gryffindor left the room Draco got dressed and began to tidy up, though grumbling beneath his breath. As soon as they’d arrived back in their room after dinner two days ago, Hermione had told him his punishment for pulling off that rather mean trick with Pansy at the Head Table.

He was to stay in his room for the rest of the evening with no books or activities. The next day, he would attend classes with them, but he would have to sit quietly next to them and no talking to his other five year old classmates. As soon as classes were done for the day he was to go straight back to his room and stay there the rest of the evening except for the occasional bathroom break. Harry had brought Draco dinner, but no dessert. He was allowed out the following morning for the Hogsmeade trip, which was now.

For the entire day of yesterday Draco had amused himself by humming little tunes or being nearly bored to tears, sometimes sitting at the door as if waiting for someone to allow him out and back to freedom.

Exiting his room, for the first time without an escort, Draco went into the bathroom and squirted mint flavored toothpaste on his toothbrush and began the daily process of cleaning his teeth.

Several minutes later, the child donned his cloak and went over to Harry and Hermione, both of who were waiting by the portrait. “Did you learn anything from this, Draco?” Hermione asked as the trio exited.

“Yes,” he muttered. “Don’t pull pranks on the teachers again.”

“There you are, Draco!” exclaimed a rather high-pitched voice from further down the hall. “I missed you sooooooooooooo much!” The Slytherin girl launched herself at Draco, effectively tackling him for the third time.

The two Gryffindors exchanged glances as Blaise and Neville rounded the corner, both looking panicked. “Have you seen-” Hermione pointed at the children - “thanks,” panted Blaise, leaning over and trying regain his breath.

“I thought you were grounding Pansy too,” Harry remarked, watching in amusement as Pansy continued to squish his own charge, and then tickle the blond.

“We did. It didn’t appear to work,” groaned Neville. “We didn’t stop her in classes like you and Mione did, but she didn’t get to eat at dinner either and she was put to bed at six…and no dessert. But she still won’t listen.”

“She’s just used to getting what she wants,” pointed out Hermione, “and being grounded once isn’t really going to change her. Draco, on the other hand, seems to have learned his lesson.”

“He’s still associating with Pansy,” Harry grinned, “doesn’t look like he turned all good.” Hermione whacked Harry upside the head. “I was just kidding…but seriously, she rubs off on him a lot.”

“When we first got him,” Hermione sighed, a thoughtful look coming over her face, “he was the sweetest, nicest little boy. But now…he’s got a troublemaking streak in him.”

“Ummm…shouldn’t we be heading to the carriages?” asked Neville. “They’re supposed to leave about now.” Hermione shrieked in surprise, dashed forward and pulled Draco out from beneath Pansy and then tore down the hall, the rest (Pansy being carried by Blaise) in hot pursuit.

“Hurry up!” called Ginny from one of the carriages that was just beginning to move. Hermione dove inside and Harry followed, the door slamming shut behind them. “What took you so long?”

Ron was sitting next to his sister, a fearful expression on his face as he kept both eyes focused on Terry, sitting on Lavender’s lap. “We ran into Pansy,” Harry said, that enough for explanation. He took a seat next to Ginny, immediately draping an arm about her shoulders, and Hermione sat herself and Draco next to Lavender.

“Hi,” Terry greeted, smiling with his teeth bared at Draco. “I’m Terry.”

“Draco,” Draco introduced himself, holding out his hand. Terry reached out to grab it and then suddenly lunged off of Lavender’s lap and bit the Slytherin.

“You don’t taste that good,” he said, spitting out the bits of black fuzz he’d gotten stuck in his teeth from the gloves Draco (thankfully) had on.

“Terry! You don’t bite people!” scolded Lavender.

Draco growled beneath his breath and then jumped off of Hermione’s lap and tackled the other child, Terry crying out in alarm. Draco snapped his teeth angrily and bit Terry’s hand, before both began to roll across the floor, fighting to stay on top.

“NO FIGHTING!” yelled Hermione, grabbing Draco and Lavender snatching Terry. Draco glared at the boy in the other girl’s lap, a bruise already forming on his pale skin and a black eye already visible on Terry.

“I’m sorry,” Draco whispered, tears gathering in his eyes.

“It’s all right,” Hermione assured, giving him a gentle hug. “Look up at me…I want to see your cheek.” Draco did so and Hermione conjured an icepack and placed it in his hand. “Hold that on the bruise until the swelling goes down, okay?” Draco nodded. “And how’s your hand?”

“It’s all right,” the child murmured. Hermione pulled the glove off anyway, relieved to see no marring on his flesh, the heavy glove having protected him completely from Terry’s bite.

Lavender had also made an icepack and had Terry holding it over his eye, but unlike Hermione she was lecturing the boy. “…and you can’t just bite people for no reason. It’s very mean and it hurts. Maybe you shouldn’t even go to Hogsmeade.”

“But Lavender,” Terry pouted, “you told me I could.”

“That was before you bit Draco.”

“He punched me,” the Ravenclaw whined.

“And you punched him back. But you started it Terry, so therefore it’s you who should be punished.”

“But I wanna go to!” Terry wailed. “You have to let me go!”

“I don’t have to let you do anything,” Lavender said firmly.

“Pleeeeaasseee?” he begged, “I’ll be good. I promise.”

“One chance. Just one. If you do anything bad we’re going straight back to the castle.” Terry nodded happily and remained quiet for the rest of the trip to the little wizarding town.

As soon as the carriage stopped, Draco raced out, wanting to put as much distance between himself and the little monster. Hermione caught up with Draco and Ginny and Harry followed, strolling down the middle of the main street.

“What would you like to do first?” Hermione asked the group, walking backwards.

“Dunno,” answered Ginny.

“Candy?” Draco suggested, a twinkle in his eye. The three teenagers exchanged glances and laughed.

“Sure, let’s go get some candy,” Ginny giggled. “But we never ate breakfast…shouldn’t we do that first?”

“Point taken,” Hermione smiled. “After all, we don’t want Draco to ruin his appetite before he eats something healthy.” Draco stuck his tongue out at Ginny, who stuck out hers back at him.

“I know a good little breakfast restaurant down a little ways,” said Ginny. “Why don’t we go there first?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Harry grinned, his stomach grumbling loudly. The redhead laughed and poked the boy’s stomach before looping arms with him and setting off down the street, Hermione and Draco following.

“But you promise we’ll go to the candy store?” Draco asked, having to double his stride to keep up with Hermione’s long legs.

“We’ll go to Honeydukes later,” Hermione promised. “After all, I do want to get a few more of those Rainbow Lollipops.”

“What’s so special about those?”

“After you’ve finished eating it, when ever you smile your teeth will flash different colors. I personally find them rather funny.”

“My favorite is the Fizzing Whizbees,” the child declared.

“Then I’ll make sure to get some of those for you. But we’re also going clothes shopping, understand? And I don’t want any complaints,” Hermione said sternly, noticing the frown on Draco’s face.

“But Hermione-”

“No buts. We’ll do some things you want to do and some things I want…and that includes buying you clothes.” Draco opened his mouth to argue, but then closed it, realizing he had to listen. “Now let’s go catch up to Ginny and Harry.”

The four arrived in front of the small, cozy looking diner a few minutes later. Already, though it was only September, holly garlands hung from high rafters, and bright red bows under the windowsills.

With a smile, Ginny pushed open the door and they entered a warm room, a large fireplace against the wall washing heat over them. Tables sat around the room with many Hogwarts groups occupying them, and a large door in the back continued to swing open and shut as kitchen staff brought out food.

“Can I get you sweethearts a seat?” asked a tall, blond haired woman, her lips curving up in a smile at Draco, who gave a shy one back.

“Yes, for four please,” Ginny grinned. “By chance are you still serving your French Toast with strawberry sauce?” she asked as the waitress led them to an empty table.

“But of course…Someone will be by to take your orders shortly. Have a nice meal!” Placing five menus on the table, the woman went back to the front to take in more customers.

“I’m so glad,” Ginny sighed happily. “Whenever I came here, Mum would always order those for me.”

“I think the puffed pancake with maple syrup sounds good,” Hermione mused, flipping through her menu, mouth watering at all the dishes. “What do you like, Draco?”

“The chocolate chip waffles with ice cream,” Draco said promptly, eyes shining. “Can I get that? Please Hermione?”

“I guess you could afford to be spoiled once…but for dinner tonight you get fruit and something healthy.” Draco nodded, agreeing with the decision made. “And what do you want, Harry?”

“I think I’m going to get the cheese and ham omelet,” the boy said, looking up from the menu. “Should we get a side order of fruit too?”

“That’d be nice,” Ginny said. “Today, it says they’re serving cantaloupe and honeydew. Yum!”

“They’re also serving up trouble,” Harry muttered. “Don’t anyone turn around…I don’t want her to see us…”

“Pansy! Over here!” Draco cried, waving his arms and standing up on his chair. The girl began to pull both of her guardians over to the table, a huge grin on her face.

“Or Draco can go and ruin it,” snickered Ginny. “Poor, poor Harry,” she said, patting him on the head. “She can’t be that bad.”

“Just watch,” Harry groaned.

“Can we get three more chairs over here?” Hermione asked a passing waitress. With a nod and a flick of her wand, the table got larger and three more chairs were added. “Thank you!”

“I didn’t know I’d find you here, Draco!” bubbled Pansy, clambering into a chair next to the child and squeezing him.

“Bet you didn’t,” Harry grumbled, fortunately Pansy not hearing him.

“Oooh, is this what you’re getting? That looks yummy! Do you want to share one? I don’t think I could finish it all by myself.”

“Sure,” Draco said agreeably. “That is okay, right Hermione?”

“That’s fine,” Hermione assured. For the next several minutes, the children looked over the dessert menu while the five teenagers talked about whatever they talked about.

“Hi there, everyone. I’m Barb and I’ll be your waitress for today. Can I get you anything to drink?”

“These two,” Hermione said, pointing at the children, “will have milk and I’ll take a cup of orange juice.”

“Apple for me please,” Ginny smiled.

“Orange,” Harry answered.

“Grapefruit,” Neville smiled.

“Broccoli,” Blaise said. Everyone looked at the Slytherin strangely. “It’s good,” he defended. “You boil broccoli and then squeeze the juices out of it, mix with water and add a little salt.” Ginny was beginning to turn the color of Blaise’s desired drink and quickly dashed out of her chair for the bathroom.

“All right then…” said Barb, jotting down the order. “I’ll be back in a few seconds.”

“Do you really drink that?” Hermione asked faintly. “I mean…I can see tomato juice or even spinach…but broccoli?”

“It’s what gave me my dashing good looks,” the dark haired boy joked, throwing a charming smile at Hermione. “I grew up on it instead of fruit juices…my mother is allergic to all citrus fruits and she hates apples.”

“I’m sorry,” said Hermione, “I would never have made it through my childhood without my daily orange juice.”

“I’ll make a note of that,” chuckled Harry, writing it down on a napkin and then stuffing it in his pocket. “Never know when I might need to know that.”

“Here you go,” said Barb, coming back with a tray of drinks. “Have you decided what to order yet?”

“Yes,” Hermione said. “The kids will be sharing your chocolate chip waffles with ice cream and I’ll have your puffed pancake. And since Ginny isn’t here, she’ll take French toast with strawberry sauce.”

“I’d like the ham and cheese omelet, with the side dish of buttered toast,” said Harry, handing his menu to Barb as she collected.

“I’ll take the same thing,” said Neville, nodding at Harry.

“And I’ll have just normal pancakes with a blueberry muffin,” Blaise said.

“Could we also get the fruit platter appetizer?” asked Hermione.

“Your meal will be on it’s way shortly,” Barb said, putting her order form back in her pocket.

Not even ten minutes later, she reappeared with trays floating behind her, laden with the meal choices. Ginny by now had made an exit from the bathroom, but had propped up her purse in front of Blaise’s vile looking drink.

“Let’s see,” Barb said, surveying the students. “I believe the chocolate waffles belonged to these two angels….” Draco and Pansy both thanked the woman sweetly and dug into their meal. “And the French toast for you…” A plate came sliding across the table to land in front of Ginny. “And an omelet here and there…” The egg dishes came to a stop in front of Harry and Neville. “And pancakes for you…and then the puffed pancake for you. And here’s your fruit…enjoy your meal!”

“It looks delicious…and tastes even better,” Ginny mumbled, mouth full of her meal. “Try some, Mione!” The girl held up a fork, speared with a piece of toast.

“Let me eat mine first, Gin,” Hermione laughed. “I haven’t had one of these in a long time.” The girl picked up her knife to cut the pancake when all of a sudden it started to swell…growing larger and larger by the second.

“It’s going to explode!” shouted Neville, diving beneath the table and dragging Pansy down with him. Hermione threw her chair back, but was unable to avoid the blast. Pancake splattered all over her, gooey yellow globs bright against her black robes.

“I think it worked,” remarked a voice from a table over.

“I do agree. Swelled to a remarkable size!!”

“Cut that out! You’re starting to sound like Percy!”

“So sorry dear twin of mine.”

“Fred? George? What are you doing here?” queried Ginny, walking over to her brother’s table.

“Testing out some new products,” George grinned. “We knew it was Hogsmeade weekend, so we came down to see what kind of new things the students at Hogwarts needed.”

“And what,” Hermione asked testily, “was that one supposed to be?” The Gryffindor girl was a sight to be seen…as a monster. The exploded pancake covered her from head to toe, oozing down her clothes and clinging to her hair. Bits of cantaloupe and honeydew stuck to the batter, and orange juice soaked the left sleeve of her robes.

“An exploding pastry,” Fred explained. “Each is filled with a fruit filling…but as soon as someone goes near it with a knife or fork, it explodes. And we didn’t want you to see it, so we snuck it into your dish while the cook was making it.

“I don’t think what you did was very nice,” Draco frowned, glaring at the twins. “You could have hurt Hermione!”

“Who’s the kid?” asked Fred, while George performed a cleaning charm on Hermione and the table.

“That’s Draco,” said Harry. “And this is Pansy.”

“Pleased to meet you,” the girl curtsied, before approaching both and giving them a solid kick in the shins. “And I agree with Draco! That was mean!”

“Draco…as in Draco Malfoy?”

“Come here for a second,” said Harry, taking Fred by his bright blue robes and dragging him across the restaurant, George following. “Have either of you heard about the current project going on at school?”

“Nope, can’t say we have,” the two said in unison.

“Dumbledore put all sixth years in groups of three. My group is Mione, Draco, and myself. One of us had to take a potion and then got turned into a five year old child with no memories of his or her future life except what they’d experienced up to as a child.”

“So you’re telling us Malfoy doesn’t know any of us? Or remember anything he’s done?” Harry shook his head. “This is going to be fun!” George cried gleefully, a devious smirk on his face, an identical one on Fred’s.

“You aren’t going to do anything to him,” Harry said firmly, grabbing both twin’s by the back of their robes. “He’s taken a great liking to all of us and you are not going to break that trust.”

“But this could be blackmail for life!” crowed Fred.

“Dumbledore told us that once they return to their original age, they’ll remember everything. We’re both hoping that he’ll change for the better.”

“So we can’t blackmail him?” George pouted.

“Nope,” Harry said cheerfully. “Now why don’t we go back, you two apologize to Hermione and introduce yourselves to Pansy and Draco? Pansy has also taken a shine to Hermione so if you do anything ‘mean’ to Mione, even if it’s just a prank, that girl will hurt you. Believe me.”

The trio made their way back to the breakfast table, where everyone was eating, Ginny sharing her meal with Hermione. “We’re sorry Hermione,” the twins said together, a twinkle of mischief still in their eye. “We won’t do it again.”

“Good,” she smiled. “Pansy, apologize for kicking them.” The black haired girl muttered an apology, still glaring at them. “Fred, George, this is Draco,” Hermione said, pushing the child forward to meet her friends. “He’s quite shy so-”

“I’m not shy,” Draco interrupted, hands on his hips. “Just a little quiet…that’s all.”

“And lucky for him, I’m very loud,” smirked Pansy. “You two look too old to go to Hogwarts…why are you here?”

“We run a joke shop down in Diagon Alley and-”

“Jokes? You mean like pranks?”

“What kind?”

“How much?”

“Do you have more of those exploding pastries?”

Fred and George looked as though they’d found the perfect little brother and sister. “You mean you two like playing jokes?”

“Love to!” grinned Pansy.

“Don’t go and give them any ideas,” Hermione warned, pulling Draco into her arms and covering his ears. “They just got grounded yesterday for lighting fireworks at the Head Table.”

George and Fred beamed at the tiny Slytherins. “Is everyone done with breakfast?” asked Ginny, stacking her plate on top of Harry’s. “Because the candy is calling me…”

“Me too!” exclaimed Pansy, jumping off of her chair. “Let’s go!” Before anyone else could even protest, the girl had pulled Blaise and Neville out of their chairs and was proceeding to drag her guardians towards the door.

Blaise reached into his pocket and threw several sickles on the table before it left his range completely, and Hermione placed her group’s bill, Harry and Ginny already having given her money for their meals.

Fred and George chipped in some knuts and a sickle for a tip and they all left, rather full but still with room for candy. A little bell tinkled as they pushed open the door to Honeydukes.

Draco and Pansy let out little cries and dashed over to the nearest bin of Gummy Worms, that you could feel wiggling around in your stomach long after you’d eaten them.

Harry crossed over to the Chocolate Frogs and began to pull boxes of them off the shelves, followed by ropes of Spider Strings, a stringy candy with the taste of wild cherries.

Hermione eagerly grabbed several of her desired Rainbow Lollipops off of the shelves and then some more Peppermint Floss for her parents.

Ginny smiled and loaded a large bunch of Ants in Your Pants into a bag. She didn’t eat them all…normally she’d sneak the ant shaped candies into Ron’s soup and then he’d be freaking out all evening, hating the feeling of ants all over his legs.

Both twins stocked up an assortment of candy, consisting of everything from Blood Pops to Super Shocker Suckers, the candy so sour your tongue tingled for hours on end.

Neville bought Honeyduke’s famous fudge and Blaise helped himself to the Gummy Worms.

Over an hour later, they all exited, pockets considerably lighter and holding bags of candy. Pansy and Draco were both contentedly chewing on Bubble Burst, a rather exciting gum that popped in your mouth at random seconds.

“Where to now, Mione?” asked Ginny, helping herself to some of Fred’s jellybeans.

“I think it’s time Draco got some new clothes,” Hermione answered, watching as the boy’s face turned down. “Don’t you think so, Harry?”

“We were actually going to head over to the Quidditch display,” Harry said sheepishly, pointing to himself, Blaise, Neville, and the Weasley twins.

“Can I go shopping with you? Please Hermione? Pretty please?” begged Pansy.

“Can I go to the Quidditch store?” pleaded Draco, clinging to Harry’s robes.

“Yes to Pansy, no to Draco,” Hermione said. “How about we meet you five at the Three Broomsticks in two hours?”

“Works for us,” said Harry.

“Don’t let her take me,” wailed Draco, wrapping his feet and arms around Harry’s legs. “I don’t want to go clothes shopping!”

“Sorry, Draco,” Harry apologized. “If that’s what Hermione wants to do, then we have no say.”

“I DON’T WANNA GO!” he screamed as Hermione plucked him off of Harry and placed the child on her hip. “HARRY PLEASE!” Harry and company waved sadly as the girls plus Draco started down the street.

“I feel like we did something wrong,” said Neville.

“Me too,” agreed Harry. “Poor kid…I wonder what they’re going to do to him.”

Meanwhile, the girls were having the time of their lives at one of the children’s clothing stores. Pansy was trying on little dresses and outfits the girls handed her, emerging from the dressing stall every few seconds to show off her newest article.

Draco…he was a different story. Ginny was currently chasing her around the store to try and stuff him into the ‘cutest little sweater’ she found…Draco ducked beneath a store dummy, dived under a shelf, and came face to foot with Ginny. “Gotcha!” she cried happily, picking up the kicking child and carrying him back to Hermione.

“I think this one is too blue,” decided Pansy, pulling off the jacket Hermione had given her. “Can I try on the pink one again, Hermione?”

“I got him!” cheered Ginny, setting the boy down in front of Hermione. “What do you think of the sweater?” The redhead had pulled the garment over the child’s head on the way back.

“Looks cute,” grinned Hermione. “The blue sets off his eyes…we’ll keep that one! What do you think of this leather jacket I found?”

“That would look adorable!”

Draco began to slowly back away but stumbled into a clothes rack.

“Oh look!” squealed Ginny, as she captured Draco once more. “Leather pants and a black shirt for him to wear beneath it!”

“I thought you didn’t want black,” Draco said, hoping for the girl’s to lose interest in the leather.

“Oh we don’t…but this is different.” Seconds later, Draco was dressed in the leather clothes, a scowl on his face. “They’re so cute! He looks so cute! Add that to the pile, Ginny!”

For the remainder of two hours, Draco continued to be dressed like a doll, Hermione and Ginny adding every single clothing article to the ‘buy pile’, resulting in a rather large mound.

“I think that’s enough,” observed Hermione, throwing some of Pansy’s selections on as well. “Let’s go check out.”

“One thing, Hermione,” Ginny whispered to her friend. “Who’s money are we using?”

“Some of Draco’s and some of mine…and I’ll buy Pansy’s stuff. She didn’t take too much and I’ll just get some money back from Neville later.”

“But isn’t this kind of a waste? They’re only going to be kids for a little while longer…”

“I’ll make all the clothes grow with them. Can you see Draco in leather later?” Dreamy expressions came over both girls’ faces before Ginny smirked.

“I’m feeling love in the air,” she sang, twirling around in a circle.

“Cut that out,” hissed the other Gryffindor, clapping a hand over Ginny’s mouth.

“So you do like him?” Ginny asked.

“No! I’m just saying it would look good on him, that’s all.”

“Uh huh. Well, time to buy.” Ginny flounced away, leaving Hermione staring after her with mouth open.

“I do not like him like that,” she said vehemently to herself. “And I never will.”

With her thoughts concluded, Hermione made her way up to the front desk and minutes later, the four left, laden with bags and bags. “I’m going to perform a shrink charm on these,” Hermione panted. “Stand back.”

Soon, they were moving considerably easier, with each bag now the size of a Knut. “Time to go get some Butterbeer and then we’ll head back to the castle,” announced Ginny, pushing open the door to the Three Broomsticks.

They found the boy’s table relatively easily…it was the one strewn with Quidditch gear that they’d purchased and were now comparing. “Have a good shopping trip?” asked Harry, looking for bags.

“Very much so. We got Draco quite a few new things.”

“A few?” the boy asked incredulously. “You and Ginny bought almost the entire store!”

Hermione laughed nervously and took a sip of Butterbeer that had just been delivered to the table.

“What does he need that many clothes for?” exclaimed Harry.

“They were all so cute on him,” gushed Ginny, hugging the blond tightly. “We couldn’t just not get one of them.”

They left the pub a little while later, all feeling much happier with the Butterbeer still bubbling inside. “Time for us to leave you,” said Fred, giving Ginny a hug, and George hugging her from behind so she was squished between the two. “Nice seeing you all again.”

“And it was wonderful to meet the two of you,” smiled George at Pansy and Draco. “See you all around!” In pops, the twins disappeared.

They group was all walking back to the carriages, Harry having shrunk his packages too, when a figure stepped into the middle of the road, blond hair glimmering in the bright sun, black robes fluttering on the wind.

“Now, now…what do we have here?”