The Request by redhead414

Chapter 8

With a doll named 'Claire' under her arm, her owner of the same name walked into her father's room and crawled up the two wooden steps so that she could reach the high, four-poster bed where her father was sleeping. Or more appropriately, snoring. Putting pretend Claire down, Claire crawled over towards the middle of the bed and laid on her stomach, just as her father was doing, pulling the pillow off the top of his head and giggling as a loud snore caught her off guard.

"Daddy," she whispered, poking a finger into his cheek.

Draco mumbled, his face twitching as Claire continued to poke him. "Stop poking me," he mumbled.

Giggling some more, Claire pushed her wild, unbrushed hair away from her face as she poked him again. "Daddy," she whispered again.

"Claire…if you poke me again I'm going to bite off your finger," Draco mumbled.

"You said that last time," Claire said, her face pressed against the cool satin sheets as she gave her father's cheek a pat.

Draco cracked an eye open and saw Claire's cherub face smiling back at him, grinning in a way that only a Malfoy could. "One of these days I might mean it," he warned, reaching an arm out as he pulled his youngest daughter closer to him. "Is your mother awake?"

"I don't think so," Claire said, kissing Draco's cheek. "Anya made me and Claire come and get you."

"And why, exactly, is your doll's name Claire again?" Draco mumbled, closing his eyes again Saturday had been just as exhausting as Friday, with Astoria not feeing any better. His night was once again spent tossing and turning instead of sleeping. "It's awfully confusing."

"Nuh uh," Claire replied. "She's pretend and I'm real."

Draco opened his eyes, kissed the tip of her pointed nose and sighed. "Well how do I know that you're not the pretend Claire?"

Sighing dramatically, Claire wrestled out from her father's grasp and sat up, pushing more hair out of her face. "I'm not pretend because I'm talking. All pretend Claire does is blink her eyes, and that's only if you shake her…but Grandma Jean, I mean, Jean says we shouldn't shake dolls because it's not nice…even if it's funny to make her blink super fast."

Draco stifled a laugh as he yawned. "We're going to see Grandma Jean today."

Her eyes brightened. "Really! Can I wear my princess dress!"

"Maybe we can wear real clothes, and take your play clothes with us," Draco attempted to compromise. "It's too cold outside to wear just a princess dress."

"But I can change when I get there…right?"

"Yes," Draco replied, dreading the start of school for her on Wednesday, back in her green and blue plaid jumper and tights instead of a Belle costume.

Claire snuggled closer to her father. "Will Mummy be mad if we go?"

He kissed her cheek. "Mummy's coming with us. Grandma Jean and Grandpa Richard want to meet her."

"But…what if I accidentally call her Grandma Jean and make Mummy sad?"

"I've already talked to Mummy. Everything will be fine," Draco reassured his daughter. Promise." Draco replied, tickling the bottom of her bare foot with a finger, smiling as she giggled. Loudly yawning, he sat up and dug the heels of his hands into his eyes for a moment before shaking the remainder of sleep in his head away. "Now, why did Anya send you and pretend Claire up here?"

Claire, suddenly remembering her initial purpose for waking up her father, jumped to her feet on the bed and wrapped her arms around her father as he reciprocated her embrace. "Aunt Daphne is here and Anya told her to leave and Aunt Daphne said no so Anya said that if she didn't leave she was going to wake you up and then Aunt Daphne said she didn't have to leave because she was a grown up and that Anya was the child and then I told Aunt Daphne not to yell at Anya and then Aunt Daphne said -"