Black's House for Little Witches

9

Hermione woke up in her bed, her teddy tucked closely against her chest. Given that she had no recollection of ever going to bed in the first place, it was a strange occurrence. How had she gotten into bed?

She tried to remember the details from the previous night. Narcissa had managed to separate Bellatrix and Andy from Harry and Sirius, and they'd gone back to the manor.

Hermione had put her books in her room, and then she'd taken the Charms book out to look through. That had occupied her through the waiting period for dinner. She'd laid on her floor and poured through the pages of text and studied the incantations and wand work. After dinner, she'd gone back to her and practiced the wand movement for the animation spell over and over. Finally, she'd tested it out on her teddy. It took a few tries to get right, but when she finally did it, it had been glorious.

It had followed her around her room, growling and grunting like a bear, and even pounced on her a few times. She must have fallen asleep playing with the toy. She guessed one of the older women found her and tucked her in then.

She hugged the teddy to her chest and let out a soft, disappointed sigh. She had intended to ask Narcissa to read to her, but she'd fallen asleep by accident. Well, she'd just have to ask before she went to bed that night.

It was still early. The sun hadn't risen quite yet, but she got up and dressed for the day (Bellatrix had, thankfully, not pressed the issue of the nappy after they got back the previous afternoon), and then she made her way through the manor. She reached the bottom of the staircase and started toward the dining room when she heard voices coming from the drawing room.

"Hurts, Bella," Andy cried from inside the room. "Hurts really bad." Hermione didn't know how she did it, but Andy sounded much, much younger than any previous time before.

"I know, baby," Bellatrix said, her tone soft and gentle in a way Hermione hadn't heard before. "Cissy is getting a pain potion. I think we need a quiet day today, don't we?"

Hermione finally peeked into the room. Andromeda laid on the couch, her favorite blanket and panda bear plush lying next to her. The girl's face was contorted in pain, and a compress of some sort was on her leg. Bellatrix sat in front of her, carefully massaging the girl's leg.

"Is Andy okay?" she quietly asked.

Andromeda whined and rolled over away from her, but Bellatrix turned to her. "It's not a good day, but she'll be okay eventually," the older woman answered. She looked like she hadn't gotten much sleep. "Today is just one of those days where the pain in her leg flares up. We've been up for a while now. Haven't we, Drommie?"

Andromeda whined again, but Hermione saw her nod in agreement. Andy turned back and brought her panda and the corner of her blanket to her closer and stuck both of them in her mouth.

Bellatrix tutted softly. "No, baby. Let's not chew on those," she softly reprimanded. She moved her hand in a flurry, and then something appeared. She grabbed it quickly before Hermione could see what it was, but Hermione didn't have to wait long to find out.

Andy was suckling on a dummy. That was new. She'd never seen the other girl do that before. But then, they'd all mentioned at one point or another that Andy was only very young in headspace when she was sick. Hermione could understand how pain might constitute the girl dropping further than she normally did.

"Is there something I can do to help?" Hermione asked eventually.

Bellatrix shook her head but gave a small smile. "Not really, but thank you, sweet girl." Why did the pet names make Hermione's belly so warm and fuzzy? "We're just waiting on Narcissa to bring a pain potion. There's really not anything we can do except manage the pain and hope it doesn't last too long."