Black's House for Little Witches

21

A/N: Me: Writes a very niche, self indulgent fic that's supposed to be all fluff

Also me: Hmmm, what if I add a bit of plot?

We'll be back to the regularly scheduled fluff soon.

I hope you read and enjoy. :)

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Hermione had no recollection of falling asleep, but she woke up tucked into bed, perfectly snug in her blanket with her otter tucked to her chest, and under the effects of a warming charm. Her dummy still clicked rhythmically in her mouth. Somehow, she'd managed not to lose it in her sleep.

Her room was completely shrouded by darkness, and she whimpered softly and burrowed further under the blankets. What if there were monsters under the bed? Or in the closet? She hadn't had a fear of monsters in years, but now it seemed a little more plausible. There were a lot more creatures in the magical world to worry about now, especially in the dark. She didn't think she could go back to sleep even though she was still sleepy. What if it wasn't safe?

Well, there was really only one thing to do. She had to go somewhere else. But where could she go? She could go to the observatory and sleep on the couch, but that sounded lonely. Would Andy mind if she woke her up? If Hermione had to guess, probably less than her sisters. Narcissa and Bellatrix had both said she could go to them in the night for anything, but the thought of waking them still made her anxious.

Hermione shuffled out of her blankets and slipped onto the floor. Grabbing her blanket and her otter, she trudged out of her room and into the hallway. It was still dark, but a few lights illuminated the hall in a soft glow. Enough so that she could make her way to Andy's room a short distance away and not run into anything.

Andy's door was partially open. Hermione pushed it open just enough to slip inside. She carefully approached the girl's bed. She couldn't see much in the dark, but a small, soft glowing light near Andy's bed revealed the girl to be sprawled out completely across her bed, her blankets shoved into a pile near the foot of the bed.

Hermione dropped her dummy into her right hand and reached with her left to gently poke the girl's arm.

Andromeda stirred slightly, but didn't wake up. Upon being poked again, she whined softly.

"Andy," Hermione whispered. "Can I stay with you? Monsters under my bed."

Andromeda slowly sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "No monsters," she mumbled sleepily. "Bella scared them away. Too scared to come back." Still, she moved over to the far side of her bed and patted the empty space beside her. Once Hermione shuffled onto the bed and settled down, Andy pulled her blankets up around them both before she turned and laid down on top of Hermione. "Squeaky," she called suddenly.

The elf appeared with a pop of apparation. "Little Missus calls for Squeaky?"

"Need milk for Mione and me, please."

The elf disappeared for a minute before returning again with two bottles in hand. She offered one to Hermione as Andy took the other. Hermione wasn't entirely certain of accepting the bottle. Were they supposed to have a bottle this late at night? Andy didn't seem to be so worried. She had already begun drinking from hers.

Hermione brought her own bottle to her mouth and started to drink. She wasn't expecting warm milk with a touch of honey, vanilla, and cinnamon. Her bottle didn't feel warm to the touch, but the milk was perfectly warm. She released a soft mewl and burrowed down into the mattress. With a full, warm belly, and Andy curled around her protectively, her eyes grew heavy quickly, and she couldn't fight the call of sleep.