#and gawain being arrogant and trying to prove a point

[awkwardmermaidhair]

[ccnqueror]

DAD TO THE BONE.

d. Monday, 27th April to Friday, 1st May.

l. Lucius’s apartment, above Button and Bows.

w. 1382 words.

“I’ve never seen a baby before.”

Lucius bounced about in line, craning his neck to see the mandrakes being handed out. He had always wanted a sibling -- many a birthday wish was dedicated to this sole need. Mrs Malfoy, unfortunately, did not think the weight gain was worth a child (”You mean a second child?” Lucius used to ask); this was one of the only desires the Malfoys did not indulge their son with.

Gawain did not seem to care very much. He barely acknowledged the blond, standing there with his arms crossed. Lucius ignored him. Single fatherhood sounded so martyr-like, and Lucius craved nothing more than the imagery of a saint -- he would wander about the school, draping himself over various surfaces like a woman in a painting (maybe he’d let his chest out, even) and complain about the woes of deadbeats.

Lucius beamed. 

“I’m going to be a daddy!”

MONDAY.

It was going well, thus far. Lucius, thankfully, lived above a clothing boutique; it was only too easy, dressing the child-thing. By noon, he had a whole drawer full of baby clothes in all sorts of colours and fashions. The mandrake proved to be far wrigglier than he had expected, though nothing a quick Petrificus Totalus could not fix. Was hexing one’s child against the rules?

Never mind that, though, for the mandrake was now lying in a crib, wearing a light pink romper with the words, ‘Daddy’s Princess’ on it. There had, of course, been a small crown to accompany it, but the mandrake did not appear to like head-wear very much. 

“It’s a mandrake, not a woman-drake,” said Abraxas, who had been forced to floo over with a box of his son’s old baby things. “Why are you dressing it in girl’s clothes?”

“Hypocrite,” Ava snorted. She was Lucius’s landlady, and an old friend of the family’s; she had made plenty of baby clothes, for both Lucius and her own two boys. It was strange, adding a mandrake to that exclusive list.

Abraxas sneered. “I’m not the one who wanted to put him in that.” He nodded towards a frilly dress from when his son was three. Lucius held it up, pouting. The mandrake would not fit.

“Do mandrakes even have a gender?” Whispered one of the landlady’s sons, a boy Lucius often babysat. He was staring at the mandrake as though it were an Azkaban escapee, or, more accurately, a weird dirt-dweller that had stolen his toys. “Like, does it have a wiener?” 

His little brother giggled. “You said wiener.”

Lucius smacked them both upside the head. “It’s a girl,” he declared. “Her name is Cissy.”

TUESDAY.

He felt like a zombie. Day one had been fun, yes, but night one was not. If only he lived in Malfoy Manor again, where the child could be placed on the other side of the house so that crying could not be heard. It was rather unlucky for Lucius(’s house-elf) that the apartment was not so spacious; alas, the wailing was as piercing as ever, though Hogwarts had promised no side-effects.

Lucius had discovered something new that morning, though. He had been so tired from the previous night, having slept through only 80% of it, that he had broken out his de-stressing kit. And so there he lay, at the centre of his bed, with an avocado face mask and cucumber slices.

Cissy, as it turned out, liked them very much. Abraxas, who had stayed in Hogsmaede the previous night, made a worrying comment about her liking plant-matter on her face. Lucius considered the thought briefly -- briefly. It was a very worrying comment indeed.

“You need to be nicer to her,” Lucius complained, lifting a cucumber slice to stare at his father. “You’re her grandfather, and I want you to be a good one. My grandfather always yelled at me.” 

Abraxas rolled his eyes, having already eaten the cucumbers. He reached out for Lucius’s, saying, “That’s because you were a git.” He recalled many a time when his father-in-law had to discipline little Lucius -- no stealing cookies, no pushing your cousins, no copying your father. That sort of thing.

“Well,” said Lucius, “Cissy is a very good girl, and she deserves a very good grandfather.”

“Change that stupid name, and she might get one.”

Lucius narrowed his eyes. “Get the hell out of my house.”

WEDNESDAY.

Sleeping had improved. Lucius had moved the crib from the living room to the kitchen, where his house-elf slept. The door was promptly silenced. Any night-time-happenings were left to the elf, who was looking thinner and thinner every day.

“What’s this dirt doing on her dress?”

The elf swallowed thickly, wringing its hands. “Dobby is sorry, sir, Dobby was only trying to help.”

Lucius kicked him. “Go bathe in boiling water, you filthy animal.” He cuddled Cissy closer to him, rubbing at the stain. “There, there,” he cooed, “Daddy will get you a new dress.”

He had just finished changing her when the doorbell rang. Lucius immediately called for the elf, only to hear loud yelping and the splashing of water. Well, no need to bother its nice bath; besides, it’d be nice to show off Cissy’s dress to someone other than Lucius’s childhood stuffed duck, Waddles.

“Ugh,” said Lucius, having opened the door. “It’s other daddy.”

Gawain stared down at his arms, Cissy’s eyes blinking up at him from under a baby’s bonnet. He looked lost for words, like he was too enchanted to speak.

“I came to see if you needed anything.” Gawain frowned. “You look like you’re getting along well.”

“Say bye-bye to other daddy, now.” Lucius slammed the door shut. “He has to go to Azkaban to visit his daddy.”

THURSDAY.

Parenting turned out to be one of the easiest things he had ever done. Cissy was not a difficult baby to deal with; the elf dealt with the difficult things, of course. It needed a bath almost daily, now, from smelling so terribly from all the diaper changes. Or was that its natural smell? Honestly, Lucius had never interacted with the thing so much before. 

The puking was another issue. Babies, apparently, vomited a lot. He had been upset for the first few days, when matching clothes were ruined. Now, though, Lucius spent most of his time just in his pants, talking to her without holding her. She seemed to like the sound of Lucius’s voice just as much as he did; and Lucius spoke to her increasingly often. Maybe it was the lilting cadence of his voice, but Cissy liked to listen to him wax poetic about her future stepmother.

“How does one describe the most beautiful creature to have ever existed? He would say. “Narcissa is a one-of-a-kind, the sort of person you have to see to believe. Her hair, it’s so shiny, golden like the colour of Zeus’s ichor -- and her eyes, bottomless, drowning eyes, blue like the sky... Her whole face is perfection, a masterpiece; she has this cute little nose, but it’s pointed up, arrogant, like she’s better than everyone else, and she is, because they could never be so beautiful. Her jawline, it’s perfect, it fits in my hand; I swear, her whole face was made to be cupped in her hand, her hands were made to be held by me. And one day, I will hold that hand, one day I’ll put a ring there and she’ll be Lady Malfoy, and I’ll be her Lord, and we’ll live in the manor, together, us and our children -- oh, Merlin, Dobby! Dobby! She’s done it again! Good Lord, how does something so small smell so badly? Dobby, for the love of God, take her away before my whole nose rots off --”

FRIDAY.

“They took her away.” Lucius sobbed. “They took my baby away.”

Abraxas stared at him. “It was a mandrake.”

“Don’t,” Ava hissed, glaring. “He’s very upset.”

“They’re just going to kill it and use it for a potion.”

Lucius wailed.

“There, there,” said Ava. “Professor Slughorn promised he’d put her into a lovely hair-care potion for you.”

He felt better after that.