Babysitting
As weeks passed Minerva remembered one important thing. She had a job. She was a teacher, and she couldn't look after Harry at Hogwarts. She needed to think of something. And think quickly, because she was expected at the school in a week to prepare for the children arriving. Just because there was a break in celebration of The Dark Lords fall, didn't mean school was out forever. Why the kids were expected to be at school for a week before Christmas break, she didn't know, bit the more she focused on Dumbledore, the less his decisions made sense. However, her priority was now Harry. She could leave the Albus proem for later.
She paced around the kitchen, thoughts running through her head. She obviously couldn't do this alone. Although she had the option to stay at her own accomodation and floor to Hogwarts every day, she couldn't leave Harry alone during the day. Of course, Remus would love to look after his nephew, but before and after the full moons he would be too tired. She sighed, stopping her walking. She had to talk with Remus.
She heard Harry stir. It seems he woke up when she was busy worring. She walked into newly renovated guest bedroom, that now was a nursery. Harry smiled at her from the cot. The now four month old was getting cuter by the day. He reached for her, and made a delighted sound that warmed her heart. She picked him up, and pressed him in a hug, a part of daily routine she picked up after his stay at the healing ward. Harry wiggled in her arms and reached for her hair. She quickly brushed it out of his way. She learned that lesson and didn't want to be tugged by her hair for the next twenty minutes. She made her way to the kitchen, gently patting his head, and fed him his bottle. He ate more now, about two bottles more. It was amazing how quickly babies developed.
After his meal she took him to the living room for tummy time. She bought some soft toys for him to play with, and she often read him stories during tummy time. She laid Harry on his mat, put his toys in front of him, and walked over the bookshelf. She pulled out a story and laid next to Harry. They laid there, reading and playing, and as she was on the last page of the book, the floo flared into life. She didn't look up, already expecting a visit from Remus.
"Having fun without me?"
He asked playfully, with a soft smile on his face.
"Well since you're already here, you can join in"
She answered with a smile of her own. Over the last month they had gotten closer. Meeting often to take care of Harry and discuss their parenting plans, they discovered, that they got along great. Their relationship improved to genuinely being friends.
Leaving the important question of arrangements for nap time, she stood up to properly great him.
When it was finally time for the nap, and Harry was sound asleep, the adults sat down for a discussion.
"Well there is something I forgot about"
Started Minerva
"I have to get back to Hogwarts in a week."
She continued, and quickly aded
"Im going to live here permanently, I'm not going to live at the castle, but I can't take Harry with me to my job"
Remus nodded, and asked,
"Well I can watch after him during the day, but what about the full moons?"
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, I don't know."
She answered, and looked down at the kitchen table.
"We could hire a babysitter?"
Offered Remus, although she could hear he wasn't convinced of that idea. She looked up
"But who could that be?"
Wondered outloud Minerva. A thoughtful look passed the mans eyes.
"Well there is not a lot of people that know about Harry"
He started, a distant look overcoming his face
"So our options are either choose one of the people that do know, or choose carefully a person who we know won't tell anybody."
He continued
"Lets start with who knows "
Minerva got up
"Im goimg to get some paper to write down the names, wait here"
The list of people who know:
Amelia Bones
Alastor Moody
Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy
Alastor Moody didn't seem like the person to look after a small child. They knew Amelia had a nice she looked after, that was Harry's age, and the Malfoys had a son, but they didn't know if they could watch after Harry.
"Well the only way to know is to check. "
Said Minerva, after a bit of silence. They both knew what she meant, despite no one voicing it.
"How about we start with writing to Amelia, and go from there."
Said Remus, more like a statement than a question, although Minerva was not about to argue with that. She pulled out another piece of parchment, and placed it on the table.
"What if none of them can do it? We have no time to find somebody else? The next full moon is in six days!"
She asked, getting worried. Remus took a long breath, suddenly feeling nervous. As he spoke, his voice shook
"I don't know. We can't leave him alone, but if we choose the wrong person, Dumbledore could find out"
"Do you think he could do something?"
She asked so quietly, that without his enhanced hearing, he could've not heard her.
"It's hard to predict what he could do at this point. The more I think about it, the more unstable and unpredictable he seems. I do hope he cares about his image enough not to cause a scene, but there are many things he could do without causing one."
He answered truthfully, his eyes showing just how much he thought about Dumbledore in the past days. It was unnerving, to see him talking this way about someone, that justca few months ago they trusted so much. It showed just how quickly the world could change. Now that she saw one thing wrong in the headmasters facade, everything went crumbling. She couldn't believe she was foolish enough not to realise what kind of a person he was. It made sense why she would believe him as a child. He was a war hero,he was the defeater of Grinderward. However, she wasn't young enymore, and she hasn't been in a while, so she should've seen through his grandfatherly smile and realised. She guessed it was a force of habit to believe him after some point, but that didn't excuse her.
"Minerva? "
A voice brought her out of her musings, and she looked up, realising she was staring at the table for a while.
"Sorry, Im just thinking"
She said, and picked up the quill.
"We should write to Amelia. We'll start thinking of what to do with Harry if she said no."
And with that, she started the letter.