Cleaning
"Welcome to Germany," Sirius said, looking around the decrepit house where they would be living for the next few months. Draco sneezed, the dust everywhere tickling his nose.
"We'll need to do quite a bit of cleaning first," Severus said, looking at the dirty house critically. As Sirius had stated it was big enough for them, but he forgot to mention that no one had inhabited this particular house in fifty years.
"Kreatcher," Alyssa called softly. The little elf still served Sirius, but had no great love for his master. However, he still respected both Snapes (even if one was a Lupin) and would keep his mouth shut around them.
The elf popped into existence, bowing at Alyssa. "Mistress Alyssa is calling Kreatcher?" he croaked, studiously ignoring Sirius and Remus, who he hated for being a werewolf.
"Yes Kreatcher, I was wondering if you would help us clear a few rooms. We need to stay here for a time, and it will take too much time and magic for us to fix this place ourselves," Alyssa replied, phrasing it as a request because she honestly didn't want to enslave this elf any more than she did Dobby. He had gone on his merry way after thanking Draco once again, and Alyssa had suggested Hogwarts for new employment.
"Kreatcher would love to help Mistress Alyssa," Kreatcher croaked, bowing respectfully to the one he considered his mistress. He disliked Sirius for breaking his mother's heart, and while he disapproved of Alyssa's husband, he would do nothing to displease the woman.
"Thank you Kreatcher," Alyssa said sincerely, "Could you start with the kitchen? Sirius, you could work on the sitting room, Sev could do the lab, and Remus and I could work on the bedrooms?" The elf popped away, off to restore the kitchen to its former glory.
"What can we do Auntie?" Harry asked, wanting to help.
Draco looked curiously at the other boy. He wants to clean? Father always said cleaning was for servants. But Father was mean, and I think he and Mother were wrong. "I want to help too," he said, surprising the others.
Alyssa looked at Remus, curious as to his thoughts. Maybe they can help strip the beds? "I think we can find something for you two," she said calmly.
"You can help with changing the sheets," said Remus, thinking the same as his wife was, "And maybe sweep the floor while we take care of the cobwebs?" He knew Alyssa and Severus would do a majority of their cleaning the Muggle way, as it was more precise than the magical variety.
"Ok," the two assistants chorused happily. They were happy that they were going to be helping, just like grown-ups.
Sirius and Severus headed to their assigned jobs, while Alyssa, Remus, Harry, and Draco headed up the stairs. There were six bedrooms, enough for them all with one to spare.
"Split up?" Remus suggested, "I take three, you take three?"
"Sounds good to me," Alyssa replied, conjuring cleaning materials and rags, as well as a broom and dustpan, and a mop. "Who is going with whom?"
"I wanna go with you Aunt Lyss," Harry said, moving to his aunt's side.
"Will you go with Remus Draco?" Alyssa asked, hoping the blonde would say yes. She really didn't need to deal with a fight between the two boys, not after everything that had happened in the past two days.
"Yes, I'll go with Papa," Draco said, missing the surprised expressions on Alyssa and Remus's faces as he moved to Remus's side.
"Ok then," Remus said, grabbing some of the chemicals and rags and motioning for Draco to follow him, "Let's get to work." He and Draco headed to the bedroom that was the farthest to the right, while Alyssa and Harry took the one farthest to the left. They would meet at the middle.
"So, are you happy to have someone to play with now?" Alyssa asked Harry as she set the cleaning materials down and moved towards the bed. Get rid of the disgusting sheets first, and then start on the walls and floor.
"Yeah, he's fun to play with," Harry said, grabbing one end of the comforter and helping his aunt to drag it off the giant bed. "He acts like I'm the only one who ever played with him sometimes though."
You probably are child, Alyssa thought, remembering Narcissa's views on how a Malfoy heir should behave. Draco would have been lucky to get out of his parents' sight for more than a few minutes. "I'm glad you're getting along."
"Me too," Harry smiled, peeling a grimy pillowcase off of one of the pillows, "He'll be a good big brother to the baby."
Alyssa smiled at Harry, tossing the dirty sheets on the floor with the comforter. "Any thoughts on whether it will be a boy or a girl?" The teasing question actually had merit, because she was beginning to suspect that Harry had greater control over his Sight than she did hers.
Harry stopped what he was doing, closing his eyes and concentrating for a minute. He thought about his aunt's question, whether the baby would be a boy or a girl. He felt something, like a shiver running along his spine as he focused more intently. He thought that it would be a girl, though he didn't know why.
"I think it's a girl Auntie," Harry said, opening his eyes. "But I don't know why," he added with a frown.
Alyssa laughed at the petulant expression on his face. Merlin but he looks displeased. "I don't expect you to be certain of your predictions yet Harry," she said, "You're only just beginning to learn how to use your gift. It will take time before you can predict with certainty."
"Ok Aunt Lyss," Harry sighed, brightening a little at his aunt's words. Maybe I'll know for sure later. Aunt Lyss said I need to get better, so maybe after my next lesson I'll know.
Remus and Draco were also making progress with their room. The werewolf was surprised at how readily Draco was helping. He had assumed that it would take a lot of persuasion to convince the Malfoy heir to clean, yet all it took was Harry volunteering as well. However, that didn't surprise him half as much as Draco calling him Papa. He was overjoyed that Draco was comfortable enough to call him that, but he was also worried. How badly did his parents treat him, if he'd rather join his aunt in a prison cell and run away with her than stay in his posh manor with his parents? And now he's calling me Papa, accepting me as his father. Merlin help me not screw this up.
"How are you settling in Draco?" Remus asked as he looked about the room. This one had two smaller beds, child sized, perfect for Harry and Draco. Maybe they'll want to share a room for now?
"Good," Draco said, pulling the pillows off the two beds so he could remove the pillowcases. He wasn't sure why they weren't using magic, but he wasn't going to object. "I'm real glad Auntie brought me here." A puzzled expression crossed his face as he asked, "If you and Auntie are adopting me, and I can call you Papa, can I call her Mama?" He'd been desperate to ask that since they brought up the conversation hours ago, before they left America.
"If you want to, I doubt Alyssa will mind," Remus said, summoning the broom and starting on the cobwebs. "She cares about you Draco, like I do." He hadn't expected to like Draco right away, assuming that he'd be a spoiled brat. In the past few hours, however, that assumption had undergone some serious adjustments. Draco had been polite and kind; he'd even helped Alyssa pack up her lab, something she did without magic to ensure nothing was broken or misplaced.
"You and Mama are a lot nicer than Mother and Father were," Draco said, shuddering as he remembered his father's snake cane, used to punish him if he was bad. Mama and Papa would never do that; Harry said so. He said he got a spanking for taking Uncle Sev's wand one time, but he deserved it and it didn't hurt that bad. He didn't get beaten with a cane for not remembering his manners, or how many branches there are in his family tree.
"From what Alyssa told me, it seems that they weren't the best parents," Remus said, frowning slightly. He finished with the cobwebs and looked at Draco, who had removed the sheets from one of the beds and was almost done with the second one.
"They weren't," Draco agreed, then changed the subject so that he didn't have to remember. "Do you think Harry and me could sleep in here? It'd be like a sleepover all the time?"
Remus laughed. "If that's what you and Harry want, and Alyssa and Sev don't mind, then I don't see why not. If you two get in trouble though, we might have to separate you." From what he had seen, Draco and Harry were on the way to being fast friends. The thought of the trouble the two of them could get into made him smile. I think the next generation of Marauders is here. Let's hope this group is a little nicer than the first.
"Can I go ask now?" Draco asked excitedly, finished stripping the second bed.
Remus banished the dirty sheets to the laundry room; there would be time to deal with that later. Then, he nodded to Draco. "Go ahead cub, I can manage without you." It made him smile, seeing how such simple things made the young boy so happy.
"Yay! Thanks Papa," he said, running out of the room and down the hall to find Harry.